Richest Rag-picker

These people recognized Er Gouzi. The dog had been by the boss’s side on the first day he boarded the ship.

Once she realized this was the boss’s dog, the female server in charge of dishing out food couldn’t very well deny Er Gouzi a meal. She was just a bit speechless when she saw the fellow holding a stainless steel plate—the kind the crew used—in his mouth.

After a moment’s thought, she reached into a cabinet below and pulled out a large stainless steel bowl. She then unhesitatingly filled it to the brim with food for Er Gouzi, placed it in front of him, and patted his head, saying:

"Alright, from now on, this will be your personal dish."

The moment Er Gouzi saw the food, his eyes gleamed with a hungry green light. He couldn’t care less what the server was saying and immediately buried his head in the stainless steel bowl, gobbling it down.

Fang Chenyi, who was standing not far behind, saw this but paid the dog no mind. He simply picked up a stainless steel tray for himself and started getting his own food.

As for what the server had just done, Fang Chenyi had no objections. Er Gouzi was a dog, after all. It would be inappropriate for him to share plates with the crew.

AWOOOO~

Just as Fang Chenyi finished getting his food and sat down at a table, a series of howls echoed from the entrance of the dining hall. He didn’t even have to think; it had to be Vajra.

Sure enough, the next moment, Vajra swaggered in, dressed in a full camouflage uniform with a camo cap askew on his head. Qi Xiaotian followed behind him.

As soon as he walked through the door, the sharp-eyed Vajra spotted his master, and a huge grin immediately split his face.

However, the big fellow didn’t go to Fang Chenyi right away. Instead, he walked over to a small cabinet, pulled the door open with one hand, and then took out a large stainless steel tray.

He then carried the tray, which was nearly three times the size of a normal one, over to the server’s station.

The female server was already used to this. She didn’t take the large tray from Vajra’s hands but instead smiled and asked him which dish he wanted.

Vajra scratched his head, thought for a moment, and then pointed a finger at a dish.

Seeing this, the server swung her large ladle and filled Vajra’s tray to the brim.

When Vajra saw that she had given him a full tray, his wide mouth split into a grin that reached his ears once more.

A moment later, the big guy ran over to Fang Chenyi’s side, carrying a portion of food several times larger than a normal person’s.

Perhaps the tray was a little too full, because as he neared Fang Chenyi, some of the sauce spilled. Seeing this, Vajra quickly pursed his lips and took a loud SLURP from the tray, a sight that made Fang Chenyi chuckle.

"Brother Fang, we should arrive tomorrow morning. How many men should we take ashore?"

By this time, Qi Xiaotian had also gotten his food and came over, sitting down next to Fang Chenyi to ask.

Fang Chenyi watched Vajra shovel food into his mouth with a large iron spoon. After a moment of thought, he said:

"We don’t need too many. Let’s go with ten. The rest will stay on the cruise ship on standby. Oh, and have Yishou in the Apache. If anything unexpected happens, he can provide an immediate response."

This time, all the entry procedures had already been approved. However, since the Diamond Mine was located right next to the coast, Fang Chenyi planned to make a direct landing from the sea.

He would just park the cruise ship on the sea near the Diamond Mine and lead his men over from there.

This would save them a lot of trouble.

"Understood, Brother Fang. One more thing, Brother Fang. This is for you—it’s a map of our Diamond Mine. We just received a report from South Africa. According to their intelligence, our mine is being guarded by a 300-man armed force. This force belongs to an organization called Cobra, which is the most powerful underground armed group in South Africa."

Fang Chenyi wasn’t very familiar with these details. All he knew was that after the previous owner of the Diamond Mine sold it to him, a former deputy named Billson was now helping him manage it.

Listening to Qi Xiaotian’s explanation, Fang Chenyi’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper. He had a feeling that things weren’t that simple. ’Perhaps this Diamond Mine is hiding some other secret.’

But this was all just his speculation. He would have to wait until they arrived to find out the actual situation.

After a moment’s thought, Fang Chenyi suddenly asked Qi Xiaotian:

"Do we have anything for self-defense?"

Qi Xiaotian nodded. "Don’t worry about that, Brother Fang. We took care of everything when we docked in Country X the day before yesterday."

Hearing this, Fang Chenyi didn’t ask any further questions. He knew that if Qi Xiaotian said it was taken care of, then there would definitely be no problem.

While Fang Chenyi and Qi Xiaotian were talking, Er Gouzi over on the side had already devoured three large bowls of food. Combined, those three bowls were more than double what Vajra ate.

Glancing at Er Gouzi, who was now dragging his round, bloated belly over to rub against his leg, Fang Chenyi decided not to continue the conversation with Qi Xiaotian. ’We can discuss the specifics later in the control room after we finish eating.’

Vajra, who was eating with a spoon next to Fang Chenyi, grew interested when he saw Er Gouzi approach. He put down his spoon and reached out his big, dark hand to pat Er Gouzi’s head.

But Er Gouzi saw it coming and deftly dodged Vajra’s big hand with a quick sidestep, then shot Vajra an annoyed look.

Vajra, who had been grinning, saw that the dog had actually dodged his hand. He couldn’t help but bare his teeth at Er Gouzi before ignoring him and going back to his meal.

As for Er Gouzi, seeing Vajra bare his teeth, he bared his own teeth right back.

Fang Chenyi and Qi Xiaotian, who had witnessed the whole exchange from the side, were taken aback. ’Er Gouzi’s reaction speed seems a little too fast!’

"You two, no fighting, you hear me!"

After scolding the two of them, Fang Chenyi stood up with his empty tray and headed back to the captain’s cabin with Qi Xiaotian.

As for what happened with Er Gouzi, since Fang Chenyi didn’t bring it up, Qi Xiaotian naturally didn’t ask.

In the captain’s cabin, Fang Chenyi, Qi Xiaotian, and Liu Yishou talked for a long while. During this time, a dozen or so crew members were called in one after another.

And after they came out, they all went to the storeroom to pick up their respective items.

PS: Bonus Chapter (2/3) for the generous donation from ’Wang Hen’!