After finishing his chat with Isabelle, Jiang Ye opened the public channel again.
He pondered for a moment before sending a message.
Jiang Ye: Prime Base for Rent! Currently available is a luxurious base, complete with walls and defensive trenches, multiple warehouses and toilets, and up to 10 plantations. A clear lake is also situated beside the base. I am relocating for further development, hence this rental. Interested parties, please contact me privately. Once we agree on a price, I will disclose the location.
He sent several more messages and then closed the chat channel.
He couldn't take the buildings from his old base, and he had no intention of returning.
He wanted to see if he could rent it out.
He estimated it would take some time to find a tenant, so he planned to post the rental notice once a day, hoping it would eventually get rented.
Leaving the base, Jiang Ye started the excavator and began to roam along the beach.
He found a spot with a slight slope and started digging!
A simple dock was quite straightforward: dig a large pit on the shore, leaving a channel for boats to access the sea.
When not fishing, the boat would be docked here; when fishing, he would sail out to sea.
Jiang Ye first maneuvered the excavator around the intended dock location, using its tracks to mark the boundary.
Then, the actual excavation began!
The mechanical arm swung continuously, scooping out sand and stones, piling them up on either side.
He first dug out the outer perimeter, then focused on the center.
The crushed rock at the top was hard, making excavation difficult, and the excavator hummed with effort.
Once the surface layer of crushed rock was cleared, it was all fine sand underneath, which was much easier to dig. Each scoop created a deep pit.
Jiang Ye worked with practiced skill, digging sand rapidly.
Working non-stop for the entire afternoon, the dock was completed!
The entire dock was about half the size of a football field, quite spacious, easily accommodating a fishing boat.
Seawater flowed into the dock, and the water surface quickly stabilized.
Jiang Ye got out of the excavator and looked down from the edge of the dock.
The seawater was quite murky, with palm-sized dead fish floating in it. Most were recently deceased, while a few had already rotted down to the bone and were covered in noodle-like parasites. A distinct fishy stench filled the air.
Jiang Ye stepped back, unwilling to get too close.
He dared not touch any animals that had died during the flood.
The reason was simple: plague!
Floods were super-breeding grounds for plagues. Feces, dead bodies, fermenting swamps – all sorts of unhygienic materials teeming with bacteria were swept into the water. These bacteria then reproduced, devoured each other, interbred, and mutated, creating an endless array of germs like in a "gu" cultivation.
Even though he could have earned hundreds of thousands by collecting the dead animal carcasses near his old base, Jiang Ye hadn't touched a single one, wishing he could pour a truckload of disinfectant over them.
There was no need to risk getting sick for a small amount of money.
He also dared not touch these dead fish; there were plenty of predators in the sea anyway, so he let them slowly eat the dead fish.
Walking back to the base, he stopped after just a couple of steps.
A reconnaissance robot was approaching shakily.
The robot was covered in mud, and one of its thin legs was broken, causing it to wobble precariously, looking utterly pathetic.
Jiang Ye stood frozen, his expression blank.
He had forgotten to bring this little robot with him when he left.
It was cheap, useless, and hard to find, so Jiang Ye had selectively forgotten about it.
He hadn't expected it to actually trundle its way over!
The reconnaissance robot reached Jiang Ye, stopped, and tilted its head to scan his face.
"Master confirmed! Base located, continuing mission."
The little robot spoke in a cold, mechanical voice, then turned and slowly began to wander around the vicinity.
It was still executing the mission Jiang Ye had initially assigned: exploring the area around the base.
Jiang Ye shrugged and smiled, returning to the base.
He opened a can of watermelon for himself and put two corn cobs in the pot to stew.
The sunset outside faded, the sky gradually turned blue, and stars began to appear in large numbers.
He opened the chat channel and found private messages waiting.
Kari Phoebe: Mr. Jiang Ye, where is your base located? What is the monthly rent?
Jiang Ye: The monthly rent is fifty thousand. Tell me your location, and if it's close by, I'll rent it to you.
Kari Phoebe: Fifty thousand a month! You must be joking! How about two thousand?
Jiang Ye: I can give you a discount of two thousand, so the monthly rent is forty-eight thousand.
Kari Phoebe: Forget it, it's too expensive. I don't have fifty thousand even if you sold it to me.
The first potential tenant failed.
There was another person who wanted to rent.
Aspiring to Eat His Fill: Brother, your base has plantations, right? I don't have money right now, but can I plant some crops there and pay you rent later? Oh, and I don't have seeds either, so you'd have to give me some.
Jiang Ye: Refuse to be freeloaded!
The second tenant was also driven away.
It was unavoidable; most people were too poor to afford a good base.
The toilet alone at his old base was worth more than the net worth of most colony governors!
Jiang Ye wasn't in a hurry; he would take his time. When people had more money, he was sure he could rent it out.
After dinner, he messaged Isabelle.
Jiang Ye: The dock is finished. Are you coming to deliver tomorrow afternoon?
Isabelle the Courier: Finished so quickly? Then why wait until tomorrow? I can deliver it to you now. After I deliver this, I'll have no more work, so I'll apply for annual leave tomorrow and go traveling.
Jiang Ye: If you deliver it now, when will it arrive?
Isabelle the Courier: Less than two hours.
Jiang Ye: Holy cow? That fast? Then come on over.
An hour later, he indeed received the logistics information: the delivery spaceship had entered the atmosphere.
The outside temperature was already in the teens Celsius. Jiang Ye, carrying his gun, waited on the reef by the sea.
The sea was pitch black, and the sky was also dark.
In the distance, a bioluminescent giant whale occasionally surfaced, spouting water columns several meters high into the sky.
Finally, the night sky tore open a seam of light, and a meteor-like dazzling spaceship appeared, tracing a beautiful arc as it approached the base vehicle.
Boom!
The spaceship landed abruptly by the sea, kicking up a towering wave.
Jiang Ye jumped down from the reef and jogged over.
The side of the spaceship facing the sea opened, and white light streamed out, illuminating the entire beach.
Immediately after, a massive fishing boat slid out, emerging bit by bit from inside the spaceship and entering the dark sea!
The entire boat was several times larger than he had imagined, almost like a small warship. The hull was a beautiful silver-white, and the designation A001 was printed on its side.
Isabelle emerged, dressed in a sleek bodysuit, her hair tied in a bun.
"A001, does that mean this is the first ship on this planet?" Jiang Ye asked.
"That's right. Come aboard and take a look. I'll teach you how to operate it," Isabelle said with a smile.
There were embedded grab handles at the stern. Isabelle lightly grabbed them and climbed onto the boat, with Jiang Ye following.
He first toured the cockpit. It was simpler than he had expected, with a large touchscreen that controlled the ship's navigation.
It also displayed the fuel level and remaining cargo space.
Fuel: 100%, Cargo space: 0%.
Jiang Ye tentatively tapped the screen to start!
The ship's hull rumbled, and the underwater propellers spun rapidly. The fishing boat quickly moved forward, charging from the shallow water into the deep.
Jiang Ye tapped the screen again, maneuvering the boat to turn.
Soon, he smoothly piloted the entire boat into the dock.
He tapped to anchor, and a notification sounded:
[Ship secured]
Jiang Ye smiled with satisfaction. Although the boat was large, its operation was indeed very convenient.
Isabelle then showed him the toilet, cargo hold, and engine room. The cargo hold contained a trading bay where aquatic products could be directly sold. There was only one toilet, and it was quite cramped, with waste flowing directly into the sea. The engine room was quite complex, with various devices emitting blue light, but fortunately, they were all automated.
Jiang Ye also tried the fishing operation, which could also be done by tapping the screen in the cockpit. First, sonar was used to detect fish schools, and when the fish schools were directly below the ship, he tapped to deploy the net. A minute later, the net was retrieved, and a crane automatically lifted the entire fishing net into the cargo hold.
Since he was testing it in the dock and hadn't installed the fishing net yet, the cargo hold was still empty. Jiang Ye was just familiarizing himself with the operation; he would go out fishing tomorrow.
Finally, Isabelle took him to see the small storage compartment at the stern and the crew quarters.
The bedroom was luxurious, with a pure white ceiling light, a double bed, wooden flooring, and a wine cabinet by the window, though it was empty. There was also an attached bathroom. The water in the bathroom was purified seawater, undrinkable, but fine for bathing.
"Can I take a shower here? My water is off," Isabelle suddenly said.
"Ah?" Jiang Ye was startled. "Yes, yes, of course."
Isabelle unconcernedly began to undress, pulling down the zipper with a zip. The courier's tight-fitting jacket slid off like snakeskin, revealing a fair back and a pink bra strap. She then started to take off her pants, but stopped halfway, turning to stare at Jiang Ye.
"Why are you still standing here? Want to join me?"
Jiang Ye's face instantly turned bright red. Realizing what he was doing, he repeatedly apologized, turned around, and left the bedroom, closing the door.