After deducing that Dong Tianyu did not have any powerful backers, some people thought it unnecessary to pay such high trade costs.

However, to be on the safe side, they did not inform Official Liam in advance and planned to let him proceed with the trade as usual, then retrieve the Mysterious Core from Dong Tianyu by other means.

They wanted the meat from Dong Tianyu’s possession,

and they also wanted the Mysterious Core offered by Official Liam,

but they could not afford to lose the reputation of their base.

Since the timing of the trade was very tight, they quickly developed an action plan during the meeting.

After Dong Tianyu moved away from the Lakeside Base, and confirmed with his Divine Sense that there were no other survivors around, he took the Wave Rider out of his Storage space.

Since the deck had been converted into a living area, Dong Tianyu decided not to store the supplies in the living area but remodeled the Wave Rider’s deck instead, packing the trade goods into shipping containers.

To complete the trade in one go, Dong Tianyu recklessly piled a massive number of shipping containers onto the deck of the Wave Rider, and since the containers were filled with various supplies, it caused the ship’s draft to decrease by about ten meters.

The distance between the deck and the water surface was very close, not at all typical of a sea-going vessel.

Under normal circumstances, due to the strong ocean waves, most sea-going vessels maintain a height difference of at least five meters between the deck and the sea surface.

Vessels with smaller differences between the deck and the water surface are either used for coastal recreation or are the type that typically only operate in inland rivers.

As Dong Tianyu piloted the Wave Rider, approaching the control range of the Lakeside Base, he used the communication equipment to contact Official Liam.

Upon receiving the call from Dong Tianyu, Official Liam immediately assembled the security personnel who had just been assigned to escort the Mysterious Core and led a group out of the Lakeside Base.

Although each Mysterious Core was not large in volume, the transaction involved up to a hundred thousand units, filling fifteen suitcases.

Before departing, Official Liam meticulously checked each suitcase to ensure that every one contained Mysterious Cores, not to mention the quantity, which was packed in a manner reminiscent of diamonds before the catastrophe.

Stored within molds, each mold could exactly hold twenty Mysterious Cores, making it very easy to check the quantity.

After confirming that everything was in order, Official Liam, along with the counting staff from his department and the security personnel responsible for escorting the Mysterious Cores, boarded a transfer vessel in the Inner Harbor.

The quantity of goods for the trade was substantial, and since Dong Tianyu had explicitly stated he would not cover delivery, they needed to use a freighter for the transfer and required numerous laborers.

However, it was now the era of universal Cultivation, and even the laborers had at least a Body Tempering Cultivation Level, which meant they far exceeded ordinary people in both endurance and strength.

Although the trade involved an estimated thousands of tons of goods, there were only about twenty laborers.

Out of caution, Official Liam arranged for two freighters to head to the trading location together.

Standing at the bow, Official Liam saw the Wave Rider, which had been heavily loaded with containers and was significantly lowered due to the weight. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

He felt very confident about the trade, as it was evident from the current state of the Wave Rider that it was carrying a considerable amount of supplies.

Despite this, Official Liam maintained a very cautious attitude towards the trade, leaving one freighter at the original location while he, along with the Mysterious Core and security personnel, boarded the other freighter to approach Dong Tianyu’s Wave Rider.

As the two ships drew close, many grappling hooks suddenly shot out from the side of the Wave Rider, linking the two vessels together.

Initially, when the security personnel saw the grappling hooks fired from the Wave Rider, they immediately surrounded Official Liam and the suitcases containing the Mysterious Cores, then drew their weapons and began to be on alert.

After waiting for a while and seeing no further actions from Dong Tianyu’s side following the linking of the Wave Rider and the freighter, Official Liam then instructed most of the security personnel to stay on the freighter to guard the Mysterious Cores.

He himself took a suitcase of Mysterious Cores and two security personnel, and using the steel ropes linking the two ships, directly made his way to the Wave Rider.

"You finally came over. They packed everything in one go back home to avoid trouble.

Hey, look at what they’ve done to my ship, crushing it down. Those guys, thinking it’s not their ship, just loaded it to death, not caring if an extra wave could capsize it."

Upon hearing Dong Tianyu mention capsizing, Official Liam immediately interrupted, "Dong Tianyu, you shouldn’t say those two words on the water, it’s bad luck, don’t you know that on a ship we only say ’elevate’ instead of eating fish."

To Official Liam’s words, Dong Tianyu showed disdain, "You, after all, are a man of the government, can’t you be less superstitious and believe in science?"

As soon as Dong Tianyu finished speaking, Official Liam, as if tickled by his words, laughed and said to Dong Tianyu, "You tell me to believe in science, then explain to me scientifically what exactly is the situation now."