Chapter 85

After Tie Luohan left, Dong Ku asked Shuiling to return to the secret hall to inquire if there was a lathe or if they could arrange for machining parts. He then contacted Sun Tao, asking him to notify Shunzi and the others to stand by.

Less than half an hour later, Shuiling returned and told Dong Ku that there was a lathe in the secret hall, but it could not handle large pieces. However, the threads on the gun barrels would be no problem.

Upon hearing this, Dong Ku immediately sent a telegram to Sun Tao, instructing Shunzi to lead the members of the Tiger Tooth to transport the thousand spare gun barrels from Heixi Gou to Dongdaoling, and then have the hunters transport them to the nearby mountains of Beifeng Mountain, waiting for the truck from the old restaurant in Hulin to transport them to Harbin.

After sending the telegram, he also informed Uncle Tie, asking him to arrange for the truck delivering dried goods to pick up some items near Beifeng Mountain and explicitly told him that they were gun barrels.

Uncle Tie was a man of the world. If it were just for the sake of being the boss, he wouldn't have added trouble for Liu Rujì. However, for the savior of his senior brother, he would naturally help without hesitation. He readily agreed and even took on the responsibility of returning, suggesting that the empty truck take some alcohol back. He asked Dong Ku to arrange for someone to contact his family via radio or telephone and provided the code words for the meeting.

With the gun barrel transportation issue settled, Dong Ku did not disturb his senior brother and Shuiling. He called three rickshaws, preparing to take the silencers to the secret hall and hand them over to Liu Baicheng.

At this moment, Shuiling finally found the time to say, "Uncle Master heard that you went to Germany to process the equipment. He asked me to tell you that you can keep the German man for your own use."

"Keep him for my own use?"

Dong Ku put down the box and stood there, pondering for a moment before shaking his head. Although David John Blue could manufacture telescopic sights, he was a scientist in optics, and one person wouldn't be very useful for weapon production. Moreover, the location was a problem; this wasn't guerrilla warfare.

After thinking it over, he didn't dwell on the issue. With the telescopic sights and silencers, he planned to train the hunters into qualified soldiers, quickly form a team, and use these hunters as the core to train new recruits, aiming to establish the team within half a year.

When he delivered the silencers to the secret hall and handed them over to Liu Baicheng, Tie Luohan was already waiting for him outside his room.

Dong Ku didn't avoid Shuiling. He took out the radio and sent a message to Shao Pang, asking about the arrangements for David to go to Canada and inquiring about the flour mill and the compressed biscuit factory.

Shortly after, Shao Pang's message came back. The lengthy message took some effort for Dong Ku to read. When he started reading it, he felt a headache.

Shao Pang's message said that he had met David John Blue in Venice, Italy, but it wasn't just David; there were nearly three thousand people, all researchers and their families. They carried a large amount of data and had traveled through Switzerland to Venice. Out of necessity, they bought an Italian merchant ship in Venice to transport everyone, and they were now in the Arabian Gulf, urgently needing to know how to arrange for these people.

Sending so many people to Canada was a problem. Even if the journey went smoothly and they had enough fresh water and food to reach there, would Canada dare to accept three thousand people? After all, Canada had never been involved in the war and wouldn't want to invite trouble.

Dong Ku held the message, pondering for a long time but couldn't come up with a good solution. These people were definitely connected to David John Blue. Knowing that he had external help to leave Germany, it made sense that they would escape with him, but arranging for them was a headache, as it wasn't just a few people.

Not having a good solution, he decided to go to Liu Baicheng for advice. With his mind made up, he handed the message to Tie Luohan and said, "Brother Tie, please wait a moment. Read the message and burn it. I'll be back soon."

Tie Luohan, seeing the serious expression on Dong Ku's face, understood that the matter might be difficult. He nodded and said, "Sir, I'll wait here."

Dong Ku knew time was short. The Arabian Gulf was not far from the Malacca Strait. If the arrangements weren't made in the next few days, the two ships would be in trouble. He called out to Shuiling, and the two quickly left their residence, heading straight for the secret hall.

After listening to Dong Ku, Liu Baicheng thought for a moment and asked, "Are these people like the David John Blue you mentioned, all researchers?"

"Yes, these people are all talents. It's a pity that we don't have a base to accommodate them. Otherwise, they would be treasures beyond national treasures."

Liu Baicheng's eyes sparkled, and he asked decisively, "Since these people are so important, why don't you keep them and send them to Canada?"

"Sir, I would like to keep them, but how can I accommodate them?" Dong Ku was quite helpless. If he had more time and a base, he could consider it.

Liu Baicheng's eyes narrowed, and after a moment, he said, "What if you find a remote place to settle them temporarily? Once you establish a secure area, you can bring them over. Since they are rare resources, it's best to keep them under your control."

"That's a good idea."

Dong Ku said, his mind racing to find a place to settle them. Even if they couldn't be used immediately, given the life-saving assistance, asking them for help shouldn't be refused, like the telescopic sights and silencers, which David John Blue had readily developed.

Several places flashed through his mind, but he rejected them all. These places, though suitable for settlement, were battlefields of World War II. Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, along with other participating countries, made Southeast Asia a chaotic place. The Philippines, Australia, and Indonesia were colonies and battlefields, leaving no place to settle them.

Suddenly, a place came to mind.

He remembered a place he had stayed during survival training in a later life. It was about a thousand kilometers west of Guam, a thousand kilometers north of the Palau Islands, and in the vast Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines. It was a volcanic island group covering about five hundred kilometers. The central island, called Crescent Island, was as large as Hainan Island. During World War II, due to the dense reefs and strong currents, large ships couldn't enter, and small boats couldn't withstand the currents, so no ships entered. In the 1950s, an American scientific expedition team parachuted onto the island, which had a large volcanic lake, and discovered rich oil and mineral deposits, especially a large iron ore reserve. After months of effort, they found a channel through the reefs that could accommodate aircraft carriers and entered the volcanic island. The volcanic lake was crescent-shaped, connected to the sea, so it was named Crescent Island.

Unfortunately, the volcano awoke in the early 1960s and erupted violently, submerging Crescent Island under the sea in just a few days.

Without Crescent Island, the island group had no place to live, no vegetation, and no water source, and was eventually forgotten.

Dong Ku had stayed there for several months and was familiar with all the waterways. Through internal documents, he learned that there had once been a very suitable island for living.

"Crescent Island! That's the place!"

Dong Ku knew that there were no shipping routes there at the moment. The dense reefs kept the shipping routes hundreds of kilometers away, and no ships had approached in the meantime.

Liu Baicheng clearly noticed the change in Dong Ku. He knew that Dong Ku must have a plan but didn't ask, instead sipping his tea and pondering his own matters.

Shuiling, seeing Dong Ku's relaxed expression, knew he must have found a solution. Not understanding the big picture, she didn't worry and quietly sat there.

Dong Ku thought quietly, his mind becoming clearer. The American researcher's diary described the island in detail: it had flat land, dense forests, a large waterfall, and a river that could accommodate hundred-ton cargo ships, leading deep into the island. It was a beautiful place, and for survival, it was an excellent location.

Dong Ku didn't know if the volcano was active at the moment, but he knew it was calm in the 1950s. If the volcano didn't erupt violently, it would be an excellent place to temporarily settle the Jews. They could be self-sufficient within a year.

As his memory became clearer, a bigger idea emerged in his mind. The Jews were soon to be exterminated by Hitler, and among them were many researchers and skilled technicians. So...

Thinking about this, he took a deep breath and said, "Sir, I've decided to settle these people on an island where they can avoid future wars. When the time is right, we can bring them back to China. However, I need your help with one thing."

Liu Baicheng smiled, put down his teacup, and said, "Go ahead. If I can help, I will."

"Here's the thing: the island is uninhabited and needs construction workers, farmers, and a security force. The security force can be trained, and the workers can be students. I need your help in recruiting them, with the reason being to develop in Nanyang. The funds will be available in a few days."

"Money is not a problem. The secret hall has a few million. However, from what you're saying, you want to build on the uninhabited island. Can you also use it to produce your weapons?"

Seeing Liu Baicheng's eager gaze, Dong Ku smiled and nodded. "Among the Jews are not only scientists but also technicians and various talents. Recruiting students will allow them to learn and help build the armory, with the Jews as their teachers. The defense is not a problem; currently, no one can find the place."

"Very well. Since you have such a good place, recruiting people is a small matter. This can be handled by Du Fei and Li Kaishan. Du Fei is big-picture oriented and considers the overall situation, while Li Kaishan is meticulous despite his rough appearance. He is quite strategic."