"Now I pronounce: Citizen Albert Schneider, while using his own purchased firearm to shoot at empty bottles within his shipyard did not violate the criminal law, the late-night gunfire disturbed numerous citizens and caused certain adverse effects. Therefore, he is sentenced to a security warning and a fine of 5000 cruzeiros reais! Court adjourned!"
As the judge's gavel banged, Zhang Hainuo finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was the local court in El Salvador, where just four days ago, Schneider was arrested by local police for "late-night gunfire." Fortunately, Deputy Mayor Hydewoot, of German descent, came forward to speak for him. Besides disturbing some citizens, the incident did not bring any other losses to the local area. Although 5000 cruzeiros reais were not a small sum, spending money to resolve the issue was undoubtedly the best choice for Zhang Hainuo and his group.
Just a week ago, Zhang Hainuo was still hesitating whether to tell this Brazilian-German immigrant his true identity. Now, his concerns were completely gone. On that night four days ago, Thomas and seven other crew members suddenly attacked the sailors responsible for monitoring them. In a moment of desperation, Giselle repeatedly fired the pistol she carried, knocking down three sailors before being hit by a wrench thrown by them. Thomas and the others grabbed the gun and rushed to the deck, injuring two more sailors along the way. Before that, all the gunfire had occurred inside the cabin, so Zhang Hainuo and the others were unaware.
Subsequently, Simon arrived in time with reinforcements, and the two sides exchanged fire on the gangway leading to the deck—this was the gunfire Zhang Hainuo and the others heard. Thomas only fired two shots, and the pistol he snatched from Giselle ran out of ammunition. Faced with sailors armed with pistols and rifles, he had no choice but to retreat to the lower deck with the remaining crew members. Alert Simon immediately ordered the Quick Number to sail away from the coast, and eventually used their numerical and weapons advantage to quell the small-scale riot. Four crew members, including Thomas, were killed, one seriously injured crew member died, and three were detained. On the sailors' side, one person died, and three were injured. Fortunately, their gunshot wounds were not too serious, and they could be handled by two military doctors.
Before the police arrived, Zhang Hainuo and the others, with Otto's help, took the submarine into the secret submarine base converted from Dock No. 3. Just as they were worried that the Brazilian police would search the shipyard, gunfire erupted again, but this time it was inside the shipyard—when the police stormed into the shipyard, 54-year-old Albert Schneider was shooting empty bottles placed against the wall in the yard with his revolver in one hand and a bottle in the other.
The police easily subdued Schneider, and the incident concluded with "Albert Schneider, owner of Schneider Shipyard, discharged his personal firearm in the yard while intoxicated." Until the court pronounced the sentence, although Schneider had not told Zhang Hainuo in person why he did it, Zhang Hainuo already had a good guess.
After the judge pronounced the sentence, Schneider was released on the spot, and he immediately shook hands and hugged his relatives and friends who came to support him one by one. The Florence family also came, and everyone seemed satisfied with the outcome—just a few months ago, a Brazilian youth who was also drunk and fired randomly at home was sentenced to three months in prison.
After greeting his relatives and friends, Schneider walked towards Zhang Hainuo, first shaking hands and then giving him a big hug.
"Thank you, Mr. Link!"
Schneider said this because Zhang Hainuo had been running to Hydewoot's place these days. Although the somewhat strict deputy mayor did not accept his gifts, he eventually agreed to plead for Schneider. Now that the verdict was announced, the outcome of this case, which was very similar to the situation a few months ago, was entirely different. Hydewoot's role in this was obvious.
"Don't say that, we are all on the same side!" Zhang Hainuo said with a hidden meaning.
"Hehehe..." Schneider laughed meaningfully. In this situation, it was not convenient to say more, so he walked outside with his relatives.
At this time, Florence, who had been following her parents, stopped in front of Zhang Hainuo.
"Mr. Link, I really don't know how to thank you! Without your help, my uncle..."
Before the sentence was pronounced, Zhang Hainuo had been focused on the judge, so he didn't notice this beautiful and carefree German-Brazilian girl. Today, she was wearing a long dress rarely seen on her, although it covered her legs with beautiful curves, it couldn't hide her ample upper body. Her chest, which rose and fell with every breath, always sparked men's imagination when she spoke.
"Florence Miss, don't say that. Mr. Schneider helped us a lot before, and we are intimate partners, mutual help is only natural!"
"Anyway, thank you!" Florence smiled faintly. "Mr. Link, our family really wants to invite you over, firstly to express our gratitude to you, and secondly, to let you taste the culinary skills of our top chef!"
"Top chef?" Zhang Hainuo smiled and looked at Florence. This German-Brazilian girl, who was dressed as a lady today, didn't look like a chef at all. Perhaps a tour guide would be a more fitting job for him.
"What? Don't believe it?" Florence almost crossed her hands on her waist, but when she thought of her attire today, she gave up on her signature move.
Zhang Hainuo was already used to this, because whenever he had to go out, he would usually bring this Portuguese translator with him, so they had spent quite a bit of time together.
"I dare not! I just don't know how many people Miss Florence can accommodate at home. Since it's a treat, we should also invite Otto and the others to join us!"
"No problem! In Brazil, it's common for several families to gather for dinner and dancing. Even if there are thirty or forty people, it's not a problem!" After speaking, Florence turned and walked quickly towards the door. She wore a delicate bow on her hair today, and a small beige hat on her head, which matched her long dress and looked very pleasing to the eye, only her way of walking was a bit unusual...
Watching Florence's back, Zhang Hainuo shook his head with a smile. At this moment, he thought of Anna again. Was she still waiting for him at the Fink Manor? Now that U148 had been settled, and the land was about to be approved, it meant that Zhang Hainuo's return to Germany was very close. What they needed to wait for now was for the Quick Number to return to the port.
On that terrible night, Simon took the Quick Number out of the port and did not appear at the Salvador dock until the afternoon of the next day. However, he only sent a reliable sailor to report the situation to Zhang Hainuo and Hessen. Since Schneider's matter had not been resolved yet, Hessen decided to go on board personally to handle it, while Zhang Hainuo stayed behind to prevent this well-intentioned German immigrant from suffering imprisonment.
Simon took the Quick Number out of the port again, and until now, he had not returned. Zhang Hainuo had not asked Hessen how he did it, but Hessen told him that according to the confession of the last three sailors, at the beginning, only two sailors were eager for the treasure. Under their instigation, everyone felt that they should get a share of the wealth, but after Thomas requested a share from Zhang Hainuo and was rejected, the two sailors loudly claimed that the German sailors would soon kill them to keep the secret, so it would be better to "strike first." Eventually, all the crew members, including Thomas, got involved and almost caused a disaster!
Zhang Hainuo felt helpless and disappointed about all this, and at the same time, he conducted a self-examination—if he had been firmer when Thomas and the others demanded a share of the treasure, he could have prevented what happened later. Fortunately, this time, Schneider, the former German old seaman, showed his love for his homeland and the wit of an old seaman.
What also comforted Zhang Hainuo was that despite this adverse event, the emotions and morale of the crew were not greatly affected. After the approval of the land by the Salvador city government, Zhang Hainuo and Hessen convened a meeting of all officers and crew members, where they announced the second bonus distribution: each crew member and officer received $3000 to $3500, and everyone's share in the shipyard was determined. Afterwards, they decided to leave a third of the people to guard the submarine base and shipyard, with Otto and Wolf commanding them together. The rest followed Zhang Hainuo and Hessen aboard the Quick Number back to Germany. Their first priority of this trip was to bring everyone's families to Brazil—even though not everyone liked Brazil, they would soon realize how harsh the environment in their home country was after returning to Germany.