HLM -Chapter 1388 Those Planes, Those Ships

Little Wang threw up at a really bad moment—it wasn’t sick, it had been nauseated by the bitterness of the eye drops.

Gode couldn’t help laughing. Wang Bo said awkwardly, “My liger’s tongue has a bit of a problem. I just gave it medicine today. Let’s talk next door—I’ll have someone clean this up.”

The tycoon had come this time mainly to meet Wang Bo. Normally he had neither the opportunity nor a good excuse, so he took advantage of attending the boxing match to pay a visit.

Wang Bo generously took out some VIP box tickets and handed them to him, saying, “I saved a few tickets to give to friends. I’m sure you managed to buy tickets, but you probably couldn’t get these box seats.”

He definitely couldn’t—even as New Zealand’s richest man. The boxing arena had only been remodeled with fifty private boxes. Ten box tickets were in Wang Bo’s hands, and the remaining forty had been given by the International Boxing Federation to long-standing European and American clients.

In other words, these tickets were not sold to the public at all. To get them, you needed private connections.

Sure enough, when Gode received the box tickets, his face lit up with joy. “Wonderful! Looks like this trip wasn’t in vain. But this gift is very valuable—if you give it to me, what about your friends?”

Wang Bo said, “Aren’t you my friend? Actually, it’s mainly because the quantity is limited—the intrinsic value isn’t that high. With your net worth, you could book all the boxes.”

“Thank you, my friend. I’d actually prepared a gift for you as well, but now it seems a bit inadequate,” Gode said hesitantly.

Wang Bo replied, “You’re too polite. You even prepared a gift?”

Gode gestured for him to wait, then went out and opened the door. A man who looked like an assistant handed him a box.

When he returned, he passed the box to Wang Bo. Inside were several postcards, each printed with images of airplanes, ships, and the like.

Wang Bo flipped them over. On the back were phone numbers and email addresses.

“What’s this?” he asked.

Gode explained, “There’s a desert farm in Australia. You know the type—land where you can’t grow crops or raise livestock, so it’s basically useless.”

“About half a century ago, someone bought a huge tract of land and set up a farm there. He was clever and turned it into a sightseeing farm, collecting old warplanes, ships, and so on.”

“It turned out to be a stupid idea. Who would like those things? The farm’s performance was always poor, but the owner was stubborn and kept maintaining them.”

“Now the old farm owner has passed away. His son doesn’t like these things and has decided to sell them. I thought—Sunset Town might like them.”

Looking at the photos, Wang Bo asked, “Can the ships still be launched? Oh—sorry, I’ll just call and ask.”

“No problem. Actually, I know the general condition,” Gode said. “The planes can’t fly anymore, and the ships can’t go back into the water. They’re only suitable for visitors to tour.”

Wang Bo tapped the postcards with his finger and said, “There’s not much point in just touring them, but we could refurbish them and turn them into hotels and restaurants.”

The planes and ships were basically just empty shells, but the shells were large enough. As long as they were transported over and remodeled, they could be put to other uses.

The gift Gode brought was actually quite substantial. Wang Bo immediately arranged for Kidd to contact the Australian farm.

After lunch, Wang Bo reapplied ointment to Little Wang in his office.

This time Little Wang didn’t dare swallow anymore, and Zhuang Ding and the others didn’t dare stick out their tongues at Wang Bo asking for a taste either.

“Two bottles of eye drops cured so many foodies of their bad habits,” Wang Bo said as he put the drops away. “Using this stuff for eyes is really a waste.”

Little Wang squatted on the floor with its tongue drooping out. There was a basin underneath, and it was dripping saliva drip, drip.

After a minute, Wang Bo nodded. “Alright, close your mouth.”

Having learned its lesson, Little Wang still kept its tongue hanging out and resolutely refused to pull it back in—clearly showing how badly it had been tormented by the bitter eye drops that morning.

Just as Wang Bo was about to close its mouth for it, Kidd knocked and came in. “Boss, the communication is finished.”

“How did it go?” Wang Bo asked.

Kidd said, “The farm has been selling off items for a while. Some tank and armored vehicle models have already been bought. What’s left now is mostly the big stuff.”

Wang Bo nodded. “That’s perfect. Big stuff is exactly what we need.”

Tanks and armored vehicles looked nice but weren’t practical—the space was too small to remodel.

Kidd continued, “The biggest item now is the hull of a ten-thousand-ton cruise ship. It’s also the most expensive—the owner wants 1.6 million Australian dollars.”

The Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar were roughly on par, with an exchange rate close to one-to-one. The two countries are close, people travel back and forth frequently, and you can use NZD in Australia and AUD in New Zealand.

“One point six million? He’s dreaming. Go on—we’ll bargain later,” Wang Bo nodded.

To someone who didn’t know how to use it, a ten-thousand-ton ship was completely useless. You couldn’t even scrap it easily—under Australian environmental regulations, disposal alone would cost at least two hundred thousand.

“There’s also a four-thousand-ton cruise ship with decent interiors, asking one million Australian dollars. And there are some bombers and fighter planes, mostly World War II models. The most expensive is a Me-323 Nazi transport plane, priced at four hundred thousand,” Kidd continued.

Wang Bo shook his head. “Tell that idiot to be realistic. Two million for both ships and all the planes, bundled together. If not, forget it.”

Kidd went to contact them. He later returned with his phone in hand. “They want to talk to you directly.”

Wang Bo set aside the boxing match logistics plan, took the phone, and said, “Hello, sir. What would you like to discuss?”

“You’re the decision-maker? You want to buy those big things, right? But the price your subordinate offered is outrageous. At that price, I might as well keep them and sell them as scrap!” The man on the phone fired off words like a machine gun, speaking very fast.

Wang Bo couldn’t be bothered to argue. “Then why don’t you sell them as scrap? As far as I know, no scrapyard would take on that kind of business. Be realistic, my friend—your price is what’s truly outrageous.”

The other party started rambling, saying the planes were his grandfather’s life’s work, that his grandfather began collecting them right after World War II, nearly exhausting the family fortune, and that selling them so cheaply would be unfilial.

Wang Bo couldn’t help interrupting. “It sounds like you’re not interested in this deal, then—”

“Two million is too low. Two ships and four bombers—how about 2.2 million?” the other party said quickly.

Wang Bo didn’t want to waste words. “Two point two million. You charter ships and deliver them to me. If I can see everything within half a month, I’ll give you another two hundred thousand.”

“I deliver them myself?!” the other party shouted. But after hearing the rest, he quickly added, “That’s no problem at all! It’s a deal—2.4 million, delivery included!”