Crossing the World
LII - Earth (Karen)

The atmosphere of the sea around the artificial island seemed very calm, as if it had authorized my meeting with earth representatives for the second time. The South Sea is not always bad all year. The waves will turn violent by the end of the year plus about two or three months at the beginning of the year. So, in the months like now the waves will turn out to be very calm.

Sadly people do not know about this reality and regard the South Sea as a ferocious sea that always takes its toll if anyone dares to challenge it.

Since six o'clock in the morning the Aura has detected several super-large ships sailing towards us. Their own arrival had already been confirmed since last night by the time they officially sent an email to Aura. However, the amount that is quite a lot is really beyond my expectations.

Well, maybe they intend to instantly transport all the VR units at once. I mean, the number alone is two hundred thousand units placed in fifty thousand containers. No wonder they were carrying more than four transport ships.

Let's count it roughly. If one ship could load up to ten thousand containers, then there should be at least five container ships coming to transport them all at once. However, it was rare for someone to choose to rent five giant ships and drop them off in one go. Usually they will only use one ship and take it several times on the road.

Renting a boat is not the same as renting a car. The costs to be incurred can make the rich who are not too busy falling into poverty overnight.

Well .. actually it's none of my business.

For the type of ship itself, there are actually several types that can be used to transport these VR units.

First is the cargo ship. This type of ship usually stores their cargo inside the middle hull. The position of the bridge can be placed in three locations. Front bridge, middle bridge, and rear bridge. I personally think the rear bridge is the most widely used in cargo ships. Although it can be used to load containers, I think the capacity will be underused properly. Cargo ships themselves are usually used to transport something that can be stacked and has high resistance. For example, pieces of iron, wood, fertilizer, and so forth.

Second is the ship roll on-roll off. This type of ship can transport cargo complete with transport vehicles such as container trucks into it. It looks easier at the time of loading and unloading at the port, but its efficiency in utilizing the empty space inside the ship is not good.

Third is the barge. Well, usually this ship is used to transport sand and coal. So, although it can be used to transport other loads, I do not recommend it.

The last is a ship that is specifically made to transport containers, container ships. It's definitely a lot easier if we put a VR device into a container and transport it on this type of ship. As such, I could guess that all those large ships must have been container ships before I could even see them with my own eyes.

After two hours of waiting, I could finally see the silhouette of a ship far away at the end of the horizon. The aura might have made contact with them and provided the exact location where they should anchor.

In contrast to anchoring to the dock, anchoring means the ship will dock around the port and lower the anchor so that their ship does not move carried by the current. This is usually done by ships when the port is full or when they will dock for a long period of time. It could also be because the cargo they will be loading has not yet come. Yes, there are a variety of reasons why they should do so. However, the main reason is always related to money.

Know it? Renting a port area to dock is very expensive. If you spend your time at the port, the company will suffer heavy losses. This is why ships often do anchor docking and only dock at the dock when they will do the loading and unloading.

Ah, speaking of ships, I once read some articles discussing the sailors themselves. At that time I wondered why their salaries were greater than those of workers who worked on land. Apparently, being a sailor is not as good as imagined.

When a ship sails, the crew works in shifts that are divided into three work shifts. Each person will work for eight hours a day which is also divided into two shifts. It depends on the rules of the ship itself, but usually there are no holidays at all.

The first shift is eight twelve. That is, the person who gets this shift will work at eight to twelve. Both morning and night. The second shift is zero four. That is, they work from twelve pm to four in the morning, as well as at twelve pm to four in the afternoon. The last shift is four eights.

I told you before that they don't have holidays. Yes, this depends a lot on the rules on the ship itself. But basically that is how it is. They can only take time off when taking time off.

Are there any other holidays? The answer seems to exist. At the time of anchoring.

Yes, only at the time of anchoring. When the ship docked at the dock, the ship was in a state of unloading. Obviously they have to work at that point.

At least that's what I know only from articles on the internet. I don't know if that's true or not.

As the ships began to look bigger, I was surprised by their size. Rather than being referred to as a ship, it seems more suitable if I refer to it as a walking island. Yes, it is half the size of an artificial island. It's beyond a doubt.

The portable dock we set up on the artificial island will obviously not be able to accommodate such a large ship. Fortunately, the warehouse used to store VR equipment was separate from the island. So, we can load it immediately when the ships do anchor. I'm sure loading and unloading won't take too long.

It should be like that. However, reality is not as beautiful as I imagined.

It took them two hours just to anchor in the right position. Yep! Two hours just to park one giant ship and there are five ships that are similar in size to each other! It took at least ten hours just to park and lock the position of the ship so as not to change due to currents and wind.

Well, let's leave everything to Aura. Instead, I'll go back to having a discussion with an annoying person for the second time. It seems that I also have to prepare a guest room for him. There should have been a special room inside the ship he was on, but it would have seemed impolite if I had not prepared it here.

In addition to the five transport ships that came here, there was a small ship that only weighed about five thousand gross tonnage-gross tonnage. Due to its small size, the ship could dock at the portable dock of the artificial island without any problems.

After spending about an hour just to put the ship in the right position and successfully anchored safely, three human figures began to descend the stairs and set foot on the artificial island.

I who had been informed by Aura about them had been standing not far from the ship for some time. This time I don't wear any armor. Instead, two cyborgs that were similar in shape to humans stood on my left and right, clutching a long-barreled weapon just to intimidate and ensure my safety. Both of them are controlled by Aura because honestly, my reflexes are not very good when compared to AI like him.

I slightly frowned when I saw the three of them step closer to me. Not because of their strange appearance or anything, but because only one person out of the three was a familiar figure.

The brunette girl who had been drunk all the time and made a mess at our first meeting was still there. This time it seemed that he was not carrying any strange items.

The figure standing to his left was a young man who might be around a dozen to twenty years old. His hair was black with a short haircut in the style of a soldier. His face and white color are typical of Asia.

The last person to walk to Tyraell's right was a young man with an age that might not be much different from the previous man. Her blond hair was cut in the army style as well. Both of his sea-blue eyes seemed to be returning my gaze. In just a glance, I could immediately guess that he was not a native. Maybe this guy is from Europe, Australia, or America who was sent here to collect information from us. One thing that is clear and most important of this man, he is perfect in the sense of his appearance. I'm sure there will be a lot of women who approach him once he appears in a crowded place.

Ah, dammit! If I knew it would be like this, I should have dressed up first!

Calm myself! I can't seem nervous in front of them. Take a few deep breaths to calm down.

Speaking of which, somehow the representatives from earth who met me up to this point have always been people under their thirties. Logically, this obviously makes no sense. However, let's put this matter aside for later.

I have to greet them as a welcome.

"Welcome back on my island."

I spoke in a pretty polite sentence, but not to the point of impressing my position under them. Yes, I must keep putting myself in an equal position so that they do not demean me.

"Thank you." The brunette replied to me. "This is the second time we've met. I hope the meeting this time is as smooth as ever."

Hm?

Something is strange here. His attitude ... somehow he looks like a normal person in general. I mean, at our first meeting, his behavior was completely uncivilized. However, now he behaves like a representative he should.

Is there something that is holding him back? Or maybe the people next to him ...

"Ah, don't worry about them." The girl spoke again when she realized that my gaze turned to the two men standing beside her. "They're just my guards. So, I don't have to bother introducing her to you, do I?"

His last sentence .. Instead of a question, he seemed to be stressing that I should not know about them in the slightest.

Well ... doesn't mean I'm curious about them. I'm not curious at all. Yeah, they're not important, so there's no way I'm curious. Three repetitions should be enough to emphasize that I am not really curious.

"Then, let's move to a more closed place."

It was true that only the three of them set foot on this ground. But outside there are too many people. They could have used all sorts of tools to spy on me from the ship.

It would not hurt me if they did that. But personally, I don't like being a spectacle. Therefore, I led them into the core of the island, a place that no one else could enter without my permission.