Unlike conventional submarines, the Abyss Dragon was able to move up and down or navigate underwater with the help of four propulsion shafts. It made very little noise when it traveled underwater, so it didn't cause damage to the marine environment or drive away marine life. In this way, it allowed the people inside the boat to have closer contact with the marine life outside the boat.
This was a big advantage when the yacht hit the blue whale. The whale was about to surface, and as its body moved through the water, it created a current. There was no sound, and due to the whale's thick layer of blubber, it felt no pain when it collided with the boat. In this case, the whale did not notice anything unusual, so it continued to slowly rise to the water's surface.
The Abyss Dragon had an automatic balancing design, so the yacht quickly recovered its balance after shaking in the current. The pilot steered the boat away from the blue whale and headed into the distance. At this time, Li Du looked back and saw the entire blue whale, and its size gave him an even stronger shock!
The yacht continued prowling in the sea, and Li Du and his men found another blue whale. This blue whale was much smaller than the big one from before and was about the same size as the Abyss Dragon. It swam between two bigger blue whales with its tail waving up and down through the sea in a relaxed manner.
Li Du realized that they had met a family of whales with a female in front, a male behind, and a small, protected whale in the middle. The yacht followed the whale family as it swam through the sea. Li Du and Sophie were close enough to the blue whales to have a good look and observe their journey.
In addition to the blue whales, they met a southern right whale. The southern right whale was smaller than the giant blue whale, but it was still about 15 or 16 meters long and looked much bigger than the Abyss Dragon.
The whale was a baleen whale with a highly curved lower jaw and a black baleen tip on its mouth. As it moved through the water, more than two meters of baleen was exposed to catch plankton and krill floating in the water.
The blue whale was large and calm, while the southern right whale was much more active. The right whale they encountered occasionally floated to the surface to breathe. Instead of a straight up and down spout, its spout was shaped like a "V." It was often mistaken for two spouts when not seen from the front.
When the blue whales spotted the Abyss Dragon, they only glanced at it and then continued swimming on as a family. However, the southern right whale marked the Abyss Dragon as its target, prompting the pilot to hurry and try to get away from it. He was afraid that the whale would strike the yacht.
During this time, the pilot also comforted Li Du and Sophie over the intercom. "Stay calm. This yacht has quick floating technology. If the yacht cannot withstand the attack from the whale, it will automatically float to the sea's surface."
Li Du responded, "Brother, we'd better get out of here quick."
In order to avoid the southern right whale's attack, the Abyss Dragon maneuvered to the surface. As a result, the whale rose to the surface of the water as well. Its huge tail fin was as big as an airplane wing and beat against the water. Afterwards, the southern right whale leaped out of the water and fell back with a giant thud!
Li Du stared, dumbfounded. The whales were indeed the largest animals in the natural world, and their every move was amazing. Li Du could only think of the leaping whale as majestic, beautiful, and full of power!
After spending the morning in the ocean, the group had lunch at the dock's restaurant. After refueling, they returned to the sea for the afternoon. Instead of going whale watching though, they set out to explore the ocean in depth.
Initially, Li Du had been worried about the yacht's limitations and did not dare to dive too deeply into the water. However, after a few hours of experience, he found that the yacht was very reliable and had no problems, even after repeated collisions with whales. That give him confidence, so in the afternoon he consulted with the pilot and began a deep dive.
At the deepest point, they had submerged more than 100 meters. The ocean was pitch dark. Some of the fish and shrimp were drawn toward light, so they found the light of the yacht and swam over to it, appearing in the yacht's light column. The scene amazed Li Du and Sophie.
The body of water next to Sydney was the South Pacific Ocean. Due to the harsh natural environment, many maritime disasters had occurred there throughout history. Many ships sank in that part of the sea. The pilot knew the coordinates of a shipwreck, so he navigated the yacht to it, and gave Li Du and Sophie a tour of the wreck.
It was seven o'clock when they finally got back to the hotel. Li Du was going to ask Cole if he had any plans for the evening, but Steve called again and invited him to dinner, so Li Du willingly agreed. He took Sophie and the four little kids to the hotel restaurant in addition to Steve and Elson.
The restaurants at the Four Seasons were off limits to pets, so Li Du and Sophie had never brought them along for dinner. However, Elson negotiated with the lobby manager in a low voice, and the lobby manager smiled and agreed to let them into the restaurant, offering them a private room.
As they walked toward the booth, they met Bradley, who greeted them and suggested a few dishes. Li Du knew he was trying to please Steve, so he did not say anything. However, Bradley said, "Li, I wanted to know something about Lightning Ridge. Is it convenient to have dinner together? Dinner's on me tonight."
Listening to him, Li Du knew Bradley wanted to use the meal as an opportunity to talk to Steve. He also knew that Steve had no interest in Bradley, so he shook his head and said, "I'm very sorry. Let's talk about this next time. Steve and I have something to discuss during dinner tonight."
Bradley did not give up and said, "How about I join you all after you have discussed your matter?"
"I'm really sorry, Mr. Bolton. Let's have dinner together tomorrow," said Li Du.
Even though Bradley was very persistent, when Li Du refused, he finally stopped pestering them and had no choice but to walk away.
Li Du and the others went into their private room to order food, and Steve asked them about their day. After exchanging pleasantries, Steve asked, "Li, I heard you were collecting black opal in Australia?"
Li Du nodded. "Yes, I have mines on the other side of Lightning Ridge. I have been staying there for a while looking for gems."
Steve pondered a moment, and then he asked, "Can you take me with you?"