pjbooks Chapter 101: The Mining Scam
Chapter 101: The Mining Scam
The next morning, Cass was already waiting for Jason at the door with his camera.
While eating breakfast, Jason said helplessly, "Cass, there's no need to rush. I'll call later to confirm the time before you start filming."
"Jason, just eat breakfast and pretend I don't exist."
Cass replied, then picked up the camera and started filming; clearly Jason's words had no effect on him.
Jason ignored him and quietly ate his breakfast.
After breakfast, Jason took out his phone and dialed old Bourne directly.
"Old Bourne, how's it going? Have they reached an agreement over there?"
"Okay, no problem. I'll be there in half an hour."
He put the tray back in the dining room, grabbed a bottle of cold drink, put on his baseball cap and sunglasses, waved to Cass, and said, "Let's go."
With a press of the accelerator, the car sped off, and in half an hour we arrived at Bourne's mine.
Jason jumped out of the car and greeted, "Hey, old Bourne!"
"Alright, let's get going." Old Bourne, who had been waiting at the mine, opened the car door and got in.
Looking at Cass, who was sitting in the passenger seat carrying the photographer, Jason said, "Cass, why don't you switch seats with old Bourne? We'll need the old man to give us directions later."
Old Bourne waved his hand dismissively, saying, "It's alright, just drive it the way I tell you in a bit."
"Alright, let's go then."
Since Bourne had said so, Jason didn't hesitate. He got in the car and stepped on the gas after Bourne pointed out the direction.
They sped along, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The tires bounced constantly on the gravel road.
A path worn into the ground by tires could be vaguely seen through the sparse bushes.
Jason complained, "Old Bourne, how long has it been since a car drove on this road? It's overgrown with weeds."
If it weren't for the fact that the weeds on the road were not as tall as those on the sides, and the marks on the gravel road, Jason would hardly have recognized him.
Bourne sat in the back seat, smoking a cigar, his body swaying with the car's movements.
"Alright, hurry up and start," old Bern said irritably.
After more than an hour of continuous bumpy travel, some changes finally appeared before our eyes.
Among the sparse bushes, some mechanical equipment could be vaguely seen, especially the professional ore washing machine, which indicated that they had arrived at their destination.
When the car came to a stop, old Bourne got out, rubbing his back, and nodded to old Enx's four children as a greeting.
Pointing to Jason getting out of the car, Old Bourne said directly, "This is the boss who came to inspect the mine. You can communicate directly with him if you have any issues; don't worry about me."
Jason extended his hand in greeting, saying, "Hello, just call me Jason."
Hello, Nina.
"Kress"
Glenn
Ronaldo
There were two men and two women, and it was unclear who was older or younger. Jason didn't care about that; all he needed to know was whether the mine in front of him was still worth mining.
We had a brief discussion, especially with Cass, who was carrying the camera and we needed to discuss his on-screen presence with them.
Glenn readily agreed, while the other three frowned, their eyes gleaming, but they did not refuse.
Jason asked, "Gentlemen, do you have any relevant reports?"
Glenn handed Jason the prepared materials directly; they were very detailed, indicating that he had come prepared.
There is a water source, mining equipment, and the geological mining is relatively simple.
After quickly glancing through the documents in his hand, Jason pointed to the mining washing machine in the mine that had already stopped operating and said, "Mind if I take a look?"
"Of course, you can do whatever you want."
Glenn was the one speaking; the other three remained silent, appearing quite indifferent.
Jason smiled and shook his head, glanced at the other three, and walked towards the area where mining was already underway.
Although construction has stopped, it is still evident that the site was once well-planned, with water storage tanks, material storage areas, and waste disposal areas all in good order.
I took a quick look at the equipment, which I don't know how long it had been shut down. Although some parts were rusty, it wasn't a big problem.
After activating his detection abilities, Jason couldn't help but laugh as he walked, finally understanding the real reason why the mine was being sold.
Detection range: 15 meters (upgradeable: 1 meter for every 100 ounces)
[Detection depth: 23 meters (upgradeable to 100 ounces, or 1 meter higher)]
[Estimated weight: 2.5 ounces]
[Upgradeable gold ounces: 443.35 ounces]
[Note: Gold does not absorb energy; it is only used for upgrading purposes, and its value remains unaffected.]
[Note: Only gold discovered through exploration using one's own methods is of useful value.]
Given the current detection range, finding only 2.5 ounces of gold in such a large area is hardly considered exceptionally barren.
After walking several hundred meters more in the direction of the excavation, Jason shook his head in exasperation.
The first mining farm yielded a bargain, but this one showed us that not every mining farm offers such opportunities.
Although he already knew the result, he still pretended to dig a hole with a shovel and took out a lot of sand and gravel to take samples.
I rinsed it with a gold pan and then poured it directly onto the ground.
When Jason returned to the car, old Bourne asked, "How was it?"
Jason shook his head and said indifferently, "Let's go, I'm not watching anymore, it's boring."
Kress stood in front of Jason, his face grim, blocking his way. "Wait, what do you mean? We've been waiting here since early this morning, and you're just going to turn around and leave? Are you playing us for a fool?!"
Jason glanced at the woman in front of him, smiled, and said nothing, intending to walk around her.
Another woman, Nina, also acted as if Jason wasn't allowed to leave until he explained himself, and directly blocked his way.
The only one who seemed relatively normal was Glenn. As for the other Ronaldo, he was glaring at Jason with an unfriendly expression, just like the two women.
Seeing the two men blocking Jason's path, Bourne roared, "What do you think you're doing! Is this how old Enx taught you!"
Nina pressed on, "Mr. Byrne, you owe us an explanation. We've waited here for so long, and you're just going to leave after a short while? Isn't that a bit unfair?"
Glenn asked, "Mr. Jason, is it because we need to conduct further investigation, or is it due to the price?"
Jason squinted and asked, "You really don't know why I'm leaving?"
His eyes swept across the room. Apart from Glenn, who frowned and looked confused, the other three had shifty eyes and dared not look Jason in the eye.
"There are some things I don't want to say directly, but that doesn't mean I don't know them!" With that, he threw the documents he had just placed on the hood onto the ground, looking at them with a mocking smile.
Old Bourne keenly sensed something was wrong from the looks in their eyes, and his expression instantly turned grim.
Glenn frowned, puzzled, and asked, "Mr. Jason, what do you mean by that? Could you explain?"
Jason thought he had made himself clear, but he didn't expect there would be someone so stubborn.
Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Jason simply assumed that he didn't know.
Of the four people, three knew the truth and one didn't. Jason wasn't interested in what was going on between them.
Jason said calmly, "Mr. Glenn, you shouldn't ask me. Ask them and you'll get the answer."
These words instantly enraged Nina, who turned on her with a look of disgust and began to curse.
"If you can't afford it, don't buy it. You're wasting our time. Get lost, your mine doesn't welcome you."
Jason paused, a half-smile playing on his lips, and said, "Are you sure you want to talk to me like that?"
Jason originally didn't want to meddle, since he wouldn't get into any trouble.
Jason doesn't care who got scammed.
But the woman's tone made him very unhappy!
"You think I'm too young to see through your tricks?!"
"Do you think that just because someone buys your mining farm, you can hand over your documents and they'll believe you?!"
"Your mine has been completely mined out, and you think I won't notice after you backfill it?!"
The three resounding rhetorical questions caused the faces of the men, who had been so self-righteous and filled with hatred, to change drastically.
"Don't talk nonsense!" Ronald approached Jason, threatening him in a chilling tone, "If our mine can't be sold because of you, you'd better watch your step!"
"Ha~" Jason chuckled, pointing to the camera on Cass's shoulder, "Watch closely, the camera's filming. You're going to be famous worldwide."
As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions on their faces instantly turned ugly.
Before the others could react, Jason immediately picked up the phone and started making a call.
"Hey Anna, it's me, Jason."
"I've been threatened, and it's a life-threatening threat. Oh, and it's been filmed."
"Okay, that makes things easier. We can just file a lawsuit."
He glanced at the group of people whose faces looked grim, and laughed, "I'm not short of money, I don't need compensation, I just want the maximum sentence."
After hanging up, Jason dialed the number again.
"Hey, Dolino, it's me, Jason."
"I've been threatened. You need to come pick me up from the Enkes Mine. It's not far southeast of our mine."
"Yes, take the helicopter, bring the equipment."
After hanging up the phone, Jason looked at the group of people in front of him who were furious but dared not make a move, and shook his head. "Look at you, what should have been a simple matter has become so complicated by you all."
After saying that, before they could react, he picked up the document he had just thrown on the ground again.
"This is evidence!" she said, then turned to Cass and said, "Cass, make sure you take good pictures. Take pictures of this document one by one, so you don't accuse me of switching it later."
Ronald's facial muscles twitched, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "What do you want?!"
Jason smiled but didn't say anything.
Old Bourne, who had been standing by the car, was already looking very angry. He was panting heavily and roared, "Enough! Haven't you embarrassed us enough?! How did Old Enx raise such a bunch of spendthrifts?!"
As for Glenn, his eyes were fixed on the siblings in front of him. "Don't you owe me an explanation?!"
He had always wanted to mine gold, but little did he know that it was all a scam!
"Explain what? What kind of explanation do you want?"
"Exactly, it's not like we won't give you a share of the profits if we sell the mine."
······
Jason wasn't interested in the noise the group was making. After Old Bourne and Cass got in the car, he headed straight home.
Old Bourne said in a hoarse voice, "Jason, I'm sorry, I didn't expect..."
Before she could finish speaking, Jason interrupted her, "Alright, stop worrying about it. It's not your fault, and besides, you didn't know these people would act this way."
"That's what they say, but..."
Jason waved his hand, interrupting, "Let's not talk about this anymore. I need to get back quickly, or those guys will get desperate and cause trouble."
At this moment, Jason truly regretted not bringing a security guard with him.