pjbooks Chapter 9: The Treacherous Albert
Chapter 9: The Treacherous Albert
Time passed day by day.
Just when many gold prospectors were about to lose their tempers, the Bering Sea finally saw some clear skies.
Jason and Brent, who had eaten some fast food, arrived at the beach early.
"Brent, go to the coordinates from last time," Jason called out to Brent.
Brent thumped his chest and grinned, "No problem."
The Lillian headed straight for its destination!
On the shore, Albert and Ada, who arrived late, watched the departing Lillian and, urged by Albert, followed closely behind.
"Dad, this isn't right," Ada couldn't help but advise.
Albert glared at Ada, gripping the helm: "What's wrong with that? This is my mine, the gold inside is mine!"
Jason would definitely yell at you if he knew.
"It's alright. Your grandfather taught me a lesson back then, and now I'll teach Jason another one." As he spoke, Albert's smile became intriguing.
Ada slapped herself across the face, feeling both disgust for her father's behavior and a moment of silent sympathy for her younger brother's impending doom.
Jason, already dressed and ready on the boat, returned to the gold mining spot from before. After testing some equipment, he fell backward into the sea.
The Bering Sea was calm today, and the sun's rays improved visibility on the seabed considerably.
After landing, following the previous reconnaissance, Jason walked along while speaking into the walkie-talkie: "Brent, southeast, slowly move the ship, just like last time."
While carefully navigating the boat, Brent communicated with Jason over the walkie-talkie.
The moment Jason saw the detection results, he told Brent to stop the ship.
This time, the detection range was a full eight meters. Although the depth did not increase, it still greatly increased Jason's detection speed.
Brent on the ship kept checking the equipment and staring intently at the sea. When he looked around again, his face instantly turned grim.
The sight of "Albert" sprayed on the ship made Brentton feel uneasy.
"Jason, your father is here," Brent said, his mouth dry as he held the walkie-talkie.
"Who?! My father Albert?!" Jason's voice came from the seabed, then he suddenly realized what had happened that morning when his brother Ada had hesitated to speak.
A few hundred meters away from Jason, Albert watched as the Lillian, which was already in operation, lowered its four sturdy anchors.
Having already surveyed the surrounding area, Jason surfaced from the seabed and, before even boarding the ship, saw his father, Albert, standing next to the excavator waving at him.
"Jason, let me teach you a lesson: the gold of the Bering Sea belongs to everyone!"
Albert's words made Jason laugh in anger, and he slapped the sea, sending up a high spray of water.
Although Jason was disgusted by Albert's situation, he really had no choice but to curse him inwardly for his lack of martial ethics.
Brent on the ship looked grim. Although he knew about the agreement between Jason and Albert, Albert was just taking what was offered, especially since it involved his share of the profits!
"Brent, we need to speed things up," Jason said to Brent, and then dived down again.
There's no need to argue; the most important thing now is to bring the gold up.
Detection range: 8 meters (upgradeable: 1 meter for every 100 ounces)
[Detection depth: 1 meter (upgradeable to 100 ounces, upgradeable to 1 meter)]
[Estimated weight: 241.1 ounces]
Upgradeable gold ounces: None
[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.]
Based on the detection results, Jason pointed the nozzle directly at the gold deposit.
Although they are family, Jason plans to earn his first pot of gold during this gold rush season, and he won't back down.
They exchanged tasks, and Brent quickly got to work using Jason's hand-drawn sketch of the underwater conditions.
After using the gold pump to extract all the gold from the areas that had been explored so far, Jason decided to give up on the remaining scattered gold.
After Jason surfaced again and, with Brent's help, removed his diving gear, he said to Brent, "Let's go, set sail, we're going to the Albert."
At this moment, it was already getting dark, but the Albert was illuminated as if it were daytime.
The excavator continued working, and each time the bucket went up and down, it created ripples on the sea surface.
The gold-digging boat uses an excavator for operation, so people don't need to go into the sea. The gold-bearing gravel scooped up from the bucket is directly put into the vibrating screen.
"Dad, Jason's here."
Ada, who was resting in her cabin, watched the Lillian approach and gloated over the walkie-talkie.
Albert didn't even reply, continuing to work with the excavator, unafraid of Jason's purpose.
"Jason, that's your father, you..." Brent hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.
Jason said irritably, "I'm here to eat."
What can he do? Fight? That's unrealistic.
Although the ship brought a lot of frozen food, the conditions were definitely not as comfortable as on the Gold Rush ship. Boarding the Albert was mainly for eating and taking a break.
Ada was already waiting by the Albert.
"Jason, you're not here to settle scores with Dad, are you?" Ada's face was full of ill intent.
"No, I came here to eat."
"Dad, are you happy to have me for dinner?"
Jason shouted, but the sound of the excavator drowned out his voice, and he received no response from Albert.
"Jason, how did you feel about the lesson your dad taught you today?"
Ada's face was mocking, hoping to see Jason's exasperated expression.
"Next time, I'll make the boat even faster," Jason promised.
"Ada, I know about your agreement with Jason, but you should also consider me," Brent protested.
Ada apologized and comforted Brent, and the three of them went into the cabin.
Leaning back in her chair, Ada relaxed considerably, while she heated up pizza and other food in the microwave.
The space on the gold panning boat was small, and various gold panning tools squeezed out any place to stand.
"Are you guys planning to keep making money tonight, or go back?" Ada muttered after taking a bite of the reheated pizza.
"Continue," Jason said succinctly.
Brent burst out laughing upon hearing this answer.
He no longer values the base salary; given Jason's current situation, the commission is far more than the base salary!
Once a gold dredging vessel sets sail, it usually stays at sea for about a week. Unless there is a major accident or storm, some gold dredging vessels would like to operate at sea indefinitely.
"Ada, come and take over," the voice on the walkie-talkie made Ada give Jason a bright smile.
Without saying much, Ada patted Jason on the shoulder and went out of the cabin to take over the shift.
"Let's go." Jason stood up abruptly and walked out of the cabin before his father arrived.
He had no intention of indulging Albert's perverse tastes.
"You brat!" Albert chuckled and cursed as he watched the Lillian sail away.
It was now completely dark, and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face anywhere.
On the Lillian, Jason and Brent were in their cabin, discussing something using the navigation equipment.
Brent didn't ask Jason why he wasn't making money in the same place. As long as Jason continued to succeed, he didn't care where he was.
After driving for about ten minutes, Jason stopped and decided to go into the sea to explore.
Jason probably ran out of luck, as he surfaced in less than half an hour. The gold content below was pitifully low; using a gold-absorbing boat to extract gold would probably not even cover the fuel costs.
He would stop every now and then, making notes in his notebook, and then determine the direction of the next probe based on his own detection capabilities.
Time and again, continuous exploration.
Brent on the ship wanted to go down, but Jason refused.