825: Chapter 82 Should we buy a pile of rubble to fill the sea?

After dealing with those two big shots, Shen Yan handed the settlement tasks over to Chen Guangke and Wu Ya.

It was early autumn in Jinghai, with a cool breeze blowing.

But six thousand kilometers away in North Africa, the sun was blazing overhead.

Three days later.

A gulfstream g650 business jet landed at Menara Airport in Marrakesh, Morocco.

The cabin door opened, and a wave of dry air, mixed with heat and sand, rushed toward them.

Shen Yan put on his sunglasses, hiding his slightly tired eyes.

Chen Guangke followed behind, carrying two silver briefcases. He wiped sweat while complaining.

"Brother Yan, this place is too hot. It's practically a giant steamer."

"Instead of staying in Jinghai to count our money, why did we run to this godforsaken place to buy scrap mines?"

Shen Yan didn't explain, just tightened his linen shirt.

In this parallel world, the situation in North Africa was even more complex than before.

Deep within the Atlas Mountains, not only were minerals buried, but also the greed of various factions.

Outside the airport, a modified armored SUV had been waiting for a long time.

It was arranged through Ava Chen's connections with a local security company.

The driver was a local giant as dark as charcoal. He grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, and greeted them in broken Chinese.

"Boss Shen, welcome to the backyard of hell."

The car bumped along, leaving the exotic Jinghai center and heading toward the desolate red earth Gobi desert.

Along the way, they saw many armed pickup trucks with loaded weapons. In this territory, fists and bullets were the real hard currency.

The location of this auction was set in an underground fighting arena in the border town of "Olfa."

This was a lawless zone, a paradise for gold panners.

When they arrived at Olfa, dusk was already settling.

The so-called auction house was actually a huge, abandoned air-raid shelter.

The air was thick with the smell of cheap tobacco, sweat, and engine oil.

When Shen Yan brought Chen Guangke in, the place was already crowded.

There were Middle Eastern tycoons in white robes, European brokers puffing on cigars, and several cold-faced men who clearly had military backgrounds.

Everyone's gaze swept over the two young Eastern faces like vultures.

Scorn, curiosity, greed.

In their eyes, these delicate-skinned Asians were just fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

"Oh, isn't this Mr. Shen from Rock Technology?"

An effeminate voice drifted from a corner.

Shen Yan turned his head.

He saw a fat man wearing a floral shirt and a face full of flesh, hugging a seductive local woman while swirling a glass of whiskey.

It was Wang Dafat, the material supplier Shen Yan had turned away in Jinghai.

He hadn't expected this guy to come here trying his luck too.

"Mr. Wang, your business is quite broad, reaching all the way to Africa."

Shen Yan replied calmly and found a seat near the edge.

Wang Dafat sneered and deliberately raised his voice.

"That's right. Not like some people who, after gaining a little fame domestically, don't know their place and run to a place like this to court death."

"Mr. Shen, this isn't Jinghai. No one is going to indulge you here."

Shen Yan couldn't be bothered with this jumping clown. His gaze fell upon the electronic screen on the auction stage.

The mission location indicated by the system was within today's auction list.

Lot No. 7: Abandoned Copper Mine in Atlas Mountains K-9 Zone.

Starting bid: Fifty thousand US dollars.

Because the exploration report showed that the copper reserves in this area were depleted, what remained were only low-value associated ores, and the mining cost was extremely high.

It was basically a wasteland.

But on Shen Yan's retina, the system displayed another line of red annotation.

[High-purity Rhenium ore vein, estimated reserves: 80 tons.]

80 tons of Rhenium.

It was worth noting that the global annual Rhenium output was only a few dozen tons.

This was hardly a scrap mine; it was practically an ATM buried underground.

The auction soon began.

The first few rough gems and oil extraction rights saw fierce competition, with bids rising one after another.

Shen Yan kept his eyes closed, not even lifting an eyelid.

Chen Guangke was so nervous his palms were sweating, clutching the two boxes full of US dollar drafts tightly.

"Next up is Lot No. 7, the K-9 Zone Abandoned Copper Mine."

The auctioneer was a one-eyed old white man, who impatiently tapped his gavel.

"Although the copper is gone, this piece of land is big enough. Buying it back to use as a landfill or to build a secret base wouldn't be bad."

"Starting bid fifty thousand. Anyone interested?"

The hall fell silent.

No one was a fool. Who would spend money to buy a barren piece of land where birds wouldn't even nest?

That Wang Dafat even scoffed, waiting to see if some sucker would show up.

"Fifty thousand."

Shen Yan raised the paddle in his hand.

His voice wasn't loud, but it sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet hall.

All eyes immediately turned toward him.

Wang Dafat was stunned at first, then burst into a fit of wild laughter.

"Hahaha! What did I say? Boss Shen is indeed wealthy and generous, spending tens of thousands of dollars to buy a pile of scrap rocks to fill the sea?"

A scattered burst of chuckles echoed around them.

The auctioneer also hadn't expected someone to actually bid. He quickly raised his gavel, ready to strike, fearing the sucker might change his mind.

"Fifty thousand once, fifty thousand twice..."

"One hundred thousand."

A sudden voice interrupted the auctioneer's rhythm.

Shen Yan frowned slightly and looked in the direction of the sound.

The bidder was a blonde, blue-eyed white man sitting in the front row, wearing a meticulously tailored suit with a golden badge pinned to his chest.

That was the insignia of "prometheus Mining."

The world's largest monopoly giant in rare metals.

The white man turned to look at Shen Yan, a hint of mockery on his lips, his eyes full of provocation.

He didn't actually want the land.

But he recognized Shen Yan.

Rock Technology's recent moves in the semiconductor field had attracted the attention of Western capital.

Since it was something a Chinese person wanted, they absolutely could not let him obtain it easily.

This was their robber logic.

"Two hundred thousand."

Shen Yan raised his paddle again, his expressionless.

"Five hundred thousand."

The white man followed suit casually, even picking up his wine glass to take a sip.

The atmosphere in the hall became somewhat strange.

A piece of wasteland was being hyped up to ten times its price.

Wang Dafat's smile froze on his face; he couldn't quite understand this maneuver.

Chen Guangke grew anxious and whispered into Shen Yan's ear, "Brother Yan, this foreigner is doing this on purpose! He's trying to mess with your head!"

Shen Yan knew that, of course.

But he couldn't stop.

If he showed any hesitation, the other party would genuinely think there was something fishy going on. Not only would the price skyrocket, but it might even attract more people to compete.

He had to cut the Gordian knot quickly.

"One million."

Shen Yan directly doubled the bid.

The white man paused for a moment, clearly not expecting this young man from H Country to be so aggressive.