220: Chapter 220 Trying to fool me? Let's play along first.

Inside the temporary headquarters office in the Beijing Suburbs.

The air was somewhat heavy.

Lin Zhou leaned back in his wide office chair.

He had already read the thin intelligence file on the desk three times.

The conclusion, dual-certified by the National Security Bureau and the Jinyiwei, left no room for doubt.

That "Earl Windsor" with his perfect Oxford accent was a complete fraud.

After Sterling suffered consecutive blows in business and diplomacy, he finally couldn't resist resorting to such underhanded, dirty tricks.

Lin Zhou picked up the encrypted phone on the desk.

He pressed a string of numbers he had just obtained from the intelligence.

The phone rang three times before being picked up.

The voice from the other end carried just the right amount of elegance and confusion.

"Mr. Lin?"

"This is Windsor."

Lin Zhou adjusted his sitting posture.

He deliberately slowed down his tone.

"Earl, sorry for the intrusion."

"Regarding the map you provided yesterday, I had a long meeting with my core team."

There was a very brief pause in the breathing on the other end.

Arthur's hand holding the phone tightened slightly.

He forced himself to suppress the urgency in his voice.

"So, what is Mr. Lin's conclusion?"

Lin Zhou didn't answer immediately.

He deliberately made a rustling sound of flipping paper against the microphone.

A full ten seconds passed.

"Your map is indeed very attractive."

"But."

Lin Zhou emphasized his tone.

"This involves a transaction of tens of millions of dollars, as well as subsequent infrastructure investment that could reach billions."

"My think tank believes that relying solely on a century-old parchment map is too high a risk."

"We consulted geologists for a preliminary assessment."

"They believe that the theory of an igneous rock cap existing beneath Bir Tawil is theoretically untenable."

A layer of fine sweat broke out on Arthur's forehead.

His brain worked rapidly, and he immediately brought out the rhetoric he had memorized perfectly.

"Mr. Lin, modern science is not omniscient."

"If modern exploration technology could really discover that oil field easily, it wouldn't be your turn to take over."

"My grandfather's notes record the special geological movements in that area in detail."

"You are welcome to believe your old-fashioned geologists."

"But you will also miss an opportunity for your country to leap into becoming a super energy power."

Arthur's tone carried thirty percent arrogance and seventy percent regret.

He played the part of a fallen noble, eager for cash but self-importantly aloof, to perfection.

Lin Zhou listened on this end, sneering in his heart.

His acting was indeed quite good.

It would be a waste of talent if he didn't go win an Oscar.

Lin Zhou feigned a somewhat hesitant tone.

"Earl, please understand my difficulties."

"The country has just been established, and every penny in the treasury must be spent where it counts most."

"We cannot pay for an illusory legend."

"Unless..."

Lin Zhou deliberately drew out his voice.

"You can provide more direct and powerful evidence."

Arthur's heart skipped a beat.

More direct evidence?

Where was he supposed to find that?

This was a complete scam from the start.

Being able to produce such a realistic parchment map had already taken everything the team behind him had.

He cleared his throat.

"Mr. Lin, the map itself is the greatest evidence."

"I can give you two more days to consider."

"If you really don't believe it, I can only take it to find other buyers who know its value."

"Sorry for the intrusion."

Arthur decisively hung up the phone.

He threw the phone on the table and leaned back on the hotel sofa, panting heavily.

It was over.

Lin Zhou's tone just now was full of suspicion.

These self-made dictators were suspicious to the core.

Once suspicion arose, the deal was basically dead.

He had to contact the boss immediately and prepare to execute the retreat plan.

...

On this end of the phone.

Lin Zhou listened to the busy signal, casually tossing the phone on the table.

The fish has taken the bait.

The other party's current mental state was likely oscillating between hope and giving up.

The office door was pushed open.

Jack pushed his wheelchair inside.

"Lord, the communication has been encrypted and recorded. The positioning shows the other party is still in the hotel in Wangfujing and hasn't moved."

Lin Zhou nodded.

"Jack, how much available cash do we still have on hand?"

Jack immediately pulled up the financial data.

"Including the profits from the agricultural company and some newly arrived prepayments."

"Excluding the necessary operating funds, we still have over a billion."

Lin Zhou stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

"That's enough. Then we'll play with them for a bit."

He turned to look at Jack.

"I'm giving you a task."

"Within three days, I want you to find someone to forge an exploration journal."

Jack was stunned for a moment.

"Forge a journal?"

Lin Zhou walked back to the desk and quickly wrote down a few key points on paper with a pen.

"First, the character must be real."

"Go check for members of the Royal Geographical Society who actually went to the border of North Africa and Sudan at the end of the 19th century."

"Find someone who has exploration records but was destitute or went missing in their later years."

"Second, the material."

"Go to the black market and find the top forgery masters."

"The paper, ink, and cover must be old items left over from that era."

"Even the smell of wind and sand and the sweat stains on the paper must be aged to the point where they can pass Carbon-14 dating."

Jack's scalp felt a bit numb listening to these outrageous requirements.

"Lord, this is too difficult."

"Three days isn't enough time to gather all the materials."

Lin Zhou curled his finger and tapped on the desk.

"Don't go to those street-side forgery workshops."

"Go find those experts who specifically do 'private work' for top European auction houses."

"Tell them there's no upper limit on the budget, as long as the item is indistinguishable from the real thing."

Jack quickly recorded Lin Zhou's requirements.

"What about the content?"

Lin Zhou's gaze fell on the map on the desk.

"The content is the core."

"This journal should be presented in the form of a private diary."

"In the latter half of the journal, it should record in detail that he discovered an extremely special black oil shale associated mineral in that desert."

"And, you must have that explorer deduce a conclusion in the journal."

"That a super-large oil field exists here."

Lin Zhou paused, his tone becoming extremely slow.

"But the key is the location."

"The core area of the oil field deduced in the journal must not be in the center of Bir Tawil."

"It must lean towards the southwest."

"It must cross the border between Bir Tawil and Sudan."

"Most of the main body should fall within Sudan's territory."

Jack had been in the intelligence field for many years, so his mind worked extremely fast.

He instantly understood Lin Zhou's intention.

"This is an extremely vicious counter-setup."

"The other party wanted to use a map to lure the Cyber Free Republic into a bottomless pit."

"Lin Zhou simply went along with it, creating a 'unique ancient copy' that could serve as evidence for the map."

"Then he moved the center of this 'pie' to the neighboring territory of Sudan."

"Multinational giants like Sterling had been operating in Sudan for years and had deep roots."

"Once they truly believed there was a world-class oil field there, they would definitely use all their power to seize territory in Sudan."

"When that time comes, hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars will be poured into that desert where not even a drop of water can be squeezed out."

"I'll get on it immediately."

Jack turned his wheelchair and left.

Time was of the essence.

A peerless serial trap targeting the mastermind behind the scenes had officially begun.