82: Chapter 82 Miners Deep in the Hamahera Rainforest

To fly from Manado to Ternate, one has to transfer flights once.

Li Xin got up at six in the morning and caught the first flight to Makassar. After waiting in Makassar for four hours, he transferred to a flight to Ternate. By the time he arrived in Ternate, it was already afternoon.

Ternate is a small island, a volcanic one, and the entire city is built against the mountain. The airport is tiny with only one runway. When the plane lands, you can see the sea, and it feels like you are about to drop into it.

After leaving the airport, he hailed a taxi and gave the address of a mining area in the northern part of Halmahera Island. The driver was a man in his forties with dark skin, a face full of wrinkles, and he revealed a few gold teeth when he smiled.

"Are you going to Gosowong?" The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "Are you with the mine?"

"Yes," Li Xin nodded.

"You're Chinese, right?"

"Yes."

"There are quite a few Chinese people at the mine here," the driver smiled. "You Chinese are very impressive. I've heard from my friends that China is very beautiful. My family is planning to go there for a trip in a while."

"Hahaha, you're welcome, you're welcome! We have a lot of delicious food over there that you can try. I think it will make you never want to leave."

"Haha... My friends told me the same thing. They went to Beijing and ate Peking Duck; I heard it's very unique."

"Is that so? That's great. Did they drink Beijing soy milk? That's very interesting."

"They did. He said it was delicious and told me I must try it when I go, as the taste is quite wonderful. When I go, I will definitely try it."

"Haha, alright, you're welcome, you're welcome."

Four hours later, they arrived at the ferry terminal, and both the car and the passengers boarded the ferry. A strong wind was blowing over the sea, making his clothes rustle. Li Xin walked to the side of the boat and looked at Halmahera Island in the distance. He saw rolling mountains covered by dense rainforest, so green they looked black. He hoped for a surprise.

The ferry soon docked, and the car continued driving north. The sky gradually darkened. There were very few streetlights here, and only the car's headlights illuminated the road ahead. By the time it was dark, they reached a small town near the mining area.

The town had only one main street with a few dim, yellowish streetlights. There were no pedestrians on the street, only the occasional motorcycle passing by. The humid scent of the rainforest permeated the air.

Li Xin found a hotel to stay in. Although it was called a hotel, it was actually just a two-story wooden house with green exterior walls and a faded sign hanging at the entrance. The receptionist was a woman wearing local ethnic clothing. Seeing Li Xin approach, she asked in broken English, "Young man, looking for a room? You're from the mine, right?"

"Yes," Li Xin nodded.

"Looking at your attire, you're Chinese, right?"

"You have a sharp eye."

"Upstairs, Room 3. 150,000 a night."

Li Xin paid the money, took the key, and went upstairs. The room wasn't large, containing only a bed, a fan, and a bathroom. The bedsheets were washed white but were still clean enough. He put down his backpack, washed his face, and went downstairs to eat.

There was only one small restaurant in the town, selling Indonesian fried rice and grilled fish. He ordered a portion of fried rice and sat at a seat by the entrance, eating while looking at his phone. The signal was very poor, and it took a long time for the map to load.

He zoomed in on the map and found the range of the Gosowong mining area. The mining area was about a dozen kilometers north of the town. Both the Kencana and Toguraci mining sections were within this range. His system's detection range was nearly 28 kilometers, so he could Scan the entire mining area while standing in the town.

But he needed to find a more secluded location.

Early the next morning, Li Xin ate breakfast downstairs, put on his backpack, and went out. He had changed his outfit—a dark quick-dry shirt, hiking shoes, and a sun hat. He looked like an ordinary technician, no different from those Chinese people in the mining area.

He didn't hire a guide and walked into the mountains along the dirt road north of the town.

On both sides of the road were palm forests and banana plantations. From time to time, he encountered a few farmers working in the fields. Seeing him, they would look up, but showed no curiosity or surprise; they were already used to it and would just lower their heads and continue working.

Gradually, the palm forests disappeared, and tropical rainforest appeared. The trees grew taller and denser, with vines wrapped around the trunks like pythons. Sunlight could barely penetrate, and the forest was dark and humid.

The air was stuffy and hot, like a steamer. He stopped to replenish some water.

After continuing for about another hour, an open area appeared before his eyes. The ground was covered with wild grass, and he could see the valley in the distance. There were some buildings in the valley—gray factory buildings, white camps, and a few chimneys emitting white smoke.

That was the Gosowong mining area.

Li Xin came to the edge of the open area and sat down on the ground. If anyone saw him, they would only think he was resting.

[Ding... System Prompt: The current location is about 4 kilometers from the core area of the Gosowong mining area, and has entered the optimal scanning range.]

He put down his camera and looked around. No one was there.

"System, Scan the entire Gosowong gold mine."

[Scanning... Please wait.]

A few seconds later.

[Scan Complete. Gosowong Gold Mine: Kencana mining section remaining reserves are approximately 18.2 tons, grade 27 g/t. Toguraci mining section remaining reserves are approximately 8.5 tons, local grade 50-200 g/t. Distribution depth: 50-500 meters.]

[Note: This gold mine is an owned mine; the host can extract 60%, which is (18.2 + 8.5) × 60% ≈ 16 tons.]

[Extraction in progress...]

Suddenly, the roar of a car came from the distance.

Li Xin turned his head. A white pickup truck was driving over from the direction of the mining area, with two people inside wearing orange work uniforms and hard hats.

The pickup truck arrived in front of him and stopped. Li Xin's heart skipped a beat; what he feared was truly happening. Couldn't they just drive past? He hoped there wouldn't be any problems!

The driver grinned and asked in Indonesian, "Brother, are you from China?"

"Yes," Li Xin nodded, a flash of vigilance in his eyes.

"You must be a technician from the mine, right!"

"Yes, you guys are heading out?" Li Xin relaxed and asked casually.

The driver smiled and nodded, exchanged a few casual greetings, and then left.

Li Xin stood in place, watching the pickup truck gradually disappear.

[Ding... Extraction complete. Obtained 16 tons of gold. Cumulative refined gold: 190.9057 tons.]

Just as he was about to turn around, the system popped up another notification.

[Ding... Gold mine discovered, in an ancient riverbed about 6 kilometers to the southwest.]

[Reserves: Approximately 58.6 tons. Type: Alluvial placer gold deposit. Distribution depth: 8-25 meters. 100% Extraction possible.]

Li Xin's fingers tightened slightly.

58.6 tons. Unowned mine. Full Extraction.

His heart accelerated, but he tried hard to control his expression.

"System, Extraction of the ancient riverbed placer gold deposit."

[Extraction in progress... Extraction complete. Obtained 58.6 tons of gold. Cumulative refined gold: 249.5057 tons.]

He put down his camera and took a deep breath.

16 tons from an owned mine, 58.6 tons from an unowned mine. This trip, he netted 74.6 tons.

He turned around with a smile and walked back, feeling somewhat impatient.

After walking a few steps, he stopped and looked back at the mining area. The gray factory buildings, the white camps, the white smoke in the chimneys. Everything was as usual.

No one knew that just in these past few minutes, the remaining 16 tons of gold beneath this gold mine, along with the 58.6 tons of placer gold that had been sleeping in the ancient riverbed for thousands of years, had been silently taken away.

He continued walking back. Passing by a small creek, he stopped and was about to crouch down to wash his hands and rinse off the sweat.

Suddenly, the sound of a branch breaking came from behind him.

He turned his head sharply.

A man was standing a few meters behind him. He was in his forties, wearing an old camouflage uniform, and holding a machete in his hand. His skin was dark, his face had deep wrinkles, and his eyes were very sharp.

"Little brother, you're Chinese, right?" the man asked in Indonesian.

"Yes, yes!" His expression remained normal, but the vigilance in his eyes quietly heightened.

"Then you are also from the mine? There are quite a lot of Chinese people working here."

"Yes, many of our compatriots are here."

The man stared at him for a few seconds, then walked over, squatted down beside him, took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and lit it.

"What kind of work do you do at the mine?" the man asked.

"Underground technician," Li Xin said casually.

"Underground technician?" The man glanced at him. "Which mining section?"

"Kencana."

The man nodded and took a drag of his cigarette. "The grade is high over there. It's almost mined out, right?"

"Just about," Li Xin said.

The man took another drag of his cigarette and was silent for a while. "When I was young, I also worked at the mine. Back then, it was still a Dutch company."

"And then?"

"Later, the company changed, and they didn't want us anymore." The man flicked the ash. "Now I can only cut some wood and catch some fish in the mountains."

He finished his cigarette, stubbed it out on a rock, and stood up. "Alright, you go on with your work. I'm leaving."

He turned and walked along the creek, soon disappearing into the forest.

Li Xin crouched there, watching the direction the man had disappeared, stood for a while, and then continued walking back.

By the afternoon, he finally returned to the hotel, took a quick shower, lay on the bed, and opened the system panel.

[Cumulative refined gold: 249.5057 tons.]

[Gold required for next upgrade: 1000 tons.]

Still short 750.5 tons.

At this moment, Chen Hu sent a message: "Boss, there is a Batu Hijau copper-gold mine on Sumbawa Island with very large reserves, approximately 250-300 tons of gold. Should we go take a look?"

Li Xin replied with a "Good."

Sumbawa. Batu Hijau.

Next stop.

He turned over and closed his eyes.

The sound of insects chirping came from outside the window, one sound after another.