95: Chapter 95 Uzbekistan, Here I Come!

Eight in the morning, Baoan International Airport.

Li Xin sat relaxed and leisurely in the VIP lounge, holding a cup of Americano in his hand, though he had not yet taken a sip.

His iPad screen was displaying a travel guide for Uzbekistan, but the charming scenery of Samarkand occupied the entire screen.

Setting aside the facts, he appeared to be an ordinary tourist, wearing a windbreaker, carrying an old backpack, with a camera slung across his neck.

However, no one knew that he was a gold thief, stealthily mining away others' gold mines without them ever noticing.

At this moment, his gaze was fixed tightly on the system panel, where that Little Yellow Man — AI System — was curled up in the corner, motionless.

Li Xin called out softly in his heart: "AI System."

But there was no response. He tried again: "AI System, are you there?"

After a dozen seconds, the Little Yellow Man finally flickered slightly, sending back a brief reply: "Present. Zhuzi."

Li Xin asked in a low voice: "How is the system? The operation is tomorrow."

The Little Yellow Man replied: "It is alright. But do not take too much at once; I am worried it cannot handle it."

Li Xin pressed: "How much is too much?" The Little Yellow Man answered: "A few hundred tons."

Li Xin couldn't help but gasp: "Isn't that Muruntau?"

The Little Yellow Man answered affirmatively: "Yes. So you must do it in batches, do not be greedy."

Li Xin nodded: "Alright. The key is, will it crash midway?"

The Little Yellow Man flickered several times, its tone sounding somewhat uncertain: "Not sure. I only repaired half of it; it is not fully fixed yet. It will just depend on luck."

Li Xin repeated helplessly: "Depend on luck?"

The Little Yellow Man answered definitely: "Yes, depend on luck."

Li Xin helplessly closed the panel, then took a sip of the now cold coffee.

Just then, a staff member walked over and reminded him: "Sir, your flight has started boarding."

Li Xin slowly stood up, put on his backpack, and walked toward the boarding gate.

He sat in a window seat in business class, next to a Chinese man in his fifties, wearing a dark blue polo shirt, holding an English newspaper.

The man put down the newspaper and asked with a smile: "Young man, going to Tashkent for a business trip?"

Li Xin smiled and shook his head: "Tourism."

The man was slightly stunned: "By yourself?"

Li Xin nodded: "Yes."

The man smiled and praised: "You have guts. English doesn't work well over there; do you know a few phrases in Russian?"

Li Xin answered simply: "Hello, thank you, how much."

The man smiled and affirmed: "That is enough. If it really doesn't work, just use hand gestures. When I went for the first time, I used gestures and guesses, and I managed to survive."

Li Xin just smiled and didn't respond.

After the plane took off, he closed his eyes and began to organize the intelligence about the Muruntau gold mine in his mind.

The Muruntau gold mine is located in the Navoi Region of Uzbekistan, forty kilometers from the city of Navoi, and is one of the largest open-pit gold mines in the world, with a mine pit diameter of over three kilometers and a depth of four hundred meters.

The perimeter of the mining area has three layers of barbed wire, with a guard post set up every five hundred meters.

The guards are not ordinary security, but regular troops.

The mineral reserves are as high as 1700 tons; if he could obtain 60%, which is 1020 tons, its value would be as high as 280 billion RMB.

Of course, the premise for all of this is — the system must be able to hold up.

He opened the system panel again and saw the Little Yellow Man still curled up in the corner.

"AI System, what if it crashes midway?" Li Xin asked worriedly.

The Little Yellow Man replied: "Restart. Start over."

Li Xin asked further: "What if it cannot restart?"

The Little Yellow Man answered helplessly: "Then we are done for."

Li Xin was somewhat helpless: "Can you give me a definite answer?"

The Little Yellow Man answered seriously: "I cannot, you are on your own, may Buddha bless you."

Li Xin sighed helplessly and closed the panel.

Four hours later, the plane began a smooth descent.

Outside the porthole was a gray-yellow desert landscape, with dry riverbeds occasionally dotted with a few clumps of green vegetation.

In the distance, the silhouette of the city loomed on the horizon, with low buildings and sparse streets appearing exceptionally quiet.

"Tashkent is here." Li Xin whispered softly.

The plane landed safely and taxied to a stop.

Li Xin stood up slowly and picked up his backpack.

The man next to him also opened his eyes and rubbed his somewhat weary eyes.

"I hope you have a fun trip." He said with a smile.

Li Xin replied politely: "Thank you. I wish you success in your business."

The two shook hands to say goodbye and walked out of the cabin one after the other.

The air in Tashkent was particularly dry; the wind hit his body as it blew, and he could smell a faint earthy scent.

Arriving at the customs window, Li Xin lined up in the middle queue.

In front were a few Koreans, and behind him was a European couple.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, it was finally his turn.

The staff member at the customs window was a woman with neat short hair and a serious expression.

She took Li Xin's passport, opened it carefully, first looked at the photo, then examined him closely a few times.

"What are you here for?" the woman asked in a cold tone.

"Tourism." Li Xin answered calmly.

"Alone?" she continued to press.

"Yes." He nodded affirmatively.

"Where are you going?" the woman asked again.

"Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva." Li Xin took out the pre-prepared itinerary and handed it over.

The woman glanced at the itinerary and examined him again.

"What is your job back home?" she suddenly asked about his profession.

"Investment. Stocks and funds."

Li Xin answered with a smile, but inside, he was so nervous that his back was soaked.

His passport was covered with entry stamps from various countries — Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates.

For a young man in his twenties, traveling frequently to so many places was indeed a bit conspicuous.

The woman stared at him for a few seconds; Li Xin tried hard to maintain a smile, but his heartbeat was accelerating.

She lowered her head and tapped on the keyboard a few times, then asked: "Have you been to Indonesia before?"

Li Xin quickly answered: "Yes. Bali, diving."

"What about the Philippines?" she asked next.

"Also diving." Li Xin answered.

The woman tapped on the keyboard a few more times; Li Xin's heart was almost jumping out of his throat, but he still maintained calmness on his face.

After half a minute, the woman returned the passport and itinerary to him and stamped it. "Welcome to Uzbekistan," she said.

"Thank you." Li Xin took the passport and walked out of customs, letting out a long sigh of relief, his legs feeling a bit weak.

The car rental counter was outside the arrival hall, with a young man sitting behind it, wearing a white shirt.

"Hello, I booked a car online." Li Xin walked over and greeted the staff member.

"Mr. Li, a black SUV, four days, right?" The staff member took his phone, looked at it, and tapped on the computer a few times.

"Yes." Li Xin confirmed.

"Driver's license and certification documents." Li Xin handed them over. The staff member took a look and made a copy.

"The car is in the parking lot outside, I will take you there."

The staff member led Li Xin to the parking lot. A black SUV was parked there; although not new, it looked very sturdy and durable.

Li Xin checked the car body and found no major scratches.

"The tank is full, and it must be full when you return it." The staff member reminded him.

"Alright." Li Xin replied.

He started the engine and drove out of the parking lot. The navigation showed that it was still three hundred and twenty kilometers to Navoi, which would take about four hours.

Once on the highway, he stepped on the accelerator, and the scenery outside the window changed from city to farmland, and then from farmland to desert.

The gray-yellow land stretched to the horizon, with a few low hills on the skyline.

He opened the system panel and asked softly: "AI System, how is the system?"

He waited for a dozen seconds.

"It is alright. Don't be greedy; I am afraid it will crash if you take too much at once." The Little Yellow Man replied.

"Got it. In batches." Li Xin nodded in agreement.

"Still thinking about the Transfer Card?" the Little Yellow Man suddenly asked.

"Yes. How exactly do I use it?" Li Xin was somewhat puzzled.

"It will be triggered on special occasions. I don't know the specific conditions either." The Little Yellow Man said honestly.

Li Xin shook his head and closed the panel.

At four in the afternoon, Li Xin arrived safely in Navoi.

The city was not big, the streets were wide, but it was sparsely populated.

Most of the buildings were three or four stories high, gray-white, and slightly old-fashioned.

The shop signs were written in Russian and Uzbek, leaving Li Xin bewildered.

Li Xin parked the car and walked into the hotel lobby with his backpack.

The front desk was a young woman in her twenties, with a ponytail, wearing a dark blue uniform.

She smiled and asked in English: "Sir, do you have a reservation?"

"Yes. Li Xin." Li Xin answered.

The young woman tapped on the computer a few times, lifted her head, and her smile suddenly stiffened a bit.

"Mr. Li, the system shows that your passport number is similar to that of a suspicious person." She lowered her voice and said,

"We need to verify it, please wait a moment."

"Alright." Li Xin nodded, standing at the front desk, maintaining a calm face, but his palms could not help but sweat.

The young woman picked up the phone and spoke a string of words in Uzbek, her tone seeming to explain something.

Li Xin stood at the front desk, expressionless on his face, but feeling somewhat uneasy inside.

After five minutes, the young woman hung up the phone, and her smile returned to her face.

"Sorry, the system gave a false alarm; it has been resolved."

"No problem." Li Xin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your room is 302, this is your room card. Breakfast is from seven to nine." The young woman handed him the room card.

"Thank you." Li Xin took the room card, went upstairs, and entered the room.

The room was not big, just a bed, a desk, and a bathroom.

The bed sheets were clean and white, though the pillow was a bit hard.

He put down his backpack, washed his face, and then lay on the bed.

Opening the map, Muruntau was forty kilometers south of Navoi, which could be reached in an hour by car.

He opened the system panel again, "AI System, going to scout the location tomorrow. Is there anything to pay attention to?"

"Don't get too close. There are troops over there." The Little Yellow Man reminded him.

"Got it." Li Xin nodded.

"Do not use drones; you will be discovered." The Little Yellow Man warned again.

"Alright." Li Xin answered.

The Little Yellow Man flickered and then stopped moving.

Li Xin closed the panel and stared at the ceiling, his thoughts drifting to Muruntau, that was a big business of 1700 tons and 280 billion.

He turned over and slowly drifted into sleep.