50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 349 Moving gold is also hard work

The so-called "stealing the beams and replacing the pillars" refers to making a batch of fake gold and replacing the real gold inside.

Anyway, they haven't thoroughly inspected the vault for decades; each time they do, they just glance at the seal.

They neither checked the serial numbers nor measured or weighed the items, which was no different from not checking at all.

He directly replaced the gold bricks with space, without breaking the seal or reducing the number of gold bricks. Combined with their shoddy verification, it was practically perfect.

By the time they discover the problem, who knows how many years will have passed.

By then, Sun Zhiwei must have already perfectly mixed the gold he obtained into gold trading markets around the world.

There are many ways to make fake gold. The first method is to coat gold with tungsten.

It has a layer of gold on the outside and tungsten metal of roughly the same weight inside, which cannot be detected from the outside.

The second type is imitation gold alloy, also known as sub-gold, which is an alloy made primarily of copper, lead, zinc, nickel, tin, and other materials.

Its appearance and color are similar to 18K gold, and its texture is also similar to K gold, making it difficult for non-professionals to distinguish.

However, due to the different formulas of the gold-based formula, the colors also vary slightly.

如铜87.5%+锌12.5%，或铜86.5%+锌12.5%+锡1%时，成品呈金红色；

铜58.5~68.5%+锌30~40%+锡1.5%，或铜90%+铝7%+镍3%时，成品呈金黄色；

When the copper content is 75%, zinc content is 22%, tin content is 2%, and lead content is 1%, the finished product is light golden yellow.
All five formulas are inexpensive. Which one to use will depend on comparing it with the gold reserves held by the Federal Reserve after the formula is developed.

The third type is gold-plated alloy, which involves directly electroplating a layer of gold onto the outer layer of nickel alloy, lead alloy, or similar materials.

His plan was to secretly switch the gold in the underground vault, and then not let it be discovered quickly.

Therefore, he only needs these imitation gold pieces, which have the same appearance as real gold.

As for cost, theoretically the lower the better, but he couldn't actually spend money to purchase metal to smelt the sub-gold, as that would always leave clues.

Finally, you'll definitely need to find free materials.

The materials are easy to find; they are all common metals, and he just needs to go to a scrap metal recycling company.

For large recycling companies, a few thousand tons of recycled copper and other materials is just a drop in the ocean.

The problem is where he's going to find a furnace.

The best way to smelt sub-gold is with an induction furnace, because as long as there are enough materials and electricity, it can continuously produce sub-gold.

He doesn't need any large furnaces; a small one, big enough to melt a gold brick, will suffice.

Finally, he realized that the university's physics lab should have this thing.

That very night, he secretly sneaked into the Columbia University campus and found a small induction furnace and a batch of weighing equipment in the laboratory's equipment warehouse.

The materials were all prepared in just one day.

He obtained nearly a thousand tons of copper powder, along with small amounts of zinc, tin, lead, and nickel, from the warehouses of two different metal recycling companies.

Just as he was making preparations, he received a call from Toby Bradley on the evening of the 3rd.

The other party hoped to borrow the gold that Sun Zhiwei had promised from him in order to cope with the increasingly fierce business war.

Sun Zhiwei did not refuse and agreed immediately, asking him to drive to his home the next day.

He agreed to lend Toby 10 ounces of gold, which was no small sum.

There were 250 standard gold bars, each 400 ounces, weighing over 2.8 tons, requiring a heavy-duty truck for transportation.

The next morning at 8 a.m., Sun Zhiwei had just gotten up and washed up when he heard the doorbell ring.

He opened the window to look and found it was Toby, who was driving a large off-road pickup truck and parked in front of his house.

Sun Zhiwei thought for a few seconds, then used his spatial ability to take away his Ford Pinto from the garage. He then took out 250 standard 400-ounce gold bars from the Swell Gold Mine, placed them in a corner of the garage, and covered them with a canvas.

Finally, he remotely opened the garage door to the outside.

When Toby saw the garage door open, he understood immediately and backed his pickup truck into Sun Zhiwei's garage.

Soon, the garage door closed, and Sun Zhiwei came into the garage from the bathroom, wiping himself with a towel.

"James, is it okay today?"

Sun Zhiwei noticed that Toby had dark circles under his eyes and looked very tired.

His question was spoken in a soft, gentle voice, completely unlike the tone of a man of his size, full of caution and care.

Sun Zhiwei genuinely wanted to help him and didn't cause any trouble. Instead, he simply pointed to the canvas in the corner and said to him:

"Hey, everything's over there, but you'll have to move it yourself."

"I twisted my back when I brought them back yesterday, so I probably won't be able to help you today."

"No need, no need, I can carry them myself. Are they all here?"

Upon hearing this, Toby excitedly walked to the canvas and suddenly lifted it up.

Suddenly, the neatly stacked gold bricks came into his view, and his eyes immediately welled up with tears.

Only then did he realize with certainty that with these things, he was bound to win this time.

"Thank you, James, you saved me."

"Haha, don't thank me yet. These things are quite heavy, but I won't let anyone come to my house to take the gold, you understand?"

"I understand that wealth shouldn't be flaunted. I can move it myself, don't worry."

"Then I'll leave you to your own devices. Call me when you're done moving, I'm going to make breakfast. Oh, by the way, do you want to eat something together?"

"No, I've already had breakfast before coming over. Okay, James, go ahead and eat, don't worry about me."

"Alright then, you be careful too. Back the car up a bit more, get closer to them, and save your energy."

Seeing that Toby wasn't in the mood to eat, he went straight back to the kitchen and started making his own breakfast.

Toby excitedly carried gold bars into the truck bed in the garage.

A 400-ounce gold bar weighs 11.34 kilograms. One or two bars are manageable, but 250 bars would be incredibly difficult to move.

Toby got more and more tired as he carried the loads. By the time he had carried 100 dollars, all his excitement had almost vanished, but he still persevered.

Sun Zhiwei had finished breakfast by then, and he could see from the space that Toby's obese body in the garage was already swaying precariously.

He quickly ran over and pulled him to the living room to rest.

Is this guy risking his life for money? He might die at home, or he'll be in real trouble.

I poured this guy a glass of water, and after he calmed down, I poured him half a glass of whiskey.

American men get more energetic the more they drink; one sip of whiskey and Toby is wide awake.

He immediately wanted to go back to the garage to continue moving his gold, and Sun Zhiwei did not stop him. Instead, he helped him move the drinks into the garage so that he could rest when he got tired.

"Don't rush, Toby. I won't go back on my promise. Take your time moving it."

Toby wasn't worried about him going back on his word; it was just that it was the first time he'd seen so many gold bars at once, and he was getting a little too excited.

Now that he has calmed down, he naturally won't frantically move the gold bricks like he did before.

(End of this chapter)