As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 236: Guarding and Stealing
Long Jianhuan told everyone that both of the top-grade crystal coins contained an ingredient called "Ancient Dragon Radiance Stone".

This is a very rare mineral.

Geologists speculate that it was a large reptilian magical creature from the First Era. After its death, its huge skeleton was transformed into a fossil-like crystal by the combined effects of high temperature, high pressure, and a long period of time.

Grinding such substances into powder and mixing them into rune ink, the resulting sealing cards are highly effective at storing and strengthening the remnants of the souls of large reptiles.

The problem is that Long Jianhuan checked Liming Heavy Industry's public reports for the past twenty years and found no evidence that Liming Heavy Industry had ever excavated a large ancient dragonstone vein.

There are two possibilities.

Alternatively, these top-quality crystals may have come from elsewhere, been transported all the way to Dawn City, and ended up in the hands of Sheikh Clatter and Jean-Jacques.

Either someone has concealed the existence of the Ancient Dragonstone vein.

“I have investigated several similar cases. In a place like Dawn City, it is all too common to falsely report or conceal the amount and quality of mineral reserves.”

Han Zhong had been a patrolman for decades and was extremely familiar with all kinds of criminal activities in the mining town.

According to him, even before Dawn City was built, this resource-rich land attracted countless audacious private exploration and mining teams to come here, claim the mountains, and divide the spoils.

When they unearth their first fortune, the first thing they often do is purchase powerful combat cards, recruit well-trained and even ruthless battle spirit masters, expand their armed forces, and then engage in fierce battles with neighboring mining teams, carrying out the game of the survival of the fittest and the winner takes all to the extreme.

Only after all the shrimp were eaten by the small fish, and the small fish ended up in the bellies of the big fish, leaving only a few large sharks with sharp teeth and thick skin, unable to defeat each other, did they sit down to negotiate, establish the most basic rules, and form the "Dawn Mining Group".

After several decades of development, "Liming Mining" became "Liming Heavy Industry," and the former dirty and vicious miners transformed into well-dressed and dignified big shots.

Even so, Liming Heavy Industry is still riddled with factions and has a complex internal structure.

There are also many mining areas located near the wilderness, which are frequently attacked by bandits, ancient monsters, and even ancient natural disasters. The security costs are extremely high and the management is extremely difficult. They are often contracted out. The senior management of Dawn Heavy Industry does not understand the actual situation deep in the mining areas.

In this way, everyone from the management of Liming Heavy Industry to the engineers of a certain mine, down to the ordinary miners who are working hard deep underground, is included.

Everyone has the motivation and ability to prioritize their own interests over the overall interests of Liming Heavy Industry.

For the top management of Liming Heavy Industry, they would love to exaggerate the reserves and quality of all the mines, and to overstate the actual production figures in order to reap greater benefits in the financial market.

For a mid-level manager at a mine, by underreporting the reserves and output of the ore vein, slightly lowering the quality of the ore, and completing the production tasks assigned by superiors, the remaining output can be pocketed in various ways.

Even the lowest-level miners generally possessed the ability to freely expand and contract holes in certain parts of their bodies to smuggle ore out, accumulating small amounts into large sums and becoming wealthy.

This was originally a well-known unspoken rule.

However, some people are not satisfied with the slow and steady approach of taking small profits from passing geese; they want to get rich overnight.

In such circumstances, heinous crimes such as deliberately causing mining disasters, which are utterly inhumane, can even occur. A mine with abundant reserves, originally expected to be mined for at least another five to ten years, suffered a mining disaster. The massive collapse of the rock strata released magma and deadly toxic gases from deep underground, contaminating the mineral veins as well. The difficulty and cost of redeveloping the mine became exorbitantly high.

After assessment by mine engineers and an expert investigation team dispatched by the headquarters of Liming Heavy Industry, it was unanimously determined that the mining area had lost its value for further development and utilization, and the mine was permanently closed.

Not long after, the abandoned mine was contracted out to some people under other pretexts for secret mining. All the ore extracted quietly ended up in the pockets of these individuals.

Even if this isn't a regular occurrence, it will happen once or twice every three to five years.

"In the cases I've investigated, deliberately causing mining accidents to kill five, six, or even seven or eight miners in small mines with relatively low reserves is nothing unusual."

Han Zhong sighed.

"How were these cases resolved in the end?"

Xu Yan asked.

"Most cases end without resolution, and even when the so-called murderer is caught, it is often just the least important henchman."

Han Zhong smiled bitterly, "In border areas, human life is never a very valuable thing. The fact that these cases come to light is often related to the internal factional struggles within Liming Heavy Industry. No matter how hard we try, we can't find out the truth. If we can help those miners who died to get more compensation and relief money, then we can consider it as upholding justice!"

"So, you suspect that the mine that Jean-Jacques was in charge of back then was also the site of a man-made mining accident?"

Xu Yan turned around and checked Jean-Jacques's personal information. He frowned deeply and said, "That mining accident didn't just kill a few miners, it killed dozens!"

"If a vein of ancient dragonstone with an astonishing reserve is indeed discovered beneath that mine, it could indeed attract some inhuman, greedy individuals to sacrifice dozens or even hundreds of innocent lives."

Long Jianhuan said calmly, "Otherwise, it would be hard to explain where Jean-Jacques got the funds after leaving Dawn Heavy Industries to establish the largest and most upscale underground entertainment center in Dawn City in a very short period of time."

"Then arrest him."

A bright yellow bullet appeared in Gao Ce's palm.

The cartridge case was also engraved with crisscrossing scratches, as if he had carved them with a dagger when he had nothing better to do, and it was full of the smell of death.

He narrowed his eyes, pointed the bullet at Jean-Jacques's forehead in the photo, and said coldly, "Arrest him, interrogate him, and everything will be clear."

"On what charge?"

Long Jianhuan said helplessly, "This is the most troublesome part. We have no evidence to charge Jean-Jacques with any crime, including the mining accident back then. Neither the senior management of Liming Heavy Industry nor the families of the dead miners filed any charges. Under these circumstances, it is impossible for us to obtain a search warrant for the Golden Iris Entertainment Center, let alone an arrest warrant for Jean-Jacques!"

(End of this chapter)