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

Chapter 280 The culprit
Jean-Jacques closed his eyes, half in pain and half in turmoil.

Cold sweat soaked his face in just three seconds, making his originally handsome appearance swollen like a corpse that had been submerged in a pool of water for three days.

Finally, he made up his mind.

"That was definitely not an accident, but a deliberate act. Hess Belad was responsible for that massive mining disaster!"

Jean-Jacques made a life-or-death decision, took a deep breath as if he had flipped a coin, and continued, “Hess Blackride was the chief engineer of Dawn Heavy Industries, the superior of all our mining engineers, and a member of the Blackride family, the largest shareholder of Dawn Heavy Industries. At that time, he led a safety production committee, which was responsible for supervising and inspecting all safety-related issues in various mines. If a mining accident occurred, it was this committee that would find out the truth.”

"In short, he is a real big shot, holding a pivotal position in both Dawn Heavy Industries and the Belad family."

"Initially, the crystal mine I managed was only in the middle in terms of both reserves and quality among all the mines under Dawn Heavy Industry. It was neither eye-catching nor did it offer many opportunities to come into contact with big shots like Hess Belad."

"However, by chance, I discovered a sample that appeared to be raw Gulongite ore during a routine scan deep within the mineral layer."

"My professional instincts made me realize that deep within this seemingly ordinary crystal mine, there was very likely a mass graveyard of ancient dragon-like creatures."

"You should know that whether it is the giant magical reptiles of the First Era or the dragonborn extraordinary beings of the Third Era, they all like to live in groups and have a fairly mature social system. When they realize that their time to die is coming, they often go to the family cemetery on their own and rest next to the bones of their ancestors, just like elephants."

"The bones of dragons contain immense power and have a strange attraction to the remnants of the past. Over the long years, under the combined effects of high temperature, high pressure and the planet's magnetic field, these dragon bones may turn into Ancient Dragonstone—one of the rarest and most precious crystal minerals."

"I suppressed my excitement and conducted a detailed survey and calculation of the bottom of the ore layer, and estimated a number that surprised me greatly."

"If I haven't miscalculated, no, even if the actual reserves are only half of what I calculated, it would be enough to change the future of Dawn Heavy Industry, and it would allow me to get promoted, make a fortune, and live a carefree life."

"So, I found Hess Belad immediately!"

Upon hearing this, the Snake Princess coldly interrupted:

"Wait a minute, you were so honest, you immediately went to report to your superior, and you didn't even think about hiding the existence of the Ancient Dragon Graveyard?"

"To be honest, I have thought about it."

Jean-Jacques smiled wryly, “Faced with such an astonishingly large ancient dragon graveyard, anyone would hesitate for a moment and be tempted to take all the wealth for themselves.”

"I'm not exactly a saint, but this is just too difficult to do."

“Mining sapphire is different from mining ordinary crystals. It involves many specialized tools and professional techniques. To give a simple example, in order to prevent sapphire from reacting violently to external stimuli, a large amount of low-temperature inert gas is often injected into the depths of the vein before mining. This gas is not expensive, but it is particularly troublesome to prepare and difficult to compress, resulting in a very large volume of gas.”

"With my authority, it is absolutely impossible to deceive everyone and send a large amount of bottled low-temperature inert gas deep into the mine."

"At that time, I had no background. I was selected by Liming Heavy Industry from the campus only because of my excellent grades. I spent twenty years in the wilderness enduring wind and sand before finally becoming the mine manager. If I wanted to take all the benefits for myself, I would be reported in no time and die without a burial place."

“So, even if I’m extremely envious of the value of the Ancient Dragon Graveyard, I can only obediently report to Hess Belad.” The Snake Princess nodded slowly.

"I understand. Continue. What was Hess Belad's reaction?"

"He was very interested in my discovery, but instead of having the company's internal exploration team verify it, he brought a group of guys I didn't know from the wilderness back with me to the depths of the mine to confirm the existence of the Ancient Dragon Graveyard."

Jean-Jacques said, "Then, Hess Belair summoned me back to headquarters, met with me personally, asked me how many people knew about this, and very subtly indicated that he could give me unexpected benefits if I was willing to cooperate."

"Oh?"

The Snake Princess's eyes flickered. "What do you mean?"

“I’m not stupid; I guessed Hess Belad’s idea right away.”

Jean-Jacques explained, "Dawn Heavy Industries was formed by several powerful private mining teams back then, with more than a dozen shareholders of varying sizes. Although the BlackRock family is the largest shareholder, if the other shareholders join forces, it will be enough to give the BlackRock family a headache."

"If we follow the normal procedures and truthfully report the expected reserves and quality of the Gulong Cemetery to the company, the profits from the mining will be shared by more than a dozen shareholders, and at most only half will end up in the hands of the BlackRock family."

"But if from the beginning, some reserves are concealed and the predicted quality is lowered, the profits that are retained can be enjoyed by the BlackRock family, or even by Hess BlackRock personally."

"Similar practices are common in the industry and are difficult to stop despite repeated bans."

"so--"

The Snake Princess asked, "You agree?"

"why not?"

Jean-Jacques said, "I am not a spotless good person. Besides, he is my boss, a big shot in the Belgrade family. What right do I have to go against his wishes?"
"He asked me to stay at headquarters for a week to polish the survey report, and try to reduce the expected reserves by one-third and the predicted quality by one grade. The profits from this concealment will be split 90/10 in the future."

"Although I can only get 10%, it is already an astronomical figure, not to mention that I have done such a great favor for the company's chief engineer. In the future, I will naturally be promoted step by step and have a bright future."

"However, to make the survey report flawless, I still had to put in a lot of effort. I racked my brains at headquarters for a whole week before I finally arranged every number clearly according to Hess Belad's requirements, making it indistinguishable from the real thing, and produced a near-perfect report."

"Hess Black was very pleased and personally saw me off in the off-road vehicle back to the mine."

"However, when I returned to my mine after a long journey, the moment I opened the car door to get out, I heard a terrible explosion coming from deep within the mine!"

(End of this chapter)