The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

With the framework set, the third-party exploration would have to wait a few more days, and the atmosphere at the table relaxed. In the meantime, the group chatted casually about the market conditions for the mine.

To everyone else, this was just idle chatter after the outcome was already decided. The opponent had won the core area, Lin Che had held onto a piece of land that wasn't quite ready yet, and what remained was just a few respectable people drinking coffee and exchanging a few industry-related remarks.

No one paid attention to what Lin Che said during this casual conversation.

Even Lin Che himself spoke casually, like an outsider who knew a little about the industry and was just casually agreeing with the conversation. He didn't seem to be showing off at all; every sentence he uttered was natural, as if he had just happened to think of it.

But it was during this casual conversation that Lin Che revealed his first skill.

The chief representative mentioned the orientation of the northern section of the ore belt, saying that their model predicted the main ore vein extended along a northeast direction. This was just a casual remark in the field, and he didn't expect the layman opposite him to be able to grasp the meaning.

"Northeast," Lin Che casually remarked. "Once you reach that fault line below, it will turn and head deeper into the northern section. Further down, the vein will narrow."

The chief representative paused for a beat while speaking.

This judgment was reached by their exploration team in an internal meeting just last week; the final report hasn't even been released yet. From the vein's shift to its narrowing trend, every detail matches the results they spent over half a year and countless expenses measuring. How could an outsider without drilling or data know such details?

He glanced at Lin Che but remained silent. His professionalism prevented him from revealing anything on the spot. He mentally offered an explanation: it was probably a coincidence, or perhaps this Chinese man had also privately arranged for a preliminary site survey.

This explanation was barely plausible, so he didn't think about it any further.

When the conversation turned to policy, the topic became more relaxed. Local officials mentioned that the management of mining in the area had become somewhat stringent recently.

"It's more than just tightening up," Lin Che continued, his tone calm. "The controls will only get tighter from here on out. These kinds of strategic minerals will eventually be brought under the unified control of the state, and mining and export will have to go through a new queue. The value of this land will be completely overturned because of this hurdle."

Upon hearing this, the official was taken aback.

He hadn't expected this Chinese immigrant to have such a confident assessment of local policy trends. Such judgments were usually reserved for those in the innermost circles. How could a foreigner who had only been there a few days speak more succinctly than him, a local official?

Endertu, who was sitting to the side, also slowed down his movements as he carried the water.

He was the local bigwig in this area, officially under the government, but behind the scenes, matters concerning this mine required his approval. Yet, even he wouldn't dare to be so certain about Lin Che's words regarding policy. His original confidence that "outsiders can't make any changes" quietly cracked.

The chief representative's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. His assessment used the existing framework for policy. Lin Che's words clearly implied that the framework was about to change.

But he didn't answer. Anyone can spout off about policies; he didn't believe an outsider could be more accurate than their research team.

He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and changed the subject.

He Wei sat to the side, watching the faces opposite her gradually change, but she knew very well what was going on.

None of what Lin Che said came from nowhere. The mineral belt's path, policy shifts, and the timeline for power supply—these were all traceable facts, based on historical geological data, established policy trends, and pre-scheduled power projects. Lin Che wasn't a god; he was only betting on the general direction, on the few things he was most confident about. As for the exact thickness of the enrichment belt, he still had to wait for a third-party report.

But the people on the other side didn't know that.

In their eyes, this information was scattered in various places, some even locked away in their own internal meetings, and should never be fully known to an outsider. They racked their brains but couldn't figure out what kind of system was supporting this.

So they would only find it strange, unbelievable, and that there was something about this Chinese man that they couldn't understand.

What truly made him restless was the issue of electricity.

"Your calculations for the mining costs in the middle section are too high," Lin Che suddenly changed the subject, pointing to the cost estimates in the plan. "You've based them on the current power shortage in this area. But that shortage won't last long."

The chief representative's hand, which was holding the pen, stopped.

"The power projects under construction here are progressing faster than publicly announced," Lin Che said unhurriedly. "Once the power supply is completed, mining costs will immediately decrease. The 2024 target in your model will be at least a year and a half ahead of schedule."

The table fell silent for a moment.

This was the variable that the chief representative team debated most fiercely. How to estimate the electricity growth rate was a point of contention among the engineers, with some advocating for a more aggressive approach and others for a more conservative one. No one could convince the others, and they finally compromised on a more conservative figure. This disagreement was discussed behind closed doors for two whole days; they didn't even dare open the meeting room door, and not a single word was leaked to outsiders.

But this Chinese man in front of me immediately hit the nail on the head regarding this variable. He not only said that the power shortage would be made up quickly, but he also pointed out the "conservative" treatment in their model, the key bias that caused them to misjudge for a year and a half, with perfect accuracy.

It was as if he had personally seen the minutes of their closed-door meeting.

The chief representative held the pen, but didn't write anything more. The pen tip hovered above the paper, and a drop of ink slowly spread across the paper, but he was completely unaware of it.

For the first time, he truly and properly looked at the person opposite him again.

All the doubts he had just suppressed with excuses now surged back. He called the shift in the mining area a coincidence. He called the policy direction a mere empty promise. But now, even the most heated and deeply hidden internal disagreement about electricity was exposed by this man in a single sentence.

A coincidence cannot happen three times.

The Chinese man, whom he thought had already admitted defeat and was under his control, spoke words that sounded exactly like they had been taken verbatim from their most confidential internal meeting.

The direction of the mining area, the policy direction, and the power shortage.

None of these three things could be accurately predicted by a layman, and none of them could be easily found through public channels. Each one precisely hits the nail on the head regarding their most secretive judgments.

For the first time, a thought clearly popped into the chief representative's mind.

The thought sent chills down his spine, but he couldn't suppress it.

How did he know?