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

On the tenth day, the people from that third-party organization arrived.

Three people arrived, led by a geological engineer wearing gold-rimmed glasses, carrying a thick folder. He had a serious and businesslike expression. He had no personal relationship with any of the people present. He simply nodded politely upon entering and went straight to the seat next to the head of the table, placing the folder neatly on the table.

The other two assistants sat behind him, one on his left and one on his right, and neither of them said a word.

This pure, unbiased stance made the tense atmosphere in the meeting room seem somewhat superfluous. They were just there to read a report and leave. Yet, it was precisely this report that held the key to the final outcome of this game.

Everyone in the meeting room had arrived.

The chief representative sat calmly to one side. For the past ten days, he hadn't doubted the outcome for a single moment. His trust in his evaluation system was honed through decades of professional experience, transaction after transaction, and it had never failed him. He had even had the signing documents prepared, neatly arranged in a folder beside him, just waiting for the report to be read aloud, a mere formality, before it would officially take effect.

He was already planning how to develop the core area after taking it over.

Lin Che sat opposite him, waiting quietly. He Wei was behind him, and Shen Nan was beside him. None of the three showed any expression, as quiet as outsiders to the impending storm.

The engineer opened the folder, took out a thick stack of reports, and pushed up his glasses.

"As commissioned, we conducted eight days of drilling surveys and data analysis at the target mining area." His voice was calm and devoid of emotion. "The entire data collection and analysis process was witnessed by representatives from both sides, and the results are objective and neutral. The following is the main content of the report."

He turned to the first page.

"These are the results of the basic geological survey. They include the mineralization geological conditions, rock strata structure, tectonic trend of the target area, and the distribution of the twelve drilling sampling points we set up over eight days."

He read them aloud one by one.

These were all introductory remarks, professional and dry, offering no suspense. Yet, the atmosphere in the meeting room gradually tensed up as he read steadily.

No one spoke. Everyone was waiting for the real conclusion.

The clock on the wall ticked slowly; each tick of the second hand felt like a blow to the heart. The air was so quiet you could hear the pages turning.

The chief representative, holding a cup of coffee, listened casually. To him, this preliminary data was merely a prelude to the answer he already knew. He was even somewhat impatient, hoping the engineer would quickly read out the conclusion so he could legitimately push the pre-prepared contract document in front of Lin Che.

Unbeknownst to him, with each page the engineer read, the ground beneath his feet, which he thought was solid, was quietly hollowed out a little.

The engineer turned the page.

"Regarding the overall orientation of the ore belt," he read aloud, "the actual measurement results show that the main ore vein extends from the northeast, deflects at the central fault, and continues to extend deeper into the mining area."

This sentence was almost identical to what Lin Che had said in their casual conversation that day.

The chief representative's hand, holding the coffee cup, paused almost imperceptibly. But he quickly regained his composure. The direction of the mineral belt is one thing; where the core of the enrichment lies is another. These two are not contradictory. The northern section can still be the core.

He remained calm and waited for what was to come.

The engineer spoke slowly, reading each data point clearly. He seemed completely immersed in his own data world, oblivious to the increasingly tense atmosphere in the room.

He turned one page, then another.

With each page turned, the real answer gets one step closer.

"Regarding the grade calculations for each section," he turned to a new page, "we set up five sampling points in the northern section. The average grade of the samples taken in the northern section is..."

He gave a number.

This figure is lower than the chief representative's own assessment. Not by much, but it is indeed lower.

His hand, which was holding the coffee, stopped completely.

He stared at the number, his brow slowly furrowing. This wasn't right. The quality of the northern section shouldn't be this high. In his assessment, the number here was much higher. The sampling point must have been poorly chosen, or something was wrong.

He frantically tried to find an explanation for himself, but before he could even form one, the engineer's next sentence shattered it all.

"And in the gentle slope area in the middle section, we set up four sampling points." The engineer adjusted his glasses, turned a page, and continued, "The average grade of the middle section is..."

Another number.

This time, the air in the entire venue seemed to freeze instantly.

That number is higher than the one in the northern section. And it's not just a little higher.

For the first time, a genuine crack appeared on the chief representative's face. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but the engineer showed no sign of stopping. He didn't care about anyone else's reaction; he was only responsible for the data in his hand.

He Wei sat behind Lin Che, quietly clenching her fists. She knew the outcome, but hearing it spoken by a neutral third party was a different feeling. She glanced at Lin Che; his expression remained unchanged, he was simply listening intently.

In fact, even Lin Che himself was hearing these precise figures for the first time. He was betting on the general direction of focusing on the mid-range, and the report confirmed that. But he hadn't known these specific figures on quality and reserves before. Every number read out in the report filled in his rough judgment more and more concretely.

The engineer continued reading.

"Furthermore, regarding the continuity and burial depth of the ore body," he turned to the next page, "the continuity of the central section of the ore body is significantly better than that of the northern section. However, there are some discrepancies between the measured data and some previous inferences regarding the boundary depth."

No one noticed the slight discrepancy in the sentence.

Because everyone's attention was captivated by those two vastly different prices.

The northern section is low, while the central section is high.

Everyone present already knew what this meant.

"Considering various indicators such as grade, reserve distribution, and ore body continuity," the engineer's voice remained steady, yet resonated like drumbeats in everyone's hearts. "We have made the following assessment of the enriched core zone of this mining area."

He turned to that page.

At the very top of that page was printed the most crucial line of conclusion in the report.

In the conference room, everyone's eyes were fixed on his face and on the report.

The chief representative stared intently at that page, holding his breath.

The engineer cleared his throat and read the line in a tone devoid of any emotion, simply stating the facts.

"The enrichment core zone of this mining area is located in..."