984. Uncanny Workmanship
Li Du looked at the black cloth used to cover his eyes and did not know whether to laugh or cry. This general is too meticulous. But isn't this a bit superfluous?
Brother Wolf was not used to losing his sight. He shook his head at Li Du, indicating that Li Du should not do this.
Li Du did not mind. He had the little bug, which was equivalent to a pair of eyes that could see through everything.
He mainly felt that it was unnecessary. "General, I understand your purpose. You do not want the news of your mine to spread, but unless …"
At this point, he suddenly froze and said, "The people who work in the mine are your internal personnel. They will not leave the mine?"
He had wanted to say that. Everyone who went in and out of the mine could not be covered with black cloth, could he?
Even if they were all covered, his territory was so big. As long as someone brought out the news that he had a diamond mine here, everyone would be able to find the location of the mine if they looked carefully.
Unless the news could not get out.
Remonin said, "Don't look at me like that. I said I am not a cruel and violent warlord. In my diamond mine, the workers can come and go freely. I pay them wages and food."
He looked at Li Du sincerely and continued, "But, believe me, Mr. Li, what I'm doing is useful. The purpose is to protect the property of me and my people."
Although they had not known each other for long, Li Du had a good feeling about this warlord.
He felt that Remonin was more honest than the lion hunter, and not like a cruel tyrant. He was more like the head of security of a large factory that he had seen.
So he nodded and said, "Well, I am willing to cooperate with you."
He cooperated with Remonin, but they had only known each other for a few hours. He had to be cautious. He released the little bug.
Not only was he blindfolded, but so was the lion hunter. Except for Remonin and his guards, everyone else was blindfolded and sent to the two jeeps.
Remonin was a warlord, but in fact, he did not have a good life. Most of his jeeps were rusty. They were probably old cars that had been repaired in Africa.
Through the eyes of the little bug, Li Du saw that the car first circled around a few surrounding hills. The bumps and bumps made his buttocks hurt.
After a while, the car drove directly southwest.
The car drove for another ten minutes, and there were more undulating hills around them.
Through the eyes of the little bug, Li Du saw a tall stone pillar with some large words written on it in many languages: Mozambique – Cecil border!
Had they reached the border? As Li Du thought of this, the car stopped.
Remonin and the guards got out of the car. They were supported by someone as they walked through the mountains and then entered a small forest that grew all over the mountains.
In the grove, there was a cave propped up with stone slabs. The cave went deep into the hill, and they entered the cave.
It was no wonder that Remonin had blindfolded them and was confident that his mine would not be found.
His mine was inside the hill, so it would not be easy to find it from the outside.
However, the mine needed to extract the ore and then crush it to find the diamonds inside. How could the mine work inside the hill?
The answer soon appeared in front of him.
The cave on this hill was not man-made, but the work of nature. The cave stretched for hundreds of meters and sloped down, and then a vast space appeared.
Like a karst landscape, there was a large hollow inside the hill, and an underground river flowed slowly. Some soldiers stood on the bank with guns, and some black miners were washing the sieves in the underground river.
This was a high-quality diamond mine!
There was an abundance of Kimberley ore underground, but the ore had been washed away by the underground river over the years and had become sand.
As everyone knew, the hardness of diamonds was terrifying. They were known as the natural king of hardness. Water could break the Kimberley ore, but not the diamonds.
Over time, the diamonds were washed out by the water and placed in the sand layer of the underground river. As long as the workers sifted through the sand, they could find the diamonds.
In the earliest days, people found diamonds in this way. At that time, four thousand years ago, the world's first diamond was found in the riverbed of the Golconda region of India. The riverbed there was similar to the underground river.
When it came to diamonds, many people thought of South Africa. In fact, India was the earliest source of diamonds. Before the 18th century, most diamonds were found in India.
Those diamonds were cut naturally. Raw diamonds were not valuable because they were too hard and could not be processed with the technology of the time. Such raw diamonds were not beautiful.
In addition to the soldiers with guns on the bank, there were buckets, a dining table, and a machine.
Li Du was just about to identify the machine when the guards took off the black cloth for him.
The light in the cave was very bright. After all, to find diamonds from the sand and stones, it was necessary to have light. Remonin moved in a number of generators, and the machines roared, providing a steady stream of electricity.
Looking at the scene in front of him, he pretended to see it for the first time and said in shock, "God, is what I see real?"
Remonin smiled proudly. "Yes, Mr. Li, what you see is real. Welcome to my diamond mine. Welcome to my diamond mine."
Shortly after they arrived, a boy who looked at most twelve or thirteen years old raised his hand excitedly and shouted in an unknown language.
Remonin and the guards looked excited. They waved to the boy, who walked through the underground river and put a small gray stone on the table.
A woman came up to take the stone and went to the machine Li Du had seen earlier to observe. At this time, Li Du saw clearly that it was a small X-ray machine.
X-rays could detect the authenticity of a diamond. When a real diamond was exposed to X-rays, it would not appear on the film. Therefore, some places used this intuitive method to identify diamonds.
The woman looked at it and nodded. The boy sat at the table happily, and the guard brought him a plate of bread.
There was jam, butter, roasted meat, fried meat, and so on. They were all simple food, but the child was very excited and gobbled them up. After eating, he put the rest of the food into a shabby leather bag, filling it to the brim.
Remonin said, "Don't get me wrong, I did not embezzle their food, but they are eating tribal food, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes. To eat bread and barbecue, we have to find diamonds. "
In addition to bread and barbecue, the boy also received something like paper money.
Remonin explained further, "That is wages and rewards. It is the food coupons I issued. With these food coupons, you can exchange them for food in my barracks."
The lion hunter added, "Because of the geographical location, as you can see, this place is close to Cecil. The local people use Cecil dollars or Mozambique dollars. Both of these currencies are problematic and have almost zero resistance to inflation. Therefore, the general's food coupons are very popular locally."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
