Chapter 92: A Thorny Problem

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“No survivors left at the scene!” Zhao Li held a different view. “Although our plan was a bit rushed, the actual combat results were achieved. Didn’t you see how excited those guys were when they came back? Believe me, after a few more runs like this, those guys will truly become elite soldiers!”

“More runs?” Christine grew a little anxious, her almond-shaped eyes wide open. “I think you’re the most excited one here! Use your brain for a moment—are there any level-eight experts among the drug dealers?”

Zhao Li wisely fell silent, struck right at his core and feeling somewhat embarrassed. Indeed, he was quite thrilled, especially after personally snapping the neck of that level-eight expert.

Back in prison, and even during training with the thugs here, Zhao Li had always used joint-locking techniques to subdue enemies by dislocating joints, rendering them incapable of fighting—never killing anyone.

His previous approach was dictated by his profession; as prison staff, his main responsibility was managing prisoners, subduing rather than killing them. Yet, even when shooting someone with a rifle, which was also killing, he never experienced the satisfaction of personally breaking an enemy’s neck.

Why was that? Even Zhao Li wasn’t sure. Was he a bloodthirsty man? But why didn’t killing with a gun give him that feeling? Regardless, after his first kill, all he felt was excitement, no fear—clearly, he was cut out to be a soldier.

Zhao Li didn’t respond, and Christine had no more reason to press. Seeing him lower his head in silence, she thought her words might have been too harsh and quickly changed her expression. “Do you know how worried I am? Please don’t take such risks anymore, okay?”

Her pitiful demeanor almost made Zhao Li blurt out an agreement. Fortunately, Li Mengdie snorted coldly beside him, pulling Zhao Li away from Christine’s gentle siege. Christine’s plans failed; she glared fiercely at Li Mengdie, who showed no reaction.

“What’s in these?” Unable to convince Zhao Li, Christine turned her attention to the large metal boxes.

The metal boxes were locked tight, contents packed securely with no movement detectable from outside. No one had opened them before; at least the thugs here had followed orders strictly.

“I don’t know. Let’s open and see!” Zhao Li, equally clueless, instructed Li Mengdie.

With a click, the metal lock snapped open, and Li Mengdie tossed the lock aside before opening the box. At first glance, they were stunned as if struck by a paralyzing light, unable to move.

Christine stepped forward, circumventing Li Mengdie’s blocked view, and was similarly frozen, as if all her muscles had been locked by Zhao Li’s gaze.

Zhao Li’s line of sight was unobstructed; he too stood dumbfounded, speechless.

After an unknown length of time, Zhao Li finally came to his senses; the two women still stared into the boxes. He cleared his throat softly to rouse them. Christine, hardly able to believe it, stepped closer and touched the contents, marveling, “Is this real?”

“It is!” Li Mengdie picked up an item, examined it carefully, and replied simply, not saying more.

“What about the other box?” Zhao Li immediately thought of the second box.

Without hesitation, Li Mengdie dashed over, swiftly unscrewed the metal lock, and flung the lid open.

Amethyst crystals—both boxes were filled with slowly shimmering amethyst stones. Together, they occupied over a cubic meter, all neatly stacked. Rough estimates based on weight put their value well above a billion. Zhao Li had never thought that something’s worth could be measured by weight.

In modern society, aside from precious metals like gold and silver, amethyst is the only commodity that can be directly used as a store of value for transactions. Each kilogram of amethyst can be exchanged for one million in cash.

Zhao Li had never seen amethyst before—this was his first time. The pale purple glow nearly dazzled him. This wasn’t just a pile of amethyst; it was a mountain of cash in crystalline form.

The corrupt Ban Yunchan had embezzled far more cash, but in Zhao Li’s mind, that was just a number large enough to bankrupt HSBC—a mere digit. It couldn’t compare to the overwhelming impact of seeing so much amethyst transformed into what looked like piles of money. Hearing about it was never as impactful as holding it in one’s own hands.

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“I’m sure that even if my Soul-Seizing and Spirit-Marking cultivation reached its highest level, it wouldn’t be as tempting as these things!” Christine’s eyes sparkled as if stars had appeared, her hand lingering on the box, reluctant to leave.

Even the cold-faced beauty Li Mengdie was no better. Though silent, her flushed face and nearly halted breathing made the truth obvious.

Zhao Li fared better, having witnessed the prison warden’s “simple” lunch before. Compared to these two unworldly beauties, his reaction to the temptation was far more composed.

Still, Zhao Li only uttered a single “Wow” before falling silent. His mind raced wildly with but one thought: “Fortune… fortune!”

This eerie, silent scene lasted over ten minutes before finally ending. They looked at each other, seeing only flushed faces and heavy breathing.

“How much is this?” Christine’s gaze seemed to emit flames, struggling to take in all the pale purple crystals.

“I don’t know—definitely over a billion!” Zhao Li finally calmed down and answered honestly.

“What do we do with it?” Li Mengdie’s few words hit the heart of the matter.

“I don’t know!” Zhao Li’s mind was blank, not yet considering how to handle it. They stayed in the conference room all afternoon without leaving.

“Who else knows these are crystals?” Christine sat dazed for a long while, staring at the vivid colors before her. Once her mind cleared, her first question was this.

“Only the three of us!” Zhao Li glanced at the two very different beauties beside him and answered confidently. “But the elite fighters have all seen these two boxes.”

“You brought these back. What do you plan to do with them?” Christine looked at the massive piles of crystals, her words gritted through clenched teeth.

“You handle it!” Li Mengdie tossed out before stepping back, as if unwilling to deal with it any further. Her relieved demeanor was obvious, like a heavy burden lifted.

Seeing Li Mengdie’s expression, Zhao Li began understanding why those three level-eight experts served the drug dealers. Such temptation was no ordinary person’s burden.

Watching the two women unable to resist, Zhao Li left the conference room one after the other, sitting on the floor, lost in thought, paying no mind to the fresh healing of his wounds.

“It’s fine, just keep it here. We can deal with it anytime!” Without a clue, Zhao Li comforted himself. Only now did he recall the punch delivered to his back, still aching faintly after Christine’s treatment.

Having all this, Zhao Li felt a surge of fear. This time, he had truly stumbled upon a lucky break, fate smiling upon him. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure if he would have come back alive.

“Strictly speaking, this operation was a complete failure!” Facing Kang Hongyuan, Zhao Li dropped his usual restraint. This matter had no secrets for Kang, since he provided the intelligence.

“Explain yourself.” Kang Hongyuan was far from as pessimistic as Zhao Li. “You don’t need to think that way. Failure isn’t terrible as long as you learn from it.”

“Although we achieved all expected objectives…” Zhao Li was choosing his words when Kang Hongyuan turned dismissively, “How many died?”

“All of them? You mean us?” Zhao Li instinctively replied, then realized Kang wasn’t asking about the enemy. “None of us died. It was a surprise attack. Except for a few minor injuries, everyone’s fine.”

“The enemy was wiped out, we barely scratched, objectives met—how is that a failure? I can’t imagine what success would look like!” Kang Hongyuan shrugged. When Zhao Li said ‘failure,’ Kang thought the operation truly had gone wrong. If it were traced back to the military camp, he’d have to find a safer place soon. A close call!

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“The intelligence was inaccurate.” Zhao Li stared into Kang’s eyes, demanding, “The intel said nothing about automatic machine guns, no mention of level-eight experts, nor what was being traded. I think you owe an explanation!” The thought of nearly being undone by faulty intel angered him.

“That’s normal!” Kang was unfazed by Zhao’s gaze, actually seeming refreshed—as if enjoying a spring breeze. “My informants aren’t gods. How could they know exactly who would be deployed?”

“But we almost paid the price!” Zhao Li’s voice rose, his fist pounding the table loudly. “If I hadn’t brought Major Li and changed the plan on the fly, the camp would’ve been wiped out by now!”

“I take back what I said. This operation was a failure!” Kang Hongyuan wasn’t intimidated by Zhao’s attitude. “The commander got the intel but didn’t analyze it or prepare an emergency plan. That almost cost lives. That’s a total failure!”

“What use are the soldiers to a commander?” Kang met Zhao’s eyes fiercely. “Getting intel but doing no prep or analysis, rushing into battle—it’s gambling with your people’s lives!”

“This is Jin Five-Star! The drug dealers’ stronghold. When two sides trade, experts show up—does the intel really need to specify that? Which trade doesn’t involve huge amounts of drugs and cash? Which one doesn’t have experts guarding it? You think you can sweep Jin Five-Star with a few mediocre fighters? Dream on!” Kang’s voice grew loud, matching Zhao’s.

Zhao’s voice lowered. He had come to criticize himself for failures in the operation, but now realized the fault was his own, not the intel.

“I understand. I won’t make this mistake again!” Zhao steadied his tone, meeting Kang’s glare head-on.

“You should feel lucky!” Kang sat back, voice softening. “You didn’t have to learn this lesson with your soldiers’ lives. Honestly, I didn’t expect much from this operation. I just wanted you to gain experience in small-scale trades.”

“Small-scale trade?” Zhao’s eyes widened. “If that’s small-scale, what counts as large?”

“Tell me what you gained.” Kang ignored Zhao’s surprise, leisurely lighting a cigar before asking.

“You smoke?” Zhao hadn’t seen Kang smoke before; he was startled by the cigar.

“Influenced by that old guy. I saw how relaxing he was and tried it myself. Now I can’t quit.” Kang referred to the old prison warden. After two puffs, exhaling thick smoke, he said, “Don’t change the subject.”

In truth, Zhao had come seeking Kang’s advice on handling the amethyst crystals.

“A bit of military hardware, and…” Hesitating, Zhao wondered if Kang would try to claim this fortune as political capital.

“And what? Don’t be such a wimp, whether as a man or soldier!” Kang showed no interest in weapons, only in the part Zhao hesitated to mention.

“About two billion worth of amethyst!” Zhao decided and said boldly.

“Phew!” Kang seemed to exhale deeply. “Amethyst is good, as long as it’s not drugs, *** everything’s good.” To Kang, this sum was nothing, showing no surprise.

Zhao didn’t understand Kang’s words, but Kang turned to him sharply. “Remember, no matter what, keep your original stance. You’re a government military officer; your duty is to eradicate drugs, not control them. Got it?”

This echoed what Zhao had told the old informant. Zhao nodded, understanding the problem well. “How do we handle the amethyst? Spending it here could cause trouble.”