Chapter 1288: Keys Aren't Necessarily for Opening Doors
If the entrance to the mine vein was truly covered by a spiritual realm, such a situation wouldn't be unusual. Moreover, even without spiritual interference, it was perfectly normal for Fresh Flower City to implement this level of protection for one of its major financial resources.
Simply put, not only was it impossible to go in for a look, but even getting close was out of the question—unless one had a legitimate identity.
Xu Huo took out the hypnosis beginner's guide he had bought just a few days ago and performed a practical operation on Han Ao.
With the aid of spiritual power, hypnotizing someone wasn't difficult, but the final effect depended on the operator's strength. Controlling the hypnotized person's behavior without contradicting their true nature was no small feat, so he only planted a small suggestion: that he needed to get another sum of money soon.
After finishing this, he left the hotel and returned to Brother Song's place.
Early the next morning, Han Ao contacted Brother Song again, urging him to quickly find someone who could move the batch of ore he had already obtained and sell it off.
Brother Song had no choice but to comply. He didn't just scout out one person to handle the job for him.
Xu Huo had Jiao Cheng go to the underground market once more. This time, things went smoothly. He spent some money to buy all the ore and indicated that he would be staying in Fresh Flower City for a few more days. If the other party had more ore, he would like to buy some more—nothing too large.
After the transaction, the news successfully made its way back to Han Ao. Meanwhile, Xu Huo had entered the directly administered district and found Han Ao's residence.
His residence was also equipped with monitoring devices. Xu Huo couldn't use his spiritual realm to infiltrate, but keeping an eye on his movements was just as effective. After failing to contact his father, Han Ao left his residence on his own and met privately with an employee from within the Han family company, asking him to get more ore out.
"Young Master, it's very difficult to bring ore out," the middle-aged man said with a troubled expression. "Not to mention that the ore that can be screened out is already scarce in the first place. Taking too much would draw attention, and even transporting it out isn't easy."
"Handle it the same way you did before," Han Ao said impatiently. "Those scraps can't be sold at all. Over time, how many people will be watching?"
The middle-aged man couldn't help but glance at him. "The Twelfth Young Master is in charge of dealing with the leftover ore. His people are very meticulous. If we're discovered, we'll all be in trouble."
Han Ao was wary but unconvinced. "That long-haired guy—neither male nor female in appearance—I don't know why Grandfather values him so much. He even gave him the leftover ore, completely ignoring everyone else's livelihood!"
The middle-aged man cautiously said, "Actually, Young Master, your monthly allowance is already quite generous. As long as you don't spend recklessly..."
"What reckless spending?" Han Ao raised his voice. "We're all descendants of the Han family. Why can he spend money however he wants while I have to scrimp and save? That's not fair!"
The middle-aged man stopped trying to persuade him and instead said, "I'll think of something, but the chances might not be high."
"Then do your best!" Han Ao pressed down on the other's shoulder firmly. "Stealing once is stealing; stealing twice is still stealing."
Once you start, there's no backing out.
The middle-aged man left helplessly.
Xu Huo shifted his surveillance target to the middle-aged man. Three days later, the man met with Han Ao again and directly told him that inspections had been strict recently. If he wanted to get more ore, he would have to wait for a while.
Han Ao didn't care about any of that. He took the items and left, while the middle-aged man returned to work at the company. During that time, aside from going home, he didn't go anywhere else.
The two colleagues he worked with were the same.
Xu Huo focused his attention on the Han family company building.
Since they hadn't been anywhere else but still had contact with the ore, the only possible route was through this company.
The mine vein was jointly controlled by several factions, and the entrances might be split into multiple points. However, whether this Han company was one of the entrances was hard to say. After all, the business handled by this part of the company was almost at the final stage of mining. The workshop Han Ao mentioned could also be a transfer station.
But one thing was certain: the entrance to the mine vein was definitely somewhere in the directly administered district.
Without attempting to enter the Han company, Xu Huo decided to take a look around the directly administered district.
What that A-rank player said couldn't be trusted, but that didn't stop him from trying his luck. Perhaps the mine vein entrance really was singular and sealed off by a spiritual realm.
The directly administered district was quite large. To avoid drawing attention, Xu Huo used the special item "Dead Heart" he had obtained from Chen Chou to evade some detection items and investigate places heavily guarded by players.
After wandering around for half a day with no results, he stopped to eat and suddenly saw the massive "Mining Group" sign towering atop a building. He realized something else: something that needed to be hidden didn't have to be particularly secret or disguised. It could be boldly placed somewhere, just that outsiders hadn't thought of it.
The Mining Group—shouldn't that be the entrance?
What place was more convenient and safer than under one's own home?
Areas densely populated with players weren't easy to enter, but after staying nearby for a short while, Xu Huo made another discovery. He noticed that some people coming and going wore keys crafted from ore.
Keys weren't necessarily used to open a door. They could also be souvenirs or symbols of identity.
He asked someone and learned that such keys were issued annually to the most outstanding employees of the group. Each key had a special serial number, serving as recognition of the employee's contributions. Those who received the keys could upgrade their benefits, but this was an internal reward not disclosed to the public.
There was no relevant information on the message collection terminal, but Xu Huo turned around and got the details from Han Ao. This reward from the Mining Group had existed for a long time, though it used to be issued once every few years. Recently, it had become an annual event—just a symbolic souvenir. Even people within the Mining Group paid little attention to it.
He Pu, or V. Van Shaw, had left him a key. If it referred to the mine vein, a single piece of ore could have sufficed. Since the keys were given to group employees, each key corresponded to a specific person. Who did his key correspond to?
That required checking the list of previous key recipients.
The key from He Pu might represent a person—an unexpected direction, but much simpler than directly storming the mine vein entrance. Xu Huo didn't spend much effort getting useful information from an old employee. Most of the key recipients were still working for the group, with only two having left. One had gone to work for the city government, and the other had retired three years ago and was now enjoying his old age.
After comparing their ages, Xu Huo first went to find the retired one. In his home, he found a diamond key that was slightly different from the one He Pu had left.
The Mining Group issued different keys each time. He then went to the city government and learned that the other person had died in an accident five years ago. With no family or friends, his belongings had long been donated.
(Chapter End)