Chapter 288: Only I Can Use Magic Chapter 288: Fossil Upgrade (2)

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Chen Yi brought Mordor not to protect himself, but because he feared Feng Ji Bei Er would palm off fakes. As for Archaeopteryx fossils, there were only a handful in the world, and fakes were far more common than the real thing. Had Chen Yi not planned to use it for gene completion on the subway, he wouldn't have bothered looking at all.

Compared to himself, a nineteen-year-old young man, bringing Mordor was better for holding the line.

Mordor was a rootless old bandit; in Chinese terms, he was a river-and-lake great bandit who dealt in military equipment and engaged in a head-chopping trade. Now that his patron asked him for a small favor, he naturally felt obliged.

Seeing these fierce faces and the fat arms dealer with bulges at his waist, Feng Ji Bei Er was stunned. He was just a somewhat disreputable fossil dealer and had never seen anything like this. He stood dazed for half a moment before coming to, as if he'd already been robbed, and in a thin, spidery voice said: "Chen... sir, you... you... you want to do what?"

"They're my friends, just guaranteeing my interests." Chen Yi patted Mordor's shoulder, then said: "Archaeopteryx fossils are rare items; I'm afraid you'll use fakes to fool me."

"How could that be." Hearing they were there to buy things, not rob, Feng Ji Bei Er finally puffed out his belly. Looking at Mordor and the others, he thought they might be bodyguards, and so spoke in a normal voice: "The items are definitely real. I went through nine oxen and two tigers' strength to get them. If you weren't always generous, I wouldn't say this."

Chen Yi made an "en" sound and said: "If you lie to me, I won't sue you."

"Ah?" Feng Ji Bei Er didn't catch it at first. When he understood, his face turned white in an instant.

"Real or fake?"

"This..." Feng Ji Bei Er stammered, unable to speak.

He actually didn't know whether that Archaeopteryx fossil was real or fake, but he knew that the true seller of the fossil, Dieter, had already sold more than one Masburg specimen. Solnhofen was a place with the most fossil trading in the world. Whether German local, African, or even smuggled from China, traces could be found in this small town of several thousand people. Archaeopteryx, though famous and rare, was like those family-name famous paintings; appearing in the right place wasn't too strange. If it were someone else, he'd sell it and be done, just like an ordinary wealthy Chinese person Chen. But now, looking at the burly men behind him, Feng Ji Bei Er considered the consequences and hesitated.

"What's wrong?"

"Dieter should have Archaeopteryx fossils. Maybe it's the Masburg specimen." Feng Ji Bei Er decided not to bring trouble on himself and still earn a little money steadily. He roughly described the Masburg specimen he'd seen at his friend Dieter's home, and told them of several transactions that had already existed. Then he let Chen Yi judge for himself and said: "No matter whether what you buy is real or fake, if I introduce you, I want 100,000 US dollars."

"I don't have time to play fake specimens with you." Chen Yi was already very unhappy. Dieter had sold the Masburg specimen several times already; surely he couldn't definitely buy the real one.

Seeing he hadn't made any rough moves with knives or guns, Feng Ji Bei Er began striving for his 100,000 US dollars: "Actually, Dieter very likely has the real Masburg specimen."

"Oh?"

"Many people have used this trick. A thief prepares a fake of a famous painting in advance, then steals the real painting, and continuously sells several fakes on the black market. Sometimes he earns more than selling the real painting. The Masburg specimen went missing nine years ago. Until today, I've heard news of it no fewer than ten times, each time very real. Dieter isn't the one who spreads the most news, but he's the one who sells the most..."

Mordor laughed and said: "This reminds me of a joke before the Soviet Union collapsed. It said an arms depot in East Germany was stolen. The lieutenant colonel in charge knew he'd be dismissed, so he looked for arms dealers everywhere, saying he was willing to sell a depot's equipment at a low price, just needing a 10% deposit first for activities. Many people believed it after hearing. In the end, that lieutenant colonel got seven or eight deposits to go upstairs for activities, and finally was promoted to colonel, and the depot matter was dropped."

Chen Yi laughed and said: "If it were China, the colonel would demand the depot below lose a little from each storage room to make up the arms dealer's losses."

"That would be a loan!"

Feng Ji Bei Er watched the two laugh heartily and could only force a smile. But he wasn't good at it; his movements were awkward, like Hitler performing Chaplin.

"Alright, let's go to Dieter's home." Chen Yi put an arm around Feng Ji Bei Er and laughed: "As long as we can buy the real Masburg specimen, giving you 100,000 US dollars is fine."

In other words, if there was no real one, there wouldn't be a single cent.

If it were someone else, Feng Ji Bei Er would naturally refuse. Now he only hoped to send this group of plague gods away as soon as possible and led the way first.

"No car?"

"Solnhofen is very small."

"Not many police either." Mordor patted the weapon at his waist and asked: "That Archaeopteryx fossil, how much is it worth?"

Feng Ji Bei Er answered stupidly: "The real one is at least 10 million US dollars."

Mordor was greatly shocked, then asked: "US dollars?"

"International price tag."

"Oh, we also take the international route." Mordor nodded understandingly.

"Are you a security company?"

Mordor said tactfully: "Mainly providing weapons to security companies."

Feng Ji Bei Er nodded gladly and dared not speak again.

Going to Dieter's home indeed didn't require a car. He was considered Feng Ji Bei Er's neighbor, just a bit farther away, with a field piled with many fossils in between.

This person's business was obviously bigger than what Feng Ji Bei Er did, and he wasn't intimidated by Chen Yi. He only said his fossils were genuine, asking 2 million US dollars, which was much lower than Feng Ji Bei Er's opening price.

Chen Yi thought for a moment, nodded and said: "Wait a moment, I'll go get the money."

Mordor didn't stop him in time, then thought better of it and just waited at ease for him to return. But his look at Dieter was very unfriendly—2 million US dollars was his life-risking money. What a good buyer, fooled by a fossil swindler. He was already considering switching to banditry.

When Chen Yi returned, two large boxes were placed on the Volkswagen borrowed from Dieter. Chen Tongxue carried them to Dieter and opened them separately.

The first box contained 2 million US dollars; the second box contained 10 million US dollars.

"Give me a Masburg specimen now, and I'll give you 2 million. But if it's fake, C4 is yours. Or, I'll give you 12 million US dollars, and you give me a real one."

"I don't have it. I really didn't lie to you..." Dieter acted very convincingly, but Chen Yi had a Listening Scroll and naturally knew he was lying.

2 million US dollars could make an arms dealer drive two days to Solnhofen, and could make a fossil dealer disregard danger.

If he weren't bold enough, he wouldn't have sold several Masburg specimens in a row.

Chen Yi made a last effort: "I'm not joking. There's 12 million to take now, but next time it won't be so easy..."

"I really didn't lie to you. 2 million US dollars, or 12 million, but there's only one Masburg specimen." In the end, he still wanted money, but worried the other side would black-eat-black.

"Since that's the case..." Chen Yi put away his smile, took away the box of 10 million US dollars, and closed the box of 2 million US dollars, pushing it backhandedly to Mordor: "2 million for you to help me interrogate him. If we get the real Masburg specimen, the 10 million US dollars is also yours."

Money can make ghosts work; German ghosts are no exception.

Mordor's eyes lit up, but he said embarrassedly: "You know, we're arms dealers and generally don't do torture."

"What if someone stole your arms?"

Mordor said without hesitation: "Chop him into pieces."

"Trouble you then." Chen Yi left 2 million US dollars and the two fossil dealers, and went back by himself.

Behind him, silence for a moment, then came Mordor's fierce German.

Compared to five sets of Milan Anti-Tank Missiles, this money was obviously easier to earn.

One day later, Chen Yi got the "real" Masburg specimen. Compared to famous Archaeopteryx specimens like the London Specimen, the Archaeopteryx fossil on the Masburg specimen had blurred feathers and was truly hard to distinguish.

He first gave Mordor five million US dollars, promising to pay the remaining five million after proving its authenticity. Holding real gold and silver in hand even surprised the German.

This money was too easy to earn!

It was because Chen Yi had ample funds that he was so generous.

He currently had no plans to expand; the supply from Gold Source International alone was enough for his stalls, and the platinum shipped from the West Continent and elsewhere was all profit, so he was not short of money at all.

Returning to Jiangning, Chen Yi directly placed the anti-tank missiles in the warehouse at the Jiangjing Storage Area, along with the machine cannon shells destined for the West Continent, and various clothes and mechanical parts for currency exchange, all in the same container. Yun Five, Yun Eight, Yun Twelve, and Yun Thirteen had all learned to drive various automobiles; by the time they went to the West Continent, they could transport supplies from the Jiangjing Storage Area to the basement of the Chen Family Department Store, and then into the original Subway Tunnel. This was somewhat troublesome, but safer than the previous method.

Professor Lei and his group were indeed preparing cheating materials; in official terms, they were reviewing the conference content of the "Cornell University Economics Academic Exchange Conference." Principal Tan had indeed spent a fortune—not to mention how he persuaded the hot-tempered Lei Gong Po—but at least two associate professors were present to accompany the cheating, and lecturers kept rotating in to participate.

When Chen Yi arrived, Han He was obediently staying by Professor Lei's side, flipping through various documents with another graduate student, looking somewhat gloomy.

He had always been a gloomy person, and this cheating was probably not entirely voluntary. Chen Yi greeted him, but received no response and didn't take it to heart; instead, that graduate student exchanged a few words with him.

Chen Yi only remembered the name "Yun Yuhui," then left the office and let them busy themselves.

……(Unfinished, if you want to know what happens next, please log in to www. qidian. com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)