Chapter 649: An Unusual Discovery
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The little bug flew into Hughes's pants pocket and found a mobile phone in there.
It was not a Samsung phone, but an Apple iPhone instead.
The little bug continued to fly upwards into Hughes's shirt pocket, and found another mobile phone—it was also an Apple iPhone.
It appeared that Hughes was not the one using machines to excavate the gems. Keeping a straight face, Li Du continued his search for the mobile phone.
There were not many people present, so it was not difficult to conduct the search.
The little bug had searched all the gem hunters' pockets but had not found a single Samsung mobile phone. Obviously, based on this, the person responsible was not a gem hunter.
He was perplexed. Could it be that the person who used the machine last night is not here?
This would be unusual. The person probably wouldn't make his escape until traces of the crime had been found. He would stay to observe things and gather news.
Those remaining were the security officers and staff members. Li Du had no choice but to have the little bug search their pockets.
As a result, the discovery was made.
Upon entering the pocket of the Indian man, the little bug saw a large Samsung big-screened smartphone. It was the newly released Galaxy-Nexus in black—which was exactly the feature that had appeared during the time reversal.
Seeing this, he frowned. This would not be an easy matter to resolve if the staff of the National Park was involved.
He had found the mastermind of the incident, but he had no evidence. Furthermore, it would be tricky trying to pin the blame on him without offending him—he had to maintain a low profile.
After wandering around for a while, he pretended that he had discovered nothing and shook his head in frustration. "I would like to help you find out the truth, but I can't find any evidence."
In this case, he had chosen to maintain the peace and avoid trouble. It was the staff of the National Park who had been responsible for this—possibly not just the Indian man, but other employees as well.
Li Du couldn't risk offending them even if he wanted to be heroic. They possessed the authority to refuse him entry into the National Park. It would be a terrible thing if he were barred.
With the sheer number of fire opals in the National Park, it wasn't necessary for him to compete with the staff. They could keep clear of each other and find their own ways to make money.
He could try to find ways to out the Indian man and the other staff involved, but what good would it do him?
Even if the employees of the National Park were not birds of the same feather, they enjoyed close relationships. If Li Du were to expose the Indian man, his colleagues would feel equally offended.
These people could always slap some false accusation on him and prohibit him from entering the National Park. His loss then would be really too great.
Li Du had decided to appear weak, but Hughes and others didn't let things rest. The group of them stared at him and accused him of being a criminal.
"Of course you can't find any evidence, it was done by you. Would you provide evidence and get yourself into trouble?"
"I think this time he came here to destroy evidence. Surgi, you've made a mistake by bringing him here."
"Let's call the police, and let them investigate this guy. He's destroying the national park."
Surgi's attitude toward Li Du also worsened. "You're the biggest suspect for this matter. Sir, don't make me hand you over to the police!"
Seeing them act aggressively, Li Du was furious and decided to teach them a lesson.
The national park might be large, but it was surrounded by a long stretch of wall. Surgi and his gang had just used a machine to search for fire opals the previous night and hadn't yet moved it.
As everyone knew, these machines were the reason for the search.
After muttering to himself, Li Du said to Surgi, "You can call the police, but I believe the police will prove my innocence. Besides, although I didn't find any clues, my dog will be able to find the machine."
The previous night when the machine had been working, there was a tent put up outside—there was bound to be some traces left behind.
Li Du found a torn piece of tent fabric and a broken tent pole. He beckoned Ah Ow over and let her sniff them. He then covered her eyes and motioned for Brother Wolf to destroy the items.
Hughes got anxious and said, "Are you trying to destroy the evidence? Stop him!"
Li Du sneered, "I think you're actually afraid that my dog will unearth more evidence?"
The man with the ponytail gazed at him doubtfully. "Hey buddy, are you sure your dog can find the machine?"
"If the machine and the tent were hidden together," Li Du said, "then she will be able to find them."
The man with the ponytail nodded. "Well, let's take a look at what you can do. If you fail, then we'll tell the police about you destroying evidence."
Brother Wolf burned the tent fragments and tent pole, and then Li Du released Ah Ow as a sign to her to look for these things.
Ah Ow started by taking a forceful sniff; her little body wandered up and down, before running a few steps further and then she howled at the ground below her.
Li Du dug up the gravel and found another tent fragment.
He shook his head and said, "No, not right. Not this one."
Ah Ow blinked and continued sniffing. She then dashed off eastward.
She ran in small steps, with her nose plastered on the ground to find the scent left behind by the tent and the machine. Finally, after running about two miles, she entered an ore hut.
This was a scenic spot; the stone hut had been built by the local Native Americans, using stone fragments. One of the most famous models was the agate house, which was a cultural icon of the United States' heritage.
The stone hut she found was not a cultural icon, but a featured scenic spot. In order to protect the huts, their doors were usually locked to prevent people from entering.
The group of them went over. The man with the ponytail frowned. "It's wrong. In the morning, we guessed that the machine could be here. We searched the hut. There's nothing in here."
Ah Ow kept howling at the hut, and wandered about excitedly in front of the door.
Li Du released the little bug into the house. Indeed, there was nothing in there—it was completely empty.
However, when the little bug flew underground, a space in the ground appeared before his eyes—in it were some machines and tents.
He had found the machines, and he had also found the gemstones.
There was a box in the corner of the basement. When the little bug flew into it, he saw a piece of soft and delicate black velvet inside—the brightly-colored fire opals had been placed on top of it!
The previous night, six machines had been used to search for the fire opals. The returns were pretty good—there was a total of 40-something fire opals of varying sizes in the box.
Their quality was not bad, and on average, even better than those Li Du had found. He estimated their haul to be worth a few million dollars or as much as tens of millions of dollars.
This was quite a common occurrence; when optical machines were used to search for opals, they were only able to find good quality opals. Turbid opals were not sensitive to light, and were usually destroyed like stones.
Using the little bug to find opals was much more exhaustive than this. But with this way, all were found and excavated.
This was one of the reasons national parks prohibited the use of machines to search for gemstones. Once machines were permitted, gem hunters would bring in a lot of them.
The machines could only find good quality gemstones, and the gemstones with poor quality would be destroyed.