Chapter 727: It Turned Out to Be the Enemy
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After hearing Sophie's words, the officer reacted brilliantly. He waved and said, "Temporary spot check. All tourists please walk through the inspection lane. Thank you for your cooperation."
He had a good working attitude and even bowed after finishing his sentence.
So, the whole line of people had nothing to say and no choice but to walk gloomily through the inspection lane.
Now Li Du and the Brooks family weren't the only ones in the inspection lane. There were other early passengers, too. They had fallen on bad luck and had to walk back to check their luggage.
Li Du and the others had the most luggage. They would have to unload the luggage on the cart and reload it later. It would be a waste of time.
That was exactly what Brooks wanted to see. He smiled triumphantly and walked quickly with his wife down the inspection lane.
Li Du sneered. He gave Godzilla a wink, and Godzilla strode up and stopped the Australians.
Brooks tried pushing him away, but when he saw Godzilla's bulky body, he did not dare to do anything about it. He could only stomp and shout, "Hey, step aside! You're blocking my way."
Big Quinn also came over and stood with Godzilla on either side of Brooks, blocking him from both sides, leaving him no place to go.
Li Du and the others took the opportunity to stand in line so that Brooks could only get ahead of them.
The couple began unloading their luggage. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks had brought many things with them including two large suitcases and two large backpacks.
Li Du called out the little bug to open up the black hole and then gave Godzilla a wink to signal him to stop Brooks again.
Godzilla turned back and looked down at Brooks. He said coldly, "Listen, I'll teach you a lesson when we get out of the airport."
Brooks jumped back and shouted to the security guard, "Someone is threatening me. I want to call the police!"
He wasn't paying attention to his luggage at that moment, and Li Du quietly opened his backpack and stuffed it with spices.
Australia banned these things from coming into the country. Li Du kept some in his black hole for his own cooking.
Brooks somehow always provoked him, so he decided to get a little revenge.
The security guard came and Godzilla was back to his nice persona.
Brooks, who was now satisfied, flipped Godzilla off and said, "This is Australia, not your messy, dirty Mexico. If you dare to do anything, the police will send you to prison!"
Wolf said expressionlessly, "I want to hit this b*stard."
It was their turn to be searched. The luggage was carried onto the machine's conveyor belt and came out without any problem.
Next was Brooks, who was unhappy because he had been unable to teach Li Du and his gang a lesson.
He put his luggage on the conveyor and wanted to move on, but the machine suddenly went red and whimpered.
The security guard and the staff around him immediately gathered around Brooks. Someone picked up a backpack and said, "Whose is this? Open, check!"
"My backpack," said Brooks without thinking, "has nothing but clothes and purses."
The officers didn't say anything. Someone tried to force open the backpack.
At this point, Brooks hurriedly stopped him and cried, "Don't! I'll do it myself. There is my black gold abalone harvesting permit. Don't touch it."
Upon hearing this, Li Du, who had been about to leave, suddenly realized why Brooks was always targeting him!
It should have occurred to him that Brooks was friendly at first until he asked why Li Du was going to Australia. When he said he had come to harvest black gold abalone, that's when Brooks had suddenly turned on him.
Apparently, Brooks also had a black gold abalone harvesting permit and was a black gold abalone fisherman. They were in competition with each other!
Li Du did some research about harvesting black gold abalone before he came. In Australia, abalone harvesters had poor relationships with each other, and the competition was tight.
The Australian government had a cap on black gold abalone. Only a few tons a year could be harvested in the summer and autumn. When the harvest reached a specified amount, the government's ban went into effect.
This cap was the total amount, not the quota per person. So the fishermen were snatching business from each other every time they harvested.
The more one fisherman harvested, the more they would earn, while the ones who harvested fewer would earn less. The competition was direct. The bad blood between competitors in the field was well known.
Li Du didn't think he would be so unlucky so soon. There weren't many fishermen in Australia, and there were few harvesting permits left. He did not expect to meet a competitor before he had even set foot in Australia.
Brooks was trying to get Li Du into trouble, but now Brooks was in trouble himself.
His harvesting permit was stowed carefully in a large wallet. When he opened his backpack, he tried to take out his wallet. One of the security officers stopped him and said coldly, "Sorry sir, we'll have to check that first."
Brooks, accustomed to rudeness, pushed the security guard aside and grabbed his wallet. "I have a black gold abalone harvesting permit in here. Do you know how much it's worth? Oh, f**k," he said angrily.
As soon as he started to move, two security guards came over and pinned him down.
The scene then was thrown into confusion, and the inspection lane was closed. The passengers at the back of the lane had to wait.
Li Du waved and said, "Let's go."
It was none of their business. The inspection was over, and it was time for them to leave.
Hans was so excited about it that he said reluctantly, "Don't leave now. Let's see how the bastard is getting on. Ha, what's that in his backpack? Are all of them detained?"
Li Du smiled. It would not be easy for Brooks to leave. He put spices like star anise and prickly ash in his backpack. He supposed that the spices had spread all throughout his backpack by now.
Once they were out of the airport, they went to the hotel they had reserved in advance. After a 20-hour flight, even in first class, they were still tired.
Hans had not reserved a room at a luxurious hotel, but rather at a farmhouse surrounded by green hills, trees, and rippling waters on the outskirts of Canberra.
The scale of the family hotel was relatively small. It was just big enough to accommodate their group.
The proprietors of the hotel were a couple in their sixties—American immigrants who had once lived in Flagstaff—so they were from the same country as Hans.
Warm greetings were had all around. Hans had communicated with them in advance, so he had gotten to know them a little bit and had brought them some specialties from Flagstaff such as golden cheese and farm sausage.
The gray-haired owner laughed as he picked up a string of farm sausages. "I'm pretty sure this is from Peter's family farm. The taste is familiar."