The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)
Chapter 1284

"What is this?"

"The gold mine."

Looking at the mine in front of him, Augustus said seriously, "Augustus Abbott was a geology expert. He discovered a gold mine here, so that's the reason he paid close attention to Longford County. However, this later triggered a tragedy there."

"A mine vein? Is this where the gold mine is located at?"

Nathaniel had a diamond mine in Swovenia, so he understood it immediately.

Morgan nodded. "Indeed. The source of the gold mine is Longford County, and all the mayors knew about it. Thus, their main goal was to protect the gold mine. To them, the gold mines were something that protected and guarded their village, and the venomous bugs produced here were of high quality. The villages got their resources from the mine, so the quality of the venomous bugs would plummet once the mountains were destroyed. I heard that it would take a few hundred years to produce one Golden Lancehead Venom, but Longford County managed

to produce three of those in merely one hundred years. Furthermore, they were of high quality. Hence, Longford County did not allow anyone to come to the mountains. Moreover, the people there have never married any outsiders because they wanted to keep this a secret."

When Nathaniel heard this, he paused for a moment.

They had actually produced three Golden Lancehead Venom?

If he had one in his body, what happened to the other two?

"Did Barack Hans came here for the mine as well?"

"No, Barack came for the Golden Lancehead Venom."

Morgan sighed and shook his head. "Barack was infatuated with his lover. Back then, he fell in love with Magnolia, but he thought that he and his eldest brother had their eyes on the same woman. Thus, he suffered a lot overseas because Magnolia had tricked him. However, Magnolia already belonged to somebody else. He was disheartened, so he thought about leaving that tragic place. However, he accidentally learned that there was a vermin in Magnolia's body. If he wanted to remove the vermin, he would have to find the Golden Lancehead Venom from Longford County. Thus, Barack had come to Longford County to save Magnolia."

Nathaniel did not expect to hear that Barack had come her for this.

He frowned slightly, and he seemed to have thought of something. Then, he asked, "Barack and Aunt Mo came here at the same time, so I'm sure that Benny knew that they were coming, right? After all, Benny has been paying attention to the situation of the mine here. Did he kill Barack and Aunt Mo because he thought that they had discovered the secret of the mine?"

"I think so. But I know that Barack has indeed found a Golden Lancehead Venom and sent it to Magnolia. However, his whereabouts have been exposed, so he has been missing since then. All these years, Magnolia has been searching for Barack, but it was all to no avail. Besides, Aunt Mo also disappeared after Barack left."

Morgan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion after hearing this. This was an unsolved mystery, so he was very puzzled.

Then, Nathaniel recalled Maverick's words and said softly, "Maverick said that Barack is in this mountain." "What? How could he be in this mountain?"

Morgan was obviously a little surprised.

"He's right."

Nathaniel's felt slightly unsettled when he thought about this.

"Morgan, you said that Augustus entered the Longford County for the mine, didn't you? But didn't the village ban outsiders from entering? Why did they let Augustus in and let him stay for so long? Also, Nanny Zhang is the head of the village. So, it would be impossible for her to not know about this mine!"

When Morgan heard Nathaniel's question, he muttered, "Nanny Zhang is only the leader. According to the rules of the village, the secret of the mine will only be disclosed by the current leader to the next appointed leader before he dies. However, the tragedy of the Zhang Manor happened so suddenly. Hence, the previous leader had no time to pass down anything to Nanny Zhang. Therefore, she knew nothing about it. Besides, we discovered the secret after exploring the geological stratification here."

"You explored the geography here?"

"Yes, Augustus is a geologist. There's something I've always wondered about. Why does a geologist have so much interest in Longford County? So, I heard that Augustus could enter the village because of his position as a geologist."

Nathaniel became even more confused after hearing what Morgan had said.

"Wait, I don't get it! The mine is the secret of Longford County, and Augustus is a geologist. By right, shouldn't they avoid him and prevent him from entering?" Morgan nodded.

"Yes, I think so too, but we discovered something else from our investigation. Augustus could enter the village because of a landslide that happened somewhere between the mountains. Thus, he found traces of the mine that was hidden in the mountains. The villagers were panicking, so they formed a group to cover up the mine. But, more than ten people died because another landslide happened. However, they refused to give up. Thus, they decided to cover up the mine again, but something mysterious happened. At that time, all the people who were supposed to cover up the mine died in their houses mysteriously! Thus, they started becoming anxious, and Augustus had been working as a geologist near the area at that time. Hence, the leader of the village thought that he was an expert, so they invited him into the County. Previously, the leader of Longford County wanted to kill Augustus after the latter had helped them bury the mine. However, that day never came, and instead, Longford County was destroyed." Nathaniel felt somewhat uncomfortable upon hearing this news.

"Maybe Augustus is the culprit behind this incident! Perhaps he deliberately made the landslide and supernatural events. After all, his goal is to enter Longford County's mine." After all, Nathaniel was not a fool. There were too many coincidences, and the story didn't match up. Thus, it seemed that someone had planned this whole incident out.

After hearing that Morgan nodded and said, "I think so too."

"Where did you find about these?"

Nathaniel was a little surprised to hear this.

There were not many people from Longford County left since the accident, and they were either still working or staying by his side. Therefore, how did Morgan learn about these past events? Just then, Morgan took out the Hikasa Manual and handed it to Nathaniel.

It looked very familiar, and Nathaniel immediately flipped through it. However, he was shocked.

"Is this the Hikasa Manual of the Longford County? Why is it here?" "Well, if I want something, I'll do anything get it. There are some ancient characters in it, but I have already asked someone to translate them. It told us how to make the poison, and it also recorded some secrets of the village. Now, I have returned it to its original owner."

Nathaniel frowned slightly and said gloomily, "Isn't the manual supposed to be in Wisdom's hands?"

"I asked Rita to get it."

Although Morgan said it with confidence, Nathaniel was in dismay.

"Hey! Stop using my daughter! Don't you ever think that you can ask her to do anything just because Bjorn treated her kindly!"

"I have to say, though. Rita is a talented girl indeed."

Morgan did not hide his affection for Rita at all.

Then, Nathaniel said faintly, "Of course, she's my daughter, so she's a genius!"

"Alright, stop being so upset. I won't do anything to you. Now that you know about this incident, we can find out the person behind Augustus."

When Nathaniel heard what Morgan had said, he narrowed his eyes and responded, "Augustus should have worked with Benny back then, so the person behind him must be Benny."

"Benny went abroad, and he disappeared the second year after that."

Nathaniel was stunned after hearing what Morgan had said.

"What did you say?"

"The military hid this issue well, and we all thought that Benny was still living happily abroad. But. recently I got the news that the person staying abroad was not Benny, but his brother. Well, Benny disappeared mysteriously in the second year after he went abroad. If the person behind Augustus was really Benny, there was no reason for him to leave his family to hide for so many years. Moreover, if Benny could get the gold mine, he didn't need to hide abroad at all. Do you know how much the gold mine in this mountain is worth?"

Nathaniel looked at the mountains in front of him and said faintly, "It must not be as valuable as my diamond mine." The corners of Morgan's lips twitched in annoyance when he heard what Nathaniel had said.

"Duh, can you stop showing off?"

"I've been a businessman for so many years. So, I have tons of achievements, so why can't I show them off?" Morgan was a little upset when he heard what Nathaniel had said.

"Urgh! I hate rich people like you."

"I just earn more than the average worker. If the country really needs the money, I will donate it."

"Are you willing to give it up?"

"Why can't I? Besides, these are just temporary possessions.

Nathaniel said nonchalantly, and this made Morgan even annoyed.

Were all rich people this hateful?

"Let's get to the point. If you want to know who is behind this Augustus, you must first catch him. After all, the higher-ups only want one day. We must arrest Augustus to avoid alerting the enemy and people working behind him using any means we can."

Nathaniel nodded, but his eyes darkened.

"Well, catching Augustus secretly is a difficult task."

"That's why I need your help."

Nathaniel raised his eyebrows and immediately thought of something.

"Are you asking me to use Maverick?" "Well, you're not exactly using him. Augustus had done evil things all these years, so he deserved it. Besides, this incident will also benefit Maverick if he chooses to help us. You should know that Maverick has also done a lot of killing and robbing these years. If he helps us, we can help him reduce his sentence once the time comes. I know that you have a good relationship with him, but Nathan, you should know your identity and do what you should do. Do you get it?"

When Nathaniel looked at Morgan's eyes, he felt upset.

He was well aware of what Maverick had done in the past few years. However, the instructions from the higher-ups were clear. This was a chance for Maverick to redeem himself. Thus, he also hoped that Maverick could learn his lesson and become better in the future.

But Nathaniel wasn't sure how Maverick would feel about this.

"Can't we give him a chance? Michael has done a lot of bad things over the years, and Master Mo gave him a hidden identity. Why can't Maverick have the same treatment?"

Morgan sighed and patted Nathaniel's shoulder before saying, "We were the ones who raised Michael. Even if he did something wrong, he would stand on our side. However, Maverick is a foreign soldier. Nathan, there's something you should know. The lesson he learned in foreign countries is very different from what we have learnt. Although Michael was brutal, he had only killed terrorists all these years and never harmed the innocent. However, Maverick's organization did this for money. Thus, many people who died in his hands are innocent!"

After hearing this, Nathaniel felt upset, and he even felt like he was suffocating.