Chapter 261: Unreasonable Conditions
Andrew’s face was solemn as he whispered to Annie, who was behind Lancelot, “Why don’t we take a look from here? It’s dirty down there, and the environment isn’t good…”
Before he could finish, Annie replied to him coldly, “I came to see this mine for you. Let me see what’s going on here.”
Hearing Annie’s cold tone, Andrew was stunned. Then, with an awkward expression, he flew directly towards the Crimson Flame Stone mine.
Just as he landed on the ground, he found Howard, who was standing outside the mine supervising.
Annie and Lancelot’s figures landed behind him.
Seeing Andrew, Annie, and Lancelot’s figures, he walked towards Andrew with a respectful expression.
When he saw Howard’s figure, Andrew’s expression became solemn as he asked him, “How many Crimson Flame Stones have been mined during this period? Did you encounter any problems? How are the Atlantean disciples doing?”
Andrew asked three questions in a row. Howard was slightly surprised before he explained the situation respectfully, “The number of Crimson Flame Stones mined these few days is much more than before. There aren’t any major problems in the mine. As for the Atlantean disciples, if they are disobedient, I will directly get rid of them.”
Andrew’s lips curled up slightly. He raised his hand and patted his shoulder lightly.
“Then, has the government given any accurate information? When can they make a request for this Crimson Flame Stone?”
Howard, who was a little happy a moment ago, became gloomy after hearing his words. He said to him slowly, “This… this matter, you might have to go personally. I didn’t agree to the government’s conditions.”
Seeing the change in Howard’s expression, he knew that something must have happened. His expression also turned gloomy.
“What’s going on? Wasn’t it all fine when I left before? Although the government said that it would cost a lot of resources, I also…”
Hearing his cold voice, Howard didn’t know what to say. He looked at him with a trembling voice and said again, “There was no problem when you left, but after you left for a while, the government sent people to send news again. They said that they could only help us purify, and we would pay for those resources. Moreover, after the purification, they will take 60% of the profits.”
Andrew lost his temper and said, “These red flame stones are useful to warriors, but to the people of the government, they are just ordinary stones. Why would they take such a high profit from them?”
Seeing Andrew’s furious expression, Howard was at a loss for words. He could only stand aside respectfully.
Andrew suppressed the anger and said to Annie, who was standing behind him, “I still have some things to deal with here. You and Lancelot take a look around here.”
Annie saw his dissatisfaction instantly. After hearing what he said, she nodded at him and followed his instructions.
Just as Annie and Lancelot turned around, Andrew suddenly called out to them again.
“Oh, right, this is the spirit pearl that I obtained from killing a demon beast. If you encounter any danger, drip your blood on it. You can let this demon beast fight for you.”
He handed the 10,000-year-old purple flame pangolin spirit pearl in his hand to Annie.
When Annie saw the spirit pearl, she looked at him with a puzzled expression. She then took the spirit pearl.
Andrew took out the four low-level purple fire pangolin spirit pearls from his interspatial ring.
This time, he handed them to Lancelot.
“I’ll leave these four spirit pearls with you for now. If you encounter any danger, drop your blood on them. I believe you have the ability to do so.”
After saying this, he didn’t give Annie and Lancelot any time to react. He turned around and signaled to Howard, who was standing at the side.
Howard also understood what he meant and hurriedly followed behind him.
In a short while, they came to a quiet place.
Andrew stopped and turned around with a solemn expression. He asked Howard, “What is going on with you? What were you hiding just now? Now, tell me everything.”
Howard looked around. Then, he whispered to him again, “Just now, there were spies sent by the government in our Crimson Flame Stone mine. It was not convenient for me to say anything in public.”
Andrew was already angry. When he heard that the government had sent spies to his place, he was enraged.
Howard whispered to him again, “Don’t be so angry. I already have a very good countermeasure against the government spies. However, I’m more or less worried about the stones that the government has purified for us this time. They will definitely seek more from us. When that happens, not only will we not make much money with these stones, we might even make a loss in business.”
After listening to his explanation, Andrew also agreed. After all, he was the one who oppressed the Atlantean disciples to mine these Crimson Flame Stones for him. Why should he hand them over to the people of the government?
“Is there no room for negotiation with the conditions set by the government?”
He asked Howard in a cold voice.
However, Howard just shook his head at him with an unsightly expression on his face.
Upon receiving Howard’s affirmation, he instantly understood what the government meant.