Chapter 582: Calling The Police
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Alicia caught on, and with astonishment, she said, "Unbelievable! That"s a fake! That isn"t a genuine boulder opal!"
After hearing the conversation between the three, surrounding gem hunters rushed over.
"What"s going on?"
"What"s fake?"
"These opals are fake?"
Someone picked up the shattered gemstone from the ground and raised it to the sunlight. He proceeded to use a magnifying gla.s.s to take a look at the gemstone before promptly saying, "Indeed it"s fake. These are fake opals!"
Another person s.n.a.t.c.hed the rock layer from Li Du"s hand and used a lighter to burn the layer of glue for a while. Suddenly, an acrid, chemical, rubber smell emerged.
"F*ck!" Li Du raved with a pale face.
Despite that, there were still some slow-witted people who had not figured out what the problem was. "What exactly is going on here?"
"Are you f*cking stupid?" a gem hunter sneered. "It"s obvious that"s a synthetic boulder opal made by gluing the stone and opal together."
"Not an opal. Even the gemstone inside is fake."
At this point, everyone understood what was going on.
A gem hunter was just about to transfer money to Christopher when he was informed of the fake opal Li Du picked up. He quickly put his phone away and said, "F*ck! What exactly is going on here?"
Everyone"s gaze was on Christopher and his company. Several people rushed over and surrounded them. They glared at him angrily and asked, "Christopher, what"s going on here?"
Like Li Du, they had already transferred money to Christopher.
The gem hunters managed to guess the truth once Li Du found the fake opals. They had toiled in this profession for many years and were well-informed of its dirty tricks.
Gemstone-related scams occurred frequently in the National Park. Oftentimes, there were people who pa.s.sed counterfeits off as genuine. They would pretend to find a piece of gemstone and subsequently sell it at a high price to tourists.
There were also people taking bigger risks by making fake boulder opals and bringing them to the National Park before burying them in the ground. They would then dig out the fake boulder opals and sell them below the market price for a profit.
However, gemstone-related scams normally targeted tourists and not gem hunters. As such, the gem hunters were not mentally prepared for the scam and were all tricked.
As for the initiator of the scam, needless to say, everyone knew that it was Christopher who was behind it all.
Christopher"s friends suddenly became anxious when the crowd discovered that the boulder opals in the ground were fake. This was especially so for Christopher, who was surrounded by angry gem hunters and began retreating out of fear.
A collected black man walked forward and subdued the crowd. "What"s the matter? Hey, I"m asking, what"s going on here?"
A gem hunter bellowed, "Stop acting, Stevenson, stop acting! You guys set this scam. Darn it, you guys actually tricked your peers. Sooner or later, you guys will go to h.e.l.l!"
Stevenson kept a collected look and calmly said, "What scam? Who are we scamming? D*mn you, Old Deckard, explain yourself."
At this moment, Christopher also responded. He pretended to be confused and said, "What are you guys doing? I"m at a loss because of you guys right now."
Deckard went forward and shoved Christopher. "At a loss? Then let me remind you: the boulder opals are all fake!"
Christopher gave him an astonished look. "What did you say?" he shouted. "The boulder opals are all fake? Not possible—that"s not possible!"
"Cut the act," a gem hunter coldly responded. "Do you think we"re stupid? Give us a refund!"
"B*st*rd, you actually dared try to scam me. Darn you, I will not let you go. Refund!"
"Refund our money or else you guys are going to suffer today!"
Stevenson raised his hand. "Calm down, friends, everyone calm down. Arguing isn"t going to help the situation! Hear me out—what do you guys mean? What about all of these being fake?"
"The boulder opals are fake! You guys buried them in the ground to scam us!"
Stevenson laughed heartily. "Stop kidding. Of course, this is pretty funny, but are you guys jealous of us? We were not the only ones who dug up opals here. That Chinaman sold some to Owen—"
"I did not sell Owen a single opal!" Li Du interrupted. "I swear to G.o.d—if I"m lying, my whole family will go to h.e.l.l! I myself will immediately go to h.e.l.l!"
You still want to drag me into this? I won"t play along with you!"
After he finished speaking, he took out his phone and called Owen with the loudspeaker turned on. "Owen, my pal, good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Li, my good pal." Owen"s outspoken voice resonated throughout the area. "Do you need my help with anything?"
After hearing his voice, the gem hunters nodded in succession. "That"s Owen."
Li Du replied, "There"s indeed something I need help with. I don"t know who it was that spread the news regarding me selling a batch of boulder opals to you. For G.o.d"s sake, don"t tell me it was you who spread the news."
Owen laughed. "Are you kidding? Why would I spread that kind of ridiculous news? But did you find boulder opals?"
"No, it"s just some rumor from someone."
"That"s too bad," Owen said in disappointment. "That"s too bad. If you do find boulder opals, remember to find me. I"ll give you a good price."
After giving Owen his promise, Li Du hung up the phone and gave Stevenson and Christopher"s group a cold stare.
"This piece of land was indeed rented by me, but I did not find a single boulder opal here!" he forcefully said.
Stevenson also began to panic a little. He coughed, "That"s how it was for you? Then your luck is terrible—we managed to find so many boulder opals . . . "
"It"s more like you guys brought that many?" Li Du sneered.
Stevenson glanced at Christopher. Christopher pointed a gun at Li Du and bellowed, "Hey, Chinaman, don"t talk f*cking nonsense! Don"t humiliate us—"
He didn"t finish his sentence as he quickly closed his mouth for fear of G.o.dzilla and Big Quinn, who stood on each side of Li Du and held a military-use shovel and pickaxe.
Stevenson held up a piece of boulder opal and said, "Everyone calm down. Don"t think that I don"t know what you guys are thinking. You guys are planning to use this opportunity to steal our gemstones! If anyone dares to walk forward, I"ll call the police!"
Not long after the sound of his voice had faded, a police siren could be heard behind the crowd.
Stevenson looked in astonishment toward the road of the barren land and asked, "Who called the police?"
"You," Li Du said. "Didn"t you say you wanted to call the police?"
"F*ck, I didn"t call the police!" Stevenson angrily responded.
The police car was here. After seeing them with guns raised and holding a military-use shovel, two policemen nervously came out of the car, took out their pistols and said, "Hey, everyone squat on the ground, everyone! Place both hands where we can see them!"
Li Du was the first to squat down, and quietly placed both his hands on the back of his head.
Sophie also intended to squat down. One policeman was gentlemanly enough and with a wave of his hand, told her, "Lady, you don"t need to get involved in this. It"s obvious that you"re not a suspect."
Some of the gem hunters said, "F*ck!"