Road to becoming the wealthiest: Starting From Treasure Hunting in the Cabinets
Chapter 394 - 292: This Is a Sad Story

Chapter 394: Chapter 292: This Is a Sad Story

Sean Knight immediately decided to transfer to Southeast Asia.

Yes, Southeast Asia.

Following the information sent by Oliver Brooks, Sean Knight, along with Elijah Hastings and two others, arrived in Indonesia and found Oliver Brooks.

Sean wanted Joanna Davis to join them too. As for school, she could easily take some time off.

However, Joanna was not willing; she was very committed to her credits—at school in New York, it was fine to occasionally leave early or start classes late, missing a class or two that weren’t very crucial.

But leaving for an extended period was something she was not willing to do.

Sean had no choice but to wait.

In fact, he had seen pictures of the local scenery on the Internet, especially the clear seawater, the white sandy beaches, and various shaped small islands. He wanted to enjoy the scenery here with Joanna and have a good time exploring.

Treasure hunting could be a secondary mission.

But since Joanna wasn’t coming, Sean made treasure hunting his primary mission.

In Jakarta, Sean met Oliver Brooks.

Indonesia is a tropical island nation, and upon disembarking from the airplane, Sean and his group immediately changed into more suitable clothing—though not quite comfortably.

Oliver Brooks brought them to a small courtyard to settle down.

It was evident that Oliver Brooks was very excited.

"Sit down, I’ll get some fruit," Oliver Brooks said somewhat awkwardly; he was still somewhat in disbelief that Sean had actually come.

He hadn’t expected him to arrive so quickly; he was completely unprepared.

Over the years, searching for business partners had led him to face many rejections. Although he never lost hope, the frequent setbacks had left Oliver financially and emotionally drained.

"No need, no need," Sean saw Oliver’s embarrassment and quickly pulled him back, "Don’t be so polite, let’s talk about the situation first."

He needed to assess whether the treasure hunting mission was feasible.

Observing Sean’s intention, Oliver Brooks felt grateful. He offered water to everyone and began explaining his situation.

Oliver Brooks’ ancestors were heroes who had ventured southward from Southeast China to Southeast Asia, a lineage traceable back to before the Ming Dynasty.

Back then, many traveled to Southeast Asia. Some went to dig for gold, others to fight for a future where living wasn’t possible back home.

However, Oliver’s ancestors were different; they came from a well-established background.

During the Song Dynasty, China’s sea trade was highly developed, and many ventured to Southeast Asia. By the Ming Dynasty, many traders and pirates mixed together; some in Southeast Asia became large estate owners; many were of Chinese descent.

Oliver’s ancestors moved to Southeast Asia to join relatives; although Western maritime powers had already colonized Southeast Asia by that time, they couldn’t reach some islands and hence, essentially left them alone.

Oliver’s intellectually sharp and resourceful ancestor capitalized on the local spice trees to start a spice trade. He quickly made a fortune and then bought a small island, planning to live as a carefree island master.

However, to everyone’s surprise, found on the island was a vein of gold—not large, but a fortune enough to be considered vast wealth for ordinary people!

He knew that this information must not be leaked; the locals were unreliable and not suitable for hard labor, so he went to the Guangdong coast, recruited a crew to come and dig for gold.

After about a decade, the easier parts of the golden mine had been largely exploited, and the Brooks Family hence became discreetly wealthy.

But as time passed, the red-haired barbarians increasingly exploited the local indigenous people relentlessly and oppressed the Chinese estate owners excessively.

The Brooks Family discussed together and finally decided to transport the gold they had mined over the years, along with their accumulated wealth, back to the mainland and buy property to live out their days peacefully.

However, because the family estate was substantial, moving it was relatively complex, so they decided to leave in stages.

Unexpectedly, news leaked, and the most valuable ship full of gold vanished into the vast sea just a day after leaving the port.

Consequently, the Brooks Family lost two-thirds of their people, sparing only the elderly, women, and children.

Now without savings, returning to the mainland became difficult. They disembarked at a port on the Southeast Peninsula, sold their boat, and bought land to live on bitterly.

Fortunately, with the diligent nature of the Chinese, the later generations of the Brooks Family gradually thrived and their living conditions improved.

Yet, the unexplained disappearance of their ancestors and the exact location of the sunken gold ship were constant concerns.

Thus, generation after generation of the Brooks Family made it their mission to find the whereabouts of their ancestors and the gold.

Up to Oliver Brooks’ generation, he not only inherited the efforts of previous generations but also spent considerable time and energy acquiring and reviewing records of the red-haired barbarians’ naval battles in Southeast Asia during that period.

Eventually, he found a record: at that time, a warship belonging to the Western powers encountering a civilian boat near an island in Southeast Asia. They fired warning shots and demanded the boat to halt for inspection. The boat resisted stubbornly and was ultimately sunk.

Afterwards, a survivor was salvaged from the ship, who claimed to be a Brooks, but when he tried to steal a soldier’s firearm and escape, he was killed at the port.

Though it was just a small piece of record, combining other clues, Oliver Brooks finally confirmed that this sunken ship was the one transporting the Brooks’ gold!

Oliver was convinced, but others did not believe his claims.

Given the greed at the time, encountering such a treasure-laden ship, why wouldn’t they inspect?

Even if they sunk it, they would surely go down to salvage.

And they even rescued a person? Given their hostility toward Chinese, how could they not interrogate him? How could they not extract any information through interrogation?

Thus, even though he searched far and wide for partners, even going as far as to offer a split from seventy-thirty to fifty-fifty, no one was willing to collaborate with him.