Road to becoming the wealthiest: Starting From Treasure Hunting in the Cabinets
Chapter 445 - 318: In the End, There’s Still a Leak_2

Chapter 445: Chapter 318: In the End, There’s Still a Leak_2

"Are you saying, someone spread the message that I have Yamashita Fumio’s treasure clue?" Sean Knight was stupefied when he heard the news given by Oliver Brooks.

Yamashita Fumio’s treasure is notoriously famous in the treasure hunting world.

Yamashita Fumio, dubbed the Malay Tiger, was a Japanese Imperial Army general during World War II and commanded the force that sparked the Malaya campaign. He also seized the British Far East Naval Base in Singapore and led the last defense on Luzon Island of the Philippines until Japan surrendered. He was executed by hanging in Manila in 1946.

Yamashita Fumio was not only renowned for his tactical genius, his audacity, and cruelty but more importantly, he and his subordinates reportedly plundered southeast Asia and collected a large amount of gold, silver, treasures, and other currencies. He buried them somewhere in the Philippines, and up until his execution, he never disclosed the location.

Many people have attempted to find this treasure, but all efforts were in vain.

Plenty of books and films have been based on Yamashita Fumio’s treasure, but reality is, the actual treasure has never emerged.

Suddenly someone spread such news, isn’t that pushing Sean Knight into trouble?

"Where did the message first come from?" Sean Knight felt like someone was setting him up. This was no trivial matter!

If these well-backed treasure-hunting companies with considerable influence came to believe this, he could be in deep trouble!

"About half a month ago" said Oliver Brooks after a moment of thought. "At that time, the workers on your island found isolated golden seeds while moving stones. This news got out, and within two days, rumors from Jakarta mentioned you found the clue to Yamashita Fumio’s treasure ... "

"The hell ..." Sean Knight was enraged by the completely undeserved calamity.

"So recently there was no shortage of people keeping an eye on that island. There were also countless people trying to figure out your next move."

"Some said you’d already gone to the Philippines to dig for the treasure, others said you’d had taken the treasure and fled to Europe to launder the proceeds. Some even claimed you’d been murdered because of internal discord ..."

Sean Knight found this increasingly ludicrous to the point he slowly stopped getting angry.

"Mr. Brooks, have you analyzed this, what is going on?" Sean Knight asked Oliver Brooks.

They were at Oliver Brooks’ small courtyard. A young servant brought tea for Sean Knight and then another cup for Oliver Brooks, she then retreated back into the house.

Oliver Brooks picked up the cup, signaling Sean Knight to drink. He took a sip, slowly savored the tea. After swallowing a piece of tea leaf, he finally said:

"Actually, I think this is someone deliberately fanning the flames of hearsay..."

Sean knight nodded. That was certain.

"So, that brings us to a new question."

"The authenticity of the treasure clue?" asked Sean Knight in return. He also picked up his cup to take a sip. This tea did not taste like the green tea from the mainland region. It felt a little fermented, but he couldn’t taste which type of tea it was.

"Exactly, that’s what I think too," Oliver Brooks, now a rich man, said. Although he didn’t move out of the small courtyard, the facilities here were greatly improved, of course with renovations. The reason he stayed was probably to revisit old times.

Now free from the burden of familial obligations, Oliver Brooks’ many years of experience came into play. He said:

"I think, since someone tried to muddy the waters, that means there’s fish in the water. Of course, we don’t know if the fish is big or small, but there’s definitely a fish."

Sean Knight nodded in agreement and said:

"The culprit might be a small fry who accidentally obtained a clue and was then discovered by others. So he decided to muddy the waters, divert attention- And at the same time, gold was discovered on the island. He released the news, leading others astray while hiding himself."

The two men’s analysis basically lined up.

Actually, Sean Knight could bypass this matter entirely and let it ferment on its own. Eventually, the truth will come to light.

But Sean Knight was unwilling to shoulder the blame for someone else, so he came over to investigate the matter.

He also had the idea to investigate.

"Now that we’ve basically figured out what happened, what are your plans?" Oliver Brooks filled Sean Knight’s cup with tea from the teapot, and asked, "Do you have a plan?"

"First, let’s find the person." Sean Knight thought for a moment and said, "Anyway, we have to find the person first, see what the clue is, and decide whether or not it’s worth making a move."

Truthfully, Sean Knight was not used to treasure hunting in the public eye.

He typically hunted for treasure unobserved, as it made things easier.

Under public scrutiny, it was hard to keep any secrets.

"Mr. Brooks, you should use your connections to find out what’s going on," Sean Knight suggested after some thought, "We need to find the person behind this. I don’t think they’re anyone important, otherwise they wouldn’t have made me take the blame."

"Alright," agreed Oliver Brooks, who had a certain amount of influence in Jakarta.

Previously penniless, he was once disregarded by others. But now, with his family’s discovered treasure, he had become wealthy. Those who once mocked him now flocked to him and became friends.

For Oliver, finding out the truth behind this matter didn’t seem like much of a challenge at all.

"Okay, we’ll leave it at that. Once everything’s clear, I’ll treat you to some authentic Chinese food."

Instead of returning to the hotel, Sean Knight and Elijah Hastings, in a rush, had felt a sense of malice brewing in Jakarta. Therefore, after a brief discussion, they decided to rent a boat directly to Big Island.

Both Sean Knight and Elijah Hastings could pilot a yacht, so they took turns driving on this trip. By the second day, they had already arrived on Big Island.

"They’ve moved swiftly!" exclaimed Elijah Hastings as he took in the changes on Big Island.

On their side of the island, it was evident that a chunk of the mountain had been cut away, and the excavated stones were being transported to the seaside.

Yet, the most dramatic transformation was the port dock.

A fairly large cargo ship was docked there, along with a smaller motorboat.

The port had a naturally optimal location and just required minor alterations to be put to use. This decent progress had come as a surprise to Sean Knight - the Xinjiang Construction Company surely worked fast!

While the port underwent significant changes, the work on the mountain was more visible due to its elevation. Hence, it was spotted first.

Elijah Hastings piloted the boat to the port. Some people were on guard there and rushed over to greet them as they approached. First, they helped tie the mooring ropes and then began to ask questions.

However, upon seeing the Chinese faces of Sean Knight and Elijah Hastings, their attitudes became warm and friendly. One of them said in English:

"You are..."

"I’m Sean Knight, and he’s Elijah Hastings." Sean pointed to the island, "Welcome to my island."

"Oh, Mr. Knight is here!" exclaimed the young man at the pier, checking something at the duty room upon hearing it was Sean Knight. He then turned around and enthusiastically helped Sean Knight and Elijah onto the pier, saying:

"I didn’t expect Mr. Knight to come in person. Our manager is overseeing the construction on the mountain — I’ll go report this to him now."

With that, he reached for a high-power walkie-talkie.

"No need for that, we’ll go and take a look." Sean Knight replied with a smile, "We need to see it for ourselves in order to feel assured. By the way, what’s your name?"

"My name is Harrison Lee." The young man introduced himself hastily, "I’m a recent graduate from Xinjiang University. This time, my task is to..."

"I heard someone found some gold?" Elijah interrupted, "Is that true? How much?"

"Indeed it’s true," Harrison Lee nodded seriously, "It was found in a small creek. Loads of workers stopped working to find gold, and the manager scolded them. He said he’d send anyone who continued back to the mainland — that quieted them down, and the area was sealed off."

Harrison Lee pointed in the direction of the find, but it wasn’t visible from their current location.

Sean Knight hadn’t expected such responsible management from the manager. He was quite strict.

"How’s your food? Are you living in tents? Are you used to it?"

"It’s alright, we eat mostly seafood. I didn’t eat much before, but now we have it at every meal." Harrison Lee was quite talkative,"Our chef who came with us can cook Xinjiang noodles twice a week, that’s not bad. But the noodles aren’t that good..."

Sean Knight laughed. Regardless of where they went, it seemed the boys from Xinjiang could never forget their love for these noodles.