815: Chapter 806 Appraisal 815: Chapter 806 Appraisal Having endured a sleepless night, Martin arrived on time with his team.
Everything proceeded according to the plan for filming, which essentially meant the Akuri tribe went about their usual business without needing to make any special accommodations for the camera.
Martin was there to capture their daily lives.
The only precaution was that Martin had to ensure he kept a distance from the members of the Akuri tribe; beyond that, there wasn’t anything else that required particular attention.
Once the chieftain and his people’s curiosity had subsided and the filming had started normally, Gao Yang left; he had important matters to attend to.
The scenes of the chieftain and his men hunting could only be shot after his return.
Gao Yang drove alone to where the plane was parked, conducted a brief check, and then flew directly to Malakal.
After a few hours of flying, Gao Yang arrived in Malakal around dusk, landing on a dirt runway that was barely an improvement over the one in the forest.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief; although he now knew how to fly a plane, there was a difference between being able to fly and flying regularly.
When Gao Yang jumped out of the plane, Morgan was already there waiting for him.
The meeting with Morgan had been arranged in advance, though initially, they were supposed to meet in America.
However, given the multitude of things Gao needed to handle, he had to ask Morgan to come to South Sudan instead.
After briskly walking up to Morgan with the shotgun in its case and shaking hands, Gao Yang smiled, “Sorry for making you wait.
I didn’t expect you to come in person.”
Morgan shrugged, shook Gao Yang’s hand and said, “I’ve been quite free lately, and it’s boring without anything to do.
Since you offered a potentially lucrative opportunity, I had to come see it for myself.
Besides, I only arrived about twenty minutes ago.”
Several people accompanied Morgan, including bodyguards and assistants.
Seeing Gao Yang with his bags, one of Morgan’s assistants stepped forward and said, “Mr.
Gao, please let me take your things.”
Gao Yang nodded, handed over the gun case to Morgan’s assistant, and smiled, “Thank you, Nelson.”
After Nelson took the gun case, Gao Yang said with a smile, “Thanks for your rifle, Morgan.
It’s a nice gun.”
Morgan sighed, “I really wish that within your gun case was the heirloom shotgun I want to see.
Gao, if you like it, you can keep that rifle.
It’s custom-made, from Finland.
I quite like the Sako brand.”
Gao Yang indeed liked the .338 caliber Sako shotgun; he didn’t have a piece of that caliber in his collection yet.
Although he knew it wouldn’t be cheap, exchanging guns as gifts was a small matter for someone like Morgan.
“Thank you.
I’ll gladly accept.
Could you please bring the rifle to America and just give it to me when I visit?
Oh, how are things on Simon’s end?
No progress at all?”
Morgan sighed, “There hasn’t been any major progress.
Simon’s been to the Sozh River to investigate in person—it’s definitely the place where the photograph was taken.
We can now confirm that the shotgun was once in Peter Sergeyevich’s hands, but after Peter’s death, it’s impossible to trace where the gun went.
Most importantly, we can’t find out where Peter lived.”
After sighing, Morgan shook his head and continued, “I hope that Peter’s shotgun ended up with his family, but searching for Peter’s residence and family is long-term work.
Ukrainian archives are somewhat accessible.
Russian ones, however, are tougher to investigate.
We don’t even know where Peter’s records are kept.
We just hope Simon will eventually uncover something.”
There was little Gao Yang could do to help, so he simply said, “Now that there’s hope, I believe Simon will manage to find it.”
Morgan nodded, “Let’s hope so.
Alright, let’s get in the car.”
After Gao Yang and Morgan sat in the same car, Morgan addressed Gao Yang, “We’ve booked the hotel we visited before.
The expert to appraise the diamonds is with me; he’s waiting for us at the hotel.
And there’s some good news about the Depp Group.”
“Oh, what is it?”
Morgan smiled, “The Depp Group, ostensibly a legitimate gemstone business, mainly operates the blood diamond trade.
As for their influence, it’s somewhat threatening, but that’s about it.
If we decide to take action, the Depp Group won’t make a peep.
On the contrary, if we opt to mine blood diamonds, we might even be able to sell them to the Depp Group.
However, if we plan to open a large, legitimate diamond mine, then the Depp Group will have to step aside, or else I wouldn’t mind causing their corporate bankruptcy and ruining their reputation.”
Such arrogance—that was precisely why Gao Yang was determined to partner with Morgan.
After giving Morgan a thumbs up, Gao Yang laughed, “That’s great.
In that case, we only need to consider the reaction from the Sudanese government.
I secured the diamond mine only after taking out quite a few Sudanese soldiers, so I’m worried about Sudan’s subsequent response.”
Morgan nodded and said, “We definitely need to consider that.
If we need to worry about the reaction from the Sudanese government or military, then we can only mine as many diamonds as possible in a short period of time and retreat when we can no longer control the situation.”
Gao Yang frowned and responded, “But what if this diamond mine turns out to be very large?”
“That would be troublesome.
If it’s worth a major effort, then there will be a lot to do afterward.
The diamond mine is within Sudanese territory, which is a problematic issue.
However, luckily, the mine is at the border of North and South Sudan.
If push comes to shove, we’ll keep the diamond’s secret, and have South Sudan seize that region first or turn the area into a disputed zone.
At the very least, we need to effectively have control of it in our hands.”
Gao Yang, lost in thought, said, “Turning it into a disputed zone would mean starting a war, right?
I mean, a war between Sudan and South Sudan.”
“Correct, but it doesn’t matter.
These two countries already have plenty of disputed areas.
They can’t avoid conflicts, and they wouldn’t care about one more place.
We will invest plenty of manpower and armaments to stand with South Sudan.
Let the two countries discuss political matters, we just need to control the diamond mine.
Of course, all of this hinges on the assumption that the diamond mine is large enough to make our involvement worthwhile.”
Gao Yang smacked his lips again, knowing Morgan had significant influence in South Sudan, but he hadn’t realized it was so substantial that he could incite a border war according to his wishes.
As they talked on the drive, they quickly arrived at the hotel where Gao Yang had previously stayed.
After Gao Yang and Morgan entered the best room, and the two sat down in chairs, Morgan turned to his assistant and instructed, “Nelson, please invite our expert over.”
After finishing, Morgan smiled and said, “Come on, let’s see what you’ve got.
You’re always so lucky; you should stop being a mercenary and become a professional treasure hunter instead.”
Gao Yang shrugged and remarked, “Maybe I will, my luck has been so strange lately.
I’m incredibly unlucky with certain things.
Right now, one of my teeth hurts a lot, and I need to see a dentist soon.
But on the other hand, I always seem to find unexpected wealth.”
Morgan couldn’t help licking his teeth before saying solemnly, “That’s how it goes, luck is always fluctuating.
If you need to see a dentist, that’s a truly frightening experience.
You’d have to find a good one.”
Gao Yang bitterly smiled as he took out two small packages from his pocket, one found on Sadiq’s corpse and the other filled with the diamonds given to him by the laborers.
After pouring the diamonds from the small packages onto the glass coffee table and spreading them with his hand, Gao Yang said, “Take a look.”
Even though they were rough diamonds, they were still very appealing.
Morgan picked up a peanut-sized diamond and exclaimed, “Looks good.
I don’t know much about diamonds, but this seems to be very large already!”
Gao Yang replied, “I don’t know much either, but from what I remember, diamonds larger than four carats can be named, and the diamonds on those wedding rings don’t seem to be very large.
So, from that perspective, that diamond you’re holding is indeed quite large.
However, I’m not sure exactly how much a carat weighs.”
Morgan nodded and said, “I don’t know what a carat is either, but we’ll understand soon enough.”
As soon as Morgan finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.
Upon the knocker entering, a middle-aged man in his fifties followed Nelson into the room.
Seeing the newcomer, Morgan smiled and introduced, “Mr.
James is the expert I’ve brought in.
He’s a well-known diamond appraiser and a specialist in the field.”
After Gao Yang and James shook hands, Morgan sat back down and cheerfully requested, “Mr.
James, please begin.
First, could you determine if this diamond is already considered large?”
James, taking the diamond from Morgan, nodded eagerly and said, “Very good, it’s large, rare, and indeed quite substantial.”
“So it must be very valuable, right?”
James chuckled and clarified, “No, it’s not as simple as larger diamonds being more expensive.
The best diamonds are colorless, and the higher the purity, the more valuable they are.
Diamond grades go from D to Z, with D to F being colorless grades, G to J being near-colorless, and from K down, the diamonds aren’t considered gem-quality but rather industrial.
They lack any collectible significance because from K down, the diamonds start to turn yellow.
Even the I-J grade is near colorless, but you can detect a hint of yellow.
To determine its value, we need to see what grade this diamond is, but regardless, its size and the clarity to the naked eye indicate it is of a high grade.
Finally, a diamond’s value also depends on its cutting.
If poorly cut, the value can be greatly affected.
So, whether a rough diamond can become a precious jewelry piece on the market also depends on the craftsmanship of the cutting.”
Morgan nodded and said, “Great, I understand.
Please proceed.”(To be continued.
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