Richest Rag-picker

That morning, Fang Chenyi and his men were still searching the stone hall, while Billson led his own subordinates down from the mine.

The two groups ran into each other on the mountain path.

"Billson, where is my man?"

The speaker was Luo Lanzi, the second-in-command of the Cobra Organization, leading his own team. He looked at Billson with utter disdain.

Within the Cobra Organization, these two were constant rivals. They never stopped fighting over anything, from the number of subordinates under their command to internal resources.

Regarding the mine operation, Billson had initially come out on top. But ever since they lost contact with Lu Laozi yesterday, their boss—the highly suspicious leader of Cobra—had grown concerned. He then immediately ordered Luo Lanzi to bring his men and take over the operation.

Luo Lanzi was thrilled when the boss gave him the order. Everyone knew that finding the legendary treasure would cause one’s status within the Cobra Organization to skyrocket. They might even become powerful enough that their word would be law.

’As for Lu Laozi, he’s just an excuse, of course.’

Seeing Luo Lanzi’s arrogant expression, Billson suppressed his irritation. He put on a sorrowful look and said:

"Oh, I’m so sorry, Luo. Lu Laozi is dead."

Hearing this, Luo Lanzi flew into a rage. He pointed a finger at Billson’s nose, ready to let loose a stream of curses.

But before he could, Billson cut in, speaking quickly.

"Luo, hold on. I have something to tell you, and once you hear it, I guarantee you won’t care about Lu Laozi anymore."

The curses died on his lips. Hearing Billson’s words, Luo Lanzi swallowed his anger and shot Billson a questioning look, waiting for him to go on.

Seeing his chance, Billson gestured for Luo Lanzi to come closer.

’I don’t have to worry about my safety,’ Luo Lanzi thought. ’No matter how brazen Billson is, he wouldn’t dare try anything in front of all these people. If he did, the boss would never let him get away with it.’

And so, frowning, Luo Lanzi walked over to Billson.

Billson waved his own men back, which put Luo Lanzi even more at ease. ’He must want to tell me something important,’ he thought.

Just as he expected, when he got close, Billson lowered his voice and said:

"Luo, I’ve found a secret chamber. The treasure is most likely inside!"

The words immediately wiped the disdain from Luo Lanzi’s face. His eyes widened, his expression filled with uncontrollable excitement. At the same time, his mind began to race. ’How can I take all the credit for this?’

"Really? You really found the secret chamber?"

Billson saw the look on the man’s face and knew exactly what he was thinking. However, he let none of it show on his own face, simply nodding cautiously as he spoke.

"That’s right, we found it. I’ve already sent men in to search. Aigh... but unfortunately, Lu Laozi died in that chamber."

At this, Billson’s sorrowful expression shifted, and he continued in a low voice:

"Luo, we may have been rivals for years, but our ultimate goal is the same: to serve the Cobra Organization. So, this time, I’m willing to take you to find the treasure. And of course, we can share the credit."

Luo Lanzi’s mind started racing. He quickly pieced it together. ’It’s obvious,’ he thought. ’The boss put me in charge, but Billson already made a discovery and isn’t willing to walk away with nothing. That’s why he’s offering to split the credit.’

Of course, that was just his assumption.

He pretended to think it over for a moment before nodding. "Alright, then. I won’t make you leave the mountain just yet. I’ll allow you to stay and search with me, but you must hand over all authority here immediately."

His meaning was clear: it wasn’t Billson sharing the credit with him, but him deigning to share half the credit with Billson.

Billson, of course, wasn’t the least bit dissatisfied with this response. ’My only goal is to lure this idiot to the stone hall for my master to handle,’ he thought.

’As for the credit, it won’t be coming from the Cobra leader anyway. It’ll come from my *real* boss.’

A moment later, the onlookers were stunned to see the two leaders, who were normally as incompatible as fire and water, suddenly burst out laughing together. They couldn’t understand what could possibly make the two rivals share a laugh.

After exchanging a few more words, Billson said to Luo Lanzi, "Let’s head to the base camp first, then. There’s no rush to get to the secret chamber. We can go after the handover is complete."

But Luo Lanzi waved a dismissive hand.

"The handover can wait. Let’s head to the secret chamber first."

With that, he ignored Billson and started leading the way up the mountain.

’Is he kidding me?’ he thought. ’The old fox is obviously trying to stall. If his men find the treasure while I’m busy with the handover, I won’t get any of the credit!’

Behind him, Billson saw that his rival had taken the bait. The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk, the kind of smile one gives an idiot.

He put on a helpless expression and followed Luo Lanzi up the mountain.

About ten minutes later, they finally arrived at the base camp.

But as soon as they arrived, Luo Lanzi sensed something was off. ’Why are there so many new faces here?’ he wondered. ’And they all look East Asian.’

Walking beside him, Billson put on a show and said:

"Heh, what is it, Luo? Should we rest here for a bit and get something to eat before heading to the chamber?"

Luo Lanzi waved his hand away, his brow furrowed. He demanded:

"Billson, who are all these people? Why don’t I recognize them?"

Billson acted as if he’d just remembered.

"Oh, them? Heh, I forgot to mention. They’re new workers I hired. Aigh, what could I do? You poached most of the Organization’s men, after all. This is a huge mine; I need some people to protect myself, don’t I? What do you think? Not bad, right? I wonder how they stack up against your boys."

Hearing the blatant threat in Billson’s tone, Luo Lanzi, contrary to what one might expect, actually relaxed. ’No matter why Billson hired them,’ he thought, ’as long as no outsiders are involved, this is just an internal dispute.’

He snorted coldly and continued toward the mine without another word. He had no idea that what awaited him was the last thing he would ever want to see...

P.S. Thank you to ’yyYongYiLaiLe12’ for the 1,000 Qidian coin donation!