Chapter 731: Mismatched Profession (Part 2)

“Hey! Viri! Is that you?”

A large man, robust and muscular, walked towards the Cherokee, waving sunglasses in his hand.

“Who are you? You are…?” Viri Chuck became excited and suddenly pushed open the car door.

“Chuck! Don’t go out!” Gagor Brown exclaimed, trying to stop him, but saw his colleague had already jumped out of the pilot’s seat.

“Ha! It’s really you, Viri Chuck! I’m Jack Roosevelt! Hey, old classmate! No wonder I recognized you from the car!”

Jack Roosevelt laughed heartily, quickening his steps as he confirmed his guess.

Jack Roosevelt!

It was like lightning striking Viri Chuck’s memory, and his face instantly lit up with joy. He rushed in front of Jack and punched him playfully in the chest, exclaiming, “Jack! It really is you, our football team captain! What a coincidence! My God, you’re even bigger, like a bear!”

“Yeah, what a coincidence, Viri! My tight end! It’s been so long!”

Jack Roosevelt pulled Viri Chuck into a strong embrace.

“Oh God! He’s not going to crush Chuck, is he?!”

The sight of the strong man hugging Viri Chuck made Gagor Brown’s heart race. If Jack truly squeezed him, he felt he might die from broken ribs piercing his organs.

Viri Chuck turned back to the Cherokee and waved, shouting, “Hey! Mr. Brown, come out and meet him! He’s my college classmate, and the captain of our football team. Don’t worry, he won’t hit you.”

“Ha! Yes, I won’t hit him, but I might just kick his butt!”

Jack Roosevelt put his hands on his hips, joking with the ease of old classmates back in school and on the football field, clearly teasing Viri. Their friendship ran deep, and Jack felt he owed Viri some lighthearted banter.

If it weren’t for his old classmate and football teammate there, Jack might have reacted differently after stepping out of the car, just as Gagor Brown had feared.

“Hey! I’m Gagor Brown!”

Gagor Brown finally stepped out of the vehicle and shook hands with Jack Roosevelt, feeling the solid and strong grip.

Thank goodness his hand didn’t get crushed. He secretly sighed with relief.

Viri Chuck asked, “Where are you guys headed? Going to scout for oil?”

Iran’s main mineral resource is oil, so he assumed his old classmate’s convoy was here for that.

Jack Roosevelt pointed to the sizeable convoy and said, “Uh, no! Ten years ago, a sizable meteorite fell nearby, and my department happens to be responsible for meteorite collection and on-site exploration. Yes, that’s right! We travel the world collecting various meteorites. To use a romantic saying, we’re chasing stars! This is also to develop meteorite resources for future technical accumulation. You know meteorites have a very complex composition; extracting metals and other elements isn’t an easy task. Our Boulogne Mining company collaborates with NASA to establish a specialized laboratory to tackle the development of space meteorite resources.”

The uniform company name on the convoy, Boulogne Mining, stirred up some jealousy in Viri Chuck. His old classmate was lucky to have landed a job in a field directly tied to his studies, and it seemed he held a notable position where everything he learned in school finally had a place to shine.

Jack Roosevelt, however, was oblivious to the fact that Viri Chuck had spent some time feeling sorry for himself after seeing him.

“Meteorite development? My God! Are you planning to venture into space? What? Has America built large industrial spaceships?”

Viri Chuck’s eyes gleamed with excitement, clearly astonished by his old classmate’s words.

Everyone knows that due to gravitational forces, transporting goods from the ground to outer space is never going to be cheaper than collecting resources directly from space.

The transportation costs for every space-bound object can equal that of something with the same weight in gold.

Jack Roosevelt shook his head, smiling as he said, “No, no, how could a little guy like me know whether the government has built a spaceship? Maybe they have, maybe they haven’t. NASA is always tight-lipped. What our company is doing now is purely for technical accumulation. We’ll take it one step at a time. A technological leap like breaking through the atmosphere isn’t something you can achieve in a year. Even a century of accumulation isn’t excessive; being prepared means we can reap the benefits.”

A century, indeed, isn’t much and is not just alarmist talk.

Nowadays, you can easily buy cheap programmable switches online for a few hundred Chinese yuan, and humans have spent more than a century in technical accumulation to achieve that, which is true, my friend!

“Where are you guys headed?”

Jack Roosevelt adjusted his sunglasses as he saw his colleague waving at him, seemingly urging him to move. Having so many cars parked in this desolate place wasn’t ideal.

“We’re going to Varga Village up ahead to pay our respects to the family of a colleague who lost his life for the company,” Gagor Brown replied, eager to escape the scorching Iranian sun, wishing for even a little bit of shade.

“Oh, is that so? What a coincidence! The meteorite landing site is near Varga Village. We’re planning to camp there too. Viri, and Mr. Brown, it seems like it’s the will of Allah that we came together,” Jack said with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s great to see you, Jack! Come get in my car,” Viri Chuck said, pulling his old classmate toward the Cherokee.

“Alright, we need to have a good chat!” Jack Roosevelt’s enthusiasm matched Viri’s, and he cupped his hands around his mouth to shout at the convoy, “Keep moving forward as planned! I’ll ride in this vehicle! Murdoch, take charge in my absence!”

Gagor Brown reluctantly relinquished the co-pilot’s seat.

The convoy started moving again.

The nine vehicles quickly arrived at Varga Village, but the Iranian translator accompanying them couldn’t find the village chief or the mullah. They heard that both had gone to Abul Hasan Zargalar’s house.

As luck would have it, the family they were visiting, working for Northrop Grumman, was indeed Abul Hasan Zargalar’s family.

Both teams from Boulogne Mining and Northrop Grumman found it quite remarkable that they had different purposes yet were ultimately heading in the same direction, towards the same goal. Perhaps it was fate.

To avoid unnecessary conflict with the locals, the Boulogne Mining convoy and the Cherokee paused outside the village.

The village kids were in a frenzy, wondering what was happening today with so many outsiders arriving one after another.

They gathered to watch, their bright eyes taking in the newcomers, while the entrance was filled with the sounds of their laughter.

Some employees in the convoy who liked children eagerly took out candies and cookies to share with the lovely kids.

Led by the hired Iranian translator, Haseem Asab, Jack Roosevelt took a couple of his men along with Viri Chuck and Gagor Brown to visit Abul Hasan Zargalar to meet the village’s authoritative figures.

Without permission from these two important figures, the Boulogne Mining employees wouldn’t be able to enter the village to gather supplies or get help from the villagers, and they could even cause conflict while collecting meteorites.

Meanwhile, the two employees from Northrop Grumman couldn’t even approach Abul Hasan Zargalar’s property.

The attitudes of Varga Village depended entirely on the two most respected elders in the village.

As they approached Abul Hasan Zargalar’s home and were about to knock on the door, it swung open on its own before their hands could touch it.

Jack Roosevelt was stunned as an Iranian middle-aged man and an East Asian man were escorted out by the two elders, crossing paths at the entrance.

“Hey?!”

One of Jack Roosevelt’s companions suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

“What’s going on? Rodriguez!”

While the Iranian translator Haseem Asab conversed with the two elders, Jack Roosevelt furrowed his brow.

“Jack, the stone in that person’s hand…” Senior geologist Rodriguez from Boulogne Mining trailed off, the unspoken meaning clear.

The other man held a black stone, drawing Rodriguez’s attention due to his professional instincts.

“Rivals?!” A flash of killing intent crossed Jack Roosevelt’s eyes as he quickly assessed the situation. His muscular build wasn’t for show; releasing a deep breath, he muttered under his breath, “Damn it!”

There were many teams searching for meteorites around the world, not just Boulogne, which meant resources were being divided, and division led to conflict, which could mean death.

“Jack, what’s wrong?” Viri Chuck noticed something unsettling about his old classmate and looked at Jack with confusion.

Gagor Brown felt an inexplicable chill.

“Please wait a moment, friends!”

Jack Roosevelt suddenly called out, signaling his men to surround the two men exiting Abul Hasan Zargalar’s home.

Though his tone was polite, it held an undeniable commanding quality.

“What’s going on?” Lin Mo halted, regarding the half-circle of white men around him with an expressionless face, unsure if their intentions were friendly or hostile.

What did these guys want?

Saeed Muhammad Banisadr shared the same concern as his employer, feeling a tightening anxiety; clearly, their presence was a cause for wariness.

“Would you be willing to sell me the stone in your hand? I’ll offer a hundred dollars.”

Jack Roosevelt stepped in front of Lin Mo, cutting straight to the point without unnecessary pleasantries.

What? A hundred dollars?

Viri Chuck and Gagor Brown were taken aback, staring in surprise at Jack Roosevelt, who had made the offer.