Chapter 739: Gemstone Brick

“What’s wrong?”

Waiting for Gold Coin to finish cleaning everything up, Lin Mo suddenly felt a weight on him as the external armor mounted on "Dragon General" fell away, transforming into a miniature gold giant dragon that swiftly darted and disappeared into the size of two buses.

He gazed in astonishment at the now unified gold giant dragon.

“This metal, Grandpa Dragon has never seen before.”

Gold Coin became exhilarated, declaring that it had never encountered such metal; it was unknown metal.

A loud dragon roar echoed across the wilderness, seemingly proclaiming something.

This was an instinctual impulse; Grandpa Dragon wanted to roar, to roar with all its might.

The long dragon cry lasted for over a minute.

Lin Mo looked at Gold Coin in confusion, not understanding what this giant dragon was up to now.

Gold Coin couldn’t identify the metals contained in this meteorite, which meant that it had never been recorded in the entire history of the dragon kin. This unprecedented new taste was utterly wonderful, akin to being intoxicated by a drug.

Not only was the experience profoundly delightful, but discovering an entirely new and unknown metal also brought significant honor to the Gold Element Dragon Kin.

The first giant dragon to discover this new metal would have the naming rights, an honor that would be forever remembered in history.

Such an honor might not occur even once in tens of thousands of years.

What should it be called?

Who cares! The gold giant dragon suddenly evolved a huge mouth full of fangs and ferociously swallowed the car-sized meteorite in one gulp.

It could no longer wait.

Only what was swallowed could be considered its own; many creatures likely shared this instinct.

In no time at all, the surface of the gold giant dragon’s body was adorned with crystalline structures, glistening and translucent under the two lights, refracting extraordinarily beautiful rays of light. The gold giant dragon looked like a gemstone dragon sparkling with a treasure-like glow.

With a shake of its body, large and small crystal pieces fell to the ground, forming what resembled a gigantic gemstone carpet.

“Are you done digesting? The moon is about to rise; you better hurry up!”

Lin Mo reminded the gold giant dragon, which was busy digesting the meteorite. The moon, obscured by clouds, was about to reappear, meaning the clear sky might soon be exposed to the monitoring of space satellites.

Though he had no way of knowing if any country’s optical satellites would be passing by, Lin Mo wasn’t about to let the gold giant dragon be seen by humans.

Due to a natural aversion to intelligent alien life, humans often exhibited a terrifying level of aggression. Gold Coin was not new to being pummelled by human weapons, and yet every time it settled down for a while, it would gradually revert to its old ways—indeed, change in a kingdom is easier than changing one’s nature.

“Due to the unknown attributes, my digestive capacity has been exhausted. The remainder can only be fully digested in an hour. I need more time to analyze its properties. I hope it surprises me!”

The unknown metallic substance consumed a significant portion of the gold giant dragon’s digestion and decomposition abilities; even with its enormous appetite, it could only break down most of it in a short time.

The gold giant dragon was not idle either and began to sweep the battlefield from earlier.

Finally, the two lights vanished into darkness. Just like during the day, all the metallic substances disappeared without a trace, while the non-metallic materials were ground into extremely fine powder by its overwhelming physical force and scattered into the surrounding wilderness, erasing all signs of human presence.

The gold giant dragon’s ability to eliminate evidence was nothing short of professional; within a few days, the traces left behind would gradually decompose in nature due to wind, sun, and rain.

The meteorite that Boulogne Mining intended to collect now consisted only of a pile of crystal fragments, large and small, glistening and translucent.

The gold giant dragon had no interest in any non-metallic objects. If the crystal fragments weren’t encased in an unknown metal that the Gold Element Dragon Kin had never documented, the giant dragon pampered by modern industry would scarcely even glance at them, let alone consume them.

Unless it was an extremely rare and precious metal, common meteorite iron had lost its status as a unique delicacy for Gold Coin, sinking entirely to the level of pig food—after all, even tasting rebar would be better than munching on a meteorite.

“Gold Coin!” Lin Mo suddenly had a thought while looking at the scattered crystal pieces.

“Morin? Is there more work to do?”

Having digested over eighty percent and still breaking down the unknown metal, the gold giant dragon had shrunk significantly, now only about the size of a compact car, and continued to decrease in size over time.

“Pack these crystals up and send them to Afghanistan.”

Lin Mo pointed at the leftover “food scraps” that the gold giant dragon didn’t want. Sally’s Dragoon Foundation, established in Gem Valley, specialized in the jewelry business, which included excavation, collection, processing, and its own dedicated sales channel.

“Just this garbage?” The gold giant dragon was unsure of the composition of the crystals, clearly puzzled as to why Lin Mo wanted these seemingly useless items.

Dragons and humans had different values; to a dragon, these crystals were no different from glass.

“Exactly!”

Lin Mo disagreed with Gold Coin’s "garbage" assessment, nodding in confirmation.

These unknown crystals might be worth something and could even help Sally make some extra money, perfectly in line with making the most of available resources.

Letting Gold Coin grind these crystals into dust would be a waste, and it could even destroy something valuable.

“Alright!”

The gold giant dragon didn’t refuse this minor request and began to collect the crystals again.

It even took the time to separate some low-melting-point metal, tin, and rewrapped the crystals into a brick two feet long and one foot thick.

Like the original meteorite, this brick had a very high density of crystals, all tightly packed together, and if needed, one could easily separate the crystals by melting the tin at just 231.9°C.

Lin Mo didn’t care about the size or weight of this gemstone brick. It was much later, when he heard from Sally, that he found out these crystals were not diamonds, rubies, sapphires, or emeralds, but rather a variety called garnet, which were large enough to barely qualify as gem-grade garnets for processing and sales.

Sally was also quite surprised to receive such a package. Under the design of professional designers, these garnets were ultimately crafted into a luxurious set of full-body jewelry, which was unexpected for both Sally and Lin Mo.

As the dark clouds in the sky began to disperse, Lin Mo returned to the side of the guide, Saeed Muhammad Banisadr. At this moment, the guide, who had experienced a rollover accident, had fully regained consciousness and filled his stomach with what Lin Mo had left behind.

Despite his many questions, Saeed did not express any curiosity about the brick-like object Lin Mo had brought back. He seemed to understand that what Lin Mo did was beyond his reach.

At least Lin Mo had given him a generous payment and compensation.

Having completed the late “Monkey’s” request and Yuri’s commission during his trip to Iran, Lin Mo quickly accelerated his journey, flying back to his home country directly from Tehran after arriving in Isfahan.

He once again arrived at the National Defense Star factory after winding through various routes.

The technical evaluation meeting for the temporarily numbered X-8 "monstrous" was still ongoing. A fighter jet with a development cycle of at least twenty years couldn’t be fully understood in a few months, even with the most detailed blueprints, ingredient lists, and parameters. Many of the incomprehensible designs for the fighter jet required a significant amount of experimentation for technical verification.

Designing and producing fighter jets was an expensive endeavor, and losing money was considered normal. Each R&D fund from various related fighter jet units was subject to very strict scrutiny and control. Many excellent designs and technological innovations didn’t have enough funds for realization. Unlike Lin Mo, who had the vast financial resources to cut across technical boundaries and place orders everywhere to ultimately piece together an unprecedented fighter jet.

The military aircraft design units could not help but feel embarrassed to see the "monstrous" emerge as if it slapped them in the face. They hurriedly sent their most experienced experts to the National Defense Star.

Experts from various units under AVIC gathered daily around this rare forward-swept wing fighter jet for technical analysis, excitedly deepening their understanding each day.

However, the biggest complaint from the old experts was that no one dared to bravely test-fly this aircraft, which could withstand 26G. Even the best test pilot at National Defense Star shook his head vigorously, and even when they passed, they would steer clear of that fighter jet.

Damn, 26G! Who would dare to operate a plane that could instantly turn them into mush? One rapid takeoff at a high angle would likely have them spewing blood all over the control panel, earning them a serious injury; even if they survived, they were doomed to never fly again.

It was simply an unmanageable monster—the name "monstrous" suited it perfectly.

However, soon those experts’ complaints vanished. Another more extreme "monstrous" figure who could handle this machine returned from abroad, and with the identity of a veteran of the aviation industry as his disciple, the experts nearly organized a welcome party for Major Lin Mo.

While Lin Mo participated in the “Abyss Nirvana” international pilot death match in Syria, those old fellows spared no effort due to the relationship between Lin Mo and Professor Yan. The X-8 "monstrous" was only partially opened, and it had not yet been completely dissected.

Yet Lin Mo had no desire to showcase the formidable capabilities of the X-8 "monstrous" in front of the old veterans in the aviation industry. Instead, he received some very concerning news.

The information sent collectively by National Defense Star and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group was the same: Professor Yan Guoqiang had fallen ill and was hospitalized at the Guangzhou Military Region General Hospital.