Chapter 539 The Search Continues (1/2)

Chapter 539: The Search Continues

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After hearing what Owen said, some of the hunters fell into a panic. Cyril was exceptionally frantic. ”Impossible! How can this be possible? Since when are opals found so easily?”

Li Du shrugged. ”Who knows? I did say it wouldn't be that difficult to find one.”

Sophie made a face at the hunters, and chortled in excitement as she said, ”Admit defeat. You guys lost, and we won!”

Cyril wasn't willing to admit defeat; the opal that he'd found was worth at least 10,000 dollars, and could probably even fetch 20,000 dollars.

A gem hunter's job was not as cushy as what Li Du had assumed it to be. To look for gems in the national park, they had to pay the fee of 500 dollars each time before they could conduct an unrestricted search for the following 24 hours.

If the hunters didn't gain anything after 24 hours, they would be fraught as they would have spent that 500 dollars for nothing. It was just like when treasure hunters bought a storage unit filled with garbage.

There were many types of jobs within the treasure hunting trade, but none of them could guarantee profits and zero losses. None were easy or without their risks.

It was the same for gem hunters and storage treasure hunters; they might make enough at once to last three months or they might make nothing for three months. Cyril, for instance, had not earned much money in the past month and had pinned his hopes on this deal.

Seeing this deal was about to end badly for himself, how could he allow it to happen?

Of course, in comparison to the storage treasure hunters, gem hunters had an advantage. The level of risk they undertook was lower.

While they had to pay 500 dollars each time they entered the park, they could usually, eventually, earn that money back.

Although they were referred to as ”gem hunters,” they should have been called rare rock hunters. The probability of the hunters finding opals was low, but the likelihood of them finding some odd-shaped rocks was quite high.

These rocks were pretty high in demand; there were many shops selling rare rocks in the area and they could make some money selling them off.

However, only opals could provide them with significant gains. Opals could even make them overnight millionaires—there had been many such examples in the gem hunting community.

Cyril had thought that this was his chance to make some gains; even if it was not a fortune, it would still be quite substantial.

But now, the money that was about to land in his pocket was being taken away. How could he let that happen? He walked up to Owen and said, ”This was not a fair bet. There's some trick involved. Give me back my gemstone.”

His words annoyed the plump Owen, who asked, ”Hey buddy, what do you mean by that? Are you saying that I ganged up with this fella here to cheat you?”

Owen was one of the most highly-regarded gem traders around; the gem hunters depended on these traders to earn money, and saw themselves as one notch below them in terms of status.

Therefore, upon hearing Owen's words, Cyril retracted what he had said. ”No, no, no, that's not what I meant—”

Owen jabbed a finger at Cyril's chest and said. ”That better not be what you meant. Buddy, you should know me and that I give a d*mn about my reputation. Since you chose me to be the referee of this bet, then you better show me some respect!”

The gem traders were particularly concerned about their reputation. Only when they were well-known and deemed trustworthy were the gem hunters willing to trade with them.

Cyril shouted, ”But this son of a b*tch must have some conspiracy up his sleeve! Not sure what's up with this bloody Chinese guy, how could he possibly win? There must be some conspiracy!”

Li Du sneered to himself: This idiot is courting death and still so stubborn. He had the guts to mention conspiracy and trickery, he was obviously challenging Owen's authority.

Cyril did not care about who he offended. He could only think about how to get his gemstone back. So, he continued shouting, ”Nobody could be so sure about finding an opal within an hour! I bet he bought that beforehand, put it in the soil, and then pretended that he just found it!”