Eleven big trees

  In the early morning, a cold wind blowing from Bering Strait shrouded the entire Alaska Bay in a misty veil.

  At this moment, no one on the ship's bridge was willing to appreciate such a beautiful view. Instead, the atmosphere was tense and no one wanted to navigate in such eerie weather. Even Long Guo Zhang and others who had grown up on the water since childhood were being extremely cautious at this moment, fearing that they would make a mistake.

  The sails have been lowered and replaced by the characteristic rumble of steam engines, which is clearly more stable in this weather.

  "Left train approaching third station, slow down and maintain five sections."

  Long Guozhang shouted into the iron pipe, although telephones had already been invented at this time and some powerful nations began to install them on warships for convenient internal communication, Rudolf apparently did not want to spend such a waste of money, so he still adopted the method of transmitting sound through iron pipes.

  But at this moment, even if Rudolf wanted to spend money, he couldn't take out a single cent. And all of this must be traced back to the gold rush in the western United States.

  Thomas's foster father was a gold prospector. As the American West's gold rush gradually faded away, he still firmly believed that a world-class gold mine was hidden in the vast Canadian north and Alaska. For this dream, he traveled between cold Alaska and Canada for two whole years.

  Hard work is not in vain for those who are diligent, one day, Old Thomas finally discovered a large gold mine on the Yukon River tributary that spans northern Canada and Alaska. However, he himself was injured in both legs due to carelessness and worried about his adopted son's safety in Britain, so he had to return to Britain for recuperation first.

  Six months later, Old Thomas finally recovered from his injuries and set off with his adopted son. He also contacted his friend Rudolf to hire his boat to continue his gold prospecting dreams in Canada. However, after learning the secret of the big gold mine, Rudolf's greed was stirred up, and he planned to tie up Thomas and his son overnight, torture them to reveal the location of the gold mine, and then kill them. But unexpectedly, Old Thomas had been on guard against Rudolf since he realized he had said too much, and a conflict eventually broke out, resulting in Old Thomas being killed by the outnumbered Rudolf.

  Because he was afraid of the news leaking out, Rudolf took Little Thomas to the ship overnight and then went to Germany to buy a large number of machinery and supplies. He also obtained sixty brand-new Mausers and a large quantity of ammunition and explosives from his brother who served in the German Navy. With these, he deliberately took a detour via the Suez Canal with his crew from the Far East to Canada. However, it wasn't until they entered the Yellow Sea that he realized mining required a lot of manpower, so he temporarily became a pirate, capturing enough laborers before continuing their voyage.

  But he never expected that after all his hard work, the materials and machinery he had spent all his savings on would ultimately fall into the hands of the "coolies" who were originally supposed to be under his control.

  Watching Thomas huddled over the table, meticulously drawing the map that his foster father had made him memorize, Li Mo felt an overwhelming urge to laugh uncontrollably for three days.

  Nothing else, just because there is no one more familiar with this road on the map than him. In his previous life, his only self-funded trip was to participate in an activity called "Re-walking the Gold Rush Road" during his studies in the United States. There were over a dozen old gold mining sites and several gold mines that are still highly productive today, plus a large amount of data he had consulted out of curiosity at one time.

  After God brought him back to this damn era, he opened another door for him! "Want to leave some for others?" Li Mo thought with a smile, but seeing Thomas painting and stopping, busy for a day just to outline a rough draft, was really impatient, snatched the pencil from him, and started drawing instead.

  Thomas felt a sudden lightness in his hand, only to discover that his pen had been snatched away, and he was also squeezed aside. Although he was full of doubts, he didn't dare to resist, but instead silently watched, afraid of provoking this little villain!

  But soon, his pupils began to dilate as the lines on the canvas grew denser and denser, with names being annotated one by one. Thomas could hardly believe his eyes - after all, the map in his mind was something his adoptive father had spent two years accumulating bit by bit. And now he saw what?

  "God? Have you been there?" He finally couldn't help but exclaim.

  In a country considered to be feudal and backward, a twelve-year-old boy unexpectedly drew a map that was more detailed than the one recorded by Old Thomas two years ago. In fact, even if all the gold prospectors in the entire river valley were to combine their maps, they probably wouldn't have come up with something as detailed as this! Each and every gold mine was meticulously marked, so was this the legendary "divine revelation"? How else could he have known so much? And judging from his expression, it didn't seem like a careless doodle either.

  "Damn it, if I could just get this picture..."

  Thomas's eyes widened, his throat emitting a scorching heat that he himself couldn't understand, and even the fact that he was a prisoner had been forgotten.

  In the end, Li Mo gave up on continuing to ponder, not because he didn't want to, but simply because too much time had passed and his memories were somewhat vague. He felt that he had the heart for it but lacked the strength, so he could only shake his head at the gold prospecting map that Thomas considered a "miracle".

  "If only we had satellite imaging!" Li muttered to himself, came back to his senses, saw Thomas's eyes bulging out, and suddenly a beautiful arc appeared at the corner of his mouth. He deliberately rolled up the map in front of Thomas, smiling: "Mr. Thomas, do you think my drawing is accurate?"

  "Accurate?" Just as Thomas, who was still savoring the map's taste, hadn't come back to his senses yet, he saw that damn map being rolled up bit by bit. His chest felt like it had been stuffed with hundreds of wild cats all at once. But when his eyes scanned to the guard standing at the door, he instantly regained his composure, shook his head and said: "I don't know."

  Indeed, at that time no one could accurately know the value of the place, even after the gold mine was discovered one by one in 1896, no one understood what kind of miracle they had found!

  But Li Mo was not worried, from the eyes of this young Jewish man in front of him, he could see the fervent light, and in his bones, there was an obsession with money and wealth that all Jews had, otherwise this nation would not have produced so many terrifying names.

  "Alright, Mr. Thomas, shall we talk business?"

  "Business?" Thomas's eyes lit up, but thinking of the current situation, they dimmed again in an instant. Looking at the painting scroll in his opponent's hand, he hesitated for a moment before asking tentatively: "Don't you plan to kill me?"

  "Kill you?" Li Mo smiled slyly and said, "No, dear Mr. Thomas, I'm not a butcher, nor am I a killer. I think you should be able to see that, according to the British Empire's standards, I should at least be considered a nobleman. As long as I can return to my country, I can live a life of luxury." Then he put on a gnashing teeth expression and continued to bluff, "But all this was ruined by that damned Rudolf, that damned guy, he forced me to kill people for my own safety, forced me to drift to foreign lands, and come here."

  "However." Suddenly, the speech paused for a moment, and Li Dashiye waved the map scroll in his hand with a mysterious smile: "I also want to thank him, it was he who gave me the opportunity to get you! Got this map! I think, we can create a great scene together!"

  "Thank him? What a big joke?" Looking at the map that was shaking right in front of his eyes, Thomas felt dizzy. Although he wanted to grab it, considering the military strength of both sides at this moment, he gave up. He wasn't an idiot, and the Jews' unique sensitivity to benefits made him understand how great the risk was here.

  "Yes, I believe you also know that my country is in a state of crisis. Although I cannot change history, I hope to change the fate of everyone around me." Li Mo swung his hand fiercely: "Including yours!"

  "What if I refuse?"

  "Will you refuse?" Li Mo smiled, revealing his sharp white teeth: "I think the icy seawater will make you make the right choice."

  The atmosphere in the room suddenly became cold, Li Mo didn't speak, Thomas also didn't speak, and the two just looked at each other like that until Zhao Long and Chen Ping at the door thought something was wrong and came in to check, breaking the silence.

  When Zhao Long's icy gaze swept over Thomas, he finally lowered his head and sat down on the ground dejectedly. "Alright, I admit it, you win."

  On one side was the glittering golden map, on the other was the icy sea water and the dagger. Thomas suddenly realized that he was like a fish pulled out of the water, only to be thrown into the desert, with no choice but to gasp for air and beg the angler to take him away.

  "Believe me, time will tell you how right today's choice is! You will be the mining magnate of the world!" Li Mo helped Thomas up from his already limp body.

  "Since it can't be changed, then go along with it and dig out the greatest benefit." Thomas recalled what his mentor had said to him. Looking at the young man in front of him, he thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said: "I want thirty percent!"

  "Haha, I believe it, you're really a Jew!" Li Mo was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing: "And the kind that would rather have money than life!"

  "So you've agreed?" Thomas put down all his burdens and resumed his usual sharpness, hastily asking in pursuit.

  "No more than five percent!" Li Mu sneered: "I have more people than you...!"

  "Too many people? I'd say it's the fist that's big!" Thomas cursed Li silently, nodding his head. No choice, who let his life be in someone else's hands now? Even if he chose to cooperate, he knew he had little say in the matter.

  Thomas gritted his teeth as he saw Li Mo take out a piece of paper from his pocket and suddenly muttered: "Rudolf, German, younger brother Rudolf-Arthur serves in the German Navy, Colonel rank, his older brother is a businessman..."

  He glanced at Thomas, and Li Mo waved his hand to Chen Ping at the door, saying: "Take Mr. Thomas to see Captain Rudolph, and also write down all the information about the pirates' addresses, families, and friends in this way."

  These words were spoken in English, so Chen Ping also knew that the young master was saying this to Thomas beside him. The problem is, "What's the use of these things? Are you going to extort a ransom like a kidnapper?"

  Before Chen Ping and Thomas could clear up their doubts, Li Mu continued in English: "After counting, all the information will be handed over to Fu Bo for safekeeping! As soon as we enter the river course, immediately execute all prisoners!"

  As he watched Li Mo stretch, Thomas felt a chill run down his spine. When the other person said these words, their expression and tone were as casual as asking what to eat for dinner tonight. And when another sentence came, his mind and body, which had just recovered, fell into the abyss again.

  "Right, give Mr. Thomas a gun, I think he'd be more than happy to take care of those guys himself!"

  At this point, Thomas's face completely changed, he simply didn't dare to believe his ears, such a vicious plan was actually thought of by the young man in front of him. To think that as long as those messages were in Li Mo's hands for one day, he would be unable to escape his control for one day. If he resisted, then the second half of his life would probably be spent under the pursuit and killing of the sailors' families and the Rudolf family.

  "You damned devil!" Thomas bellowed.

  "Thank you for the compliment." Li Mo didn't mind at all, but instead thought of another matter and asked: "By the way, Mr. Thomas, since we are now collaborators, can I take a look at your Jewish scrolls?"

  Thomas,"......"

  Soon, Thomas was taken away by Zhao Long. Seeing the two leave, Chen Ping finally expressed his doubts: "Young Master, why cooperate with Thomas? We can go dig up the gold mine ourselves!"

  Li Mo smiled slightly.

  Chen Ping was very intelligent, grew up in the UK and even studied at the Naval Academy for a few years. However, in Li Mo's view, he still lacked some necessary vision and couldn't see clearly the current situation.

  However, Li Mo was not in a hurry, he had enough time to slowly cultivate his true left and right arms, so he patiently explained: "Do you know how many mineral deposits are there? Moreover, apart from gold mines, we need other things, just us, even if we don't eat or drink, how much gold can we transport? Besides, don't forget, the place we're going to is Canada, not far away from the powerful Americans."

  "This is a world where the strong prey on the weak. When you don't have enough power, gold and wealth can only become someone else's spoils. What we need to do now is hide these things behind others' backs until we have enough power. At that time, we will sweep across the world!"

  The voice was calm and deep, but when Chen Ping heard it, his heart suddenly shook violently. Ambition! In these few words, it was clear that while everyone else was blinded by gold and wealth, the young man in front of him had already stood on a peak that even he himself couldn't see, looking down at the world!

  Chen Ping's eyes changed, but he didn't know that there was another point Li Mo hadn't mentioned. Apart from Thomas' British identity, what really made him determined was Thomas' Jewish identity. That was a terrifying interest group. All they needed to do was support Thomas and let him enter that world. Then in the future, as long as they cleaned up their own mess, even the US government wouldn't dare easily reach into this place.

  "I need a big tree to block the wind and rain."

  At the moment Chen Ping left, he heard a murmuring voice coming from inside the house.