HLM -Chapter 763 Sifting Through the Sand to Find Gold

After showing the helicopter’s fuselage, Kato opened the cabin door and invited Wang Bo to climb aboard.

“The EC-120 can take two kinds of ‘hearts’ — one is the PW206 engine, and the other is this one: the Turbomeca Arriel 2F turboshaft engine!”

“This is a big heart, Wang — a really big heart! It’s the pride of Turbomeca. One unit produces 376 kilowatts of power, with a transmitted power of 330 kilowatts. When it’s running at full tilt, you’ll feel like there’s a flying horse under your seat!”

After describing the engine, Kato opened another hatch and said, “This is the baggage compartment, right under the engine — see? It’s level with the cabin floor, which means you can reach your luggage from the cockpit. Look here: it has a side door and a rear door, so loading and unloading baggage is actually very simple.”

“……”

“What’s clever about our helicopter is that we also installed helicopter and engine-failure indicators at the rear seats. It’s a dual-redundant, three-module data-processing system that uses glass screens to monitor performance and maintenance info, so passengers never need to worry about their safety — at any time!”

With a solid, no-nonsense description of the final system, Kato finished his spiel. All that remained was the test ride.

By protocol, for safety Wang Bo’s people stayed on the ground to watch while the pilot started and flew the helicopter for the test.

The rotors began to whir, and a gust of wind swept past; everyone instinctively stepped back.

After warming up, the helicopter rose slowly and steadily. The main rotor sped up, while the tail rotor — as always — spun like mad.

Watching it climb, Kato smiled and asked, “Mr. Wang, who will fly this after you buy it? Have you hired a helicopter pilot, or will you be flying it yourself?”

Wang Bo looked at Charlie. Charlie was taken aback. “You’re not thinking of making me the pilot, are you? Come on, mate — I’m not your employee. I’m about to go back to Wellington for work; I can’t be flying your helicopter all the time.”

That answer made Wang Bo a little embarrassed. “You’re not staying in town?”

Charlie forced a smile. “No, mate. You know I was sent by the government to help set up Sunset Town. Now the town’s up and running — what reason do I have to stay here?”

Kato quickly understood the situation, but that was fine. He beamed and said, “Wang — if I may call you that — you’ll need to hire a helicopter pilot. That’s not hard.”

Uncle Bing stepped forward and said, “No problem — you just need a New Zealand helicopter license. As for pilots, we’ve got two.”

Gerald, sitting on the truck’s hood, raised his hand. “I’ve got a UK license, but it doesn’t transfer to New Zealand, right?”

Hearing that, Wang Bo’s face lit up. Uncle Bing and Gerald were a godsend — the town’s little cogs, ready wherever they were needed.

He clapped his hands and said, “Great. Next priority: get your helicopter licenses. The town will cover the costs — we’ll reimburse you.”

Kato chuckled. “That’s excellent — looks like you’ll be saving some money.”

The helicopter circled the center of Sunset Town once, then after half an hour it set down. Kato motioned for Wang Bo to join him and take another test flight.

The rotors were spinning fast; a fierce wind blew in all directions. Wang had to bend over and hold his coat tight just to get close to the chopper.

The commander tried to get closer to hop on, but the wind immediately knocked him off his feet…

Wang Bo shouted, “Why didn’t you turn it off?”

Kato shouted back, “Restarting the rotors costs five hundred dollars’ worth of aviation fuel! So, mate, don’t be flipping the rotors on and off for fun when there’s nothing to do!”

The EC-120’s seats were all genuine leather. The decor wasn’t flashy, but it was ultra-modern — stepping inside felt a bit like entering a spaceship, with lots of little indicator lights flashing.

Once the doors were closed, the noise dropped drastically; Wang subconsciously breathed easier — the assault of rotor noise is unpleasant.

The helicopter lifted, and the scenery of Sunset Town unfurled beneath them.

There wasn’t much new to see — Wang had flown over the town dozens of times before. What caught his eye now was the Cloud-Sea Castle on the mountainside.

Because of the Heart of the Mists, the mountain waist around the castle had become covered in a sea of clouds; except at midday when the sun was high and fierce, most of the time the place was shrouded in mist.

The castle was beautiful like that — hidden in the deep woods, majestic yet mysterious.

At his direction, the helicopter flew over toward it. Driving there would take more than ten minutes, but after speeding up by chopper it took only two or three minutes.

The cloud sea wasn’t dense, so the helicopter plunged right in and circled above the castle, then detoured over the lake.

Below, Lake Hawia was a crystal, brilliant blue under the sun. From high above the water looked almost transparent, and the yachts on the surface seemed to hang in midair — the water so clear it almost didn’t seem to exist.

“This is really beautiful,” Kato exclaimed. “I should have come here sooner. I’d heard Sunset Town was scenic, but I never imagined it would be this stunning.”

The helicopter changed course and flew along the mountain’s foot. Wang Bo looked down, then pointed and asked in surprise, “Look — what’s that reflecting down there? It’s glinting, like gold.”

“Maybe diamonds? Haha,” Kato joked.

He was joking, and Wang Bo had asked casually — but after hearing him, Wang Bo suddenly realized: maybe it wasn’t diamonds, but something pretty close. It was a stretch of gold-bearing ground!

The heart of the gold deposit lay right there. He’d been so busy with cases and with being home with Eva that he’d forgotten all about it.

He slapped his own forehead — how careless to forget even a gold mine.

They didn’t have time to go down right then, but after they returned and were talking about the town scenery, Wang Bo mentioned the patch of glittering mountain.

Eva, Hani and the others boarded the helicopter in turn to try flying.

When they passed the mountain foot, Wang Bo specifically pointed it out and said, “See? This area looks different from the rest. You can see a lot of sparkling.”

“What is it? Maybe someone’s dumping trash?” Eva worried. “Like broken glass or random metal — sunlight could make it sparkle like that.”

Wang Bo pretended to be concerned and said, “We’ll land nearby and go take a look.”

The pilot shook his head. “Sorry, sir — the terrain there’s too complicated. We can’t land the helicopter there, it’s too dangerous.”

Eva said, “No rush. We’ll drive over — the raiders can handle that terrain.”