HLM -Chapter 838 A Lot of Reconstruction Work

Talking with smart people was always refreshing.

The professor immediately understood Wang Bo’s intention. “You mean… if we want to dig out these remains, we need to pay?”

“No,” Wang Bo laughed. “What I mean is: if you want to excavate anything on my land, you need to pay.”

Hearing this, the team from the Archaeology Bureau raised no objections. Private property was sacred and inviolable—land counted as private property.

Wang Bo didn’t ask for much. He was simply exercising his rights. The excavation fee was 450 dollars per acre, with a 5,000-dollar deposit paid upfront, and the rest would be adjusted later.

No one questioned or complained about this. After all, Wang Bo would indeed need money later to repair the land after it had been dug up. This plot of land was near the road—if it was left full of pits and holes, it would be unsightly.

After paying quickly and happily, the Archaeology Bureau and the Cultural Institute started the excavation together. They relied mostly on manual labor, with small excavators providing assistance.

Although light rain fell from time to time, the team worked enthusiastically. There were even elderly men and women participating—proof of how excited they were about these remains.

Atulu said with a grin, “Boss, you know, there’s another way you could earn even more—charge them for the bones. If they want to take the remains home, set a clear price.”

Wang Bo waved a hand. “Forget it. These bones are useless to keep in the town. What are we going to do—build a museum for them?”

If they were excavating cultural relics or artifacts, he would have been interested. But bones? Keep them for what? They weren’t edible for the laborers either.

In the afternoon, the Alexanders arrived, this time by helicopter. When they met, Wang Bo teased them, “Why not come by bus this time? A helicopter has such high emissions—isn’t it bad for the environment?”

Alexander didn’t mind the joke. After giving Wang Bo a hug, he said, “If the roads weren’t in such bad shape, I’d prefer the bus. Helicopters are dangerous, you know.”

Wang Bo knew why they had come. After letting them rest a bit in the town, he took them to the excavation site and had them stay with the media.

Whether in entertainment or politics, no one could escape the spotlight—the more publicity, the greater the influence.

The couple happily went to see the research vehicle—an RV converted into a lab. The four skeletons that Ramon had brought to Auckland, along with the Kūi Sata, had all been brought back. Inside, people were studying them with magnifying glasses and other tools.

Vajona put on white gloves and picked up the Kūi Sata. “I’ve seen something like this before. When I was a little girl, my father took me to visit a Māori friend. His family kept a tribal Kūi Sata.”

Wang Bo shrugged. “That one must’ve been well preserved. Honestly, I can’t even tell what this thing originally looked like.”

Vajona gestured with her hands. “Yes, that one was well maintained. It looked like a sword, though the blade wasn’t sharpened. His was made of steel, not nearly as precious as this bronze Kūi Sata.”

Like many indigenous peoples around the world, Māori material culture went through stone, bronze, and iron ages—the older the artifact, the more valuable.

Bones continued to emerge from the ground one after another, some buried four to five meters deep. No one knew what had happened on this land for bodies to be buried so deeply.

Besides remains, tools and weapons were also unearthed. Wang Bo saw a bone knife—or perhaps a bone dagger—less than ten centimeters long, but still sharp after hundreds of years.

However, when he commented on it, an expert corrected him. “That’s not a bone knife. It’s a tooth dagger—made from an orca tooth. Māori hunted sharks and whales often in that era.”

They also found stone weapons. Wang Bo discovered something resembling a mace: an oval-shaped object with a hollow channel inside for attaching a wooden handle.

Several skulls with cracked craniums were found nearby—probably victims of the mace.

After touring the camp and thanking the experts, they returned to the office building.

This time, the Alexanders had come not only for media exposure—they had another purpose: inviting Wang Bo to the Green Party’s core summer gathering in November.

Alexander said confidently, “You must come, man. You’ll meet many new people. They’ll be a huge help to your work and your life.”

Wang Bo felt a little embarrassed. “From the name, it sounds like an event for top Green Party members… would it be appropriate for me to attend?”

Vajona smiled. “Of course it’s appropriate. You must come, Wang. There will be an important announcement then. I guarantee it will shock you.”

Wang Bo asked, “Important announcement? Can you give me a hint so I can prepare mentally?”

Vajona shook her head mysteriously. “Come to Wellington for the gathering. Trust us—the announcement will shock you. You’ll be a witness to New Zealand’s history.”

Although they hadn’t said it outright, Wang Bo had his guesses—the Green Party clearly had ambitions to govern.

Of course he would attend such a gathering. As Alexander said, he could meet many new people.

After spending the night in Sunset Town as usual, the couple left early the next morning by helicopter.

By then, the effects of the tropical cyclone had nearly vanished. The winds had calmed, the rains stopped, and a red sunrise appeared in the east. After days of storms, its warmth felt especially comforting.

After seeing off the Alexanders, Wang Bo began working on rebuilding the town.

Hadis came again to take a batch of chickens, leaving Wang Bo with 5 million NZD in revenue.

In the fierce competition of New Zealand’s high-end fast-food market, Hadis was gaining an advantage over McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and others. Sunset Town’s chicken was exceptional in flavor and richer in nutrients—greatly loved by customers.

As market share increased, Hadis needed more and more chicken. Wang Bo had to expand his scale—they might come every half month to pick up goods.

With the income received, he hired ten new gardeners to care for the Birthflower Road destroyed by the storm.

That road had practically become Sunset Town’s signature, so he had to protect the birthflowers well.

Leighton Holdings sent the design sketches for the White Tower Hotel and the garden. Wang Bo didn’t think much of it—until he saw it and got shocked. The garden’s budget was even higher than the hotel’s.

The problem was that the garden he wanted to build was huge. It was easy to construct but hard to maintain. According to the Heart of the Garden’s effective range, just procuring the flowers alone would cost over a million NZD.

Unless… he moved the birthflowers there.