"Julian called us an hour ago and told us this. There's no need for you to tell us again!"

When did Julian say that, and why don't I know about it?

"You couldn't get through on the phone, so we held a conference call ourselves."

Since I suspected there was something wrong with my phone, I turned it off and threw it in a corner.

When I opened my phone, countless messages came in. Just when I was racking my brains to come up with a conclusion, Julian actually told the work group all the results of my investigation.

I stood there frozen, my heart filled with disbelief.

This result was calculated by me alone after repeated modeling late into the night, with no electronic products around. How would Julian know?

Could it be? I looked at my girlfriend Sophia. Although she didn't come home last night, she came back early this morning.

After returning to the tent, everyone went to catch up on their sleep, and I quietly set off with my bag on my back.

I don't know if Sophia has betrayed me. Now the only person I can trust is myself.

When I was exploring a few days ago, I noticed that the soil moisture on the neighboring mountain was a little unusual, and I suspected there was a large mine underneath.

I devoted myself to the survey, recording the moisture and rock formations, and after a whole day of work I roughly determined that there was a silver mine at the foot of the mountain.

To prevent others from peeking at my report, I even finished writing the exploration report on the mountain before returning to the camp.

But when I got back to the camp, I found everyone gathered in the meeting room toasting and cheering.

"Our Julian is truly an angel sent to us by God. I never thought that he would discover three mineral deposits in just two days."

"That's right, Liam Evans has been keeping us here in this godforsaken place for almost two months, and we haven't found anything."

"Cheers to our Mountain God brother, who will lead us to the pinnacle of life in the future!"

They surrounded a man and spoke flattering words to him.

My heart tightened and a bad premonition came over me.

When everyone saw me come in, they pulled me in front of the screen.

"Liam, look at the gift Julian brought us, the silver mine in the mountain next door!"

I stared at Julian in front of me, wondering why he always achieved my results before me.

"Liam, what were you doing in this mess? Did you find anything?"

"What can he discover? He's just busying himself to show off his ability!"

"That's great. From now on, we can stay at home with our wives and children, and Julian can tell us where the mineral deposits are located."

Director Harris even sent a video himself.

"Given that Julian discovered three mineral deposits in just two days, after discussion within the bureau, he will be the leader of your exploration team from now on. You will follow his instructions on all matters."

The girlfriend hugged Julian excitedly, and the two were so close that they were just about to have their wedding night.

My colleagues were delighted, but I was the only one feeling bitter.

How on earth did he do it?

After this incident, Julian's reputation soared, and he held a press conference as the image spokesperson for the Resources Bureau.

We-media outlets reposted and promoted his ability of "The Midas Touch", and he became a household name.

Every day, countless people block the entrance of the unit.

"Mark, can you help me ask David if there are any treasures or minerals under my fields?"

"Mark, does David need a wife? I have three daughters, all of them are as beautiful as flowers..."

Facing everyone's inquiries, Julian always pretended to be mysterious and kept silent, and the lackeys around him came forward to help.

"Mountain God is busy with many things and only cares about the major issues concerning the country."

Because of Julian's outstanding performance, he was named an outstanding youth and went to other provinces and cities to give lectures.

The day after he left, he received a mysterious phone call.

As international competition intensifies, there is an urgent need to find Rare Earth Elements (REEs) deposits and break through foreign blockades.

Director Harris finally remembered me. "Liam, I remember you said earlier that you suspected there was rare earth under a certain mountain. I ordered you to take people there to explore and try to get the results in the shortest possible time."

"Julian has been putting you down these days, and I know you're feeling bad. You have to seize this opportunity. The budget is tight and needs to be cut back. If you can't produce results, I'm afraid..."

I understood what he was not saying. If I couldn't find the rare earth deposits this time, I would have to pack up and leave.

The destination is deep in the Shiwanda Mountains, where the environment is complex and filled with miasma.

The team members who were traveling with me complained one after another.

"If only Julian was here, he could just ask his Mountain God brother, and we wouldn't have to go through so much trouble to explore."

"That's right. Some people are incompetent themselves and want to make us suffer together!"

Without saying a word, I told everyone to pack up their equipment and head deeper into the mountains.

Maybe everyone believed in Julian's "The Midas Touch" so much that they were very lazy and just casually picked up a few daily clothes.

On the second day after we arrived deep in the mountains, someone suffered from hypothermia. I gave him my thickest clothes and led everyone to take him to the hospital.

But that teammate still couldn't make it and closed his eyes forever.

Director Harris came in person and ordered me to continue exploring for mineral deposits. He would properly handle the follow-up matters.

Although the remaining teammates had some resentment towards me, they took it seriously this time and accompanied me in the exploration in a down-to-earth manner.

We slept in the open air and worked non-stop for a whole month before finally discovering an ion-adsorption type ore 3,000 meters below the surface, a rare earth deposit that is a bottleneck for our development.

I wrote the exploration report overnight and couldn't wait to hold a video conference.

But when the video was connected, the screen showed a conference room full of expert leaders.

Julian stood at the front and talked.

"3,000 meters deep in the mountains, there are more than 470,000 tons of medium and heavy rare earths such as praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium and terbium..."

After finishing his speech, he faced everyone with tears in his eyes as he felt guilty.

"I'm sorry. If I hadn't come back so late, I wouldn't have watched our teammates who fought side by side die."

Listening to his words, I felt the blood in my body freeze and my mind went blank.

Every word he reported was exactly the same as the report I typed out word for word.

I don't know how I hung up the video.

All I know is that at that moment all my teammates were furious.

"I told you to wait, Julian, but you insisted on coming to explore. Now look what happened. You've sacrificed a life in vain."

"Liam, you are so crazy for your own reputation! You tied us up here for a month. Do you know that my wife is giving birth and I can't be with her."

"I didn't even get to see my grandfather for the last time. It's all your fault!"

They hated me so much that when we returned to the door of our unit and saw the wreaths and the angry families of the deceased, they chose to remain silent and stand by.

"Bastard, give me back my son, give me back my son!"

"Why did you insist on taking my son into the mountains when we already have the help of the Mountain God?"

"Didn't you dream that my son came to claim your life?"

"You scum, why doesn't Mountain God take you away!"