"Alright, it's time to get busy now." After hanging up the call from France, Liang En snapped his fingers and leaped off the couch, then quickly tidied up a bit before rushing out of his newly rented apartment to find Pierce.
This new apartment was acquired by Liang En after his recent earnings, located in the heart of London. It had three bedrooms and a living room, furnished with a complete set of furniture and kitchen appliances. The comfort level of this place was several notches higher than his previous apartment, which only had a bathroom and a single room.
Of course, the rent had also escalated significantly. It had skyrocketed from £145 per week to £450. If it weren't for Liang En's intention to use London as a central hub for his work in the foreseeable future, he wouldn't have been willing to spend so much money on rent.
When he arrived at the store, he found Pierce boredly staring at some photos he had taken during his recent vacation, displayed on his computer.
Due to a recent windfall, Pierce had taken a short vacation to the Isle of Wight. So, when Liang En arrived with this new task, he noticed that Pierce was already prepared for a new adventure, much like himself.
The tendency to earn money and then indulge in consumption might be difficult for someone from China to fully grasp, but for a European like Pierce, it was quite natural. Liang En, having lived in Europe for many years, was accustomed to this behavior.
"Did you come today with a new commission?" As soon as he saw Liang En walk through the store's door, Pierce's excitement was palpable. Liang En had brought him numerous surprises during this time, so naturally, Pierce hoped for another chance at treasure hunting.
"Yes, it's a commission from a French count to locate a person who has been missing for seventy to eighty years," Liang En leaned on the counter and said, "The client is willing to cover all travel expenses for up to five people, so I've come to find you."
"Alright, then let's stick to the usual arrangement," Pierce nodded. As this commission was directly assigned to Liang En, according to their arrangement, Pierce would receive somewhere between three to ten percent of the final reward.
Even so, Pierce was grateful to Liang En for inviting him to this mission. Since all the travel expenses were covered by the count, Pierce could take advantage of this opportunity to gather some items from Eastern Europe.
Early the next morning, the two of them boarded a plane and headed to Paris. There, they met the count's steward who was already waiting for them in a hotel.
"It's a pleasure to see you again," as Liang En entered, the steward stood up promptly, shook his hand, and then produced a box.
"Knowing that you had received the commission, I prepared all the information we had collected previously. You can take a look at these materials and the information gathered by our people."
"Based on the information we currently possess, Young Master Doulis was operating with a ski battalion on the front lines. These units often operated behind the Soviet forces, attempting to disrupt supply lines."
"However, during their retreat after a mission, the battalion came under enemy artillery fire. Due to the night conditions, the entire battalion scattered, and when they eventually regrouped, they realized that Young Master Doulis was missing."
"So, this time, I'm entrusting you with the task of finding the whereabouts of Young Master Doulis. Even a single credible lead would be sufficient. Of course, it would be even better if you could find any personal belongings or even his remains."
"Well..." After a five-minute silence, a troubled expression appeared on Liang En's face. He realized that the information they currently had was quite problematic and didn't hold much value for him.
For instance, in the theoretically valuable Soviet combat records, there was merely a mention that they had launched artillery shells at several suspicious areas that night, without any mention of the results of the shelling.
This situation was straightforward: the Finnish ski troops at the time were well-acquainted with the terrain and operated discreetly. Therefore, the Soviet forces were unlikely to venture into the woods to assess the outcome of their shelling.
However, this also posed a significant challenge for those who searched later, as a few days' time was enough for both sides' firepower to completely devastate that area.
"I know what you're thinking now. In fact, my family has been engaged in this work since my grandfather's generation, and outsiders mostly consider us crazy." The steward, his temples already gray, leaned back weakly in the chair behind him, then continued speaking.
"However, ever since our family lost an important member years ago, we pledged never to give up on any family member."
"So, even though we have to invest a significant amount of wealth and effort due to this matter, we still won't cease the search. And that's why we've hired you."
"Of course, you don't need to bear too much psychological pressure. After all, we've been searching for over seventy years, so it doesn't matter even if you don't find Young Master Doulis this time."
As the steward's words faded, Liang En narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. For him, this kind of contract with no strict conditions and extremely lenient terms was more troublesome than those rigorous ones.
At the very least, he was more reluctant to accumulate too many favors owed to these people than to lose money.
The entire room suddenly fell into an intense silence, the steward nervously observing Liang En's every move. After nearly 80 years of failures, the entire family was unwilling to let go of any possibility.
And according to the information the steward had previously gathered, this Chinese-Irish individual seemed to have been blessed by the God of Luck ever since he entered this field. Almost every time he made a move, he managed to discover vast amounts of wealth.
Therefore, in the steward's eyes, Liang En was the most likely among all the treasure hunters he had encountered in his life to find Young Master Doulis.
"I'll take on this task," several minutes later, Liang En made his final decision and looked at the steward earnestly.
"But I think you should understand that without new information, this search is essentially a matter of pure luck. So, I can't make any guarantees in that regard."
"Of course, I understand that." The count's steward exhaled and visibly relaxed. "So, I won't impose any restrictions on you during this mission."
Once it was confirmed that Liang En had accepted the task, the steward began to explain the commission requirements. In fact, similar to yesterday's conversation, all the expenses for Liang En and Pierce during this mission were covered by them.
In addition, aside from relics and remains that were officially registered, all the items Liang En and Pierce found during the treasure hunt would belong to them.
If they unearthed treasures during the mission that couldn't be easily carried away by just two people, the count's side would assist them in transporting those items back to either the UK or Ireland.
"Are you done with your discussion?" When he saw Liang En coming down from upstairs, Pierce, who had been waiting in the hotel lobby, set down his drink and turned to ask.
"Yes, we're done. The other party has provided us with a basic operating fund of 5000 euros." Liang En placed the file package in his hand on the table and spoke.
"The reward they offer does sound quite good. It's worth a trip for us." Pierce nodded, then asked, "So, do you have any plans now?"
"We'll head to Viborg first and then proceed from there to explore the Mannerheim Line ruins in the Karelian Isthmus." Liang En sounded somewhat helpless. "However, before that, we might need two or three days to organize the information gathered by the other party."
The reason for studying the information was simple: in the past seventy-plus years, dozens of teams had taken on this task. So, Liang En hoped to find some useful clues by studying the data left behind by these predecessors.
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