After piquing Li Du’s interest, Hans’ mood was lifted, and he hung up the phone.
Before he hung up, he left a message for Li Du to check his mailbox. Hans hung up the phone just as he sent it. However, Li Du had no time to check the mailbox in the car. He had just picked up a guest, and it would have been impolite to talk on the phone in front of his guest. Big Ivan, however, did not care. His attention was on Ah Meow and Ah Ow. Looking at those intelligent and clever animals, he was indeed surprised.
Brother Wolf, who was usually quiet, was very excited to see Big Ivan. He became quite talkative and kept telling Li Du about Big Ivan’s background. For instance, Ivan’s name was really related to the Tsar Bomba, which had been named by his grandfather. The reason was that his grandfather was a Soviet bomber pilot, and his lifelong wish was that his bomber could carry nuclear bombs.
Li Du was puzzled by this desire. The old man was a warmonger, but not a simple warmonger. Of course, his wish could not be fulfilled, so he gave the name to his grandson, instead.
It turned out that Big Ivan’s family was a family of pilots. Not only was his grandfather a bomber pilot, but his father and two uncles were fighter pilots. He also had a deceased uncle who had been a test pilot. In addition, his cousins were all currently pilots who served in the military and flew in civil aviation.
Big Ivan was a helicopter pilot. He had originally wanted to join the airforce so he could fly airplanes. However, he ended up being recruited into the army where he could only fly helicopters. The army recruited him because of his impeccable family background in aviation and because during the Chechen war, the army lacked excellent army airmen and thus, needed as many qualified recruits as possible.
The incident still rankled in Big Ivan’s mind. “I was cheated, cheated by so-called patriotism. I wanted to go and fly a plane so I could go into civil aviation after being retired, not like how it is now!”
Brother Wolf asked, “How are you doing in the Ukraine?”
Big Ivan sighed. “I’m not in the Ukraine. I’m in Crimea. Just wait, Crimea will be independent soon.” Indeed, Crimea and the Ukraine had been quarreling for two years, but how likely it was that Crimea could become independent, who could say? The Ukraine was, after all, a sovereign country.
They chatted casually. When they reached the mine, Li Du opened the warehouse and showed off the Mi-8. Seeing the helicopter, Big Ivan’s face showed sincere joy. “Ah ha, my small dragonfly, long time no see! Did you miss me?”
He had brought some tools with him, but he still needed some professional helicopter maintenance tools. Li asked him to make a list and said he would try to bring the tools to him as soon as possible.
Big Ivan stayed right there, doing a preliminary check and maintenance on the helicopter. It had been on the ground for so long that it would be not easy for it to take off again.
Overhauling the helicopter became a probationary period for Big Ivan. If he could fix it and fly it, Li Du would keep him and pay him. If he could not fix it, then they would discuss it.
“This guy is such a workaholic. He just came from the other side of the world and did not even need a rest?” said Li Du in surprise, watching Big Ivan throw himself into the work.
Brother Wolf said, “He is always like that.”
It was too much of a task for one man to maintain such a large helicopter, so Li Du left Brother Wolf with him, and also recruited Holiday and a big man named Crane to help Big Ivan.
Crane was the most powerful of the eight in Aubrey’s gang, with a 1.9-meter-tall muscular figure and a nickname that reflected his strength.
“Be careful, boys. It doesn’t matter if it’s not done well,” Li Du said as he tapped the door of the warehouse.
Big Ivan said in a haughty manner, “There will be no accidents. There would not be a problem, even if I checked the helicopter with my eyes closed!”
Since he was so confident, Li Du did not say more.
He returned to the mine and continued to dig. Soon, they would be close to the vein. He was ready to harvest.
By late afternoon when he was ready to stop, Ali, who had followed him into the mine, suddenly let out a scream and jumped up from the shaft. Li Du was startled, thinking that it had been bitten by a poisonous snake. “What happened? Baby come into my arms. Let me see what’s wrong.”
Each time Ali landed, it would jump more vigorously. Ali jumped two times with all its might and fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Li Du was worried. He quickly picked up Ali and carefully looked for the mark of a snake bite on his body. At the same time, he ran out and shouted, “Prepare the venomous snake serum!”
Lu Guan, who was above, asked, “What’s the matter, who was bitten by a poisonous snake?”
“Stop talking nonsense. Quick, viper serum!” Li Du was so confused that he did not respond to Lu Guan. Ali could not have been bitten by a snake. It was still too small, and its immune system was weak.
Sophie heard the news and quickly went down to the bottom of the mine with the serum.
Li Du did not find any traces of a snake bite on Ali’s body. Ali gradually opened its eyes in Li Du’s arms and reluctantly climbed up his chest. Ali then weakly put its head on Li Du’s arm.
“What’s the matter?” Li Du was puzzled.
Steve walked to the side, wiping his sweat. He put his hand on the mine shaft to rest. At the same time, he said, “Could it be… Oh!” He only said half a sentence before crying out in surprise. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back, and he fell to the ground!
Li Du was more worried and panic-stricken, so he hurriedly gave Ali to Sophie, held Steve, and shouted, “Quick, oxygen machine on! Put on the mask for Steve!”
In case Steve had a heart attack, they had prepared an oxygen generator in the mine. Shouting, he pulled heart attack spray from Steve’s pocket and sprayed it in his mouth twice. Sophie put the oxygen mask on his face, but his condition did not improve, and his face began to turn white, a sign of lack of blood from the heart.
Li Du was worried. He couldn’t understand what was going on.
Sophie accidentally reached out her hand and touched the ground. Her body shook, and she put her hand on Li Du’s arm before falling to the ground. Then she put her hand on her chest and said, “There is electricity in the ground!”
Li Du subconsciously wanted to touch the ground, but Sophie called out, “There is electricity in the mine. Why do you want to touch it? Come on, get Steve up! His heart must have been shocked by the electricity!”
As Godzilla tried to climb down, he reached for the steel ladder, and his strong body shook. However, the electrical stimulation was not very strong. He could hold on as he climbed down the ladder with clenched teeth and said, “I’ll carry him up! Or use a rope to pull him up!”
