An hour drive after leaving Little Rock, they were not far from Crater of Diamonds State Park.
Li Du and his group did not once feel bored during the journey. Stalls of the countryside would appear from time to time. Besides that, the driver would continuously tell them about Little Rock and he also invited them over for a visit.
Of course, if they wanted a sightseeing tour in Little Rock, the driver hoped that Li Du and his group would contact him.
There was nothing special in Arkansas. It consisted of traditional rural areas. Even the name of the capital, Little Rock, reflected this. The city also seemed like it was going to be very conservative.
This was not the case. Little Rock was known as a young and ambitious city. It was not at all conservative—it was so liberal that it was extreme at times. For instance, people here were very supportive of homosexuality.
Moreover, they were very tolerant and friendly toward new immigrants. Among all big cities in America, Little Rock was one of the top choices for immigrants to live in.
As the driver was talking about all this, he brimmed with enthusiasm. They passed by forests, grasslands, and lakes. A dark brown land appeared in front of them.
From afar, this land looked like the black land in the Northeast China Plain. It was a vast and fertile piece of land that had been plowed into tidy ridge fields and neatly cut up in an orderly manner.
“Welcome to Crater of Diamonds State Park,” the driver said joyfully. “I wish you all the best in your achievement here. Hope you guys are able to make it to the hall of fame.”
American institutions loved setting up halls of fame for campaigns and activities. This park was no exception. Miners would be added depending on the diamond’s mass and appearance.
They were dropped off at the entrance to the park. Godzilla took their stuff out of the trunk. Sophie had made arrangements for their accommodations, so they moved the food into the rented room.
Li Du went to buy the entrance tickets. It was very cheap: six dollars for adults and three dollars for children.
He gave twenty-four dollars to the ticket seller and bought four tickets. The ticket seller noticed that he had no equipment and asked, “Are you searching for diamonds or just having a tour?”
Li Du casually answered, “I’ll have a look first. If I’m fortunate enough to find a diamond—”
“Then you’re here for diamonds,” the ticket seller interrupted. “I have to inform you that you are not allowed to use any concealed equipment. Your equipment must not contain batteries, motors, or wheels.”
Li Du said, “Sure, I understand.”
This rule was the same in the Petrified Forest National Park. Gemstones there could only be found manually, and none of their equipment could have even the slightest indication of automation.
After his pleasant agreement, the ticket seller smiled. “If you have equipment, then you can now enter. If you don’t, then just go straight and there will be a service department where you can rent some equipment.
The area surrounding the park had many small shops that were selling and renting excavating equipment. Brother Wolf got himself a complete set of equipment, which included a pith helmet, gloves, sifting tray, trowel, bucket, and a large whisker basket.
The four of them gathered together and walked into the park.
They were stopped by the security guard. He pointed at the four little ones and said, “Pets are not allowed.”
Brother Wolf went up and put a hand on the guard’s shoulder. Then, he took the guard to a side and gave him 100 dollars. He said, “Please be lenient, brother. They won’t cause any trouble.”
The black security guard maintained his composure and accepted the 100 dollars. He replied, “Keep an eye on them. I don’t want to receive any complaints about this.”
The problem solved, they finally managed to enter the park.
The area of the park was 37 acres. The closed areas were occupied with excavators and bulldozers for the purpose of re-flattening the bumpy land that was dug by tourists.
Many people were interested in diamonds. There were people digging everywhere in the open area of the huge park. The sight was spectacular.
Godzilla casually said, “Every autumn, the sweet potato field in my hometown looks exactly like this. Everyone is busy digging up sweet potatoes.”
Brother Wolf laughed. “It’s similar in Vietnam too. But they dig for landmines instead.”
“That’s horrible,” Sophie sighed.
Brother Wolf added, “Those landmines were planted by the Americans.”
Sophie began to feel awkward.
The land of the diamond mine park had been the lava channel of a volcano about 95 million years ago. During the volcanic eruption, the diamonds underground surfaced with the lava. There were a lot of diamonds below the surface of the ground.
In addition, lava under high pressure would form peridot, garnet, amethyst, agate, and other semi-gemstone resources. Due to weathering, they had also been exposed on the surface.
Thus, people who came here were not only searching for diamonds but also for other gemstones. These gemstones were gorgeous and could be sold at good prices.
There was a huge marble wall at the entrance to the park. There were unframed pictures on the wall with names, times, and measurements written below them.
This was the park’s hall of fame. The photographs were originally colored. However, the colors had faded away over time due to weathering.
Li Du looked at the hall of fame and broke into laughter. He whispered, “My God! No matter what kind of diamond I get, I would never want to be on this wall. Is this the hall of fame? Why does it feel like a hall of death recordings?”
Black-and-white photographs, names, times, and measurements. The combination seemed like information on the deceased. Although the time written here was the excavation time of the diamond, it did look like the time of death.
Sophie and the others started laughing too. A person next to them, however, was unhappy about the joke. The visitor looked at him contemptuously and said, “Hey, kid, didn’t your parent teach you how to speak? Those words of yours were unpleasant.”
Li Du’s words were really not pleasant to the ear. But he had lowered his volume and was only joking with his group. He did not expect others to hear it.
He felt awkward as this person started to talk. Initially, he wanted to apologize but the person’s choice of words were very extreme. They were words of personal attack.
Li Du knew that he was wrong. As a man, he accepted his mistake and admitted that he was wrong. Thus, he kept his mouth shut and did not argue.
However, that person took his silence for cowardice. As he used his feet to lift up a rock and kick it at Li Du, he said, “Aren’t you very skillful with words? Go on . . . “
As Li Du was being attacked, his loyal servants became agitated and furious!
Ah Meow reacted quickly and hit the rock away with his paw. Ali jumped up and charged at the man, jabbing him right on his crotch!
“Ouch!” the man screamed as he kneeled on the ground with his hands covering his crotch and his legs pressing together.
Ali had been learning boxing from Brother Wolf. Its punches were effective.
Ali had was an ordinary-sized kangaroo with slim and, previously powerless, arms. It had been training hard though, and its upper body was developing very well. This punch on a man’s weakest spot—even a man of steel could not ignore it.
This was not it. After the man knelt down, Ali immediately jumped up and jabbed directly at the bridge of his nose.
The man continued to scream and then flung his head backward. Ali used its tail as the support to keep its body standing. It lifted up its strong and sturdy hind legs, then kicked the man’s chest with all its strength.
