Super Zoo

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Dealing with the state has its downsides, you can receive a heap of honors, but hardly any money.

The most valuable item is probably this purely handmade Cossack Saber, which Suming, on his way to the banquet hall in a car, took out to furtively play with.

It's really damn sharp, without much effort, it easily sliced halfway through the car's wooden mini-fridge.

"Don't damage public property! Be careful not to cause a diplomatic incident!" Suming glared, snatching the saber back from Nangong Huang's hands, carefully examining its edge and wondering how it was forged to be so sharp.

When it comes to the craftsmanship of cold weapons, Huaxia may not dare claim to be the best in the world, but it used to be among the elite globally. Unfortunately, after liberation, these forging techniques have been almost completely lost, and the so-called retro swords on the market are basically for show.

"Brother-in-law, get me one of these," Nangong Huang's eyes were gleaming. Zhao Yun's eyes were also shining; he was a collector, and this saber was precisely within his area of expertise.

Seeing the two men eyeing the military saber like hungry weasels, Suming quickly sheathed the blade.

The reception banquet was held in the city hall.

The so-called reception banquet had real guests, just the three of them. After a brief session of questions from reporters and opening remarks, Suming exchanged pleasantries with various parties as a formality and toasted with a few military officers from the 76th Airborne Division. After that, there was nothing for him to do; Russian government officials, officers from the 76th Airborne Division, and reporters were chatting amongst themselves.

Suming had a serious matter to discuss with President Vladimir, whose time was extremely tight. He had to return to Moscow within two hours, and Suming did not want to end up idly chattering with officials who had no real authority.

In the small conference room next to the banquet hall, there hung a huge map of Russia.

At the uppermost left corner of the map, where it bordered Finland, a small peninsula was circled. Compared to the entirety of Russian territory, this small area was nearly negligible in size.

Suming planned to have the remaining Lure People settle down and take root in Russia.

With vast territory and sparse population, most of Russia's land was uncultivated. The Lure People could rent a piece of land in Russia, or even obtain Russian nationality without any problem. They could farm, hunt, pay taxes to the government, and live a peaceful life.

"The Kola Peninsula is a very nice place. The island is crisscrossed with rivers and has numerous lakes. The natural environment is very pleasant. Of course, that's for us Russians. The Lure People coming from Iraq might need some time to adjust. The year-round temperatures there are between 7 to 18 degrees Celsius, which might be a bit cold for the Lure People at first.

However, the peninsula is rich in resources. Several rivers on the island are important habitats for Atlantic Salmon, suitable for both recreational fishing and aquaculture. The Lure People can also learn from the Saami People on the island how to domesticate reindeer. Moreover, facing the sea, if you have enough capital, you can fully develop the peninsula into a fine fishery..."

A Russian official was smilingly introducing—or rather, selling—the Kola Peninsula. Russia was ready to allot an area of the peninsula, exceeding 100,000 square kilometers, near the sea to the Lure People. Suming had researched and found that just in terms of resources and environment, the peninsula was indeed excellent: vast forests and rivers untouched by high-tech, extensive development, many locals still living relatively primitive and simple lives, and plentiful mineral deposits!

The location was also very strategic, with easy access to the heart of Europe from both land and sea. If you wanted to visit the Arctic for fun, you could just take a ship and go; if going to Finland, it was just an hour's drive overland.

But of course, Suming was not naive enough to believe that the Russians were truly treating him with the reverential care of a dear father.

The Russian's quick agreement to designate a residential area on the peninsula had reasons behind it.

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First, there are hardly any Russian residents on this island; the sparsely situated towns are mostly inhabited by indigenous people, whose status in Russia is similar to that of the Lure People in Iraq—autonomous, following their own rules rather than official declarations.

Second, the peninsula is an important seaport for Russia, and at strategic locations on the peninsula, the headquarters of the Russian Northern Fleet are stationed. Under the watchful eye of the Northern Fleet, neither the Lure People nor the local natives can stir up any trouble.

For Suming, neither point is actually important. He isn't planning to evade or underpay taxes, nor does he intend to overthrow Russia with a few thousand Lure People.

Theoretically, it's a win-win.

"What about Hell's Gate?" Suming tapped on the table and smiled.

"Oh? That's merely a legend!" The Russian official clearly paused for a moment before smiling, "If there really were a Hell's Gate, Russia would have been occupied by demons long ago, Mr. Su, you surely don't believe that, do you?"

The most famous thing on the Kola Peninsula isn't the reindeer or the Atlantic Salmon, nor even the Northern Fleet, but an abandoned mine known as 'Hell's Gate'.

During the Soviet era, the Soviet Government discovered rich gold deposits on the peninsula and built a gold mine.

After drilling to a depth of over 9,000 meters, the drill bit pierced a layer containing gold and diamonds. Analysis of the extracted core samples showed that the gold content was as high as 80 grams per ton!

A typical gold mine has a gold content of about 4-8 grams per ton, and it's almost impossible to find layers on the Earth's surface with more than 10 grams per ton.

80 grams per ton is a veritable treasure trove of gold.

In 1983, it was said that the well's drilling depth had reached 12,000 meters, but during that year, the government suddenly halted mining operations and closed the mine.

The officially stated reason was due to a lack of funds, but insiders revealed that the real reason was the appearance of supernatural phenomena within the well.

Exactly what 'supernatural' phenomena occurred is a topic of much debate, with no definitive answer to this day.

Some drilling technicians told reporters that "demons" emerged from the bottom of the well, forcing the drilling operations to cease.

Others claimed that strange sounds came from the drilling, and researchers using high-temperature resistant recording equipment captured noises similar to "human howls" within the mine. Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

The most mysterious claim came from a Finnish newspaper, which reported that a prominent Soviet geologist had told them that after the machine drilled a nine-mile-deep hole, a blue-faced, fanged creature with wings flew out. Later, they lowered a sound pickup device into the hole and recorded a series of piercing, miserable screams, as though countless people were enduring great suffering.

The truth remains unknown, and over time, people started to call this abandoned mine 'Hell's Gate'.

The settlement area allocated to the Lure People is only five kilometers away from Hell's Gate; standing on the mountaintop, one can gaze down at Hell's Gate, making it the nearest human settlement to Hell's Gate.