Time passed, and several hours went by.
By afternoon, they had reached Jinhe City.
As its name suggested, Jinhe City had been built beside a river that produced abundant gold.
However, after years of mining, the gold around Jinhe City had gradually run dry. These days, the city was better known as the capital of Canghai Country.
Lin Ze studied the cityscape. It looked a little like a city just beginning to develop at the end of the last century.
There were traces of modernity, but the overall impression was one of backwardness and disorder.
Through the drone's view, he could see wooden shacks and tin-roofed slums scattered behind the reinforced-concrete buildings along the main road. There were few vehicles on the streets, and the people walking along the roadside wore shabby clothes, their faces sallow and their spirits low.
Even the capital of the country looked like this. It was easy to see just how poor and backward Canghai Country had become.
Before long, Lin Ze arrived in a heavily guarded area at the heart of Jinhe City. There was nothing backward about this place. Reinforced-concrete buildings stood amid shady, leafy trees, and soldiers carrying assault rifles patrolled the streets.
This was the seat of Canghai Country's government, where its head of state worked.
"Hello, Mr. Lin. I'm Jin Cheng, Minister of Natural Mineral Resources of Canghai Country. The Prime Minister is already waiting for you."
As Lin Ze's motorcade pulled to a stop, a well-dressed official approached with several subordinates.
Lin Ze couldn't understand Jin Cheng, but one of the security personnel accompanying him was a professional interpreter, ensuring smooth communication between them.
"Hello, Minister Jin. Let's go. We shouldn't keep the Prime Minister waiting."
Surrounded by security personnel, Lin Ze shook Jin Cheng's hand, smiling.
Before coming,