126: Chapter 126 The Shadow of Persepolis

Li Xin went back that very night and finished the Extraction of the two-plus tons of scattered gold and silver.

The vehicle belonging to that group from Tehran was still parked by the edge of the depression, but they were nowhere to be found. He paid them no mind, found a spot on the other side, and finished off the remaining items in just over two hours. From that point on, there was nothing left beneath that stretch of desert—not even a single copper coin.

By the time he returned to the seaside village, the sky was already beginning to brighten. He took a shower and slept on his bed for the entire morning.

At noon, Ali came by again. The kid was wearing a clean shirt today and had even combed his hair; he looked like he was about to meet someone.

"Li, are you heading to Shiraz?" Ali asked, leaning against the doorframe with a bottle of soda in his hand.

"Yes. I'm leaving this afternoon."

"I have a relative over there who runs a hotel. Would you like to stay at his place?" Ali pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. "The address is written on it. Mention my name, and he'll give you a discount."

Li Xin took it and glanced at it. "Thanks."

"Aren't you in geology? What are you going to Shiraz to see?"

"There's a mine in the mountains over there. I'm going to check it out."

Ali nodded and didn't ask further.

After checking out, Li Xin got into his car. Ali stood at the entrance of the hotel and waved at him.

Shiraz was over four hundred kilometers northeast of Bushehr. He drove for nearly a day and didn't arrive until evening. He didn't enter the city center but instead found a small hotel in the southern part of the city to stay at. It wasn't the one owned by Ali's relative; that was too far away and inconvenient.

This hotel was a converted traditional Persian courtyard house, with a pool in the middle of the courtyard surrounded by orange trees. The room wasn't large, but it was clean. The receptionist was an old man with graying hair and reading glasses.

"How many days will you be staying?"

"Depends. I'll start with two days."

"Thirty dollars a day. Breakfast is served in the courtyard."

Li Xin paid the money and went upstairs to drop off his backpack. He lay on the bed and opened the map on his phone.

Persepolis was over fifty kilometers north of Shiraz. The ruins were at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by desert and farmland. His Scan radius was twenty-eight kilometers—starting from the northern edge of Shiraz, it could cover about the southern side of the ruins. But to fully cover the Underground Royal City area, it would be best to head another dozen kilometers north.

He marked several locations on the map. Within a ten-to-fifteen-kilometer range of the ruins, there were dry riverbeds, low hills, and abandoned quarries where he could park.

He would go scout the locations tomorrow.

Early the next morning, he ate breakfast in the courtyard: naan, cheese, and black tea. Just as he was about to head out, a young man walked down from upstairs.

He was in his early twenties, wore glasses, and was dressed in a dark blue T-shirt. When he saw Li Xin, he paused for a moment and then asked in Chinese, "Are you from China?"

"Yes. Are you too?"

"My name is Wang Lei, and I'm studying at the University of Tehran. I'm here in Shiraz to write my thesis." The young man walked over and extended a hand. "Are you here for tourism?"

Li Xin shook his hand. "I drove here myself."

"Impressive. By yourself?"

"Yes." Li Xin didn't elaborate. "What is your major?"

"Archaeology. Specifically, ancient Persian civilization." Wang Lei sat down on a stone bench. "What do you do for work?"

"Geological exploration."

"Then we're practically in the same field; we both dig underground." Wang Lei laughed. "Where are you going today? Do you want to go together? I rented a car and could use someone to split the gas money."

"I'm going to Persepolis. I have a car, I can take you."

"That's great. The gas money is on me."

The two of them left the hotel. Li Xin started the car, and Wang Lei sat in the passenger seat.

Leaving the Shiraz city center, they drove north. On both sides of the road were farmlands and orchards planted with wheat and pomegranate trees. After driving for nearly an hour, a ridge appeared on the horizon ahead. It was grayish-yellow, not very high, but very long, looking like a wall lying between the desert and the sky.

"That's the foot of the mountain where Persepolis is located." Wang Lei pointed ahead. "The ruins are on a stone platform at the foot of the mountain."

"Have you been there before?"

"Twice. I need it for my thesis."

The car drove past the entrance to the ruins without stopping. Li Xin continued driving north, turned onto a side road, and got onto a gravel path.

"Where are we going?" Wang Lei asked.

"I'm going to look around the area first to check the terrain. It's for my work."

"Oh right, you're in geology."

The car drove for about twenty minutes until it reached a high point. Li Xin stopped the car and got out. Wang Lei followed, standing by the car and looking at the surroundings.

"The view is pretty good here," Wang Lei said.

Li Xin didn't respond. He squatted down and pressed his hand to the ground, as if inspecting the stones.

"AI System, Scan the mountainous area northwest of Persepolis, within a depth of 150 meters."

[Scanning. Current detection range: 27,990-meter radius. Target area covered. It will take a few minutes.]

A pale blue light surged underground. They waited for about a minute.

[Scan complete. A large-scale man-made structure has been discovered approximately 20 kilometers southeast of the current location, at a depth of 80 to 120 meters underground. The structure is distributed in three levels with a total area of about 22,000 square meters. A large quantity of gold signals has been detected inside.]

"How much gold?"

[The estimated amount of gold is about 1,800 tons. There are also large quantities of silverware, jewelry, and artifacts. The distribution characteristics highly match the 'Underground Royal City of Jamshid' recorded in ancient Persian scriptures.]

Li Xin tapped his finger on the sand. 1,800 tons. Added to the previous amount, that was nearly five thousand tons.

"What are you looking at?" Wang Lei walked over and squatted beside him.

"Looking at the rock formations here." Li Xin picked up a stone and weighed it in his hand. "Metamorphic rock. There should be deposits in this area."

"What kind of deposits?"

"Non-ferrous metals. Copper and the like." Li Xin stood up and brushed the dust off his hands. "Let's go, let's go check out the ruins."

The two returned to the car and turned back toward the ruins. They arrived at the entrance parking lot, bought tickets, and walked inside.

Persepolis was larger than he had imagined. A massive stone platform, over a dozen meters high, built from giant stones. The stairs were very wide, wide enough for a dozen people to walk side by side. At the end of the stairs was the Gate of All Nations, with two massive stone pillars standing tall, topped with bull sculptures.

Wang Lei explained as they walked: "The Gate of All Nations, built in the 5th century BC. When the vassal states of the Persian Empire came to pay tribute, they entered through here."

Li Xin nodded and took out his camera to take pictures.

He noticed a few people in plain clothes walking back and forth through the crowd. Their backs were very straight, and their eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings.

"Those are plainclothes officers," Wang Lei whispered. "There are always plainclothes officers patrolling the ruins to prevent theft."

Li Xin didn't say anything. He continued taking pictures, looking just like an ordinary tourist.

They spent over an hour wandering through the ruins, walking from the Gate of All Nations to the Hall of a Hundred Columns, and from the Hall of a Hundred Columns to the ruins of the Treasury. The Treasury only had its foundation and some broken stones left.

Wang Lei said: "When Alexander burned Persepolis back then, the gold and silver transported from the Treasury alone amounted to thousands of tons. It took months to transport, using thousands of mules and camels."

Li Xin looked at the rubble at his feet. Most of that gold and silver had been taken away, and what remained was buried in the ruins.

But the Underground Royal City was different. It was dozens of meters below the surface and had never been discovered by the world.

At two in the afternoon, the two of them came out of the ruins. Wang Lei said there was a Valley of the Kings nearby that they could go see.

When Li Xin went to get the car, a black SUV drove over from the other side of the parking lot and parked not far away. Two people in dark clothes got out of the car; they didn't enter the ruins but stood by the car smoking.

He glanced at the two people but didn't look for long. He started the car and drove toward the Valley of the Kings.

The Valley of the Kings was over a dozen kilometers northwest of Persepolis and was a cliff face. The tombs of four Achaemenid kings were carved into the cliff, lined up in a row. The tomb entrances were dozens of meters above the ground, unreachable, so one could only look up from below.

Li Xin stood below, looking up for a long time. This place was within the Scan radius; the location of the Underground Royal City was about seven or eight kilometers from here, and the system had already covered it, so there was no need to come again. He was just accompanying Wang Lei today and scouting the area while he was at it.

There were iron fences around the perimeter of the scenic area, guarded by people in uniforms. Wang Lei said those were the Revolutionary Guard; they were strict because they were afraid of people digging illegally.

Li Xin nodded and took a few photos.

On the way back to Shiraz, Wang Lei received a phone call. After hanging up, he turned to Li Xin and said: "There's a gathering of international students tonight. Are you coming? They're all from our school, and there will be some Iranian students too."

Li Xin didn't really want to go, but thinking he might hear some local news, he agreed. "What time?"

"Seven o'clock. I'll come pick you up."

At seven in the evening, Wang Lei came to the hotel to pick him up. The two went to a café near Shiraz University.

The shop wasn't large, and there were a dozen people sitting there—some from China, some from Afghanistan, some from Pakistan, and a few Iranian students. Everyone was drinking coffee and chatting; the atmosphere was quite relaxed.

There was an Iranian student, in his early twenties, whose English was very good. He talked about his family, saying his father worked for the Cultural Heritage Protection Bureau.

"My dad said that recently someone reported that people were using illegal detectors to Scan near Persepolis. It has already been reported," the Iranian student whispered. "They might be artifact smugglers."

The people present all went quiet for a moment.

"Did they catch anyone?" someone asked.

"No. But they said it was a foreigner."

Li Xin's hand holding the coffee didn't tremble. He took a sip and set the cup down.

After the gathering ended, Wang Lei drove him back to the hotel.

"Are you going tomorrow?" Wang Lei asked.

"I'll look around by myself tomorrow. You busy yourself with your thesis."

"Alright. Call me if you need anything."

Li Xin went upstairs and closed the door. He sat on the bed and opened the system panel.

The Underground Royal City, 1,800 tons of gold. Extraction would take 90 days, plus cooling, at least 135 days—that would take over four months. Just thinking about it made him feel tired. During this time, he had to find an absolutely safe location where he wouldn't be disturbed.

He couldn't be near the ruins. There were too many tourists, plainclothes officers, and patrols. He needed to find a place ten to fifteen kilometers from the scanning target that was hidden and not easily discovered.

He opened the map on his phone and searched in the mountains northwest of Persepolis.

There was a dry riverbed that wound out of the mountains, with low terrain and banks on both sides. Looking at the satellite map, there were no roads, no buildings, nothing there at all.

The straight-line distance to the Underground Royal City was about twelve kilometers. It was within the Scan radius.

That was the place.

90 days, 1,800 tons, starting tomorrow.