134: Chapter 134 Deep Pit

Voices drifted over, and Li Xin snapped his eyes open; it was already dawn.

Several people were talking outside the house; the commotion wasn't loud, but it sounded chaotic.

Li Xin sat up and walked out of the house. Five or six people were standing outside: the village chief, Masoud, and a few others he hadn't seen before. Two of them were wearing work uniforms and carrying tool bags.

"He's awake," the village chief said, pointing at Li Xin.

Masoud walked over. "Young man, we're going down into the fissure to take a look. We might need to borrow the data from your monitoring device to use as a reference."

Li Xin nodded. "Sure. What data do you need?"

"The precise coordinates of the epicenter. And the real-time waveforms after the quake."

Li Xin pulled a notebook from his bag, flipped through it, and handed it to Masoud. It contained the data he had copied down last night—exported by the AI System. Fearing the memory card might malfunction, he had made a handwritten copy.

Masoud took it and glanced at it, looking slightly puzzled. "Your data... is quite precise."

"The instrument is decent," Li Xin replied with a smile, not offering further explanation.

Masoud copied the data, returned the notebook, and then turned to direct the others. They set up a tripod next to the fissure, hung a pulley, and tied off a rope. A young man in work clothes began strapping on a safety harness.

"Are you going down?" the village chief asked.

"Going down to take a look first," Masoud said. "To see how deep it is and what's down there."

The young man secured the rope, put on a headlamp, and was slowly lowered from the edge of the fissure. The rope was fed down bit by bit, and the light from his headlamp flickered across the rock walls.

"Slower... a bit slower..." the people above shouted.

"Stop!" a voice came from below. "I've reached the bottom. The depth is about twenty-two meters."

"What do you see?"

"Rocks... broken rocks... there are pottery shards, bronze fragments. And a... cave entrance?"

Masoud leaned over the edge of the fissure and shouted down. "What kind of entrance?"

"Round. Not big, but you can crawl inside. It feels very deep; I can't see the end."

Masoud thought for a moment. "Don't go in yet. Take a few photos and come up immediately."

The sound of taking photos came from below, and the flash flickered several times inside the fissure. After ten minutes or so, the young man was pulled up. He was covered in dirt with a black smudge on his face, but his eyes were bright.

"There's a hole down there; it should be a karst cave. The entrance has lots of broken pottery and bronze fragments. I took a few photos, take a look."

Masoud took the camera and flipped through the photos. His hands were trembling.

"This is... Sassanid era... no, maybe even earlier..." Masoud muttered to himself, his voice growing quieter.

Li Xin stood to the side, not joining the conversation. He glanced at the photos. The pottery shards in the pictures couldn't compare to those in his storage space; they were just scraps. The real cave treasure was still 170 meters below; these items were just leftovers.

But Masoud didn't see it that way. He felt this was a major discovery.

"Im... immediately report this to the provincial bureau." Masoud stood up, excited, and said to the people beside him, "Tell them to send an expert team; they need to be here tomorrow."

"Should we cordon off the area?" the person next to him asked, sounding somewhat hesitant.

"Seal it off, it must be sealed off. No one is allowed within a five-hundred-meter radius."

The village chief interjected: "That monitoring station from China isn't far away."

Masoud glanced at Li Xin, pondered for a moment, and replied, "Hmm, don't worry about him. But have him sign a non-disclosure agreement."

A while later, Li Xin was called over and signed a piece of paper. It was a non-disclosure agreement written in Persian, which essentially stated he would not leak any information regarding the earthquake and archaeological discovery, would cooperate with official work, and so on.

After signing, Masoud put the paper away and looked at Li Xin. "Don't touch your monitoring device for now. We need your data."

"Sure, no problem."

The expert team arrived that afternoon. Eight people came in three vehicles, bringing a lot of equipment. They pitched tents around the fissure, set up a cordon, and someone installed a small winch at the entrance of the fissure to lower equipment.

Li Xin's monitoring station was marked outside the cordon, but it wasn't far—less than a kilometer away. He could see the shadows of those people busy at work and hear the sound of the winch.

When the sun set, the expert team began sending people down. Four went down this time, all wearing protective suits and carrying oxygen tanks. They were to stay below for over an hour to conduct a preliminary survey.

Li Xin didn't go to join the excitement, simply focusing on the system panel. Progress: 83%. Over a hundred tons remained.

He couldn't stop. If he stopped, those hundred-plus tons would be gone. But he also couldn't be discovered. The cordon was less than a kilometer away, and there were people on duty at the fissure entrance, not leaving all night.

The problem was: when the System performed Extraction, the cave would react. The village people could hear that low-frequency rumble from before. Now that the expert team was below, they would definitely be able to feel it too.

"AI System, will there be any unusual activity in the cave when I continue the Extraction?"

"AI System: Yes, low-frequency sound waves are unavoidable. However, at the current Extraction rate, the sound wave intensity is approximately equivalent to the secondary waves of a magnitude 2 earthquake. It is difficult for humans to perceive, but precision instruments may record abnormal data."

"The expert team has precision instruments; this is a bit tricky."

"AI System: Indeed, their seismographs and acoustic detectors could detect anomalies. It is recommended to adjust the Extraction time to the latter half of the night, when the expert team is resting. Their instruments will not be running 24 hours a day, especially at night."

"Alright, that's decided."

He waited until 2:00 AM. The lights in the expert team's tents went out, and the winch stopped. Only one person remained on duty at the fissure entrance, wrapped in a military coat, dozing off against a rock.

Progress: 86%.

"System, continue Extraction. Reduce speed to the minimum."

"Extracting. Current rate: 0.8 tons/hour. Load: 52%."

The progress bar began to jump, barely moving. For every 1% increase, he had to wait nearly ten minutes. But the reaction of the cave was minimal; the low-frequency sound waves were almost imperceptible.

Li Xin kept staring at the system panel. He was deathly tired, but didn't dare sleep. He took out a can of Red Bull and took a big gulp—bitter and cloying, but he had to drink it.

4:00 AM, progress 89%. No movement in the expert team's tents.

5:00 AM, progress 91%. Dawn was approaching.

6:00 AM, the lights in the expert team's tents turned on. Someone walked out, stretched, and smoked. The person on duty at the fissure entrance was relieved by another shift.

Li Xin turned on the monitoring device; the screen lit up, and waveforms danced. He took the notebook out of his storage space and scribbled a few lines, pretending to work.

8:00 AM, the expert team began working. Some went down into the fissure, others looked at data in the tents.

After 9:00 AM, Masoud walked over.

"Young man, let me see your monitoring data."

Li Xin handed over the notebook. Masoud flipped through it and frowned.

"Take a look at the data from 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM. Is there something wrong with it?"

"What's wrong?" Li Xin leaned in to look.

"Look at this waveform, why is it so flat? There's almost no fluctuation. But between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM, our instruments recorded several sets of abnormal data."

Li Xin felt a jolt inside, but his face remained expressionless. "Maybe my instrument's sensitivity isn't high enough. It's old, after all, and can't compare to your professional equipment."

Masoud stared at him for a few seconds. Then he nodded. "Alright, maybe your equipment is just old and didn't record it."

He returned the notebook to Li Xin and turned away.

The expert team was busy under the fissure all day. In the afternoon, someone crawled out of the fissure, face full of excitement, and said to Masoud, "The hole down there, the depth exceeds 150 meters! We scanned it with sonar; there's a large space at the bottom! There's a metallic response inside, very strong!"

Masoud's eyes lit up. "How large is the area?"

"Sonar shows at least 5,000 square meters. Maybe larger."

"Gold?"

"Not sure. But the metal response is very strong; it's either a mineral vein or... a large quantity of metal artifacts."

Masoud paced in circles twice. "Tomorrow, apply for heavy equipment. Today, enlarge the entrance first and get ready to lower more equipment."

Li Xin stood in the distance, listening to these conversations. He thought to himself: Go ahead and busy yourselves. By the time you bring the equipment over, I'll have already emptied it.

That night, the expert team worked overtime. The winch didn't stop until midnight. The number of people on duty at the fissure entrance increased to three: two on guard, one sleeping, rotating shifts.

Li Xin waited until 3:00 AM. The people on duty were sitting at the fissure entrance chatting, not sleeping.

He didn't dare move.

Waited until 4:00 AM. One of the people on duty stood up and walked away to smoke. The other dozed off against a rock.

Progress: 94%.

"System, continue Extraction. Minimum speed."

"Extracting. Current rate: 0.5 tons/hour. Load: 48%."

Even slower. For every 1% increase, he had to wait nearly twenty minutes. But the cave had almost no reaction, and there was no movement from the expert team's side.

5:00 AM, progress 95%.

Dawn broke. The people on duty were relieved.

That day, the expert team had even more equipment. A large truck drove up, carrying drilling rigs, generators, and winches. They built a temporary shed at the fissure entrance, ran power lines, and installed lights.

Masoud stood at the fissure entrance giving orders until his voice was hoarse.

Li Xin sat in his tent, staring at the system panel. Progress: 96%.

At night, the expert team didn't stop. The winch kept sounding, and the drill was boring holes. The lights at the fissure entrance were all on, illuminating the surroundings in white.

"Damn it," Li Xin cursed. At this rate, they would drill through to the upper level of the cave tonight. Once they broke through, they would discover the space below, and then it would be large-scale excavation.

He still had over forty tons left to extract.

Progress: 97%.

1:00 AM, the drill stopped. Someone shouted: "We've broken through! It's empty below!"

Li Xin's heart leaped into his throat.

"Lower the probe!" Masoud's voice rang out. "See what's down there!"

A few minutes later. "It's empty... completely empty... there's nothing..."

"How is that possible? The sonar showed a metal response!"

"Maybe the sonar misjudged? There is indeed a cave down there, it's large, but I don't see any metal objects. You can look at the camera feed yourself."

Silence for a few seconds. Then Masoud's voice, filled with confusion and disappointment. "How could... how could there be nothing..."

Li Xin huddled in the room, staring at the system panel. Progress: 98%.

Ten tons remaining.

The expert team busied themselves around the fissure entrance for over two hours, with personnel going in and out to check. Some went down, and others came back up, bringing back footage captured by the cameras. The upper part of the cave was empty, filled with broken rocks and silt; there was absolutely no sign of any metal objects.

Masoud stood at the fissure entrance, his face looking terrible. "It's not right... it's not right... the sonar couldn't be wrong... the metal response was so strong..."

"Could it be deeper down?" the person next to him asked.

"It's possible. Continue drilling deeper tomorrow."

The expert team finished work. The lights were still on, but the people had withdrawn. Only two people were on duty at the fissure entrance, sitting in the shed smoking.

Progress: 99.3%.

Li Xin walked out of the room and stretched briefly.

The two people on duty didn't notice him. They were chatting; their voices weren't loud, but he could hear them.

Fragments, bronze fragments, pottery shards—all broken, nothing complete.

Progress: 99.7%.

He squatted beside the tent, staring at the system panel. System load: 51%.

99.9%.

"Ding—Extraction of the Zagros Mountains cave treasure complete."

"Total extracted this time: Approximately 600 tons of gold. Approximately 1.8 tons of gemstones. 25 heavy bronze artifacts. 7 gold weapons. 3 sets of gold armor. Approximately 1.2 tons of ritual goldware."

"Cumulative gold: 5,553.1057 tons."

"Cave structural stability: 32%. Immediate evacuation recommended."

Li Xin turned off the system panel and thought about retreating. He found a good excuse: the area was no longer safe, and since archaeological excavation was underway, he would apply to end this earthquake monitoring mission.

He received a reply quickly, agreeing to his departure. After returning the keys, he shouldered his backpack and walked down the mountain. He took a few steps, stopped, and looked back at the fissure entrance.

The two people on duty were still sitting in the shed smoking. The winch hung there, the drill was piled nearby, and the lights were still on.

He turned around and continued walking down.

Reaching the foot of the mountain, he found an empty spot, took his car out of his storage space, and quietly drove away by the moonlight.

After driving a few hundred meters, shouts came from behind.

He stepped on the brake. Looking in the rearview mirror, flashlights were swaying over at the fissure entrance, and people were running.

"It collapsed! The cave collapsed!"

"Quick, call for help!"

Li Xin gritted his teeth, released the brake, and continued driving forward. He didn't turn on the headlights; the speed wasn't fast, but he didn't stop.

Once on the road, he turned on the headlights. Looking in the rearview mirror, the direction of Kermanshah was dotted with lights.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Chen Hu. "Prepare to leave Iran. Head north."

Chen Hu replied instantly: "Boss, where to?"

"Caspian Sea."