136: Chapter 136 Snowfield Eagle's Nest (Part 2)

He crouched down and picked up an iron sword. The blade was rusted beyond recognition; it crumbled at the slightest touch.

"AI System, Scan the front room."

[Front room: approximately 220 weapons. Mostly iron and copper, some gilded. Condition is poor, severely rusted. A few gold and silver weapons are well-preserved.]

Finding nothing of value, Li Xin stood up and continued forward.

Reaching the middle room, it was larger than the front room. As the flashlight beam swept across, Li Xin's eyes lit up immediately.

The floor was covered in gold artifacts.

Gold bowls, plates, pots, and cups were piled up in a chaotic mess; some stacked in layers, others scattered everywhere.

Pure gold decorative plaques hung on the walls, engraved with patterns of warhorses, archers, and warriors holding spears.

Li Xin casually picked up a gold bowl. Ancient characters he couldn't understand were engraved on the bottom. The walls of the bowl were very thin, the craftsmanship exceptionally exquisite, and it was perfectly preserved—not even a single scratch could be found.

"AI System, perform a precise Scan."

[AI System: Scan complete. Middle room: approximately 1,820 gold artifacts. Includes tableware, wine vessels, and ritual objects. Total weight: approximately 2.8 tons.]

"Good, now let's continue inside and take a look." He put down the gold bowl and continued walking inward.

The true secret chamber was at the very back.

However, the passage inside became narrower, only wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways. After walking another dozen meters, a stone door appeared ahead, slightly ajar. He turned sideways and squeezed inside.

As the flashlight beam swept across, Li Xin was stunned on the spot.

In the center of the secret chamber, on a stone platform, lay a complete suit of gold armor.

From the helmet to the greaves, everything was complete. The surface of the armor was covered in pieces of gold foil, joined and connected together, dazzlingly bright under the flashlight.

Beside the armor lay a war saber; the scabbard was inlaid with red, blue, and white gems. When the flashlight hit it, the reflection was exceptionally piercing.

Li Xin leaned in for a closer look, unable to hide his astonishment.

This suit of armor was exceptionally well-preserved. The gold foil on the surface hadn't oxidized or darkened in the slightest, and although the silk threads used to connect the armor plates were a bit old, the whole piece was completely intact. A griffin-shaped ornament was carved on top of the helmet, its wings spread outward, holding a gem in its mouth.

He reached out to touch it, but didn't dare to take it.

"Haha, this is fucking awesome. Before, I'd just extract things directly into the space and didn't feel much, but seeing it on-site myself is just fucking exhilarating." Li Xin's mouth stretched from ear to ear.

"AI System, perform a precise Scan of the back room."

[AI System: Scan complete. Back room core collection list: 1 set of gold armor, net weight approximately 10 kg, gold foil plates connected by ancient silk rope; 2 gem-encrusted war sabers, scabbards inlaid with 1 diamond, 9 rubies, and 16 sapphires; 1 gold mask, 1 royal crown, the crown inlaid with a total of approximately 40 various gems.]

[Additionally, countless gold bars and gold coins, 18 exotic gilded vessels, approximately 80 ancient gold horse ornaments, and 50 bronze weapons.]

[Total: approximately 260 tons of gold.]

Li Xin stood up and looked around. This back room wasn't large, but every item inside was a treasure.

That set of gold armor, the two gem-encrusted war sabers, and that crown—any one of them, if brought out, would be a bona fide national treasure.

Plus the countless gold bars and coins, it was enough to dazzle his titanium alloy dog eyes.

He was dazzled and took a long while to calm down. "Haha, I've decided, from now on, whenever I discover treasure, I'll try my best to go and take a look inside. This is just too great."

"AI System, begin Extraction."

[AI System: Extraction in progress. Starting first batch. Current Extraction rate: 20 tons/hour. This batch can extract approximately 240 tons. Estimated time: 12 hours. The remaining 20 tons will require a second batch.]

The progress bar began to move, and he wandered around, looking at this gold bowl for a moment, then picking up that gold horse the next.

It wasn't until three o'clock in the morning that the first batch of Extraction finished.

[First batch Extraction complete. This Extraction: 240 tons of gold. Mandatory cooling period of 12 hours required.]

[Cumulative gold: 5,793.1057 tons.]

[Remaining gold: approximately 20 tons.]

Li Xin closed the panel and didn't linger, heading straight down the mountain. He would come back for the rest tomorrow. If he didn't return, it might raise suspicion, and there was a border patrol post nearby, so it was best to be careful.

If he had known, he wouldn't have stayed in the village and just come here directly. That way, he could have waited until everything was extracted before returning.

"Sigh~ My regret medicine, where are you?"

It took nearly forty minutes to climb to the foot of the mountain. Once he reached the road, he took his car out of his space and rushed back to the village.

By the time he returned to the village, dawn was breaking. He slept for a while in the car.

In the evening, he went up the mountain early. This time he was even more careful, taking a long detour to avoid the sight of the border patrol post.

When he climbed to the cave entrance, it wasn't completely dark yet. He squeezed into the cave and waited.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the cooling period ended.

"AI System, continue Extraction. The final batch."

[Extraction in progress. Starting second batch. Current Extraction rate: 20 tons/hour. Remaining gold: approximately 20 tons. Estimated time: 1 hour.]

The progress bar jumped quickly. He felt relieved; the hardest part was over, and only this last bit remained.

Just then, a sound came from the direction of the cave entrance.

It wasn't the wind, nor was it the sound of rolling gravel. It was the sound of footsteps on stone—very light, but very clear.

Li Xin snapped his head up. He turned off his flashlight and shrank behind the stone wall. He held his breath and pricked up his ears.

Another sound. Closer.

He poked his head out from behind the stone wall and looked toward the cave entrance. The beam of his flashlight swept over—he saw nothing. The passage was pitch black, not even a shadow.

But he knew something was there.

[AI System: Zhuzi... There is a large organism active 15 meters away.]

"What kind of organism?"

[AI System: Preliminary assessment suggests it might be a snow leopard.]

Li Xin's heart beat uncontrollably fast. He thought to himself:

"Snow leopards generally don't attack people unprovoked, but if they are startled or feel their territory has been invaded, it's hard to say. I'm not currently in its territory, am I!"

He slowly shrank back behind the stone wall, not daring to make any unnecessary movements. He took out his "Truth" from his space; if there was danger, he would shoot. Although the border patrol post wasn't far away and using "Truth" would be troublesome, his life was more important.

The footsteps grew closer. He could hear the sound of paws stepping on stone, a rhythmic rustling.

Then, a face appeared at the corner of the passage.

In the faint light of the flashlight, he saw a pair of green eyes. They were bright, like two emeralds glowing in the darkness.

The snow leopard's head was huge, much larger than what he had seen on TV. It had grayish-white fur with black spots. Its ears were erect, and its whiskers were twitching slightly.

It stared at him.

Li Xin didn't move an inch. He even held his breath extremely shallowly.

Thirty seconds. Maybe a minute. He didn't know.

The snow leopard tilted its head, then turned around and walked away slowly. The footsteps grew fainter until they finally disappeared in the direction of the cave entrance.

Li Xin waited until there was absolutely no sound left before letting out a long breath. His back was drenched in cold sweat.

[Ding—Second batch Extraction complete. Rustam Cave secret treasure Extraction complete.]

[Total extracted: approximately 260 tons of gold. 1 set of gold armor. 2 gem-encrusted war sabers. 1 gold mask. 1 royal crown. Various gold artifacts and weapons.]

[Cumulative gold: 5,813.1057 tons.]

He stared at the panel, wanting to relax, but his eyes swept across a line of numbers and he froze.

[System load: 76%.]

When did that jump up? It was at 58 just a moment ago. He flipped through the logs; the time the load spiked coincided almost exactly with the appearance of the snow leopard.

"AI System, why did the load suddenly increase?"

[AI System: A large organism recently approached, the system automatically entered alert mode, and additional consumption increased.]

"Alright then!" Li Xin said nothing more, put away his things, and headed down the mountain.

After reaching a safe location, he sent a message to Chen Hu.

"Things are about done here in Iran, preparing to head east."

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

"Khorasan. The Great Desert."