Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 119, Section 118: Diving to Find a Way, Discovering an Underground Treasure

Chapter 119, Section 118: Diving to Find a Way, Discovering an Underground Treasure
The group landed on Akdaman Island.

This place is not far from the shore, located in the middle of Lake Van.

It was late March, which is early spring in Türkiye.

While the snow on the distant mountains has not yet melted, Akdaman Island is already bursting with spring.

Those trees, with their blooming flowers, are very similar to the peach blossoms of China.

The treasure-hunting team, however, had no interest in appreciating the beautiful scenery and split up to explore the island.

The island is not large, and the Church of the Holy Cross is located on the east side of the island.

There are many churches of the Holy Cross around the world.

For example: the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy; the Basilica of Santa Croce in Seville, Spain; and the Basilica of Santa Croce in Cologne, Germany.

In contrast, the Church of the Holy Cross on Akdaman Island is relatively unknown.

But it hides a shocking secret.

Fang Wen allowed Weimar soldiers and American agents to search the island.

He was certain that these people would not have found the treasure without his intervention.

After all, a thousand years have passed, and surely someone would have explored this place. The fact that they haven't found it yet indicates that the treasure is hidden in a very secret place.

The German officers adopted a military operational strategy, treating the entire island as a military position, dividing it into seven sections, each of which was explored separately, and notifying their comrades upon any discovery.

Indiana, on the other hand, focused on the church, clearly believing that the treasure should be hidden inside.

After they had been busy for a while, Fang Wen closed his eyes and tried to sense the mysterious energy fluctuations.

He could sense it, but felt somewhat adrift.

The energy fluctuations felt the same on the airplane and on the island.

However, it is only fixed within the area of this small island; it disappears when you go far away.

What's happening here.

Fang Wen simply walked around the island, trying to get a feel for it.

He started from the church and walked around the island.

This journey led to a new discovery.

When he reached the west side of the island, he felt the energy weaken.

This means the treasure isn't on this side, but on the east side of the island in the opposite direction.

Isn't that the Church of the Holy Cross on the eastern part of Akdaman Island?

Could it be, as Indiana predicted, that the treasure lies beneath the Church of the Holy Cross?
Why hasn't anyone found it after more than a thousand years?

Fang Wen immediately went back and entered the church.

The church is not large; in addition to the main building, there are some houses where the ancient priests lived and worked.

Fang Wen strolled inside, ostensibly admiring the religious murals within the building, but in reality searching for the source of mysterious energy.

He closed his eyes, concentrated his mental energy, and tried to create a sense of imaginary space.

At this moment, he was on Akdaman Island, which he had imagined.

That mysterious energy source seems to be located very, very deep underground.

Connecting himself to the energy source in a straight line, Fang Wen felt that it was at least 100 meters deep directly below the church.

This is a small rocky islet that is not high above the water surface; the underwater part of the islet is 100 meters deep.

Fang Wen exited the mechanical perception state, and made a guess in his mind.

A thousand years ago, the Kingdom of Vasprakhan built a church on this small island.

Why didn't they build the church in the nearby city of Van, but instead built it on a small island?

This is clearly inconvenient for people to go to church to pray, and it is not very practical.

It is likely that when the church was being built, underground tunnels were dug at the same time to bury the treasure.

Once the treasure is buried, the church above will be the best cover.

It's 100 meters deep, and the bottom is probably all stone. There's also a church built on top of it, no wonder no one has found it in 1000 years.

But is it really possible to dig a 100-meter-deep pit like that?
Obviously, that's inconvenient.

The workload is too great; it's very likely that the explosives we brought this time won't be enough.

It can also attract attention because of the noise it makes.

Fang Wen then thought again.

Although the person who buried the treasure may have met with misfortune later, he must have intended to retrieve it when he buried it.

In that case, there should be a secret passage nearby that would allow him to enter the treasure trove and retrieve the treasure.

Where is the secret passage?
The day's treasure hunt has come to an end.

The treasure-hunting team, disguised as tourists, set up tents outside the church, looking like they were camping.

Therefore, they also went to Van City to buy some ingredients to have a barbecue.

They discussed things while grilling the food.

"Aside from the church, there's nothing special about this place."

“We explored the surrounding area but found no other signs of human intervention.”

"It's very likely inside the church."

Fang Wen also spoke up and joined the discussion.

"It's in the church, I'm sure it's right below the church, but it's buried very deep, at least 100 meters."

Indiana explained, "For a well to be 100 meters deep, we would need specialized drilling equipment, but drilling inside a church is impossible. If the locals find out, they will stop us."

His words made everyone fall into deep thought.

Lin Shuiwang suggested, "Why don't we dig a slanted hole? That's how tomb raiders in our area dig slanted holes to enter from the side of the tomb."

“No, it’s all rock below. A vertical shaft might be possible, but a sloping tunnel would be much more difficult.” The English-speaking officer rejected the idea.

Fang Wen spoke up: "Have you ever thought that the person who buried the treasure 1000 years ago never thought about retrieving it? Perhaps he had a secret passage to the treasure location, but that passage should not be on the surface, as it would be easy to discover."

"Yes. Underwater." Lin Shuiwang exclaimed in surprise.

I brought diving equipment for this treasure hunt at Lake Van, which came in handy.

The next morning, the treasure hunting team took a boat to the vicinity of the island.

They started by swimming in the water, but the water was a bit cold in early spring, and they couldn't stay in for long before getting on the boat.

If you can't stay underwater for long, you can't explore what's below.

We'll have to use diving equipment.

German officers took out the German deep-sea diving equipment specially prepared for this purpose.

That was completely different from the scuba gear Fang Wen had used before.

A spherical, closed helmet with a mesh visor at the front; the helmet and rubber wetsuit are connected. It needs to be spun in through an opening at the back.

With the help of several people, a German officer completed his attire.

He jumped into the water carrying an air tank on his back.

Ten minutes later, the signal rope was pulled, and everyone quickly pulled it out.

He shook his arms, but couldn't speak.

He only spoke after removing his wetsuit:

"It's very dark down there, I can't see anything, so I have to get close to the shore and feel my way over little by little. Also, the water isn't deep, so I don't need an air tank. I can extend the snorkel and bring it to the surface so I can breathe."

Yes, freshwater lakes have a lot of microorganisms, so visibility is not high.

The small boat simply drove to the edge of the island, and the divers, with the extended snorkel attached, went back into the water.

Because it uses a snorkel, it can stay underwater for a long time. People on the surface just need to hold the snorkel to prevent water from getting into it.

In this way, the small boat moved slowly around the island on the water, while the divers explored the underwater conditions.

Every hour, another Weimar officer would go down to continue.

The person who comes up will carefully record the underwater section they have explored.

And so, starting from the east side of the island where the church is located, the exploration around the island continued.

The situation underwater gradually became clear.

Below is a small slope, and the deepest part is 120 meters deep.

The divers walked along the small slope around the island until they reached the west side of the island, where they finally made their discovery.

On the west side underwater, there are some strange stone walls, similar to city walls.

It is absolutely man-made.

This indicates that the entrance should be here.

This surprised Fang Wen. The treasure was buried on the east side, but the secret passage was on the other side of the island, running through the entire island. No wonder no one had discovered this secret before.

But where is the entrance?

In order to find the entrance, several German officers took turns going into the water to search.

As the saying goes, perseverance pays off. They carefully searched along the artificial stone wall and discovered a strange device.

It was a rusty metal ring embedded in the rock face. The divers tried to pull it out, but couldn't budge it.

Clearly, after 1000 years of corrosion and rust, the metal pull ring is stuck inside.

Pulling this thing is not something that can be done by human power.

The diver tied the pull ring to a rope, then attached it to the small boat, and tried to pull it.

But the ship's pulling force was also insufficient.

Therefore, they rented a larger boat from Van and set it on sail when night fell.

The rope was pulled taut in an instant, creating a line of water on the surface.

With tremendous force, the iron ring underwater was pulled out.

Where is the entrance to the secret passage?
The group quickly went ashore and began searching the western side of the island.

After searching for a while, they finally found a sunken pit.

That's the secret passage leading to the underground treasure trove.

With great excitement, everyone was about to go inside.

"Wait a minute," Fang Wen said, stopping them. "There's been no ventilation down there for 1000 years, and there's a high chance of toxic gases. Don't rush down."

After waiting for two hours, a German officer led the way into the treasure location.

They entered with torches, walking through the sloping tunnel.

"Watch out for traps ahead," Indiana warned.

Lin Shuiwang and the English-speaking officer translated and relayed his words to the front.

Everyone agreed with this warning, and the person at the front was very careful. If they found anything suspicious, they would stop and touch it with a tool.

There are indeed traps here, mainly a kind of spear hidden in the stone wall, which will shoot out from the holes in the stone wall on both sides when triggered.

In ancient times, one could easily be pierced through by a needle.

But 1000 years have passed, and the outer iron chains are rusty. The wooden spears have rotted away. Some of the ones that are still well preserved no longer have the power of the mechanism and can only stick out a spearhead at most.

Time rendered the preparations here futile, and the treasure-hunting team, having encountered no danger, continued on their way.

After descending a certain distance, the road becomes level and continues eastward.

This aligns with Fang Wen's assessment, pointing precisely to the location of the church.

Everyone was excited; their hard work was finally about to pay off.

After walking several hundred meters, a stone gate appeared in front of them.

The stone gate is carved with peculiar patterns and characters.

Unfortunately, we didn't bring any archaeological experts this time, and the inscriptions were like gibberish to the treasure hunting team.

Their primary concern was how to open the stone door.

Everyone started discussing it.

"There should be a mechanism that allows it to be opened from the outside."

"Even if there are mechanisms, they're useless now. The ones outside are all rotten, and this place is probably the same."

"Then blow it up."

The discussion quickly reached a conclusion: everyone agreed to open the stone gate in the fastest way possible.

However, explosives cannot be used indiscriminately. If too much is used, it can destroy the passage, and all the damage will be wasted.

Two officers skilled in explosives chose to drill a hole in the lower right corner of the stone gate, then put in gunpowder and detonate it. This would be much less powerful, and even if it didn't break open on the first try, they could always try it several times.

After the medicine was administered and the fuse was installed, everyone quickly retreated.

boom.

With a soft sound, the tunnel trembled slightly, and dust fell down.

Fortunately, a small amount of explosives was used; otherwise, the quality of this 1000-year-old secret passage would be questionable.

After the explosion, everyone went to check.

A 0.3-meter gap was blasted open in the lower right corner of the stone gate, and it began to shake when pushed forcefully.

Obviously, one more shot will suffice.

Immediately afterwards, the officer began drilling holes and loading explosives on the left side of the stone gate.

Another soft explosion.

What followed was a dull thud.

The stone gate collapsed.

As soon as the dust settled, the treasure-hunting team rushed in impatiently.

Lin Shuiwang wanted to follow, but Fang Wen held him back.

"Sir, us?"

Before Lin Shuiwang could finish speaking, Fang Wen shook his head and whispered, "Don't be greedy at a time like this. Go in later."

100 meters directly below the church is a hollowed-out stone chamber, about 40 square meters in size.

There were many wooden boxes inside.

With the treasure right before their eyes, the seven officers breathed heavily and turned their attention to the Americans.

Indiana and his assistant also kept their distance, remaining cautious.

No one was sure if, at this moment, someone would turn against their own people out of greed.

They soon discovered that Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang had not come in.

This actually served as a buffer between the two sides.

Indiana said, "I have a suggestion: everyone hand over their weapons to Fang Wen, so that we can all enjoy these treasures without worry."

The Weimar officers discussed it and decided that an officer who could speak English would speak.

"We also feel it's safer this way. Now that the treasure has been found, nobody wants to die here, right?"

“Yes.” Indiana unbuckled his pistol belt and called out, “Fang, come in. We have something to discuss with you.”

Fang Wen entered the treasure room and listened to what both sides had to say. He wasn't surprised; this was indeed the best method. As a foreigner from the East, he didn't have the ability to swallow the treasure whole.

He sent Lin Shuiwang to Indiana, while he went to the Weimar officers to collect the weapons from both sides.

After completing these steps, both sides invited each other to inspect the treasure chests. Only after confirming that there were no hidden weapons did they begin the process of opening the chests and examining the treasures.

One by one, the rotten boxes were opened. There was no need to pick the locks; the boxes would fall apart with the slightest touch.

The treasure inside was revealed.

Inside,
There are some weapons and equipment that were once very valuable, but they are all rusty.

There are also oxidized gold and silver, dark yellow gold coins, and black silver jewelry.

The best-preserved items, however, are a large number of jewels, these precious stones that remain incredibly beautiful even after thousands of years.

A king's treasure is indeed vast, and even if parts of it are damaged, it is still very valuable.

This made the treasure hunting team members very happy.

Fang Wen, however, was searching for his own treasure.

He felt it.

Right in front of us.

On that wall.

He walked over and tapped the wall with the tip of his gun.

There was a crash.

The entire wall crumbled into pieces and collapsed.

It was a fake wall made of lime, but it couldn't escape the ravages of time and crumbled at the slightest touch.

Behind the false wall was a huge cross.

It was taller than a person and covered with a golden crown.