Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Li Chuhang’s War Diary

Everything on the surface had been plundered long ago, but anything that was originally underground should still be perfectly preserved.

’I wonder if there’s anything worth digging up inside...’

Shen Feng took a folding military shovel from his backpack and began to dig.

Firefly, her hands bound, watched from the side with a bewildered expression. She wondered if this man named Shen Feng had gone mad.

This massive metal object below couldn’t even be chipped with a chisel; it was basically a giant metal box. The miners had been here countless times. It was said to have been first discovered a hundred years ago, but they had never gotten anything out of it.

’Does this Shen Feng really think he can break it open?’

’They say this is a divine relic from the ancient era.’

The military shovel in Shen Feng’s hands flew up and down. His combat form granted him immense strength, and since the soil had been turned over countless times, he dug at an incredible speed.

Soon, he had excavated the main door of the vault. A metal dial was set into it.

It looked like a standard vault lock, but this kind of thing was difficult to blast open even with dynamite. Artillery shells couldn’t pierce it. No wonder the miners had been unable to get inside for all these years.

The moment he saw the vault door, however, Shen Feng froze.

A message was written on the door in red paint:

"Turn the dial to the right three times to the first number of the combination, then to the left twice to the second number, and finally to the right once to the third number to open the door.

The combination is: 39-76-80..."

The instructions for opening the vault, along with the combination, were written right there on the door!

Shen Feng shot Firefly a meaningful look. "You can’t see these words?"

"Words?" Firefly looked startled.

"You mean that divine script? No one can read divine script. They say it’s a curse, that anyone who enters this place will die a horrible death... People say this is probably the tomb of some great figure from the ancient era."

Shen Feng nodded and said nothing more.

’The ravages of time are truly cruel,’ he thought. ’Perhaps in a few more generations, all traces of the former human civilization will be completely erased.’

He was reminded of the curses said to be inscribed on the tomb entrances of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids.

’Were those words really curses, or did they have another meaning? Just like this vault door in front of me...’

As he mulled this over, he gripped the dial and turned it with force.

It was somewhat rusted, but having been buried underground, it was still in decent shape. After a few tries, buoyed by his immense strength, Shen Feng got it to slowly turn.

To Firefly’s utter astonishment, Shen Feng followed the instructions written on the door.

With a soft CLANG, the vault door that the miners had failed to open despite all their efforts finally swung open.

WHOOSH... A gust of wind rushed out—an exchange of air caused by the pressure difference between the inside and outside.

A musty odor wafted out. Shen Feng took a few steps back and waited for the stale air to dissipate before pushing the door all the way open and stepping inside.

Firefly hurried in after him, eager to see what lay inside.

This was the moment of a lifetime for a miner.

The vault wasn’t large, only about forty or fifty square meters.

What greeted them was the sight of cash, bundled and stacked into mountains!

Red, green, blue, purple... It wasn’t just domestic currency, but also US Dollars, Pound Sterling, yen, and more.

The total value must have been over a billion.

After all these years, the banknotes still looked pristine and were perfectly preserved.

After all, the vault was hermetically sealed, keeping everything out. The interior was dry and maintained a constant temperature, so there was no risk of decay.

Looking at the bills, Shen Feng felt a strange sense of disconnect, as if he were looking at relics from another world.

Human civilization was all but extinct, yet what remained in one of its most secure vaults was nothing but piles of worthless paper. It was a profound irony.

Seeing the stacks of cash, Firefly’s face fell in disappointment. She muttered:

"Why is it more of this useless paper... I’ve found lots of it before. It’s no good for anything. There’s barely any divine script on it, so you can’t sell it for much..."

In her past life as a miner, she had found this kind of "useless paper" before in the ruins of buildings, usually hidden away in secret spots.

She had thought it was a great treasure, but when she took it back to town, it turned out to be worthless, and she’d even been laughed at for it.

Shen Feng strode forward and walked behind a stack of cash. His eyes lit up when he saw a desiccated skeleton curled up there.

It was impossible to tell how long the person had been dead. Their flesh had withered away, leaving a desiccated corpse. A pair of glasses still rested on the skull, and the clothes on the body were also preserved.

The edges of a nearby stack of cash were frayed, as if the person had tried to eat them before dying.

What truly caught Shen Feng’s eye was a hardcover notebook lying not far from the body!

Shen Feng immediately picked up the notebook and the accompanying pen.

The notebook had a small combination lock, which looked quite intricate.

However, this type of lock wasn’t very sturdy. With a gentle tug, Shen Feng broke it open and lifted the notebook’s cover.

Lines of slightly faded handwriting appeared before his eyes, but they were still legible.

"War Diary: Li Chuhang"

Shen Feng’s breath quickened. After so many days, he had finally found a written record from before the war!

And it was likely a record from hundreds of years ago!

He eagerly flipped to the first page: 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"July 28, Overcast

This is the first time I’ve written in my diary since the war started... I just have to write something, or I’m going to go insane...

How did it come to this?

Why is everything beyond saving?

It started as just a small, regional conflict...

Crimea... My God, what were those damn Russians thinking? Why did they launch nukes at the United States?!

The first wave of mutually-assured-destruction strikes supposedly ended this morning. Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Washington, New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Hai City, Yan City... all the most magnificent cities on Earth have been wiped off the map...

Everything’s chaos. People are screaming like madmen, thinking only of revenge.

I hope it all ends soon..."

...

"August 2, Rain

It rained black today.

The rain of radiation. The rain of death.

They say it’s the radioactive dust cloud drifting over from Jicheng, which was nuked flat yesterday.

I was so naive. I actually thought those damn enemies would stop their attacks.

My Zixi, my love! Mom! Dad! Burned to cinders, just like that!!!!!

Revenge! I’ll get revenge! Kill every last one of those bastards! Send them to Hell!!!!!"

...

"August 10

The power is out for good.

The enemy is still attacking, but our retaliatory strikes haven’t stopped either.

Those pathetic little countries actually thought they’d be spared. Hahaha, I hear their capitals are on the major powers’ second-wave retaliation lists!

We’re all suffering, so why should you get off easy?

To hell with their carrier strike groups. I don’t care if it’s the Seventh Fleet or the Eighth Fleet—one nuke, and they’re all gone!

So satisfying!

Nuke them to death!"

...

"August 23

Every day—no, every hour—there’s news of another nuclear detonation!

The power and water are gone. There’s no food.

A lot of people want to flee, but we’re just a small city. We probably won’t get nuked, right?

Besides, where is there to run...?

We’ve been retaliating for so long... why are we still slaughtering each other?

Don’t the leaders know that every nuke represents millions of lives?

So hungry..."

...

"September 13

I’ve been hiding in this underground vault for three days. I heard our city, Xun City, has been added to the enemy’s nuclear target list.

A lot of people have killed themselves. Even more have fled. Haha, fled right into the radioactive fallout.

I’ve run out of food. I guess I’m going to die soon, huh?

The bank manager fled long ago. I’m the only one left.

So much money... I’m a tycoon now. Haha...

The only good news is that the military has set up an automated nuclear strike system. As long as the enemy’s attacks don’t stop, our retaliation will continue forever..."