Chapter 1202 - 526: Exploration
The girl with glasses shouted excitedly, "I've found something here."
Luke breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to take a break; both of his arms were sore.
The girl with glasses took out an iron shovel and began digging into the ground where the metal was detected. The top layer was made of decayed leaves and branches. After removing those, the soil was revealed. About half a meter deep, they found a pointed object.
After washing it clean with mineral water, it turned out to be a large buffalo horn, with one end embedded with metal.
Elsa Marin looked at the horn, a hint of delight appearing on her face. "It should be a North American buffalo horn. This kind of buffalo only exists on the North American continent; it shouldn't be here."
Lilith took the horn and observed it closely, rubbing the metal at the tail end of the horn with her slender fingers. "The engravings on it are patterns from an ancient Indian tribe. This is not an ordinary horn; it seems to be some kind of ceremonial horn."
The girl with glasses was straightforward, "Is this thing valuable?"
"If it's well-preserved, it would have some collectible value. However, due to improper preservation, this horn is already bent and deformed, with cracks.
At least, I wouldn't spend money on such a defective collectible."
The girl with glasses was a bit disappointed, "So, that means I dug for so long for nothing."
Lilith encouraged her, "No, this excavation has great value. This horn could very likely come from a 500-year-old Indian treasure, which indicates that this is the treasure island we're searching for.
The horn might be damaged by moisture, but gold will not."
"You're right." The girl's eyes sparkled with renewed determination.
The group continued to move forward.
The metal detector beeped again, but this time they only dug up an abandoned blade.
They journeyed for another half hour. Because of the complex rainforest environment and muddy ground, their pace was slow and strenuous, and everyone was a bit tired.
After resting for ten minutes and replenishing some food and water, they continued on their way.
"Beep... beep... beep..."
The metal detector rang again.
This time, Elsa Marin was responsible for the digging. Being a local, she was in the best shape and had the most stamina.
Although Luke was more physically robust, he couldn't quite adapt to the hot and humid tropical rainforest climate either.
Elsa Marin dug down sixty centimeters and hit a hard object. She cleared the surrounding soil to reveal the shape of the hard object.
It was a palm-sized metal block, about fifteen centimeters long, seven centimeters wide, and five centimeters high.
It felt heavy in the hand, and after washing it clean, it turned out to be a highly pure silver brick.
Lilith took the silver brick with both hands, feeling its weight, and placed it on the ground to examine the patterns engraved on it. There was a cylinder sculpted with a face somewhat resembling a cartoon, with three pairs of buffalo horns and eyes on the top.
A smile appeared on Lilith's pretty face, "This is a totem of ancient Indians, likely belonging to the same tribe as the horn we found earlier, indicating we're one step closer to the treasure."
The girl with glasses adjusted her spectacles, "I feel like the treasure is beckoning us. I can't believe we actually found it."
"It's a bit early to celebrate now. Finding the treasure location will be the true victory." Elsa Marin squatted down, drawing a simple route on the ground with a stick, "We landed at the north side dock of the island, found the North American buffalo horn not far from the north coast;
Then, we kept moving towards the south side of the island and found a silver brick.
This shows our treasure-hunting route is correct.
The sailors who buried the treasure back then should have landed from the north shore dock. In a tropical rainforest, it's easy to get lost, so I think they most likely wouldn't bury the treasure on the north side of the island because they might not find it either.
They would likely choose some easily recognizable places as the treasure location."
"I agree with you," said Lilith, pulling out the island treasure map and pointing at two spots on the map. "I think the southern side lake and the eastern cliff are quite distinctive; the treasure is most likely hidden in these two places." Lilith looked at Luke, "What do you think?"
Luke scanned his surroundings, "Find a clear spot for the drone to take off and see how we can quickly get out of the rainforest."
"Great idea." The girl with glasses, who had been carrying the drone with her, was finally going to have it put to use.
The group advanced a bit further until they found a slightly open space. The drone took off and surveyed the rainforest from above, determining the quickest route out of the rainforest.
After confirming the direction, the four of them walked for more than twenty minutes and finally emerged from the rainforest.
Lilith let out a long breath, "I really want to take a bath right now."
Luke climbed onto a higher rock, pointing southward, "You can do it just ahead."
In the direction Luke indicated, there was a small lake about the size of a football field, which was also a prominent mark on the treasure map.
The group, filled with curiosity, approached the lake. The water wasn't very clear; on the contrary, it appeared somewhat cloudy.
The girl with glasses crouched by the lakeside, taking out a palm-sized instrument and putting one end into the water.
"Beep... beep... beep..." The instrument began beeping, flashing red lights, and the girl with glasses frowned, "The water contains a large amount of minerals and possibly toxic substances, making it unsuitable for drinking." She glanced at Lilith beside her, "I'd recommend you wait to take a bath on the yacht."
Elsa Marin touched the lake water with her right hand, "With no drinkable fresh water, perhaps this is why the island shows no signs of habitation."
Lilith rubbed her smooth chin, "From the drone's photos, this doesn't look like an island formed by volcanic activity, so why does the water contain so many minerals?"
Luke pointed ahead, "Let's check the source of the water; maybe we can find some answers."
They followed along the lake. The source was a narrow stream less than two feet wide, winding its way eastward.
They followed the stream, finding the path rocky and somewhat slippery, but the incline wasn't too steep, so they didn't require climbing axes.
Led by Elsa Marin again, she suddenly stopped, pointing ahead, "There's a cave there. The creek flows from it."
The four walked to the cave entrance, which was quite dark. Some turned on headlamps, while others shone powerful flashlights into the cave.
The entrance was narrow, and the cave inside twisted and deepened, with underground water trickling through, and round stalactites hung above.
The girl with glasses had a sudden realization, "No wonder the water quality here exceeds standards; so it's a karst cave. Now that we know the reason, should we leave and continue treasure hunting?"
Luke shone his flashlight deep into the cave, "Why leave? This natural karst cave is a perfect place to hide treasure, isn't it?"
Lilith agreed, "Luke's right; there's no better place to hide treasure than here."
The girl with glasses looked at the dark cave, "It's eerie here; I don't really like it."
Lilith retorted, "But do you like gold bricks?"
The girl with glasses' expression changed instantly, "Oh, I suddenly think... it's not impossible to overcome."
Elsa Marin wasted no words, shining her powerful flashlight ahead, "I'll lead the way.
The karst cave is complex and can easily lead to getting lost, so stay close to me."
The most notable feature of the karst cave was its uniqueness. Not only did it have various shapes of stalactites, but the terrain was also extremely peculiar, like corroded honeycombs, winding and turning, narrow in some places requiring them to pass sideways, while broad areas resembled plazas.
In unfamiliar environments, Luke instinctively heightened his vigilance. To prevent getting lost, he made marks every so often.
The cave was deeper than expected. After walking for seven or eight minutes, they still couldn't see the end. Ahead, it became increasingly spacious. The previously two-foot-wide stream had turned into a bottomless pool, emitting a chill as they walked beside it, causing the surrounding temperature to drop somewhat.
"Splash..."
Elsa Marin heard a slight movement in the pool, stopped in her tracks, and peered to the left side of the pool, shining her flashlight into it. The water was quite murky, with visibility under three feet.
"Whoosh..."
Suddenly, a massive figure burst from the pool, opening its huge mouth, revealing sharp teeth, lunging to bite Luke and the others.