The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 226 - 227: Laying a False Trail

"Did you find that meteorite?" Bi Shi said whimsically.

"What are you thinking? There’s no such luck! Just falling into a random hole, and you can pick up another country’s national treasure!" I almost wanted to knock her on the head to wake her up a little.

"Tch, then what are you saying? I’ve noticed your standards are seriously slipping. You used to dig up heavyweight weapons like the Karmic Fire without batting an eyelid, and now you’re happy for half a day just finding a ragged robe!"

"Do you even understand what ’contentment is happiness’ means? Without experiencing life’s ups and downs, how can one achieve enlightenment? Isn’t finding a robe great? Besides, it’s not ragged, it’s a treasure in itself, worth a lot~"

"Ladies, have you forgotten about the submarine?" Qinghan cleared his throat, reminding us.

As if on cue with his reminder, a loud noise came from the direction of the beach, and the small island shook again.

The mushroom cloud from the explosion was clearly visible through the dense jungle.

The leader and the others have taken the Shell Ship, so the three of us had to find another way to retreat.

My original plan was to seize the submarine, and now I can carry out that plan.

It’s just that He Su has disappeared somewhere, and not seeing her makes me feel like something might go wrong.

If she remains unconscious, it’s fine; once fully awake, she’ll definitely stir things up.

She has a secret base on the island, which is riddled like an ant nest by various forces, yet somehow no one affects anyone else, and no one has discovered each other’s base, which is quite odd.

"What do you guys think? I want to seize the submarine. Otherwise, we’ll have to raft back home." I quickly proposed my plan.

"It’s feasible, but the submarine... it might not hold up until you seize it, and it could be—"

Before Bi Shi could finish speaking, another ’boom’ resounded, this time it seemed not to be on the island since it didn’t shake.

At this point, words were useless, so the three of us ran towards the coast; I guessed Bi Shi wanted to say someone might destroy the submarine first.

There’s no need to ask who—it’s definitely He Su.

Actually, the ’welder’ deserves quite the credit, repairing roads is a great deed, especially making a path in the jungle that plants can’t cover, it’s immensely convenient.

Following the white stone path, we ran back to the beach, which had become a scorched land, with the camp gone and no animals, only a smoking crater remaining.

Looking to the sea, it seemed as if something burning was floating on the surface, with nothing but that fireball on the water.

This means no one escaped from that submarine, and Bi Shi waved us over: "Follow me."

With the submarine gone, we had to think of something else, or wait for the team to get rescued and inform the authorities where we are.

Qinghan and I followed Bi Shi, who led us along a route we hadn’t taken before. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The small island had a beach on only one side, the other three sides were cliffs, and one of those cliff sides was surrounded only by rocks, with no plants growing.

Between the rocks was a thick layer of animal bones, looking as eerie as that white Stone Forest.

But Bi Shi explained that He Su had someone deliberately set this up to keep people away, just like the white Stone Forest.

He Su probably established the base here earlier than the ’Shield,’ and her Enchanting Array successfully baffled the ’Shield’s scouts, marking this area as a ’dead end’ not to be trespassed.

Bi Shi had been here with He Su before, and she led us up the cliff to a loaf-shaped rock. It’s a mechanism; as soon as it’s pressed, the entrance to a hidden passage will appear.

Possibly for concealment, the passage entrance and the tunnel below were unusually narrow, allowing only one person to crawl through, requiring hunched walking once inside.

But after descending a bit, I stopped caring about these details. No wonder He Su set up a base here; it turned out there’s a gold mine below.

The sides of the mine tunnel were lined with stones gleaming dully with a golden hue. She’s been excavating for years without depleting it, indicating just how ’rich’ this gold mine is.

My eyes were glued, longing to leap forward to pry some pieces loose by hand.

"It looks like a collapse ahead." Bi Shi, walking in front, suddenly said with a heavy tone.

The mine tunnel was structured in a Z shape downward; perhaps the previous island tremors caused it, but the path before Bi Shi was blocked by a cave-in.

"Is there another escape route?" Qinghan asked.

"No, just one path. To prevent workers from escaping, she only dug one tunnel, with no other escape routes," Bi Shi said.

"Let’s exit first, there’s been a collapse here, and another might occur." Qinghan said.

"Chen, lend me your treasure sword." I patted Qinghan’s back with a smile.

"If you start chopping on rocks now, we might get buried here. Do you want gold as a burial or to get out?"

"Ugh..." I turned painfully, forcing my gaze to stay on the ground in front of me, and quickly walked out.

"Your treasure is still there. When we get out, it can sell for a high price." Qinghan comforted me.

"Professor Chen, I think you should just sell her. She’s a beacon for strange occurrences. Being with her, you can expect endless oddities, a thousand-year-old zongzi would fetch a good price. Sell her, and you can retire immediately."

"Hey? It’s like you’re not an artifact too—a shape-shifting thousand-year-old zongzi, even more valuable. If we sell anyone, it’s you!"

"Alright, enough fighting. I’m not selling anyone. I’m a conscientious merchant, responsible to clients."

"Hmm?" I felt something was off with that statement.

"Tch!" Bi Shi also expressed her dissatisfaction.

Crawling out of the mine tunnel, I glanced at the cliff rocks, pondering that without tools, it’s tough to dig a structurally stable new path.

"Are you sure He Su is below? Where was the weapon that attacked the submarine fired from?" I looked around but didn’t find a ’launch pad,’ so it must be hidden underground.

"The firing point isn’t here, but the control room is, so... she should be alive, just trapped below." Bi Shi said.

Bi Shi speculated that the submarine’s shelling caused the mine to collapse, trapping He Su below, but the control room remained intact, so she could still launch a counterattack.

Bi Shi naturally intended to rescue He Su, but the problem was we lacked the advanced equipment of the ’welder’ to open paths through mountains or jungles.

"Why don’t you use the Karmic Fire..."

"No way."

Before Bi Shi finished her suggestion, Qinghan vetoed it, adding, "The rock layer is thick, even if you burn out a narrow path for crawling, it would consume a lot of energy. If she falls into hibernation, it’s fine for one or two decades, but what if it’s one or two centuries, who will protect her then?"

"Okay, I shouldn’t have mentioned it. No need to say it as dog food for me." Bi Shi disdainfully waved her hand, then as if a thought struck her, eyebrow raised: "Aren’t there any pangolins on the island? Call a few to dig for us."