Li Chuhang's War Diary

Everything on the surface had already been looted clean over the years, but the things that had originally been underground should still be intact.

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

Shen Feng took a folding entrenching shovel from his backpack and began digging right where he stood.

Firefly, her hands bound behind her back, watched with a puzzled expression, wondering whether this guy called Shen Feng had lost his mind.

That huge metal thing beneath them could not be chipped open at all. It was basically an oversized metal box. Miners had come here countless times, and it was said that this thing had first been discovered a hundred years ago, yet they had never gotten anything out of it.

Could Shen Feng be planning to chisel it open?

They said this was a miracle relic from ancient times.

The entrenching shovel in Shen Feng's hands flew up and down. His strength in combat form was immense, and the soil below had been turned over countless times, leaving only loose earth. He dug extremely quickly.

Before long, the vault's main entrance had been uncovered. A metal dial was mounted on the door.

Though it was an ordinary vault-door lock, it would be difficult to blast open even with explosives. Shells could not penetrate it either. No wonder the miners had failed to enter after all these years.

Yet the moment Shen Feng saw the vault door, he froze.

A message had been painted on it in red:

"Turn the first combination number right three times until it aligns with the reference mark. Turn the second combination number left twice until it aligns with the reference mark. Then turn the third combination number right once until it aligns with the reference mark, and the door will open.

The combination is: 397680..."

The vault door plainly displayed both the opening instructions and the combination!

Shen Feng gave Firefly a meaningful look and asked, "Didn't you see the words written on it?"

"Words?" Firefly froze, then said,

"You mean those divine words? No one can understand divine words. They say what's written here is a curse—that anyone who enters this place will die a horrible death... People say this is likely the tomb of some important figure from ancient times."

Shen Feng nodded and said nothing more.

The power of time was simply too cruel. Perhaps after a few more generations, every trace of human civilization would be erased.

He could not help thinking of the curses written before the burial chambers of the pharaohs in the Ancient Egyptian pyramids.

Were those words truly curses, or did they carry some other meaning? Just like this vault door before him...

As he thought, he grabbed the dial and twisted it hard.

It was somewhat rusted inside, but having been buried underground, it was still usable. With Shen Feng's greatly increased strength, after a few tries, it began to turn slowly.

Under Firefly's astonished gaze, Shen Feng turned the dial six times according to the instructions.

With a soft clunk, the vault door that the miners had exhausted every effort to open finally swung open.

"Whoosh..." A fierce gust swept out, caused by the exchange of air due to the pressure imbalance inside and outside.

A musty stench drifted out. Shen Feng stepped back several paces and waited for the stale air inside to mostly disperse before fully opening the door and walking in.

Firefly hurried after him. She could not wait to see what was inside.

This was practically the pinnacle of a miner's life.

The vault was not large, only about forty or fifty square meters in total.

What greeted them was bundle after bundle of banknotes piled like mountains!

Red, green, blue, purple—not only domestic currency, but also dollars, pounds, yen, and more.

There had to be at least over a billion in total.

Even after all these years, the notes looked clean and nearly new, remarkably well preserved.

After all, this underground vault was tightly sealed. Nothing could get in, and its interior remained dry at a constant temperature, so there was no need to worry about decay.

Looking at the banknotes, Shen Feng could not help feeling as though he had crossed into another age.

Human civilization had nearly vanished, yet what remained in the sturdiest vault was piles of banknotes no better than wastepaper. It was an immense irony.

At the sight of the notes, disappointment also appeared on Firefly's face. She muttered,

"Why is it this wastepaper again... We found a lot of it before. It's completely useless. There aren't even many divine words written on it, so it can't be sold for much..."

During her earlier days as a miner, she had found this kind of wastepaper in the ruins of certain buildings, usually hidden in very secret places.

She had thought it was something valuable, but when she brought it back to town, it turned out to be worthless. She had even been mocked for it.

Shen Feng walked forward and moved behind a stack of banknotes. He immediately spotted a shriveled skeleton curled up there, and his eyes lit up.

He had no idea how long the owner of the corpse had been dead. Its flesh and blood had dried into a mummy, and it still wore a pair of glasses. Its clothes had likewise been preserved.

Some corners of the stack of banknotes beside it were missing, as if the man had gnawed on them before he died.

What caught Shen Feng's attention most, however, was a hardcover notebook not far from the corpse!

Shen Feng immediately picked up the notebook and the pen beside it.

The notebook still had a combination lock, and it looked quite delicate.

But the lock itself was of poor quality. With a light exertion of force, Shen Feng snapped it open and lifted the notebook's cover.

Lines of slightly blurred writing immediately appeared before his eyes, though they were still legible.

"War Diary—Li Chuhang"

Shen Feng's breathing quickened. After so many days, he had finally found written records from before the outbreak of the war!

And they were likely records from several hundred years ago!

He immediately flipped open the first page in eager anticipation:

"July 28, overcast

This is the first time I've written a diary since the war broke out... I just desperately need to write something, otherwise I really will go insane...

Why did things become like this?

Why is there no way to undo any of it?

At first, this was only a small local war...

Crimea... Oh God, what the hell were those damn Russians thinking? Why did they launch nuclear missiles at America!?

They say the first wave of mutually destructive nuclear strikes officially ended this morning. Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Washington, New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Haicheng, Yancheng, and so on and so on—the most glorious cities on Earth have all been wiped away...

Everything has descended into chaos. Everyone is screaming like lunatics, thinking only of revenge.

I hope all of this ends..."

"August 2, rain

Today, black rain fell.

It is radioactive rain. Rain of death.

They say it came from the radioactive dust cloud drifting over from Jicheng, which was flattened by nuclear bombs yesterday.

I was too naive. I actually thought those damned enemies would stop attacking.

My Zixi, my beloved! Mom! Dad! They were burned to ashes just like that!!!!!

Revenge, revenge! Kill every last one of those damned scum and send them to hell!!!!!"

"August 10

The power has gone out completely.

The enemy is still attacking us, but our retaliatory strikes have never stopped either.

Those ridiculous little countries actually think they can escape unscathed. Hahaha, they say their capitals are on the second-round retaliation lists of several major powers!

We're all suffering this badly, so why should you have it easy?

To hell with your carrier fleets. I don't care whether you're the Seventh Fleet or the Eighth Fleet—one nuclear bomb will wipe you all out!

That feels good!

Blow them to pieces!"

"August 23

Every day—no, every hour—there is news of nuclear bombs exploding!

The electricity and water have both been cut off, and there is no food either.

A lot of people want to flee, but ours is only a small city. It probably won't be targeted by nuclear bombs, right?

And where could we possibly run to...

After retaliating for so many days, why are we still slaughtering each other?

Don't those decision-makers know that every nuclear bomb means millions of lives?

I'm so hungry..."

"September 13

I've been hiding in the underground vault for three days now. They say Xuncheng, the city where I am, has also been included among the enemy's nuclear strike targets.

Many people have killed themselves, and even more have fled. Hahaha, fled straight into radioactive dust.

The food is already gone. I'll probably die soon too, right?

The bank manager ran away long ago. I'm the only one left in the bank.

So much money. I'm a tycoon now too, hahaha...

The only good news is that the military has established an intelligent nuclear strike system. As long as their attacks do not stop, we will keep retaliating forever..."