King of Tomb Raiders

Chapter 28

Ancient texts show that the Egyptians had reached a very high level of expertise in architecture, mathematics, and water conservancy. Some sources even indicate that they could easily utilize concrete casting techniques. The fact that no seams were found in this tomb suggests that, apart from casting, no other method could have completed the 100-square-meter ceiling.

The floor is something we can study carefully, because like the walls and ceiling, it is also covered with hieroglyphs.

I suddenly had a premonition that we were inside a huge, meticulously decorated chest, and a giant's chest at that.

The third part: The Bizarre Purgatory

— Chapter 6 — The Focus of the Nineteen Intersecting Tomb Chambers —

Although Dr. Tang has expressed great distrust of the X-ray detection results, and the thickness of the stone wall clearly indicates the deviation in the detection results, I still believe the data from the X-ray experiment. As for why the thickness of the stone wall deviates so greatly, only God knows.

I stared at the layers upon layers of doors and the omnipresent golden light before me, and tried to step forward, through the tomb, to the enormous doorway.

"Mr. Feng, stop! Stop!" Gu Ye shouted angrily, ran over, and grabbed my arm.

"I just wanted to take a look around—" I thought he was worried about my safety, but to my surprise, the muscles in his face contorted violently as he roared madly, "No, no! All the treasure in the entire tomb belongs to me and the Egyptian government! Not a single piece belongs to you. If you know what's good for you, you'd better not wander around or touch anything, or I will take away your right to enter the tomb!"

He looked like a vicious dog guarding its food, baring his teeth and making me feel disgusted.

I shook off his hand, suppressing my anger: "Okay, I understand."

The Yamato people's primitive nature—greedy, selfish, cunning, and unpredictable—was once again on full display in Tanino. I retreated to the center of the tomb. I hadn't come here with any great greed; it was simply to fulfill a request for the scalpel. Now that the tomb was open, my mission seemed to be more than half complete.

Cheney, holding a magnifying glass, lay on the ground searching carefully, muttering to himself all the while.

James, meanwhile, held a short-handled, pointed hammer and kept tapping around the damaged wall, making soft "ding-ding-ding" sounds.

I have to admire Bruno Lang's courage. In this ancient tomb, whose history is unknown for thousands of years, he breathes freely, constantly receiving air from thousands of years ago with 21st-century lungs. It seems he was very confident in his "isolation layer" theory.

Gu Ye stood alone in the very center of that doorway. In the stark contrast of the vast space, he looked as ridiculous as a lone nail at the foot of a tall building.

“I hear a call, everyone—I hear a call! Chests filled with treasure, thousands upon thousands of chests, right ahead, at the intersection of the nineteen tombs, right there, right ahead…” He pointed forward forcefully, cupping his other hand to his ear as if trying to listen intently.

Everyone put down their work and looked at him in unison.

By this time, the initial fervor of rushing into the tomb had subsided, and everyone began to calm down, unable to understand the source of the light. As they pondered the question, they unanimously came to believe Dr. Tang's theory—"The light was produced by the interplay of gold and luminous pearls." Coupled with Tanino's extremely persuasive words, this only fueled the ordinary people's intense desire.

“Listen, the treasure is calling! It’s calling…” Gu Ye’s voice, hoarse and desperate, filled the entire empty tomb chamber.

Suddenly, Dr. Tang's assistants shouted and sprinted forward. Before the others could react, the six who ran out had already bypassed Gu Ye and rushed out through the gate.

"Stop, stop—" Dr. Tang only managed to utter one cry before the person in front screamed in terror, the echo lingering as if they were falling into an abyss.

My blood rushed to my head, and my mind was filled with terrifying images of monsters and aliens. What kind of mysterious monster lurked outside the door, capable of devouring these six people in an instant?

Gu Ye stared at the ethereal space outside the door for only a second, then with a whoosh, he jumped back a big step, turned around and ran away, running all the way back to us, his face already ashen.

“I did hear a summoning sound… a summoning sound…” Tanino stammered.

Even the most daring person would probably not dare to rush out of that door at this moment, including the confident Berenlang, and I believe everyone was already having second thoughts. Faced with such a vast and empty tomb, the strength of our few people was disproportionately small.

Just then, the sound of orderly running footsteps echoed from the tunnel behind them, and Tina's disgruntled shout rang out: "Listen up, experts! In the name of the President of Egypt, I hereby declare the entire excavation site under military control. All excavation procedures must be carried out in an orderly manner under my supervision..."

Gu Ye breathed a sigh of relief, and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief too. With these Rainbow Warriors as their backup, they could be a little bolder.

Berenlang jumped up, protesting loudly indignantly, "General Tina, you've breached the isolation barrier, allowing the bacteria and organisms in the tomb to spread freely into the desert, and the consequences will be..."

Tina leaped through the carved-out doorway, holding a heavy, dark submachine gun level, the muzzle pointed at Berrenlange, and coldly shouted, "Shut up! Dr. Berrenlange, if you don't want to end up as a dried-up corpse in the desert, go ahead and yell again!"

Bullets are merciless; even the most esteemed person cannot withstand the destructive power of a burst of bullets. Besides, this is the wilderness of Africa. After shooting someone, one could easily fabricate a charge of "endangering Egyptian national security," and die in vain.

Berenlang was a smart man, and he shut his mouth, his face turning pale.

The air inside the tomb wasn't as foul or filthy as expected, especially with Yelan leading the workers to quickly extend ventilation equipment. In a short time, the tomb seemed to have become Tina's temporary underground command post. At least ten assault rifles and twenty submachine guns were aimed at the mysterious door.

Unfortunately, that strange light remained omnipresent, ruthlessly obscuring people's vision.

“At least, we have achieved a partial victory.” Tina’s gaze swept across my face.

Next, Yelan directed the workers to expand the chiseled doorway into a three-meter square opening, fully connecting it to the tunnel, and mobilized high-speed blowers to enter the doorway and dispel the light that should be called "semi-smoky."

I suddenly wanted to hear Su Lun's opinion. As the saying goes, "Those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly." Perhaps those outside the tunnel can see everyone's current situation more clearly.

I walked back into the tunnel and pressed the talk button on the walkie-talkie. This frequency was one that Su Lun and I had already adjusted, completely different from the frequencies of Gu Ye and the others.

“Brother Feng, I think the key point is at the intersection of the nineteen tomb chambers, that is, the one you see after walking forward and passing through eight more chambers. Don’t ask me why, it’s just my sixth sense. The designers of the pyramids would never have built so many identical things on the same plane without distinguishing between primary and secondary structures. Whatever the purpose, the center point of the planar structure must be extremely unusual.”

Suren's words sounded uncertain. Even the world's most skilled architects might not be able to decipher such bizarre architecture in a short time. Moreover, when it comes to experts in ancient Egyptian architecture, Cheney is the most readily available master.

“Brother Feng, have you ever thought about the most famous ‘alien beehive’ building in South America? If the peculiar structure of the Turkmen Pyramid has the same meaning as the famous ‘beehive,’ then it must also be something built by aliens. We can’t see anything yet, but please take good care of yourself. Like I said, at any time, ensuring your own safety should be the top priority…” Her words were full of sincere concern, and it was clear that they came from the heart.

Back in the tomb chamber, the blowers were already running, and four workers, holding blowers, slowly moved forward through the door, which was also six meters thick.

The strong wind dispersed the yellow light, revealing a one-meter-wide crack running straight down the ground ahead. The crack was also filled with yellow light, extending outwards to both sides. Those six people must have fallen into the crack.

Dr. Tang tried calling their names, but received no response.

Cheney observed the crack, then suddenly stroked his short beard and laughed, his gloom vanishing. "That's just a common architectural safety measure—an expansion joint. It's something the tomb builders used to prevent the walls from expanding and contracting due to the extreme temperature differences between day and night in the desert. It's currently one meter wide, but perhaps at midday in summer or midnight in winter, it can freely change between 1.2 and 80 centimeters. Hmm, this further proves that the tomb was built using the most advanced 'hybrid casting' technique. Alas, our previous research on ancient Egyptian architecture probably contained many more errors and assumptions; there are too many things that need to be overturned from scratch..."

As is well known, expansion joints are the most common protective measure in cement concrete construction. Concrete structures suffer significant damage due to the physical phenomenon of thermal expansion and contraction. If expansion joints are not provided, the building walls may be catastrophically damaged during the expansion and contraction process.

Cheney's explanation made sense; in short, those greedy guys were merely given a small punishment for their covetousness.

The seemingly mysterious phenomenon was immediately relieved after Cheney's "scientific" explanation.

The large group of people crossed the crack and entered a tomb chamber that was also ten meters long, ten meters high, and ten meters wide, equally resplendent in gold, with its walls covered in hieroglyphics. The only difference was that this tomb chamber had a doorway facing forward, to the left, and to the right.

Tano was talking quietly with Yelan, and Yelan took out a notebook and quickly sketched some kind of drawing on it with a pencil.

I can guess that they were discussing which door to go through. Actually, it's the simplest choice—if we can be sure that we are on the due east axis of the Turkham Pyramid, we can ignore the maze-like structure of the three entrances and just keep going forward until we reach the intersection of the east-west and north-south axes, which is the center point of the nineteen burial chambers.

Tina quietly approached me and said in a calm, consultative tone, "Mr. Feng, do we need more soldiers to participate in the excavation work?"

Her two pistols were tucked into her belt, and she had given her submachine gun to another soldier. Faced with such a vast underground palace, even if some monster suddenly jumped out, her two rapid-fire pistols seemed unlikely to be of much use.

My approach to things has always been to respond to gentle persuasion rather than force. Since she was willing to humbly ask for my advice, I naturally changed my hostile attitude: "No need, we'll decide based on the situation."

I don't want the military's heavy weapons to destroy the entire tomb.

Of course, I had previously considered using a "layer-by-layer blasting" method to enter from the top of the tower, but that was an "extraordinary measure" taken when there was no other way, and now I can certainly stop thinking about it.

The third part: The Bizarre Purgatory

— Chapter 7 - Golden Terrace —

Looking closely at Tina's face, one discovers that her dark skin is adorned with extremely delicate features. These facial features are not typical of an African, especially her slightly sunken eye sockets, high brow bones, and straight, elegant nose, which give her the appearance of someone of mixed African and European descent.

She nervously rubbed her hands together, glancing around at the three strange and eerie doors. Actually, including the one we entered, there should be a total of four doors on the four walls of the entire tomb.

"Mr. Feng, in ancient Egyptian legends, this pyramid has always been designated as the abode of the 'Crocodile God.' Almost all the priests have conveyed the divine message: do not touch the 'Crystal Coffin' beneath the pyramid, or else..."

All legendary curses are the same; each spell ends with the phrase "unpredictable calamity, unimaginable calamity."

I was more interested in the "Crocodile God" and the "Crystal Coffin," and my eyes suddenly lit up. Given Tina's special status, the information she could access was definitely top-secret documents from all of Egypt and even the entire African continent.

“Tina, General Tina, I need to know about the ‘Crocodile God’ and the ‘Crystal Coffin’ you mentioned—can you provide further details?” Without realizing it, I took a step closer to her, the scent of a sweet European perfume wafting to my nose. It was easy to imagine that although she was born in the wild deserts of Africa, her education must have been completed at a top university in Europe or America, making her completely different from the traditional Egyptian girl. Therefore, it wasn't surprising that she carried such a sophisticated perfume.

I vaguely heard Suren let out a sour sigh. The camera lens must have captured my action of getting close to Tina, causing some kind of emotional change in her.

Tina took a Sony-branded electronic notebook out of her military uniform pocket, pressed a few keys, and a black-and-white scanned image appeared on the color screen.

To be precise, it was a composite of a crocodile and a human. A crocodile's head grew on the body of a tall human, with the background being the pyramids of varying heights in the distant desert.

I couldn't help but chuckle. The murals and hieroglyphs left by the ancient Egyptians contain many combinations of animals and humans, which most archaeologists simply regard as totem worship by the ancients.

"Is this the Crocodile God?" I pointed gently at the image, looking at the monster covered in crocodile scales, only lacking an ugly, huge tail.

“Yes, this picture comes from the oldest historical records.” Tina didn’t seem to care about my sarcastic attitude.

"Then, where is the Crystal Coffin?"

The next image appeared on the screen: a slender, almost transparent square pillar lay across the ground, with the desert and pyramids still in the background.

I was greatly disappointed with Tina's information because these black and white pictures didn't prove anything. Especially that translucent square pillar, which was completely fabricated. It might be an icicle (if ice existed in the ancient desert), or it might be some kind of resin dripping into amber. In short, it had no necessary connection to the mysterious term "crystal coffin."

“Mr. Feng, you can look closely inside the transparent pillar. There’s actually a person inside, a strange person,” Tina reminded me, quickly zooming in on the image. Sure enough, there was a person standing upright inside the amber, which further solidified my belief that it was “amber.”

In simple terms, amber is formed when a viscous liquid, such as resin, drips down and traps various small insects inside, creating a transparent substance. Extending this idea infinitely, if a huge drop of resin falls and a person happens to be standing under a tree, they would be trapped inside, just like an insect, becoming the amber we see every day, only thousands of times larger.

Ancient texts record that ancient primitive trees could reach heights of several hundred feet, almost piercing the clouds. Therefore, it is not impossible for such enormous trees to secrete several cubic meters of resin.

Tina smiled wryly: "Mr. Feng, don't be as stubborn as those other old scholars. Look at that man's arm—"

That person actually—actually had six arms?

I couldn't help but snatch the notebook from Tina's hand and examine it closely. Sure enough, besides the normal left and right arms, the person had two more arms growing from their chest and back, similar to the "three heads and six arms" of Nezha, the Third Prince in Chinese mythology. Fortunately, however, this person didn't actually have three heads; they just had four extra arms.

"Now, Mr. Feng, please tell me your feelings?"

I was speechless. Upon closer observation, I realized that this person's facial features were different from those of an African. His mouth abruptly occupied the main position of his face, squeezing his eyes and nose into a narrow space below his forehead. Furthermore, his mouth was forcefully open, as if he were exhaling deeply.

His upper body was bare, and his lower body was wrapped in an animal skin. His feet were staggered, forming a posture of striding forward.

As I whispered to Tina, Yelan had already directed the workers to set up a very advanced ventilation system that would draw air from the tomb to the surface through pipes and then bring in fresh air from the desert.

The tunnel length plus the shaft height already stretched a considerable distance, but thanks to the workers' efficient operation, the system was completed quickly.

Everyone gathered in the second tomb chamber, huddled together, not daring to make any rash moves.

At this moment, everyone seemed to have overlooked one crucial point: to invite Elder Sahan down. In the mysterious tomb, only the learned Elder Sahan could offer more insights into the mystical space.

I closed the electronic notebook and returned it to Tina. In this eerie environment, it's best to think less and observe more; any terrifying imaginings will only make one more paranoid.

"I think the legendary Crocodile God is here, and only the power of the God could create such a magnificent and huge building. Mr. Wind, don't leave me, I... I will protect you!" Tina's words were obviously not very confident, but she insisted on saying "protect me" instead of "please protect me," which really made me laugh.

It's a girl's nature that no matter how strong and tough she appears, she's still timid and weak inside. Old habits die hard; this is an unavoidable weakness for all girls.

Yelan worked with exceptional efficiency; in less than half an hour, a large portion of the golden mist permeating the tomb had been drawn away. Looking towards the entrance, a blinding golden light shone directly out, making one feel slightly dizzy.

Holding up his binoculars, Tanino was the first to shout, "Gold! I see gold..."

The others reacted quickly, excitedly shouting in unison, "The golden coffin! That's the Pharaoh's golden coffin! Quick, let's go over there..."

Based on previous records of pyramid excavations, pharaohs' mummies were typically placed in massive golden coffins and covered with pure gold robes and masks. Therefore, the discovery of a golden coffin was anticipated even before the excavation of the Pyramid of Tsarist Russia.

I wasn't as fanatical as Tanino, because I wasn't overly eager for money and wealth.

Five experts led the way, crossing expansion joints that were one meter wide, and headed straight for the place where the golden light was emanating.

I had a strange feeling: "Given Gu Ye's past glorious record, his performance shouldn't be so superficial and impulsive. Could it be that the mysterious power within the Tu Liehan Pyramid has completely changed him?"

I called Su Lun over the walkie-talkie: "Check Gu Ye's historical records carefully, make sure there's nothing missing. I feel like there's something strange about him."

Since Gu Ye enjoys a prestigious reputation in the international archaeology and tomb raiding industry, he should be able to remain calm and composed at all times. Even if he can't always be as composed as a surgeon, he should at least show the demeanor of a master.

Tina waved her hand, signaling the soldiers to follow the five experts deeper into the tomb, while she herself remained standing with me the whole time.

As the yellow mist dissipated, the two side entrances were dimly lit, revealing a deathly and eerie atmosphere.