Chapter 31

In the province of Lances, a bit away from the border but not too far, there is a mountainous area. There are no mineral deposits here, no cities, and only a few villages. Such a place is difficult for the army to enter, and even if they do, it is hard to establish a base or engage in combat. This is a desolate mountain forest, with no value for the Qingyang territory to attack and no resources for the Lances province to develop.

But in such a remote and barren place, there is a small military camp near a mountain. There are not many soldiers, only about a hundred or so. They are stationed here without any special mission, and apart from daily training, they only patrol the surrounding area. In reality, no one ever comes here, and even on patrol, they can only be accompanied by wild animals and birds.

At this moment, several hours had passed since He Ping captured Wolfgang, and it was already noon. He Ping, who had activated his camouflage ability, stood at the foot of the mountain near the military camp. He looked around in amazement. On the surface, it was just an ordinary mountain, but when he got close enough, he could see a cave entrance on the mountain wall leading to the interior of the mountain. The entrance was covered with grass as tall as a person, and if he hadn't approached, he wouldn't have been able to discover it.

When He Ping entered the mountain, he was even more surprised. The interior was not as narrow and crowded as he had imagined; instead, it was very spacious. It seemed that the mountain had been hollowed out a long time ago. This was a naturally formed cave that had been discovered and then excavated and reinforced by humans, creating the current marvel. The person who discovered this place and sent people to excavate it and station trusted soldiers here was Wolfgang's grandfather.

This was the treasure trove of Wolfgang's lineage. From the time of Wolfgang's grandfather, they had been preparing for a family war. They started excavating this cave then, and by Wolfgang's generation, the excavation was almost complete. For them, this was a secret base. As long as they could wait for the right opportunity, the treasures inside would quickly be converted into funds to support their family war.

He Ping eventually "convinced" Brian, but the process was not smooth or peaceful. Out of necessity, He Ping resorted to some torture techniques he knew from movies and novels in his original world. Brian finally became compliant, realizing that in terms of making life miserable, He Ping's skills were even higher than his. In this situation, Brian finally confessed everything he knew.

To be safe, He Ping switched the positions of Wolfgang and Brian, putting Brian in the cell and releasing Wolfgang. Using the same psychological manipulation and coercion, he obtained the same answer from Wolfgang. Based on the information from both, He Ping traveled for two hours and searched for one hour before finally arriving here. He avoided the patrolling and guarding soldiers and entered the mountain.

There were also patrols inside the mountain, but they were much less frequent. After navigating through several twists and turns and avoiding a few patrol teams, He Ping finally reached the deepest part of the cave. Two soldiers were standing there, holding torches. With the dim light of the torches, He Ping saw that they were guarding a large iron door with a big lock. This must be the final treasure vault.

Using his still active camouflage ability, He Ping got very close to the door. If he continued forward, he would definitely be discovered. He quietly picked up a pebble and flicked it, sending it flying to a distance. It landed with a clatter, immediately drawing the attention of the two soldiers. One of them walked toward the source of the sound with his torch, while the other looked in that direction.

Now! He Ping tiptoed forward two steps and reached the door. Taking advantage of the moment before the soldier turned his head, he activated his flash ability. When the soldier turned back, He Ping was already inside the treasure vault. The soldier who had followed the sound found nothing and assumed it was a small animal in the cave, so he returned to the door without any concern.

Successfully entering the treasure vault, He Ping's excitement grew. He took out a fire starter, similar to a flint, and lit a torch. The large iron door was very thick and did not let any light through, so the soldiers outside could not see the light inside. With the dim light, He Ping saw a magnificent sight that shocked him again, and he once more witnessed the depth of the old noble family of Okland.

The treasure vault was roughly several hundred square meters, but due to the dim light from the torch, he couldn't see much further. He Ping estimated that if he were to measure it, the vault would be at least a thousand square meters, if not more. The size wasn't the key; the contents were. The moment he lit the torch, He Ping's eyes were dazzled.

There were countless jewels, pearls, emeralds, and jade of various colors, shapes, and sizes, each seemingly very valuable. As for precious metals, in the world of the military, gold and silver were still the most valuable. Gold and silver were already considered rare outside, and ordinary people rarely saw them, but here, gold and silver were the least valuable, cast into brick-sized ingots and piled in the corners, gathering dust.

In addition, there were countless fine weapons and splendid armors. Wolfgang's lineage had created this cave to prepare for a family war, so it contained items that could be quickly converted into combat power and could be stored for a long time.

He Ping was an ordinary person in his previous life, so ordinary that his bank account never reached six digits until his rebirth. He lived an ordinary life and had never seen such a scene. He held the torch, with two soldiers outside, and he couldn't make too much noise, or he would have already rolled in the gold and jewels.

After ten minutes, He Ping finally caught his breath and calmed down. He Ping was not a saint; faced with such a large treasure, he couldn't help but be moved. He had previously thought he didn't lack money and that this treasure hunt was just an adventure, but now his eyes had turned green. All these things were his!

Just as He Ping was about to store everything in the high tower's storage room, a cold, mechanical, and emotionless voice from the portable armory system sounded in his ear: "High-energy reaction object detected nearby. Preliminary judgment: exceeds current world civilization level. Suggested action: recovery!"

[PS: First update of the day!]