Chapter 502 - 316: Unit 10003_2
The photograph doesn’t contain all the text, and the combination of words resembles poetry, differing from normal grammar. Chen Zhou could barely translate it as:
"Rusted Holy Body Research Institute;
Slavic Tundra Confession Room 13;
Silence Plan restricted area, entry strictly prohibited."
As for the hexagram and the symbols on it, Chen Zhou couldn’t understand their meanings.
What puzzled him was that there were no clues or mentions of the Rusted Holy Body Research Institute or the Silence Plan in Ivan’s information.
It seemed that such religious or magical projects didn’t exist in the actions carried out by Unit 10003.
So why did this photo appear here?
Upon closely examining the name information on the blue work permit, it was identical to other work permits, showing no differences.
Chen Zhou even dismantled the work permit to look, but found no clue, and the factory photo seemed to be placed there out of nowhere, becoming the odd one out among all the documents.
...
"Damn it, this thing is even more headache-inducing than decrypting.
Forget about those few books given to me, even if I use the internet, I still can’t figure out what this photo is trying to convey. Unless the Space-Time Administration Bureau mixed in some private stuff to mess with me!"
Stuffed the photo back into the document angrily, Chen Zhou suddenly thought of the English medical journals sent on July 15.
"Could other clues be hidden in the journals?"
As soon as he had this thought, Chen Zhou immediately dismissed it.
He had similar "dictionary" books to help with Russian documents.
For English journals, he had nothing but the vocabulary he stuffed into his head during college.
Moreover, medical journals are quite specialized, and he’s studied mechanics, not medicine, so even if he could barely read them, there would surely be many mistakes, resulting in a translation far from the truth.
Besides, he had been busy translating these Russian documents for nearly a month now, it was time to relax, go fishing, and take a few outdoor activities.
...
Translating Russian files, Chen Zhou’s original intent wasn’t to find some wealth, but just to satisfy his curiosity.
An ancient mechanical safe, a pile of distinctive special documents, that somewhat eerie photograph, and the mysterious reward of the safe’s origin.
All these made the dense Russian text appear extremely mysterious and intriguing.
When Chen Zhou first obtained the items from the safe, he knew the contents were unusual, and his guess was confirmed only after translation.
However, besides mysterious historical details, he actually didn’t gain any tangible benefits from it.
The Soviet Union had long been dissolved, and Ivan, who was born in the early 20th century, was likely dead for four or five decades; what he left behind could only prove some rumors’ authenticity, apart from historical and some collectible value, it served no other purpose.
Even if Chen Zhou wanted to sell these documents or donate them to the country, explaining where he obtained them would be problematic.
As for Ivan’s treasure, Chen Zhou wasn’t interested either.
Not to mention those riddles-like treasure addresses were hard to decipher, just traveling to faraway Russia to search for treasures hidden at least 50 years ago is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.
...
Now the island is thriving, crops are being planted more, and grain gradually piles up like small mountains in the warehouse.
The traffic network paved with stone bricks is being planned, and the houses, tools used by the indigenous people are gradually improving.
Even the cows have gone through a round of reproduction—
A while ago, the cow gave birth, and Chen Zhou personally went to the site, fortunately, no accidents occurred, the birthing process went smoothly, the cow giving birth to a bull calf.
Chen Zhou instructed the pastoral indigenous people to spend time developing a relationship with this calf, as it might be relied upon for carting and plowing in the future.
It can be foreseen that once these indigenous captives are fully utilized, through subsequent captures, the Big Island will rapidly drain the population resources of the Archipelago like a voracious beast.
By then, forming small fleets to explore this sea area will no longer be empty talk.
Rather than hankering after Ivan’s lifelong savings with fear, exploring to seize the vast gold and silver from the Spaniards who looted the Inca Empire would be much more valuable than Ivan’s treasure.
...
Packed up the paper and pen, organized his stack of old documents marked with Chinese, Chen Zhou blew out the oil lamp.
The office instantly turned dim.
Looking at the glass covered with traces of rain, then at the ceiling blackened by the oil lamp, Chen Zhou sighed, feeling a bit distressed.
His new house had been renovated for less than three months, yet the clean white walls were already blackened by smoke, indeed, 21st-century products are completely incompatible with 17th-century equipment in every way!
...
Exiting the office, he called out for Lai Fu.
Just as he finished speaking, a big dog with golden fur and a purple collar trotted over from the other side of the second floor.
Chen Zhou had been busy translating documents lately, neglecting him.
Fortunately, the factory nowadays was much livelier compared to before; besides Chen Zhou, there were Saturday, Sunday, Chen Fu, Chen Shou, Chen Lu. With the indoor space being spacious, even if Lai Fu wasn’t playing with Chen Zhou, he had others to keep him entertained.
Habitually rubbing the dog’s head, Chen Zhou walked towards the staircase.
Without any command, Lai Fu obediently followed behind Chen Zhou. Their companionship over the years had naturally developed such a mutual understanding.
...
On the first floor of the factory, Fu, Lu, and Shou had just completed their daily physical training and were resting on chairs.
Seeing Chen Zhou coming down the stairs, the three, who were originally joking and laughing, quickly stood up and politely greeted their leader.
As trusted reserves handpicked by Chen Zhou, these three enjoyed a vastly different treatment compared to their peers.
They only needed to spend a small portion of each day working outside; the rest of their time was devoted to studying and training, with standard meals comparable to Saturday and Sunday, far surpassing other indigenous people.
Almost staying in the factory all day, they were closest to Chen Zhou, being most affected by him.
Although they’ve only been caught and brought to the island for little over a month, their transformation was dramatic.
From basic cultural knowledge to their grasp of Chinese characters and language, to their physical fitness and loyalty, they had surpassed other indigenous people.
...
"You guys carry on with your tasks, I’m going out for a walk."
In modern times, aside from having served as a study monitor or class leader briefly during school days, Chen Zhou had never engaged in any leadership-related work.
He was fairly comfortable when he was drilling Fu, Lu, and Shou some time ago, but now that he handed them over to Saturday and Sunday for management, encountering this kind of scene made him a bit embarrassed.
He waved his hand, indicating there was no urgent matter, and just as he was about to leave the factory building with Lai Fu, before he could take down the raincoat hanging on the wall, he saw an indigenous person rushing over in a hurry.
There were only about twenty people on the island, and all personnel arrangements required Chen Zhou’s approval, he’d memorized these indigenous people’s appearance and jobs.
Running towards him was one of the two new captives following the zebra, who was supposed to be working on the field in front of the cave these days.
It was just past three in the afternoon, so he should have been still working; why suddenly rushing here?
Chen Zhou was full of questions, and before he could ask, the indigenous person reached the iron gate and, panting heavily, said.
"Tiger Head was found, it’s injured... zebra is taking care..."
"What?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhou grew anxious.
Tiger Head was a cat he had raised from a young age, and although moving company later didn’t allow him to bring it here for various reasons, it was always a dear old companion in Chen Zhou’s entrepreneurial early days.
He had planned to bring Tiger Head back to retire when it became old and less active after moving out from the cave.
Unexpectedly, before Tiger Head aged, it got injured.
"How badly injured is Tiger Head?"
Opening the iron gate, while questioning the indigenous person, Chen Zhou instructed Fu, Lu, and Shou to end their rest, put on raincoats, grab medicines, and follow him to the cave area to assess the situation.