I slept soundly, and my dreams were beautiful.
Even after getting up to wash my face in the morning, Fang Er was still savoring the scenes from his dream.
As he walked out of his room, he saw Ge Luoyang standing outside with a troubled expression, looking like he had something to say but couldn't.
"What's wrong?" Fang Er asked, wiping his face with a smile.
"My Lord, I've caused trouble," Ge Luoyang replied nervously, standing to the side.
Afterward, he recounted the events of the previous day from beginning to end, then looked at Fang Er with trembling anticipation, unsure of what punishment awaited him.
Upon hearing his story, Fang Er almost missed a step and fell down the stairs, staring at him dumbfoundedly.
"Niu Gao blew up his own mouth?"
Ge Luoyang quickly nodded and explained, "Yes, he's still at the Imperial Medical Office. Two of his teeth were blown out, and his mouth was almost split open."
"My Lord, I truly didn't mean for it to happen. He suddenly grabbed the walkie-talkie and stuffed it into his mouth. I've never seen anyone do that before!"
Fang Er waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, this is not entirely your fault."
He then walked into the room and took out a box of glucose.
"Take this to him. His mouth is so mangled, he won't be able to eat for days."
Seeing that his worries had not materialized, Ge Luoyang's expression instantly shifted from worry to joy. He took the box and nodded repeatedly.
"My Lord, rest assured, I know what to do."
Shortly after he left, the roar of helicopters could be heard from a distance.
Fang Er was overjoyed. Wang Xuance and Xue Rengui had returned!
The restaurant did not have enough open space for landing, so he put on his military coat and hurried towards Xuande Gate of the Imperial Palace.
By the time he arrived, Wang Xuance and the others had already disembarked from the helicopters.
Fang Er walked up and asked, "How was it? Did you find it?"
"Reporting to my Lord, our guess was correct. There were indeed gold-panning ships there. I've brought back the gold bricks from the two secret chambers as well," Wang Xuance said.
He then walked over to another helicopter, opened the cargo bay door, revealing the glittering gold bricks inside.
Fang Er took the gold bricks in front of Wang Xuance and Xue Rengui. They were already accustomed to such scenes.
The round gold-panning ships were completely covered with black cloth. Only then could they prevent the ships from entering their working state uncontrollably when exposed to sunlight.
Not only had Wang Xuance completed his mission, but Xue Rengui had also brought back a gold-panning ship. Besides the gold bricks, he had also retrieved the golden coffin from Zhao Xu's era.
Xue Rengui solemnly drew a circle in the air with both hands. "My Lord, considering how vast the Earth is, could there be other pyramids elsewhere?"
Other pyramids?
His words reminded Fang Er. More than a hundred pyramids had been discovered in later generations.
If each pyramid could yield such a harvest, let alone a hundred million tons of gold, even a billion tons would not be a problem!
"Rest for a day. Let this Lord think carefully!"
As this thought arose, Fang Er became somewhat impatient. After giving them instructions, he returned to the restaurant to search for information.
The Bent Pyramid of Dahshur, Egypt.
The Pyramids of Khafre and Khufu.
The Maya Pyramid of Tik'al.
The Pyramid of Jebel Barkal, Sudan.
And so on. With each discovery, he marked the specific location on a world map.
However, by the end, Fang Er suddenly felt that something was amiss.
The pyramid he had visited several times did not match the pyramids described in later historical records!
This was an important architectural monument that could prove the history of a nation. Given the nature of Western countries, it was unlikely they would have hidden such a pyramid.
Could it be that due to geological movements, this pyramid had been buried deep underground?
Fortunately, Fang Er had a very good psychological fortitude. Otherwise, the doubts he had accumulated in recent days would have been enough to make him lose his appetite!
Since he couldn't figure it out for now, he decided to jot it down in his notebook, believing he would understand it someday.
The next morning, he summoned all 30 Torch team members who had accompanied him on this trip.
After distributing the organized maps, he began assigning tasks.
Ge Luoyang, Zhou Yanxi, Lu Benwei, and Li Da would each lead a team, carrying radio transmitters, to different destinations in search of pyramid traces.
Fang Er would personally lead a team, with Wang Xuance and Xue Rengui assisting, to the island of Wa (Japan) to mine gold.
With the mission clear, Ge Luoyang asked somewhat confusedly, "My Lord, there are only eight helicopters in total. For such a long journey, how will the fuel supply be handled?"
Based on the distance and fuel consumption, each team would need at least three helicopters to accompany them.
One would be the main aircraft, and the other two would carry fuel as resupply.
Just eight helicopters would definitely not be enough.
Fang Er smiled mysteriously, "Who said there are only eight?"
Everyone looked at him in confusion. Not eight? Could there be more?
Wang Xuance, who was constantly running errands for Fang Er, suddenly thought of something upon seeing the smile on his face.
He quickly sidled up to Fang Er with a smile and said, "My Lord, are you going to let us have a go with the planes on that large ship?"
Ever since he had seen the Varyag aircraft carrier, he had been captivated by the fighter jets on its deck. This was the most plausible explanation he could think of.
However, Fang Er shook his head at him and said, "Those planes need a runway to take off, which is not as convenient as helicopters."
"This place is small, and they can't maneuver. Let's head out of the city first. You'll know when we get outside!"
After informing Li Shimin via walkie-talkie, everyone boarded the helicopters and flew out of the city.
In the camp outside the city, the Yue Family Army was still diligently training, making final preparations for the upcoming northern expedition.
Seeing the formation of aircraft flying overhead, Yue Yun envied Zhang Xian and said, "If we had this kind of assistance for the northern expedition, we could definitely strike straight at the heart of the enemy!"
"That's enough. The help they've given us is already more than enough. People should learn to be content!"
Zhang Xian said with a wry smile, shaking his head as he loaded bullets into the magazine.
He knew this truth all too well, but he also knew another saying.
"Lean on mountains, they will crumble; lean on trees, they will sway; lean on people, they will run!"
One cannot always rely on others for help; the key is to become strong oneself.
Moreover, with these thousand AKs, the difficulty of the expedition to Jin would be reduced by eighty percent!