From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 97: Violent Unboxing

Chen Zhou suppressed the urge to open the safe and was busy looking for a stone suitable for making a millstone.

By noon, two bluestones that had just been dug out of the soil and rolled onto the beach were ready.

After taking out cooking tools and food from his backpack, he made a fire and had a simple lunch. Then he began to cut down trees and sort out the cut wooden planks and bricks.

We woke up early that day, hoping to spend more time exploring the other side of the beach and looking for the pigeon hole near Robinson Crusoe's home site.

Unexpectedly, trying the password took several hours. By the time he moved the materials to the vicinity of the reward point, it was around four o'clock in the afternoon and it would be dark soon.

Considering the time required to build the wooden and stone walls, if you are still determined to find and explore the pigeon hole, you can only act in the dark.

Humans have poor eyesight at night, and it is easy to bump into and sprain your ankle when exploring pigeon holes, but it is not all bad.

This is because pigeons are birds that return to their nests to rest at night, and their night vision is extremely poor, so they are basically blind at night.

If the entrance of the cave is wide and the lighting is good during the day, the pigeons are likely to get out of the net and escape. It is easier to catch them at night.

I don't know whether it is difficult or easy to find the pigeon hole, and I can't make up my mind.

Looking at the sky, Chen Zhou did not delay any further and concentrated on building the wooden and stone walls.

The three sides of wood and stone were quickly built. When it came to the last wall, he looked at the golden safe, put down the stone in his hand, and hesitated.

Half a month is neither long nor short. If you use super-time and space cutting, you must wait patiently.

This is like locking a greedy dog outside the cafeteria and telling it to wait two hours before eating the meat buns.

Smelling something delicious but not being able to eat it is like torture for a dog, and the same is true for Chen Zhou.

He walked around the safe several times, tapping on the thick casing with his knuckles.

Feeling that the safe might not be as indestructible as he had imagined, he picked up a rock and smashed it hard on the top of the box.

The sharp lower part of the stone hit the steel plate on the top of the box with a crisp "clang" sound, and several pieces of debris flew off.

Look at the top of the box.

Naturally, a large area of the gold paint was damaged, revealing the silver-white metal underneath.

There are a few shallow pits on the metal surface, but they are not very obvious.

Touching the shallow pit on the steel plate, Chen Zhou felt that it was not reliable to "open the box" from the wall of the box.

Scratching his head, he shifted his gaze to the door of the safe.

The door hinge of this safe is wrapped inside the door, with only two rows of slightly raised cylindrical metal shells on the outside to protect the easily damaged door hinge.

The closed door fits tightly against the outer wall of the safe, and there is not even enough space for a leaf to pass through the tiny gap.

Despite this, Chen Zhou still felt that the easiest part of the safe to break into was the door.

As long as the gap can be enlarged, the crowbar can be inserted into it to create a large enough opening, and then the screw jack can be put in to forcibly remove the door axis.

Repeat the operation and continue to pry from bottom to top. Once both door hinges are completely destroyed, the door will be useless.

As for how to enlarge the gap, Chen Zhou thought he could take the carpenter's chisel and hammer down from the mountain and use them.

But he wasn't going to just open the box with a chisel.

The carpenter's chisel forging technology is backward. It is okay for dealing with soft bones like wood, but when it comes into direct contact with this kind of modern heat-treated steel plate, even if the gap can be expanded, the chisel head will be seriously damaged.

He wanted to find some sharp wedge-shaped stones to clear the way first, and then use the chisel when a gap appeared, so as to avoid the wear and tear of the chisel tip.

After determining his idea, he first moved the safe away from the outside of the reward point.

He patiently built the wooden and stone walls, packed his tools into his backpack, and pushed the heavy safe to the camp bit by bit.

At this point, what's in the safe is far more important than where the pigeon hole is.

Chen Zhou no longer cared about the meal of pigeon meat and could only put the matter aside for the time being.

……

It was getting dark by the time we finally got the safe into the camp.

After nightfall, Chen Zhou usually does not go out.

But today is an exception. In order to get a glimpse of the secrets inside the safe, he decided to make an exception.

There was an open fire in the camp.

I pulled some oily leaves from nearby trees and found a few wooden sticks of suitable length and thickness.

He made several simple torches by wrapping strips of cloth and vine leaves around wooden sticks, then lit them and went up the mountain overnight.

Having traveled up and down the mountain countless times, Chen Zhou had already walked out a path in the forest. Even though the torch was not bright enough, he did not get lost or encounter any danger, and he returned to the cave safely.

It is difficult to go up the mountain, but easy to go down the mountain.

He took out the oil lamp from the cave and lit it.

This thing is much brighter than a simple torch and doesn't emit black smoke.

Taking tools such as a crowbar, a chisel, and a hammer, Chen Zhou hurriedly added some food to the baby mice in the rat pen. Without stopping for long, he immediately headed for the camp at the foot of the mountain.

The trip back and forth consumed a lot of time, and by the time he arrived at the camp, the campfire was almost out.

He threw a few pieces of firewood into the red-hot charcoal, took out the wedge-shaped stone, and drove Lai Fu aside to rest.

The flying debris when hitting the stone is quite powerful.

As the knocker, Chen Zhou could dodge in time, but Lai Fu was short, and if he was unlucky enough to be hit in the eye by the gravel, he would be doomed.

To prepare, flip the safe so the door is facing up.

Wrapping a strip of cloth around the surface of the wedge-shaped stone to prevent cutting his hands, Chen Zhou held it with his left hand, aimed at the gap in the box door, and swung the hammer down hard.

The bluestone is very hard, and when it is chiseled on the surface of the steel plate, sparks fly and some stone chips are broken into pieces.

With a shake of his hand, he saw a slight dent on the edge of the gap. He adjusted the angle of the stone slightly and continued to smash it down.

The tip of the wedge-shaped stone quickly became flat, roughened and worn away by such a violent collision.

The damage to the gap at the edge of the safe door is slightly smaller, but there is also obvious deformation and a tendency to expand to both sides.

"efficient!"

Chen Zhou was delighted and found a new wedge-shaped stone and continued to hammer.

The sound of metal colliding was endless, and sparks flashed from time to time beside the dying campfire.

Lai Fu couldn't understand why his master was going crazy. He had sharp hearing and was more seriously affected by the noise. He secretly glanced at Chen Zhou, and when he saw that his master was not paying attention to him, he hung his tail and quietly left the camp.

……

Not knowing which wedge-shaped stone he had broken, Chen Zhou clenched his left hand and felt a slight pain in the palm of his hand.

He raised his hand and took a look in the light of the lamp.

He found that despite the protection of the cloth strip, the palm of his hand was still cut by the sharp edges of the stone, and blood was flowing out.

“Damn it, I should have brought down my rabbit-skin gloves.

Although my rabbit leather gloves are crudely made and uncomfortable to wear, they are strong and can protect my hands at least!"

"I cut my hand and have to use white wine to disinfect it. I'm going to suffer again."

Shaking his head, Chen Zhou didn't want to stop working because of this minor injury.

The gap is getting bigger and bigger, and success seems to be waving not far away.

This is a critical moment, we can't let down our guard.

He found a piece of clean cloth to wrap around his palm, and at the same time wrapped the stone with a thick layer to add another layer of insurance. Under the protection of "double insurance", Chen Zhou continued to attack.

By about midnight, the gap at the edge of the box door had expanded to the point where the entire chisel could be inserted.

The second phase of violent unboxing begins.

Long-term physical labor has trained Chen Zhou's strength and will. He is full of energy and seems to have endless power.

He was silent, only wielding the hammer in his hand. In the camp, the sound of metal colliding and knocking did not stop all night.

……

By dawn, the door of the box had been lifted up by Chen Zhou's violent means.

He put the crowbar into the safe, pressed the box with one foot, pressed the crowbar with both hands, and used the weight of the safe and his own strength to pry the door open.

The thick steel plate made a teeth-grinding creaking sound, as if countless tightly connected buckles were crumbling bit by bit.

But this collapse has its limits.

At present, only one of the two door hinges on the box door has been pried off, and the other door hinge is still holding the box door tightly, fulfilling its mission.

After letting go of the crowbar and seeing that the cloth wrapped around his palm was soaked in blood, Chen Zhou decided to take a break and end the work there.

I have been busy all night without realizing it and it is already eight or nine in the morning.

Physically and mentally exhausted, hungry, and injured, he just wanted to rest.

I had a simple breakfast, poured some rum to disinfect my hands, and lay down on the open space to take a nap.

Around three or four in the afternoon, he suddenly woke up from his sleep, sat on the ground to clear his mind for a while, and after dispelling his dazed state, he picked up the crowbar and continued his unfinished work.

……

The closer the truth was to being revealed, the more excited Chen Zhou became. He was so excited that he temporarily ignored his fatigue.

Before we knew it, it was dark again and the bonfire was lit again.

With a crisp sound, the last door hinge of the safe door broke completely, leaving only the latch at the front still securing the safe door.

At this point, it’s only a matter of time before the box can be successfully unpacked.

Chen Zhou took out the screw jack, adjusted the angle, and shook the handle.

The antique mechanical structure is simple, but useful.

Under the powerful supporting force, the safe door rose higher and higher, so that Chen Zhou could see what was inside through the gap.

The outer wall is thick, and the space inside the safe is actually not that big, divided into two parts on the left and right sides.

The left part was directly exposed to Chen Zhou's field of vision. He could vaguely see a pile of paper documents, as well as blue documents and red certificates with a long string of Russian words printed on them.

Chen Zhou has limited knowledge, but has no major problems with listening, speaking, reading and writing English.

As for Russian, he understood six out of seven things - he knew nothing about it.

As for the right side of the safe, there is a small locked drawer.

Fortunately, there was a key in the small drawer, so it could be opened without any further effort.

While turning the handle, Chen Zhou lowered his head and peered inside through the door for a long time, but he couldn't make out what was written in Russian. He could only continue to break into the safe door.

……

After the unbreakable line of defense was torn open, the unpacking work went more and more smoothly.

An hour later, Chen Zhou was finally able to remove the screw jack, grab the safe door, and pull out the bent lock cylinder.

With a clang, he casually threw the heavy safe door aside, and all the items inside the box were exposed to his eyes.

Without turning over the "waste papers", Chen Zhou first turned the key and opened the drawer.

"The most important thing must be hidden in the drawer," he thought.

……

After opening the drawer, the result was as expected.

It was a shiny black revolver wrapped in oil paper, with six bullets scattered around the revolver.

The pistol has been very well maintained, with no rust on any parts of the gun, not even visible scratches or wear.

Turning left to exit the magazine, the empty cylinder appears before your eyes along with the damping feeling of the mechanical structure. The exquisite black metal has a unique beauty of a killing weapon.

"My grass!"

Chen Zhou's heart beat faster, his head felt hot, and he could hardly believe his eyes.

Before opening the safe, I thought there might be a prank toy, antique porcelain, or some other expensive but useless thing in the drawer, but I never dared to imagine that there was a real modern weapon inside.

The moment he took it in his hand, Chen Zhou felt his breath become hot.

At this moment, all the hard work has paid off.

A real gun, six modern bullets.

On an isolated island, even if he spent 28 years, he might not be able to build such a weapon.

Don't be fooled by the fact that this gun only has six bullets.

If a war really breaks out with the natives, these six bullets will most likely take away six natives, turning the tide of the war at a critical moment and saving his life.

More importantly, it's a revolver.

Among modern firearms, revolvers are one of the few that have low firing requirements, a relatively simple structure, are durable enough, and have the possibility of hand-rolling bullets.

In early Europe, there were even flintlock revolvers, which provided strong support for the modification of guns.

Stroking the pistol was like stroking the girl's soft and delicate skin.

Chen Zhou had never felt so happy.

Not long after, he carefully wrapped the pistol and bullets with oil paper and placed them in a separate storage space in his backpack.

……

It is very likely that the cannibalistic natives will land on the island again next December.

If he wanted to take action at that time, and the matchlock failed to work, the revolver would be the last insurance. This gun and six bullets could not be wasted.

After calming down a little, Chen Zhou went to look through the paper documents in the box.

Although he did not understand Russian, he could infer from the format of these documents that there should be some bills and checks, as well as an old account book and some documents.

Chen Zhou opened a blue-covered ID card and flipped through it. Suddenly, he found a small black-and-white photo inside.

There are no humans in the photo; it is an abandoned factory with no one living there.

The towering wall of the factory collapsed, revealing a hole. Around the hole were several lines of large Russian characters outlined in white paint. Chen Zhou didn't know what they meant.

The architectural style of the entire factory is quite consistent with the characteristics of the late 19th century, tough and solid, with a grand and simple design aesthetic.

At the end of the wall stood a huge chimney that the photo could not fully accommodate.

There is a striking hexagram painted at the bottom of the chimney, with many strange symbols drawn on each vertices of the hexagram.

Black and white photos cannot distinguish specific colors.

But the moment he saw the hexagram, Chen Zhou had a strong feeling - this hexagram must be red.

He turned the photo in his hand and looked at the yellowed back of the photo. Not finding any words, numbers or other useful clues, he stuffed the photo back into the ID.

“I don’t understand these things at all, and I don’t know if they are useful.

Put it together with a revolver. Could it be the gangster's secret fund or evidence of money laundering?"

"And that old photo, why does it look so strange? Could it be some kind of human experiment area disguised as a factory?"

Not daring to think about these things too much, Chen Zhou sorted out all the bills, certificates, account books, etc., put them into a wooden box, and prepared to take them to the cave for safekeeping.

He thought that after the challenge was over and he returned to the modern era, he might be able to look up information online and find out the origins of these things.

If there is a property deed in it, he might be able to go to another place and become a big landlord, or sell it and make a fortune.

　I promised to update more and write in the early morning. I won’t go back on my word.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)