The little star from the Gobi Desert, handed over to the state, is hailed as a national treasure.

Sweetie didn't answer directly, but continued searching intently among the pile of rocks. Her little cloth shoes sometimes hurt as she stepped on the uneven, sharp stones.

But she couldn't be afraid of hard work! When the grandfathers were gathered around that dusty stone, their eyes shone with a light she'd never seen before—a light full of longing and joy. Sweetie knew that meant they "really liked it." Sweetie was determined to help the grandfathers find it!

Moreover, she had a strong intuition that those magical stones must be nearby! There must be many of them! Unlike what her father said, hidden in the mountains far, far away.

This feeling was wonderful, indescribable in her young words, yet like a seed, it took deep root in her intuition, guiding her.

Fearing she might fall, Liang Zhe quickly climbed onto the rubble and grabbed her small hand. He then beckoned to a soldier on guard nearby and whispered, "Go report to Commander Liu that Tian Tian might have made a new discovery, and ask him to bring some men over."

"Yes!" The soldier immediately turned and ran to report.

Under her father's watchful eye, Tian Tian carefully walked a small circle around the ruins of the collapsed house. Finally, she stopped in front of a pile of seemingly ordinary blue bricks and stones.

"Dad, look!" she pointed downwards, "There's a big rock here."

Following his daughter's finger, Liang Zhe saw that the ground beneath his feet was filled with various construction debris, and the blue bricks inside were even Tang Dynasty bricks from a thousand years ago; otherwise, such a large area of ​​ruins would not have been left behind.

However, which "big rock" did the daughter mean?

Just as he was about to ask, Tian Tian suddenly pointed to one of the stone slabs and exclaimed, "Daddy! Move it! There's a little hole underneath!"

Liang Zhe looked down and saw it was just an ordinary building slab; he didn't find any hole. But since his daughter was so certain, it couldn't be wrong. He immediately called to a few nearby young soldiers, "Come on, give me a hand, clear this area!"

Upon receiving the order from their commander, the soldiers immediately gathered around and worked together to clear away the surrounding rubble and loose soil, revealing a larger and thicker bluestone slab.

Liang Zhe was slightly surprised: If this was an ordinary house before, the ground should have been rammed earth, so why would such a large stone slab be specially laid on it?

Several people carefully examined the stone slab. Finally, at one of the seams, they found a tiny hole, barely larger than a fingernail!

The stone chips around the small hole have a blackened appearance, as if they had been burned by high temperature, and are almost invisible unless you look closely.

"This was... shot by a bullet?" the young soldiers guessed.

"It doesn't look like it," Liang Zhe crouched down and gently touched the area around the small hole with his finger. "It doesn't look like a bullet hole, but more like... the trace of an explosive explosion? But how could there have been an explosion here?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Commander Liu, having received the report, arrived with a group of high-ranking officials.

"What's wrong? Has our little lucky star found another child?" Commander Liu shouted from afar.

With her hands behind her back, Tian Tian said earnestly, "Grandpa Liu, Tian Tian wants to help you find those really big, powerful rocks!"

"Stones? What stones?" Commander Liu didn't quite catch up with the little girl's jumping thoughts for a moment, but as soon as she mentioned "finding something," he immediately realized that there might be another major discovery, and his spirits lifted instantly.

Professor Qian and Chief Designer Wang arrived shortly after. Following Liang Zhe's finger, their expressions changed instantly upon seeing the small hole.

Professor Qian took a small magnifying glass out of his pocket and examined the small hole carefully. The more he looked, the more serious his expression became. Chief Designer Wang also squatted down, reached out and measured the hole, his eyes lighting up.

"This isn't an ordinary explosion!" He looked at Old Qian with some excitement. "It shows signs of a directional explosion!"

"Yes, the amount of explosive was very small, but the energy-concentrating effect was excellent, so it must have been a high explosive."

"High explosives?" Commander Liu was taken aback. "They're going to blow up Yaozi?"

Just as Professor Qian was about to answer, Zheng Hong walked up and waved for everyone to step back. He bent down, pressed his ear to the ground, and occasionally tapped it lightly with a geological hammer.

"Old Zheng, have you found anything?" Chief Designer Wang asked.

Zheng Hong waved his hand, his expression focused. One minute, two minutes... Just as everyone was getting impatient, Zheng Hong suddenly stood up, his face showing an expression of wild joy!

"A cavity! There's a cavity underneath! And its unique structure creates a large echo!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked!

Commander Liu immediately realized, "You mean, there's a secret room down there?"

"No," Zheng Hong said excitedly, "it could also be a secret cave!"

He looked at Professor Qian, "Professor Qian, what's your assessment?"

Professor Qian nodded: "I don't know the details below, but the blast point is located at the weakest point in the entire area's structural mechanics. It's reasonable to suspect that the enemy detonated explosives when they retreated, using the shockwave to collapse the houses and create a natural sealing layer."

"That's right," Chief Designer Wang added, "Judging from the building structure, the other party didn't just randomly demolish it; they selectively destroyed the load-bearing walls, causing the building to collapse in a directional manner, which conveniently buried this area. From the outside, it just looks like a pile of ordinary rubble; you'd never guess there's a hidden world underneath!"

He looked at Tian Tian, ​​his eyes filled with amazement: "This detonation point is so cleverly designed! If it weren't for Tian Tian, ​​none of us, even with the most advanced equipment, would have been able to detect this disguise!"

At this point, Commander Liu remembered what Tian Tian had just told him.

"My goodness, you said you were looking for a big rock, could it be down here?"

Sweetie tilted her little face up, looking very serious, "I want to help Grandpa Qian find the stone he liked earlier."

"What did you say?" Not only Professor Qian, but also Zheng Hong, Chief Designer Wang and others got excited.

They just examined only one stone, that raw mineral stone. Preliminary assessment indicates it's rich in titanium, nickel, cobalt, and other elements. If this ore is indeed there, it's likely located below—

Does that mean that this sudden cavity is a hidden mineral deposit?

Everyone's heart began to pound uncontrollably because of this sudden discovery!

If discovering the ancient city's treasure was a "surprising yet reasonable" surprise, then finding this mine entrance was an absolutely astonishing surprise!

This is no longer about "getting rich," it's about "revitalizing the nation's destiny"!

The atmosphere at the scene instantly shifted from a cautious and solemn respect for cultural relics to an extreme excitement akin to the anticipation of a volcanic eruption.

"Quickly! Clear away the sand and soil here!" Commander Liu immediately ordered. "Be careful, pay attention to structural safety! Mr. Qian, Engineer Zheng, you two decide where we should start!"

Zheng Hong immediately directed his soldiers to carefully clear the loose sand and rubble around the cave entrance. Brigade Commander Bai quickly dispatched an engineering company with specialized detection equipment to search the surrounding area.

Soon, a large area of ​​ground was revealed. The stone slabs here had almost no gaps between them, showing the thoroughness of the Japanese defenses. In the center of one of the stone slabs, there was a square gap about one meter in diameter, sealed by a lava-like substance!

"This is it!" Zheng Hong pointed. "The Japanese devils sealed off the entrance right here when they retreated."

"Explosives!" Commander Bai made a decisive decision.

"No!" Professor Qian immediately stopped them. "We can't use explosives! The geological structure here is too complex. If we detonate them, the entire geological network could be destroyed!"

Everyone looked at the tightly sealed entrance and was at a loss.