Chapter 2: The Enigma of the Fourth Empire

  "What's going on?"

  Standing on the deck of the submarine, looking at this old submarine, Li Zichen vaguely suspected that perhaps this submarine, like the plane, was also brought here by that red lightning. The submarine seemed to be half-buried in the island, and like the plane, it suddenly appeared in the wilderness of the tropical rainforest, eventually being wrapped in vines, slowly becoming a part of the rainforest over time.

  After resting on the deck for over ten minutes, Li Zichen slowly walked towards the submarine's command tower. After finally climbing up to the command tower, he looked at the round hatch cover and the round lock below his feet, hesitated for nearly two minutes, then used all his strength to twist it with a loud creak.

  "Pffft... Hmph..."

  The hatch opened, and he peeked inside the submarine. The interior was pitch black, and aside from the smell of diesel fuel, there seemed to be a pungent odor mixed in, seemingly... the stench of corpses.

  "Maybe the people here are all dead, just like those on the plane..."

  Five or six hours after opening the hatch, Li Zichen held a flashlight in his left hand and a SIG P226 pistol taken from the bodies of two passengers on the plane, possibly air marshals, in his right hand. With a burst of courage, he stepped into the submarine's interior along the ladder, but as soon as he stood firm, a shocking scene in front of him made Li Zichen's hair stand on end again, and at his feet lay a person... no, it should be a skull.

  Another one!

  In front of the driving platform, a skull wearing black military uniform was also lying there. Looking around, the entire cabin was filled with skulls everywhere.

  After the initial shock, Li Zichen forced himself to calm down. The events unfolding inside the submarine seemed no different from those on the plane he was riding in. Perhaps during this voyage...

  But what exactly led to all this?

  Why was I able to survive while sitting on the same plane?

  Looking at the corpses that had long since turned into skulls, Li Zichen's heart was filled with doubts. If a scientist were here, perhaps in his eyes nothing would be more important than seeking answers, but for himself, even if he wanted to crack his head open, he wouldn't get any answers, so why bother worrying about it?

  "What happened here?"

  But people can't control their curiosity, and at this time of doubt, a military cap on the ground caught Li Zichen's attention. He picked up the soft-brimmed military cap from the deck of the boat cabin, with its flat winged eagle emblem, eagle claws grasping a floral wreath with an inverted "ten thousand" character, and a skull below.

  "The Party... The Party Guards!"

  The sudden discovery made Li Zichen extremely excited, and his eyes sparkled with excitement.

  How could there be SS troops on a submarine in general? Maybe, there is some secret hidden here!

  At this time, Li Zichen only discovered that the submarine, which looked rusty on the outside, seemed to have been newly built and launched not long ago from the inside. Except for those skulls, the interior of the submarine still maintained its original cleanliness, all the equipment was spotless, and even in that faint smell of corpses, a faint smell of paint could be detected!

  After lingering in the control room for a while, he took a look at the periscope, steering control panel and diving control panel. All the controllers and instruments had metal labels with their names written in German, because Li Zichen had considered going to Germany to study abroad, so he could understand these German words, at least partially.

  This Nazi German submarine may have encountered the same thing during its voyage, and inexplicably came to this small island.

  Is it space transfer?

  Deep down, Li Zichen seemed to understand why the plane had made that strange "forced landing" and how this large submarine came to be on the small island.

  As he walked inside the submarine, apart from his own footsteps, it was quiet and still, with nothing but an empty corridor leading to the control room. The air inside reeked of machine oil, paint thinner, and a hint of rotting flesh. During his search, Li Zichen discovered that there were far more skulls left behind in the submarine than he had imagined, at least several hundred people's worth.

  "How can there be so many people on this submarine?"

  With a mind full of doubts, Li Zichen walked into a cabin when a photo on the wall caught his attention. It was a group photo of several hundred young people, both boys and girls! And their background was this submarine.

  Looking at this clean and tidy, relatively spacious cabin, it seems to be the captain's quarters. On the table, there is a nautical chart with a ruler and other measuring instruments on top of it. The answer should be found here!

  After rummaging through the drawers for a while, Li Zichen found a diary in one of them, a German-written diary.

  “…March 12, 1945, Germany is on the verge of collapse. According to the Führer's instructions, the "Great Aryan" plan has been fully launched for several months. Today's mission is the most critical task, and it is essential to safely transport the supplies inside the boat to their destination. Whether the Fourth Reich can rise again will depend directly on whether this boat can arrive safely...”

  Former head?

  Operation Barbarossa?

  Fourth Empire?

  This series of terms made Li Zichen a bit dizzy, but at the same time, a word kept popping up in his mind: "cargo". This word only made Li Zichen's heart skip a beat. What kind of cargo would this submarine be carrying? Could it be... Nazi treasure?

  The bonfire was blown by the sea breeze, and the sound of waves hitting the sea surface kept coming to his ears. Li Zichen, sitting beside the bonfire, was excitedly flipping through the diary found in the "Daryalian" submarine.

  "In 1944, facing the danger of the Allied forces entering the Third Reich, Heinrich Himmler ordered the execution of the "Great Aryan Plan". According to the plan, apart from taking technical documents with them during retreats, they began to require every German cartel to cooperate in the name of the state and to prevent damage from British-American bombing. They were required to duplicate all technical patent files and drawings..."

  "On January 17, 1945, the special transport submarine 'Yanagi Maru' was completed. Prior to this, the 'Yanagi Plan' had been implemented for several months, with about 15 groups of pure-blooded youths boarding submarines bound for South America..."

  "On February 13, 1945, in accordance with the direct order of the Führer, the Yahali must set sail as soon as possible. Captain Wick was ordered to escort 186 steel barrels containing 95 million microfilm copies to the port... Undoubtedly, the microfilms in the barrels included patent documents, drawings and development data of the entire German industry and technology, which would be the key to whether the "Fourth Empire" could succeed, even more important than the gold and foreign exchange carried on the boat..."

  "On March 1st, Captain Rave was ordered to transport 216 tons of gold from the German National Bank and a batch of British and American bonds onto the submarine..."

  As he flipped through the diary in his hand, he turned to look at the white linen bag with an eagle emblem beside him. If it weren't for finding this thing on the submarine, he would never have believed that this was the legendary "Lost Fourth Empire". For future generations, the "Fourth Empire" is full of mystery. After World War II, countless intelligence and data showed that the Nazis planned to establish a "Fourth Empire" outside Germany, but ultimately there was no evidence to prove its existence. In many people's eyes, the so-called "Fourth Empire" was just an escape for Nazi war criminals.

  ...poured out a metal ingot from a linen bag, under the illumination of the bonfire, it shone with golden light, Nazi eagle emblem, 10KJLO, 999.9, DR076445, the patterns and texts on the gold brick clearly revealed a piece of information, that he not only discovered the "Treasure of the Third Reich", but also solved the "Mystery of the Fourth Empire" that had puzzled people for ages.

  "Perhaps the failure of the Nazi plan to establish a Fourth Empire in South America is related to the disappearance of this 'Aryan'!"

  Looking at the gold, he also brought out a dozen or so 1901 British issued bearer bonds, Nazi submarines, bonds, gold, and technical patent films. Imagining the astonishing wealth inside that submarine, Li Zichen wanted to laugh but couldn't laugh at all.

  If you weren't stranded on a deserted island, discovering this submarine would mean that you had stumbled upon a treasure trove worth enough to make yourself incredibly wealthy. Although the technical patents might be worthless in the 21st century, the hundreds of tons of gold, numerous bonds and diamond jewels inside the submarine would be more than enough for you to splurge on for the rest of your life.

  What about now?

  He was indeed the discoverer and owner of that wealth, and the only one who knew about it. But the question is, even if he owned that wealth on this deserted island, what could he do with it?

  On this small island, those gold are not even as useful as the wheat seeds and cotton seeds in the cargo hold of a crashed plane. At least those things can let oneself...

  In the midst of contemplation, a ray of light suddenly flashed across the surface of the sea. Although it was only a fleeting glance, it caused Li Zichen to abruptly stand up and gaze out at the sea. He saw what seemed like a lantern shining on the surface of the water, apparently in the direction of the island. The beam of light flickered on and off, as if sending some sort of signal. Could it be... a ship?!

  With a torch in hand, Li Zichen ran wildly towards the sea, shouting loudly as he went.

  "I am here... I am here..."