As the professor of history at the university told us, sometimes treasures can be found right under your feet in the city, it's even unnecessary to travel far to the mountains or steppes.

Somehow, in a house built in the late 19th century, they decided to make repairs and surprisingly found in the basement behind the stucco, an arch of bricks, it was a doorway. Behind her, they found a staircase that led to the lower floor of the basement. And there is a room. It contained old Russian and Arabic manuscripts of the 15-19th centuries, gold images of icons, precious stones, gold coins from Holland, England, Russia, Persia, silver rupees and rubles in decaying bags. Rough diamonds and rubies. Weapons, guns, rifles, and even a couple of Maxim machine guns with a lot of rounds. Pictures of European masters of the 16-18 centuries.

Probably it was a stash, one of the rich people or officials of the past era, at a turning point, he decided to leave it and then come back for it, but failed.


Sometimes when cutting old trees, when their roots are removed, they find treasures right in the city, it is either a weapon - pistols or jugs with gold and silver coins. Less commonly jewelry and books. Findings were previously recorded, they were handed over to the police, and then received their percentage of it. Therefore, we, as historians, had the opportunity to study such findings. And now, almost nothing is heard of such finds.

In the city, unexpected finds can sometimes be found in canals, water washes away the secrets of the Earth. They sometimes contain gold, copper, silver and bronze coins, sometimes even flint flakes of the Paleolithic or Neolithic times. Where did the water come from, no one will know? But somewhere, probably, was the treasure that the water found.

When analyzing old attics or basements of houses of the 40-50s of the last century, you can find pistols and machine guns, knives from the Second World War. Trophy weapons, which apparently their owners did not surrender to the police. And they hid it on a rainy day, in reserve. Sometimes it can be paintings taken out by soldiers or officers from Germany from World War II ... caskets, porcelain figurines, old cars or motorcycles ... but in a very shabby condition.

Sometimes we found paintings of the 20th century and under them were paintings of the 14-16th century.

Sometimes, when one of the students helps his grandfathers and great-grandfathers in the old plots, when they expand the plots or dig in the kitchen gardens, they find coins near the walls. Silver or copper, beginning of the 20th century, 1904, 1905, 1910, 1920-30s. Did someone hide them? What for? It's not clear yet.

Sometimes in old houses under wooden floorboards, old books of the 17-19th centuries, gold coins are found.

The most common places for finding caddas are tree roots, wells, places near walls, places near brick or wooden fences, cellars, attics, places under floorboards, canals, hollows of old trees, forest-park areas.

Sometimes in old books, which are sold in second-hand bookstores, you can find on the margin notes made with a pen or pencil. Sometimes they are in Hebrew, English, Farsi, Arabic or French.

Somehow I was not too lazy to read and was surprised to find on two such books ...

The total value of the chain just like silver by weight - is estimated at 1,357,363 dollars!

Dara pulled out of a backpack - a bag of cloth and from there he began to lay out the things he had found, they were still in the ground and needed to be cleaned.

- 20 gold coins of a tille of 1846 and a face value of 10 carabaxes of 1921, coins of the second empire, an early period, the total price of about $ 20,000 at auction (but depends on the condition of the coins) if they are in good condition, you can additionally gain plus $ 25,000 if on average then $ 12,000 plus the $ 20,000 price tag. Need to wash, watch, clean. It is best in soda or first washed with water and a brush.

- silver coins of 50 pieces early second empire of 1920-1924 only for silver by weight of 4,500 dollars and then you need to look already in the catalog.

- 30 copper coins, 1854-1874; price of $ 400; they are not valuable, of the first empire, running coins and average condition.

- one rare coin, the early second empire, it is printed on a gold blank of 10 Karabask and the face value of the coin is only 1 Karabaks in 1928, its price in the catalog is 3000 dollars.

"Cool"! Barno could not restrain herself. "For one coin $ 3,000, and only $ 400 for coins!"

"Such is the world of numismatics and treasure hunters," said Dara.

- Silver bell for a cow, nominal, with sample 999, price 1,500 dollars

"Named? For the cow"? Barno intervened again.

"It's probably some kind of hedonist like you," said Fang.

"Why me? I don't broadcast silver bells to cows!" Barno was indignant.

- a copper coin, there are no notches on the edge, 5 cents, hurting the second empire, the price is 30 US cents.

- Two battered samovars, copper ones, with medals, if you restore their price each for $ 2,500 (the cost of restoring $ 500 for two samovars will take 1 month).

- forged nails with Arabic numerals and letters (written by Meimen) - two pieces (silver) price of 90 dollars.

- an iron tray, it turned out to be silver plated in 1898, at the back there is a hallmark of the plant and coat of arms, the price is 1300 dollars.

"Wow! So much and everything from one place!" Baraz remarked in surprise and admiration.

- "Not from one but from three places, and it was lucky that no one had been there before, everything was preserved the way they were left there. Usually on the plain or in the steppe, there are practically no such places. The robbers of treasures have already visited there. These places were looted in the 15th century and 16th almost every century. And in the 20th century and 21st century storerooms already passed there not once or twice, but dozens, after them one can hardly find a couple of coins and that's all, "said Dara.

- Yes, he was just lucky that all the inhabitants were evicted from these mountains in 1956, and then the district was closed, it was only recently opened. Therefore, the findings are so amazing. In the place where people live there is usually not much that can be found. said Fang.

"Here, yes, I agree with Fang, the usual treasure hunter finds are a couple of rusty pods, a few tin spoons and buttons, a dozen coins, more copper or modern. Copper coins, less often silver, and gold once a half a year or even a year come across in a bowl "! answered Dara.

- a copper coin of 5 cents, an early second empire price from 2 to 7 dollars, there are no notches and asterisks with dots on the edge. cheap.

- arrowhead, forged mid-19th century, price $ 5.

- a boot with iron nails from 1956 ...

"Ahahahahahhaha, are you Dara a junkman or something?" Barno began to laugh.

"No, not an old-timer, Pointer, such a versatile metal detector, showed that in addition to iron there is also non-ferrous metal in the boot. I tore off the bottom and didn't find anything, but in the heel were three rare gold coins with a nominal value of 10 carabaks each in 1909, their total the price is 1800 dollars! said Dara calmly.

Barno, gasped! But Baraz, noticed that in the second empire usually spies hid gold coins in the sole, so they paid with informants. But these coins were fake, real gold, but melted and minted in Germany in the early 50s of the 20th century.

Dara, made a note for himself, Baraz is well versed in the history of intelligence, maybe he can help them solve - riddle 47086_1, that is, the missing "Emir's Gold, Small-Anna in 1929."

- 5 cents, copper, the early second empire, 1923, on the edge - a notch, spikelets are knocked to the right, they are not 28 but 35, a rare coin, costs $ 2560. Usually defective coins cost more, not all of course, but some of them. Some 1878 gold coins are generally valued at tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. For example, the coins of the second empire of the middle and its end are valued at 1000 and sometimes even 10,000 dollars. Grandmothers have such coins in the attics, sometimes they sell them together with all the trash in flea markets, and cunning numismatists buy all their junk for $ 10 and then sell 1 or 2 coins for $ 11,000. But finding a rare coin, stamp or badge is difficult. Since in the second empire circulations were large in tens of millions. It's very difficult to find a rare one among them, only luck helps not all treasure hunters.

Sometimes treasure hunters buy old furniture and there are hiding places in it, but for the most part they are empty, although sometimes you can find gold coins, jewelry, old letters and photographs, orders.

He liked to make such hiding places in the 20-50s of the 20th century in furniture, usually in the corners of fasteners or double bottoms near shelves. If there is furniture, there is a scanner or a pointer in your hands, then there is a chance that you will find some kind of cache there. Much in it will be love letters, maybe diaries, dried flowers, heaps less often precious stones or coins.

Also, caches can be in old tubular bicycles, motorcycles, paintings. On top of the original paintings of the 14-18th century, some children's drawings of the 20th century were applied. In the old houses, the hiding places were in the cupboards, under the floor, in the baseboards, in the air ducts, in the toilets and bathtubs. In stoves and chimneys.

Sometimes you can find old notes of the late first empire and the late second empire. Sometimes on the margins of old books there are inscriptions in French, Hebrew, Chinese, English, German, Arabic ... their owners. What did they write? for whom? Why did their books go missing? What happened to the owners is all a common everyday secret ... behind which there are no treasures, and for the most part just the history of people.

Sometimes secrets of treasures are hidden behind them, but who will solve them in the age of high speeds ... and glass balls from bearing bearings, old brands can serve as a treasure, although sometimes there may also be rare ones. Coins, letters, scraps of candy wrappers.

- Silver and copper coins of the 17-18 centuries, 30 pieces - 14,000 dollars.

- Scrap silver, with semiprecious stones, incomplete jewelry made of silver - $ 20,000.

- Copper plates from compasses, silver buttons, copper nails, forged iron nails - $ 30.

- Two copper jugs with dents and a black patina - 300 dollars each.

- 10 silver jewelry with cheap turquoise, garnets, amethyst, rock crystal and small silver coins of 5 and 10 cents of the 1854 of the first empire - each jewelry is from 700 to 1200 dollars apiece.

- the old compass of 1879 with the erased inscriptions - 130 dollars.

"That's what Fang and I managed to find from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.," summed up Dara.

Well, and how much money did she ask, excitedly Barno.

Baraz, answered now I'll say, I remember everything well and consider it, as I went through practice in the seventh main department of the secret police. In the department of external surveillance.

COMPLETED

A small story about adventurers, local history enthusiasts, treasure hunters. They wander around cities, forests, mountains, steppes and deserts, seek metal artifacts and search magnets for historical artifacts and sell some of them at auctions, donate some to museums and keep some in their home collections. They work in archives and funds, second-hand bookkeepers do not forget, they look for old books, road workers and topographic maps of the 17-20 centuries.

There is the only main character Fang and his partner Dara.

---
English is the same as in other novels. While it is far from good. The approximate number of chapters is from 60 to 100. Updates 3 chapters per week. The number of words is from 600 to more 1200.

COMPLETED

--------------------------------------------------
This is a work of art. Any resemblance to real people or real events is purely coincidental.

During the construction of new complexes of houses, in the area of ​​the old city, two tractors suddenly failed. They cleared old dignitaries. This area was built up in the 14th century. But the city grew, expanded. The city authorities decided to demolish the old quarters.

The old quarters represented adobe houses of one and two floors. Clay bricks with straw, which were dried in the sun. Dried poplar trunks acted as a carcass for the house. In fact, the wooden frame was filled with bricks and then, clay with chopped straw and water, the structure was covered on top. It turned out like a facade plaster. When everything dried up, the facade clay plaster was whitewashed on top. Over time, the plaster crumbled, but it was updated again.

Entire blocks of such houses. With narrow streets. Outside the houses seemed ugly and gray, almost no windows went out onto the street. Gray or white walls. Narrow roads where two riders or one car could barely part.

There is no greenery, no water, only dust. But inside such houses there was a real garden, water flowed in a canal that passed through all the courtyards. In these channels, widths of 30-40 cm, fish and frogs swam. Amazing flowers and shrubs bloomed. Fruit trees, sometimes located fountains and small ponds.

Life is full of colors and happiness. And from the outside, the house was a fortress. Such was the way during the feudal period. Then this system fell, capitalism came for 50 years, which was again swept away by a new way of life. After decades of civil war, attempts at intervention, the second empire settled well in Small-An. The Principality barely received independence, for 5 years, again for a long 90 years it became a colony.

Nevertheless, the inhabitants of the old city were in no hurry to leave their fortresses - palaces. So decades passed. But once, when the whole city was already covered with wide highways, shady gardens for all the townspeople and water canals. New high-rise buildings, a small corner of one of the parts of the old city, impeded the development of the city.

Part of the houses was demolished. On what the city hall and the leadership of Small-An, anonymous complaints poured. Nevertheless, the city was being built. For the place of demolished houses, residents were provided with free houses in new buildings. But this is another story of the socialist period.

Yes, to the surprise of everyone, the recently feudal principality of Small-An has become a socialist colony of the second empire.

The houses were demolished, the tractors failed. Builders crowded around the pit. She went deep down. Construction was suspended. They called specialists. They found two tractors at the bottom of a large opening. They sent them to the hospital. Severe fractures. One died on the way to the hospital. The second remained disabled for life.

Meanwhile, the builders gasped, the failure was actually a tunnel. With arches lined with bricks, with old bricks. 60 cm wide, 40 cm long and 8 cm long.

The bravest of the workers and builders decided to walk along the two ends of the collapsed tunnel.

Some went north, others south. The most interesting thing was that the torches did not go out, the tunnel had air ducts that functioned in the early 50-60s of the 20th century!

Those who went north went out in a basement, kicked out the old door and found themselves inside the courtyard of an ancient madrasah, which was built in the 16th century and then reconstructed in 17.

The distance from the place of failure to the exit point was 7 km! As they walked through the tunnel, they saw several more branches. A couple of old cabinets of the 18th century, collapsed Arba are such old carts with two wheels. Some peaks, shields, the remains of swords.

Several workers responded, but no one returned. Another group was sent for them, but she did not return. Then they called the firemen, they went with gas masks and returned five lifeless bodies. People died from a lack of oxygen. Those tunnels were already with non-working ducts. Three workers were saved.

Those who went south went to the bottom of the old well, climbed the top by a stone staircase. We came to the surface near the old bazaar, the distance from the collapse was 12 km. The second branch led another group to the old cemetery and mosque built in the 15th century. The distance from the failure was 18 km.

The tunnel width was about 8 meters, height 4 meters. Several branches were visible along the tunnel. Workers walked through some of them, where they found old books, icons, boxes. A few coins - gold and silver.

After the moves were examined by archaeologists. Historical artifacts of 15-19 and early 20th centuries were found. Several scores of weapons from sabers, bows, shields, and spades, to revolvers, coils with bayonets of 1899 and 1910, several machine guns "Maxim" with boxes of rotten moisture cartridges.

Presumably about these tunnels, the police units of the first empire, which were subsequently used during the civil war, could know. As well as English intelligence officers from 1919 to 1930.

Since in the tunnel they found several books in English as well as the official uniform of the captain and major of the British army during the First World War.

Several treasures with coins of the 15th and 20th centuries. The total coins were about 70. Silver and gold. The total price at that time was in terms of dollars, about 90 thousand. As usual in socialism, the treasure was seized in state revenue.

The tunnels were blocked at first, then the cordon was removed in the morning and heavy trucks arrived at night, overnight, all the entrances were bricked and the openings were cemented.

So these tunnels disappeared, remained buried underground. Periodically, with continued construction, the equipment continued to fail here and there underground, but immediately, the rapid response team of the Ministry of State Security came. All passages were cemented. And then they refused to continue construction at all.

Time has passed, the second empire has collapsed or it has collapsed, but that's another story. Small-An, it seems, has become independent, although in reality it has more likely become a neo-colony.

Some remembered these tunnels, offering to find, restore and show them to foreign tourists for money. But support from the city government was not found.

At the same time, some desperate heads began to look for old maps of the late 19th century and look for passages to those tunnels.

In old parks, sometimes they managed to find wells covered with earth, at the bottom of which sometimes passages were seen somewhere deeper.

Treasure hunters, armed with oxygen tanks, powerful flashlights, and pickaxes, sought wealth.

COMPLETED

The Silk Road ... it is inevitable the emergence of wells, caravanserais, guard fortresses, postal stations, local bazaars, regional bazaars, the emergence of new jobs:
- robbers (there were whole settlements)
- caravan guards
- changed
- merchants

Just about them and will be discussed.


About their life, tricks.

Alas, English is still the same ... there are mistakes, I am sure of it.

I hope over time I will be able to fix them.

I just wanted to share information about such an interesting topic as the history of the development of the Silk Road.

----
And also a series of stories about treasures, treasure hunters.

--------------------------------
This is a work of art. Any resemblance to real people or real events is purely coincidental.

While everyone in the theater, including Aniston who hadn't been a part of the shooting, were all clearly aware of the Home Alone's contents, with the progress of the story, especially when Kevin pranked the two robbers, everyone couldn't help but burst out of laughter, and even Jeffrey who was in his mid-fifties was roaring.
 
The one hour forty minutes film unwittingly ended, and once the last line of the ending titles disappeared, everyone stood up and applauded together.
 
"I really have to admit, this movie is really too great. Eric, I think I should congratulate you in advance." Jeffrey Hanson patted Eric on the shoulder, and seriously said.
 
"Thank you, Jeffrey, I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help. At least, I wouldn't be able to complete Home Alone in about two weeks of time."
 
People greeted each other for a while, then they gradually dispersed, after all, everyone there had things to do. They had intended to throw a small party to celebrate, but seeing Eric's unshaven and tired face, they very consciously gave up on the idea. Their director had overexerted himself for half a month, they were all aware that he needed to rest.
 
The next step was to plan the film's release. Since he'd have to go to the 17 Again preview screening tomorrow, Eric thought it would be a good opportunity to partner up with the 20th Century Fox's Distribution Department, he believed that as long as the executives watched the movie, they would agree to get it out on schedule. Although he'd have to share some of the profits, he didn't really have a choice as he was without any foundation at all.
 
Perhaps waiting after the 17 Again release would have made things easier for Home Alone, but by that time, even the New Year would have passed. As a Christmas comedy, it had to naturally be released at that period, and Eric didn't want to wait another year to release it as they had put so much efforts into this.
 
Annie had obtained a temporary license, she drove Eric in his car back to his home, and the tired young man put the copy of the movie away, and dove on his bed, unwilling to open a single eye.
 
Aniston had planned for Eric to shower before going to sleep, but seeing him plunge head first in his sheets and noticing his tired looking face, she only uttered a sigh before taking his clothes and shoes off, covering him up with a blanket and getting out of the room.
 
Eric hadn't been home for over half a month, and since there was no one to clean up, the place was already full of dust. Aniston rolled up her sleeves and went to find some cleaning tools. Unlike her Friends alter-ego "Rachel", a spoiled girl who didn't even know how a washing machine worked, the real Annie had long since been self-reliant.
 
On the desk in the study, Aniston found a variety of books on the subject of "basic music theory". She picked some up and used a rag to wipe the dust when a document suddenly slipped out of one of the books. Aniston curiously picked it up and found out it was a mortgage agreement.
 
...
 
He didn't know how long had passed, but it was probably noon when Annie had asked him if he wanted something to eat. Eric had groggily refused and fell asleep once more. When he woke up again, it was already dark.
 
Eric turned on the lights and looked at his watch; it was way past nine.
 
He thought that Annie had left, but as he dressed and got out of the bedroom, he could faintly hear the sounds of the TV coming from the living room.
 
Downstairs, he saw her curled up on the sofa, her arms hugging a pillow as she watched TV.
 
"Hey, Annie, good evening." Eric walked over, and kissed her cheek.
 
"Eric, you woke up. Go take shower, I'll fix you something to eat."
 
Eric didn't notice the strange look Aniston was giving him, he turned towards the bathroom, showered for half an hour, shaved, and when he got out and went to the living room again, Annie was back on the sofa and dinner was ready.
 
"Wow Annie, that really surprised me, you even made such a delicious Chinese fried rice." Eric tasted and praised.
 
"You said you liked it, so I deliberately learned." Aniston had a smile on her face as she looked at her beloved eating so voraciously. She waited patiently until he had finished before saying: "Eric, did you… did you take a mortgage on your house ?"
 
Eric was about to go to the kitchen to do the dishes when he heard Annie, he couldn't help but look at her puzzled. He hadn't told anyone about it, so how did she know ?
 
"When I helped clean the study, this fell out from a book." Seeing Eric's inquiring look, Aniston took out a document from the coffee table.
 
Eric put down the cutlery, took the file and looked at it before nodding: "I was short of 200,000$ for the Home Alone filming, so I had to take a mortgage on the house."
 
"Then, the piano in the study you also…" Aniston had come to Eric's home a few times, so she had seen the Strauss before.
 
Eric nodded again.
 
Aniston frowned in distress as she said: "Eric, I think you were too impulsive, although everyone thought that today's screening of Home Alone was very good, you never know if it might end up in failure and lead you to bankruptcy."
 
"Don't worry, Annie. You see, a few months ago, I was just a broke high school student, and now only a few months have passed and I have successfully published a novel, written a screenplay as well as starred as the main lead, and now even made movie. How many people my age can do this ? So, even if I failed this time, I believe that I'll easily be able to stand up again. We are still so young, we ought to enjoy life and strive whole-hardheartedly for success, failure isn't a bad thing, it'll help us grow, happy times do not come without some tear shedding. I don't want to become an old fossil that looks back at his life, dully and placidly gazing at the sun in the sky, full of regrets towards his younger days. That would be too miserable."
 
"Oh, Eric, when you say it like this, it sounds so amazing…. You think I don't know you're trying to trick me ?! You damn rascal !"
 
...
 
The morning sun hit her face, as her eyelashes shook and Aniston who subconsciously turned to avoid the disturbing light, soon woke up. Eric came in the bedroom holding a tray, to see his already awake girlfriend, he smiled and said: "Hey baby, good morning."
 
Aniston pouted and said: "Well not a good one to you, you bastard."
 
"Come on look, I even spent an hour making this delicious ribs soup as an apology."
 
"Don't want it, I'm dieting."
 
"Make an exception for today, you won't gain weight just because of this, come one, taste it, how's the flavor ?"
 
"Wait, don't I need to brush my teeth first ?"
 
"… I'll take you to the bathroom."
 
"Hateful !"
 
After a warm breakfast, because of mobility issues, Aniston could only ask for a leave to the convenience store owner once more. Regarding this matter, the boss was really accustomed to it as there were many people who dreamed of stardom in L.A and needed time to go to auditions or be on set earlier, and he knew that Annie was one of them. When she had looked for the job, the owner and her had reached a mutual understanding.
 
The two lovers lazed for a while before Eric drove his car away as today happened to be the 17 Again movie preview. He wanted to try and be done with the Home Alone issue at the same time.
 
Ten o'clock in the morning, in one of the 20th Century Fox luxury theater's, the Publicity Department, film-makers and a dozen of other representatives, as well as the 17 Again crew, were all present.
 
Before the start of the screening, Eric came to James Brooks and Penny Marshall's side as he wanted the both of them to introduce him to the ones from the 20th Century Fox Distribution Department.
 
"Eric, you're saying that you want to release your movie in time for Christmas ?" James Brooks was startled, he also knew about Eric making a movie as soon as he had wrapped up 17 Again, but he didn't expect that he would have completed it so fast.
 
"Yes, James, it's a Christmas comedy, so it would be best if it was available in theater during that period, as it wouldn't have the same impact if the release date was off."
 
James Brooks held some disdain in his heart, while he recognized Eric's talent as a screenwriter and actor, but he absolutely wouldn't believe that he could produce an interesting comedy. Directing a movie required years of experience after all, however, he had to at least give him face, so he promised he would help introduce him to some people.

An advertising director is reborn in 1988 Hollywood as an eighteen-year-old blond-haired westerner named Eric Williams.

From then on, he starts writing movie scripts and television songs, becomes skilled in directing every kind of film, wins over all kinds of female celebrities, and takes the road to become a Hollywood legend.

---------------------------------------------

ATTENTION!

This is not an original novel, all rights in this story belong to JUST DO.

The translation of most chapters is done by: Elawn, Nano4bots and Sissy That Walk.

My translation will start where they have left it, my translation may not be as good as theirs but I would like it much more people to know more about this story that I liked so much.

I WANT THAT I LIKE THIS HISTORY A LOT, BUT I DO NOT AGREE TO A LOT OF THE BEHAVIORS BOTH OF THE PROTAGONIST AND SOME CHARACTERS. IN THIS HISTORY CHARACTERS OF REAL LIFE APPEAR AND I DO NOT ASSURE THAT THE DATA PROVIDED IN THIS HISTORY WILL BE TRUE.

Having dressed in three suits, wearing masks with an oxygen cylinder attached to it, having jammed helmets and holding powerful lights in their hands, the three heroes set off to explore the dungeon.
Shir Ali has already cleared the passage to a hole in the wall. Dara thought, and that if there is no dungeon there, it was in vain that only a person was disturbed, it was a waste of money.
The first in the opening Baraz deftly jumped. In the darkness of the dungeon, looking at him from the basement of the warehouse, Dara and Shir Ali saw how quickly a beam of a lantern rushed through all the walls.

Immediately visible professional. Baraz waved his hand so they went down.
The second was Shir Ali, he slowly crawled into the dungeon, the floor of which was strewn with broken bricks, stones, an old tree, when he stepped on it, the tree crumbled.

"And this is destruction. Destruction of the structure of the tree itself "said Dara's voice behind him, the cousin did not notice how he went down.

 "Well, Baraz, where are you?" asked his question in the darkness of Dara.
"I'm here"! a muffled voice was heard from somewhere.

"Well, let's go"? glancing inquiringly at Shir Ali, he said Dara, who was leaning on a long geological hammer, which he grabbed just in case.

"Let's go!" said his cousin.

They slowly lit the room with the help of beams of light, it was 40 square meters in size. On the floor lay the debris of all construction rubbish, empty racks stood on the walls, apparently from under the books. There was some kind of hearth in the corner; there lay the remains of the crusts of books. Someone who burned there. Apparently, these were books.

Inside the second basement, the walls were lined with large bricks. 40 centimeters long and 7 centimeters thick. Brick, was local, indigenous, as it was called by the inhabitants of the empire in the 19th century.

One part of the wall was missing, instead, there was a corridor that stretched into the dark.
Dara, I thought it would be nice to come here with a metal detector, probably on the floor of the second basement, you could find interesting finds!

Buttons, sleeves, maybe lucky to find old coins, knives, rings? Who knows!

Dara had only a pocket "Pointer" with him; he always carried it in his pocket. Just in case. Sometimes in the city, it could come in handy, found in the old fallen oak in the park, under the bark of a tree, lead bullets of the 19th century or hidden silver coins for good luck in love. A trifle but nice!
But his thoughts were interrupted by the cry "hey, what are you digging there, oxygen is only enough for two hours!"

"Yes, actually what are we digging for?" said Shir Ali, who had already quickly examined everything, he did not find anything interesting for himself, except for the cast-iron, cast iron, which he put at the entrance to the first basement.

"Lucky!" mumbled Dara.

They both entered the corridor. It was long, with turns, through steps of 50 Baraz was waiting impatiently for them. He photographed the vaults of the dungeon on his telephone at night. Only then did the cousins ​​guess upstairs. The ceiling was beautiful, arched, lined with the same bricks as the walls of the second basement. 
The ceiling was high, not typical, for their representation of the dungeons. Four or five meters in height and the width of the corridor was about 10 meters. The floor was lined with yellow bricks, they were a little smaller, 30 centimeters long and 8 cm wide. And the walls and ceiling were dark oranges. On separate bricks were visible in the rays of a lantern, handprints. Probably the craftsmen who made such bricks. Dara, as a historian, knew that such bricks were made in the Middle Ages. Offhand 14-15 century AD.
Where is the dungeon from? This is the European part of the city, even rather it is the part where summer residences for junior officers of three regiments, artillery, infantry, hussars, were located.
Their regiments themselves were located on a hill in the fortress. From which there were only two walls and one small rear gate, which survived until the 21st century.

Dara, remembered the stories of their professor that in the walls they found small hiding places in bricks, these were brass capsules, and inside were porcelain pipes, some tobacco, a couple of coins, copper, some chains of aluminum, crosses made of bronze, pebbles and turquoise Low quality. Excavations inside the remains of the fortress were not carried out. Since the party building was located nearby. And after the collapse of the socialist system, the fortress zone, the building was transferred to the city museum.

Maybe in antiquity, there was some kind of market at this place? Mosque? Urda, the governor's headquarters, or did artisans live here? Need to look at old maps! For good luck, he decided to ask Baraz, who was an old-timer and knew a lot of interesting things about the capital!
"Hey, dear Baraz, what was there before?" asked Dara.

"What? There was a field, and before it, there was an old cemetery, but then the colonialists came and closed all the old cemeteries and twenty years later they replaced them with dachas! "
"Aha!" "Thank"! mumbled through Dara's mask.

"Okay, don't stand, let's quickly go through this corridor, see what is there, and then you will ask questions, breathing in this mask is not easy!" said a little evil Baraz.

Well, you could understand him, he was already over 60 years old, breathing in such a mask is not easy!

And Dara, accelerating his pace, though, but if there was a cemetery, then there was a mosque, which means that it was likely that one of the famous tunnels that Baraz told him could go through here!

They turned for another turn and heard a faint noise, similar to the flow of a river, it was heard right behind the wall of the corridor. They turned again, and the noise disappeared, but they went out into some kind of large tunnel. The color of the bricks changed, it was turquoise on the ceiling and greenish on the floor, the walls were yellow. The tunnel itself was wider - 14 meters and a height of 6 meters. There was nothing on the floor, only bricks. They have already passed the 2520 steps. That is about 2 km.

The walls were dry. A noise was heard from above, it was clear that they were passing cars, Shir Ali thought so.

Everyone wondered what kind of an old tunnel it was.

Baraz thought it was a smuggler's hole. Shir Ali thought that here the merchants were sitting out from the summer heat. Because the tile was covered with glaze, why cover a regular brick with glaze?

Dara also studied Industrial Tourism a little, he knew that there were many types of dungeons.
For example, there were workings of valuable stones, marble, turquoise, rock crystal, onyx, amethysts, garnets. Workers, in order not to lose time, dug underground houses near the deposits, which then united with each other, forming small towns of miners. The deposit was depleted, miners left, and remained at home. There have always been people without roofs over their heads. They found such houses and lived in the far from tax collectors. There were whole underground streets in sandstones near a largely deserted plateau; sometimes nobles from the previous dynasty hid there escaping hired killers or conquerors.

Inside such cities, archaeologists found whole markets, warehouses, mosques, schools with underground streets and ponds, workshops, and blacksmiths. Such cities were dated 12-13 centuries, 16-18 centuries.

There were settlements in the mid-19th century and the early 20s of the 20th century.
All these dates were symbolic, the beginning of the conquests, feudal feuds, the beginning of the colonization of lands, and the transfer of power from one social system to another. Probably those who did not want to live next to the conquerors were hiding in these dungeons.

Part of the tunnels has been preserved as a relic of the Cold War, underground tunnels connected the bunkers and bomb shelters with each other, but after the collapse of the second northern European empire, all these structures were no longer needed. At first, they were temporarily mothballed and then completely forgotten, location maps were lost.

More than 35 years passed, some developers began to break down old houses in the city center, but suddenly they were forced to turn off work and retire. Since they did not know that under the old houses there were entire underground towns, sometimes with gas-filled rooms. It turns out that in the 50-60s of the 20th century, these bomb shelters were used as warehouses with gas for heating residential buildings. And then, when a new technology for laying gas paths from distribution stations appeared, they forgot about these gas storages. Sometimes these were bomb shelters of the first type with armor and a reinforced steel box reinforced with cement. Breaking such bunkers is very expensive and requires the use of special equipment. It is very expensive, long, and can lead to the destruction of other infrastructure lying next to it, from the foundations of houses to urban communications and the roadway.
Some tunnels served for secret meetings of the rulers and the paths of their imperceptible withdrawal, to avoid the eyes of the enemy and even hired killers.

There were simple passages for attacks behind enemy lines. They were especially popular between the feudal wars in the 18th century and during the First World War. But Small - An was lucky not to get into the turmoil of the first and second world wars.

And this tunnel remained a mystery!

For what, for whom? Why was he in a European city?

Their path continued.

Baraz's back was visible in the distance, Shir Ali looked around, he also had the experience of a treasure hunter.

But Dara, suddenly stumbled, catching his foot on the floor near the wall for something, almost falling. He cursed in imperial. Simple and short. This attracted the attention of Baraz, he slowly walked back and Shir Ali who lit the cousin's legs with a lamp.

There, to their surprise, lay a small leather bag.

Dara wanted to kick him but then restrained himself.

Bent down, squatted down, began to shine a lamp. The bag was old. Rubbed in places with copper ears.

Dara slowly began to open it ...

... inside were letters, when touched, they turned to dust.

"Well, what are you doing so carelessly with historical artifacts" Baraz could not restrain himself.
"Maybe these were valuable letters and we could sell them out!" "Oh, you are burdock!"

"Yes, okay, it's impossible to return the departed," waved Dara's hand, "this is everyday life."
Shir Ali smiled broadly under the mask, as his favorite childhood character said, who lived on the roofs and was a big bully. A lover of buns, jams, and buns. Prankster and the one who plagued Freken Bock. Cute Carlson with a button on his stomach and a propeller on his back.

At the bottom of the bag were five silver coins, large enough, it seems Dara had already seen them before ... he had an unpleasant feeling that this stupid project was again ... or it might blow. He got lucky! They were not the Straubtalers, but simply big silver coins of Big An, 1843, when poor Arthur O'Connoli and Colonel Stogartt cut off their heads in the main square of Big An. He got lucky! It was not related to that project, so the general did not need to report anything.

But coins could be sold for a good price, and then everyone would fall into a restaurant together, where somehow Dara and her cousin had a steak from the chef. Not the most expensive restaurant, not the most exclusive. But he satisfied the taste - price-quality. Not a masterpiece of culinary art, there are mistakes in cooking, but they cook deliciously and most importantly clean!

Fumbled inside, he felt two drums, heavy handles, damn it, these were revolvers ... now, without a general, the business will not do with Dara thought with frustration.

But here he was lucky, having pulled them out of his bag, he saw that they were strange devices. It seems he saw them somewhere earlier, too ... (it was an old device for cleaning berries from cherry seeds, immediately 100 pieces). He set the appliance aside.

There was nothing else in the bag. Judging by the date, on the device, someone visited here in 1897 ... but why did he leave it now it wasn't possible to find out, the letters turned into dust.

Baraz suggested leaving the find there so that later they would return for it. But Dara was greedy and experienced, so he silently stuffed the things he found in a small backpack, where there was water, medicine, and some food.

Dara always took such a backpack with him; life taught him this. Always have at hand water, food, medicine, and dressings. Everything happens on expeditions and the farm.

"Well, what do young people move on to?" asked Baraz.

"Sure"! two cousins ​​answered in chorus.

And there, around the next corner, an unexpected meeting awaited them ...

City treasure hunters, this is the second season of "The Adventures of Treasure Hunters - 1 season"

In it, Dara takes advantage of the knowledge of her system and will seek treasures in the underground passages, in the ravines in the city center. Visit fairs and flea markets, second-hand shops in search of treasures, artifacts, antiques.

Chapters will be from 60 to 100.

Updates the first two weeks of 2 chapters per day. And after three chapters a week.

In the next couple of weeks, there will be the first update.

--------------------------
This is a work of art. Any resemblance to real people or real events is purely coincidental.

Some argue that various works by authors that do not meet the requirement of fine grammar and spelling are rubbish. Here, each person has his own opinion, and let him stick to it and impose his opinion on others as the ultimate truth, it speaks only of ignorance of life. It is diverse.

Is the work of authors with poor grammar garbage? In my opinion, no. Each author tells his story, passed through his worldview, attitude, understanding of life, his experience and thoughts about the world. It's always interesting for me to read this personally.

I'm a bibliophile, I read a lot of classic works of art, Tomass and Gernih Mana, Feuchtwanger, Mark Twain, Stvenson, Romain Roland, Galsworthy, Tolstoy and all his volumes and there are about 19 of them! I didn't read Dostoevsky, I didn't like him. But Azek Azimov, Ursuda Le Guin, Tolkien, Kipling, Conandoyle, Louis Besenar and others I read with pleasure. Li Bo, the poetry is gorgeous. Novels of feudal and late feudal China, Japan, Korea. Novels and novels by Chinese prose writers of the early 20s and 80-90s of the 20th century.

In general, I read about 10,000 books. Fiction, fantasy, poetry, historical novels, ballads, myths and legends.

After that I became interested in reading historical documentaries - about the history of the Silk Road, Archeology, History, Ethnography, Etymology, the Big Game, the story of the confrontation of imperial intelligence in the vast regions of the Silk Road.

I read about 550 books, from the 16th to the beginning of the 21st century.

I have some kind of base for evaluating short stories and novels.

Sometimes works written flawlessly in terms of grammar, alas ... they are completely devoid of meaning, they are not interesting, they do not have fascinating stories, conclusions, experience, thoughts. But work with poor grammar, on the contrary, have unique information. Of course, not all works, but there are some.

Therefore, when assessing the creativity of another person, the author, being so categorical in evaluations, says only that you have a maximalist who still knows life poorly. This is the right of choice, each person, and to impose a choice on another according to my preferences, I consider this not comme il faut. Well, here everyone has a point of view.

In fact, this is an eternal question - what is more important? Beautiful text form or good content? Bestsellers are those works that combine good text and good content.

I am the author myself. But not a professional writer, but a techie. I don't know much about composition, about the intricacies of writing good text. But I have a very interesting content. Is my story garbage? I do not think so? Do I respect the reader? Sure. But writing is better so far I can't. Nevertheless, I have my own circle - readers who are interested in my work. There are not hundreds or thousands of people, but a couple of dozen will be typed.

I write in the genre - a documentary historical fiction, there are many interesting facts about the Silk Road with which I wanted to share. If I were waiting for the moment when I could write well in terms of English grammar ... I would not be able to share it now ... maybe in a couple of years ... and still I would not be able to write like this they write - people from English-speaking countries. This is a favorite topic of native speakers to reproach those who learn this language in their ignorance of the intricacies of the language they learn, grammar and spelling errors ... As we say, the dog barks, the caravan goes on. That happens.

English is the world language of communication. Moreover, for me it is the third language. I speak English well, but my grammar is lame. I admit it. Yes, I need to teach her, but I don't think I can write in perfect English.

The overall result - write as you can, share your thoughts, in the era of information, the content itself is important and not its form. One way or another, it can help others, they can come to a new thought and write a story about your topic that you would like to read yourself!


As they say in the East - do good and throw it into the water, a person will not know, the fish will know!

Peace and prosperity!

Thoughts of why and why stories are written.

All the same English, he has not improved in 18 days.

I'll figure something out, try to correct the text.

---------------------------------------------------------
This is a work of art. Any resemblance to real people or real events is purely coincidental.

After she had cleared all her doubts, Qiao Zijin was at ease now. She swung her barely wet hands and was about to leave.
Qiao Zijin turned around and saw Qiao Nan standing by the kitchen doorway with a cup in her hand. She was staring directly at her. Qiao Zijin shrieked in alarm, her heart in her throat. "Nan… Nan Nan, wh-why are you here?"
Had Nan Nan overheard the conversation that she had with Ding Jiayi? How much of the conversation did she overhear?
Ding Jiayi was also shocked at the sudden appearance of Qiao Nan, not to mention Qiao Zijin.
Ding Jiayi might be capable of ruthless and shameless acts, but she could not bring herself to say it or admit it in front of Qiao Nan, especially when she had been caught unawares by her.
"I want to pour myself a drink." Qiao Nan waved at the cup in her hands and shot an aloof look at Qiao Zijin, "Can't I?"
"Of course." Qiao Zijin smiled awkwardly. This was not her concern at all. "Nan Nan, let me pour you a drink?"
Qiao Zijin just found out the truth from Ding Jiayi behind her father's attitude towards she and Qiao Nan. She had a guilty conscience when she saw Qiao Nan and felt sorry for her.
"No need, I am okay." Qiao Nan was not the least bit happy at Qiao Zijin's efforts to please her. In fact she had goosebumps all over her.
Her experience from the two lifetimes told her that whenever Qiao Zijin treated her with a slightly better attitude, there must be something that she wanted from her.
She would rather be treated with arrogance and coldness, than to face Qiao Zijin's smiling countenance.
After Qiao Nan poured herself a drink and left the kitchen, Qiao Zijin asked Ding Jiayi, "Mom, do you think Qiao Nan overheard our conversation or not?"
"I don't think she has overheard our conversation. She would not have had this kind of reaction." Ding Jiayi breathed a sigh of relief as well.
"Luckily she didn't." Qiao Zijin patted her chest, she had the shock of her life at seeing Qiao Nan.
Ding Jiayi might have nothing to fear regarding Qiao Nan, but it was not the same for Qiao Zijin. She was not ready to lose this younger sister totally.
"Alright, you should go and do your schoolwork. I will finish up the chores. Even if that wretched girl did overhear our conversation, it was nothing but the truth. Besides it was all your father's doing. It has nothing to do with us. Good girl, go back to your room." Ding Jiayi patted Qiao Zijin on the shoulder. She was no longer preoccupied with Qiao Nan's attitude.
Ding Jiayi had never been affected by Qiao Nan's attitude.
"Okay." Qiao Zijin returned to her room in high spirits. Even if her results were not as good as Qiao Nan's, she was the most important person in the house. There was no way that Qiao Nan could compete with her. 
It turned out that her father was also biased towards her. Though compared to her mother, he might be slightly fairer.
At the thought of this, Qiao Zijin felt cool and refreshed, as if she had a glass of spring water in the hot summer.
While Qiao Zijin rolled around in happiness on her bed, Qiao Nan as usual was poring over her books, studying conscientiously.
The weekend flew past, Qiao Zijin went back to The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, while Qiao Nan stuck to her usual routine - going to school, the Zhai's house and Qiao's house.
This day, someone from the reception office informed Qiao Nan that someone had left her a parcel, notifying her to collect it.
Qiao Nan was confused. Someone sent her a parcel? Who would that be?
That was impossible.
Had the staff at the reception office made a mistake? There was only one Qiao Nan in the whole school, but could there be homonyms?
Qiao Nan went to the reception office and raised her doubts. But the staff said that the person who made the delivery had gave her name and even stated the class that she was in.
Unless there were two persons by the name of Qiao Nan in Secondary three (1) class, this delivery was meant for Qiao Nan.
After hearing what the staff from the reception office said, Qiao Nan could only take the parcel with her. When she returned to the classroom, many of the classmates stole glances at her, staring at her while she walked in.
The end of the 20th century was unlike the 21st century where parcel delivery was very common. It was very rare that someone sent a parcel and left it at the reception office.
"Hmph." Zhao Yu snorted in annoyance. There was nothing to be smug about, it was just a delivery. If she wanted a parcel, she could also ask her mother to send her one.
"What's that?" Her desk mate Zhu Baoguo craned his neck like a swan, with his eyes fixed on Qiao Nan. He was dying to get his hand on the parcel and to see for himself what was inside.
"I have no idea." Unlike people her age who were impatient and fretful, Qiao Nan was calm and composed. She took her time to open the parcel.
The parcel was squarish and heavy. Qiao Nan surmised that it might have been books.
As expected, when she opened the parcel, there were books inside. In fact, there were revision books. 
There were revision books for the sciences subjects.
Qiao Nan flipped the books open. There were simple explanations and concepts inside the revision books. These books were hard to find in the times now. Most people would not be able to buy them.
To Qiao Nan, these books came at an opportune time. She was thrilled to have these books.
Qiao Nan had been worrying about her weak foundation in sciences subjects. Despite revising and grasping some of the simple arithmetic concepts, she would be confused whenever she applied all of the arithmetic concepts simultaneously. It was undoubtedly a timely help to Qiao Nan.
Qiao Nan was not worried about those questions that required the application of a single concept. Her biggest worry was those complicated questions that required her to apply multiple concepts. 
In the Celestial Empire, the exams placed a big focus on doing huge amounts of exercises and problem sums. To Qiao Nan, it would definitely be useful to do lots of practises and exercises.
"Oh, we do not have these books here. There are very popular in the national capital as well, but there aren't many in stock. Which of your friends is so nice to send you this as a gift?" Zhu Baoguo could tell at one glance that the books were not easily available. 
Of course, people like him could get their hands on anything they wanted. 
Zhu Baoguo had a cousin who once flaunted this volume of books to him. His intention was to make him jealous. But Zhu Baoguo was unaffected, he did not even bother to take a glance at the books. 
"It was this popular?" Qiao Nan was stunned. She was unfamiliar with the consumer market here.
But who would have sent her these books, could it be…
Impossible.
A person came to her mind. But Qiao Nan shook her head, intuition told her that it could not be him. But if it was not him, Qiao Nan could not think of another person who would do this for her. 
It was impossible that the relatives of Qiao's family would buy these books. Her father had no relatives, as for the relatives from her mother's side, it was all the more impossible for them to buy these books. 
All her blood relations would not buy it for her. If her closest kin would not put in these efforts, who in the world would be so nice to her?
"What's on your mind?" Zhu Baoguo prodded her shoulder, "You really have no idea who bought you these books?"


Qiao Nan: Crap! I am your biological daughter, yet I am treated as if I was picked up from the streets. In fact, you treat me worse than that!

Mother Qiao: Qiao Nan, you are not as pretty or smart as your elder sister. You are not as blessed as her. You have no right to study, marry, or to have your happiness!

Qiao Nan: Why am I not allowed to study, marry, or to seek my happiness? I will find a man right now and marry him!

Qiao Nan is dumbstruck upon discovering that the man right beside her is a powerful figure in the quad—the person who has the most promising prospects to be the future Chief.

Qiao Nan stares at the well-built man in front of her. He has firm abs and cold, chilling eyes. She swallows the lump in her throat as she says her greetings, "Good Morning, Chief!"

{18 April 2184 AD}

Hideyoshi Bunker, the eminent scientist, was absentmindedly riding through Tokyo. 

After yet another twenty-hour workday, the pioneering workaholic had again left the university's laboratory after midnight.

In a change of routine, however, he had put his electric self-driving car into manual-mode, nostalgically recalling how his father had taught him how to drive the 'old-fashioned way'. 

Hideyoshi still kept his old man's car in one of his garages; it was his favourite way of keeping this cherished memory alive.

("Haha, I'm turning into one of those old melancholic fools I used to make fun of...") He silently remarked. 

The few who would still manually drive a car were the rare nostalgic types and eccentric collectors and hobbyists.

Thoughts about how times had drastically changed, put him into a reminiscent mood. Due to mental and physical exhaustion, he couldn't stop long-forgotten memories of youth from flooding his mind. 

The involuntary daydreaming and accumulated fatigue acted like a sleeping pill. 

He was now drifting in and out of unconsciousness as sweet melodies of the past nursed him to sleep.

[...]

{19 April ????}

Hideyoshi was waking up.

("By God... did I oversleep?") He felt as if he had slept for years on end.

("I haven't felt so well-rested since I was in my teens or twenties!") He silently thought as both guilt and satisfaction rose within him.

While he was still in bed, he rubbed his eyes before opening them.

"Euhm?" He mumbled before abruptly grasping for air.

Hideyoshi's eyes opened very widely as an overwhelming sense of disorientation filled his whole being.

("Where am I?)

He again was about to rub his eyes but stopped when he noticed that his hands had changed!?

("How can this be!? Is this a lucid dream?")

He carefully examined the hands.

("Normally the hands and palms should show irregularities if this were a dream! But... they're perfectly normal! I bet doctor Aizawa would love nothing than to put me in a sleeping lab if I told her this...")

He proceeded to slowly feel his face.

("It seems I'm a boy?)

He hesitantly patted around the chest area.

...
He let out a slight sigh of relief.
...

(I should look around for now...")

The first rays of the sun had only recently brightened the sky. 

He sat upright in his bed and looked around the dim and messy room. 

("Definitely a teenage boy... the posters... he must be into some sort of punk-rock music? Their clothing style... are they from the late 20th century or 21st-century revivalists?")

He stretched his arm to turn on the lamp on his bedside cabinet. He then came out of bed and took a few measured steps.

"Ah!" He reflexively exclaimed after spotting a door that was slightly ajar, likely the bathroom door.

("The bedroom is quite spacious already and this boy has a private bathroom too?! Must be an upper-middle-class family...")

He picked up a notebook on his way to the bathroom.

("It's his diary... Oh! It seems I'm starting to recall some things, although vaguely...")

Hideyoshi felt the prior disorientation dissipate as curiosity took its place.

("Hm, most interesting. My own mind and personality are intact though I feel like another person. Yet this person's memories are as if coming back to me like they were my own... I should talk to Aizawa-san hereafter, even I would like to study this phenomenon.")

Hideyoshi was starting to feel intrigued and entertained by this unique and strange experience. Nevertheless, he had not once considered it to be more than a lucid dream - albeit an exceptionally credible dream.

He entered the bathroom while portions of hazy memories were being recovered. 

During the process of remembering, the emotions and attitudes of the unknown boy were slowly resurfacing as well.

Hideyoshi looked into a shattered full-length mirror, stretched his arms and legs and dispassionately examined his 'dream-body'.

("Caucasian, male,... around 5 foot 11, between ages fifteen and seventeen, not more than 130 pounds. Pale skin, dark blonde, no, light brown ash hair, hazel coloured eyes, high cheekbones, wide jaw, almond-shaped eyes, hm... A mix of Northern European and... Eastern European, euhm, Slavic descent? Some slightly effeminate features...")

("All in all, good genes... He should eat and exercise more, get more sunlight and correct his posture ...") The physician and counsellor in him emerged.

Since the boy had been sleeping in his underwear, Hideyoshi could quickly make an accurate assessment thanks to his comprehensive clinical knowledge and experience.

("I can feel his feelings without losing myself in them...")

"It seems to be a case of teenage angst. It would explain his musical inclinations, gloomy room, poor posture and downhearted moods." He was now speaking aloud out of habit. When thinking of a diagnosis, he would sometimes speak softly to himself, even when alone.

"I remember I... the boy slammed the mirror with a metal bat, ... yesterday evening, in a fit of anger and despair..."

("Loneliness, anxiety, reactive anger, confusion, depression, guilt, hope, sorrow...") Hideyoshi calmly tried to name the emotions as they came up and stirred within him. He fully and intimately felt them but constantly regarded them to be someone else's - which in his mind they were.

He examined the whole body more closely, especially the wrists.

("Good, he hasn't harmed himself. At least in the way, I thought...") 

He decided to look for clues. For some reason, he felt it was better to wait before opening the diary. He instinctively cleaned up the room as he did so. 

As a control-freak obsessed with cleanliness, he couldn't help himself. 

...

After an hour and a half of cleaning, the room looked totally different. Although the room had been messy, it luckily wasn't dirty and didn't take too much time to clean up.

He had torn off those posters, removed the excessively heavy and dark curtains, picked up and thrown away all waste and neatly put away both clean and dirty clothes. 

He had also picked up the shards, put down the broken mirror and cleaned the whole bathroom.

He had also systematically arranged the extensive collection of books, noting the boy's serious interest in eastern culture and philosophy.

("Curious... most of these books are old, they won't give me much of a clue...")

After he was done with cleaning, he opened the window and looked out.

("Well... I know where I am now!") He smiled.

He gazed at the neighbourhood and saw a familiar flag decorating several homes. 

He unconsciously hummed the 'star spangled banner'.

("I guess the style would be 'Neo-Colonial'¹?") 

("As I thought, I'm somewhere between the 20th and 21st century...") He vaguely remembered his paternal grandfather's longspun speeches on architecture when they were vacationing.

("It must still be very early in the morning for there to be this little activity.") He quietly deduced it was around the middle of spring.")

("... like in the waking world.")

"I should give that diary a look now..." He promptly decided.

He went back into the bathroom, where he had placed the notebook.

He picked it up and opened it carefully.

...

As soon as he had done so - feelings, emotions, memories, thoughts, fantasies, ... not his own, emerged from within.

He was stunned by the overwhelming amount of data that came out of nowhere.

...

He slowly recovered his bearing and read the only page where something was written on it:

{"First and final entry"}
{"18 April  2002"}
{"I've been practising the ancient ritual of the Bonyoshi-Hisakoro sect for 108 days in a row now, completing the rite on the eve of my sixteenth birthday."}
{"According to the instructions, I am only to leave my most important wish for the Atarashī seishin²}

{"Shukufuku sa retaI³,"}
{"I hope you can bring good fortune to those around me."}
{"Tashi Boncoeur"}
{Signature}

...

"What?" He blurted out.

Hideyoshi's felt as if the floor had caved in. All the hairs on his body were raised, cold sweat dripped at odd places and his hands were shaking.

"What farce is this!?" He almost shouted.

He raced to the grand library which had previously been hidden by used clothes and bedsheets. He hurriedly picked all the dictionaries he could find. 

Going through them one by one, he eventually confirmed his eerie suspicions by searching through a massive name dictionary.

...

He proceeded to read out loud.

"Dad's name, 'Boniface Bunker'... and the boy's name, 'Tashi Boncoeur' ..."

"The names 'Boncoeur' and 'Bunker' are derived from Old French 'bon cuer' which means 'good heart' ..."

"... 'Tashi' means 'good fortune' in Tibetan. 'Boniface' is derived from the Latin name 'Bonifatius', meaning 'good fate '..."

"... Mom's name... 'Hisakawa Kokoro'..."

"... 'Hisakawa' means 'long time ago' and  'stream'... "

"... 'Kokoro' means 'soul' ..."

"... Finally, my name. 'Hideyoshi' means 'outstandingly good luck' ..."

"... This is absurd! ..."

...

For some reason, Hideyoshi didn't think he was dreaming anymore, nor that this was some sort of drug-induced delusion. He felt he would have woken up from shock if this had truly been but a dream and what drugs would have left his intellectual faculties intact?

...

("Bonyoshi-Hisakoro... [Bon]-iface, Hide-[yoshi], [Hisa]-kawa, Ko-[koro]")

He self-mockingly noted that he was thinking like a conspiracy theorist.

Nevertheless, since he had seen the unbelievable scientific and biotechnological advancements during his generation, concepts like time-travel and consciousness-transmission were no longer chimaeras of the imagination but very real possibilities that were being worked out.

("A teenager with a penchant for Eastern mysticism and occultism has somehow summoned another consciousness into his own body?") 

He scoffed at his own reasoning.

("Not only that, he succeeded in bringing a 'soul' of the future into the past by some archaic rite recorded by some Shinto-like-sect that bears the mix of my family's names?")

...

Hideyoshi used Tashi's meditation chair to try and regain some equanimity. He collected his thoughts and tried to establish order within his mind.

There two conflicting sets of memories. One was his, the other belonged to Tashi's world.

("Is this one of many possible parallel universes?") 

("... Who's idea was it again? Was it Newton's or Schrödinger's?")

He frowned as he persevered in his mental efforts.

("Not important!") 

("Anyways... it seems that the worlds are quasi-identical")

("On a greater scale, the differences seem minor and negligible. Of course, in a normal person's life, these would be important differences...")

"it's essentially the same world ..." He concluded.

Hideyoshi smirked as he remembered his father's favourite saying.

"Same sh**, different name! Ey dad?" He loudly blurted out.

"Same and different..." He whispered.

A middle-aged Japenese-American pioneer in several scientific fields has his consciousness somehow transferred into the body of a high school sophomore of a parallel world!

It started to rain when I drifted to sleep.

I remember it was raining too that day...


6 years ago.


The sound of rain falls heavily on my ears as I put my head out of the window, staying far away from the mad man in the middle of the room.

That mad man is currently cackling loudly in front of the bubbling cauldron in the middle of the room, laughing heartily at the milky white substance bubbling being cooked.

That mad man stopped his laughter and put on a solemn expression, "The key to the preservation of the golden age of humanity is finished."

That comment made me unable to help but yell at him. "The key to the preservation of the golden age of humanity stanks!!! A Lot!!!"

I put my head out of the window again, staying far away from that stinky substance.

That put the crazy laughter back at him and I scowled.

That master of mine has been in a happy mood for a month. And he have every reason too. We found a pre-war dwelling, and by pre-war I mean before the Fallout. It was buried under the dirt for a thousand years now,  and if not for that pest of a giant mole munching too much of our plant that we decide to rid of then we'll never know we built our shack on the top of some treasure.

Or thousand years old junks. Antiques. Whatever you'd like to call them.

I know that people pays a lot for pre-war stuffs. They're very valuable because they remind us of our golden age before we destroy it. But I really don't understand why he's so happy when we saw that bookcase and the books within.

Those books were so old and fragile that I saw some of them crumbling even without a touch.

It was then that the old man become very serious and seal that underground cave. He didn't want to ruin those treasures, he said. And then he sent me to buy some chemical reagents and other stuffs necessary to make that milky white substance that will kept those book from crumbling. Or crumbling too much, I mean they are really really old, and they are really really fragile.

I just didn't think that it will smell so bad.

Master regained his composure and grinned, "What would you know, brat, this smell is the proof that I cook it right."

I scowled at him. "Does it have to smell that bad?"

"Well, you can reduce the smell by adding some stuff, alright, but the preservation effect will be reduced, too. So yes, it have to smell that bad. That other recipe also kept the appearance of the books just a little bit better, but you need to process the book further. It's just not worth it"

I scowled at him. I swear I'll find that other recipe.

Master took the cauldron off from the fire and put it in the corner. "Now that the preservative is done, we'll have to wait tomorrow to process the books. We have to be very careful so that we won't ruining those beauties, won't we?"

There he goes it again. "I really don't understand why you care about the books so much. There are others antiques there that if we didn't seal the cave we'll be able to sell them. Why are they so important?"

The old man grinned, "That's because knowledge is power."

"You've been telling me that. But what kind of power can those books give us? If we sell those antiques we can acquire some money, and with money we can buy food and everything, but what can knowledge in those fragile do to us?"

"Everything! Haven't I taught you how humanity reach the golden age?"

"No, master. I'm pretty sure you haven't."

"Oh, time to rectify my mistake, then."

He walked through the room and reach the window by my side. Looking at the rain outside he asked me. "Tell me what is newtonian holistic?"

"Isn't that what it's called when your knowledge has reached such a level that you've understand the principle behind all the phenomenon of the world?"

"Yes, it was when you've collected known knowledges and theories that they formed a system of knowledge that allows you to explain the principles behind all the phenomenon. A holistic system of knowledge where everything is answerable.

"It was named after the Great Sage Newton who managed to do that back in the 17th century. And so science was able to answer all the question on nature and the laws that govern them.

"That was until Great Sage Einstein's Relativity Theory torn the old newtonian holistic asunder.

"To be fair, Great Sage Einstein pushed the border of science forward with his theories, but the scientific communities received a great shock after their foundation crumbles. There came to be new discoveries, new theories and new experiments. There were new questions, and there were new answers. But most importantly there were questions without answers, especially when the experiments conducted failed to give consistent results. The knowledges and theories of the 20th century to explain all the new discovered phenomenon.

"The lack of ability to answer the questions prompted some sages to believe that there are no answers in the first place for the questions. They gave up. They made up was what is called the Principle of Uncertainty. Basically it says that the results, the answers are unknown by principle. They stopped to seek the answers and embrace ignorance, embrace unknowledgeability into the core of their science. That was the Quantum Physics.

"And then some experiments come out with the same result. It brought out the fact that some laws govern the particles so that if they're treated with the same way they will gave the same result, and unconsistent results before was caused by yet unknown variables.

"But the scientists so enamored by Principle of Uncertainty somehow unable to take the hint from the results that remain the same and to search for the laws that gave out those result, and to search for the variables that prevent other experiments from giving the same result everytime. Instead they announced that those particles must connected, entangled somehow to be able to give same results. They called it "quantum entanglement".

"Great Sage Einstein was angered by that conclusion and called it "voodoo", well, he's basically calling those scientist turned their back from science and making out the answer without sound foundation. They're turning their back from the laws that govern the particles.

"Great Sage Einstein himself never relented in seeking the answers, to find the underlying principles that govern all. He wanted to make a newtonian holistic out of all the new discoveries and theories. He called it the Theory of Everything.

"Unfortunately few scientists share his desire. Most scientist of that era have turn devouts of the half science and half unknowledgeables that is the Quantum Physics. It was convenient. You can turn to science when the answer is knowledgeable and when you can't produce an answer you can turn to the Principle of Uncertainty and says 'It's unknowledgeable after all'.

"So those scientists revel in the weirdness and absurdity of their science, like the quantum entanglement or the "one particle in two places at the same time" of the quantum jump without trying to find out the principles behind those phenomenon.

"Sage Schroedinger tried to show the fallacy in their thoughts by giving out his Schroedinger's Cat thought experiment, but the scientist somehow took fancy in the absurdity of Schroedinger's Cat and instead of proving the fallacy of the unknowledgeabilities, they make the multiverse theory to show that make possible of all results.

"So science remains stagnant, but it can not last since the core of science is to seek knowledge after all. New discoveries emerged, new theories formed. And scientists tried to giving names to all particles they found.

"It was until the 21st century when Sage Otori come out with his Particle Physics.

"Like most people, he figured out from Great Sage Einstein's e=mc2 formula that matter is comprised of energy, but he arrange it further in the way of the atomos theory, which is that atoms are  made of particles, particles are made of quanta and finally quanta are made of energies.

"By making out that particles are made out of quanta, it become possible to explain the matter/wave duality and quantum jump. Drawing the analogy from the solid, liquid and gaseous form of H2O, particles can also have the solid form (matter), liquid form (wave) and the indiscernible gaseous (dark matter) form. In this explanation, matter/wave duality is like how ice turned to water and vice versa, while quantum jump is liken to how this rain was formed, so you can explain this rain as water that jumped from the sea." He grinned widely at this.

"To prove his theory Sage Otori seeks to find the equation for the dark matters that was indiscernible at that time. And since dark matters are the third form of particles other than matter and wave, he did it simply by combining Heidenberg's matrix equation and Schroedinger's wave equation to find the third equation that represent dark matters.

"He succeeded.

"Otori's equation reinvigorate the seeks for the Theory of Everything. Scientist around the world flocks to him when he announced he's researching the structure of particles, similar to the way how atoms were made of protons, neutrons and electrons, he's researching on what quantum forms particles.

"Once again science provide answers for everything, just like the way Great Sage Newton once did.

"And the golden age of humanity started from there."

1000 years after the Fallout, the Earth slowly regain its ecosytems as the Druids terraforms the Nuclear Wastelands into habitable dominions.

Fallout Shelters gained advantage from the legacies of the old world they inherited and used to terraform the nuclear wasteland. But Legacies are everywhere and any Legacy Hunter may find their fortune, hidden beneath the ruins of the old world.

This story begins when a young elf, dreaming to be a druid and terraform a piece of Wasteland into his own land tried to sell the artifact he found to gain the money and the connections he needed so he can study in the cherished University of SimCity.

Only those who have gained a doctoral title may enter the Druid Academy and learned the knowledges the Circles of Druid needed to terraform the Wasteland, and the Universities only allows those with proficient knowledge to further their study there...

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