121: The South Sea is at peace, and the flame of civilization continues to burn.

The room was deathly silent, save for the faint hum of the hair dryer lying on the carpet.

Wang Dalong's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg. He looked at the shocking line of text on the letter, then at Lin Feng, his expression shifting from shock to bewilderment, and then to a near-absurd ecstasy.

"Brother Feng... am I seeing this right? They... they shipped all the treasure away? To... to some 'Anlan Continent'?"

Lin Feng didn't answer. His fingers followed the characters on the letter, continuing downward.

The latter half of the letter detailed Zhang Shijie's entire plan—a tragic, mad, yet logically rigorous 'Embers Plan'.

The fleet in the 'Canglong Bay' shipyard was never meant to guard the treasure from the start; it was the final escape route Zhang Shijie had prepared for himself and the Emperor. His plan was for the treasure fleet led by Su Xian to depart first and establish a stronghold on the unknown 'Anlan Continent.' Meanwhile, he would return to Yamen to rendezvous with the Chancellor and prepare to escort the Emperor's breakout.

According to his vision, if the breakout succeeded, they would use light, fast ships to evade the main Mongol Yuan navy and reach 'Canglong Bay.' There, the refitted fleet would become a surprise force to escort the Emperor overseas along the treasure fleet's route, seeking a future restoration.

He had set a grand stage. The Canglong Bay fleet was the 'shield' protecting the Emperor's safety, while the far-sailing treasure was the 'root' sustaining the new dynasty's lifeblood. It was a perfect closed loop, allowing for both offense and defense.

However, man proposes, but God disposes.

History gave him no opportunity to execute his plan. The Mongol Yuan army's offensive was much faster and more violent than he had imagined.

"...Your servant led the troops in a bitter struggle, but the disparity in forces was too great, and there was no hope of breaking through. Suddenly, I heard that Chancellor Lu carried the Emperor into the sea. My heart was scorched, and all hope vanished. The Great Song... is gone."

The handwriting on the letter became scrawled and resolute at this point.

"When the troops at Canglong Bay heard of the nation's fall and the sovereign's death, their morale collapsed. Some threw themselves into the sea for their country, while others drew their swords to take their own lives. Overnight, of the three thousand soldiers, more than half were gone. I have gathered their remains; the rest of us also do not wish to live alone in this world. I only hope that General Su's departure can preserve a trace of our Han lineage, a flicker of the embers."

"I, Zhang Shijie, kowtow to heaven and earth, and to the late Emperor. This body returns to the sea. May the celestial might of the Great Song eternally guard the maritime borders."

The signature was a bloody handprint.

The letter ended there.

Lin Feng slowly rolled up the letter. His chest felt tight, and even his breathing became labored.

He seemed to see that desperate night over seven hundred years ago. In this secluded underwater cave, how an elite navy carrying the hope of restoration fell from the peak of hope into the abyss of despair after learning the news of their country's destruction.

There were no enemies, no battle. They completed their final loyalty to a dynasty by drawing their swords or leaping into the sea.

The general he had seen must have been one of them. He hadn't chosen the sea, but instead sat upright in his barracks, following his sovereign in the most dignified manner. The brocade box he guarded wasn't for treasure, but to pass down this tragic story along with that final sliver of hope.

"Damn it..." Wang Dalong's eyes were red, his voice choking. "These people... they were too tough..."

He wiped his face hard and then pointed at the massive nautical chart: "Brother Feng, then this map is the route Su Xian and the others took to 'Anlan Continent'?"

Lin Feng nodded, suppressed his grief, and refocused his attention on the nautical chart.

This map was the greatest gain of this expedition.

It wasn't just a treasure map; it was a record of transoceanic navigation from the 13th century, enough to rewrite the world's maritime history!

The starting point of the map was right near Yamen. A bright red cinnabar line started from the Yamen sea area and headed south, clearly marking every island and sea area the route passed through.

"Look here," Lin Feng pointed to a spot on the map.

The route passed through 'Wanli Shitang' (Xisha Islands) and 'Changsha' (Nansha Islands), arriving at a large island labeled 'Puluozhong'.

"Puluozhong... Pulau Ujong, that's the earliest Malay name for Singapore." Lin Feng couldn't hide his excitement. "Then the route turns southeast from here, passing through 'Linyamen,' 'Ge'ermen'..."

Wang Dalong immediately pulled out his military-grade tablet, opened a global satellite map, and began a comparison.

"Linyamen... Longyamen, that's today's Singapore Strait! Ge'ermen... Karimun, the Karimun Islands! It matches! It matches perfectly!" Wang Dalong shouted excitedly.

The cinnabar-red route was like a precise scalpel, cutting through the complex waters of the South China Sea and the Indonesian archipelago.

Starting from the Karimun Islands, the fleet headed south along the Karimata Strait between Sumatra and Kalimantan, crossed the Java Sea, and reached a port named 'Wangjiaxi'.

"Wangjiaxi... Makassar! On Sulawesi Island in Indonesia! Columbus was still playing in the mud back then, and our ancestors had already opened a route to here!" Wang Dalong was completely awestruck.

And the end of the route, after crossing the Banda Sea and the Arafura Sea, pointed toward a vast, unknown red continent.

In the northwestern corner of that continent, the cinnabar line flowed into a massive seaport, with three large characters written beside it in neat regular script.

Nanming Anlan Port.

"Found it!" Lin Feng and Wang Dalong spoke almost simultaneously.

Wang Dalong quickly zoomed in on the satellite map. When the area was magnified infinitely, a familiar place name appeared on the screen.

Port of Darwin, Australia.

"Nanming Anlan Port... is today's Port of Darwin, Australia!" Wang Dalong's voice was trembling. "Over seven hundred years ago, a Southern Song fleet, carrying the wealth of the entire national treasury, crossed the vast ocean and reached the Australian continent! This... this is a freaking epic!"

Lin Feng's heart was also pounding violently.

A lost Southern Song overseas dynasty. An unknown civilization established by Song refugees on the Australian continent. The mere thought of this possibility made his skin crawl.

He immediately took out his phone and dialed an encrypted number.

"Hello, Dr. Jiang? It's me, Lin Feng."

On the other end of the line, Jiang Wanqing's voice carried a hint of surprise and worry: "Lin Feng? Are you okay? You've been out of contact for over six hours!"

"I'm fine. I have a major discovery that needs to be reported to the state." Lin Feng's tone was more serious than ever. "Underwater at Nan'ao Island, I've discovered a secret Southern Song shipyard of immense scale, initially judged to have been built by Zhang Shijie. Inside are dozens of relatively well-preserved Song Dynasty warships..."

He briefly described the situation at 'Canglong Bay' but omitted all information regarding the treasure and the nautical chart.

"What?!" On the other end, Jiang Wanqing was so shocked she stood up directly from her seat. "Are you sure? An underwater shipyard?!"

"Absolutely certain. I'll send you the specific coordinates. I'll leave the subsequent archaeological excavation to you guys."

"You... wait a minute!" Jiang Wanqing's voice was urgent. "Lin Feng, I know you must have found something else. You..."

"The rest, I will verify in my own way," Lin Feng interrupted her. "Once I've verified it, everything will belong to its rightful owner."

Hanging up the phone, Lin Feng looked at the nautical chart before him, a fire burning in his eyes like never before.

The mission to find the 'Xiangxing National Treasury' had only truly begun here.

Meanwhile, Wang Dalong was already counting on his fingers: "Over three million taels of gold, ten million taels of silver... Good lord, at current gold and silver prices, how much money is that? Hundreds of billions? Trillions?"

He looked at Lin Feng, his eyes full of stars: "Brother Feng, next stop, Australia?"

Lin Feng carefully took photos of the nautical chart, recording every detail in ultra-high resolution, then put the original map and the letter back into the brocade box.

He stood up, walked to the window, and pulled back a sliver of the curtain.

The night on Nan'ao Island was quiet and peaceful.

Who could have imagined that beneath this calm sea lay buried the final elegy of a dynasty and the opening chapter of another civilization.

"Yes." Lin Feng closed the curtain and turned to look at Wang Dalong, his gaze firm.

"Next stop, Australia."