54: Clues in the archives

At six in the morning, Lin Feng woke up on time.

Standing by the window, the distant Rainforest loomed indistinctly in the morning mist. His mind, however, was racing like a revolving lantern, rapidly calculating his next move.

The notes mentioned that the Eagle-Head Rock was the entrance, but what about after entering? It was a complete blank.

The latter half of Pedro's notes briefly mentioned a 'Stone Temple' and 'El Dorado,' but didn't provide any specific routes or coordinates. It was like having a peerless treasure key but not knowing where the lock was—it was maddening.

"I need to find more clues," Lin Feng muttered under his breath.

He turned and walked to the desk, opened his laptop, and began searching for the archives in Manaus.

Soon, a name popped up—the 'Amazon State Historical Archives.' Located in the city center, it was said to house a massive collection of historical documents on Rainforest exploration.

"This is the one."

At seven-thirty, Wang Dalong wandered out of the adjacent room yawning. Seeing Lin Feng already with his backpack on, he couldn't help but be stunned. "Brother Feng, are you on steroids? Why so early?"

"Going to the archives," Lin Feng said succinctly.

"The archives?" Wang Dalong scratched his head, looking completely bewildered. "Didn't we say we'd head straight into the Rainforest?"

"Before entering the Rainforest, we have to know where the path is." Lin Feng adjusted his pack. "Bring the equipment and film some footage."

"You got it!" As soon as Wang Dalong heard they could film, he immediately perked up, grabbed his camera and tripod, and rushed out.

The two took a taxi to the archives. It was an ancient colonial-era building with exterior walls covered in vines, exuding an air of decay and mystery.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a thick smell of mildew hit them, nearly knocking Wang Dalong over.

The lobby was empty except for an old man wearing reading glasses, sitting behind the counter with his head down, reading a newspaper.

"Good morning," Lin Feng greeted in English.

The old man looked up at them and asked in heavily accented English, "Tourists?"

"Something like that," Lin Feng said. "We want to consult some historical archives regarding Rainforest exploration."

The administrator frowned. "From what era?"

"From the eighteenth century to the present, all records concerning El Dorado expeditions."

Upon hearing the words 'El Dorado,' the administrator's expression instantly became subtle.

He put down the newspaper, took off his glasses, and stared at Lin Feng as if looking at a fool. "Young man, don't waste your time. El Dorado is just a legend. For centuries, so many people have thrown their lives away for it, and the result? They found absolutely nothing."

"I know," Lin Feng said, his expression unchanged. "But I still want to see those records."

The administrator stared at him for a few seconds before finally letting out a long sigh. "Suit yourself. However, there's a deposit of one hundred dollars to view the archives. The materials cannot be taken out."

"No problem." Lin Feng pulled out his wallet, counted out a hundred dollars, and handed it over.

The administrator took the money, pulled a ring of keys from a drawer, and led them deep into the archives.

After passing through a narrow corridor and pushing open a creaking iron door, the space suddenly opened up into a massive room.

The bookshelves on all sides were piled high with yellowed documents, old books, and rolled-up maps. The air was thick with the smell of decaying paper mixed with dust, making one's nose itch.

"What you're looking for is probably in this area." The administrator pointed to several rows of shelves against the wall. "They're arranged by date. Call me when you find something; I'll be waiting outside."

With that, he turned and left. The iron door closed with a 'clang,' completely isolating them from the outside world.

Wang Dalong swallowed hard and whispered, "Brother Feng, this place is eerie, like a haunted house... there aren't actually ghosts here, are there?"

"Stop talking and start searching." Ignoring him, Lin Feng walked straight to the nearest shelf and began flipping through the archives.

One hour passed.

Two hours passed.

Lin Feng had combed through almost all the eighteenth-century archives and found at least twenty records related to El Dorado expeditions.

Unfortunately, just as the administrator had said, these records were either vague or contradictory, making them essentially useless.

Some said El Dorado was on a high mountain deep in the Rainforest, others said it was in a lake at the end of a river, and some even claimed it was in underground caves. It was a diverse and wildly imaginative collection of theories.

"It's all useless scrap paper..." Wang Dalong simply sat on the floor, flipping through a moldy diary and complaining, "Brother Feng, are all these foreigners crazy? This writing looks like ghost scribbles; it's giving me a headache!"

Lin Feng ignored him, his full attention focused on the archive in his hand.

This was a record from 1752, written in Spanish. The handwriting was incredibly messy, but the content made Lin Feng's eyes light up.

"July 1752: An expedition team of twelve departed from Manaus and headed deep into the Rainforest. Three months later, only two returned alive. They claimed to have discovered an ancient altar deep in the Rainforest, upon which was carved a Golden Mural depicting the route to El Dorado. They removed the mural, intending to transport it back to Europe, but on the return voyage, they were attacked by pirates. The ship sank, and the mural's whereabouts have been unknown ever since."

Lin Feng's heart rate instantly accelerated.

Golden Mural.

Altar.

Pirate attack.

These keywords were a perfect match for the mural he had seen in William Kidd's treasure vault!

"Found it..." Lin Feng murmured softly, his voice carrying a hint of irrepressible excitement.

"What?" Wang Dalong leaned in curiously, his eyes wide. "Brother Feng, what treasure did you find?"

"Evidence." Lin Feng handed him the archive. "This thing proves that the mural in William Kidd's vault is the map to El Dorado!"

Wang Dalong's eyes instantly bugged out. "Holy crap! Brother Feng, does that mean we're... about to hit the big time?!"

"The problem is," Lin Feng interrupted his impending daydreaming, "the mural isn't in our hands right now."

Wang Dalong's excitement instantly deflated like a popped balloon. "Oh right... so what do we do now?"

Lin Feng didn't say anything, just stared intently at the words on the archive, his mind working at high speed.

He had seen that mural.

In William Kidd's vault, he had seen it with his own eyes, and had even been 'sucked' into William Kidd's memories by it.

Although it had only been a fleeting glimpse, those eerie patterns and lines were etched into his mind as if carved with a knife.

"If I can recall the contents of the mural..." Lin Feng's fingers tapped lightly on the table as he fell into deep thought.

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh as he remembered something.

The System Mall!

He immediately pulled up the system panel, opened the mall interface, and typed 'Memory' into the search bar.

A list of items instantly popped up.

[Memory Enhancement Potion (Basic)]: Significantly increases memory for a short period, lasting 30 minutes. Price: 10,000 reputation points.

[Memory Retrospection Potion (Intermediate)]: Allows for the retrospection of memory details from the past 24 hours. Price: 50,000 reputation points.

[Memory Solidification Potion (Advanced)]: Permanently increases memory. Price: 200,000 reputation points.

Lin Feng glanced at his reputation balance—25,000 points.

He could afford the basic one!

Without hesitation, he clicked purchase.

[Purchase successful. 10,000 reputation points deducted.]

[Memory Enhancement Potion (Basic) has been delivered to your inventory.]

Lin Feng opened his inventory, and a palm-sized glass bottle appeared in his hand. The bottle contained a pale blue liquid that glowed faintly in the dim light.

"Brother Feng, what's that?" Wang Dalong leaned in curiously, looking like he wanted to stick his head into the bottle.

"Energy drink," Lin Feng brushed him off casually, unscrewed the cap, and downed it in one gulp.

The liquid was ice-cold as it entered his mouth, with a hint of minty freshness, and it slid down his throat into his stomach in an instant.

The next second, Lin Feng felt his head 'buzz,' as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him, making him instantly alert.

All his memories were clearer than ever before.

He closed his eyes, and the scene of William Kidd's vault immediately surfaced in his mind—

The glittering treasures, the eerie stone chamber, and that solitary Golden Mural standing on the stone pedestal.

The image began to zoom in, and the details became clearer and clearer.

The patterns on the mural began to manifest in his mind, bit by bit.

Lin Feng snapped his eyes open, grabbed a pen and paper, and began sketching rapidly with fluid strokes.

Lines, symbols, and patterns appeared on the paper one after another, densely packed.

Wang Dalong watched from the side, dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open. "Brother Feng, you... what are you drawing? Are these divine talismans?"

"Stop talking and get to work!" Lin Feng didn't even look up; his hands moved faster and faster, leaving him no time to pay attention to him.

Thirty minutes later.

Lin Feng put down the pen and looked at the paper covered in strange symbols, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Although the drawing was somewhat abstract, not a single major element was missing; they were all there.

In the center of the mural was a city surrounded by light. Around the city were winding rivers and dense forests. On the edges were carved symbols and text that he couldn't understand at all.

"This is the map to El Dorado..." Lin Feng murmured softly, his eyes sparkling.

He pulled out his phone and compared it with a modern map of the Amazon basin, trying to find the corresponding location.

But soon, he noticed something was wrong.

The river paths on the mural didn't match the modern map at all.

"Dammit..." Lin Feng's brow furrowed, feeling a bit troubled.

Either the terrain had undergone massive changes over the centuries, or... a more startling possibility suddenly occurred to him.

"El Dorado isn't on the surface!" Lin Feng's voice carried a hint of unprecedented gravity.