In the guest room filled with the early morning sunshine, Wei Ran, who had just taken a shower, was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, carefully reading the document sent by Katenka.
At present, what Katianka found through public information is not very different from what Diane herself said. Diane was indeed a well-known securities trader a few years ago. In the following years,
, and she did volunteer in a similar charity organization.
But what Diane didn't say was that more than a year ago, she publicly exposed the hypocritical practices of that charity organization on the Internet, and personally dismantled that charity organization, and then established the Edelweiss Organization.
Moreover, this Edelweiss organization actually has a website, which even sells some valuable gadgets such as keychains with anti-war symbols and peace dove pendants made from helmet fragments.
In addition to this small discrepancy, Katenka also investigated the identities of the current financial backers of the Edelweiss organization. To Wei Ran's relief, at least the public reputations of the behind-the-scenes financial backers were pretty good. Moreover,
Among them are Mr. Hans and Mr. Olaf, who invested in Time Film Studio.
With this semi-public information, Wei Ran felt a lot more confident. At least for now, Diane did not have ulterior motives as he feared.
Almost as soon as he finished reading Katenka's preliminary investigation results, there was a knock on the door, and then Diane's greetings and invitation to have breakfast together came from outside the door.
After deleting the document on his phone, Wei Ran responded cheerfully, immediately put on a set of casual jackets and boots that were thick enough, and walked out of the guest room with his backpack.
"How was your rest last night?" Diane asked Wei Ran gently as she led Wei Ran downstairs.
"The air here is very good, and it's quiet enough at night. I haven't slept so peacefully for a long time." Wei Ran gave a half-truthful and half-false evaluation.
The two of them chatted about the non-nutritious air quality and sleep quality while walking downstairs to finish breakfast. Then, under the leadership of Diane, they changed into an off-road vehicle with a local license plate and drove along the river on the east side of Liuban Town.
We went all the way north until we saw a reservoir with no end in sight, then we turned east and drove into a dense virgin forest.
As it went deeper, the road under the wheels became more and more bumpy. After more than half an hour, the originally bumpy dirt road was gone. The off-road vehicle was simply driving along the dirt road left unknown how long ago in the forest.
The ruts have opened.
"How did you find this place?" Wei Ran asked while tightening his grip on the armrests, trying to keep his body shaking at the same frequency as the off-road vehicle.
"A member of the Digging Party team we are cooperating with accidentally discovered the well when he came here to hunt about two weeks ago."
Diane, who was also shaken like a bouncy ball, continued with difficulty, "Perhaps out of professional sensitivity, he opened the stone slab covering the well. I don't think I need to explain the rest."
"What's the purchase price here?" Weiran asked using a very commercial vocabulary.
Diane did not seem unhappy because of the former wording, but calmly replied amidst the bumps, "It's cheaper than Russia. Each skeleton that can be identified costs about US$20 to US$50, but something like this
If you plant a mass grave, it might be more appropriate to call it a burial pit. No matter what it is called, we will pay an extra $500 or so."
"What if it is finally determined that those bones belong to the Soviet Red Army?" Wei Ran, whose buttocks had just been knocked off his seat, continued to ask.
"Of course it will be left to the local authorities."
Diane replied matter-of-factly, "In this regard, Belarus and Russia have done quite well. If it were in Ukraine, we would directly build a quiet enough cemetery for those Soviet Red Army soldiers to prevent them from being disturbed."
As the topic reached this point, the off-road vehicle, which looked like a pirate ship in an amusement park, finally stopped in a forest clearing.
Diane let out a long breath, opened the car door and said, "Okay, we're here."
After looking at the two trucks parked in the distance and several large canvas tents not far away, Wei Ran opened the door and followed Diane to the center of the open space, stepping on the damp leaf litter.
The area of this open space is not large, with a total diameter of less than 20 meters. There is a swamp covered with shrubs not far away.
But around this forest glade, it can be clearly seen that the trees are only thigh-thick, and even a collapsed fireplace can be seen next to one of the fir trees with only an outline left.
And next to another pine tree of almost the same thickness, about ten meters away from the fireplace, was the conspicuous stone chimney he had seen in the photo before.
Obviously, if we push forward in time, the area of this forest glade may not be so small. It is just because it has been forgotten for too long that it has been reoccupied by trees and weeds that grow wantonly.
Having seen enough of his surroundings, Wei Ran turned his head and looked at the two trucks again.
The two trucks are white and yellow. The yellow truck is also scattered with generators, high-pressure water pumps, air pumps, various steel pipes and steel bars with unknown uses, diving cylinders and several dirty...
Metal detectors, and some old-fashioned wetsuits hanging on the edge of the cargo bed waiting to dry.
In comparison, the white-painted truck is much cleaner. Although the truck itself is nothing unusual, the fallen edelweiss on the door glass window is large enough and conspicuous. And on the door, it is still densely packed.
written with rows of small red characters.
Wei Ran got closer curiously, and then discovered that the words on the car door, which were only the size of cigarette butts, densely recorded the number of people who died due to military and crimes against humanity in various countries during World War II.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Among the data whose last three digits are all omitted to 0, there are the Soviet Union and Germany, Britain, France, the United States, China, and some such as Nauru
A small country rarely associated with World War II.
At the bottom of the data, two questions are spelled out in German letters as big as a fist, "What can we do? What should we do?"
Turning to look at Diane, who was busy asking about the situation with her colleagues stationed here, Wei Ran then walked towards the well in the center of the open space.
This well is not too big, with a diameter of only about one meter. The wellhead made of stones is extremely smooth. There is also a bristle brush on it, and on the edge of the brush, there is the previous inscription of Diane.
The words I mentioned on the phone were, "This village may become vibrant again in the future, but your actions are like this well that has been polluted by you, and it can never be washed clean."
Ignoring Diane, who came closer, Wei Ran used his fingernails to dig at the scratches on the edge of the well. Although the marks were deep, the scratches were extremely rough and messy. There was even a Russian letter in it that seemed to be caused by spelling.
Errors were crossed out and re-engraved.
"Do you have a bayonet?" Wei Ran raised his head and asked Diane.
"Bayonet?" Diane was stunned, "What bayonet?"
"Anything, a Mauser bayonet or a Mosin-Nagant rifle bayonet will do."
"Yes, I have it here!"
While they were talking, a man who looked to be no more than 30 years old came over and pulled out the bayonet of an AK rifle from his waist and handed it to Wei Ran.
While Wei Ran took the bayonet, Diane took the initiative to introduce, "This is the hunter who discovered this place, and he is also a member of the Digging Party team that cooperates with us."
"Plohor" the man who handed the bayonet extended his hand to Wei Ran enthusiastically.
"Victor" Wei Ran handed the bayonet to his left hand, and then shook hands with the other party.
After a brief acquaintance with each other, Wei Ran changed positions, took the bayonet he took and tried to leave a mark of less than one centimeter on the edge of the well.
Returning the bayonet to the man named Prokhor, Wei Ran picked up the brush on the edge of the well and gently rubbed the scratches he had left. The force he used just now was not too strong, but it was enough to leave scratches.
It's deep. Obviously, the stone used to build the edge of the well is not that hard. In other words, it doesn't take much effort to carve those words on it.
He poked his head into the well and saw that there was still damp soil on the well walls, which were also made of stones, but at the bottom of the well, there was already a pool of turbid muddy water.
"Plohor, are you a local?" Wei Ran stood up, took the wipes from Diane, and asked while wiping the dirt on his hands.
"Yes." Prokhor nodded and replied, "My home is in a small village not far from Liuban."
"Are there no local legends about this place?" Wei Ran pointed to the surroundings, "For example, the massacre carried out by the Germans during World War II, or the massacre of Germans by the Soviets."
"The only legend here is the infamous traitor. Even if the battle didn't happen here, traitors will always bring shame to the same place, right?"
Prokhor said with a wry smile, "In fact, most of the people here were moved from other places after the end of World War II. For example, my grandfather was a native of Chelyabinsk in the 1960s.
I was sent to work here and finally stayed.”
Hearing this, Wei Ran looked at Diane and said, "Take me to see the bones?"
"Come with me"
After Diane finished speaking, she walked towards a military green canvas tent a little further away, and the man named Prohor took out a pair of rubber gloves and a mask from his satchel and handed them to the guard.
Burn.
Accompanied by these two people, Wei Ran walked into the large tent with a lighting lamp hanging on it. At a glance, Wei Ran saw the complete or incomplete skeletons lying side by side on the canvas blanket.
On the soles of the feet of these corpses, there is also a small plastic storage box, which contains some clothes and belt buckles, or a rusty and cracked broken steel helmet with traces of bullet impact, or just
There were only some pieces of clothes that were so rotten that they seemed to shatter at the touch of a touch.
After carefully examining the bones and relics, Wei Ran raised his head and asked, "Didn't you find anything else?"
"In the past few days, we have also found some worthless things in the wreckage of nearby buildings." Prohol pointed out, "Do you want to take a look?"
"Let's go"
Wei Ran stood up and followed him out of the tent that was filled with corpses, and then got into another tent that was only five or six meters away.
In comparison, the atmosphere of life in this tent is much stronger. In addition to a wood stove in the center that is continuously releasing heat to heat the coffee pot, there are four folding beds around it, and one near the tent door.
At the location, there is also a plastic storage box containing all kinds of junk.
"The things inside are what we found nearby in the past two days."
As Prokhor said, he picked up a pair of tattered leather gloves from the folding bed and handed them to Wei Ran, "Put on the gloves. Many things inside are rusty. It will be very troublesome if you accidentally scratch your hands."
"Thanks"
Wei Ran took the gloves politely, first took off the rubber gloves that the other party had given him before and put them aside. Then he put the thick leather gloves on his hands and patiently looked through the junk in the storage box.
"If there's anything you like, I can sell it to you at a low price." Prohol said proactively, sitting on the bed next to him.
"Does anyone buy these things?" Wei Ran asked, picking up an empty wine bottle covered in dirt.
"Of course" Prokhor responded while kicking a wooden box to Wei Ran, "They collect everything. I have met a weirdo who specializes in collecting can wrappers before."
“I don’t understand the fun of rich people”
Wei Ran muttered, sat on the wooden box kicked by the other party, and began to take things out of the box one by one.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The box contains at most a variety of empty wine bottles. In addition, there are two kerosene lamps with bullet holes and a lamp full of rust.
At least one-third of the German helmets are missing.
When he took out all these things and put them aside, a completely rusted metal box appeared at the bottom of the box.
"What is this?" Wei Ran did not rush to move the box out, but raised his head and asked Prohor who was sitting aside.
"ammunition box"
Prokhor said without thinking, "An ammunition box specially used to hold German FLAK30 or 38 type 20mm anti-aircraft gun magazines. In such a box, two 20-round magazines are usually placed. Of course, it
It is also often used as a glove box, and there might be some treasure inside."
Open a blind box again...
Wei Ran couldn't help but glance at the tattoo on the tiger's mouth on his left hand. He had opened the blind box by himself to open that crappy book.
"Do you want to buy it?" Prokhor encouraged, "It's only 500 rubles. Of course, I'm talking about our country's rubles, not Russia's waste paper."
More than a thousand yuan to buy such a scrap metal box?
Wei Ran, who only figured out the exchange rate last night, thought about it secretly. Instead of rushing to make a decision, he asked, "Can you first tell me where you found it?"
“Near the swamp next to the clearing”
Prokhor raised his hand and pointed in a random direction, "We just discovered it yesterday morning. As you can see, it hasn't been opened yet. If you want to gamble your luck, you can buy it."
"Try the weight?" Wei Ran raised his head and asked.
"Of course," Prohor nodded happily.
Hearing this, Wei Ran took the plastic box and weighed it gently with both hands. The plastic box certainly didn't weigh much, but the iron box inside was quite heavy. It probably weighed at least thirty or forty pounds.
Gently putting down the packing box, Wei Ran sat back on the wooden box. He first glanced at Diane standing outside the tent, then took off his gloves and asked, "Plohor, take me to find the location of the iron box.
What do you think? Then I will buy it at the price you said, but the two kerosene lamps and the broken helmet will be given to me together."
"no problem"
Prokhor happily took the gloves from Wei Ran and threw them away. After getting out of the tent, he and Diane walked towards the swamp not far away.
"What can be found in that box?" Diane asked in confusion.
Wei Ran spread his hands after hearing this, "I don't know either. Let's see where we found it first. There are too few clues left here."
Diane glanced at the tent behind her, finally nodded, and followed Wei Ran silently.
Under the leadership of Prokhor, the group strolled to the edge of the swamp, and then saw three men in the sparse woods, each holding a metal detector and paddling aimlessly through the overgrown weeds and shrubs.
of ground.
"Did you find anything?" Prohor asked loudly.
"No," one of the big fat guys responded immediately, "this damn place is cleaner than my wallet."
"Should we try our luck in the swamp next?"
Another young man, who looked like he was probably in his early twenties, poked at the metal detector and asked, "Maybe there is something valuable in the swamp."
"This kind of weather is not suitable for trying your luck in the swamp."
Prokhor stopped here, pointed to a pit with traces of excavation at his feet and said, "That ammunition box was found here."
Hearing this, Wei Ran looked at the direction of the swamp. It was less than 10 meters away from the swamp and was at the junction with the forest.
Looking around again, the trees growing here are thicker than the others, which are obviously different from the miscellaneous trees in the open space behind them.
Wei Ran thoughtfully stepped on the solid ground under his feet, raised his head and said, "Let's go back, Ms. Diane, can you lend me 500 rubles? Belarusian rubles."
"Do you want to buy that iron box?"
Seeing Wei Ran nodding, Diane simply took out her wallet, took out 500 rubles and handed it to Prokhor, "Just think of that iron box as my gift to you."
"Then you're welcome," Wei Ran said, turning to look at Prokhor, "Can you help me open that metal box first?"
"Of course it's no problem." After receiving the money, Prokhor was even happier than before. Before he finished speaking, he trotted back to the forest glade, pulled out the storage box containing the metal ammunition box from the tent, and started working.
After sending the outsiders away, Wei Ran stopped and suggested to Diane, who was standing next to him, "Based on what has been discovered so far, it can actually be determined that those bones have a high probability of being German soldiers from World War II. Diane,
Do you want to continue investigating next?"
"Just confirming that they are Germans is not enough," Diane said without even thinking about it. "In addition, there is the matter of commission..."
“There’s no rush about the commission.”
Wei Ran once again rejected the topic. However, before he could express his thoughts, Prohor from the other side of the camp let out a panicked curse.
Hearing the sound, Wei Ran and Diane immediately ran over.
"What's wrong?" Wei Ran asked from a distance.
"Don't come here yet!" Prokhor responded quickly, "Stay away! You all stay away!"
Hearing this, Wei Ran's heart sank, and without saying a word he pushed Diane, who was running with him, and hid behind a waist-thick pine tree.
"Prohor, what's going on?" Diane poked half of her head out and shouted.
"Don't disturb him yet"
Wei Ran, who had already guessed the general situation, took off his backpack as he spoke, and then used the cover of his backpack to take out the telescope in the metal book and look over.
In the middle of the open space only twenty or thirty meters away, Prohor carefully took out a rusty spring from the metal box he had pried open, and then dug out some similarly rusty metal pieces.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Under Wei Ran's gaze, Prokhor slowed down a little and continued to take out two long-handled grenades from the metal box, and
More metal fragments, until finally, he took out something as big as half a brick from the metal box, and then he seemed to be discouraged and sat down on the wet ground.
Seeing this, Wei Ran put away the telescope under the cover of the backpack in his hand, then walked over quickly, and asked before the other party spoke, "Landmines?"
Looking at Wei Ran in surprise, Prokhor picked up a spring the size of a teacup, tried to press it into the middle with both hands, and then said with a happy face, "It is indeed a mine. Although it is simple, it is very effective."
Fortunately, the grenade's firing wire has rotted, otherwise once it explodes, I'm afraid I will become the first digger to be killed by an unexploded bomb this year."
Glancing at the long-handled grenades whose back covers had already been unscrewed, and then looking at the spring that still held the fire wire in the opponent's hand and the large and small helmet fragments that seemed to have been smashed around, Wei Ran had figured out this simple
How to use mines.
To put it bluntly, this thing relies on a spring to connect the ignition wire of the explosive, and then uses a closed metal cover to tightly press the spring.
Once the lid of the metal box is opened, the spring that expands instantly will drive the fire wire, followed by an explosion with a huge range of damage. And it is obvious that the two grenades were set up in case the spring failed to detonate successfully.
It's safe, but the person who originally deployed this large mine may not have thought that it would be opened again after such a long time.
"It seems that the 500 rubles just bought not a surprise, but a shock." Diane, who came a little later, joked with a smile.
"That's not certain"
Wei Ran picked up the pried open metal ammunition box and looked at it, "Anyway, this is also a gift from Ms. Diane to me, and the scene just now is indeed memorable. So I will keep it well."
"Do you need me to help you put this metal piece in?" Prohol asked proactively, "As long as you don't put those two grenades in, even this piece of explosive will be safe."
"Forget about the grenades and explosives, help me put all the metal pieces back." Wei Ran said, happily handing the metal ammunition box he just got to the other party, "In addition, there are those two kerosene lamps and the
