American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 186 Mysterious Password Waterproof Box

Day 23, early morning.

When Lin Yu'an woke up, the air in the shelter was cold and fresh. The fire in the fireplace had long since gone out, leaving only a pile of still warm ashes.

He calmly got up, first reheating the broth he had made with crab shells the night before, and then adding a few pieces of steamed sea urchin roe to make a simple but nutritionally balanced breakfast.

He sat in front of the fire, sipping hot soup as he planned his day's activities.

He spoke calmly and confidently to the camera: "I have basically searched the most valuable areas of the coastline on both the north and south sides near the shelter."

"I have already pocketed the first and most lucrative wave of benefits brought by the storm, but this does not mean the end of the exploration."

"Tides and ocean currents are continuous, and there will always be things that are missed or items that are pushed ashore again by subsequent tides."

"Today, my goal is to conduct a thorough and meticulous search, moving along the southern coastline into more remote and isolated areas."

"I don't expect to have the same groundbreaking discoveries as the previous two days, but any additional findings are a great boost to our survival reserves."

He dressed neatly, carrying only his almost empty hiking backpack, along with water and the most basic tools, and stepped once again into that frozen world that appeared pale blue in the morning light.

Instead of lingering in the areas he had already explored, he headed straight south, venturing into the more complex "labyrinth" of black reefs.

The roads here are extremely difficult to traverse, with huge blocks of ice crushing each other to form steep ice walls and narrow passages.

Sometimes he had to use his hands and feet like a rock climber, and other times he had to carefully cross the slippery ice bridge.

It took him nearly an hour to advance less than two kilometers.

As he had anticipated, the finds became sporadic and sparse. In a shallow bay covered with seaweed, he found a small group of capelin that had been washed ashore, not many in number, enough to fill about half a backpack side pocket.

Apart from that, there were no other noteworthy discoveries.

He could clearly sense that the storm's bounty was rapidly fading, and that the potential of this coastline closest to him had been exhausted.

"It seems the good days of scavenging are over."

He stood on a towering ice floe, gazing at the endless ice field further south, and began to consider his next survival strategy.

To passively wait for the sea to bestow its next bounty is tantamount to handing one's fate over to chance.

He must shift to a more proactive and pioneering way of life, such as taking on ice fishing or embarking on a long-distance inland expedition for hunting.
Just as he was deep in thought, an unusual object in a very hidden corner at the edge of his vision caught his attention.

It was an area where a huge piece of driftwood almost completely enclosed the small harbor.

In that narrow space made up of ice floes and driftwood, a dark green object with straight edges was half-stuck between the ice floes and driftwood.

It doesn't resemble a natural rock, nor does it look like a fishing net or rope that has been kneaded into a ball. Its strong lines and regular shape clearly indicate that it is a man-made object.

Lin Yu'an immediately perked up! He carefully slid down from the height and headed in that direction.

Crossing this chaotic area was more physically demanding than he had imagined. When he finally saw the object in its entirety, even with his composure, his breathing became a little rapid.

It is a professional-grade military or scientific research rigid plastic waterproof safety case.

The box is about half a meter long and thirty centimeters wide, and its entire body is a dull, dark green.

The box's surface is covered with deep scratches left from violent collisions with ice and rocks during the storm, and in some places the plastic is even scratched with white frayed edges, a testament to the hardships it has endured.

Amazingly, despite being severely damaged, the box's overall structure still maintains its perfect shape.

Four extremely sturdy, wide-body latches remained tightly engaged, securing the thick lid to the box body.

The metal nameplate on the front of the box has long been worn and blurred, but its solid industrial design silently tells of its extraordinary origin.

“A professional safety box…” Lin Yu’an squatted down and touched the cold and rough surface with his gloved fingers.

"This thing has more potential than any other supplies I've found."

His gaze finally settled on the unusual lock in the very center of the box.

Instead of a traditional padlock keyhole, it features a combination lock embedded in the box, consisting of four black rollers.

Each roller is clearly engraved with the numbers 0 to 9, and below the roller is a small but equally sturdy metal toggle switch.

"A locked box, with a combination lock at that, this is interesting."

The box could contain anything—perhaps high-tech tools, medicine, high-energy food, or firearms that could completely transform his life.
But it might be empty, just an empty box. At worst, it might contain things that are useless to him or even cause trouble.

But no matter what, he has to open this "blind box".

He first tried the most direct method: he forcefully dragged the box out of the gap and placed it on a relatively flat ice surface.

Then, grabbing one of the latches, he tried to pry it open with all his might, but the latch wouldn't budge, fitting perfectly into the box; even the tip of a knife couldn't be inserted. "The structural strength is very high."

He raised his forest axe again, took a deep breath, and used the thick back of the axe to smash down hard on one of the lock's connections!
"when!"

A crisp metallic clang echoed across the silent coastline, the immense recoil traveling back up the axe handle to his arm, making his hand go numb.

He looked down and saw that the latch that had been hit only had a faint white mark, while the box itself was completely unharmed.

He changed his angle and aimed at the side connection of the combination lock, pounding it several times. But apart from leaving a few minor dents, the sophisticated combination lock mechanism remained as stable as a rock.

“Brute force won’t work.” He decisively stopped this futile effort and put the axe back into his belt.

He knew very well that the original design purpose of this professional case was to withstand the harshest environments and abnormal opening methods.

Its material toughness and structural strength far exceed the destructive limits of ordinary tools.

Instead of making any more futile attempts, he dragged his suitcase back to the towering ice floe where he had previously been.

"It's quite heavy, which means there's definitely something inside this box."

He bent down again and carefully examined the combination lock.

Four rollers, ten thousand combinations.

If it's a completely randomly set password, he can give up immediately.

The probability of guessing one number out of ten thousand without any clues is extremely low, and he doesn't have time to make such a foolish attempt.

“But…” he said to the camera, beginning his logical reasoning.

"People who use this kind of specialized equipment are usually not ordinary people; they may be soldiers, scientists, or professional explorers."

"For these people, in the field, the primary principle of passwords is not absolute confidentiality, but reliability and ease of memorization."

"A scientific expedition member whose fingers are frozen stiff in the freezing cold would never set himself a random password that requires a lot of effort to remember."

"What he needs is a number that he can quickly recall in any emergency. Therefore, this password is most likely not a random number, but follows some simple logic."

He began his first attempt with the simplest and most common password.

He turned the four dials to "0……0……0……0" in sequence. Then he pressed the switch.

No response. The switch is locked and cannot be turned.

He then tried "1……2……3……4".

Still no response.

He was not discouraged; this was to be expected. He closed his eyes and began to construct a portrait of the original owner of the box in his mind.

"Suppose this is a scientific expedition team, what are their tasks? Recording data. So, what is the most important number for them? The year?"

He immediately sat up straight and began trying different years. He scrolled through the input wheel, entering this year, but nothing happened. He tried last year, but still nothing. He even tried "2000," but it failed again.

"It doesn't seem to be the year." He shook his head.

He then considered another possibility.

"Or perhaps some globally significant, scientifically or geographically relevant number? Like the first four digits of pi, '3141'? Or the golden ratio, '1618'?"

He tried these numbers one by one, and without exception, they all failed.

That small metal switch, like a silent mocking door, remained motionless.

Time passed slowly, and the sun moved slowly across the sky. Lin Yu'an remained calm, immersing himself in the pleasure of solving this puzzle.

He abandoned this aimless speculation and instead thought about it from a more human and cultural perspective.

"What is the cultural background of a Western scientist or explorer working in the polar regions? What do they admire?"

"What kind of numbers are both an unspoken 'meme' and special enough that outsiders wouldn't easily guess them for this group of intellectuals?"

His thoughts wandered among countless cultural symbols, and suddenly, a number, a work, a symbol that held a special place in Western intellectual circles struck his mind like lightning!
A number that serves as both a warning to the past and a symbol of reflection on the future!

His breath hitched for a moment, and a flash of understanding crossed his eyes.

"Perhaps...it could be it?"

(End of this chapter)