Volume 1, Chapter 48: The Pocket Size
No, it might not even be human!
Because the dimensions of the stone bed, stone table, and stone chairs were all wrong!
Which normal person's bed would be only one meter wide and about 1.2 meters long?
Furthermore, the table and chairs were also miniature versions, with height and scale suitable only for children.
Yet, if it really were just a child, how could anyone possibly live here?
Lin Yifan had just checked; apart from swimming over from the pool area, this cave had no other entrance at all.
And to swim over from that pool meant diving over a dozen meters deep!
How many children could possibly accomplish that?
If not a child, then what could it possibly be?
Could there truly be other races of intelligent beings struggling to survive in this world?
When Lin Yifan had previously seen the manual refer to them as the human race, he had entertained this absurd thought.
Yet precisely because it sounded far too absurd, he hadn't given it much more consideration.
However, at this very moment, he was forced to think about it!
Because right now, resting upon the table, he discovered a leather-bound booklet.
The booklet was covered in dust, proving that its owner hadn't visited this place for a very long time.
Lin Yifan picked up the manual, patted off the dust, and then cautiously opened it.
The booklet was filled with numerous writings, but regrettably, he couldn't recognize a single character!
Those symbols were nothing more than a mess of scribbles, looking somewhat like hieroglyphs, yet excessively abstract.
Even if he tried to guess blindly, it was of no use.
This was an entirely different writing system, one completely distinct from the civilization of the inner Earth.
Although the scripts and languages of the surface world seemed diverse, once traced back to ancient times, they still originated from oracle bones, pictographs, or cuneiform scripts.
Therefore, even without prior contact with those specific writings, any person from the surface world would inherently feel a sense of familiarity.
Yet the script in this booklet was different; it emanated an entirely alien unfamiliarity—a strange unknown he had never seen nor ever understood.
Having finally found a clue, only to find it incomprehensible, left Lin Yifan truly exasperated.
Especially now, when his time was running desperately short, yet after searching the entire cave, he still found no trace of a diving suit.
With no other choice, Lin Yifan had to temporarily abandon the search and plan to return tomorrow to complete the quest.
Still, since he had already come this far, he was unwilling to return empty-handed.
Conveniently, his spatial ring still had some reserved space left, and empty space shouldn't be wasted.
Consequently, Lin Yifan packed all the stone beds, tables, and chairs from the cave directly into his spatial storage.
Naturally, the glowing stone was something he could not afford to miss.
This was an oval-shaped stone, roughly the size of an adult's head, emitting a soft white radiance.
Upon approaching the stone, he even felt a wave of gentle warmth, producing an effect somewhat similar to the small sun heating appliances commonly used by many ordinary households in the southern region back on the surface world.
Joy surged wildly within Lin Yifan's heart. Setting everything else aside, just this heating effect alone was enough to amaze him.
And when he looked toward the stone, attribute information unexpectedly appeared.
[Blazing Light Stone (Special Item)]
[Possesses the effect of emitting light and heat, can be used to replace a campfire, but requires crystal stones for recharging. Can absorb a large amount of energy at once for accumulated usage time.]
[Current Energy: 165 points (1 day / 15 points)]
This thing could actually replace a campfire!
Lin Yifan's eyes lit up instantly!
Although burning a campfire inside the shelter wasn't particularly troublesome,
a campfire would generate carbon dioxide, meaning the shelter would have to keep a window or door open to maintain proper air circulation.
That was fine for now; even if the temperature dropped further, it hadn't yet reached freezing levels.
However, once the temperature plunged below zero on some future day, this would severely impact the shelter's heat preservation.
Moreover, a campfire was unlike other utilities—whenever someone was away from home, latent fire hazards always existed.
Even though he had already upgraded to a Level 3 shelter, a genuine fire accident would still pose severe danger.
With this Blazing Light Stone, all those issues could be avoided!
Admittedly, the Blazing Light Stone required spiritual crystals for recharge, which seemed somewhat extravagant.
After all, when he hatched the golden eagle, he had only used two spiritual crystals.
Yet, judging by Lin Yifan's past gaming logic, while he might lack spiritual crystals now, he wouldn't necessarily lack them in the future.
Not to mention, the Blazing Light Stone still contained 165 points of energy, and at an average consumption of 15 points per day, it could still be used for another 11 days.
Besides, he still had 4 spiritual crystals in his possession; by the time these energies were depleted, he might no longer be short of spiritual crystals.
With this thought, Lin Yifan promptly detached the Blazing Light Stone. Instead of putting it into his spatial storage, he cradled it in his hand and began a meticulous exploration of the cave.
Aside from those stone furniture pieces, however, the cave contained very few large items.
In a corner sat a small stove constructed by stacking stones and mud, with a height of only about forty to fifty centimeters.
Just like the stone furniture, it was remarkably miniature.
Atop the stove rested an iron pot and an iron spatula, both several sizes smaller than any iron cookware Lin Yifan had ever known.
The iron pot was roughly the size of a soup bowl, while the iron spatula resembled nothing more than a spoon.
Furthermore, both the iron pot and spatula were heavily rusted beyond recognition, and it was uncertain whether they could still be used.
Since he had already stumbled upon them, he naturally couldn't let them go to waste—perhaps they could be polished and made usable again!
Lin Yifan stored the iron pot and spatula into his spatial space and continued his search.
In a corner not far from the stove, he discovered three more iron artifacts, which were similarly miniature in scale.
Moreover, the designs of these three iron tools were quite unique. One of them resembled a hoe, but its base was triangular.
The second piece looked somewhat like an axe, but lacked a cutting edge, featuring a pointed spike instead.
As for the third piece, Lin Yifan recognized it immediately.
Because this was a hammer!
Furthermore, this hammer was comparable in size to the hammers he had seen before, and judging from its appearance, it probably weighed around twenty catties.
Yet, when Lin Yifan reached out and lifted the hammer, he was utterly stunned!
He had originally thought that weighing around twenty catties was pretty decent, but the reality was that he couldn't even raise it with a single hand!
One had to realize that his strength stat was currently at 10 points, a level that already placed him in the upper-middle tier of humanity.
Based on average human strength, lifting seventy, eighty, or even a hundred catties with one hand should have posed no problem.
Yet he failed to lift this hammer!
This meant the weight of this hammer was at the very least over a hundred catties!
Such a diminutive volume combined with such immense weight was entirely unscientific!
After a moment of thought, Lin Yifan let go of the hammer and walked over to lift the triangular hoe.
This one he managed to lift, but its weight was equally unreasonable; based on his estimation, this small hoe weighed at least forty to fifty catties.
He then tested the iron spike, and its weight turned out to be quite similar to the triangular hoe.
Were these truly tools meant for ordinary humans to wield?