The trio of adventurous pals, a man who is a scientist, a fine lady and a former military pilot are in the Indochina jungles looking for some mysterious vase that holds a metal container that is of no mundane origin.

In 1954, Bernard Traven was appointed commander-in-chief of the French army. During the fighting in Indochina, among the densely populated jungles of Central Vietnam, his helicopter is shot down by Vietnamese guerrillas from a Browning machine gun. Traven manages to survive, wounded, he gets to an ancient lost Buddhist temple, from where he steals a sacred relic - a snake's head crowned with precious stones.—Bazza the Beast