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墨書 Inktalez
I sighed. "I know. But at that moment, things were really bad. We were almost at each other's throats, and words were flying. I blurted it out. Old Cao, I didn't expect them to know nothing. To deceive them like that—wasn't it putting their lives at risk?"
"Forget about them; think about yourself first. What did you reveal? To what extent? Never mind that, where are you? Let's meet."
"In the lobby on the first floor, by the revolving door."
"Wait for me; I'll be right there."
Cao Mingzhe hurriedly left the banquet hall. When he passed by me, he didn't stop but nodded towards the revolving door before walking straight through it and exiting the hotel lobby.
Seeing Cao Mingzhe's demeanor, I casually mentioned the secrets of Lop Nur, and it seemed more serious than I had imagined. However, I had no regrets; even if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would still make the same choice. This was determined by my character, free from the control of thought.
On the streets in deep winter, pedestrians were a rare sight. The afternoon sun shone down without obstruction, yet it couldn't fend off the chill brought by the cold wind. To make matters worse, Cao Mingzhe actually led me to a park not far from the hotel, a place with no shelter from the wind. I felt there was a real possibility of freezing to death while talking here.
"Let's walk," Cao Mingzhe suggested, clearly feeling the chill.
"Exactly, if we sit down, we might not get back up."
The park wasn't large, surrounded by a concrete path for walking. On nice days, especially in the early morning and evening, many locals would come here to briskly walk or jog. Of course, there was no one around now; no one would be out exercising after lunch.
The trees lining the path offered no shelter from the wind, nor could they block out the sunlight. The dry branches had been trimmed back, leaving only thick trunks. Above us was a vast blue sky; during summer, the branches of the lush trees on either side would cover this walking path.
"What did you tell the Scientist Team Members?" After we started walking side by side, Cao Mingzhe asked the question that concerned him.
"They're trying to recruit me to take over the Expedition Team's leadership," I revealed to Cao Mingzhe.
"That's not an issue. Once you're underground, they're just a bunch of quail; even if you kneel and hand them the leadership, they wouldn't dare accept it. The real question is what you told them and how deep it goes."
"Alright." I shrugged and recounted my conversation with the Scientist Group to Cao Mingzhe.
"That's quite troublesome. You didn't mention Li Squad Leader's name, did you?"
"No. I only mentioned two Materials Scientists' names. I didn't even get Li Squad Leader's surname; I just witnessed a warrior die right in front of me."
Cao Mingzhe furrowed his brows and thought for a moment. "This matter will soon reach the higher-ups. The military, especially One Commander, will quickly find their way to you. You need to be mentally prepared. Is this a big deal? Not really. But it will put the military in a difficult position, and I'm worried they might vent their anger on you. We need to quickly lay everything out for both sides and make certain information public; that way, you can avoid bearing the brunt of the responsibility.
Fortunately, you haven't disclosed Li Squad Leader's identity; otherwise, it would be hard to exonerate you. That involves military secrets."
"The Scientist Group hasn't revealed any information to me, not even an explanation. Including details about that piece of metal."
"Those old fossils keep their cards close to their chest. They haven't provided me with any more information either; they just want to take my authority, thinking that going to Lop Nur is a vacation."
"Old Cao, given how serious things have gotten, don't you want to tell me something? Like about that piece of metal. What on earth is it? What does it represent? After studying it for so long, you must have gained some insights."
Cao Mingzhe fell silent. We walked silently along the path without shade, only the biting cold wind accompanying us.
After walking for quite a while, Cao Mingzhe suddenly stopped.
"Actually, the research results regarding that piece of metal are mainly in the hands of the Academy. The military and I know very little about it, and most of what we do know is speculation. However, one thing we agree on is that the metal is not naturally occurring and is beyond our current technological capabilities. In simpler terms, that piece of metal represents a civilization that surpasses ours."
"An alien civilization?"
"This is one possibility. We believe it represents another civilization that once existed on Earth. You know, this round of civilization represented by humanity is just a snap of the fingers in the timeline of Earth. From the Quaternary period back to the Tertiary Period, Cretaceous, Jurassic, all the way to the Cambrian. And what about before that? Precambrian? As archaeologists, we know that this is merely a concept formed around geological layers. However, within those layers, there are still some unsolved mysteries. Our country has made discoveries, and others have too, but none have been made public."
"Old Cao, you're being too esoteric. The Earth and even the solar system have only existed for a few billion years. The probability of life appearing on Earth should be extremely low, and it has only developed into human civilization over time. Before human civilization, were there other civilizations? How can I believe that? Did that civilization just evaporate?"
"I can't answer that question. But I suggest you don't fully trust modern science. Although I'm not a scientist, I know what the foundation of modern physics is, do you? It's speculation. Whenever they encounter a physical phenomenon they can't explain, they make guesses about it. Of course, they don't call it guessing; they call it hypotheses. It's essentially the same thing."
"It's like the currently popular Big Bang Theory. Nothing existed, and then 'bang,' the universe was created. Oh, there's a Singularity involved. The most absurd part is that Singularity; do you know how they explain it? Infinite mass and infinite volume. All the mass of the universe is contained in that proton-sized Singularity."
"I'm not denying physics here. What I mean is you need to have the courage to challenge and overturn others' ideas; imagination is humanity's most precious wealth. Ha ha, I like to call it guessing. What about your imagination? That piece of iron is right in front of you; we can only guess its origin and history at this point—there's no way to know more than that. Perhaps this time we will gain something from our exploration. But who knows?"
"Old Cao, if everything you say is just guessing, what's the value in that? Isn't that just deceiving me?"
"It's not that I'm deceiving you, but rather that certain key information is held by a select few. It seems that only a small number of high-ranking officials in the military are aware of this information. However, judging by the military's attitude, they appear to have lowered the confidentiality level regarding this matter. In other words, they believe that this piece of iron and the civilization it represents hold little military value, at least not as much as initially imagined. Otherwise, this expedition wouldn't have allowed the Academy to get involved."
"So what's going on with the foreign Archaeology organization joining this Expedition Team? I heard Jack and some organization from Europe will also send people. This level of clearance seems too low."
"This is some sort of deal made by the higher-ups. Although this incident is happening in our country, they possess information that we are still unaware of, and they are trading that information for the opportunity to enter Lop Nur underground."
"What information?"
Cao Mingzhe pointed above. "You know." (To Be Continued...)
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