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墨書 Inktalez
That evening, our Test Pit welcomed a surge of visitors. It wasn't a peak in numbers, but rather the arrival of an important figure. Accompanied by Captain Zhou, the highest commander and decision-maker of this project came to our Excavation Pit.
I had heard the term Seven from the Colonel at that military base where we signed the confidentiality agreement. Seven refers to our project as a whole; the military commonly refers to it as Team Seven or Operation Seven.
Here, I need to clarify the composition of our personnel. The core members of this project should be us archaeologists and those experts in Materials Science. However, due to our different specialties, our search directions and roles within this project vary significantly. Additionally, our work locations are quite distant; we archaeologists work almost at the center of this project, which is centered around the several Test Pits we are excavating, hidden beneath Camouflage Nets. The Materials Scientists work on one side at the edge of the entire operation. I know that direction but have never been there. It's not that my curiosity has faded or that I hope to know fewer secrets to avoid trouble and have a chance to escape; rather, that area is filled with dust and is likely the dirtiest and most labor-intensive part of the entire project. Archaeologists who have been there return feeling grateful that they weren't the ones doing that hard labor. Moreover, our work is racing against time, so I truly have no opportunity to go over there.
Our two groups are the only ones in the entire project without a military background. The other personnel are all various specialists transferred from the military, such as those from the Engineering Corps who actually participate in excavating the Excavation Pit. There are also technicians from military factories responsible for operating and maintaining the Lifting System. Initially, there were many such technicians during the installation and debugging of the Lifting System, but now there is no time to excavate new Test Pits or add new lifting equipment; their numbers have significantly decreased and personnel are relatively fixed. I must mention that I initially had reservations about this massive lifting and transportation system, but after working here for some time, I've come to appreciate its efficiency. I've deeply realized an old saying: "Sharpening the axe does not delay the work of cutting firewood." This is indeed true; perhaps the preparatory work takes a long time and wastes significant resources, but the excavation efficiency is remarkably high.
There are also Automobile Troops responsible for transportation, Logistics Support Units, medical teams, Communication Units, and even a unit responsible for operating and maintaining a power station—a Diesel Power Station that is the source of constant rumbling noise day and night.
Regardless of which group we belong to, we are all part of this project; it's just that our divisions of labor and levels of confidentiality differ. Interestingly, these two groups without military backgrounds hold the highest levels of confidentiality authorization. Another amusing situation is that both groups intentionally avoid using the term Seven. We archaeologists refer to ourselves as the Desert Archaeology Team and even deliberately obscure geographical names. The Materials Scientists call this place a quarry due to their harsh working conditions. It seems everyone prefers not to tie themselves too closely to this secret.
The actual leadership, management, and coordination of all parties involved come from a military Task Force. They rarely show up; perhaps there are too many troops here that even if they come to inspect on-site, I wouldn't recognize them as a newcomer.
Today’s visit to our Excavation Pit was from the leader of this Task Force—the One Commander here.
He was a slender middle-aged man. At nearly six feet tall, I found myself slightly looking up to meet his gaze. He held a high military rank—specifics elude me—but indeed only someone of his level could swiftly mobilize various resources and make immediate decisions regarding any situations arising on-site.
This was my first encounter with him; he struck me as calm and decisive. He was polite in demeanor, spoke concisely, and asked me several questions mainly focused on project progress and upcoming specific work plans. Since my Test Pit had not yielded any large artifacts, I based my judgment on several pieces of pottery and tiles that had been unearthed so far. In summary, my conclusion was straightforward: there should be signs of human activity here.
The Commander personally inspecting our work left Liu Squad Leader feeling honored. I didn’t feel much about it; our subsequent work continued in an orderly manner.
Reaching the Wet Sand Layer does not necessarily mean we will find water. If digging just ten meters could yield water, it wouldn’t be called a desert anymore. Moreover, Wet Sand Layer simply indicates moisture within it; it has no direct relation to water sources. However, at this layer, safety in the Excavation Pit improves significantly compared to when we were in flowing Wet Sand Layer; while scraping soil becomes slightly more challenging, protecting the pit walls becomes much easier. Furthermore, working in a humid environment feels much better for people involved. Thus, our progress did not slow down at all.
In early November, an excited shout from a warrior drew my attention. I went over to see what was happening and told them to stop their work immediately, notifying Captain Zhou of the Archaeology team that a discovery had been made.
One warrior climbed into a lift to relay the news. Lacking proper tools, I grabbed an iron pick from one of the warriors and began carefully scraping at a patch of sand. Our excavation pit had already exceeded a depth of fifteen meters, with the ground composed of a fine mixture of sand and mud. Even though I had not yet encountered the familiar soil layer, I had anticipated that this excavation pit was nearing its secret. This estimation was not solely my own; during our nightly meetings, whenever I reported on the progress of this excavation pit and the changes in the layers being unearthed, nearly everyone shared this premonition. Although no one knew what lay beneath the sand or how deep it was, the appearance of this soil layer was indeed a sign that things were coming to light.
The first thing to emerge was a stone sphere the size of a soccer ball. I cleaned off the sand clinging to its surface and discovered that it was etched with radioactive lines. The stone sphere was only half exposed above ground, and since my tools were unwieldy, I worried about damaging it if I continued digging. Instead, I meticulously cleared the surrounding ground.
At this stage of work, it was no longer appropriate for the engineering team to intervene. My first task was to confirm whether this object existed independently or was part of a series. If it were the former, then after unearthing this object, the engineering team would continue working here. If it were part of a series, then most of the engineers would withdraw from this excavation pit, leaving only a few support personnel behind for further work.
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