The monster, relying on its superior strength and long stride, easily chased after them for a great distance. The two humans were too small to handle it at first, but they quickly became exhausted. The monster stomped down on their heads, and just as they were about to be crushed into mincemeat, its head suddenly exploded with a loud bang. Its raised foot paused for a moment before finally falling, giving the two, who were terrified, a chance to escape. They didn't dare stop and continued running, because the monster's huge body was tilting behind them, sending up countless pieces of rock with a loud crash. The surroundings were dark for a long time before the dust settled.
"Zhao Qiang?" The Yang sisters, who had escaped death, saw the person running towards them and tears welled up in their eyes. They rushed to meet him like madmen, then hugged him and cried loudly. This reunion after a life-and-death separation was so overwhelming that it was hard to suppress their emotions.
Zhao Qiang never expected the Yang sisters to appear before him unharmed. Was this a miracle? He had thought they might be missing or seriously injured, but now he was finally relieved. Patting the two girls on the back, Zhao Qiang said, "It's alright, it's all over. I've killed the monster, and everything will be fine from now on. I'll lead you out of here."
"How did you get here?" After a long while, the two girls stopped crying and asked Zhao Qiang at the same time. Yang Shiyun had just wiped away her tears when she started crying again. "I'm sorry, Zhao Qiang. I didn't protect my sister. She was almost hurt just now, but I've almost lost all my abilities. I have no ability to protect myself now. What happened?"
Yang Shiqi said, "It's not my second sister's fault. The anti-gravity device and all the other weapons are no longer working. We're just ordinary people now. Luckily, we fell into deep water at 6 o'clock, otherwise we would have died long ago."
Zhao Qiang said, "I don't know why the equipment malfunctioned. I also encountered this situation. The specific reason has not yet been found, but we are all lucky. It's good that everyone is alright. What about Xu Changhe? Is he okay?"
Yang Shiyun said, "I didn't see him. The lights were destroyed when the landslide occurred, and it was pitch black all around. I didn't have time to see where he went, but I heard the sound of him clattering his armor. As long as he wasn't trapped in the cracks in the rocks, he should be fine."
Yang Shiqi said, "When we fell into the crevice, my sister and I hugged each other. We activated our armor, and the rubble didn't hurt us. However, after falling into the water, we found that the armor couldn't be retracted, and it almost dragged us to the bottom of the water. We had to use a lot of effort to take it off and throw it away. Then we walked in one direction, but we couldn't find you. We thought we were going to be trapped here and die. I never expected you to appear when we were in danger."
Zhao Qiang said, "I see. I found Donna. She injured her foot and is in the cave ahead. Let's go and meet up first, and then we'll talk."
Yang Shiyun examined the disc-shaped metal object in the distance: "What exactly is going on? I strongly feel a voice calling to me from inside that thing. I think we have reached our destination. The feeling we had on Wulong Mountain was it."
Zhao Qiang was taken aback: "Oh, you had that feeling again? Why did my feeling disappear after I came down?"
Yang Shiyun said, "I don't know either, but that's my intuition. Actually, I asked my sister, and she said she didn't feel anything unusual about that thing. In her opinion, it was just a little strange, but she didn't sense the urgent feelings we had."
Analysis shows that the mysterious object below is not perceptible to everyone. Perhaps because they are too close, Zhao Qiang can no longer sense it. Fortunately, Yang Shiyun can still sense it. The reason for this is currently unknown. It seems that they have truly reached the end.
Zhao Qiang walked toward the monster whose head had been blown off: "I'll cut some meat to take back, otherwise I'll have to go fishing."
Yang Shiqi asked, "Can we eat it? This thing looks very dirty." The monster's skin was indeed hard and ugly.
Zhao Qiang said, "You can eat fish, but I need to replenish my energy. Grilling meat is easier than grilling fish."
Yang Shiqi said, "Okay, we'll help." Yang Shiyun naturally agreed without hesitation. She knew Zhao Qiang much better than her sister. Zhao Qiang needed to replenish his energy from food, which was why he was able to successfully save the two women. If his energy had also disappeared, the two women might have been crushed by the monster.
Zhao Qiang used his military knife to cut the monster's flesh. This time, unlike last time, he didn't peel off a metal leg bone. Zhao Qiang also pulled out a bone from the monster. The three of them skewered the cut meat onto it and then carried it towards the cave where Donna was hiding. As for the metal disc-shaped object half-inserted in the ground, it didn't have legs and wouldn't run away. They would find out about it sooner or later.
When Donna saw Yang Shiyun and Yang Shiqi appear before her unharmed, she jumped for joy, "It's so great to see you!"
Seeing everything inside the cave, Yang Shiqi chuckled, "Zhao Qiang, what a cozy nest you have! Don't you mind if my sister and I disturb you?"
Zhao Qiang blushed and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? The charcoal is still hot. I'll make you some grilled fish."
Yang Shiyun rubbed her stomach and said, "Hurry up, we haven't eaten anything for days, we're starving."
Donna, with the air of a hostess, said, "I'll grill it. Zhao Qiang, you sort out the meat. It's best to hang it somewhere far away, as the smell is too strong. Also, go out and find some hay, since we're adding two more people to the house."
Zhao Qiang went out to gather dry grass and leaves, while the three girls gathered around the fire. When Zhao Qiang returned, Yang Shiyun and Yang Shiqi had already eaten fish with their mouths full of it, and kept praising, "Delicious, delicious! It would be even better if we could cook a pot of fish soup."
Zhao Qiang made the bed for the two women. Yang Shiyun wiped the fish scraps from her mouth with some embarrassment. She stood up and walked to Zhao Qiang's side. Although she was sometimes Xiao Wei, most of the time she was still the mature Yang Shiyun.
"Zhao Qiang, do you know what's going on here?"
Zhao Qiang shook his head: "I don't know. According to conventional thinking, that thing might be a spaceship."
Yang Shiyun said, "Yes, that's what I think too. Maybe the vending machine we found before is related to it. I really want to go in and take a look. There must be some secret about Xiaowei inside. That's what my intuition tells me."
Zhao Qiang asked in surprise, "Does this concern Xiao Wei?"
Yang Shiyun said, "That's my opinion, but I'm not sure if that's actually the case."
Zhao Qiang said, "Then I need to go out and find out as soon as possible."
Yang Shiyun said, "I'll go with you, but my invisibility and equipment have stopped working. I can only use energy, but there's no electricity here that I can use, so it's as if it's useless."
Zhao Qiang said, "Since that's the case, you have to stay here. We know nothing about that UFO, and we don't know if it's dangerous. I'll go investigate and confirm first before you go."
Yang Shiyun said, "But I can't wait."
Zhao Qiang said, "Be patient. Desire will not lead to success. Are you Yang Shiyun or Xiao Wei now?"
Yang Shiyun smiled and said, "What do you think? I'll let you guess."
Zhao Qiang looked at it carefully: "It's Yang Shiyun, so you should be able to control yourself. Xiao Wei can be impulsive sometimes, so don't hand over control to her for now."
Yang Shiyun said, "Actually, we're practically inseparable, so it's hard to say who controls whom."
Zhao Qiang said, "In short, you have to resist your curiosity. I don't want anything to happen."
Yang Shiqi finally put down the grilled fish in her hand and walked over. "Hey, what are you two discussing? We're trapped in the underground world now. Do you have any plans? How can we get out?"
Zhao Qiang said, "There are no plans to go up there for the time being, but I want to explore the crashed UFO."
Yang Shiqi said, "I almost forgot, that thing is really amazing. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed that there really are UFOs. Do you think we might find alien remains inside, and could we find alien advanced technology inside? Our country will be even more powerful now."
Zhao Qiang said, "We can't say for sure whether it's an alien UFO right now. Everyone must not get carried away with your excitement. You and your sister should rest first. I have to head to the crash site soon."
Yang Shiqi was displeased: "What, you're not planning to take us with you?"
Zhao Qiang said, "This is the first time we've gotten close to it, and we don't know what the situation is like inside. All our equipment is out of order right now, so we can't take any risks. I'll take you there after I've found out everything."
Yang Shiqi refused, but Yang Shiyun persuaded her a couple of times and she gave up. In addition, the two women had been walking non-stop for several days with almost no rest, and they were so tired that they fell asleep as soon as they lay down in the hay. Zhao Qiang and Tang Na silently roasted several large pieces of meat. Tang Na packed Zhao Qiang's backpack, filled it with roasted meat, and then personally hung it on Zhao Qiang's shoulder.
"Be careful, and make sure you come back safely. Don't forget there are three women waiting for you here." Donna's tone was somewhat low, and it was unclear whether the other party was friend or foe. If they were indeed aliens, their technology would certainly be extremely advanced, and their weapons would be beyond the capabilities of Earthlings. What if they harmed Zhao Qiang?
Zhao Qiang glanced at the Yang sisters, who had already fallen asleep, and said to Donna, "Don't worry, I can protect myself. You two keep an eye on the outside. If things get bad, go deeper into the cave and wait for me to come back."
Donna nodded: "We know, shouldn't we wait until they wake up before leaving?"
Zhao Qiang said, "It's not like I'm not coming back. I'll be back in 48 hours at most. During this time, you must not act recklessly."
Donna said, "I'll talk to them both."
Zhao Qiang picked up the wooden stick he had prepared earlier, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and walked out of the cave. The noise from when he killed the monster was quite loud, and the view here was relatively open. He wondered if the creature in the crashed UFO had already noticed their presence.
It would take Zhao Qiang more than three hours to reach the location of the UFO at his current speed. Of course, he could use energy to speed up, but that would be unwise. So Zhao Qiang walked slowly, eating a piece of roasted meat whenever he felt he was consuming too much energy. Three and a half hours later, Zhao Qiang was already standing not far from the giant UFO. Looking up, it was difficult for Zhao Qiang to see anything else. All he could see was the shiny edge of the UFO. He didn't know how long it had been there, but just by looking at the luster of the outer shell, he knew that this metal was extraordinary.
Volume 2 [740] First Exploration
Actually, Zhao Qiang was still some distance from the UFO at this moment, but he had already entered the outer edge of the UFO. Above his head was the metal eaves extending from the UFO. Zhao Qiang realized that the small sun-like light sources he had seen when he fell into the water were not on the UFO. Those small sun-like bright spots were probably artificial lighting tools, which were probably located at a higher position. However, there was thick fog at that higher position, and Zhao Qiang could not see through it at all. He could only leave it for later exploration.
The long, narrow lake had long since become a large river, but not far from where it flowed to the UFO, a large hole appeared, seemingly formed by a collapse. All the water flowed into this hole and eventually disappeared without a trace. There must be other underground rivers below, or perhaps it went directly into a deeper place through a crack in the ground and then turned into steam, flying off to who knows where.
Zhao Qiang first cautiously looked around. Nearly half of the UFO was buried in the rock, and it was impossible to tell what kind of damage the impact had caused to its outer shell. However, from the exposed parts, there were no signs of fire or damage. The alien spaceship was indeed sturdy enough. With the force of the rock, even a diamond drill should have broken it.
Zhao Qiang carefully observed the exposed part of the UFO. There were no windows or doors, and everything was smooth. He couldn't find a way to get in. Helpless, Zhao Qiang could only start circling the UFO. He planned to investigate the entire outer perimeter of the UFO. He couldn't rush his first exploration and had to gather all the information first.
It took Zhao Qiang three hours to circle around, even with him speeding up his pace, which shows how huge the flying saucer was. However, Zhao Qiang was disappointed. The flying saucer was half-tilted and stuck in the ground. The back part of it had generated a lot of debris from the impact with the rocks, blocking the way. Other than that, it was no different from what he had seen in front of him. It was a smooth, mirror-like shell, and there was no way to get in. He also saw no trace of any creature coming out of it, because there were no other footprints on the ground except for Zhao Qiang's footprints. Of course, it is also possible that those footprints had been covered by dust and disappeared over thousands of years.
As Zhao Qiang circled, he slowly approached the flying saucer, finally standing at its base. He could reach out and touch the shiny shell. He tapped it a few times with a wooden stick, and a dull sound came from inside. The metal shell was very thick; otherwise, it should have made a hollow sound. If he had an electromagnetic gun, Zhao Qiang could consider shooting it through, but with just a wooden stick, it was impossible. How could he get in? Zhao Qiang was troubled.
Finding a flat, large rock, Zhao Qiang sat down to rest, munching on some roasted meat while thinking of a solution. It seemed safe here, at least until he found a way to enter the UFO. But what about the metal leg bones? Were they the work of the intelligent beings inside the UFO? Were they still there?
Zhao Qiang put the barbecue back in his backpack. He stood on the large rock and cupped his hands as a megaphone towards the UFO. "Hey, friends inside, I'm a friendly human. Come out and let's meet!" Zhao Qiang said in Chinese and then repeated it in English. His voice was very loud and clear, making the surroundings buzz. He believed that if there was any life inside, they could hear him.
But Zhao Qiang was met with silence again, as if no one was paying attention to him. However, Zhao Qiang was not too disappointed. He called out only as a friendly gesture. The next thing was more important. Zhao Qiang separated his energy. He wanted to try to break down the metal shell. Perhaps its composition was one that Zhao Qiang could control. If so, it would be easy to open a door to enter the flying saucer.
The energy gradually approached the flying saucer, eventually gently attaching itself to it. Zhao Qiang didn't dare to be too hasty; he merely probed the flying saucer's response. The energy traveled across the spaceship's hull without causing any reaction, so Zhao Qiang immediately ordered the hull of the flying saucer to be permeated and decomposed.
However, Zhao Qiang quickly received feedback that this metal was outside the scope of the biochip's understanding, and it was impossible to control its molecular rearrangement. Zhao Qiang immediately calculated the time required to analyze its composition, and the biochip replied that it would take hours. In other words, Zhao Qiang would have to continuously separate energy to decompose and analyze it on the spaceship's shell. Only by thoroughly understanding the composition of this metal could he control it like he could control the known metals on Earth.
Zhao Qiang did a quick calculation. He could withstand an hour's worth of energy output because the energy separation was extremely gradual. However, it would still consume more than two-thirds of his energy. Fortunately, Zhao Qiang still had a few large pieces of roasted meat in his bag, which could replenish about two-thirds of his energy. After deducting the energy needed for the return trip, there was almost no energy left for maneuvering. Therefore, even after opening the spaceship, Zhao Qiang did not dare to go inside to explore unless he found enough food to restore his strength.
Regardless, Zhao Qiang decided to analyze the composition of the metal first, then return to the cave to rest and prepare before coming back. Although he was more curious about the UFO than anyone else, Zhao Qiang also knew that curiosity killed the cat, and he couldn't risk his life. Who knew what the UFO was like inside? Better safe than sorry.
Zhao Qiang sat back down on the large rock. He ate roasted meat while separating the energy to analyze the metal composition. Because there was no salt, the roasted meat became more and more unpalatable. Zhao Qiang frowned the whole time, and he was practically forcing himself to swallow it while holding his nose. If only he were on the surface, Luo Xiaowei could cook him a pot of braised pork knuckle. What a treat that would be! He wondered how they were doing, and whether they would be saddened or upset to learn that he had disappeared underground.
Time ticked by, and Zhao Qiang's expression grew increasingly solemn. He wasn't worried about the loss of energy within his body, but rather about the results of the biochip's analysis of the flying saucer's metal. Zhao Qiang was shocked by the composition of this metal. Although the analysis process was not yet complete, Zhao Qiang already knew some of the metal's properties.
Regarding hardness, Zhao Qiang believed that 'g' matter was the hardest substance in the world, and that armor, tanks, and airplanes based on it had extremely strong defensive capabilities. However, he never expected that 'g' matter would be completely insignificant in the face of this unknown flying saucer metal. It was as ridiculous as a three-year-old child comparing the strength of an adult's fist.
However, the high hardness of the UFO's outer shell is understandable. Otherwise, imagine if it encountered a meteor impact or other unknown danger during interstellar flight and was hit with a large hole in the vast space, wouldn't it be the end of it? So, the interstellar spacecraft must be hard enough, otherwise it wouldn't be qualified to go out and would be better off staying on its home planet like humans.
Besides its hardness, another significant characteristic of the UFO's outer shell metal is its fluidity! Zhao Qiang had seen some liquid robots in science fiction movies before, and at that time he thought the directors had a rich imagination. He could understand liquid metal, and he could even create similar products, such as armor that automatically extends and weapons that transform. These could all be described as liquid changes of 'g' matter, but such transformations must be controlled by an external control chip, otherwise they simply cannot be completed.
However, Zhao Qiang has now analyzed a unique characteristic of the UFO's outer metal shell: when the spaceship is damaged, it automatically gathers new metal molecules towards the damaged area until the damage is repaired. This is due to the inherent consciousness of the metal molecules, not commands sent by an external control chip. If more consciousness commands could be integrated into these metal molecules, wouldn't that mean the birth of a super-sized liquid robot? It would have its own consciousness, be able to change shape at will, and be immune to attacks.
Zhao Qiang pondered this for a while, but of course, it was just a thought. The technology required to actually manufacture such a liquid intelligent robot was quite complex. In addition, Zhao Qiang didn't know how to attach commands to the metal shell of this flying saucer.
Besides the two properties mentioned above, this metal is also resistant to high temperatures and corrosion, which should be essential for interstellar travel. Zhao Qiang didn't know what the outer space was like, but Mars likely experiences frequent acid rain. If the spaceship couldn't withstand such corrosion, it would probably leak gas and explode in space before reaching its destination. Resistance to high temperatures is also crucial; otherwise, the high temperatures generated by friction upon entering a planet's atmosphere would be enough to destroy the spaceship. The high-temperature and corrosion resistance of this flying saucer's outer shell is far superior to that on Earth.
Besides these few properties, this metal has many other characteristics, but they didn't attract much attention from Zhao Qiang. After calculating the time, Zhao Qiang frowned slightly. The estimation given by the biochip was somewhat inaccurate; several hours had passed, but the analysis was still incomplete. He estimated this was related to the self-repairing properties of the UFO's outer shell metal, which increased the difficulty of the analysis and caused Zhao Qiang's energy output to increase significantly.
After thoroughly searching the backpack containing the barbecue, Zhao Qiang realized he had no more reserve energy, and his internal energy had dropped to one-third of its maximum. This was a dangerous sign, so Zhao Qiang decisively stopped analyzing it. However, he still couldn't grasp the molecular structure of this new metal, so he couldn't open it. Given the many unknowns about this metal, Zhao Qiang temporarily named it 'x'.
After jumping off the large rock he had just been standing on, Zhao Qiang looked around. Less than twenty hours had passed. He and Donna had agreed to return in 48 hours, so there was still plenty of time. If they could find a way to replenish their energy, they could continue exploring.
Zhao Qiang returned to the fault where the river disappeared. He carried a wooden stick and searched for fish in the water. But what puzzled him was that although he had seen a lot of fish upstream, he waited in the water for half an hour and did not see a single fish. It seemed that the fish in the upstream lake knew that there was danger here, so they did not swim down at all.
Looking around again, apart from some dead branches floating downstream on the shore, there wasn't a single patch of green to be seen. Whether it was due to pollution generated during the spaceship collision, Zhao Qiang had no idea. He could only pray that the pollution wouldn't have a significant impact on human health.
Not daring to waste energy, Zhao Qiang had no choice but to start his return journey after an hour of hesitation. He couldn't take the risk; if something happened to him, the three girls would also be in danger. Even if the monster couldn't find them, being trapped at this depth underground meant certain death. Assuming the ground forces could dig a new path, the defenses that disabled the equipment would still be in place, and those who came down would naturally not be able to come back up.
The return journey was uneventful, which put Zhao Qiang at ease. Although the underground world was strange, it seemed to be alright except for the rare monsters. Thinking of the monsters, Zhao Qiang made a detour and went back to the place where he had hunted them before to get another batch of meat. Next time, Zhao Qiang would bring more food to explore the flying saucer, so preparing food was very important.
Volume 2 [741] Preparing Again
From afar, Zhao Qiang could hear people talking in hushed tones inside the cave, occasionally chuckling. However, the sounds were so low that Zhao Qiang wouldn't have heard them unless his hearing was exceptionally sharp. Even so, Zhao Qiang was still annoyed. These three girls were too careless, making noise despite the danger of the place. He had to give them a good scolding.
When Zhao Qiang appeared at the cave entrance, the three girls sitting by the fire inside immediately noticed him. They stood up almost simultaneously. "Zhao Qiang? You're back! That's great! Now we don't have to worry anymore."
Zhao Qiang had a gloomy face. The three girls were confused. Yang Shiqi stepped forward and touched Zhao Qiang, "You're fine, we're relieved. We were worried you might encounter some danger. It seems that UFOs aren't so scary after all."
Zhao Qiang didn't answer, so Donna asked, "What's wrong? Did you find something? You look unhappy. We were so glad you came back early. We were just discussing what to do if we found aliens."
Zhao Qiang said with a stern face, "Why didn't you send anyone to guard the cave entrance? Why were you speaking so loudly? Don't you know that one wrong step here could lead to utter destruction?"
Yang Shiqi was somewhat taken aback: "With you here, what are we worried about? This cave entrance is very deep and the rocks are thick. Even if the monster finds us, what can it do? It can't possibly break through the rocks that are more than ten meters deep and crawl in. Besides, we can move to a deeper part of the cave. There's no need to be afraid. You're not just making a face because of these two things, are you?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Of course, we can't be careless! We're in dire straits now, so we need to be extra vigilant. When I'm not around, you must be strict with yourself and act according to military discipline. Do you understand?"
Yang Shiqi said aggrievedly, "I know, I'll know what to do next time."
Yang Shiyun said, "It's all my fault. I kept them chatting. I thought that since we could see for thousands of meters from here, with a wide field of vision, we could hear even if a monster came. Besides, it's a bit cold outside... We..."
Zhao Qiang interrupted Yang Shiyun's explanation: "Alright, let it go this time, but don't be careless next time."
Yang Shiqi pouted: "You're being unfair! You treat my second sister so patiently, but you yell at me."
Zhao Qiang broke out in a cold sweat; Yang Shiqi was jealous of her second sister. Zhao Qiang threw the meat he had brought back onto the stones by the fire and said, "Hurry up and roast the meat, I'm starving." He changed the subject.
Yang Shiqi and Yang Shiyun simultaneously glanced at Zhao Qiang's abdomen, which was indeed shrunken. It seemed that Zhao Qiang had consumed a lot of energy. Could it be that he was in danger? The two women's expressions immediately became serious. After discussing it, Yang Shiqi went to the cave entrance to keep watch, while Yang Shiyun and Tang Na began to cut meat and grill it. The sizzling sound of oil oozing out echoed in the cave, and the air was filled with the aroma of meat.