Special forces divisions can now operate in both air and land, are capable of protecting against almost all current firearms, and even possess many improved weapons unknown to the outside world. When other units are unable to deal with the robots, the special forces divisions can immediately turn the tide, which speaks volumes.
If Yang Zhaoxi wants to stay in his current position or even move up, he must lay a solid foundation. It is impossible to rise to power without any foundation. And after his two sons-in-law become stronger, his position will become even more unshakeable! However, his two sons-in-law cannot strengthen their power without Zhao Qiang, which is why the Yang family relies on Zhao Qiang.
As Wang Ping listened to the top-level government secrets, her heart was in turmoil. In Tiannan City, she had already thought her family was among the elite, but after arriving in Beijing and entering the Yang family, she realized that Tiannan City was merely a tiny corner of China. With just a word from these people present, her father would not only avoid being framed, but would even be promoted—what difficulty would that have been?
Zhao Qiang put down his rice bowl and chopsticks, checked the time, and said, "Grandpa, if there's nothing else, I'd like to go to Wulong Mountain with Shiyun and Shiqi to investigate the situation there further."
Yang Zhaoxi said, "Well, that's good. The people here won't feel at ease without you over there in charge."
Zhao Qiang said, "There's no need to worry too much for now. They won't make any big moves in the short term, and our people are monitoring them 24/7. They'll report any issues immediately."
Yang Zhaoxi said, "I still maintain that this is not the final solution; we need to solve them once and for all!"
Zhao Qiang was quite troubled: "I'd like to, Grandpa, but let's try our best. Some things aren't up to us to decide."
Yang Zhaoxi stood up: "I'll go back to my room to rest for a while. You guys pack up and get to work."
Yang Zhaoxi left first, and Zhao Qiang and the Yang sisters were also preparing to leave. Dong Qinghua gave Sun Baiyun a look, and Sun Baiyun coughed, "Little Zhao, sit for a while, no rush."
Zhao Qiang knew that his two uncles had something to say, so he sat down again. No matter what, they were his elders, and Zhao Qiang had to respect them.
Sun Baiyun offered Zhao Qiang a cigarette, but Zhao Qiang waved his hand, as he couldn't smoke in front of Yang Shiyun and Yang Shiqi. Sun Baiyun smiled, glanced at his two nieces, and put the cigarette away himself, saying, "Little Zhao, you are a rare talent among the younger generation. We admire you very much."
Zhao Qiang said modestly, "Uncle, you flatter me."
Yang Shiqi said, "Second Uncle, get to the point. Don't beat around the bush."
Sun Baiyun said, "It's like this, we want to entrust the three children to you, Xiao Zhao, for a while to cultivate their abilities. Look at the people around you, every single one of them can handle things independently. Even that kid from the Zhang family is quite capable now." Sun Baiyun was referring to Zhang Lingfeng. Although both came from privileged backgrounds, Zhang Lingfeng's status both domestically and internationally was incomparable to that of the Sun and Dong families. Who made Zhang Lingfeng? Directly, it was Xu Xiaoya, but indirectly, it was Zhao Qiang who was behind it all.
"This...?" Zhao Qiang hesitated. To be honest, he didn't want to be with the six sons of the Sun and Dong families, especially since their eldest sons were not young anymore. Wasn't it a joke to let Zhao Qiang manage them? They were used to the life of the upper class and didn't like being controlled by Zhao Qiang.
Yang Shiqi didn't want to waste time with her uncle, so she said bluntly, "Uncle, don't cause us any trouble. Zhao Qiang is too embarrassed to refuse, so I'll play the bad guy. To be honest, we can't take them with us. If we did, we wouldn't be able to do anything and would just be angry with them every day."
Dong Qinghua and Sun Baiyun were in an awkward position. In reality, they knew their sons very well. Although their sons had indeed made a lot of money under their name, the two fathers knew better than anyone else that without their protection, they would have struggled to even break even, let alone make money! How could they expect such children to inherit and carry on the family business? They would be lucky if they weren't devoured whole in future struggles. That's why the two of them thought of entrusting their children to Zhao Qiang for some experience.
Dong Qinghua said to Yang Shiqi, "I heard that the Hu family's kid has been following you guys lately. Qiqi, we can't let our good fortune go to outsiders, right? The Hu family used to be our competitors."
Yang Shiqi said, "But it's not like that now. It's an alliance. Hu Xiaojiang follows Zhao Qiang because he's obedient. He does whatever Zhao Qiang says. Zhao Qiang can hit him or scold him whenever he wants. But how dare we do that to our uncle's children?"
Sun Baiyun immediately patted his chest and assured her, "So that's the reason. Qiqi, don't worry, if these six brats dare to disobey, you should give them a good beating when necessary!"
Yang Shiyun tugged at her sister's sleeve, signaling her not to make things too difficult for her two uncles. Yang Shiqi said, "Really? Don't come looking for trouble with us later if we abort your child."
Sun Baiyun and Dong Qinghua patted their chests and said, "No, no, you can keep an eye on us and train him. As long as he can grow up to be like that Zhang family kid, that's fine." These two fathers really had high expectations. Zhang Lingfeng? Zhao Qiang wanted to come up with several kinds of medicine and then promote six more Zhang Lingfengs.
When the six sons of the Sun and Dong families heard that their future fates were in the hands of Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiqi, they were stunned. Their first reaction was to plead with their mothers. Who would want to follow Zhao Qiang? Although being with Zhao Qiang made them seem very powerful in the princeling circle, they would never be able to live a carefree life like before.
Yang Yucui and Yang Yuhan also felt that their husbands had placed too much faith in Zhao Qiang's abilities. However, before they could persuade their husbands, Yang Shiqi sent people to take away the six sons of the Sun and Dong families. Those special forces soldiers were not polite at all; they grabbed people and stuffed them into the plane. Yang Yucui and Yang Yuhan could not stop them and could only beg Old Master Yang for help in the end.
Yang Zhaoxi was fast asleep when he heard about this. He first gave his two daughters a severe scolding, and then said, "It's good to teach them a lesson," thus putting an end to the matter.
Looking at the dejected Sun Yingqiang on the plane, Wang Ping was overjoyed. It seemed that her father's matter was definitely resolved. Wang Ping was determined to follow Zhao Qiang, but seeing that there were two girls with Zhao Qiang who were even prettier than her, Wang Ping knew that she was far inferior to them. She could only reluctantly accept Zhao Qiang's arrangement. The plane stopped in Tiannan City midway to let her off. A child who was still in school could not follow Zhao Qiang around.
The area around Wulong Mountain has become a no-man's land after the last battle. The plane landed at the forward command post, where dozens of instruments were receiving data day and night. From the current situation, everything underground is normal.
"We need to solve this problem completely," Zhao Qiang said.
Yang Shiyun said, "Yes, that's what we all think, but they're underground. How can we solve the problem? There are interference waves underground that will disrupt our energy, and their numbers are unknown. It's hard to estimate the outcome of the war right now."
Zhao Qiang said, "Speed up the research and try to manufacture shielding materials."
Yang Shiyun said, "We've already been considering this issue, but judging from the current situation, it probably won't be clear for several months or even several years."
Yang Shiqi went to check on the situation at the front. Zhao Qiang said to Yang Shiyun, "You really can't find out their origin?"
Yang Shiyun shook her head: "Unless we can infiltrate their main spaceship's main engine to search for data."
Zhao Qiang said, "We must go in again, otherwise there will be no progress in the short term."
Yang Shiyun remained silent for a long time. She naturally knew the danger involved. "I'll stay with you. Only I can help you because I originally came from there."
Zhao Qiang said, "We won't notify anyone to avoid being obstructed, just you and me."
Yang Shiyun nodded. "When?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Let's prepare for a while longer. We need to set aside the things we need outside during the time we're away."
Yang Shiyun said, "Okay, I will make preparations as soon as possible."
Zhao Qiang cherishes life more than anyone else. He wouldn't take risks without a reason, but his decision to go down into the underground world again was for the safety of his loved ones. If the robots continue to attack humans, his businesses will suffer the most damage. As the saying goes, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Given the technological gap between the two sides, it's difficult to win without understanding the other side's strengths and weaknesses.
Although Zhao Qiang couldn't find materials to shield the interference waves, he discovered that matter could block some interference signals. This was the main way for interstellar spaceships to avoid space rays during space travel. So, during the short preparation time, Zhao Qiang melted down a part of the drilling rig he brought up from underground and made a lightweight suit of armor for himself and Yang Shiyun. Although it couldn't provide long-term protection against interference, most of the equipment could work with minimal effort under the protection of the armor.
One night, half a month later, Zhao Qiang left a letter for Xu Xiaoya, outlining the key tasks for the coming period. Of course, he also prepared enough "g" substance and various drug mother liquors for more than a month. Then, he took Yang Shiyun and the other person to the underground world again by drilling rig.
Using the drilling rig's monitoring system, Zhao Qiang accurately located the giant spaceship. The two found the exit not far from the spaceship. Here, they could clearly feel that the equipment they were carrying was not working properly, but it was much better than when it completely stopped working last time. At least the super-energy battery used by the drilling rig could support the two of them to enter the underground world. You should know that when they left here, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun first destroyed the interference wave control console to seize the opportunity. After being protected by layers of materials, the interference from the super-energy battery was much less severe.
Zhao Qiang planned to take as much spaceship hull material as possible back with him this time. Since replicating it was impossible, the spaceship wreckage here was the best source of material. If the thickness of the wreckage could be increased indefinitely, it might even be possible to shield against stronger interference.
Volume Two [791] Going Deeper Again
The light in the underground world was still so bleak, because it wasn't real sunlight and didn't give people that warm feeling. Yang Shiyun followed closely behind Zhao Qiang so that she wouldn't feel too uneasy.
"Where do we enter from this time?" Yang Shiyun asked Zhao Qiang.
Zhao Qiang said, "How about we go back to the same route we took last time?" Yang Shiyun replied, "We can't locate ourselves here without the drilling rig, and whether we can find the original route is still a question."
Zhao Qiang said, "Let's give it a try." The two weren't in a hurry and strolled slowly through the underground world, observing their surroundings. It was very quiet, and there were no signs of life. Could it be that the robots were no longer active on the surface of the underground world? Judging from their previous severe attacks on the Earth's surface, they should have been very active in the underground world.
"There should be a large crack ahead!" Zhao Qiang pointed ahead. "Sure enough, there was a faint light shining from underground." These kinds of places are easy to find. Although he didn't know if it was the crack that led down to the spaceship last time, the light shining through meant they should be able to get down to the main spaceship.
"Let's go." Yang Shiyun couldn't wait, and the two quickened their pace, soon arriving at the edge of the crack. "The light coming up from below is very weak, which means it's very deep." However, Zhao Qiang's anti-gravity device was still working, so he wasn't worried. He slowly slid into the crack with Yang Shiyun. This crack was nearly ten meters wide, and its depth was incomparable to the last one. Perhaps this time they could enter a deeper part of the spaceship.
The landing was smooth. Observing the ground beneath my feet, it didn't resemble the upper layer of rock. The black foundation must be the spaceship's protective layer. The light shining through was from the large recessed lights on the spaceship's walls, emitting a soft glow that illuminated the surroundings.
“We need to find a way in,” Yang Shiyun said.
Zhao Qiang said, "The outer shell of the spaceship is not metal that cannot be decomposed. It seems to be a kind of high-temperature and impact-resistant mineral. Further inside, there may be a ship wall made of other materials. This is probably the most energy-efficient natural protection adopted by aliens."
Yang Shiyun said, "In other words, we can't find our way by breaking it apart unless we smash it open."
Zhao Qiang said, "Yes, let's go forward and see." The spaceship under the crack was not tightly pressed against the rock; there was still a distance of nearly two meters between them, making it easy for people to walk inside without even having to bend over.
The faint sound of footsteps echoed in what resembled a giant cave. Yang Shiyun wanted to cover her ears, but this self-deception wouldn't work. She was terrified that the footsteps would attract a group of robots. But the final result was not what she expected. Even after the two found an entrance, they didn't find any robots. Strange, could they have been wiped out?
Judging from the two times they entered the spaceship, the security here is not strict, or even non-existent. Firstly, the spaceship may have been underground for a long time and no humans have ever come in to cause damage, so there is no need for security. Secondly, the robots may not care about this spaceship, which is probably close to being scrapped, so they have concentrated their forces elsewhere.
The entrance was a maintenance hatch for a turret. This turret resembled a giant cannon project that China had undertaken decades ago. Zhao Qiang had no idea what it fired. With such a large muzzle, if it were related to a robot's weapon, it probably wouldn't be just a simple gunpowder shell. Fortunately, the spaceship was trapped underground. If it flew into the air and fired a few shots at human cities, Zhao Qiang wasn't confident he could stop it. This kind of cannon should be able to attack small meteors without any problem.
"Metal hatches are much easier to handle." Soon, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun were inside the hatch. It was completely dark inside. The external lights were on, but there was no lighting inside. The intelligent creatures of the underground world were really strange. However, there was also a possibility that they hadn't considered whether the external lights were on or not, and they hadn't planned to fix the broken internal lights. That's why this strange phenomenon occurred. Rui turned on the flashlight on his watch, and a ball of light appeared around him. There was only one path forward. The corridor in the repair hatch continued to descend, and Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun naturally had to go deeper. However, after walking through this corridor, a complex route appeared in front of them. Without navigation, Zhao Qiang would really be at a loss. Of course, he wasn't afraid of getting lost.
Yang Shiyun said, "Based on where we arrived last time, if it's further down, it's definitely not the control center." The control center is either in the middle or upper part of the spaceship, definitely not in the lower part. Zhao Qiang said, "If we follow human concepts, the lowest level should be the spaceship's core, and in that case, it should be the energy room."
Yang Shiyun said, "I guessed so too, let's continue."
Zhao Qiang said, "Okay." The two abandoned the parallel routes and descended the spiral staircase. Given the technological level of the underground life forms, it was impossible for such a giant spaceship not to have an elevator. However, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun were unfamiliar with the place and worried about being discovered by the robots, so taking the stairs was the best option.
They descended approximately 300 meters, a terrifying distance! An interstellar spaceship was indeed far superior to a small vessel; this was practically a fortress, or even an asteroid. Finally, they reached the top of the spiral staircase, but a search of the surrounding area revealed no further descent, indicating they had likely reached the bottom. Zhao Qiang, with Yang Shiyun in tow, began searching the area. The dust on the ground was at least an inch thick, leaving large footprints with every step, suggesting that this place hadn't been visited for thousands of years.
"Why are the guards here so lax? Do the underground creatures really think that no human can break through the limitations of the earth's layers? But we already warned them last time." Yang Shiyun couldn't understand.
Zhao Qiang said, "I'm confused too. Let's look around slowly. There should be a sign here, but the dust is too thick. Let's search carefully." Thousands of years of dust accumulation are enough to obscure a small sign. However, signs are usually placed at intersections. As long as they clean the dust off the walls at the intersections, Zhao Qiang and his companion found the sign.
"Left: power compartment; right: power distribution room." Yang Shiyun read the text aloud. This is the advantage of analyzing alien script; otherwise, even seeing the signs would be completely incomprehensible, and she wouldn't know which way was which.
"Let's go check out the power compartment first. You follow behind me. Don't rush forward," Zhao Qiang instructed Yang Shiyun, worried that there might be robots guarding the power compartment or some automated weapons. However, to Zhao Qiang's dismay, they didn't encounter a single robot even after entering the massive power compartment. Yet, the sealed power compartment didn't seem to have much dust inside. It wasn't like someone had come to clean it; rather, the environment was enclosed and had no connection to the outside world, so dust couldn't get in.
"Wow..." This was the exclamation that came from the two of them as they raised their lights and shone them higher up.
How could one not be amazed? Before one's eyes was a gigantic pillar, its top reaching straight into the clouds, its edge invisible in the current light. Of course, there were no clouds above it, but it must be at the top of the spaceship. Could such a long pillar be the main propulsion system of the spaceship? Yet it produced no light or sound whatsoever, so it seemed to be not in operation.
"After searching around, we couldn't find any control switches nearby," Zhao Qiang said. "This should be a type of reactor that we don't know about. If it weren't such a large reactor, it probably wouldn't be able to supply the flight energy for the entire fortress. It's just that it's stopped operating, otherwise there wouldn't be no sound or light. Let's go check out the power control room."
Yang Shiyun studied it for a long time but couldn't come up with a result. The two had to leave temporarily. However, Zhao Qiang made up his mind that as long as he found that he couldn't stop the robots from continuing to attack humans on the surface, he would find a way to blow up the reactor and deprive them of their biggest energy source. In that case, even if the robots continued to develop, they would not have much of a future, unless they found a new way to solve the problem of energy source.
Judging from the spaceship's external lights, the robot should have other energy sources, but Zhao Qiang hasn't found them yet. However, considering the enormous energy required for the spaceship to fly, the alternative energy sources the robot has found so far are definitely insufficient to sustain the spaceship's flight.
The power distribution room was an extremely well-sealed place. Zhao Qiang had to break open two large doors to enter. If he hadn't been able to control energy to break down metal, opening those doors would have been incredibly difficult. The space inside was much smaller than the reactor room, resembling more of a control center. A ring of instruments was laid out in the room, with a row of tables and chairs in the center. This suggested that the aliens also needed to sit, and their height seemed to be similar to that of humans.
“This place has been abandoned for many years,” Yang Shifeng said.
Zhao Qiang observed carefully, then casually looked for a switch on the instrument. It was a red button with a power indicator next to it. Zhao Qiang pressed it, and the lights in the room suddenly turned on. Zhao Qiang then turned off the backlight of his watch.
Yang Shiyun said, "I didn't expect that there would still be backup energy here." Zhao Qiang replied, "The technology of aliens is naturally beyond our reach."
Yang Shiyun asked, "So, do you think this start button still works?" Zhao Qiang thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we try it and see?" He then pressed the button, which was in a very inconspicuous location and covered by a protective shield, suggesting it was important. There was no response for the first two seconds. Just as Yang Shiyun was about to speak, she suddenly felt a jolt, as if the entire spaceship was shaking. Then came a deep hum, growing louder as it approached, followed by the lights in the control room becoming even brighter.
Zhao Qiang was taken aback: "That reactor is working!" With that, Zhao Qiang rushed out and returned to the reactor along the same route. Sure enough, he could feel the light and hear the sounds even before he entered the reactor.
The towering pillars, now semi-transparent and shimmering with blue light, were accompanied by a slight tremor in the surrounding air, likely a resonance produced by the reactor during operation.
Yang Shiyun followed Zhao Qiang out, and the two of them were speechless as they looked at the giant reactor.
"Won't the robot notice?" Zhao Qiang said, "Possibly, so we don't have much time left. Let's go back to the distribution room and take another look."
The energy from the main reactor in the power distribution room was not being distributed to other parts of the reactor because almost all the switches in the distribution room were closed. Zhao Qiang didn't intend to distribute any energy to them either. After thinking about it, he even considered shutting down the main reactor. He already knew that the control functions and the reactor were intact, so there was no need to keep it working.
[792] Something that happened tens of millions of years ago
Yang Shiyun said: ...It's very strange, doesn't the robot know to activate the main power?
Zhao Qiang said, "Yes, there are too many strange things here. If the robots use all the capabilities of the entire spaceship, we are no match for them at all. Take the cannons we used when we came in, for example. Their power is absolutely unstoppable, but they are avoiding the main functions of the spaceship and instead using the simplest combat methods to fight us." Yang Shiyun said, "Could it be that they didn't intend to harm us at all?"
Zhao Qiang sighed: "Quite a few people have already died, do you want even more to die?"
Yang Shiyun said, "The few people who died around Wulong Mountain are nothing to them." Zhao Qiang looked around and found that there was no button to turn off the main power in the power control room. The button to turn on was not a repeating button, but only a button to turn off. Zhao Qiang chuckled, "Looks like I can't turn it off even if I want to."
Yang Shiyun said, "Why don't we just blow it up! This power system is incredibly powerful and might destroy the entire underground cavity system. If it collapses, the underground will be peaceful again."
Zhao Qiang considered for a moment: "Okay, I agree. We were just worried about how to send high-yield bombs down here. This is like a godsend. But we'd better calculate the destructive power of the explosion. After all, this is our land." Yang Shiyun naturally didn't object to Zhao Qiang's suggestion. The two of them worked backward from the power index in the control room. The calculation startled them. If all this energy were to explode and be released, the geological structure of half the province would probably change. It wouldn't just be a small tremor, but a major earthquake. How many people would die was still unknown.
Zhao Qiang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "It seems this idea won't work. Let's shut it down and look for another one."
Yang Shiyun helped Zhao Qiang find the switch. Since there's an on, theoretically there must be an off. However, turning it off requires a password, and its control is in the software system. Otherwise, anyone could easily shut down the main power, causing a serious accident during flight. After finding the off command, all the screens in the room lit up, displaying only one question: "Why turn it off?"
Yang Shiyun chuckled, "The owner of this spaceship has a great sense of humor." Zhao Qiang said, "Stop laughing, let's crack the code quickly."
Yang Shiyun said, "It would be best if you did this, because my main control chip is far inferior to yours."
Zhao Qiang sat down: "Alright, but before we try to crack it by force, let's guess first. This code hint isn't entirely useless, is it?" Yang Shiyun said: "Then you answer with 'For all mankind.'"