Zhao Qiang nodded: "Okay, let's go in and take a look. We've almost successfully deciphered their writing. The remaining obscure characters won't affect us much. It would be best if we could find a suitable weapon, otherwise we can't do anything. Our attack power is too weak; we can only kill monsters."
Yang Shiyun naturally didn't object. Zhao Qiangrong opened the UFO's outer shell, and the two of them climbed inside again. Everything inside was the same. They easily made their way to the control panel. What Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun urgently needed now was an introductory document about the control panel, so they could learn how to query and retrieve the inventory in the storage space. But it was obvious that this thing was probably nothing to aliens, so what Zhao Qiang had found so far was not an introduction on how to operate it.
"Why can't we operate it?" Zhao Qiang asked himself, and also Yang Shiyun. In science fiction movies, you can control a 3D projection with a swipe of your hand, just like you would a mouse. If the control console could really work, then the search for weapons would soon be resolved.
Yang Shiyun said, "Maybe it's because we didn't activate some function, but it doesn't matter. Let's force our way into the cargo hold and take a look. Anyway, the aliens have already detected this place. We might not be able to come back easily anymore. We can't wait any longer."
Zhao Qiang chuckled: "That's what I think too, but you'd better stick close to me, I'm afraid there might be some traps down there."
Yang Shiyun said, "I don't think so. If it's really as we guessed before, and this transport UFO is insignificant in the eyes of aliens, then they don't need to build any defenses. Just like our Earthlings' transport planes, it's good enough to have a few machine guns to defend against external enemies, but the interior is undefended."
Zhao Qiang said, "How can aliens compare to Earthlings? We should be careful. Are you ready? We're about to jump."
Zhao Qiang dared not turn off the anti-gravity device, otherwise he might be trapped below. Whether there was weightlessness when going down was irrelevant, but what about coming back up? Even if the two of them left from the bottom of the cabin, how would they get to the control panel next time they came back in? It was so high, how could they jump up there without weightlessness?
The two leaped from the control panel and floated towards the bottom of the cabin. As they flew, Zhao Qiang used his energy to break down the metal at the bottom. By the time they reached the bottom, Zhao Qiang had melted a hole in the metal floor. Grabbing the wall of the hole, they managed to stabilize themselves. Zhao Qiang continued to use his energy to melt the metal, and soon the opening expanded to accommodate them. Zhao Qiang went in first, and Yang Shiyun followed suit. To their surprise, it wasn't weightless below. Fortunately, there were lights, and their weight instantly returned as they fell in.
Zhao Qiang grabbed Yang Shiyun's arm and distributed his energy around their bodies, so they wouldn't be afraid of falling. Whoosh! With a slight whistling sound, Zhao Qiang felt his body tremble as a tremendous pressure struck his energy shield. The energy shield created a terrifying groove, as if the force of that thing was just a fraction greater and Zhao Qiang's shield would be breached.
"What is that? It has no shape at all!" Yang Shiyun screamed. She felt it herself, but couldn't find any attack weapon under the light. Then the two heard another whooshing sound, followed by another part of the energy shield caved in. This time it came from above, and the force of the blow slammed Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun hard into the ground, making it impossible for them to get up.
The blows from above grew faster and faster, and Zhao Qiang's energy was rapidly draining away. However, he dared not stop supplying energy, for if the invisible attacks from the outside were to break through, the two of them would be torn to pieces.
Zhao Qiang pushed off the ground with his foot, sliding his body to the side. The attack that followed tore a deep gash in the metal of the hull, but the gash quickly healed. The unique properties of this metal meant that it would self-repair no matter how severe the damage, so it was not afraid of damage at all. The attack followed closely behind Zhao Qiang's movement.
While maintaining his energy defense, Zhao Qiang observed the surroundings. They landed in a large, empty hall with lines marking the floor, resembling roads or running tracks. About a hundred meters to Zhao Qiang's side was a wall, and what lay beyond was unknown. Unable to think of any other way to escape his predicament, Zhao Qiang could only push off the ground and slide towards the wall. As long as he moved, the opponent's attacks would become less accurate. After all, Zhao Qiang was extremely fast, and attacks involved a certain distance, so some inaccuracy was inevitable.
Zhao Qiang's energy disappeared by a third in a few seconds, but he dared not linger for even a quarter of an hour. He decomposed a large amount of energy to dissolve the wall, then pulled Yang Shiyun and plunged inside! Here, the gravity was normal, and the flying saucer was tilted and stuck in the ground, so what should have been a flat area was now tilted at a 30-degree angle. When Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun entered the next space, they slid down like they were on a slide.
Whew, Yang Shiyun breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh my god, at least it didn't catch up. What was that thing?"
Zhao Qiang said, "It's an attack that's invisible and traceless, like the compression gun we invented."
Yang Shiyun looked up and surveyed the space she was in: "Could there be some here too? Maybe we should go upstairs, it's too dangerous."
Zhao Qiang looked around and said, "This place should be safe." The area was empty and about 150 square meters. There were several buttons on one side of the wall with labels. Zhao Qiang pulled Yang Shiyun and climbed over with difficulty. The height of the place was a bit high. The first button was labeled "Retrieve" and the second button was labeled "Store".
Both of them could read, but they didn't understand what it meant. Yang Shiyun reached out and pressed the extract button: "What the hell?"
The button emitted a red warning sound, but otherwise everything remained quiet and unchanged. Zhao Qiang reached out and pressed the save button. A circular device suddenly appeared on the wall above his head, flashing a bright light that enveloped the entire room. Then the light disappeared, and the save button emitted a red warning beep. The circular device then swiftly retracted.
Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun were both confused. Zhao Qiang then melted the wall containing the control switch and first visually assessed the situation outside. The lighting was ample, and it seemed to be a corridor-like space outside. This time, the two dared not go out rashly. Zhao Qiang waved his hand outside, and whoosh, an invisible attack slashed at Zhao Qiang's arm. Zhao Qiang used his energy to negate the damage and immediately pulled his arm back. Both of them broke out in a cold sweat.
"Are you trapped here?" Yang Shiyun asked.
Zhao Qiang pointed to the room they were in and said, "It shouldn't be. At least this room doesn't have that kind of attack. Besides, we can go back to the weightless upper space from above. Let's find another room to try."
Zhao Qiang opened another wall, which was the same size as this one. The only difference was that a large object was floating in mid-air in that room. Zhao Qiang reached out and tested it, but it didn't attack. He then pulled Yang Shiyun inside.
Volume 2 [747] What is Authorization?
Yang Shiyun's ability to use energy was not yet sufficient to protect herself. Besides, there was no electricity here, so she could only convert and utilize electrical energy. Therefore, she was even more afraid, worried, and anxious than Zhao Qiang. When she finally entered a place where there was no danger, she breathed a sigh of relief and almost sat down on the ground.
Zhao Qiang said, "It seems your woman's intuition isn't working. We didn't sense any danger at all along the way."
Yang Shiyun said, "My intuition is still focused on the control panel outside; I have no feeling at all here."
“Oh,” Zhao Qiang said, “could it be that there are some secrets on the control panel that we haven’t discovered yet?”
Yang Shiyun said, "Who knows? But we've searched everywhere. By the way, what's this?"
Zhao Qiang looked up and observed that what was suspended in mid-air looked like a motorcycle. What was most strange was that it floated in mid-air without any support. If this was a weightless environment, it could be explained, but Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun clearly felt their own weight. This was not a weightless environment. How could the motorcycle be suspended in mid-air without any support?
"This is an amphibious vehicle." Zhao Qiang recognized it; he saw it in a picture on the control panel screen, and he clearly remembered its function: it could go into water, travel on land, and fly, making it an essential means of transportation for home and travel. However, the energy it required was quite special, requiring a mothership to remotely transfer energy to it. This transfer was invisible and could be carried out anytime, anywhere, but the mothership had to remain within the atmosphere. Right now, it couldn't start at all because no one knew what the so-called 'mothership' was, let alone receive energy.
Without thinking twice, Yang Shiyun stepped forward and pressed the extraction button. This time, it wasn't just a simple red light alarm; a projection screen rose up on the surface of the suspended motorcycle, displaying the words: "Unauthorized extraction not possible."
Yang Shiyun asked in confusion, "Authorization? What authorization?"
Zhao Qiang said, "It's probably because of the authorization to operate this flying saucer. Otherwise, anyone could just take away the weapons, which is against the rules."
Yang Shiyun said, "No authorization needed, we'll bring it down!"
Zhao Qiang reached out and pulled down, but the suspended motorcycle didn't budge. It seemed there were many traps inside, and fearing that it might trigger the invisible attack again, Zhao Qiang didn't dare to force it any further and had to give up.
"What should we do? We have no idea what authorization is," Yang Shiyun said.
Zhao Qiang said, "Let's continue looking for other rooms and find out the situation before making a decision."
Continuing forward, they opened the wall and found another room, but this one was empty. Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun cautiously entered and continued exploring. The next warehouse was also empty, but in the next room, they discovered something amazing. Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun were delighted. "A drilling rig?" The device looked like a large worm, with the front section being a drill bit. The excavated debris was processed and thrown behind it. It could drill through granite at a speed of 100 miles per hour, which was incredible. Even on flat roads, most vehicles on Earth can only reach speeds of around 100 kilometers per hour, let alone drilling through rock. Did it treat rock like tofu?
Apart from the large drill bit, the drilling rig consists of a machine body. It can accommodate more than twenty people at a time, making it a pretty good escape tool. However, Zhao Qiang tried his best but couldn't pull it down. It seems that to use it to escape the underground world, he must activate the control panel for authorization; otherwise, many things here cannot be taken out.
Zhao Qiang opened more than a dozen rooms in a row. Some of them contained equipment, while others were empty. It seemed that the transport UFO had been used for a long time before it crashed, and some of its weapons and equipment had not been replenished.
Zhao Qiang was exhausted. Melting this 'x' metal was no easy task. Considering the robots outside and the effort required to return, Zhao Qiang abandoned the idea of further exploration. He said to Yang Shiyun, "We can go back now."
Yang Shiyun asked, "What should we do? Do you have any plans?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Bring Donna and Yang Shiqi in. Since those robots can't get into the UFO to inspect it, I think there might be some restrictions on them here. Let's bring enough food and hide in first, try to crack the spaceship's authorization, get the weapons and tools inside, and bring them back to the ground."
Yang Shiyun said, "Okay, I'll follow your arrangements. I don't think it's necessary to look at the rooms below anymore."
Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun cautiously drilled a hole in the ceiling. Zhao Qiang reached out and tested it; outside was the large, weightless space, which appeared undefended. The two could climb up without hesitation, their bodies immediately floating. Zhao Qiang first targeted the control panel in the center, then used his strength to throw Yang Shiyun upwards. He then bent his knees and pushed off the bottom of the cabin, leaping up as well. The two re-examined the control panel, but still couldn't find how to authorize anything.
Yang Shiyun said, "Why don't we go and catch a robot to ask?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Stop joking. Robots aren't human. How could they possibly reveal secrets to us?"
Yang Shiyun said, "It's impossible to get them to confess voluntarily. What if we force them to extract data from their chips?"
Zhao Qiang was taken aback: "What you said is a method, but it may not work. There must be a force behind the scenes manipulating these robots. They won't stand idly by when they find out we've captured them. Besides, do you think a robot with only one function would know about such confidential information as authorization? Maybe we can find the force behind them."
Yang Shiyun said, "That would be too dangerous. They would definitely be hiding in their base camp, surrounded by countless robots for protection. Let's search again ourselves. Do you think it might be one of these buttons that aren't turned on? If so, that would be troublesome. We can't repair this control panel at all. In that case, we won't be able to take the drilling rig, and we won't be able to get back to the surface."
Zhao Qiang said, "There is a feasible method."
Yang Shiyun asked in surprise, "Oh, what method?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Let's go back and make preparations first. Bring Donna and Yang Shiqi over. It's too dangerous to leave them there."
Yang Shiyun said with dissatisfaction, "Are you deliberately keeping me in suspense? Hurry up and tell me."
Zhao Qiang said, "Of course, it's what you mean by repairing this control panel."
Yang Shiyun pointed to the control panel, which wasn't even a crack, and said, "How can we fix it? We can't even take it apart."
Zhao Qiang said, "Have you forgotten that I didn't actually dismantle it?"
Yang Shiyun suddenly realized: "That works too? Break it down?"
Zhao Qiang said, "However, this requires a lot of energy, and I don't have enough right now, so let's leave it at that for now."
After leaving the UFO, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun spent more than four hours returning to the cave. They were relieved to see that Yang Shiqi and Tang Na were safe and sound. The two women were also very surprised to learn that they had encountered robots. It was incredible that intelligent life could exist in this desolate underground place. Not only that, but they had also created robots that humans could not possibly make. After all, all of this happened right under our noses, and they had existed for who knows how many years, yet humans were completely unaware of it. It was quite a funny situation.
Yang Shiqi said, "So what do we do now? Should we go down and find those robots and the aliens who are controlling them?"
Donna said, "It's such a shame I don't have a camera. Such important news must be shared with humanity."
Zhao Qiang said, "It's not time to look for them yet. Our strength is too weak right now; we're no match for them."
Yang Shiqi said, "You mean we should strengthen our forces and then attack their doorstep?"
Zhao Qiang said, "That's roughly the idea. But if the aliens are being polite, we don't need to fight each other. It's the right thing to do for everyone to live in harmony."
Yang Shiyun said, "They probably don't mean any harm, otherwise with their technology they would have already gone to the ground and swallowed up our world."
Zhao Qiang said, “We can think of it that way, but we must be wary of others. We need to be prepared for both sides, maintaining peace while preparing for war. You can stay here and rest. I will go fishing. If the meat of the monster left in the wasteland hasn’t spoiled, we should bring it back. We need to prepare a lot of food and then move to the flying saucer. It seems safer there than here.”
Yang Shiqi said, "Donna and I have been resting for several days, and her foot injury has almost healed. We'll prepare some food for you."
Zhao Qiang stood up: "Okay, let's all work together."
The process of collecting food was not complicated, but everyone had to be more careful. A week later, no robots came to search for people carrying large amounts of food. Donna's foot was completely healed, and everyone was carrying a large bag. Zhao Qiang's bag was the largest. It took them more than six hours to reach the UFO. They rested six or seven times along the way, and even so, they were exhausted. The grilled fish and meat were really too heavy.
This was Donna's first time observing a UFO up close, and she hadn't stopped praising it since they arrived. Yang Shiqi said, "Alright, don't boost the aliens' morale and dampen our spirits. This UFO is nothing special; it's just a pile of scrap metal now."
Donna said, "But we humans can't build such a large piece of scrap metal yet. Even American aircraft carriers aren't that big. It's really amazing. What kind of power would it take to make it fly?"
Yang Shiyun said, "Actually, as long as gravity is eliminated, it doesn't need much power to drive it. We Earthlings have already proven this."
Donna said, "Anti-gravity device? It seems like you all have one, but you've kept it a secret from me. That's really not fair."
Yang Shiqi said, "Who knows if you're a good person or a bad person? Are you a spy from America?"
Donna said, feeling wronged, "I'm not like that at all! I've already decided to stay in China."
Yang Shiqi said, "Even if you are not, you can't have this reporter mentality. If you reveal the underworld, do you know how many people will be terrified and how much instability it will cause to society?"
Donna said, "I'm used to it. I feel bad if I don't announce good news."
Yang Shiqi said domineeringly, "In short, this is Chinese territory, and now you have to listen to us in everything!"
Volume 2 [748] Repair
Donna followed behind Yang Shiqi like a wronged wife. Now she really had to listen to others in everything. After all, this was not where she grew up, and she was bound to feel timid. Moreover, theoretically, Zhao Qiang should favor the Yang Shiqi and Yang Shiyun sisters. Donna lacked confidence and could only tolerate Yang Shiqi's domineering attitude.
At this moment, Zhao Qiang waved his hand and ended the two women's questions with even more domineering force: "You must listen to me in everything."
Yang Shiqi obediently responded with an "Oh," which made Donna feel a little better. There's always someone who can subdue another. She should try to win Zhao Qiang over even more in the future. As long as Zhao Qiang treats her well, what can anyone else do?
Zhao Qiang quickly decomposed energy and melted a hatch on the flying saucer. Then he threw the large bag tied with bark rope inside and said, "Hurry up and go in. It will heal automatically in a while. I'll have to waste more energy to open it again."
No one dared to delay, so they quickly threw the food bags inside and then crawled in. There was already a light source inside, otherwise it would have been really difficult to deal with the darkness.
"Leave the food here. The temperature isn't high here, so it won't spoil easily. Donna and Yang Shiqi, stay here and rest. Yang Shiyun and I will go in. Further in is the zero-gravity space, and it will be dangerous for you to go in." Zhao Qiang arranged the next steps. If it weren't for Yang Shiyun's special affection for the control panel, he wouldn't have wanted her to come along.
Yang Shiqi said with dissatisfaction, "No way, you want me and Donna to stay here? Why don't you let us come with you? Why don't you let Donna stay here? Her foot is injured..." Yang Shiqi was already extremely curious, and now that she was being made to stay, wouldn't she be miserable?
Donna argued, "My foot is all healed, it doesn't affect my walking at all."
Zhao Qiang said, "I know you're all curious, but the situation inside doesn't allow for easy entry and exit for the time being. If Yang Shiyun and I repair the UFO's control panel, we might be able to take you in for a look. If you don't behave, I'll trap you here and let you experience what it's like." Without Zhao Qiang opening a hole for entry and exit, no one could do anything. This was a way of intimidating the two women to prevent them from arguing any further.
Yang Shiqi knew this wasn't the time to act cute, so she could only stay quietly. Tang Na's relationship with Zhao Qiang wasn't as good as Yang Shiqi's, so when she saw that Yang Shiqi had given up, she had no choice but to stay too. The two of them piled up the food and then huddled in a corner to rest. Their feet were blistered from the four-hour journey.
Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun climbed to the top of the corridor, then melted a hole and crawled inside. Everything was still the same inside. Soon they reached the central control panel. Yang Shiyun said to Zhao Qiang, "The next step is up to you."
Zhao Qiang nodded solemnly. He sat down silently in the chair. Because of the weightlessness here, he felt light and airy when he sat down, giving him a somewhat otherworldly feeling. Yang Shiyun stared at Zhao Qiang, her eyes revealing her love.
The energy enveloped the control panel, and Zhao Qiang gradually infiltrated it. His first step was not to peel off the control panel, but to get a feel for it, otherwise he wouldn't know where to begin repairing it.