Histoires de fantômes

Chapitre 303

There is no doubt that he is still alive and can sense everything in the outside world.

"The Martian underwater base requires a lot of energy, and these people are like a set of generators that can supply an infinite amount of power, creating a continuous source of energy for the base. The places that look like Buddhist shrines are used to store these human machines. Every once in a while, when their energy-generating efficiency declines, they are removed and replaced with people who have more potential—" He patted my shoulder, "Feng, I've always thought that if you were to be replaced, it would definitely exceed the total number of people in this row, hehehehe..."

“This joke isn’t funny.” I dodged his hand.

In the two shrines next to Zhang Baisen's were Shao Hei and Shao Bai, who appeared to be on the verge of death. These two extraordinary individuals, who had originally been reduced to ashes and thrown into the sea, were now imprisoned in cages like machines, their fates tragically appalling.

Further to the right, there are ten Japanese people who are dressed, look exactly alike, and are in the same posture.

"These are the 'Ten Saints of the Fang God School,' the pride of the Japanese during World War II, renowned for their outstanding war achievements and numerous 'Order of the Cherry Blossom Warriors' awarded by the Emperor. Their supernatural abilities are almost innate, and they've been functioning as the main generators for nearly seventy years. Oh, by the way, they existed long before I took over the Undersea Tomb. I wonder who brought them here in the first place—perhaps it was the Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain team? It's a pity that the Japanese man, though incredibly intelligent, couldn't see things clearly. He only wanted to open the entrance to the 'Undersea Tomb' through some kind of hard setting, not understanding that everything was controlled by a soft password. Alas, his death was definitely an accident; otherwise, if we had joined forces, we would have already flown into space..."

After the beam of light left the shrine, the submarine turned upwards and immediately accelerated until it leaped out of the water with a "whoosh".

Above us was a dome of jagged rocks, dozens of meters above the water.

"The wind, separated by tens of meters of super-hard rock, is where Tanino Shinshu trains. Among the Martians' science and technology, there is a function to reshape Earth's materials. For example, those rocks have undergone 'density reshaping,' which has increased their hardness by fifteen times, allowing them to form such a hard protective layer to prevent Earthlings from drilling and revealing secrets."

He skillfully explained everything that appeared before us, a model of a dedicated and professional tour guide. However, the tragic scene of Zhang Baisen and the Shao brothers being imprisoned made me want to vomit.

"Next, we can enter the main body of the 'Underwater Tomb'. There, I'm going to tell you a very long story that involves a distant history and also the 'King of Tomb Raiders', the great hero Yang Tian. I hope you can remember it all and tell it to the whole world to prove that standard Earth humans can also conquer aliens and become the masters of the universe. And all of this is because of one person, me—Xiao Yan."

He burst into loud laughter, handed the compass for controlling the submarine to Nobuko, and invited me to sit at the bar in the back of the submarine.

At this moment, my heart was filled with mixed emotions: "Zhang Baisen and the others will definitely never see the light of day again. They will either be shattered to pieces along with the destruction of the underwater tomb, or they will ultimately become useless trash and be thrown into the depths of the sea. Master Guan and the Dragon-Slaying Saber are also dead. These masters who dominated the world of supernatural arts did not all meet a good end? No wonder every philosopher says that even the best swimmers drown. People like them, who killed with supernatural arts, ultimately died because of the supernatural arts of others."

"Flying into space... I'm still incredibly lonely. In the world of hacking, I've become increasingly isolated. No one understands me, and I don't even try to understand others. Wind, I truly hope you can come with me this time, so we can leave Earth together, become space wanderers, and see a more beautiful world—"

He groped around in the corner, grabbed a bottle, and took a big gulp of liquor.

I can't understand Xiaoyan. Perhaps only hackers who are equally addicted to the internet can understand each other, but they are eternal enemies. No one will offer each other warmth. On the contrary, everyone only sends out sharp swords and silent killings.

"Why not stay? Look, Yan Xun risked his life to leave the Pentagon for you. You have friends, and we are all your friends. Why don't you stay and come back with me? Or we can go to Cairo again. I have a huge excavation project going on recently: the pyramids, the Pharaoh's curse, mummies, the Sunship, and so on. There are many interesting and new things waiting for us to discover there. Little Yan, the human world is more wonderful than you can imagine!"

I hope I can persuade him to turn back and become a normal human being.

“I want to change everything, wind. My soul is in space. Someone is calling me there, so I have to go, I have to go there. I don’t want to always be a child who never grows up, I don’t want to live under my sister’s wing…” he muttered to himself, continuing to gulp down the liquor.

The submarine gave a slight jolt, and Nobuko left the control panel, walked over and bowed to Koyomi: "Master, we can leave now."

Xiao Yan stood up unsteadily: "Feng, let's go, let's go... to the legendary 'Underwater Tomb,' let's go..."

In this situation, I should be confident I could control the two people in front of me and seize control of the submarine, but that would mean missing the opportunity to explore the underwater tomb. So, after much deliberation, I decided to remain patient and see what they found.

After passing through the passageway last time, the crystal window that had blocked our way was long gone, and we entered the enormous space directly. Where the red-glowing gemstone had once stood, a silver spacecraft pointing straight to the sky appeared, almost twice the size of the spacecraft beneath the Epang Palace.

"Feng, look, this is the Martian spaceship, but now I'm in control. I'm its master. Isn't that fun? Everything here requires a password, you know? I'm the undisputed hacker, cracking passwords is my specialty. So, I'm in, while that poor guy Fenglin Huoshan is stuck at the threshold of success, hahaha—Xinzi, open the spaceship passage and invite Mr. Feng in for a tour..."

He was somewhat out of control, grabbing my sleeve tightly with one hand, his breath reeking of alcohol.

The environment in this space was completely different from what I had imagined. There were blue stone walls all around, and no elements indicating the identity of the owner of the tomb. There was only this enormous spacecraft.

"Feng, what are you looking for? A glass box or a note left by Hero Yang Tian? Don't worry, in five minutes I'll tell you where Hero Yang Tian is, and I'll take you there so you can see him with your own eyes. How about it? How about it..."

Xiao Yan was a little drunk; he had just drunk more than half a bottle of strong Russian vodka.

I was indeed looking for something. This enormous space, measuring three hundred meters on each side, surprised me. Before, when I looked through the crystal window, I had seen many complex scaffolding structures and some portals that might lead to other places. Now, I couldn't see anything; all I could see were bare stone walls.

"This is a space that can be freely shaped. As for the wind, there's no need to look for it anymore; I've deleted many things, as easily as deleting a file on a computer. Everything that seems incomprehensible to humans will become part of the spacecraft. Therefore, this spaceship is essentially a modified version of myself, Yan, and its speed will be four and a half times greater than its original owner. Its control program has also been rewritten by me. You know, Martian programmers are quite conservative; they only dare to use one-tenth of the energy supply for the spaceship's propulsion. No wonder it's trapped in the deep sea. Now, I'm fully activating all the spaceship's propulsion systems, and it will begin a new cosmic journey at a speed exceeding a thousand times the speed of light—"

Xiao Yan walked toward the automatic gangway that Xin Zi had lowered, and I followed closely behind her. The gangway slowly ascended, and we soon arrived at the small door in the middle of the spacecraft.

Standing in front of that small door, I was finally able to clearly see the entire space. The only way to describe it was "bare walls." Apart from the entrance we had come through, there was nothing else, including those strange gear sets that Guan Baoling and I had seen from afar when we were in the glass box.

"Wind, don't be too surprised. Everything in the entire space has been gathered into the spacecraft. To put it simply, the existence of space is nothing more than a giant bubble in the ocean, used to provide living space for Martians. Now that I'm going to pilot the spaceship away, I'll naturally destroy this bubble and make it disappear from the earth forever."

Xiao Yan was very proud because he had used his wisdom to see through everything in the "Underwater Divine Tomb" and easily surpassed the achievements of Feng Lin Huo Shan.

I couldn't help but smile wryly: "A bubble? Besides this one, how many similar bubbles exist on Earth?"

Based on the same theory, the Earth has indeed become a world riddled with holes, with countless potential dangers lurking in the deep and mysterious underground.

After we entered the spacecraft, Xiaoyan loudly instructed Xinzi: "I need to have a long talk with Feng. You go to the cockpit and prepare everything for takeoff."

Nobuko remained obedient and docile, stepping into a semi-transparent elevator that slowly ascended to the top of the spaceship.

Xiao Yan led me through the metal passageway, then turned left into a narrow cabin containing only two bucket seats side by side, facing a silver-gray wall. Behind me, the sliding door of the cabin closed silently, and countless dim white lights cast a faint, cold glow from above.

"Sit down. I have a long story to tell. We'd better sit down and talk it over calmly. From now until tomorrow evening, we have at least ten hours of free time, which should be enough."

He sat down first, completely sober, but the light in his eyes shone even brighter.

This was a place resembling a small screening room, with the wall in front presumably serving as the screen. I sat down cautiously, and only now, due to the enclosed space, did I feel a little more relaxed.

“Feng, there’s no need for pretense and formality between us. I’ll speak, you’ll listen, and you can interrupt me anytime. How about it? If you need it, I’ve even prepared to record a CD for you, so that these miracles that have been buried in history can be displayed to the world one by one. Without a doubt, among the people of Earth, there is no one else who can unravel this strange and mysterious history as smoothly as I have.”

He pressed a button on the seat, the lights dimmed, and the four walls suddenly lit up, turning into projection screens.

The bucket seat tilted back silently at a 45-degree angle, revealing that what was embedded above their heads were not lights, but countless twinkling stars, far away in the sky.

Part 6: Invincible

— Chapter 7 — All-powerful, capable of anything—

"The story begins with Mars, one of the nine planets in the Milky Way. Their technological civilization is quite advanced, and their space travel technology is countless times more advanced than that of Earthlings. Perhaps 'countless' isn't quite accurate; 'infinitely' is more accurate. For example, the six-armed Martian figures you've seen are the result of biological evolution. In fact, before their evolution, Martians looked exactly like Earthlings. After all, the evolutionary process of every advanced organism is to adapt to changes in the environment and then adapt accordingly. According to the research conclusions of Martian biologists, a person with six arms and thirty fingers is already capable of all current functions such as holding objects, pressing keys, and calculating. Therefore, this image was ultimately determined to be the most normal form of Martian inhabitants."

"The Martians' space travel range, centered on themselves, encompasses all planets within a spherical radius, extending all the way to the edge of the universe. In our Earthly knowledge, the universe is boundless, infinitely large and vast, capable of expanding infinitely in all directions from Earth. Even traveling at the speed of light in a straight line until the moment Earth is destroyed, it's impossible to reach the edge of the universe. Haha, this is merely a frog-in-a-well's limited introduction from Earthlings, because its very premise is flawed. Light is the fastest speed of matter in Earthly consciousness; currently, we cannot discover any other form of speed exceeding the speed of light. Even the great Einstein said, 'Exceeding the speed of light would cause time to reverse'—"

"Haha, these theories seem so naive and weak to me, like a driver in a speeding car pointing at an airplane in the sky and saying, 'Flying at that speed will cause time travel.' What I want to say is, to hell with these so-called physicists! Even if someone moves at a speed a hundred million times faster than the speed of light, it's impossible to travel through time. The only person who can enter the 'time travel' path is not because of high-speed movement, but simply because they have entered a 'wormhole' in space. Wormholes have nothing to do with speed; even crawling forward with difficulty can lead to encountering one. After all, as long as planets and celestial bodies exist, wormholes will inevitably exist, just as bacteria will inevitably exist where air exists."

"Please forgive me for digressing a bit. What I've said so far is simply to demonstrate that Martian space technology is incredibly advanced, beyond our imagination. One day in the past, when Martians passed by Earth, they discovered that at some point in the future, Earth would split and explode, turning into four massive meteorites that would fly erratically in their planetary orbits. Two of these meteorites would happen to enter Mars' orbit and would accurately strike the 'Martian face.' I want to clarify that the 'Martian face' is real; Earth's efforts to explore Mars have not been in vain, and the images transmitted back are completely accurate. That location is the core of Mars' gravity, so the Earth meteorites, under the influence of gravity, would inevitably hit there."

"Ultimately, the meteorite will trigger a massive earthquake on Mars, causing horrific and devastating consequences. Martian scientists have meticulously calculated and clearly depicted the scene after the meteorite's impact. Mars will plunge into its tenth Dark Age, with all life destroyed by the combined effects of cosmic dust, meteorite rays, and subsurface magma—"

As Xiaoyan narrated, an ochre-red planet in the sky slowly magnified until it filled the screen above my head. As the image rapidly approached, I saw the famous "face" image, and the surrounding air slowly heated up, making me feel a wave of heat.

"Don't worry, Feng. This is the Martians' 'Real Experience System.' The environment will change as the images play. When you see Mars, it's as if a sensory cell in your body has actually arrived on Mars, giving you such a detailed and realistic experience. Look, their buildings are all around the 'face,' extending all the way to the other side of the planet. It's easy to imagine that when Earth's meteorites fall, these innocent Martian inhabitants will be wiped out along with the planet's civilization. When life begins to evolve again, it might be 500 million years from now."

Xiao Yan's voice carried a faint sadness, and I was moved by it. The demise of any civilization is a great pity, no matter which planet it is on.

"Then what about Mars' defense system? If it possesses highly developed science and technology, wouldn't its self-protection capabilities be correspondingly comprehensive?" Just like the "Skynet" project that the Americans are currently implementing, Earthlings know how to defend themselves, and Martians probably do too.

"Yes, the Martians certainly understood this, which led to the plan to 'destroy Earth.' The core of the plan was to send a group of experienced aerospace experts to Earth to determine if they could blow the Earth to pieces, but also to control the intensity of the explosion so as not to cause a stronger cosmic shock. In this way, they needed to conduct complex and precise calculations on Earth, so the advance team was actually a group of navigators."

The screen showed a huge cylindrical spacecraft surrounded by countless Martians, seemingly holding a grand send-off ceremony. Then, the spacecraft took off, and the screen rapidly zoomed back. I could clearly see its flight path in the air, a milky white straight line traversing the black background of space.

"How long ago was that?" I tried to use the concept of time to distinguish the order of events, after all, Xiaoyan's narration was somewhat fantastical and left me at a loss.

"How long ago? Perhaps a long time ago, perhaps just a moment ago, perhaps in the future—Feng, the information I received came from the spaceship, but after departing from Mars, the spaceship suddenly encountered a cosmic shockwave. The spacetime calculation system malfunctioned severely and was split into two parts by cosmic dust. The result was terrifying because the shockwave occurred at the peak of the rapid expansion of all black holes in space. If not careful, the spaceship would have been sucked into the black hole and disappeared forever. Fortunately, these Martians lost their navigation system, but they survived. One of them successfully landed on Earth 2,500 years ago."

Two thousand five hundred years ago, during the time of the collapse and fall of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou slave dynasties and the Warring States period, a time of fragmented power among warlords, that period of history was not fully preserved. Therefore, even if we were to try to trace it back, there would be no reliable evidence.

The scene depicts vast deserts, hills, and wastelands, all presenting an extremely primitive and desolate landscape.

"Xiao Yan, please speed up your narration. I'd rather understand the outcome of the events than sit here listening to a story." I interrupted his long sigh. Although the Martians' space voyages were fraught with disasters, that's all in the past. What's relevant to us is the present, not history.

Xiao Yan subconsciously quickened her pace: "Okay, to put it briefly, one of the spaceships that arrived on Earth successfully gained the support of the Earthlings because the astronaut possessed advanced scientific knowledge and was able to guide one of the Seven Warring States in forging sharp weapons, and then in a very short time, conquered the six states and unified the world—"

I blurted out: "Qin conquered the six states and unified China with the help of Martians?"

Many archaeologists in mainland China have written numerous papers on Qin Dynasty weaponry to demonstrate that the smelting technology of the time was insufficient to produce bronze swords as sharp as these, and that the weapons of Qin soldiers were far superior to those of other states at the time. Given this stark contrast, it would have been truly strange if Qin hadn't defeated the other six states.

"Of course, for Martians to participate in combat with their technology would be like going back to ancient times with a heavy machine gun—invincible and unmatched. Feng, actually, the Martians' actions were based on a clear gentleman's agreement with King Ying Zheng of Qin. They would help Qin fight, and Ying Zheng would build a navigational beacon for them, stretching from west to east across the Chinese mainland. The purpose was to help another spaceship, still lost in space, find its landing point on Earth. You understand without me explaining; that navigational beacon is now one of the 'Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,' isn't it?"

He pointed to the Great Wall on the screen, which stretched like a dragon through the mountains, and suddenly burst into laughter. He choked on his laughter and coughed loudly.

The argument that "the Great Wall is a navigational marker for extraterrestrials" has been put forward by many archaeologists since the 1970s, and they are currently searching for evidence to prove it conclusively. Therefore, I was not at all surprised or amused when Xiao Yan said the above.

"Xiao Yan, I don't see what's so funny about this." I slowly shook my head.

"Not funny? Feng, just look at the eastern terminus of the Great Wall—" The scene shifted, and I saw the towering gate tower at Shanhaiguan, but I didn't notice anything unusual. Those blue bricks stood indifferently, stacked to form the most magnificent man-made structure on Earth. It is precisely because of its existence that the Chinese can proudly disregard the pyramids, because the historical research value of the Great Wall is dozens of times greater than that of the pyramids. Any Earthling with even a modicum of common sense knows of the existence of the Great Wall of the East.

"Look, the original direction of the Great Wall was almost straight from southwest to northeast. If you imagine it as an arrow, its target would be the vast ocean between Korea and Japan. In the Martian records, the first Martian to be in charge of navigation also asked the King of Qin to extend the Great Wall's terminus straight towards the sea, pointing northeast. However, these highly intelligent beings were fooled by Earthlings. The Great Wall made a strange inflection point, suddenly curving northward, and then abruptly stopping at Shanhaiguan. You see, this is a navigational beacon. When the Martians in space landed according to this beacon, it was a matter of 'a slight error leading to a huge mistake,' and the landing point became the Japanese mainland instead of the ocean where the impact could be mitigated. As a result, the second spacecraft went underground and became trapped in an 'underwater tomb.' Isn't that ridiculous?"

I listened intently: "The Martian records don't mention who Qin Shi Huang was? Or rather, how was he different from Earthlings?"

Alpha's aura, experiences, and aspirations align with Martian history, leading me to strongly suspect that he is Qin Shi Huang himself, or his successor. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Earthlings possessed remarkably limited wisdom; deceiving the highly intelligent Martians would have been virtually impossible. The only explanation is that the one who fooled them was not an Earthling, but the equally intelligent square-eyed warrior, Alpha.

"Of course it was mentioned. The records say that King Ying Zheng of Qin had unusual features, with double pupils and square eyes. Every time he went into battle, he would wear a strange golden mask and golden armor. No one else like him has ever been found on Earth. That's why he chose to cooperate with the King of Qin."

Xiao Yan looked at me with surprise, as if my question was somewhat off-topic.

I finally understand the true meaning of "heroes create history." All history is written around "heroes," and under their direction, what should be written and what shouldn't be written are clearly defined. Therefore, the "Qin King Ying Zheng" we read about in history textbooks is not the real him.

"Qin King Ying Zheng, died suddenly on his eastern tour, Alpha the square-eyed warrior—" Amidst all the bizarre and fantastical events, I've pieced together a clear thread. Alpha was the one who established the Qin Dynasty and unified the six kingdoms, but his ideal wasn't to govern this barren land and impoverished people. That's why he used the "golden cicada shedding its shell" plan, which disappeared without a trace. The power and throne that Earthlings see as unattainable are utterly worthless to him.

"Feng, that's roughly the history of the Martians. After the second spaceship crashed, one of the two main crew members went into a state of brain death, while the other escaped in a state of madness and became an alien monster wandering Earth. From this, we can learn about two other famous figures—"

The scene suddenly changed, and it became a bronze warrior statue in the Xunfuyuan Villa.

"He is Xu Fu, the 'Number One Alchemist Under Heaven,' sent by the King of Qin to the mythical islands at sea to find the elixir of immortality. Ostensibly, he was searching for the medicine, but in reality, he was helping the Martians rescue their fallen comrades. He carried a very obscure map drawn by the Martians—the one you obtained from the samurai statue's scabbard. Feng, even if Japanese ninjas obtained ten thousand similar maps, they wouldn't be able to decipher its meaning. So, I retrieved it for you and even taught them a lesson. Heh, I've digressed again. Back to Xu Fu—"

"He did find the Martian spaceship and obtain the key to start it, but he had his own plans. He used a very complex 'compass-based destiny' method to lock the spaceship's propulsion system. Anyone attempting to approach the control room would fall into a complex labyrinth of illusions; for example, blocking our crystal window is just another illusion. The 'medicine' he obtained was the spaceship's controller, which is on you—the legendary 'Knife of Distance.' Don't interrupt me; listen to me. After Xu Fu controlled the Martian spaceship, he feigned a return journey, but it was all for a larger conspiracy. His plan was to return to the Central Plains, persuade the King of Qin to transport large quantities of supplies to the Japanese islands, and establish his own dynasty. But fate intervened; his ship encountered a warm ocean current and was forced to sail north, crossing the Bering Strait and entering the icy Arctic Circle—"

At this point, he finally stopped, resting his chin on his hands, as if trying to organize his thoughts.

I didn't interrupt him. The connection between the name "Xunfu Garden" and the ancient alchemist Xu Fu wasn't too incomprehensible to me. When the scene showed a vast, white, snowy world, I also felt that bone-chilling cold.

In Xiao Yan's narration, one unexpected event follows another, leaving the listener no time to process or accept it, only able to passively listen. The story of Xu Fu's eastward voyage has been passed down for two thousand years, with the beginning and ending remaining unchanged, only Xiao Yan's narration is more bizarre. In the ancient days of sailing with wooden windows, encountering warm ocean currents was practically surrendering one's life to the heavens, drifting aimlessly, unable to distinguish east from west.

"How much do you know about the Arctic ice cap?" Xiao Yan suddenly smiled bitterly, pointing to the snow-covered world.

“I know all the physical data, that’s all,” I replied earnestly.

Xiao Yan shook her head in dissatisfaction: "No, you should know more, Feng. What's coming next is very relevant to you. Think about it again. Haven't you ever been to the Arctic?"

I shook my head almost without thinking: "Of course not. Do you think I don't know my own experiences? I can find all the places I've been to for my studies and travels in my passport. You don't believe me?"

"That's strange. Some sources indicate—oh well, let me continue. Listen carefully, because this story is related to the great hero Yang Tian. Xu Fu's ship was frozen in the icy sea. At that time, he didn't understand that the ice would only melt and crack when the Arctic summer arrived. He ordered his crew to go ashore and break the ice, and he himself went up to the icy shore to search for any trace of people. Instead, he encountered a strange underwater monster—"

The image shows a huge octopus with long, snake-like tentacles, slowly swimming under the ice cap.

In an instant, my thoughts seemed to be illuminated by a light, and I whispered, "Xiao Yan, I remember now, that memory is right here in my mind!"

"Really? You finally remembered?" Xiao Yan exclaimed excitedly.

When I saw the octopus, I was probably still in swaddling clothes, being held in someone's arms. Strangely enough, we were both submerged in icy water and able to breathe freely, like all marine creatures.

That person must be the eldest brother, because I could feel his even and long breathing. We were approaching the octopus, and through the refraction of the water, the octopus appeared even larger, like a huge dark cloud floating on the water's surface.

"Feng, what did you see? Why are you laughing?" the older brother said, turning his face. His young face had not yet grown a beard, and his chin was handsome and clean.

I can't speak yet, only my thoughts are active, but I love watching him laugh, which is full of fearless chivalry.

With a "whoosh," the ice shattered, and the octopus's tentacles lashed out with lightning speed, grabbing a person wearing leather armor and dragging them into the water before propelling them swiftly into the deep sea.

“Let’s go after it. This will be our biggest prey in two weeks. Are you scared?” He held the swaddled baby up to his eyes, looking gently into mine. I giggled. Strangely enough, I felt no discomfort as the water entered my nostrils, mouth, and ears. But this was beneath the millennia-old ice cap of the Arctic. How could two earthlings like us exist like deep-sea fish?

“Aren’t you afraid? Let’s go—” He laughed again, cradled the swaddled baby against his chest, and paddled with one arm, chasing after them like an arrow.