After cutting down several bundles of tender tree branches, Zhao Qiang sat in the cave and began to make a rope. This rope didn't need to be too strong, because in a weightless environment, it wouldn't need much strength to hold the weight of two people.
Donna came out of the cave entrance. "Let me help you with it."
Zhao Qiang asked, "You know how to make rope?"
Donna smiled and said, "Yes, we need to study. Only through everyone's joint efforts can we get out as soon as possible."
Not wanting to dampen Donna's enthusiasm, Zhao Qiang said, "I'll teach you."
When Yang Shiqi was the last to wake up, the rope was almost finished being twisted. Judging from its appearance, the quality was not very good, but it was usable.
"When can we have the soup?" Yang Shiqi complained, rubbing her eyes.
Yang Shiyun criticized her younger sister, "It's not like you're on top now, so just make do."
Yang Shiqi said to Zhao Qiang, "I'm thirsty, I need to go out to wash my face and get some water."
There are no washbasins here, only two mineral water bottles, so if you use a lot of water, you have to go to the lake below. It's not close, and Zhao Qiang usually has to accompany you in case of any danger.
The preparations were almost done; all that was left was the food. Donna hadn't grilled enough meat, and besides, the three girls didn't like grilled meat, so they needed to catch some more fish. Zhao Qiang stood up and said, "Let's go, let's go together."
Because the exploration of the UFO's interior had progressed and they hadn't encountered any enemies, everyone was in high spirits. Zhao Qiang needed to go into the water to fish, and Yang Shiqi and Yang Shiyun, after discussing it, also went in. They wanted to take a bath, but the water was a bit cold. However, Zhao Qiang couldn't dissuade them, so he had to let them have their way. It was a serious matter if girls couldn't take a bath. Donna had an injury on her foot, so she could only wash it briefly by cupping water in her hands. Zhao Qiang occasionally stole a glance from the side; the sight was definitely not something an ordinary person could withstand.
After another 24 hours of rest, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun set off again. This time, Yang Shiqi didn't insist on coming along. Since she already knew the situation inside the UFO, her curiosity had subsided. After all, it would take nearly ten hours to walk back and forth, and the blisters on her feet had burst again, making it very inconvenient to walk.
After arriving at the UFO, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun did not rest but went straight inside. They disassembled the metal walls again, peered inside, and found that the lights were still on, indicating that everything remained as it was when they left.
Yang Shiyun asked, "Would you like to go first or should I?"
Zhao Qiang said, "I'm strong, I'll take you there first, and then you can pull me over."
Yang Shiyun pointed to the heavy ropes on Zhao Qiang's shoulders, "Are you sure all of these won't affect my speed and direction?"
Zhao Qiang said, "We can try it a couple more times. Anyway, I can bring you back if we go astray."
Yang Shiyun thought about it and agreed, "Then we're not afraid, let's go in."
The first attempt failed; Zhao Qiang hadn't untied the thick rope in time, and Yang Shiyun got caught in the tether. Zhao Qiang had to pull her back for a second try, and thankfully, thanks to their combined brainpower, they succeeded this time. Yang Shiyun then pulled Zhao Qiang back, and the two finally reached the control panel.
Zhao Qiang tied the rope to the chair, tossed the rest of the rope outside to float, and then carefully examined the small, egg-shaped levitating object. Its internal structure was indeed very simple, consisting of only a chair and a control panel less than three meters long. The panel was made of the same metal material as the walls, with several protruding buttons and several patterned designs next to them. Presumably, this was the "script" that Yang Shiyun had mentioned, but Zhao Qiang couldn't understand it. With their combined brainpower, deciphering a script wouldn't be difficult, but the key was that there were only a few characters in the script. Even with the strongest computing power, it was useless.
"What do we need to do now?" Yang Shiyun asked Zhao Qiang.
Zhao Qiang said, "Let's activate these buttons again and see what happens."
Yang Shiyun said, "Okay, I think I should do it, since I have experience."
Zhao Qiang pointed to the leftmost button, "That's it."
Without hesitation, Yang Shiyun stepped forward and pressed the button with her palm. Their hearts leaped into their throats, but the button bounced back, and nothing changed.
Yang Shiyun said, "It doesn't work well."
Zhao Qiang pointed to the second one without hesitation, "Again."
Yang Shiyun pressed down hard on her palm and pressed the second button as well. There was no sound. The two of them felt a sinking feeling. It seemed that there was really a problem with this flying saucer, otherwise it would have been possible for it to not react at all.
Zhao Qiang stared at the third button, unsure whether to continue trying. "Look, what's that?" Yang Shiyun suddenly exclaimed.
Zhao Qiang looked up and realized that the space beneath his feet had changed at some point. The once smooth and empty walls were now emitting a soft light, which focused on the smooth hall beneath his feet to form patterns. The patterns contained mechanical objects, some of which looked like airplanes and others like tanks. Just as the two were observing the situation beneath their feet, the control panel also changed. Three sets of light screens rose around the suspended object, one each in front, left, and right.
Volume 2 [745] Robot
These things appeared silently, startling Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun when they saw them. They thought the UFO was completely destroyed, but unexpectedly, there were still usable items. But what were these 3D screens displaying? Were they weapon data related to the UFO? More mysterious patterned characters appeared on the screen. Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun exchanged a glance. It seemed there was hope in deciphering the characters, but they needed time to combine and compare them.
There were four buttons left. Zhao Qiang pressed the third one without hesitation, but there was no response. After waiting for a while, he observed the surroundings again, but there was still no movement. It seemed that the button was not working. He pressed the fourth one, but there was still no response. Yang Shiyun said nervously, "Don't be so impulsive. You might activate a device that is harmful to us."
Zhao Qiang said, "Probably not. Those switches that could cause damage certainly wouldn't be placed in such an obvious place. Otherwise, wouldn't it be terrible if an alien accidentally touched one?"
Yang Shiyun said, "You're right, let's press both of them then." With that, Yang Shiyun used both hands to press the last two buttons. As the last button was pressed, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun swayed and fell downwards together! The tilted space instantly returned to Earth's gravity, but fortunately, the control panel was still floating in the air, as if supported by another force. After a brief moment of panic, Zhao Qiang grabbed the chair and stopped his fall. Then, he reached out and grabbed Yang Shiyun's arm, and the two of them hung in mid-air.
Yang Shiyun broke out in a cold sweat: "So one of them was a zero-gravity device. Luckily, the control panel didn't change, otherwise we would have either fallen to our deaths or been crushed to death by it."
Zhao Qiang tossed Yang Shiyun up with a flick of his wrist: "Stop talking nonsense, quickly activate the anti-gravity device!"
Yang Shiyun reached out and tapped the last button. Her body instantly became lighter, and she regained her light, floating feeling. With a flick of her finger, Zhao Qiang returned to the control panel.
Zhao Qiang wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Looks like I need to familiarize myself with this place a bit more."
Yang Shiyun said, "I think it's good to spend the time translating these. After all, we know too little about these UFOs. Only by understanding their language can we gain a deeper understanding of them."
Zhao Qiang said, "Alright, let's eat some food and drink some water first. It's like a blind man crossing a river if we don't decipher their writing."
Without the X-ray glasses to scan, Zhao Qiang could only use his eyes to see the text displayed on the screen and input it into his brain. He then used the super biochip to analyze the images on the screen. The 3D projection screen contained a lot of things that were constantly changing. This allowed Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun to collect tens of thousands of different patterns in a few hours. Through comparison and reasoning, they quickly gained a general understanding of the script. Once they deciphered the key and commonly used characters, the rest would not be difficult.
During this process, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun left the weightless capsule of the UFO twice. They could eat inside, but they couldn't relieve themselves inside, and they also needed to sleep and rest. Staying in the weightless space, they might wake up and not know where they were.
Two days later, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun had deciphered half of the text. After overcoming the initial difficulties, the remaining text could be deciphered in less than a day. When they finally managed to piece together the text displayed on the screen, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun were both shocked. This was truly a spaceship from outer space! As for its specific star system, it was not indicated on the screens that were filled with weapon systems. They would need to further understand the control console and find its flight log to find out.
The image displayed on the screen is a list of weapons stored in the UFO, along with descriptions of their performance. These weapons include ground, air, and underwater weapons. However, the listed weapons are all low-altitude combat and scientific research tools, not the kind used in interstellar warfare. It seems that the aliens consider this spaceship to have limited capabilities, probably just a subsidiary ship performing missions within the atmosphere, while the real mothership is not like this.
Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun sat on a rock outside the spaceship. They didn't find much information to refer to. The origin of this flying saucer was still a secret. Although more and more text was deciphered, no information about aliens was found. It seemed that this flying saucer was not very useful to them and did not store any information about humanities or geography.
Yang Shiyun said, "I think this spaceship is only performing ordinary intraplanetary missions, so its functions and data are limited."
Zhao Qiang nodded: "That's what I think too. To us it looks big and advanced, but in reality it's just a very ordinary transport UFO from aliens."
Yang Shiyun said, "We don't need to worry about what it's for now. The key is how to repair it; we need it urgently."
Zhao Qiang said, "I dare not think about repairing it. I'm thinking that it would be great if we could take out the weapons it carries. There must be equipment that can get us back to the ground. Of course, I'm not sure if the weapons listed on it are still inside the cabin. It's just a hypothetical situation right now."
Yang Shiyun said, "Isn't that simple? We'll continue exploring the weapons bay. You can open the top two levels, so what can stop us from the bottom?"
Zhao Qiang said, "The top two floors have nothing, so there's no defense. But who knows if the weapon bays down there are any restrictions? So we'll have to wait until we've deciphered all the text before we can talk about the plan you mentioned. Otherwise, if we can't understand the instructions and get the weapons, we'll be stuck with them."
Yang Shiyun stood up: "No need to rest, let's continue going in to decipher those characters."
Zhao Qiang pulled her back: "No rush. Anyway, we already have most of the information in our brains. We can still crack it even if we sit here."
Yang Shiyun knew this too. "Okay, my mind is a bit of a mess. I'll sleep for a while. Wake me up if I find anything."
Yang Shiyun's brain did not evolve. Her memory surpassed the functions of the chip, but she still possessed all human physical characteristics, so she would also feel tired and exhausted.
Zhao Qiang stayed by Yang Shiyun's side, continuing to decipher the alien script while searching for usable tools from the equipment catalog. Surprisingly, with his limited understanding of the script, Zhao Qiang found a decent machine. The picture described it as resembling a large worm, divided into segments. The front segment was a auger that could travel at a speed of 100 miles per hour through hard granite. If he could retrieve it and learn to pilot it, returning to the ground wouldn't be a long time. Zhao Qiang became excited.
Suddenly, a strange sound reached Zhao Qiang's ears. Zhao Qiang immediately became alert. He grabbed Yang Shiyun and jumped off the big rock to hide. Yang Shiyun was awakened by Zhao Qiang. Zhao Qiang covered her mouth and said, "Shh, don't make a sound."
Yang Shiyun, still half-asleep, asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhao Qiang said, "There's a sound. What's going on?"
Yang Shiyun said, "Could it be that a giant monster is coming?"
Zhao Qiang said, "It doesn't sound like it. It's much lighter and lighter, and there are quite a few of them."
The two quietly observed from behind the rock, and a group of things walked up a low slope. "Robots?" Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun were both surprised when they saw them clearly. The group of things were obviously mechanical, and their gait was very stiff. The sound they had just heard was from their walking. Because they had never heard robots walk before, Zhao Qiang could not tell the difference.
They were heading in the direction of flying saucers! Zhao Qiang was getting anxious. After thinking for a moment, he decided to hide. This underground world was not his domain. If his weapons hadn't lost their effectiveness, things would have been fine, but Zhao Qiang wasn't sure if he could take them down with just his energy. Besides, it was unclear whether they were friends or enemies, so it wouldn't be wise to act rashly.
Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun quietly retreated, using the rubble as cover, until they reached the fracture where the river water disappeared. Zhao Qiang chose a place where the current was not swift and he and Yang Shiyun hid there. Above them was a layer of protruding rocks that completely blocked the incoming water, preventing them from getting wet.
Zhao Qiang could still observe from a distance with his eyesight. The group of robots dispersed in front of the UFO and seemed to be searching for something along the UFO. Yang Shiyun said, "They're not looking for us, are they?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Who knows? Our movements here might have alerted them."
Yang Shiyun said, "That's not right. If they are aliens, why don't they stay in the spaceship?"
Zhao Qiang recalled the dome lights he had seen earlier and said, "It's also possible that there's a larger base here, a place more suitable for them than this crashed UFO. This UFO might just be a broken and useless thing in their eyes."
Yang Shiyun said, "There might really be intelligent life here. We have to find them! We can't tolerate them lurking around us silently for thousands or even tens of thousands of years."
Zhao Qiang said, "We can't rush things. If we get surrounded by them without knowing their combat strength and numbers, we'll suffer a great loss in this dead-end underground."
Yang Shiyun said, "I think we must find out if there are any weapons inside the UFO. If there are, we should take them out. This will increase our chances of winning. Even if they have no ill intentions, it's always good to have the advantage."
Zhao Qiang retorted to Yang Shiyun, "What you consider an advantage may be completely insignificant to aliens."
Yang Shiyun was somewhat disappointed. "Yes, our Earth's technology is too backward. We originally thought that the things we developed were already very advanced, but now it seems that we are no match for others. First of all, our power system cannot work properly here, which is simply our Achilles' heel."
The robots in the distance quickly inspected the area around the flying saucer, but they found nothing amiss. The ground was too hard for Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun to leave any marks due to their weight. Although the two had eaten, drunk, and slept on the large rocks, Zhao Qiang had concealed the marks very well, and the robots did not notice for a while.
About half an hour later, the team of about twenty robots returned along the way they came. Zhao Qiang was a little confused as to why they didn't go inside the flying saucer to check. Since the two of them hadn't turned off the power and the 3D projection screens when they came out, the robots would have noticed something was wrong if they had gone in. Fortunately, they didn't go in, and Zhao Qiang finally felt relieved.
"You stay here," Zhao Qiang said to Yang Shiyun, and then climbed onto the ground himself.
Yang Shiyun asked, "Where are you going?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Of course we have to track them down to their lair; that's our only chance."
Yang Shiyun said, "It's too dangerous."
Zhao Qiang said, "That's why I want you to stay here; it's an order!"
Yang Shiyun fell silent and quietly waited for Zhao Qiang to return from under the water curtain cave.
Volume 2 [746] Danger
The robots marched in perfect unison. Zhao Qiang, fearing they would scan and detect him, followed at a distance, concealing himself well. The robots headed towards a large rift valley behind the flying saucer, a place Zhao Qiang hadn't had time to explore yet. Fortunately, he hadn't made contact, otherwise he would have already encountered them. With Zhao Qiang's current attack power, he might not be a match for them.
When Zhao Qiang saw the robot enter the crack, there seemed to be a metal structure resembling a staircase. Zhao Qiang quickly ran over, but before he could get close to the crack, the metal staircase-like structure retracted as if it had never existed. Zhao Qiang lay down at the edge of the crack and looked down. It was very deep. Because the light from above was too bright, he couldn't see any light inside from the outside. The bottom was exactly the same as the bright crack that Zhao Qiang had encountered before.
Zhao Qiang hesitated, lying on the ground beside the crack. He had been bounced up from the bright crack earlier, and then a series of earthquakes occurred. It was highly likely that he had caused the earthquakes, causing Yang Shiyun and the others to fall down. If he followed again this time, what were the chances of an accident? Would he collapse half the earth?
Zhao Qiang lay on the ground and began eating roasted meat. He needed to replenish his energy; it was the only way to survive. He also started to consider that he absolutely couldn't go down rashly, otherwise triggering another earthquake would be troublesome. If he had a rope to lower himself down, it would be much safer. Of course, this rope needed to be long enough—at least twice the length of his current rope, by visual estimation! But even with a long enough rope, what if he encountered aliens? Fight them with his fists? Therefore, it was best to find a useful weapon.
Zhao Qiang waited for a while but didn't notice any movement from the robots under the crack. They had long since disappeared into the depths of the crack. Zhao Qiang decided to go back first to prepare ropes and find weapons. There was no use in rushing to find aliens; on the contrary, it would only alert the robots and lead to a counterattack.
Yang Shiyun waited anxiously for Zhao Qiang. "How is it? What exactly happened? Are there extraterrestrial intelligent beings?"
Zhao Qiang said, "I didn't find it. The robot disappeared into the crack ahead. There was a bright band there. The robot went down on a ladder that extended from the depths of the crack. I didn't dare to follow because I didn't have any ropes or weapons."
Yang Shiyun said, "They must have been made by someone. Maybe they're an alien base."
Zhao Qiang said, "That's what I think too, but we're outnumbered and outmatched, so we can't take any risks. Even if we're going to dive down, we have to do it quietly. Last time I jumped into a crack without thinking, which caused an earthquake. That might be the real reason you fell down."
Yang Shiyun said, "Even if there is no earthquake and you can't get up if you stay here, we will come down with you."
Zhao Qiang was very grateful. "Alright, let's go back and prepare ropes to find weapons. We'll go down and explore when the opportunity arises."
Yang Shiyun pointed to the flying saucer, "We need to go back to the cave to rub the tree bark for the rope, but the weapon must land on it."