Chapter Seven: The Next Step

At this moment, in the headquarters on Earth in the original universe, General Li Guoshou gazed at the now-ruined Multiverse Travel Machine with deep frustration. He turned to his subordinate and demanded,
“Why has this happened? How could such a thing occur?”
The guard replied,
“Reporting, General, according to our preliminary records, it appears our Multiverse Travel Machine’s subspace channel was attacked. Both the Travel Machine and the solar-orbiting satellite increased energy output to maintain channel stability, but a series of further assaults followed, ultimately causing the Travel Machine to overload and fail. This is the result we’re seeing now.”
Li Guoshou ordered,
“Continue the investigation and deliver results as soon as possible. Also, organize a team to repair the machine at maximum speed—we must rescue Zhang Desen!”
“Yes, sir!” the guard answered.
…
Meanwhile, on the Earth of the multiverse, Zhang Desen, piloting his spacecraft, saw two armies confronting each other on the ground. To his astonishment, one of the armies was composed of Saurians—intelligent dinosaur-like beings.
This was utterly astonishing, for in the original universe’s Earth, Saurians had vanished, rendered impossible by the mass extinction that had wiped out creatures like the Dromaeosaurus sixty-five million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous and the dawn of the Tertiary.
Yet here, in this multiverse, Saurians had evolved alongside humans and existed as their contemporaries—a fact that defied belief.
Surveying the scene, Zhang Desen surmised that this must be an ancient era, regardless of whether one was human or Saurian.
He put his spacecraft into a hovering mode and began to observe. Though the distance was considerable, the ship’s auxiliary equipment resolved the issue with ease.
Moreover, the ship’s silencer was exceptionally effective—nearly soundless—so there was no need to worry about detection by noise.
…
On the ground, the two armies faced each other in utter silence. Both the human and Saurian soldiers knew what was about to unfold.
The sky was overcast, nearly windless, and an unsettling stillness pervaded the land.
At the front of the human lines stood a rank of shield-bearing spearmen, with archers behind them. The left and right flanks were cavalry, and a sizable reserve force waited at the rear.
The Saurians’ formation was similar, save that all their cavalry were concentrated on the left wing, while the right was occupied by shield-bearers armed with swords.
So focused were both sides on the imminent conflict that no one noticed Zhang Desen’s spacecraft in the sky above.
Suddenly, trumpets blared from both sides. The archers drew and loosed the first volleys of arrows.
As the arrow showers fell, casualties occurred on both sides. The battle had begun in earnest. The armies surged toward one another and soon clashed in a brutal melee.
But to everyone’s surprise, barely forty minutes after the outbreak of battle,
—the Saurian left-wing cavalry broke through the humans’ right wing, exposing the humans’ flank. The Saurian cavalry wasted no time, charging directly into the center of the human force, plunging it into chaos. The tide of battle quickly turned in favor of the Saurians.
Desperate to reverse the situation, the human commander ordered the reserves into combat.
Seeing this, the Saurian commander deployed his reserves as well. The battle raged on, but the humans, unable to shore up their exposed right flank, remained on the defensive. An hour later, their lines began to collapse, and the army slowly retreated.
Observing this, Zhang Desen immediately decided to intervene—naturally, humanity must help its own.
He brought the ship’s onboard cannons online, dove toward the densest mass of Saurian troops, and opened fire with a fierce barrage.
The Saurian army was thrown into confusion by this sudden, devastating attack and suffered heavy losses.
Just as Zhang Desen was about to press his advantage and assault the Saurian rear encampment, the ship’s radar system detected three unidentified flying objects rapidly approaching.
Taken aback, Zhang Desen was forced to abandon the battlefield despite his wish to aid the humans, and sped away to the northeast.
Earlier, while observing the battle below, he’d already realized that he needed to find a campsite from which to await contact with headquarters.
It was clear he couldn’t risk landing in Saurian territory; he needed to be among humans. Judging by the movements of the two armies, heading east would be the best choice.
From his vantage point in orbit, Zhang Desen had noticed that the topography of this multiverse Earth was nearly identical to the original, and he was now flying over what corresponded to Tibet.
Thus, Zhang Desen set an eastern course, searching for a suitable campsite, and felt a surge of curiosity at the prospect of meeting his counterpart in this universe.
Signal tracking showed that Tang Shijie’s distress beacon was coming from the vicinity of West Lake, Hangzhou, in this world.
That area was distant from Saurian territory and likely safe, and West Lake itself was a renowned scenic location—an opportunity Zhang Desen could not resist.
In his original universe, he’d rarely had the leisure to visit such places due to work. While this world’s West Lake might differ in certain ways, his view from orbit suggested there would not be extreme discrepancies.
With mountains on three sides and abundant water, West Lake offered ideal concealment for a ship and resources for an expedition base while he awaited renewed contact with headquarters.
With this in mind, Zhang Desen set his course for West Lake, Hangzhou. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind—perhaps the reason UFOs in alien encounter stories always landed in remote places was much the same as his own reasoning.
Regardless, his immediate priority was to find a landing site and establish a camp.
As a few more unidentified flying objects closed in, Zhang Desen piloted his ship with all skill to shake them off.
After a tense and perilous game of aerial cat and mouse, he finally managed to lose his pursuers.
Immediately, he altered course and sped toward Hangzhou in this universe.
After a period of flight, Zhang Desen arrived at West Lake and, after some consideration, chose Nanping Hill as his landing site.
The dense forests and hidden caves of Nanping Hill offered excellent concealment and ample water. He found a large enough cavern and carefully flew his ship backward into its depths.
After landing, Zhang Desen deployed a drone to survey the environment. The atmospheric composition was identical to that of his original Earth, and water analysis yielded the same results. Satisfied, he retrieved the drone.
Curiously, in this universe, Nanping Hill had no Jici Temple—a minor difference from what he remembered.
Zhang Desen then left the ship. After locating a water source in the cave, he unloaded half the agricultural equipment from the ship and began planting potatoes, corn, grapes, and other crops.
He set up solar-powered lamps to simulate sunlight, so the seeds could sprout inside the cave, and soon had an automatic drip-irrigation system running.
This agricultural kit was standard at Antarctic research bases across the world—designed to provide self-sufficiency during the long Antarctic night, when bases had to rely on their own resources. The system had proven invaluable in such extreme conditions.
After a full day’s work, his base was operational. The ship’s computer managed most automated systems, powered by the ship’s air-power generator, and the automatic defense weapons likewise drew from this energy source.
From the cave, Zhang Desen could see the city of Hangzhou on the eastern shore of the lake. It was, of course, an ancient city—no sign of a modern metropolis, but bustling with people nonetheless. He intended to rest for the night and descend the mountain to explore the following day.
Suddenly, the clashing of weapons echoed up from the foot of the mountain.
Zhang Desen armed himself and hurried to the cave entrance, peering through binoculars. Below, two armies were locked in combat.
He mused that this universe seemed plagued by unrest—first, a war between humans and Saurians, now humans fighting amongst themselves.
Judging by their attire, both armies hailed from the Central Plains. One seemed to be attempting a night attack, but the other was well-prepared, so the surprise assault was doomed to fail—likely to both sides’ detriment.
Indeed, after a brief engagement, one army withdrew, and peace returned to the mountainside.
After observing this, Zhang Desen camouflaged the cave entrance with branches and other materials, and dimmed the interior lighting to avoid detection.
Assessing the situation, he decided that the very next day he would descend to investigate and uncover what was truly happening on this Earth in the multiverse.
What course to take next would depend on the results of his inquiry—he also needed to confirm his old comrade’s whereabouts.
Signal tracking indicated that Tang Shijie’s ship had landed nearby.
In this new universe, many things were bound to differ from what he knew, and the key was to understand the situation.
Inwardly, Zhang Desen prayed that his old friend Tang Shijie would hold out until he could reach him.