Chapter 89: The Legacy of the Ultramodern Ancients

At that moment, inside a cave in the central peak of Tycho Crater on the Moon, Zhang Desen and Li Longfang had also finished preparing for extravehicular activity and were ready to enter this mysterious base. Zhang Desen even took out another pulse gun and handed it to Li Longfang for use in an emergency.

Of course, Li Longfang had previously seen Zhang Desen use a Type 95 assault rifle. The pulse gun was operated in much the same way, except that it had additional functions such as adjustable power.

At that moment, Li Longfang asked Zhang Desen,

“Desen, we won’t be affected by the solar flare here, will we?”

Zhang Desen replied,

“No need to worry so much. It’s the new moon now, we’re on the side of the Moon facing away from the Sun, and on top of that we’re inside a cave. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”

Even so, Li Longfang looked at the base before him and still asked with some doubt,

“Could this really be a base left behind by those ultra-ancient humans—our ancestors?”

Zhang Desen said,

“It hasn’t been confirmed yet, so we’ll have to find a way in and take a look. But there’s an eighty or ninety percent chance we’re right. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain the mysterious signal from earlier.”

Li Longfang asked,

“Why?”

Zhang Desen said,

“Judging from the way the Reptilians and the Atlanteans were fighting just now, neither side seemed to know this base existed. So it must have nothing to do with either of them. And if this were a base belonging to some alien civilization invading Earth, that wouldn’t make sense either, because we didn’t see any third party besides us involved in that war.”

Then Zhang Desen turned to look at the base and continued,

“And besides, if this were an alien base, one on this scale would have to be for invasion, not merely scientific exploration. If that were the case, with the Reptilians and Atlanteans fighting so fiercely just now, we should have seen signs of them too—but we didn’t. So the only conclusion I can draw is that this is the base mentioned in the Reptilian intelligence reports, the one left behind by the ultra-ancient humans. Let’s go in now and verify it.”

Li Longfang said,

“All right!”

Soon, Zhang Desen and Li Longfang activated their EVA suits and stepped out through the hatch. Naturally, Zhang Desen was the first to set foot on the lunar surface. Looking at his own footprint, he recalled Neil Armstrong’s famous words:

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Zhang Desen thought that his own step ought to count as an even greater one. It was still the Moon, yes—but he had landed on the Moon of a parallel universe. Then again, there was no point dwelling on that now. Better to finish the mission first.

Next, Li Longfang also came onto the lunar surface. Although he had never undergone spacewalk training, this was the Moon’s surface, so he could still manage to walk there, if only with some effort.

Seeing Li Longfang catch up, Zhang Desen said,

“Let’s go.”

Then the two of them headed toward the great doors of the base inside the cave.

As they drew near, two beams of light suddenly shone down on them. Immediately after, an electronic voice came through the communicator, saying,

“Are you humans? Scanning procedure initiated.”

Zhang Desen was briefly startled. He glanced at the translator and saw that it was on, which put him somewhat at ease.

After the beams had scanned them for a while, the electronic voice spoke again:

“Human beings confirmed. Humans from the surface. Welcome home, humanity. Please enter.”

With that, the massive doors of the base opened. Zhang Desen and Li Longfang walked inside, and soon the doors closed behind them. When the gate to the transition zone opened, the two formally entered the underground base hidden beneath Tycho Crater.

As soon as they stepped inside, Zhang Desen and Li Longfang suddenly felt the gravity gradually increasing, and the lighting system came on as well. The communicator sounded once more:

“This base is equipped with artificial gravity. All companions returning home are asked to rest in the nearby chairs first. Please resume work or other activities only after adapting to the gravity.”

So Zhang Desen and Li Longfang sat down in the chairs nearby.

Afterward, Zhang Desen activated his detectors and found that aside from gravity having reached the normal level of Earth, the composition of the air, the atmospheric pressure, the temperature, and everything else had all been brought to the same standards as on Earth. There were no extraneous impurities at all.

Seeing this, Zhang Desen opened the visor of his helmet and discovered that he could breathe. He then shut off the suit’s life-support system.

Li Longfang, seeing this, asked,

“Desen, this is...?”

Zhang Desen explained the situation to him. After hearing it, Li Longfang also opened his visor.

After resting for a while, Zhang Desen and Li Longfang began exploring the entire base. They discovered that it was enormous, with its principal structures located underground and extremely well concealed. It was divided into living quarters, agricultural production zones, permanent preservation vaults for various plant seeds, food storage areas, machinery depots, water recycling zones, power generation and storage sections, weapons depots, and more.

Moreover, the base’s water circulation system was astonishingly advanced. It allowed water within the base to be continually recycled, almost as though it were moving through the natural cycles of Earth itself, and as a result the water quality was exceptionally pure.

One point especially deserves emphasis: although the plasma power-generation sector at the bottom of the base occupied only two percent of the base’s total area, Zhang Desen’s investigation and calculations revealed that if only one-third of its equipment operated at full capacity, the electricity generated in a single hour would be enough to supply the entire Earth of Zhang Desen’s original universe for ten years.

In addition, besides being equipped with other power-generation facilities as backup energy sources, the base also stored large quantities of solid polytetrafluoroethylene and other reserves, making it possible to replenish energy for the entire base at any time.

Furthermore, the base could directly collect plasma to replenish its fuel supply from the solar wind, or by sending spacecraft to any plasma-rich region, such as Earth’s ionosphere or the tails of comets, thereby meeting all the energy demands of the base as well as the fuel needs of the spacecraft preserved within it.

It could even use the equipment within the base to decompose water and any matter that could be broken down into plasma, directly converting them into plasma fuel for the base.

At the same time, the base could at any moment extract the abundant frozen water sources buried relatively deep beneath the lunar surface near the base, convert them into potable water, and put them to use.

The base was so vast that the two men alone could not fully explore it in a short time. Thus, following the digital map provided by the base computer, Zhang Desen and Li Longfang made their way to the main control room. There they opened the central computer and found that it offered a variety of language options, nearly identical to the languages of Earth in Zhang Desen’s original universe.

Naturally, Zhang Desen selected the language of his own homeland. Very soon, a message appeared on the screen. It had been left behind by the ultra-ancient humans, and an electronic voice began reading it out word by word. Its main contents were as follows:

Humans of the future, we are the same kind of humans as you. Only, because of certain harsh realities, we are for the time being no longer able to control the current situation. For the specific historical circumstances, please consult the historical materials in the attached files.

It is precisely because of these realities that we had no choice but to disperse and hide ourselves. At the same time, we know that too long a separation from modern civilization will inevitably lead to the degeneration of civilization itself.

Therefore, we have left behind our principal technologies and hidden them here. We believe that even though humankind must scatter and conceal itself, once the natural catastrophe ends, humanity will surely return to the surface and reclaim all that belongs to us. We also believe that some humans will still be able to preserve spacecraft capable of reaching the Moon.

And so we have sealed away here, for the future of humanity and the restoration of modern civilization, all our science and technology, weapons from different eras, historical records, literary classics, astronomy, geography, chemistry, and everything else.

The Reptilians and the Atlanteans surely would never imagine that we would brave the residual radiation of a pulsar, leave the atmosphere, and come to the Moon to establish a base. Thus, this is the best possible way to ensure that these things do not fall into enemy hands.

At the same time, we understand this as well: when a portion of humanity that still retains the means to come here arrives to retrieve these things, many more humans may still be in the age of cold weapons, or perhaps even in a primitive age. Therefore, what we have preserved is not limited to the latest high technology; we have also kept many things of a more primitive kind.

Take weapons, for example: everything from spears and broadswords to the weapons of the Dyson Sphere Age—that is, the era of a Type II cosmic civilization. Or industrial machinery: from primitive handcraft workshops to equipment from the age of the Industrial Revolution, and even the advanced devices of the Dyson Sphere Age, all have been preserved in abundance.

The quantities are immense, and the same is broadly true of all the other supplies. Everything is also accompanied by detailed instructions and learning materials. This arrangement is chiefly meant to make it easier for that portion of humanity which has preserved the means to come here to teach and spread modern civilization more conveniently, rekindling its fire and carrying the flame of modernity back to all humankind, so that humanity may once again possess modern civilization.

One further point must be specially clarified: although the Dyson Sphere civilization has been mentioned above, we had not yet succeeded in building a Dyson Sphere ourselves. We were confident that our science and technology had already reached the point where one could be constructed, but before we had time even to begin trying, the catastrophe came. Thus, we hope that future humanity will complete the undertaking we were unable to fulfill.

Another clarification: as for fighter aircraft and transport planes, apart from a few prototypes, only those of the space age are stored here. Although we also preserved many machines for manufacturing aircraft of the propeller era and similar periods, because this place is in space, aircraft were treated as a special case.

Also, because this base is on the Moon, and this side of the Moon permanently faces Earth, the base includes certain long-range observation systems, as well as navigational and communications support systems, allowing future humanity—if it has no time to manufacture artificial satellites—to possess a natural spy, navigation, and communications satellite.

And one more warning: humanity of the future must be wary of the Gomarans from the direction of Sirius. Although we once had dealings with them, they may not harbor good intentions toward our planet. Future humanity must be exceedingly careful of them.

If you wish to know more about the Gomarans, you may consult the Gomaran archives.

At last, we wish future humanity victory at the very first stroke, and success swift as a galloping horse.

After reading all this, Zhang Desen turned to Li Longfang, whose face was bright with excitement, and said,

“Longfang, it seems you understood it?”

Li Longfang replied,

“Yes, Desen. I’ve listened to you so much, and gone through so much with you, that the things I didn’t understand before—I understand now.”

Zhang Desen said,

“Tell me.”

Li Longfang answered,

“With these things in our hands, we won’t need to envy the Reptilians and the Atlanteans for their mysterious powers anymore. We may even become stronger than both of them.”

Zhang Desen said,

“Yes. We only need some time to digest it all.”

As he spoke, Zhang Desen began busily working at the base’s central control computer.

Seeing this, Li Longfang asked,

“What are you doing?”

Zhang Desen replied,

“Obviously inputting and modifying certain programs, so that I can take complete control of this base.”

“Good. Wonderful!”

And with that, Zhang Desen continued his work at the main control computer.