Ling Xiao was startled by Ou Zhanpeng’s intense reaction, "What broken ship? Are you alright? Is this place having a bad effect on you?"
"No, no!" Ou Zhanpeng quickly explained, "There's a satellite up ahead, the kind that orbits a planet, but a smaller celestial body. You know what I mean?"
"I know, I know!" Ling Xiao hadn't really thought about it, just instinctively agreeing.
Ou Zhanpeng grabbed Ling Xiao’s arm, "That’s not a dirty snowball, it’s a broken ship… no, it’s half an alien warship, the same model as the broken ship!"
Now Ling Xiao finally understood, his mouth agape, "Really? Are you hallucinating?"
Having grown up together, Ling Xiao naturally didn't want to doubt his good brother, but half a broken ship appearing in this godforsaken place… it seemed possible!
Ou Zhanpeng, sensing Ling Xiao's thoughts from his tone, said, "Let's go, let’s get closer to take a look!"
After flying a bit further, Ling Xiao finally saw a dirty snowball ahead. He thought Ou Zhanpeng had made a mistake, but as they flew closer, he finally discovered that beneath the not-so-thick layer of ice and snow, half a spacecraft was indeed hidden.
Judging by its length, it was more intact than the one in Fallen Ship Mountain.
Ling Xiao suddenly felt his mind struggling to keep up, a shadow flashing in his eyes, "So, the broken ship is indeed related to the mysterious entity!"
"I don't know," Ou Zhanpeng’s mind was in turmoil, "I hope not."
"The answer is right there!" Ling Xiao pointed at the asteroid.
Ou Zhanpeng, however, looked at other small satellites, "Let's wait!" With that, he piloted the shuttle towards another small satellite.
From the outside, it was still a dirty snowball, its shape somewhat resembling a straw hat.
However, upon closer inspection, beneath the dirty ice and snow, half a flying saucer was revealed!
Ling Xiao looked incredulous, "How could it be such a coincidence?"
"Coincidence?" Ou Zhanpeng's gaze was complex, "Perhaps it's not a coincidence at all."
Ling Xiao wasn't stupid, and immediately understood Ou Zhanpeng's implication, "You don't mean…"
If all the alien spacecraft appearing on Earth were related to the mysterious entity, what coincidence was there to speak of?
"I hope so," Ou Zhanpeng said.
The shuttle continued to advance, approaching another satellite.
Beneath ice and snow that had been sealed for who knows how many years, lay a spacecraft never seen before. Unlike the sharp angles of the broken ship, or the compact roundness of the flying saucer, it possessed a magnificent and grand design style, involuntarily bringing to mind ancient Greek temples.
Continuing forward, Ou Zhanpeng deliberately flew closer to other small satellites for a careful observation. As expected, beneath each dirty snowball lay a frozen spacecraft.
Ling Xiao was unfamiliar with one of them, but Ou Zhanpeng had seen its photo because it was extremely similar to the spacecraft excavated by Project 858.
According to his knowledge, the Project 858 spacecraft had been in existence for over three million years!
His thoughts suddenly became a little hazy, could this spacecraft have been orbiting the asteroid for three million years? And why were so many spacecraft endlessly orbiting the asteroid? There must be an unknown reason!
Ou Zhanpeng was filled with confused thoughts, and Ling Xiao wasn't faring any better. He suddenly shivered, "This is too bizarre. I have a bad feeling about this!"
Ou Zhanpeng shot Ling Xiao a sideways glance, "Don't you tell me you want to go back!"
Ling Xiao gave Ou Zhanpeng a sidelong glance, "Would you agree if I said we should give up?"
"What do you think!"
"Then forget it, I won't say it." Ling Xiao wisely shut his mouth.
"Since we're here, we might as well figure out what's going on." With that, Ou Zhanpeng hardened his resolve and piloted the shuttle towards the asteroid.
To avoid any misunderstanding from the mysterious entity that might lead to unnecessary negative consequences, the shuttle only had shields and no weapons, not even on their persons.
Even so, Ou Zhanpeng slowed down, relying on his instincts to fly towards the left side of the asteroid.
There was a small crater there, and his intuition told him that was the destination of their journey.
The moment the shuttle reached directly above the crater, the mountainside below quietly split open.
They had found it!
Ou Zhanpeng's lips curved upwards slightly, but before he could even smile, the shuttle suddenly shut down, its roaring engines ceasing to operate, and the screens on the instrument panel extinguishing one by one. In an instant, the cockpit fell silent.
Ling Xiao immediately panicked, "Damn it, what’s going on?"
Fortunately, it was only the ship's engines that had failed; their spacesuits were unaffected.
Ou Zhanpeng quickly tried to restart the engines, but there was no response. Other methods of starting also proved futile. The most advanced human spacecraft had instantly become a medieval sailing ship.
This was bad!
Ou Zhanpeng realized the situation was not good, but strangely, he didn't feel much worry, even finding it rather normal.
Ling Xiao, however, was visibly panicked, "Are we going to die like this?"
Ou Zhanpeng shook his head, "We should… not!" He hesitated significantly on the first two words, but his tone became remarkably certain on the latter part.
Ling Shao heard the abnormality and was stunned, "What did you discover?"
Ou Zhanpeng pointed below, "I see the asteroid's horizon. Our descent speed is very stable; we're just slowly falling, not crashing. There's no danger."
Judging altitude and speed was a fundamental skill for pilots, and his foundation was solid; he wouldn't misjudge.
Ling Xiao’s eyes widened, like a toad about to urinate, but no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't see anything.
However, he was also an experienced veteran pilot. After careful consideration, he indeed didn't feel any sudden changes in force, and his heart finally settled a little, "Damn it, you scared me half to death… Hey, listen, you can't mention this to anyone, especially not Xu Qing from your family, understand?"
Ou Zhanpeng chuckled, "Is it necessary… for you to…"
Mid-sentence, an invisible force suddenly pressed down on both of them, like several unseen hands pressing them firmly into their seats, rendering them immobile, yet it wasn't the feeling of immense G-force.
If one had to find a similar feeling, Ou Zhanpeng could only think of sleep paralysis.
A moment later, the shuttle entered a dark cavern, the split mountainside closing above the shuttle. Outside the window was pitch blackness, no matter how wide Ou Zhanpeng opened his eyes, he could see nothing.
A thought suddenly occurred to Ling Xiao, "I guess we landed safely then?"
"I suppose so."
This wasn't Ling Xiao's concern. He looked up, his gaze seemingly piercing through the ship's hull, "The ship is dead, will it be able to fly again later?"
Ou Zhanpeng shook his head, "You ask me, who am I going to ask?"
Ling Xiao gritted his teeth, "Knowing you is the biggest mistake of my life!"
"Oh, come on, you've made plenty of mistakes in your life. I'm the one who should be saying that!"
The two of them bickered back and forth, neither willing to yield. If anyone else were present, they would have been surprised they still had the mood to argue at a time like this, and how could these two be so nonchalant?
However, besides arguing, they were also using it as an outlet to relieve stress and relax their minds. At this moment, the only things that could move on their bodies were their mouths.
As their verbal sparring reached its peak, a slender mechanical arm suddenly emerged from the darkness. The scene was like a monster suddenly appearing from the void, startling the unprepared duo.
The mechanical arm was very agile, with a basin-sized mechanical disk at its end. The disk bent a few times, positioning itself directly in front of the shuttle. The disk suddenly emitted faint light, and the shuttle trembled slightly, stabilizing in mid-air without warning.
At the same time, the force field filling the cabin disappeared, and the two regained their mobility, looking at each other in bewilderment.
Ou Zhanpeng immediately tried to start the shuttle. This time, the engine finally responded, but the sound was abnormal, like a broken bellows groaning, or a late-stage lung cancer patient struggling, and the sound fluctuated constantly, taking a sharp downturn just as the engine was about to start.
The lights on the control console flickered with the engine’s gasps. After several attempts, the engine finally fell silent, and the lights quietly dimmed.
Ling Xiao stared intently at the mechanical arm outside the window, as if gazing at a ghost's hand from the deepest abyss, not daring to look away for a moment, "What do we do now?"
Ou Zhanpeng sighed faintly, "What else can we do? Since we're here, we'll face it. We've come this far, let's go out and take a look."
With that, he got up and floated into the rear cabin.
Ling Xiao's unease intensified, "I really owe you in my past life!"
"Get lost. You must have committed heinous crimes in your past life; what does that have to do with me!" Ou Zhanpeng immediately distanced himself, showing no desire to be involved in any karma.
The two of them floated into the airlock one after another, manually closing the inner hatch. Ou Zhanpeng grasped the handle for opening the outer hatch, "Are you ready?" he asked.
Ling Xiao slipped his arms into the handrails on the cabin wall, "Ready!"
"Then I'll open it!" Ou Zhanpeng exerted force, but the airlock was not as heavy as he imagined, opening with ease. Nor was there any sound of air escaping as during depressurization.
Ling Xiao’s face was filled with astonishment, "What about the depressurization? What the hell are you kidding me?"
Ou Zhanpeng raised his wrist, the terminal screen displaying environmental information, "Air pressure normal, air composition… oxygen content slightly high, no microorganisms detected, no dust. This place is even cleaner than the dust-free workshop in Fallen Ship Mountain!"
"Should we take off our helmets?" Ling Xiao asked.
"Let's see," Ou Zhanpeng lowered his arm and floated out, "I'll go out and take a look first!"
Unexpectedly, Ling Xiao grabbed his ankle and fiercely flung him backward, "Me first!"
Without waiting for Ou Zhanpeng's answer, Ling Xiao had already floated out of the airlock first.
Despite their bickering and joking, at a moment like this, how could he let Ou Zhanpeng, the captain, go first?
Ou Da Jiǎzhǎng was completely caught off guard, his body half-way out, and was thrown behind by Ling Xiao again. When he re-stabilized his posture, Ling Xiao had already floated out.
However, in the next second, tragedy struck. Ling Xiao, who had been floating in the air just moments ago, suddenly became a heavy stone, falling to the ground with a thud, face down.
Ling Xiao shook his head and sat up, looking around blankly, his mind filled with question marks, What had happened?
Ou Zhanpeng, who had witnessed the entire event, was dumbfounded, "Ling Xiao, are you alright?"
The two were merely one inside and one outside the door, but one floating in the air and the other sitting on the ground, the scene was strangely humorous.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Ling Xiao quickly replied, "Don't come out yet, absolutely don't come out!"
Ou Zhanpeng felt both amused and touched. Even at this moment, he was still thinking of shielding him?
Good brother!
Ling Xiao turned on the light, but the place was too vast, the beam penetrating the darkness but revealing nothing.
Ou Zhanpeng floated to the edge of the door and took a small step forward.
The moment his foot landed, the place was suddenly brightly illuminated.
Ling Xiao turned back, switching off the light with a sigh, "Why is the gap between people so big?"
Ou Zhanpeng smiled silently, his gaze sweeping around, realizing the place was even larger than he had imagined, like a plaza hidden within an asteroid, capable of holding several warships as if it were a game.
The shuttle hovered close to the wall, and in front of it were rows of mechanical arms extending from the interior of the wall, each ending with a different man-made flying object!
Ou Zhanpeng’s gaze fell on the nearest mechanical arm. At its end hovered an unremarkable small asteroid, but its appearance was exceptionally familiar, "Ling Xiao, look, isn't that Star Sail?"
He seemed to have discovered new land, his voice even changing pitch.
Star Sail was a deep space probe launched by China more than thirty years ago. It was older than both of them by several years and was the only probe launched by humans disguised as an asteroid.
That foolish one was indeed foolish, wanting everyone outside to know that there were intelligent beings on Earth. China, on the other hand, had always had a sense of crisis and would never make such a low-level mistake, nor would they carry human information on a deep space probe!
Ling Xiao’s eyes widened, "It really looks like it… So, is that Horizon behind it? But how is that possible?"
He was referring to a flying object primarily gold in color, resembling a golden box with a satellite dish attached, placed next to Star Sail as the second item.
Their gazes simultaneously fell upon the few probes behind them, pairs of identical ones.
"Pioneer?"
"Voyager?"
Counting them, all six deep space probes belonging to humanity were here, not a single one absent.
Ou Zhanpeng had already figured out what these probes had gone through: the deep space probes were discovered by the mysterious entity on their way out of the solar system. An asteroid waited on their path and, by some means, captured the probes, preserving them in this place.
Why would the mysterious entity do this? To intercept human messages and cut off the path for aliens to understand Earth?
Behind the human spacecraft were dozens more mechanical arms. Various spacecraft, from small and exquisite to crude and large, of different sizes and shapes, were arranged in a line, exuding an unspoken heaviness in their tranquility.
Ling Xiao's expression turned grave, "Who launched those behind them, do you think?"
Ou Zhanpeng's gaze extended into the distance, "It looks like they are sorted by time."
Ling Xiao was immediately astonished, "Prehistoric civilization?"
"Who knows!" Ou Zhanpeng said.