(Today, only two updates. I'll try to explode with more tomorrow, as another book is nearing completion and writing it has left me oxygen-deprived and dizzy.)
After finishing the soup dumplings, Jiang Ye was taken to the military headquarters by Li Nannan.
The military headquarters building was in the city center, a super grand glass building. The entire structure was made of blue window glass. Jiang Ye looked up, gazing at the countless windows, as if a vast plain had risen from the earth.
Small spaceships were parked outside the building. Jiang Ye finally understood that there were no cars these days; everyone traveled by small spaceships, or flying cars, as they could be called.
Upon entering, they passed through two security checks and registered their faces and fingerprints before proceeding smoothly.
The space inside the building was quite immense.
Except for the restrooms, all rooms were made of transparent glass, allowing a clear view of the offices within.
A group of people in military uniforms sat before screens, typing with flying fingers, shouting and roaring, their faces flushed red like a troop of baboons. The glass provided excellent soundproofing, so nothing they shouted could be heard, but one could imagine their hoarse voices.
Those working here were generally civilian personnel retired from the battlefield. Having been subjected to artillery blasts for many years on the front lines, their hearing was not great, and they mostly communicated by shouting. Li Nannan, noticing Jiang Ye's curiosity, explained.
"Can't they have surgery to fix it, or wear hearing aids?" Jiang Ye inquired.
"For treatment, the military will reimburse the surgical fees of five hundred thousand once. If they don't undergo treatment, they receive a monthly disability allowance of three hundred and eighty thousand, which continues until ten years after their death," Li Nannan said with a smile.
Jiang Ye suddenly understood.
Li Nannan led him to an elevator. The security measures were very strict; they had to scan their faces again inside the elevator.
The elevator went straight to the tenth floor.
The tenth floor was the same, with all rooms having glass walls, allowing a clear view inside. However, there were fewer civil servants on this floor; most rooms were vacant and empty.
Li Nannan led Jiang Ye to the end of the floor, where an unusual frosted glass wall room appeared. Guards with stern expressions stood at the entrance, exuding an air of mystery.
"Password!" A guard reached out, blocking Li Nannan.
"Password," Li Nannan replied loudly.
The guard reached out and opened the door.
Jiang Ye was utterly bewildered. So, the password was just "password"? Who thought that up?
Upon entering, he froze. The room was empty except for a large screen covering one wall.
"A screen, and they need guards at the door for this?"
Li Nannan had already closed the door. With two crisp clicks, the door locked automatically. The security in this room was exceptionally tight, comparable to a small bank vault.
"Come, sign here first," she said.
A drawer popped out from the smooth glass wall, filled with documents.
Li Nannan took out the documents one by one, over twenty in total, each as thick as a middle school physics textbook. She shoved the stack into Jiang Ye's arms; it was heavy, weighing several pounds. Finally, she placed a pitch-black fountain pen on top.
"What are all these?" Jiang Ye asked, a little alarmed.
"Just standard confidentiality agreements. Just sign them. We'll show you classified videos later. As long as you watch them and don't disclose anything, it'll be fine," Li Nannan said casually, leaning against the wall. The room didn't even have a chair to sit on.
Jiang Ye swallowed, choosing to trust her, and began signing each document, lying on the floor. Li Nannan had only said it would be fine if he didn't leak anything, not what would happen if he did. Judging by the thickness of the confidentiality agreements, Jiang Ye estimated that if he leaked anything, he'd probably be ground to dust, his family implicated for nine generations, and he'd be subjected to dismemberment by a thousand cuts and flogging with eight hundred lashes.
Two minutes later, all documents were signed.
Li Nannan gathered the documents and placed them back into the drawer. The drawer automatically retracted into the wall.
"What now?" Jiang Ye stood, unsure of what to do.
"Wait for review," Li Nannan said, pointing to the wall. "There's a review team on the other side of the wall; they'll examine each signed document. All signatures have legal validity, and then they'll..."
The large screen on the wall lit up.
The image showed the vast deep sea. The camera was mounted on some mechanical equipment, and the humming of motors could be heard. Bright lights illuminated the dark sea ahead.
The camera was descending, cutting through the blue-black water rapidly. Many small white creatures floated in the water, becoming more conspicuous under the lights, as if a blizzard were falling on the seabed. Occasionally, a few ugly fish swam by, looking shifty and sly, with pointed mouths and thin cheeks. Due to water pressure, deep-sea fish were often ugly and had impaired vision, their eyes degenerating into small dots, making them look particularly sinister.
"Is this a probe from my planet?" Jiang Ye turned to look at Li Nannan.
"Clever!" She snapped her fingers. "After you reported the water ghosts, the military sent several probes to investigate your planet. They were crashing through the sea. What you're seeing now is the seabed view from one of the probes."
Jiang Ye continued watching, his eyes fixed on the screen.
Such a strictly secured room, and they brought him here specifically to watch this, indicating that something astonishing was about to be revealed.
The probe continued its rapid movement in the sea for a few more minutes.
Suddenly, it slowed down.
The lights also dimmed abruptly.
It was as if it sensed some potential danger and was fearfully hiding itself.
Jiang Ye's brow furrowed. Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
A tiny speck of blue light emerged from the deep black seabed.
It was too far away, just a small dot, but for some reason, Jiang Ye felt a prickle of unease, like seeing a will-o'-the-wisp while walking on a dark road.
The probe's lights dimmed again, and after a few seconds, they went out completely.
Its descent speed also noticeably decreased. Previously, the motor's hum was as loud as a sports car; now, it was just a low hum like a microwave.
The light grew closer.
Beside the previous blue light, another small patch of blue light suddenly appeared.
As the descent continued, the blue light increased, gradually expanding from a small dot on the screen to cover more than half of it! The ghost-like blue light surged from the seabed, filling the entire field of vision like a prairie fire!
Finally, the probe and the blue light were very close.
The entire seabed became clearly visible on the screen.
Jiang Ye shuddered. A chill shot from the base of his spine straight to his brain.
Countless hexagonal openings were distributed across the seabed, tightly packed together, numbering in the tens of thousands!
It looked like a giant honeycomb on the seabed, with dense cells and a vast scale. Anyone with trypophobia would likely faint immediately, but each cell emitted a fire-like blue light, as if the entire seabed were burning!
The probe was clearly intimidated, its motor almost completely shut off, descending slowly like a falling leaf.
It got closer and closer.
Like a golf ball falling into a hole, the probe plunged directly into one of the honeycomb cells.
The blue light filled the entire screen. The light emanated from a colossal whale, estimated to be ten meters long, curled up quietly at the bottom of the honeycomb. The spots on its back glowed like lamps.
"This is the kind of whale I saw before!" Jiang Ye exclaimed, pointing at the screen.