506-510

Chapter 506: Tardigrade Moss

Underneath the clear blue sky, a shimmering star gleamed so brightly that it was visible even in the daylight. Its arrival signaled the changes that were about to occur to this stagnant world.

Perhaps it was a false impression, as time went on, the spot of light started to magnify in the sky above. It seemed to move in sporadic bursts to a rhythm of its own.

After approximately an hour had passed, the spot of light was now the size of an instantly visible circle even with the clear blue sky cast behind it as background. It now stood out prominently against the blue canvas and was still growing larger with every passing minute.

At last, a spacecraft descended from the skies above. The bottom part of its hull had bright white flames scalding its skin as it tumbled downward at extreme speed until it landed on a flat patch of ground.

"Thump..."

There was a thunderous rumble as it kissed the ground. The spaceship landing was a success. The two gigantic engine thrusters that were nearly the same size as the spaceship itself helped brace the landing and allowed for a relatively soft landing.

After that, there was silence.

"The Ares has landed successfully."

The digitally synthesized female voice of the broadcast broke through the mist of silence. "The level one alert is now lifted. All personnel is now permitted to leave the ejection capsules."

As soon as the broadcast finished, the lights on sixteen large pieces of equipment shaped like iron coffins positioned in the most fortified center hull of the spaceship flickered from red to green. The iron coffins opened with a distinct whistling of gas pressure.

The group enclosed within the iron coffins stepped outside, all of them laughing and jesting with each other. They were vibrant and energetic as they stepped out of their respective ejection capsules. They began to jump up and down to feel the gravity force of this foreign land.

"I haven't felt gravity for a week. It's weird to suddenly experience gravity again..."

One of the members commented.

"You'll get used to it soon enough."

Another person added. "But the gravity on Mars is two-fifth that of the gravity on Earth. It may feel light and breezy to you now but wait till you get back to Earth. You'll probably need half a year of adjustment before you can climb out of bed without needing assistance."

"Well, there's another way around it."

A third person added. "And that's to become a proper Martian."

"Hahahaha!"

They laughed in unison. Some of them let out a deep, exhilarated sigh while others took off their spacesuit as fast as they could and started to bound for the canteen.

"Where are you going?"

"Whiskey time!"

There were only a few who went to indulge themselves with alcohol. When the captain of the Ares, Zhou Xiong got out of the ejection capsule, he did not take off the spacesuit immediately and instead went straight for the bridge of the spaceship.

"Captain Zhou!"

Another group trailed after the captain immediately. They were all thinking the same thing.

Zhou Xiong waved at them to signal that there was no need to rush things. When he arrived at the bridge, he finally saw the view outside through the clear windows.

Behind the window was an endless stretch of ice that went as far as the eye could see.

They rushed to the observation deck with quick wonder. However, they saw that the view here was not much different from the North Pole or the South Pole on Earth. There was nothing but a flat terrain made of ice that buried whatever landscape there was to be seen underneath it. Everywhere they looked, it was a blank sheet of white.

There were no signs of falling snow nor were there any odd rock formations that rose from the ground.

This was not too surprising for this group of scientists. There were several reasons they chose to land in the South Pole of Mars. One, to construct a base. Two, because the South Pole on Mars was the only location with water.

With that said, they were well aware that only a small part of this was composed of real water. A majority of the ice formation was dry ice composed of carbon dioxide.

"Ji Zhe, what do you think?"

A young Chinese female scientist among the group suddenly asked one of her colleagues next to her.

"Hmm, appearance-wise, it's not much different from Earth."

A cynical-looking young scientist responded to this, "I'm more curious to head to the locations where the Mars rover has explored. Those places are a more accurate representation of Mars."

"Unfortunately, that will have to wait at least several months."

Another scientist that came from Northern America chimed in, "When the base is properly established, perhaps we'll get a chance to head over there for a quick lap, but now isn't the time yet."

The group chanted murmured discussions among themselves as they heard this.

"Alright, everyone, quiet down."

Zhou Xiong suddenly silenced the excited crew with a commanding voice. After that, he looked above him at a rectangular-shaped camera installed at the ceiling. "Moss, dispatch the rovers and the drones. Show me what our surroundings look like and send the collected data to me."

"Understood."

The voice of the artificial intelligence named Moss came through the speakers. Immediately after that, a gigantic virtual display was presented before them. Framed inside the large display were four smaller panels of equal sizes. The images were pitch-black initially but quickly transitioned to a spontaneous burst of white noise taking over the screen. Shortly after that, what looked like black and white thermal imaging was fully formed on the display.

The collection of panels on the display seemed to show an image of a small room. The camera angles of each display could be seen rotating in a 360-degree circle and soon, they saw a door slowly being slid open, allowing cracks of light from the outside world to slip through the opening.

In an instant, the black and white thermal images transitioned into regular color footages. At the same time, two of the four cameras gradually shuffled out of the previously enclosed place while the remaining two cameras seemed to have taken flight and glided out at an elevated angle.

The four displays were a combination of live feeds broadcasted from two land rovers and two drones.

After that, the rovers and drones left the Ares one after another. The rovers were metal-framed vehicles fitted with solar panels. It left behind shallow tracks on the snowy terrain as it drove through the snow.

The rovers drove in circles around the ice shelf with the Ares as the center point. They covered and scanned every inch in the vicinity.

The two drones gained altitude rapidly and proceeded to split up into two separate directions at a time. They set out to travel as far as possible to chart as much nearby terrain as possible.

"The outside atmospheric pressure is 7.5 bar, the air composition consists of 95 percent carbon dioxide, 3 percent nitrogen, 1.6 percent hydrogen, 0.2 percent oxygen, 0.1 percent water vapor, carbon monoxide, neon, krypton, and xenon."

The initial detection results were produced and described through the broadcast system, "The outside temperature is negative 85 degrees and the wind level is at level five."

"Get the rovers to collect soil samples."

Zhou Xiong ordered.

"Sampling... Sampling complete, performing analysis..."

"The surface consists of 95.7 percent dry ice, 2.2 percent regular ice, and there are also traces of iron oxide, silicon dioxide, and other elements. No trace of microbial activity detected for the time being."

Everyone appeared enthused when they heard this piece of information narrated by Moss. Although there was enough evidence to prove the existence of water on Mars since a few days ago, it was different when they were witnessing it with their own eyes. The joy surfing through their minds could not be simply described with mere words.

"Captain Zhou, let me head out there to investigate!"

Some of them were starting to become impatient and eagerly volunteered to head out.

"Let me go too!"

"I'm going as well!"

"Me, as well!"

The group started to get excited.

"Everyone please calm down!"

Zhou Xiong halted their fervent demands with his palms held out. "Everyone, there's no need to rush. As long as the results of the environment analysis are optimistic, we'll be settling here within several months. There's no need for us to rush things just yet.

"Still, manual investigation during this initial phase will still be necessary. In this case, each of the four continents can select one candidate to head out there. This is the best I can offer. After all, there are no guarantees as to what we'll run into out there, so I have to take the necessary precautions to ensure the expedition's success."

Everyone agreed with the solution Zhou Xiong proposed. Before long, each of the major continent groups had selected their candidate for their first expedition.

When it came to selecting a candidate from the team of four researchers representing Blacklight Biotechnology, Zhou Xiong as the captain could not head out since he had to be responsible for addressing whatever issues that came up. In the end, he handed the task to a blond-haired young man in the team.

This young biology specialist went by the name, Hannibal Caesar.

This was the young man who had been following Chen Chen since the day that Eco Science City was founded. After all these years had passed, he had become a respectable savant in the biology field. He was also one of the professor rank members in God's Forbidden Zone and had one of the highest levels of authority in Blacklight Biotechnology.

It was Hannibal himself who volunteered for the Mars expedition. He had done so because he always dreamt of interstellar travel and everything he had done was to lead up to this moment. Since the failure rate of this expedition was minuscule, Chen Chen decided to assign Hannibal to the Ares and granted him the opportunity to become the first batch of scientists arriving on Mars.

Hannibal did not gather around and mingle like the rest of the scientists. Instead, he went to the Ares laboratory and found a specific metal can stash among a row of other metal cans on a biological supply rack.

The contents of this metal could be the protoplast of a special plant – the "tardigrade moss".

The tardigrade moss was a subclass of genetically modified mosses of the Euphorbiaceae family. Its body was derived from a class of moss named "Physcomitrella Patens".

Since the DNA structure of moss allowed for easy reconstruction, it was relatively easy to partially replace its genes to produce desirable compounds and did so in large quantities. Therefore, at the request of Chen Chen, Hannibal went through the effort of cultivating stems of this "tardigrade moss".

This was an overview of the procedures Hannibal went through to recreate it: Hannibal used elements of the tardigrade gene to transform "Physcomitrella Patens" which was a collection of earthmoss. It was worth noting that tardigrades were the most resilient living being in the earth's biosphere.

It could withstand pressure six times that of the water pressure in the deepest seafloor. It could also withstand hundreds of times the lethal dose of radiation exposure for humans. Furthermore, it could survive in temperature conditions bordering absolute zero. There had been many instances of experiments exposing a batch of tardigrades in a vacuum space with temperature close to absolute zero for more than ten days. By the end of these experiments, a majority of the tardigrades survived.

The secret trick the tardigrades used was "cryptobiosis", which was a process of slowing down its metabolism to such a slow crawl it became nearly completely halted. Upon entering this dormant state, its body water content could drop to less than three percent which would be the threshold of what was considered common dehydration. However, once it was exposed to water again, it would regenerate its life force and "reborn" like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Hannibal took advantage of the black goo's characteristics to strengthen the tardigrades. After a series of enhancements, the product was a monster the thickness of a human finger and entirely covered in a shell of hard chitin.

This mutated tardigrade was extremely adaptable to a wide range of conditions. It could survive for three to five years without access to food or water. It could survive in harsh boiling water just as well as it could withstand low temperatures close to absolute zero. Even when put in vacuum spaces, it merely entered cryptobiosis for as long as needed until the environment became sustainable again.

The tardigrade could survive for centuries in this cryptobiosis state.

After Hannibal had cultivated a desirable variant of tardigrade, he extracted its gene and grafted them onto the gene of the "Physcomitrella Patens". Although this variant of genetically modified moss was not able to achieve the metamorphosis ability as the tardigrades did, it was just as resilient and could thrive, even grew in conditions below negative hundred degrees celsius. Its life span was also longer than any of its Earth contemporaries.

Based on the lab simulation conducted, there was a significant chance that this moss known as the tardigrade moss could survive in the harsh condition presented on mars. It was very likely that it could evolve into a special breed of moss plant on Mars.

One element that the Mars atmosphere had no short supply of was carbon dioxide. After this tardigrade moss was genetically enhanced, it was now able to survive in any harsh climate and only needed a minuscule amount of water for sustenance. If this plant could be incorporated into the Mars environment, there was a strong likelihood of reshaping the Mars atmosphere.

As the tardigrade moss continued to intake carbon dioxide and output oxygen, the atmospheric layer on Mars would slowly become strengthened and thickened. What would follow after that would be a gradual increase in temperature. Then, the buildup of carbon dioxide under the surface of Mars would evaporate, generating into a greenhouse effect...

After the temperature on Mars had reached a desirable level, the planet would allow for the habitation of a larger variety of plantations. To a certain point, even animals may be able to migrate to the planet. This positive feedback loop would continue on and on to make Mars a habitable planet.

However, it was always easier said than done. There was still a significant amount of progress that needed to be made before achieving all of these visions. It was now merely the beginning.

After obtaining the can of moss, Hannibal followed the designated crew for the expedition to the isolation cabin in the Ares. Spirits were high among the crew members and some of them were even competing and making bets to see which one of them would be the first to exit Ares and became the first human in history to set foot on Mars.

Chapter 507: Life on Mars

Several days later, on the South Pole of Mars.

The rovers were dragging what seemed to be a drilling device behind them as they advanced through the snow-coated ground.

Trailing further behind the rovers were five scientists fully clad in protective suits. They chatted amiably as they followed after the rover. In the background, a dome-shaped structure had been erected.

The height and circumference of this new structure were larger than the Ares spacecraft. It was built using numerous slabs of steel plates. Each steel plate had identical measurements so they were easily replaceable if any damaged section was detected.

The collection of more than thousands of steel plate building blocks came together to form the shape of a steel dome structure. The topmost section of the structure was substituted with glass instead to give the dome a transparent crown.

This building constructed by the fleet of XTN engineering robots would serve as the research station for the Mars expedition team from here on.

A miniaturized inertial fusion reactor was installed in the research station, which would be providing the station with sufficient electricity for more than a decade to come. The interior was divided into three floors. There was a large open garden in the center section of the dome that stretched from the base of the dome to its ceiling. The garden was filled with sustainable plants transported from Earth. During the mornings, the daylight would shine through the glass crown of the dome, achieving a greenhouse effect which allowed the plants to perform photosynthesis.

It was not so much a research station at this point and was closer to a mini eco-garden.

The research station was surrounded by a ring of commodities which included the living quarters for the scientists, the canteen, conference rooms, warehouse, and various laboratories. The total surface area of the living space came to roughly five thousand square meters which were more than enough for the crew of scientists to partake in their usual day-to-day activities as well as work.

Meanwhile, a drill well was being installed in a location roughly a kilometer away from the research station. It was the cape of a weaker part of the ice shelf that was recently identified during an expedition. The drill well was being set up by several XTN engineering robots that were preparing to officially commence the drilling operation.

The five scientists stood at the side and watched as the drill head slowly bore itself into the ice shelf.

Ten meters.

Twenty meters.

Fifty meters.

Hundred meters...

The drill continued rooting itself deeper underground until several hours later when a gentle beep was heard. The scientists present were delighted to see the indicator light on the control panel of the drill well suddenly flickering with green light.

This indicated that the drill head had successfully drilled itself into the designated location.

One of the scientists stepped toward the mounted display next to one of the XTN engineering robots. The display was a live feed of the cameras mounted on the drill. It was an open space containing a pool of water that was reflecting the light that came from the surface.

"Found it, it's an underground lake!"

The scientist cried out with excitement. He took out the walkie-talkie strapped to his waist and announced loudly, "Drilling crew reporting to headquarters. We found an underground lake. I repeat, we found an underground lake!"

While the drilling crew was passionately celebrating the success of their operation, Hannibal was occupied with his task inside one of the laboratories in the research station. He was dressed in a protective suit and was in the middle of taking out blocks of snow samples and inspecting them under a microscope.

This went on for some time. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to detect any signs of microorganisms apart from the occasional crystal and iron particles.

"Are there no life forms on Mars?"

Hannibal stretched his neck and frowned as he muttered to himself. It was then when the laboratory door suddenly opened with a short beep.

Another man dressed similarly in a protective suit stepped inside. This new visitor appeared to be in good spirits and was carrying a rack of test tubes. There were three test tubes mounted to the rack, each one of them filled with an unidentifiable, transparent liquid.

The new visitor went to Hannibal as soon as he entered the laboratory. "Hannibal, check this out!"

"What's this?"

Hannibal asked curiously.

"These are samples of lake water several hundred meters below the ice shelf. It was only extracted by the drilling team just now."

The fellow scientist said as he placed the test tubes into another rack.

"We've reached an underground lake?"

Hannibal's eyebrows shot up as he asked.

"Haven't you heard about it?"

The other scientist only chuckled. "That makes sense, all you do is stay cooped up inside this laboratory, you're missing out on the natural glory of Mars. Half an hour ago, the drilling team discovered a sizable open space several hundred meters below the ice shelf. This space was filled with carbon dioxide and there was an approximately zero degree underground lake in its bottom. Do you have any idea what this could mean?"

"Water underground, close to zero degrees Celcius... This suggests the possibility of life forms in the underground lake..."

Hannibal quickly realized its implications. He took a look at the three test tubes and reached for them immediately. First, he placed one of the test tubes into a biosafety cabinet, then he trickled the contents of the test tube into a petri dish through the gloves fitted into the cabinet.

After that, he placed the petri dish underneath a microscope and proceeded to inspect it.

"So? Any findings?"

There was a faint tremble in the other scientist's voice as he watched Hannibal performing quick and familiar sequences of laboratory procedures. If signs of life were detected in the lake, it would be a defining moment in the history of mankind. Each one of their names, whether it was Hannibal, the members of the drill crew or the pilot would have their names etched into history books...

Hannibal had no time to respond to these strings of questions and remained focused on the task at hand. His attention was fixed on the microscope that was fixed on the liquid sample. What he saw through the microscope was what seemed like a foreign world...

"Hannibal?"

The other scientist prodded again.

Hannibal finally looked away from the microscope and nodded to himself as if to assure himself of his findings. "Call the captain and the rest of the crew as well. We have a major discovery..."

Half an hour later.

All sixteen scientists gathered in a meeting room inside the research station.

They did not conduct the meeting in the Ares because most of the equipment and whatever supplies were left in the spaceship had been moved out of and relocated into the research station. Very soon, the Ares would be delivering a large amount of soil, water, air, and various minerals samples on Mars back to Earth.

"I'm sure most of you have an idea what I've gathered everyone here for."

The captain of the Ares, Zhou Xiong, started without any further delay. He stood up and turned to Hannibal. "Hannibal, why don't you tell everyone your findings, I'm sure many of us are very eager to find out at this point."

"Alright."

Hannibal nodded and stepped to the front. A large display immediately appeared behind him. The image shown on the display was a pattern consisting of numerous collections of small black dots.

"This is the underwater microorganism discovered inside the underground water extracted from the drilling well."

Hannibal explained discreetly, "What you're seeing now is the samples magnified ten times underneath a microscope. Most of those black spots are common impurities which include minerals, soil, ice particles, and whatnot. It's only after magnifying it by thirty times when the new discoveries surface..."

As Hannibal stated this, the image zoomed in closer to reveal a gray spot. It appeared that what was cast on the display was not a still picture but a recorded video instead.

Inside the gray spot, several oddly-shaped worms with six to seven tiny legs sticking out of them could be seen swimming around in the water.

The tiny, squirmish worms were completely transparent but their silhouette could be distinctly made out with the magnification of the microscope. They also had two long antennas that were nearly double the length of their bodies. The section around its abdomen region was shaped in rows like ribcages. It seemed to be a common breed of worm species.

"Chaetognatha marine worm."

Hannibal stated, "These microscopic worms look like Chaetognatha worms, don't they? Apart from the absence of eyes and having longer antennas, their structure was nearly identical to Chaetognatha worms found undersea. Their measurements are roughly in between 0.1 to 0.2 millimeters..."

After stating this, Hannibal turned around and flicked his wrist, prompting the display to switch to another clip. The new footage showed the previous worm creature eating another insect smaller than itself that seemed to resemble common lice.

"Based on my current observation, it appears that they are carnivores of an extremely aggressive nature."

Hannibal weighed his sentences carefully as he described, "The species which they consume is another marine worm species. These marine worms are roughly 0.04 millimeters large. These are gram-negative bacterias that belong to a subclass of algae organisms.

"Additionally, I also discovered three other algae organisms. These algae organisms are single-celled prokaryotes and don't contain chlorophyll and chloroplasts in their cell structure. I hypothesize that they are anaerobic organisms that don't need photosynthesis. What they need instead is suitable water temperature to allow for chemical reactions to sustain themselves."

After showing several other bizarrely shaped microorganisms that would otherwise be considered as a typical, run-of-the-mill entity in the world of microbes, Hannibal's expression turned solemn. "What I discovered after this was also very special..."

Following Hannibal's note, the display showed the image of a round, transparent bubble that was several times larger than the previous marine worm presented to the other scientists. What stood out about this bubble was a red-colored lump inside it that seemed to be faintly moving every now and then.

It looked like a heart.

"This is..."

The crew of scientists whispered amongst themselves.

"That's right, it's just as you guys suspect, it's an egg."

Hannibal said with emotion, "The closest contemporary of this entity on Earth would be fish roes. Certain marine species do lay eggs that are as small as a millimeter. One thing the existence of this egg proves is that there are life forms similar to fishes in the underground lake we discovered. I can't confidently say that the species laying this egg is a vertebrate species until I have proper visual confirmation."

Hannibal's speculation awed the group of scientists. One of the scientists quickly jested. "Does that mean that we can fish underground if we want to?"

They shared a quick laugh upon hearing this.

"I can't tell you much about the prospect of fishing, but what I've found is that the algae organisms need methane and sulfide."

Hannibal added. "This trait is also observed in deep-sea archaea back on Earth. As you all may know, there are no sunlight or oxygen sources in the deep sea region on Earth. The archaeal organisms have had to coexist with deep sea worms since the beginning of time. The archaea used the continuous supply of sulfide from the underwater geysers to supply the required nutrients for the deep sea worms. The worms in turn secrete chitin components to protect the archaea. This mutually beneficial relationship forms the basis of the biological chain of the underwater geysers."

Underwater geysers, also known as hydrothermal vents, refer to the geothermally heated water discharges seen in the depths of the ocean floor. Its principle was similar to that of a volcanic geyser.

The inspiration for this name was due to the sprout of heated water from the seabed appearing like a smoking vent from a distance. This "smoke" contained substances such as sulfide and methane. A scientist named Bischoff was the first one to record this strange observation in 1979 when he saw it at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean 2500 meters below sea level.

Generally speaking, these underwater vents should be extremely poisonous and lethal to most, if not all living beings. However, the almost miraculous observation noted by the scientists was a collection of living organisms surrounding the habitat that should have been barren of any life forms. These organisms survived on the heat, methane, and sulfide emitted from the hydrothermal vent. Just like how fish needed oxygen and algae needed sunlight for survival, these organisms also had unique sets of conditions for survival.

The crew of scientists immediately understood what Hannibal was trying to suggest upon hearing this. It was a valid point since if life existed on Mars, it should be reasonable to expect that they would have developed an independent survival mechanism to accommodate their environment. Due to the ice shelf blocking out the sunlight and the lack of oxygen, these organisms had developed other systems to extract resources from the environment.

Whether they lived on oxygen or methane, these organisms should still belong to the category of carbon-based life forms.

"Alright, everyone. This means that there's another thing we need to add to our checklist."

Zhou Xiong suddenly got up and announced, "The discovery of life form on Mars is a monumental discovery of the century. This proves that humans aren't the only life form in the universe. From here on, our biology team will have plenty more work to do. I want to log everything that there is to know about these organisms. This means the history of their evolution as well as what may become of them in the future."

"Don't worry, Captain Zhou Xiong."

One of the scientists from the biology team mentioned with a short chuckle, "I do agree that it's shocking to discover life form on Mars, but I have some news that may sour the moment a little. These lives are very primitive and we haven't managed to confirm whether there are mammalian species just yet. From what we've seen so far, I have to say that the living conditions in the underground lake are sub-optimal at best. Based on the geological surveys conducted, its diameter is only about 20 kilometers. It may be a decent size but I doubt it's enough room to allow mammalian species to evolve...

"Simply put, the living conditions are simply too harsh to allow for the gradual evolution of any notable, intelligent species such as dolphins or alligators."

Another scientist added. "Even if intelligent species manage to emerge in these conditions, the ceiling of their intelligence should only be on par with orcas. Think of it as the level of primitive human tribes. The foundations of civilization require generations to pass their knowledge from one to the next. I doubt the habitat here is suitable for that."

"Maybe."

Zhou Xiong first shot a look at Hannibal and saw that even Hannibal agreed with these claims. He then said with a quick smile, "With all that said, you can't dispute that these alien life forms have excellent research value. Besides, the people on Earth are eagerly waiting for whatever news we can bring to them. Before the Ares returns to Earth, we need to collect the appropriate samples and log as much data as we can and bring them home."

"Can't argue with that."

This statement gained a collective nod from everyone.

Chapter 508: DOOM

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Very interesting."

Several days later, after Chen Chen went through the report received from the Mars expedition team, he became visibly intrigued by the findings.

At this point, many discoveries on Mars had been publicly disclosed. With the careful coordination of the Earth Federation, the entirety of mankind had their attention honed in on the current Mars expedition. The initial landing of Ares on Mars was met with fervent celebration. This would be encored by the latest groundbreaking news from the Mars research station –

There was life on Mars!

It was not any primitive eukaryotic life form nor was it single-cell structured life forms but multi-cell life structured life forms similar to the ones seen on Earth!

This revelation alone was enough to set off tremendous parties and celebrations in the biological sciences community on Earth.

The four major continents did not attempt to conceal any information. Everything was laid out to the public in the exact form received from Mars. This included the statistical data of the species of detected life form, geological structure, and whatnot. The approach they had taken had earned them many praises from communities all over the world.

There was a good reason for the four major continents in doing so. The first was the most essential component in establishing a strong foundation and that was to build a respectable reputation. It was vital to upkeep the image of the four major continents in the Earth Federation.

This was merely one of many reasons. The primary reason was directly related to the fact that Blacklight Biotechnology was the primary faction heading this expedition with Ares. Three years ago, Blacklight Biotechnology had granted the related aerospace technology to the four major continents. In terms of advancement, this stem of technology was at least several decades ahead of the rest of the Earth Federation...

Which meant that the published data on Mars was of little to no use to the other countries. This was because no other forces apart from Blacklight Biotechnology and the four major continents had the required technology to travel to Mars.

This was the true reason that Blacklight Biotechnology and the four major continents saw fit to disclose their findings.

It took Chen Chen more than ten minutes to go through the heavy stack of the report in his hand. He slowly raised his head after he had finished.

"Sir Godfather, did you notice that the life forms on Mars are quite similar to the marine life forms on Earth?"

Little X suddenly asked unprompted.

"Not just similar."

Chen Chen agreed, tipping his head up and down. "The multicellular organisms found in the underground lake on Mars are almost completely homologous to the deep sea organisms on Earth. There are more than fifty percent similarities in their gene structures. Could some of the circulating theories be true, that Mars was once a planet with a bustling civilization that eventually collapsed, but not before branching out to Earth? Could Mars be the true origin of life on Earth?

"Or maybe it's just a coincidence. After all, we have only found low-level species. We don't know yet just how different they are from the potential high-level species."

Little X commented, "But what you said is possible as well. Maybe Mars has something to do with the emergence of life forms on Earth. Maybe it's also related to the Cambrian explosion..."

The Cambrian explosion was also dubbed as one of the biggest mysteries in the field of paleontology and geology. Approximately 540 to 530 million years ago was the period where geologists determined the start of the Cambrian period. In the span of 20 million years during the Cambrian period, a large number of invertebrate fossils appeared in the soil layer.

However, even among the fossils in the deepest layer which was also some of the earliest fossils formed during the period, there was no significant indication of the age of these fossils being too much older than the later fossils. It was as if all of the invertebrate fossils appeared at the same time out of nowhere...

This was a mystery that had plagued biological academia since Darwin's time and nobody had found a reasonable explanation even until today. This was why it was simply referred to by geologists as "The Cambrian Explosion" for its sudden outburst of population.

Nevertheless, Blacklight Biotechnology was not concerned with finding an explanation for these matters. Little X raised the matter again. "We can further review these matters after we've performed a thorough study on the landscape of Mars. After all, we've merely chipped the tip of the iceberg. In roughly three to five years, we would've more comprehensive and accurate information of the structure on Mars."

"No, that's not what I'm concerned about."

Chen Chen shook his head suddenly and said ruminatively, "I'm just thinking that needing two weeks to travel back and forth is still too lengthy, especially when considering that the construction of a spacecraft like Ares costs us tens of billions of dollars. To achieve greater efficiency, we need to find alternative methods of transportation to Mars."

"Are you hinting at... Teleportation?"

Little X was surprised to hear this and quickly mentioned, "That will be difficult to achieve considering our most advanced form of teleportation comes from the black spheres in Gantz. Even with all the groundwork and effort we've put into maintaining the teleportation system, the black spheres are still hindered by technical limitations and can only allow for teleportation on Earth instead. At this point, I doubt interplanetary teleportation is possible unless we can create a teleporter the size of the Himalayas mountains. That way, the signal coverage may be able to reach Mars. However, that's pretty much impossible..."

"Of course, I'm aware of that."

Chen Chen chuckled. "Due to the energy limitations back then, we were unable to extract large devices from the USB drive so we had to compromise with devices like the Gantz sphere. Things are different now since we have the super tokamak reactor that multiplies our energy generation efficiency by several folds. Doesn't this mean that the options that we have previously deemed impossible to instantiate are accessible again now?"

"Are you talking about the time machine in Terminator?"

Little X wagered a guess.

"It's worth considering, but it's not the best option available."

Chen Chen considered briefly. "Apart from Terminator, there are many other movies that introduce teleportation systems. Our current Mars expedition reminds me of a very familiar title with a device tailored for our needs..."

"Could it be... DOOM?"

Little X asked.

"That's right."

Chen Chen snapped his thumbs. "From what we've observed so far, the time machine from Terminator appears to be a parallel dimension teleporter. I suspect it will be hard to fully utilize it. Meanwhile, teleporters in movies such as Doctor Who and Star Trek aren't viable since they either cannot be accepted by the USB drive or pose trouble with the continuity of consciousness. I'm not willing to take the risk of using faulty teleportation devices. Of all the options we have, DOOM seems to meet my requirement."

DOOM, also sometimes referred to as Duke Nukem, first started as a sci-fi-themed first-person shooting game. The story is about mankind discovering a gigantic portal on Mars that served as a gate and allowed countless terrible monsters to pass through. These monsters were a large variety of biblical devils.

Since it was a genre-defining game, it had amassed a cult following and in 2005, it was rewritten into a movie. However, the monsters inside the movie had been changed into monsters derived from failed human experiments instead of biblical devils from another world.

The plot of the movie was that in 2026, mankind discovered a special device left behind by an ancient civilization on the earth. This device was known as the "Ark". It was a teleportation device which destination was set to a location on Mars.

To conduct further studies on the "Ark", the state forces kept its existence secret and soon established a research station on Mars. It was there where they discovered signs of humanoid remains on Mars, suggesting that there were humanoid inhabitants on Mars.

Upon conducting further genetic research on the inhabitant on Mars, they discovered that humans shared the same genetics as the Martians. The humans and Martians both had twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, with the exception of a small portion of Martians having twenty-four pairs of chromosomes instead.

Upon further research, humans realized that this demographic with twenty-four pairs of chromosomes possessed inhumane strength. Their raw strength, reaction speed, vitality, and the rate at which they recovered from injuries were vastly superior to regular humans. They were essentially superhumans.

Later research also revealed that this was not without its drawbacks. As the humans started to artificially inject the twenty-fourth chromosome into regular humans, they discovered that most people would become mutated and lose their minds in the process. These unfortunate victims of the failed mutation became mindless monsters that were completely consumed by the urge to kill.

Only a tiny portion of the population was compatible with the twenty-fourth chromosome.

Even among this population that was fortunate enough to be compatible with the twenty-fourth chromosome, there was still the risk of them losing their minds. The reason for this was that humans were born with an inherent violent tendency sheltered in the deepest corners of their minds. Upon receiving the twenty-fourth chromosome, there was a significant chance of these violent urges becoming amplified which would cause the person to become an unhinged murderer while still managing to hold on to their sense of self.

This meant that there was a lesser amount of the population that had the full mental capacity to resist the side effects of the twenty-fourth chromosome and become superhumans.

In a way, the twenty-fourth chromosome was a fusion of the T-virus and the Captain America supersoldier serum. On one end of the spectrum, it might mutate ordinary people into senseless and mindless monsters while on the other end, it could amplify a person's nature for better or for worse.

Inside the movie, upon realizing the vast enhancement the twenty-fourth chromosome could potentially impose on human genes, the country allowed for further research on the twenty-fourth chromosome in the Mars research station. This inevitably led to a string of disastrous events when the monsters broke out of the Mars research station.

At one point, Chen Chen did consider using the twenty-fourth chromosome enhancement from DOOM but he eventually gave up on the idea. He of all people knew that if he was injected with the serum, it was far more likely that he would turn into a maddened murderer than to become a fully-fledged superhuman.

Anyone should be able to figure out by this point that Chen Chen was no nobleman like Captain America.

Besides, the genetic amplification of the twenty-fourth chromosome was roughly on par with the T-virus. There was no need for Chen Chen to take the gamble.

After thoroughly weighing his options, Chen Chen spoke again, "I suppose this will do. Even though DOOM is a video game adaptation that has altered a majority of its stories in the video game counterpart, it's still worth trying it out on the USB drive and see if it can be accepted."

There was no harm in trying. Chen Chen proceeded to head to the charging room for the USB drive that was hidden behind layers of defensive installations. As soon as he stepped into the charging room, he saw coils of electricity surging out of the USB drive that had its energy reserve completely emptied a month ago. The coil of electricity lapped around in disrupted patterns and cast its faint red and purple glow over the room.

This was a common phenomenon known as the "corona discharge".

Following Chen Chen's arrival, the charge of electric current flowing into the USB drive ceased immediately. The reactor connected to the USB drive grinded to a halt.

The coil of electricity slowly flickered in the air and disappeared upon losing charge. The USB drive soon dimmed out and faded to black. Shortly after that, spots of flickering light began to appear on its surface again.

It seemed as if a miniature galaxy was trapped inside the USB drive...

Chen Chen was well versed with how the USB drive operated at this point and knew that this only occurred when the USB drive had received a significant amount of charge. The USB drive never looked anywhere like this when he first obtained it.

This was evidence of how far Chen Chen had come in terms of charging efficiency for the USB drive. Before the construction of the nuclear power plant, Chen Chen could go through months of charging only to attain a measly amount of charge. These days, he had an array of five high-power nuclear fusion reactors with tens of millions of kilowatts between them charging the USB drive around the clock. The daily electricity generated was the equivalent of the electricity consumption of a metropolis.

Even with this, it took at least three years to fully charge the USB drive. It was a testament to the terrifying capacity of the USB drive.

Chen Chen stepped forward and gently removed the USB drive and then said, "Although it's only been a month of charging, this amount of charge is easily equivalent to several decades worth of charge with my previous setup. This should easily allow me to instantiate several hundred tons worth of items, more than enough for what I need..."

With that, Chen Chen took the USB drive and went to the teleportation room. The familiar beam of blue ray sent him to another location in a split instant.

Chen Chen arrived at a large room the size of a great hall. The space inside the room was empty. The walls were gigantic columns of steel beams that went to the roof. There was no sign of anything resembling an entrance or exit.

This place was a complete dead end.

This was the experiment grounds that Chen Chen had Little X build after the failed USB drive experiment last time.

The purpose of the experiment ground was rather straightforward. In three years when the USB drive was fully charged again, Chen Chen would once again open up an Einstein-Rosen bridge and put a portal to an alternate dimension in this space.

Before that, this great hall could be used for other purposes.

There was already a desk set in front of Chen Chen with a laptop set on top of it. The laptop was not connected to any external network. When Chen Chen sat in front of the desk and opened the laptop, he saw an AVI format movie file on its desktop.

DOOM.

Upon seeing the title of the movie, Chen Chen took the USB drive and slowly plugged it into the port on the side of the laptop.

After the laptop read the USB drive, Chen Chen proceeded to open the USB drive file and proceeded to drag the movie on the desktop into the drive.

"Click!"

What followed was a swift click. Another movie was successfully added to the USB drive!

Chapter 509: Civilization!

Upon noting the successful insertion of the movie into the USB drive, Chen Chen told Little X, "X, send them in."

Following Chen Chen's notice, ten Black Knights came in through the teleporter. Not only were they fitted with the GS Combat Suits but they also had an additional layer of PK Armor above the combat suit.

Although the PK Armor offered more than enough firepower on its own, the Black Knights still carried a pulse rifle each and had a GS Blade strapped to their waists. Furthermore, they had a mini drone mounted to their shoulders.

This team of cold-blooded killing machines was armed to the teeth.

Even among the Black Knights, such display was a rare sight. Most of the time, the Black Knights were only equipped with the GS Combat Suit which was more than enough. Currently, there was no way to manufacture the PK Armor and they had to be manually instantiated.

It was only on the rare occasion when Chen Chen needed to delve into an alternate dimension when he would make a big show of arming the Black Knights this way.

"Chances are this trip to the alternate dimension will be an uphill battle."

Even with the Black Knights armed to the teeth, Chen Chen's expression was still grave. Judging by the consistent pattern displayed by the USB drive so far, the associated dimension should be one where mankind was utterly wiped out as well. In the case of the movie DOOM, Resident Evil, and Alien, the cause of the destruction could be easily determined based on the plot of the movie.

It should go without saying that the cause of the destruction of civilization in the plane of Doom was the pack of monsters infected with the twenty-fourth chromosome. Inside the movie, a large-scale infection of the twenty-fourth chromosomes had led to a string of disaster. Crisis was averted when the protagonist successfully killed the source of infection and prevented any further spread of the infection to the outside world. The protagonist may be able to stop the infection, but could he ultimately stop the greed of those in positions of power?

It was not surprising that the twenty-fourth chromosomes would inevitably cause the destruction of mankind.

With that in mind, Chen Chen went ahead and played the movie. He then dragged the process bar to the opening sequence where the protagonist was about to lead his team of special troops in the Ark secret base.

Based on the events of the movie, a total of seven members were in the protagonist's troop including the protagonist himself. The team of special troops had received an order from their superiors to venture to Mars to prevent the infection from spreading further into the outside world. The main characters of the movie did not head to Mars using conventional methods such as taking a spaceship. Instead, they used the teleportation device known as the "Ark". It was a device left behind by an ancient civilization that could take them directly to Mars.

Chen Chen gunned straight for the entrance to the base. This way, he could obtain whatever insider information about the "Ark" that could prove useful.

This was a relatively risky approach because there was already an active outbreak of the twenty-fourth chromosomes and the location he had the Black Knights heading to was the center of the outbreak. However, he also had to consider that the timeline selected by the USB drive tended to be random.

There was a chance that upon the activation of the portal, the timeline would be set to only a short duration after the destruction of human civilization. It was also just as likely that they would arrive at a timeline long after mankind had perished and that there would be nothing resembling a monster left in the secret base.

With that said, even if there were monsters, the Black Knights should manage to dismantle the monsters as effortlessly as slicing a cabbage in half with a sharp blade. Even the protagonist in the movie was able to wreak havoc among the pack of monsters after receiving the enhancement of the twenty-fourth chromosome. The same should be expected of a team of fully-armored Black Knights.

Judging by what was seen in the movie, the compatible hosts of the twenty-fourth chromosome should be of equal strength as the Black Knights. However, the Black Knights had the luxury of access to equipment such as the PK Armor that easily took their strength to the next level. The protagonist of DOOM would not stand a chance even if he had an extra life.

With this in mind, Chen Chen opened [Doom.avi] without any further hesitation. The display immediately turned dark. It seemed as if all the light was drained from the world inside the display!

At this point, Chen Chen was already familiar with the workings of the passage opening. Within a second, an ominous, black spot appeared on the computer display.

It was the Schwarzschild Throat that swallowed all the light in the world. What was located on the other end of it was none other than the world of DOOM...

Upon seeing the appearance of the passage, Chen Chen immediately took a step back. Of the troop of ten Black Knights, he had five of them stepped forward and charged into the portal in a single line. The remaining five Black Knights remained in position beside the computer, ready to respond to whatever spontaneous situations that may occur.

Chen Chen was not in any particular rush and started to wait patiently. He was already familiar with the exploration process of these alternate dimensions and knew that if there were any notable dangers, the Black Knights would retreat in the shortest window possible. If they were unable to return due to whatever disaster that came upon them on the other end, they would dispatch a drone and send word back to the real world.

Meanwhile, if there was nothing particularly treacherous on the other end, the Black Knights were instructed to dispatch a drone a minute after entering to relay to Chen Chen the situation inside.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes...

Time slowly ticked away and yet there was still no news from the alternate dimension.

A somber look slowly came to Chen Chen's expression.

After three minutes passed, a drone finally emerged from the passage. Its shell was charred black as if it was just recently scorched by flame. As soon as it appeared, it projected a beam through its frontal lens and cast a virtual 3D projection.

The 3D projection showed the interior of the secret "Ark" laboratory shown in the movie. Chen Chen shot right up from the chair and looked at this scene that appeared before him with utter disbelief!

The secret laboratory inside the projection was completely intact. It looked as if the outbreak had never happened!

Before accessing this dimension, Chen Chen had pictured several possibilities of the state of the laboratory. The laboratory could be left in ruins, perhaps with decapitated body parts strewn all over the place. Never in his wildest dreams could he ever imagine the laboratory to be in such a well-maintained state!

"Could it be..."

Chen Chen murmured. His stream of thoughts was interrupted when the projection displayed holographic footage of a group of armed security forces charging out of nowhere with their weapons aimed at the team of Black Knights.

The sound of hectic gunshots rang across the air within a second, signaling the start of a deadly exchange...

There were humans in the alternate dimension!

This was no time to hesitate any longer, Chen Chen immediately dispatched the remaining five Black Knights into the passage. Before all the Black Knights even managed to shuffle into the passage, Chen Chen turned around and shouted, "X, mobilize all available Black Knights, hurry!"

"Understood, two thousand three hundred Black Knights are currently heading toward the teleportation rooms. All nuclear reactors are activated, allocating all available power systems to the Gantz teleportation devices..."

Little X quickly advised, "Sir Godfather, to ensure your safety, I recommend that you evacuate from here and wait for updates."

"No, I'm not leaving."

Chen Chen quickly shook his head. He narrowed his eyes and stared intently at the intense battle between the two factions shown in the projection. His eyes shone with wonderment. "Would you believe it, the USB drive led us to a world where humans are still living. The only time that this has ever happened was when we entered the world of Gantz, how could I ever miss out on something like this?"

"There are two possibilities."

Seeing that Chen Chen was already insistent on staying, Little X figured there was no use in trying to change his mind. Besides, Chen Chen was more than capable enough of keeping himself safe.

Little X started. "The first possibility is that mankind has already faced extinction. However, the secluded nature of this base has allowed a small number of people to use it as a shelter. This is similar to what we saw in the Gantz dimension.

"There's another possibility, being that the world that the USB drive has led us to is one where humans haven't yet been wiped out!

Chen Chen nodded ruminatively as he listened to Little X's deduction. "X, which one do you think is the more likely possibility?"

"I believe it's the former."

Little X said, "After all, the USB drive seems to only lead to worlds where civilization has faced its end. There's nothing that indicates this as a rule, but it's a consistent pattern we've seen based on our track history so far. I believe that the USB drive wouldn't suddenly establish an outlier out of nowhere."

"No, I'm willing to bet that you've had it wrong this time."

Chen Chen broke out into laughter as he listened to Little X's deductions. "Haven't you noticed? From this footage, we can see a large number of security forces confronting the Black Knights. You can also see their team of scientists retreating in the background. All of these observations suggest that the secret base is operating as normal. Is this common for a civilization that should be on its last legs?"

"Ah..."

Little X gasped when Chen Chen mentioned this. It was just as Chen Chen described.

"I've noticed the expression of these people in the footage."

Chen Chen continued formulating his theory. "I'm sure you're aware that I've studied psychology. Based on what I've read from their expressions, I can see mild hints of fear and panic but it's nowhere more than the usual threshold. Their collective behavior is otherwise regular for a situation like this. None of these points toward a crumbling civilization where the survivors should be constantly suffocating from fear and agitation..."

"I see..."

Little X saw some sense in this analysis.

In the middle of their exchange, the black sphere behind Chen Chen suddenly erupted with a blue glow as dozens of Black Knights swarmed out of the projected blue light. The newly arrived Black Knights did not have the PK Armor on and were only fitted with the regular GS Combat Suit and a pulse rifle. They dashed into the black hole inside the computer display as soon as they arrived.

As soon as the Black Knights appeared, they dove into the Schwarzschild!

This was followed by a second batch, then a third...

The black sphere could only transport ten organic beings at a time. After the fourth batch of Black Knight entered the Schwarzschild, Chen Chen held his hand up and signaled for the rest of the arriving Black Knights to stand in formation near the display with their weapons aimed at the passage.

Fifty Black Knights should be more than enough to occupy the laboratory. If this attempt still proved unsuccessful, that would suggest that the opponents had some form of advanced technology. In that case, this was not something that could be solved just by throwing more Black Knights at them.

The most important task now was to guard the passage and ensure that the opponents do not make it into the real world.

Fortunately, Chen Chen's extreme caution turned out to be unnecessary because after another ten minutes had passed, a Black Knight drenched in blood with a bullet wound in one arm emerged from the passage.

Upon returning from the passage, the Black Knight was carefully carried away by two other Black Knights to be thoroughly inspected.

Meanwhile, Little X had received the transmission of everything the Black Knight encountered while inside the other dimension.

"Sir Godfather, your speculation is correct..."

Little X noted as there was a faint hint of excitement in her voice as she spoke, "Human society in the alternate dimension is still completely intact. The time now is the twenty-fifth of May, 2145, which is somewhere near the timeline of the movie. What's odd is that this timeline is set before the events portrayed in the movie took place. The passage had led us to an earlier point in time!"

"An earlier timeline?"

Chen Chen was shocked to hear this as well. He was only speculating that mankind had somehow survived the outbreak. He had never expected to arrive at an earlier timeline.

Millions of possibilities rushed to Chen Chen in an instant.

"Our Black Knights had taken over the laboratory but unfortunately, news of this mysterious force arriving has been relayed to the outside world."

Little X continued. "Which means that the Northern American Continent of the opposite world has caught wind of this mysterious invasion as well. I suspect we're going to face the full offensive charge of a continent from the future!"

Chen Chen seemed rather unfazed by this piece of information. He proceeded to ask, "Have we thoroughly inspected the returning Black Knight?"

"The inspection is complete. We didn't detect any signs of infection and have confirmed that the existing microorganism in the other dimension is identical to the ones in our world. There are no signs of the 'twenty-fourth chromosome' infection either."

Little X answered.

"Excellent."

Chen Chen snapped his fingers upon receiving this confirmation. He approached the computer display without a second thought. "X, time to use your X-111 copy. I want to hack into the internal system of this base and find out everything there's to know about the 'Ark' teleportation device'."

"Got it!"

By the time Little X gave a response, Chen Chen had arrived in front of the display. He proceeded to step into it!

Chen Chen's vision turned dark in a split instant. The familiar heavy sensation invaded him!

"Tap!"

Chen Chen opened his eyes again when he felt his foot clacking against the hard ground. He found himself in a futuristic hall. The walls and ceilings were a combination of glossy silver and white texture.

The hall was moderately sized and not very well lit. What was once a well taken care of hall was now ridden with bullet holes on every single surface. The corpse of dozens of security forces was scattered all over the floor.

Their bodies were completely dismembered. There was not a single body insight that was left fully intact. This could not have been anything other than the work of the pulse rifles.

Some may find it suspicious as to how the world of DOOM that was set more than a century in the future could hardly put up a fight against the Black Knights. The truth was that this occurrence was completely expected since the movie had shown the protagonist's troop wielding nothing more than a class of guns that could melt steel beams. There was no other display of high-tech weapons shown in the movie.

Of all the other high-tech equipment presented in the movie, the only notable one apart from the "Ark" was an implementation known as the "Nano-wall".

There was a range of potential explanations for this, it could be that the future civilization had faced a bottleneck in terms of technology development and was not able to achieve a breakthrough.

Minus the mass of dead bodies, the scene in the great hall was one that Chen Chen was familiar with. It was the replica of the hall shown in the movie DOOM. When Chen Chen turned to look behind him, he saw a dark, sinister vortex suspended in the air. It was the portal opened by the USB drive.

Chapter 510: Takeover

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Following Chen Chen's arrival, two Black Knights posted beside the passage immediately stepped forward and saluted Chen Chen.

Chen Chen acknowledged them with a faint nod. After that, he heard a soft click of feet tapping against the ground. It was a female cyborg that emerged from the other end of the passage. She wore a floral dress and had an oddly-shaped mechanical device in her hand.

The mechanical device was shaped like a cube, almost like a Rubik's cube. What was notable was a hole in its center that had blue rays pouring out of it. From this opening at its center, it could be seen that this device contained something inside it that was emitting a blue glow continuously like a neon light.

The girl greeted Chen Chen sweetly, "Long time no see, Sir Commander, I'm X-112."

"Long time no see."

Chen Chen responded with a faint smile.

The X-112 was one of Little X's most-used clones. Just like her sibling, X-111, she was a clone duplicated directly from Little X. While X-111 was tasked with maintaining the daily operations in the Spire Experimental Base, X-112 was mainly responsible for venturing into other dimensions with Chen Chen and hacking into other high-tech systems.

X-112 had been present for previous expeditions such as the trips into the Resident Evil, Elysium, and Gantz dimensions.

To allow for easy distinction, the X-111 was given a mature voice of an adult female, absent of any emotions. Meanwhile, X-112 was given a child-like voice of a little girl.

"I've synchronized with the Black Knights in the DOOM dimension. We've taken control of the Ark Experimental Base and killed thirty-five security personnel, eight researchers, and captured one hundred and sixty-three researchers in the process. This also includes Doctor Carson, the dean of the Ark Experimental Base."

X-112 continued. "I'll be infiltrating into the main system of the Ark to complete our takeover of the base."

"Do your thing, don't mind me."

Chen Chen gave the girl a quick nod. She proceeded to step toward a metal gate on one end of the room. There was a gigantic tear in the middle of the gate as if it had been ruthlessly torn apart by something. Next to the giant tear was a thick collection of bullet holes.

Another Black Knight was posted beside the gate.

Chen Chen trailed behind X-112 and watched as she navigated the base as if she had been here many times before. After taking many turns down the winding corridor and through several airtight doors that were destroyed, Chen Chen found himself in another wide hall.

There was a large group of people crouched together inside the hall when Chen Chen arrived. Right next to them were the Black Knights standing in a line with their fingers on the pulse rifle triggers. The already frightened group only appeared more terrified when they saw Chen Chen entering.

X-112 went straight for an ashen-haired old man and spoke with a tender, child-like voice, "Hello there, Doctor Carson. Please lead us to the main control room of the Ark. We'd greatly appreciate your cooperation."

"What are you people..."

The old man did not comply. Instead, he only rebuked them harshly. "Do you have any idea what you're doing? Are you challenging the Human Federation? This will not sit well with the Human Federation!"

This statement prompted a curious reaction from Chen Chen. This meant that in 2145, mankind had formed a unionized organization known as the Human Federation.

Since this person was not willing to comply, X-112 decided it was not worth the effort of going back and forth with him. A Black Knight nearby immediately stepped forward and grabbed the old man by his hair and proceeded to drag the old man away!

This sudden violent behavior caused another round of commotion among the hostages. Some of the female researchers shrieked while several male researchers with a furious look upon their faces got up and confronted the Black Knight.

As soon as they got up on their feet, there was a low hum that sounded across the hall. A ripple formed around the waist of few researchers who got up as they were shredded inside out as an explosion of gust and blood splattered in a circle around them!

"Ah!!!"

There were more hysterical screaming and crying. With the Black Knights still pointing the pulse rifles at them, they could only stay down on the ground with their hands over their heads and whimper silently.

"Stay where you are or else all of you will die."

Even with some blood splattered across her face, the little X-112 still kept a bright, eerie smile on her face. She looked around the hall and saw that the terrified hostages were now completely silent. After that, she went toward the direction of another destroyed gate.

The Black Knight dragged Doctor Carson by his hair and followed after X-112.

Chen Chen followed X-112's lead to the largest, most fortified gate they had seen so far. There was already a giant hole roughly two meters wide shredded into the middle of what was once the tightly-sealed gate. The edges of the hole were uneven. There was some indication of the gate being melted.

When Chen Chen and X-112 stepped through the gate, they were greeted by a room with countless displays mounted along the wall, with even more control panels installed everywhere.

This was undoubtedly the main control room of the laboratory. It was also the central control system of the Ark Laboratory.

"We're here, Doctor Carson."

X-112 said softly while the Black Knight also loosened the grip on Doctor Carson's hair. The doctor pulled himself up to his feet and rubbed his head while wincing in pain. A wipe of horror soon surfaced in his eyes. "What is it that you want, to negotiate with the Human Federation?"

"I need you to authorize the shutdown of the firewall of the Ark Experimental Base."

X-112 informed, "Doctor Carson, it's in your best interest to not refuse."

"Impossible!"

The color drained away from Doctor Carson's face as he backed away until he stumbled into the console panel. "My authorization level only allows me to monitor the safety features and daily operations of the Ark base at most. There's no way I can disable the firewall of the base. I can't do it even if you threaten to kill me!"

"Of course, I know that."

X-112 came beside Doctor Carson and whispered, "I'll take care of the firewall. There's only one thing I need your help with..."

"In your dreams!"

Doctor Carson was baffled by the audacity of this little girl. He cried out in bewilderment!

However, his tone quickly altered when he saw this little girl suddenly stretching her right hand out to touch a port on the console panel. He stared in awe as the intricate wires extended from the slender fingertips of the girl. The combination of wire seemed to have taken on a life of its own as it twisted and bent around itself to fit inside the port!

Within seconds, X-112 had successfully inserted her finger into the Ark console panel. The corner of her lips raised into a smirk as she turned to Chen Chen. "Sir Commander, I've successfully infiltrated the Ark Experimental Base and am currently breaking through the firewall."

"How about him?"

Chen Chen glanced at Doctor Carson who was still starting with his mouth agape.

Doctor Carson could not believe what he was seeing. He was shocked by the discovery that this little girl in front of him was a robot!

However, this bewilderment only lasted for a brief instant. The next second, X-112 raised her left hand, and once again, an intricate arrangement of wire appeared from the center of her palms. With a sudden, vicious jab, it suddenly shot toward Doctor Carson's neck like an arrow sprung from a bow!

"Ah!"

Doctor Carson cried out when he sensed the sharp pain but only for a brief instant before his voice was caught in his throat. His expression suddenly turned blank as he turned to the console panel and said with an almost entirely mechanical voice:

"This is Doctor Carson, identification number 3627. Authorizing the shut down of the Ark firewall..."

"Authenticating..."

After hearing Doctor Carson's orders, a robotic voice broadcasted through the speakers of the main control room. "Ark Experimental Base authentication... Identification number authenticated. Voice authentication valid."

"Performing retina scan... Authenticated. Please press your palms against the palm reader..."

Once again, the dazed Doctor Carson slowly stretched his arm outward and pressed his palm against the console panel.

"Palmprint identified, DNA successfully matched... Executing orders..."

The broadcast continued. "All user authentication has been lifted. The current activity will be logged in the databa..."

Before the broadcast finished, X-112 suddenly closed her eyes!

As soon as X-112 closed her eyes, the blaring sirens of an alarm sounded across the main control room. "Warning! Warning! Unknown infiltrator detected, reactivating firewall!"

"Reactivation unsuccessful, the infiltrator has broken through the first layer of the firewall. Activating the second and third layer of firewall!"

"The second firewall layer has been broken through. Third firewall layer reactivation successful!"

"Warning! Warning! Third firewall layer has been broken through. The infiltrator has invaded the central systems..."

The sirens blared repeatedly, accompanied by the system announcements. X-112 still had her eyes shut. One of her hands was placed over the console panel while the other was firmly planted over Doctor Carson's head.

"Warning! Warning! The Ark Experimental Base is invaded by an unidentified hacker, commencing power shutoff!"

This announcement suddenly rang across the main control room.

"Abort operation!"

As soon as the announcement was made, Doctor Carson suddenly barked an order to suspend the operation of the Ark base.

"Operation interrupted. Requesting additional input from executive..."

When the robotic voice arrived at "executive", its voice suddenly became distorted and dragged out. After that, the lights in the main control room were suddenly shut off and turned back on again in an instant!

X-112 finally opened her eyes again. She turned to Chen Chen. "Sir Commander, I've successfully taken over the Ark Experimental Base."

After saying that, she drew her left hand back. Doctor Carson's body immediately turned limp and collapsed onto the cold hard ground and began to twitch uncontrollably.

"Good work."

Chen Chen smiled, satisfied with X-112's work, but he then mentioned, "But it's a shame, we can make good use of these researchers if we bring them back to the real world."

"I'm a clone of X, so everything I do is a mimic of how X would've acted."

X-112 smiled slyly. "And I'm sure you know where X got her habits from."

"..."

The sudden remark made Chen Chen speechless. After that, he left but not before instructing, "Make a copy of all the data gathered here and send it back to Earth. You and the Black Knights stay posted here. Also, open the entrance to the outside world!"

"How about you?"

X-112 asked quickly.

"I'm checking out the outside world."

Chen Chen said without stopping, "I want to see what the world in 2145 looks like."

With that, Chen Chen left the main control room and came before an elevator. The elevator door opened on its own when it detected him and he immediately stepped inside without pause.

"Please wait, Sir Commander!"

X-112's voice was broadcasted through the speakers in the elevator. Shortly after that, a Black Knight rushed toward Chen Chen and took off the PK Armor to hand it to him. X-112 added. "Be careful, Sir Commander."

"Alright."

Chen Chen did not refuse and took the metallic arm guard handed to him. The device immediately produced a mechanical locking sound as it shrunk considerably. The once large armguard had shrunken down to less than half of its original size and attached itself to his arm!

A low and deep hum followed afterward. Blue rays of nano light wrapped around Chen Chen's body in a matter of seconds.

By the time the elevator shut its doors, Chen Chen had properly equipped the PK Armor...

A mask still radiating heat covered over Chen Chen's face. The elevator started to ascend. It seemed that the Ark Experimental Base was also located underground just like the Spire.

"Sir Commander, I have good news and bad news, which one do you want first?"

X-112's voice came through the earpiece.

"Just give me both."

Chen Chen answered briskly.

"Well, the good news is that I've used the information here to establish a connection with the outside world. I've also measured the scientific and technological advancement of this world in the process. It seems that due to World War Three, science and technology haven't seen much improvement even in the year 2145. Their weapon technology in particular is significantly lacking progress, it's barely on the level of our technology in the real world. They haven't standardized large-scale use of robots and cyborgs. I doubt we have any reason to be concerned in terms of firepower."

"What about the bad news?"

Chen Chen asked without skipping a beat.

"The bad news is... There's not much documentation on the technology behind the 'Ark' teleporters, there's only what's essentially a user manual. This means that the humans of this dimension haven't figured out the technology of the 'Ark'. They're merely using what the Martians left behind."

"That's more than enough."

Chen Chen remarked plainly, "There's more than enough technological implementations here for us to take advantage of. Do you have any idea how many 'Arks' there are in this dimension?"

"Based on the data inside the base, apart from this Ark base that we've taken over and the one situated on Mars, there's another one located in the United Kingdom."

X-112 stated.

"In that case, contact whoever is in charge in this world and instruct them to hand over the 'Ark' facility."

Chen Chen added. "Tell them that if they refuse to hand over the Ark, I'll bring down a calamity on them."

"Understood."

X-112 added. "There are currently more than ten special forces troops headed toward your location, please be careful."

"Just in time."

As soon as Chen Chen said this, he felt the lift coming to an abrupt halt. With a clear "ding", the elevator doors opened to reveal a large, barren plain in front of him.

Off in the distance, there were dozens of oddly-shaped, all-black "hellfighter" model helicopters headed toward this direction from the skies above!