115: Cliffside Chambers and Long-Forgotten Heritage

The high-definition images and data transmitted back by the miniature drones and tracked reconnaissance robots irrefutably confirmed Excellence's incredible Perception. Behind that steep cliff face in Eagle Leaping Gorge, an artificial cave system was indeed hidden, its scale far exceeding expectations but clearly abandoned for many years. The entrance was cleverly camouflaged using natural rock crevices and transplanted vines; had Excellence not pointed it out, it would have been extremely difficult to find even at close range.

Initial remote scanning results showed that the cave's internal structure was solid, with signs of artificial reinforcement, basic ventilation shafts, and old-fashioned water and electricity interfaces that had long since stopped functioning. Judging from the architectural style and remnants—such as empty tin cans printed with era-specific slogans and old-fashioned engineer shovels—this was very likely a disaster-preparedness project or a secret scientific research site built during the "Third Front Construction" period of the 1960s and 70s. It had later been abandoned due to strategic adjustments or other unknown reasons, becoming lost in the long river of history. The scan detected no obvious signs of life, explosives, or high radiation, indicating no immediate danger.

After receiving cautious approval from Wang Jianguo at the rear, an exploration team consisting of experienced security personnel, geologists, and an archaeology expert skilled in handling historical legacy facilities donned full protective gear. Carrying lighting, communication, and detection instruments, they carefully entered the long-sealed cave through the narrow entrance discovered by the drones.

The interior of the cave was deeper and more complex than imagined. With the help of high-powered flashlights, the team members saw the rusted remains of generators, simple living quarters covered in cobwebs (including traces of dormitories and a canteen), and storage areas piled with wooden crates—most of which were found to be empty or contained rotted ordinary supplies. The air was thick with the smell of dust, mold, and the characteristic scent of corroded metal; it was as if time had frozen here.

As they ventured deeper into the core area, the exploration team made their most significant discovery—a relatively well-preserved and quite large underground laboratory! The laboratory door was made of heavy metal; although rusted, its structure remained intact. After some effort to open it, the scene inside shocked even the most well-traveled experts.

Inside the laboratory were several pieces of old-fashioned, large-scale experimental equipment that could now only be found in science and technology museums: massive analytical instruments with exposed vacuum tubes, consoles connected to dense networks of wires, rusted mechanical arms, and iron cabinets of unknown purpose covered in dials and knobs. Yellowed design drawings, some with curled edges, hung on the walls alongside blackboards filled with complex chemical formulas, the chalk handwriting still faintly legible. The entire space was filled with a heavy sense of history and an eerie atmosphere of research activities that had been suddenly interrupted.

The initial assessment was that this was just an ordinary secret base forgotten by time. After the field commander reported the situation, a second group of reinforcements was allowed to enter to gather more information. This group included Evelyn Li—considering her deep technological background, she might be able to identify the purpose and value of this old equipment.

Wearing a protective suit, Evelyn carefully navigated through the abandoned laboratory, the beam of her high-powered flashlight sweeping over the dust-covered equipment. Her mood was complex, containing both curiosity about the historical ruins and a hint of instinctive vigilance as a former member of The Foundation when faced with a site that might have a sensitive background.

She carefully examined the instruments, trying to find clues from their design styles and remaining labels. Most of the nameplates on the equipment were blurred or completely rusted. Just as she was about to conclude that this was merely an ordinary abandoned site, she discovered an anomaly behind a massive piece of equipment that resembled an early oscilloscope or signal analyzer.

A corner of this instrument's back panel was piled with thick dust and rust. Out of professional habit, Evelyn used a soft brush and precision cleaner to carefully clear a small area. As the grime faded, a metal nameplate the size of a fingernail, almost blending in with the rust behind it, was revealed. The nameplate was made of a special material, not ordinary steel, and thus its corrosion was relatively light. Although the engraved letters and numbers were small and blurred, Evelyn was still able to decipher them under the side-lighting of her flashlight!

It was a line of code consisting of capital letters and numbers! The moment she saw the rules of this coding system, Evelyn's pupils contracted sharply, and her breathing suddenly became rapid, as if a block of ice had been pressed against her spine!

This coding rule... she was too familiar with it! This was an internal equipment identification system used by the Prophet Foundation during its early development stages (roughly from the 1950s and 60s to the 70s)! This system had long since been replaced by more advanced schemes, but she had seen pictures and related documents of ancient equipment with similar markings in The Foundation's top-secret archives!

This discovery exploded in her mind like a clap of thunder! Decades ago, The Foundation's reach had actually quietly extended to these deep mountains and old forests far in the southwest?! This seemingly ordinary, era-stamped abandoned site could actually have countless ties to The Foundation?! Was it cooperation? Infiltration? Or was it a site where The Foundation had independently conducted secret research in its early days?

She immediately realized the gravity of the situation. Suppressing the stormy waves in her heart, she used an encrypted communication device to urgently report this discovery to the exploration captain on-site and to Wang Jianguo at the command center. She did not make a public scene to avoid causing unnecessary panic, but when the news reached Wang Jianguo, the atmosphere instantly became more solemn than ever before.

If this place truly had origins with The Foundation, then everything needed to be re-evaluated! This was no longer a simple historical site. It might hide clues to The Foundation's early activities and could contain undiscovered risks (such as biological samples, chemical agents, or even unremoved security devices or data traps). Its value and danger had both increased exponentially! The exploration work had to be upgraded to the highest alert level immediately.

In the temporary command tent located in a relatively safe area above the canyon, Excellence was also closely following the progress of the exploration through real-time images transmitted from inside the cave. Unlike the tense or curious emotions of the others, he showed an inexplicable and strong sense of affinity and curiosity toward this cave. He was restless, repeatedly requesting Su Mu and Evelyn for permission to go inside and see for himself.

"I feel... there's something good inside..." His eyes shone, and his tone carried an indescribable longing. "It's calling to me..."

Initially, out of safety concerns, his request was firmly denied. However, as initial exploration found no immediate danger, and with Evelyn's discovery regarding The Foundation's connection (information kept secret from Excellence), Wang Jianguo weighed the options. Valuing Excellence's mysterious intuition, he reluctantly agreed to let him enter the already confirmed safe areas of the cave's periphery for a brief visit under the strictest protection. Su Mu and Evelyn had to accompany him throughout and be responsible for his safety.

Thus, surrounded by several elite security personnel, Excellence, wearing a small protective suit, excitedly and somewhat nervously stepped into the cave. Once inside, his reaction was unique. It was as if he had returned home; he completely ignored the dust-covered old living facilities and warehouses along the way. Instead, guided by an unexplainable intuition, he walked straight toward the laboratory in the deepest part of the cave.

After entering the laboratory, he showed even less interest in the old scientific research equipment that Evelyn and the experts were carefully studying. His gaze swept around the room, and finally, he walked directly to a seemingly ordinary wall at the very back of the laboratory, which was made of rough rock.

He stopped and reached out his gloved hand, gently and almost reverently stroking the cold, damp rock surface. His eyes became somewhat glazed and hollow, as if he were listening to some distant sound.

"Here... there's something..." he murmured, his voice very soft yet clearly reaching the ears of Su Mu and Evelyn, who were following closely behind him. "It's singing... very, very softly... but the melody... is beautiful... like stars blinking..."

Su Mu and Evelyn looked at each other and then at the solid, unremarkable rock wall; they could only assume this was Excellence's overactive imagination at work. The accompanying geologist also used a portable scanner to confirm once again that behind this wall was a thick mountain mass with no cavities.

But Excellence seemed very certain of his feelings. Not willing to give up, he began to crouch down near the corner of the wall like a small animal looking for a hiding spot, tapping here and listening there. He even pressed his face close to the rock crevices, sniffing hard, though he could smell nothing through his mask. To the bystanders, his behavior looked somewhat comical and strange.

Suddenly, in a dust-filled corner covered in shadows, while Excellence's fingers were groping about, they touched an extremely tiny protrusion on the edge of a rock, only the size of a grain of rice, which almost blended in with the surrounding rock surface! The difference in texture was infinitesimal; had he not been fully concentrated and keenly perceptive, it would have been impossible to discover.

Subconsciously, he aimed his fingertip at the protrusion and pressed down hard!

"Click!"

A slight but clear crisp sound, like a mechanism turning, sounded particularly abrupt in the silent laboratory! Under the astonished gazes of everyone, that piece of rock, which had seemed integrated with the cliff wall, silently slid inward, revealing a deep hidden compartment about a foot square!

The appearance of the hidden compartment caused all the security personnel to instantly go into high alert, their weapons aimed at it for fear of traps. However, the compartment remained quiet, and nothing unusual happened.

After the experts carefully explored it with long-handled tools and confirmed it was safe, they put on gloves and took out an object from the hidden compartment—a sealed, rectangular, and very ancient-looking metal box.

The box was made of a special material, neither gold nor iron, showing a dull deep gray color. Despite the passage of many years, there were no traces of rust; the surface was as smooth as new, with no seams or keyholes, as if it were molded in one piece. It had no markings, but holding it, one could feel a cool, heavy weight.

Under the remote guidance of the temporary command center, the experts used precision laser cutting tools to very carefully attempt to open the box. The process went smoothly; the box seemed to have no hostile defense mechanisms. When the lid was gently lifted, the contents revealed inside surprised everyone once again.

Inside the box, there were no expected documents, diaries, jewelry, or weapons. There were only two things:

A few ore samples: about five or six pieces, each only the size of a pigeon egg, but in various colors—deep blue, warm amber, lustrous milky white, and more. They were crystal clear, and inside, there seemed to be faint halos of light slowly flowing. Under the laboratory lights, their surfaces emitted an extremely weak, soft fluorescence that was hard to distinguish with the naked eye.

A piece of folded fabric: the material was like silk but not silk, cool and slippery to the touch, and extremely resilient—likewise remaining pristine through the years. After carefully unfolding it, it was found to be a star map drawn upon it. The star map used a strange, never-fading ink with fine and complex lines, marking a large number of never-before-seen constellation names and complex mathematical symbols. Its drawing precision and the number of celestial bodies included far exceeded ordinary star maps of the same period.

Just then, Excellence, who had been held by Su Mu, saw the items in the box, and his eyes instantly burst with an unprecedentedly bright light! He broke free from Su Mu's hand and rushed forward. Ignoring any attempts to stop him, he grabbed the blue ore and held it tightly in his palm, a look of near-obsession, immense satisfaction, and peace appearing on his face.

"This is it! This is the vibration!" He closed his eyes as if enjoying a supreme delicacy. "So warm... so comfortable... like... like the milk the Class Monitor boils..."

And when his gaze fell upon the unfolded star map, he showed even more astonishing focus. After scanning it for only a few short seconds, he reached out his finger and pointed precisely at a seemingly blank, unremarkable area at the edge of the star map, saying in an extremely certain tone: "Here... a star is missing... a very, very dim one... but it should be here! I can feel its 'shadow'!"

Out of professional habit, the accompanying astronomy expert immediately took out his portable tablet and pulled up the latest high-precision digital star map for comparison. When he enlarged the star map to the blank area Excellence had pointed to and enabled the layer showing dim celestial bodies, a look of extreme shock instantly appeared on his face!

The position Excellence had pointed to was precisely a brown dwarf with extremely low brightness and an extremely hidden location that modern astronomy had only confirmed in the last dozen or so years through large space telescopes! How could this seemingly ancient star map have pre-set the position of a celestial body only discovered by modern technology? Was it a coincidence? Or... did this star map itself contain incredible astronomical knowledge that transcended the era?

This cave forgotten in the depths of a steep canyon, this mysterious metal box, and the ore and star map within it that resonated strangely with Excellence—it was as if they had instantly connected a faint line of clues. This line might point to the unknown early history of The Foundation, or it might point to some even more ancient and mysterious knowledge system. And Excellence, this exceptionally gifted boy, seemed to be the only living "key" capable of deciphering these mysteries.

The originally hopeful journey of migration had been covered by a thick and fascinating new mist because of this unexpected "canyon encounter." Before reaching the "Homeland" ahead, a secret that had slept for decades had quietly awakened, waiting for its interpreter.