222: Chapter 222 Drilling Begins

Chu Ge walked over to Engineer Yu. He needed them to determine the specific rock layer structure in this area before he could confirm the exact drilling location for the drilling team.

Engineer Yu and his team were busy and did not notice that Chu Ge had already arrived beside them.

Chu Ge did not want to disturb them, so he just stood quietly to the side.

After a while, Engineer Yu finally noticed Chu Ge's presence.

"Academician Chu, when did you arrive? I apologize, I was too focused on burying the instruments and equipment."

"It's fine, I'm just looking around. Are you preparing to use the three-point measurement method to survey the rock layer structure underneath?"

"Yes, mainly to determine the dip direction and strike of the structural surface. Does Academician Chu also understand geological exploration?" Engineer Yu looked up and asked, a bit surprised.

"What do I know? I only know a little bit," Chu Ge replied awkwardly.

"For exploration in unfamiliar field areas, the most direct method is to use a geological compass and GPS. With these two pieces of equipment, one can accurately measure the strike, dip direction, and dip angle of the rock layers."

"Obviously, neither can be used here. We are preparing to use the most primitive methods, combined with basic tools like laser rangefinders and level gauges, along with some scientific methods, to determine the general strike of the rock layers here."

"In a while, we may need the drilling team to conduct experimental geophysical exploration in these few locations we have marked. There are no geological outcrops here, so we cannot draw a cross-sectional structure map of this geology based on them."

Engineer Yu spoke a few words to Chu Ge, then lowered his head again to fiddle with the instruments.

An expert beside the two of them was recording something on an electronic device.

Just as Chu Ge wanted to lean over to see what he was recording, his visor panel indicated that [Soul Blade] was requesting a call. Chu Ge walked to the side.

"How is it?"

[Reporting to General Chu, the gravity anomaly area is circular, and it is a very standard circle, just like one drawn with a compass.]

[Its diameter is 5000 meters, slightly larger than this depressed basin. Looking at it from high altitude, it actually looks more like a huge meteorite crater.]

"Hmm, I know this is a meteorite crater. We are on the ground, and our line of sight is limited. You should keep circling the area and see if there are any other anomalies. Report back if you find anything."

[Yes, General Chu.]

Chu Ge ended the call and walked back to where Engineer Yu and his team were working. He saw that they were already marking the drilling locations with some kind of engineering paint.

"How is it? Can we start drilling?" Chu Ge asked excitedly.

"It is ready, Academician Chu. Have the drilling team bring those two largest drilling machines over."

"Alright."

After replying, Chu Ge immediately connected to Captain Wang.

"Captain Wang, bring those two largest drilling machines over to my location... Yes... Hmm..."

After finishing, Chu Ge ended the call and signaled for Engineer Yu and his team to step aside.

Soon, the two drilling machines were in position. After Engineer Yu communicated with Captain Wang, he stepped aside. Captain Wang adjusted the equipment and decisively started the machines.

The huge drill bits began to rotate, fiercely inserting themselves into the ground. At this moment, Chu Ge remembered a joke he had made to Moon Sister one day on Earth...

The soil and rocks brought up by the rotating drill bits drifted outwards due to the rotational force.

The soil was very fine but did not scatter at all; it fell in a parabolic arc like a fountain of water, quickly piling up into a ring-shaped mound.

Several small bulldozers began to clear these mounds. When the drill bit was about to be submerged, Captain Wang made a stop gesture.

The huge drill bit immediately rotated out and then stopped spinning.

Thanks to the near-vacuum environment of the Moon, this behemoth with a maximum drilling diameter of over 7 meters made not a single sound while working.

A huge hole appeared on the lunar surface before everyone's eyes. With a diameter of nearly 7 meters, it was much larger than a typical well.

"Engineer Yu, do we need to add length?" Captain Wang walked up to Engineer Yu and asked after a moment.

Chu Ge knew that single-channel communication was a bit troublesome now, so he simply opened up team communication permissions so that everyone could communicate freely.

"Captain Wang, let's pause for a moment. We'll go down to take a look at its layered structure."

"Alright."

After speaking, Engineer Yu began to call over a few young engineers to set up lighting equipment. Once everything was ready, the group took a temporarily constructed hanging ladder and slowly descended into the huge well shaft.

Chu Ge and Captain Wang were idle on the surface and began to study the debris that had been thrown out.

After looking for a long time, Chu Ge gave up. Everything had been churned together, and he could not make heads or tails of it.

After a good while, the hanging ladder moved. Chu Ge and the others hurried over, and soon, Engineer Yu and his team poked their heads out.

"How is it?" After they came down, Chu Ge asked urgently.

"Academician Chu, the rock layer structure here seems to have been destroyed. We can't see its strike or cross-sectional structure at all."

"Ah? Was it destroyed by the drill bit because it was too large?"

"No, the entire rock layer structure here is fragmented. Our drilling rig would not cause this effect."

"It looks more like it has suffered from violent vibration or direct stress, causing the entire layer to fracture," Engineer Yu explained.

"An earthquake? Ah, no, it should be a moonquake."

That was all Chu Ge could think of.

"We've only drilled a dozen meters deep, yet it's destroyed to this extent. The intensity of this moonquake must be very strong, but the Moon hasn't had volcanic eruptions for a very, very long time."

"Moreover, the lunar crust doesn't have continental plate tectonics like Earth's. Even if there were moonquakes, the intensity wouldn't reach this level."

Everyone fell silent after hearing this.

"As it appears now, it looks more like it was subjected to some kind of external force. We analyze that it was most likely formed by a huge meteorite impact."

Engineer Yu stated another possibility that the geological experts had discussed while down below.

Chu Ge nodded after hearing this.

"Academician Chu, what should we do next? Should we continue drilling?"

The rock layers were chaotic, and Engineer Yu was unsure about the next direction, so he asked Chu Ge, who had been deep in thought nearby.

"Captain Wang, how many meters can this largest-diameter drilling machine drill?"

"Combined with the other slightly smaller drilling machine, the maximum drilling depth is 15,000 meters," Captain Wang replied without hesitation.

"Then keep drilling. Prepare the probing equipment. Engineer Yu, you don't need to go down anymore."

"Remember to make a record every 100 meters. I want to see just how chaotic it can get."

"Yes!" The two people nearby replied, then separated to prepare their respective equipment.

Chu Ge had an intuition that there must be something extraordinary here, otherwise it wouldn't have formed so many strange phenomena. Anyway, it wouldn't damage anything, so he decided to explore it to the end.

The huge drilling equipment started running again. Thanks to the energy technology of the Military-Industrial System, the power supply was quite abundant.