296: Chapter 296: Atlantis → Ariana?

Without pausing for a moment, Jiang Zhe continued his narrative:

"A voice came over the plane's radio, speaking in English with a slight Nordic accent: [Welcome to our world, General. You will be landing in seven minutes. Please do not be afraid.]"

"Immediately after, Byrd discovered that the plane's engines had stopped running, but the aircraft was still flying smoothly under the control of a mysterious force."

"Seven minutes later, the plane began its descent smoothly, as if supported by an invisible elevator, landing on the ground without the slightest vibration."

Xiao Yu couldn't help but ask, "And then? Did he see anyone?"

"He did, and more than one."

Jiang Zhe nodded slightly. "At 11:45, several tall people walked toward the plane. They had fair skin and full heads of golden hair, wearing strange clothing, but they were very friendly."

"Byrd and the radio operator were invited onto a platform-like vehicle without wheels. Like an elevator, it traveled at a very high speed toward that glowing city."

"As they got closer, Byrd saw the city clearly. It was built of crystal-like materials, shimmering with a very strange light under the sun."

"Finally, they were taken into a massive building and passed through a long corridor; Byrd was like a country bumpkin entering the city for the first time, looking left and right. The walls of the corridor emitted a rose-colored glow. Finally, they stopped before a large door."

"An elderly guide said: [Don't be afraid, General, our leader wishes to see you.]"

As he reached this point in the story, Jiang Zhe's expression gradually became serious.

"The door slid open to both sides, and Byrd walked in. He saw a long table in the room—very long—and sitting across from the table was an elderly man with a kind face and very deep eyes."

"That weathered old white man said in English: [Welcome to our domain, General. This is Arianni, the inner world of the Earth.]"

Hearing this, Xiao Yu's eyes suddenly widened, her face full of disbelief.

Before Xiao Yu could react, Jiang Zhe's voice continued,

"Then the old man told him that they had been observing the surface world."

"It wasn't until 1945, when humans dropped a pair of 'Fat Man' and 'Little Boy' bombs on Neon, that their vigilance was triggered."

"The old man said: [You have begun to manipulate nuclear energy that should not be mastered by humans. This reminds us of things that happened on Earth a long time ago.]"

"Things that happened a long time ago?" Xiao Yu's mind was captivated by this sentence.

Jiang Zhe nodded slightly but did not explain further:

"The old man continued, 'We sent aircraft and messengers to contact the rulers of the surface world, but our efforts were met with hostility and attacks.'"

" 'Now, we need you to take a message back. Our technology and spirit are thousands of years ahead of yours. We do not wish to interfere with the surface world, but we will never allow humans to destroy the Earth with nuclear energy.'"

" 'In the near future, your world will experience a great change.'"

At this point in the narration, he inserted an aside, "Xiao Yu, this refers to the [Third], but so far it hasn't happened yet."

Xiao Yu narrowed her eyes; she knew that the world's major powers were all trying to avoid this tragic scenario.

"And then?"

"Then the old man also said, 'But I believe some of you will survive; at that time, we will help you rebuild civilization. Perhaps then you will truly understand that war is meaningless.'"

After finishing this passage, Jiang Zhe paused for a moment to give Xiao Yu time to absorb it.

At this moment, in the livestream room, the viewers had completely fallen into a frenzy.

"Holy mother of god!"

"Arianni, the inner world of the Earth?"

"So there really are people in the center of the Earth?"

"Is that Atlantis? Is it really Atlantis?"

"It must be! Atlantis perished over ten thousand years ago; wouldn't they change their name? The bro said before, a civilization that came from the sea—that's definitely Atlantis!"

"The key is what that old man said—nuclear energy reminds them of things that happened on Earth long ago. Isn't that the ancient nuclear explosion in India? The bro mentioned it briefly before, and I looked into it myself!"

"I looked into it too! It's the Mohenjo-daro site, that vitrified ground from nuclear melting!"

"It all matches up! Damn, it all matches up!"

"So the UFO attack in seven days—is it a warning, or...?"

"Don't know, the bro hasn't gotten to that part yet."

"..."

On the big screen, Jiang Zhe took a deep breath and gave the summary of this diary entry:

"After saying all this, the old man waved goodbye to him."

"Finally, Byrd was sent back to his plane the way he came, escorted by two disk-shaped aircraft as he left that world."

"Just like before, after Byrd passed through that mist, he found himself back over the Antarctic ice shelf. The radio returned to normal, and the instrument panel showed that when he appeared in the sky, he was only 27 minutes away from the base."

"The time was 2:20 PM. He had been missing for over three whole hours."

As the words fell, another storm of discussion erupted in the livestream room.

Everything was starting to make sense. So the rulers of the underground world wanted Byrd to prevent a disaster when he returned to the surface?

Even without hearing the rest, there was no doubt that the USA military must have failed to listen, leading to the UFO war seven days later?

At the thought of this, countless people felt their scalps go numb!

Kyoto, a certain grand hotel.

Robert looked at the large television screen, his face full of astonishment.

"Arianni, the inner world of the Earth..."

As a retired NASA engineer, he knew much more about the records of Operation Highjump than ordinary people.

He had indeed heard of Richard Byrd's diary, but he had always thought it was a legend or a forgery.

But now, this young man from Huaxia, whom he had only met yesterday, was actually recounting that piece of history in great detail before nearly twenty million people!

He took a deep breath. "I did see that footage of Byrd, but I didn't think much of it at the time. I didn't expect the military to be for real?"

"If this is true, then why has NASA been hiding it for all these decades?"

...

On the other side, Gusu High School, Principal's Office.

Professor Wang Shouren stood up abruptly, his face full of excitement, clearly more agitated than when he first encountered Jiang Zhe.

"Arianni, the inner world of the Earth; if this is true, then human history will have to be rewritten!"

Xiao Wang nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of fanaticism. "No wonder Nüwa Mending the Heavens can be explained this way; no wonder myths all over the world have legends of an underground world. It actually exists!"

Ren Xiaoyao took a deep breath and couldn't help but say, "And what that old man said—nuclear energy reminds them of things that happened on Earth long ago. Isn't that the ancient nuclear war that happened in India? All sorts of aircraft appeared. I remember it was Mohenjo-daro; traces of nuclear melting appeared as early as 2000 BC."

Principal Fu couldn't help but rub his temples, shaking his head repeatedly. "This is too crazy, simply too crazy!"

...

Elsewhere, Kyoto, University of History faculty housing.

Professor Chen Runzhi calmed his mind after the excitement and analyzed coolly:

"Arianni—what does this name mean in Latin?"

"Aria, Asia; no, wait, Arianni, Arianni... this sounds like Sanskrit."

Professor Qian Mingyi took a deep breath and said, "Could it be a variant of Aryan? But that's not right, Aryan is Aryan. I don't know."

Professor Liu Guangyi's eyes were burning. "From a geological perspective, if such a large cavity really exists at the center of the Earth, the thickness of the crust and the distribution of mass must be recalculated."

"However, seismic wave data does show that there are indeed some unexplainable anomalous regions inside the Earth."

"I just didn't expect it could actually be an underground world?"

Professor Wang Shouren said nothing, only looking at the other three. Every one of them was so shocked they were lost in thought.

"Haven't you noticed the key data of 27 minutes?"

"Hmm?"

Coincidentally, Professor Wang Shouren's point was raised by Ouyang Baili in the Huaqing University physics dormitory building.