298: Chapter 298: Ancient Techniques and Artifacts in Displaced Strata?

A single reminder from Jiang Zhe made the viewers active once again.

"27 minutes... how did I not think of that?"

"Given the distances in Antarctica, 27 minutes really isn't enough time to fly very far; you certainly couldn't reach the center of the earth."

"So Ariania isn't a hollow earth world at all, but just an oasis somewhere in Antarctica?"

"No wonder Byrd saw an oasis instead of an underground cavern."

"Maybe what Byrd saw was a surface civilization. If I were a high-tech civilization on Earth, I wouldn't tell the ants that I live in such-and-such a place, just turn here and go straight to get there."

"..."

The viewers' ideas were becoming more brilliant by the second.

Meanwhile, inside the physics department dormitory at Huaqing University.

Ouyang Baili clapped his hands repeatedly. "He said exactly what I was thinking!"

"The so-called Ariania is definitely not an underground civilization; it's on the surface, or perhaps a civilization near the ice sheets."

"As for the so-called mist, it's just a magnetic field used for deception!"

Professor Wu Ming nodded beside him. "If it were underground, 27 minutes wouldn't be nearly enough to fly out; but if it's on the Antarctic surface, the range covered in 27 minutes is actually quite limited."

Guan Jingming said thoughtfully, "And Byrd mentioned seeing an oasis after passing through the mist. That layer of mist is likely a natural or man-made barrier, similar to optical camouflage or magnetic interference."

Li Mer was searching through data. "I'm checking those unexplainable radar blind spots in Antarctica. Many researchers have reported records showing electromagnetic anomalies in certain areas of Antarctica, and these anomalous regions are huge. If there's a connection, maybe... the government has known what's over there for a long time."

After those words, the four of them all breathed a sigh of relief.

As scientific researchers, what they feared most was the mundane; what they loved most was the miraculous.

As long as there are wonders in the world, there is a driving force urging them forward, allowing science and technology to gradually flourish!

...

A major hotel in Kyoto.

Robert looked at the large TV screen and couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly.

"So there's this explanation for the high-altitude operation in Antarctica?"

"Ancient civilized people warning modern civilized people to be careful with nuclear energy..."

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, mentioning this reminded him of a legend from the last century that appeared in his own country: the Dulce Incident.

That was in the 1970s, near the town of Dulce in New Mexico, USA; there was an underground military base beneath it.

Whistleblowers claimed it hid secret cooperation between humans and aliens, and that even violent conflicts had occurred there.

Those involved in human-alien contact were hostile species of the seventh kind; they were tall with grayish-white skin and performed various inhumane experiments on humans.

Initially, they used various domestic livestock, including but not limited to cattle, draining all their blood, slicing their faces cleanly, and removing their brains...

At the thought of this, Robert shook his head.

"No, the seventh-kind contacts in the Dulce Incident aren't the same type of people Xiaoyu's brother is talking about."

"At least the Atlanteans in Xiaoyu's brother's words, according to Byrd's diary, are decent—warning humanity not to seek its own destruction rather than committing slaughter. The enemies in the Dulce Incident, on the other hand, were quite nasty."

He smiled and turned off the TV, looking at the suitcase by the bed.

"My flight is early tomorrow morning; time to sleep."

...

Inside the large screen, on the sofa.

Xiao Yu's beautiful eyes sparkled. "Brother, this is so interesting! It turns out Antarctica has so many secrets!"

"No wonder countries don't allow ordinary people to travel to Antarctica now, only letting them wander around the nearby waters."

"To the outside world, every country says they're afraid of damaging the ecological environment. In reality, not only are there oil and various resources there, but there might even be the existence of suspected ancient super-civilizations that ordinary people will never know about in their entire lives?"

Suddenly, Xiao Yu had a sudden inspiration. "Speaking of this, I also remember that Canada's Minister of National Defence, Paul Hellyer, mentioned a few years ago that the USA and their country both have secret cooperation with aliens." [Ps: Paul Hellyer really said that..]

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly, neither nodding nor shaking his head.

He raised his hand to check the time. "It's eleven o'clock, time to rest. Don't you have plans to go out with your best friend tomorrow?"

Xiao Yu got anxious and grabbed Jiang Zhe's arm. "Best friends can be ditched anytime, but the time I spend with my brother is getting less and less; every day counts. Wait, brother, is there more? Are there more ancient super-civilizations? There definitely are, right?"

In the livestream room, the viewers' eyes also lit up one after another.

"Right, there definitely are!"

"Brother, don't go! Tell us one more, I won't sleep."

"If you don't tell us, I won't be able to sleep at all."

"..."

Jiang Zhe looked speechless and was about to speak, but who would have thought Xiao Yu's mind was too active? She added: "Brother, everything you've told me gives me a feeling—is our human civilization really just this one current cycle? Actually, when you talked about those flying machine battles in Indian mythology before, I felt something was off then too."

Jiang Zhe was somewhat surprised, but the corners of his mouth curled slightly as he shifted the topic.

"Xiao Yu, have you ever considered a question? Those artifacts that appear in the wrong geological strata, those things with technical levels far exceeding their era—if you put them all together, what would they point to?"

"Wrong strata? What things?"

Jiang Zhe didn't answer directly, only smiling slightly. "How about in the next tutoring session, I'll talk specifically about that. I'll let you know that the history of Earth's civilization might be much more interesting than you imagine."

"Brother!!!"

In the livestream room, the viewers looked full of complaints.

"Damn, this cliffhanger is making my heart itch with anticipation."

"Wrong strata? Far exceeding the era?"

"Let me check what kind of things appear in the wrong strata."

"Don't check! If you do, you won't sleep tonight!"

"..."

Kyoto, University of History faculty housing.

Professor Chen Runzhi and Qian Mingyi looked at each other, their eyes flashing with irrepressible light.

As history professors, they knew all too well what those out-of-place artifacts implied.

"Tomorrow night, get ready!"

...

Inside the Principal's office.

Seeing Jiang Zhe playing hard to get, Principal Fu asked with a look of confusion: "Wrong strata? What does that mean? Can artifacts end up in the wrong place?"

Old Wang was about to speak when Xiao Wang beside him beat him to it. "Principal, that's a term in archaeology. Some artifacts appear in eras where they simply shouldn't exist."

Principal Fu was still a bit puzzled. "For example?"

Xiao Wang opened his mouth but suddenly got stuck.

A ton of cases flashed through his mind, but for a moment, he didn't know how to explain it so a layman could understand.

The key was that he only had a superficial understanding himself; the authenticity of those cases was hard to discern, and the academic world had been arguing about them for decades without a conclusion.

Old Wang took over the conversation with a face full of pride. "Let's put it this way, Principal. For those of us who study history, the textbooks say humanity evolved step by step from the Stone Age to modern civilization. But some things that are unearthed shouldn't be in that era. It's like digging up an Apple phone in a tomb from the Three Kingdoms period—you can't explain it."

Hearing this, Principal Fu looked completely astonished. "This... how is that possible?"

"That's why it's called displaced strata." Old Wang grinned. "And there are many such examples globally. Some say they're fakes, some say they're misjudgments, some say it's time travel. It's been debated for nearly a hundred years."

Ren Xiaoyao couldn't help but have his eyes light up. "So he's going to talk about this in the next episode?"

Old Wang nodded, his gaze very solemn. "If he really dares to talk about this and can actually make sense of it, then these thirty years of history I've taught might truly have been in vain."

Principal Fu and Ren Xiaoyao looked at each other, curiosity burning in their eyes that could not be extinguished.

...

In the living room, on the sofa.

As the tutoring session ended, a series of light blue light screens appeared above Xiao Yu's head.

[Tutoring session concluded]

[Xiao Yu's Knowledge +6, IQ +4, Logic +5, Inference +7, Imagination +8]

[Monetary Reward: 2.48 million yuan exactly]

[Attribute Point Reward: 10 points, automatically distributed: Strength +1, Agility +2, Constitution +2, Spirit +5]

[Extra Reward Item: Black Technology Bracelet!]

A shiny black bracelet manifested in the air.

He first glanced at Xiao Yu and, seeing that her attention wasn't here, quickly took it and put it on his wrist before turning back to the bedroom.

Jiang Zhe sat on the edge of the bed and opened his palm.

The shiny black bracelet lay quietly in his palm, so light it felt weightless.

He put it on.

The next second, lines of holographic projections appeared above his wrist.

[Black Tech Xiao Hei, a Black Technology Bracelet from the future!]

[Binding complete]

[Host: Jiang Zhe]

[Appearance Intensity Age: 24 years old]

[Physical Intensity Age: 18 years old]

[Consciousness Intensity Age: 52 years old]

[...]

[Connecting to network... Dangerous scenario function activated, Acupoint module activated, Voice module activated... Xiao Hei is at your service!]

[Estimated Lifespan: 1257 years — Xiao Hei's Comment 1.1: "Did I make a mistake?"]

[Physical Function: 52.7 times the human peak — Xiao Hei's Comment 0.0: "Are you a robot?"]

Jiang Zhe was quite curious.

Since his last hospital visit, he really didn't have a clear understanding of himself.

He hadn't expected it to be 1250 years and over 50 times?

Consciousness age 52...

He was a bit speechless; so his past life's soul plus his current life's soul was a simple addition...

After browsing carefully for a moment, he found the bracelet didn't give him more information; it just quietly displayed the time, heart rate, and body temperature: 23:19, heart rate 51, temperature 36.2.

[Detected multiple electronic sources nearby, no impact on host, should they be shielded?]

"No need."

[Detected that the host is currently not tired at all. It is suggested that the host run 80km around Gusu District before sleeping to adapt to physical functions; lifespan will increase slightly.]

[Detected Acupoint module is on. After use, the host will fall asleep quickly and can customize a dream. Detected host's mental aging and high stress, suggest turning on the Erotic Dream module to release stress!]

[Detected network function is on. Does the host need Xiao Hei to find a desirable partner on the internet?]

Between a relaxing erotic dream, a troublesome partner, or tiring exercise...

Five minutes later, Jiang Zhe changed into his sportswear and went out for a jog.

Yes, he chose the tiring exercise!

...