Chapter 528: Chapter 523: The Hardest Stone on the Planet Is Actually Here?
The day the old professor died is something Ji Ning will never forget.
She remembers every detail clearly.
Including how his dagger pierced the enemy’s chest, and the direction of the patterns on the dagger.
She remembers it vividly, as if it were imprinted in her mind.
But later, when she used her spiritual power to search for the old professor’s dagger, the patterns on the dagger were gone, and even the position where it pierced the enemy’s chest differed from her earlier memory.
If her previous memory was correct, then the later memory must be flawed.
So, she always doubted whether she was truly trapped in the green cocoon, unable to move.
And whether that area truly had a patch of high-level mutated plants.
Combining it with the extraterrestrial civilization data from Beizhou, that area might indeed hide some extraterrestrial unknown items.
And these viruses were also brought by extraterrestrial civilizations.
But why did they spare her? Could it really be related to her earrings?
And who exactly was the girl who gave her the earrings?
Friend or foe?
***
The nights in Beizhou are beautiful, with colorful auroras rising from the horizon, dyeing the entire night sky with a dreamy hue.
The researchers inside the bunker nervously operated the screens in front of them, repeatedly working on the space signal collector built at the mountain peak.
There are only two time frames each day where they can use the special magnetic field brought by the aurora to amplify cosmic signals, allowing them to capture more cosmic information.
Ji Ning watched the Smart Brain screen as different shapes of waveforms appeared, with researchers capturing the differential peaks and then using the cosmic information analyzer to decipher them.
She didn’t understand the decryption principles and after a while, walked to the next area.
The underground fortress in Beizhou was built very large, housing thousands of researchers, top research talents gathered from all over the world, covering various fields.
Ye Xingyan can only be considered as a leader of one research field, belonging to the Ji Family Army’s right-wing force, but the talents in other fields do not belong to the Ji Family Army.
They are researchers from various continents who came here voluntarily to conduct research.
And the secretive benefactor does not ask for anything in return, only regularly sends money here every month to provide resources for research and living.
Ji Ning asked Ye Xingyan while touring, "So, your secretive benefactor is quite generous, supporting your research unconditionally?"
Is there really such a generous benefactor in this world doing pure charity, seeking no returns?
Do they really think of her as an ignorant old relic?
Previously, after she crushed several forces linked to the Qi Family, Beizhou wasn’t affected at all.
So, who is the force regularly funding here?
South Continent? Or Jiazhou?
Ji Ning ordered Zero to access Beizhou’s Smart Brain system to find out where the funds were coming from, but Zero hasn’t replied until now.
"What are these for?" Ji Ning looked down and asked.
She and Ye Xingyan were standing in a corridor made entirely of tempered glass, from which they could see the enormous space below.
There was a huge and long object placed there, making the nearby airplanes look like infants in comparison.
"A manned space launch rocket, reportedly with a history of over a thousand years."
Ji Ning was surprised; a thousand-year-old relic, preserved here like new.
Ye Xingyan lamented, "It’s a pity that we haven’t found the fuel that can ignite it. Otherwise, we could have reached space already."
Ji Ning paused, "What fuel?"
"A highly toxic organic compound, but the minerals that can produce this compound no longer exist on the planet."
Ye Xingyan expressed his regret that the resources for propulsion fuel were squandered away before the chaotic times, otherwise their technology wouldn’t have stagnated so much.
"Is there no substitute material?" Ji Ning asked.
Ye Xingyan shook his head, "No, all potential substitutes are either beyond current technological capabilities or missing key components. It’s as if someone is deliberately blocking our space development."
Ji Ning’s gaze sharpened, "Did that area used to have such minerals?"
Ye Xingyan paused, quickly looked up at Ji Ning, instantly understanding her intention, "I’ll investigate."
Before leaving, he reminded Ji Ning, "Commander, the red zone is Ji Family Army’s territory, feel free to explore, but refrain from roaming other areas. Old Five and Shi Er, guide the Commander."
The Old Five and Shi Er from the Twelve Guards immediately acknowledged.
Although neither of them wanted to stay, realizing that with Commander’s power, if she truly wanted to go somewhere, they couldn’t stop her and would just be in the way.
While pondering how to find an excuse to leave later, Ji Ning said, "Take me up there to have a look."
...
Beizhou is located at the northernmost of the planet, the temperature is very low, and it experiences perpetually extreme daylight or extreme night weather conditions throughout the year.
Outside the bunker, everything was a vast expanse of white, with ice mountains and snow mountains everywhere, one can see a snow mountain from an exit of the bunker.
Even before reaching the bunker’s main exit, the biting cold was already palpable.
The two handed Ji Ning a set of cold-proof clothing, which she accepted and draped over her.
Such cold meant nothing to her.
Ever since escaping from that area back then, she lost the sensation of hot and cold; no matter how cold it was outside, she couldn’t feel it.
Just like those initial mutated bodies, unaware of neither coldness nor heat.
As Ye Xingyan said, she might be the only one among those mutated bodies to have successfully evolved.
Though, she still didn’t know why she was so unique.
With the creaking sound of the iron wheels turning, Old Five opened the bunker door leading to the outside world.
The fierce cold wind made people shiver involuntarily, with Shi Er pulling his cold-proof clothing tightly, following behind Ji Ning.
The exit of the mountain bunker was at the summit of a snow mountain.
Everywhere in sight was covered in dazzling white under the dim environment.
The three of them walked against the biting wind.
The thick white snow reached above their calves, and it made Shi Er want to return immediately.
Ji Ning lifted her hand to tell Old Five in front, "Walk over to the side."
Old Five looked back and quickly sidestepped, suddenly feeling the energy fluctuations around him become active.
An invisible force, like a snowplow, quickly cleared a road about a meter wide through the thick snow, exposing the mountain rocks below.
He had been here for over a decade and had never known that the snow mountain was actually gray.
"My goodness, what kind of rock is this?" Old Five crouched down to study the stone on the ground.
Ji Ning glanced at it and said calmly, "Dragon Rock."
Dragon Rock?
The hardest stone on the planet was here?
How was the bunker originally constructed?
Old Five admired the ancestors who built the bunker before the chaos.
Ji Ning stood on the mountaintop looking into the distance, apart from a few ice mountains, there were also several low buildings lined up in a row.
They hadn’t seen those houses when they came.
Ji Ning asked, "Who are those houses for?"
"That side is also a laboratory, according to the area divisions, our laboratory is on this side."
However, Ji Ning did not look at her area, her gaze fixed on the western region, asking, "What are they researching there?"
She felt a familiar energy in that direction, extremely faint, but similar to the energy that modified her body in her childhood.
Old Five looked, uncertain, "It seems to be a laboratory researching extraterrestrial energy."
"I’m going to take a look..."
"Wait a moment."
Before the words finished, the figure ahead had vanished.
Old Five watched in amazement as his Commander leaped off the snowy peak like a swooping hawk, gradually turning into a small black shadow.
Shi Er hurried over, "It seems they don’t like Huazhou people there."
Old Five spread his hands, helpless, "What can they do if they don’t like it? Who can stop the Commander?"
