Chapter 641: Chapter 20: Buried Past
[Soviet Council of Ministers Defense Committee Top Secret Document No. 0042-KGB/SA
(Restricted to personnel on the special catalog list)
Violation of the dissemination ban will be prosecuted under Article 64 of the Criminal Code for treason
Subject: Investigation report and subsequent disposal instructions on unknown life remains in the Pripyat military exclusion zone (Code-named 002)
05:33, July 12, 1964 (Moscow Time), during a night battle watch, the 13th Special Operations Unit of the Soviet National Security Committee detected unknown strong radiation northeast of Pripyat (coordinates 51.45108, 30.16971).
After exploration, the first survey was conducted on the target based on its radiation trajectory on July 29 at 09:30.]
[On-site Survey Record No. 0005-KGB/SA
- Code-named 002, the unknown life remains are located 73.4m underground, with the main structure composed of unidentified blue crystals. There are no national identifiers or conventional biological tissues on the exterior, and rare isotopes Helium-3, heavy isotope Oxygen-28, and unknown radioactive isotopes were detected around.
- The remains cannot be dissected.
- Surviving witness soldiers of the special operations unit confirmed that the unknown life remains emit a periodic blue glow.
On July 31 at 00:31, the remains emitted a pulse of intense light, causing the instant evaporation of 22 researchers (no human tissue residues were found on-site, see Attachment Investigation Report No. 274-k)]
[Disposal Measures
- The code-named 002 unknown life remains have been locally transferred to be sealed at "Chernobyl."
- A special research committee (code-named "Slavic Tundra"), jointly led by the KGB Fifth Directorate, the Academy of Sciences Institute of Biophysics, and military researchers from Unit 10003 (see committee list in Attachment 1)
- Hypnotic/drug interrogation of surviving witnesses is strictly prohibited (Directive based on KGB Chairman’s Order No. 886)]
...
Time seemed frozen, each millisecond stretching into an illusion of millennia passing.
Still that sense of life being extinguished, everything perceived tainted with dense snowflakes, crackling, like a childhood TV losing signal.
The shattered flood of information flickering in this prolonged moment.
Ivan saw the top-secret files among them.
Through the yellowing secret documents, Chen Zhou gradually pieced together the causes and effects from the dust-laden history—
At the final moment before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the chairman of the Soviet National Security Committee (KGB), Kryuchkov, together with Soviet Vice President Yanaev, Defense Minister Yazov, and others, organized and led the world-shocking "819 Event" in an attempt to preserve the Soviet Union.
However, hidden behind this 72-hour coup was a secret plan that had been plotted for years by multiple Soviet leaders and Unit 10003.
Research on code-named 002 began in the 1960s.
Despite the inability to damage the remains with the technology of the time, the corpse buried tens of thousands of years under the primeval forest strongly affected the surrounding environment.
Through archaeological excavations in the Siberian Plain, Arctic Circle, and other locations, the 13th Special Operations Unit successively discovered numerous biologically significant specimens and systems model theories far beyond the Academy of Sciences’ understanding.
These included the initial sample of "Aphasiac" and the so-called "Slavic Tundra Confessional No. 13."
In fact, the "Confessional" plan itself was a combination of the special committee’s code-name and the 13th Special Operations Unit, with the "Confessional" capable of controlling the mind and causing hallucinations having practical significance.
Numerous prehistoric relics formed an incomplete clue—
In a far-distant age, more precisely perhaps during the Quaternary extinction event about 12,700 years ago, modern human ancestors made initial contact with unknown beings represented by the 002 remains.
Climate changes, disease spread, comet and small star impacts led to the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna.
The flourishing of the last ice age nearly drove primitive people to the point of extinction several times.
In such a dire situation, contact with unknown beings brought a glimmer of hope to human ancestors.
In image data, excavators traced specific processes within murals beneath the Arctic ice cap.
Several tribes selected warriors strong enough to enter the blue-glowing cave in batches, and shortly afterward, some returned.
The returnees possessed knowledge and strength beyond ordinary people, often leading their tribes out of crises.
However, most warriors entering the cave never returned, disappearing forever into unknown dimensions like the evaporated researchers.
Contact between unknown beings and humans continued sporadically for thousands of years, and successive returnees even used the technology they brought back to establish flourishing small civilizations.
It wasn’t until the collapse of the blue-glowing cave, when the returnees unearthed a torn crystalline corpse from within, that contact between humans and unknown beings was completely severed.
The tides of time wash away everything.
From the prolonged glacial periods, humanity gradually embarked on the path to dominating the Earth, with technological advances accelerating through reforms.
The northern wilderness of the Eurasian continent remained vast and sparsely populated, neglected until the U.S.-Soviet rivalry era exposed this millennia-old history.
The Soviet Union attempted to analyze Object 002 and reconstruct the "Blue Cave."
However, with current human technology, tackling questions involving time and space was akin to an ant shaking a tree—overly ambitious.
Research progress had not met expectations until the Soviet Union collapsed, with countless experimenters exposed to unknown radiation dying tragically, sealed in lead coffins.
The "Aphasiac" and "Confessional" were uncontrollable, and the "super-visual people" and "super-auditory people" produced by other modification plans were useless, unable to change the war situation.
Andropov’s death, Chernenko’s brief political transition, ultimately succeeded by Gorbachev, led to the Soviet Union losing its last chance to compete with the United States, gradually heading toward collapse.
The nation faced internal and external troubles, with the KGB overwhelmed.
Gorbachev’s economic reforms led to negative economic growth in the Soviet Union.
Unit 10003’s experimental funding was slashed repeatedly, barely sustainable, until a revolt by genetically modified organisms on the third layer of the modification base finally brought down the burdened camel, leaving a mess.
Who would have thought that what the Soviet Union couldn’t achieve by pouring its national strength would be serendipitously brought a "key" by the madman Ivan?
The "door" opened half a century late took Ivan, and naturally, the lock picker Chen Zhou couldn’t avoid it either.
...
Light and shadow shifting, consciousness gradually clarified.
Beyond the invisible barrier like frosted glass, Chen Zhou saw a massive building painted in a silvery-gray Soviet style.
Dozens of high-ranking leaders sat at the front of the building, while beneath them, a tiered hall was filled with tall warriors standing tall.
A faint blue light spilled from the top of the building, enveloping everything.
Inside the silvery-gray building, only the crossed sickle and hammer under Venus shimmered bright against a vivid red flag.
In the sound of the "Unbreakable Union" anthem, hundreds of warriors evaporated together within the hall, until they all vanished, and the blue light on the dome finally dissipated.
...
"This seems to be an alternate timeline for the Soviet Union.
The study succeeded, and the Soviet Union did not disband..."
Chen Zhou’s self-awareness gradually returned, and observing the scenes beyond the barrier, he couldn’t help but think.
His contemplation didn’t last long before a strong sense of weightlessness emerged in his intangible body, shattering the invisible barrier, and he rapidly advanced through the swirling streams of vibrant data.
The speed of progression was so rapid that Chen Zhou felt everything had come to a standstill.
The colors around that were once clear all blurred into pure white, and in this dazzling white world, he saw a group of familiar figures—
Those humanoid beings in blue.
Different from the half-dead remnant on Earth, they were "alive," their bodies’ small blue squares constantly pulsating and changing.
Packed together, they gazed at Chen Zhou from a distance with cold indifference, conveying emotions of either befuddlement or interest.
This strangely familiar observation lasted only for a brief moment before all the white vanished like the upper layer of sand in an hourglass.
The world spun around, as if someone had kicked him from modern back to ancient times. After countless spins, he finally gained control over his body.
Subsequently, a barrage of information poured into Chen Zhou’s brain.
The feelings of weightlessness, dizziness, hearing, smell, touch, sight—all returned.
As if experiencing a millennium, he sensed solid ground beneath his feet once again.
This time, there was no excessive pain or a prolonged adaptation period. Once the data on the modification base was organized, Chen Zhou immediately browsed the new content that abruptly appeared in his mind—
Regarding the "Prehistoric Survival Challenge."
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