Traces of Civilization

Xu Chen wholeheartedly agreed with Old Ge, because plenty of human remains from before the Neolithic era had survived, but they bore no traces of civilization.

Those remains were like the remains of animals, devoid of meaning.

You could learn nothing from them, only know that they had once existed.

He had seen the Majiayao Culture skull at the National Museum. It was just an unremarkable skull with a hole in it. Some people might look at it and think the hole had been accidentally made during excavation.

But who knew that, long ago, a group of people had made an incredible attempt against an illness that every living creature at the time was powerless to combat?

They had hoped to snatch a life from the hands of the god of death, and they had succeeded. They had kept the patient alive.

Some human fossils dating back 1.7 million years had been unearthed in a small town in southern Georgia. One skull belonged to an elderly individual whose teeth had almost all fallen out, with only one tooth stubbornly remaining in the mouth. At the time, only some humans had just begun to learn to eat cooked food, and they still needed teeth to deal with rough food.

Back then, it was difficult for a human who had lost their teeth to survive alone. Yet, astonishingly, almost all the tooth sockets in this skull had healed and closed.

In other words, after losing their teeth, this elderly person from ancient times had not died soon afterward, but had lived for at least several years with the care of their companions.

That meant humans had already learned to "care for their elders." Unlike animals, they did not abandon the old and the weak. It was not merely because evolution allowed them to obtain more food, but also because the first stirrings of civilization had begun to appear among humans.

They had learned emotion and mutual aid.

These remains, unlike those of ordinary people, retained the strongest traces of civilization's birth.

The beginning of civilization started here.

As Xu Chen walked, he began the difficult task of searching for information about relevant remains overseas. After all, it wasn't just domestic news that was full of sensational stories; things were basically the same abroad.

News about damage to artifacts like these might only make the news if the artifacts were of national or even world-class importance.

Even environmental extremist groups knew to target Van Gogh's Sunflowers. If they targeted human remains, probably no one would pay attention.

Xu Chen struggled through his search with his half-baked English, and soon found what he was looking for.

He sighed.

He found reports from abroad about damage to some ancient human remains. The information had been published by a minor archaeologist, who had called for people to pay attention to protecting such artifacts, but seemingly had not received the response he wanted.

Xu Chen was helpless too. He wasn't some powerful big shot, and there was almost nothing he could do.

But then he remembered Old Ge.

During their final exchange, Xu Chen had noticed that Old Ge seemed to have thought of something. Given his foresight, he would probably soon check whether such incidents had happened abroad as well.

With a big shot like him keeping an eye on things, there probably wouldn't be any problems...

In the conference room, the five people had not left immediately. Old Ge was on the phone, and the other four did not dare disturb him.

"Here's what we'll do. Have Xiao Lin lead a team to ask those old men at the Physics Institute and bring his equipment over here... just tell them it's been requisitioned."

"It's fine. These are extraordinary times. Have the second team be ready to receive it... the 332nd Regiment will provide the escort."

"That's right, get it done as soon as possible... give them my name and tell them I need it urgently."

"Yes, that's all."

Old Ge hung up and looked at the deputy regimental commander. "All right, I'm done here. I expect the research institute won't be able to avoid working overtime."

"Okay, what do we do next?" the deputy regimental commander asked.

Old Ge looked at the people gathered around the table in the conference room and was somewhat emotional. There were only five of them, but they represented an alliance of three forces: the military district, the research institute, and the police department. Their positions were neither too high nor too low, allowing them to make decisions independently and report the matter upward if it grew beyond their control.

It was an extremely flexible decision-making group.

"Xu Chen did provide me with important information. This may be what Yang Tianyou wanted to reveal but couldn't say outright. Captain Chu."

"Yes, sir!"

"Tell Yang Tianyou about the discussion in the conference room and confirm it with him."

"Understood."

"Also, have the team backing you gather the information Xu Chen asked for just now. But don't limit the scope to this country; include foreign countries as well."

"That... might be a little difficult."

"It doesn't have to be that detailed. I'll also contact a few old friends in archaeology."

"Understood!"

"All right, that's everything. Meeting adjourned."

The deputy regimental commander looked troubled. "So we came here this time and gained nothing? Who is Taihao? What is Taihao? We still don't know?"

"How could that be?" Old Ge seemed rather pleased. "Although we don't know what's going on with Taihao, we do know that something wants to erase our civilization, and we've caught a trace of it."

"What trace? This Special Corrosion?"

"That's right. If we can find out why that thing causes Special Corrosion, we may be able to counter it, follow the trail, and find the mastermind."

"The problem is, we came here this time to ask Xu Chen what the existence called Taihao is."

"For that, just look at the inscription the archaeology department reconstructed."

The deputy regimental commander stared dejectedly at his notes on the table. The page was blank.

He hadn't received a concrete assignment, nor could he see anything from the meeting that required the military. In other words, there was no role for him to play.

At first, the deputy regimental commander had thought Taihao was an enemy country or organization out to cause trouble. That was why he had volunteered to join the plan, wipe out the enemy, and earn merit for his country. He hadn't expected to get a damn thing.

When he thought of the expectant looks his soldiers had given him and the instructions the regimental commander had given him before he left, his face grew hot.

"Still, although these two things seem unrelated on the surface, I think there's an indescribable connection between them."

"What connection?"

"An indescribable connection."

The deputy regimental commander glared at Old Ge, then remembered that he was a big shot he couldn't afford to offend, and his spirits sank.

"Then what can I do?"

Old Ge glanced at the deputy regimental commander. "Didn't I just say? The escort mission. Go bring those things over here."

The deputy regimental commander nodded glumly.

An escort mission wasn't like a combat mission. There was no real credit to be earned from it; at best, it was better than nothing.

"Don't worry. If you can complete the escort mission quickly, on time and to the required standard, then once I catch a hint of the mastermind, your regiment will definitely have a mission. No one else will be able to snatch it away."

The deputy regimental commander's spirits lifted. "Good! It's a deal."