This was a miracle

Qian Zhenhua felt as though his heart had stopped.

"This..."

Liu Chengen, a leading authority in biology, pushed up his thick glasses and swallowed with difficulty.

Everyone stared dumbly at the two glowing objects. Their instincts told them this defied science.

"What the hell are you standing around for!"

Qian Zhenhua was the first to react, his aged voice trembling with barely contained excitement.

"Turn them on! Turn on every piece of equipment! Analyze it down to the atomic level! Move!"

At his command, the entire team sprang into action.

Complaints? Dissatisfaction?

They had long since cast all of that aside.

Now, nothing remained in their eyes but a feverish thirst for knowledge, like worshippers who had glimpsed the Holy Grail.

"Set the energy response analyzer to maximum power!"

"Start the high-resolution microscopic scan! I want to see its cellular structure!"

"Get the biological activity probes in position! Monitor its entropy changes in real time!"

Two hours later.

Inside the laboratory, Liu Chengen tore off his glasses and tossed them onto the table.

His shoulders shook violently as he burst into near-maniacal laughter.

"Haha... hahahaha..."

He pointed at the data on the screen, then at the ecological cycle model his team had spent years painstakingly building.

"We so-called biologists... faced with true 'life,' we're nothing but a bunch of idiots playing in the mud!"

Qian Zhenhua braced himself against the console, gasping for breath, and pressed the communications button.

"Put me through to the chief's office! Now! Right now!"

Someone beside him reminded him,

"Professor Qian, we haven't compiled the final report yet..."

Qian Zhenhua's eyes widened, spittle flying from his mouth.

"To hell with compiling a report! Just tell him the results are in!"

"This is a miracle!"

Tianshu Underground City, Ice River City.

A cloud of gloom hung over the building inside the mountain.

In his office, Elder Zhao finished a video conference.

An earthquake had opened an enormous fissure in the earth's crust on the Great Southern Continent, triggering worldwide panic.

Meanwhile, resources for the Ark Plan were growing ever scarcer, and the people's complaints were endless.

Every day, he had to make countless difficult decisions.

He leaned back in his chair, exhaustion etched across his face, the light in his eyes dimming.

He picked up the report he had read that morning. Looking at the faintly glowing leaf in the photograph and the conclusion at the end, he managed to rekindle a tiny spark in his dull eyes.

It was hope.

"A new world..."

He murmured the words, and just then, the red telephone on his desk began buzzing urgently.

Elder Zhao's eyelid twitched sharply. He picked up the receiver, and Professor Qian's excited voice immediately came through.

"Sir, the results are in. This thing is a miracle!"

"Tell me where it came from! Was it excavated? I need to go to the original site and dig myself!"

The shouting briefly stunned Elder Zhao, but then his eyes lit up, and he quickly asked,

"What were the results?"

"I've sent Zhao Gang to bring them to you. Please, tell me where those things came from!" Academician Qian was clearly beside himself with excitement.

Elder Zhao repeatedly tried to calm him.

"This only just happened. Don't get ahead of yourself."

They spoke for quite a while longer. Only after promising him first rights to any further research did Elder Zhao hang up.

He was about to press the intercom button to call his secretary in when the phone rang.

"Sir, Zhao Gang, the director of the Ark Plan, is here."

"Send him in!"

The office door opened, and Zhao Gang appeared, carrying a military combination-lock case.

"Chief!" He saluted.

Elder Zhao stopped pacing and dispensed with the pleasantries.

"Give me the verification data!"

Zhao Gang quickly opened the case and took out a report with no extra cover.

"All right, have a seat. Let me read this first."

With that, Elder Zhao quickly took the report and opened it.

Line after line of text, set after set of data, and high-resolution microscopic images struck his heart like little stones.

"...Incomprehensible cellular structure, possessing both plant energy and a unique life energy..."

"...Biological activity far exceeds that of any known species on Earth. Its energy model overturns our current understanding of physics..."

"...Conclusion: an extraordinary species!"

On the final page were the handwritten signatures of Qian Zhenhua, Liu Chengen, and several other leading authorities.

A miracle.

"We've confirmed that these findings match the results from Bell City. I also sent you the verification of Lin Mo's claims earlier. So all of this is real!" Zhao Gang said.

At that, Elder Zhao drew two cigarettes from his pack with slightly trembling fingers and tossed one to Zhao Gang.

Click! Zhao Gang caught it, then quickly stepped forward to light the older man's cigarette.

"Hiss... whew..." Elder Zhao took a deep drag and slowly exhaled. He gently set down the report and closed his eyes in his chair.

His chest rose and fell sharply.

After years of being crushed by reality until he could barely breathe, he had finally found new hope!

That gemstone and that leaf represented the possibility that Great Xia's civilization could survive.

When he opened his eyes again, his exhaustion had been replaced by a will of steel.

"You did well, Zhao!"

"This is an extraordinary achievement!"

"If this works out, it could be a new hope for our Great Xia!"

Zhao Gang was smoking too, a lingering look of disbelief on his face.

"Yes. I still feel a little like I'm dreaming."

"Tell me about this Lin Mo." Elder Zhao pressed the intercom button and instructed his secretary,

"Notify the other four old fellows immediately. We're holding an emergency meeting in one hour."

He released the button and looked at Zhao Gang.

"You'll be joining us."

Zhao Gang nodded, then began telling him about Lin Mo.

One hour later.

In a windowless conference room, the atmosphere was as heavy as the depths of the sea.

No method of eavesdropping humanity could imagine would work in this room.

Whether remotely monitoring sound vibrations or electrical currents, or even bringing equipment inside, none of it would work.

Six men, all middle-aged or older, sat around the table. Four of them were studying the thick, compiled reports in their hands.

Every face was deeply solemn.

They had all weathered great storms, their resolve as firm as rock.

Yet now, they all saw the same emotion in one another's eyes.

Shock!

And a trace of fervor buried deep beneath their reason.