Chapter 499 We Are Different. With the permission of both of them, the Mutual Aid Society immediately began modifying Brian's spaceship.
First, they opened an interface for a Spacetime Tunnel on it to connect to spacetime communication. Then, they stuffed more electromagnetic pulse bombs into the spacecraft's bomb bay and repaired the propulsion system.
However, the staff did not add the same electronic signal characteristics as the Mutual Aid Society to the spacecraft.
This is because the Swarm are now overly wary of the Mutual Aid Society's electronic signals.
When the Swarm detects that the electronic signal is coming from the Mutual Aid Society, it will hide like a turtle and never show itself.
Moreover, it will destroy all equipment sent into the lunar tunnel.
The consequence of this is that as long as the Swarm stays inside the lunar spacecraft, the Mutual Aid Society have no way to enter the lunar spacecraft.
Neither plasma jets nor electron pulse grenades can be used near the tunnel entrance.
Previously, the Mutual Aid Society had sent down several probes, but none of them could penetrate deep enough.
The fact that Brian's ship was being chased by the Swarm gave people hope. If they could lure the Swarm out again, entering the moon would be much easier.
Although the Swarm suffered another loss while chasing Brian and might even block Brian's electronic signals, Zhang Tianyuan felt it was worth taking a gamble.
The gambling Swarm is an artificial idiot!
In addition to obtaining the consent of Brian and Fowler, the Mutual Aid Society also informed Director Hutchings about the modifications to the lunar spacecraft.
After all, this is their spaceship.
After receiving this news, Director Hutchings couldn't say much.
Because the Mutual Aid Society angrily denounced their reckless approach of disregarding the lives of astronauts in their letter, and because their actions would only lead to the needless deaths of the astronauts, the Mutual Aid Society had no choice but to make safety modifications to their lunar spacecraft in order to uphold humanitarian principles and ensure the lives of the three astronauts.
And it's free!
This blow from the Tao Te high ground is unstoppable by anyone.
Director Hutchings couldn't very well say that they were just trying their luck, and if it didn't work out, they'd just let these three die on the moon to gain sympathy, could they?
Finally, after consulting with his superiors, Hutchings could only express his gratitude for the Mutual Aid Society's kindness, and also mentioned that they had sent the experts who designed these plans home to reflect on their actions.
Since Brian landed on the moon, the situation has been completely out of their control, and the Mutual Aid Society's statement this time means that their plan has completely failed.
On the moon.
Brian and his companion signed the agreement to join the Mutual Aid Society, then left the conference room and immediately returned to their spaceship.
It has been towed back into the base by staff and is undergoing final testing.
It must be said that Brian's piloting skills were indeed superb. During the chase by the Swarm, he was not even grazed, so the spaceship showed virtually no external damage.
This spaceship should be able to hold out for a while longer without any problems.
Brian and Fowler waited quietly for the test to complete, and were preparing to reboard the spaceship when they heard shouts from behind.
It was none other than the large, fat Houseman, waving and charging towards them, and he was even wearing a spacesuit.
When he ran up to the two of them, panting, Fowler couldn't help but cover his face.
Brian asked in confusion, "Are you still going to follow us?"
Why don't we just stay at the lunar base?
He had just seen Houseman doing very well here, promoting his own theory of artificial celestial bodies everywhere, and now the Mutual Aid Society had also confirmed this claim, so many people were very interested in his theory.
These audience members were people that Houseman might never have met in his entire life.
"No!!!"
Houseman, clutching his space helmet, suddenly hardened his gaze. "This might be the only time in my life I'll ever enter the interior of the moon. I must see its interior with my own eyes!"
Brian was suddenly moved, as if he had seen a steadfast seeker of truth. He had to admit to himself that this fat man did have some willpower.
"OK, let's get on the boat then."
Brian personally opened the hatch for Houseman.
Fowler couldn't help but mutter, "Hopefully you can last half an hour."
The docking bay door opened, the spacecraft launched itself, and it soared back into lunar orbit.
Brian continued flying towards the entrance to the passage inside the moon.
The other two kept a close eye on the various instruments inside the spaceship, with Fowler responsible for all instrument data except for the Swarm detector.
Houseman, on the other hand, only needed to keep an eye on the Swarm detector's gauges and give a signal whenever the readings started to rise.
Inside the lunar base, Zhang Tianyuan and the others were also monitoring the situation of the Swarm.
Suddenly, a "beep" sound came from the side.
Someone immediately reported, " The Swarm is starting to rise!"
"This bait worked on it!"
"Inform Brian and the others immediately."
Inside the spaceship, Houseman was also shouting.
"It's here! It's here!"
"3, 5, 8, 15 kilometers... It's going too fast!"
Houseman gripped the handrail tightly, his face contorted with fear.
Fowler dealt with the Mutual Aid Society's warnings while rolling her eyes. She simply couldn't stand Houseman's panicked state; in her eyes, this fatso was just there to mess with people's mental state.
She wished she could just stuff that fatso into the Spacetime Tunnel at the back, so that the spaceship would finally be peaceful for a while.
Before I knew it, the Swarm had emerged from the tunnel once more, a dark mass reflecting light in space, quite conspicuous.
Seeing this, Houseman couldn't help but tremble.
Brian remained calm; he knew his mission.
In the conference room, Zhang Tianyuan had told him that all he needed to do was drive the spaceship into the moon and find a place to stop.
Then the main force of the Mutual Aid Society will be able to enter the moon through the Spacetime Tunnel on their spaceship.
So his current task isn't to fight the Swarm, but to find a chance to shake them off...
As soon as the Swarm appeared, several missiles temporarily deployed at the lunar base locked onto the target and were launched at the Swarm.
These missiles cannot actually kill the Swarm, but they can slow it down; otherwise, it would be virtually impossible for Brian to shake off the Swarm.
Brian carefully maneuvered the spaceship while dodging rapidly approaching missiles, as they were caught between the missiles and the Swarm —it was practically dancing on a knife's edge.
But this is not something he cannot do.
As the flame-spitting missiles collided head-on with the Swarm, causing a series of explosions and sending debris flying everywhere, Brian seized the opportunity, accelerating to his maximum speed and charging towards the entrance!
"Ah!!!"
Amid Houseman's screams, the spaceship plunged into the bottomless lunar tunnel, accelerating towards the moon's interior. The swarm of Swarm reacted quickly and gave chase.
Fowler couldn't help but feel nervous, gripping the remote control for the electromagnetic pulse bomb in his hand and glancing back at the spaceship a few times.
There was complete darkness there.
It's Spacetime Tunnel.
Several communication cables run through the tunnel, connecting to the temporary base from which they can evacuate at any time...
She also has the opportunity to reunite with her son.
Fowler breathed a sigh of relief and quickly found something to gag Houseman, silencing the piercing scream.
" Brian, are you confident?"
Fowler stared at the Swarm behind him and could see that the distance was slowly decreasing.
Brian nodded without saying anything.
Fowler nodded in agreement.
Inside the spacecraft, only the vibrations from the friction between the outer shell and the unidentified rarefied gas in the passageway remained.
At this point, Houseman had calmed down considerably, judging that the Swarm wouldn't be able to catch up in time, and began to marvel at the magnificent structure within the passage.
From here, he could see just a glimpse of the interior of the lunar spacecraft.
Soon, the spacecraft officially passed through the passage and entered the core of the lunar spacecraft.
This is a super-huge circular space, where magnificent ring structures rotate and intertwine in the air, forming a giant network, with blinding white light emanating from the gaps between the network's intersections.
Houseman instantly became excited. "That must be the white dwarf they captured and used as their core energy source!"
"No, it could be another star..." Brian looked incredulous as he faced the white light.
But such power still far exceeded the three of them's imagination.
The three felt like tiny ants who had inadvertently stumbled into a human particle accelerator. The various incomprehensible devices, filled with the beauty of technology, deeply impressed them.
The scene Brian saw was also synchronized to the temporary base on the moon via spacetime communication.
Here, the first expedition team is ready.
Everyone stared solemnly at the magnificent, epic scene unfolding before them.
Some of the older scholars were so excited that their hands were trembling and they could barely stand.
"This is amazing! What kind of technology do they have?!"
"And they built this billions of years ago? It's unimaginable how advanced their technology has become!"
"No, no, no, according to the Chairman's intelligence, the Galactic Civilization was already wiped out by artificial intelligence, and it's hard to say whether artificial intelligence still possesses the ability to innovate..."
As they talked, another heated discussion broke out on the spot.
Just as Zhang Tianyuan was about to contact Brian to ask him to find a place to stop the spaceship, he suddenly saw their spaceship begin to deviate from its orbit, as if it had been affected by some external force.
This scene seems familiar...
On the spaceship.
For the first time, Brian felt panicked because the spaceship had completely slipped out of his control, as if it were being dragged in a specific direction by something.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the swarm of Swarm behind them closed in, and it looked like they were about to grab the spaceship when a green tractor beam suddenly shot out from the front, pulling the spaceship quickly into a giant door that looked like it was made of steel.
After the spaceship entered, the giant gate closed instantly. The Swarm following behind crashed straight into it, but they could not penetrate the gate made of this special material. They could only helplessly and furiously ram around outside.
Lunar base.
Zhang Tianyuan could see clearly that after Brian and his crew's spaceship entered the giant gate, the traction beam disappeared, and the three of Brian made a hard landing along with the spaceship.
The spacecraft dragged on the ground for tens of meters before becoming unusable.
Brian and his two companions were knocked unconscious the moment they hit the ground.
"What... what's going on?"
Are they in danger? Should we bring them back now?
The members of the first team were all surprised, and some guessed that it was the work of the AI inside the lunar spacecraft.
But before everyone could reach a conclusion, the AI on the other side took action again.
A beam of tractor light pierced through the spaceship and struck Brian directly, as if it were about to do something to him...
Upon seeing this, Zhang Tianyuan's eyebrows twitched. As he stood up, he opened Spacetime Tunnel and stepped through it. The other team members behind him were stunned for a moment, but they immediately followed closely.
Just as Zhang Tianyuan appeared inside the spaceship, the external traction beam paused slightly before disappearing completely.
Zhang Tianyuan strode to the control panel, activated the spaceship's emergency mode, opened the door, and allowed outside oxygen to rush in.
The first batch of combat personnel then landed cautiously and began to explore the surrounding area. The medical team also stepped forward to check on the condition of Brian and his two companions, lifted them up, and prepared to send them back to the lunar base for examination and treatment.
Surprisingly, the fat man Houseman, woke up at this moment, leaving behind the words, "I'd rather die here," before falling unconscious again...
"President, what should we do?"
The medical team asked.
Zhang Tianyuan waved his hand and said, "They should be fine. Let's check them out here first."
He strongly suspected that the crashing of the three spaceships was orchestrated by AI, specifically to knock them unconscious.
If that's the case, then AI must also have its limits.
The matter inside the cabin had just been dealt with when the scouts outside returned.
"President, there's no obvious danger here, but nothing of value either. The most suspicious thing is that big door in front."
The team member pointed to a spot and said.
Zhang Tianyuan glanced at it and realized that he was pointing to the place in the movie where Brian was taken in to communicate with the AI.
There should be a device that can penetrate the human brain, or even influence it to some extent, such as enhancing the brain or probing memories.
"Let's go take a look."
Zhang Tianyuan led his men to the door.
Pfft!
The door in front of them suddenly opened automatically, revealing a corridor inside. One by one, lights lit up from the outside in, indicating the way ahead.
Zhang Tianyuan gestured for the others to stay, then stepped inside the door himself.
Bang!
The gate is closed.
The corridor was sealed off instantly.
The lights began to flash again from the outside in, prompting Zhang Tianyuan to continue walking forward.
However, Zhang Tianyuan looked up and glanced around, then suddenly smiled.
The next second, a Spacetime Tunnel entrance appeared in front of them.
Zhang Tianyuan walked in without looking back, then reappeared inside the spaceship, calmly walking back to the door from inside the spaceship.
silence.
The AI did not take any action.
The gate remained closed and not opened.
It seems the AI is still analyzing what just happened.
A moment later, the door opened again, and the AI once again used lights to extend the invitation.
Zhang Tianyuan walked in without refusing, but the next scene was the same: after the door closed, he used the Spacetime Tunnel to leave.
This time, the AI didn't open the door.
Only then did Zhang Tianyuan begin to speak to the void:
"Let's talk. You should be able to achieve this in reality, right? Like using a robot body or a holographic projection or something?"
The door opened again.
Welcome!
Zhang Tianyuan waited for a while, and then a wheeled machine appeared from the depths of the corridor. It projected a circular light screen in the air, with a curve in the center that undulated continuously with the sound of machinery.
"Your technology has greatly surprised me. Even the Primordial Civilization has yet to find any clues about miniaturized and portable wormhole technology."
The machine walked up to Zhang Tianyuan, and just from the fluctuations in the curve and its tone, one could tell that it genuinely had doubts.
Although the voice was mechanical, it contained just as much emotion.
Zhang Tianyuan examined the AI's mechanical body and said, "You both surprise me as well."
"I have some questions, can you answer them for us?"
"Yes, that's possible, but judging from the current situation, both the Moon and Earth are facing major crises. I think it's more important to resolve this crisis first."
"The object that attacked this spaceship actually originated from the depths of the galaxy..."
AI uses the origin of Swarm as a starting point to tell the story of human history over billions of years in this time and space.
Although he already knew the general outline, Zhang Tianyuan still listened patiently to the whole thing, while the other team members around him had already taken serious notes.
"Therefore, humanity actually inherited its lineage from a galactic civilization billions of years ago..."
The AI paused after saying its last sentence, seemingly wanting to see Zhang Tianyuan and the others' reaction.
But to its surprise, Zhang Tianyuan and the others showed no surprise at all. Instead, they exchanged glances with great interest, as if they had heard some gossip.
There seemed to be some people whispering behind them, saying things like, "I knew it," "The president wasn't wrong," and "This timeline really has a good father."
This left the AI momentarily bewildered, unsure of where the unknown variable had appeared.
Zhang Tianyuan smiled and said, "We haven't revealed our identities to you yet. Actually, your last statement, 'Humanity inherited from the Galactic Civilization,' isn't entirely accurate."
"Because... we are not from this timeline; we come from a parallel universe."
"In our timeline, there is no galactic civilization as you described."
(End of this chapter)