Chapter 1631: The Treasures of the Underground World

Just when the entire Tiangong City was freaking out over Lu Zhou’s whereabouts, the lord himself in the old site of The Gates of Hell had totally forgotten the passage of time.

What was the Europa plan?

What meeting?

In the face of technology from a higher civilization, nothing else was important in Lu Zhou’s eyes.

He still vaguely remembered that General Reinhardt once said to him that the “Martians” borrowed the spacecraft’s warp engine and tried to use it to reignite the cooling core of Mars.

This plan sounded pretty crazy, so crazy that no normal person would think that there was even a 1% chance that this plan would succeed.

In fact, they would be correct. The final glory of Martian civilization was wiped out as the planet withered.

Lu Zhou originally thought that, without the protection of high-dimensional space fragments, even if the warp drive removed from the spacecraft was not sent to the core for detonation, most of it would weather and disintegrate with the passage of time.

However, General Reinhardt told him quite confidently that he could feel that the engine was still there.

And it was right under his feet!

“Ever since my consciousness has been integrated with this spacecraft, my senses have become much sharper than before. It is like a cell or organ in my body. If something goes wrong with it, I am the first to know.”

Listening to the voice coming from the communication channel, Lu Zhou thought for a while before speaking.

“So, are you a program stored in the spaceship server or a body of consciousness attached to the spaceship?”

“This is a very interesting question. In fact, I have been thinking about it for a long time. In the past two hundred million years, I have wondered whether I am a product of materialism… Although most of my functions and permissions are software, interestingly enough, my perception of the outside world is beyond the scope of my ability.”

As if he was seriously thinking about something, General Reinhardt pondered for a while and did not speak for a long time.

Seeing his friend from the old universe lost in thought, Lu Zhou didn’t bother him and left him alone.

After walking behind Ling for a while, a voice suddenly came from the communication channel again.

“What kind of existence is man?”

Lu Zhou froze for a moment. With a weird look, he looked at the communication channel with the garbled ID and said, “What kind of existence is man… ? Sorry, I don’t understand what you mean? Can you be more specific?”

Speaking of which, aren’t the Calanians also mammals? Why would this guy ask such a strange question?

“Maybe there is ambiguity in my questioning. What I want to say is that we are composed of countless cells, and each cell is undoubtedly an independent individual. They are working together under the domination of a huge system, and our consciousness is the product of the sincere cooperation of thousands of cells… So what is our consciousness? A program compiled in the brain? Or something more abstract?”

“This question is too esoteric. I am afraid that only philosophers can answer you.”

“Philosophers?” General Reinhardt smiled faintly. “I am afraid that is a bit difficult. In our civilization, studying philosophy is trendy, but after searching my memory, I am still unable to find an accurate answer.”

“Really? If I have to say, it’s probably like software.” Lu Zhou said casually, “The neuron is analogous to a diode. In fact, the working mechanism of the brain is no different from that of a computer, but it uses different parts to process the information.”

“This explanation is too superficial.” General Reinhardt said in a slightly disappointed tone, “Maybe when you mature a little bit, I can hear a different answer from you. Thank you for spending so much time with me… By the way, that’s it.”

Lu Zhou, who looked forward along the flashlight, had already seen the silhouette standing in the shadow.

It was a lacquered black cube. Under the shine of light, the metallic shell was covered with dust, yet there was no trace of rust.

There were rows of irregular lines on the surface of the cube. What was surprising was not the pattern itself, but that after billions of years, there wasn’t a scratch on its body.

Looking at this weird man-made object, Lu Zhou whispered softly, “Is it here?”

General Reinhardt did not speak. He answered this question with his silence.

After stopping for a moment in front of this black cube, Lu Zhou suddenly turned his head and looked at Ling, who was standing behind him.

“Ling.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“How long has it been since we left Tiangong City?”

“17 hours and 8 minutes.”

Has it been so long already?

I should have asked Wu Qinglai to help me take a few more days off.

It was a pity that he was underground. It was obviously impossible to send a text message.

“This thing… Can I take it apart?”

“You can, but why bother?”

“What do you mean?”

General Reinhardt did not speak.

An azure blue light quickly penetrated the rock wall above his head and slowly shined on the black cube in front of him.

Ling reacted the same as before, taking a step back with a look of fear.

Looking at the familiar light, Lu Zhou frowned slightly, and a surprised expression instantly appeared on his face.

“This is?!”

“Scanning beams are generally equipped on scientific research ships or escape ships of the Calan Empire. They are mainly used to scan meteorites or asteroids and reveal their internal structures. Of course, if necessary, it can also be used to scan man-made objects. At the border of the Calan Empire, we often find civilization objects left by primitive creatures. In order to avoid affecting their civilizations as much as possible, we usually copy their objects without interfering.”

“This is incredible… Wait.” Lu Zhou asked immediately after realizing one thing, “Since your scanning beam can shine here, why did I come here?”

“I didn’t ask you to come here in person. Didn’t you come here on your own volition? In fact, you can sit in the spacecraft and drink beverages that have expired billions of years ago while tinkering with the professional equipment in the command room.” General Reinhardt said, “I thought you wanted to see with your own eyes what this thing looks like.”

Lu Zhou’s eyebrow twitched fiercely.

“In other words, I have to walk back?”

“Not necessary, I can directly transfer the image to your personal terminal… But if you want to see it more clearly, I personally recommend that you go back to the spacecraft.”

Lu Zhou: “…”

For f*ck’s sake!