That evening, Clemens returned home and, after his daughter Alice went to bed, went into his study to begin his research.

After carefully reading the letter from the Russian geographer about the Black Tower, Clemens finally focused his attention on the following points.

Time, place, and purpose.

First, there's the timing. According to the Antarctic expedition team and Russian geographers, the earthquakes triggered by the two black towers occurred three days prior.

From a timing perspective, the appearance of the two black towers was almost simultaneous. Does this mean that their appearance was not a single, accidental event, but rather triggered by a special force?

That is to say, if a third or even a fourth black giant tower appears, they should also trigger similar earthquakes at the same time.

Clemens opened the World-Wide Standardized Seismographic Network (WWSSN) database and began searching for earthquake reports from around the world from three days prior.

By comparing the magnitude, focal depth, and description, Clemens found that there were only about six earthquake reports that met the criteria.

Through further investigation, the number of suspicious points was reduced to three.

Using these three suspicious points as search keywords, Clemens began searching for all relevant resources online.

Eventually, he found a video on YouTube called "The Giant Tower in the Sea".

Clemens glanced at the video's data; there were very few viewers, and most of the comments were skeptical.

Open the video; it was filmed two days ago and uploaded by a fisherman from Okinawa, Japan.

The video shows a fisherman who, on his way back from fishing, spotted something strange on the sea.

The object resembled a black monument erected in the middle of the sea, with only ten meters visible above the surface and the vast majority hidden beneath.

The video was not very clear, and the camera was shaking constantly. Clemens could only barely make out the objects in the video by pausing the video and sharpening the image.

After repeatedly verifying its authenticity, Clemens finally confirmed that the giant tower captured in the video was indeed the mysterious structure that appeared in Antarctica and Russia.

Next, Clemens broke down the video frame by frame, extracting images of the fisherman's watch and the position of the sun.

By observing the time displayed on his watch and the approximate position of the sun in the sky, Clemens roughly determined the location where the video was filmed.

To the northeast of the Mariana Islands, west of Alamagan, and south of Iwo Jima.

Clemens opened the seabed map and discovered that it happened to be the northern extension of the Mariana Trench.

After confirming the third Black Tower, Clemens continued his online search, hoping to find a fourth, or even a fifth.

After a considerable period of time, Clemens finally confirmed that, based on earthquake observations from three days prior, there were currently only these three black giant towers in the world.

So, the second question is, why did these three black towers appear in these locations? Is it a random coincidence, or is there some other mystery?

Clemens found a paper world map and circled the three locations—the Northern Mariana Trench, the Antarctic Peninsula, and Kusmansk—with a pencil.

It's not hard to understand why the Black Tower remained undiscovered for so long due to its remote location in the Northern Mariana Trench and the Antarctic Peninsula.

But the third black behemoth, located in the Kola Superdeep Borehole in the Kusmansk region of Russia, is a bit more intriguing.

The Kola Superdeep Borehole is a scientific drilling project initiated by the former Soviet Union in 1970 in the Kola Peninsula near the Norwegian border. The deepest borehole, SG-3, reached 12,263 meters in 1989. In terms of vertical depth, this borehole remains the deepest man-made structure to date.

Construction on the Kola Superdeep Borehole was completely halted in 1992, with no official explanation given. The borehole was sealed off with a 12-ton steel gate, and access to the borehole by any vehicle, pedestrian, or aircraft was prohibited within a 20-kilometer radius.

Clemens searched the internet and found countless rumors about the Kola Superdeep Borehole.

Some say it's a passage to hell, and some have even found a recording of a "voice from hell" from underground.

Some say there is a huge gold mine deep underground, and if you can mine it, you can obtain inexhaustible wealth.

Looking at the photos of the Black Tower sent by the Russian geographer, Clemens speculated that if the Soviet Union had discovered the Black Tower in 1970, then their construction of the ultra-deep well would have been justifiable.

But why did they stop working when they only dug up rice?

Moreover, after abandoning the well, they specially sealed the entrance with a 12-ton steel gate and even set up a restricted area within a 20-kilometer radius.

For an abandoned drilling site, all of this seemed extremely strange.

Clemens picked up the map again, looking at the three locations he had marked, and muttered to himself, "What is the connection between these places?"

After looking at it for a long time and still not finding a reasonable explanation, Clemens put down the map and began to think about the last point of concern—its purpose.

What exactly are these black towers used for?

Their manufacturing materials are neither metal nor carbon-based, and they are clearly not man-made.

Ancient civilization?

Alien technology?

The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. Clemens leaned back in his chair, looked at the ceiling, and let out a long sigh.

"dad……"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!