Chapter 238 The Disappeared Research Ship

A rocky planet!

It is the only planet in the thousands of light-year journey!

And the signal of the TE913 research ship is near this planet!

The moment he learned this information, Chen Fan's spirit instantly tensed up.

He didn't believe that there would be such a coincidence in the world!

Just when Chen Fan was alert, the [Varilla] quietly exited the curvature navigation state and headed towards the planet in front under the control of the shipboard computer.

Without the light of the star, this planet is like an assassin hidden in the darkness, quietly lurking in the deep and dim universe.

In fact, all planets that have separated from the main star look like this.

For low-level civilizations with relatively simple observation methods, this wandering planet that moves silently in the dark can be regarded as a real killer.

If you are not careful, the fleet will collide with the oncoming wandering planet.

Although the probability is very low, as long as it happens, it is tantamount to a catastrophe for the fleet of low-level civilizations.

The Varela stopped moving forward, and a black shadow that blocked a lot of starlight appeared in front of the porthole - this was the wandering planet.

Looking at the deep darkness outside the porthole, Chen Fan's thoughts moved slightly.

The shipboard planet scanning function was quietly turned on.

The true appearance of the wandering planet quickly emerged in the holographic projection on the main console.

A rocky planet with a diameter of more than 6,000 kilometers, which is made of solid rock.

"The planet has a magnetic field of a certain intensity." The electronic synthesized voice sounded in the cockpit, "Its core is still active."

"The planet's atmosphere has completely dissipated, and it should have wandered in this cosmic void for a long time."

Chen Fan nodded lightly, he didn't care about the basic information mentioned by Yi.

At this time, his eyes were fixed on the gradually clear scanning image in the holographic projection - compared with conventional rocky planets, this planet was obviously a little abnormal.

Its surface is not "flat", and a huge gully across the north and south poles quietly lies on the side of the planet facing the Varela.

[Maximum depth: 1007 kilometers. 】

【Average depth: 791 km. 】

【Maximum width: 297 km, average width: 173 km. 】

What does a depth of 1,007 km mean?

The deepest point in the Mariana Trench is only 11 km!

It is just a fraction of this trench!

Whether it is width or depth, this "trench" is difficult to explain by natural causes.

It is like a scar deep enough to see the bone, silently falling on the surface of this wandering planet.

"External attack?"

Chen Fan immediately thought of the powerful space weapons: "Yi, do you think this is caused by space weapons?"

"This machine doesn't think so." After a short calculation, Yi denied Chen Fan's guess, "The cross section of the gully is quite rough, and there is a clear difference from the characteristics of the impact of space weapons."

"This machine is more inclined to mining traces."

"Mining?" Chen Fan was stunned, "What mine?"

"Rare earth ore."

Yi quickly gave an answer: "The planetary scan has not been completed, but a lot of rare earth mines have been found underground on this planet."

"In addition to rare earth mines, there are also high-purity monocrystalline silicon mines on this planet."

As Yi's voice fell, intricate and intertwined trivial lines emerged in the virtual image of the planet in the holographic projection.

Each line is a mineral vein.

"So many?!"

Chen Fan raised his eyebrows and exclaimed: "That gully..."

Yi gave an answer: "The calculation results show that rare earths and monocrystalline silicon are relatively abundant near the gully. It is not difficult to judge that this may be the main mineral vein on this planet."

Chen Fan nodded thoughtfully.

If Yi's judgment is correct, this wandering planet should be a mining site of a certain interstellar civilization.

"Ding Dong."

A crisp prompt sounded in the cockpit, and a line of prompt information flashed on the holographic panel in front of him:

[Planet scan completed.]

[No technological creations have been found yet.]

...

EL13697101 Deep in the universe, in the center of an unknown galaxy.

A large fleet quietly hovered near the black hole in the center of the galaxy. The powerful gravity of the black hole seemed unable to have any effect on this fleet that covered the sky and the sun.

Not far from this fleet, dozens of silver-white planetary fortresses were neatly arranged and hovered in the vast universe.

Further away, endless small starships shuttled back and forth between star systems.

In these star systems, a large number of large-scale industrial equipment built on planets are running day and night.

One by one, life planets quietly orbited their respective main stars. Around these life planets, starships and defense equipment responsible for vigilance were constantly circling.

It seems...

these life planets have become slaves of this fleet!

And this galaxy has become the production base of this fleet!

Suddenly, an imperceptible wave came from the depths of the universe, quickly sweeping across this huge galaxy.

It was a tachyon broadcast.

To be precise, it was a tachyon broadcast that had been forwarded many times.

After waiting for a while, the huge fleet located in the black hole area at the center of the galaxy, which had been silent for a long time, finally took action.

Orders were issued from the core of the fleet, and a small part of the fleet broke away from the huge fleet and slowly sailed towards the coordinates indicated in the tachyon broadcast.

…

"How is this possible?!"

Chen Fan looked at the prompt information in the holographic projection and couldn't help but ask: "One, are you sure the scan result is OK?"

"Wait a minute, let me check it."

While waiting, Chen Fan's expression became heavy.

It seems that... the expected ease and convenience has disappeared unknowingly, replaced by all kinds of troubles.

"There is no problem with the planetary scan."

The electronic synthesized voice sounded again, bringing Chen Fan the worst news: "Don't talk about scientific research ships, there are not even any technological creations on this planet."

This scan result obviously violated all previous conjectures and judgments.

First of all, the scientific research ship, the black box signal is near this wandering planet, and there is only this planet in this star field!

Speaking of technological creations, if the gully that is one thousand kilometers deep is caused by mining, how could there be no residual traces on this planet?

Chen Fan stared at the bright yellow prompt information in the holographic projection, and his brows frowned immediately.

"One, will the planetary scan be interfered with?"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Fan asked.

"Theoretically, civilizations above level seven can interfere with the results of planetary scanning to a certain extent."

Yi's answer made Chen Fan feel more and more uneasy.

Could it be that... there are relics of advanced civilization on this planet?

The reason why it is called a relic is naturally because the position and scanning behavior of the [Varilla] at this time are too sensitive - if there is really an advanced civilization on this planet, I am afraid that the [Varilla] has been attacked by the other party at this time.

"Let's go down and take a look."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Fan made a decision.

"Planetary scanning will be interfered with, but naked eye observation will not be affected, right?"

...

The order was issued, and a layer of light golden barrier slowly emerged around the [Varilla]. At the same time, this khaki starship slowly drove towards the wandering planet in front.

Due to the absence of an atmosphere, the starship's landing process was quite smooth.

As the starship's altitude continued to decrease, the high-power searchlights on the side of the ship shone directly on the surface of the planet.

The silver-gray ground was filled with sparkling flashes - that was the reflection of the ice layer.

Yes, this is an ice planet.

Without the light of the main star, the temperature on the surface of the planet is close to the average temperature of the universe: -270 degrees Celsius.

At such a temperature, the ice layer on the surface of the planet is particularly solid.

[Varilla] slowly floated through the air, with the searchlights and various detection instruments all turned to maximum power, trying to find the research ship that had been missing for several months.

One circle, two circles, three circles...

The investigator starship circled back and forth several times at an altitude of 3,000 meters above the surface, but still did not get any useful results.

The atmosphere in the starship cockpit was particularly solemn, and Chen Fan once again cast his eyes on the signal logo of the black box of the research ship in the holographic projection.

The signal logo did not move at all, but just stayed quietly in place.

But no matter how hard Chen Fan tried, he could not find the trace of this research ship!

Since he became an investigator of the Administration, Chen Fan has never encountered such a strange incident!

If he had not been in charge of a starship from a level nine civilization, he would even have had the illusion of encountering a supernatural event such as a ghost wall!

"Release the drones."

After confirming that there was no danger on the planet, Chen Fan gave an order with a gloomy face: "Release all the shipborne drones!"

"Today, I will turn this planet upside down and find that research ship!"

The moment the order was issued, the belly hatch of the [Varilla] suddenly opened, and hundreds of micro-shipborne drones less than half a meter in size filed out and rushed towards the frozen planet below.

One minute, two minutes...

Time passed bit by bit, and the holographic structure diagram of the frozen planet in the holographic projection became more and more detailed.

But...

there is no research ship, nor the so-called mining equipment.

Just when Chen Fan was getting impatient, a prompt sounded quietly.

"Unknown signal detected."

Unknown signal?

Chen Fan's face changed slightly, and he sat up straight quickly: "Yi, what's going on?"

"A ship-borne drone detected an unknown current signal while exploring the gully." Yi quickly gave an answer, "The source of the current signal..."

"It's the crust under the ice."

"To be more precise, it's the mineral veins in the crust."

Before the voice fell, a series of bright yellow warning messages appeared in the holographic projection in front of Chen Fan.

It's also an unknown current signal.

This strange electrical signal can be detected in every corner of the planet!

Looking at the warning information that quickly filled the entire planet model, Chen Fan suddenly had a shocking idea in his mind.

He widened his eyes and swallowed hard:

"This planet..."

"Is it alive?"

(End of this chapter)