Carl's fingers were still pressed against the surface of the gel, the fine lines appearing as if something had gently sliced them open from the inside. He stared at it for two seconds, his throat bobbing.
"Nana".
"I am here."
"Is this... a new scar?"
No one answered. Susan looked down at the log panel; Chen Hao was typing the last culture tank's number into the terminal. The elevator light flashed three times, indicating that the return procedure was starting.
"Let's go." Chen Hao packed up the equipment. "Let's see if it has evolved eyes tomorrow."
Before the hatch closed, Karl glanced back one last time. The vines lay still, the blue light steady, as if asleep.
The pressure from the deep sea slowly pressed up, the thrusters started, and they began to rise.
— Half an hour later.
"Hey, have we gone off course?" Karl pressed his nose against the observation window.
The green dot on the navigation screen flickered, and the signal bar turned yellow.
“Magnetic field interference,” Nana’s voice remained unchanged. “Switching to inertial mode.”
"It's this godforsaken place again." Chen Hao touched the edge of his helmet. "Last time we passed through this fault line, all the instruments tripped. I thought we had to retire on the spot."
“Not this time,” Nana said. “I have blocked unnecessary frequency bands and only retained basic communication and positioning.”
"Then you better not crash," Carl muttered. "I don't want to turn into sea salted meat."
“You have enough fat, you won’t spoil even after soaking for years,” Chen Hao replied casually.
Susan didn't join the banter. She held the sampling rod in her hand, her gaze fixed on a gray-brown rock face ahead. The recent tremor had loosened the sedimentary layer, revealing an unnatural-looking cut beneath.
"Wait a minute," she said. "Isn't something... a little off over there?"
Chen Hao leaned closer. There was a straight line mark in the middle of the rock wall, too straight to seem naturally formed.
"Artificial?"
“Not sure,” Susan tapped lightly a few times, “but the density is higher than the surrounding area.”
Nana immediately pulled up the scan image. The sonar feedback was blurry, as if it were covered by mud and sand.
"Try low-frequency resonance." After she finished speaking, the machine hummed, and subtle vibrations were transmitted to the seabed.
A few seconds later, the image became clear.
A symmetrical structure is buried under the rock strata, with walls extending at a 90-degree angle, ending at an opening that resembles a door.
"Holy crap." Carl gasped. "Is this a house?"
“It looks more like the base of a temple,” Nana said. “Based on the proportions, the complete structure is about 120 meters long.”
"Who would build a house next to a crack in the seabed?" Chen Hao scratched his head.
“The ancients probably didn’t think it was a crack,” Susan said. “Maybe it was caused by later crustal movement.”
"Who cares?" Chen Hao patted his backpack. "Anyway, 'archaeological exploration' wasn't on the task list, but since I've stumbled upon it, I won't be able to sleep if I don't take a look."
“Risk assessment?” Nana asked.
"Of course there is," Chen Hao grinned. "The biggest risk is that I'll get so fat that I'll get stuck in the doorway."
Carl rolled his eyes: "Then you're the best person to go in. You can block the door and prevent theft."
They approached the entrance to the site. The thrusters slowed to a minimum to avoid stirring up too much mud and sand.
Susan and Carl took out a soft brush and a vacuum cleaner and began cleaning the area in front of the door. They moved slowly, sweeping centimeter by centimeter.
Five minutes later, a stone slab was revealed. The surface was smooth, and the edges were polished.
“It’s not a natural rock,” Susan said.
After clearing for a while, a pottery jar-shaped object emerged. It was half-buried in the soil, with its mouth facing upwards, and covered with a thin layer of stone slabs.
"Don't use your hands," Nana reminded, "Take a picture to record the location first."
Chen Hao walked around to the side and took three photos in quick succession. He paused when the camera panned across the can.
"There are patterns on it."
“The characters are arranged in a circular pattern with diagonal symbols,” Nana analyzed. “They resemble early hieroglyphic systems, but there are no matching entries in the database.”
"So, nobody knows him?" Carl asked.
"It cannot be deciphered at the moment," Nana said.
"Is it valuable?" Chen Hao stroked his chin.
“The historical value far outweighs the economic value,” Nana replied.
"Sigh," Chen Hao sighed, "I knew it."
Susan reached for the pottery jar. She had just lifted it a little when the rock beside her suddenly trembled, and rubble rained down, hitting the plaque not far away.
"Watch out!" Chen Hao pulled her back.
After the dust settled, the nameplate was still there, but there was a crack along the edge.
“It’s over,” Carl said quietly. “Now it’s ruined as soon as it’s unearthed.”
"Not yet." Nana had already opened her toolkit and taken out a transparent bag. "This is an inert sealing bag, which can prevent air from reacting."
She carefully put the bag over the mouth of the ceramic jar and gently squeezed it; the gel-like substance sealed the gap.
"All done," she said. "The remaining liquid inside won't evaporate anymore."
"I've learned something," Chen Hao nodded. "Next time I'll bring some plastic wrap with me when I go into the sea."
"I recommend that all cultural relics be sealed in their original locations," Nana said. "Sudden environmental changes could cause structural collapse."
“That’s what we’ll do then.” Chen Hao stood up. “Karl, get the buoy.”
Carl took a glow stick out of his backpack, turned it on, and stuck it in the ground. The red light surrounded the unexcavated area, standing out conspicuously in the water.
“No trampling allowed,” Chen Hao said, pointing. “Anyone who tramples down their ancestors’ house will be punished by having to clean the lamps every day.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Carl muttered.
"You were the one who caused the earthquake to cause a period of dormancy last time, and you're the one who caused the ground to collapse this time. If you don't take the blame, who will?"
Susan ignored them. She squatted in front of another stone carving, her fingers hovering over the surface, but she didn't touch it.
“These symbols…are arranged in a very regular pattern,” she said. “It’s like they’re recording something.”
"Keep accounts?" Chen Hao leaned closer. "Like 'In a certain month of a certain year, three fish were sacrificed'?"
“We cannot rule out this possibility,” Nana said. “Many ancient civilizations used stone carvings to record the allocation of resources.”
"Shall we dig deeper?" Chen Hao asked eagerly.
"We only have forty minutes of oxygen left," Nana warned. "Continuing to work will affect our safe return journey."
"Let's call it a day then." Chen Hao clapped his hands. "We'll take the stuff back and talk about it later. We can't exactly open a museum here."
They started packing.
The ceramic jars were placed in shock-absorbing boxes, the stone carvings were separated with foam pads, and the metal nameplates were placed separately in anti-magnetic boxes. Each item was numbered and registered, and Nana uploaded the data simultaneously.
“Sample number three has been successfully packaged,” she said.
"Number four is in place," Susan confirmed.
Carl was in charge of moving them. He pushed the boxes into the elevator one by one, his movements much more steady than usual.
"Don't drop it." Chen Hao stared at him. "These things are more valuable than your life."
“I know,” Carl said through gritted teeth. “I’m not stupid.”
As the last stone slab was being placed in, the securing straps suddenly came loose. The crate tilted and bumped against the bulkhead.
"Oh!" Karl hurriedly steadied her. "It's alright, it's alright... it should be alright."
Chen Hao went over to inspect it. There was a shallow scratch on the protective shell, but no cracks inside.
"Add a cushioning pad," he said, stuffing his spare pad in. "With your hands, you're bound to cause a big problem sooner or later."
“It really wasn’t me this time,” Carl said, feeling wronged. “The tape was worn out.”
"Alright." Chen Hao closed the box. "We'll get a new one when we get back to base."
Nana calibrated the last route. Navigation returned to green, and the inertial system was functioning normally.
"Get ready to go up," she said.
Chen Hao stood inside the cabin, his hand resting on the shock absorber. He glanced back at the ruins encircled by buoys; the soil was still slowly sinking, concealing the traces that had just been exposed.
“This place…” he said softly, “is more than just this.”
"What do you mean?" Susan asked.
“Look at that door,” Chen Hao pointed. “The opening faces the fault line, as if it was deliberately chosen. And there’s a drainage channel in the corner, which means they know the tidal patterns.”
"so?"
“So this isn’t a temporary outpost,” he said. “It was planned.”
Nana added, "The wall material contains titanium alloy, which is highly corrosion-resistant, and the builders have certain metallurgical skills."
"A bunch of ancient people who knew how to make steel?" Karl frowned. "What did they eat? Lumps of iron?"
“Maybe they don’t eat iron,” Chen Hao laughed, “but they definitely left behind a lot of things.”
"I suggest sending a specialized archaeological team later," Nana said.
"That's for later." Chen Hao pressed the ascent button. "For now, let's get back alive."
The elevator slowly rose, and the lights gradually moved away from the seabed.
The cabin fell silent. Susan sat in the corner, staring at the ceramic jar in the sealed bag. She felt the symbols were arranged too neatly, not like random carvings.
Carl repeatedly checked the backpack buckles, muttering something to himself.
Nana continued to upload data, with the numbers and coordinates scrolling across the screen.
Chen Hao leaned against the bulkhead, feigning sleep with his eyes closed. But his fingers kept tapping his knees, the rhythm irregular, as if he were deep in thought.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes.
"Nana".
"exist."
Did you detect any internal space during the scan?
“Yes.” Nana pulled up the image. “There is a cavity in the area surrounded by the wall, with a maximum height of about four meters. It is speculated to be the structure of a hall.”
"Could it be a warehouse? Or... a place to hide things?"
“The possibility exists,” Nana said, “but the current detection accuracy is insufficient to confirm the contents.”
Chen Hao's lips curled up slightly.
"I'll bring more suitcases next time."
The cabin swayed slightly as it passed through a layer of turbulence. The shock absorber made a soft thud, as if metal had struck something.
Karl suddenly looked up and glanced at the corner of the box.
There, a seal that was originally tightly closed was slowly lifting a corner.
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