The control room light flickered, and Chen Hao's hand remained on the confirmation button.
Carl's voice came through the channel: "Signal restored, navigation restarted."
“In those last three minutes, we deviated by seven degrees.” Susan stared at the helmet display. “The magnetic interference was stronger than expected.”
"As long as it can be corrected." Chen Hao stretched his shoulders, the joints of his wetsuit making a slight grinding sound. "Everyone stay close, don't get separated."
The four slowly descended, their thrusters slicing through the dark seawater. In the distance, the red dot became increasingly clear—Origin Point-01.
As they approached the target, Nana suddenly spoke up: "A high-density energy field has appeared ahead. We suggest you slow down."
As soon as he finished speaking, a beam of blue light swept across the seabed, illuminating the huge ring-shaped structure half-buried in the sediment.
That was a door.
The surface is covered with constantly flowing fluorescent patterns, like an electric current flowing under the skin. Every few seconds, the patterns recombine to form new geometric patterns.
“This isn’t stone,” Carl said in a low voice. “Material analysis shows it contains non-natural alloy components.”
“And it’s moving,” Susan added. “The patterns change regularly, with a cycle of twelve seconds.”
Chen Hao stared at it for a couple of seconds, then suddenly chuckled: "This thing is pretty energetic, not sleeping in the middle of the night, playing with puzzles by itself?"
No one responded.
Nana initiated the scanning program: "Low-frequency vibration detected, frequency 7.2 Hz, close to the Earth's Schumann resonance. Preliminary judgment: active state defense system."
"What do you mean?" Chen Hao asked.
“Touching it will shock you,” Carl concluded.
"Okay." Chen Hao nodded. "Then I won't touch it."
He brought up the thruster parameter interface and flipped to the data record of the last harmonic feedback test. That day, when he was adjusting the power output, he inadvertently caused the equipment to produce a continuous micro-vibration. At the time, he thought it was a malfunction, but later he discovered that the frequency could cause certain metallic materials to resonate.
"Nana, is it possible to solve this mechanism using resonance?"
“Yes,” Nana answered quickly, as if she had been waiting for this question. “According to the database, ancient locking arrays often used a frequency matching mechanism. If the correct vibration mode is input, the activation program can be triggered.”
“Let’s give it a try.” Chen Hao turned to Karl. “Set the thrusters to pulse mode, start the output frequency at 7.0, and increase it by 0.1 each time. Don’t do it too fast.”
Carl frowned: "What if it doesn't like this rhythm?"
"Then let it sleep a little longer," Chen Hao shrugged. "Anyway, we brought lunch."
Susan ignored their nonsense, stepped back five meters, set up the sampling probe, and prepared to record any environmental changes.
First attempt, frequency 7.3.
The pattern flashed, and the speed increased.
“It’s angry,” Carl said.
The second time, 7.5.
Suddenly, a burst of electric arcs erupted from the facade, striking the rock layer in front and instantly vaporizing it to create a deep crater.
"Raise your hand before you speak next time." Chen Hao shrank back.
The third time, 7.6.
There was still no response, but the flow of the patterns became disordered.
“We’re getting close,” Nana said. “The feedback signals are showing a brief period of synchronization.”
Chen Hao glanced at the data and jumped directly to 7.8.
"This time, it's either open the door or get roasted."
The thruster activated, and the micro-nozzles released steady pulse waves. The water flow trembled slightly, and ripples spread outwards toward the stone gate.
The pattern paused at first, then stopped flowing.
Then, run it in reverse.
Click—
A dull mechanical sound came from the seabed, like gears that had been rusted for years finally loosening.
A cross-shaped crack appeared in the center of the stone gate, and the two sides slowly sank inward. There was no dust or debris falling during the process, as if the gate did not belong to this world.
"It's open?" Karl couldn't believe it.
"It's open." Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief. "Looks like I do have some talent after all."
They waited for ten seconds to make sure there was no further reaction before slowly approaching the entrance.
The moment the last person stepped in, a gush of black water, extremely cold in temperature, suddenly surged from the bottom and quickly filled the entire passage.
The field of vision decreased to less than two meters.
"Turn on the lights," Chen Hao ordered.
Four beams of intense light pierced the darkness, illuminating a narrow passageway. The walls were smooth, as if cast by high temperatures, and faint engravings on the floor formed some kind of star trail pattern.
“I’m filming.” Susan held up her recorder. “These symbols… look a bit like the ones on the nameplate.”
"Don't bump into the wall yet," Chen Hao warned. "That door we just passed was just the first hurdle; there's no guarantee there won't be other tricks later on."
Nana walked at the front, arms outstretched, the built-in sensors running at full power: "No energy fluctuations in the current area, the wall material is stable, no triggering device detected."
“I’m relieved to hear that,” Carl muttered to himself. “After all, when you said ‘it’s safe for now’ last time, we were hit by an undersea earthquake.”
“That was an external geological event,” Nana replied calmly. “It’s not within the range of my prediction error.”
"Can you two stop arguing at a time like this?" Susan interrupted. "I can't see anything right now, I'm just using this little light to move forward."
The passage is not long, about fifteen meters.
At the end was a domed space, about twenty meters in diameter. The star trail pattern in the center of the ground was more complete, and the surrounding walls were covered with grooves arranged in a manner similar to writing, but they were unrecognizable.
Chen Hao stood in the center of the pattern, looking up and shining his flashlight upwards.
The inside of the dome also has patterns, which are more complex than those on the outside door, with layers nested together, like some kind of circuit board.
"What are these things used for?" he asked.
“It could be an information storage system,” Nana said. “It could also be an energy guiding structure.”
“Or both.” Susan crouched down and gently touched the groove in the wall with a probe. “Traces of radioactive isotopes remain here, dating…over 80 million years.”
Carl whistled: "So, when this place was built, dinosaurs were still roaming the ground?"
“To be precise,” Nana corrected, “the Late Cretaceous period was not yet over.”
"Don't go into such detail," Chen Hao waved his hand. "It's giving me a headache."
He turned to check his backpack, confirming the medication bag was still in its place. Susan had refilled the nerve stabilizer before leaving, and he remembered the expression on her face when she handed it to him—a look of reluctance yet a sense of obligation.
Looking back now, it was definitely necessary.
This place is so quiet.
It wasn't just ordinary stillness; it was a deathly silence devoid of any sign of life. There was almost no trace of even microbial metabolism.
"How long have we been in here?" he asked.
"Twenty-three minutes," Nana replied.
Is communication working properly?
"Stablize."
"Where's the oxygen?"
"Enough for six hours."
“Okay.” Chen Hao took a deep breath. “Be careful from now on. No one is allowed to touch, press, or step on anything. Especially you, Karl, I know you’re itching to do it.”
“I didn’t,” Carl protested. “I just wanted to see if I could knock a hidden compartment out of this wall.”
“No.” Susan stood up. “The structure here is too intricate; any damage could cause it to collapse.”
As they were talking, Nana suddenly raised her hand.
"etc."
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
“A faint vibration was detected,” she said. “It’s coming from underground, periodic, and occurs at intervals of exactly twelve seconds.”
Chen Hao looked down at the star trail pattern at his feet.
I hadn't noticed it before, but now that I look closely, some lines seem to be glowing extremely slowly, flashing on and off, in sync with the vibration.
"Is this floor... breathing?"
No one answered.
Because at that moment, the patterns on the top of their heads suddenly lit up.
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