"Marus, what are you doing?"
A deep voice came from behind, startling the small, low-level Proxima Centauri.
Marus is the collective name for these lower Proxima Centauri beings, who were incubated by the incubation center.
Their congenital deficiencies, coupled with various acquired factors, have resulted in them being extremely thin.
With generally low IQs, they are at the bottom of the Proxima Centauri civilization, responsible for the simplest and most arduous tasks. Atocha, who was executed a few years ago, was one of the thousands of Marus.
The small-statured Marus didn't have time to think. He quickly turned around and placed his forelimbs on top of his thought organ.
The reason is simple: only the superior Proxima Centauri would call them that.
"My lord, I, I..."
Marus didn't even dare to look up to see who the speaker was.
His body trembled violently, and despite his mind racing, he couldn't find a single plausible reason.
For the first time, he hated his inferior thinking organs so much.
"Fine, I'm in a good mood today, so I won't bother you!" The deep voice faded into the distance with the sound of footsteps. "Get back to work, or else..."
Marus breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.
He cautiously cast his gaze in the direction the sound had faded into the distance.
A touch of gray!
A chill ran down his spine.
...
Mars.
Inside Mars City No. 1.
"Professor, Bai Yixuan and his team have sent back the first test report."
Zero's electronic synthesized voice rang out in Lü Yongchang's office.
"Um?"
Lu Yongchang quickly raised his head and looked at the holographic image that had lit up in front of him: "Sharp Mountain?"
"Did they choose a location that NASA had already surveyed...?"
Lü Yongchang nodded to himself.
That's a good choice.
Instead of aimlessly trying your luck, it's better to start with areas that have some data to support your decisions.
"What were the test results?"
Zero quickly projected the results in front of Lü Yongchang.
Looking at the data displayed above, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
"Calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, and some scrap iron ore..."
Lü Yongchang immediately sat up straight and began to carefully examine the report.
“Sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbon…” he muttered to himself, frowning. “These elements are incredible!”
They are all key chemical components for the existence of life.
Thinking about Mount Sharp's geographical location and the previous exploration reports from NASA's Mars rovers, Lü Yongchang couldn't help but frown.
Could it be that Mars was once a vibrant world, just like Earth?
After pondering for a while, he frowned and said to Zero, "Zero, have them go and drill over at Gale Crater."
...
Mount Sharp.
Bai Yixuan sat on the Mars rover, silently waiting for a response from Mars City.
Soon, his watch vibrated slightly.
They've responded!
Bai Yixuan's eyes flickered slightly, and he quickly looked down at his watch.
When he saw the information displayed on his wristwatch, a look of surprise flashed across his face: "This..."
"Everyone, we have to go down now." Bai Yixuan composed himself, stood up, and looked down at Gale Crater. "Professor Lü asked us to go and take a look at Gale Crater."
"team leader?"
As teammates who had been with Bai Yixuan for several years, Hong Fan and Xia Wanyi naturally noticed Bai Yixuan's surprise just now and immediately asked him about it.
"Did the professor say anything?"
Faced with his old teammate's question, Bai Yixuan hesitated for a moment: "It's nothing important."
"The professor said that, based on our sample analysis, there is a possibility that life exists in Gale Crater."
"Of course, not now, but in the past." Seemingly afraid that his teammates would misunderstand, Bai Yixuan quickly added, "I'm not talking about the fungal life that was found when we were digging the hole last time, but life similar to that on Earth."
Upon hearing this, all five teammates showed a deep look of shock.
"Similar to Earth?!"
"Captain, are you sure?!"
Hong Fan clicked his tongue and turned to look around.
Inside Gale Crater, everything was a deep crimson red.
Apart from fine gravel, large rocks are everywhere.
Could such an environment possibly have given rise to life like that on Earth?
Bai Yixuan shrugged: "Professor Lü said so, but don't get your hopes up too high, the probability of this happening is very small."
...
At the foot of Mount Sharp, inside Gale Crater.
Andrew and Bruno crouched down and gently brushed away the crimson sparks from the ground with their tools, revealing the textured surface beneath.
"Is this sedimentary rock?"
Bruno's eyes lit up, and he quickly stood up and waved to his teammates.
As the crowd approached, Bruno pointed to the ground and exclaimed excitedly, "Look, everyone, what's this!"
"Typical sedimentary rock!"
"These patterns are generally formed only by the transport and deposition processes of water flow and glaciers!"
Through the glass mask, Bruno saw the surprised expressions on everyone's faces.
He reached out and gently tapped the rock in front of him: "Professor Lü is right."
"In any case, this place may have been a lake in the past, and there is indeed a possibility that life existed there."
Bai Yixuan squatted down and gently stroked the rock in front of him.
Through the gloves, he could clearly feel the texture of the rock surface.
At that moment, he held his breath slightly.
It was as if he was touching not rocks, but the pulse of Mars over billions of years!
After a long while, he exhaled a long breath, stood up, and said, "This way it is."
"Hong Fan, bring the drilling equipment over. Let us see what's underground!"
...
With the combined efforts of the six people, the drilling equipment was quickly reassembled.
With the combined action of the motor and the drill bit, bright red stone chips flew out rapidly.
Due to gravity, some fine dust particles floated in the air and did not fall to the ground for a long time.
The air around the borehole quickly became murky.
Bai Yixuan, who was in charge of operating the drilling equipment, glanced at the monitor next to him through the murky air.
Looking at the various data displayed above, Bai Yixuan shook his head helplessly.
"This place is really hard to crawl through. I guess it's all sedimentary rock underneath?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the drill bit sank down instantly, as if there was no obstruction!
Holy crap!
Seeing the drill bit descending rapidly, Bai Yixuan didn't have time to think and pressed the emergency stop button based on muscle memory.
"team leader?!"
The commotion clearly startled several teammates nearby.
"What happened? Why is the drill bit..." Hong Fan squatted down with a look of lingering fear, examining the drilling rig.
Bai Yixuan swallowed hard, slowly stood up, and pressed the switch to reverse the motor with trembling hands.
"I'm not sure either; it doesn't seem to be rock formations down there."
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