Captain Zhong focused on driving, completely ignoring the banter between the two team members. Even in the monotonous search mission, such lively moments were needed.
"Ding! New mission!"
Suddenly, a notification sounded in their ears, and a line of text appeared on the helmet screens in front of them: "Proceed to Maxam Crater and explore the interior of the moon along Rift Thirty-Seven."
Then, a new trajectory appeared in the navigation that comes with the launcher.
"Hey guys, we've got a new mission. This one won't be boring," Captain Zhong said with a smile after glancing at the mission description.
After saying that, he turned around and headed towards the Maxam Crater.
Maxam Crater is the deepest point on the Moon, exceeding 1 meter in depth, deeper than the deepest trench on Earth.
Its bottom has hundreds of cracks leading into the interior of the moon, which the search team can use to delve into and investigate.
An hour later, Sun Zhibing and his team drove the lander to the edge of the Maxam Crater.
Looking down from the edge of the crater, the jagged cracks at the bottom resemble the mouth of a giant beast.
Above some of the cracks, the other squads, who had also received new missions, were already searching downwards along the cracks.
"That's Crack 37, let's go!" Captain Zhong said, pointing to a crack that was neither too big nor too small, about a hundred meters wide.
Soon, they arrived above the crevice. Captain Zhong piloted the lander and carefully descended along the crevice.
They flew less than 100 meters down before the sunlight disappeared completely, plunging them into darkness.
Captain Zhong turned on the headlights at the front and back of the lander, and immediately the surrounding terrain became clear again.
"Sun Zhibing, observe the surrounding environment and pay attention to the signal feedback from the probe. Wang Jun, record the terrain data. This is first-hand information, don't miss it." Captain Zhong reminded the two team members and continued to control the lander to fly downwards.
"Don't worry, Captain, we won't mess things up." Sun Zhibing and Wang Jun couldn't care less about their bickering anymore. In this dark and unfamiliar environment, they were inexplicably nervous.
They continued flying downwards for about 100 miles, until they reached a point where the crack had narrowed to less than 30 meters.
Captain Zhong had already reduced the lander's speed to a minimum, carefully avoiding the irregular rock walls, and continued flying downwards.
Two more hours passed, and the launcher still hadn't found the bottom.
Sun Zhibing looked down, but it was pitch black and he couldn't see anything. Even when the light shone on him, it seemed to be swallowed up.
He couldn't help but shudder and clicked his tongue, "Captain, should we continue downwards? We're already 200 kilometers from the lunar surface, and we still haven't seen the bottom. Could this crack lead directly to the lunar core?"
Wang Jun was also somewhat timid; staying in such an environment for a long time could easily lead to feelings of fear.
"No one has ever been here before. We may have broken a human record. Our names might even appear in textbooks in the future!" Captain Zhong's voice was somewhat excited.
"Really, our names will appear in textbooks!" Wang Jun said, his voice becoming somewhat excited.
"Not necessarily. Maybe other teams have gone even deeper, then this record might not be ours anymore?" Captain Zhong paused for a moment before saying.
Upon hearing this, Sun Zhibing quickly said, "We can't let anyone else have this opportunity, Captain! Let's go all out and get straight to the end!"
“Yes, yes, yes, we can’t let go of this opportunity to bring glory to our ancestors!” Wang Jun echoed.
"Alright, as long as you're not afraid, we're ready to go all out!" Captain Zhong laughed.
"What's a little bit of this compared to the chance to bring glory to our ancestors and make our names known in history!" Sun Zhibing and Wang Jun said in unison, their previous timidity completely gone!
The three of them pressed on and flew another 100 kilometers downwards.
We've penetrated 300 kilometers into the moon's interior, and the average width of the crack is less than five meters.
Captain Zhong changed positions several times, found a larger gap, and continued to fly downwards in a winding path.
Suddenly, the straight line on the detector fluctuated, then returned to a straight line.
Sun Zhibing blinked, thinking he was seeing things, and quickly called out, "Captain, Captain, I think I just saw the detector fluctuate."
"real!"
Upon hearing this, Captain Zhong immediately hovered the lander and turned around to look at the detector screen.
Wang Jun, who was standing next to him, also leaned over. The two stared at the screen for a while, and when they saw that it was still a straight line, they both turned to look at Sun Zhibing.
"When we were here just now, the detector seemed to have a slight fluctuation." Sun Zhibing pointed to the diagonally behind them, where they had just emerged from the lander.
Captain Zhong and Wang Jun exchanged a glance. Without saying a word, Captain Zhong returned to the driver's seat and controlled the lander to return along the original route.
After walking back less than five meters, the straight line on the detector indeed began to fluctuate.
"It really happened!" Wang Jun and Sun Zhibing exclaimed excitedly upon seeing this.
Captain Zhong found a protruding rock nearby, parked the lander, and then went to check the probe.
The straight line on the screen had become slightly curved. He calmly said, "The signal strength is very weak. According to the detector's observation range, the signal source is about 500 kilometers away from us. With our current conditions, we can't reach that distance at all."
He glanced at the two men and said, "Wang Jun, mark the location. We'll return immediately, report this abnormal signal, and wait for more professional people to come and confirm it!"
"Captain, why don't we continue exploring? Maybe we can find this signal source." Wang Jun hesitated for a moment before asking.
“That’s right, Captain! If we can find this signal source, the company’s reward will be enough to ensure we’re set for life!” Sun Zhibing said anxiously.
"It's too dangerous. This is the limit the lander can reach. The rest of the journey will have to be done manually, and it's impossible to complete the search."
Captain Zhong glanced at the dark tunnel, shook his head, and then decisively said, "Return to base immediately. Leave the rest to the more professional people!"
Sun Zhibing and Wang Jun also sighed. Although they were unwilling, they knew that their captain's decision was correct!
They then marked the spot and drove the lander back the way they came.
They made it out of the crevice without incident and returned to the lunar surface. They immediately reported the abnormal signals they had discovered.
In less than ten minutes, three larger and better-equipped landing craft flew over.
"Three colleagues, the company thanks you for your contributions. Leave the rest to us!"
A deep voice came through the three people's headsets, and then several oddly shaped drones flew out of the landing craft and disappeared into the crevice.
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