After about twenty minutes of driving, the rover reached the edge of The Gates of Hell.
Fan Tong found a pass that allowed the rover to pass through along the contour line. He turned the steering wheel and drove the rover over.
As the rover continued to go deeper into the mountains along the rugged and narrow path, the signal was affected by the nearby hematite, and it began to become intermittent.
Astrophysicist Aubrey looked around at the steep cliffs and rock walls and felt the suffocating atmosphere. He couldn't help but say, "What's going on here?
"Speaking of which, why is this place called The Gates of Hell? Don't you think it's scary to give this place this name? "
Fan Tong, who was driving, spoke casually.
"I'm afraid you have to ask NASA about this. They named it."
As one of the first organizations to send probes to Mars, Curiosity had basically given a name to any terrain that was slightly larger than the surface of Mars.
Maybe the scientific researchers in charge of naming at the time felt that this word was more artistic, so they gave this name to the mountain range. It was hard to say whether there was any artistic germ, but the image was impressive.
"There are some cracks several meters long randomly around The Gates of Hell. These cracks are very similar to earthquake cracks. You can directly enter the ruins through them. Of course, these cracks are not the only way to enter the ruins. When I came out of the ruins, I passed through a fixed entrance. Its location is probably in the middle of the Gates of Hell mountain range, embedded in the rock wall on the side of the rift … It's just ahead, we're here. "
Moving forward along the rift valley, the rover with the engine turned off slowly stopped next to a ridge. After the group got off the rover, they followed Fan Tong's footsteps to an upright stone pillar about four or five people tall.
Behind this stone pillar, they could see a steep downward stone slope.
The light of dawn shone on the back of the stone pillar, stretching down along the path of the shadow. It was like some kind of natural miracle, and just by looking at it, one couldn't help but feel deep veneration.
Just by looking at its appearance, it did indeed give off the feeling of a relic.
"It's a bit weird."
Professor Vernal, an archaeologist from the University of Oxford, frowned. He walked to the stone pillar and squatted down. After groping along the surface of the stone pillar for a while, he suddenly spoke.
"Is this a marine sedimentary environment?"
Standing behind Professor Vernal, a hint of surprise appeared on Fan Tong's face. He nodded and spoke.
"I agree with you … Billions of years ago, this place should have been an ocean."
"And the altitude is probably a bit high." Professor Vernal continued to mutter to himself, "The hydrogeological environment here is a bit unique. There should have been many major geological disasters in history. Volcanic eruptions, plate collisions, and special tectonic movements that don't exist on Earth … It's really incredible. "
"Compared to the geological structure here, let's focus on the underground ruins." Aubrey, the astrophysicist, walked to the front of the group and cast an eager look at Lu Zhou. "What do you think? Boss. "
"I don't have an opinion, but if we just stand outside, I'm afraid we won't be able to figure out anything." Lu Zhou didn't respond to Aubrey's title. After thinking for a moment, he continued, "Let's move forward, I'll take the lead."
Wang Peng raised his hand and placed the rifle with a flashlight in front of him. He then took the initiative to walk to the entrance of the cave.
"Let me do it."
Aubrey and Vernal looked at each other and exchanged a strange look. Fan Tong shrugged helplessly and threw the stone sample in his hand aside.
"Although I said that weapons may be useless … Since you insist, it's up to you."
Even though this was true, they had to admit that having a gun in front of them still brought a lot of security.
Even though everyone knew in their hearts that if they really encountered any living aliens, it would be difficult for the weapons on Earth to guarantee their safety. But at least in their hearts, the black muzzle could still bring them some comfort.
Walking next to Lu Zhou, Schulz asked in a low voice.
"Are you sure those Martians are … dead?"
Lu Zhou's eyes scanned the surrounding environment vigilantly. He shrugged his shoulders and replied in a casual tone, "I'm not sure … But if they are not dead, we must have seen them on Earth a long time ago."
Surviving in this universe for billions of years …
Even if they did not occupy the Milky Way, the star field within a radius of thousands of light-years around the solar system should have long been under their control.
Suddenly, Dr. Lomonov, the aerospace engineer who hadn't spoken, spoke.
"Maybe we've already seen them, but we just didn't realize it?"
Aubrey couldn't help but shiver. He coughed and spoke.
"Don't tell this kind of ghost story!"
The group continued to move deeper into the tunnel.
So far, this expedition had been smooth, and they had not encountered any twists and turns.
Relying on the marks left by Fan Tong when they came out, they smoothly advanced at least two kilometers to the bottom of the cave. According to the data displayed by the depth detector, they were now about two hundred meters deep from the surface.
As their footsteps went deeper, the feeling of alienation from civilization became stronger. This feeling was like a baby who had just had its umbilical cord cut and was thrown into a bottomless well.
There was less and less communication between them. Whether it was a talkative person or a neurotic person, everyone tacitly remained silent.
At this moment, Fan Tong suddenly stopped and looked at the fork in the road in front of him.
"Something's wrong …"
Everyone stopped.
Lu Zhou looked at Fan Tong, who had stopped. He cast a questioning look at him.
"What's wrong?"
"The mark is interrupted here."
Fan Tong walked to the side of the rock wall. He reached out and touched it for a while. He found a scratch that was cut off from the middle.
This was the mark left by a multifunctional shovel when he came out of the underground ruins. Originally, this clue should have led directly to the deepest part of the ruins, but now it was cut off from the middle.
Looking at the two forks in front of him, the expression on Fan Tong's face became more and more dignified. He muttered to himself.
"Sure enough … The passage inside the ruins has changed. I didn't see any forks here before. I have to go back for about a kilometer before I encounter the first fork.
"However, the fork appeared ahead of time.
"I'm afraid it's not as simple as advancing ahead of time."
Professor Vernal walked forward and squatted beside the fork. He used the multifunctional shovel in his hand to chisel some debris from the rock wall. He held it in his hand and looked at it for a moment.
"Incredible."
Schultz swallowed his saliva and looked at him.
"What's incredible?"
"Three billion years ago … Or even earlier, this should be a cave covered with alloys." Professor Vernal stood up and carefully put the rock debris into a sample bag. He then labeled it and said, "Although the traces of civilization have been weathered away by time, the rocks do not lie."
Professor Aubrey frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean, judging from the traces of weathering, the structure of the road on the left is obviously more complicated than the road on the right." Professor Vernal glanced at Fan Tong, who was lost in thought. He then looked at Lu Zhou and shrugged. "You are the captain, you choose which way to go."
(Recommend a good fantasy book, "Journey to the Abyss", the new work of Otaku, recommended ~)
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