"Don't paint me as too noble," He Yuqing murmured by my ear. "I'm just a university student who hasn't even graduated yet."

"Me neither," I countered. "What's the big deal? Gan Luo became chancellor at twelve. We’re already past twenty; doing something significant shouldn't be out of the question."

I set He Yuqing down and moved forward to meticulously examine the ten excavators. They weren't particularly advanced; they were certainly inferior to the super excavators we had built, perhaps only slightly more sophisticated than modern machinery. Their power source was likely a battery bank, though it was long since decayed.

For subterranean construction, electricity is the optimal power system. If they used a hydrocarbon system, the combustion process would inevitably cause severe dust pollution. Since these prehistoric people were capable of utilizing nuclear power, inventing and employing storage battery packs wouldn't have been a difficult feat.

Continuing our survey, we also discovered areas resembling modern employee dormitories and a dining hall. They weren't vast, suggesting that the construction crew stationed here was small, perhaps because the project was nearing completion.

The discovery of this subterranean facility confirms that the existence of a prehistoric super-civilization is no longer a mere fantasy. These mechanical devices and power systems indicate a level of advancement comparable to our own time. After thousands of years of development, if they still exist, their civilization would far surpass ours today. The question remains: where did they go? Did they perish, or are they hidden somewhere on Earth, or perhaps deep within the Moon?

He Yuqing was utterly exhausted by the inspection, and dawn was breaking. Finding no further astonishing discoveries, we retraced our steps to the stone chamber on the surface. The metal door below could no longer be sealed as it once was, but to prevent dust from entering, I managed to pull the two large doors together. However, the secret passage within the stone chamber still functioned perfectly; even if someone else found it, they wouldn't easily locate the switch again in a short time.

The giant mosquito was gone by then. He Yuqing asked, "Take me to the place where Xiaoxue was found, and those strange colossal statues."

I led He Yuqing to the base of the waterfall at the end of the river valley. Everything remained as before: the giant statues stood motionless, and the waterfall continued to flow. Only the vibrant crimson giant flower was missing.

As we approached the statues, they launched a sudden attack on us, just as they had before, causing He Yuqing to scream. I had no desire to fight them; they seemed indestructible, impossible to shatter, making a battle pointless.

He Yuqing speculated, "Maybe they are machines? Otherwise, how could they stand there motionless for thousands of years?"

I considered this. If they possessed organic structures, wouldn't our previous fierce engagement have utterly destroyed them by now?

"Yuqing, let them be. Aren't we supposed to check out that secret underground den of the natives? It's almost morning; lingering here might expose our presence."

He Yuqing exclaimed, "Right, I almost forgot about that. Let’s hurry."

Upon returning to the woods, I concealed He Yuqing in a safe spot and stealthily slipped into the cave beneath the cliff, knocking out the few native guards. Then I brought He Yuqing inside together.

There were no special mechanisms inside. The earth passage extended only a short distance beneath the cliff before opening into a stone chamber. Torches burned within the room, rendering the air foul and suffocating—a stark contrast to our underground excursion. Although the facility beneath the pyramid hadn't been visited for millennia, its ventilation system was excellent, and the air was fresh.

"The natives' secret must be these murals," He Yuqing observed immediately, pointing to the brightly colored line drawings covering the walls.

I, however, was startled by a bloody corpse lying on the stone table in the center of the chamber. I quickly nudged He Yuqing with my finger, drawing her attention there. He Yuqing turned, shrieked again, and flung herself into my arms.

I chuckled at He Yuqing, "This is hardly the time for simple butt-grabbing now. I've held you quite a few times already."

He Yuqing retorted, "And you have the nerve to joke? Go see what's going on!"

I observed the scene. "She's dead, probably a sacrificial victim. That's perfectly normal in primitive tribes. What strikes me as odd is why they only sacrificed one person. A phenomenon like the moon's appearance is a major event; shouldn't they have slaughtered ten or eight to placate the Moon God?"

He Yuqing quickly scanned the line drawings on the wall and pointed to a section. "Let's start here; this should be the beginning of the story."

The dye for the murals was likely the sap of certain plants mixed with a tenacious clay. Because the lines were extremely simplistic, I couldn't decipher them well. Fortunately, He Yuqing had extensive knowledge in this area; she narrated as she interpreted them for me.

"Long, long ago, the ancestors of the natives encountered 'gods' that could fly. Those 'flying gods' in their eyes were probably the humans from the prehistoric civilization. These prehistoric humans traveled around in flying craft. When they discovered the ancestors of these natives, they hunted them and established a base in the area... Look at this panel here."

He Yuqing pointed to another mural. "The scene depicted by these lines likely relates to the sacrifice the natives just performed."

The general meaning of the mural depicted a figure drawn with simple lines—identical to the native people seen earlier—lying on a rudimentary operating table. Beside the table stood an abnormally tall line figure who seemed to be dissecting the person on the table using some kind of instrument.

I noticed another detail and pointed it out to He Yuqing. "Have you noticed the comparison in height between the prehistoric humans and the natives in the murals? If we extrapolate based on the height ratios shown, the prehistoric humans were three to four times our height."

He Yuqing pondered this. "Certain ancient myths speak of giants, just like our ancient legends feature Kuafu chasing the sun. Kuafu was an undeniable giant; he could drink the Yellow River and the Wei River dry and still not quench his thirst. What kind of giant do you think he was?"

"Myths always exaggerate. If he could truly drain the Yellow River and the Wei River, Kuafu might have been a super-machine, perhaps diverting the water elsewhere."

He Yuqing continued looking down the wall. "Putting aside the exaggerations of the native ancestors, at the very least, we know that the prehistoric humans were significantly taller than us... After some time, from somewhere in the sky—I believe this symbol represents the Moon—"

He Yuqing gestured toward a spherical symbol. "Another group of 'gods' flew in from the Moon. They engaged in a fierce battle with the first group of 'gods.' The first group couldn't match them and was ultimately annihilated. Primitive people worship strength, so from that time on, they began worshipping the Moon, making it their totem, hoping their tribe could become as powerful as the 'gods' that 'flew' from the Moon, capable of defeating any foe.

Simultaneously, driven by fear of the powerful, this tribe would select living sacrifices periodically, dissecting them just as they did to the first 'gods.' If the Moon underwent any significant change, the natives would assume the 'gods' were angry, leading them to hastily select victims for dissection, hoping to appease the gods of the Moon and prevent them from unleashing disaster."

This explanation was quite convincing. The final mural showed that after destroying the initial 'gods,' those who came from the Moon also departed toward the Moon, leaving behind only primitive natives worshipping the Moon. There was nothing else of interest in the stone chamber, so He Yuqing and I retreated early—not out of fear of being trapped by the natives, but because the smell of blood inside was unbearable.

After taking a few deep breaths of the fresh air outside, I asked He Yuqing, "Is there anything else you want to see?"

He Yuqing shook her phone at me. "I recorded most of the material already. I don't need to look at anything else for now. If we need to come back for a detailed survey later, you'll have to team up with me. Let's go back; I'm exhausted."

By now, the satellite network had reconnected. However, accessing data regarding the lunar explosion resulted only in blank screens—perhaps due to interference from strong radiation waves, or some other unknown reason. There was no trace.

Day was breaking in Africa, but it was already approaching noon in Kyoto. After finally finding an unoccupied rooftop to land on, I sent He Yuqing home first. I then headed straight to the school. At this hour, the priority was finding something to eat, followed by a good, long sleep. After all, I hadn't slept all night and had been through so many stimulating events; I was utterly spent.

When I entered Ouyang Qian's dormitory, I only found Su Xue busy cooking noodles. "Where are the others? Why are you the only one here?"

Su Xue was wearing only a tight slip dress, likely braless, as the outline of her breasts was clearly visible. She paid no mind to my hungry gaze. "Chenchen went out for sketching. Qianqian asked me to call her back after the meal was ready."

"Then I'll call her and let her know."

Su Xue asked me, "Where were you this morning? Why didn't you attend class? And I didn't see you call Qianqian last night either. Are you very busy with work lately? Take care of yourself."

I feigned surprise. "Whoa, is that really you, Su Xue? Let me check if you have a fever. How did you start showing concern?"

Su Xue batted my hand away with her ladle. "Go sit somewhere else. You get a little nice treatment and you forget who you are. Ask Qianqian to bring back some groceries too, otherwise, all we'll have is plain noodles."

As I called, I remarked, "Your life seems so spartan. Haven't living standards been improving?"

Su Xue shot back, "We need to save money for a dowry, isn't that allowed? Do you have a problem with that?"

Ouyang Qian agreed to rush back when I called, but Su Xue and I finished cooking the noodles and waited and waited. Just as we were about to call her, the door burst open, and Xu Hu and Chen Chao shoved their way in ahead of her.

"Wow, the dorm of the Three Golden Flowers really lives up to its reputation. Smells fantastic!"

I stood up. "What brings you two here? It's been ages; you're rare visitors."

Xu Hu laughed and placed a pile of things on the table. "We heard you moved into the Golden Flower dorms, so we came specifically to pay our respects."

Ouyang Qian said, "Don't listen to their nonsense. I ran into them at the supermarket while buying groceries. They said they had an urgent matter concerning you, so I bought extra food and drinks and invited them over for dinner."

Su Xue kicked Xu Hu. "Which gang do you belong to? Stop shouting nonsense here. Believe it or not, I can kick you out."

Xu Hu grinned. "I belong to the Yangguan Boulevard gang. This must be the famed Senior Sister Su Xue, who supposedly drives men crazy. Last time you visited our dorm looking for Little White Dragon, my brother and I didn't treat you properly, and we've felt guilty ever since. Today, we finally found a chance to make amends."

Su Xue smiled. "I like the way you talk. Surely, that's not the only reason you'd come to a girls' dorm, right?"

Chen Chao admitted, "To be honest, we were forced into this. Little White Dragon hasn't been back to the dorm lately, and his class monitor is going crazy looking for him. We were given this emergency mission to find him and drag him out."

I recalled that our class monitor was a girl, quite pretty too. But I had been too mesmerized by the golden beauty in front of me to notice anyone else; we had no connection whatsoever.

Ouyang Qian asked, "Why is Xia Yu looking for Zhao Qian?"

Ouyang Qian had served two terms as the publicity minister, so her acquaintance with our class monitor, Xia Yu, wasn't surprising. I also asked Chen Chao, "Why is she looking for me? The teachers shouldn't cause trouble over my absences; I've smoothed over all those connections."

Xu Hu explained, "She wants you to join your class's basketball team."