Earth Era

Part 39

The door opened, and a dazzling light shone out from inside.

Qin Feng noticed that the transparent house next to them turned orange the moment it touched the light, revealing that the entire house was made of "protective goggles"!

The two walked into the door, and it slowly closed behind them.

Inside was a square room, completely empty. There was a wall in front with a window, through which they could see the scene inside...

There was a sphere...

More accurately, it was a huge spherical luminous body. Qin Feng didn't know how to describe its size accurately because it was just too large, with an estimated diameter of at least a hundred meters!

It was floating in the middle of a huge cylindrical structure, with an abyss below and no visible top above. It floated in mid-air, emitting a dazzling light that even felt piercing with the protective goggles on.

"What do you think it looks like?" Liu Yuan asked.

"Like the sun," Qin Feng said.

"It is a sun."

"What?!" Qin Feng thought he had misheard. How could this be the sun? Wasn't the sun in the sky? Besides, the sun wasn't this small...

"We call it the Yuan," Liu Yuan said.

"Oh... what is this? What is it used for?"

Liu Yuan frowned. "Didn't I tell you already? It's called the Yuan, and it supplies energy to the Shield Mountain defense layer."

"Oh right! Sorry, I must have been too nervous," Qin Feng smiled and asked, "The entire Shield Mountain defense layer?"

"Yes, and the particle beam laser cannon."

"That's incredible! What is this thing?"

"The Yuan! The Yuan! The Yuan! How many times do I have to say it?" Liu Yuan retorted.

"I don't mean that. I mean... its essence, what is it made of? How does it contain so much energy?"

"We don't know the exact composition, but the energy it contains is twice that of the sun."

"Wow... such a small thing with twice the energy of the sun!" Qin Feng exclaimed in amazement.

Liu Yuan nodded.

Qin Feng asked, "So if it explodes, the entire solar system will cease to exist, right?"

"Pretty much, and even worse."

"Will it explode?"

"It might."

"When?"

Liu Yuan shook his head. "I don't know, it could be the next second or it might never explode."

"So it's like a super interstellar time bomb!"

"You could say that, but not entirely because it's very stable."

"Is its energy inexhaustible?" Qin Feng asked.

"No."

"And it's still considered stable?!"

Liu Yuan looked at him. "Exactly because it's not inexhaustible, it's stable."

"That doesn't make sense," Qin Feng puzzled, then suddenly realized something and asked, "This thing... it's not native to our Satania, is it?"

Liu Yuan shrugged. "Of course not. Does it look naturally formed to you?"

"Then where did it come from?"

Liu Yuan didn't answer immediately, instead, he teased, "Do you remember the extraterrestrial signals we received before?"

Qin Feng nodded.

"Well, that wasn't the first time we received signals," Liu Yuan said.

"Yes, to avoid panic, the United Government and the Universal Scientific Research Council concealed the truth from the world."

"When did they receive the signals?"

"In fact, they established contact with the Prophets over a hundred years ago."

"The Prophets?"

"Yes, that's what we call them."

Qin Feng's astonished expression remained unchanged. "This sphere... could it be from them?"

Liu Yuan nodded. "Exactly, later we used it to build the bunkers, the particle beam laser cannon, and the Shield Mountain defense layer... continuously supplying energy to these large-scale facilities."

"So you knew about the raiders coming over a hundred years ago..." Qin Feng muttered.

"Not we, don't include me. Strictly speaking, it should be the Universal Scientific Research Council and the United Government, because I wasn't even born then," Liu Yuan said.

Qin Feng silently looked at the sphere. Now he understood why the Marine Corps base was attacked while the Air Defense Zone remained unscathed. He also understood why the raiders didn't simply destroy Satania but went through such trouble...

Because the raiders knew about this sphere, and they were afraid it would suddenly explode!

Liu Yuan patted Qin Feng's shoulder. "The raiders want this sphere because it can power their interstellar motherships. But they don't dare to touch this sphere..."

"Because they don't want to go down with it," Qin Feng said.

"Exactly, so they can only try to control our Satania. If they control Satania, it's like controlling this sphere."

"That means, we owe our survival to this sphere?" Qin Feng asked.

Liu Yuan nodded. "Exactly."

"Nonsense!" Qin Feng said. "Since the raiders like it, why not just give it to them? Why fight to the death for this darn sphere and cause so many casualties?"

Liu Yuan shook his head with a smile. "You're thinking too simplistically. Don't forget, they are interstellar raiders. This sphere is only an unexpected gain for them... If it weren't for this sphere, our planet would have ceased to exist five years ago."

Back on the ground, Qin Feng's mind was still reeling from the shock.

Liu Yuan reminded him repeatedly, "Don't tell anyone about this, it's top-secret!"

Qin Feng asked, "Does Xiaoya know?"

Liu Yuan shook his head. "She doesn't."

"Why am I allowed to know then?" Qin Feng asked.

"I'll tell you later. Go back for now," Liu Yuan said.

After bidding farewell to Liu Yuan, Qin Feng walked back, the image of the sphere still lingering in his mind...

At the dormitory door, he met Xiaoya and Zhong Yuanjie.

"Where have you been? We've been looking for you everywhere," Xiaoya said.

"Oh, nothing. Just strolling around. What's up?" Qin Feng asked absentmindedly.

"We agreed to go see the raiders together after training today. Where did you disappear to right after we disbanded?" Xiaoya said.

"Oh, I forgot. Let's go then," Qin Feng said absentmindedly.

"What's wrong? You don't look too good," Zhong Yuanjie asked.

"Is something bothering you?" Xiaoya added.

Qin Feng touched his face. "Really? Do I look unwell?"

Both nodded.

"I'm fine. Let's go," Qin Feng said absentmindedly.

They hesitated, and Zhong Yuanjie asked, "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"Ah, I'm fine. Let's go," Qin Feng insisted.

Unable to convince him otherwise, they compromised.