Erosion

Chapter 5 The Black Strange Circle
For this unusual satellite aerial image, someone must go there again.But this time, Wei Yuan will lead the team himself.

"Dr. Wei, with all due respect, what if something happens to you if you go..." Wei Yuan is obviously the core figure of the scientific research institute. He wants to take the risk himself, and the people above don't quite agree.

"If this proliferation of dark circles is true, it means that maybe all of us are not safe."

Wei Yuan's eyes were not optimistic.

And obviously only by figuring out the truth about what happened in the cave hotel and that mountain is it possible to stop this spread.

Wei Yuan has already applied to the higher authorities, obviously this time he must go.

Xiao Xu hesitated and said, "But how do you plan to get there? No plane is willing to pass over there now."

Now even normal airliners have to go around, and various places have clearly issued no-fly orders.

"Not by plane." Wei Yuan shook his head, and slowly uttered two words, "Drive."

drive, drive?Xiao Xu was dumbfounded, "Doctor, that place is on the border with India..." He was afraid that Wei Yuan could not hear clearly, so why not drive?When will it be open?
Wei Yuan is serious, and this time he was able to agree to lead the team personally because Wei Yuan submitted a very convincing report.

a week ago.

"This is all the information about that cave hotel on the Internet." Wei Yuan faced the experts of the scientific research institute in the conference room, showing the PPT on the projection.

It can be seen that all the decorations and furnishings in the cave hotel are quite medieval and retro. Everything is very antique, but it is obviously very in line with the modern people's aesthetics of hunting for novelties.

Before the accident, this cave hotel was very difficult to book and was in a long-term full state.

"What do you want us to see?" Someone finally couldn't help asking Wei Yuan.

Cloud Tour Scenic Hotel?Who cares now.

Wei Yuan switched to the ppt again: "These are the only pictures sent back by the drone. What the hotel looks like now."

The precious images obtained by losing more than a dozen drones have been lost, and the budget for the next three years has been lost.

In the photo, the lobby of the cave hotel is clearly visible, but the lobby scene is completely different from the exotic cave wonders in the promotional photos.

The interior of the entire hotel lobby is pitch black.Looks like a real cave.

The photos taken by the drone are very valuable photos under the night vision function. It can be seen that the table at the front desk of the hotel lobby is covered with spider webs, and there is a layer of black substance that does not know what it is, wrapped around the table. There were piles of objects whose shapes could no longer be seen, until Wei Yuan put together the two photos before and after, and after comparing them, he finally barely recognized them.

That should be a computer for cash register, a video camera, and a phone.

... There is a half-open notepad and a downed pen next to it, as if the waiter at the front desk was just opening the notebook to register something.

Then the camera cut to the ground, and there were even several puddles of black dust piled up on the ground, which could no longer be seen.It makes people think of some kind of "ashes" for a while.

"What is this?!...'rust'?" Someone in the conference room was already terrified, and couldn't help blurting out.

Of course it can't be rust, but at that moment everyone seems to be able to think of similar adjectives.

In the photo, almost all places in the lobby are covered with this unknown black substance, even the ground, walls, and ceiling are all...

Mainly, everyone here has seen satellite images.

On the satellite image, there is an unexplainable black "strange circle" around the mountain and the hotel.

All of them had no blood on their faces.

"Please look at these items carefully." Wei Yuan is still zooming in on the pictures of each item one by one: including the cash register on the table, the tables and chairs next to it, and an unidentifiable square in the corner party stuff.

Rust is an oxidation reaction that only occurs on metal, but everything in the hotel, except the cash register, which is barely considered metal, includes tables, chairs, and luggage. How can these rust?
Also recorded by the drone is an ancient clock on the wall.

Wei Yuan said: "Cash registers, telephones, wall clocks, marble floors... Different items have different degrees of 'corrosion'."

Erosion, let's call it some kind of "erosion".

No one in the conference room spoke, and no one came to refute the plausible "term."

Moreover, the photos taken by the drone still have a very high accuracy. After zooming in, these seemingly ordinary items are indeed very different in terms of the amount of black substance covered on them.

"Then what does this mean?" An elderly man sitting in the front row frowned slightly, and his voice was majestic.He is the only calm one besides Wei Yuan.

In fact, these items really seem to have no connection at all, and they are simply irrelevant. Even if there is a difference in the degree of erosion, what does it mean?
Wei Yuan slowly turned the wheelchair, facing everyone in the conference room.

"What I'm going to say below is just my guess." Wei Yuan looked at these people, each of whom was a person who had conquered difficulties in his own field, and they all stared at him at this moment, "The only connection between these items is the age of their existence. .”

After the words fell, there was no sound in the conference room, and everyone seemed to be unable to breathe.

This conclusion obviously stunned everyone.

"The telephone was invented in 1860, the first computer was invented in 1946, the clock on the wall was donated by a nearby church two centuries ago, and the marble is a substance that existed in the earth's crust hundreds of millions of years ago."

Wei Yuan said slowly, his voice still sounded very calm, and narrated a conclusion that can be regarded as absurd and bizarre: "In the photo, as the most advanced computer equipment, it is almost completely covered by 'corrosion', while the side I can still make out some outlines of the dial telephone. As for the clock on the wall, the pendulum was still moving when the photo was sent back. The only thing that can still be seen in this lobby is the marble floor and the last on the wall. Part of the original cave."

"As for the piles of 'dust' piled up on the ground, they are the 'corpses' of the first few drones we sent out."

"All the most advanced reconnaissance equipment will be reduced to ruins in this area - so I plan to do an experiment, only bring the most basic items, without all electronic equipment, and rely on the most primitive transportation equipment to search in the mountains."

"I have compiled all my research results over the years into manuscripts and submitted them. If I don't come back, everyone can continue my research."

This is tantamount to giving everything away, and no one in the conference room speaks anymore.

(End of this chapter)