Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Another World! Another World!! (Part 1)
When Qin Zhendong arrived at the scene, the entire commercial district where the milk tea shop was located had been completely quarantined.
"Boss Qin, you’re finally here," Chang Qixiang quickly walked forward and shook Qin Zhendong’s hand excitedly, "At last, we have some backbone."
These words are not entirely flattery from subordinate to superior, at least seventy percent reflect Chang Qixiang’s true feelings.
An hour ago, following instructions from the core level, before Qin Zhendong arrived at Huaihai Commercial District, the temporary on-site commander was Chang Qixiang.
Although Chang Qixiang’s name means "often," his position is still very far from being a key figure.
In the complex region of Shencheng, he couldn’t be considered much of an official.
Not to mention, just the Shencheng First Hospital that needs temporary handing over, the administrative level of the dean and even the vice dean is half a level higher than Chang Qixiang.
Although all the leaders cooperated very actively, the disparity in administrative level was an undeniable reality.
So after gritting his teeth and guiding for a while, Chang Qixiang’s clothes were more than half wet.
Being part of the system, Qin Zhendong completely understood the pressure Chang Qixiang was facing. He patted Chang Qixiang on the shoulder, "Comrade Qi Xiang, you’ve worked hard. Is the site under control?"
Chang Qixiang adjusted his breathing a bit and summarized the prepared speech he had mentally composed: "Boss Qin, currently the entire commercial street has been completely cleared—luckily, the Huaihai Road business circle is not a night market open point, most shops at this time are already closed."
Additionally, due to the existence of many historical mansion buildings around, there are practically no residential areas nearby, so there weren’t too many issues during the clearance phase.
As for traffic control... Comrade Huang Chuming from the traffic police brigade arrived an hour ago and has sealed off the nearby elevated exit, currently, all non-official vehicles are prohibited from passing."
After saying this, Chang Qixiang paused slightly, lowering his voice a bit:
"Simultaneously, with the cooperation from comrades in Jinling, a sunshade net to prevent satellite photography has already been laid on site, and low-earth orbit satellites capable of space graffiti are in activation mode, ready to take further action as the situation develops.
Additionally, the high points nearby are all controlled by elite troops waiting on standby."
Qin Zhendong carefully digested the information, discreetly glanced at the nearby buildings, and after seeing a long black tube, nodded, "The site is well-controlled; you truly are the master of the information center. By the way, what about that light circle... how’s the situation now?"
Chang Qixiang led Qin Zhendong to the central area, right in front of Wu Fan’s milk tea shop:
"The light circle hasn’t changed much; Dean Shao from the Light Research Institute arrived a few minutes before you, bringing a spectrometer in, but no results have come out yet.
However, Xiaocao—the grassroots comrade who reported the event, his reported situation has been confirmed true. They’ve tried everything, but anything thrown into the circle indeed disappears.
A daring comrade even tried putting his hand inside, but he didn’t touch anything—of course, that comrade has now been quarantined.
Additionally, we used a stick to bind a camera and probe from the other side, but only captured a mosaic."
Qin Zhendong pondered, "Which means the light circle indeed connects to an unknown area, but where exactly is still unclear?
It could be another world with life, or some void in the universe, or it might even connect to a place on Earth? Maybe there’s an old blond man behind it pinching his orchid fingers saying, ’Nobody knows better than me’?"
Chang Qixiang did not expect the boss to think this far, a bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead, "Indeed, the only thing confirmed now is that the light circle is a direct manifestation of an anomaly event."
Just as the two talked, several men in scientific white coats came out of the milk tea shop.
Leading them was a little old man around fifty or sixty years old, wearing gold-rimmed glasses. His hair was somewhat disheveled and seemed rarely cared for.
"Dean Shao, here, here." Chang Qixiang courteously greeted the little old man.
Once the group in white coats arrived, Chang Qixiang introduced them to Qin Zhendong, "Boss Qin, this is Shao Ping, Director Shao from the Shencheng Optical Research Institute, a veteran academician of the engineering institute; the others are his students. They’ve already entered for testing upon arriving on site."
Qin Zhendong hurriedly shook hands with Shao Ping, "Dean Shao, you’ve worked hard. The situation is urgent, so let’s skip the pleasantries. Are there any results from the testing?"
Shao Ping shook his head somewhat dejectedly. He pointed to an instrument that looked like a small refrigerator held by one of his students,
"This is the most advanced spectroscopic analyzer from our laboratory; besides scanning and identifying the basic characteristics of objects, it also has the function to record light information. Theoretically, it can analyze all light source spectrums, at least it can record the bands first, but the light circle... alas!"
Shao Ping sighed quietly; clearly, the light circle had exceeded the realm the spectrometer could analyze.
Qin Zhendong was about to comfort Shao Ping with a few words when a warrior hurriedly ran out of the milk tea shop, quickly arriving before them:
"Report, there is a change in the light circle, it is expanding!"
The light circle has changed!
For a moment, within a twenty-meter range centered around the milk tea shop, time seemed to freeze.
Moments later, the sound of continuous gasps rang out.
A newly arrived military representative, who was preparing to meet with Qin Zhendong, was so agitated that he crushed the mineral water bottle in his hand!
The muscles on Qin Zhendong’s face twitched violently, yet his training made him remarkably calm at this moment:
"Leave several video transmission devices in the milk tea shop, make sure there are no blind spots, and share the video with the core team.
The Plant Biology Laboratory should set up a gas isolation filter net around the milk tea shop, and it must be sealed properly.
Snipers and the medical team, stand by; all other personnel withdraw to two hundred meters away, execute immediately!"
Under the orders, all departments acted simultaneously!
......
Meanwhile, the light aperture inside Wu Fan’s milk tea shop was undergoing a peculiar transformation.
The previously calm and unmoving light aperture suddenly radiated brilliantly, its volume gradually expanded, eventually transforming into a square shape, and numerous colorful runes shot out from the center like fireworks. These runes did not disappear upon landing. Instead, they stacked and solidified like bricks to form a base about thirty centimeters high.
Then, the square-shaped luminous body slowly descended, finally embedding precisely into the base.
This transformation of the light aperture was completely recorded by the cameras installed inside the shop and was simultaneously transmitted to the outside world.
"A standard square about eight meters wide? The upper part passes through the ceiling, yet it doesn’t damage the floor? And the external sky-reaching light column has also disappeared?" In the makeshift tent command post, Qin Zhendong witnessed the entire transformation of the light aperture and turned to Shencheng Plant Research Institute’s Director Lin Li beside him, saying: "Director Lin, proceed according to the plan."
Lin Li nodded and took out a paging device from his waist, inputting an internal channel number before saying:
"Dr. Wang, this is Lin Li. Please deploy the gas sampling facilities to the inside of the milk tea shop through the P3 node of the isolation filter net. The permission code for the P3 node is 596..."
A female voice came from the other side of the paging device: "Wang Qiang received, Wang Qiang received, I’m heading to the outer edge of the isolation filter net, about to deploy the gas sampling facilities."
Lin Li detected the excitement in Wang Qiang’s voice and shook his head helplessly, explaining to those around with a smile, "This young lady, if only she were this diligent during matchmaking."
"Director Lin, the intercom wasn’t off. I heard everything."
Lin Li: "...."
The command post erupted with good-natured laughter, dissipating some of the tension.
Another ten minutes passed, and Wang Qiang’s voice sounded through the paging device:
"Director Lin, the sampling test results are out. The gas content inside the shop is no different from the outside. After completing its task, I attempted to make the sampling machine pass through the light aperture to see if the camera it carries could capture anything, and the result....."
The expressions of everyone in the command post immediately turned serious, "What happened with the result?"
"The sampling machine lost contact. Both the regular transmission frequency of the sampling machine itself and the satellite transmission frequency connected to the camera failed. It’s unclear whether the machine is damaged or it’s a signal transmission issue.
Additionally, the white mouse tethered with a camera by a rope also disappeared after passing through that door."
Qin Zhendong took over the paging device, saying: "Comrade Xiao Wang, this is Qin Zhendong from Shencheng Headquarters. You’ve completed your task very well. The loss of contact with the sampling machine was anticipated by the command post, so don’t be too disheartened. You can regroup now."
After turning off the communication device, Qin Zhendong restrained his smile and said to the department heads:
"Comrades, as you have heard, the recording devices are unable to transmit signals from behind the light aperture...well, now it should be called the light gate. This means our previous plan to use electronic rescue dogs to explore the way is void, leaving us with only one path left..."
He stood up, looking around: "Organize personnel to pass through that gate and see what’s on the other side."
Orders were quickly issued.
In less than a few minutes, an advance team of three elite warriors was dispatched to step through the light gate.
Considering that samples might undergo some mutations when crossing the light gate, to be safe, this team was not required to collect any samples.
They were equipped with full protective gear, and their sole task was to pass through the light gate, observe the situation beyond, and then return by all possible means!
Ten minutes later, the entire advance team returned.
Along with them, they brought back the previously missing sampling machine and a thrilling piece of news:
Beyond the light gate lies a valley where people can breathe normally, and there are clear signs of bird life in the valley, and at the same time...
"Based on the scenarios recorded in the reconnaissance team’s equipment, the staff from the strategy department indicated that the area occupied by the valley can basically rule out the possibility of being anywhere on Earth."
Qin Zhendong frowned, looking at Chang Qixiang, who was reporting, "Why was such a judgment made?"
"Because... there are three suns hanging in the sky!"