Chapter 186: Important Discovery, A Great Achievement

Ning Hai then collected some plants, insects, and soil samples, and returned to the transfer station before the Time-Space Gate closed.

Currently, opening the Time-Space Gate with the Black Sphere consumes a large amount of electricity.

That is also why, decades ago, the scientists who created the Black Sphere placed their research base beneath the Kucherberg Nuclear Power Plant.

At that time, the Kucherberg Nuclear Power Plant was the largest power station in the world.

Even so, it could only barely sustain it, and even caused a disaster due to overload.

Even now, with M Guo's status as the world's strongest nation and using various top‑level power‑supplying technologies, the Black Sphere still cannot operate for a long time.

But this operation gave the Time Travel exploration project a further breakthrough.

When Ning Hai returned to the transfer station with the collected items, all the researchers present applauded and cheered.

Professor Bruce hurried to the transfer platform and gave Ning Hai a strong hug.

"Professor, contact the relevant experts right away and study these items," Ning Hai handed several plastic bags and a camera to Bruce, "I also recorded a video of suspected tribal indigenous residents and let the language experts and human‑research experts take a look together."

Of course, Ning Hai did not mention a single word about having silenced that indigenous person, and told Lu Xingfeng not to say anything.

Because Ning Hai knew Professor Bruce would not permit such cruelty.

"No problem! I'll arrange it right away!" Professor Bruce gestured excitedly, his bright blue eyes sparkling.

"Come, I'll take you for a late‑night snack," Ning Hai patted Lu Xingfeng's shoulder.

The two left the laboratory base, passed through multiple guard checkpoints, and after exiting the final heavily guarded gate, the outside was an endless desert under the night sky.

Only a straight road stretched to the horizon.

This area was a secret region specially allocated to him for research after M Guo's senior officials learned that Professor Bruce had found the Black Sphere.

Even this sole road that can enter the desert was built later.

Three outer layers of the laboratory base are protected by M Guo special forces.

Ning Hai drove an off‑road vehicle with Lu Xingfeng, speeding along the road, and every few miles a checkpoint appeared.

After about two hours of driving, a small town finally appeared before them.

The nameless town was temporarily erected by Professor Bruce, who applied to M Guo's senior officials, considering the harsh conditions of the laboratory base.

Researchers in the laboratory could come over to relax when they had free time; staying cooped up in the basement all day would cause mental issues.

Of course, all the town's residents are people strictly selected by M Guo's authorities, and the town is also the final checkpoint for entering or leaving this desert; without special approval, neither insiders nor outsiders may leave or enter on their own, or they will be shot by the stationed soldiers.

Although the town is tiny and its facilities crude—only a single venue that serves food and also houses a cinema and a bar, with only the most basic amenities—it is still better than nothing.

"Two beers first, then two fried‑chicken and burger combos," Ning Hai ordered as soon as he entered the restaurant.

When the two sat down, the waiter brought the food.

Lu Xingfeng grabbed the large beer mug, gulped it down in one go, then seized the fried chicken with one hand and devoured it.

Ning Hai sipped a few bites of beer, took only one portion of fries to eat slowly, and pushed his own fried chicken and burger in front of Lu Xingfeng.

These items were even worse than the fast food sold in ordinary restaurants; he almost vomited.

By contrast, he would rather eat the nutritious meals provided by the laboratory base cafeteria—though bland, at least nutritionally balanced and healthier.

But Lu Xingfeng, a person from over two thousand years ago, ate this kind of fast food with great gusto.

The large amounts of fat, sugar, and various flavor‑enhancing additives were things that Lu Xingfeng could hardly, if ever, obtain in his era.

In less than ten minutes, Lu Xingfeng finished both combos cleanly.

He then ordered two more beers and four pan‑seared steaks to continue feasting.

"Brother Feng," Ning Hai said slowly, watching him eat with one hand, "the custom prosthetic I had made for you is about to be finished; then you'll be able to use both hands together."

Lu Xingfeng asked, "The prosthetic can still be used?"

Ning Hai smiled, "Although it won't be as dexterous as your original arm, it basically doesn't affect normal life, and if needed, we can give your prosthetic targeted upgrades."

Lu Xingfeng seemed half‑understanding; it sounded impressive, so he didn't ask further.

Ning Hai paused briefly, then casually asked, "Brother Feng, the Time-Space Gate I'm opening leads to the era you come from; what do you plan to do?"

Lu Xingfeng chewed the steak and said vaguely, "We'll see then."

"Don't you want to see your family?" Ning Hai asked again, "You look about the same age as me, so you probably have a wife and children, right? In your era, didn't people marry and have kids early?"

Lu Xingfeng swallowed the steak, gulped a big mouthful of beer, and repeated, "We'll see then."

Ning Hai slightly frowned, a shadow of gloom flashing in his eyes.

Since he first met Lu Xingfeng and brought him to M Guo, a considerable amount of time has passed, but even now he only knows that Lu Xingfeng is a person from over two thousand years ago of Xuan Guo and possesses the mysterious martial arts of ancient Huaxia, and knows nothing about his specific identity or background.

Whenever he tried to probe, the other party always brushed him off.

It's unclear whether it's unwillingness to mention or a lack of trust.

Soon after, Lu Xingfeng ate everything on the table clean, then enthusiastically said he wanted to watch a movie.

"Alright, let's go."

Ning Hai smiled, got up and accompanied him into the adjacent screening room.

It was called a cinema, but it was actually an old warehouse converted, and the chairs had to be fetched from the restaurant.

A screen hung on the wall, a projector set up behind it, and a pile of assorted old films lay in the corner.

Ning Hai casually took a disc, placed it in the projector, pressed the start button, and the movie began.

These movies were boring and not new, but for Lu Xingfeng they were especially fresh and entertaining; he could watch anything with great interest.

Each time he came here, besides a hearty meal, he would stay up at least a whole night watching, without blinking his eyes.

"I'll go sleep over there," Ning Hai yawned, "if you want food, get it yourself from the restaurant; if you want another movie—"

"Got it, you go to sleep," Lu Xingfeng said, staring at the screen, "I've already learned how to use that projector."

"OK." Ning Hai decisively moved to a corner by the door, lay down on the sofa the restaurant staff had placed, and closed his eyes to rest.

A night passed.

Ning Hai was woken by his phone's ringtone.

He opened his eyes and answered the phone.

On the other end came Professor Bruce's excited voice: "Come back quickly! The experts I summoned are analyzing through the night; we'll have a conclusion soon!"

"Alright, I'm heading back right now!"

Ning Hai was suddenly invigorated, completely alert.

No wonder it's a research project that has received focused attention from M Guo's senior leadership.

The progress is indeed rapid.

It seems we'll soon know where the place we traveled to is and what era it belongs to.

"Lu Xingfeng, we have to go back," Ning Hai called out.

Lu Xingfeng didn't turn his head, "Wait a bit longer, I'm almost done watching this movie."

Ning Hai glanced at the mountain of fast‑food trays and empty beer cans piled beside his chair, and muttered with a mix of helplessness and envy: "Someone in their forties can still get huge freshness and fun from these trashy movies and junk food… I guess that's the perk of ancient people time‑traveling to the modern world."

Ning Hai didn't urge him, waiting patiently.

Lu Xingfeng, despite not understanding the subtitles or the original audio of these M Guo films, only got up reluctantly at the very last second of the ending.

Before taking him out of the restaurant, Ning Hai casually grabbed a few fast‑food burger and fried‑chicken combos for him to eat on the way.

Two hours later, the two returned to the laboratory base.

Ning Hai let Lu Xingfeng rest and went alone to a conference room.

"Ning Hai! The conclusion is in!" Professor Bruce's face flushed red as he pushed his laptop in front of Ning Hai, "Look, this is the research status of a dozen experts."

Ning Hai skimmed it; it was all detailed analyses of the samples he had brought back.

He had no mind to read the process, so he slid the mouse and dragged the document straight to the end.

When he saw the analytical conclusion, he couldn't help but be stunned.

Regarding the location, it was confirmed, as he initially guessed, to be the North American continent.

As for the era, it dates to roughly two thousand years ago.

Since at that time the North American continent had no concept of nations, they used ancient Huaxia history as a reference, i. e., roughly the pre‑founding period of the Xuan Dynasty.

The basis for dating the era was the video footage Ning Hai brought back and the clothing and ornaments of the indigenous tribe's residents.

The period when that tribe's language and civilization were most active coincided with the early phase of the first great unification dynasty of ancient Huaxia.

However, according to historical records, the tribe vanished more than a thousand years ago.

But that is a common occurrence in the long history of human development.

Over two thousand years ago, the North American continent was also populated by various human groups, each with its own civilization, but none had yet formed into nations.

"We've made a huge breakthrough this time!" Professor Bruce, exceedingly excited, then placed three object samples on the table.

Ning Hai looked and thought, "Isn't this exactly what I took from that native?"

Two of them were metal pieces among the ornaments, irregularly oval, about the size of a fingernail, with coarse simple patterns etched on top.

The other was a piece of beast hide from a garment.

"Is there any problem with these items?" Ning Hai asked.

Professor Bruce adjusted his glasses and pointed at the two metal pieces, "One of these is gold, the other is copper."

Ning Hai was somewhat surprised, "Indigenous tribes on the North American continent already mastered smelting technology over two thousand years ago?"

"No, no, no!" Professor Bruce's blue eyes flashed, "These weren't smelted from ore; they're natural gold and natural copper!"

Ning Hai knew that natural gold and natural copper refer to naturally formed high‑purity gold and copper.

The natives could take them, give a light polish, and make ornaments, clearly indicating that the region contained extremely high‑purity gold and copper ore deposits.

"What about this one? Could it be from some animal extinct in our era?" Ning Hai picked up the beast hide.

If Professor Bruce's eyes were flashing earlier, now both of his eyes are practically flashlights.

"Look here," he said, pointing to the dark‑brown area on the hide.

Ning Hai frowned, "Is this… the hide's natural pattern, or… something painted or dirt that stuck on it?"

Professor Bruce's pupils dilated with excitement, "Not sure whether it was painted or stuck on, but after testing, it's high‑purity petroleum!"

Ning Hai now finally understood why Professor Bruce was so excited.

M Guo's demand for petroleum is enormous, and it has thus meddled in many oil‑producing regions worldwide, even resorting to force to obtain oil.

So much so that even online, many joke that places with oil easily breed M Guo troops.

Nowadays, as global situations become more complex, M Guo also faces many problems.

Ning Hai didn't need to ask further to know that if they could use the Time‑Space Gate to obtain massive petroleum, it would mean what for M Guo.

"Professor, have you reported these findings to the higher‑ups?" Ning Hai asked.

Professor Bruce waved his hands repeatedly, "Not yet; I still need further verification, and… careful consideration."

"Consider? Consider what?"

Ning Hai was somewhat puzzled by Professor Bruce's sudden hesitant expression.

Even merely reporting this discovery upward could grant Bruce extremely high honor and generous rewards.

Just as Professor Bruce was about to answer, the conference room doors were suddenly pushed open.

Several men in M Guo military officer uniforms strode in, immediately announcing to Professor Bruce that, from now on, the Time‑Space Traversal Project would be taken over by the military.

"No! I won't just hand the project over to you!" Professor Bruce fumed, "This is the life's work of my whole career! I will contact the President!"

The other side immediately produced an approval order signed personally by the President.

"What?!" Professor Bruce nearly fell.

"Professor!" Ning Hai hurriedly helped him up, lowering his voice to ask, "Didn't you say you hadn't reported it?"

Bruce clutched his chest, a wry smile on his face, "It seems… they had already placed people here, monitoring every aspect of the experiment, I… should have realized it earlier."

Then the leading officer added that the professor need not be so upset; although the project is now under military control, he will not be excluded and will be awarded an honorary medal and tens of millions in prize money.

"Professor, this is a good thing." Ning Hai comforted.

Bruce heaved a heavy sigh, "Ah…… there's no such thing as a free lunch; I can almost guess their purpose, but I…… really don't want to do that, which is also why I just told you we need to think carefully about it."

Ning Hai grew even more puzzled, "Isn't the purpose simple? I can guess it—just bring over the minerals, crude oil, and such resources from over there; any country encountering such a great opportunity would do the same, right? What's the problem?"