Chu Shi spoke as soon as he arrived, "Vice Minister Su Han, the analyzed data contains many regular electromagnetic signals, further proving the existence of a high-level civilization on that planet. This is some of the information we've deciphered from those radio waves."
Chu Shi opened a tablet beside him. The images on the tablet displayed a large amount of text, which looked quite chaotic.
Su Han found this text familiar, as he had seen some of it on salvaged items during his "scavenging" activities.
"This is the language of that planet. Has it been deciphered?"
"Not yet, Vice Minister Su Han. Please look at the next item."
Chu Shi swiped the screen again. An image of an alien appeared on the display.
Su Han was surprised by the alien's appearance. The image showed a humanoid creature, but definitely not human. This being possessed four arms and two legs, standing upright. Its skin was blue. The four-armed alien in the picture was standing next to a mountain of trash.
Chu Shi stated, "Based on the surrounding objects for comparison, this extraterrestrial being is approximately 1.6 meters tall and weighs between 60 to 70 kilograms."
Chu Shi's choice of words was more precise than Su Han had expected. After all, the portal might connect to another universe, making "alien" a less accurate descriptor.
"It seems we will be interacting with these extraterrestrials. I wonder what their species name is."
Chu Shi replied, "Once we make contact with this intelligent life form, we will learn what they call themselves."
...
The next day, Su Han led the special operations team members through the portal to the third world again.
This time, Chu Shi brought only two cubic meters of supplies.
To save space, they did not bring protective suits directly. Only the batteries for the suits were brought.
Upon arriving in the third world, they put on their original protective suits and reinstalled the batteries.
The protective suits had oxygen systems that could convert carbon dioxide into oxygen when powered. This made the suits very expensive.
After putting on their suits, Lin Dong sighed, "It's really hot and smelly here. We wouldn't dare move around without these suits."
Ye Fan shook his head, "It's not that we wouldn't dare, it's that it would be very difficult to move."
Meanwhile, Chu Shi went directly to the detection instruments he had left behind.
These instruments were varied. After a day, a large amount of data had been collected. Chu Shi began reviewing the intelligence.
Su Han glanced at the equipment crates brought in. Chu Shi was currently engrossed in the data, with no time to give instructions.
Su Han said, "You three, go and retrieve the equipment. We also brought a Global Type 3 drone this time. Take it out and assemble it."
"Yes, Unit 0!" Ye Fan and the other two responded.
Ye Fan, Lin Dong, and Xiao Yan began to extract the assembly modules from the transported supplies.
Having assembled drones multiple times, Ye Fan, Lin Dong, and Xiao Yan could now assemble the Global Type 3 drone even without Chu Shi's guidance.
After reviewing the data, Chu Shi announced, "Unit 0, one Global Type 3 drone has returned."
Su Han hurried over. Chu Shi began playing the footage captured by the returning Global Type 3 drone.
Su Han asked, "Did this Global Type 3 drone circle the planet?"
Chu Shi explained, "It didn't circle it. I set this Global Type 3 drone to return after flying a thousand kilometers. The other two were set to return after flying two thousand kilometers, and the last one after three thousand kilometers. All flights were at low speed."
This Global Type 3 drone had flown towards the garbage dump. Chu Shi fast-forwarded the footage to 128 times speed. The screen showed only trash, garbage mountains, deserts, and more.
After a while, the scenery finally changed. Chu Shi paused the footage and zoomed in.
Surrounded by desert garbage mountains, there were dozens of underground caves. At one of the exits, there was a blue-skinned, four-armed extraterrestrial. The alien was curiously looking at the Global Type 3 drone flying overhead.
Su Han exclaimed, "Oh! Isn't that the same extraterrestrial from yesterday's picture? So they live underground. That's quite normal, though, considering it's all desert here. If they didn't live underground, they'd be baked alive. By the way, when will the other Global Type 3 drones return?"
Chu Shi replied, "According to the schedule, the second Global Type 3 drone will return in five hours."
Su Han mused, "Five hours. We can't wait that long here. Is the second Global Type 3 drone also heading towards the garbage mountains?"
Chu Shi confirmed, "Yes, the second Global Type 3 drone is also flying towards the garbage mountains."
...
Therefore, Su Han and the other six continued to search the garbage mountains for potential treasures.
Su Han controlled a small drone, flying it through the garbage mountains.
The small drone flew up to three kilometers away. As usual, it flew over a garbage mountain covered with sand, concealing the original debris. At the bottom of this garbage mountain lay a massive, circular stone.
Just as the drone flew past this garbage mountain, Su Han suddenly remembered something and immediately controlled the small drone to return.
The small drone circled the enormous stone, filming it.
After circling, Su Han controlled the small drone to approach the massive stone.
As it got closer, the airflow from the drone blew away some of the sand, revealing metal underneath.
It turned out that this huge circular stone was a derelict spacecraft.
Su Han clapped his hands with joy, exclaiming, "I knew it! How could there be a giant stone in a garbage mountain? This is indeed a spacecraft!"
The others heard him and gathered around. The screen indeed showed a section of a large spacecraft.
Chu Shi examined it and remarked, "The wreckage of this spacecraft is more intact than the others. It's very valuable to investigate."
Su Han declared, "Let's go take a look then!"
Among the surrounding garbage mountains, there were other spacecraft debris, but they were all useless, broken pieces of metal. The intactness of this newly discovered spacecraft wreckage far surpassed those metal fragments.
About ten minutes later, the seven of them arrived at the spacecraft wreckage.