Chapter Sixty: A Strange Encounter

At this moment, Li Longfang spoke up:

“Desen, we’re in a bit of a passive situation now.”

Zhang Desen asked, “What do you mean?”

Li Longfang replied, “Look, we have pursuers at our backs, and we have no idea what lies ahead. And this cave entrance splits into so many tunnels—what if we get lost?”

Zhang Desen said, “Don’t worry. I believe we’ll find a way out. As long as there’s wind, there must be an exit. If all else fails, when we cook, we just need to watch which direction the smoke drifts, and we’ll be fine.”

Li Longfang sighed, “This is the first time I’ve been forced into a place like this. My past experience isn’t helping much right now.”

Zhang Desen said, “Let’s rest for a while…”

But just as Zhang Desen waited for news, two gunshots echoed from a tunnel on their left. Then, inexplicably, the rope suddenly went taut. Everyone immediately exerted all their strength to pull their comrade back. In the process, they heard an explosion as well.

Oddly, retrieving him was unusually difficult, as if something was holding him back. Nevertheless, they managed to pull him back in the end. Zhang Desen quickly ordered several men to guard that tunnel in case danger approached.

In the end, only one man was recovered, but he remained surprisingly calm, though his lingering fear was evident. Zhang Desen admired his composure—anyone who could remain cool after such an ordeal was clearly not ordinary. Zhang Desen resolved to pay more attention to this retainer in the future.

After drinking some water to steady his nerves, the man approached Zhang Desen and said, “I am Wu Jieming, at your service, sir!”

Zhang Desen said, “No need for formalities. Tell me, what happened just now?”

Wu Jieming immediately replied, “We found a hole in the roof of the cave, but suddenly, a giant upside-down dish appeared…”

“A dish? Was it similar to these?” Zhang Desen opened his laptop and showed Wu Jieming some photos he had taken earlier.

Wu Jieming took one look and said, “Exactly like that! Except we were looking up at it from below, and we only saw one…”

“Go on,” Zhang Desen urged.

Wu Jieming’s eyes brimmed with tears as he continued, “Suddenly, an opening appeared at the bottom of that thing, and a blinding light shone out. We were all pulled upwards, but I was tied to the rope and got dragged back. The other brothers… they didn’t want to be captured, so they detonated the explosives they carried…”

Unable to continue, Wu Jieming broke down in tears.

Zhang Desen consoled him, “Don’t worry. We will avenge them.”

Just then, anguished screams echoed from the tunnel ahead. Everyone was startled and immediately prepared to rescue, only to see the reconnaissance teams from the three front tunnels dashing back, shouting in panic. Surprisingly, instead of five men per tunnel, the middle tunnel had seven, the left and right had four each—apparently, all three tunnels led to the same place.

What was truly shocking was that their bodies were covered with mosquito bites. These mosquitoes were an astonishing 0.4 meters long. There was no time for amazement—everyone rushed to kill the mosquitoes, and the accompanying medics quickly applied ointment to the wounds.

Looking at the squashed mosquitoes, Zhang Desen asked, “Did you reach a place where the air was particularly fresh?”

After the medicine eased their pain, the men replied, “Air? Well, we did just reach a place where breathing felt incredibly pleasant.”

“Oh? Were there any dangers?” Zhang Desen inquired.

They answered, “Other than those mosquitoes, we didn’t encounter any immediate danger…”

Suddenly, one of them seemed to recall something. “Oh, right! When we got there, it felt just like being back on the surface—there was sunlight and dense forest, but no blue sky or clouds, only the cave ceiling. The sunlight seemed to come from the cave walls, though I don’t know how. And the animals there were huge—we even saw dragonflies as big as eagles. Breathing there felt especially good.”

“Alright, understood,” Zhang Desen said. “You should rest. Your experience is fascinating. Thank you.”

They hurried to reply, “No thanks needed…”

After listening, Zhang Desen pondered: it seemed they had stumbled into a vast underground world—a true adventure. This underground world preserved many ancient features. The oxygen content must be high; otherwise, such enormous creatures couldn’t survive. He wondered if this subterranean world was connected to the Saurians.

At that moment, Li Longfang asked, “Is this even possible? How could such giant beasts exist?”

Zhang Desen responded, “It makes sense. I suspect it has something to do with the Saurians.”

Li Longfang was taken aback. “The Saurians? Why?”

Zhang Desen explained, “Well, even though the Saurians may not date back to ancient times, they may be extremely nostalgic. If these creatures are evidence of Saurian involvement, then it means they yearn for Earth’s primeval environment. So, they built a simulation of the ancient world underground.”

“How does that explain the giant animals?” Li Longfang pressed.

Zhang Desen said, “You’re accustomed to the size of modern animals. But long ago, animals were much larger, largely due to the environmental conditions of the time.”

Li Longfang admitted, “I still don’t quite understand.”

Zhang Desen continued, “In my universe…” He glanced around, then lowered his voice so only the two of them could hear. He explained that some researchers believe that the reason for the giant animals in ancient times was that around two hundred million years ago, Earth experienced intense volcanic activity. The eruptions released so much carbon dioxide that the entire planet was blanketed in a thick layer of the gas, creating a severe greenhouse effect.

This brought about a hot, humid climate worldwide, which allowed plant life to flourish and release massive amounts of oxygen. During this period, oxygen levels were extremely high.

This abundance of oxygen supported the existence of massive creatures and provided plenty of food for large herbivores. With such a rich food supply, animal sizes grew ever larger, reaching their zenith. Thus, the main reason for the gigantic fauna was the high oxygen content and abundant resources. Other factors included environmental conditions, temperature, and atmospheric pressure.

Li Longfang asked, “What about now?”

Zhang Desen continued, explaining that as Earth’s environment changed, the oxygen content in our atmosphere gradually decreased. Compared to the era of giant creatures, the current oxygen level is about one and a half times lower.

This change, compounded by catastrophic events at the end of each geological period, devastated the food supply for large animals, making it impossible for them to survive. Smaller creatures, however, managed to endure. Through natural selection and evolution, the animals of today are much smaller, and Earth has become what it is now.

Li Longfang said, “I’m not sure I fully understand, but you mean that up ahead there’s a place much like the world a long, long time ago—very different from now.”

“That’s a good way to look at it,” Zhang Desen replied.

Just then, the reconnaissance teams from the remaining tunnels returned. To everyone’s relief, the three northern tunnels (currently on the right) all led to exits, and the passages were broad.

Still, Zhang Desen planned to advance straight ahead, but now they were no longer in a passive position—with an exit, they could leave at any time. Zhang Desen decided to station men at the exits, then draw their pursuers into the primordial underground forest ahead and eliminate them there. If the pursuers were blocked, that would be another matter entirely.

He also wanted to see if it was possible to reach the Saurian base through the forest. If so, they would complete their mission and retreat from there.

With this in mind, Zhang Desen ordered Zhao Chengming to be summoned back from the rear to take charge of the central right tunnel, as intelligence indicated that it was the largest. He instructed his men to plant makeshift explosives—crafted by the Liu family using information provided by Zhang Desen—at the original tunnel. If there were no pursuers, the charges would remain unused; otherwise, they’d detonate the entrance to block the enemy. The problematic left tunnel was to be collapsed immediately with explosives as well. Drawing on his special forces training, Zhang Desen knew exactly how to achieve the desired results.

On further thought, if no pursuers arrived, Zhao Chengming should simply command at the crossroads—if they could trap the pursuers there, holding the intersection would suffice. Everything else would be left to Zhao Chengming’s discretion.

Once all was arranged, Zhang Desen placed 900 men under Zhao Chengming’s command for defense and backup, while he led Li Longfang and a hundred others toward the forest ahead.

Zhang Desen also considered that since the Saurians were natives of Earth, they didn’t wear fully enclosed spacesuits—their uniforms resembled the modern military attire of Zhang Desen’s home universe, albeit with a more futuristic twist. Their vulnerabilities would be easy to find, unlike the legendary alien invaders.

At that moment, the pursuers finally broke through the tunnel. In the Saurian mountain base, Chief of Staff Dadu Kuer exclaimed excitedly, “It’s open! No matter how heavy the obstruction, it’s no match for my advanced anti-gravity devices and laser excavators, right?”

His adjutant, Dade Ross, chimed in, “Absolutely! Time to hunt some rats—I can hardly wait! Hahaha.”

“Good…” Dadu Kuer began, but before he could finish, a voice called out, “Chief of Staff!”

A Saurian soldier hurried over and reported, “Chief Kuer, Officer Goba Xiaofu is looking for you and wants you in the command room immediately.”

Dadu Kuer replied, “Officer Xiaofu? Understood.” He turned to Dade Ross. “I have something to deal with. Guard this rat hole, and when I return, we’ll hunt together.”

“Yes, sir!”

Meanwhile, Zhang Desen and his group entered the forest ahead. Before they could properly observe their surroundings, a gigantic tongue shot out from the undergrowth, snatching a massive ancient dragonfly from midair.

The creature leapt into view, and Zhang Desen instantly recognized it—it was a prehistoric giant devil frog.