Chapter 5 Black Circle

Author: Shiyin1

Chapter 5 Black Circle

For this unusual satellite aerial photo, someone had to go there again. And this time, Wei Yuan had to lead the team himself.

"Dr. Wei, with all due respect, 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, but no one above him agrees.

"If the spread of this black circle is real, it means that all of us may not be safe."

Wei Yuan's eyes were not optimistic.

And it is clear that only by finding out the truth about what happened at the Cave Hotel and on the mountain can it be possible to stop this spread.

Wei Yuan has already applied to the higher authorities, and it is obvious that he must go this time.

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

Now even normal passenger planes have to go around, and no-fly orders have been clearly issued in various places.

"I won't fly." Wei Yuan shook his head and slowly said two words, "Drive."

Drive, drive? Xiao Xu was dumbfounded, "Doctor, that place is on the border with India..." He was afraid that Wei Yuan couldn't hear clearly, drive? How long should he drive?

Wei Yuan was serious. The reason why he was allowed to lead the team personally this time was 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 from the scientific research institute in the conference room and showed the PPT on the projection.

You can see all the layout and furnishings in the cave hotel. This is a hotel with a rather medieval retro style. Everything is antique, but it is obviously very in line with the modern people's aesthetic taste for novelty.

Before the incident, it was very difficult to book a reservation at this cave hotel, which was always fully booked.

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

Why not visit scenic hotels? Who has any thoughts at this time?

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

It cost more than a dozen drones to obtain precious images, and the budget for the next three years will be lost.

In the photos, 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 entire hotel lobby is pitch black. It looks like a real cave.

The drone took a very valuable night vision photo. You can see that the table at the front desk of the hotel lobby is covered with cobwebs, and a layer of black substance of unknown origin is wrapped around the table.

There were piles of things whose shapes could no longer be discerned. It was not until Wei Yuan put the two photos together and compared them that he finally managed to recognize them.

It should be a computer used for cashiering, a camera for recording, and a phone.

...Besides there is a half-opened notepad and a fallen pen, as if the waiter at the front desk had just opened the notebook to register something.

Then the camera cuts to the ground, and you can see that there are even several pools of black dust piled up on the ground, which can no longer be seen. It reminds people of some kind of "ashes".

"What is this?!...'Rust'?" Someone in the conference room had already started to feel creepy and couldn't help blurting out.

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

In the photo, almost every place in the lobby is covered with this unknown black substance, including the floor, walls, and ceiling...

Mainly, everyone here has seen satellite images.

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

There was no blood on anyone's face.

"Please look at these items carefully." Wei Yuan was still zooming in on each item one by one: including the cash register on the table, the table and chairs next to it, and a boxy thing in the corner that couldn't be seen.

Square things.

Rust is an oxidation reaction that only occurs on metal, but everything in the hotel, except the cash register, is barely considered metal, including tables, chairs, and luggage. How could these possibly rust?

Also recorded by the drone was an ancient clock on the wall.

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

Erosion, let’s call it some kind of “erosion”.

No one in the conference room spoke, and no one came to refute this specious "terminology."

Moreover, the photos taken by the drone are still very accurate. After zooming in, there is indeed a very significant difference in the amount of black material covering these seemingly ordinary items.

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

In fact, these items seem to have no correlation at all. They are simply out of reach. Even if there is a difference in the degree of erosion, what does it mean?

Wei Yuan slowly turned his wheelchair and faced everyone in the conference room.

"What I say below is just my guess." Wei Yuan looked at these people. Each one of them was someone who had overcome difficulties in their own field. They were all staring at him. "The only connection between these items is the age of their existence."

."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was no sound in the conference room. It seemed like everyone couldn't even breathe.

This conclusion obviously left everyone stunned.

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

Wei Yuan said slowly, his voice sounded very calm, and he narrated a conclusion that could be regarded as absurd: "In the photo, the most advanced computer equipment is almost completely covered by 'erosive matter', and the next

Some outlines of the dial-up telephone can still be seen. As for the clock on the wall, the pendulum was still moving when the photo was sent back. The only thing in the lobby that can still be seen as a prototype is the marble floor and the most primitive parts on the wall.

Part of the original cave.”

"As for the piles of 'dust' accumulated 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 rubble in this area - so I plan to do an experiment. I will only bring the most basic items, without any 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 equivalent to giving everything away, and no one in the conference room speaks anymore.
Chapter completed!