Within those few short seconds, people had already gathered all around. The man being restrained by several soldiers could only watch helplessly as the soldiers quickly carried his box out of the black hole and threw it into an explosion-proof bag.
The explosion-proof bag was thrown far away to the center of the square. Everyone lay flat on the ground, holding their breath and waiting. Even the soldiers who had come to take over the shift formed a circle of blast-resistant metal around the explosion-proof bag and the black hole.
The entire series of actions had taken less than five minutes, yet everyone still wore puzzled expressions.
Judging from the way the man had thrown the box, the bomb inside should have exploded almost immediately. So why was there still no reaction after all this time?
No one dared to act rashly. Instead, they restrained the perpetrator and took him away for interrogation.
However, how could someone capable of being a spy reveal anything through interrogation so easily? With the perpetrator refusing to say a word, everyone speculated that the bomb was more likely remotely controlled. It would only explode when it approached the black hole and would remain inactive at other times.
After careful consideration, Zhong Hua ultimately decided that they had to find a way to transport the box out of the base as quickly as possible.
Of course, they could choose to evacuate everyone and let the box explode on its own, but the black hole was simply too valuable for them to take that risk. Thus, everyone reluctantly decided to let the box explode somewhere else.
However, doing so meant that an EOD soldier would have to risk walking to the center of the square to retrieve the box.
The person controlling the box might very well use this opportunity to detonate the bomb. It was an extremely dangerous mission, but every soldier in the EOD unit scrambled to volunteer.
The company commander was heavyhearted, but he did not show it on his face. Instead, he chose the most experienced soldier. “Zhao Heng! Step forward!”
Fifteen minutes after the box incident, there was still no explosion. Beside the explosion-proof bag in the center of the square, a fully equipped EOD soldier had appeared. He was waiting for the order to pick up the bag.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind. “Wait! I’ll do it!”
Zhong Hua turned around and saw that Nan Qingchuan, who should have been catching up on sleep, had gotten up at some point. To adjust to the time difference between Ming Country and Latt Star, Nan Qingchuan had to adapt to Latt Star’s daily schedule within a short period of time. Therefore, starting today, he and some other soldiers had to sleep during the day and work at night.
He just had not expected Nan Qingchuan to come out after such a short time.
Zhong Hua objected. “You’re very important right now. We can’t let you take the risk.”
Nan Qingchuan leaned close to his ear. “It doesn’t count as taking a risk at all. Planet Lord Gu has already taught me how to use mental power to retrieve objects from a distance. I can now put that bag into my space from at least half a meter away.”
He gave Vice Minister Zhong a military salute. “Sir, I believe I’m more suitable.”
Was his life a life while other people’s lives were not?
Nan Qingchuan silently looked at Zhong Hua, waiting for him to make a decision.
Zhong Hua was silent for a moment. “Change your equipment.”
“Yes, sir!”
Two minutes later, Nan Qingchuan successfully placed the box into his spatial chip, and the bomb crisis was considered temporarily resolved.
The next step was to transport the box out of the base and completely eliminate the hidden danger it posed. Nan Qingchuan followed several soldiers into a vehicle and left the base.
The remaining people all wore grim expressions. The suspect who had brought the box inside definitely had accomplices. Now that the square of this base, internally designated as the Black Hole Base and publicly claimed to be an archaeological base, was under extremely strict security, everyone who could enter had to undergo rigorous political screening, and getting close to the black hole was even more difficult.
It could now be determined that the accomplice must hold a fairly high position.
Zhong Hua frowned. It looked like they were going to have to conduct a major purge.
“Sir! This is bad!”
Zhong Hua heard someone call out to him and hurriedly turned around, only to see a soldier anxiously pointing toward the black hole. “Something happened!”
Zhong Hua hurried forward two steps. When he saw the black hole, his breath caught.
The black hole had originally been nearly 1.8 meters tall and 1.6 meters wide, with an oval shape, but now…
It had actually shrunk considerably, becoming a square.
The box had not approached the black hole, and neither had the person. So how could it have been affected?
Zhong Hua’s pupils trembled. Old Tao, who had arrived shortly afterward, also saw the scene. “Hurry and go in to test it. Make sure it hasn’t been blocked!”
Zhong Hua quickly walked forward several steps and bent down. He successfully passed through to the other side of the black hole.
There did not seem to be any major effect…
As soon as he entered, several robots quickly scanned him. After determining that he was a safe individual, they did not approach to apprehend him.
However, the conscientious Xiao Hong still notified Gu Jiaqi, who was sleeping. Thus, after Zhong Hua turned around and carefully observed the black hole on Latt Star, Gu Jiaqi appeared, still somewhat bleary-eyed from sleep.
This leader was always very serious whenever he came over, and he held considerable authority. He would definitely only come over when something important had happened, so Gu Jiaqi naturally would not miss it.
“Vice Minister Zhong, what brings you here at this hour?”
Zhong Hua turned to look at Gu Jiaqi. After a brief silence, he decided to tell her the truth. After all, the technological level on Gu Jiaqi’s side was more advanced than Ming Country’s. Perhaps she would have some idea why the black hole in Ming Country had shrunk.
Gu Jiaqi was stunned after hearing Zhong Hua’s account.
“The black hole can actually shrink?!”
Gu Jiaqi naturally had no idea what was happening either, so she asked, “Could someone have attacked the black hole?”
Zhong Hua shook his head. “No. There was indeed a suspicious individual who came to the entrance today, but he never came into contact with the black hole. Although he threw a box, our soldiers stopped it before it reached the entrance. You could say that the black hole was completely unharmed.”
Gu Jiaqi rested her chin on her hand and pondered. “That box contained a bomb?”
Zhong Hua said, “Possibly. We were afraid its power would be too great, so we didn’t inspect it immediately. Xiao Nan has already taken it out.”
Gu Jiaqi looked at the black hole on her side. Neither its length nor its width had changed. But why had the one on Ming Country’s side shrunk?
“Vice Minister Zhong, would it be convenient for me to go over there with you? I’d like to take a look at it in person.”
Gu Jiaqi really could not make sense of it, so she still wanted to see for herself what had happened to the other side of the black hole.
She had expected Zhong Hua to hesitate and refuse to let her go over, but to her surprise, he agreed after only a moment’s thought.
What Gu Jiaqi did not know was that the people of Ming Country had already thoroughly studied her personality profile. They had initially determined that Gu Jiaqi was someone who needed to be treated with sincerity and was worth cooperating with. Therefore, they were willing to accept her going to their world.
Thinking about it from another perspective, if they were given the chance to return to ancient times right now, how many people would actually choose to go? To Gu Jiaqi, Ming Country was essentially like an ancient era to people from her time. Ming Country was behind the times, so by all rights, an advanced person from the future would not want to stay in a backward ancient era.
What was more, when a doctor treated an illness, it was always better to go as early as possible. Gu Jiaqi was like a doctor now, and letting her see the patient when the illness had only just begun was the best option.
Thus, as the overall commander, Zhong Hua only took a moment to consider it before bringing Gu Jiaqi through. This decisiveness truly made Gu Jiaqi see him in a new light.
Seeing the obvious surprise in Gu Jiaqi’s eyes, Zhong Hua said, “We’ve already begun cooperating. We’re already friends with each other, aren’t we? Planet Lord Gu, there’s no need to be so surprised. We trust you very much.”
It was a beautifully worded statement. Gu Jiaqi composed herself and followed him through.
She had arrived at the second otherworldly realm she had ever visited, apart from the apocalypse plane.
To the people guarding the entrance, Vice Minister Zhong had clearly only gone in to test whether the black hole could still be used. Yet unexpectedly, he came back with another person.
This person looked quite normal. There was nothing strange about her. In fact, she was rather pleasing to the eye, even quite beautiful.
Everyone silently stared at her, quietly raising their guard. But seeing that there was nothing unusual about Zhong Hua’s expression, they did not act rashly either. Obeying orders and maintaining discipline was the first lesson every person present had learned since joining the military.
Gu Jiaqi had imagined how seriously Ming Country would treat this matter before, but even so, she was still amazed after coming here in person. The surrounding area was encircled by soldiers carrying actual firearms. They wore beautiful retro camouflage uniforms, which looked very beautiful to Gu Jiaqi, and their eyes were vigilant, their morale high.
If someone were inexperienced, being watched by so many people would probably have made them uncomfortable or frightened. But Gu Jiaqi was different. She missed this atmosphere terribly.
Even though the scene was different and the people were different, the atmosphere alone was enough to make her feel familiar and nostalgic.
Gu Jiaqi immediately concluded that Ming Country had great potential as a country. She could tell just from the bearing of its military.
After scanning the surroundings, she immediately turned around to look at the black hole she had come through. Sure enough, the entrance was now only a tiny quadrilateral, completely different from the one on her side.
She pondered what exactly had affected the area of the black hole. It had not suffered any external damage, nor had it gradually shrunk. The problem must have been with the suspicious person who had just reached the entrance.
“Vice Minister Zhong, where was that person standing just now? How far away from the black hole?”
Zhong Hua took two steps backward. “Here.”
Gu Jiaqi measured the distance. It was roughly five or six meters from the entrance. It was not particularly close, but it was not exactly far either. An ancient person did not have mental power, so how could he possibly affect the black hole?
Wait!
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Gu Jiaqi’s mind. She seemed to have realized something.
“Vice Minister Zhong, I think I may know what happened, but I still need to verify it.”