NCCnovel Chapter 159 I've exited the cabin!
Chapter 159 I've exited the cabin!
The landing module slowly descended and entered the green planet.
After landing smoothly, the four robotic arms below simultaneously extend to both sides, supporting the cabin which weighs several hundred kilograms and preventing it from directly contacting the ground.
As the pressure valve emitted a plume of white steam, the hatch cover was slowly pushed open, and Shi Qiang was the first to pop his head out.
"I've exited the cabin and I feel good... cough, cough cough!"
Shi Qiang's words were cut short as he coughed violently.
"Idiot, with such lush vegetation on this planet, how could the oxygen concentration be low?"
"I really admire you. You're the first person I've ever met who dares to breathe pure oxygen."
As Liu Chang spoke, he put an oxygen mask on Shi Qiang's face, and the latter felt much better.
"Pooh!"
Shi Qiang took a breath and then removed his oxygen mask, spitting out the phlegm in his mouth.
He almost coughed up his lungs because he couldn't catch his breath.
"Damn it, what a lousy place, it's really weird."
The two quickly climbed out of the landing module and began to look around.
They landed on a beach, one of the few areas on the planet not covered by willow trees.
Strangely, this willow tree seems to hate water, which is the complete opposite of willow trees on Earth.
However, Liu Chang didn't think too much about it. After all, up to now, he only felt that this thing looked like a willow tree on Earth, and he wasn't sure if it was the same thing.
We must not create a misconception in our thinking. Even if we say that this thing is called a willow tree, we absolutely cannot take it as a real willow tree. We need to study it further to find out what its habits are.
After taking some lake water samples, the two turned and left.
To avoid irritating the roots of the willow trees, the two wore thick power armor from head to toe.
Liu Chang had already tested it before; these willow trees only attack organic matter, which the nanobots can avoid.
"Cheng Xing, do you have a panoramic map of this planet?"
Before landing, Cheng Xing allocated a portion of his computing power to the two men's powered armor to assist them in completing their exploration mission.
These two auxiliary AIs mounted on the power armor are Cheng Xing's sub-machines, and they will upload data to the main Cheng Xing located on the Navigator in real time.
Of course, if it encounters signal jamming or similar issues, the slave unit can also work independently of the host unit.
Soon, Cheng Xing shared a panoramic map scanned by satellite with the two of them.
"This result was obtained through a scan by the Navigator's onboard satellite. It may not be accurate, but it should be sufficient."
"Thank you."
Liu Chang pulled up the map Cheng Xing had given him and marked several locations that needed to be explored.
"As of now, we haven't found the main trunk of this willow tree. It may be underground, or it may not exist at all. After all, who knows what this plant originally looked like?"
"So all we need to do is collect some of the planet's distinctive terrain and environmental samples, such as these active volcanoes, the soil near the planet's equator, or the lake water we just collected."
"With just this environmental information, we can roughly analyze what we want. If we go any closer, we might be in danger."
Shi Qiang was startled upon hearing this.
"You actually know this is dangerous? I thought you weren't afraid of death at all!"
"I'm not afraid of death, but it's only meaningful if we bring this data back alive; otherwise, it will just stay on this planet forever."
Shi Qiang nodded. He felt that Liu Chang's words made some sense, but for some reason, he just felt that something was off.
The powered armor has the ability to fly below the stratosphere at a considerable speed, essentially making it an enhanced version of a spaceplane... no, a flying man.
This is all thanks to the power provided by Ding Yi's cold fusion. Cold fusion technology has truly changed a perception gap regarding nuclear fusion energy.
Just like before smartphones became widespread, people didn't realize that their mobile phones would one day be used to watch short videos and fully understand biodiversity.
Just as the two were about to take off, Shi Qiang suddenly exclaimed in surprise!
"Holy crap, Liu Chang, look over there, so many Xun Ges!"
Liu Chang didn't immediately understand what Shi Qiang was saying, but when he turned his head, his eyes widened in shock!
In the distance, nestled in the shade of a grove of trees, stood a cluster of small willow trees.
That's right, not standing, but standing; they have feet!
They are not very large, only about the size of a seven or eight-year-old human child, and about 1.2 meters tall.
But they have no facial features; they look like a group of trees that have grown legs and can move.
"Treant?"
"It is indeed a tree-man, but should this thing be considered a plant or an animal?" Shi Qiang asked, puzzled.
"It's hard to say. Humans distinguish between plants and animals, and it's just a division based on human understanding. As things stand now, biology will have a broader range of research directions in the future."
"Just like how we subconsciously notice that these guys don't have facial features, that's because in our understanding, living things should all have facial features."
Just as the two noticed the tree-men, the other side also noticed them.
"They're coming."
Shi Qiang immediately became alert. He raised his individual electromagnetic cannon, ready to fire a shot at the group first.
"Wait a minute, they probably don't have the desire to attack yet."
Liu Chang, who was standing nearby, quickly stopped Shi Qiang from firing the cannon, but Liu Chang himself was also very wary of this unknown thing.
500 meters...300 meters...100 meters...
Finally, the tree-men stopped 100 meters away from the two.
Both sides were sizing each other up; this 100-meter distance seemed to be a safe distance that both sides tacitly agreed upon.
"Brahma waka!"
One of the tree-men uttered a strange syllable, and Liu Chang had no idea how a tree without facial features could produce sound.
He looked at Shi Qiang beside him, who had a big question mark on his head.
Why are you looking at me like that? Do you expect me to translate for you?
"Actually, it's not impossible. We can roughly analyze what he said. Although we can't understand what this bastard is saying, the tone... at least the tone is friendly. So, combined with its expression... well, this thing doesn't even have facial features, so what expression could it possibly have?"
"In short, if I had to guess, it means..."
Have you eaten yet?
Shock level from Liu Chang +15!
Liu Chang couldn't help but roll her eyes at Shi Qiang.
"What, this tree spirit is pretty authentic too, huh?"
In the end, Liu Chang still managed to come up with a solution to the problem.
Since you can't understand the other person's language, then make sure they can understand yours.
He had Cheng Xing download a memory from the Super Dream database, which included all human languages and the images that expressed their meanings, essentially a human voice pack.
But a problem soon arose: how should I transmit it to the other party?
The other party is clearly using biotechnology; it seems they can't read things like mechanical hard drives and memory cards, right?
"Well, let's try anything, it's the only way."
After Liu Chang integrated the voice pack containing all of humanity's languages into a single chip, he simply tossed it to the tree-men, hoping they would have a way to read it.
A branch suddenly grew from the tree-man's body, caught the chip that Liu Chang threw to it, and began to examine it carefully in its hand.
The two waited for about an hour before one of the tree-men finally spoke.
"Hello there!"
These two short words immediately excited Liu Chang and Shi Qiang.
It worked!
The Tree Man was actually able to read the memories inside the chip!
This is fantastic news.
As long as both sides can communicate, they will be able to learn more of the information they want.
Are you native to this planet?
Shi Qiang stepped forward and asked.
This time, the tree man remained silent for a long time before answering.
"We were not massacred."
Shi Qiang: ? ? ?
No, it seems you've misunderstood the meaning of the word "native"?
"Then let me ask you another way: Is this planet where you were originally born?"
"Yes!"
"But this planet didn't look like this a few decades ago."
"I do not know."
Shi Qiang was taken aback when he heard this.
"What do you mean 'don't know'?"
This time, the tree-man remained silent for a long time, seemingly searching for a language within the chip that could answer the question.
After a long silence, Shuren finally answered.
“We are less than a year old.”
Shock level from Shi Qiang +25!
Liu Chang quickly picked up the conversation.
"You mean you're a species that was born a year ago, and this planet didn't look like this a year ago?"
"I don't know, this is how it was when I woke up."
The two remained silent, having gleaned some information from their conversation with the tree-man.
This planet must have been greened a long time ago, roughly between 50 years and 1 year ago.
These tree-people are a product of the planet's greening process.
This can also be seen from their behavior.
These tree-people... are as innocent and naive as human babies.
They are like newborn babies, full of curiosity about everything in the world.
Why do you say that?
Because after seeing Shi Qiang and his companion, they did not choose to attack directly, but instead communicated with them.
What does this mean?
This shows that their civilization has not yet grasped the Dark Forest Theory!
Otherwise, the moment they saw the Navigator arrive, they would either choose to hide or attack it; there would be absolutely no option of communication.
"So that means you don't know who created you either."
"Yes."
"How many tree-people like you are there on this planet?"
"Around 100 million... but there are only three of us who can afford it like me."
Liu Chang was puzzled.
"What do you mean by 'like the three of you'?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that among the group of tree people, three tree people seemed to be somewhat different from others.
The tree-man had two canopies, one above the other, which looked very strange, like a willow tree that had been split in two and then the upper canopy was copied symmetrically onto the lower canopy.
It's actually a symmetrical willow tree!
The other tree-man's trunk is somewhat like a pillar, thickest at the base and tapering upwards in segments, which looks quite strange.
Only the tree-man who had been communicating with the two of them looked somewhat normal.
Its hips are particularly high, and its two thick legs made of tree branches stand apart on the ground. From a distance, this tree-man looks like a large triangle, somewhat resembling the Eiffel Tower.
"These little creatures are quite unique in appearance," Shi Qiang commented.
"You're not talking about appearance. I think I understand what you mean. You mean you three tree people are the only intelligent beings on this planet, right?"
“Yes,” the tree-man nodded.
Like humans and apes, although the tree people look similar, only three tree people on this planet actually have the ability to communicate.
"Do you have names?" Liu Chang asked again.
"Name? I don't have a name."
"So how do you address each other?"
The tree-men raised their arms, and instantly their hands, made of tree branches, connected together.
"Well, we communicate by exchanging memories; we don't need to use language."
"Wow, another alien civilization that can communicate without speaking. So, Earthlings are the only ones who use their mouths to talk, right?"
Upon hearing Shi Qiang's words, Shuren seemed to suddenly realize something and spoke up.
"I've seen humans!"
"What?" Liu Chang and Shi Qiang were both shocked!
“I have seen a human. He looks a lot like you. He should be the same species as you.”
Liu Chang's breathing quickened instantly. This tree-man claimed to have seen humans!
But it's absolutely impossible for humans to have ever reached this planet!
That means there really are other human civilizations in the universe!
This discovery is absolutely astounding...
It's even more valuable than studying the tree itself.
If other human civilizations exist in the universe, what is their development like, and are they similar to human civilization on Earth?
Did the other side evolve in the same way as Earthlings?
In an instant, too many questions flooded Liu Chang's mind. Before, he felt that he had lost out because he couldn't return to Earth, but now it seems... it's a huge gain!
"where are they?"
"That human only comes here once every five years. He said this planet originally belonged to him, but some experiment failed, which is why it is what it is now. And the people of the past called him—the Observer!"
"Observer!"
This title is familiar to both Liu Chang and Shi Qiang.
This is what the Trisolarans have always called Lin Xuan.
At first, everyone thought it was just a name used within the Trisolarans, but now it seems that the name has a different meaning!
Unfortunately, they are too far from Earth to establish communication; otherwise, Shi Qiang felt that this news would definitely interest Lin Xuan greatly.
"How long has it been since he last left?"
"It's been about four years. We're here waiting for his arrival!"
……
Shi Qiang quickly sent the information provided by the Tree Man back to the Navigator.
After a joint discussion, Zhang Beihai and Chu Yan decided to rest here for a year and wait for the arrival of the legendary observer.
Cheng Xing agreed to the decision because it did not conflict with her programming, and she also needed to use the planet to refuel the Navigator.
"By the way, Tree Man, since you don't have a name, let's give you one. That way, it'll be easier for everyone to address each other in the future," Shi Qiang suggested.
“Okay, no problem.” The treant nodded in agreement, and the other two treants had no objections either.
They are unaware of what awaits them next.
After thinking for a few seconds, Shi Qiang slapped his thigh.
"I've got an idea of what to call it."
As he spoke, he pointed to the large triangular tree-man who had been communicating with them.
"You, yes, it's you. From now on, your name will be Trigonometric Tree!"
As he spoke, he pointed to another tree-like figure, its segments resembling bamboo joints.
"From now on, you'll be called a segmented functional tree!"
"As for the last one... let's call it the complex function tree!"
Liu Chang: ...