cicada

Chapter 1485 Mysterious Explosion
Before the fire at the monastery was completely extinguished, Kuomintang agents entered the church with guns and fired additional shots at the G2 members. Gunshots rang out continuously, causing Heinz to tremble slightly in fear.

Gui Youguang led his men to his side, looked the man up and down, and then bent down to pick up the documents on the ground.

"Heinz? Professor?"

After wiping the dust off the document, Gui Youguang read the contents aloud in German, his tone tinged with surprise.

This is an internal laboratory pass. Heinz's position is chief scientist, a title that carries significant weight in the German research system, as he oversees the core research work of the entire laboratory.

Heinz nodded quickly upon hearing this, keeping his hands still raised high to indicate that he posed no threat.

"Yes, I am Heinz. I am willing to surrender. Please don't kill me."

Gui Youguang remained noncommittal in response to his pleas for mercy, and instead asked another question.

"Could you tell me what your major is? Don't worry, I always respect scientists and would not kill a respectable scholar arbitrarily."

"He won't kill randomly, which means he'll kill when he's not doing it randomly." Heinz understood the implication and immediately replied, "Experimental physics, my major is experimental physics."

Gui Youguang raised an eyebrow. The Military Intelligence Bureau's training included basic science courses, and he certainly knew that experimental physics was the key to modern science and industry, as well as the source of all cutting-edge equipment and weapons.

Looking at the terrified Heinz, Gui Youguang changed his previous fierce expression and became unusually kind: "Professor, can you tell me what exactly you are researching?"

The purpose of this operation by the Military Intelligence Bureau was to acquire advanced German technology. As long as this guy cooperated, he wouldn't mind giving him a quick death.

He could even take the other person away alive, provided that Heinz demonstrated sufficient value; the Military Intelligence Bureau doesn't tolerate idlers.

Meanwhile, the junior agents had finished clearing the ground and were entering the laboratory to eliminate the Americans inside, with gunshots and explosions constantly coming from the entrance.

There were few G2 members in the lab, and they were not carrying heavy weapons. On the other hand, the military not only had a numerical advantage, but also brought a lot of special weapons.

A junior agent stood by the entrance and pulled the trigger. A German-made Type 41 flamethrower behind him shot out a jet of fire. The flames ignored the corners and cover, curved along the walls, and directly ignited the corridor below and the American soldiers.

The thickener, composed of gasoline and tar, reacted with dust in the air in a deflagration reaction, and orange-red flames engulfed everything.

Several American soldiers were firing at each other when one of them ran headfirst into the flames. Almost instantly, the man was engulfed in flames, letting out a bloodcurdling scream as he collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.

Seeing this, the American soldiers next to him took off their uniforms and frantically patted the fire, trying to put it out, but to no avail.

After the flames subsided, only a few clumps of black ash remained on the ground. The remaining American soldiers were still in shock when several more streaks of fire attacked.

Gui Youguang ignored the laboratory's actions, calling them nothing more than a bunch of stray dogs. If they couldn't even be dealt with, the special operations team might as well disband.

On the other side, Heinz hesitated for a few seconds, but finally couldn't withstand the pressure and chose to confess honestly.

"Have you heard of Tesla? Our research is related to him."

Gui Youguang was taken aback, and subconsciously asked, "Nikola Tesla?"

“Yes, sir,” Heinz replied respectfully, a hint of reminiscence flashing in his cloudy eyes.

The gunfire in the laboratory gradually subsided. Gui Youguang glanced over there, and information about Nikola Tesla popped into his mind.

Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in Smillennia, Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was of Serbian descent and later obtained long-term residency in the United States, where he lived for most of his life in New York.

[Occupation: Inventor, Electrical Engineer, Experimental Physicist; Specializes in High-Frequency Electricity, Radio, Power Transmission, and Novel Devices]

He led a solitary life, remained single, and had a paranoid personality. He died in 1943, and his research materials were secretly taken over by the US government after his death.

This person invented alternating current, transformers, and a series of other electrical technologies and equipment. He was a long-term target of the Military Intelligence Bureau and an important scientist specifically named by the deputy director.

But this laboratory originated from the Tunguska explosion. What does that have to do with Tesla? Is Heinz talking nonsense?
Gui Youguang's expression gradually turned hostile, and he squinted his eyes and threatened, "In 1908, the German Emperor sent an expedition that brought back a batch of mysterious items from Tunguska. Those items are in the laboratory. Do I need to say anything more?"

Heinz shook his head and smiled bitterly, then recounted an event from many years ago. Listening to his story, Gui Youguang felt as if he had returned to that turbulent and volatile era.

In the late summer of 1905, Heinz, who had just graduated from the Physics Department of the University of Munich, was recruited by a secret research institution and became a researcher.

This secret research institution, affiliated with the German royal family, was responsible for investigating mysterious events around the world, but progress was slow until one day in June 1908, when things changed.

That morning, Heinz and his colleagues were conducting experiments in the laboratory when the magnetometer on the table suddenly began to swing violently, indicating a magnetic oscillation. According to Heinz's calculations, the intensity of this magnetic oscillation was very high, with a cycle of three minutes. He immediately reported his discovery.

Starting that evening, the night sky over Germany and even the whole of Europe was filled with a bright orange-red light, almost as bright as sunlight, turning night into day.

A few days later, news spread rapidly around the world—a strong earthquake had occurred in the Tunguska region of Siberia, Russia, and the magnetic oscillations and bright lights might be related to it.

The Emperor's order quickly reached the research institutions, who were tasked with forming an expedition to Tunguska, and Heinz was one of the members.

After a period of intense preparation, the expedition team set off, ostensibly to study earthquakes.

Such a perfunctory reason should have aroused suspicion from the Russian government, but the opposite was true; the Tsarist Russian border police directly approved the expedition's entry application.

At that time, Russia was in turmoil, the Tsar's rule was in danger, and there were frequent internal upheavals.

The Tunguska region is located deep in remote Siberia, where there are fewer inhabitants than animals, and the Tsarist Russian government simply did not care what an expedition was going to do.

Heinz and his companions traveled by Trans-Siberian Railway, spending three weeks to reach Irkutsk. They then hired vehicles and boats, traversing forests and rivers to finally reach the Tunguska River basin.

On the banks of the Tunguska River, the expedition members were stunned by what they saw: scorched earth everywhere after the fire, and countless trees lying fallen in all directions.

The apocalyptic scene made the expedition team realize that these anomalies were not caused by an earthquake, but rather resembled traces left by a massive explosion.

Subsequent questioning of the local natives confirmed their suspicions: a large explosion had indeed occurred near Tunguska, not long ago.

On the same morning that Heinz discovered the magnetic anomaly, an indigenous tribe was preparing to work when a huge fireball suddenly appeared in the sky, like a second sun.

This "sun" plummeted from the sky at an incredible speed, trailing a bright blue beam of light.

Before the natives could react, a bright light illuminated the entire sky, followed by a deafening roar that echoed through the heavens and earth, as if someone had detonated a bomb in mid-air.

After the intense light and explosion, the earth shook violently, mushroom-shaped plumes of smoke rose into the sky, and the river water temperature rose rapidly.

In order to ascertain the situation and find evidence, the expedition team not only questioned the natives but also entered the epicenter of the explosion for on-site investigation, where the situation was even more astonishing.

The river and its banks were covered with fish that had been scalded to death, and the animals stood in the forest in the same positions they had been in before they were burned, like frozen sculptures.

Measurements indicate that the burned and collapsed forest area is approximately 2000 square kilometers, with the trees falling in the opposite direction to the explosion center.

A few large trees near the center of the explosion did not catch fire or fall; their bark was simply peeled off by a mysterious force, which cannot be explained by current science.

At this point, Heinz swallowed hard. Even after decades, the memory of that time still stirred a deep emotion within him.

Gui Youguang was getting a little impatient. Wasn't this about Tesla? How did it turn into the Big Bang?

Heinz noticed his confusion and revealed another secret: a month before the explosion, a strange guest had arrived at the indigenous tribe.

The other party claimed to be American, and said he hid in his tent all day and didn't go out; no one knew what he was doing.

A month later, the American took out a machine and offered to show a movie to the tribe members. When he pressed the switch, the natives did not see the movie, but instead witnessed the earth-shattering explosion.

Gui Youguang seemed to be deep in thought, then tentatively asked, "That guest was Tesla?"

Heinz readily admitted: "Indeed, Tesla revealed his name to the indigenous elders, and he was already a very famous scientist at the time."

"More importantly, Tesla left a batch of documents in a cave near the tribe, which is the mysterious item we transported back to Germany."

Gui Youguang understood. No wonder the documents on the truck were in Cyrillic script, which is the script of Tesla's hometown, Serbia. But was the explosion really related to Tesla and some kind of mysterious machine?
After a moment's thought, Gui Youguang asked an unrelated question: "Did you kill all the members of that tribe?"

“Yes, so nobody knows that Tesla ever appeared in Tunguska.” Heinz nodded matter-of-factly, not feeling there was anything wrong with doing so.

A technology capable of triggering a massive explosion would be a top secret in any country, and the Germans would never allow it to be leaked.

At this moment, a junior agent came to report that the underground laboratory had been cleaned up and the operatives had found many things inside.

"Let's go take a look, and bring this guy with us."

Gui Youguang pointed at Heinz and gave an order, then eagerly headed towards the underground entrance. If the Nationalist government mastered the technology to create a massive explosion, the war between China and Japan could end very quickly.