cicada

Chapter 1490 Future
"Could you tell me what exactly happened here a few days ago?"

When Muh asked the question, the room fell silent. The Evenki people looked fearful, as if they were thinking of some terrible scenario.

The firewood in the hearth crackled and popped as it burned. The elder looked at Muh, sighed, and began his story.

"That day, just as the sun was shining on the treetops, a bright pillar of light suddenly appeared on the horizon, its color even more azure than the clearest sky, and then the explosion occurred."

"It was as if two suns appeared in the sky, birds fell like raindrops, and countless animals rushed out of the forest like madmen."

Recalling the situation, a solemn look appeared on the elder's face. He had lived on this land all his life, but had never seen anything like it.

Mukh pondered this. The unusual behavior of birds and animals could be explained by magnetic anomalies, which was consistent with their observation records.

On the other side, Heinz took out a wire recorder, pressed the switch, and recorded what the elder said.

"A deafening roar echoed through the sky, and a storm swept in all directions from the site of the explosion. Countless trees fell, and it would take a whole day to walk from one end of the collapsed trees to the other by reindeer."

"After the storm, a boundless fire swept through the entire forest, burning many animals that could not escape in time to death, and the river water was boiled by the fire."

As the elder spoke, his body began to tremble slightly, and the surrounding Evenki people fell silent, making the camp extremely quiet.

Mukh did some mental calculations. Reindeer can walk about 50 to 60 kilometers a day, which means the area destroyed by the explosion was at least 2000 square kilometers.

He couldn't help but clench his fists. What exactly was that blue beam of light that caused the explosion, and why was it so powerful?

If the empire were to acquire this unknown power, the British, Americans, and Russians alike would all kneel before the iron heel of Germany.

Not only Mukh, but the other members of the expedition team also realized this, but in their excitement they asked a question: How did the Evenki tribe escape the explosion?

The elder gave a wry smile and explained, "The hillside blocked the storm, and there were no trees near the camp, otherwise we would all have been burned to death."

Heinz turned to look around and, just as the elders had said, the camp was situated in an open area; the Evenkis were truly lucky.

Suddenly, his gaze fell upon a child running through the camp with a piece of silver paper in his hand. The paper shimmered in the sunlight, something that no native should possess.

Heinz nudged Mukh with his foot and glanced at the child. Mukh followed his gaze and immediately noticed something was wrong.

The silver paper in the child's hand was tin foil, a modern industrial product, which proved that strangers had once visited the Evenki tribe.

Muh asked casually, "Elder, have the tribe had any guests recently?"

The elder's expression changed slightly, and he quickly shook his head to indicate no. This action immediately put Heinz on high alert, and he gestured for the others to prepare their weapons.

But Muh waved his hand to tell everyone not to be nervous, and then presented the elders with his conditions in a very sincere manner.

“Elder, I know your tribe needs supplies. If you tell me who that guest was and what he did, I can give you all of these things.”

He pointed to the salt, cloth, and iron on the horses' backs—enough supplies to last the Evenki tribe for a long time.

After listening to the guide's words, the elder seemed somewhat tempted, but hesitated for a long time and still did not agree.

Seeing this, Mukh took out the rifle carried by the expedition team, cocked it deftly, and changed the subject, saying, "I don't want to hurt anyone, especially friends. Elder, would you like to be my friend?"

Sensing something amiss, the Evenki people present quietly took a few steps back, their hands reaching for their bows and javelins, while the rest of the expedition team tensed up.

"and many more."

The elder quickly stopped his people. He had witnessed the power of the white man's muskets; if a conflict broke out, the other side could easily kill everyone in the tribe.

"Don't move," Muh said, instructing his men to remain calm.

After the two men persuaded them to stop, the tense Germans and the natives laid down their weapons and temporarily ceased their standoff.

The elder asked the children and women of the tribe to leave first before answering Mukh's question. Heinz turned the tape recorder back on, and the wire slowly turned to begin recording.

"The guest's name was Nikola Tesla. He was an all-knowing sage who also understood our language."

"What did you say? Nikola Tesla?"

Heinz looked as if he had seen a ghost. Of course he had heard of Nikola Tesla, but what was he doing in Siberia? There were no power plants here.

The elder, unaware of Heinz's inner thoughts, continued to talk about many things related to Tesla, which the guide relayed to him.

“Mr. Tesla often went for walks in the forest and brought back a lot of plants. I asked him why he did this, and he said he was collecting specimens.”

“One month later, one morning, he asked me to gather the clansmen to prepare to play the event portrait, and the children were very happy.”

"But the beam of light appeared, and after the explosion, Mr. Tesla went to the location of the explosion before the fire was extinguished, and did not return until evening."

“I saw him carrying a package back to his tent. For the next ten days or so, he would leave the tribe every day and bring back some things.”

The German members of the expedition were listening intently when the elder stopped. Much remained silent, patiently waiting for the other party to speak.

As dusk fell, the elder added a few more pieces of firewood to the hearth. Watching the leaping flames, the old man spoke once more.

"Ten more sunrises passed, and Mr. Tesla prepared to leave. Before leaving, he asked me to help him hide his luggage and some other things in the cave."

"He told me that he would come back in the future and hoped that I could protect the cave for him and not let anyone know about it."

“I agreed to his request and even accepted the reward—a few silver coins and what you white people call chocolate. Unfortunately, I have to break my promise.” The elder’s feelings were very complicated. According to the shamanistic doctrines of the Evenki people, liars would lose the protection of their ancestral spirits.

Muh had no interest in ancestral spirits; he suppressed his excitement and urgently asked where the cave was.

"It's there."

The elder pointed in a direction, and several kilometers away, a small mountain lay quietly in the twilight, blocking the last rays of the sunset.

Mukh was overjoyed. Although he didn't know what Tesla had hidden, he was sure it was valuable, otherwise the other party wouldn't have valued it so much. He immediately asked the elder to lead him to the cave.

Late at night, the exhausted elder and the expedition team entered a cave, where Mukh and the others discovered several wooden boxes deep inside.

The closer he got to the box, the more violently the pointer on the handheld magnetometer swung. Heinz swallowed hard and picked up the crowbar.
-
On the morning of May 2, 1945, the mountain city welcomed a rare sunny day, and the headquarters of the Military Intelligence Bureau looked vibrant under the sunlight.

In the deputy director's office, Zuo Zhong sat in a chair with an old newspaper containing Roosevelt's obituary on the table, dated more than half a month ago.

He folded the newspaper and put it aside, then looked at Gui Youguang across from him and asked, "So the Tunguska event has nothing to do with Tesla; he just happened to encounter the explosion while collecting samples?"

Gui Youguang nodded: "Yes, after the last war, Tesla wanted to return to Siberia, but the Americans refused his request, after all, that was the territory of the Red Russians."

"This is actually a good thing. After the Kaiser abdicated, he sent a group of people to the Tunguska region. If Tesla goes back, he will definitely be arrested, or even silenced."

Zuo Zhong chuckled coldly. The Germans were ruthless; they not only wiped out the Evenki tribe but also planned to wait for them to come to them.

But man proposes, God disposes. The sudden outbreak of the European war disrupted Tesla's plans to return to Tunguska, and then the Americans cut off personnel exchanges with the Soviet Union.

After thinking it over, Zuo Zhong joked, "You were actually fooled by an amateur. I'd like to meet that German scientist named Heinz."

"This humble servant was not deceived." Gui Youguang's face flushed red, but he continued to stubbornly deny it.

“I immediately realized that the old guy’s testimony was half true and half false, otherwise the brothers wouldn’t have found a second laboratory.”

"Alright, alright, you weren't fooled. But what exactly did the Germans find in the box in the cave?" Zuo Zhong's perfunctory attitude was obvious to the naked eye.

When this matter was mentioned, Gui Youguang became serious again, handed over a photo with both hands, and his voice became low.

"The box contained a large number of paper documents and several mysterious items. The documents were Tesla's research data on the mysterious items. Before Heinz died, he asked me to protect these things."

"As for the mysterious items, I don't recognize what they are, but the special operations team lost 29 men because of them."

The bald man's eyes were red-rimmed. This was the biggest loss since the special operations team was formed. Among the dead were key members like Chen Mingjiang. The loss was simply too great.

Zuo Zhong straightened his collar, stood up, and solemnly took the photo. After just one glance, his eyes widened, and his heart was filled with turbulent emotions.

Having held a high position for many years, ordinary cases rarely caused Zuo Zhong to have emotional fluctuations, but the content of the photo in front of him was too shocking.

Why would these things appear in this era?!
After standing there stunned for a long time, Zuo Chong looked up and asked Gui Youguang, "Where are the items now? Have the personnel involved in the operation been quarantined?"

Gui Youguang was somewhat at a loss, not understanding why Zuo Zhong was so serious, but he still answered truthfully.

"The items are in a safe house near the monastery, guarded by designated personnel. I plan to move them after the war."

"Apart from me, all the other operatives are secretly resting at a training camp in New Zealand."

Zuo Chongyi sat back down on the stool and nodded slightly: "That's good. Pass on my order: all personnel in this operation are to be discharged from active duty."

"You can find any reason for their retirement—sacrifice, injury, illness—anything goes, but they can't leave New Zealand."

Gui Youguang was a little shocked and subconsciously wanted to ask why so many elite agents were retiring from active service, which would cause a lot of trouble.

Zuo Zhong raised his hand and shook it: "Don't ask anymore. I can only tell you that the sacrifice of those brothers was worthwhile. They did not die in vain."

"With these things, we can master the most advanced technology in the world, although it will take a long time and require the efforts of many researchers."

"I don't care what methods you use, from now on, recruit mathematicians, physicists, and engineers with all your might. Alright, get ready."

Gui Youguang left in a daze. Zuo Zhong put the photo into his space and turned on the radio in the corner. The speaker crackled twice and then emitted a sound.

[This station, acting on orders from the Political Department of the Military Affairs Commission, hereby solemnly announces to all military and civilian compatriots nationwide]

[Germany formally signed the instrument of unconditional surrender at 11:01 PM European Time on May 8th.]

The entire nation, both military and civilian, must redouble its efforts and vow to carry the War of Resistance against Japan through to the very end, until final victory.

The announcer's tone was impassioned, and outside the window, a cheering crowd was watching. Zuo Zhong stood with his hands behind his back in front of the window, and the black and white photos in the space seemed to have traveled through time.

In this photograph, which cost the lives of 29 agents, are several incredibly complex objects resembling integrated circuit boards.

But what's even more striking is the background of the photo: a small, broken machine suspended in mid-air, with various intricate components clearly visible through the tear.

This represents the future, and it represents endless possibilities.

It's not science fiction, it's just stating a possibility. After all, during World War II, Germany was practically the only country to challenge the whole world, and it persisted for several years.

This also serves as a setup for Zuo Chongyu's story~~~