Alien creatures destroy homes? Start by killing upright apes!

Chapter 38 The Answer Underground

The water dragon beast dug out a stone slab from the bottom of the cave. The slab was still damp from the ground when it was brought up.

There are words carved on the stone slab.

It's not the symbolic writing of upright apes, but something much older—hieroglyphics.

Massa didn't know him, and neither did Professor Yamamoto.

But they recognized the pattern in the corner of the slate.

A circle enclosing a square, and inside the square is an even smaller circle.

"It's exactly the same as the one the upright apes in the courtyard set up." Professor Yamamoto's voice was deep.

Massa turned the stone slab over.

The back is engraved with a picture—a human figure, squatting on the ground, holding a tree branch in his hand.

Next to the humanoid was another humanoid, standing there with nothing in its hands.

An equal sign is drawn between the two human figures.

Hanscat Kingdom, underground in the Black Forest.

King William's tin boots stepped into the hole that the water dragon had just dug.

There are things on the cave wall that are not carvings, but murals.

The black paint on the cave wall depicts a giant millipede.

It's not the kind of giant millipede that Hanscat Kingdom is currently facing; it's much smaller and its stimulant glands aren't as developed.

But their shapes are completely identical.

"This is the ancestral form of the giant millipede." The accompanying biologist squatted in front of the mural.

"If this painting is realistic, it means that the person who painted it saw giant millipedes at this stage, fifty meters underground in the Black Forest."

King William's tin boots tapped against the bottom of the hole.

"In other words, this isn't the first time these alien creatures have visited Earth."

Underground in the Eagle Kingdom of Sam, on the plains of Waimeming.

Wood crouched in the cave dug by the water dragon, holding a kerosene lamp in his hand.

The light shone on the cave wall, revealing a row of handprints.

It wasn't a water dragon's claw mark, but a human handprint.

Five fingers, with clear lines on the palm.

However, the size of the handprint is different, being about one size smaller than an adult human hand.

Wood placed his hand on it.

The handprint was smaller than his hand, but the proportions were exactly the same.

It's not the hand of a hominid; hominids have longer fingers and narrower palms.

This is a human hand.

A small human left his handprint in this underground area countless millions of years ago.

Wood stood up.

"Human handprints can be found in the rock strata beneath the Waiemin Plain." And upright apes are learning metallurgy on this very plain.

The Kingdom of Boulante, beneath the Golden City.

Louis crouches in the underground network beneath the original site of the bronze statue.

When the water dragon beast dug to a depth of thirty-three meters, it unearthed a section of copper pipe.

The corrosion level of modern copper pipes is completely different; the oxide layer on the surface is as thick as tree bark.

The symbols engraved on the copper tubes are from the same system as those engraved on the copper plates by the upright apes.

"Thirty-three meters underground lies a bronze tube engraved with the symbol of an upright ape." Louis handed the tube to the Minister of Engineering behind him. "Check its age."

The engineering manager's hands were shaking when he took the copper pipe.

It wasn't fear, but some deeper emotion—humans thought they were the masters of everything, but the ground beneath their feet held evidence that civilizations existed on Earth before humans.

-

And the symbol of that civilization is exactly the same as the symbol used by the upright apes that are now evolving, learning, and replacing humans on the earth.

The government of the Winner Monkey Kingdom is located 53 meters underground.

When Lu Cheng came out of the cave, Carrie was standing at the entrance waiting for him.

She was holding a telegram she had just received.

"Louis from the Kingdom of Boulder sent a message saying that a copper pipe engraved with the symbol of the upright ape was unearthed 33 meters underground in Jincheng. Massa from the Kingdom of Taro also sent a message saying that a stone slab with hieroglyphs and the symbol of the upright ape was unearthed 41 meters underground in Kyoto. The Kingdom of John Bull unearthed the wreckage of a steamship with a spiral structure at the bottom of the Thames River. The Kingdom of Giuseppe Wolf discovered a map of Luocheng in limestone. The Kingdom of Hans Cat discovered a mural of a giant millipede underground in the Black Forest. The Kingdom of Sam Eagle discovered human handprints underground in the Waimeing Plain."

Lu Cheng took the telegrams and read them one by one.

Then he squatted down and looked at the water dragon beast that had just emerged from the 53-meter-deep burrow.

It was covered in mud, with pebbles hanging from its large fangs, and a black stone in its mouth. It spat it at Lu Cheng's feet, then yawned and lay down to lick its paws.

It had absolutely no concept of the symbols on the black stone, the carvings on the stone wall, or the civilization that existed 100,000 years ago.

It just digs a hole.

"It's helping us uncover the truth, and the truth is—this isn't the first time the upright apes have come to Earth. They came once, 100,000 years ago, left these things behind, and then they disappeared. Now—they've come again."

The sky screen system lit up.

It's not red, not white, not black.

It's blue.

Like the deep sea, like the color of the sky tens of thousands of miles above.

A line of text appeared on the light screen.

[Alien Creatures Arrive - Interim Announcement]

Traces of extraterrestrial life have been detected beneath Earth's surface. Confirmed: This is not the first time extraterrestrial life has been deployed.

[Last deployment time: Pre-Civilization period of Earth. Deployed species: Homo erectus.]

[Last deployment result: The previous civilization was destroyed.]

The light screen paused for a full ten seconds.

This is the second release, with the number of species increased to ten, including the hominid.

[System Notification: The intelligent brains of Homo erectus possess the ability to inherit memories across generations. Underground relics left behind by Homo erectus from a pre-civilization era are being sensed and activated by this generation of Homo erectus.]

The light curtain went out.

Lu Cheng looked in the direction where the light screen disappeared.

Pre-civilization.

A civilization actually existed on Earth 100,000 years ago!

The system deployed upright apes, and that civilization was destroyed.

The system is back now, this time with ten species, including the upright ape again.

Meanwhile, the upright apes are being revitalized by the relics left by their ancestors from 100,000 years ago.

Those symbols, those engravings, those stone slabs and copper pipes—they are not inanimate objects, but seeds.

Buried underground for 100,000 years, it finally found its successor.

The atmosphere in the conference room of the Winners' government was more somber than at any previous meeting.

Not all seven representatives were present – ​​this time the meeting was conducted simultaneously via telegram and photograph.

But the inquiries from the four major powers arrived almost simultaneously.

The telegram from David in the United States was the most direct: How did the previous civilization perish? Did the system say so?

George from Jacques Chicken Country asked: What does it mean that upright apes inherit memories across generations? Can they inherit knowledge from 100,000 years ago?

Vito of the Kingdom of Zhu Sailang asked: What will happen after the underground ruins are activated? Will the upright apes evolve more rapidly?

Masa from the Taro Tanuki Kingdom asked: "The system says it will 'retain' the upright ape, which means the only species introduced last time was the upright ape. Last time, there was only the upright ape, and the previous civilization was destroyed. This time, ten species came, but the core is still the upright ape. Is that right?"

The shortest telegram came from Wood of the United States of America: "Lord Lu, did the previous civilization leave any methods to combat the upright apes?"

King William of the Hanscat Kingdom asked: The murals of giant millipedes appearing underground in the Black Forest suggest that the last release may have included more than just upright apes? Or are giant millipedes a native species of Earth?

Louis from the Kingdom of Boulder asked the most specific question: The copper pipes unearthed from the underground of Golden City were engraved with symbols of Homo erectus, and these symbols were exactly the same as those used by Homo erectus on the surface today. Did they not need to learn, but were they born with them?

Lu Cheng spread the seven telegrams out on the table and replied to them one by one.

David: The system did not explain the reason for the destruction, but the most likely way for a civilization to die when it is destroyed by a hominid is to be replaced.