Chapter 115: Various Theories

The proposal to “stay away from the alien craft” was immediately approved by everyone.

The outer and middle rings of the alien vessel had been explored multiple times. Everything that could be dismantled had been stripped away, including several damaged defensive turrets that were now being analyzed by weapons experts. The crew had picked the place clean!

The most valuable section was the central core where the “flesh mass” resided, but it was incredibly dangerous. Anyone who entered, human or drone would instantly fall under its control.

Because of this, no one brought up further exploration. Even Jason was hesitant, deciding against probing the interior for now. The alien artifacts they had already recovered would take a long time to fully study.

Since the alien craft offered no further immediate value and remained a hazard, the decision to keep their distance naturally gained unanimous support.

Some personnel even suggested using nuclear weapons to wipe it out completely.

However, more cautious experts quickly shut down that idea, arguing that it was best not to invite trouble. What if the vessel contained hidden countermeasures? What if its armory was still intact? Dropping a nuclear bomb could trigger a catastrophic chain reaction. It was better to avoid any rash actions.

The majority agreed: leave it alone, stay far away, and let it rot.

After reviewing everyone’s input, Jason spoke up again. “Let’s move to the second point. Is it possible for it to signal its own kind? Has anyone considered this? Could it be transmitting into deep space?”

A researcher stood up to answer. Jason recognized him as the lead communications expert. “Captain, we’ve been monitoring the entity constantly. We haven’t detected any high-power electromagnetic signals.”

Jason frowned. “What if it’s using neutrino or gravitational wave communication? With our current technological level, we simply wouldn’t be able to detect it.”

The communications expert shook his head. “That is possible, and we wouldn’t be able to block it. But I believe that if it could send a signal, it wouldn’t have waited until now. Why would it stay buried here for millions of years?”

During the days Jason had been resting, the team had already analyzed the problem from every angle. They were brilliant minds dealing with a life-or-death situation. Several theories had emerged, and no single group could fully convince the others.

The first theory suggested that this flesh mass had been dormant for millions of years and was only recently awakened by human activity. Therefore, it was fully capable of transmitting a signal to call its people for rescue.

In this scenario, humanity was in grave danger, facing an apocalyptic war against an advanced civilization. Jason didn’t believe for a second that these aliens would be open to peaceful negotiations.

However, this theory had logical flaws. Was it really awakened by their activity? If they hadn’t shown up, would it have just slept until it died? With such advanced technology, wouldn’t they have some kind of automated failsafe to wake them up?

It was like a plane crash, survivors would immediately evacuate and call for help, not stay in their seats and go to sleep.

Because of this, many scientists believed the first theory was flawed, meaning humanity’s worst fear might not be a reality.

This led to the second theory: it lacked the energy required to transmit a signal. Just as Jason had observed, the alien creature was barely clinging to life.

With the vessel’s engine destroyed, it would have very little usable power, barely enough to keep the entity alive, let alone broadcast a message. It was also highly likely that its transmission equipment had been destroyed in the crash!

The third theory proposed that the alien civilization had already been completely wiped out, making any distress signal useless. This theory was put forward by Austin and his team from the Security Department.

They believed the Solar System held a much deeper history than anyone imagined. Perhaps countless alien vessels had crashed on various planets within the system, buried for so long that humanity simply hadn’t found them yet.

Many people agreed with this view. After all, this alien craft was clearly a small scout or escort vessel. It didn’t utilize spatial folding technology, meaning it couldn’t carry a large crew.

If it was just a frigate, there had to be larger flagships out there. This led many to wonder: if a massive alien flagship was lost somewhere in the Solar System, where could it be?

…

Of course, there was a fourth theory: this flesh mass wasn’t an alien citizen at all, but an experimental specimen! After the vessel crashed, the actual aliens fled and left the specimen behind in its containment unit, where it managed to survive to this day.

Ultimately, these were all just speculations. Most of the crew believed it was highly unlikely that an extraterrestrial fleet was on its way.

“What kind of advanced alien is just a motionless lump of flesh? I’m betting it’s just a lab rat that somehow survived…”

“Then tell me, how does a ’lab rat’ know how to open and close the doors of the ship?”

“Maybe it evolved! Maybe the specimen itself is highly intelligent…”

Jason frowned again. Every theory seemed plausible. He suddenly realized the Solar System was far more complex than they had thought. What were the odds of humanity stumbling upon an alien wreck just by casually mining?

Austin and his security team might be right; a massive interstellar war could have taken place right here in their own backyard!

However, a sudden alien retaliation seemed highly unlikely. If their technology was so advanced, how could their stasis pods lack basic failsafes, leaving them asleep for millions of years? It didn’t make sense.

“Just to be safe, we should set sail for another planet immediately to avoid any potential contact,” a cautious scientist suggested.

Another scientist scoffed. “Easy for you to say. With our current thrusters, how do we escape, and where exactly would we go? Moving to another planet wouldn’t matter. We’d have to leave the Solar System entirely to be truly safe! At our current speed, that would take tens of thousands of years!”

“Alright, everyone, settle down.”

Jason coughed loudly, finally bringing the room to silence.

He offered a compromise. “Regardless of the theories, let’s move the base further away from the wreck. That will give us more reaction time if anything happens. Finding another location with minerals and ice on Mars shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

Several scientists nodded in agreement. “We could relocate to the Martian South Pole; it’s a solid option. Our satellites have already mapped several large mineral deposits there. There are also rich veins near Mount Sharp…”

The consensus was that relocating to an entirely different planet was simply too logistically complex. Besides, if an advanced alien fleet really did arrive, being on a different planet in the same system wouldn’t offer much protection anyway.

Therefore, the most practical solution was to move to the other side of Mars and use their satellite network to keep a close watch on the alien vessel to ensure nothing unexpected happened.

The plan was officially set. In any case, the easily accessible strip mines in their current northern region had already been depleted, so there was little reason to stay. With the resources of an entire planet available to supply a population of fifty thousand, they could afford to be a little extravagant with their relocation.

“Then it’s decided. Within three days, all exterior machinery will be packed up, and the Noah will be moved to our new coordinates.” Jason officially finalized the agenda.

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