A gentle breeze blew, gradually dispersing the thin mist.
The island revealed its full panorama. It was a flat expanse of land, approximately five thousand square meters, composed of hard rock formations. On the boundless land stood only a single, complete pyramid structure.
As the first person from China to set foot on the island, Nie Yun's reaction was to stand blankly on the shore, unable to utter a word.
"It's perfect, simply like the work of 'God'." The voice of a girl nearby attracted Nie Yun's attention; she spoke standard English.
"Truly perfect." When saying this, Nie Yun was looking at the girl in the white lab coat; even he himself didn't understand what he was describing.
The girl understood Nie Yun's Chinese, turned her head, and met the gaze of this man who could almost be considered an old man. She smiled and nodded slightly as a greeting. Nie Yun couldn't deceive himself; at that moment, his heart beat abnormally fast, and his face felt hot.
The rising sun emerged from behind the pyramid, casting its rays upon Nie Yun and the girl. This felt like a beautiful dream...
Nie Yun didn't want to wake up...
Only when fellow scientists called him did he return to his senses.
When his gaze left the girl, he felt a bit lost, but more embarrassed. Estimating casually, the girl couldn't be more than twenty years old, yet he had developed subtle feelings for someone young enough to be his daughter. In Chinese thinking, this was completely wrong, something unacceptable.
Returning to the Chinese camp, Nie Yun's thoughts shifted back to research and investigation. Donning his equipment, Nie Yun issued his first command as team leader: "Investigate the origin of the pyramid!"
No rest, no pause. In the minds of this group of veritable research fanatics, "question marks" were far more appealing than food.
Standing beneath the pyramid, merely touching a brick, Nie Yun understood that this discovery would definitely shock the world. Because judging by the stone's coloration, it was at least two million years old. But if it was a "work" from that era, two questions arose: First, humans back then had difficulty even walking upright, how could they construct such a massive building? Second, considering the smoothness of the stone, even modern humans, without technological means, would find it almost impossible to cut it so smoothly and flatly. Everyone understood tacitly, but the term "extraterrestrial civilization" flashed in everyone's mind.
Ascending the steps towards the pyramid's summit, their steps grew heavier and heavier. Each step was a "war" for everyone! A "war" between new knowledge and existing theories. When Nie Yun stepped onto the summit and looked at the distant sun, his "war" ended.
The summit was surprisingly spacious, featuring a structure in the style of a Greek temple. The tall stone pillars and exquisite carvings were even grander and more detailed than real Greek temples.
Entering through the main entrance, the echo of leather shoes tapping on the floor reverberated throughout the entire hall. Even the most advanced opera houses could hardly achieve such acoustic effects.
Inside the temple, not a single supporting pillar could be found; the super-heavy roof was evenly supported by the peripheral stone columns. The accompanying architectural expert had uttered only one word since the beginning – "Miracle."
The vast hall was not empty. A huge stone stele stood upright in the center like a guardian of the temple. It was covered with bizarre characters, seemingly a hint left by the builders for later discoverers.
Even though he couldn't understand it, Nie Yun was already certain: this was a civilization!
"Everyone!" Nie Yun turned around, looking at each blank face. "Although I am the expedition leader, everyone here is an authoritative expert in their respective fields. I don't consider myself capable of serving as leader either. But that's no longer important. From this moment on, we must learn to forget. Yes!" Nie Yun nodded affirmatively. "Forget! Forget so-called modern theories, forget so-called social common sense. These are laughable things here. Perhaps our standing here today is itself considered a joke by the builders. Now that we stand here, whether you refute it or not, I am certain this is a civilization, and definitely not one from Earth."
Everyone nodded firmly. The research officially began.
In the eyes of others, Chinese scientists were as terrifying as Chinese soldiers; their will was like steel. Since discovering the temple, the Chinese research team hadn't rested in the camp for a single day. They brought large quantities of ancient books and materials to translate the inscriptions, food delivered by orderlies. When tired, they slept in sleeping bags.
As the first two countries to arrive, the attitudes of the US and China differed greatly. Although American scientists also researched for no less than twelve hours daily, they insisted on eating breakfast before working and sleeping in warm beds at night. They simply couldn't imagine the almost self-torturous lifestyle of the Chinese scientists.
On the third day, the Japanese research expedition arrived.
On the fourth day, the Russian research expedition arrived.
By the fifteenth day, research teams from basically all powerful nations globally had arrived. But one difficult problem halted the progress of all researchers: the script on the inscriptions was of an unseen type; history had no record of such writing. Without translating the inscriptions, research couldn't continue.
On the nineteenth night, another fruitless day. The various research teams had returned to their camps. Only the Chinese scientists persisted, refusing to leave.
What seemed like a peaceful night turned out to be the turning point for everything.
That night, the team members slept deeply. Only Nie Yun remained awake, holding a flashlight in one hand and an ancient book in the other, carefully searching for clues.
"Still not sleeping?" A voice startled the focused Nie Yun. The book and flashlight fell to the ground. The flashlight beam illuminated the newcomer's face.
For a moment, Nie Yun stood with his mouth agape, speechless. It was Annie, still wearing only pajamas, holding several documents, seemingly carrying something else, but Nie Yun didn't notice. Because Annie in pajamas made his mind go completely blank.
"What's wrong with you?" Annie smiled and walked to Nie Yun's side.
Nie Yun finally came back to his senses. "Ah? Oh, no... nothing. I just suddenly discovered something."
"Can you tell me?" Annie picked up the flashlight from the ground and approached the stele.
"It's nothing, really. I just felt these characters looked familiar, like I'd seen them somewhere in China, but I can't recall where." Nie Yun awkwardly scratched the back of his head, like a shy child.
"Is that so?" Annie focused on the inscriptions, her tone exceptionally casual, as if talking to a friend of many years.
Seeing Annie's focused expression, Nie Yun was lost. Her back seemed to hold a magical allure; his heart beat in sync with the rise and fall of her chest. In his fifty years of life, Nie Yun had never gazed so intently at a woman's back. For someone devoted to research, the allure of biological instinct was less appealing than a simple equation. His close friends Zhao Xiang and Hong Yang had advised him, but Nie Yun's reply was: "If there's a woman who can make me put down my work and gaze at her for three minutes, then she is the woman I will like in my life."
Now, Nie Yun had put down his work. He gazed at Annie. Time flowed by, minute by minute, until Nie Yun forgot how long had passed. Nie Yun's definition of 'like' was simple: seeing her smile made him feel happy; that was 'like'.
Suddenly noticing Annie's body trembling involuntarily, Nie Yun remembered the current temperature was ten degrees Celsius, and Annie wore only thin pajamas.
Perhaps just not wanting to see her tremble, Nie Yun slowly took off his own jacket and gently draped it over Annie's shoulders.
The warmth made the focused Annie turn her head, looking at Nie Yun: "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Just simple words, yet both their hearts pounded wildly.
Fate is a strange thing, as if God found life too boring and created drama to toy with people.
Actually, Annie had known Nie Yun two years prior, though Nie Yun didn't know her. It was during a debate between the US and China over some data dispute, held at Hefei University. Annie attended as a student observer. At the debate, Annie first noticed an ordinary man on the Chinese representative side. The reason she noticed him was that before the debate began, he was still calculating something, as if the debate wasn't important at all. Throughout the intense three-hour debate, everyone argued until red-faced, but he didn't say a single word. Only at the final summary did he stand up, walk over to the American delegation, toss the notebook he had just calculated on onto their table, and calmly say: "Your calculations are wrong. This should be the correct data. Review it before debating with us again."
Seeing Nie Yun's expression then, Annie felt a strange sensation in her heart for the first time. Just as Nie Yun and his teammates were about to leave the university, Annie mustered the courage to stop them, wanting his autograph. The other teammates signed enthusiastically. When the notebook was passed to Nie Yun, his words deeply touched Annie, who had already earned seventeen degrees...
"We are scientists, not some celebrities. If you have time for autographs, you might as well read more books. The country doesn't cultivate us so simply." When saying this, Nie Yun didn't even glance at Annie.
Returning to her dorm, Annie cried. Nie Yun's shadow was imprinted on her heart from then on, unable to be erased.
"You've changed," Annie looked at Nie Yun and whispered.
"What?" Nie Yun didn't understand.
"But I like the change," Annie smiled warmly.
Although Nie Yun didn't understand, he couldn't help but smile back.
"Alright, as thanks for the coat, let me tell you something useful." Annie pulled Nie Yun out of the temple.
Standing before the temple, the night breeze lifted Annie's golden hair.
Under the bright moon, Annie turned around, facing the bewildered Nie Yun directly.
"Your analysis is good. The inscriptions indeed originate from ancient Chinese characters." Annie shook her head. "No, it should be that ancient Chinese characters originate from the inscriptions. And ancient Greek, ancient Egyptian... all ancient scripts in the world should originate from here. If you carefully observe the structure of the inscriptions, you can easily find similarities. It's just that, probably no one dared to imagine that this is the starting point of human civilization. The limitations of human thought have made us waste so much time on translation."
"Wait... according to you, all human civilizations originate from here, but this place is definitely extra..." Nie Yun didn't dare to imagine further.
"Correct!" Annie looked down upon the earth. "There was extraterrestrial intervention in human evolutionary history. As scientists, we should both know that during human evolution, there was a period where the evolutionary speed surpassed any known creature on Earth. Therefore, I speculate that extraterrestrial civilization intervened and aided human evolution. As for the reason, I think the inscriptions will hold the record."
Nie Yun stood there stunned, unable to move.
"I know it's hard to accept. But didn't you say so in your own academic paper?" Annie coughed, mimicking Nie Yun's tone: "'The essence of science is the courage to think about and accept fields never encountered before. Only bold thinking can advance scientific development.'"
Nie Yun was amused by Annie's imitation; perhaps realizing her own lapse, Annie also laughed.
In the night, only this man and woman were awake, sleepless.
"Alright, let's get serious." Annie stopped laughing, walked up to Nie Yun, and extended her left hand. "I want to invite Dr. Nie's research team to collaborate with our team on joint research."
"What?" Nie Yun was startled again by this girl. "You're saying the American research team and the Chinese research team should research together?"
"Yes. I am the leader of the American research team, and you are the person in charge on the Chinese side. I believe cooperation is the best choice for both of us," Annie smiled knowingly.
"But I don't know the attitude of the other scientists," Nie Yun hesitated.
Annie grabbed Nie Yun's left hand and shook it: "It doesn't matter. Even if only Dr. Nie alone agrees, it's already tremendous support. It's getting late; I should head back. We can discuss the specific cooperation plan tomorrow." Without giving Nie Yun another chance to speak, wearing Nie Yun's jacket, Annie turned and ran down the steps.
Watching her retreating figure, Nie Yun's thoughts were in turmoil.