Chapter 1422: Mysterious Letter

Thinking back to that day many years later, Professor Gilbert couldn’t help but feel regretful.

So close.

They were so close.

His supervisor almost became the Darwin of the new century, the Mendel of archaeology. He also almost became the apprentice of the master of archaeology in the new era. They could have dominated the archaeology department at the University of Oxford.

Professor Gilbert thought about this many times. If it wasn’t for the shoe that flew toward the podium that made the elderly Professor Vernal feel embarra.s.sed, history would be different…

Although fighting was sometimes a part of academic discussions, it was unfair to let an elderly man and a young man fight hand-to-hand.

At a suburb of Oxford, England, North Sea Alliance, Earth.

Professor Gilbert was wearing reading gla.s.ses. He was babbling in an old mansion.

“Logic, logic… This group of idiots talks about logic every day, except that they have never considered that their logic is sh*t! Besides, is scientific research about evidence or the sh*t inside these people’s heads?

“Does science rely on mainstream views? Does science even have a concept of mainstream? This is the 22nd century. This makes me think I am living in the Middle Ages! It’s getting more backward!

“Look at their arguments against me. I will find one. Yes, this guy named Peterson, right? Don’t laugh too hard…

“We all have to admit that if a species wants to grow into a planetary overlord, it should at least have an average intelligence level close to that of humans, but such intelligence has hardware requirements. I don’t know what it is in other places, but on Earth, it’s called myelin. So far, c.o.c.kroaches have a primitive nervous system. Even if the Martians don’t know about myelin, they should have something similar…”

As if he was reading a joke, Professor Gilbert snorted.

“Look at this, it’s like the universe is his garden. The rocks and specimens my instructor dug from the Olympus crater are not as good as the dog c.r.a.p he picked from his backyard.

“We have little understanding of the situation from three billion years ago. Just by making an inference from a limited fossil sample, he is sure that those Martians are exactly the same c.o.c.kroaches on Earth? Is he even certain that their nervous system is the same as myelin? Jesus… Is there a more arrogant argument than this? When did myelin sheath become the most perfect transmitter in the universe?

“The most ridiculous thing is that a species close to the level of human intelligence can become the overlords of a planet… When did human beings become the unit of measuring intelligence… What kind of r.e.t.a.r.ded joke is this? How did you get into our campus?”

After taking a deep breath, Professor Gilbert calmed down. He then became annoyed again.

“They don’t understand anything. Whenever your paper is different from what they think in their minds, they will insult your paper. The most irritable thing is when they are proven wrong, they act as if nothing happened and will not take responsibility for it.

“But should I take them to heart? These idiots are just a bunch of brainless slugs, not even as useful as the fax machine in my storage room! They know neither science nor science fiction, just being alive is an insult to the theory of evolution!”

Dr. Leonard, who was in his early thirties, looked at his furious father in amazement.

“Dad?”

“What?”

“I feel like you actually care about their opinions…”

Professor Gilbert said sternly, “Nope, you’re wrong.”

The tone eased a little. Professor Gilbert calmed down, looked at his son, and continued, “Put Professor Peterson’s paper aside for the time being… You are now a member of the archaeological department of the University of Oxford. Go and buy yourself a decent suit. Tomorrow will be the first start of your new life. Don’t embarra.s.s the Vernal school of thought.”

Leonard couldn’t help but put a bright and confident smile on his face.

“Don’t worry, Dad, I definitely won’t—”

“Also, let’s talk about rent.” Professor Gilbert interrupted his son’s confident speech and looked to the side. He said, “You have a job now. You’ll pay me 1,000 credits every month.”

Leonard, who was full of confidence before, suddenly froze.

“Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if I am your son or if I am adopted.”

“Don’t worry, you are my son; self-reliance is our family’s ancestral motto. I hope you will keep this in mind. Go, don’t bother me here. Back then, 30-year-olds were already married. You should learn to grow up.”

Professor Gilbert waved his hand impatiently. He picked up the reading gla.s.ses from the table and put them back on.

Leonard walked out of the room with his shoulders drooping.

…

Professor Gilbert was definitely an alien at the University of Oxford.

One was because his teacher was the famously old and stubborn Professor Vernal, who was called “Doctor c.o.c.kroach”, and the other reason was that he had offended many people because of his incomprehensible way of doing things.

Whether it was students or colleagues, it was difficult to find someone who liked this old guy.

As his son, Leonard had to admit that his father sometimes was a little offensive. Leonard even used him as an example of what not to do.

However, even then, he understood why his father became like this.

When a person was in an extreme environment and was regarded as a different kind by everyone in this environment, they would either become paranoid or choose to be a.s.similated into the environment. There was almost no third choice.

Obviously, his father made a choice very much like the people of “that era”. He was truly proud of his ident.i.ty as a “scholar”, and he regarded his doctrine as an honor to defend. And oftentimes, he would repeat Professor Lu’s words.

In this era, there were not many old scholars like him…

It had been a year since Leonard joined the Department of Archaeology at the University of Oxford and became an honorable in-service professor. The suit he bought that day was worn out, and Leonard had almost become accustomed to life as a professor.

He went to the Pan-Asian Cooperation to attend an academic conference. Before going home, he planned to go to the University of Oxford to report on the progress of the conference and his work during this period.

However, when he first arrived at the school, he was stunned by everything in front of him.

A yellow cordon was outside the Department of Archaeology building. Two police officers stood beside them, making simple exchanges with the robotic police officers who had finished investigating the scene.

Leonard walked up quickly to one of the policemen. He frowned and asked, “What happened?”

The policeman looked impatient. He swiped twice on the translucent holographic panel and answered, “A professor died suddenly at the report meeting. According to our forensic medical examination, it was preliminarily determined that the cause of death was a heart attack.”

With a bad feeling in his heart, Leonard gulped nervously and asked in a trembling voice, “The professor’s name is…”

The policeman glanced at him.

“Gilbert, do you know him?”

His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach in an instant.

The moment he heard the name, Leonard felt dizzy.

A professor wearing a wide gray trench coat walked out quickly from the building.

After seeing Professor Leonard standing outside the cordon, he seemed to have thought of something. He suddenly changed his mind and walked over.

“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Leonard… Your father was a great scholar.”

Like an old friend, Professor Peterson gave Professor Leonard a hug involuntarily, then patted him on the shoulder. He spoke with a pained expression.

“We are all very sad that something like this has happened…”

Leonard recovered slowly and looked at Professor Peterson blankly.

His pupils shrank instantly when he recognized the face.

Lavanger Peterson!

The most loyal opponent of the… Vernal school of thought!

This guy went against his father at report meetings more than once and did not have the demeanor of a scholar. He always used a barbaric way to obstruct the report meetings.

He remembered that when he was talking to his father on the phone yesterday, his father told him that there was a very important report meeting today…

He looked at the stack of meeting notes under Professor Peterson’s elbow, and he seemed to understand something.

“You…”

A fire of rage suddenly rushed to his head. Leonard stepped forward suddenly and raised his fist to hit him.

However, the punch did not land on Professor Peterson. The robotic police officer standing beside him quickly grabbed his fist. The other two police officers also reacted and quickly controlled him.

“What are you doing? Stop!”

The robot man reminded with a gentle electronic tone, “Citizen, please refrain from illegal behavior.”

Professor Peterson opened his mouth and made a surprised expression. He opened his arms as if he was confused about the situation in front of him.

“What’s the matter with you? Mr. Leonard… you seem to be out of control, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“It’s you!” Professor Leonard stared at him and squeezed a word from his teeth. “You did it on purpose…”

“Me? On purpose? What do you mean? What are you accusing me of?”

Leonard instantly calmed down.

According to the civil law of the North Sea Alliance, if he accused Peterson here, it meant that he would be responsible for his own remarks. The other party could also use this as evidence for counterclaims.

As for the recordings, there was a robot police next to them that was recording the whole thing, which was legal evidence that could be brought out in court. The situation could be very disadvantageous for him.

Peterson looked at Professor Leonard, who had calmed down. He had a winner’s smile on his face.

“Mr. Leonard, I admit that I do oppose your father on academic points of view, but it is my academic freedom to express opinions…”

Peterson leaned next to Professor Leonard as he smiled and spoke softly.

“If I could, I would tell him in front of him again that his paper is just a pile of sh*t and has no research value.”

The robot police’s eyes began to glow blue as it spoke.

“Please step back, citizen. If you continue to make provocative remarks, we will have to arrest you.”

“Okay, my mistake, I apologize, I’m very, very sorry.” Professor Peterson laughed and looked at Professor Leonard, who was glaring at him.

“Have a nice day…

“See you.”

…

Heavy rain washed the streets.

Billowing thunder hit the clouds from time to time.

After attending the funeral of his father, Professor Leonard, who got out of the car, closed the door behind him heavily.

With a gloomy look on his face, he didn’t open his umbrella or run. He let the rain hit his body as he walked back home through the front yard.

There was a musty smell in the room.

The unique smell of wood and leather furniture was common in the past. It was difficult to completely eliminate it no matter how many times it was cleaned.

A general-purpose type 1 housekeeping robot with a height of about 1.5 meters and inconspicuous facial features walked to the entrance and stopped.

After recognizing Leonard’s facial features through the eye camera, it spoke in a gentle voice.

“Welcome home, Master Leonard, you seemed to have been in the rain. Do you need me to dry your clothes and put on the bathwater in the bathtub before dinner?”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

As the only smart device in this dilapidated home, after receiving the owner’s order, the robot had an abstract smile and stayed quiet.

The robot produced on the low-end industrial chain was not only clumsy, but the facial engineering was also messy. With a little makeup, it could be a monster at a haunted house.

Without paying attention to the uncanny valley smile, Leonard walked to the refrigerator with a sullen face and took a bottle of beer. He then returned to his room.

Compared to the post-modern apartments and high-rise flats in the city, his ancestral home in the suburbs was bought by his father when he was young.

After several renovations, an old house was still an old house. As long as the floor was old wood, no matter how it was remodeled, it would creak when one stepped on it.

His father had always been stubborn in rejecting new things.

Even though holographic technology had been popularized in all aspects of life, he still stubbornly used a tablet to work and write papers, as if something visible and tangible could bring him a sense of security.

The robot was the result of a lot of persuasions.

Sometimes, he thought that since he was in his 30s, he should move out of this home. In fact, he had been thinking about this until yesterday.

However, now, it seemed that there was no need to consider this issue. His father had already left, and he was the only one left in this house.

Not only that…

That guy not only intended to take his father’s life but also intended to take away the Vernal school of thought that he spent his entire life running and maintaining…

“I swear I will make you pay…”

He thought of Professor Peterson’s arrogant face and the sneer from the dean of the archaeology department of the University of Oxford telling him that the cla.s.s had been withdrawn. His heart felt like it was stabbed with a knife.

“All of you…”

Leonard clenched his fist as he sat in front of the holographic projection screen.

Just when his emotions had reached a climax, a red bubble popped up on the LSPM website.

It seemed that the research direction he followed had a new “discovery”.

Although it was not the time to care about these things, out of curiosity, he still clicked on the notification.

However, the moment he clicked on the page, he was stunned.

The author who published this news claimed to be a miner of Hiddell Mining and was also an amateur meteorite culture enthusiast.

In a new mine excavated by the company, the amateur of meteorite culture found many clues that were suspected to be the remains of the Martian civilization and took pictures of these clues.

Since this vein was only 20 kilometers away from Tiangong City, located in a canyon, and was close to the remains of The Gates of h.e.l.l, this meteorite culture lover had made a bold speculation that the clues found in this canyon would tell the truth about the collapse of The Gates of h.e.l.l a century ago…

Although most of the replies under this post were not friendly to the author, Leonard’s reaction was different.

The Gates of h.e.l.l!

Most people didn’t care about this word, but he was different.

His father’s mentor traveled to Mars as the “mission” of human civilization and was the person who witnessed the great earthquake.

As the only surviving direct disciple of the Vernal school of thought, he was more convinced than anyone that there must be some great secret buried in the ruins. The earthquake must be more than just an earthquake.

Professor Peterson’s high-pitched voice came to his mind, causing him to clench his teeth unconsciously.

It was at this moment that a crazy idea suddenly poured out of his mind.

Without hesitating, his hands were placed on the desk, on the holographic keyboard woven with holographic images and motion capture cameras.

[h.e.l.lo, I saw the post you just posted on the LSPM forum. Would it be convenient for you to chat?]

He hit the “Send” b.u.t.ton.

Professor Leonard took a deep breath and took off the rain-soaked tie on his neck. He threw it on the sofa.

Just as he was thinking whether to find a towel to wipe his wet hair, a reply suddenly popped up in the lower right corner of the screen.

Leonard said to himself, “Is he on Earth?”

He’s probably from the North Sea Alliance or the Iberian-French Federation…

There was a surprised expression on his face. Leonard obviously didn’t expect the other party to reply so quickly. He clicked the popup with his mouse.

Soon, a line of text was projected in front of him.

[Are you interested in the ruins?]

[Signed by…]

[Dr. Z]