"Absurd! This is utterly insane!"
In the depths of Zhongnanhai, within the highest-level secret conference room, a furious roar echoed. An elderly, silver-haired scientist, who had participated in the Republic's nuclear weapons development, slammed his hand down on the table. On the display screen before him was the final data analysis report transmitted by the lunar far side probe.
"Elder Wang, please allow me to explain."
Facing him was Professor Lin, chief scientist of the National Astronomical Observatory, a refined elderly man who had spent his life among the stars.
But now, his eyes were bloodshot. He adjusted his glasses, his voice hoarse, "We've collaborated with the Institute of Archaeology and the Ancient Texts Research Center to cross-reference the lunar data, fragments of ancient texts, and even the ancient spectral signal captured from the fissure on the lunar far side. The results... have exceeded everyone's imagination."
Professor Lin took a deep breath and gestured for the screen to switch. Images of ancient murals, fragments of bamboo slips, and a clearer reconstruction of a blurred image captured by the probe just before it lost contact in the depths of the lunar far side fissure appeared on the screen.
"First, regarding the Lunar Palace. It wasn't naturally formed, nor was it the creation of an extraterrestrial civilization. It's a massive, hyper-dimensional energy containment field. Our simulations show that its structure bears astonishing geometric similarities to the 'Demon Suppressing Pagoda' and 'Dragon Locking Well' described in our ancient texts." Professor Lin pointed to the 3D model on the screen.
"This indicates that it's a 'cage'."
"A cage? Caging whom?" a military leader asked.
Professor Lin's gaze shifted to the screen, to the dark, humanoid energy body reconstructed from the depths of the lunar far side fissure. "Them. We call them... the 'Primal Chaos'."
Following this, Professor Lin put forward an even more subversive theory. He connected thousands of years of Chinese myths and legends with the newly discovered lunar far side data and other anomalies that appeared simultaneously around the globe, such as great floods and prehistoric civilization ruins.
"Chang'e flying to the moon, in essence, was not an accidental ingestion of an elixir. Instead, it was a mortal's active 'sacrifice.'
That so-called 'elixir,' according to ancient texts and analysis of the lunar far side energy spectrum, was the ultimate culmination of mortal technology—an 'anti-divine object' capable of temporarily binding the 'Primal Chaos' and channeling their power into the containment field. Chang'e, carrying humanity's last hope, voluntarily ascended to the moon to execute a top-secret mission of suppression and sealing."
The air in the conference room seemed to freeze. Everyone was shaken by this terrifying truth.
"So, the Lunar Palace isn't a royal residence, it's... a prison?" someone asked with difficulty.
"Precisely, it's a prison, and also humanity's first line of defense against the 'gods'."
Professor Lin nodded gravely. "And the destruction of the Lunar Palace ten thousand years ago wasn't due to a meteorite impact. Instead, when the seals were broken, the cage was torn apart, and the 'Primal Chaos' broke free, they shattered the moon's ice layer!"
On the screen, a simulation animation of the prehistoric lunar ice sheet collapse, jointly constructed by geologists and astronomers, played simultaneously. Billions of tons of ice plummeted from the moon, raining down on Earth like meteor showers, triggering global cataclysmic floods.
"...This is the true origin of the 'Great Flood' myth common to all peoples, ancient and modern!" Professor Lin's voice carried a sense of fated sorrow.
"And Nüwa mending the sky, that's not a myth either. That was humanity's desperate self-salvation after the floods, simultaneously attempting to mend the shattered order and laws of heaven and earth after the 'Primal Chaos' broke free! What she mended was not just the sky, but a mortal world on the verge of collapse!"
"Then what about the Battle of Investiture of the Gods?" another general asked, his voice trembling.
"The 'Battle of Investiture of the Gods' several thousand years later was not a battle among immortals. Instead, it was another cleansing and 'deep sealing' of the remaining power of the 'Primal Chaos' that had broken free, with the help of 'friendly deities'!" Professor Lin's tone grew even heavier.
"Data analysis we obtained from the lunar far side indicates that these 'Primal Chaos' entities have no physical bodies, no breath, yet they possess life signs older than the universe and more profound than the stars. They can be dismembered, torn apart, severed head from body, but every single piece of them is still alive! They are the 'immortal and undying' 'gods' of legend!"
"In the Battle of Investiture of the Gods, we merely plunged them into 'deep slumber' again, not completely annihilated them!"
Professor Lin pointed to the last report. "And now, through the energy fluctuations touched by 'Chang'e-8' on the lunar far side, we've discovered: the deep slumber of these 'Primal Chaos' entities has entered a countdown! They will reawaken in 2045!"
A deathly silence fell over the conference room. Everyone was utterly stunned by the truth of this ten-thousand-year mystery.
"Then... in 2045, how do we fight them?" Elder Wang's voice was hoarse, tinged with despair.
General Li Mingguo slowly rose to his feet. He walked to the giant holographic projection of Earth in the conference room, looking at all the splendor and conflict humanity had drawn on the map. He knew, damn it, that this was the ultimate judgment facing human civilization.
He turned around, his gaze firm and heavy, sweeping over every backbone of the Republic present: "We have no choice! We cannot let Earth become a battlefield!"
"Immediately activate the highest national war mobilization mechanism! All relevant departments, full first-level combat readiness!"
General Li Mingguo's voice echoed through the conference room, every word as solid as steel. "The 'South Heaven Gate' project, from this moment, full speed ahead! At all costs, before 2045, forge humanity's last Great Wall against the 'gods'!"
Outside the window, Beijing's night was deep, with countless homes still lit. No one knew that at the end of history, a ten-thousand-year "War of Mortals Against Gods" had already begun its prelude to return. And mortals would face that incomprehensible and unconquerable destiny alone.