Peter was lost in thought about the spider, silent. Lu Lin thought Peter didn't believe him. Lu Lin grew anxious, leaning in close and whispering: "Seriously, I have inside information."
"Oh?" Peter happened to snap out of his reverie.
Lu Lin, being mysterious, lowered his voice: "Let me tell you, the various soil samples brought back from Mars by the latest rocket are only the most basic things."
"Is that true?" Peter asked skeptically. He recalled the strict, multi-stage retrieval process from Mars.
Peter recalled the circumstances: "I heard that soil sample was priceless, taking Dr. Otto and several senior researchers half a year of round-the-clock, remote-controlled excavation to retrieve. It's incredibly significant for Martian research. How can you say it's not the most valuable sample?"
Lu Lin shook his head: "Theoretically, it is very valuable. It took immense effort, and it's important for Mars research."
Lu Lin was academically brilliant, and his mentor was Professor Lin Yijong, a renowned expert in Soil Science.
"But!" Lu Lin suddenly changed his tone. "Guess what else came back with the return capsule?"
"..." Peter resisted the urge to punch him. "Spit it out!"
"Tsk, no fun," Lu Lin pouted. "There was a stone slab! A stone slab suspected of being artificially manufactured!"
Peter: !!! "The next plot point isn't going to be 'Mars Guards the Heart, Spiritual Energy Returns' (a Chinese fantasy trope), is it?" Peter asked, utterly astonished.
Lu Lin: ???
"Are you watching too many web novels? Do you think this is some kind of cultivation story?" Lu Lin retorted, exasperated.
"You're calling me out? How are you any better?" Peter countered. "But is the artificially manufactured slab true?"
"Yes, it's true," Lu Lin nodded, carelessly. "Though it's just a guess. It could just be natural erosion. Who knows?"
Peter nodded slightly, feigning agreement with Lu Lin's dismissal.
Ignoring how Lu Lin acquired this top-secret information—the guy definitely has secrets, maybe he's the illegitimate son of some big shot? —if Lu Lin was telling the truth, and a stone slab existed, then all the Martian soil samples were irrelevant.
If that slab was confirmed to be artificially manufactured, it would prove that civilization once existed on Mars! Or that aliens visited in the distant past! This alone was enough to send shockwaves through the entire scientific community! It would confirm that humans are not the only form of life in the universe!
If it's the former, it proves life existed on Mars in the distant past. Perhaps Earthlings are descendants of Martians! If it's the latter, it suggests that perhaps a civilization in the remote depths of space is secretly observing Earth... The thought was terrifying. Peter's scalp tingled!
But besides the obvious scientific implications, Peter had another thought: The Multiverse! If he could cross into other parallel universes, why couldn't entities from other parallel universes cross into his? Perhaps the spider that bit him came from another universe? He had acquired the power to traverse space-time; maybe the spider possessed similar power?
Peter's head began to hurt. Such a scarcity of evidence made it impossible to rule out any conclusion, leaving him only with frantic brainstorming.
"Lin, do you have any way to get close to that slab?" Peter turned to Lu Lin, who was focused on eating again, his eyes gleaming with purpose.
Lu Lin was startled by Peter's bold question: "Are you out of your mind? That's top-secret! Besides... that slab is currently the highest security asset at the base. It's guarded around the clock by at least a platoon of elite soldiers. You definitely can't get near it right now."