Chapter 9 Chapter Eight: In the Center of the Earth

Because we all feel the weight of our responsibilities. Today, there are only five of us who know that the Earth is going to have a catastrophe in 2083--five of us who know it's true. If we spread the news, there are only two possibilities. One possibility is: no one believed it at all, thinking that the five of us were crazy people talking crazy. The second possibility is that when human beings learned that the lifespan of the earth is only a hundred years, they will cause a crazy riot, and the coming of the end of the world will return the earth people who have already accumulated some civilizations to primitive people. brutal!

We cannot spread this message any further, nor can we allow the end of the world to come. Therefore, we have only one way left: to save this crisis. It is almost impossible to save such a crisis with the strength of five people.However, having that equipment gave all five of us confidence. Professor Jefferson said that the equipment on the aerial platform can increase the pressure of the earth's crust and make the lava in the earth's core erupt.And I firmly believe that in that ice cave, there is another set of equipment that can control the direction and location of lava eruption.

According to Dr. Teng Qingquan, the best venting place for the lava in the core of the earth should be the seabed near the Arctic Iceland, so as long as we find the ice cave and learn how to use the equipment in the ice cave, our goal can be achieved. what? We don't need to release all the molten magma inside the earth—in fact, there is absolutely no such possibility. We only need to release a very small part so that the pressure of the earth's crust is not directly applied to the molten magma. The earth has passed through hundreds of years safely. After a while, Jefferson spoke first: "I believe, Wesley, you will definitely join our work?"

At this time, I no longer doubted Jefferson's personality, although when he asked this question, some things came to my mind. Those things were why he treated me so badly when I first met him. problem of impression. But at that time, I was moved by the noble actions of the people on those two planets, and felt that each of us should also have a noble character.At the same time, a strong sense of responsibility weighed on me, causing me to think about everything I thought for a while and then throw it away without further thinking. I nodded: "Yes, I am willing to participate in this work."

Jefferson stood up: "We welcome!" The other three applauded.This scene was too dramatic, so I hurriedly said, "Okay, how should we proceed?" Jefferson turned to me: "I'm still the leader of the matter, Wesley, don't you object?" I said: "Of course I have no objection, you can assign the work." Jefferson said: "Dr. Teng, Robert, you two stay on the air platform. Dr. Teng will be in charge of the magnetic wave pressure intensifier, and Robert will be in charge of contacting us, accepting and conveying my orders." Dr. Vine and Robert Qiangtuo nodded.

Jefferson turned to me and Zhang Jian: "Two friends, let's go find that ice crevasse, that ice cave, and talk about it after we find it. Do you have any opinions?" Zhang Jian and I said in unison: "Of course I have no objection." Jefferson said: "Okay, then we should go." He walked out first, and we followed behind to the back of the house, where several turtle-shaped spaceships were parked. Jefferson and we boarded one of them together. Jefferson sat in the pilot's seat, checked the instruments, communication, and TV equipment, and the spacecraft took off and flew away quickly.

While driving the spaceship, Jefferson said, "Wesley, let's fly to the place where you jumped into the sea first, and then fly low to the ground, so that it will be easier to find the ice crevasse." I agreed: "You have a good idea." The flying speed of the spacecraft is astonishingly fast, and the camera angle can be adjusted arbitrarily. The things captured are reflected on the TV screen, so that we can clearly see everything around us and everything in the sky and underground. . After a while, the spacecraft slowed down, and we could see the blue sea below.I remembered the situation when I fell into the sea. At that time, how could I have imagined that one day, I would sit in the same spaceship with Jefferson, live in peace, and do the same thing?

Not only did the speed of the spaceship slow down, but it was already very low from the sea, and it was flying forward, following the current of the sea. Before long, we were already on the ice sheet. The endless ice field looks so monotonous that I can never tell if this is where I landed last time, because there is only ice and snow on the ice field, and ice and snow look the same, there is no The mark is identifiable. The spaceship flew forward slowly, and Zhang Jian and I were watching the TV screen carefully. Suddenly, Zhang Jian said: "Turn left, the snow here has slight ripples, go to the left, there may be ice cracks."

Jefferson hastily turned the spaceship to the left. Almost as soon as the spacecraft turned around, we saw the unfathomable big ice crevasse. Zhang Jian really deserves to be an Antarctic explorer. His time in Antarctica was not in vain. His deep understanding of the Antarctic ice sheet is beyond the reach of others.Jefferson pulled a lever, and the spaceship plunged straight up and down. That kind of high-speed descent really made me worry that the spacecraft would be smashed into pieces on the ice, but after the spacecraft landed on the ice, it was very stable and there was no vibration.The three of us got off the spaceship together, and Jefferson asked impatiently, "Is this the ice crack?"

I can't answer Jefferson's question. Yes, in front of us is an extremely deep ice ravine, which may be the one I fell into last time, or it may not be at all.Because the last time I fell into a crack in the ice, I was swept in by the whirlwind.Moreover, this ice crevasse is extremely long, even if it is that one, it is not easy to find that ice cave.So I stayed for a while without answering. As if he knew what was wrong with me, Jefferson returned to the spaceship, and after a while, he came out with an instrument like a small vacuum cleaner: "It doesn't matter, we can use this radio wave detector, Walk slowly along the ice crevasse. Now that everything in the ice cave, including the TV set, is in good condition, there will of course be radio waves. Once the equipment responds, we can Now that I know the exact location of the ice cave, I can go down the rope."

We walked along that crevasse together, we were walking close to the edge of the crevasse, and we might fall if we almost stumbled.From time to time we looked down. Under the ice crevice, bursts of strange blue light flashed, as if the bottom was not the world. In fact, the desolation and monotony on the ice field is indeed not like the world, and there is a strange atmosphere under the ice crevasse.We walked a long way along the ice crevice, the instrument in Jefferson's hand made a "beep beep" sound, and his face showed a look of extreme joy: "Here, it must be here. " I fell down, and I also saw that rope, the rope that saved my life, and I said with certainty, "It's here, have you seen that rope?" I remember that when I climbed up by this rope, the solid ice on the rope was broken by me, but now, the rope is full of solid ice again. Both Jefferson and Zhang Jian also saw the rope.I said: "I'll go down first, you follow me, be careful, the ice is so slippery that it's almost impossible to hold on, if you fall down, everything will be over." Jefferson said: "Of course, you go down first, and it is also the most dangerous, because if anyone misses, they will definitely take you down." I took a breath, slowly climbed down the ice crevasse, and held onto the ice-filled rope. Before my feet loosened, I said, "Don't be afraid when you slide down quickly. Because at the end of the rope, there is a big knot, which is enough to stop our downward trend." The two of them nodded, and as soon as I finished speaking, my feet loosened, and my hands grasped the ice rope. The person had already slid down quickly, and the speed of descent was getting faster and faster. The last time I fell, there was no difference. But I feel that this rope is not the one I climbed last time!It is much longer than the last one, so I should have stopped my slide at the knot at the end of the rope, but the current rope has not yet reached the end. There was a chill in my heart, hoping that my memory was wrong, I looked down, and within a minute, I had a definite answer to the doubt in my heart. My memory is excellent—and that's the unfortunate thing: this rope is not the one I slipped off the last time. At the end of this rope, there is no big knot! My current downward trend is almost the same as that of a stone falling from a high altitude. As a result of the acceleration, my falling speed is extremely fast. When I saw that the end of the rope did not have such a big knot, I was still about 20 meters away from the end of the rope.I immediately uttered a loud cry. I yelled loudly, and there was an astonishing echo in the ice crevice. After I called out, I was only ten meters away from the end of the rope. I bent my body suddenly, and kicked hard on the ice-covered rope with both feet. This is a rope climbing technique. After kicking my feet, the rope bends, and the falling momentum can be stopped. However, the rope was covered with slippery ice. I kicked on the rope with both feet, but it didn't bend the rope, and my feet slipped away. As a result, I fell another five meters. The next less than a second was my life and death moment. I really had no room for further consideration. I opened my mouth suddenly and bit down on the rope! I didn't even know that my bite could be so powerful! The ice on the rope was bitten by me, and my falling momentum stopped abruptly. My teeth hurt unbearably. When Jefferson's feet stepped on top of my head, my teeth were like It is like leaving the body. Then, Zhang Jian also slid down, his feet stepped on Jefferson's head, I couldn't make a sound, I just tried my best, took out a knife, scraped off the ice on the rope, and waited for my After firmly grasping the rope with both hands, I let go. I took a few breaths, and Zhang Jian and Jefferson also used the same method as me to stabilize their bodies. The three of us stayed on the rope like a string of fish. I answered him, "We were in the wrong place, there was no knot at the end of the rope, and we almost fell all over." Added Jefferson: "Wesley saved us by biting the rope at the last minute." At this time, I felt a salty taste in my mouth. It turned out that my mouth was completely cut by ice.I smiled wryly and said, "Let's try to go up quickly." Zhang Jian said: "However, the detector proves that there are radio waves coming from below. Will the detector deceive people?" I look down. Just now, when I slid to the end of the rope, all my attention was focused on how to stop the downward momentum, and I didn't pay attention to the situation of the ice crevasse going further down. Only then did I look down, and I could see the reflection of the ice. Below our feet, it was the bottom of the crevasse.And the ice crevasse stretched forward, not far ahead, it seemed that there was a light shining through.If it wasn't a light, it must be something luminous, and now the light was reflected on the ice in fantastic colors. If we let go and fall at this time, we will not be injured, but if we slipped and fell so fast just now, we will still die.I said, "Let's go down and have a look." Zhang Jian nodded first: "Okay, I have climbed down many ice crevasses, but this is the first time I have reached the bottom of the ice crevasse." I bent up, and when I let go of my hands, my body went down. Since I had already bent my legs, my body became elastic. After landing, I immediately jumped up. Zhang Jian and Jefferson and the two also fell down. We walked towards the place where the light was shining. The ice was very slippery, and we each slipped and fell several times. That kind of feeling is very wonderful, just think about it, being under the ice layer hundreds of meters thick, surrounded by brilliant light, crystal-like ice, isn't it extremely wonderful. We saw the ice cave before we saw what it was that glowed. The ice cave was bigger than the one I had been to last time, but it was empty.Moreover, in the center of the ice cave, another unfathomable hole leads to the bottom. Beside the burrow, there is a small spaceship. Jefferson climbed on the hatch of the spaceship and looked at it, then turned his head: "This spaceship is completely usable. We can take this spaceship and fly out of the ice crevasse." I looked at the unfathomable cave: "Why don't we take this spaceship and sink into the cave to have a look?" Zhang Jian immediately agreed with my proposal. The three of us crowded into the spaceship, and Jefferson drove it. It was pitch black in front of our eyes, and Jefferson adjusted the TV device so that the visibility of the TV was adjusted to the farthest. But on the TV screen, it was still pitch black! We have been descending, and there are instruments in the spacecraft to record the depth of the descent.But we can't read it, because we don't know how deep we have descended. After a few minutes, Jefferson turned his head: "According to my estimation, we have descended at least 70,000 meters." I was taken aback: "So, aren't we going to descend straight into the center of the earth?" I was unconscious at first, but Jefferson said loudly: "By the way, this burrow must be straight to the center of the earth!" Zhang Jian stuttered nervously: "How...how is this possible? The core of the earth is molten, won't it spew out?" Jefferson said: "I don't know, but I feel that if we continue to sink, we will definitely reach the center of the earth." I also find it a bit unbelievable: "You mean, we might reach the center of the lava?" Jefferson smiled bitterly: "Forgive me, no one in this world has ever been to the center of the earth, and I have no way of imagining what it will be like when we reach the center of the earth?" Zhang Jian sighed: "I have been in Antarctica for so many years. I only know that the only active volcano in Antarctica is Mount Elybus. If it can lead to the center of the earth, I think it should go down from the crater of Mount Elybus. Unexpectedly, it is here!" Jefferson moved his fingers over the many buttons as he steered the spaceship. I was taken aback: "Professor, if you don't understand what these buttons are for, you'd better not press them randomly." Jefferson said: "I think this spaceship should have lights that can emit lights. If the spaceship can emit lights, we can see clearly where we are." I said angrily, "Of course, but if you press the wrong switch—" I have just said this, and Professor Jefferson has already pressed a white button. After Zhang Jian and I were stunned for a moment, we were all stunned! On the originally pitch-black TV screen, at this moment, suddenly, an extremely wonderful color appeared.I really can't describe so many, so gorgeous colors, it makes us feel like we are in a huge kaleidoscope. Every color is shining with light, and red, green, yellow, purple... many, many lights are shining together. The feeling is so wonderful that it is enough to make anyone dumbfounded. We didn't stay for long before Mr. Jefferson exclaimed: "Oh my God, these... are all gems, all the gems with the most complete crystals, all the purest gems!" Indeed, there are all the purest gemstones. Judging from the descending speed of the spacecraft, such a layer of gemstones is at least as thick as one kilometer. Then, the layer of gemstones passed by, and what we saw on the TV screen was ocher red. The rock is very dark ocher, like dried pig's blood. The red ocher rock layer is thicker, and in that rock layer, there are now and then large dark blue gemstones. Suddenly, the redness of the rock increased and the ochre faded until the rock was completely red, the kind of red that came out of the TV screen and flushed all three of our faces. The further you go, the lighter the red, and the color of the rock layer is changing. At first, it becomes orange-red, then orange, and later, it is golden yellow, golden, and there is white in the golden color. Finally, it is a piece of white , Our eyes can no longer stare at the screen. Professor Jefferson murmured: "That's the light from something close to molten aluminum. I bet it must be aluminum!" Aluminum is originally the most abundant metal on the earth. It is not unimaginable that a large amount of aluminum is stored near the center of the earth. However, the melting point of aluminum is extremely high. If the glowing white light is emitted when the aluminum is nearly melting, then the temperature outside our spaceship is at least over 1,000 degrees Celsius.And we are inside the spacecraft, but we don't feel how hot it is. Then, it suddenly went dark again.At the same time, we also heard a strange voice coming up. That sound is really indescribable. When it first came to my ears, it was like a tiger roaring in the distance. Gradually, the roaring tiger became not one, but ten, Hundreds of heads, thousands of heads, ten thousand heads... When our minds are all frightened by that roaring sound and become stunned, the tiger's roar is definitely not enough to describe that sound. I remembered the sound I heard when I was in that ice cave, when the fire like the center of a furnace appeared on the TV. We are indeed on our way to the center of the earth, indeed. I couldn't help screaming, but no matter how loud I screamed, I couldn't hear my own voice. Because that booming sound has already covered up everything, causing all the sounds to be covered up. I pointed down and made a gesture, but Jefferson and Zhang Jian were obviously overwhelmed, and they couldn't even see me gesturing. Then, a bright dot appeared on the TV screen. That point is so small that it looks like a needle point on a screen.But it is as small as the tip of a needle, and it is so bright that people can't open their eyes. That bright spot is gradually getting bigger. And the other places visible on the TV screen are also gradually getting brighter. It is a kind of purple red, like the color of a piece of iron after it has been burned red and slowly cooled. The further you go, the more prominent the red color is, and the small objects no longer seem to be solid, but jelly-like things. We also found that there seems to be a thick layer on the wall of the cave. Transparent things block it. Because we have seen that after the color becomes more and more red, the objects on the cave wall are flowing, but they do not overflow outwards, so of course something is blocking the gelatinous lava. All three of us know that we are approaching the center of the earth, and now we can be said to have traveled through the center of the earth.This hole was undoubtedly made by people on the green planet. Of course, the spaceship is also made of materials that can withstand high heat, because at this time, the temperature where we are may be as high as tens of degrees Celsius, but we still don't feel hot.After another five minutes, the surroundings gradually turned into a scorching white. None of us could open our eyes to stare at it. Finally, the light from the TV screen made us close our eyes. I fumbled with both hands, and came across a piece of glass, which was a piece of black glass. I put it in front of my eyes, and then opened my eyes, in front of my eyes was a strange, seething fire! Even through a pane of glass, my eyes, within a minute, still sting. I handed the glass piece to Zhang Jian and Jefferson, and they took turns to look at it for a while, and I made a gesture to Jefferson, signaling him to fly up. Because at this time, we can be said to be in the center of the earth! The center of the earth is like a huge furnace. Although our spacecraft may fly freely in this furnace, there are always many dangers. Moreover, the scorching light makes it impossible for us to see the center of the earth clearly. situation. Under such circumstances, it doesn't make much sense for us to stay in the center of the earth any longer. Jefferson hesitated, then nodded. Just then, we saw something like a softball bat floating in the air. The thing that looked like a softball bat was obviously a TV camera tube, which of course was the reason why I was able to see the center of the earth in that ice cave. We saw again that under the TV camera tube was a large dark blue crystal, and we could still see the flowing lava below. That large piece of crystallization blocked the lava so that they would not erupt. At this time, we couldn't help but sigh infinitely at the ignorance of human beings and the progress of human science on the green planet.On that green planet, only two "people" were sent, and they were able to fiddle with the earth like a ball of flour.I don't want to talk about it, but it will take many years for the people on earth to make this deep hole that goes straight to the center of the earth. What is that blue transparent crystal? I am afraid that it will be extremely difficult to research it. We parked the spaceship on that piece of crystal, and adjusted the TV screen so that we could better see the lava tumbling in the center of the earth.Being there, I feel that this is indeed a catastrophe for the earth. It is hard to imagine what kind of terrible situation it will be when the pressure on the earth's crust increases, and the lava in the center of the earth cannot withstand the pressure and all erupts out! That would of course be the real end of the world! We didn't stop for a long time. Professor Jefferson picked up a joystick, and the spaceship went up. We passed through the various layers when we came down, and then came to the gem layer.I estimated at the time that the gemstone layer was about one kilometer thick, but when the spaceship flew upwards, the thickness of the gemstone layer was about three kilometers. Kilometers of olivine, granite layers, and the crust of various rocks.We didn't see these rock formations when we went down because we didn't turn on the lights around the spacecraft at that time. When the ice of Aomori appeared again on the TV screen, we knew we were in a crevasse again. All three of us breathed a sigh of relief.Although the ice layer is cold and frightening, not like the human world, but when we have experienced the edge of the earth and faced the thrilling sound, the cold ice layer seems very friendly. We came out of the ice and stopped on the ice sheet.Another spaceship was still quietly parked aside. We got out of the small spaceship and relaxed our hands and feet. Jefferson went to the big spaceship for a while, while Zhang Jian and I wandered on the ice field. Within two minutes, Jefferson's voice came over: "Wesley, the ice cave you have been to is about 17 kilometers away from here." We saw that Jeff got out of the spaceship as soon as he finished speaking, and asked in unison: "How do you know?" Jefferson grinned and said, "That was the inspiration I had after seeing the TV camera tube just now. You said that the TV receiver in the ice cave is still intact and usable, so there must be something between the camera tube and the receiver. With extremely weak electromagnetic wave contact, I have used the detector to find the exact location of the ice cave." Zhang Jian hurriedly said: "I hope it's true. If I fall into the ice crevasse again—" Jefferson came over and pushed hard on Zhang Jian's shoulder. The ice floor was very slippery. He fell to the ground on his back. If Zhang Jian hadn't lived in Antarctica for a long time and knew how to fall on the ice so as not to be injured, this encounter might have broken his limbs.But Jefferson didn't go to help Zhang Jian up, he just smiled "haha", the situation was a little abnormal. I was stunned for a while, and walked over to help Zhang Jian up. Zhang Jian looked at Jefferson, who was laughing wildly, with a puzzled expression on his face, shook his head and said, "He's so happy!" Of course, Jefferson was too happy to behave like this. However, I couldn't help asking myself in my heart: what is he so happy for? Jefferson laughed for a long time before saying: "We have this small spaceship, and we have even reached the center of the earth. Are we afraid that we will fall into the ice crevasse?" Zhang Jian said: "Then you don't have to push me onto the ice!" Jefferson laughed again, and said, "Come on, let's go to that ice cave."