Chapter 23: Traces of Civilization

Xu Chen deeply agreed with Elder Ge. There were many human remains from the pre-Neolithic era, yet they bore no traces of civilization. Those remains were no different from the bones of animals—utterly meaningless. You could derive no information from them other than the cold, hard fact that they had once existed.

He had visited the National Museum to see the Majiayao culture skull. It appeared to be an unremarkable skull with a hole in it; to a casual observer, it might look like accidental damage sustained during excavation. But who could know that once, a group of people had made an incredible attempt to combat a disease that all other living beings at the time were helpless against? They had hoped to snatch a life from the hands of death, and they had succeeded—they had kept the patient alive.

A small town in southern Georgia once unearthed human fossils dating back 1.7 million years. Among them was a skull that was quite elderly; almost all its teeth had fallen out, with only one stubbornly remaining. In that era, humans had only just begun to learn to cook food, and they still relied heavily on their teeth to manage tough, raw sustenance. Back then, it was nearly impossible for a human to survive alone after losing their teeth. Yet, astonishingly, the tooth sockets on this skull had almost completely healed and closed.

In other words, this ancient elderly person did not die shortly after losing their teeth but lived for at least several more years, sustained by the care of their companions. This signified that by this time, humans had already learned to "provide for the elderly." Unlike animals, they did not abandon the old or the weak—not merely because their evolution allowed them to secure more food, but because the seeds of civilization had begun to sprout within humanity. They had learned empathy and mutual aid.

These were no ordinary remains; they held the most profound essence of the birth of civilization. The dawn of civilization began precisely here.

Walking down the street, Xu Chen began a difficult search for information regarding similar damaged remains abroad. After all, domestic gossip was rampant, and it was much the same internationally. News about damaged cultural relics only ever made headlines if they were of national or global significance. Even environmental extremist groups knew to target Van Gogh’s *Sunflowers*; if they were to target human remains, it was unlikely anyone would pay much attention.

Struggling with his mediocre English, Xu Chen searched until he found what he was looking for. He sighed. He had found reports from abroad concerning damaged ancient human remains. It was a post by a minor archaeologist calling for human attention to the protection of such artifacts, but it seemed to have received none of the response he had hoped for. Xu Chen felt helpless; he was no high-ranking official with real power, and there was almost nothing he could do. However, he remembered Elder Ge.

During their final conversation, Xu Chen had noticed that Elder Ge seemed to have realized something. With his foresight, he would likely soon be verifying whether similar incidents were occurring abroad. With such a heavyweight keeping watch, it seemed unlikely that anything would go wrong.

In the conference room, the five people did not leave immediately. Elder Ge was on his phone, and the remaining four dared not disturb him.

"That's right, have Xiao Lin lead a team to ask those old timers at the Institute of Physics to move their equipment over... just say it's being requisitioned."

"It doesn't matter, these are special times. Have the second team prepare to receive it... and have the 332nd Regiment provide an escort."

"Yes, resolve it as soon as possible... use my name, tell them I need it urgently."

"Yes, that's all."

Elder Ge hung up and looked at the deputy regimental commander. "Alright, I've finished on my end. I imagine the research institute will be pulling a lot of overtime."

"Understood. What shall we do next?" the deputy asked.

Elder Ge glanced at the people around the table. He felt a sense of poignancy. Though there were only five of them, they represented a coalition of the military, the research institute, and the police force. Their ranks were neither too high nor too low, allowing them to make independent decisions while still being able to report upward if a situation spiraled out of control. They were an extremely flexible decision-making group.

"Xu Chen did indeed provide me with important information. This is perhaps the news Yang Tianyou wanted to reveal but couldn't state explicitly. Captain Chu."

"Yes!"

"Disclose the contents of our meeting to Yang Tianyou and confirm it with him."

"Received."

"Also, have your team collect the information Xu Chen was looking for, but don't limit the scope to domestic sources—include international ones as well."

"This... that might be a bit difficult."

"It doesn't have to be that detailed. I will also be reaching out to some old friends in the archaeology department."

"Received!"

"Very well, that is all. Meeting adjourned."

The deputy regimental commander looked troubled. "Are you saying that this time, we have nothing to show for it? Who or what is Taihao? We still don't know?"

"How could you say that?" Elder Ge was actually in a good mood. "Although we don't know what this 'Taihao' business is about, we do know that something is trying to erase our civilization, and we have caught the traces it left behind."

"What traces? Just this strange corrosion?"

"Exactly. If we can determine the cause of this special corrosion, we might be able to develop countermeasures, follow the trail, and find the mastermind behind it."

"The problem is, we came here to ask Xu Chen what the existence of Taihao is!"

"For that, just look at the inscriptions restored by the archaeology department."

The deputy looked gloomily at his notebook; it was completely blank. He had not received any substantive mission, nor did he see any way the military could be of use in this meeting. In other words, he had no role to play. Initially, he had assumed Taihao was some enemy nation or organization causing trouble, and he had volunteered to participate in the plan to encircle and annihilate the enemy and perform a service for the country. He hadn't expected to come away with nothing. Thinking of the expectant looks of his soldiers and the instructions his regimental commander had given him upon departure, the deputy felt his face burning.

"However, don't look at these two matters as if they have no connection. I personally feel there is an unspeakable link between them."

"What kind of link?"

"An unspeakable one."

The deputy glared at Elder Ge, but remembering that this was a man he could not afford to offend, he slumped in frustration. "Then what can I do?"

Elder Ge looked at him. "Didn't I just say? The escort mission. Go and bring those items over."

The deputy nodded dejectedly. Escort missions were not like combat missions; there was no glory to be found in them, at best, they were better than nothing.

"Don't worry. If you can complete the escort mission quickly and with high quality, once I catch the shadow of the mastermind, your regiment will definitely have a role to play. No one will be able to take that away from you."

The deputy’s expression brightened. "Very well! It’s a deal."