Chapter Sixty-Eight: Chen Hao's Suspicions

What kind of secret could it possibly be that draws so many foreigners here, all eager to investigate? And why would they go so far as to build a luxurious hotel specifically for these foreigners and the research institute’s personnel? This alone makes it clear that those coming to this place are wealthy and influential people. Kestar is by no means a tourist city, so whatever secret it holds must be exceptionally important—far from anything ordinary.

This also explains why Kestar has such a massive airport. To construct an airport of this scale must have required state support; surely, the arrival of all these foreigners was officially sanctioned. According to Chen Hao’s speculation, the secret of Kestar must have been discovered many years ago, and all this time, research into it has continued in secrecy.

But what exactly is this secret? Is it some extraordinary object that piques universal curiosity? Or perhaps a bizarre natural phenomenon, or a newly discovered natural resource of significant research value? Could it possibly be extraterrestrials?

The very thought sent a wave of excitement through Chen Hao. Extraterrestrials! What an astonishing tale! He’d only ever encountered such things in novels, movies, and comics—could it truly be happening in the real world now?

Chen Hao’s suspicion wasn’t groundless. First of all, if it were merely a special resource or mineral deposit, the government would hardly be so foolish as to let foreigners know and allow them to come in droves to research or exploit it. Second, Kestar’s geography makes it an unlikely site for mineral resources. Besides, in countless movies and TV shows, aliens always seem to prefer landing in dense forests like those around Kestar, where concealment is easy, and they can hide from human detection.

The most convincing reason, however, was the images that had surfaced in his mind earlier. The transport planes and the forested landscape he saw could only have been Kestar. The people there were attacked by something none of them could see or identify—exactly the kind of advanced technology or unique ability one would expect from an alien civilization.

Piecing together everything he knew about Kestar, Chen Hao found a coherent narrative emerging. First, there was the incident from Gu Mengyan’s childhood. It was said that back then, numerous researchers had come to Kestar, hailing from all sorts of high-level fields: science, biology, weaponry, and more—virtually every advanced discipline imaginable.

Chen Hao had read about this in his father’s research notes, though the records never specified what exactly was being studied—it was, after all, top secret. For years, Chen Hao had been unable to unravel the mystery of those events.

Yet today, the questions that had haunted him for so long were finally being answered, even if only through his own deductions. He felt that he was now close to the truth.

If it wasn’t because of an alien civilization, what could possibly justify mobilizing so many people—elite representatives from various countries and companies—to the then-desolate Kestar? And what kind of force could have decimated nearly all the researchers who came here? Why build such a vast airport, and why have delegations from around the world continued to arrive over the years? The answer seemed obvious.

Still, there was one thing that puzzled Chen Hao: the incident years ago resulted in heavy human losses, with the research teams being routed by unknown armed forces, yet there was never any news about it—no reports of military intervention or joint operations. It seemed the situation had somehow been contained.

As for who had resolved it, Chen Hao had no clue; his father’s notes offered no answers. Yet he couldn’t help but suspect his father was involved. After all, his father had survived the incident and had brought Gu Mengyan back with him.

Given his father’s character and abilities, he must have played a significant role back then. Did that mean the aliens’ military strength was no match for his father, or had some other support arrived to rescue them?

If so, the aliens should have been eliminated or captured completely, otherwise there would not still be foreigners coming here to conduct research. So why, nearly twenty years later, had the situation flared up again, with humans suffering heavy casualties in yet another attack? Had more aliens landed on Earth, this time better prepared and catching humanity off guard?

But that didn’t quite fit. Judging by the scenes in his mind, the humans weren’t unprepared—there were large numbers assembled, obviously defending a location: that strange building glowing green. That must be the aliens’ landing site—no wonder it looked so bizarre, so unlike any structure known to human civilization.

But why would the aliens choose the same landing site again? If they were hostile, wouldn’t it make more sense to land covertly elsewhere?

Or perhaps they simply didn’t care about being discovered—they wanted to make a show of their arrival. Judging by the outcome, it certainly seemed that way.

No, that wasn’t a battle at all—it was a one-sided massacre. The human forces stood no chance; within minutes, they were all but wiped out. No wonder the security staff in the elevator had spoken of being wiped out to the last man.

But… Chen Hao could tell that those killed were not professional soldiers, just regular security personnel. Their training and equipment were nowhere near military grade.

If humanity had known in advance about the aliens’ landing, why were there no regular troops present? That simply didn’t make sense.

Try as he might, Chen Hao couldn’t reason out an explanation; he could only shake his head in resignation. Still, he had learned a great deal during this unexpected foray downstairs. He had made quite a discovery, all thanks to Gu Mengyan’s choice of Kestar as their travel destination—otherwise, he’d never have stumbled upon so many secrets.

But why had Gu Mengyan chosen to come to Kestar at this time? Chen Hao had already dismissed any suspicion of her, but now, after all this, doubt crept back in. Could she have known something?

On further thought, Chen Hao found it unlikely. He himself knew so little about Kestar; how could Gu Mengyan know more?

He concluded that Gu Mengyan had come to Kestar simply to learn what had happened to her all those years ago, to recover the memories she’d lost or had hidden away. She was probably unaware of everything happening now. If she really knew about the alien attacks, she would never have risked bringing him and Fan Yirou along.

Now that he knew the truth, should he tell Gu Mengyan?

And if he did, how should he begin? Should he just blurt out, “Mengyan, I’ve figured out what happened all those years ago. I know how your parents died—they were killed in an alien attack!”?

Good grief, if he said that, wouldn’t she think he’d lost his mind, slap him hard, and never speak to him again?

But if he kept quiet, what if she decided to go into the forest? She might not remember much from her childhood, but she clearly recalled entering the woods with her parents and other researchers, and that her own father had rescued her from there.

Before coming to Kestar, she had said she wanted to see the natural beauty of the place, and that meant the forests—exactly where the aliens were.

But then, the whole alien theory was still just his own conjecture. He was almost certain, but he had no proof. Besides, if it were actually so dangerous, the place would have been sealed off and evacuated long ago.

So even if there were aliens, the situation was probably under control for the moment; the fragments in his mind likely showed events from some time ago.

If Gu Mengyan tried to enter the forest, the stationed troops outside would probably turn her away politely.

With that thought, Chen Hao relaxed. As long as he stayed close, he would never let her do anything dangerous. In fact, he was rather curious about these supposed aliens himself—if he got the chance, he’d love to see one, to find out if they really resembled those in the movies.

Later, when he and Fan Yirou had children, he could brag to them about how brave their father was, daring to see an alien with his own eyes.

And when he got back, he would definitely question his father, to see if his guess was right.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Chen Hao picked up a brochure from the hotel lobby and headed toward the elevator. Since he didn’t know what there was to do in Kestar, he might as well take this little pamphlet back to placate Gu Mengyan. All he had to do was keep her out of the woods…