Chapter 6228: Covenant of the Stars (8)

On the day the Ancient Ones returned home, Brainiac initiated a live broadcast for Shiller, complete with a voice translation feature, which Shiller generously shared with Dr. Henry and Professor Dale. What first shocked them was the projection screen, not even a hologram but simply a standard projection device on the wall, yet considered high-tech equipment for people of this era.

Brainiac’s projection was exceptionally clear, visible even in daylight. Initially, Shiller was just going through the motions to satisfy Dr. Henry’s curiosity, since he hadn’t seen aliens in person—seeing them on screen was the next best thing. But unexpectedly, Shiller was also astonished when the Ancient Ones emerged from the Teleportation Portal.

What is this, a species? How did the Ancient Ones devolve to their current form? Nya, your misdeeds are profound!

What emerged from the portal wasn’t a giant squid, but an enormous cosmic jellyfish roughly the size of that airship, with just the cap alone towering several hundred meters high. The span of its bat wings was probably hundreds of meters, like a building lying horizontally, and its tentacles extended far beyond visibility, seemingly able to wrap around the Moon and take it away.

Not only was Shiller shocked; even the Ancient Ones at their peak were astonished. They looked incredulously at their companion, while Shiller could discern expressions from the jellyfish’s cap, as if the massive cosmic jellyfish were saying, “Brother, how did you become a baby?!”

Dr. Henry and Professor Dale were truly dumbfounded. No wonder they dared traverse the cosmos to Earth. These learned elders, with their deeper understanding of the cosmos, knew well that the Ancient Ones’ body type was far from normal—not a typical star system could produce such creatures, which could be called a kind of Elder God.

Fortunately, the Ancient Ones have extraordinarily long lifespans, living millions or billions of years, and while such a period is lengthy for them, it doesn’t lead to cultural severance; their language remains comprehensible. After some communication, the giant jellyfish hugged the great squid and wailed, while the life forms from Earth—including Shiller—felt spiritual pollution.

If this involved humanoid beings, the scene would likely be quite touching. But these two life forms’ types aren’t exactly to human aesthetics, with an enormous tangle of tentacles enough to make one’s scalp tingle. Even Brainiac found this ritual overwhelming, consistently urging them to hurry up and leave.

Without Brainiac, they might move faster. Because when the Ancient Ones brought out the cat, the jellyfish’s tentacles waved phantom shadows, retreating incessantly, reacting as if seeing Shiller for the first time upon revival of the Ancient Ones.

The squids seemed a bit puzzled; the green cat they held lacked Nya’s power, appearing adorable and innocent. What were the jellyfish afraid of?

Through further communication, it became clear that all cosmic life forms recognize cats because the Ussa Cat Group is renowned. The cat groups play roles akin to the Green Lantern Corps, upholding cosmic police duties, protecting numerous intelligent life forms from the Outer Gods. The jellyfish had received their assistance and probably mistook Brainiac transformed into a green cat as a local police officer, continually advising their companions to return the cat, as they didn’t want the cat group at their doorstep.

Regardless of how much Brainiac explained or the Ancient Ones pleaded, the jellyfish steadfastly refused. Bringing back souvenirs from a trip is one thing, but did they want to bring back the local cop?

In the end, the Ancient Ones could only leave with a hard drive. Their departure was filled with reluctance, the squids taking turns petting Brainiac until cat hair flew everywhere, as the jellyfish maintained a safe distance, fearing scratches.

After all the fuss, the Ancient Ones left, but now faced a new issue: what to do with the enormous city in the mountains?

Not all Ancient Ones left; some remained. The city belonged to them now, but humans also greatly needed the knowledge and equipment inside. So the Ancient Ones consulted Professor Dale and others about sending a team inside to retrieve those items.

The Ancient Ones clearly had no intention of developing on Earth. This place was already unbearable, if not for nurturing offspring, they’d have left with their kin long ago.

The city was built as the Ancient Ones neared extinction, filled with patchwork remnants that even WWI veterans might disdain, let alone the mighty jellyfish of their heyday; leaving it to humanity was the best option. However, how to leave it indeed warranted study.

Given the current state of human society, exposure of this matter would undoubtedly make Antarctica a target of contention among nations, potentially leading to global conflict. Therefore, the professors unanimously decided to seal these things temporarily until internal human issues were resolved.

Remarkably, the expedition leaders agreed. They knew full well that publicly sharing these objects or even releasing some as their own results would undoubtedly etch their names in history as great scientists. Yet they chose to forgo personal fame and make choices more beneficial to human civilization.

Of course, Shiller thought it was because these people saw through the Federal Government very clearly. Coercion and inducement were basic skills, and killing the donkey after the grinding was their forte. If they weren’t tight-lipped, the one lying underground in Zone 51 might just be themselves. For the sake of their own lives, they couldn’t let this matter leak out.

However, the professors all achieved relatively reasonable research results. Professor Dale brought back some ancient geological fragments from the city, things that could also be excavated under the Antarctic ice sheet. Dexter switched to studying the unique krill groups of the Antarctic region. Frank discovered the highest peak, and new drill technology was gaining attention in the scientific community. Other scholars also chose some good subcategories to research. The expedition’s journey was approaching its end.

Nya naturally wanted to intervene and make some moves on their return journey, mainly to find out if they had found the remains of the Ancient Ones in the mountains, so she planned a sea disaster. Cultists among the sailors sabotaged the ship, making it crash into an ice cap, hoping to strand everyone on the South Pole.

Originally, it was a good plan because the ship’s supplies were limited, and sailors could easily revolt. However, the professors were well-prepared. Earlier, the sailor team was wiped out in the Antarctic, and the professors had guns, which they used to first suppress the sailors, and then they had the remaining Ancient Ones in the mountains send food.

It was quite simple, the Deep Sea was the home of the Ancient Ones, where anything needed was available. If not, they could fly to the East Coast to ask Dr. Henry for some, and then theatrically place it on the ice cap as if blessed by God. With abundant supplies, people naturally wouldn’t fight among themselves.

This stranding incident, on the contrary, allowed professors and students to later earn a fortune by writing memoirs, as it was the greatest disaster of the entire Antarctic expedition. Each person recounted from different perspectives, which readers loved. Among them, the shadow of a giant squid appearing vaguely at night and the mysterious supplies suddenly appearing on the ice cap became the focus of much talk.

The most legendary was the penguin’s repayment. On the third day of being stranded, when the ship was almost repaired, a flock of penguins arrived. They had been hunting in the sea but seemed not to be hunting this time, more like migrating. They stood far away on the horizon, watching the human fleet for a long time, then slid into the sea like swords, and soon came ashore, wobbling towards the ship, and spat out fresh fish from their mouths, as if feeding their young.

Both professors, students, and sailors were shocked. This phenomenon was unheard of. Even though humans and penguins look somewhat alike, humans are much larger than penguins. Why would penguins treat humans like their young?

Of course, many remembered how they had fed their own food to the injured penguins before, hence this action was seen as the penguins’ repayment, and it became a widely acclaimed behavioral science sample of the Antarctic penguin group. Scientists believed that the social nature of penguins allowed them to build strong connections with humans, which fueled a century’s worth of relentless research into penguin behavioral science.

While repairing the ship, the professors didn’t just sit idly. Professor Dale used that old seal, and with Constantine’s help, successfully expelled the cultists, disgusting Nya in the process. Nya seemed to realize the situation was lost and didn’t cause further trouble during the rest of the journey.

On the day the expedition team returned home, the entire Federation was in a frenzy. Countless people flocked to the port to welcome the heroes. However, the professors and students quietly returned to school by car, declining most interviews, which only sparked more imagination.

Teachers and students collectively stayed silent about the Antarctic trip, further fueling curiosity about what truly happened there, with rumors running rampant. This time, even mainstream media couldn’t suppress the stories. Countless journalists camped outside Miskatonic University, eager to discover the truth.

Amid the fierce ferment of public opinion, Bat Cat received a message from Brainiac: the Ancient Ones had successfully returned home and settled down. Just as they had predicted, the Ancient Ones remaining at home were furious upon hearing about their kindred’s predicament on Earth. No pleading from humanity was necessary as they were determined to confront Nya with their own fury.

Even though there was no evidence to prove Nya’s involvement, the Ancient Ones had no effective means to deal with Nya, but they could call the police. Curiously, the Cthulhu Mythos Universe indeed had law and order.

Ussa’s Cat had a significant grudge against Nya, unable to tolerate Nya’s sneaky sabotage among the societies of intelligent beings. Whenever possible, they’d scratch at Nya, and with the Ancient Ones having solid reasons this time, the cats naturally wouldn’t let it go.

As time was about to step into 1932, an astronomical observatory in Massachusetts observed peculiar celestial activities. An asteroid group suddenly appeared close to Earth’s orbit, quickly approaching Earth.

This news immediately ignited all media outlets. In this era, weapon technology was underdeveloped, rendering humanity impotent against falling meteors, not to mention a potentially devastating asteroid group. If they were to hit, it could tear Earth apart.

The public fell into great panic. Luckily, before the news had fully spread, the observatories everywhere found that the asteroid belt had stopped moving, just hovering in near-Earth orbit.

And then came even worse news—the asteroid group started to speak.