Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

Half-buried in the snow, An Ning squinted ahead. A patch of white moved.

Having walked through the snow for so long, An Ning wasn’t sure if her eyes were still working properly. She decided to just use her spiritual power instead.

’Oh... it’s just a fox.’

’I was starting to think I’d gone snow-blind.’

An Ning retracted her spiritual power and closed her eyes to relieve the stinging sensation.

Less than three seconds later, she opened her eyes again, let out a sharp cry, and recoiled, her fist flying out instinctively.

”AIEEEE—!”

A screech even sharper than her own echoed across the snow. The red-eyed Snow Fox had taken An Ning’s punch square in the face and went flying backward, screeching all the way.

”Hey— I didn’t mean to! You just popped up in front of me— I really didn’t do it on purpose— You—”

”Wait, you’re playing dirty!”

An Ning struggled to pull herself out of the snow, using the nearby sled for leverage to climb up. If she didn’t get out now, she was about to get mobbed.

The Snow Fox’s screech must have been a call for its friends, because a large number of Snow Foxes suddenly appeared on the snowy ground where there had only been one before.

By the time An Ning managed to painstakingly pull herself free, she was already surrounded by over a hundred animals.

And they weren’t just Snow Foxes.

Leopards, bears, even a white python, and countless foxes had formed a seamless circle around An Ning.

’Seriously... are you the princess of the Animal Kingdom or something?’

’What is all this about!’

’Even if I wanted to make a scarf, I wouldn’t need this much fur.’

It wasn’t that An Ning was truly afraid—she had her spiritual power and plenty of weapons. But with so many animals, she couldn’t just kill them all.

Her spiritual power began to slowly spread out, a mix of intimidation and communication.

”Let’s talk this over. I’ll apologize to that Snow Fox, and you all just let me pass. How about it?”

”I think it would be best if we didn’t fight.”

It was unclear whether her sincere plea or the intimidation from her spiritual power had worked, but a taller fox stepped forward and stood proudly before An Ning.

”Hello,” An Ning said.

The fox, of course, did not speak, but it turned sideways, and a gap wide enough for one person to pass through opened in the circle behind it.

The large Snow Fox walked ahead proudly, glancing back at An Ning from time to time.

An Ning pointed to herself and asked, ”Me? Follow you?”

The Snow Fox at the front gave a haughty nod and continued to walk on, its head held high.

Fearless, An Ning followed without hesitation.

She had been looking for a suitably mysterious place to justify pulling out the electric stone anyway. An entire host of white animals was definitely mysterious enough.

’Why do I always run into so many strange animals?’

An Ning muttered to herself as she walked along behind it. As she moved, the circle of animals behind her transformed into a semicircle, following her as they all departed together.

A mysterious collection of footprints was left in the snow, chaotic yet possessing a strange sort of order.

If a documentary crew showed up, they could film a hundred episodes on this alone.

To keep up with the Snow Fox, An Ning used her spiritual power to create a small, flat plane beneath her feet. This prevented her from sinking into a snow pit with every step.

She had traveled the previous stretch of road the same way. She figured if anyone saw the deep pits appearing out of nowhere, they would probably think a yeti had come down from the mountains.

Her imagination running wild, An Ning followed the Snow Fox for several hours.

Only she could have walked for so long and still kept up. Anyone else would have been left behind.

However, it seemed they were gradually descending.

Before she knew it, the terrain was getting lower and the snow was getting deeper—from half a person’s height to a full person’s height, and then from there to as deep as a house is tall.

Although she couldn’t see the terrain clearly, An Ning had a feeling they were heading underground.

Without her even noticing, the great army of white animals behind her had quietly dispersed, leaving only a few to serve as muscle.

After walking downward for over ten minutes and weaving through various turns, a cave entrance just large enough for one person to pass through appeared.

The Snow Fox paused, looked back at An Ning, and gestured with its eyes.

”You want me to go in with you?”

Not taking its invitation at face value, An Ning scanned the area with her spiritual power. The entrance led to a gentle slope that descended for twenty to thirty meters before opening onto a platform. Less than five meters from the platform was a large door.

On that door...

”Alright, I’ll go down with you.”

As if it understood, the Snow Fox leaped forward and expertly slid down the slope.

A serious look entered An Ning’s eyes. She slipped into the opening and slid down after it.

When her feet touched the ground, she sprang up. This time, she didn’t wait for the Snow Fox to lead, walking directly to the large door of unknown material herself.

An Ning ran a finger over the raised characters on its surface, her eyes filled with disgust.

’The R language. A laboratory. Just great. Really great.’

Before An Ning stood a secret laboratory, unknown to the world.

She had once heard Grandpa Jiang say that back in the day, the people of R Country had massacred and abducted many, taking them away to conduct horrific, secret experiments.

It was said that this was how R Country came to its theory that the human body is seventy percent water.

An Ning didn’t rush inside. First, she took out an advanced miniature interstellar camera and had it float above her head.

This batch of cameras was something she had the interstellar network teleport to her over the New Year. She had planned to install them around Tao Quan’s home or neighborhood when she returned to Beijing—they were meant for dealing with him.

She never expected they would come in handy now.

’Let’s see what we’ve got here.’

An Ning’s spiritual power penetrated the door as she prepared to figure out how to open it, but before she could, the door opened on its own.

The Snow Fox was standing on its hind legs. From the fur beneath its neck, it pulled out a string, and on that string was a key.

It gripped the key with its two front paws, inserted it into a keyhole invisible to the naked eye, and turned it with a rhythmic motion. The great door opened.

The heavy CLANKING sound was magnified infinitely in the underground space.

As the door slowly swung open, An Ning casually tossed her sheepskin coat, dog-fur hat, and heavy boots into her storage space.

If anyone were there to see it, they would notice that the clothes An Ning wore underneath were not bulky at all; they were made of unique interstellar materials.

Next, she took out a small, transparent, fingernail-sized disc and casually pressed it to her forehead. The disc immediately transformed into a protective suit that enveloped her entire body, guarding against any harmful toxins that might be inside.

After all, the appearance of this menagerie of white animals was anything but normal.

They say a Snow Fox is a once-in-a-millennium sight, yet An Ning had just encountered an entire pack.

With a final CLICK, the door locked in place. The Snow Fox went in first. An Ning activated the camera and began her exploration.

As An Ning entered, the great door behind her slowly swung shut.

Inside, there were only the Snow Fox and An Ning.

A long corridor, heavy pipes, crudely excavated walls, and firearms scattered everywhere all spoke to how unusual this place was.