The Secret History of Mars

"Above? You mean we are underground on Mars now?" Cui Xingmeng has never had a good sense of spatial orientation, but she didn't distinguish between the ground and the ground. She was still a little surprised. She just walked all the way from the cultivation chamber. It was empty and bright. If you say It is no exaggeration to say that this cultivation center is on the top floor of a skyscraper. Hearing what Elder Bao Xi said, she realized that she had never seen a window or skylight.

"Yes, this is inside the Martian crust, about one kilometer away from the surface of Mars. But they will arrive at the shuttle station at the bottom of Mount Olympus, so we will have to travel through the mantle and then go up to the surface." Bao Xi explained while operating the dense dials on the door like elevator buttons, "The temperature on the surface of Mars is around minus 50 degrees all year round, and the hottest summer is minus 20 degrees. For our life on Mars, although it is not Catastrophic, but not the warmest and most comfortable temperature range."

"The Earth Center Capsule is driven by magnetic levitation. It will arrive soon. Please sit down for a while." In order to prevent Cui Xingmeng from feeling bored, Elder Bao Xi set the walls of the capsule to a highly transparent state so that she could see Here comes the scenery along the road. "Since you have to travel through the mantle, you can just take a quick look at the underground civilization of Mars."

After hearing what Elder Bao Xi said, Cui Xingmeng turned his attention to the outside of this small space called the Earth's Core Capsule. What she saw in front of her made her instantly have the urge to pinch her right hand with her left hand again! This place is not so much underground, but closer to the paradise imagined by humans.

"Why is the Martian shell so transparent and bright? Why is there no underground atmosphere at all?" Cui Xingmeng blurted out and asked.

"Fifty percent of the mass of the Martian crust is silicon, so the underground cities are built with local materials." Bao Xi pointed at a tunnel-like building not far away, "The main things you see are They are some silicates. For example, the moonlight tunnel over there is slightly carved based on the original feldspar vein here. Because feldspar is also called moonstone or amazonite, it got the name of the moonlight tunnel. The moonlight tunnel here The veins of quartz and pyroxene are also very rich, and soon after we exit the moonlight tunnel, there will be more five-color buildings."

While they were talking, the capsules of Cui Xingmeng and Elder Bao Xi had arrived inside the moonlight tunnel. At this time, Cui Xingmeng realized that there were no lights in either the tunnel or the capsule, including the cultivation chamber where he was just now, but the light was just right and warm. , neither dazzling nor dim. "These ores can emit light themselves? How do you illuminate them?"

"Luminescence is nothing but the release of energy caused by changes in the energy levels of atoms and molecules inside matter." Bao Xi said, "The gravitational field of Mars is much weaker than that of the Earth, and there is no need to use a lot of energy like on the Earth. Strong energy to stimulate energy level jumps to convert into light energy."

"Here, geothermal energy is sufficient to make molecular energy level transitions, converting thermal energy into light energy. So this is an underground city driven by geothermal energy, maintenance-free, and permanently illuminated." Elder Bao Xi's words made Cui Xingmeng understand better. Cooling What does the star core mean to this civilization? Without the heat of the star core, the bright and heavenly city in front of us will fall into endless cold and darkness.

The capsule exited the moonlight tunnel, and the eyes instantly opened up. As Bao Xi said, colorful buildings stood majestically on both sides, each one exuding a charming light. If they were all built from quartz and pyroxene veins, then this would be worthy of its name. Crystal City, "Did you excavate such a large space in the underground city?" Cui Xingmeng asked in amazement.

"Excavation? In fact, this is a vocabulary we learned in the Mayan culture when we experimented on the earth." Bao Xi tried to help Cui Xingmeng better understand the causes of the underground city, so he tried his best to use examples on the earth for comparison. "Mars is There is no need to dig. This planet was formed from nebula material condensed in the star core 4.5 billion years ago. We only need to clean and sculpt it."

"You mean Mars is an empty shell?" Cui Xingmeng was a little confused as to what Bao Xi meant by cleaning up.

"Not entirely. At the beginning of the planet's formation, although Mars was not as dense as the Earth, it did not have such a large underground space," Bao Xi continued to explain, "until the core of Mars began to cool, the cohesion of the nebula material The low-density materials were lowered and slightly cleaned, leaving high-density silicates for carving, thus forming the current underground city.”

"Then there is a risk of landslides here at any time?" Looking at such a beautiful city, Cui Xingmeng unconsciously thought of coal mine landslides.

"That's not true. Although the cooled Martian core cannot provide a strong enough gravitational magnetic field for the planet, its relatively low temperature suppresses or even eliminates volcanic activity. I can't remember the last earthquake on Mars. , so the current crust is very stable." Bao Xi replied affirmatively, "The Olympus volcano we will go to later is the largest volcano in the solar system and has not erupted for a long, long time."

Soon Cui Xingmeng felt that she was fighting gravity: "Are we starting to rise?" She said instinctively.

"Yes, we have reached the Olympus volcano shield ring area. The surface temperature of Mars is more comfortable from here." Bao Xi nodded in response to Cui Xingmeng. "This volcano is more than twice as high as the tallest mountain on Earth, so it will take longer for the capsule to rise. There is still a little time before the boat arrives at the shuttle station. I will take you to the surface to take a look first."

At this time, Elder Bao Xi slightly reduced the transparency of the inner wall of the capsule. Cui Xingmeng could still see the scene outside the capsule, but it was not as clear as before. The crystal palace-like underground city has been left behind by the capsule, and the surrounding area is slowly occupied by dense black rocks.

"These are basalts. In addition to silicate, they contain high magnesium and iron elements. They are the most important raw materials for Cangxi's soil. They do not require too high temperatures to have low viscosity and high Liquidity." Bao Xi lost no time in helping Cui Xingmeng establish the knowledge system, "The largest volcano in the solar system is located on Mars, which is both a blessing and a curse for us."

"Is it both a blessing and a curse?" Cui Xingmeng repeated softly.

"This is the cradle of Martian civilization and the last safe haven in the countdown to the cooling of our planetary core." Bao Xiyou said, "For millions of years, it has used rich lava and a warm and humid environment to not only provide energy for the development of science and technology on Mars. and raw materials, it is also a holy place that Martians yearn for.”

"On the other hand, nearly eight shield volcanoes the size of Yellowstone National Park, when active, quickly sucked up the heat from our star core and were one of the early drivers of the cooling of the star core." Bao Xi lamented. Said, "We are almost there, get ready to take out the capsule."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Xingmeng felt that the capsule was slowly slowing down. After it stopped, Bao Xi operated it again on the dashboard next to the door, turned around and said to Cui Xingmeng:

"Welcome to the highest point of Mars!"