Ch. 1 - The Bronze Coffin In Outer Space

Life is the greatest miracle in the universe. The four cardinal directions and the two directions above and below are called 'Yu' (space); though space exists, it has no fixed place. The passage from the ancient past to the present is called 'Zhou' (time); though time continues, its origin remains unknown.

In the vast universe and endless starry sky, many scientists speculate that Earth may be the only origin of life.

Humankind is, in fact, very lonely. Among the endless stars of the cosmos, it is incredibly difficult to find a second life-bearing planet. Yet humans have never stopped exploring. Since the last century, many space probes have been launched.

Voyager 2 is an unmanned deep-space probe launched in 1977 from the Kennedy Space Center in the United States. It carries a gold-plated record titled “A Message to the Universe,” which contains popular music and greetings in 55 languages of Earth, hoping that one day it might be intercepted by intelligent extraterrestrial life.

Since the 1970s, Voyager 2 has travelled alone. In the vastness of space, it is as insignificant as a speck of dust. Other space probes from the same era have either broken down or lost contact, disappearing forever into the dead silence of space.

More than thirty years have passed. Technology continues to advance, and humans have built more advanced space probes. Perhaps in the near future, our exploration of the stars will go further. But even so, for a long time to come, the new probes still won't catch up with Voyager 2.

Thirty-three years later, Voyager 2 is already 14 billion kilometers away from Earth. At this point, it has reached escape velocity, the third cosmic speed, and can no longer return to the solar system. It has become an interstellar spacecraft.

In the dark and cold universe, the stars twinkle like glittering diamonds set against a black curtain. Although Voyager 2 is moving at tremendous speed, in the vast and frigid cosmos, it seems like a tiny ant crawling slowly across a dark land.

More than thirty-three years later, and today, at this very moment, Voyager 2 made a shocking discovery! In the deathly silence of outer space, nine enormous corpses lay quietly suspended…

On May 22, 2010, NASA received a mysterious data transmission from Voyager 2. After painstaking decryption and reconstruction, they saw an unimaginable image. At that moment, everyone in the NASA main control room turned pale, and then stood motionless like statues. They were utterly stunned. It took a long time for them to snap out of it, then the control room erupted into chaos.

“Oh my God, what did I just see?”

...

Voyager 2 had long since gone out of range and could only move forward in a straight line. After transmitting the mysterious data, it sped past that dark region of space, heading toward an even deeper and darker corner of the cosmos. That part of the sky is so far away that, even with this major discovery and the awe-inspiring image, humankind is currently powerless to act.

This mysterious data was never made public. Not long afterward, Voyager 2 malfunctioned and lost contact with Earth. Perhaps the story ends there. But sometimes, things don’t go the way people expect.

Whether it’s observing and exploring space or conducting scientific research on life and physics, space stations provide a uniquely advantageous environment. Since the Soviet Union successfully launched the first manned space station in 1971, nine space stations have been launched worldwide.

On June 11, 2010, at that very moment aboard the International Space Station orbiting Earth, several astronauts simultaneously changed expression, their pupils contracted sharply. By this time in human history, belief in gods has long been dismissed. If anyone still holds faith, it’s usually just a form of spiritual comfort for an empty heart.

But right then, the minds of these elite astronauts were violently shaken. They saw something beyond belief. Outside the ISS, in the freezing darkness of space, nine massive beings lay silently as if they had existed forever. They were nine dragon corpses!

They were identical to the legendary dragons described in ancient myths. Each dragon corpse was over a hundred meters long, as though cast from molten iron, radiating a powerful and overwhelming presence.

All nine were five-clawed black dragons. Aside from their translucent, purple glowing horns, their bodies were pitch black, their scales gleaming faintly in the dark with a mysterious shimmer. Dragons, legendary creatures, said to stand beside gods and defy the laws of nature. But in today’s scientific world, who would believe dragons truly exist?

The astronauts aboard the ISS were mentally overwhelmed, the scene before their eyes was unfathomable. In the silent vacuum of space, the dragon corpses resembled an indestructible wall of iron, and it was as though terrifying power still lingered in their dead bodies. Yet they were lifeless, forever resting in the cold silence of space.

“That is...”

Just as they were recovering from the first shock, the astronauts’ pupils shrank once more, they saw an even more astonishing sight. All nine dragon corpses were bound by thick black iron chains, each as wide as a bowl. The chains extended from their tails into the darkness behind them. There, floating in space, was a 20-meter-tall bronze coffin.

The chains were forged through countless hammerings, thick, long, and incredibly strong. Their cold, black gleam made them look chilling and ominous. The bronze coffin was ancient and plain, etched with faint, ancient markings that carried the weight of countless years. No one could tell how long it had drifted through space.

Nine dragons pulling a coffin!

In the pitch-black and icy void of space, the nine dragon corpses and the bronze coffin, bound together by thick black chains, formed a scene of overwhelming impact.

After a moment of stunned disbelief at the monitor footage, the astronauts immediately sent out a transmission:

“Calling Earth…”

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