After glancing at the still and silent buildings, Charles reluctantly agreed to Richard’s request. He didn’t want to get into a prolonged argument over something so trivial.

  The mice selected for the mission quickly scurried toward the circular structure, while Richard gleefully patted their heads.

  “Alright, little comrades, this is a tough task for you. Remember, bring back anything with writing on it or anything that looks valuable. If you can’t carry it, just come back and tell me, and we’ll go in together. Come on, Lily, make sure to translate well,” he said, beaming with pride.

  Watching the two mice dash toward the facility, Richard’s face lit up with satisfaction.

  “Humans always love compromise. For instance, if someone says this room is too dark and needs a window, everyone would object. But if you suggest tearing off the roof, they might agree to a window,” he chuckled.

  “Enough chatter,” Charles interrupted, taking control of his body.

  They all stood quietly in the darkness, waiting for the mice to return. To Charles’s surprise, it was the mice from inside the circular facility that emerged first. One was dragging a metal plate, while the other struggled with a small box the size of a matchbox.

  “Mr. Charles, Maomao says it’s really big inside but very broken. There’s nothing good, just junk. They could only find these,” Lily translated the mice's squeaks.

  Charles glanced at the still silent buildings and took the plate from the mouse. “Nuclear Fusion Reactor Group C,” he read, and a chill ran down his spine as he turned to the small box that Lily was curiously examining.

  Richard’s voice trembled as he spoke, “Hey, this thing doesn’t have radiation, does it?”

  In the next moment, Charles quickly grabbed the box and hurled it away.

  “Mr. Charles, why did you throw it away? Maomao worked hard to bring it back,” Lily asked, tilting her head in confusion.

  Ignoring her question, Charles lifted her up and anxiously checked her tiny paws, relieved to find no signs of redness or blackening.

  “It should be fine. If there were nuclear radiation, the mice wouldn’t have been able to bring it back; they’d have died halfway,” he reassured himself.

  “This isn’t your fault. Can you just stop causing trouble for me?” Charles muttered, placing the mice in his pocket as he continued to watch the distant entrance.

  Time passed slowly, and two hours later, Charles was growing increasingly impatient, and even Tuba was becoming restless.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “This is pointless! Are you going in or not? If not, I’m leaving,” Tuba said, frustration evident in his voice.

  “Wait, we’ll be there soon,” Charles replied, grabbing Tuba to keep him from leaving. He needed to ensure this madman didn’t wander off; if someone got information out of him, it could become problematic.

  “Then… you have to tell me more stories,” Tuba insisted.

  “Sure, no problem. Once we get off this island, I’ll tell you as many stories as you want,” Charles promised, calming Tuba down. He resumed his vigil, contemplating whether to send more mice inside when Richard’s voice broke through his thoughts.

  “Dude, wait a minute! This circular facility is a nuclear fusion reactor, not a fission reactor. Fusion reactors use deuterium as fuel. That thing doesn’t have radiation.”

  “Whether it has radiation or not doesn’t matter to us right now. It’s just a facility the Foundation used for power generation. The Foundation is gone, and this facility is already defunct. Be quiet,” Charles replied, trying to dismiss Richard’s excitement.

  But Richard didn’t stop; instead, his voice grew more animated.

  “No, this contains incredibly important information! Remember what we learned about nuclear energy in school? Fission reactors require uranium, which not only produces harmful radiation but also leaves behind waste that is nearly impossible to dispose of. In contrast, fusion radiation is so minimal it’s almost nonexistent. Fusion fuel is practically limitless!”

  “What are you trying to say?” Charles asked, trying to follow Richard’s train of thought.

  “Don’t you get it? Fusion is an advanced technology that requires temperatures nearing millions of degrees to operate—temperatures that can only be achieved during a nuclear explosion. When we arrived, no country had achieved this technology. The Foundation’s ability to create a fusion reactor means they possessed technology far beyond what we have on the surface!”

  Charles’s mind went blank as he processed Richard’s words. Both men fell silent, contemplating the implications.

  Charles recalled the supplementary information in the 1002 data: “This region’s knowledge could elevate humanity’s development by an entire dimension, marking the second technological explosion in human history.”

  He looked up, awestruck by the massive circular structure beside him. It seemed the Foundation had indeed achieved its goals.

  Their ambitions were grand. If they hadn’t vanished and had brought this technology to the surface, the technological landscape would have transformed dramatically.

  What would it be like for humanity to possess an inexhaustible energy source?

  “Mr. Charles, look! The mice are back!” Lily’s voice snapped Charles back to reality as he spotted the returning mice, dragging something behind them.

  Regardless of how the Foundation had achieved this, it was no longer his concern. What mattered now was securing fuel to return home.

  The mice returned, excitedly surrounding Charles and squeaking at Lily in the pocket.

  “Hey, one at a time! It’s too chaotic; I can’t hear you,” Lily said as she climbed down Charles’s pants leg.

  Charles crouched down to examine the items the mice had brought back.

  What he saw was a fist-sized, dark blue spherical object, with three small fingers protruding from it. It felt soft to the touch, somewhat like a balloon filled with jelly.

  As Charles squeezed it, the little fingers naturally wrapped around his own.

  “Lily, what’s going on inside? Why did they bring this out?” Charles asked, looking at the white mouse.

  “Jumping said there’s a big hole inside—bigger than… bigger than three of our ships combined!”

  The Unicorn Whale was 65 meters long; three of them would measure nearly 200 meters. Inside this facility was a 200-meter-wide pit, and Charles quickly calculated in his mind.

  “There are some black monsters with heads taller than two people floating out of the hole.”