Chapter 210: "Manned Spaceflight" and "The Sun"

More than ten hours later.

The Atlas fleet, now fully cloaked, had completed its deceleration using the antimatter engines and switched to conventional propulsion as it entered Mars' gravitational field, gradually approaching the planet's near orbit.

During the approach, the fleet passed by Mars' second natural satellite, Deimos, skimming past it.

As the fleet moved away from Deimos, the orange glow of Mars, caused by its iron-rich surface and hematite, became visible, radiating under the light of the sun.

In the Future's hangar:

"All Rapid Response Hunters, report to zones three and four to board your vessels. I repeat, zones three and four..."

"Team six, move quickly! This area will depressurize soon!"

"Check your protective suits. I don't want to hear about any accidents later."

The hangar was filled with the sounds of broadcast reminders, shouts from ground crew and logistics staff, and general chatter.

Soon, all personnel without sealed protective suits evacuated the area.

Hundreds of Hunters, dressed in black combat gear and fully armed, appeared and moved toward the marked zones "3" and "4" on their helmet displays, boarding the fully prepped and inspected Pelican dropships.

Before long, all the Hunters and Pelicans were ready.

The hangar was depressurized, entering a vacuum state.

As the doors opened one by one, the hangar connected directly to the vastness of space, though the Fides-class ship's magnetic field protected the ground crew from harmful radiation.

Next, the ground crew manually operated mechanical arms to lift the first cloaked Pelican dropship, moving it onto the launch track and securing it into the electromagnetic catapult system.

After a brief pause, a green light flashed.

Whoosh—!

The first Pelican, with its wings retracted, shot out of the launch track and into the depths of space.

One by one, four more Pelicans followed, launching from the Fides-class and forming a triangular formation as they made their way toward Olympus Mons on Mars.

Once they safely entered the atmosphere, their retracted wings unfolded.

Whoosh—!

Although Mars' atmosphere was thin, strong air currents still existed within it. To the east of the flight formation, a massive sandstorm had already begun to rise and swirl across the landscape.

Ting-tang!

This made the flight a bit turbulent, with fine particles striking the fuselage, wings, and protective windows.

However, after the formation successfully passed through the storm, the Martian surface returned to a calm state, offering the pilots a clear view of the sky.

From the pilots' perspective, the sky was not as lifeless as it had appeared from space.

Maintaining their formation, the Pelicans crossed the vast Martian plains, reaching the edge of the towering mountain range.

Even the peripheral areas of the mountain range had a staggering vertical height of 8,000 meters.

The formation maintained its speed as it flew over the mountain.

After about fifteen minutes, they arrived at the canyon Hera had identified and flew directly into it.

——

Inside the cockpit of the lead Pelican:

Aya Brea stood behind the two pilots, observing the canyon walls through the protective windows.

Her face was tense beneath her helmet.

Though Brea was a veteran who had fought alongside Atlas for many years, with her grandfather having helped the founder create the original Atlas, this was her first time on Mars.

In fact, she and her fellow Hunters and pilots were the first humans from the main universe to enter Mars' atmosphere.

Who would have thought that the first "manned spaceflight" mission to Mars in the main universe would be carried out by combat personnel like them?

"Lieutenant Colonel Brea, we've found the breach that the anomaly creature mentioned."

Hearing this, Brea turned her gaze to the left side of her helmet display, where the pilots had marked a yellow point. There, a natural platform jutted several hundred meters out from the canyon wall, with a fissure leading into the depths of the mountain.

"Take us there."

"Yes, ma'am."

After giving the order, Brea returned to the cabin and had the pilots temporarily seal off the cockpit from the now-depressurizing cabin to avoid any accidents due to pressure differences.

Once the cabin was depressurized, the Pelican completed its landing.

Whoosh—!!!

The moment the side doors opened, strong winds rushed in, and a piercing howling sound echoed around them.

However, neither Brea nor the Hunters were affected by the environment. They quickly rushed out of the cabin and set up a simple defensive perimeter.

At that moment, the other four Pelicans also landed on the platform, releasing the rest of the Hunters.

After scanning the surroundings to ensure there were no immediate threats, Brea gave her orders over the internal communications:

"Fourth Platoon, stay here at the landing zone and secure the rear, protecting the Pelicans and the pilots. The rest of the combat platoons, follow me into the fissure."

"Yes, ma'am."

With the command given, the Hunters activated the optical camouflage of their combat gear, preparing to move.

While the Fourth Platoon remained behind, the First, Second, and Third Platoons followed Brea into the fissure, quickly disappearing from sight.

——

Inside the fissure.

Leading the group, Brea and several Hunters pressed forward swiftly. As they advanced, Brea retrieved a few metal sphere-shaped probes from the pouch at her waist and tossed them upwards.

Buzz~!

The probes, powered by magnetic levitation, flew ahead, mapping the area and displaying a detailed layout on the top left of her helmet's display.

With the probes' assistance, the Hunters were able to avoid numerous dead ends and winding paths.

Finally, after six hours of navigation, they arrived at an expansive cavern.

Drip, drip.

The sound of water droplets falling onto the stone walls echoed in the pitch-black space.

Thanks to the auxiliary vision provided by their helmet displays and the dynamic detection systems, Brea noticed a large number of stalactite-like formations.

These formations were a result of liquid water reacting with carbon dioxide in the air and the rock walls, creating weak acidic solutions that corroded the rock and formed the strange landscape.

Furthermore, the real-time data on the left side of her helmet indicated that the temperature here was "14°C," the humidity was "63%," and, most importantly, the "Methane Content: approximately 2%."

Crouching down, Brea used her left hand to grab a handful of the sticky, soft soil.

It seemed they were very close to their target.

After all, maintaining this unusual environment required constant heat and humidity, and the presence of methane indicated that the fallen gods could not escape basic biological processes.

Standing up, Brea waved her hand, signaling the team to continue forward.

After passing through one final narrow tunnel, they were met with a breathtaking sight.

The space suddenly opened up into an enormous underground cavern, where a small "sun" radiating a red and purple glow illuminated the area, providing light and energy.

Directly beneath this "sun" was a sprawling, jade-green, magnificent ancient Greek-style palace complex.

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