Super Zoo

A Boeing airplane was gliding through the clouds, passing over Outer Mongolia on its way from Russia to Huaxia.

"Brother-in-law, is there really nothing inside Hell's Gate?" On the way back, Nangong Huang kept asking Suming this question, and even Zhao Yun was somewhat curious.

Suming shook his head, reminiscing about everything that happened at the bottom of Hell's Gate Mine yesterday.

In the legendary gateway to hell, there truly was nothing... or rather, Suming and his companions totally failed to find any supernatural phenomena.

The bottom of Hell's Gate Mine was a vast space, almost like a small square, with many abandoned houses, even laboratories and small power generation equipment.

One could imagine that decades ago, when the mine was still operational, it must have been bustling with lights and the busy activity of Soviet scientists and miners.

But the bizarre incidents from the legends, like devils flying out, agonizing cries, underground magma... were all absent.

Suming drove around the underground square in a large loop, meticulously searching every house, even using his spiritual power to control a group of rats he found, checking every nook and cranny, but he never found anything unusual, nor any hidden caves or passageways.

On the surface, it just seemed like a large abandoned mine.

However, Suming always felt that something was not quite right.

After decades, the structures outside the mine and down the shaft, which they discovered on their descent, had mostly collapsed and decayed, whereas the buildings in this underground square had simply gathered a thick layer of dust.

Large mines like this one required miners to work for several days at a time, so there were various facilities for living, such as washrooms and bedrooms, for miners to rest and entertain, even a miniature bar.

But whatever the facilities were, they were usually temporary structures, which would be dismantled once mining in that area was finished, and then moved to the next mining site. It was rare to use permanent materials, with some made simply of corrugated metal pieced together.

But this underground square at the very bottom of Hell's Gate, from laboratories to ordinary houses, were all constructed with thick reinforced concrete, and generally extremely sturdy, almost like a permanent military base.

Additionally, several rooms contained rows of shelves scattered with large, numbered boxes; it was clear that these were storage places for weapons.

If this was just a mine, why build permanent fortifications? Why the need for so much armament? The biggest threat in a mine is collapse, and at a depth of ten thousand meters, it's like having several dozens of Empire State Buildings towering above your head; in case of a collapse, no fortification, no matter how sturdy, or firepower, no matter how powerful, would be of any use.

But to say there was something fishy here, Suming seemed to have tried every trick in the book without discovering any anomalies.

After checking for several hours, Suming returned somewhat disappointed and without success.
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On the way back, a line from Alayi left a deep impression on Suming.

"Divine Envoy, I think perhaps even now you do not believe in the existence of the true God. Heh, there's no need to hasten to deny it, it's quite normal for someone from what is called the civilized world. Destiny has brought you to the side of the Lure People, and again destiny has led you to build a new home with the Lure People. As I discussed with you before, destiny might just be the hand of God; it is just that we, being mortals, cannot see destiny clearly.

Therefore, God subtly guides us through the holy texts. The texts say that the Lure People follow the Divine Envoy and slay all demons. Now having come to the legendary Hell's Gate and stationed nearby, it seems to coincide with the scriptures unintentionally. So, I believe there is no need to trouble ourselves with finding where the devils really are, or what they are; we need only to faithfully follow in your footsteps and bravely face everything."

Alayi summed it up in two points, first, whether you believe in gods or not, in any case, we believe in you; second, any monsters and evil spirits that dare show up are just destined to be minor characters. After all, the scriptures have made it clear that the Divine Envoy will eradicate all demons.

On the plane, Zhao Yun listened to Suming's words and, deep in thought, said, "Some signs indicate that prehistoric civilizations indeed existed. Many of the religious texts that have been handed down through the ages are related to prehistoric civilizations. It's just that our technology hasn't developed to that point yet, where many aspects of prehistoric civilization can't be explained and are thus attributed to supernatural beings."

"Prehistoric civilizations? I know about that. It's said that humanity goes through a cycle every so often, then a super catastrophe destroys a lot, and the creatures on earth start evolving again from cells. In fact, highly advanced civilizations existed billions of years ago, like the continent of Atlantis," Nangong Huang interjected.

"Hell's Gate Mine, is it related to prehistoric civilization?"

This thought flashed through Suming's mind.

After pondering for a while, whether it was prehistoric civilization or the hand of God, the question was too mysterious for him to solve right now, he couldn't even begin to approach a method.

Therefore, he decided not to consider it for now. The Hell's Gate Mine had been in Russia for decades; if there was a problem, it would have emerged long ago, wouldn't it? And besides, he reasoned, if the sky falls we have tall people watching over us—the Northern Fleet is not just for show.

As for the 'devils' mentioned in the scriptures, it was likely just a vague reference, like the 'devil' they encountered last time, which turned out to be IS.

"Forget it, sleep on it, back to the country!"

...

The plane returned to Lingkong, Huaxia, marking the end of the trip to Iraq, but its repercussions were still fermenting.

Suming missed the Party's birthday, however, the two hundred new Lure People, now recognized as the 57th ethnic group of Huaxia, made an appearance at the national capital's celebration ceremony, creating a nationwide stir, as if the nation had already embarked on the 'great path of rejuvenation.'

Suming himself gained two new titles.

The first was as a National People's Congress representative, which also included being a Yangchuan City People's Congress representative and a provincial People's Congress representative.

Becoming a National People's Congress representative wasn't too difficult, for instance, world-famous scholars, university presidents, CEOs of listed companies, and Olympic champions all had a certain chance... If Suming's current career progressed steadily, in about a decade or so, he could hope for it.

The other title was the most basic level of national cadre.

"Boss, are you kidding me, head of the neighborhood committee?!" Suming nearly spluttered out loud.

Wang Jian She told him that for the time being, the Lure People would live behind the zoo, but administratively they needed to comply with Huaxia's household registration system, and thus, along with the employees who regularly lived in the zoo, they formed the Taoyuan Community, with Suming as the head of the community neighborhood committee.

Suming was caught between laughter and tears; how could this be? Just the other day, he had been contemplating the grand question of human civilization, and in the blink of an eye, he had become the neighborhood committee auntie?!

Would he have to collect the water bills? Would he have to handle family planning? Would he have to mediate mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts?!