Chapter 243 - 243: We’ve Dug Up a Spaceship! (Part 2)
“Everyone came to the vertical shaft to check the condition of the drill bit.
There was wear.
But it wasn’t severe.
This was really strange; why was this happening?
The team leader thought about it and decided to report to the higher-ups first. “What? Can’t drill any further? Don’t know why?” Director Kim, who was just in the head’s office, heard the team leader’s report and almost jumped up.
“Yes, for some reason, the drill bit just won’t go down. The sensors and other data, all normal.”
The team leader nodded, saying that he had drilled many times over the years but had never encountered such a situation.
“Let’s go take a look.”
The three people left the office and went to the vertical shaft. First, they checked the drill bit and indeed found no issues.
Then, they returned to the control room and lowered the drill bit again.
When it reached 1724 meters, the drill bit stopped.
No matter what, it just wouldn’t go down.
“Can we determine the geological conditions below?”
“Unable.”
“What about the previous drilling data?”
“The geological structure obtained from previous drilling shows this position should be mud and gravel, which shouldn’t stop the drill bit.”
“Restart drilling and check the geological data below.”
“Okay.”
The head of the drilling platform directly issued the order.
The drill bit they were currently using was different from the exploration drill bit, with a lower penetration capability.
In less than half an hour, the drill bit was changed.
As the drill bit was lowered, everyone gathered in the control room, staring at the data on the screen.
In less than a minute, the warning light lit up, indicating the drill bit’s temperature was rising.
However, the head didn’t care; if the drill bit was damaged, so be it, as long as they could obtain the geological samples from below.
But five minutes passed.
The wear warning light for the drill bit also lit up.
But the position of the drill bit hadn’t dropped at all.
“Retrieve the drill bit,” the head instructed.
They couldn’t continue.
The drill bit was already worn, and drilling further would be meaningless.
When the drill bit was retrieved, a group of people immediately rushed over.
When they saw the drill bit, they were stunned.
This wasn’t a drill bit anymore.
It had become a drill rod.
The entire drill bit had been ground flat.
As for the geological sample, there was none at all.
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
What was going on with this bizarre situation?
What kind of geological condition could grind a drill bit like this?
This just didn’t make sense.
“What do we do now?”
“Director Kim, we might have to drill somewhere else; the geological conditions here are too bizarre.”
“Can we drill through if we change the location?” Director Kim asked with a frown.
“It shouldn’t be a problem; this kind of special geological environment is unlikely to be widespread; we’re just unlucky.”
“Alright then, but this time we must succeed, or I won’t be able to explain to the president when I return.”
“Don’t worry, Director Kim. We’ll do a test drill first to make sure there are no problems, and then proceed with the operation.”
“Then hurry up, I’ll wait for the results before going back.”
“Okay.”
The head of the drilling platform immediately ordered the crew to retrieve the anchor chains, raise the drilling platform, and move forward to a new area of the sea.
The drilling platform’s movement was slow.
But they didn’t need to go too far.
So, in half an hour, they had again fixed their position and began drilling.
This time they didn’t lay down pipes but conducted a detection first.
On his yacht, Tang Rui saw the Korean’s drilling platform stop and took a bite of watermelon, instructing Red Lotus to calculate their drilling position.
“Master, calculation complete. Their drilling position is here.”
“Hmm, now that we know the position, let’s have the robot go there and place the tungsten steel plate at the same depth,” Tang Rui said while eating some melon.
“Okay, master. Red Lotus guarantees to place the steel plate at the exact depth, not a centimeter off,” Red Lotus said, then controlled the underground drilling robot to start digging towards that location.
The robot’s speed was much faster than the Korean’s drilling speed.
The Koreans had just started lowering their drill bit.
And Red Lotus had already placed the tungsten steel plate underground.
The location was precise.
When the Koreans drilled down, they would again encounter the tungsten steel plate.
This wear-resistant metal, specially developed by Red Lotus using material calculation software, was so tough that even a machine tool’s drill bit couldn’t process it.
Even Tang Rui had no means to process this metal.
The only way to shape it was to do so before it completely cooled.
Once it cooled, it was impossible to work with.
It was a special metal even more difficult to work with than titanium alloy.
It wasn’t that Tang Rui looked down on the Koreans.
With the steel plate underground, even if they placed it in front of them, they couldn’t deal with it.
“Have we reached the position?”
Director Kim, sitting in the office, kept urging and asking.
“We’ll be there in twenty minutes, max,” the head replied immediately.
To avoid making Director Kim anxious, they were drilling down frantically, risking damage to the drill bit.
And so.
The drilling quickly reached the position of the steel plate.
“Team leader, the drill bit has stopped again.”
“What’s the depth?”
“The same as before, 1724 meters below the seabed.”
“Increase the speed to the maximum, drill it hard.”
“Understood, team leader.”
As the speed was maximized, in less than two minutes, the wear warning light for the drill bit lit up.
“Retrieve the drill bit,” the team leader said and then ran to the office to report to the head and Director Kim.
After listening, both their expressions darkened.
Especially Director Kim, who looked so gloomy he seemed about to drip water.
The three went to the vertical shaft.
Looking at the drill bit, again ground flat into a drill rod.
They exchanged glances.
Speechlessness.
“You said changing the location would allow us to drill down, so how do you explain this?”
Director Kim was the first to challenge, looking for someone to blame.
The head didn’t argue or say anything else, just stared intently at the ground-flat drill bit.
“What are you looking at?” Director Kim asked, puzzled.
“We’ve hit the jackpot.”
At that moment, the head’s eyes shone brightly.
“Hit what jackpot?”
“Look at this drill bit.”
“What about the drill bit, isn’t it ground flat?”
“Yes, exactly, it’s ground flat.”
The head clapped his hands, eyes gleaming: “Tell me, what kind of material could grind a drill bit flat?”
“Under natural conditions, there’s no metal material that could grind a drill bit flat, not even diamond.”
“So the metal below isn’t naturally occurring?” the team leader was the first to think of this and spoke up.
“Exactly, not only is it not a naturally formed metal, it’s not even a metal manufactured on Earth. What does it mean when there are no scratches on this drill bit, and the surface is very smooth?” the head said, trembling.
“It means that below there is a very smooth and wear-resistant metal that ground the drill bit flat, and it itself is undamaged,” the team leader’s eyes also lit up.
“What do you mean?”
Director Kim was baffled by these two ‘crazy’ people.
The project was in trouble.
Instead of being nervous, they were excited.
Like they were about to climax.
What did it mean?
“Eliminate all impossibilities, and even if the final answer is unbelievable, that is the truth.
“We’ve drilled into an extraterrestrial object, likely a spaceship buried underground,” the head of the drilling platform gushed excitedly.
A spaceship?
“Why do you say it’s a spaceship and not a vein or something?” Director Kim asked,confused.
“Chief Park, explain to Director Kim.”
“Director Kim, it’s like this, our drill bit is made of a special alloy, and there’s no kind of vein or metal in nature that could in such a short time…”
As the team leader explained, Director Kim also understood.
There was a spaceship below.
“Heaven bless the Koreans!”
The three excited people hugged each other, crying and laughing.
All were too excited.
They had actually dug up a spaceship.
The rise of Korea was unstoppable.
Not even the Americans could stop it, according to Director Kim..