In the end of the ice age, I hoarded tens of billions of supplies

Those bodies belonged to the first settlers to land on Mars; they were pioneers, great and worthy of respect.

However, at this point, all that remained of them were their shriveled corpses.

Most of the helmets worn by these Martian colonists were damaged.

The Martian winds dried and blackened their faces, their facial muscles clenched and pressed against their bones, yet the terror of their impending death remained frozen in time.

"That expression..."

Fatty Xu got goosebumps on his arms looking at it, "It's like seeing something from the eighteenth level of hell."

"Let alone the eighteenth floor."

Zhang Yi watched for a while, then said in a low voice, "If there really is a hell on Earth, they would definitely want to go back there."

Dying on a lonely, cold alien planet, unable to return to their homeland, perhaps only in their dying moments will they yearn for the planet where they grew up.

“Look at this,” he said, pointing to the hand of one of the corpses. “It’s pointing in the direction of their base.”

"This means they haven't gone far; they were forced out by something."

"But why didn't they run towards the base?"

Fatty Xu also found it strange, "Isn't the first reaction of someone being chased to run to the nearest shelter?"

"This means they felt the base was more dangerous."

Zhang Yi had the bodies collected and sent to the spaceship's temporary inspection bay for examination.

While cleaning one of the spacesuits, technicians found a metal tag with a name on it in the chest compartment.

It has a name written on it: EVAN·STICH.

"Evan Stitch".

Zhang Yi read it aloud, "Colombians."

"It's very likely that he was a scientific advisor brought by Freeman."

Lu Keran took the metal plate and, upon closer inspection, discovered that it was actually a data recording board.

The record board wasn't encrypted, probably because he was afraid that if it were encrypted, others wouldn't be able to open it, so he simply used the most primitive recording method.

Lu Keran connects the sign to a smart device and turns it on.

Inside were paragraphs of text, all dated twenty years ago; it was clearly a piece of his Martian diary.

"On July 3, 2035, we successfully landed and arrived at the Martian origin. The base construction work is progressing smoothly."

"On July 17, 2035, the water source ice layer was successfully mined, and the content was encouraging. Mr. Freeman was very pleased."

"On August 2, 2035, the first storm hit, damaging some of our outer equipment, but the core base remained intact."

The first few points are all normal, similar to what they saw in the materials.

But after August 12, the entire style of the record changed.

"On August 12, 2035, the night storm was bigger than we expected. Some people said they heard a roar coming from underground, but I didn't hear it."

"On August 13, 2035, Jonathan said he saw a beautiful woman waving at him outside the base, but there was a violent storm outside the base. I suspected he had a mental problem, so I gave him a sleeping pill that night."

"On the night of August 13, 2035, we lost one man, Bob. He opened the outer door at 2 a.m. and went out. We haven't been able to find him since."

"On August 14, 2035, Mr. Freeman said that those strange things were illusions of energy that remained locally on Mars, and that we shouldn't be nervous. However, he was very excited, as if he had found something he longed for."

"On August 15, 2035, we discovered a fissure at the bottom of the canyon that leads underground. That fissure is alive; it blows hot air out every day. I don't like it."

Upon seeing this, Zhang Yi and Yang Xinxin exchanged a glance.

"This is not like a typical Mars exploration diary."

Zhang Yi said softly.

He continued to scroll down.

"On August 16, 2035, Mr. Freeman asked us to build a drilling rig that went down into Mars. He said there might be energy mines native to Mars. He rejected our objections, saying, 'We came here for our second home, not to grow vegetables.'"

"On August 18, 2035, our drilling reached a very hard layer, like metal, but unlike any metal we know. Mr. Freeman was very happy and said, 'We've found the door.'"

"On the night of August 18, 2035, the storm came again. This time I heard voices, whispers, many people talking, or like prayers."

"On August 19, 2035, our door opened, and we found ourselves opening the gates of hell..."

Zhang Yi and the others watched quietly, seemingly able to sense that the person recording was trembling at that moment.

"Is there more to come?"

Yang Xinxin asked.

"Have."

Zhang Yi flipped to the back.

"On the night of August 25, 2035, something crawled out from below. It didn't look like an animal or a robot. I couldn't see it clearly. I only saw its shadows distorted like fog."

"On August 29, 2035, James said he saw his mother waving at him, he ran out, and we never found him again."

"On September 21, 2035, some people said it was a 'beautiful woman,' some said it was a 'monster from hell.' We said different things, but we were all terrified."

"On September 22, 2035, Mr. Freeman said this indicated that there were intelligent beings below, and that we were the first people to truly find the soul of Mars, and we should be happy."

He also said that we should keep digging down to meet them.

As I write this, the words begin to fall apart.

"On October 4, 2035, Claire died. She was... bitten... no, dragged away by something, but I couldn't see it. I only saw a hand... no, a hand that reached out from the shadow!"

"October 5, 2035, the underground is hell! The underground of Mars is hell! We shouldn't have opened the door, we shouldn't have come!"

The last one is October 14, 2035.

"If anyone sees this text, please don't dig any further. This is not a 'second home,' but a place to keep them locked up."

“Mr. Freeman is wrong, he’s gone mad. He keeps laughing and saying that it was all part of his plan. He says, ‘I can finally talk to real higher beings.’”

“He went down with a few men and weapons. He said if we didn’t go with him, we would stay up there to provide backup.”

"I don't know if I'll survive until rescue. If not, please tell the people on Earth that there's life beneath Mars. It can talk, it can lure you, it can devour you..."

That's where the diary ends.

The entire ship fell into a brief silence.

Even Zhang Yi, who had seen many outrageous scenes, remained silent for a few seconds.

"This...it looks too much like a scene from a horror movie."

Fatty Xu shuddered. "If one beautiful woman after another knocks on your window at night, who can stop that?"