Chapter Two

“Do you think the Aliens really occupied the moon?” During break, Fan Jiayi turned and asked. Fan Jiayi sat in front of Luo Xiaowen; his father worked at the Meteorological Bureau and had been closely following news about the Lead Sphere Spaceship.

“They definitely did,” Luo Xiaowen said confidently. Earth had lost contact with the moon—that was a clear sign the Aliens had taken over.

“Will those Aliens attack Earth?” Fan Jiayi continued.

“No idea.” Lately, many residents had been discussing the safety of Earth. Some believed the Aliens would invade, while others speculated, based on the Lead Sphere Spaceship’s behavior, that they were merely passing through the solar system and Earth was safe for now.

Luo Xiaowen and Fan Jiayi were talking about global affairs, but they were just fifth graders. No matter how much they analyzed, they couldn’t come to any real conclusions.

Ding-ling-ling—

Three minutes later, the campus assembly bell suddenly rang. The school broadcast announced that all teachers were to report to the conference room immediately. Before the students could react, they saw all the teachers rushing in that direction.

“What’s going on?”

“No idea…”

The students had never seen anything like this and were all a bit confused.

After two classes, the homeroom teacher returned from the meeting.

“Class, just now we received a notice from the city: our school has been selected as an inspection site for the alien spaceship…” The homeroom teacher, a woman in her forties, got straight to the point.

Two hours earlier, the central government had notified Wenchang School: the Aliens had sent a signal to Earth announcing their plan to visit. Luo Xiaowen’s elementary school would be the first stop on their tour.

“Aliens are visiting?” The students burst into chatter.

“That’s right.”

Along with their signal, the alien spaceship also sent a virtual video.

In the video, the Lead Sphere Spaceship was flying through an unfamiliar starfield, surrounded by fragmented asteroids. A massive asteroid blocked its path. A weapons bay opened beneath the Lead Sphere, launching a thirty-meter-long laser missile.

The missile locked onto the asteroid. Three seconds later, the two collided, and the asteroid silently turned to dust.

This asteroid was even larger than the moon. In addition to the video, the Aliens sent Earth a laser weapon. This weapon could pierce through a mountain one hundred meters tall. Their message was clear: if they wanted to attack Earth, it would be as easy as crushing an ant.

After showing their strength, they didn’t attack. Instead, they made an unexpected request: they wanted to organize a delegation to inspect Earth. It would be a peaceful visit, during which no harm would come to Earth or its inhabitants.

“The United Nations agreed?” Luo Xiaowen was the first to raise his hand.

“They did.” The request was more of a notification. If Earth refused, the Aliens would land on their own terms. After consideration, the United Nations agreed but added one condition: while the alien spaceship inspected Earth, Earth would inspect the spaceship as well.

【Very welcome.】

The Aliens readily agreed.

After discussions, the mutual visits were scheduled to begin on the morning of October 25 and would last for one week.

The alien spaceship showed no interest in military bases. They randomly selected locations on the world map, and Linzhou Wenchang Experimental Primary School became the first stop. Other locations on their itinerary included the Forbidden City (Beijing), the Egyptian Pyramids, and the Himalayas.

“This is the ‘Notice to Parents,’ one for each of you. We’re holding a parent-teacher meeting tomorrow morning.” The homeroom teacher handed out notices and asked students to make sure their parents attended.

“The Aliens are coming to Linzhou?”

“Do they have radiation or contagious viruses?”

“Are they going to take over Linzhou?”

…

That night, the whole world was talking about it.

Linzhou, a fourth-tier city in China, instantly became the center of global attention.

Early the next morning, parents gathered at the school for the meeting.

“Ms. Zhou, Kaikai was sick yesterday, he won’t be coming to school this week.”

“Do the students have to participate in the Alien visit?”

“We have plans tomorrow, we can’t come.”

…

Before the homeroom teacher could say a word, parents were already offering various excuses to keep their children from participating. Many said they had already bought train tickets and would be leaving town with their kids that afternoon—

In fact, a mass exodus had already begun in Linzhou the previous night. The Alien visit might sound like a historic event, but with unknown intentions and safety concerns, everyone just wanted to stay as far away as possible.

“Participation is voluntary,”

The homeroom teacher did her best to calm the parents. It wasn’t just the parents who were afraid of the Aliens—the teachers were scared too. Thankfully, the national policy emphasized humanity: all teachers and students were allowed to choose freely, and neither the school nor the Linzhou government could compel anyone.

After settling the parents down, the homeroom teacher summarized the main points of yesterday’s meeting and brought out a sign-up sheet for students who would attend the next day.

Only a few signatures.

At 1 p.m., the meeting ended, and the school began a major cleanup.

“Ms. Zhou, how many from your class?” Back in the office, another teacher asked.

“Three.” Ms. Zhou was less surprised that there were three than that there were any at all, given the current atmosphere.

“You’re doing better than us—not a single one in my class.” The other teacher sighed. She completely understood the parents’ concerns. If not for her curiosity about what the Aliens looked like, she wouldn’t want to attend either.

Half an hour later, the teachers met again. This would be the Aliens’ first official visit to Earth. Besides the city government, national and United Nations officials would be present. It was a moment that would be recorded in the history of Earth.

The next day at eight, the homeroom teacher arrived early to find three students in the classroom: Luo Xiaowen, Fan Jiayi, and a chubby, sturdy boy named Duan Jiale.

“Did your families let you come to school?” With one hour left before the scheduled Alien arrival, the homeroom teacher took attendance and asked.

“At first they didn’t want me to, but I want to see the Aliens!”

“My family doesn’t care what I do.”

“My dad said I could come see the Aliens!”

…

Right now, many citizens were worried that the Aliens were anti-human, but there were also some bold, curious students and parents. Luo Xiaowen’s mother didn’t want him to go, but he had always had a strong will, and this was a rare life experience. With his father’s support, he became one of the three students in the class to attend.

At 8:30, the three of them gathered on the school playground. Today, a total of 120 students from the entire school were present. After joining the team, Luo Xiaowen stood in line with the others, holding flower pom-poms and waiting.

All of Linzhou City’s streets and alleys were now under lockdown, with armed soldiers patrolling. Earth’s military might was no match for the alien spacecraft, but just in case, they were prepared for the worst.

At 8:50, the alien spacecraft entered Earth’s atmosphere and arrived in Linzhou, landing on the school playground.

It was a small silver-black spacecraft. Everyone held their breath upon seeing it. Then the hatch opened, and fifty Aliens walked out. These Aliens stood between 1.5 to 1.9 meters tall, humanoid in form, with two arms and two legs. Their entire bodies were covered in a metallic silver-white sheen, and their eyes were pitch-black, resembling the metallic Aliens from science fiction movies.

“Hello, I am Han Liang, Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, responsible for your visit here in the Chinese region.” Han Liang, China’s youngest foreign minister, stepped forward first after briefly freezing in surprise. Unsure of their culture, he greeted them with a traditional Chinese gesture—cupped hands in salute.

“Yu Wensi.” The leading Alien mimicked the gesture and returned the salute.

The voice came through an Alien Translator. Their native language sounded like a beautiful melody—unintelligible but very pleasant to the ear.

“This is the experimental elementary school’s playground. Ahead is the classroom building, behind is the school cafeteria…” Han Liang had visited the school yesterday and was familiar with the layout.

The alien delegation of fifty people followed Han Liang politely. Their coordinated steps made them look like a Halloween cosplay group.

For the next hour, the fifty Aliens followed Han Liang with great courtesy. Other than pausing briefly in front of children’s drawings and crafts, they showed no visible reaction. The reception staff and subject teachers were initially tense, but as the Aliens displayed no obvious hostility, everyone gradually relaxed.

At 10:20, the group arrived at Grade Five, Class Five.

Luo Xiaowen and the others were having Chinese class at the time, reciting a classical poem: “Wind and Rain on November Fourth.”

“Lying stiff in a lonely village, I do not grieve for myself;
Still I think of guarding the frontier for the nation.
At night I lie listening to wind and rain,
Iron horses, frozen rivers, charge into my dreams.”

This was a poem by the Song Dynasty poet Lu You. Because there were few students, the voices of the three—Luo Xiaowen, Fan Jiayi, and Duan Jiale—were loud and clear.

The Aliens listened with great interest, standing attentively at the classroom door. After the recitation, Yu Wensi looked at Duan Jiale, who was sitting closest to the door. “What does this poem mean?”

“It expresses the poet’s patriotic feelings of worry for the nation during troubled times,” Duan Jiale stood up quickly, caught off guard.

“What does ‘guarding the frontier’ mean in the poem?”

“I don’t know…” Duan Jiale thought hard, but his mind went blank.

“It means to defend the borders,” Yu Wensi explained in their language, and the translator rendered it into Chinese.

“Thank you…” Duan Jiale, prompted by the Aliens, sat down in a daze.

Han Liang, standing to the side, grew cautious. Classical Chinese poetry had unique rhythms and deep interpretations. Without understanding Chinese culture, it was hard to interpret such poems. The fact that these Aliens could explain the meaning of ‘guarding the frontier’ indicated they had already learned about Earth’s culture through special means.

Han Liang thought he might be overthinking. But reality soon proved otherwise—

Over the next month, the Aliens visited the Forbidden City, the Leshan Giant Buddha, the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, and other famous landmarks. In front of the Forbidden City, they could recite its history; their understanding of the Leshan Buddha was even more detailed than that of professional tour guides. Besides Chinese architecture, they also knew about embroidery, paper-cutting, sugar figure blowing, and other traditional folk crafts.

Han Liang tried to subtly ask about their origins, but they gave no answer.

After leaving China, they went on to Egypt, Brazil, Australia, and other places, completing a global tour in three months.

On January 25, the Aliens and Han Liang stood atop the Himalayas. It was bitterly cold, and the world was covered in snow and ice, creating a breathtaking sight.

“Ms. Yu Wensi, may I ask about our people?” Han Liang asked through visible breaths. Three months ago, when the alien delegation arrived on Earth, fifty Earth diplomats were sent to visit the Lead Sphere Spaceship. Due to technical issues, they had lost contact with them ever since.

“They are very safe.” Yu Wensi gestured to reassure him.

“When can they return to Earth?” Over this time, Han Liang had learned that these Aliens had two sexes; Yu Wensi was a female leader among them.

“Very soon.” Yu Wensi touched her neck, where a communicator linked to the spacecraft was embedded. They had been using it to stay in contact.

“I hope you’ll honor your agreement,” Han Liang reminded her. Their original pact had set a mutual visit duration of three months—today was the last day.

As the cold wind blew, the communicator at Yu Wensi’s neck lit up. She spoke in her alien tongue, then activated the translator and looked at Han Liang—

“Looking forward to future cooperation.”

“Future cooperation?” Han Liang was puzzled. Before he could respond, Yu Wensi reached behind her neck, and her metallic skin began peeling away like a painted mask, revealing only key areas still covered.

Han Liang was stunned—not at their advanced technology, but at what lay beneath the metal skin—

A young woman about 1.7 meters tall, with snow-white skin like fresh winter snow, well-defined features, and clear green eyes. If not for the metallic device behind her head, she would look exactly like a human being.

A being identical to an Earth human.