Chapter 231 - Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Five, Gandalf Standing Above the Dunes (2/2)

“Who knows?” Tang Yue shrugged. “What if the wall, built by a bunch of super-ancient Martians, was built as a circular enclosure? It circles the entire Isidis Planitia to withstand against any invasion from gigantic enemies.”

“Cut the nonsense,” Tomcat said. “The wall was naturally formed.”

Tang Yue was stunned.

“It wasn’t built by super-ancient Martians?”

“Of course not. Mars has probably never had any intelligent civilization in the past. It might have had life in the very distant past, but they didn’t produce advanced intelligence. The ancient wall I encountered might seem fascinating, but it’s, in fact, a work of nature,” Tomcat explained. “After I returned to Kunlun Station, I spent a long time analyzing the reason for its formation. I also used the workstation to run simulations. The calculations told me that the greatest possibility is due to geological activity and weathering.”

“Just that?”

“Just that.” Tomcat nodded. “Most of the things in this world aren’t as fascinating as you imagine. Some things might appear unbelievable, but there’s a rather simple reason behind them.

“I compared the remote sensing data from past years and discovered that the two sides of the wall are geologically different. It’s actually the demarcating line of two huge rock layers. They will shatter under weathering and gravity, just like the relationship of icecaps and ice mountains. And the region that’s geologically low has water gathered in it. At low temperatures, water will freeze into ice that will reduce friction. This causes the rock to easily move and stack up. This process is extremely slow, but after tens of millions of years, enough rock will be stacked up high. After being weathered, they become city walls.

Tang Yue was somewhat disappointed.

Tomcat was often this way. It clearly explained the reasons behind a question without leaving any room for doubt.

Without a doubt, one naturally couldn’t have wild imaginations.

Tang Yue once imagined that Mars was the massive ruins of a civilization—a very romantic fantasy. Every inch of land he walked on had once been walked on by intelligent lifeforms millions of years ago. They had built grand walls that went as far as the eyes could go. There were also massive and flourishing cities with streets running across them and extending into every corner of the world. This great civilization might have been lost to time, but just a glimpse of their remains was enough to stir one’s heart and fill it with respect.

However, Tomcat’s analysis quickly pulled him back to reality.

There had never been any Martians.

Nor were there any high walls or cities.

Much less a grand civilization.

There were only rocks and sand.

“Can’t you leave me some room for imagination?”

“I did,” Tomcat said. “The simulation results are 99.7% identical to the actual situation. You still have a 0.3% chance that Martian civilization exists.”

“That’s enough,” Tang Yue said. “Do you believe that with such a high probability is enough to give birth to a Middle Earth?”

“Gandalf the Grey?”

“Yes, Gandalf the Grey?”

Tang Yue casually pointed at a distant sand dune.

“150 million years ago, in the distant Third Age, Gandalf the Grey stood on that dune raising his staff high up and looking west. He discovered Sauron’s army. From that moment, it drew the curtains of a grand and circuitous epic.”