The year was 2008.
In this year, Ellis won the presidential election in a landslide victory over other candidates, becoming the new President of the United States.
In this year, Stark Industries' arms industry had spread across the world, with the United States expressing its willingness to support it as the top enterprise and engage in deep cooperation.
In this year, Bruce Banner, a professor of lifeform studies at Culver University in the United States, mysteriously disappeared after a radiation leak in his research lab a few years earlier, and there has been no trace of him since.
…
This year had only reached its halfway point, around early June. Recently, there were two major events in quick succession that had caused a frenzy on the internet and in the news, sparking lively discussions among the public.
The first event.
Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, the world's largest arms dealer, a playboy, and a genius, had showcased a bombing missile specially produced for the U.S. military in a remote wilderness.
On their way back, they were ambushed by terrorists, and all the accompanying American soldiers were brutally killed. Tony's body was not found, and his whereabouts were currently unknown.
People had different feelings about Tony. Some admired his talent and wealth, while others were consumed by jealousy and envy. However, regardless of personal opinions, he was a genius engineer who had changed the technological landscape of the 21st century.
Despite his arrogance, womanizing ways, and many flaws, people still paid considerable attention to him. The U.S. military was conducting a worldwide search as if they had gone mad.
Originally, the newspapers had reported day and night about the details and analysis of Tony's disappearance until the second event occurred yesterday.
The second event.
The American Aerospace Spaceship Apollo 8, instead of staying on the Moon for a week according to the scheduled itinerary, switched to autonomous mode and urgently returned during the late hours of the previous night.
Attempts to contact the spacecraft by the underground Aerospace agency went unanswered until early morning when it was located in the mountainous wilderness of the Middle East. The Spacecraft had successfully crash-landed, and the astronauts inside were in a state of unconsciousness with severe injuries.
Upon investigation, there were no signs of intrusion inside the spaceship's cabin, but the black box monitoring had been destroyed by some kind of magnetic field interference.
Later, after the Astronauts had recovered, they were held in custody by various departments for interrogation. Despite a week of continuous questioning, no relevant information could be obtained from them.
The astronauts were of sound mind and healthy in body, but they kept repeating the sentences: "I saw a black alien on the Moon."
"Believe me, I was knocked out by the black alien!"
This 'Space Black Alien' mysterious incident remained unsolved for thousands of years and became the world's biggest unsolved mystery, classified as one of the most advanced national files.
Of course, all of this was in the distant future.
At this very moment, in a remote mountainous wilderness area in the Middle East, about ten kilometers from where the spacecraft had crash-landed.
Roar!
The engine roared as an old off-road jeep from the previous decade raced through the desert wilderness, kicking up a cloud of swirling dust.
Inside the vehicle, a mechanical music box that resembled a robot was placed upright on the dashboard, and its speakers emitted booming and cool electronic music, with each note and beat resonating at the climax.
In the driver's seat, a young man wearing a hooded jacket and jeans was steering the wheel with one hand while resting the other on the open window, allowing the strong wind to blow his radiant silver hair, brushing it across his forehead.
"Vis, what kind of song did you put on?" The silver-haired young man grumbled in dissatisfaction.
The deafening electronic music abruptly stopped inside the car's cabin, and then the speakers emitted a gentle male voice, "Master, this is the most popular song in the United States this year."
"Are you indirectly calling me old-fashioned?" Kyle frowned. After Vis had infiltrated the database inside the spaceship, he had learned the current situation on Earth.
He hadn't expected that, after traveling through two large spacetime wormholes and spending less than a month in outer space, Earth had already advanced to the 21st century.
The year was 2008. It had been more than half a century since his departure in 1945, precisely 63 years had passed.
63 years! For humans, that could very well be a lifetime!
"Master, you must admit that if we measure it by Earth's time, you are undoubtedly close to being a ninety-year-old man now," Vis calmly stated this harsh fact.
"Ninety years old it is, then," Kyle shrugged nonchalantly, squinting his eyes and saying, "Vis, judging by the 21st-century Earth's communication methods… if they haven't changed, it's most likely based on 'electromagnetic waves (radio waves)' for wireless communication. Try connecting to the local servers and accessing information from the internet. Can you do that?"
Vis, the transforming robot, opened and closed its speakers as if it were chuckling. "Of course, when it comes to communication signals, I'm practically its father."
"True," Kyle chuckled as well. Vis's original form was the first mobile phone on Earth, a true old ancestor.
"Very well, search for everything related to the Carl Family during the years we were away," Kyle said with rare seriousness, and Vis dared not delay. It immediately transmitted its system signal source in the form of radio waves.
The radio waves, like invisible threads, wove into a web of light that spread out several kilometers and even tens of kilometers in all directions, capturing passing electromagnetic information and tracing it back to local network servers.
"System networking initiated… Local signals are weak… Successfully switched to satellite signals, currently accessing with good connectivity."
Successfully connecting to Earth's network, Vis was akin to a search engine with its own internet access. At least, anything that had been disseminated as messages on this information-driven era's internet could be read and retrieved.
After a moment, Vis provided feedback, saying, "There is no record of anything related to the Carl Family on Earth's network."
"Good then," Kyle, upon hearing this, actually smiled, a faint one. "It's good that there's no exposure. After all the hard work and careful preparations back then, if they didn't understand the importance of keeping a low profile and operating as a covert force, they would have disappointed my expectations."
"Are there any other important pieces of information in this new era that you need me to tell you about?" Vis inquired.
"No need," Kyle declined, feeling thoughtful. "Let me experience and adapt to this era step by step on my own."
"So, where are we going now, Master, to find the Carl Family's hidden overseas headquarters?" Vis continued to ask.
"Let's go to the Stark Industries building in New York and see if the portal there still exists," Kyle suggested, stroking his chin in contemplation.
Just then, in front of the jeep's windshield, a black dot slowly appeared in the sky, emitting thick smoke, descending steadily and getting closer.
"Hmm?" Kyle raised his eyebrows keenly, abruptly turned the steering wheel, and swiftly slammed on the brakes. The jeep skidded through the sandy terrain, executing a graceful drift before coming to a halt.
The next moment, a humanoid aircraft crashed into the sandy ground right in front of the jeep, barely three meters away. A pile of battered Iron Man parts and sand flew up into the air.
(End of this chapter)
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