Don't go to the moon, there are gods on the far side of the moon.

In the thirty-eighth hour, a new platform appeared on the surface of Mars.

It's not a new phenomenon.

It had always been there, but human observation equipment had always identified it as rock. Only when the fire dimmed the light did the platform become visible: a square base, four steps, and an empty stove in the center.

"Zhurong Terrace," Lu Chenggong said.

"It's always been there," Qin Lan said. "Our equipment identifies it as part of the terrain."

"Because it didn't need to be seen back then," the inspector said. "Now it does."

Qin Lan retrieved the old observation data and flipped back fourteen years. In those fourteen years, the outline of the "rock" remained almost unchanged, with only one detail different: the shadows of the four steps were a little shorter each day than the day before, as if an invisible shed was slowly being retracted.

"It was slowly coming out," she said. "It's been coming out for fourteen years."

"Why did it start to show fourteen years ago?" Lu Chenggong asked.

"Someone probably ordered something over there," the inspector said.

Zhu Rongtai did not send any signals, nor did it move towards Earth.

It simply directs the stove opening in one direction.

That direction was directly opposite the empty seventh signature position on the third seal.

Xu Wangshu placed images of the Martian surface side by side with thin plates from old seals.

She discovered something that sent chills down her spine: the four steps of the Zhurong Terrace and the spacing between the six marks on the seal were in the same proportion.

"It didn't come later," she said. "It was built together with the seal."

"Which part of the seal is it?" Lin Jibai asked.

"It's fire," the inspector said. "The seal doesn't just block the entrance, it also blocks the fire."

Why is the seal used to prevent fire?

"Because fire will burn the seal itself," the inspector said. "The seal that holds the earth in place, and the seal that can be burned away, were created by the same people. They need something to ensure that when the time comes, they can remove it."

Lu Chengong stared at the empty stove.

"The stove is empty," he said.

"The fire isn't in the stove," Luo Xu said. "The fire is stuck in the narrow strip."

"Whose stove is that reserved for?"

No one answered.

While listening in, Lin Xiaoman suddenly said, "The stove isn't left for anyone. The stove is meant to be passed down."

"What do you mean?" Lin Jibai asked.

"The stove is still there, which means someone wanted to light it back then, but didn't," she said. "It's like an unfinished story."

The seven cities each preserved images of Mars, and none of them were merged.

For the first time, the black disk at the North Heavenly Gate made no judgment about this platform on the Martian surface. It only recorded one line: Not a facility of this system, origin unknown.

No one asked the Zhu Rong Terrace any questions. Xu Wangshu said, "Let's not ask any more questions this time, because that terrace is already speaking for itself through its position."

"It's pointing the stove towards the seventh empty slot," she said. "That's clearer than any announcement: it's waiting for someone to fill in that slot, and it's also waiting for that slot to remain empty."

"Aren't these two things opposite?" Lin Xiaoman asked.

"It's the opposite," Xu Wangshu said. "That's why it kept both mouthfuls."

The fortieth hour has arrived.

Zhu Rongtai remained still.

It simply continued to point the stove towards that empty space, like an unlit ember, waiting for someone to come and ask.

Inside the third seal, the containers for the second batch of objects simultaneously turned slightly toward Mars.

They also saw the platform.