Three metal machine nuts were strung together and worn as a necklace by the native chieftain!

When the council saw the machined threads on the inside of the nuts, everyone’s jaw dropped. A strange wave of vertigo swept through the room. Even the eight Marines were stunned. In the pitch-black caverns, no one would have noticed that the native chieftain was wearing... a cluster of metal nuts around his neck!

What did this mean? What did it imply?

The word "shock" couldn’t even begin to describe the atmosphere; it was simply unbelievable!

After a long pause, Dr. Arthur Lambert stood up and loudly declared, "No, no, no. I’m convinced this is a result of Federation activity! These reptilian natives must have just stumbled upon some metal scraps we left behind!"

"We have a massive fleet of reconnaissance drones and automated robots operating on the surface. Maybe they picked up a discarded replacement part. That has to be it!"

Jason nodded, finding some merit in the theory. He quickly turned to the engineering division and asked, "Can you identify the specific type of part from the image, or perhaps its material composition? Can you confirm if it belongs to our inventory?"

"That... is incredibly difficult, sir!"

The materials science experts looked at each other in bewilderment. Without a physical sample, how could they possibly identify the exact metallurgical composition of a part based on a few blurry, zoomed-in pixels? It was practically impossible!

Nevertheless, they scrutinized the image, desperately looking for clues. Federation hardware was meticulously stamped with micro-serial numbers, and they tried to see if these nuts bore any such markings.

"No, Dr. Lambert! Your theory has a massive logical flaw."

The speaker was Evan from the Department of Public Relations. He was visibly excited as he argued, "These lizardmen are clearly cold-averse creatures. To conserve thermal energy, they almost never venture up to the freezing surface..."

"Our drones and rovers generally operate topside. Even if a mechanical part fell off, what are the odds it tumbled seven or eight hundred meters down into the subterranean network... only to be picked up by a tribal chieftain?"

"The mathematical probability is virtually zero!"

Surprisingly, Dr. Lambert didn’t refute him. Instead, his expression grew even more feverish.

"If those hardware parts aren’t ours, then... does that mean there is a much more powerful, undiscovered civilization on this planet?! A civilization far more advanced than the lizardmen, one that has already reached the mechanical age!"

"Their technological level could be immense, potentially ranging anywhere from an Industrial Revolution to our current modern era! After all, the simple machine nut is still a foundational component in many of our advanced machines... and they won’t be obsolete anytime soon."

Dr. Lambert’s wild theory immediately sparked a whirlwind of emotions across the room, ranging from thrilling excitement to profound dread.

If the primitive lizardmen were easy to manage, what about a vastly superior, industrialized civilization? What if they possessed an unknown level of high technology? Would humanity be dragged into a planetary war?

"No, Dr. Lambert. I believe... even if this unknown civilization exists, their technology couldn’t possibly rival the Federation’s!" another Senior Scientist stood up to counter. "We haven’t detected a single artificial satellite orbiting Nyx! How advanced can a civilization truly be if they haven’t conquered their own orbit?"

"Not necessarily," a council member muttered from the orbital feed. "If they live hundreds or thousands of meters underground where satellite telemetry can’t penetrate, what would be the point of launching orbital satellites in the first place?"

The executives engaged in a rapid-fire brainstorming session, throwing out dozens of conflicting theories. Soon, the room was flooded with whimsical and outlandish ideas.

However, the majority agreed on one thing: if this unknown civilization existed, its technological capabilities had to be vastly inferior to humanity’s!

Artificial satellites weren’t just for global positioning; they included orbital habitats, astronomical telescopes, and deep-space arrays. Could this unknown civilization possess absolutely zero interest in the endless expanse of the cosmos? If they lacked that fundamental curiosity, their developmental potential had to be severely stunted, meaning they might not possess modern science at all!

Alternatively, their aerospace engineering might just not be advanced enough. After all, Nyx had a dense atmosphere and high gravity, making orbital launches significantly harder than on Earth.

Furthermore, orbital scans hadn’t detected any massive surface infrastructure... Would a high-tech society truly hide underground forever?

Then, another dark theory emerged: this civilization was already extinct!

"Perhaps this civilization was once glorious. Maybe they did have a satellite network in the sky, but suffered a catastrophic mass extinction event! And from their ashes, these primitive lizardmen evolved!" Dr. Lambert launched into another eloquent, sweeping speech. Whenever it came to wild speculation, he always managed to conjure up scenarios no one else would consider.

"If they had satellites in the past, their orbital decay would eventually pull them all down to the surface once their operational lifespans ended. That is entirely plausible..."

In reality, all artificial satellites eventually succumb to gravity. Most orbit a few hundred to a few thousand kilometers above the surface, where the atmosphere is incredibly thin, but orbital drag still exists. Once a satellite’s velocity drops below a critical threshold, it plummets back to the surface. In other words, every satellite has a strict expiration date.

Alright, Dr. Lambert’s theory was heavily speculative, but it sounded somewhat plausible. At the very least, it was a physical possibility.

Even from an evolutionary psychology perspective, the extinction theory made a lot of sense.

The core reason was simple: the brutal struggle for survival!

The Federation colonists were extraterrestrial visitors, allowing them to view these primitive natives with tolerant curiosity. But could two native intelligent species truly coexist harmoniously on the same world?

Based on human history, it would be almost impossible. Especially on a barren, sunless planet where energy was scarce, the competition for resources would be absolute and ruthless!

If an ape species with human-level intelligence was suddenly discovered back on Earth... how would the public react? Human society would erupt in panic! It would likely trigger an immediate, preemptive war of extermination. The peaceful rise of a rival intelligent primate species would never be tolerated.

Even if humanity showed restraint and didn’t commit total genocide, they would strictly monitor or enslave the apes to ensure they never posed a threat. After all, they were different species. When it came to inter-species survival, concepts like benevolence and morality were often discarded!

Yet here on Nyx, although these lizardmen lived harsh lives, they appeared completely free. They even escorted Sergeant Will’s fireteam to the surface. This proved... no one was subjugating or culling them!

Therefore, Dr. Lambert’s theory held water; if an advanced, mechanical civilization had once existed here, it was likely long dead.

Of course, the brilliant minds in the room also threw out other bizarre theories.

For instance, what if these metal nuts were left behind by a different extraterrestrial civilization?

Perhaps the remnants of a true interstellar empire!

Currently, Federation sensors hadn’t detected any alien spacecraft wrecks on the surface or in orbit. It was possible that an interstellar species had visited Nyx eons ago to conduct surveys, and then simply left. They might have discarded some useless mechanical scrap, which the primitive lizardmen found, treasured, and passed down through generations as sacred heirlooms.

That was definitely possible!

Another theory suggested that an alien vessel had crashed on this planet... meaning humanity could launch a massive scavenging operation!

Jason rubbed his temples, realizing the terrifying validity of that thought. If the Solar System had been a battleground for advanced extraterrestrial empires, then this star system, twenty light-years away could easily have been part of the same theater of war. No one knew exactly how many light-years the ancient interstellar conflict had spanned.

Did that mean there were alien shipwreck debris fields scattered all over this star system?

Or was humanity just astronomically lucky?

"We have a definitive result!" Just as the council was passionately debating, a materials engineering expert shouted over the comms. "If you run an isolation filter on the images, you can see that these nuts are heavily oxidized! We can’t see a serial number because they are completely covered in thick rust."

Achieving this result was already a monumental feat. Determining the oxidation level of a tiny machine nut from a grainy, monochromatic helmet-cam still frame required massive computational modeling and cross-referencing.

"...The entire surface of the nut is encased in rust! The threading is severely degraded, and it looks incredibly ancient. Furthermore, this specific pattern of deep oxidation could not have been produced by Federation hardware," the engineer stated with absolute confidence.

The subtext was clear: Federation metallurgy was simply too advanced. Their aerospace-grade alloys couldn’t possibly rust to this degree in just two months of exposure.

Even in the most corrosive, hostile environments imaginable, it was chemically impossible for their hardware to degrade like this!