Chapter 1429 — The Likely Truth

As Mirmirna spoke, the magical phantoms floating in midair shifted continuously, displaying the record of Deep Blue pathway fluctuations over a period of time. And at one crucial moment, Gao Yang saw all the major nodes suddenly "shudder" for an instant, like a powerful pulse, extraordinarily striking.

The Silver Empress Belantia murmured unconsciously: "This is..."

"This is the instant the 'Sentinel' squeezed through a rift in the Deep Blue pathways into the real world," Mirmirna said gravely. "That ship... if my guess is correct, the Voyagers must have used a very special technology to convert the Sentinel system's physical form into a 'projection' state similar to a divine realm, allowing it to remain stable in the Deep. The Sentinel's forced entry into the real world was not merely some kind of 'spatial teleportation'—it in fact reversed that conversion process, which caused an extremely violent pathway shock...

"If Lady Enya's calculations and mine are correct, the pathway shock triggered by that reversal was beyond imagination. Though mortals cannot perceive or observe it, it has already raised a ripple in the very 'substrate' of our universe—a ripple propagating outward at inconceivable speed, one that may even... have transcended the very concept of 'speed.'"

Mirmirna let out a soft breath, concluding her explanation. A brief silence fell over the room, until Enya's voice broke it: "More than half a month ago, in that fleeting instant, our planet was 'lit up' like a torch in the night, likely visible clearly from hundreds or thousands of light-years away. If that transmitting civilization has been watching the starry sky, then they could not possibly have missed this... flash, bearing such obvious traces of artificial intervention."

Everyone present felt as though their heart had skipped a beat, and in that moment, the sudden change in the "transmitting civilization's" signal mode seemed to have found its explanation.

They really had observed the changes "on this side," and that was why they had converted their originally aimless omnidirectional broadcast into a more efficient directional transmission.

"...We need to look at this matter anew," Luo Yan said with uncommon sternness. "Whether or not to respond to this signal must now be discussed under the overarching premise that 'we have already been exposed.'"

Gao Yang said nothing for a moment; he only furrowed his brow in deep thought. Gradually, his brooding demeanor drew the attention of Belantia and Amorn as well. The table fell quiet, and everyone seemed unconsciously to be waiting for him to speak—and at last Gao Yang broke the silence: "...Responding to this signal may well be the only choice."

Then he raised his head, his gaze sweeping over each person present: "Our existence has already been exposed to an alien civilization. They clearly know our position. The so-called 'unknown civilization Alpha' refers to us. In that case, continuing to keep silent is meaningless. We must respond—and we must respond as soon as possible, as clearly as possible."

Enya gazed into Gao Song's eyes: "To prove to them that we, too, command superluminal communications technology."

"That sounds like bluster. All we have on hand is one half-ruined communications antenna," Belantia shook her head, though she could only concede with a helpless sigh. "But it seems to be the only means by which we can retain a shred of initiative."

"Actually... I may be a bit more optimistic than you," Gao Yang glanced at the Silver Empress. "I grow ever more suspicious that the civilization sending this signal may not be as advanced as we imagine—and that even their superluminal communications technology itself... seems to harbor many questionable points."

"Questionable points?" Mirmirna cast him a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"That 'flash' that exposed our coordinates appeared more than half a month ago, correct?" Gao Xi began slowly. "And by your judgment and Lady Enya's, the propagation of that flash should be very, very fast—perhaps as fast as superluminal communication."

"Yes," Mirmirna nodded. "The shock occurred at the world's foundation and propagated through the 'deep sea' in the form of a projection. According to the unified fluctuation model and our latest layered-cosmos model, the speed of information propagation within the 'deep sea' is unbound by the laws of the material world—theoretically infinite. This is also one of the technological directions I have conceived for superluminal communication.

"Of course, at present we have only the theory. We have no corresponding technology to actively generate such information ripples capable of stable transmission in the deep sea, nor any means to retrieve or 'listen to' such fluctuations from the deep sea. This shock triggered by the Well of Deep Blue counts as the first 'instance' I have observed..."

As the mistress of the arcane and mysterious, Mirmirna always tended to lose herself easily when discussing technical matters, much like Rebe—and the many theories she casually mentioned set Gao Yang's mind racing uncontrollably with ideas.

But he quickly reined in his thoughts before they could spread, and asked instead with severity: "So what you mean is, at that instant more than half a month ago, our planet's 'flicker' had already propagated hundreds or even thousands of light-years away—instantaneous in occurrence, instantaneous in arrival. Yet that 'transmitting civilization' did not change their signal mode until two or three days ago. Why?"

Amorn looked at Gao Yang, then at Mirmirna, and ventured uncertainly: "They spent half a month discussing how to write the first letter? Well, that seems unlikely..."

"Yes, of course that is impossible. They have been sending signals for so long—if they had truly discovered another intelligent species, they would long since have prepared all manner of 'communication scripts,'" Gao Yan shook his head. "That they took half a month to switch signal modes can only mean that they genuinely need that long to complete adjustments to their equipment. But let us not forget: this civilization was already broadcasting this signal as far back as the Gondor Empire's era. Their 'superluminal communications technology' has been in use for hundreds or even thousands of years..."

He stopped, folding his hands beneath his chin, and slowly continued in deep thought: "A civilization that has broadcast across the cosmos by superluminal communication for a thousand years, and now it takes them half a month just to switch a signal mode. There may be only one explanation for such a suspicious circumstance..."

Beside him the Silver Empress reacted at once: "This technology is not theirs!"

"The technology is not theirs, and the equipment may not be theirs either. They may have had to pay an enormous price, or resort to some exceedingly cumbersome method, merely to control this thing indirectly—or even..." Enya mused. "Or even they may simply have borrowed some piece of a Pathfinder's legacy... If that is so, then their inability to crack the 'core secrets' of the transmitting device for a thousand years becomes understandable, for Pathfinder equipment tends to be guarded by exceedingly rigorous core protections."

Gao Yang spread his hands. "Consider: if they truly were a civilization following a normal technological trajectory, and had already mastered the secrets of superluminal communication a thousand years ago, to what heights must they have risen by now? They should long since have broken through the Demon Tide, long since have solved the Black Trap. They would have no need whatsoever to wait for our reply—on the second day after our planet was 'lit,' their jump-ships would likely already be over the skies of the Loren Continent.

"Yet the fact is, none of this has happened."