Chapter 1230 — Listening to Voices Beyond the Light-Years
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
"So the Pale Star's sender is most likely not a civilization that has fully mastered superluminal communication—otherwise the space around them could not be so 'quiet.' Can you imagine? It's like a race learning to make fire, and then centuries pass without a single extra wisp of smoke rising from the region where they live..."
Tyr caught on instantly. "Unless that 'torch' isn't theirs. They neither know how to light a second fire, nor what else the torch can do besides send signals!"
Gao Yang nodded and said slowly, his voice low: "That is only a possibility."
"...Then whose torch is it?" Tyr asked instinctively. "This... this is a 'torch' that can transmit signals faster than light across light-years of space..."
Gao Yang did not answer at once. He merely raised his head and gazed quietly at the stars. In truth the answer was already on the tip of his tongue, and even Tyr, in her musings, had thought of the most likely answer—who else could it be but the Pathfinders?
Gao Yang thought of the information he had seen in the logs at the Firmament Station, and could not help sighing inwardly: legacies in the starry sky... it seemed there was indeed more than one.
Tyr had at some point fixed her gaze on Gao Yang. She stared quietly at this "human pioneer hero" for a long while, then suddenly said, seemingly out of nowhere: "How rare."
"Yes. If things are as we suspect—a civilization that has not yet broken free of its homeworld obtaining a superluminal communication device—then it is indeed quite rare..."
"I don't mean that," Tyr shook her head. "I mean you. How rare."
"Me?" Gao Yang pointed at himself, bewildered. "What's so rare about me?"
"I rarely find anyone among the land-dwellers with whom I can discuss these topics. I don't mean any discrimination or mockery, but land-dwellers' understanding of the universe... is truly limited. You are the exception. Not only can you keep up with these topics, you have many thoughts of your own. That is very rare. And to this day you still maintain a vigorous curiosity and a flexible mind in this regard... that is even rarer," Tyr said earnestly. "I haven't known many land-dwellers, but I've heard my sisters describe many kings and commanders on land. Among them are those with outstanding vision and profound learning, but they are always entangled in earthly matters—politics, military affairs, the livelihood of the people, threats and interests at the level of the state... all things that give me a headache just hearing about them."
"You also have to face these 'entanglements.' I have seen it with my own eyes. But what surprises me is that your attention to the starry sky and your desire to explore the unknown have never faded."
Gao Yang looked at Tyr with some surprise as she now wore a solemn expression. He rarely had the chance to hear her say so much; the creature had probably spent all her waking hours today on this conversation. "...Is that a compliment?"
"A very high compliment," Tyr nodded seriously. "You are the first person I have ever praised like this."
"Then I am deeply honored. But I have a question," Gao Yang said with great seriousness. "Don't you sleep every day? Where do you find the time to think about so many complicated things?"
"Don't you know? Sirens can think while they sleep—our mental activity never stops. In other words, once a siren stops thinking, she dies," Tyr said, wagging her tail. "After all, we are a rather slow-witted race. If we didn't make use of every moment, we really would be good for nothing..."