186: Unexpected "Resonance" and Underground Mysteries

Amidst the day-to-day intensity of training at the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena," Excellence's abilities became like a carefully honed blade, growing sharper and more precise by the day. He had gradually adapted to performing high-difficulty "Energy Linguistics" operations across various complex simulated environments, progressing from the clumsy, error-prone mess he was at the beginning to being able to steadily complete the multiple challenges set by Evelyn. However, true discoveries are often born in moments beyond the plan.

On this day, Evelyn arranged an advanced training module for Excellence aimed at further enhancing his depth and resolution of Perception—'Deep Geological Energy Sensing.' The training goal was to use the signal emission array embedded beneath the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena," which could simulate the natural flow of water, the inherent vibrations of mineral crystals, and the specific energy field characteristics generated by geothermal micro-circulation at different depths. Excellence was to attempt to shield out all complex environmental interference above the surface, extend his "tentacles" of Perception toward the simulated "deep underground," and learn to identify and distinguish these "Energy Whispers" that originated from the depths of the earth, extremely faint yet rich in information.

The training area was set within the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena" to simulate the depths of an ancient, primitive forest. Here, the light was dim, and the air was filled with the humid scent of humus and the simulated fragrance of vegetation. Beneath his feet lay soft, elastic artificial moss and a layer of fallen leaves, surrounded by tall, realistic models of ferns and towering ancient trees. A hidden sound system played distant, mysterious forest background effects, creating an atmosphere of tranquility that felt isolated from the world, as if unchanged since time immemorial.

Excellence sat cross-legged on a rock model covered in soft moss, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to clear his mind of all distracting thoughts. Following Evelyn's guidance, he carefully stripped his "Holographic Sensing" ability away from the surrounding environmental interference and sank it downward, as if slowly "submerging" an extremely sensitive sensor into the simulated "earth." At first, he "heard" the weak life energy disturbances caused by simulated insect activity and small rodent Nests in the shallow topsoil. Continuing downward, he began to capture the soothing, continuous "Energy Threads" of simulated groundwater flow generated by the training system, and deeper still, the stable, varied-frequency "Energy Vibrations" emitted by several different mineral crystal models, sounding like a faint hum... Everything seemed to be proceeding according to plan.

However, just as he attempted to focus his Perception on the deepest simulated "crystal vein" signal, an extremely abrupt and strange sensation, completely outside the pre-set program, swept past the edge of his highly concentrated Perception like an unexpected undercurrent in the deep sea!

That was not any known simulated signal generated by the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena" system! It was an extremely faint, yet exceptionally profound, ancient Resonance fluctuation that carried a certain indescribable sense of vicissitude and... loneliness! It seemed to come from the depths of the real earth, piercing through the thick foundation and shielding layers of the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena," like an ancient heartbeat that had been sleeping for hundreds of millions of years, suddenly and ever so slightly pulsating once. What made Excellence shiver even more was that the few "singing stones" he carried with him, which had been silent all along, seemed to have been awakened in that instant by this ancient heartbeat from underground. In his pocket, they simultaneously emitted a burst of warmth and a Resonance-like tremor that was extremely brief, almost imperceptible, yet undeniably real!

"!"

Excellence snapped his eyes open, his little face filled with astonishment and disbelief! The feeling was fleeting, like a hallucination, but he was one hundred percent certain that something had definitely "responded" to him just now! An instinctual curiosity and desire to explore instantly overwhelmed his focus on the training task. He didn't care about finishing the goals Evelyn had set; he immediately closed his eyes again and cast all his Perception, like a fine-meshed fishing net, toward the deeper and farther direction from which that strange fluctuation had come, desperately trying to capture that mysterious glimpse once more.

He held his breath, his heart pounding "thump-thump" with excitement and nervousness. Time ticked by, but the deep underground returned to "dead silence," leaving only the regular and monotonous simulated signals generated by the training system. Just as he was about to give up, thinking it really had been just an illusion—it came!

Once more! It was even weaker than the last time, yet clearer! That low, slow "rhythm," which seemed to carry the weight of endless time, was captured by his keen Perception again! This time, he suppressed the excitement in his heart and immediately employed the advanced techniques from the "Energy Linguistics" that Evelyn had taught him—he was no longer passively receiving, but attempting to actively and extremely gently "amplify" and "analyze" this faint signal, like an archaeologist using the softest brush to carefully sweep away the dust from an ancient scroll, attempting to decipher the handwriting upon it.

In this state of highly focused "analysis," he vaguely "heard" more: beneath the slow, "earth-heartbeat" base, there seemed to be... superimposed layers of extremely complex, intricately structured energy "echoes" that could never have been formed naturally! These "echoes" exhibited a certain... incomprehensible regularity, as if some sort of dormant, damaged, yet still bearing traces of its original design... unnatural structure was unconsciously and passively resonating with the pulse of the earth, radiating imperceptible information to the outside world!

Reporting and Doubt: A Child's Intuition and Scientific Rigor

After training ended, Excellence couldn't wait; he ran and bounded over to find Evelyn, who was analyzing data. Because of his excitement, his words were somewhat jumbled, and his little face was flushed red: "Sister Evelyn! Underground! There's something underground! It wasn't the system! It's real! It... it's 'breathing'! Very, very slowly! And... and the 'singing stones'... they moved just now! They got warm! Really! You have to believe me!"

Evelyn's initial reaction was highly skeptical and cautious. She put down her work, crouched down, held Excellence's shoulders, and spoke in a gentle but scientifically prudent tone: "Excellence, speak slowly, don't rush. Are you sure it wasn't signal crosstalk from the training system? Or perhaps harmonics generated by vibrations in the 'Hall of Myriad Phenomena' underground pipes? We know your 'singing stones' are always sensitive to certain specific energy frequencies." She was more inclined to believe this was the product of a combination of equipment failure, environmental interference, and the child's vivid imagination. After all, the "Hall of Myriad Phenomena" system was complex, and there were precedents for unknown signal coupling.

However, Excellence showed rare persistence; he was so anxious he almost jumped: "No! It's not the system! The feeling is completely different! The system's signals are... 'flat'! That feeling is 'deep'! 'Old'! And... and it seems to have... 'patterns' inside! Energy patterns!" He tried hard to gesture with his hands, attempting to depict that sense of unnatural structure, and even picked up an electronic pen to sketch, in a crooked manner on Evelyn's scratch paper, a few of the incomplete, characteristic waveforms and geometric outlines representing the energy fluctuation patterns he had perceived.

Looking at Excellence's unusually earnest, even slightly anxious and aggrieved expression, and the lines on the paper that, while childish, clearly possessed a certain non-random regularity, Evelyn's skepticism wavered. She understood Excellence; she knew that while this child sometimes had whimsical ideas, in terms of energy Perception, his sharpness and accuracy far exceeded precision instruments, and he rarely had baseless hallucinations. More importantly, she thought back to the Thousand-Faced Fox incident not long ago—that woman had also "inadvertently" mentioned that there were "geomagnetic anomalies" in this direction! Could it be... that it wasn't entirely a baseless probe?

Clues in the Depths of the Archives and Decision-Making

A strong intuition and a scientist's desire for exploration prompted Evelyn to take action immediately. She comforted Excellence, promised she would investigate seriously, and then entered the core archive database of "Homeland" alone, retrieving the most detailed and complete geological exploration historical data, deep-structure scan maps, and all known records of underground anomalous areas for the mountain range where the base was located.

Massive amounts of data scrolled across the screen. Using powerful analysis software, Evelyn cross-referenced and fitted the sensing orientation, depth, and waveform characteristics described by Excellence with the geological archives. Several hours passed, and just as she was about to succumb to disappointment again, the analysis software suddenly let out a soft "ding"—an area with a very high match rate was locked and highlighted!

The screen clearly showed that in the direction and approximate depth described by Excellence, there indeed existed an extremely large-scale natural underground cave system that had long been recorded but never deeply explored! Exploration records showed that the cave system had a complex structure, was unfathomably deep, had an extreme internal environment, and contained multiple areas of strong, unexplained electromagnetic background noise interference, which had caused early exploration attempts to end in failure. It was ultimately labeled a "low exploration value, high-risk area" and left shelved for a long time. And what sent a chill down Evelyn's spine was that the core area of this cave system highly coincided—almost perfectly overlapped—in coordinates with the "geomagnetic anomaly area" that the Thousand-Faced Fox had mentioned so casually before!

This could absolutely not be a mere coincidence!

Evelyn immediately reported this major discovery to Wang Jianguo. Late at night, the base command center was brightly lit. Wang Jianguo, Evelyn, and several absolutely core members held a highly confidential emergency meeting.

The screen displayed geological structure maps, a summary of the Thousand-Faced Fox incident report, and the scribbled waveform sketch drawn by Excellence. Evelyn detailed her findings and speculations: "...In summary, I believe Excellence's Perception is highly likely to be real. Something unknown to us is likely hidden in that cave system. The arrival of the Thousand-Faced Fox was definitely not a matter of casual geological interest; she likely mastered clues about that cave system through some channel unknown to us, far exceeding our existing intelligence. Her goal might be to use our exploration capabilities to scout the path for her, or perhaps... the thing hidden inside is itself closely related to some of the ultimate goals of the 'Prophet Foundation'—it could be some kind of natural mineral vein with immense energy value, or perhaps... even more astonishing, prehistoric ruins or extraterrestrial artifacts related to the mystery of the star map or The Foundation's early secret activities!"

The atmosphere in the meeting room was extremely heavy. Wang Jianguo furrowed his brows, tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table, and fell into a long, deep contemplation. The risk was immense: rashly exploring an area with unknown conditions that might be targeted by The Foundation was tantamount to entering a minefield. But the opportunity might also be unprecedented: if there truly existed ruins or resources there that were homologous to the star map or Excellence's abilities, it might greatly advance their research, or even provide key bargaining chips to confront The Foundation.

In the end, Wang Jianguo made a decision: "The risk is manageable, and the opportunity is rare. We must go take a look." He issued instructions: "Immediately assemble a lean, secret exploration team. Members should include: the best geologists, geophysicists, archaeologists (if there might be ruins), top-tier protective engineers, and absolutely reliable security agents. Mission level: Top Secret. Rules of engagement: Reconnaissance and sampling are the primary goals. Do not be rash; withdraw immediately if any uncontrollable risks are encountered. Most importantly," he emphasized, his gaze sharp, "this operation must be kept strictly confidential from Excellence. He is still too young; we cannot let him be drawn into the ancient mysteries and the ensuing immense risks that may exist."

Secret Exploration: Echoes from Deep Space?

A lean but well-equipped exploration team, whose members were all leaders in their respective fields, quietly assembled and set off under absolute secrecy. They traveled through an ancient, long-abandoned exploration tunnel that had been urgently reinforced and cleared, heading toward that deep, unknown underground world.

Before departing, Evelyn found Excellence once more. She did not reveal any information about the exploration team or the caves, but under the pretext of further verifying training data, she once again asked for and confirmed in great detail all the specifics he had perceived at the time—the rhythm of that "heartbeat," the energy contour characteristics of that "unnatural structure," and the exact moment and intensity of the "singing stones" Resonance. Although Excellence vaguely felt that Sister Evelyn's questions were extraordinary, he sensibly did not ask more, only tried hard to recall and provided all the information he could, and at the end, added in a low voice: "Sister Evelyn... if... if there is really something underground... please... don't hurt it... it seems like... it has been asleep for a very, very long time..." The child's innocent and kind request left Evelyn with mixed feelings.

After the exploration team entered the cave system, due to strong energy interference and complex terrain, communication with the surface became intermittent. The waiting time felt exceptionally long. Wang Jianguo and Evelyn stood guard in the command center, closely monitoring any signals transmitted back, their moods like a taut bowstring.

A few days later, a heavily compressed and encrypted data packet finally pierced through the thick rock layers and interference, transmitting back to the command center. When the data was decoded and presented on the large screen, even with Wang Jianguo and Evelyn's composure, they couldn't help but gasp, their faces filled with unprecedented shock!

The exploration report confirmed the astonishing accuracy of Excellence's Perception! They had not only discovered, deep within that massive cave system, a huge crystal vein with reserves far exceeding imagination, shimmering with a strange, soft luster and containing unknown energy characteristics (preliminarily named "Resonance Crystals"), but its energy characteristics were highly homologous to Excellence's "singing stones" and the fluctuations he had sensed!

An even more shocking discovery came from an extremely hidden branch cave: there, the exploration team found some wall carvings that were clearly not naturally formed, bearing the marks of precise geometric cutting! The patterns of these wall carvings were complex and abstract, filled with fluid curves and incomprehensible symbols, and their style existed in a jaw-dropping, by no means accidental, similarity to certain core elements in the star map that Excellence regarded as a treasure! It was as if they originated from the same civilization system or aesthetic source!

In addition, the team members also carefully collected a few metal artifact fragments that were deeply buried in the sedimentary rock layers, severely damaged, yet still showing traces of artificial creation. The material of these fragments was unknown, and their surfaces were covered with thick oxidation layers, but the internal structures revealed at their fractures, under preliminary microscopic analysis and elemental determination in the laboratory, exhibited complex craftsmanship and alloy ratios far exceeding any known ancient metallurgical technology of humanity! Their technical characteristics did not match any civilization history that had evolved on Earth, as if... they came from another completely different technical system or... the distant starry sky!

An earth-shattering, ancient secret buried deep underground, which could completely rewrite humanity's understanding of its own history and even the universe, had finally, because of a child's accidental capture of an energy Resonance, cautiously lifted a corner of its mysterious veil to this world. The ships of fate for "Homeland" and Excellence, unknowingly, had already sailed into a more vast, deeper, and inevitably more magnificent unknown sea. The fog ahead was thicker, but the stars guiding the way seemed to have become brighter.