195: New project launch and the "Starry Sea" sand table

The establishment of the "Deep Space Exploration Project Team" was like raising a brand-new sail pointing toward the unknown sea of stars on the ship known as "Homeland," which had weathered many storms. It marked the official shift of "Homeland's" strategic focus from steady defense and internal construction to proactive, adventurous external exploration and the tracing of civilization's origins.

To provide this team, which carried such a significant mission, with the most solid backing and a cutting-edge research environment, Wang Jianguo personally issued an order to utilize the core resources of "Homeland." Deep within the subterranean structure of the base, he carved out a brand-new space that was grand in scale, equipped with top-tier facilities, and secured to the highest possible level, formally naming it the "Star Sea Research Institute."

The entrance to the institute was hidden and sturdy, requiring multiple layers of biometric identification and energy signature verification to enter. The interior space was breathtakingly vast; the high-domed ceiling utilized technology that simulated natural daylight, allowing for the adjustment of brightness and color temperature as needed to avoid the oppressive feeling of long-term underground work.

The surrounding walls were made of a mirror-smooth special alloy, embedded with countless intricate energy conduits and data interfaces. The main areas were divided into: the Core Analysis Hall (used for housing and researching the "planet core"), the star map Analysis Room (equipped with the most advanced holographic projections and computing arrays), the Energy Simulation Workshop (Excellence's home turf), and the member office and rest area.

The design of the entire institute was filled with a sense of futuristic technology, yet it also exuded a quiet and solemn atmosphere focused on exploration.

The core members of the institute were, naturally, the irreplaceable "Iron Triangle": Excellence (the project's core navigator), Evelyn (chief scientist, responsible for technical oversight and theoretical construction), and Su Mu (chief coordinator of security and logistics, concurrently serving as the chief "experience officer" and atmosphere regulator).

Wang Jianguo served as the project's general consultant, responsible for macro-strategic control and resource coordination. Additionally, top experts were drawn from various departments of "Homeland" to form a powerful support team, including theoretical physicists, astrophysicists, archaeologists (responsible for interpreting potential traces of civilization), high-energy physics engineers, and the most elite security team.

It could be said that "Homeland" had poured its finest strength into this project, which carried infinite hope.

First Challenge: The Sleeping Core and Ineffective Conventional Methods

The first major project after the institute was established was named "Origin Tracing." Its goal was aimed directly at that ancient "planet core" sleeping deep beneath the base, containing endless mysteries and power, as well as the mysterious star map that shared the same origin and pointed toward the distant starry sky.

It aimed to systematically analyze their structure, energy characteristics, information encoding methods, and the potential civilization origins they pointed toward, attempting to unveil the grand secret buried by the dust of long ages, which concerned the evolution of life on Earth and even in the universe.

However, the research had barely begun when it encountered unprecedented and enormous difficulties. Facing this ancient creation that was massive in volume, complex in structure, and possessed internal energy as unfathomable as a vast ocean, the vast majority of conventional and even cutting-edge research methods that "Homeland" possessed and took pride in were declared almost entirely ineffective!

Physical contact attempts: Any robotic arm or probe attempting to directly touch the core body would, upon approaching to a certain distance, be repelled by a powerful yet gentle invisible force field, unable to cross the line even a single step. The consequence of forcing an approach was the instantaneous malfunction or even destruction of precision instruments.

Energy detection scanning: Regardless of the frequency or intensity of the probe beams emitted (electromagnetic waves, neutrinos, gravitational waves, etc.), they were like stones sinking into the sea. The iridescent crystal structure on the core's surface was like a perfect energy black hole, completely absorbing or deflecting all incoming detection energy. The signals fed back were either dead, flat lines or meaningless, chaotic noise. It was like a silent giant, turning a deaf ear to all the commotion around it.

The only exception remained the unique Excellence. When Excellence approached the core and actively released his own unique energy field, which shared the same origin as the core, this silent giant would produce a faint yet clearly discernible "Resonance." It was as if a sleeping ancient soul would only give a response in its sleep-talking when it encountered the familiar scent of its "own kind."

The "Chief Translator" Takes the Field Again

"It seems, as per the old rules," Evelyn said, carrying a large stack of freshly printed analysis reports filled with failed data records. She walked over to Excellence, who was intently observing the core, a helpless bitter smile on her face, but her eyes were filled with absolute trust in Excellence. "Conventional scientific methodology has hit a wall once again in front of this 'old gentleman.' The final breakthrough will likely have to depend on you, our one-and-only 'Chief Translator,' taking the field personally."

At this moment, Excellence, having been tempered by the baptism of successive great battles and the depths of "Energy Programming," had an aura that was no longer what it once was. He was no longer that easily nervous child who needed encouragement; there was a bit more composure and tranquility between his brows. He nodded at Evelyn, casting his gaze back toward the massive core quietly floating within the multi-layered energy isolation shield, his eyes focused and profound.

He walked slowly to the safety line at the boundary of the isolation field, took a deep breath, and slowly raised his right hand. In his palm, a gentle and pure golden halo naturally emerged; it was not blinding, yet it contained an indescribable vitality and affinity.

As he actively released his own energy field and approached, that "planet core," which had been silent all along, seemed to have truly been awakened from its long slumber! Inside it, those glowing fluids that had originally flowed slowly, like congealed galaxies, instantly accelerated their speed, emitting a brighter and more joyful pulsating radiance! Streaks of colorful light darted and intertwined rapidly within the crystal-clear crystal, illuminating the entire magnificent Core Analysis Hall in a dreamlike, breathtakingly beautiful manner, as if one were standing in a hall from mythology.

Excellence closed his eyes, focusing all of his Perception, like the finest sensor, struggling to "listen" to and "interpret" the extremely weak and complex stream of information transmitted by the core through Energy Resonance. His brows furrowed and then relaxed, as if he were reading a fragmentary celestial book written in an unfamiliar language.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, a flash of realization and deeper confusion appearing in them.

"It... can sense us, and it seems... very happy about our arrival." Excellence struggled to find the right words to describe that vague feeling. "But... its 'memory,' or rather the information stored inside it, is very... broken. It's like... like a mirror that has been smashed to pieces, with shards scattered all over the ground. Each piece reflects a bit of an image, but it's completely impossible to piece together a complete picture." He paused, his tone becoming grave. "It transmits a feeling... to be able to read these fragments, we need... we need the correct 'key.'"

"A key? Do you mean the star map?" Su Mu, who had been nervously watching, couldn't help but ask.

"It's more than just the star map." Excellence shook his head, his gaze sharp, as if he saw a deeper layer to the problem. "The star map is more like a... map, or an index. It tells us what is where. But the 'key'... is more like the 'grammar' for reading the map and the content marked on it, a fundamental 'language rule' for understanding how it records and expresses information. Without this rule, even if we have the map and the fragments, it's like looking at a celestial book; we simply cannot understand the meaning within."

A Bold Concept: Creating the "star sea sandbox"

The difficulty of this challenge far exceeded anything in the past. How could they decipher an "information language" that was completely unknown, potentially from ancient times, or even originating from an extraterrestrial civilization? This required not only extraordinary Perception but also a subversive research method.

During a brainstorming meeting for the project team, after long contemplation, Excellence proposed an extremely bold, unprecedented, and perhaps even whimsical concept. He was no longer satisfied with just passively "listening" to the core's "The Whisper"; he wanted to actively and creatively "interact" with it!

"Can we..." Excellence pointed to the star map displayed on the holographic projection and the core energy rhythm chart fluctuating in sync beside it, his eyes flashing with the light of a creator, "use this star map as the basic blueprint, combine the energy fluctuation rhythm naturally emitted by the 'planet core' as the 'background sound' and rhythmic reference, and in this isolated laboratory, use our controllable energy fields to simulate and build a dynamic, real-time interactive... 'star sea sandbox'?"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, trying to clearly express this grand idea: "What I mean is, to create a miniature, yet 'living' model of the cosmic starry sky! We can try to 'replay' those fragmented memory shards we captured from the core in this sandbox, and see what scenes they present against the starry sky background; or, we can simulate the stellar changes of certain key Nodes marked on the star map, and observe the laws of energy flow and interaction. It's like... it's like simulating a war or history on a sandbox, except what we are simulating is the evolution of the universe and the memories of ancient civilizations! Perhaps through this more intuitive and dynamic way, we can more easily discover the 'grammar' rules hidden within!"

This idea was truly imaginative! It was not just a simple manipulation of energy, but required using energy as a kind of "programming material" and "display medium" to build a highly complex, real-time calculated, and interactive simulated cosmic environment that could engage with unknown information sources! This required unprecedented, microscopic-level control over energy, as well as powerful real-time computing and logical construction capabilities!

Upon hearing this concept, Evelyn's eyes immediately erupted with extreme excitement and admiration! She immediately realized that this was not just an innovation in research methods, but possibly the only hope to break the deadlock of the "Origin Tracing" project, and even an opportunity to push the entire field of energy science a big step forward! She expressed her full support without hesitation: "A genius idea! Excellence! This will be an unprecedented attempt!" She immediately mobilized all the computing resources and energy supply systems of the Star Sea Research Institute, organized the strongest technical team, and fully assisted Excellence in "Energy Programming", connecting vast computing power and stable energy flows into the simulation system to provide the most solid technical backing for building the "star sea sandbox".

Fantastic Creation: The "Creation" from Zero to One

In the following days, the core analysis hall of the Star Sea Research Institute turned into a fantastic, unprecedented "Creation Workshop".

Excellence stood in the center of the hall, like a creator god wielding the laws of nature. He abandoned traditional keyboards and screens, relying entirely on his mind and gestures to guide the invisible yet vast, ocean-like energy flow. His hands waved and gestured lightly in the void, like a top-tier conductor, mobilizing every "note" of energy. The dedicated holographic interface developed by Evelyn's team visualized the energy flow he controlled in real-time, displaying it on the huge circular screens surrounding them: countless light points representing basic energy units, as if pulled by an invisible hand, began to gather from chaos, attempting to condense and light up the first "star" according to the coordinates of the star map and the rhythm of the core energy.

The process was by no means smooth sailing. At first, the condensed "star" light points were dim and flickering, like candlelight in the wind; the simulated planetary orbits were stiff and twisted, often collapsing; when attempting to "replay" a simple memory fragment, the energy structure became unstable, causing the entire initially formed star sector model to shatter like broken glass, turning into a void of energy ripples. Every failure meant massive consumption of computing resources and enormous mental strain for Excellence.

But Excellence displayed astonishing patience and creativity. He was not discouraged; after every failure, he would work with Evelyn and the technical team to carefully analyze the data records, searching for logical errors or parameter deviations in the "energy code". He continuously adjusted the stability of the energy output, optimized the simulation gravity algorithms, and perfected the protocols for energy interaction between celestial bodies. Gradually, the "stars" in the sandbox became brighter and more stable, their orbital paths became smoother and more natural, and they even began to be able to simulate basic celestial phenomena like the revolution of simple binary star systems and the gravitational aggregation of nebular matter.

During this process, Su Mu played the crucial role of "Chief Experience Officer" and "Atmosphere Creator". She wore special sensory glasses that could connect her brain's visual signals with the energy sandbox data stream, bravely (or rather, full of curiosity) becoming the first "astronaut" to "dive" into this artificial star sea.

"Wow! This blue star is so beautiful! The energy fluctuations it emits... hmm... it's a bit like humming an ethereal song!"

"Oh! This red nebula feels so warm, like... like a big ball of cotton candy, I really want to take a bite!"

"Excellence! Over here! There are a few small stars connected here, it looks like a little rabbit! So cute!"

Su Mu's feedback, full of childlike innocence and imagination, although it didn't sound very "scientific", brought endless joy to the tense and boring debugging process. It also provided Excellence with valuable inspiration from a unique sensory perspective to optimize the "realism" and "user experience" of the sandbox. Excellence would often fine-tune the energy frequencies or halo effects of certain celestial bodies based on her descriptions, making this virtual universe more vivid and emotional.

A Historic Moment: Replaying the Fragments

Hard work pays off. After experiencing countless failures and debuggings, the historic moment finally arrived.

On this day, Excellence successfully built a relatively complex miniature star system in the sandbox, containing one star and three planets, and it was running stably. He took a deep breath, exchanged a glance with Evelyn, and under her encouraging gaze, began to attempt to import a piece of extremely vague and fragmented memory data about a "violent stellar energy eruption" that had been arduously extracted from the "planet core" into the sandbox system, and designated it to be "replayed" on that simulated star.

Everyone held their breath, staring nervously at the main screen and the sandbox projection. They saw the stable, burning ball of light representing the star in the sandbox tremble slightly, and then, its brightness began to increase rapidly at an astonishing speed! The simulated energy flow on its surface became abnormally violent, as if boiling water! Subsequently, a simulated, extremely spectacular energy jet (similar to a solar prominence eruption) erupted violently from the star's surface. Although the duration and scale were significantly scaled down, the energy characteristics and form of that instantaneous burst had a startling similarity to the characteristics of stellar flares or small eruptions in astronomical observations! More importantly, the energy fluctuation spectrum generated during this simulated eruption reached an unprecedented level of matching with the data recorded in the "planet core" memory fragments!

"Success! We succeeded!"

"The matching rate exceeds eighty percent!"

"It really 'replayed' it!"

The laboratory instantly erupted into deafening cheers! Evelyn excitedly hugged the assistant beside her, and Su Mu jumped up with joy, patting Excellence on the back vigorously. This was not just a successful technical demonstration; it proved that the unprecedented research platform of the "star sea sandbox" was feasible! It provided them with a powerful "crowbar" that might be able to gradually pry open the tightly closed door of knowledge of the "planet core"!

Excellence stood beneath the shimmering energy starry sky sandbox, looking up at the miniature stars he had created with his own hands, which were now playing out the mysteries of the universe. The corners of his mouth involuntarily curled into a curve full of confidence and a sense of achievement. Although the road ahead was still long and the challenges remained arduous, the most difficult first step of the long march to crack the mysteries of the universe and civilization had been firmly taken by him and the entire team of the "Star Sea Research Institute"! The answers of the future seemed to be hidden within this shimmering artificial star sea, waiting for him to explore them one by one.