129: Chapter 129 First Steps into the "Alien Research Institute": Undercurrents Surge

At 7:50 PM, Ling Ye held up a plain black umbrella and arrived at District D of the academy.

The buildings in District D were relatively old, consisting mostly of various laboratories, club activity rooms, and storage rooms.

The activity room for the "Anomaly Research Society" was located at the end of the second floor of a small three-story building; the door plate had no special markings, only the room number "D-207."

The hallway was dimly lit and exceptionally quiet, forming a stark contrast to the liveliness of other club activity rooms.

Ling Ye closed his umbrella, adjusted his clothes and expression slightly at the door, maintained his "Spiritual Sense" at an extremely low, passive state used only to perceive his own safety and environmental anomalies, and then raised his hand to knock gently on the door.

"Please come in." Su Qing's gentle and clear voice came from inside.

Ling Ye pushed the door open and entered.

The activity room was more spacious and minimalist than he had imagined.

The room was about forty or fifty square meters; against the wall was a row of bookshelves filled with books and folders, and in the center was an oval long table surrounded by about a dozen chairs.

At this moment, six or seven people were already seated around the table.

Su Qing sat in the main seat, still wearing that light gray casual outfit, with glasses on the bridge of her nose, and a light screen and notebook spread out in front of her.

Seeing her, Ling Ye felt a slight stir in his heart—she seemed to possess a touch more of the competence and sharpness of an academic moderator than she usually did in the counseling office.

Sitting to her left was a young man with black-rimmed glasses, slightly curly hair, and a delicate face, though his eyes seemed somewhat unfocused; he was looking down, quickly recording something on his personal terminal.

On her right was a figure that made Ling Ye's gaze tighten slightly—Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming was not wearing his baseball cap today; he was wearing a dark blue academy sports jacket. His posture was relaxed, and his face wore his usual, slightly sunny smile.

Seeing Ling Ye enter, he looked up. His gaze met Ling Ye's, his smile remained unchanged, and he even nodded slightly, as if the probing in the hallway that day had never happened.

The others, both men and women, appeared to be between eighteen or nineteen and their early twenties. Their attire varied, but their aura all exuded a scholarly air or the focus of a researcher.

Ling Ye scanned them quickly and did not find Sun Li.

"Student Ling Ye, welcome, please take a seat." Su Qing looked up, saw Ling Ye, and a professional, gentle smile appeared on her face.

She pointed to an empty seat at the end of the long table. "Find a place to sit; we are just about to start."

"Thank you, Teacher Su." Ling Ye nodded politely and walked to the empty seat to sit down.

The position was exactly diagonally opposite Zhou Ming, allowing him to observe the entire room without being overly conspicuous.

He placed his backpack by his feet, took out an ordinary notebook and pen, and made a show of preparing to take notes.

"Everyone is here, so let's begin tonight's discussion." Su Qing looked around, her voice steady.

"Before we begin the formal topic, let me introduce a new friend. This is Student Ling Ye from the third year of the Middle Division. He has some interest in the community environment and unexplained phenomena, and is here to audit today.

Ling Ye, these are all members of the 'Anomaly Research Society.' This is the Vice President, Lin Tao," she pointed to the curly-haired man with glasses on her left, "and this is Zhou Ming, who is responsible for outreach and some field research.

The others are Wang Wei, Chen Hao, Li Xiang, and Zhao Xue—all key members of the society."

The members who were named nodded to Ling Ye in greeting. Their attitude was not enthusiastic, but they were not unwelcoming either; it was more like a routine reaction to an ordinary auditor.

Zhou Ming even added with a smile, "Student Ling Ye and I have met before; it's quite a coincidence."

Ling Ye nodded in response again, saying nothing more.

"Alright, let's get back to the point." Su Qing brought the topic back.

"The theme of tonight's discussion is 'A Preliminary Multidisciplinary Perspective on Low-Frequency Anomalous Phenomena in Dawn City and Its Surroundings in Recent Years.' Lin Tao, you report first on the recent literature review and the collection of public data."

The curly-haired man with glasses, Lin Tao, pushed up his glasses, cleared his throat, and began to speak.

He spoke quickly and with clear logic, citing a large number of public academic papers, environmental monitoring reports, Municipal Government complaint records, and even discussions from some fringe science forums.

The content covered multiple cases he called "E-Class Phenomena" (E for Enigmatic), including the strange noises in the community that Ling Ye already knew about, the abnormal behavior of the Crystal-Armored Beast, and background magnetic field disturbances.

It also included some things Ling Ye had not noticed, such as unexplained short radio bursts recorded by a small nearby observatory; periodic trace abnormalities in the groundwater quality of a certain old community (abnormal fluctuations in the concentration of certain metal ions); and reports from a few citizens about seeing "stationary, dim points of light" in the sky at night.

Lin Tao's report was very academic, tending to try to explain these anomalies using known scientific theories (such as geological activity, electromagnetic interference, equipment errors, collective hallucinations, known celestial phenomena, etc.).

However, he had to admit that for some cases, "existing data is insufficient, or there are irreconcilable contradictions with known models that require further observation and verification."

Ling Ye listened intently, recording keywords quickly in his notebook.

Lin Tao's summary was comprehensive, but clearly, the information he possessed remained at an "open" and "scientifically discussable" level.

It did not touch upon the core secrets mentioned by "Old Zhao," nor did it mention "Deep Space Frontier Capital" or any possible "non-human existence." This fit the profile of a student research society.

Next was the open discussion session.

Other members began to speak; some put forward their own conjectures (such as "unknown geophysical processes" or "unrecognized atmospheric electrical phenomena"), some questioned the reliability of certain data, and others discussed designing more rigorous observational experiment protocols.

The atmosphere was enthusiastic and rational, exactly like a formal academic seminar.

Zhou Ming also spoke a few times. His views were relatively pragmatic, emphasizing "the importance of field surveys and data verification," and he mentioned that they could utilize some "modified civilian detection equipment" and "idle resources from the academy's laboratories" to conduct low-cost exploration.

When he spoke, his gaze would occasionally sweep over Ling Ye, but he would quickly move it away.

Ling Ye remained silent throughout, listening attentively, and occasionally scribbling in his notebook, playing the role of a "studious auditor" well.

However, his "High-Dimensional Information Perception" was always kept at a minimum level of operation, like invisible tentacles, feeling the "information field" of everyone in the room.

Su Qing's "field" was stable, rational, and carried a sense of scrutiny and guidance, like a precision-running instrument.

Lin Tao's "field" was filled with the restlessness of data and the obsession of logic.

The "fields" of the other members were either curious, rigorous, or slightly tinged with fantasy.

But Zhou Ming's "field"… was somewhat special.

On the surface, it was active and sunny, but inside, there was a deliberate "smoothness" and "control," as if he were wearing a layer of disguise.

When he wasn't speaking, beneath that "smoothness," a faint, extremely weak sense of "focus" and "assessment," similar to that of a hunter, would subtly emerge.

Especially when the discussion turned to "field exploration" and "equipment," this implicit trait would become slightly more obvious.

This was not the "field" of an ordinary student.

Ling Ye could almost be certain that Zhou Ming was by no means just a "news club member" or a "research society outreach" contact.

His probing in the hallway that morning was likely part of his "official duty" or "personal interest."

The discussion lasted about an hour and a half.

Su Qing finally summarized, affirming everyone's ideas, emphasizing "scientific attitude" and "empirical spirit," and assigned tasks for the next stage (continuing to collect data, refining analysis models, designing simple verification experiments, etc.).

"Alright, let's stop here for tonight. Student Ling Ye," Su Qing looked at Ling Ye and smiled, "How do you feel about participating in this kind of discussion for the first time? Do you have any questions or thoughts?"

Everyone's gaze was focused on Ling Ye.

Ling Ye put down his pen, raised his head, and his face revealed a moderate amount of contemplation and a hint of enlightenment after being taught: "I learned a lot, Teacher Su, and seniors.

Many phenomena I had only vaguely sensed before became much clearer after listening to everyone's analysis and synthesis.

Especially the discussion on 'multidisciplinary cross-verification' and 'data reliability' made me understand that when looking at these 'anomalies,' one cannot rely solely on feelings; one needs a systematic and scientific method."

His answer was standard and proper; it expressed interest and what he had gained, and it implied agreement with the "scientific method," fitting the tone advocated by Su Qing.

Su Qing nodded: "Having interest and thoughts is a good start.

If you have more specific questions later, or if you are particularly interested in a certain direction, you can communicate with us at any time.

Club activities are held once a week; the time is not fixed, and I will notify you in advance. You are welcome to continue auditing."

"Thank you, Teacher Su, I will." Ling Ye responded politely.

After the meeting, the members left in twos and threes.

Zhou Ming walked over, patted Ling Ye on the shoulder, and smiled brightly: "Ling Ye, I didn't expect you to be interested in this too.

Let's communicate more in the future! If you are interested in outdoor exploration or something similar, you can also look for me; I have quite a lot of 'fun' equipment."

"Okay, Senior Zhou Ming." Ling Ye replied, his gaze calm.

Leaving the activity room and walking on the cold, rainy campus at night, Ling Ye's heart was not relaxed in the slightest.

The "Anomaly Research Society" tonight seemed on the surface to be a rigorous, even somewhat rigid, academic interest group.

But the presence of Zhou Ming, the guidance from Su Qing that seemed open but actually had clear boundaries, and the fact that the discussion content always revolved around "public, scientifically explainable" fringe phenomena all indicated that this society was by no means as simple as it appeared on the surface.

It was more like a "filter" or an "observation station"—using academic discussions to screen and attract students who were truly interested in "anomalies" and possessed a certain level of scientific literacy.

At the same time, under the framework of "science," it avoided or blurred certain sensitive topics (such as the core secrets of the Old Factory District).

The real core research or operations were likely conducted in a smaller circle, or through Su Qing's personal direct contact with other agencies such as the Security Department.

Su Qing invited him perhaps to observe the reaction of this "associated person" after being exposed to "scientific explanations," to evaluate whether he had "research value" or "potential risk," or even… whether he had the potential to be absorbed into a deeper circle.

And Zhou Ming was likely one of the executors responsible for "assessing" and "contacting" potential targets.

His performance today should not have revealed any flaws.

Appearing as an "ordinary student touched by events and interested in scientific methods" was the safest approach.

But this also meant that he had officially entered the more direct observation list of Su Qing and Zhou Ming.

Subsequent interactions with them would need to be even more careful.

At the same time, he could not completely rely on or trust this "official/semi-official" research channel.

The information they possessed might be more comprehensive, but their stance, purpose, and willingness to share key information were all unknowns.

The line of "Old Zhao," as well as the improvement of his own strength, remained fundamental.

Returning to the apartment, Ling Ye did not rest immediately.

He sat down at his desk, spread out his notes, and compared and supplemented the information he had heard and the details he had observed tonight with the clues he already knew, one by one.

Outside the window, the night rain had not stopped.

In the direction of the Old Factory District, that cold pulsation seemed even clearer amidst the sound of the rain.

Ling Ye slowly closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank into the "Star Visualization."

He knew that he had just stepped into a more complex and dangerous game of chess.

And the chess players were far more than just Su Qing and Zhou Ming.

He needed to see the full picture of the chessboard faster.