204: Chapter 204: Cosmic Lasers Shot From the Northern and Southern Dynasties

"A laser????"

"Holy crap, a laser fired from over 1,400 light-years away, and the target is Sichuan Province?"

"This isn't a greeting anymore; it's a snipe, isn't it? A space-time snipe?"

"Sichuan Province High-Altitude Cosmic Ray Observatory—I looked it up, the project actually exists!"

"My scalp is tingling; the more I think about it, the more terrifying it gets!"

"Wait! Over 1,400 light-years... light takes over 1,400 years to travel that distance. So when this light was emitted..."

"Don't say it, person above me! I've got goosebumps!"

Inside the high school principal's office, Principal Fu, Old Wang, and Xiao Wang looked at each other, their faces filled with shock and suspicion.

Is this for real???

And it specifically targeted a laser in Sichuan Province?

Just then, on the large screen, Xiao Yu took a sharp breath on the sofa, her expression looking a bit terrified. "B-Bro, d-don't scare me!"

Jiang Zhe looked at the uncertain Xiao Yu, suppressed his smile, and his expression gradually became serious.

"I'm not trying to scare you; I'm stating an observational fact."

"In 2025—which was last year (reality 2021)—the High-Altitude Cosmic Ray Observatory located in Daocheng, Sichuan Province: the LHAASO Observatory."

"From the direction of Cygnus—specifically, from the patch of sky where Tabby's Star KIC 8462852 is located—it received a total of 530 segments of ultra-strong cosmic ray events."

He picked up the tablet and brought up a simulated image.

"Xiao Yu, ordinary cosmic rays are like the cosmic background radiation rain; they come from all directions, but their energy isn't high."

"The Earth's atmosphere is like a sturdy umbrella. Most of the raindrops—the charged particles in the rays—are deflected, slowed down, or absorbed when they enter the atmosphere. The energy that eventually reaches the ground is negligible and hard for humans to capture."

"But!" As he shifted his tone, the image switched to a concentrated, sharp laser beam firing from the direction of Cygnus, accurately hitting Earth. "This time, what came from the direction of Cygnus wasn't rain."

"It was a gunshot aimed at Earth."

Xiao Yu and the viewers held their breath.

He pointed at the distant Cygnus constellation on the tablet.

"A single... no, a continuous rain of bullets with ridiculously high energy, firing wildly from the direction of Cygnus toward us—or rather, precisely toward the location of that observatory in Sichuan Province."

"Its energy intensity is the strongest ever observed by humans on the ground coming from a single direction. There is no second!"

"Those weren't raindrops; it was a laser storm powerful enough to strike countless micro-craters into the ground!"

"B-but Bro, that's not a laser! Bro!" Xiao Yu caught a loophole and quickly argued, "Cosmic rays are mostly streams of charged particles, not light!"

Jiang Zhe nodded, but then shook his head.

"You're right. The main components of ordinary cosmic rays are charged particles like protons."

"But the core components of these 530 segments of abnormal signals detected by the LHAASO Observatory, upon analysis, are primarily ultra-high-energy photons."

He nodded slightly, his tone becoming increasingly solemn. "What does this mean? it means it wasn't a stream of charged particles twisted by interstellar magnetic fields, but a highly precise burst of electromagnetic interference—a [Light Spear] with extreme penetrating power."

"Xiao Yu, you could call it an extreme form of a gamma-ray burst; or more simply, it's a [Cosmic Laser] fired from over a thousand light-years away, aimed directly at Earth!"

"Charged particles are easily deflected and attracted by the atmosphere and Earth's magnetic field."

"But photons—especially these ultra-high-energy gamma photons—have almost no charge. Their path along the way is virtually undisturbed. Like a bullet fired from a sniper rifle, they follow a perfectly straight trajectory..."

At this point, he paused for a moment before continuing his explanation: "From a certain point 1,480 light-years away, it struck the Sichuan plateau on Earth directly!"

Looking at the shifting expressions on Xiao Yu's face—suspicion, surprise, and even doubt.

The corners of Jiang Zhe's mouth couldn't help but curl up. "Xiao Yu, it's a coincidence, right? After all, the universe is so vast. If this laser had deviated by just a fraction, it might have hit the Pacific Ocean, or Siberia, or any unknown corner of the Earth."

"But it just so happened to land right on top of one of the few cosmic ray observatories capable of capturing and analyzing it."

"This has to be a coincidence, right?"

Xiao Yu and countless viewers sat with their mouths slightly agape, finding it hard to believe, their scalps tingling.

Jiang Zhe did not stop, continuing his narrative: "This only shows that this laser probably wasn't aimlessly sweeping across the universe; it's more like a targeted, fixed-point transmission!"

He glanced down at the content on the tablet, then looked up at the night sky outside the window. "About 1,480 light-years away from us. When the signal was sent, the light traveled on the road for about 1,480 years. So, when this laser set off from the direction of Tabby's Star..."

"Calculating based on time, corresponding to our Earth's history, it was roughly during the period from the end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the founding of the Sui Dynasty."

As Jiang Zhe's words fell, an indescribable feeling welled up in the hearts of Xiao Yu and the countless viewers.

In the living room, Xiao Yu's gaze moved from the tablet to the night outside the window, repeatedly searching for answers among the stars.

The livestream fell into a complete silence. A few seconds later, new comments began to surface.

"Wait, my CPU is frying. So, was this laser fired at Earth just now, or was it fired in ancient times?"

"Nonsense, the speed of light is finite. Of course it was emitted from Tabby's Star 1,480 years ago, and we're only receiving it now!"

"The person above is the one who didn't understand! When Bro said it was discovered last year, he meant that in our current year 2025, our instruments captured this signal; but the signal itself set off 1,480 years ago. There's no contradiction!"

"The terrifying part isn't there, brothers. The point is, if this really was a directional transmission, it means that around 540 AD during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, an existence we cannot comprehend, from 1,480 light-years away, precisely aimed at a future coordinate—our Earth right now—and pulled the trigger?"

"Future coordinates? What the hell? How did they know that 1,480 years later, there would be a place called Sichuan, and that Sichuan would just happen to have an observatory capable of receiving the signal? This isn't just aiming; it's aiming with a prophecy!"

"Or maybe it's not a prophecy. What if an advanced civilization can make light travel faster than the speed of light?"

"Stop! Enough! Don't go any further! The more we talk, the further we get from the laws of the universe. If you keep going, I really won't be able to sleep tonight!"

"Could it be a coincidence? The universe is so big, there's bound to be a signal sent in some direction and received somewhere. It just happened to be us?"

"Then that 'just happened' is too ridiculous. Energy, direction, composition, timing... when all the 'just happened's come together, is it still a coincidence?"

"So, what we received is a greeting from 1,480 years ago. The greeting says: [We discovered your blue planet through the light of your star. If you find this greeting, please hurry and hide your civilization!]"

"Person above, stop it. I have chills down my spine. If you keep talking, and another cosmic laser comes in a few years, I can't imagine if it'll be a greeting or the destruction of Earth!"

Countless viewers were arguing, fearing, and forcing themselves to find comfort.

That light, which had traveled through nearly fifteen centuries of time, now lay quietly within the LHAASO observation data.

Was it a coincidental cosmic wonder?

Or was it...

A glimpse cast from 1,480 light-years away...

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties?

...

The first 22% is true, and this chapter is also true, but in reality, there is no confirmed follow-up content regarding the high-energy rays.

Everyone should distinguish between fiction and reality; everything is based on reality.

After all, the synopsis said: Science, Sci-Fi, and uncovering unsolved mysteries. Don't start cursing as you read, saying things like [Idiot, this is impossible, that's impossible]...