Chapter 199 Li Xiao's Discovery 1

3:00 AM, Base Data Center.

Li Xiao stared at the data stream on the screen, her eyes already beginning to ache. She rubbed her eyes and took another large gulp of coffee—this was her fourth cup tonight, specially left for her by Master Liu, who said it would "refresh the mind without hurting the stomach."

Over at the Carbon Nanotubes project, Lin Mo had told her she didn't need to follow along every day for now and should just focus on data support. She could have kept a normal schedule, but for the past few days, she felt as if something was scratching at her heart.

That signal.

Lin Mo hadn't discussed it with her in detail, but she wasn't a fool. That early morning when Lin Mo went to the communication station to "check materials," he was different when he returned—more silent, more focused, as if he were hiding something in his heart.

Later, Lin Mo assigned her a task: organize all radio data coming from the direction of Centaurus and perform a Spectrum analysis.

"Senior Brother," she had asked at the time, "what are we looking for?"

Lin Mo was silent for two seconds before saying only one sentence: "Look for patterns."

Patterns.

What kind of signal requires looking for patterns?

Li Xiao hadn't been without her guesses. But during these past few months, she hadn't asked a single word. If Lin Mo didn't say anything, he had his reasons. She only needed to organize the data and make the analysis precise.

Tonight, she finally found it.

A spectrum curve lay quietly on the screen.

This was the result of three hours of processing—superimposing all the signals received over the past two months, performing a Fourier transform, and extracting periodic characteristics.

In the middle of the curve, there was a sharp peak.

The frequency corresponding to the peak was:

0.0429 Hertz

Converted to time, that was:

23 hours and 17 minutes

Li Xiao's hands trembled slightly.

She pulled up the raw data and re-checked everything—sampling frequency, denoising algorithms, Fourier transform parameters; all were confirmed to be correct.

Then she pulled up two other independent data sources—public data from the Guizhou FAST Telescope, which she had secretly downloaded; and radio satellite data from the Purple Mountain Observatory, for which she had applied for research permissions through official channels.

The same processing, the same algorithm.

The same result.

23 hours and 17 minutes, without the slightest discrepancy.

Li Xiao leaned back in her chair, staring at that number, her mind a complete blank.

23 hours and 17 minutes.

Earth's rotation period is 23 hours and 56 minutes. It wasn't this number.

The Sun's rotation period is 25 days. Not that either.

The Moon's orbital period is 27.3 days. Even less so.

This number was not the natural cycle of any celestial body.

What did it mean?

Li Xiao took a deep breath and began a second analysis—segmenting the signal by time to see if this period was persistent.

The data started from two months ago, occurring every day without interruption.

Every day, every 23 hours and 17 minutes, the signal would repeat.

It wasn't "roughly," it was "precise."

The error was less than one hundred-thousandth of a second.

Li Xiao's finger rested on the mouse, motionless.

She knew what this meant.

There are no natural phenomena in the universe that can achieve such precise periodicity. A star's rotation has jitters, a pulsar's pulse has decay, a planet's orbit has perturbations—none can achieve this level of precision.

There was only one possibility.

Artificial.

At 4:00 AM, Li Xiao knocked on Lin Mo's dormitory door.

The door opened quickly. Lin Mo was in his pajamas, his hair a bit messy, but his eyes were alert—clearly, he hadn't slept either.

"Senior Brother," Li Xiao's voice was a bit shaky, "I've discovered something."

Lin Mo looked at her, remained silent for two seconds, and then stepped aside:

"Come in."

Li Xiao walked into the room and saw documents spread out on the desk—still materials on Carbon Nanotubess. Lin Mo was clearly pulling an all-nighter as well.

"Sit." Lin Mo pointed to a chair.

Li Xiao sat down and handed over her tablet:

"Senior Brother, look at this."

Lin Mo took it and began looking at the data and charts on the screen.

The first curve: Spectrum analysis, peak at 0.0429 Hertz.

The second curve: time segmentation, 23 hours and 17 minutes period, lasting for two months.

The third curve: error analysis, less than one hundred-thousandth of a second.

Lin Mo looked for a long time without speaking.

Li Xiao waited for a while, finally unable to help herself:

"Senior Brother, this can't be a natural phenomenon."

Lin Mo looked up at her.

Li Xiao continued, "23 hours and 17 minutes is not the period of any celestial body. And the precision is too high, so high it can't be a coincidence. If this is a natural phenomenon, then the entirety of astrophysics would have to be rewritten."

Lin Mo nodded. "Anything else?"

Li Xiao was stunned for a moment. "Any... anything else?"

"What do you think this period means?"

Li Xiao thought for a moment and said cautiously:

"I guess... is the signal source rotating? Rotating once every 23 hours and 17 minutes?"

Lin Mo shook his head. "If it were rotation, the signal should be transmitted continuously, with only periodic changes in intensity. But our data shows the signal is intermittent—it transmits once every 23 hours and 17 minutes, lasts for about three minutes, and then disappears."

Li Xiao gasped. "That means—"

"It means," Lin Mo took over, "someone is deliberately transmitting signals to the Solar System according to a precise schedule."

The room fell silent.

It was so quiet that the breathing of both people could be heard.

Li Xiao opened her mouth, and it took a long time before she squeezed out a sentence:

"Senior Brother, you... you knew all along?"

Lin Mo was silent for two seconds, then nodded:

"The night of the successful ignition, the system gave a prompt."

Li Xiao's eyes widened. "That night?!"

"Yes. That night, I was alone in the dormitory, and the system popped up a prompt—detected a non-natural signal from the direction of Centaurus."

Li Xiao took a deep breath, trying to digest this information.

Centaurus.

A non-natural signal.

That night—

She suddenly remembered that night she had brought milk to Lin Mo; he had been standing by the window looking at the stars. She had asked him what he was thinking about, and he said he was "thinking about some things."

So he was thinking about this.

"Senior Brother," her voice was trembling slightly, "what... what is it?"

Lin Mo shook his head. "I don't know. The signal is still being decoded; currently, only some mathematical sequences have been parsed—prime numbers, Fibonacci, Pi."

Li Xiao's head was buzzing.

Prime numbers. Fibonacci. Pi.

These are mathematical languages, the universal "hello" of the cosmos.

"So..." she struggled to organize her words, "so there really are aliens?"

Lin Mo looked at her, his gaze complex:

"Highly likely."

Li Xiao was silent for a long time.

Then she asked, "Senior Brother, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Lin Mo didn't answer immediately. He walked to the window and pushed it open, letting the night wind blow in.

The night wind of the Gobi Desert carried the scent of sand and soil; it was cool and refreshing.

"Because if I said it, there would be chaos," he finally spoke. "Do you know what would happen if this news were released?"

Li Xiao thought for a moment and said slowly:

"A global sensation... countries racing to research it... an explosion of public opinion... and then—"

"And then all resources would flood toward deep space exploration," Lin Mo took over. "What about Carbon Nanotubess? What about the space elevator? What about the Nuclear Fusion power plants?"

Li Xiao was stunned.

Lin Mo turned around and looked at her:

"What we lack most right now isn't contact with aliens, but time. Carbon Nanotubess need three years, the space elevator needs twenty years. If this news is released now, everyone's attention will be pulled away, and these basic engineering projects will be delayed."

He walked back to the desk and sat down:

"But the aliens won't wait for us. That signal is transmitted every day. It might have been transmitting for hundreds or thousands of years; it's just that we couldn't receive it before. Now that we have, we must study it well, but—"

He paused, looking directly at Li Xiao:

"It cannot affect what we are currently doing."

Li Xiao was silent for a long time.

Then she nodded:

"I understand, Senior Brother. I'll keep it a secret."

Lin Mo looked at her, a hint of relief in his eyes:

"Thank you."

Li Xiao shook her head. "No need for thanks. I just want to ask one thing—will we tell them in the future?"

"Who?"

"Everyone. The whole world."

Lin Mo thought for a moment and then said:

"We will. But not now. Wait until we are ready, wait until we have the ability to respond, wait until we no longer have to worry about being blinded by this news."

Li Xiao nodded and stood up:

"Then I'll continue monitoring. If there are any new discoveries, I'll tell you immediately."

Lin Mo also stood up. "Good. But get some rest; don't pull all-nighters too hard."

Li Xiao smiled. "Senior Brother, you should say that to yourself."

Lin Mo was taken aback for a moment, then he also laughed.

After Li Xiao left, Lin Mo stood by the window, watching the eastern sky gradually turn white.

23 hours and 17 minutes.

This number kept turning over in his mind.

Not Earth's period, not the Sun's period, not the period of any known celestial body.

What was it?

He suddenly thought of a possibility.

If it was the rotation period of the planet where the signal source was located, then a day on that planet was 23 hours and 17 minutes. Almost the same as Earth—only a 39-minute difference.

What did this mean?

Did it mean that planet was almost the same size as Earth, rotating almost as fast, and almost as suitable for life?

Or did it mean they chose this period to make it easier for Earth to receive?

Lin Mo didn't know.

But he knew one thing:

4.37 light-years away, someone was greeting Earth.

Using a mathematical language humans could understand.

Using a precise frequency humans could capture.

Using a patience that humans would one day discover.

He looked up at the low sky to the southeast.

That dim star was still there.

Silently, regularly, over and over again, transmitting its signal.

At 7:00 AM, Li Xiao came out of her dormitory and happened to run into Zhao Gang.

Zhao Gang glanced at her. "Pulled another all-nighter?"

Li Xiao shook her head. "No, just... had some things to do."

Zhao Gang stared at her, his gaze sharp. "What things?"

Li Xiao opened her mouth, wanting to say it, but swallowed it back.

Lin Mo had said to keep it secret.

"Nothing," she said, "just some data analysis, it was a bit complicated."

Zhao Gang looked at her for a few seconds, then nodded:

"Alright. Take care of yourself."

He turned and left.

Li Xiao stood in place, watching his back, suddenly feeling a bit guilty.

Zhao Gang trusted them so much, yet they were hiding something from him.

But Lin Mo was right—this news could not be told now.

She took a deep breath and walked toward the Canteen.

It was a new day, and there was still much to be done.