149: Chapter 149 Echoes from Deep Space: Signal Enhancement
After Su Xiaowan left, the office returned to absolute quiet.
Lin Mo did not immediately immerse himself back into the vast ocean of data for the "north heavenly gate project."
He leaned back in his high-backed chair, his gaze once again cast toward the lifelike virtual bamboo forest outside the window.
His fingertips tapped the armrest unconsciously, but his mind was not thinking about materials science; instead, he was replaying every detail of his brief interaction with Su Xiaowan just now.
That goodwill and faint concern, which transcended a mere working relationship, felt like a breeze of gentle warmth blowing into this highly precise yet slightly cold fortress-1.
The corners of his mouth curved upward unconsciously, but soon, this soft emotion was suppressed by an even greater sense of responsibility and urgency.
He knew clearly that ripples of personal emotion were merely insignificant embellishments in the face of this torrent concerning the survival of civilization.
"Cannot slack off." He whispered to himself, sat up straight, and prepared to pull his attention back to work.
Just then—
Woo—!
A low, urgent buzzing alarm, completely different from the daily notification tones, suddenly broke the silence of the office!
The sound came from the black personal terminal on his wrist, the latest issued model that was directly connected to the base core and the "Weaving Net - system" complex.
The alarm light flashed with blinding red, illuminating his face, which had instantly turned solemn.
Almost at the same time, the main holographic screen in the office was forcibly cut into.
Su Xiaowan's figure appeared again, but the background was now the command seat of the "Weaving Net" security center.
There was no trace of the previous ease on her face; instead, it was replaced by intense concentration and a hint of disbelief and shock.
"Consultant Lin! Emergency!" Su Xiaowan's voice came through the quantum encrypted channel, fast and urgent, "The 'Thousand-Mile Eye Plan' deep space detection array, main directional receiving unit, just captured an anomaly!"
Lin Mo's heart sank, all distractions instantly cleared: "What anomaly? The 'beacon'?"
"It is the 'beacon'!" Su Xiaowan confirmed, her fingers sliding rapidly across the control panel in front of her.
A set of real-time data streams was synchronized to Lin Mo's main screen, "But the signal characteristics have changed drastically! The intensity has jumped by more than three orders of magnitude in the past seven minutes! And... the modulation method has become extremely complex, carrying strong, repetitive directional information packets!"
On the screen, the "beacon" signal curve, which had previously been as steady as background noise, now looked like a violent python suddenly raising its head.
The peak height rose exaggeratedly, presenting a highly regular yet aggressive pulse cluster pattern.
Beside it, the preliminary analysis results from "system" were refreshing rapidly: [Signal source location: outskirts of the Kuiper Belt, coordinates (correcting)... Energy radiation pattern: non-natural, suspected directional energy injection or carrier nature change... Information density: surging, preliminary parsing in progress... Threat assessment: sharply upgraded...]
Three orders of magnitude! That was an enhancement of over a thousand times! This was definitely not something natural fluctuations could achieve!
"It is like... it was suddenly 'lit up,' or 'activated.'" Lin Mo stared at the wildly jumping curve, his voice terrifyingly calm, "Can you parse the content of the information packets?"
"We are doing our best to decrypt it. 'system' has mobilized an additional forty percent of computing power to prioritize this task." Su Xiaowan reported, "But the opponent's encryption layer and encoding logic are completely different from the fragments we captured before.
It is more like a format for a... 'formal notification' or 'activation response.' Even stranger is..."
She paused and pulled up another set of spectral analysis charts: "While the signal strengthened, several passive monitoring stations we deployed near Mars orbit and the Jupiter asteroid belt also received extremely weak, homologous harmonic resonances.
'system' simulation deductions show that this resonance pattern is very much like some kind of... relay or confirmation echo for superluminal communication."
Superluminal communication? Lin Mo's pupils contracted slightly.
Humanity's current theories were still trapped within the light-speed barrier, yet the opponent could already skillfully use superluminal means for interstellar communication?
This technological gap was potentially even larger than expected!
"In other words," Lin Mo said slowly, each word hitting the silent air like cold stones, "This 'beacon' might not be a lonely 'lighthouse,' but a node in a vast communication network or early warning system.
Our existence, or rather... some of our 'sufficiently conspicuous' activities recently, 'activated' it, causing it to switch from a standby or low-power monitoring state to a... 'broadcast' or 'alert' state?"
The "sufficiently conspicuous activities" he mentioned had a very obvious target—his own global debut from behind the scenes, the completion and commissioning of the "soaring heavens" aerospace carrier, and humanity's first victory in destroying a "reaper" probe!
The "civilization energy level" leap gathered by these events was like lighting a dazzling torch in a dark forest; it would be hard not to attract attention!
Su Xiaowan clearly thought of this too, her face turning a few shades paler: "Very likely! 'system's' social-technological energy level leap model also supports this speculation.
Consultant Lin, if that is really the case, then..."
She did not finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear: if it was truly because of their recent explosive development that this "alert" was triggered, then what would be on the other end of the "beacon" that issued the alert?
A more advanced observation station? Or... the main fleet command system of the "reaper" civilization?
Just as a heavy shadow shrouded their hearts, Lin Mo's personal terminal vibrated again.
This time it was not an alarm, but the interface of the [civilization leap system] popping up automatically!
A cold mechanical voice sounded directly in his mind, carrying a hint of unprecedented solemnity:
[Warning: Detected abnormal activation of a suspected 'interstellar civilization monitoring network node' in the outskirts of the host civilization's star system.]
[The signal pattern of this node has an increased match rate of 71% with the database 'potential threat classification: nomadic reaper-type civilization - vanguard sentry' characteristics.]
[Node activation trigger analysis: The probability that the host civilization's recent technological energy level leap and collective consciousness focus events (keywords: Lin Mo's identity disclosure, aerospace combat victory) are the cause is 89%.]
[Inference: The host civilization has attracted the key attention of the 'reaper' vanguard observation system.
After the node is activated, its information transmission efficiency and monitoring accuracy will be significantly improved.
It is expected that the time for the 'reaper' main force to obtain detailed information and adjust their invasion strategy will be shortened.]
[Emergency branch task issued: Parse the enhanced signal.]
[Task objective: Within 72 hours, lead the decryption of the core information packet contained in the enhanced signal, and at least clarify its alert level, target direction, and possible response time frame.]
[Task reward: Points + 8000, specific frequency band signal shielding/camouflage technology principle (primary), 'reaper' basic communication protocol fragments.]
[Failure penalty: Serious lack of enemy intelligence, which may lead to fatal misjudgment in subsequent strategic layouts.]
The system's warning and task issuance were like a basin of ice water mixed with flames poured over him, making his heart feel cold while forcing out the ruthlessness and urgency in his bones.
"Sure enough... it is because we 'moved,' so they 'moved' too." The last trace of fluctuation in Lin Mo's eyes disappeared, leaving only absolute calmness and sharpness.
He did not panic at all; instead, he had a sense of clarity that "the other shoe has finally dropped."
Passive hiding might buy time, but it was definitely not the way out.
Since they would face each other sooner or later, seeing the enemy's reaction early might not be a bad thing.
"Xiao Wan," he spoke to Su Xiaowan on the screen, his voice steady and powerful, carrying unquestionable decisiveness, "Immediately list this matter as the highest priority, code-named 'Echoes from Deep Space.' Notify Elder Chen, Director Long, and synchronize with the GDC core member state representatives to convene a level-three encrypted emergency video conference, starting in ten minutes."
"Yes!" Su Xiaowan did not hesitate at all.
"Second, in my name, authorize 'system' to initiate 'over-limit calculation mode.' While ensuring basic functions, invest at least seventy percent of computing power into this signal decryption.
Unite all top cryptography, astrophysics, and information engineering teams worldwide that have joined the GDC to form a temporary 'signal decryption joint team,' with you serving as our general coordinator.
I need the fastest progress."
"Understood! I will coordinate immediately!"
"Third," Lin Mo stood up and walked to the huge panoramic star map, his gaze locked on the dark region representing the Kuiper Belt, "Notify Captain Long Zhantian of the 'soaring heavens,' raise the combat readiness level to level two, and strengthen the patrol density in the Earth-Moon space and the orbits of major planets in the Solar System.
At the same time, in the name of the GDC Scientific Advisory Group, suggest that all deep space exploration projects enter caution mode, and do not actively transmit high-power detection signals unless necessary."
Each instruction was clear and explicit, instantly suppressing the panic that might have arisen from the signal anomaly and transforming it into efficient, orderly response actions.
"Consultant Lin," Su Xiaowan finished recording quickly and looked up at him, her eyes questioning, "Regarding the inference that the signal enhancement might be caused by us, and... the system's prompt about 'shortening the invasion time,' to what extent should this be disclosed at the emergency meeting?"
Lin Mo was silent for a moment.
This news was too shocking; once fully disclosed, it could trigger global panic and even shake the cooperation foundation that the GDC had just established.
"First report the fact of the abnormal signal enhancement, the changes in spectral characteristics, and 'system's' preliminary threat assessment." Lin Mo made a trade-off, "Regarding the activation trigger and the inference that we may face a shortened time... temporarily treat it as our highest-level internal study, known only to a very few core attendees.
We need to concentrate our efforts to decrypt the signal content first, obtain more conclusive evidence chains, and at the same time accelerate the construction pace of 'North Heaven Gate' and subsequent fleets."
He turned around, back to the star map, facing Su Xiaowan on the screen, his eyes burning with a near-fierce determination beneath his calmness:
"Panic cannot solve problems.
Since we cannot hide, let's seize this precious time while the enemy is 'looking' over and reacting to become faster and stronger than they expected!
Tell all comrades participating in the decryption that every second we crack the enemy's 'language' ahead of schedule may win one more point of survival hope for our civilization!"
"Yes!" Su Xiaowan was infected by his eyes and words, nodding vigorously, the tension on her face replaced by a determination to burn the boats.
The communication was cut off, and the office returned to silence, but the air was already filled with the tension of an impending storm.
Lin Mo stood alone in front of the star map, looking at the red dot representing the "beacon," which was flashing crazily at this moment.
Outside the window, the virtual bamboo forest was still quiet, while deep in the real universe, a "gaze" that had been suddenly lit up had already crossed hundreds of millions of kilometers, coldly cast upon this blue planet that had just ignited the fire of hope.
The echo has arrived, and the storm is coming.
But this time, humanity is no longer ignorant, no longer passive.
They have eyes to see the threats clearly, fists to swing at the enemy, and more importantly... a pilot determined to carve out a path of survival for civilization in a desperate situation.
"Come on," Lin Mo whispered to the star map, as if confronting that invisible gaze, "Let's see whose fire of civilization can burn longer and shine further."
He sat back at his workstation.
On the main screen, beside the blueprint of the "north heavenly gate project," a real-time progress interface for "Echoes from Deep Space - Signal Decryption" had been opened in parallel.