41: Chapter 41 The Spark, the Ark, and the Silent War

When Lin Shen uploaded the final analysis report to the encrypted server, it was already three in the morning outside the window.

He got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the laboratory. The shadows of the plane trees outside the old laboratory building swayed in the night wind. The city was sleeping, but some people were destined to be unable to sleep. He stretched out his finger and drew a simple tree diagram on the mist-covered glass—it was a simplified projection of the technology tree system in his mind.

[Warning Confirmed: Reapers civilization curvature disturbance signal strength has exceeded threshold L7]

[Estimated arrival time: 49 years, 11 months, 7 days ± 15 days]

[Threat Level: Extinction Level (Civilization survival probability < 0.3%)]

[Suggested Pre-plan: Immediately initiate "Tinder and Ark" protocol]

These red system prompts had been circling in his consciousness for twelve hours. Twelve hours ago, he had sent this report, which included a direct screenshot of the technology tree system, through seven layers of encrypted channels to the Dragon Kingdom's highest strategic decision-making center. Now, he was waiting for a meeting that would determine the direction of civilization.

Four in the morning, the seventh underground level of the Dragon Kingdom's National Strategic Command Center.

The oval meeting room had no windows, and ring-shaped light strips illuminated the silver-gray metal table brightly. Seven people sat around the table, their faces looking solemn in the soft light.

"Everyone has finished reading Comrade Lin Shen's report." The old man sitting in the main seat had a calm voice. He was Chen Huaishan, Chairman of the Dragon Kingdom Strategic Science Committee. There was no military rank on his uniform epaulets, only a silver atomic structure badge. "For the technical details, please let Academician Li Weimin from the Quantum Information Science Center interpret first."

Academician Li Weimin adjusted his glasses, and a holographic projection unfolded in front of him. It was the analysis chart regarding the "curvature ripple signal" from Lin Shen's report.

"In layman's terms," Academician Li Weimin's voice was clearly audible in the soundproof meeting room, "what we monitored is not an electromagnetic signal, but a fluctuation of spacetime itself—just like the water ripples produced by throwing a stone into a pond. But these ripples come from the direction of Centaurus, 4.3 light-years away, and are propagating with superluminal decay."

He pulled up another set of data: "According to the technology tree system analysis provided by Lin Shen, this decay pattern matches the characteristics of 'curvature drive' technology. Simply put, curvature drive compresses spacetime in front of the spacecraft and expands it behind, pushing the spacecraft forward within a 'spacetime bubble.' This technology produces unique spacetime ripples, just like the wake left by a speedboat cutting through the water."

"Then, what does the intensity of this 'wake' mean?" asked the middle-aged woman sitting to the left of Chen Huaishan. She was Zhou Min from the Diplomatic Strategy Bureau.

"It means the ship is very large and very fast." Academician Li Weimin zoomed in on the peak in the chart. "Based on the ripple intensity and decay curve, the mass of the spacecraft creating this disturbance is at least equivalent to one-thousandth of the moon's mass, and its cruising speed... is at least 15% of the speed of light."

A brief silence fell in the meeting room.

"One-thousandth of the moon's mass, that's 75 billion tons." General Zhao from the National Defense Science and Technology Bureau said in a low voice. "And the total mass of all human artifacts sent into space so far is less than 20,000 tons."

"The more critical factor is the time window." Chen Huaishan tapped his fingers on the table. "Forty-nine years. With humanity's current technological level, what can we do in forty-nine years?"

The holographic projection switched to show the framework of the "Tinder and Ark" pre-plan from Lin Shen's report.

"Comrade Lin Shen has proposed two parallel plans." Academician Li Weimin continued to explain. "'Tinder' Project: Establish multiple completely self-sufficient hidden shelters within the Solar System to ensure that even if Earth is destroyed, the seeds of human civilization can still continue within the Solar System. 'Ark' Project: Build generation ships capable of interstellar travel to migrate to other star systems."

"Is it technically feasible?" Chen Huaishan asked the most critical question.

Academician Li Weimin pulled up a screenshot of the technology tree system—it was a reproduction of the interface in Lin Shen's consciousness. On the image, a giant tree made of light floated in the void. Most of the branches were dim and lusterless, but a few paths had been lit up.

"According to the technology tree system's deduction, to realize the 'Tinder' project, we need to unlock and master within twenty years: fully closed ecological recycling systems, kilometer-level underground city construction technology, century-level energy reserve technology, and concealment and defense technologies against possible alien attacks." Academician Li Weimin pointed to the corresponding branches on the tree one by one. "And the 'Ark' project is even more arduous, requiring: generation ship life support systems, long-term deep space radiation protection, sub-light speed propulsion technology, and potentially hibernation or consciousness storage technology."

"Does the technology tree system provide the path to unlock these technologies?" Zhou Min pressed.

"It provides the prerequisites and research directions." Academician Li Weimin nodded. "But the system shows that fully unlocking them requires enormous 'research points'—that is, the social influence generated by the actual application of the technology. This means we cannot work behind closed doors; we must complete these technical accumulations while promoting the technological progress of all mankind."

Chen Huaishan was silent for a moment, looking around at the six people present: "In other words, we are facing a triple contradiction: First, we need to prepare for a possible alien invasion, but this requires consuming huge resources, which may affect current economic development and people's livelihoods. Second, we need to promote global technological progress to obtain 'research points,' but other countries, especially the Imperial Alliance, are trying to exclude us from the international technology system using the 'Starry Sky Firewall.' Third, the ruins just discovered on the moon may be related to all of this, and the Imperial Alliance's 'Zeus Station' will arrive there in three months."

He paused, his voice becoming lower: "And all of this cannot be explained publicly. Because the existence of the 'technology tree system' and Lin Shen's special ability are the Dragon Kingdom's top secrets. Even in this room, only the seven of us know the full truth."

"So we need a public reason to promote these seemingly advanced technology plans." General Zhao said.

"And a public enemy to unite forces at home and abroad." Zhou Min added. "But the enemy cannot be 'aliens'; that would cause global panic."

Chen Huaishan looked at another file on the holographic projection—it was a detailed report on the abnormal signal in the lunar south pole hole.

"Perhaps," he said, "the ruins on the moon can become this 'public reason'."

At 5:30 in the morning, Lin Shen's personal terminal vibrated.

He swiped the screen, and an encrypted message popped up: [Strategic decision-making meeting concluded. Pre-plan approved, codename "Candle Dragon · Expansion." You have been appointed as the Chief Scientist of the "Candle Dragon · Expansion" project, with Level A clearance. A detailed mission statement will be delivered in one hour. PS: Prepare to leave for Xichang immediately; there is new observation data that requires your personal analysis.]

Lin Shen closed the message and walked to the simple folding bed in the corner of the laboratory, dragging out a silver metal box from under the bed. Inside the box were neatly stacked clothes, a first-aid kit, a set of portable experimental tools, and an old military flashlight—it was a keepsake left by his father.

His father had been one of the first aerospace engineers in the Dragon Kingdom and had participated in the launch of the first artificial satellite. Lin Shen remembered his father often saying: "Shen'er, the stars and the sea are not romantic poems, but one calculation after another precise to the millisecond, and one persistence after another finding a glimmer of light in failure."

He picked up the flashlight and pressed the switch. The dim yellow beam illuminated the design drawings spread out on the lab table—it was the propulsion configuration diagram of the "vermilion bird-2" reusable rocket. On the edge of the drawing, he had written a line of small text in pencil: "Cost target: 800 Dragon Yuan/kg. Current progress: 72%."

Another 28 percentage points. Another forty-nine years. Another three months.

Three countdowns were ticking in his life simultaneously.

At six o'clock sharp, the horizon turned pale.

When Lin Shen shouldered his field pack and walked out of the laboratory building, a black off-road vehicle was already waiting at the door. The window rolled down, and the driver was a woman in her thirties with short hair and sharp eyes.

"Dr. Lin, I am Su Ting from the Special Affairs Office, responsible for escorting you to Xichang." She gestured for Lin Shen to get in the car. "It's about a four-hour drive; you can rest in the car."

The off-road vehicle drove out of the campus and merged into the sparse morning traffic. Lin Shen leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes to rest, but in reality, his consciousness was interacting with the technology tree system.

[System, pull up the latest data on the "Deep Blue" project]

[Retrieving... The 37th verification experiment for the "Interface-induced High-Temperature Superconductivity" theory is ready, and the experimental material "bedrock-2" sample has been prepared]

["Candle Dragon-2" design progress?]

[Fusion confinement magnetic field optimization calculation is 87% complete, plasma stability simulation is in progress, and the first full-scale simulation ignition is expected in seventy-two hours]

[Schedule for the strong magnetic field experiment of the "Jiuzhang Special Project" topological quantum computer?]

[Hefei steady-state strong magnetic field experimental facility time has been coordinated: next Wednesday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The experimental plan must be submitted for review within forty-eight hours]

One project after another flowed through his consciousness. These explorations, which once represented the cutting edge of the Dragon Kingdom's technology, were now endowed with new meaning—they were not only the cornerstone of the country's rise but also the tinder for the survival of civilization.

"Dr. Lin," Su Ting's voice interrupted his thoughts, "news just came from Xichang that the 'guanghan-1' probe has captured three more abnormal signals in the past six hours. The mathematical structure of the signals has changed, and the team responsible for decoding believes... it might be a response."

Lin Shen opened his eyes: "A response? A response to what?"

"To 'guanghan-1' itself." Su Ting looked at him through the rearview mirror. "Every time we adjust the probe's scanning frequency or emit a simple detection pulse, the signal inside the hole produces a regular change after twenty-three seconds—just like it's answering our questions."

Twenty-three seconds. Exactly the round-trip time for electromagnetic waves from the lunar south pole to Earth.

Lin Shen felt a chill run down his spine. If the lunar ruins really had some kind of "consciousness" and could respond to human detection in real-time, then it had been silent for millions of years or even longer; why did it wake up at this time?

He suddenly remembered a note attached to the technology tree system when it issued the "Reapers" warning: [Weak disturbance in local spacetime structure detected, disturbance source: near the Earth-Moon system L2 point. The disturbance pattern has 0.3% similarity with the Reapers signal, but 78.6% similarity with the pandora virus gene coding logic]

The Earth-Moon system L2 point, that was a gravitational balance point on the far side of the moon, and also the current location of the "guanghan-1" probe.

Three seemingly independent events—the strengthening of the Reapers signal, the awakening of the lunar ruins, and the outbreak of the pandora virus—were connected by an invisible logical chain. And the key to this chain might be hidden in that lunar crater with a diameter of twelve kilometers and an unknown depth.

"Su Ting," Lin Shen said, "after arriving in Xichang, I want to immediately check all the raw data of 'guanghan-1'. In addition, contact the 'kuafu' project team; I need them to adjust the probe payload—add high-precision spacetime curvature monitoring equipment."

"Understood." Su Ting paused. "One more thing, the Strategic Science Committee asked me to tell you: The Imperial Alliance's 'Zeus Station' lander has completed final testing, and the launch window is set for ninety days from now. But according to the intelligence we intercepted, they might advance it."

"Advance it to when?"

"As early as sixty days." Su Ting's voice became grave. "And their landing coordinate is only... eighty-seven kilometers away from our target hole."

Eighty-seven kilometers. On the lunar surface, that was a distance that could be reached even on foot.

The off-road vehicle drove onto the highway, and the eastern horizon turned golden. A new day had begun, but Lin Shen knew that a silent war had already begun 380,000 kilometers away.

And the spoils of this war might determine whether human civilization could have a second sunrise forty-nine years later.