76: Chapter 75 Resonant Shadow
Kiribati, dusk on the equator. The base of the first "Psionic Resonance Tower" gleamed with a cold metallic light in the setting sun, like a silver rivet embedded in the blue planet.
Engineer Wang Lei was performing the final ground loop check when the synchronization command from the central control center came through his headset: "Tower 3, prepare for the first full-power low-frequency harmonic test, countdown five minutes."
"Tower 3 received." Wang Lei confirmed all safety locks were in place and walked behind the observation bunker. In the distance, the 150-meter-tall tower began to emit a low hum, and the multi-layer coil array at the top lit up with a faint, ghostly blue glow.
In synchronous orbit, inside the connection hub module of the "Tianshu" station, a small receiving ring matched to the frequency of the ground resonance tower hovered. If the test succeeded, this receiving ring would lock onto the ground harmonics, laying the phase foundation for the subsequent "Psionic Superflow Beam."
"All ground stations report ready."
"Tianshu receiving ring status is normal."
"Nuwa, initiate global consciousness network assisted tuning, set the stability threshold within 0.01% deviation."
"Consciousness network connected, tuning preparation complete."
The countdown reached zero.
Seven ground resonance towers simultaneously increased their output power. Invisible harmonics pierced the atmosphere, shooting into space. Under Nuwa's precise control and the support of "real-time error correction computing power" provided by the consciousness network of tens of thousands of global volunteers, the seven harmonics began a difficult phase alignment near the preset coordinates of the Tianshu station.
On the holographic monitoring screen, the trajectories of the seven waveforms slowly converged, attempting to overlap.
Progress seemed smooth. For the first thirty seconds, the phase deviation rapidly narrowed from the initial 15 degrees to within 3 degrees.
Just then, at the No. 6 Resonance Tower located in Gabon, Africa, its harmonic waveform suddenly showed a sharp, irregular protrusion, as if it had been "bumped" by something.
"Tower 6 harmonic anomaly! Phase shift +1.7 degrees!" the monitor exclaimed.
"Nuwa, consciousness network correction!"
"Applying correction force... Encountering unknown resistance! Consciousness network feedback in the Tower 6 region is experiencing delays and noise!" Nuwa's voice remained calm, but her speech rate quickened.
"Is it interference? The 'Pruning Faction'?" Minister Li Weimin asked urgently at the Ling Shu Base central control center.
"The interference characteristics don't match. It's more like... a local natural field strength anomaly?" Dr. Zhou Zhe quickly analyzed the data, "There are ancient geological structures underground in the Gabon region; it could be some special magnetic mineral or underground water vein movement affecting the psionic field distribution... No! This fluctuation pattern is active and regular!"
Before he could finish speaking, the harmonics of Tower 6 shook violently again, causing the other six harmonics to become unstable as well. On the holographic screen, the seven waveforms began to twist and scatter like startled snakes.
"Synchronization is about to be lost! Forcibly terminate the test!" Nuwa issued a warning.
"Wait!" Lin Shen stared intently at the real-time geological profile of the Gabon region, which was overlaid with various sensor data. About three kilometers deep beneath the resonance tower, a blue block that had originally been calm and represented a dense basalt layer was now flashing with an abnormal, regular red light, and its pulsation frequency... had actually produced a strange "resonance" with the harmonic frequency emitted by the resonance tower!
"That is not a natural geological body! That thing is 'learning' and 'mimicking' our harmonics!" Lin Shen realized instantly, "There is something under the site of Tower 6! Stop transmission! Immediately!"
The order was given. The seven resonance towers shut down simultaneously. The receiving ring in space dimmed as it lost its signal source.
But it was already too late.
A dull roar, like a giant beast turning over, came from the ground in the Gabon region. The curves on the seismograph surged sharply!
"Strong geological activity occurring in the Tower 6 base area! Hypocenter depth 2.8 kilometers, estimated magnitude... 5.7!" The geological monitoring department sent an emergency report.
The screen switched to the Tower 6 site. The ground was cracking, and the tower was shaking violently. Although it did not collapse due to its powerful seismic design, the ground around the base had already twisted and bulged.
"Tower structural stress exceeds limits! Some anchor bolts have failed!"
"Activate emergency stabilization devices!"
Worse still, Nuwa reported immediately after: "Detected abnormal consciousness harmonics spreading from the epicenter area! The intensity is not high, but the frequency characteristics... have a faint similarity to the 'Sower Protocol remnants' detected in the fragments of Dr. Sarah Chen, while also mixed with strong, non-biological 'mechanical' repetitive patterns!"
"Something underground has been 'awakened' by us, and that thing might be related to the 'sower', but its state is not right." Academician Chen Qiming turned pale.
"Immediately blockade the airspace within 500 kilometers of Tower 6! Dispatch a rapid response team and a team of geological and psionic physics experts to the site!" Lin Shen ordered quickly, "The 'Sky-Propping' project is suspended; conduct a comprehensive assessment of geological risks. Nuwa, rescan the underground structures of the other six tower sites globally, and increase the precision to the maximum!"
The "Cradle" is observing, and the Earth beneath human feet also seems to harbor unknown "observers" or "sleepers."
At the same time, at the joint laboratory "Other Shore Flower."
Max Costa was performing daily low-frequency resonance maintenance aimed at stabilizing Sarah's fragmented consciousness. Suddenly, the connection platform "Heart Bridge" shook violently—not a physical vibration, but an unprecedented disorder in the consciousness harmonic field it was carrying!
Sarah's originally faint, fragmented silver-blue light points suddenly became bright and manic! They no longer converged slowly, but spun and collided crazily, releasing waves of chaotic information fragments:
...Wrong! Wrong! The direction is wrong!
...Not up... but down...
...Beneath the cornerstone... there is another cornerstone...
...They didn't leave... they fell asleep...
...Don't wake them... no... must wake them...
...Warning... Warning...
The information fragments were full of contradictions and self-conflict, as if different memory layers or personality fragments were fiercely clashing within Sarah's shattered consciousness.
Max felt a severe headache and nausea and was forced to disconnect. Dr. Su Qing and Dr. Reynolds stared at the monitoring data, dumbfounded.
"Her fragment activity has suddenly surged by 500%! But stability has dropped to a dangerous level!"
"She has received some kind of strong external stimulus! The source direction... points to Gabon, Africa!"
The light and shadow of the Gardener Representative appeared instantly in the laboratory, fluctuating violently: "Detected a weak 'sowers legacy' secondary protocol activation signal on a planetary scale! The source coincides with your resonance tower anomaly point! But the signal characteristics... are twisted and full of defensive attack intent! That may be a 'dormant guardian protocol' or... an 'unfinished defense mechanism' that has partially awakened due to your high-intensity psionic harmonic stimulation and has judged your actions as an 'invasion' or 'threat'!"
The Earth itself has things left behind by the "sower"? And because of the energy disturbance of the "Sky-Propping" project, it was triggered?
The news was relayed back to Ling Shu Base, and everyone felt a chill. They looked up at the stars, vigilant against the "Pruning Faction" and the "Reapers," but they never expected that the greatest secret and danger might have been buried under their feet all along.
"Immediately analyze all abnormal signals obtained from Sarah's fragments and the Gabon epicenter area!" Lin Shen forced himself to be calm, "Professor Chu, retrieve all myths, legends, and abnormal geological records regarding the Gabon region! Dr. Zhou, re-analyze the harmonic frequencies of the resonance towers; did they inadvertently constitute some kind of 'awakening code'?"
"Lin Shen," Nuwa's voice carried a hint of unprecedented gravity, "While analyzing the chaotic information overflowing from Sarah's fragments, I captured a repeating, relatively clear, short signal segment. After preliminary cleaning, it appears to be a set of coordinates... not celestial coordinates, but Earth geographic coordinates, and... there are seven points."
The holographic globe lit up, and Nuwa marked the seven coordinates. They were irregularly distributed across various continents and tectonic plates globally, with one point noticeably near the Tower 6 in Gabon. The other six points included two within Dragon Country (the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the East China Sea continental shelf), one in Siberia, one under the Greenland ice sheet, one deep in the Amazon rainforest, and one near the South Pacific trench.
"These seven points..." Academician Chen Qiming looked at their distribution and gasped, "Their connection lines, if plate tectonics are taken into account, about 12,000 years ago... seem to form a roughly regular hexagonal grid covering the globe, with the Gabon point being one of the nodes!"
"A global-scale 'sower' infrastructure network?" Professor Chu Yunshen's voice trembled slightly, "If there is something similar to what is beneath Gabon under every node..."
"And we almost activated them all using the harmonics of 'Sky-Propping'?" Minister Li Weimin felt a chill down his spine.
"Not necessarily all activated." The Gardener Representative intervened, "The reaction of the Gabon node was so intense because its own state might be special (close to the awakening threshold), or the harmonic frequency of the resonance tower happened to resonate with a key frequency of its 'awakening protocol.' Other nodes may still be in deep slumber. But this is a serious warning: before we fully understand the 'sowers legacy' hidden on the planet beneath our feet, we must be extremely cautious when conducting large-scale, high-energy psionic activities."
"Does the Cradle know about this?" Lin Shen asked.
"It very likely knows. But it did not warn us in advance." The light and shadow of the Gardener Representative appeared complex, "Perhaps because the 'Cradle's' protocol level is higher, and it considers the activation conditions of these 'planetary defense nodes' (if that is indeed their purpose) to be different from those of the 'Cradle,' or... it is also observing whether we will discover and handle these 'hidden levels' on our own."
More observation, more testing. These ancient relics seem to be playing a simulation game spanning ten thousand years, and humans are their latest, and perhaps final, set of players.
"Adjust the 'Sky-Propping' project." Lin Shen quickly made adjustments, "Conduct a comprehensive re-evaluation of the underground risks at all station sites. Redesign the resonance tower harmonic frequencies to avoid all suspicious frequency bands parsed from Sarah's fragments and the Gabon anomaly signals. At the same time, establish a 'Deep Earth Exploration Project Team' to conduct non-invasive, highly covert reconnaissance on these seven coordinate points, starting first with the Gabon point, to figure out what is underneath, what its status is, and whether it is friend or foe."
"And what about Dr. Sarah's condition..." Dr. Su Qing sent an inquiry from the joint laboratory.
"Her fragments seem to have a special sensitivity to the underground 'nodes' and may even have some kind of historical connection to them." Lin Shen mused, "Pause deep resonance attempts until her condition stabilizes. But continue monitoring; if she has any more clear information regarding these 'nodes' or 'cornerstones,' report it immediately."
The crisis was temporarily contained, but panic and doubt spread like a plague among the informed high-level officials and research teams. They thought they were climbing the technology tree, only to suddenly discover that the roots of this tree were deeply embedded in the ancient and mysterious soil of the Earth, tangled and knotted, hiding an unknown and vast network.
The tremors in Gabon subsided. After releasing a warning, the "thing" underground seemed to return to silence, but the detected weak psionic radiation indicated that it had not completely "fallen asleep" but was maintaining a low-power "alert mode."
On the moon, the signal pattern of the "Cradle" also underwent a subtle change. Its directional harmonics pointing to the "Tianshu" coordinates stopped, replaced by a more diffuse, broad-spectrum detection signal that seemed to be scanning the entire Earth. It was also paying attention to the underground anomalies.
A few days later, Professor Chu Yunshen's team found a heart-stopping description in an obscure research report on the origin myths of the Bantu people in Africa. The myth mentioned that their ancestors came from the "Well of Stars," and guarding the "wellhead" was a "sleeping metal beast." The beast "feeds on earth veins and uses sky light as eyes," and if awakened in the wrong way, it would bring about the "turning over of the earth."
"Well of Stars," "metal beast," "earth veins," "sky light"... these words vaguely correspond to the anomalies beneath Gabon and the harmonics of the resonance towers (sky light?).
Ancient myths might truly be distorted historical records.
Lin Shen stood in front of the observation window of Ling Shu Base, looking at the outline of the Kunlun Mountains under the night sky, and felt as if he could penetrate the earth to see those "cornerstones" sleeping all over the world, which might be even older than the "Cradle."
The road ahead not only leads to the starry sky but also goes deep into hell.
And they must face both simultaneously.