77: Chapter 76 Echoes of the Earth's Veins
Gabon, upstream of the Ogooué River. 50km away from the resonance tower anomaly point, a temporarily established semi-underground forward base "Chisel-1" has been put into operation.
Inside the base, Lin Shen (via high-definition holographic projection), Academician Chen Qiming, Dr. Zhou Zhe, Professor Chu Yunshen, and Gardener Representative Qi are holding a pre-battle meeting with the on-site commander, geophysicist Liu Rui, and his team.
"Direct drilling is too risky." Liu Rui pointed to the holographic geological map, where the anomalous area was marked in glaring red. "That 'thing' is between 2.8 and 3.5 kilometers deep, and the surrounding rock structure has become fragile and active due to the previous 'resonance'. Any physical intrusion could be seen as a secondary provocation, triggering a larger-scale geological disaster, or even directly activating its defense mechanism."
"Non-intrusive exploration plan." Lin Shen said concisely.
"Plan A: Upgraded 'Listener' probe." Zhou Zhe pulled up the design. "Using improved spirit-particle harmonics, we perform a 'gentle scan' at extremely low intensity and in a mode completely staggered from the 'awakening frequency'. It's similar to medical ultrasound imaging but builds an internal structure model based on spirit-particle field interaction feedback. It requires the Star Ring and the consciousness network to provide high-precision stable support."
"Plan B: Consciousness synchronization immersion." Academician Chen Qiming added. "Select volunteers with extremely high consciousness stability and special perception of geology or spirit-particle fields. Under strict protection, guide their consciousness through special harmonics to 'immerse' into the spirit-particle background field of the crust above the target area for intuitive 'perceptual depiction'. This method is more subjective but may capture 'information state features' that instruments cannot parse."
"Plan C: Activate specific memories of Dr. Sarah's fragments." Gardener Representative Qi proposed. "Based on previous reactions, her fragments have a strong resonance with these nodes. If we can guide her to recall relatively stable memory fragments related to the 'Cornerstone' or 'Guardian Behemoth' in a controlled environment, we might be able to obtain the most direct information. But this requires deep cooperation from Mr. Max Costa, and the risks are unknown."
Professor Chu Yunshen had myths, local chronicles, and anomaly reports related to the seven coordinate points, urgently gathered from all over the world, spread out in front of him. "From text analysis, these locations all carry attributes of 'taboo', 'sacred', 'portal', or 'sleeping place' in their respective cultural memories. The Bantu myths of the Gabon point mention 'metal beasts', the ancient Zhangzhung documents of the Long Country's Qinghai-Tibet point mention 'Earth-Core iron lotus', and the fishermen's legends of the East Sea point have 'undersea eternal lamps'... These descriptions all point to non-natural existences with energy or mechanical properties."
Lin Shen weighed the options quickly. Time was tight, the threat of the Pruning Faction hung over their heads like the Sword of Damocles, and they had to understand the variables beneath their feet as soon as possible.
"Three lines in parallel, but with safety as the absolute prerequisite." He made the decision. "Dr. Zhou, prepare the scanning equipment for Plan A immediately, assemble and debug it on-site at 'Chisel-1', and conduct the first ultra-low intensity scan within 24 hours. Academician Chen, screen qualified volunteers and prepare for Plan B, but do not execute it yet; wait until the scan results are out to assess the risks. Gardener Representative, contact the 'Other Shore Flower' laboratory and request Mr. Max Costa to attempt a targeted resonance, focusing on the neutral memories of the 'Underground Guardian' or 'Cornerstone', avoiding awakening or threatening content, and share the information obtained immediately."
The order was quickly broken down and executed. Inside the base, engineers began assembling a ring-shaped scanning device with a diameter of three meters. The global consciousness network adjusted a portion of dedicated bandwidth. At the joint laboratory, Max agreed to try again without hesitation after learning the situation.
Eighteen hours later.
The scanning device "Earth Eye" was ready. It was set up in the safest position closest to the anomaly point (on the back of a rocky hill ten kilometers away) and connected to the base main control via buried optical fibers.
"First scan, intensity set to one-thousandth of the theoretical safety threshold, duration 0.5 seconds." Zhou Zhe ordered in the base main control room.
"Earth Eye activated. Frequency locked, firing."
No sound, no light. Only the weak spirit-particle flow readings on the monitoring instrument jumped once.
A second later, the preliminarily processed image began to build on the main screen. It was not a clear outline, but a hazy cross-section composed of patches of different brightness and colors. The anomalous area appeared as an irregular, complex structure intertwined with dark red and bright blue, deeply embedded in the gray rock layer.
"The structure is extremely complex... It doesn't look like a single object, more like... a 'honeycomb' or 'neural network' composed of countless tiny units." Liu Rui stared at the image. "The energy reading... is very low, but there is an extremely regular background pulsation, slightly synchronized with the Earth's own solid Tide cycle. It... seems to be 'breathing' with the Earth."
"Magnify the edge structure." Lin Shen said.
The image was partially magnified. One could vaguely see that the boundaries of those "units" were not completely smooth; some parts extended tiny structures similar to "roots" or "connecting lines", probing into the surrounding rock layers, and even seemed to have energy exchange with deeper mantle materials.
"It is drawing trace energy from geothermal or geological activities to maintain a minimum standby state." Gardener Representative Qi analyzed. "Typical characteristics of a long-term dormant automated facility. The previous harmonic resonance was equivalent to violently knocking on its door with a specific 'key', triggering its basic defense and self-check programs."
Just then, the team responsible for monitoring the Cradle signal sent a report: "The lunar signal has shown a corresponding change! Three minutes after the Earth Eye scan, the Cradle emitted an extremely weak but highly directional harmonic towards Earth, landing... right above the anomalous area we scanned! The duration was only 0.01 seconds!"
The Cradle is "looking" here! And it seems to be a response to the probing behavior!
"What did it say?" Chen Qiming asked urgently.
"The signal is too weak and short to parse the content. But it is certain that it is not an aggressive or warning signal, more like a kind of... 'confirmation' or 'marking'."
Almost simultaneously, news came from the "Other Shore Flower" laboratory. Under the assistance of the Gardener and Dr. Su Qing, Max successfully guided Sarah's fragments to conduct a brief, targeted recall. Sarah's consciousness fed back some relatively coherent but sorrowful images and information:
...Yes... Cornerstone... Planetary anchor point...
...Unfinished network... They left... Too fast...
...Left us behind... Half-dreaming, half-awake... Guarding an empty nest...
...Error... Awakening... It hurts... Will be damaged...
...Need... Complete key... And the Master's voice... To safely reboot...
The information was interrupted again, but the meaning was already quite clear: these Earth nodes are part of an unfinished "Planetary Defense Network" that stalled due to the builders' hasty departure. Erroneous awakening would cause it to be damaged or even operate dangerously. Safe rebooting requires the "Complete Key" (likely referring to a healthy Sarah or similar existence) and the "Master's Voice" (the Builder's high-level authorization command, perhaps the Cradle possesses partial functionality).
"So, the Cradle might possess partial 'Master' permissions. Its 'marking' just now might be indicating to this node 'I have noticed this place' or 'These are the candidates I am observing'?" Professor Chu Yunshen speculated.
The clues gradually came together. But the problem remained: how to learn more about this node without "erroneous awakening"? How to judge whether it can be safely used to become an aid against the Pruning Faction or even the Reapers?
"Second scan," Lin Shen decided, "Increase intensity to one-hundredth of the safety threshold, duration one second. At the same time, Nuwa, try to attach the harmonic signature just sent by the Cradle to our scanning signal at extremely low intensity."
This was a bold attempt—using the Cradle's "marking" as a "calling card" for exploration.
The adjusted scan was sent out again.
This time, the feedback image was much clearer! The details of that "honeycomb structure" were richer, and one could even see extremely fine energy flow paths inside some "units". More importantly, as the scanning signal swept by, the overall energy pulsation of the node showed a brief and regular enhancement, as if it were... "responding"?
"It recognized the signal with the Cradle's signature! The response pattern matches the characteristics of low-level protocol interaction!" The Gardener Representative's voice carried a hint of excitement. "It is conducting a non-hostile 'protocol handshake'!"
"Can we establish stable communication?" Minister Li Weimin asked.
"The risk still exists. But we can try to send the most basic, harmless query instructions, such as... status inquiry." The Gardener Representative suggested.
"Approved. Send the standard Builder low-level protocol status query pulse."
An extremely weak spirit-particle pulse encoded with a simple query shot toward the underground node.
The wait was agonizing. Ten seconds, twenty seconds...
Deep in the node, a point of blue light lit up and then slowly spread along the complex internal network. Finally, a set of data streams with a simple structure but huge information volume was fed back.
Nuwa and the Gardener Representative synchronized the analysis.
"Node self-identification code: 'Planetary Defense Anchor Point - γ - 07'."
"Current status: Deep sleep (maintenance mode), completeness 63.2%, energy level 0.7%."
"Core functions: Local crustal stability regulation, spirit-particle background field monitoring and weak modulation, planetary-level threat early warning (partially offline), defense matrix activation (severely damaged)."
"Last command record: ... (data severely lost) ... Subject evacuated ... Waiting for reboot command ... Protocol switched to autonomous maintenance ..."
"Associated network: Detected six other anchor points of the same level, all in deep sleep, completeness between 41% and 72%."
"Warning: Erroneous awakening protocol still partially activated. Detected recent incompatible harmonic stimulation (tag: Human - Sky-Reaching Project), triggered Level 1 defense response (geological disturbance)."
"Pending items: Waiting for 'sower command link' or 'successor protocol' verification to perform full status diagnosis and potential function recovery."
The information confirmed everyone's guesses. This was a broken, automated defense facility waiting for commands. Humanity's previous actions almost caused a disaster.
"Can it be repaired? Can it be used by us?" Zhou Zhe asked the key question.
"Theoretically, if sufficient permissions (successor protocol) are obtained and huge resources are invested, it is possible to repair some functions." The Gardener Representative analyzed, "But its technical system is different from the civilization-guiding heritage of the Cradle; it is more biased toward direct planetary defense and manipulation, the technical level is extremely high and may be aggressive. What the 'Pruning Faction' fears might be exactly this kind of 'weaponized heritage' falling into the hands of a young civilization."
"In other words, if we can repair or even start this network, the 'Pruning Faction' might list us as a top-priority target that must be eliminated." Academician Chen Qiming's face was grave.
"But at the same time, it might also become a trump card for us to fight against the 'Reapers' or even the 'Pruning Faction'." Lin Shen's gaze was deep, "The premise is that we can get the 'successor protocol', can repair it, and can control it."
"successor protocol..." Professor Chu Yunshen pondered, "Dr. Sarah is 'part of the key', but she is clearly not a complete 'Inheritor'. The 'Cradle' might be observing and evaluating who is qualified to become an 'Inheritor'. Our series of actions—from contacting the 'Cradle' to launching 'Sky-Reaching', to discovering and trying to communicate with the anchor point—might all be part of the evaluation."
It was another exam. An ultimate exam about civilization qualification, sense of responsibility, and technical potential.
"Stop further active stimulation of the γ-07 node. Maintain minimal monitoring." Lin Shen ordered, "Synchronize all intelligence to the Gardener 'Guardian Faction'. We need them to analyze the possible ways to obtain the 'successor protocol' more deeply. At the same time, the adjusted frequency scheme of the 'Sky-Reaching' project must be cross-verified with the frequencies of the 'Cradle' and known anchor points, and can only continue after ensuring absolute safety."
He paused and looked at the other six flashing coordinates on the holographic map.
"All other six anchor points are listed as top-secret monitoring targets, and any form of active exploration or energy interference is strictly prohibited. Professor Chu, continue to dig for relevant information from a humanities perspective, but all field investigations must undergo the strictest approval."
The secrets of the planet beneath their feet were heavier than the starry sky. They had discovered a treasure trove, but the door to the treasure trove was locked, and there were alarms and potentially self-destructing mechanisms attached to the door. And the only "key" that might open the lock was broken and unstable.
"Report," Nuwa's voice sounded, "Received the second harmonic sent by the 'Cradle' to Earth. This time it is a broad-spectrum broadcast, the content is simple: 'Observation continues. Interference marked.'"
"'Interference marked'?" Li Weimin was puzzled.
The light and shadow of Gardener Representative Qi brightened slightly: "It might be referring to... the 'Pruning Faction'. The 'Cradle' might also have the ability to monitor the outskirts of the Solar System; it sensed the existence of the 'Pruning Faction' fleet and marked it as 'interference'. This might mean that in the Cradle's evaluation system, fighting against the 'Pruning Faction' is also a bonus item for the 'Inheritor' candidate qualification?"
Pressure and hope were intertwined again. The anchor point under their feet, the Cradle above their heads, the threat in the distance. The path of advancement for human civilization had never been so clear, and never so perilous.