8: Has the "game" been upgraded?

"Great 'Player'?"

This word, this sentence, did not seem to be heard through his ears, but rather branded directly into the depths of Lei Wen's soul. It was like a bolt of lightning crossing the endless void, tearing through his chaotic dream, carrying an ancient and profound inquiry that echoed repeatedly in his half-awake consciousness.

The voice was filled with exhaustion, bewilderment, and a trace of awe that bordered on prayer.

Who is it? Who is speaking? Price... Archon Price!

Lei Wen snapped his eyes open, his heart pounding wildly, gasping for air.

He bolted upright in bed, his forehead covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.

The lingering resonance of the dream had not yet dissipated; that whispered murmur, like a thunderclap, was still roaring in his mind.

"Wah!"

A startled cry interrupted his thoughts. Only then did Lei Wen feel a strange pressure on his waist.

He lowered his head and saw a scene that left him between laughter and tears.

His sister, Renee, was straddling his waist in an extremely ungraceful posture.

One of her hands was raised high, as if she were hesitating whether to slap him.

She was startled by Lei Wen's sudden awakening and froze in place, her cute doll-like face filled with the awkwardness of someone "caught red-handed."

"You little brat, what are you trying to do?" Lei Wen recovered his senses and grabbed her raised wrist.

"I... I saw you sleeping like a pig and couldn't wake you up no matter how much I called, so I was preparing to provide a physical wake-up service!" Renee's cheeks flushed slightly, but she didn't let up, "Who knew you'd suddenly play dead? You scared me to death! Were you having a nightmare? I'm just looking out for you!"

Her tone went from sophistry at the beginning to a hint of concern at the end, although it seemed a bit fake in Lei Wen's eyes.

"Is your concern just about waving your pig trotters in your brother's face?"

"Blehh..."

After the siblings messed around for a while, Lei Wen finally pushed this "human alarm clock" off of him.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting bright spots of light in the room; it was already past nine in the morning.

"Get up quickly, you jerk of a brother!" Renee jumped off the bed and straightened her slightly messy rabbit pajamas, "I made sandwiches; if you don't come down to eat soon, they'll get cold!"

After saying this, she bounded out of the room like a nimble little deer.

Listening to his sister humming downstairs while preparing breakfast, the shock in Lei Wen's heart was gradually soothed by the warmth of reality.

He shook his head, trying to cast that overly realistic dream to the back of his mind.

Perhaps it was just because he had been under too much pressure lately, and because of his daily thoughts, he ended up dreaming about those strange things.

However, he knew very well that he could not find true peace until he confirmed it.

"Renee! You eat first, I'll be down in a moment!" He shouted downstairs, then quickly turned around, his gaze fixed like a torch on the laptop on his desk.

This was his top priority after waking up for some time now, an unshakeable ritual—opening the "window" to observe that real alien civilization that was working day and night for an expedition.

The computer booted up and loaded the save file.

When the familiar Faleimland System appeared on the screen, Lei Wen's mood was as heavy as ever.

In orbit, the outlines of the ten vanguard ships were basically completed, entering the final internal debugging stage; the cold construction countdown indicated that they would be completed in a few days.

Everything seemed the same as what he had seen before he went to sleep.

But soon, Lei Wen noticed something wrong.

He habitually clicked on the tech tree page on the left, wanting to check the research progress of "Ultra-low Consumption Zero-Point Energy."

And the moment he clicked the icon, the pop-up interface left him stunned.

In the past, this was just a simple icon, with the technology name and a short, game-like description marked below.

But now, what appeared before him was an outrageously detailed scientific database.

【Zero-Point Energy Reactor】

【Technical Brief: A device that extracts energy from quantum vacuum zero-point energy in a controlled manner. Its core principle is based on the macroscopic amplification of the Casimir effect, using nano-scale resonant cavities made of special alloys to create negative energy density regions in a vacuum environment, thereby achieving the capture and conversion of virtual particle pair annihilation energy...】

【Key Technology Nodes: 1. Quantum Foam Stabilization Technology (Click to expand detailed paper) 2. High-dimensional Spacetime Membrane Resonance Theory (Click to expand mathematical model) 3. Synthesis and Application of "Eldritch" Alloy (Click to expand materials science report) Application Fields: Starship Main Energy Core, Planetary Energy Shield, Mega-structure Energy Supply...】

Every technical term, every theory, presented an irrefutable and rigorous scientific logic.

What made Lei Wen's scalp tingle even more was that those blue texts, like web hyperlinks, could actually be clicked!

He tremblingly clicked the link for "High-dimensional Spacetime Membrane Resonance Theory."

Instantly, a brand new window popped up on the screen, densely packed with mathematical formulas, 3D dynamic models, and thousands of pages of theoretical derivation processes that he couldn't understand but could feel the depth and greatness of. This was no longer an "introduction"; this was a complete, practical set of scientific knowledge!

Lei Wen gasped. He quickly closed the window and clicked on the ship design interface again.

The change was equally subversive.

He clicked on the already designed "Far-star" cruiser.

In the past, there was only game data such as attack, defense, and HP here.

But now, what was displayed before him was a complete industrial-grade ship design blueprint.

【Far-star Cruiser - Design Overview】 Length: 4885 meters; Max Width: 1123 meters; Standard Mass: 78 million tons; Hull Material: Crystallized-Neutronium Composite Armor, Gray Goo Storm-type Nano-regenerative Armor; Energy Core: Third-generation Ultra-low Consumption Zero-Point Energy Reactor; Engine System: First-generation Warp Drive Mark-I (Detailed structural blueprints); Weapon System: RF-97 Neutron Emitter, Void Beam Generator (Click to view working principle and ballistic simulation); Special System: Fifth-generation "Ghost" Stealth Force Field Generator (Click to view energy field model).

Every component, every parameter, had become incredibly real.

He could even zoom in on the blueprints layer by layer, seeing the piping lines inside the ship, the layout of the crew quarters, and even the energy flow diagrams of the engines.

The level of detail in this blueprint was enough to drive any aerospace engineer and military expert in any country on Earth crazy.

This "game," or rather, "window," was self-"upgrading" in a way that Lei Wen could not understand.

It was no longer just a passive observation window; it was becoming a database.

A priceless database encompassing all the knowledge of the Faleim Civilization!

Just as Lei Wen's mind was shaken by this huge discovery, he was inexplicably drawn to click on the last interface he had almost never paid attention to—Diplomacy.

In previous games, this interface listed all the alien civilizations he had encountered, allowing for trade, declaring war, forming alliances, and other operations.

But in this lonely save file, it had always been empty.

However, today, in the center of this void interface, something had appeared.

It was a button with a simple design, emitting a faint glimmer.

The button was gray, representing that it could not be clicked.

On it, only two words were engraved.

【Contact】

Contact... These two words were like two invisible heavy hammers, smashing fiercely into Lei Wen's chest.

Contact whom? Was it for him, the "observer," to contact the Faleim People inside? Or was it for the Faleim People to use this button to contact... "the guide" on the outside?

Lei Wen didn't know. But he instinctively felt that the existence of this gray button meant that some kind of "channel" was being established.

Perhaps it couldn't be done now, but one day, when some unknown condition was met, it would light up.

Lei Wen leaned back slowly in his chair and let out a long sigh.

This time, what he exhaled was no longer pure fear and helplessness, but a complex breath mixed with extreme shock, ecstasy, and a deeper sense of heaviness.

Before, he had been suffering because of his current situation where he "could do nothing."

He was just a spectator of the apocalypse, a recorder of the countdown.

All he could do was watch helplessly as that ghost fleet took shape day by day, and then set off, bringing an unknown fate to Earth.

This sense of powerlessness was like a great mountain, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.

But now, everything was different.

This transformed "window" had given him something... something. Some unimaginable bargaining chips.

Lei Wen's gaze returned to that database filled with futuristic technology.

The complete theory and design blueprints of the Warp Drive... practical technologies from controllable nuclear fusion to vacuum zero-point energy and even dark matter energy... materials science, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering far exceeding Earth's level...

Putting everything else aside, the data on the "Third-Generation Ultra-Low Consumption Zero-Point Energy Reactor" from the "Far-star" class cruiser alone—if even a small fraction of it could be handed to the right people—would be enough to completely transform Earth's energy landscape within a few years, triggering the fourth, or even fifth, industrial revolution.

And this was merely the "backward" technology that the Faleim People were currently forced to use due to resource shortages.

Lei Wen's hand clenched into a fist involuntarily.

Wealth? Power? These things seemed so laughable and insignificant in the face of the treasure trove of knowledge before him.

This was a… windfall legacy, enough to change the course of Human Civilization.

At the same time, it was also a… Pandora's box, enough to destroy the world.

What should he do?

Bury this secret forever?

Or attempt to utilize these transcendent technologies to buy Earth a glimmer of respite and a chance at self-preservation before the Faleim People arrived?

The first choice was safe, but it meant entrusting the fate of humanity entirely to the "benevolence" of aliens.

The second choice was full of infinite possibilities, but it was also accompanied by unpredictable and immense risks.

Once these technologies spiraled out of control, or were used for the wrong purposes, humanity might well march toward destruction before the aliens even arrived.

The state of "powerlessness" that had plagued him all along had vanished.

Replacing it was a heavier, more difficult choice.

He was no longer just a bystander.

From this moment on, this "window" had passively made him a key player holding the future direction of humanity in his hands.

Half an hour later.

Lei Wen sat in his chair, not moving for a long time. Renee had finished breakfast and was clearing the dishes; he could faintly hear her turn on the TV to watch the morning news.

The half-eaten, slightly salty sandwich remained in his hand, having lost its warmth. Yet he was completely unaware, his entire focus immersed in the grand and dangerous future revealed by that small, glowing screen.

What should he do?

He was just an ordinary college student, a shut-in addicted to games.

Just a few months ago, his biggest worry was how to allocate resources in a virtual empire and how to win an interstellar war.

But now, he had to make a choice that could affect the fate of seven billion people for the future of a real civilization.

This was too absurd.

He tried to put himself into the perspective of a bystander.

If someone told him that the game on his computer had become reality, and that he possessed the alien technology within it, what would he think?

He would think that person was a lunatic, a poor wretch who needed to be sent to a mental hospital.

No, he couldn't tell anyone—at least not in a straightforward way.

Then what could he do?

Silently copy these technical documents, hide them on a hard drive, and pray that the arrival of the Faleim People would be a peaceful encounter?

This thought appeared for only a second before he dismissed it himself.

Placing hope in the unknown was the behavior of a coward.

He had personally set the civilizational traits of the Faleim People—authoritarian, xenophobic, and extremely materialistic.

For such a civilization, when facing a "primitive civilization" with a technological level far below its own, the choices it would make were almost written in its genes.

The best outcome might be, like the "protectorate" in "stellar universe", to be benevolently kept in captivity.

And the worst outcome…

Lei Wen dared not think any further.

He had to do something.

He had to add some "bargaining chips" for Earth, for humanity, before the vanguard of the Faleim People arrived.

Even if it was just a little bit.

But how could he pass on this transcendent knowledge to the world in a reasonable way?

He needed a medium, someone who could understand the value of this knowledge and possessed enough status and resources to verify and utilize it.

At the same time, this person couldn't dismiss him as a lunatic.

Did such a person exist in this world?

Just as he was feeling agitated, he picked up his phone, wanting to see if there were any new developments regarding the HIAL-137 incident in the news.

He inadvertently opened the class group chat, where they were still heatedly discussing the matter, with various speculations and conspiracy theories emerging one after another.

He scrolled up through the chat history, wanting to see what he had missed.

Suddenly, he saw the lecture notice that the counselor had posted earlier.

Below the notice was a beautifully crafted electronic poster.

The main subject of the poster was the deep starry sky and the silhouette of the "Sky Eye" telescope.

And at the very bottom, the speaker's information was marked in small print.

"Speaker: Professor Liu Zhaodong (Ph.D. in Astrophysics, core member of the 'Project Starlight Seeker' project team)"

And below the name, there was an even smaller line of text.

"Academic Exchange Email: liuzd_astro@..."

Lei Wen's pupils contracted in an instant.

Professor Liu Zhaodong!

The scholar who had preached about the loneliness of the universe on the podium.

The old man who, after receiving a call from the Beijing Astronomical Research Institute, had become dejected and struck as if by lightning.

No one was more eager than him to find evidence of extraterrestrial civilization.

And no one had been more impacted than him after seeing the subversive discovery of HIAL-137.

Project Starlight Seeker—searching for the light from the stars.

They were bitterly monitoring the noise of the universe with radio telescopes, hoping to distinguish an orderly, intelligent beat from it.

And what did he have in his hands?

He had the full score of the entire symphony!

A plan, bold to the point of insanity, suddenly took shape in Lei Wen's mind like a supernova explosion.

He didn't need to expose himself. He didn't need to explain the source of all this.

He only needed to play the role of a… mysterious, anonymous "Deep Throat."

He was going to reveal some "things" to Professor Liu Zhaodong.

Some "things" that were just right, verifiable, yet far beyond the current limits of human observation.

He took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to the computer screen.

He did not touch those core, most subversive technologies, such as the complete blueprints for the Warp Drive or the theory of zero-point energy.

That was too early, too dangerous.

He needed a "hook."

A "hook" enough to make Professor Liu Zhaodong, and the entire national scientific research system behind him, go crazy.

He first found a technology on the tech tree that current Earth technology could barely understand.

【Third-Generation Ion Thruster】

Principle Overview: Through strong magnetic field confinement, heavy metal working fluids (usually osmium or iridium) are ionized into high-temperature plasma, then accelerated via electromagnetic rails to be ejected at sub-speed of light. Its core advantage lies in extremely high specific impulse and energy conversion efficiency, far exceeding traditional Hall thrusters…

A bitter smile curled at the corners of Lei Wen's mouth.

He thought, Professor Liu and his peers at NASA must be marveling at the incredibly precise distribution of habitable planets in the HIAL-137 Galaxy right now, and puzzled by that massive orbital structure, right?

Then, what if they received an anonymous email, and the content of the email was like this?

The precise atmospheric composition data for the third, fourth, and fifth planets in the HIAL-137 Galaxy, with an accuracy that the James Webb Telescope could not achieve even after two more iterations.

The giant shipyard named "Anomalous Construct," its dimensions precise to the centimeter, its specific mass, and the basic atomic structure of its main constituent material—"Crystallized-Neutronium Composite Armor."

And also the 【Fifth-Generation "Ghost" Stealth Force Field Generator】—by creating a miniature, controllable negative gravity lens field, it causes light, electromagnetic waves, and even gravitational waves to bend around the hull, thereby achieving "unobservability" at a macroscopic level…

Finally, and most importantly—a well-intentioned "reminder": on the route from the HIAL-137 Galaxy to the Solar System, ten tiny "spacetime disturbance points" traveling at five times the speed of light are about to appear. They are wrapped in a negative gravity lens field, making them unobservable by conventional means.

This email was like a "standard answer" from God. It would not provide any "why," only "what."

Every piece of information was like a needle, precisely piercing the points that the current astronomical community was most eager for and most confused about.

What would Professor Liu Zhaodong's reaction be upon seeing this email?

Would he treat it as a prank, or the ramblings of a lunatic?

Perhaps.

But when he input these data into the supercomputer model of "Project Starlight Seeker" and discovered that these data perfectly explained all the anomalies observed so far, and could predict the next astronomical phenomena with impeccable logic…

Could he still remain calm?

Lei Wen's gaze became firmer than ever before.

He knew this was a high-stakes gamble.

He had pushed himself, and the future of humanity, onto the gambling table.

But he had no other choice.

Before absolute darkness descended, he had to personally light a lamp for this world.

Even if the light of this lamp was as faint as a firefly.