CH 25

The buzzing sound became louder and louder, and while feeling dizzy, Zhao Huasheng also felt that his exposed skin seemed to become wooden, like a layer of plastic film covering it, or like the feeling of static electricity. Zhao Huasheng looked up and saw countless birds flying out of the mountains and forests like headless flies, some of them even crashing directly onto the ground. Zhao Huasheng knew that it was because the birds' navigational organs were being disturbed.

I am witnessing what might be the first ever communication between human civilization and an extraterrestrial civilization, which has been developing alone on this small blue planet for millions of years, from ancient apes to now, when our human civilization has finally reached this point. The endless starry sky is like a black curtain wrapping us all up, and behind this curtain hides an infinite number of mysteries...and now, a mysterious civilization from this mysterious world has come to the Solar System, and at this moment, we are trying to reach out to them.

Zhao Huasheng felt a surge of enthusiasm in his heart. "If they really exist, if they really receive this message, what kind of thoughts would they have? Would they mock this backward civilization's boldness or simply ignore it, treating it as an ant's chirping?"

Despite our current technological backwardness, we humans have made it this far. It is merely because we have not had enough time to develop and does not signify the inferiority of our civilization. If we can survive this crisis, we will spread our footprints across the entire sky and unlock the mysteries of the universe in the not-so-distant future...

Zhao Huasheng's emotions were surging like waves, refusing to be placated. Amidst the slight dizziness and discomfort on his skin, the voice of the observatory director still echoed in his ears. Zhao Huasheng knew that the words spoken by the observatory director were the contents of the signal sent by the radio telescope towards the sun.

"It is our great fortune that two civilizations can bridge a distance of perhaps millions of light years and reunite here. As the masters of this small galaxy, we welcome your arrival and extend our sincere greetings to you."

Although our technology is behind, we have still observed that you seem to be doing something in our galaxy. May we ask, are you looking for something from our galaxy, or are you conducting some scientific research in order to gain some scientific data? Can you tell us what it is? We would like to receive your answer.

We believe that the moral level of a civilization is complemented by its technological level. You, who have advanced technology beyond our imagination, must have a moral level that matches your technology. And we believe that those of you with such lofty morality would not come to trouble a backward civilization whose footsteps are still limited to its own planet. Unfortunately, we must tell you that your actions regarding certain aspects of our galaxy's sun have severely affected our lives, resulting in the deaths of millions of members of our civilization and potentially billions more in the aftermath. We are deeply saddened and grieved by this.

We believe you are well-intentioned, which may be due to some missteps that we cannot understand. We eagerly await for you to rectify these mistakes to alleviate the suffering imposed on our civilization. We would very much like to coexist peacefully with your civilization, and we also believe this is your wish as well.

Earth, humanity civilization. We await your response."

The roar of the observatory head ceased, and the dizziness and skin discomfort felt by Zhao Huasheng vanished at the same time. The buzzing sound vanished and the birds in the mountain forest returned to silence. Zhao Huasheng knew then that the signal had ended.

The whole message was presented in an earnest and humble manner towards the possibly existent or nonexistent K2 civilization. The millions of human deaths and the suffering of many more that followed were glossed over with a single line, "Your certain mistakes that we cannot understand".

At this moment, Zhao Huasheng thought of the Frey family who perished in the cold and snow of the small town of Kowis, of those stubborn old people who refused to leave even in death, and of the mother bear who was shot by a gun from Meng Zhuo in order to protect its baby.

A rush of heat flooded Zhao Huasheng's heart, yet his expression remained calm, and he said nothing. Beside him, Li Wei grabbed his arm, and he heard her low sobbing and felt the warmth of his sleeve wet with her tears.

"Damn it, damn it!" The head of the Observatory had already turned red-eyed at some point, and he walked up to the railing, grabbed it with both hands and held it so tightly that the veins on his arms even bulged out. He began to tremble all over.

"That's millions of people! If they said they would die, then they would die. The bandits have come to our house, taken away our sunshine, and yet we still have to lower our heads and plead with them to spare us out of 'noble morality'—damn it! Damn it!"

Meng Zhuo said indifferently: "This is politics. Politics is not affected by emotions, and politics is only guided by the pursuit of the highest interests. If lowering one's head can save the sun and prevent more people from dying, then I don't mind kneeling before these alien scum and kowtowing to them seventeen or eighteen times."

Zhao Huasheng walked over and patted the head of the Observatory on the shoulder, saying in a low voice: "Don't forget, we can't be sure whether this K2 civilization really exists. The changes occurring above the sun could also just be the result of natural physical mechanisms."

The director of the observatory took a few deep breaths and turned to Zhao Huasheng, saying, "I'm sorry, I lost my temper."

"It's okay," Zhao Huasheng sighed and turned to the research department personnel and asked, "What's the scheduled time?"

"Three days," the research department personnel answered, "If we don't receive a response from the extraterrestrial civilization within three days, we will assume that the extraterrestrial civilization does not exist and we will launch a large-scale solar exploration program."

"Okay, let's wait three days then," Zhao Huasheng nodded, "If I'm not mistaken, the Fire God Telescope is not far from here, right? Director Li Qi once led the construction of the telescope before his death and has been keeping data sharing between the Stellar Physics Institute and the Fire God Telescope?"

The research department personnel nodded and said, "Yes. The Fire God telescope, a solar telescope, is less than 500 kilometers from here. If you take a helicopter, you can get there within an hour and a half. The Fire God telescope is a solar telescope, specialized in observing the sun, and Li Qi, the director of the Stellar Physics Institute, is responsible for the manufacture and maintenance of this telescope, which is quite normal."

"Good." Zhao Huasheng nodded and said, "I will go there to take a look three days later."

Meng Zhuo said, "Okay."

The signal transmission has ended, and the Telescope has returned to quiet, switching from signal transmission mode to signal receiving mode. Zhao Huasheng knew that after the signal was sent out, not only The Star River Radio Telescope, but also all the radio telescopes, optical telescopes, astronomical observatories on the Earth's orbit, satellites, and many other facilities in space would be aimed at the sun.

The Earth and the Sun are eight light minutes apart, so it takes eight minutes for signals we send to reach the Sun. Similarly, it takes eight minutes for signals from the Sun to return to Earth. Therefore, if the K2 level civilization really exists and responded to us immediately, we would receive the signal at the earliest sixteen minutes later.

Zhao Huasheng and the group of people spent fifteen minutes returning to the little building of the Star River Observatory. When they arrived at the control hall, Zhao Huasheng noticed many unfamiliar faces had gathered there, probably employees from the Research Department.

The Star River Radio Telescope had been adjusted to its highest sensitivity, and the same was probably true of the other radio telescopes on Earth. At this moment, at least six hundred eyes were focused on the Sun, paying attention to every movement from its direction, and at least a few thousand people had their hearts in their mouths, waiting to receive a signal that could shock the world.

The atmosphere in the control hall was heavy, like a lead weight, with no sound except the faint hum of instruments. Even breathing was kept to a minimum, as if afraid to disturb something hidden in the darkness.

The sun, too, was a great source of radiation, constantly emitting powerful rays. At this moment, these rays were perfectly reflected in the instruments of the control hall. But the signals were meaningless; the instrument's signal filter could completely filter out these interferences and leave only those with unusual logical features. If the signal has logical features, it is very likely to have been sent by an intelligent being.

The clock is ticking away. Sixteen minutes have passed. In theory, this time is enough for the radio signal to make a round trip between the sun and the earth. But on the instrument display, the signal from the solar direction remains stable, with nothing else except the solar radiation itself.

Perhaps the K2 civilization also needs time to discuss what language to use to respond to us. People thought this, then continued to wait.

Eighteen minutes, twenty-five minutes, one hour, three hours...

The sun direction remained quiet as usual.

"Alright," said the head of the observatory, "It seems that either the K2 civilization doesn't exist or they have ignored us."