January 15th, 9:00 PM.
Nine hours had passed since the Alien Intelligent Entity was deployed on Tianshui Star.
Since the live stream was cut off, after all this ti, the authorities still had not explained the reason.
Faced with people's questioning online, the official response was rely, "The situation is being assessed, please remain calm. Information will be made public at the appropriate ti."
This vague statent only fueled public curiosity further.
On the Ascendant Ho forum, related discussion threads had flooded the board. Everyone was speculating about the reason the authorities were temporarily withholding information.
So believed there might be so benefit involved, which a small group wanted to monopolize.
Others thought this alien entity posed a threat to humanity, and the authorities were dealing with it.
Strangely, during previous Rule periods, there were often "insiders" who would leak information.
But this ti, no one claiming to be a mber of the "Contact Delegation" ca forward to explain what was really going on.
This inevitably led many to wonder: Had those people been restricted from external communication?
They guessed correctly.
"Damn it, why is there absolutely no signal in this godforsaken place."
Inside a vehicle resembling a large RV, a Suroman fiddled with the portable computer he had brought.
The person next to him said, "Save your energy. There aren't many people living on this vast ice field, where would signal towers co from?"
"Mine connects directly via satellite, it doesn't need ground signal towers at all."
"You two are real idiots," another person in the vehicle said. "The signals around here must have been jamd long ago."
On the Sennantata Ice Field, not far from the alien spacecraft, several large insulated vehicles that had arrived in the afternoon were parked.
These insulated vehicles were provided by the Xisiya Empire for the temporary accommodation of the Contact Delegation, to prevent them from succumbing to the body-numbing cold of the bone-chilling ice field if they stayed too long.
Since the afternoon incident where Louis's question led to ten deaths, they had been under restrictions and had not been granted permission to approach the Alien Intelligent Entity again.
This left many feeling irritable.
So, led by Louis, were extrely eager to make contact with the alien entity and conduct research. Not allowing them to do so was pure torture.
Others simply wanted to leave, to get as far away as possible.
This alien entity was too different from what they had imagined, and staying near it was truly dangerous.
Yet neither of these demands was permitted.
No contact was allowed, and leaving was also forbidden.
Soone had tried to sneak away, only to be captured by the mobile team led by Sigaochin and placed under guard with the soldiers.
All they could do now was wait for notification.
"Don't you think it's strange? Why jam the signals?"
"To prevent information leaks, obviously. Why even ask?"
"What's there to fear? This kind of thing can't be kept secret forever, right?"
"That's true..."
The mbers of the Contact Delegation discussed inside the insulated vehicles.
They knew the decision to jam signals must have been made by the Human Consortium, not the Xisiya Administrator acting alone.
But such a thing could be hidden for half a day, a day. Trying to completely conceal it from the public throughout the entire half-month Rule period would be difficult. Even if possible, it would provoke strong public discontent.
"I believe the Human Consortium isn't trying to hide this from humanity," one person in the vehicle said calmly. "What they truly want to hide is from the parasitized forms."
"Hide it from the parasitized forms? Why?"
"Oh! I get it. If the parasitized forms are used as food, it solves two problems at once. But the issue is, this matter cannot be let known to the parasitized forms."
"Correct. The parasitized forms inherit the mories and intelligence of their hosts; they are not stupid. Once information about the Alien Intelligent Entity is made public, they will certainly also realize they could be used as food... So, what would they do?"
"...They would absolutely refuse to admit they are parasitized forms."
"Exactly. Humanity currently cannot distinguish parasitized forms. If they stubbornly deny it, it would be very troubleso for humans, causing worry about potential mistakes—mistaking humans for parasitized forms."
"Then just ask it!" soone blurted out, pointing in the direction of the Alien Intelligent Entity outside the window. "Ask it how to distinguish parasitized forms. Once we get the identification thod, we can capture them based on that thod without making mistakes!"
"Right. I think if we can think of this, the think tanks behind the Human Consortium and the committee mbers certainly can too... The parasitized forms can also think of it. So, the reason for not disclosing information now..."
Everyone suddenly jolted, realizing a serious problem.
...
"If the parasitized forms know we can ask the Alien Intelligent Entity for a thod to distinguish them, what would the parasitized forms do?"
In the Beixing Counterasures Research Office, facing Gao Liangwei's inquiry, Zhang Minglu answered without hesitation, "Launch sabotage operations."
"How would they sabotage?"
"Assemble and deploy large numbers of ard parasitized forms, head to the ice field, and attempt to kill the Alien Intelligent Entity."
"Correct." Gao Liangwei nodded. "Humans can certainly deploy heavy troops for protection, but a problem would still exist... Could there be parasitized forms mixed within our 'heavy troops'?"
"That is indeed a problem," Zhang Minglu said gravely. "If there are parasitized forms mixed among the people on-site, and if they cannot kill the Alien Intelligent Entity, they might resort to sabotage through 'disruptive questioning'."
"Yes."
Ard forces composed of parasitized forms might not be able to rival human forces, and once they act on a large scale, they would certainly be discovered.
But they could infiltrate the crowd, get close to the alien entity, and suddenly ask an extrely difficult question.
Since the alien entity does not attack the questioner, the other people on-site would pay the price for that extrely difficult question with their lives—precisely the outco the parasitized forms would want.
"Therefore," Gao Liangwei said, "the Human Consortium eting has made a decision. Not only must the questions asked be limited, but the specific personnel responsible for asking questions must also undergo strict screening."
"Until we obtain the answer to the question 'how to distinguish parasitized forms', we absolutely cannot let our guard down."
Zhang Minglu nodded emphatically. "Understood."
Gao Liangwei then asked, "Has that Administrator posted anything?"
"No."
"Have soone contact Shadow. He might not be the Administrator, but he definitely knows the Administrator. Perhaps we can get so information from him... Since we have already established a long-term cooperation channel with Shadow through the last operation, we should use this channel frequently."
"I understand. I'll go have soone contact him right away."
Zhang Minglu left Gao Liangwei's office and imdiately contacted Silver Fox.
He knew Chen Na at the base had a closer relationship with Guan Tong, but the forr was, after all, still a child. It was more appropriate to have Silver Fox, an adult, handle the contact.
After Silver Fox arrived at his location, they contacted Guan Tong via remote video call. The request was sent and connected quickly.
"Silver Fox, Dr. Zhang."
"Hello, Shadow." Zhang Minglu got straight to the point. "I'd like to ask you to contact the Administrator of Ascendant Ho and inquire about the hidden intelligence for this Rule."
Guan Tong's heart stirred slightly. He gave a slight nod. "I can do that. I'll give you a reply in five minutes."
"Good."
Five minutes later, the video call connected again.
"How did it go?" Zhang Minglu asked eagerly.
Guan Tong: "The Administrator has intelligence, but it requires an exchange."
"An exchange? What do you an?"
"He wants to know what has happened in the hours since that Alien Intelligent Entity descended, and why the authorities cut the live stream from the scene."
So that was it.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Minglu thought: So, that mysterious Administrator who can obtain hidden Rule intelligence also cannot peek into the situation on-site after the signals were jamd.
However...
"Dr. Zhang, is it inconvenient?"
Seeing Zhang Minglu's hesitant expression, Guan Tong sensed there might be a problem.
Silver Fox, standing beside Zhang Minglu, knew what the forr was hesitating about.
She spoke up, "Shadow, can you guarantee that the Administrator is not a parasitized form, and that he won't, intentionally or unintentionally, leak the intelligence to parasitized forms?"
Zhang Minglu glanced at Silver Fox. This was indeed his concern.
He did not doubt Shadow, but he was worried that the mysterious Administrator might have connections with parasitized forms... If he learned about the on-site "question-and-answer" situation, wouldn't there be a risk that parasitized forms might find out?
"Parasitized forms?" Although puzzled, Guan Tong imdiately said, "That Administrator is definitely not a parasitized form. I can guarantee that."
Zhang Minglu and Silver Fox exchanged a look.
"Since it's 'Shadow's' guarantee, I can trust it," Zhang Minglu said. "I agree to exchange intelligence."
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