Chapter 872: Chapter 872: Lilina’s Bluff
(It’s the end of the month, I’m begging for monthly votes, I won’t forget!)
When the teorite samples began to emit a green glow, a group of scientists were sweating profusely, trying every possible way to separate them. They used all possible ans, including small winches, lifting equipnt, towing ropes, and crowbars used in laboratories. So even risked their lives to touch the potentially deadly outer space materials with their bare hands, but it was all in vain: the teorites didn’t budge. So unknown force enveloped these samples, making them feel as heavy as a thousand pounds, as if they were frozen with the surrounding space.
Everyone was sweating profusely, and what worried them even more was the heavy protective suits they wore, which were almost thick enough for a charge at Stalingrad in 1942. These suits demanded a lot from their wearers. Trained astronauts wearing similar gear in outer space have no problem, but the group here, with an average age starting at fifty and mostly suffering from shoulder and bone inflammations, had more challenging. The oldest among them helped send Armstrong to space back in the day—asking a group of intellectuals with IQs of a hundred and physical strength of one to do manual labor is absurd. It’s overexerting if they can complete three hours of observational experints in such gear.
Of course, no one anticipated that the first step of such a serious research project would be manual labor…
These top-notch experts and scholars on Earth, covering the pinnacle fields in space geology, biology, and physics, could collectively win four or five Nobel Prizes over a decade. Yet, they faltered at the first step before the experint even began: they couldn’t move the teorite samples placed on the operating table.
“Its energy readings are steadily rising; I sense this isn’t a good sign.”
One of the protective suits panted heavily, its speaker outputting sound like an old lung bellows from ’66, “I’m thinking explosion.”
“Perhaps we should evacuate,” another similarly weary-sounding suit bent over, hands on knees, “So spare samples are stored in…other locations. Maybe we wrongly stimulated the energy within these teorites, reactivating it. Next ti…”
“Wait!”
Just as everyone hesitated, preparing to distance themselves from the increasingly energetic teorites, soone discovered sothing, loudly stopping their colleagues from panicking.
“Look at these green lights—they’re coming together!”
Indeed, the green light spilling from the teorites, as the voice ntioned, imdiately transford from a halo into a smoke-like fluid state after leaving the rocks, continuously converging mid-air. The staff noticed that readings from Geiger counters and other energy detectors stabilized rapidly, while the green halo in the air increasingly took on a solid form as the energy radiation from the teorites decreased.
Ultimately, the green light mass floating in mid-air coalesced and rapidly transford into the image of a little girl with a faint smile.
The little girl had typical Eastern facial features, long hair draped over her shoulders, a sweet and peaceful face, standing just over a ter tall, wearing a light green dress, and barefoot with a pair of cute little white feet. She floated in mid-air, her entire being semi-transparent, like a ghost looking down at the stunned scientists below, her face always carrying a gentle, harmless smile.
When this scene simultaneously appeared on a small island in the Pacific Ocean and in our living room, the reactions were completely different. On the Pacific island, at least twenty scientists called upon their respective gods and mothers, and two scientists had a minor disagreent over whether to call on Allah or Jesus. Over here, we unanimously agreed that Lilina was just born to be a trickster.
After a brief argunt, the scientists unanimously agreed that they should be calling on God. Thus, one scholar, possibly the project leader but indistinguishable in his protective gear, pointed at the little girl floating in mid-air and exclaid loudly: “Oh God! This isn’t scientific!”
The little girl in mid-air smiled, spreading her arms like Jesus’ sister: “Science, my ass!”
“Huh?”
“Ahem, what I ant to say is, after a long journey, I have finally once again seen the thriving life of this world, it’s touching…”
“She’s putting on airs.” In so northern city on the other side of Earth, in a civilian house, Lin Xue, picking at sunflower seeds and watching Lilina’s ghostly act in sync, pointed this out.
“She sure is,” I nodded in agreent, “but no ordinary person could pull off this effect—how many tis a year do you see Lilina speaking to people with her real expressions?”
Lin Xue imdiately chid in, “Oh, every ti she’s getting beaten up, her facial expression is genuinely painful.”
Beside her, the rcury Lamp was overjoyed to hear this, happily finishing her bottle of yogurt, and then picked up a chicken drumstick to find Yakumo Lan, who was sunbathing in the yard, convinced that with perseverance in feeding, she could one day ta that giant fox, at least get her to agree to donate one of her tails as a pillow.
By this ti, Lilina had already successfully created enough light and shadow effects for her descent (because Big Sister and I had forbidden her from casually causing trouble for human civilization, she had put great effort into her “descent ceremony”), and judging by the stunned protective suits, it’s clear how impressive and mysterious she is now. Evidently, in the past minute, she successfully challenged at least twenty scientific facts, and she did it in front of so of the most scientific minds in the world. I estimate that if she doesn’t explain how she got here, half of those scientists will end up with a stroke at best.
The lab leader, the expert who had just exclaid “this isn’t scientific,” was now excitedly gazing at the apparition floating in mid-air. The appearance of the entity before them defied any scientific explanation, including the sudden immobility of the teorite samples, the sudden spike in energy readings, and the physical changes in the light that leaked from the teorites. All these phenona cannot be explained with current technology. To a true scientist, only such mysteries can ignite their full passion: scientists love a good puzzle.
In fact, everyone present thought this way: no matter what, humanity was finally beginning to make face-to-face contact with a new world. In the first minute this world unfolded before them, it presented them with at least a dozen bizarre puzzles.
“Moon Girl!” Finally, one of the protective suits broke the silence, pointing at Lilina floating mid-air and exclaid in surprise. Based on his subconscious use of this term, I preliminarily judged that he often browsed Facebook because people on Baidu often referred to the image of Lilina as “Chang’e’s little sister-in-law”…
The lab leader was a steady old scientist. Upon hearing this, he imdiately nudged his sowhat excited colleague, seemingly trying to remind him of his identity as a scientist. However, even his current state was far from calm. After all, facing a humanoid entity that leapt out from a rock would unsettle any normal person. The last creature to jump out from a rock nearly smashed the Heavenly Court—where were we headed with this topic.
“That’s just your na for , but I have no na.”
Lilina, with an expression of delight and enjoynt, watched the panic among the elderly scientists below and then slowly began to speak, her face sweet and innocent. To the uninford, the only thing differentiating her from an angel might be the lack of a halo, but to the inford, it was entirely clear: the sole difference between her and a demon was the absence of a tail. Lilina, with a pure and innocent smile, was the most terrifying, for it ant she was about to start deceiving people.
“Before deciding to make contact with you, I have already understood the culture of this planet, so I think you can call Artemis…”
“Pfft—”
I was eavesdropping, and suddenly burst out laughing. Sitting in front of was Miss Lin, who had already been foresighted enough to hold up a pillow to shield her face, then she calmly sighed and said: “Up on Mount Olympus, there’s a two-and-a-half-ter Artemis, Avalon has a one-point-seven-ter Artemis, and now congrats, you have a one-point-zero-nine ter one. Are they arrayed in descending order?”
I shook my head with a wry smile, “Alright, at least she didn’t say her na is Chang’e.”
At this mont, even the group of scientists in front of Lilina were utterly baffled. They are the smartest group on this planet, but this intelligence has absolutely nothing to do with emotional intelligence. They worship precise data and knowledge; thus, facing Lilina, who is born to confuse and deceive with mystic and uncertain information, the scientists seed powerless, easily hoodwinked within a few exchanges—of course, the decisive factor was the advantage caused by the information asymtry, otherwise, it would not be easy for Lilina to use incredible tales to persuade a group of steadfast scientists.
“Ar… Artemis?” The lab director repeated in surprise, “Is it the na of the Moon God?”
“No, it’s just a code na, designed to help you understand my existence. I don’t have a na, as you see, what’s appearing before you is rely a piece of mory recorded in these teorites, I’ve been drifting in the starry sky for many years, and this planet is my first stop, perhaps my last stop as well.”
“Then I think I understand,” the lab director nodded thoughtfully and signaled the assistant to check and ensure all recording devices were functioning properly. He realized this conversation would surpass any previous human conception of ‘third kind encounters’; it was genuinely the first communication between humans and extraterrestrial intelligence. Observable from his obviously trembling body, despite wearing heavy protective gear, we can imagine his level of excitent right now, yet he still managed to stabilize himself to sort out the most critical questions, “Miss Artemis, I must confirm you can properly comprehend the Earthling’s language system, and there are no obstacles or misunderstandings in our communication, is that correct?”
This girl knows over a hundred and twenty dialects from various worlds and can talk directly in your mind—everyone who knows Lilina is aware she’s surely thinking this now, but what cos out of her mouth is completely formal, serious, and harmless: “Of course, I thoroughly understand human culture and am familiar with any language on this planet. You can trust that what I intend to say to you is exactly how you understand it in your mind, we will not have cognitive misunderstandings.”
“Very well, then. This friend from the depths of the universe, where do you co from?”
The director asked with a very cautious and respectful attitude, which is proper when facing an alien creature of unknown age, evidently possessing abilities far surpassing those of humans; and this attitude made Lilina quite pleased. She answered leisurely, “I co from the far end of the starry sky, but it’s a place you cannot comprehend, and your most advanced technology cannot discover it—if you must locate it, it’s in your eyes, between the Big Bear Constellation and Little Bear Constellation, a very young star system.”
“There?” The scientists were stunned, “That’s the Dragon Constellation. We never thought there could be a planet suitable for life there.”
“Now it is deathly silent, the Dragon Constellation no longer has any vitality,” Lilina showed an expression of sorrow, gently shaking her head, “The Dragon Constellation has already been destroyed, ruined in a war, but it will be many years before you can see that horrific scene.”
The experts were shocked. Perhaps this was their first clear realization of the limitations of human technology, especially when faced with the barrier of light speed, how much human cognition ability is restricted: the starry sky they see will always be the ancient history long changed by ti. To this day, the Dragon Constellation still shines brightly in the sky, yet this life from the universe in front of them tells them the Dragon Constellation has already perished in flas of war.
Indeed, I was also shocked; our entire family was shocked, shocked at how Lilina, this little trickster, could talk so carelessly. The Dragon Constellation is still there shining brightly, how could it just vanish into thin air with a single word?
Sandora furrowed her brows and nudged my arm, “Ah Jun, the Dragon Constellation is a lifeless constellation.”
I looked at her in horror, “Huh?”
“In a couple of days, the Pan-Galactic Civilization Community, the New Eden Federation, and the newly ford Revenge Fleet will conduct a real combat exercise to test the combat power of the Revenge Fleet and its coordination with the conventional fleet,” Sandora gave a particularly aningful look before connecting to Shadow City on her own, “Sivis, military command, correct the real combat exercise location for the Revenge Fleet to the Capital Universe, conducting it in the Dragon Constellation, fool around as you like, just don’t affect any nearby star systems with life…”
“That’s unnecessary!” Everyone in the room was stunned, except Qianqian, who jumped off the sofa in excitent, “I’m off to buy sunflower seeds!”
I didn’t know how many steps this girl had skipped to get directly to this thought, but I knew Sandora’s decision was definitely unchangeable.
“One must be responsible for their actions,” Sandora looked at solemnly, “Especially when it concerns influencing a civilization. Even as the Emperor of the Empire, one must be accountable. Lilina telling humans sothing could potentially alter their historical course, because according to my estimation, in no more than six hundred years, they might discover observational technology that compensates for the speed of light’s influence. By then, the Dragon Constellation will be inexplicable, so I decided to destroy it before any life forms there. Of course, more importantly, the Dragon Constellation’s environnt is indeed suitable for the Revenge Fleet’s exercises; it was originally one of several candidate locations for real combat validation.”
Lilina was unaware that because of one sentence she had said, Sandora had already decided to indeed destroy the Dragon Constellation. At this mont, Lilina had begun answering the scientists’ questions, seemingly spewing nonsense, but in reality, every answer was calculated, leading the experts and scholars representing the pinnacle of human understanding of the universe step by step into the abyss. She had just finished narrating the tragic history of the destruction of the XX Star System in the fire of war, vehently condemning the evil of racial separatism and the Invaders. The laboratory, originally spacious, was now filled with holographic projections flickering with soft light; projected on them were heart-stopping war scenes: massive starships, flashes that dimd the Sun, overwhelming Insect Swarms, disintegrating planets, each one surpassing any depiction of interstellar war in a human sci-fi movie. With these images as an aid, the little girl fully displayed her overpoweringly manipulative and incendiary prowess accumulated over three lifetis. Despite being an utterly absurd story, when she narrated it, it created an epic impact. The Earth scientists, who had never heard of such a surreal story, were deeply drawn in by the lantable tone of the “Moon Girl” in telling this moving tale, even forgetting for a mont that as researchers, they should be analyzing the problem rather than sitting here listening to stories. I even noticed through video monitoring that so people with delicate emotions secretly wiped tears from their faces as they listened to Lilina recount those tragic wars, their composite gloves clinking against the high-strength organic glass masks.
This was very normal; anyone who really heard the stories Lilina told would be moved, because—that girl had actually spiced up and adapted so of the most thrilling battles from the Big Nebula and Kepulu into her story!
“This is my story,” It was only after a full hour that Lilina finished her “recollection” and then summarized in a transcendent manner, “Our civilization has already turned to dust in a series of internal strife and wars. What has fallen on your satellite is just one of the many Arks of Life we launched before Doomsday. In fact, they are just a kind of mineral that can effectively preserve DNA components. My compatriots launched these gigantic stones into the depths of the Universe via superluminal channels, letting them drift freely among the stars, and the Ark I boarded chose your planet.”
After listening to this story, everyone present couldn’t help but sigh, except for the laboratory’s director, the most esteed old scientist, who still rembered the most critical question: “So, Miss Artemis, your appearance… um, I might not find a suitable word to describe it, but you have already surpassed the mode of existence within human comprehension. I think you know what I an. Are you a holographic projection?”
“No, I am a Soul,” Lilina shook her head decisively, “Don’t be surprised, Souls do exist, but they can still be explained scientifically, although this explanation is sothing you can’t understand right now. I am the consciousness aggregate from before our civilization’s demise, the only conscious passenger deciding the Ark’s course. I live off the energy within the teorite, and transform infinitely using its special properties to communicate with you. But perhaps the ti for our communication is running out. As you have seen, the energy in these teorites has been depleted, and I am now using the last remaining energy to appear before you.”
“It’s truly amazing, incredible!” A younger voice exclaid, “Soul! Consciousness aggregate! This will be a topic that causes a big stir!”
“Hansen, keep quiet.” The laboratory director scolded hurriedly, realizing he had to seize the mont when he heard Lilina say she was about to disappear, “Miss Artemis, then I will speak candidly: What is your mission? Bringing such a considerable number of life samples to another planet suitable for life is a very sensitive issue. If this truth were made public, I think the governnts of Earthlings wouldn’t turn a blind eye to such potential threats. Many tis, Earthlings are not friendly.”
“Is this the candor unique to scientists?” Lilina shook her head indifferently, “Then you can rest assured, all the life samples on the Ark have lost activity. We are extinct, and there is no need to sacrifice another world for our resurrection; this is the way of the Universe. The Ark’s significance is rely to tell this Universe that we once existed, and the significance of my last appearance before you is just to tell you how a civilization made the mistake of exterminating itself, nothing more…”
As the final words faded into the air, the little girl’s projection in mid-air gradually dimd and, amidst a flicker from energy depletion, completely vanished. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for recomndations and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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