Chapter 179
Chapter 179
“Comrade Liu Yan, are you certain you’ve thought this through?”
The speaker was a middle-aged woman whose black-and-gray hair was pulled into a meticulous bun at the back of her head.
She wore a combat uniform without any insignia of rank. Her face was stern, her gaze so sharp it seemed capable of piercing straight through a person’s heart.
At that moment, those eyes were fixed firmly on the young woman standing before her.
Liu Yan stood straight as a pine. Her crisp military uniform lent her an imposing air of integrity, while the fierce edge in her features had clearly been honed through years spent on the line between life and death.
She lowered her eyes slightly but met the other woman’s gaze without the slightest evasion, her expression equally grave. “I’m certain, Secretary Tang.”
Secretary Tang looked deeply at her, countless complicated emotions swirling in her eyes. Then she took a step back and slowly bowed halfway to Liu Yan.
Liu Yan’s pupils contracted. Almost instinctively, she stepped forward and caught Secretary Tang firmly by the arm.
“Please don’t do this!” There was a trace of urgency in her voice. “No matter the circumstances, I can’t allow an elder to bow to me. Defending our country and protecting our people is the duty of every one of us.”
As she finished, the corner of her mouth curled slightly, betraying a hint of her usual roguishness and easing the solemn atmosphere.
Secretary Tang patted her sturdy arm without another word, then turned toward a passage guarded by two armed soldiers.
Liu Yan quickly followed. The instant she turned, however, her gaze slipped beyond her control, sweeping past the crowd toward the rear.
At the edge of the orderly yet hurried throng, a small, thin girl sat blankly beside a cold shipping container, staring ahead with empty eyes.
She was still there.
The sight of that tiny figure finally put Liu Yan’s anxious heart at ease. She drew a deep breath and, without looking back again, followed Secretary Tang with resolute steps.
The soldiers at the entrance immediately snapped to attention upon seeing them and rendered a textbook salute. Liu Yan stopped and returned an equally precise salute, her movements crisp and clean.
Then the two of them headed toward the enormous silver-white alloy door at the end of the passage.
Secretary Tang stepped forward first and pressed her palm against the scanner. A low mechanical hum sounded as the alloy door slid apart, revealing a dazzling wash of cold white light beyond it.
Liu Yan paused at the threshold. She took a deep breath before stepping inside after Secretary Tang.
The chamber beyond was far more immense than she had imagined.
It was a gigantic spherical space, its curved walls densely embedded with screens of every size. Some were lit, while others were completely dark. Most displayed streams of data that Liu Yan could not begin to understand.
Secretary Tang walked ahead, with Liu Yan behind her. Without realizing it, Liu Yan lightened her steps. Unable to resist, she swept her gaze across the flickering screens.
There were people on them.
Beneath each screen was a cold, impersonal designation, ranging from “World-01” to “World-17.”
Secretary Tang stopped before a control console, paying no attention to the shock on Liu Yan’s face.
“Do you know what these are?”
Liu Yan shook her head honestly, her throat suddenly dry.
“They are…” Secretary Tang’s gaze turned unfathomably deep, and she lowered her voice to a murmur, as though afraid of disturbing something. “People from other worlds.”
They were what?
What?
People from other worlds?
For a moment, Liu Yan’s mind went completely blank.
She stared fixedly at the screens, at the blurry human figures moving within them, unable to process what she had just heard.
Another world? People from another world?
Wasn’t that something that only existed in science fiction?
Did that mean aliens were real too?
No, that wasn’t right. These weren’t aliens. They were… from parallel worlds? Humans just like her?
The realization struck her like a sledgehammer to the skull, making every hair on her body stand on end.
Wait… maybe it wasn’t quite as shocking as it should have been. After all, the appearance of the Rift and the Madmen had already shattered her entire understanding of science.
If things like those could crawl out of the earth, what was truly impossible anymore?
All her wild, scattered thoughts eventually condensed into one clear realization: her decision to participate in this experimental body modification had seemingly… brought her into a whole new world.
She could even feel her heartbeat accelerating.
Fear and exhilaration, two utterly opposing emotions, tore wildly at each other inside her chest.
It was the most primal shudder humanity experienced when confronted by the vast unknown.
Before the Rift and the Madmen appeared, she had believed humanity stood at the top of the food chain. She had believed science was the only yardstick by which the world could be measured.
But now, the “other worlds” behind those screens were like a mirror, reflecting her own narrowness and insignificance.
As Liu Yan stared at those designations, she suddenly realized that the civilization, order, and logic humanity took such pride in might not even amount to a speck of dust before the truth of a far greater universe.
The utter upheaval of everything she thought she knew sent a chill through her body, yet she could not suppress the almost reverent tremor rising from deep within.
So beyond everything they knew, there truly was a vast sea of stars that surpassed all imagination–and she was now reaching out to touch its boundary.
She had become so engrossed that she did not even notice her steps slowing until she nearly walked into Secretary Tang, who had stopped in front of her.
“I’m sorry.” She hurriedly snapped back to her senses and apologized, slightly embarrassed.
Secretary Tang turned to look at her, then burst into hearty laughter. The sound dispelled some of the somberness in the room. “It’s nothing. When Comrade Qi Han first saw this, her reaction was even stronger than yours. She nearly smashed the control console’s screen.”
Liu Yan’s expression shifted for an instant.
Qi Han-her sworn rival. Ever since military school, they had clashed at every turn, whether on the training field or during missions. Neither had ever been willing to concede to the other.
Liu Yan had always assumed Qi Han was still carrying out some top-secret mission. She hadn’t expected her to have returned long ago.
And she had even joined this experiment before Liu Yan!
Her competitive spirit surged at once, and her hands unconsciously clenched into fists. She couldn’t lose to Qi Han. Absolutely not!
Secretary Tang keenly caught the change in her eyes. The corner of her mouth lifted slightly, but her expression soon turned serious again.
“Someone made contact with us.
“More precisely, they contacted us first. About three months ago, our signal receivers picked up several anomalous transmissions. It took us two weeks to decode them. They used sequences of prime numbers-the most fundamental language of mathematics. The people on the other side are also studying the Rift, and they’re also searching for others like themselves.”
She walked over to one of the screens and stopped, fixing her gaze on it. Liu Yan followed her line of sight and spotted a familiar researcher.
It was their base’s chief scientist. Dressed in a white lab coat, she stood before an enormous screen with a group of similarly dressed researchers, engaged in an intense and excited discussion.
On the other side of the screen stood another person.
Liu Yan’s gaze was unconsciously drawn to her.
She was a woman, also dressed in a white lab coat, with cool, aloof features. There was something unique about her bearing. Liu Yan couldn’t say exactly what it was, only that the woman somehow seemed… deeply sad.
“Chen Minglan.” Secretary Tang noticed where Liu Yan was looking and introduced her. “She’s a researcher from that world and a leading expert in virology. She often holds conferences with our researchers to exchange information.”
Liu Yan nodded without asking any further questions. Yet she etched the woman’s profile–and the lingering sorrow in her eyes-deep into her memory.
The researchers on their side were completely absorbed in the academic exchange, paying no attention at all to Secretary Tang and Liu Yan behind them. Armed with computers, paper, and pens, they frantically recorded every piece of data being transmitted by the other side.
“Professor Chen, please continue. I’ve identified a new issue…”
Although they came from two different worlds, they shared the same pure devotion to scientific research. The two groups had found kindred spirits in each other and discussed their work without the slightest barrier between them.
Liu Yan seemed infected by the purity of the atmosphere. She straightened her back even further and asked, “Are they from the world that first contacted us?”
“No.” Secretary Tang shook her head and pointed toward an area on the left. “That section contains the four worlds that contacted us on their own initiative. Their civilizations are similar to ours, but their technology is somewhat more advanced.”
Her finger finally stopped on one of the screens. There was no image on it, only endless streams of data flickering wildly. “There are no living people left in this world. Only automated machines remain, continuously transmitting signals on a loop. We don’t know how long those signals have been broadcasting. Perhaps a hundred years. Perhaps a thousand.”
Her voice was calm, yet weighed down by profound sorrow.
“This section where we’re standing contains the worlds we reached out to after learning from their methods.”
Liu Yan nodded as she processed the information, then pressed on. “Were all these worlds… invaded by the Madmen?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Secretary Tang shook her head again, her tone grave. “Every world encountered a different disaster. Some were consumed by machines, some were swept by plagues, and others fell into an eternal winter. The only thing they all had in common was the Rift.”
“Their theory is that the more technologically advanced a world is, the greater the scale of the disaster it faces.”
Her gaze slowly shifted before finally settling on the screen directly behind them.
“The world linked to the area where we’re now standing is the only one, among all the worlds that have contacted us or that we’ve managed to reach, where Rift activity has already ceased.”
Secretary Tang lowered her eyes slightly. “We don’t know how long the peace will last, but they’ve already… begun rebuilding their home.”
Liu Yan’s gaze once again fell on the sorrowful woman.
As she looked at the woman, it felt as though she were also looking at herself–and at everyone struggling to survive amid disaster.
She declared firmly, “We will too.”
We will rebuild our home one day too.
We will.
The middle-aged woman’s gaze softened as she looked at the determined young woman before her. She slowly nodded. “That is inevitable.”
“But we can talk about that later.” Her tone abruptly changed, and she returned to her brisk, decisive manner. “Right now, you need to undergo a comprehensive physical examination. Experimental modification is no trivial matter. Your body must be in peak condition if it’s going to withstand the procedure.”
“Yes, ma’am!”