Cyber Heroes

October 17, 2029, night.

Although this time is already winter in my hometown, the temperature in Indonesia is still enough to cause heatstroke. Xiangshan packed a plate of cream cake and a glass of iced soda as usual, sat in the cafeteria and read the printed documents.

Although this place has a special reference room, eating is prohibited in the reading area. Strong-smelling drinks are also prohibited. Soon, scholars used the mysterious appearance of chocolate wrappers every day to demonstrate the rationality of this rule - after all, long-term and intense thinking is very energy-consuming. But Xiangshan was still embarrassed to take in substances such as powdered sugar and caffeine in that place.

Anyway, after nine o'clock, the cafeteria was very quiet.

And there is unlimited buffet food.

Although the soda here is very sweet, the taste becomes acceptable after adding a lot of ice cubes. Although the military-style baked cake is not "delicious", it can avoid the pain of brainstorming on an empty stomach.

Xiangshan just flipped through the papers comfortably.

Xiangshan is not the only scholar who does this. Now everyone seems to have a tacit understanding, and the cafeteria is very quiet after 9:30 pm.

After more than two people disappeared, Yawgmoth walked in with a tired look on his face, grabbed some bread randomly, and then sat down on the opposite side of Xiangshan. His movements were very weak, as if he had "fallen".

Xiangshan slowly read the conclusion of a paper, and then looked at Yawgmoth: "Brother, your face is so pale. What's wrong? Is it still not going well?"

"I still don't know why the makers of Ogun installed those gadgets...how do those gadgets work?" It's as if Yawgmoth's soul is no longer here. He muttered in a low voice: "It doesn't make sense... The builders of Ogun's technology level is not much higher than that of Earth. But why can they build those things?"

Xiangshan ignored him and continued scanning the papers.

After a while, Yawgmoth finally regained his composure.

At this time, the bread in his hand was already half eaten.

Yawgmoth sighed: "Shan, if you want to think about it from the perspective of a science fiction novelist..."

"Hey! You can't get past this, right?" Xiang Shan raised his eyebrows: "I'm a serious researcher! Researcher! I already have a formal professional title in the Republic! I have a lot of papers! It's just a hobby! A hobby!"

"Ha, I think you do have quite a future as a science fiction novelist." Yawgmoth waved his hand: "If I asked you to guess in the form of science fiction novels, what would you think?"

"I don't have time to think about it." Xiang Shan rolled his eyes: "If we guys didn't repair the equipment day and night, what would you be studying? Studying the proteome of the air?"

"This doesn't look like the Voyager at all. No matter how we look at it, we can't get a glimpse of their civilization from the remaining items of 'Ogun'. This is exactly the opposite of the purpose of the Voyager." Yawgmoth He whispered: "It costs so much to just transport a bunch of unusable scrap metal to the solar system..."

Xiang Shan shrugged: "I really can't guess. It might also depend on cracking the copper plate."

"That diamond wall and copper plate? That's not language at all." Yawgmoth shook his head: "Although the way of interpretation is not clear yet, the existing signs are already obvious. The thing on it is the computer control program, it is Coding done in advance—this is your field, right?”

"We can't rule out that this is 'language'." Xiang Shan curled his lips: "And that's not a copper plate, it's a gold plate with a copper core."

"Inga and Kanbara hold opposite views. I trust the professionals."

Xiangshan sighed: "Indeed... forget it. Have you heard? Kanbaru is leaving here."

"Leave?" Yawgmoth was a little surprised: "Why? Isn't this one of the most meaningful projects for mankind in this century?"

"Theoretically." Xiang Shan shook his head: "But Kanyuan believes that there is no need for him here. After all, he is a guy who studies living languages. He was transferred here in the first place..."

Yawgmoth interjected: "It's also because ordinary linguists can't afford that equipment."

When they entered Ogun in 2028, Mukayama, Yawgmoth and Kanbaru Zun entered as an expert team. But facts have proven that the physique of Wudaokou Sports School, which has been fighting for the motherland for fifty years, is not worthy of the protective clothing stuffed with lead sheets. Not to mention the weak Harvard nerd, which relies entirely on a powered exoskeleton to move.

Only the linguist who trained in the place where mankind originated can easily control that equipment.

It is precisely because of this shared experience that the three of them became good friends.

Xiang Shan laughed twice before continuing: "Yes, because he is the only one who can control the protective suit, and also because he must be on guard against artificial intelligence or creatures that can communicate inside."

Even more than one group of linguists was mobilized at that time in order to prevent one person from monopolizing the privilege of communicating with aliens. Several people from each country will come, and it will be ensured that these linguists have no direct contact before February 28. [This is actually not easy. After all, the academic world is so big. At an international level academic conference, everyone knows each other. For those who control risks, this means that these people may be "connected in series". Before the decision was made to let Kamara-san explore Ogun, there was even a group of linguists who were secretly placed in an area that was not open to communication with the public. 】

"But what now? There are no alien intelligent creatures, no alien AI, not even a smart device that can be turned on." Xiangshan said: "Since there is no one to communicate with, what is Kanbaru doing here?"

Yawgmoth nodded: "He seems to have said before that he believes that his life's work is in Africa, with those 'souls of mankind's distant ancestors'."

"Yes. Without his research subjects, there is no need for him to stay here." Xiangshan said: "For us brothers, this is an opportunity. But his dream of Kanbaru is not here - now there is only Yingjia's team also plans to use linguistic methods to decipher the secret of the gold plate."

"Same." Yawgmoth nodded and sighed: "Another batch has left."

"What?"

"Another group of researchers have been withdrawn." Yawgmoth shook his head.

"Originally. Everyone thought they were here to study Zentraedi technology, but when they opened the treasure chest - hey, Orc technology!"

Among science fiction enthusiasts, "Zenith Star Technology" can refer to all advanced technologies. "Orc technology" is technology that "looks very backward, but is actually very backward. You don't know why it works, but it just doesn't make sense."

Everyone thought that the technology of "Ogun" was enough for human research into the interstellar era, but what was the result? Some technologies are nothing more than Earth-level.

It’s no wonder that various countries are withdrawing researchers one after another.

At the beginning, all major countries recruited front-line researchers - after all, they thought there were huge benefits in this, so they recruited all kinds of front-line researchers. These researchers are all promising, and many of them have their own projects.

In the past, everyone thought that the benefits brought by "Ogun" might exceed all existing gadgets, so they would rather pay the price and stop the original project. But after the exploration of "Ogun" was completed, leaders of various countries realized that the technology brought by Ogun was not worth it.

Scholars who believe that "Ogun" is not in line with their research directions will naturally gradually withdraw.

"My mentors are all gone. He still feels that it would be more promising for him to go back and engage in interdisciplinary research in cognitive science." Xiang Shan said: "He even feels that these alien devices may be worth the title of professor - —'Good job, Xiangshan, if you succeed this time, I guarantee you will be our youngest professor at Tsinghua University.'"

"After all, this project is a gimmick?" Yawgmoth laughed.

"Even if it's not taken seriously, it's not so little taken seriously!" Xiang Shan said angrily: "The most critical part of a project related to aliens has to be 'gimmicky enough' for you to win it. A mere professorial title?”

"No, I think Mr. Liu just thinks that you may not be the first to crack those devices." Yawgmoth shook his head.

During the past half year, Liu Zhenghui went back, and Professor Zhang, who came with Liu Zhenghui, left. Li Jiahua and Zhang Qiaoyun, two researchers from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who took a car to the airport with Xiangshan, also left.

Most of the engineering researchers related to aerospace technology and members of the space agencies of various countries, led by CASC and NASA, have stayed.

What is particularly worth mentioning is that Mr. Jing Hongtu has no need to stay, but he is the one who is most reluctant to leave.

The second grade of old school.

"Forget it, once I crack the mystery of Ogun's pile of scrap metal, I'm going to show those guys what a great discovery that shocks the world is!"

Xiangshan picked up a piece of cake from the plate and said viciously.

…………………………………………………………………………

Xiang Shan pulled out a storage device from his open head and said happily: "Look, let me tell you, when fighting these gangs, don't be afraid of trouble, and don't be afraid of the little information they drop. After all, you can gather sand into a tower. Yes. Look, do we know a lot more about the underground forces in Jayhawk City now?"

Behind him, several young knights had just come out of the hiding area.

They haven't reacted yet and feel that they can't keep up with the old man's thinking.

This old man really chose a direction at random and hit whatever he encountered. In short, as long as it is a stronghold, throw an electromagnetic pulse generator first to block all signals for help.

If there are few people on the other side, just take it openly. If there are many people, assassinate them several times.

Anyway, now it’s certain…

The underground world of Jayhawk City is in complete chaos.