The Heavens: A Qing, the Yue Girl at the beginning

Almost simultaneously, Shi Yiguang's divine sense flowed, splitting into thousands of fine threads that connected with the nearby bluestone wall and the talisman lines, stirring up bursts of spiritual light.

Inside the main control room, hundreds of crystal screens switched images instantly, and thousands of data streams poured down like a waterfall.

The raw data transmitted back by the spacetime distortion detector showed that an extremely weak spacetime curvature fluctuation occurred about 700 meters above the Lomonosov Ridge in the Arctic Ocean and more than 300 meters below the sea level. The fluctuation had an amplitude of only 10^-31 and a duration of less than one millionth of a second.

"Activate the gravity gradiometer array and adjust the accuracy to 10^-12 m/s."

Shi Yiguang's eyes narrowed slightly, his voice calm and unwavering, "Simultaneously activate quantum-enhanced magnetic anomaly detection, set the sensitivity threshold to 0.1 pT."

The moment the command was given, the twelve monitoring satellites deployed in low Earth orbit adjusted their attitudes.

Their sensor arrays unfold like blooming metal bouquets, precisely aligned with that tiny coordinate on the Arctic ice cap.

The unmanned underwater vehicle, lurking deep in the Arctic Ocean, silently surfaced, releasing a swarm of miniature probes that surged toward their target like a school of silver fish. Three seconds later, the results were revealed.

Gravity gradients indicate the presence of an anomaly zone approximately 30 meters in diameter, with a mass 5300±70 tons lower than the surrounding seawater.
The magnetic anomaly spectrum exhibits typical Casimir effect characteristics, but anomalous harmonics appear in the extremely low frequency range.

"Microwave radiation measurement initiated, frequency range 0.1-100GHz," she continued, issuing the order.

The detection results showed that the region contained weak Hawking radiation signatures and a temperature of about 120 Kelvin, consistent with the decay model of a small wormhole or space gate.

"Start muon computed tomography, set the resolution to the highest level."

High-energy muon beams are precisely projected from the orbital platform, penetrating ice and seawater, silently passing over the target area. The detector captures their subtle scattering and decay, and inverts the related density distribution.

Data shows that there is a warping point in the region with a spacetime curvature radius of about 50 meters, which is slowly smoothing out.

“时空坐标锁定：北纬87°12'36“，东经142°57'48“，高度-343米。”

Shi Yiguang spoke rapidly, “Within a radius of 500km, search all records of aircraft that have passed through in the past 72 hours, including civil aviation, cargo, military, scientific research, and… undeclared aircraft.”

The massive database was mobilized instantly.

Global air traffic control information, military radar logs, and even occasional snapshots from commercial satellites flow into the central processing unit of Qingxiao-1 like rivers flowing into the sea.

Artificial intelligence performs cross-comparison and screening at nanosecond speeds.

Just two seconds later, a record was highlighted.

"Target marked: Cargo flight RU-7714, belonging to a shell company called 'Aurora Logistics', aircraft type: modified An-124. Route: Norilsk-Longyearbyen."

"At 04:17 UTC today, the aircraft made a slight course adjustment and passed over the Lomonosov Ridge at an altitude of 9100 meters for about three minutes and forty-seven seconds."

"Tracking the subsequent flight path and status of RU-7714."

A massive data stream flooded in again: "RU-7714 landed at Longyearbyen Airport 47 minutes ago. It is currently under airport control, and ground crew reports that its left third engine requires routine maintenance. Departure is expected to be delayed."

"Retrieve the aircraft's load declaration list, fuel load data before and after takeoff from Norilsk, engine condition monitoring data, and records of all radar cross-sections along the route..."

"Connect to the Longyearbyen Airport security and ground handling monitoring network. Focus on scanning its cargo hold and all unloaded cargo."

"Perform a deep background scan on the machine."

Shi Yiguang emphasized and ordered, "Starting from its last comprehensive overhaul, the tightening torque of every single bolt must be checked."

The intelligence system's powerful effectiveness was on full display at this moment; a massive amount of fragmented information about this old cargo plane was instantly extracted, reassembled, and summarized before her eyes:
Its skin was damaged in a Siberian hailstorm five years ago, and insurance claims show that the supplier who replaced the skin had related transactions with a reinsurance company registered in the Cayman Islands, and the nephew of one of the company's directors is a peripheral member of a mixed European family.

The turbine blades of the third engine on its left wing had been shown to have microscopic signs of metal fatigue during the last overhaul by the internal monitoring system, but the report was suppressed by the ground manager on the grounds of being a "false alarm". Two weeks later, one of the manager's private accounts received an unexplained remittance from overseas.

Three months ago, the “electronic components” it loaded at Miami International Airport actually contained a large quantity of smuggled cigars, which ended up in the home of the mistress of a Brazilian congressman who was pushing for a bill that would benefit a biotechnology company with traces of indirect investment from the Holy Palace Medical Association.

The cargo declared for this flight was "precision geological sensors for mining," but the weight distribution heat map inside its cargo hold showed a statistically significant deviation from the shock absorption and fixing methods commonly used in the transportation of precision instruments, making it more akin to bulk cargo...

Most importantly, by using fuel refueling records from multiple airports before and after takeoff, engine operating data, and real-time satellite meteorological data to extrapolate air resistance and perform precise fuel consumption calculations, the system discovered a startling fact:

When the aircraft flew over the abnormal area, its actual weight was about 4.5 tons more than it should theoretically be, and it was not released until it reached its designated location.

“‘Netherworld Illumination’? Or a similar high-level incantation effect, distorting light to achieve optical and sensor-based invisibility.” Shi Yiguang immediately made a judgment, “Trying to use conventional transportation to cover up unconventional operations? Good idea, but unfortunately it still left traces…”

Without hesitation, she continued to issue instructions: "Activate the 'Global Memory Matching System' and screen all cases reported as missing persons worldwide in the past 144 hours, where the location of disappearance or last known location is in Northern Europe, Northern Russia, Alaska, or the northern coastal region of Canada."

"Special attention is being paid to missing persons whose backgrounds may have connections to fields such as alchemy, dragon research, and anomalous physics. At the same time, cross-referencing is being conducted on all non-natural cases involving reports of 'memory lapses,' 'cognitive biases,' and 'diminished presence.'"

As its name suggests, this is a massive system that transcends conventional physical surveillance and is considered taboo.

It silently connects billions of public and some private network nodes around the world—traffic cameras, ATMs, personal social media accounts, satellite image archives, news databases, and even fragments of information in some deep corners of the web.

Its core function is not simply data mining, but rather, based on a multi-dimensional cross-analysis of massive human activity records, it attempts to capture the traces of individuals whose "sense of existence" has been diluted or even erased by the world itself due to their long-term stay in Nibelungen or similar spaces.

The system operates at full capacity in silence, consuming astonishing amounts of computing power. It searches through vast amounts of global data for those minute discordant notes:
A blurry photograph taken by chance; a person with the same unusual clothing or object features appearing in multiple unrelated records; a communication record with logical breaks.

It might even be just a minor discrepancy in many people's memories of a certain event or person...

The success rate of the entire process is extremely low, much like searching for the spin direction of a specific atom in the Pacific Ocean.

"Screening in progress... Preliminary scan completed. A total of 1745 related missing persons reports were found, of which 137 showed weak abnormal characteristics. Deep pattern recognition and correlation analysis are underway... Progress 12%... Progress 38%..."

While waiting, Shi Yiguang's gaze returned to the red dot deep in the Arctic Ocean. She knew that opening the "door" was like throwing a pebble into a pool; the ripples would continue to spread.

Even the most meticulous concealment will inevitably leave traces under multiple monitoring methods.

A vast and inescapable net, though its meshes are wide, none escapes it.

……

At the same moment, the silence deep within the clock tower of Kassel College was broken once again by Angers's low voice.

“You ask me if I have a second ship? Ha, it’s not that easy.” He curled his lips into a smile that wasn’t really funny. “Speaking of which, the Doomsday Faction did design a weaponized… ramming ship, codenamed ‘Phaethon,’ designed to carry out suicide attacks when necessary.”

"But now the timeline has been moved forward by at least eight years, there's definitely no time to rebuild it. Your ticket is now a lost cause."

In ancient Greek mythology, Phaethon, in order to prove that he was the son of the sun god, begged Helios to let him drive the sun chariot. However, due to his lack of experience and control, he was unable to control the galloping warhorse, causing the sun chariot to go out of control and almost burn the earth.

This corresponds perfectly to the effect of the fusion engine and the impact.

"Our boat tickets are gone..." the vice principal wailed, slumping back into his chair and taking a large gulp of wine. "So, we don't even have the right to run away anymore? Is there any other way?"

Angers ignored the question, simply exhaling a smoke ring, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

"The Doomsday Faction... by staying in Nibelungen for so long, they are constantly diminishing their 'presence' in the real world. This is a price to pay, but also a form of protection."

"In the end, they will be like... ghosts gradually fading from other people's memories, slowly 'erased' by the real world."

"I know less and less about their inside information. Even some names I've dealt with before are now just blurry in my memory..."

"If you ask me about my attitude toward the doomsday prophets, I can only say," he changed his tone, his voice becoming calm and even cold again, "that it is necessary to support a group of people in having a final escape route."

"Consider defeat before victory. This has nothing to do with courage or cowardice, but is the instinct for the continuation of civilization."

"Doesn't our Kassel College also have a 'ice cellar' that's said to be able to withstand attacks from dragon kings? It contains a gene bank of species and a backup of information about human civilization, although it's estimated that it can only maintain its internal ecological cycle for five hundred years."

"As far as I know, there are probably five known underground refuge spaces of similar size and defense level worldwide, both overt and covert. Not to mention the smaller refuge fortresses built privately by the super-rich..."

"I remember reading a survey that estimated that nearly 20% of Americans are preparing for some form of apocalypse, from bunkers to canned food."

"Look, there are always people who choose to go to the battlefield, and others... who choose to find a way to survive."

"Moreover, not all of the Doomsday Faction members have left." EVA's ethereal voice rang out again, pulling up new data. "According to deciphered internal communications, a considerable number of elite personnel voluntarily stayed behind, lurking around the world."

"Their mission is... 'Observe the End,' to gather firsthand intelligence on the Black King's resurgence, its strength, and its characteristics, and to attempt to send this crucial information to 'Polaris' via deep-space communication links, providing early warning for their deep-space voyage, and perhaps... also for a possible return someday." "Furthermore," EVA added, "the data shows," "that they originally planned to send a batch of important technical documents today to several specific organizations believed to still possess the capacity and will to resist—primarily China, Russia, and our Secret Party—as 'legacy.'"

“It’s interesting that the US isn’t on the list. Things like the design blueprint for a ‘optical soliton coupled neutral particle beam weapon,’ the propulsion theory for a ‘magnetically swirling field confined vortex ring vehicle,’ the smelting formula for ‘tunable acoustic metamorphic activated metal,’ the core algorithm for ‘quantum dual-mode compression (QTMS) radar,’ and so on.”

"What's the reason? Are you dissatisfied with Hankow?" The vice principal raised an eyebrow.

"The assessment concludes that the United States lacks a complete rare earth industry chain, reserves of high-purity nuclear materials, and... sufficient national-level execution capacity to complete the rapid transformation and deployment of related technologies, making it insufficient to quickly shift from a capital-driven to a government-driven model."

EVA gave an objective answer: "Although this may contain some bias from semi-Soviet organizations, it does indeed conform to known conclusions."

“However,” she changed the subject, “all of this technical data, along with a far greater amount of other intelligence stored on the server, has been preemptively downloaded and transmitted to our server by Ms. Shi Yiguang after she broke through the firewall.”

Angers paused slightly: "Is this... a late ticket?"

He stubbed out his cigar in the crystal ashtray, a spark flying up before quickly going out.

Outside the window, the Illinois night sky was crystal clear, with Orion hanging high in the sky. Below its belt, Polaris shone brightly, its cold light piercing through millennia of time and space, watching over the turmoil and choices of humankind.

“They see themselves as Noah of mankind,” Angers said softly, with an indescribable sense of感慨, “but they forget that in the story of Noah’s Ark, God ultimately spared mankind.”

"God? You mean the Black King?"

The vice-principal tried to respond in his usual joking tone, but to no avail: "According to research, He is a variant of Yahweh in Hebrew mythology, who rules over destiny and destruction..."

“No.” Angers interrupted him: “I’m not referring to a personified god, but rather to the ‘Will of the Earth,’ or rather, the World Tree, the totem that the Dragon Civilization once worshipped in ancient times but later betrayed.”

He slowly turned around, facing Flamel and the interplay of light and shadow with EVA, his expression more solemn than ever before:
“There is an ancient legend, which is found in a very few fragments of ancient dragon documents: the Black King Nidhogg was not born of his parents, but was conceived by the earth itself.”

"From an astronomical perspective, it is... a planetary-level life form, stronger than the sum of all things on Earth. The reason why the Black King's resurrection was unavoidable is because... without this thing, Earth would create a new one again."

"Wouldn't that mean they'd be immortal?"

"not necessarily."

……

"The monitoring network just now had excellent response speed and analytical accuracy. It reacted quickly and handled the situation well." On the other end of the screen, Zhao Qing's voice carried a hint of approval: "It seems that the data capture of the Nibelungen space features is becoming more and more comprehensive and perfect."

She paused slightly, as if her thoughts had drifted to another, grander and more ethereal topic: "So, how's the progress of our previous attempt to communicate with 'Earth's consciousness'?"

"Any response or clues?"

Shi Yiguang shook his head slightly. Data flowed on the crystal screen behind him, displaying log reports of multiple experiments: "Still no results."

"I tried seismic wave encoding, electromagnetic wave resonance in a specific frequency band, and even used specially generated strong focused neutrino beams and weak gravitational wave pulses... The latter two were naturally achieved with the help of the Word Magic Techniques you created."

"The information carried by all the carriers mainly consisted of repetitive ancient honorifics and greetings in the dragon language, interspersed with brief introductions and wishes for peace in major human languages ​​such as Chinese and English... but they all sank without a trace, without any response."

"Ignoring the issues of information carriers and encoding methods," she analyzed, "there are two main possibilities: either our 'signal' strength is too weak relative to the energy level of the Earth itself—for example, the total number of artificially generated neutrinos is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount that the sun pours in every second."
"Either... the target's 'reaction' speed is unusually fast, it may take several days for it to even have a thought, it may not notice low-frequency signals, or the feedback mechanism may be completely different from our perception."

Zhao Qing didn't seem surprised. He pondered for a moment and said, "Assuming that the Black King and White King at their peak could indeed communicate directly with the will of Earth, given the former's lifespan of hundreds of millions of years, it's possible that they were very patient and went through countless experiments before they made contact, became 'acquaintances,' and were recognized and accepted..."

"You mean, the consciousness of the stars might only be willing to deal with 'old neighbors' who have been with us for a long time, and too lazy to pay attention to 'strangers' who have just met us, and even if they hear our 'voices,' they won't respond?"

Shi Yiguang pondered, "Perhaps our communication methods are completely misguided? It's not about physical fluctuations, but rather a broad, spiritual resonance?"

"This possibility cannot be ruled out."

Zhao Qing agreed: "Perhaps a massive, continuously operating domain of spiritual power, on a continental scale, like a constant mental whisper, would be needed for it to be 'heard.' But a domain of this scale requires immense energy and control..."

The meaning was clear even though the words were not fully spoken.

Even for them now, this is an extremely difficult challenge, requiring unimaginable engineering foundations and a further breakthrough in their cultivation level, a qualitative leap.

"Speaking of which, although the Black King had an extremely close relationship with Earth and could be considered an agent of the planet's will, he later did most of the bad things and got into some trouble."

Shi Yiguang pulled up another document: "Xia Mi's recent 'dream archaeology' has yielded new discoveries."

"According to her analysis of some ancient scriptures of the White King World Tree Cult, the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Spirit are a trinity, enjoying the same supreme glory. Nidhogg was once the 'Holy Son,' the most beloved child of the 'World Tree,' bearing the mission of communicating with the nine realms and maintaining balance."

"But later, he betrayed it, abandoning the initial trust and gifts from 'God'... He was no longer satisfied with being a spokesperson; he wanted to become the ruler, or even... replace it. So, the White King rallied the dragons, contacted the Temple of Priests, the Council of Elders, and countless beings who worshipped the World Tree, and launched a war to punish the 'rebellious son'."

"This was the propaganda line used by the White King's side at the beginning of the civil war between the Black and White Kings. It may have contained many stigmatizing accusations, but it may not have been entirely unfounded... After this incident, the Earth's will, having been deceived and even traumatized, will naturally become wary and hostile towards all intelligent life that attempts to contact it."

"As for the Black King's propaganda, they claim that the 'World Tree' has always been just a spiritual tree where His Majesty Nidhogg once resided. Its complex symbolism is all fabricated by the White King to fool and manipulate the people... Seeing too many dragons indulging in lies, the truth must be revealed!"

"It is generally believed that the World Tree Cult was originally a racial belief established by the two kings for the convenience of their rule, a tool to balance power, and it immediately disintegrated after the two sides broke apart. The concept of the 'World Tree' is a mixture and combination of the worldview construction of high-dimensional alchemy, the Black King's own experience, and the common will of Earth..."

"There is another theory, which should originate from a later era: the World Tree is an alchemical matrix used by the god-king Odin to suppress the remains of the black dragon, and it is located within the territory of 'Asgard'."

"It is currently believed that the Nibelungen Group, codenamed 'Chaous Abyss,' was created by Odin. They should be the kingdoms of the Aesir gods, and they can be connected to each other by the 'Rainbow Bridge.'"

"Of course, the so-called gods are merely one branch within the dragon race. Their connection to the World Tree, however..."

“Recently, I suddenly thought of a crucial question,” Zhao Qing interrupted with a smile, saying meaningfully, “How long of a period of time and what kind of initial conditions are needed for the consciousness of a star to truly be conceived and born?”

"In terms of conditions, I have reached a general conclusion. At the very least, it must differentiate into a structure similar to the mantle and core of Vesta, which can be described as an aborted and incomplete planetary embryo that once had active volcanic activity. But what about the time? Tens of millions of years? Hundreds of millions of years? Or billions of years?"

"If it only takes tens of millions of years to take shape, then perhaps there has been more than one 'stellar will' on Earth?"

Shi Yiguang was taken aback.

Theia.

Zhao Qing's gaze seemed to pierce through endless time and space as he slowly said, "The origin hypothesis of the moon, a Mars-sized planet that collided with the primitive Earth 4.5 billion years ago."

"The existence of this celestial body and the traces it left behind were recently clearly revealed in a seismic tomography mission led by Xia Mi. It is the largest structure in the lower mantle, the 'Large Low Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP),' with two high-density regions located under West Africa and the Pacific Ocean, respectively..."

"Excluding the core that is completely integrated into the Earth's core, this part of the mantle remnant of Theia accounts for 6% of the total volume of the Earth. Isotopic dating suggests that it may have formed millions of years earlier than the original Earth,"

"Considering its advantage in the length of time it has been born, although it is inferior in quality and its physical body was destroyed, in terms of the strength of its consciousness, it may not be much different from the will of the Earth."

"After the great collision, assuming that Theia's core, its 'stellar consciousness,' survived and remained dormant instead of dissipating and annihilating, what would that be like?"

"Is the current Earth consciousness a product of the original Earth, a remnant of Theia, a coexistence of both, or a... a completely new and more complex hybrid formed by fusion?"

"And the moon... as a part that was ripped off in that collision, did it also take away some fragment of 'consciousness,' becoming a lonely, silent bystander?"

"If the 'Will of Earth' was already a dual-core or even multi-core system more than four billion years ago, then, does the struggle between the Black King and the White King, and the curse of the twins devouring each other, also stem from this deeper level of separation and tension between the origins of the stars?"

"One planet, two consciousnesses? Corresponding to Ymir, the progenitor of ice giants, and Surtr, the progenitor of fire giants, in Norse mythology?"

Shi Yiguang was drawn to this bold conjecture and casually opened a newly received email on the crystal screen, labeled with the sender's name "Maria of the Stars," and glanced at it.

It was a huge oil painting: two giant dragons, one black and one white, were swirling and dancing in the sky, with blood raining down, and a warrior riding an eight-legged horse raised his curved spear high towards the sky.

At the same time, wireless communications across the entire Arctic Circle were suddenly interrupted, and the cause was immediately identified as a massive geomagnetic storm.

However, the current solar activity is not intense at all, and is even significantly lower than the average level during polar night. The high-energy charged particle stream originates entirely from the active ejection of energy from the North Pole directly into space.

A particle fountain, tens of kilometers high, that doesn't dissipate, is accompanied by super lightning stretching hundreds of miles and dazzling auroras. If you look closely, you'll also see red and purple reflections at its edges, like a film of oil flowing across a void.

Rainbow Bridge, it's been a long time!

Deep in the icy sea, a dark figure on horseback spoke softly: "What a pity, this is the last time you will unleash your power and manifest your brilliant spiritual essence."

...(End of chapter)