Rejecting Tsinghua and Peking Universities: I Will Lead Harbin Institute of Technology to World Lead

Old Li's orders were like a meticulously woven net, quickly covering all the key nodes of China.

The gears of the state apparatus began to turn at full speed for the unexpected variable of the subterranean civilization, yet maintained a facade of outward looseness and inward tightness under an extremely high level of secrecy.

Deep within archives and museums, ancient, dusty documents are carefully retrieved and meticulously analyzed, word by word, in specially designed temperature- and humidity-controlled analysis rooms by top historians and semioticians. Passages from Plato's dialogues concerning Atlantis are repeatedly studied, and stone carvings, murals, and legends collected globally that may be related to lost civilizations are digitized and cross-referenced using supercomputers. A special task force codenamed "Roots-Seeking" is established in top secrecy, attempting to piece together the possible features of Earth's subterranean neighbor from historical clues.

In the southwest, on the outskirts of the Kunlun Mountains, the scanning frequency of air defense radar arrays quietly increased. Under the guise of training, the Fuxi aerospace fighters intensified their patrols in the high-altitude airspace, their onboard long-range sensors subtly pointing towards the Abyss Outpost. Several elite special operations teams equipped with White Tiger-I powered armor quietly moved into reinforced bunkers deep underground within the base aboard stealth transport aircraft. They began targeted tactical drills to adapt to extreme high temperatures, high pressures, and complex energy environments, simulating the Earth's core warriors clad in energy armor and wielding light spears as their hypothetical enemy.

At the Northwest Base, the priorities of relevant laboratories were readjusted. A series of highly targeted pre-research projects were quickly initiated, including research on deflection and defense materials for high-temperature energy beams, tactical simulations of energy countermeasures in enclosed spaces, and electronic warfare simulations of the special energy field environment at the Earth's core. Deep-sea diving technology, originally intended for the Xirang ship, began to be reverse-engineered and used to design responses to potential intrusions from the Earth's core.

The control center of the Wukong Space-based weapon platform received new command parameters. A portion of its monitoring and firepower units silently aligned themselves with the coordinates above the "Heart of Kunlun," entering a standby response state. For the first time, the "Sword of Damocles" hanging in the sky pointed its tip deep into the earth beneath their feet.

All actions were carried out silently and efficiently, unknown to the outside world, including the three major federations. Their gaze remained fixed on the ravaged lands they fought over, completely unaware that a powerful undercurrent was brewing within the planet beneath their feet, one that could upend the entire order.

At the heart of the vortex—the Abyss Outpost—Lin Feng received a direct, encrypted communication from Elder Li.

"Comrade Lin Feng, the top leadership's opinion is very clear." Old Li's voice came through the quantum channel, steady and powerful. "We cannot passively wait in silence. The other side's attitude is the cornerstone of all our next strategic moves. We must probe, but we must be absolutely cautious to avoid being misunderstood as provocation or intrusion."

He paused, then continued, "I authorize you to design a very low-risk contact attempt. The goal is not to establish dialogue, but to throw out a probing stone and observe the other party's reaction pattern. Will they attack immediately, or hesitate? Will they continue to track the source of the signal, or ignore it? This will help us determine their level of hostility, their vigilance level, and their potential willingness to communicate."

"I understand," Lin Feng replied. "I will design a non-aggressive signal release, executed by surviving or newly deployed unmanned units. If the other side exhibits any non-aggressive response, even a brief pause or observation, it's worth further investigation. If... it still attacks immediately, then at least we've received the clearest warning."

"Go ahead and do it, but safety comes first. Your judgment is paramount on the front lines," Old Li finally advised.

The communication ended. Lin Feng immediately convened the core technical team of "Abyss Outpost".

"We need to release a universal signal, clearly emitted by intelligent life and without any offensive intent, towards the Earth's core." Lin Feng quickly sketched on the whiteboard. "Option A: Adjust the external lighting of the probe robot to flash at a specific frequency, forming basic geometric shapes or prime number sequences. Option B: Have the robot's low-power transmitter intermittently emit a set of low-intensity electromagnetic pulses or energy fluctuations in a specific frequency band, composed of simple mathematical laws."

"All signal releases must be conducted within a safe distance of the well exit, and the robot must remain in a state of readiness for withdrawal at any time. If attacked, it must immediately terminate and withdraw," Lin Feng emphasized. "This isn't a dialogue; it's a knock on the door. What we need to hear is whether the footsteps behind the door are approaching the door or raising a knife."

After intensive preparations, two modified and enhanced sentry-type detection robots with improved signal transmission and mobility were selected. They were re-inspected to ensure that there were no structures that could be mistaken for weapons.

"Execute the knocking-on-the-door plan," Lin Feng ordered from the command center.

Two Sentinel robots slowly descended along the guide rails on the inner wall of the skylight, disappearing once again into that known, dangerous darkness. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the images transmitted back on the large screen.

The descent went smoothly. The robot once again reached the edge of the Earth's core, where the scorching sea of ​​lava and the dark outline of the continent shrouded in an energy barrier reappeared in the frame. This time, the robot maintained a safe distance of approximately 150 kilometers from the continent, hovering within a relatively stable energy flow.

"Arrived at the designated location. Initiating the signal release procedure."

On the robot's outer shell, high-intensity LEDs at specific locations began to flash at precisely calculated frequencies, outlining a simple, repeating equilateral triangle pattern in the air. Simultaneously, the onboard transmitter began to cyclically broadcast a set of electromagnetic pulse signals representing a sequence of prime numbers at extremely low power.

"Signal being released... Everything is normal."

The command center was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; the only sounds were the soft hum of the instruments. Lin Feng stared intently at the screen, observing any subtle changes in the energy barrier on the mainland and monitoring whether the sensors were picking up any abnormal feedback signals.

Time passed second by second.

Thirty seconds. One minute. Two minutes.

On the mainland side, the energy barrier remained stable, without any visible changes. The monitoring equipment also received no unexpected response signals.

"The other party...is not responding?" one observer said in a low voice, his tone somewhat complicated, it was hard to tell whether he was relieved or disappointed.

However, just as the third minute was about to end—

A sudden change has occurred!

Without any warning or sign of energy accumulation, seven or eight beams of blazing white light, more concentrated and faster than before, shot out from several different locations deep within the continent, like pre-aimed sniper bullets! The beams precisely traversed a distance of 150 kilometers, instantly striking two sentinel robots that were emitting signals!

This time, even the sparks from the explosion seemed exceptionally brief. The two robots were completely vaporized the instant the beam touched them, leaving not even large chunks of wreckage, as if they had never existed. The light signals and electromagnetic pulses they emitted also ceased and vanished without a trace.

On the large screen, the images representing the two robots instantly went black, and the signal indicator turned into a glaring red LOST.

The attack was swift, decisive, and ruthless.

Inside the command center, there was a deathly silence. Only the short, sharp alarms from the instruments detecting the high-energy reaction proved that what had just happened was not a hallucination.

Lin Feng stared blankly at the black screen, the last glimmer of hope in his eyes extinguished.

"Log: Codename Knocking on the Door, execution time: 3 minutes and 17 seconds. During its attempt to release a friendly, universal signal, the detection unit encountered a precise, immediate, and devastating attack from a subterranean civilization. The other side did not provide any identification or responsive feedback on the signal content and directly took elimination measures."

His voice calmly stated the facts, but the chilling undertones sent a shiver down the spines of everyone present.

Hostility is no longer a speculation or possibility.

It was written in the fleeting beam of destruction by the opponent in the most direct and violent way.

"It seems," Lin Feng slowly turned around and looked at the officer in charge of communications, "that our neighbors in the inner world not only don't welcome us, but they don't even want to hear us knocking. Their attitude is so clear that there's no need for further probing."

He walked toward the top-secret communications station: "Immediately connect to the highest level. I want to report directly to Elder Li on the results of the 'knocking on the door' plan and request further instructions."

The result of the test was cruel and clear.

The window for peaceful contact was welded shut by the other side before it could even be opened.

Next, what China needs to consider is no longer how to communicate with the subterranean civilization.

Rather, it's about how to confront a hostile, technologically unknown, and nearby potential enemy.