Everyone's eyes were focused on the strange patterns that emerged after that, until they occupied an entire line, until a series of evenly spaced dots appeared behind the symbols, until there was a void of white noise in the listening channel, and the sound of "signal loss" sounded from a nearby magic net terminal, and many people took a deep breath as if they finally remembered how to breathe.

"The signal is gone...... "The signal is gone," one of the listeners said as he stood up from his chair with a look of confusion on his face, and repeated it again, "The signal is gone......"

The holographic projection in the center of the room was still active, and the clear image appeared in mid-air, and Gawain's gaze was fixed on the "symbols" that emerged at the end, and did not move away for a long time—they seemed to be composed of arcs and straight lines, each in groups of four to six symbols, separated by dots or short lines, which made one think of something.

"Your Majesty, what do you think these things ......" Bard couldn't help but break the silence, "It looks like ......"

"Words," Gawain whispered, "they look like some kind of text." ”

"We've never seen anything like it," a gray-haired wizard muttered softly not far away, "I bet no one knows this thing here...... It looks so weird. ”

Belsetia remained quiet beside Gawain, she was still not sure what was going on, but according to Gawain's explanation of her on the road and what she had just seen, she already had a faint guess in her mind, and at this moment her eyes swept over the faces of everyone on the scene, and in these faces, she saw nervousness, excitement, doubts, speculations, and the thoughts that everyone had - she finally looked at Gawain, only to see that those eyes were as deep and calm as water, but there seemed to be something brewing in their depths.

After a few more seconds, Gawain finally spoke again, his voice calmer than Belsetia had imagined: "Transcribe these symbols, gather linguistic and writing experts, and cryptographers, and do your best to decipher ......"

In the middle of speaking, he suddenly stopped, as if he was seriously weighing something, and after thinking about it carefully, he continued: "In addition, some symbols are scrambled and released, and clues are collected nationwide, and anyone who has seen something similar through any means can report it - even if they see something similar on their children's graffiti or in the wheat field of their own farm." ”

Bertila, who was standing on the side, immediately nodded: "Understood, I have already informed General Margarita." ”

"Distribute all the parameters of the working status of the antenna set to all the listening stations in the country," Gao Wen added, "and in addition, what direction is the main antenna pointing when the signal appears?" ”

Bard reminded beside him: "Your Majesty, the main antenna has been replaced with a lattice array, and the reception of the array crystal is not directive......

"But the mechanical structure of its base has, and the mechanical structure of this array determines that even if the lattice reception is omnidirectional, it will receive more efficiently in a particular direction than in other directions," Gawain looked at Bard, obviously although he was no longer personally involved in this technical field, he was not ignorant of some basic knowledge, "where was the mechanical disk of the main antenna pointing at that time?" ”

A young female magician immediately ran to her workstation, she found the orientation data of the main antenna, quickly compared it in her mind, and then raised her head: "Your Majesty, the main antenna should be pointing near the Frost Constellation......"

"Starting today, the antenna group at the Thorin listening station is dedicated to tracking signals from the direction of the Frost Constellation," Gawain looked at Bertila to the side, "and the other stations will continue to maintain their original omnidirectional monitoring. ”

Already aware of Gawain's thoughts, Bertila reminded, "The Paramel Observatory and the Thorin Monitor are at the same latitude, and there is a higher level of 'window' there, so I think it's better to keep it in sync with here." ”

Gao Wen thought for a while, and immediately nodded: "What you said makes sense, let the Paramel Observatory also adjust the antenna to the vicinity of the Frost Constellation and turn on the twenty-four-hour reception mode." I'll send a team of technicians later, there may not be enough people there. ”

After a series of arrangements and a short discussion, Gawain left the listening facility at the bottom of the canopy, and instead of returning to Bertila's "resting place", they took the elevator inside the trunk back to the top of the canopy—it was already evening, and the bright summer sun was gradually turning into a golden-red afterglow, and the glorious sky light was shining from afar, skimming the thin clouds and splashing on the vast wooden platform and cascading sea of leaves on the top of the giant tree.

The sunset at this time of year is as bright as water.

The main antenna stood on top of the platform, the intricate mechanical frame supporting hundreds of crystal clear hexagonal crystal plates, runes flickering between the chips and the guide metal, echoing the skylight, and the wind blowing through the antenna array in the sky, bringing a whining sound between the crystals and the metal, as if this industrial product that condensed the wisdom of scholars from all sides of the empire was whispering something.

Gawain stood under the antenna, retracting his gaze from looking up at the crystal array, and looking at its intricately constructed mechanical base: in order to get the best resonance effect in the magic field and mitigate interference, its mechanical disk automatically tracked the "high clarity window" in the atmosphere and adjusted itself, perhaps because of this small variable, which brought about an unexpected effect today.

But the variable could also come from the material of the main antenna: as far as he knew, the crystals here had just been updated, and since the old listening mechanism had failed after a strong wind, the mechanics and wizards had redesigned the entire system and replaced the old broken crystals with new, high-quality crystals. Cast by the Pompeii Crystal Foundry, these crystals are made from high-purity protocrystalline dust from the Ancestral Peaks of Auguray, and there is a significant difference in performance between the old and new crystals...... Could this be the reason?

Maybe the next time another listening station catches the signal, everyone will get the answer.

"It seems that the mechanics have been working overtime lately," Bertila's voice came from the side, interrupting Gawain's thoughts, the "giant tree avatar" stood next to the base of the antenna, also looking up at the crystals, with a slight smile on the face of the wooden mimicry, "To continue to maintain the resonance strength and interference resistance of the antenna itself while the crystal array locks in a certain direction, it may be necessary to tear down the structure of the entire mechanical disk...... But fortunately, this is not an unsolvable technical problem, and there seems to be a corresponding design idea in the initial renovation plan, but it is ...... The cost will probably be a little bit higher. ”

Gawain didn't respond, just stared in the direction the antenna array was pointing, where there was only a golden-red glow and a cloud slowly moving northward, and there was not a single star in the sky, but he knew that the stars were still twinkling during the day, and the Frost Constellation was in that direction at the moment, and the huge listening device in front of him was slowly tracking the ancient constellation with an amplitude that was imperceptible to the naked eye.

"The tracking accuracy is not enough now, right?" He whispered suddenly.

"Of course it's not enough, this mechanical structure is not originally used to track celestial bodies, I now use a servo brain to take over the control of the mechanical disk of this antenna, the calculation accuracy of the servo brain is enough, but the mechanical accuracy of the mechanical disk is hard," Berthira said, "This problem should be solved after rebuilding the mechanical disk, but we still need some experts in astrology here - I don't consider the level of an astrology master at the Paramel Observatory, just a few graduates from the Imperial Academy, At least they know how to construct the tracking trajectory of the antenna according to the laws of the celestial sphere. ”

"I'll arrange the best astrologer for you, and plenty of money," Gawain glanced at Bertila, "Who did you learn from this way of pretending to be pitiful and cheating money?" ”

Berti Ramen does not change color and does not react.

Then the whole platform fell silent, and Gawain, Bertila, and Belsetia were silent under the antenna, and this tacit silence lasted for a full minute, before they suddenly said in unison, "Is it really from the starry sky?" ”

The three of them looked at each other, and after a brief silence, they laughed in unison, and then Belsetia took a deep breath as if her tense nerves had suddenly relaxed: "But I still can't believe it...... I did come up with the idea, but is it really possible? This mysterious signal you are talking about, it ......"

"It's not a whimsical idea, although many people really haven't thought about it in this direction," Gawain interrupted Belsetia, his expression becoming serious, "I guessed this when this signal first appeared, but I never told anyone, because it was too advanced and not in line with many people's habits of thinking, you should know, I ...... I have a different view of the starry sky than yours. ”

Bertila and Belsetia thought of Gawain's identity as an "extraterritorial wanderer" at the same time, and they looked at each other and nodded slightly, but they didn't find anything.

"We've done a lot of research on this signal over the last two years or so," Gawain continued, "Berthira should be well aware of this – we've set up listening posts all over the country, and even an off-shore site in the Oguray Clan, and we've tried to pinpoint the source of this signal in various ways, but nothing has been found on the ground, and of course, we've tried to point the antenna at the sky, but maybe it's bad luck, maybe the old crystal isn't sensitive enough, None of the antennas that were previously pointing at the sky received any useful information...... Except this time.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that this signal is coming from somewhere else, such as the shadow world that overlaps with the real world, or some elemental world, or even ...... Divine Realm. But we don't currently have the capacity to build a large-scale base in these places, so speculation in this area can only be a guess. The only potentially reliable clue so far...... This is the time. ”

Belsetia did not say a word, but looked up a little distractedly, and she looked up at the sky, and as the glow dimmered with time, and a faint twilight spread in the distance, her keen eyes caught a few bits of starlight, which she had not seemed to notice so much for the past dozen centuries.

In her trance, she heard Gawain's voice coming from the side: "Actually, we should have known that we are not the only intelligent individuals in this universe - in this world, 'outsiders' are not uncommon. ”

"Yes, I know that there is a Kraken Kingdom in the deep seas far east, and they claim to have come to this planet on a giant ship that can fly between the stars, and some of the Kraken allies are even operating within the Empire," Berthira nodded slightly, "I have read stories about these Krakens in newspapers and on radio programs. ”

"But this is the first time we've heard a voice from outside the planet with our own 'ears'...... It's only possible," Bedsetia retracted her gaze to the sky, looking at Bertila and Gawain, "a distant and unknown world has sent us a mysterious and unknown voice...... It's not the same as listening to a story. I never thought I'd go through something like this. ”

"I didn't think about it either," Gawain smiled, with mixed emotions in his smile, "this...... It even made me a little overwhelmed. ”

"Doesn't look like you're that happy?" Belsetia was keenly aware of Gawain's emotions, "I thought you would be a little happier about it - it's an exciting discovery, and it has to do with the 'starry sky'. ”

"But that's not necessarily a good thing," Gawain was indeed very excited at one point, but now the excitement is gradually fading, and more thoughts are spreading from the bottom of his heart, "Don't forget that in our world, 'moving forward' always comes with great risks. ”

Hearing this, Belsetia also calmed down instantly, she suddenly thought of those documents from the Theocracy Council, from the dragon clan revealed a few words, and a solemn look appeared in her eyes: "You mean ...... The gods can lose control of our stargazing behavior......"

"It's not that bad," Gawain shook his head, "According to reliable information, just 'looking up at the stars' itself won't cause the gods to get out of control, and only the act of stepping into the stars will drive them crazy, so at least for this stage, there is no risk of this discovery causing a catastrophe." ”

"Reliable intelligence?" Bertila couldn't help but frown, "Is this information really credible?" ”

"Credible," Gawain nodded, "the dragon god told me before he went crazy." ”

Belsetia & Bertila: "...... Then that's really believable. ”

"But the risk doesn't just come from looking up at the stars," Gawain shook his head, his gaze couldn't help but glance at the sky again, "the source of this signal itself...... It can also be dangerous. ”

The Silver Empress suddenly showed a thoughtful look, and at the same time, the stars in the distance that gradually began to twinkle seemed to have a different meaning in her eyes.

Maybe...... There really is such a presumed group of "senders" among the stars, and perhaps the signal heard by the Thorin listening post today really came from that distant direction, and if all this is true, then "they" should be there now, far away from the unimaginable distance of humans and elves, looking out here on the other side of the starry sky.

This distance far exceeds the barrier between the mortal kingdoms and the wasteland of Gondor today.

A magnificent wall has turned the mortals outside the wall and the cultists inside the wall into two completely different "races", the "messengers" on the other side of the starry sky...... Are they friendly?