Chapter 154: Second Contact

"Hahaha... Uh..."

The laughter stopped abruptly.

Although he had not yet exited the conscious entity state, Salarso suddenly felt a deep wave of malice.

He couldn't help but conjure up a scenario in his own mind.

Salarso, the Primordial Demon, triggers his taunt ability. Target: His Master. Effect: Enrages his Master.

Result: The Primordial Demon is dead!

Holy crap, Master! It was that piece of work, the Primordial Ancient Tree, that only materialized your hands and feet; it has nothing to do with me!!!

Salarso opened his mouth, wanting to offer a quick explanation.

"Hehehehe..."

Wu You's somewhat eerie laughter reached Salarso's ears.

During this process, the head and body of the conscious entity were finally restored by the Primordial Ancient Tree.

A physique slightly more handsome than Wu You's physical form appeared, and a mirror materialized in the air directly in front of him.

As for Salarso, he had been "optimized" by the Primordial Ancient Tree into a chibi-style demon, the kind where the head and buttocks are connected together.

This made Wu You find the scene immensely comical.

Ignoring the jumping, bouncing chibi Primordial Demon, Wu You faced the mirror, crossing one arm over his chest while supporting his chin with the other, his gaze clearly not looking at himself in the mirror.

His mind was busy pondering other matters.

Well, well, well. It seems he had accidentally resolved a matter that ought to have been rather complicated.

Meanwhile, seeing that his Master's attention was not focused on him, Salarso secretly raised a thumb behind his back.

Big Brother Primordial Ancient Tree, I will remember this kindness of yours!

After spending more than ten minutes flying and jumping around wildly in his conscious entity form, Wu You exerted a surge of willpower and pulled himself out of the world constructed by the Primordial Ancient Tree.

Before him lay the familiar night sky, where the three-thousand-meter-tall canopy of the Primordial Ancient Tree remained highly conspicuous, though a close observation revealed a faint, subtle glow pulsing among the branches and leaves.

It seemed that perceiving the true form of the Primordial Ancient Tree was related to one's own vitality and spiritual strength.

Reality-interference effects were indeed exaggerated against ordinary people and machinery, but for entities with a stronger essence of life or special spiritual fortitude, they should be able to strike directly at the physical本体 of the Primordial Ancient Tree.

Otherwise, wouldn't the Primordial Ancient Tree be invincible? This could be deduced from the fact that Wu You could now see it directly.

However, when one's attention was unfocused, the Primordial Ancient Tree looked more like a phantom adorned with faint halos, allowing Wu You to see the ground right through it.

At this very moment, at the headquarters of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the capital, a group of people was engaged in a fierce debate over two entirely different piles of data files.

A group of elderly people wearing reading glasses in plain attire, alongside middle-aged and young researchers with furrowed brows holding pens to circle and mark documents.

There were also a few military personnel in uniform among them.

They watched as a cluster of astronomy experts pointed at data on the screens while rattling off a string of incomprehensible terminology.

Words like interference, diffraction, particles, and collision—understood individually—became utterly vexing when pieced together.

Especially the astronomical names featuring various constellations, arms, systems, and star clusters, paired with long strings of numbers, English letters, and discoverers' names.

Weren't their names exhausting just to read?

The astronomical scholars, discussing in small groups or occasionally arguing among themselves, made the area somewhat noisy.

Although the military had judged from the outset that hostile attacks could be ruled out, the sudden onset and cessation of the event still commanded a high level of attention.

Better safe than sorry.

A military officer wearing the shoulder insignia of a lieutenant colonel couldn't help cutting into the conversation.

"Gentlemen, allow me to interrupt. I merely wish to know: is there any possibility that this phenomenon was caused by the weapon facilities of another nation?"

While the scholars held differing opinions on various matters, this question was one they could readily resolve.

"Colonel Lu, the source of this storm was unmistakably extraterrestrial. It triggered intense interference yet failed to cause widespread power outages."

"Our nation's space technology is among the world's leading, yet with humanity's current level of aerospace technology, it is impossible to induce a mixed field of such precise scale."

The speaker was Zhou Yunsheng, Director of the Astronomical Observatory.

"So that means human factors can be completely ruled out?"

The lieutenant colonel asked for confirmation with a summarizing tone.

However, Cheng Maoguan, who had remained largely silent until now, spoke up.

"Ruled out human factors? Not entirely. That depends entirely on how one defines the word 'human.' If it refers solely to mankind, then indeed so."

Cheng Maoguan's words immediately drew the attention of everyone present.

His meaning was exceedingly blunt, and even Lieutenant Colonel Lu could discern the subtext.

As for the other scholars, it was not that such conjectures had never crossed their minds; they had simply felt that voicing them directly would appear insufficiently rigorous.

Cheng Maoguan, however, had no such reservations. If he deemed it a possibility, he stated it outright.

"Teacher, are you referring to extraterrestrial civilization?"

Zhou Yunsheng rose from his chair.

"Such a possibility cannot be excluded. In fact, under the current circumstances, that possibility holds quite a significant weight."

...

Half an hour later, a classified directive was rapidly transmitted to the southeastern coastal regions, and confidential notices were issued to hospitals and other relevant units.

A specialized research project was established at the headquarters of the observatory, with a research team comprising multiple astronomy experts.

By the following morning, with the exception of a few base stations that had burned out, internet and telephone signals in most regions had returned to normal.

Wu You turned on the television and switched to the China Central Television news channel.

On the other side, he used a new computer to search through web pages.

Inside the television, the news broadcast music played, and midway through, news coverage of the previous night's event finally appeared.

"Between 12:40 AM and 1:30 AM last night, the airspace over our country's southeastern coast was subjected to the disturbance of a small-scale cosmic storm. The primary constituents were radioactive charged particles, causing brief disruptions to internet and communication services. Following overnight emergency repairs by engineering and technical personnel, communication functions have now been fully restored."

"Experts indicate that this cosmic storm poses no threat to human health."

...

"The US military stationed in Japan has once again exposed a hidden safety hazard, as an Osprey helicopter crashed near Nagasaki..."

Heh, interesting.

There was virtually no news on the internet regarding the previous night's events, and whatever existed mostly described the timeline alongside a bunch of scientific theories.

What could be found the most were complaints from people forced to log off from video games.

The morning news, meanwhile, had glossed over the matter entirely.

Although anyone with intent looking into the matter would realize things were not as simple as the news claimed, clearly, higher authorities did not wish such information to spread.

Wu You naturally gave this his wholehearted approval; live and let live, as long as he knew the Primordial Ancient Tree hadn't been discovered.

As for what speculations others might harbor, that was none of his concern.

The Primordial Ancient Tree had successfully reached the Gold tier, providing Wu You with a stable rear base at the very least.

Seemingly non-aggressive, the Primordial Ancient Tree not only possessed formidable regional defense capabilities, but its destructive potential when truly unleashed was also immense.

Furthermore, it had begun to emit a special kind of energy.

Just as photosynthesis releases oxygen, the Primordial Ancient Tree simultaneously radiated this energetic substance.

This substance should prove immensely beneficial to ordinary living organisms, though the exact magnitude of its effects remained to be seen.