Old Zhao returned to the command center with the photos. Wang Ning and Bai Zhen took one look and frowned: “What’s this?”
“Black Moon’s hometown,” Zhao Bowen answered.
The two old companions shuddered.
Bai Zhen snatched the photo from Zhao Bowen’s hands, his eyes wide open, but no matter how close he looked, he could only see what appeared to be mashed sesame.
Old Bai couldn’t even tell which way was up. He rotated the photo 180 degrees, then rotated it back 180 degrees. No matter what angle he viewed it from, it was just a mess of black-and-white noise.
If this was supposed to be Black Moon’s lair, then Black Moon’s lair looked rather abstract.
Like a steamed corn bun.
“This is the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, forty million kilometers in diameter, with a mass four million times that of the sun,” Zhao Bowen took off his coat, casually draped it over the sofa back, then sat down to catch his breath. “Fresh photos from today, the world’s second black hole photograph.”
“Black holes look like this?” Bai Zhen asked. “Don’t black holes have a glowing disk…”
“Accretion disk,” Zhao Bowen said.
“Why can’t we see it?” Wang Ning asked. “This photo is so blurry you can’t make out anything. Your telescope must be terrible, not just severely nearsighted but astigmatic too.”
“We’ve used the world’s most powerful telescopes. If these telescopes aren’t good enough, then humanity has nothing better,” Old Zhao poured himself a cup of hot water, leisurely holding it in his hands. “What did you expect to see? A massive black hole like Gargantua from Nolan’s movies? Comrades, most celestial bodies you’ve seen in documentaries and movies are ones we can’t see clearly. At best they’re just points of light, getting blurrier the more you magnify them. Calling it severe nearsightedness and astigmatism is quite fitting.”
“If this is nearsightedness and astigmatism, the prescription must be high,” Bai Zhen said. “At least 2000 degrees.”
“In the universe, humans have hearing but not much vision,” Zhao Bowen said. “We can hear what stars are saying, but we can’t see what they look like.”
“Then is there any way to see it?” Wang Ning frowned at the black-and-white noise in the photo. “Didn’t you say it’s Black Moon’s nest?”
“There’s no problem in this world that aperture can’t solve. If there is, it’s because the aperture isn’t big enough, whether for cannons or telescopes,” Old Zhao took a sip of hot water and said methodically. “Currently our largest telescope can only reach Earth’s diameter. Once we can make a telescope with an aperture as large as Earth’s orbital path, we’ll be able to see its true face.”
“How do you know it’s Black Moon’s nest?” Bai Zhen asked.
“Because our observations don’t match our predictions. When analyzing the fine shadow structure of the galactic center’s supermassive black hole, the astronomy group found its structure inconsistent with calculations. So, either Einstein was wrong, or there’s something wrong with this black hole,” Zhao Bowen was quite proud of his discovery. “But we all know Einstein hasn’t been wrong yet.”
“The thing that could make Einstein climb out of his coffin in anger is sitting in the next room right now,” Bai Zhen said.
“What does ‘structure inconsistent with calculations’ mean?” Wang Ning asked.
“In simple terms, it means it doesn’t look like a naturally formed celestial body. Multiple gravitational sources are affecting its structure, not just the accretion disk’s center. It’s like if you found a massive cubic object in space – you’d know it wasn’t naturally formed. Around this black hole, there might be an artificial structure forty million kilometers in diameter built by an intelligent civilization,” Zhao Bowen answered.
“Holy shit.”
Both men jumped in surprise.
“Speculation, this is all speculation. Before further observation results come in, everything I’ve said carries no legal responsibility,” Old Zhao added.
“Is there any way we could try taking a shot at it?” Bai Zhen pointed at the photo.
“It’s 26,000 light-years away from us,” Zhao Bowen said. “How would you take a shot at it? You think you’re Zhuzi?”
“So we have no way to deal with it?”
“If you have any ideas, bring them up and we’ll discuss them in a meeting,” Old Zhao put down his water cup.
“Damn.”
26,000 light-years was an unimaginable distance. If you shoot a beam of light from Earth toward the galactic center right now, it would take 26,000 years to reach the galactic core.
At scales measured in light-years, any strategy or tactic becomes laughable.
“So we just sit here and stare?”
“You could close your eyes too,” Zhao Bowen said. “But we’re not entirely without options. The black hole may be this far from us, but the Black Moon probably isn’t. If it’s going to arrive at Earth in a few years, it can’t be too far away – it might even be within the solar system.”
“Then let’s figure out how to take a shot at Black Moon!” Bai Zhen perked up again.
They could ambush it before it arrived, catch it off guard.
“That’s not within our scope of work. If anyone’s going to take a shot at Black Moon, others will handle it,” Zhao Bowen waved his hand. “Who knows if they’ll use the Hedgehog Plan or the Earth’s Great Cannon? That’s not our job – we’re behind enemy lines and underground work, not the front lines.”
“Then I request transfer to the front lines, Comrade Leader. Please have the organization approve,” Bai Zhen said.
“I also request transfer to the front lines, Comrade Leader. Please have the organization approve,” Wang Ning said.
“Don’t even think about it. What would the National Defense Science and Technology Industry Bureau and the General Armament Department want with two old fogies like you?” Zhao Bowen said. “Transfer you there to sweep floors?”
“I can sweep!” Bai Zhen declared righteously. “For the Party and the country, for the Chinese nation, for the future of all humanity, I’ll sweep without complaint.”
Then he added:
“Just let me touch the Earth’s Great Cannon.”
“Touch my ass, we don’t even know if the Earth’s Great Cannon can be built. Just listen to that plan – they’re putting satellites outside the solar system,” Zhao Bowen sighed, turning to look at Old Bai and Old Wang. “Listen, brothers, you don’t think… we have any chance of victory on the front lines, do you?”
Both men froze.
“I… I thought it sounded feasible.”
Whether the Hedgehog Plan or the Earth’s Great Cannon Plan, their magnificent scale and bold strokes were unprecedented in human history. Although at first glance it seemed implausible for humanity’s current capabilities to resist alien life forms – goodness, these were aliens after all, who could knead humans like Play-Doh, round or flat as they pleased – but as Bai Zhen and Wang Ning analyzed it with their combined life experience and knowledge of nearly a hundred years, the more they analyzed, the more hopeful it seemed.
As long as Black Moon’s internal structure was still governed by the four fundamental forces, there was no reason it wouldn’t be affected by nuclear weapons or directed energy weapons – wasn’t a gamma-ray burst that could kill gods and Buddhas just gamma rays? If we built a super-large gamma-ray laser, we’d essentially have mastered the power of cosmic destruction.
“If it were feasible, we wouldn’t be in contact with a future twenty years ahead. The inevitable defeat has already been determined,” Zhao Bowen said. “The so-called front line is a group of people charging forward knowing they’ll die.”
Bai Zhen and Wang Ning fell silent. This bastard Old Zhao didn’t leave any room for hope.
Everyone in the command center knew full well that the outcome twenty years from now was already determined, but if defeat was inevitable, what was the meaning of their desperate struggle?
“Is Yang Yang in his room?” Zhao Bowen suddenly asked. “What time is it? We should ask how the girl on the other side is preparing – time is life. Phase two of Operation Dongfanghong needs to begin.”
After speaking, he picked up the photo from the tea table again, pinched his chin, and stared at it for a long time, saying softly: “A megastructure forty million kilometers in diameter… what kind of monster is this…”