The original intention of repairing the faster-than-light communication array was to restore contact with the other colony ships that had been lost.
However, even the optimistic sirens knew how slim the chances of this happening were.
It had been too long since the fleet fled from their home planet and the colony ships lost contact. It had been too long, and the immortal sirens could not withstand that long period of time, and the vast, dark universe would have swallowed many things in those years.
Queen Petia looked up at the antenna tower components that were slowly rotating in the sky. She knew that the components had been silent for too long. The sirens should have repaired these critical systems earlier, but the rejection from the world's rules had delayed them for too long on this strange planet. By the time they could finally fully understand this world and sense the omnipresent "magic" … the world had already changed.
But the sirens were still invested in this matter with great passion and hope. They knew how much time they had wasted, but they did not care. They were slow but tenacious creatures, and they were used to spending a long time to do a simple thing. Everything was just as the sirens' motto said:
As long as they started, it was not too late.
Moreover, although the antenna system did not receive the signals from the other colony ships as they had expected, it had brought them an unexpected gain. The receiver unit, which had been reactivated, could hear the voices echoing among the stars. The universe was not as empty and desolate as they had imagined. And the most special of those voices seemed to be able to help the sirens' new allies solve the problem they were facing.
Maid Rosalia came to Petia's side and looked at the direction of the communication antenna with her queen. Almost at the same time, a low and gentle hum came from the central axis of the antenna array.
Petia narrowed her eyes slightly. She saw that the sensitive structures floating in the air were quickly adjusting their position and direction. Bright electric arcs were leaping between the antenna tower and the ancillary devices, quickly weaving into several circular "intercepting force fields". Through the open "windows" near the base of the tower, she could clearly see that many structures in the massive ancient system had lit up. The newly repaired receiver unit was operating at full power and began to listen to the sounds from the distant space.
Just as expected, the signal from 6.12 light-years away had once again visited the system.
Queen Petia stood quietly on the deck as she watched the deep-sea technicians and the deep-sea witches working there. Every time the signal came, it was the best time to calibrate the key systems of the antenna. On this primitive and backward planet, a faster-than-light communication signal from afar was a rare "reference line" for the technicians.
Of course, the sirens would also record the content of the signal and use the decoding method provided by Cecil's allies to translate the signal into recognizable images. Petia did not have to wait too long because the content of the signal had been repeating itself. She soon received a new round of monitoring report.
"… Nothing has changed." Looking at the report chart that Rosalia presented, the ruler of the deep shook her head with some disinterest. "Straightforward and easy to understand geometric patterns, simple and basic mathematical operations, and strange words that no one can understand. This signal is just repeating the content. "
"This may be a 'greeting' that has been broadcast for hundreds and thousands of years. The deep-sea witches even suspect that this thing is automatically broadcast by a machine," Maid Rosalia said. "They also said that perhaps the owner of the signal will only come to take a look when there is a response from the stars."
"… That is if there is a 'master' behind the signal." Petia handed the report to Rosalia as she said casually, "If a timing signal has been automatically broadcast for many years, it is hard not to suspect if the original sender of the signal is still alive. After all, after so many years of observation, most creatures in this world do not live as long as the sirens, and their civilization cycle is the same."
Rosalia stretched out her tail and used the tip of her tail to wrap around the report that the queen handed to her. "Master Hathaway is still organizing people to decipher the text behind the signal, but the progress is slow. There are no professionals in the field of text and cryptography among the sirens. But recently, a group of nagas have heard about the situation here and volunteered to help. Maybe we can look forward to it … "
"Nagas, huh …" Petia's silver-white eyebrows raised slightly as a smile appeared on her face. "That is something to look forward to. They were once humans, and humans have always been more talented in the field of text than sirens … Anyway, no matter what progress there is, just send it to Tyre. Our Cecil ally seems to be very concerned about this matter. What is the saying on the human side recently … This is a favor at no cost. Hmm, a favor at no cost. I like this saying. It is rare that they can use 'water' to describe things so vividly. "
The ruler of the deep spoke slowly as she slowly meandered towards the edge of Antavern. She stretched her body on the edge of the deck and her eyes fell on the direction of the sunny beach. The sun was getting brighter, and the light of the giant sun made the beach shimmer at the end of the waves. Some sirens who had just finished their night shift had found a comfortable spot on the beach. They dug a sand pit and sat in it, quietly waiting for the sun to get stronger before they turned it over to dry it.
Further away, the nagas had built a town on the open land slightly closer to the inland area. Now, it was beginning to take shape. The town was full of human style and mixed with various deep-sea elements. The dark roofs and gray-white walls were a scenery that had not been seen on this land for millions of years. There was also a tall tower in the middle of the town. The tower was decorated with meandering octopus tentacles and shell patterns. A gloomy giant mechanical clock was clustered at the top of the tower by the deep-sea elements. A wet stone road extended from the town to the coast. At the end of the stone road was a small port and a stone ramp that extended directly into the sea.
Apart from the 'trench city' at the bottom of the sea and the 'Naga Street' of Antavern, nearly one-third of the former Storm Children now lived in the town on land.
They were already the kin of the deep. The moist sea breeze and the tidal force soaked their flesh and soul, but the 'remnants' of the human part made them choose to continue living on land and build a new home with a mixture of styles.
Petia had visited the new town before. It was an interesting place. All the streets seemed to always be filled with the faint smell of the sea. The wet ground and walls seemed to blur the line between land and sea. Totems and gloomy wave runes symbolizing deep-sea creatures were everywhere. The scaled kin of the deep lived in the houses with the high ridge. During the day when the sun was strong, they rarely came out. But when night fell, the sound of scales rubbing against the ground could be heard from the streets filled with the smell of the sea. The scaled and snake-like creatures came out of their hiding places and ran to the square in the center of the town to sell seafood barbecue and 'deep-sea specials'.
Often, sirens would come to the town to play during their holidays and spend the night in the night market run by the locals.
In Petia's million-year memory, this was something that had never happened before. The sirens who had always maintained a low-profile and isolated life had never experienced such drastic changes because of 'outsiders'. But now, all of this had happened, and … it seemed that her people were quite happy with these new changes.
"Perhaps some changes wouldn't be a bad thing …" Queen Petia muttered to herself as she mulled it over.
Rosalia asked curiously, "Your Majesty, what are you talking about?"
"Nothing. Just talking to myself." Petia waved her hand and turned to leave the place. As the ruler of the deep, she had many things to do today — but it was at that moment that a siren with sky-blue hair who was rather large and tall suddenly appeared in her sight, stopping her in her tracks.
"General Vanessa." Petia nodded slightly to the blue-haired siren before her. "What happened?"
"Your Majesty, I just received a message from Tyre." The blue-haired siren called General Vanessa lowered her head before Petia and said meticulously, "It's urgent."
"Tyre is contacting her at this time? She can stay awake at this time? "Petia was a little surprised at first, but then she nodded." Tell me, what's the situation? "
"Our allies hope that we can help them monitor some … phenomena in the elemental domain," Vanessa said as she recalled the content of the message. "They seem to have found some disturbing phenomena … There's an energy system that runs through the entire planet, called the 'Deep Blue Network'. Now, there are all kinds of abnormalities in this energy system …"
She relayed the message from Tyre to her queen in detail, and emphasized the part about the Deep Blue Network. Petia listened carefully, and her expression gradually became serious.
"Deep Blue Network … I've heard of a similar concept. It seems that there was a civilization that studied this thing in the past, but at that time, we couldn't perceive or understand what 'magic power' was. The Deep Blue Network is an 'anomaly' that can't be seen or touched but exists." After Vanessa finished relaying the message, the ruler of the deep said thoughtfully, "Now the situation is different …"
"It sounds very serious." Rosalia looked at her queen. "Your wish is …"
"This is indeed very serious. I'm willing to believe the judgment of the human allies. They are more professional than we are about the magic system of this planet, and they have no reason to deceive us." Petia looked serious. "If this' power structure 'that runs through the entire planet really has a problem, then we won't be safe."
"So …" Vanessa looked at Petia quizzically. "Do we … send a reconnaissance team to the water elemental domain to take a look? Or do we need to set up an outpost there … "
"I'm afraid it's not possible to send a temporary reconnaissance team for such an important matter." Petia thought for a moment and shook her head. "We need to build a long-term outpost and open a stable elemental channel in Antaverne."
The ruler of the deep was actually a swift and decisive person. She would immediately execute her decision. But Vanessa and Rosalia could not help but look at each other after hearing the queen's decision. They both looked a little troubled. Rosalia could not help but speak first. "Your Majesty, do we need to confirm the situation with the humans? At the same time, we need to make more preparations here. For example, greet the lords of the water elemental domain and make arrangements in advance. After all, we didn't get along very well with them before. Even if we have signed the agreement and are in peace, but … things are still a little sensitive. "
"… You're right." Petia frowned slightly, feeling that her maid was very reasonable. "The fight with them before signing the agreement was pretty intense. It seems a little impolite to send people to set up an outpost without informing them first. We were in the wrong when we fought, so we need to be more careful now."
At this point, she paused for a moment, then raised her head to look at her most trusted maid and most trusted military officer. "What suggestions do you have?"
"It's sudden, and we don't have much time to negotiate with the elemental lords," Vanessa said while thinking. "It's best to quickly state our intentions and try our best to minimize the possibility of friction."
"How about … bringing some local specialties?" Rosalia thought for a moment. "Anyway, there's nothing wrong with proper etiquette. At least this time, we can't be in the wrong."
"I think it's feasible." Petia immediately expressed her approval. "The elemental lords are also reasonable. Usually, even if a reckless human mage summons them, as long as there are enough sacrifices, they won't turn hostile …"
As she spoke, she began to think quickly, thinking of what kind of 'local specialties' could quickly calm the elemental lords who had a delicate and tense relationship with the sirens. Soon she had an idea, and a confident smile appeared on the face of the ruler of the deep.
"Vanessa, you go and prepare the elemental transition device. We will open a passage to the water elemental domain. Rosalia, you arrange a group of skilled excavation teams to the seabed and pick out a big one …"
Rosalia quickly understood the queen's intention, but her expression was a little uncertain. "Your Majesty, will this work?"
"I think so." Petia nodded confidently. "The biggest local specialties of Antavern are that thing. We will get the best one and bring it to the elemental lords to try. Ah, I'll send it myself, it will show more sincerity … "
As she spoke, she waved her hand to the two subordinates in front of her, turned around, and left the place, leaving the Maid of the Deep and the siren general looking at each other.
After a long time, Rosalia finally could not help but ask, "General Vanessa … Do you think this will work?"
"… If Her Majesty says it will work, then it will work." Vanessa spread out her hands. "Anyway, I can't think of a better idea."
(End of Chapter)
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