While Toberu's scientists were busy adjusting their equipment and learning how to read the messages from the Empire's data network under Bubble's guidance, Sandora was running out of patience. She knew that with every minute that passed, the chances of losing contact with the Fifth Fleet would increase by a notch. Because no one knew what 'zone' the Fifth Fleet would move to next, 'movement' in the Void did not have any track, direction, distance or any other characteristic that could be tracked in normal space. As long as they were within the Void warp radius of the Fifth Fleet's ships (radius was just a popular term, strictly speaking, it was the maximum deviation that could alter the representation of one's own information), they could escape to any place at any time. While they shook off their pursuers, they could also jump out of the Garden of Departure's scanning radius at any time. Even if the Garden of Departure had maximized its scanning radius, the chances of the Fifth Fleet suddenly 'disappearing' was still very high.
And our calling messages still could not 'shine' on them.
Earlier, Sandora and Bubble had explained to me the technical knowledge of cross-quadrant communication in the Void, and I had a certain understanding of such communication. We all knew that while the Void was chaotic, seemingly without order and had physical 'uniformity', from the perspective of information theory, the Void was also 'uneven': it was divided into quadrants. While the reason was unclear, it was indeed divided into regions that were not physically isolated. They were like virtual partitions of hard disks that were divided based on different 'characteristics' (that is to say, in physical terms, every quadrant of the Void overlapped with each other, and they were the Void). Being located in two different quadrants, not only would the world contained in each quadrant differ, even the Void domain would be affected by information deviation. Therefore, when a communication was conducted in the Void that spanned more than two quadrants, and at least one of them was in a mobile state, the sender and the receiver would appear to be out of phase. This was because 'movement' in the Void meant that one's own information representation was also changing, which meant that the 'mobile's' decoder was changing at any time. Within the same quadrant, the change was regular, and so the various decoders that came with the communicator could maintain communication. But between different quadrants, the change would exceed the calculation limits of any decoder based on logic, and the communication would be blocked. In the Empire's information network, the solution to that problem was to build relay stations and ensure that each Void quadrant had at least one relay station. Those relay stations would not move, which was why they were not affected by the cross-quadrant barrier and could exchange information, before relaying the information they received to the Void ships within the current quadrant. On the other hand, if one side of the communication had left the relay station's range (in other words, leaving the Empire's information network), it would have to rely on a fixed communication protocol to maintain contact with the rear as a pioneering vessel that ventured deep into the Void. The protocol would dictate that at least one packet of data contained the information representation of every quadrant that the 'mobile' could reach within a Void warp radius, ensuring that as long as the 'mobile' was within those quadrants, it would be able to maintain contact with headquarters. Moreover, when both sides made their next communication, the 'decoder-address packet' would be refreshed and repositioned on the 'mobile'. Thus, the process of communication-refresh packet, moving-communication-refresh packet must be repeated endlessly so that contact between both sides could continue. The Fifth Fleet, on the other hand, clearly did not fulfill both conditions: it was neither within the Empire's network nor did it have a unified communication protocol with us. Of course, a long, long time ago, there was such a communication agreement between it and the Fourth Fleet. But according to the working principle of this communication agreement, we can find that this process must be based on the two sides maintaining a certain frequency of contact, and every contact must be successful on the basis of the "decoding address packet". Once either side had warped away from the 'address book' recorded during the previous communication, the protocol would become invalid.
Communication between the Fifth Fleet and the Fourth Fleet had been severed for centuries, and the protocol had long since expired.
Naturally, the above knowledge was limited to communication within the Void, and such communication was rare. After all, even the Galactic Protoss were not a race that lived in the Void. We all lived in stable and orderly worlds, and the 'position' of those worlds in the Void could be assumed to be unchanging, which naturally meant that there was no need to worry about communication obstruction. Usually, advanced void communication technology was often used by special spaceships that performed exploration and cruising missions in the void domain all year round.
Or the Exile Fleet.
"This is not the way," Sandora said with a frown. She tapped twice in the air with her finger to open a set of holographic projections, and Tawil's image appeared in the middle of the screen. The female scientist had been online since the beginning, and had taken over the on-site operations of the Garden of Departed Worlds. "Tawil, tell us your thoughts. The biggest difficulty in establishing communication with the Fifth Fleet, and your response. "
"Yes, Your Majesty." Tarver nodded. Complex data and diagrams appeared below her image. I could only roughly tell that this was the operating status of the Garden of the Departed World, and there were countless warnings that said, "Message lost, no return message received." "The biggest problem now is that we are unable to grasp the true 'coordinates' of the Fifth Fleet. All the messages that the Garden of the Departed World receive are outdated, and the messages that we send out are also outdated. We tried our best to include as many quadrant 'decoding address packets' as possible in the messages that we send out, but I'm afraid that the Fifth Fleet won't know how to recognize these data packets. In fact, they might not even be able to detect these signals because our communication protocols are different, and even our numeric system is different. If we want to break this deadlock, we need to locate the target more precisely, and know which quadrant they will jump to — it's all a blind guess now. Theoretically, yes. "
Hearing the word 'blind guessing' from a scientist like Tarver, who was known for his rigor, was truly an incredible situation. I immediately felt the same way as the staff of the Garden of Death's staff had to go through. Then, in the next second, perhaps because I was struck by inspiration, I felt a light flash across my mind — Tarver said that we need to be more precise in locating the target?
In other words, she needs a scope that can predict the target's movement?
I couldn't help but look at Xiaoxue. Then, Sandora and my sister seemed to have the same thought, and more and more gazes began to focus on Xiaoxue. Xiaoxue was a genius girl who was known to have sharp senses. She suddenly realized something. "Why are you looking at me? I didn't cause any trouble today. Dad, you can't just sit around and do nothing, so you should hit the child for fun … "
"Stop talking nonsense!" I grabbed her and threw her to Bubble. "Is there any way to add her into your system?"
At the same time, I also explained my idea to Bubble through the mental connection. She immediately nodded and took out the third awl from her pocket. Xiaoxue looked at it and immediately became anxious. "Hey! What are you doing! Let me tell you, if you dare to use that thing to poke me, I will be angry with you … "
"Look at how scared you are." Bubble curled her lips and removed the transfer device at one end of the awl. She lowered her head and modified it a few times. Then, she took out a pair of glasses from her dimensional pocket and combined the two parts together. It was as silly as it could be. It was as embarrassing as a child's XX magical girl transformation device. She handed it to Xiaoxue and said, "Here, put it on."
Xiaoxue was stunned, and her face became awkward. "That … You better use the awl to poke me …"
"Don't talk so much nonsense!" I slapped the girl into the chair next to me and took the 'magical girl transformation device' from Bubble and put it on her. "You should be happy. Back then, before the Empire's data network was completed, your mother had to lie in a coffin-like thing to connect to the radar …"
"But this thing is too embarrassing to wear. A cool pair of sunglasses won't be better than this colorful plastic frame …" Xiaoxue complained as she wore the silly shameful glasses. However, the latter had already been activated. A blue halo began to spread from the contact point between the device and her skin, adapting to Xiaoxue's spiritual frequency. "Hey, wait a minute. This is interesting. The left lens is showing the new film of this spring. Hey, Auntie Bubble, you are so awesome. You are watching the original sample directly?"
I glanced at the child's mother silently. The latter twisted the awl on her head and pretended to be working hard. "Alright, it has already synchronized with Xiaoxue's spiritual frequency. Now, we will send the next batch of data from the Garden of the Departed. We will keep changing the offset in between. Xiaoxue, focus your attention on the Fifth Fleet, and the system will automatically establish a connection. It will be just like how the coffin-like antique device scanned the other world back then."
Xiaoxue made an 'OK' gesture and began to hum a song as she watched the cartoon. I wasn't sure if she had heard me clearly, but judging from Bubble's expression, the system was working normally. The Tobellu scientists and the high-ranking officers of the Fourth Fleet looked at everything in front of them blankly. I reckoned that to them, the way the First Family of the Empire worked was a little unique. However, no one went forward to talk to them. Most of them chose to roll their eyes. The world had nothing to do with me, except for the Tobellu scientists. Their eye structure was unable to roll their eyes.
The two most unreliable fellows finally got down to work seriously. Everyone's attention was once again focused on the feedback from the power amplifier system. Tawil transmitted the display from the Garden of the Departed to us. On the holographic screen, other than a bunch of illogical data, there was also a system notification. "Attempting to send a signal … signal lost. Tracking the next signal source … attempting to send a signal … signal lost. Tracking the next signal source …"
Then, after a minute and twenty-five seconds, which was the cycle of a full-power broadcast in the Garden of Death, something different finally appeared on the holographic screen. "Sending signal … Arrival echo detected, signal source information confirmed … Tracking system begins tracking, sending signal … Arrival echo detected, recognizable information detected, searching font … Error, information does not match. Attempting to connect again. Connection successful. Preparing for second attempt … "
After the communication was established, there were a few failed attempts. The compatibility between the decoding rules of both parties was lower than the system's threshold. This might be because the Fifth Fleet and the Fourth Fleet had lost contact for a long time, and the former's communication technology had changed. However, very soon, the Fifth Fleet discovered an unfamiliar signal using the same coding method that the refugees had used before. The communication started to stabilize.
In the display window that represented the decoding ratio, the recognizable code finally broke through the threshold. In the next thousandth of a second, the system followed the preset process and sent a 'decoding address package.' As the address package was updated and sent back to the receiving end of the Garden of the Departed, Tawil finally announced happily that a stable communication channel had been established.
"The encrypted package containing the navigation information has been sent, and we have received confirmation from the other party," Tawil reported. "The system is gradually increasing the bandwidth. We are now exchanging the communication protocol between both parties … estimated time of thirty seconds."
The Toberu scientists in the hall were already holding their breaths as they nervously looked at the communication terminal that was still just a sea of clutter. There was nothing they could help with now. The communication matrix on the surface of planet Kerudak had been successfully activated, and the channel was operating stably. The task of calculating and converting all the data was left to the Empire's facilities, and they could only nervously watch the progress like the other high-ranking officials. Thirty seconds was a short time, but to the officials of the Fourth Fleet, it was perhaps the longest thirty seconds they had ever experienced in their lives. They had thought that they were the only survivors, but now they were about to reconnect with another group of survivors. It was difficult for outsiders to empathize with their excitement. Finally, when the system notification that 'direct connection has been established, communication can be stabilized' and a relatively stable image appeared on the communication terminal, everyone in the hall took a deep breath in unison.
The holographic image in the center of the room had severe interference patterns, but the content was still discernible. The background seemed to be the interior of a battleship. Huge equipment and busy staff could be seen in the distance, as well as a huge image of the outside of the ship. In the middle of the video was a large 'creature' whose body was translucent like a spirit, without a fixed shape or facial features. 'He' seemed to be sprawled in front of the communicator, hurriedly fiddling with the panel before him. Although we could not see where the spirit creature's vocal organs were, we could hear a deep and powerful male voice. "This is the giant Haydn III, Chief Commander Coco Kina. I repeat, this is the giant Haydn III, Chief Commander Coco Kina. We have received your signal, please respond! Can anyone hear me? "
"Coco Kina …" The 'council' that had always maintained a high degree of calmness was shocked at this moment. In an instant, they appeared in front of the communication terminal. "Coco Kina, this is the Cunard Council … My god … You are still alive!"
"Cunard …" The spirit creature named Coco Kina's movements clearly stiffened for a moment. Then, where his face should be, suddenly, three clusters of blue and white light flashed in a row — that should be his eyes. "Ancestor Allen above … You are the Fourth Fleet!! You are still alive! The Fourth Fleet is still alive! "
Coco Kina's voice echoed in the hall. Of course, it also echoed in the bridge where he was. Through the video screen, we could see that the busy soldiers in the distance turned their heads and looked at each other blankly. Some of them seemed to have finally understood what the 'Fourth Fleet' meant (these people were very likely members of the new generation. They probably only heard of the Fourth Fleet in historical records). Immediately, they looked shocked. However, Coco Kina quickly ordered the staff to quiet down. "Maintain calm and continue to jump to the predetermined target. Pay attention to all information fluctuations in the quadrant. Once there is a new information deviation of more than 15%, immediately activate emergency evasion."
"Coco Kina, how's the situation on your side?"
"Very bad, very bad. We are under attack. We barely managed to shake off the enemy's pursuit, but we don't know when they will catch up to us again. The new home that we have just built for two hundred years has been destroyed … Ancestor above, there must be something wrong with this communicator. I can't see your image. How's the situation of the Fourth Fleet? How many of your starships have survived? Have you already shaken off the monsters' pursuit … Wait … You can contact us, and the signal strength is even stronger than a thousand years ago … Could it be that the Fourth Fleet is also moving towards this location? "
"No, the Fourth Fleet … should be in a much better situation than yours." When the other party mentioned the word 'monsters', the 'Council' glanced at me and Sandora awkwardly before replying to Coco Kina. "We have already found a safe new home not long ago. The Fallen Apostle can't attack this place. 80% of the Fourth Fleet's starships have survived. After losing contact with them for hundreds of years, they haven't been attacked again. "
All three of Coco Kina's eyes lit up at the same time. This was probably an expression of joy. "Congratulations. It looks like some of the survivors from back then can finally continue living."
"The most important thing right now is the situation on your side." The 'Council' immediately interrupted Coco Kina's words. "We have already sent out a navigation signal. It indicates a safe area. Now, turn on all engines and evacuate from here. We have enough powerful fleets that can repel any enemy."
Coco Kina lowered his head, as though he was inspecting something. "Yes, we have received these data packets. The mainframe has already analyzed them … However, you don't know how far away we are from the target indicated by this navigation signal … I'm afraid that we will be caught before we can evacuate to the target … Ah, the communicator has recovered. I can see your image now. It's still clear. Wait! "
Coco Kina suddenly stared at the image and asked softly, "Why is there a person wearing the symbol of the Empire in the image of the communicator?"
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