Continuous noise and static replaced the normal picture and sound of the communicator. The signal from the deep-submersible ship was suddenly cut off.
All the monitoring equipment in the control center lost their signal source. There was only a twisted grayish-black pattern on the central holographic projection. The disturbing alarm seemed to be lost for a second before it rang in the hall. "Warning! Lost the deep-submersible ship! Warning! Lost the deep-submersible ship! "
The emergency response team reacted immediately. They went to check the control center's system and the various communication devices in space. The base's mainframe started to activate the backup signal tower to strengthen the connection with the deep-submersible ship. The suppression towers around the Gate of the Abyss burst into bright light, forming a colorful halo. This was to prevent a violent movement inside the Gate of the Abyss, which would cause the entire port to self-destruct.
I was stunned for a moment. Everything was gone in a millisecond?
Just a moment ago, the old man was happily sharing the scene he saw with us on the communicator, praising the superior performance of the new ship. The next moment, the whole ship disappeared from all the channels?
Tawil's voice sounded in the hall, steady and powerful. "Stay calm! Communication team, don't give up on tracking. Increase the antenna strength and turn on all the backup channels. The deep-submersible ship's communication system may have fallen to another frequency band. The main system monitoring team immediately collated all the exchange data since thirty minutes ago to see if the channel was blocked by the Abyss pollution. 'Gatekeeper team ', immediately check the telemetry devices near the gate. I want to know the situation under the Gate of the Abyss! Disaster response team, board the backup deep-submersible ship and set up a beacon inside the gate! "
Clear and effective instructions were sent to everyone through the hall broadcast. Fortunately, the Shiring Apostles' talent allowed them to stay calm in the face of any unexpected situation. The expert team did not waste even a second to carry out the emergency plan. However, as the signal of the communication array increased and the frequency spectrum widened, the deep-submersible ship was still nowhere to be seen. There was only static on all the communicators.
I noticed that Sandora's eyes changed rapidly a few times, but she remained calm. Although there was a lot of worry in her eyes, she still waited for Tawil to finish issuing the emergency orders before she asked in a low voice, "What happened? How could the signal be suddenly cut off? "
Sandora did not rashly ask whether the Deep Submersible Ship had been destroyed. On the one hand, no one wanted to think in that direction. On the other hand, the new Deep Submersible Ship was extremely sturdy. The new technology was also integrated after many simulation tests. Even the old Deep Submersible Ship could hover near the discontinuity zone for several hours, so there was no reason that the new Deep Submersible Ship would be any worse.
"I can't be sure. The signal source was suddenly lost. It could be forcefully blocked by some factor, or the communication system of the Deep Submersible Ship was contaminated by the Abyss and self-destructed. It could also be some kind of 'information deflection' effect that caused the signal sent by the Deep Submersible Ship to be unable to be understood by the World of Order." Tawil did not mention the possibility that the Deep Submersible Ship had been destroyed but simply analyzed the possible reasons for the loss of the signal. "These incidents have never happened before, but they are all possible situations in the Abyss. We are turning on all the backup communication antennas. If the mainframe of the Deep Submersible Ship did not directly crash, they should be doing similar attempts on their side. The signal will be restored eventually. "
"Even if there is a catastrophic accident, it won't cause the spaceship to collapse instantly," Abyss Schilling added. "We have done tests. In theory, the highest concentration of Abyss pollution hit the United I. Even under that situation, the spaceship can persist for at least twenty minutes. It won't disappear in the blink of an eye like now … The new Deep Submersible Ship can't be 'killed instantly.'"
While the scientists of the Empire were nervously and orderly repositioning the signal of the Deep Submersible Ship, the Protoss experts were not idle either. Although they were responsible for the propulsion, energy, structural protection components and so on, they were not responsible for the communication system. However, the Protoss had many strange things that could be put to use in such situations. Soon, many stargold platforms and amethyst castles that emitted a mysterious glow appeared above the Deep Submersible Harbor. These were the facilities that the Protoss used to observe the Abyss Gate. Although they could not directly contact the Deep Submersible Ship, they could determine whether a catastrophic explosion had occurred at the bottom of the Deep Submersible Harbor by measuring the readings of the Abyss. They could observe even if a trace of the aura leaked out when the Deep Submersible Ship was destroyed.
As long as these observation points did not send any information, it was the best information they could get.
A Deep Submersible Ship that was similar in structure to the United I, but smaller and simpler in structure, was released from another spaceport and quickly approached the Abyss Gate. After hovering for more than ten seconds for data calibration, the Deep Submersible Ship activated its special shield and plunged into the deep, dark disc. This was the backup Deep Submersible Ship.
This was the backup Deep Submergence Ship. It did not undertake any scientific missions, nor did it have a research module. Its only mission was disaster rescue. Because it did not have a lot of scientific research and scanning equipment (which was also the largest facility on the original Deep Submergence Ship), it was lighter and more reliable. The smaller size also meant that the surface shield of the Deep Submergence Ship would have a much smaller contact area with the abyss. The only drawback was that it could not undertake any deep submergence missions other than disaster rescue. It could not collect data or conduct tests, and its endurance was shorter than the United I.
Since the start of manned deep diving, Tawil had prepared two such backup ships or special rescue ships for each Deep Submersible Ship. Although such ships were not easy to build and had a short lifespan, everyone thought that the investment was worth it. During the previous experiments with the old ships, the backup ships had never been used. To be honest, I would rather they never be used!
"This happened on the first voyage of the new Deep Submersible Ship," Icetis was a little heartless and a little blabbermouth. She said whatever was on her mind, "I can't help but think of Titania..."
Then, everyone began to glare at her fiercely. Even Father looked at the simple-minded girl with a strange expression. So, Icetis quickly shrunk her neck and said, "Sorry, my brain has gone haywire. I am a little nervous too."
I knew that Icetis definitely did not mean any harm, and she was no less nervous than anyone else here. So, I did not pursue the matter further. I just continued to stare at the communicator in front of me, hoping to see even the slightest bit of information other than the noise.
The first backup ship successfully passed through the gate. First, it placed a temporary transit station to enhance the signal transmission. Then, it went to the "forward outpost" and connected its working components to the outpost. This was also to enhance the signal transmission.
Before there was clear evidence, everyone believed that the Deep Submersible Ship was still there, but the signal could not be transmitted. This was not just an instinctive psychological tendency, but also a scientific judgment based on the performance of the new Deep Submersible Ship.
"Retrieved the system log of the outpost's mainframe one minute before we lost contact. No abnormalities found." The first backup ship quickly sent a report. Then, it began to "dive" quickly. Every once in a while, it would place a transit station. This transit station could only work in the Abyss for a few hours and relied on a limited pre-stored energy to operate. Its only function was to ensure smooth communication in the extremely harsh environment. In the Abyss, ensuring smooth communication with the World of Order was the most important thing.
"Get the second backup ship ready." A mass projection of Tawil gave instructions to the disaster management team. At the same time, he did not forget to remind the first ship that was carrying out the search and rescue operation. "One, pay attention to the diving speed and changes in the surrounding environment. The second ship will be there soon."
"Yes, the first ship understands," the commander of the first ship replied briefly. Then, he continued to dive and set up the transit station. But just as the next transit station began to operate, we suddenly heard the commander's excited voice. "There's a signal! Joint I's signal! "
It had been more than an hour since we lost contact with the Deep Submersible Ship. It was a long hour.
"Transfer it," Sandora said in a low voice. Then, the communicator in the hall once again showed a clear image, but it was not the image of the Deep Submersible Ship's command module. Instead, it was a bunch of constantly fluctuating graphs and a large number of rapidly refreshing charts. "It's the spacecraft's low-throughput channel. It's broadcasting the Deep Submersible Ship's' health status. '"
I did not quite understand what such a complicated chart meant, so I simply asked, "What's the situation?"
"I can only confirm that the power core and shield set are still operating normally. This channel's capacity is very low, and it's used to indicate one's position and 'still alive' when all signals are cut off." Shadora frowned, but her eyes were no longer as worried as before. "The power core and shield are still operating, so there's no problem with the spaceship's core. At most, the detection module and antenna are destroyed. There are some alarm parameters in the signal. The spacecraft is indeed severely damaged, but we are not sure which part it is. Ship One, get closer. Increase the signal and we should be able to contact the Deep Submersible Ship. "
"Ship One understands," the rescue team responded immediately. Then, they accelerated their dive and approached the place where Joint I disappeared: the upper layer of the discontinuity zone. However, they were very careful during the dive. It was obvious that the possible movement inside the Gate of the Abyss made them quite nervous.
The control center was also filled with a tense and depressing atmosphere. Although the clear instructions and reports could slightly ease this feeling, the heavy pressure still occupied everyone's heart.
There was a golden light swimming in the depths of Sandora's eyes.
Icetis was subconsciously stroking her hair.
Lin Xue had already closed her eyes. Her entire person seemed to be independent of another time and space, a transcendental time and space.
Hilla frowned. Lavender lines appeared on her bare arms and neck. She might be planning to transform and personally save people.
A subtle ring suddenly came from the communicator, accompanied by the surprised cry of the commander of Ship One, "Signal source found! Recalibrating the antenna and identification library … It's connected! It's the Deep Submersible Ship! "
A hissing noise came from the communicator, and a large mass of twisted colorful lines jumped on the holographic projection like a frenzied ball of wire. This was the effect of strong interference. Since the beginning of the Deep Submersible Ship project, it had rarely encountered such strong interference. But at this moment, to everyone present, there seemed to be nothing more lovely and more intimate than this interference. These interference lines proved that the communication came from an orderly and analyzable signal source, which was undoubtedly United I's.
The operators began to adjust the antenna and filter the noise. Bubble's voice came from the broadcast. "I have taken over the host of the Deep Submersible Ship. Now, I am using the redundant computing power of the main network to assist in analyzing these signals."
The interference on the communicator finally subsided. The frenzied colorful lines barely managed to condense, and finally, a heavily distorted but still distinguishable image appeared. I recognized Anthus in the center of the image, who had been out of contact for more than an hour. He looked fine and uninjured, but the command center behind him had obviously just recovered from the chaos. A lot of equipment was emitting thick smoke, and there were some pipe-like things hanging from the ceiling. This was a sign that the energy network was overloaded. The only fortunate thing was that the damage did not seem to have affected the foundation of the Deep Submersible Ship. The self-detection signal from the low-throughput channel was still stable.
"This is United I … Buzz … United I … Calling … Strong interference, discontinuous … Control center, this is United … Buzz … Calling control center … Buzz …"
The voice was seriously distorted, but still distinguishable. After many times of analysis by Bubble and a large number of reinforcement stations, the signal slowly grew stronger, and finally reached the point where people could talk.
Sandora pressed on the platform in front of the communicator. "This is the control center. What's the situation?"
Anthus's voice was delayed for a few seconds. "The spare experiment module is damaged and has been abandoned. One of the three main systems is overloaded and has been abandoned. The energy network is seriously overloaded, but the emergency protection device responded in time. Only one redundant energy network was sacrificed. The status of the spacecraft's host is still normal. We are restarting the various automatic systems. "
"What's going on?"
"The violent tremors of the discontinuous zone." Anthus's voice sounded unusually calm. Although there were still small explosions and sparks in the command center behind him, it did not seem to affect the old man's work. "Its movement is non-continuous, and so is the tremor. We misjudged the 'transition' of the discontinuous zone. It will tremble in a small area for a certain period of time, but under extremely rare circumstances, it will move violently once, and we just happened to catch it."
It seemed like it was really an accident caused by the strange environment in the Abyss. Sandora frowned. It was obvious that there was no point in continuing the experiment. "Give up the deep dive and return immediately. The spacecraft can't continue the mission in its current state."
This time, Anthus was strangely silent for a long time. In this silence, I suddenly had a bad feeling.
"We're not going back," the old man finally spoke. His voice was calm, but there was a hint of carefreeness in it. "Now, I will upload the last of the collected data to you. Then, I will keep the antenna at full power. There will be about half an hour before we completely lose contact. This data is very valuable. I hope you can make good use of it …"
Sandora snapped out of her daze and interrupted the old man. "What's going on?! Why aren't we coming back? "
"The spacecraft has passed the discontinuous zone, and we only have one last set of energy network left. There is no chance for us to turn back," Anthus said quietly. "We are now on the other side of the discontinuous zone, and we are still diving at a constant speed."
The entire control center was silent.
"The spacecraft has passed the discontinuous zone?" I couldn't believe what I had heard and repeated it subconsciously.
"Yes, it has passed the discontinuous zone. Or rather, the spacecraft didn't move, but the discontinuous zone suddenly became active and rolled over us." The old man could still smile at this time. "Regardless, we have completed the 'mission' ahead of time. We have crossed this line in an unexpected way. This is a good thing. The spacecraft has collected a lot of data while crossing the discontinuous zone. You will need to cross it sooner or later. The next spacecraft won't need to waste time slowly accumulating data … "
"Don't be in such a hurry to give up!" Lin Xue suddenly rushed to the communicator. Her voice was urgent and intense. "Since you can cross it once, there is still a chance for you to cross it again! Return immediately. We can send a rescue ship near the discontinuous zone. The Void Creatures can create stability in the Abyss … "
"Don't waste resources," the old man said solemnly. "The most important system of the spacecraft has been severely damaged, especially the energy network. The output is very unstable. The discontinuous zone is a fatal threat to such an unstable system. I have already dived a few times. I know how far this spacecraft can go, even if it is newly built. Now, we have to complete the last mission of this spacecraft! "
Then, he softened his tone. "Don't waste your energy. You are a prophet. You shouldn't act recklessly."
In the end, the old man's gaze swept across all of us. He suddenly smiled. "Actually, we have a risky plan now …"
If we continue to dive, will we reach the critical layer? "
If we can survive until the critical layer, will we reach the Abyss that is closer to the 'other side' of the Abyss? "
If Abyss Schilling's theory is right, the Abyss on the other side may be harmless to the spacecraft … at least, it's not harmful. "
So, we might not necessarily die. There is a one percent chance that we will survive, as long as we continue to move forward. "
Gramps told us everything in a clear and organized manner. Perhaps this was the result of their discussion during the one hour that they had lost contact with each other. The only hope of survival was to keep moving forward and cross the critical layer before the ship was torn apart by the abyssal distortion!
We could only hope that Abyss Schilling's theory was correct.
Sandora was silent. She was silent in a pressuring manner. But in the end, she waved her hand to the side as though she was grabbing something. "... Pay attention to the final data. Don't miss anything."
Her understanding of "deep diving" was no less than the experts on the scene. After knowing the current situation, she could already estimate the probability of rescue.
Then, she looked at the communicator. "If you really cross the critical layer, leave a relay device there. There should be a lot of them in the spacecraft's garage."
"Of course, we have already thought of that. Perhaps this can solve the communication problem that has been plaguing the Empire for a long time." Anthus smiled. There was only calmness on his slightly aged face. "Don't worry, don't be sad. We are soldiers. We are just heading to the battlefield."
It's not hard to accept, and we're happy to accept it — we've set sail like this once a long, long time ago. It was in a hurry and everyone was clueless, and when we escaped from our home, we were greeted by the unknown: the unknown Void, the unknown world, the unknown everything … Now, we're just setting sail again, and just like last time, we're heading into the unknown. "
As a captain, I think I should embrace the unknown instead of running away from it … Think about the mysteries on the other side, think about a completely unknown new world that not even the gods have seen before. As long as we continue forward, we will be able to see it, although it is a little earlier than expected. "
I am very happy in the Empire. It is very comfortable. It feels like I am at home. Thank you. "
But I am the captain, the captain of the ark. My crew and I should fall on the road to explore the unknown world, not slowly rot and die at home. "
Our time in the Empire was just a short stop. Now, it is time to set sail again. Compared to the first time we set sail, this time is better … "
The sound and image stopped abruptly. The deep-submersible spacecraft had exceeded the broadcasting range of the relay station. The antenna could only receive the final observation data, which showed that the deep-submersible spacecraft was accelerating towards the critical layer.
Ten minutes later, the last bit of data exchange could not be continued.
All the communication channels were silent.
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