Countdown_1 Chapter 21

""By the way, there's one more thing, about that 'universe flashing.' Professor Wang said, from one to five o'clock yesterday morning, the universe kept winking at him. The frequency of the winks, when translated using Morse code, turned out to be a countdown. Odd, isn't it?"

"Officer Shi, I think this universe flashing thing is unreliable, at least as far as I know, it's highly unlikely that the universe could actually flash. But if you're suggesting it was human intervention, I find that equally implausible," Cao Ge shook his head.

"Yeah, I also find it unreliable, but it happened just like that, as unlikely as it seems."

"Since you are saying the universe couldn't possibly flash, and it couldn't be human intervention, then who is it? Ghosts?" Da Shi said this.

"Officer Shi, let's stick to analyzing the case without dragging ghosts and goblins into this," Cao Ge frowned slightly before saying.

"Then you tell me, who is playing tricks behind the scenes?" Da Shi spread his hands as he spoke.

Meeting Da Shi's gaze, Cao Ge thought for a moment, then deftly changed the subject, "Officer Shi, that game I asked you to play, have you tried it?"

"Still playing it, but haven't figured anything out yet," Da Shi gestured dismissively.

Cao Ge pondered gravely for a moment, then spoke, "If you really want to get to the bottom of this, you could start with that game. It's quite challenging, you might need to bring in some scientists to play with you."

"If you beat the game, maybe you'll find the answers," Cao Ge hinted.

"Hey, hold on, Brother Cao, by the sound of it, do you know something?"

Da Shi, keen as ever, picked up on the hint in Cao Ge's words.

As Da Shi spoke, Wang Miao suddenly looked up, casting a puzzled glance towards Cao Ge.

Confronted with those two intensely curious stares, Cao Ge furrowed his brows, then came right out with it, "I do know a little, but not much more than you."

"Come on, Brother Cao, that's not fair. As our operation center's scientific advisor, you can't hold out on us. Doesn't your consultant salary weigh heavily on your conscience?" When Da Shi heard Cao Ge admitting it, he immediately rebuffed him.

"Well, it's just a guess. I don't know the specifics."

"Then tell us what you know," Da Shi pulled over a chair, sat down next to Cao Ge, and looked straight at him.

Da Shi had been assigned to handle this case for several months and had yet to make any significant breakthroughs. He was quite eager for a lead.

The hint that Cao Ge might know something had immediately piqued his interest.

Seeing the excited Da Shi and a visibly more alert Wang Miao, Cao Ge thought for a moment and decided to give them a clue so they wouldn't keep bothering him.

"Actually, after I returned from the edge of science that day, I felt that the atmosphere within the scientific community was very strange, so I dug a little deeper. Being a computer expert, I'm quite familiar with the internet. Using my hacking skills, I hacked into Shen Yufei's account and got into the backend of the scientific community and discovered some interesting stuff."

Da Shi straightened up, curious, glanced at Wang Miao, and then turned back to Cao Ge, "What kind of interesting stuff?"

Cao Ge looked at them both and then said, "I found out that this scientific community is actually just a front, a system for screening members."

"A front?"

"That is to say, there's a secret organization as well," Da Shi thought for a bit, then quickly asked.

Cao Ge nodded, then said, "This secret organization, referred to in Shen Yufei's files as the Earth Three-body Organization, or ETO for short, is served by an exterior group called Scientific Boundary. Its primary function is to gather internationally renowned scholars under the guise of exploring scientific development, and then proceed to screen them. Those who pass the screening are absorbed as members of the Three-body Organization. As for those who don't pass..."

"If they don't pass the screening, they are killed by them," Da Shi interrupted before Cao Ge could finish.

"Da Shi, don't interrupt. Mr. Cao, please continue," Wang Miao glared at Da Shi, then quickly turned his gaze back to Cao Ge.

Wang Miao, mentally on the verge of collapse due to the cosmic flickering, was now desperately in need of a reason to hold onto his fast-crumbling worldview, and he saw hope in Cao Ge.

"If they don't pass the screening, they use various methods to disturb the scholars' minds to prevent their organization's secrets from being known by others, and you all know the outcome for those scholars," Cao Ge said, looking at the two men.

"That is to say, this Scientific Boundary is just a front, and the main organization is the Three-body Organization you're talking about," Da Shi thought for a moment, then asked with a hint of inquiry.

"Um," Cao Ge nodded.

"But even if, as you said, this Scientific Boundary is just a front and the Three-body Organization is the core, what is their goal, and how did they manage to cause the entire universe to flicker?" Wang Miao asked, puzzled.

Facing Wang Miao's doubtful gaze, Cao Ge shook his head and indicated he didn't know.

"I don't know their purpose, but I'm sure it must be closely related to the 'Lord' Shen Yufei mentioned."

"Lord?" Da Shi interjected.

"Yes, the 'Lord' of the farmers, that 'Lord.' As far as I know, members of the Three-body Organization are all highly knowledgeable individuals, but for some reason, they seem to believe more in the existence of a 'Lord' in this world. This 'Lord' is omniscient, much like God, and they worship this 'Lord' just like Christians worship God," Cao Ge explained.

"I see, so you're saying, anyone they choose, if they can be brainwashed and convert to this 'Lord,' can live, but if they refuse to convert, they are eliminated," Da Shi thought silently for a moment, then summarized.

"Pretty much," Cao Ge affirmed with a nod.

"So what you're saying is this Three-body Organization is a cult."

Da Shi's statement was neither confirmed nor denied by Cao Ge.

The room fell into silence, with both Wang Miao and Da Shi deep in thought, leaving only Cao Ge.

Finally, it was the ever-straightforward Da Shi who broke the silence, "Since the members of this Three-body Organization are the world's top scientists, could it be possible that their grasp of technology far exceeds our understanding?"

As Da Shi looked over, Cao Ge wanted to say it was impossible, but in the end, he admitted, "It's possible."

Da Shi stood in the office, pacing back and forth in thought until, after a few minutes, he suddenly slammed a hand on the table and confidently said, "Now it all makes sense. The countdown in Professor Wang's eyes is their doing."

"Brother Cao, you said you obtained all the information you know from Shen Yufei's account data. Can you send me a copy of that data?"

"I can," Cao Ge said, nodding.

"That settles it. I'll go get a search warrant from Old Chang right away," Da Shi declared.

Da Shi wasn't a scholar; he was a cop, a seasoned police officer, which meant his thought process was straightforward: if there's suspicion, investigate—it was the mindset of working a case.

He didn't need to understand how these wondrous phenomena happened; his job was to identify the suspects and then bring them in. The rest, the scientific problems, would naturally be solved by others.