Chapter 61 Moon Phase Tea House

Deep in the back mountains of the Jinjiang Base, a secluded ancient tea pavilion was nestled amidst a deep bamboo grove.

Under the full mid-autumn moon, clear moonlight poured down like a waterfall, spilling onto the mottled wooden veranda and casting slender, elongated shadows of the bamboo. The tea pavilion had clearly been meticulously maintained—old yet not dilapidated. In the center, a small red-clay stove bubbled with spring water, wisps of white steam intertwining with the moonlight, lending an air of serenity and Zen.

Jing Zhimin had changed into dark casual wear, his somewhat graying hair looking even more weathered under the moon. Personally tending to the tea set, his movements were relaxed and focused. He no longer seemed like the base director who orchestrated strategies from behind the scenes, but merely an elder brewing tea to welcome guests.

Xu Yan, Ouyang Nan, Duan Peng, and Wu Mingjie sat around in a circle, while Jiyu’s projection quietly hovered beside Xu Yan, its silvery-gray outline appearing less cold under the moonlight, softened by a hazy glow instead.

"The 'Stardust' project is progressing smoothly, and the 'Cocoon' system is growing increasingly stable. These are all good things."

Jing Zhimin poured the first brew into plain white porcelain cups, and the fragrance of tea instantly filled the air. "Yet when it comes to fundamental matters, technological breakthroughs alone are not enough. Tonight's moonlight is fine, making it a fitting time to discuss older, deeper things."

He took a sip of tea, his gaze drifting toward the full silver disk in the sky. "The Interstellar Alliance did not spring into existence from nowhere. Before the existing records, there was a 'Pioneer Era' that has been deliberately blurred. Back then, Blue Star had just tentatively stepped into the starry skies, taking stumbling steps yet brimming with the passion of exploration. We... or rather, your ancestors, had extremely brief contacts with friendly visitors from distant stellar domains."

His words sounded like reminiscence, or perhaps an attempt to organize the past events of Blue Star. After all, to most people, these distant yet genuinely occurred events held little actual concern.

How could one not sigh at the disappearance of that which once led or guided the brilliance of an era?

Xu Yan and Jiyu both remained silent, observing and listening as Jing Zhimin continued.

Unexpectedly, Ouyang Nan gently set down her teacup, seemingly deeply moved by this as well. Carrying a hint of emotion, she chimed in, "My grandmother once left behind a pressed tea cake, a very, very old one. She said that this tea cake was blended with a special kind of 'stardust,' a keepsake presented to my family's ancestors by a 'visitor from beyond the heavens.' She also said it was left by one of the few liaisons responsible for initial communications with the 'sky-guest' back then—someone who won the other party's respect through a sort of... almost instinctive understanding of energy and nature."

She looked at Xu Yan, her gaze complex. "That tea cake—I always thought it was merely a legend."

A shock rippled through Xu Yan's heart. He recalled the notebook he had seen in the archives, and that intuitive conception of energy circulation.

As it turned out, such traits had long been imprinted within the heritage of Blue Star.

'Lunar phase periodic variation data synchronous reception,' Jiyu quietly cut in, analytical in tone. 'Its gravitational tidal fluctuation pattern shows a high degree of synchronization with the fluctuation rules of an encrypted key marked as "Alliance Initial Communication Protocol—Fragment" within the Ramu Star database. Decryption of the key requires alignment with specific gravitational wave peak nodes... Right now.'

Almost at the instant Jiyu's voice fell, an extremely complex data stream, converted from the moonlight's fluctuation frequency, was successfully parsed.

Yet that key was not merely numbers or symbols; it resembled more of an encoding of... emotional fluctuations, brimming with curiosity, probing, and a faint glimmer of hope.

Xu Yan gazed at the tea leaves rising and falling in his cup, the clear tea broth reflecting the moonlight. He thought of the tea ceremony concept of *ichigo ichie*—every gathering is a single, unrepeatable lifetime occurrence, poured with all one's heart and insight into the present moment, a cherishing of the passage of time and the ultimate tribute to the affinity of gathering.

"I understand..." Xu Yan murmured. "What this key requires is not brute-force algorithmic cracking, but... an emotional resonance and response. It demands that we 'respond' to that initial probing with an equally pure curiosity and goodwill."

He closed his eyes, banishing distractions, and strived to condense his curiosity about the starry skies, his awe of the unknown, and his yearning for peaceful communication into a clear emotional intent, slowly guiding it—through the connection built by Jiyu—toward the key decrypted from the lunar phases.

A silent resonance rippled beneath the moonlight. That cold, encrypted key melted slowly like ice meeting a warm current, releasing a short, blurred fragment of information—a star chart marking an abandoned, original interstellar contact coordinate, alongside an ancient symbol representing "friendship" and "observation."

Watching this unfold, Jing Zhimin's eyes flashed with gratification and emotion. "It seems that the Alliance's initial bonds were not forged upon absolute power or technology, but originated from a shred of uncontaminated curiosity and goodwill. Pity that later..."

His unfinished words dissolved into a soft sigh.

Duan Peng had been listening so intently that he couldn't help but reach out to pick up a small basket of freshly picked tea leaves by the stove. "Talk is cheap, let's try roasting tea the ancient way ourselves! Back in my hometown, this is how we used to do it."

Everyone joined in, tossing the tender green leaves into a warm iron wok, carefully stir-frying and kneading them by hand.

A rich, slightly verdant fragrance of tea immediately filled the pavilion, accompanied by the subtle rustling sounds of palms brushing against leaves and the iron wok—brimming with the warmth of human life.

Amidst this atmosphere of labor and tea aroma, Jiyu's projection rippled slightly. For the first time, he spoke of his own accord, his voice still flat, yet seemingly carrying an ineffable nuance:

'On Ramu Star, there exists a collective consciousness-joining ritual akin to this, known as the "Empathy Tea Party." It does not involve ingesting liquids, but rather sharing a fragment of pure emotional memory through a specific energy field to achieve a brief emotional synchronization for consciousness unification prior to major decisions. But...'

He paused. '...far short of the... multi-sensory experience and non-linear resonance brought by the process at this very moment. Your "stir-frying" embodies labor fraught with uncertainty and anticipation; this process itself appears to be an integral part of emotional sedimentation.'

This was the first time Jiyu had proactively shared civilizational details of Ramu Star, and he had done so within a context tinged with appreciation and comparison.

Moonlight, tea fragrance, ancient memories, and cross-civilizational emotional resonance fused together wondrously at this moment.

Feeling the warmth of the tea leaves in his palm, Xu Yan looked at his companions beside him, and then out toward the projection intertwining the dual civilizations of Ramu Star and Blue Star under the moonlight.

He knew that the threads of the past had grown clear, and the path of the future awaited them to forge.

Jing Zhimin refilled everyone's cups with the newly roasted tea under the moonlight. The tea liquor was clear and bright, its aroma growing increasingly mellow.

"The final stage of the Star Gate Project is about to begin," he said slowly, his gaze sweeping across the group before finally resting on Xu Yan and the silvery-gray projection. "That will be more than just a fusion of technology; it will be a test of will and conviction. Are you all ready?"

Amidst the curling tea smoke, the choice of the Star Gate had quietly approached.