Chapter 63: Tidal Cipher

The halo of the Star Gate flowed gently within the circular space at the top of the Storm Tower, resembling a docile yet powerful life form breathing steadily.

The "Star Fate Knot," placed by Xu Yan on the corner of the control console, swayed softly amidst the ripples of energy. The warmth of the red string intertwined with the cold radiance of the quantum filaments, silently speaking of the integration and rebirth achieved after the collision of minds between two civilizations.

The euphoria of success did not last long.

The lingering warmth of celebration still permeated the air when an extremely subtle line of anomalous fluctuation parameters—almost drowned in the vast torrent of energy data—suddenly emerged quietly like a cunning viper before vanishing again.

Xu Yan and Jiyu, who had been in a state of high synchronization, captured this trace of discord almost simultaneously.

'An unrecorded spatial harmonic residue has been detected, exhibiting a 0.0017% quantum entanglement effect with the stable frequency of the Star Gate. The origin point is not the Star Gate itself, but points toward the Blue Star's low Earth orbit—above the intertidal zone of the Pingtung Coast.' Jiyu’s stream of consciousness remained as cold as ever, yet carried a hint of inquiry. 'This fluctuation pattern... has a 4.3% similarity with the "Tidal Beacon" recorded in ancient Ramian literature.'

"A tidal beacon?" Xu Yan furrowed his brows slightly, shifting his gaze away from the stable Star Gate. "Not a natural phenomenon?"

'Natural gravitational tidal fluctuations do not possess this kind of active entanglement characteristic. This is the trace of an artificial creation, extremely ancient, and its technological route exhibits significant deviations from the current technological trees of either Blue Star or Ramian.' Jiyu rapidly retrieved and compared the relevant databases.

Just then, Ouyang Nan’s personal terminal emitted a soft chime.

She looked down, and her expression changed slightly: "An emergency notice from the command center: an abnormal energy peak has been monitored in the intertidal zone of the Pingtung Coast, showing a faint resonance with the moment the 'Star Gate' was activated. Our squad is ordered to proceed immediately for reconnaissance. Priority level: High."

The mission came abruptly, yet it fit the anomalous fluctuation perfectly.

Jing Zhimin stepped forward, looking solemn: "It seems that the opening of the Star Gate was like a key, unintentionally touching something buried deep for a long time. Go, and remain vigilant. The Jinjiang Special Operations Team will form a joint task force with the Ocean Research Institute to assist you."

...

The night on the Pingtung Coast was vastly different from the technological sanctuary of the Storm Tower.

The moon hung high in the center of the sky, casting its cold radiance across the vast intertidal zone. The cluster of reefs exposed after the ebb tide crouched in pitch darkness like the spine of a giant beast, their wet surfaces reflecting the rippling moonlight.

The sea breeze carried a salty, cool chill, whipping up tiny wavelets that crashed against the reefs with an endless, rushing sound.

Xu Yan's squad and several experts from the Ocean Research Institute wore specialized waterproof exploration suits, trudging step by step through the mudflats and reefs under the moonlight.

Large-scale equipment could not enter, so they relied on portable energy scanners and geological detectors to conduct a carpet search.

"The fluctuation source is extremely scattered, as if it is moving with the advance and retreat of the tide... yet it follows a certain fixed pattern." An oceanographer stared at the instrument screen, looking puzzled.

Ouyang Nan operated a more sophisticated energy field analyzer and suddenly stopped, her gaze locked onto a cluster of seemingly ordinary, massive boulders ahead: "No! The energy grain lines here are exceptionally clear! They are not diffuse; they are... engraved!"

Everyone immediately gathered around.

Under the combined illumination of flashlights and moonlight, countless extremely faint yet extraordinarily complex silver patterns emerged on the surface of the dark reefs.

They were not static; instead, as the tide washed over and receded, and as the angle of the moonlight shifted subtly, they flickered in and out of view, brightening and dimming like a breathing organism!

The direction of the patterns was not random; it contained a profound geometric regularity that was definitely not formed naturally.

'Ultra-high-density information carrier patterns detected. The carrier is the microscopic crystal structure of the reef itself, and information release is stimulated by tidal gravity and specific wavelengths of photons (moonlight). This is an extremely sophisticated environmental energy utilization technology.' Jiyu analyzed rapidly. 'Attempting to decode the basic information structure...'

At that very moment, a cold stream of consciousness carrying the unique rhythm of the Ramian civilization poured directly into Xu Yan's mind. It was not language, but an extremely ancient information package filled with imagery:

"When the tide rises, see the moon; where the moon sets, hide the door."

This stream of consciousness lacked Jiyu’s usual calm analysis; instead, it carried an expanse of vastness and obscurity that seemed to traverse countless epochs.

"Jiyu?" Xu Yan asked in his mind.

'It was not actively transmitted by me. These patterns... they resonated with my core information wave and spontaneously activated a... precipitated ancient riddle.' Jiyu's voice carried a trace of rare astonishment. 'This appears to be... a proverb-style code used by explorers in the early days of the Ramian civilization to mark important spacetime nodes.'

"When the tide rises, see the moon; where the moon sets, hide the door..." Xu Yan muttered subconsciously.

Ouyang Nan beside him abruptly raised her head, shock flashing in her eyes: "This phrase... I think I've seen similar records in my father's notes!"

She immediately flipped through a worn-edged leather notebook from her waterproof gear bag—it was precisely the exploration notes of her father, Ouyang Jing.

She quickly turned to a page, pointing at the somewhat scribbled handwriting and the drawn tidal cycles: "Look here! Father recorded his long-term observations of the Pingtung tides, and he discovered that the full moon tidal cycle of a specific lunar month had a high correlation with several unexplained weak energy bursts in history! He hypothesized... that tidal gravity and sunlight reflected by the moon might entangle with certain quantum structures buried deep underground, thereby stimulating hidden information or... passages!"

Her voice trembled slightly with excitement.

Her father's seemingly absurd conjecture from years ago was actually being verified at this very moment!

Just then, the low roar of Duan Peng, who was responsible for perimeter security, came through the encrypted channel: "Attention! At the three o'clock direction, that 'fishing boat' is acting suspicious! It has been idling there for too long, and a faint laser ranging signal flashed across just now!"

Almost simultaneously, Wu Mingjie reported: "Intercepted an encrypted signal, very brief, pointing toward the open sea! Signal characteristics... match the low-intensity liaison pattern of the Redeem organization!"

Redeem spies disguised as fishermen! Their target was obviously also this suddenly revealed "tidal code"!

"Everyone, combat alert! Researchers fall back!" Xu Yan immediately ordered, his gaze instantly turning as sharp as a knife. The joint operation instantly transitioned into a pre-combat state.

The tense atmosphere escalated abruptly.

Xu Yan and Ouyang Nan quickly established a defense relying on the reefs, their gazes meeting briefly in the air.

Without words, they instantly understood each other's thoughts—Ouyang Nan relied on her understanding of her father's notes and knowledge of energetics to quickly calculate the current data of the tide and moon phase; meanwhile, Xu Yan, through Jiyu, frantically parsed the mathematical laws contained in the constantly shifting energy patterns on the reefs.

"The next energy peak point will appear when the tide completely submerges the third jagged reef, lasting approximately 7 seconds!" Ouyang Nan said urgently.

"The decryption algorithm requires reverse-phase injection, with the frequency adjusted to the eighth band!" Xu Yan shouted almost simultaneously.

Their instructions dovetailed perfectly—one grasped the timing, while the other provided the method.

Duan Peng and Wu Mingjie precisely suppressed the "fishermen" attempting to approach. Intense beams of energy momentarily tore through the night sky, only to be swallowed up by the sound of the waves.

Amidst this intense tension and tacit cooperation, Jiyu's consciousness poured into Xu Yan's mind once again, but this time, it carried an unprecedented, nearly contemplative undertone:

'Observation record: Ouyang Nan's calculation is based on a fusion of emotional drive and logical judgment, which has lower efficiency than pure logical solutions, but when information is incomplete, the success rate increases by 17.5%. Xu Yan, your decision also integrated trust in my analysis with recognition of her intuition. This seemingly redundant "emotional resonance" has generated a synergistic effect at this moment that surpasses individual computational power.'

Jiyu paused for a moment, as if undergoing a major logic update, and finally uttered words that broke all precedent:

"It is recommended to maintain this state of 'trust.' Preliminary calculations indicate that when dealing with unknown complex systems, the swarm intelligence enhancement stimulated by 'trust' cannot be simulated by a single high-efficiency logical entity. It is a... cross-species resonance algorithm."

Hearing this, Xu Yan felt a jolt in his heart.

This was the first time Jiyu had explicitly affirmed the value of "emotion," elevating it even to the level of an "algorithm."

Just then, the tide submerged the designated reef right on schedule, and the moonlight happened to cast down at the precise angle!

The patterns on the reef instantly lit up with a dazzling yet non-glaring silver-blue light, and countless complex information streams surged forth like a waking river of stars!

"Now!" Xu Yan and Ouyang Nan shouted in unison.

The decryption was complete!

At this moment, the ancient "tidal code" revealed its first layer of mystery to the world.

However, the instant the information streams emerged, the deciphered energy fluctuation also surged violently like a lighthouse, piercing the clouds and shooting into the distant, unknown deep space.

It seemed to be calling out, and it seemed to be guiding.

The door leading to deeper secrets might have already opened, but in the shadows behind the door, Redeem's prying eyes still lingered, and the crisis was far from over.

The tide continued to crash against the reefs, and the moonlight calmly watched over everything, as if it had remained unchanged since ancient times.