“Watchers… Orion…” she repeated the two code names in a low voice, so soft that only Su Xuan beside her could hear it, but it carried a chilling aura. “Sure enough… they’ve come too.”

"Mingzhao?" Su Xuan's heart trembled violently.

Mingzhao did not explain.

She suddenly turned around, strode towards the control panel, and typed out a series of extremely complex, seemingly out-of-this-era instruction codes on the keyboard.

The screen instantly switched, no longer displaying a trajectory graph, but a dark background with countless rapidly scrolling, incomprehensible symbols and waveforms.

“Academician Yan,” Mingzhao’s voice returned to its usual calm, but carried an undeniable sense of urgency.

"Immediately activate all external electromagnetic shielding at the base, raising the intensity to the highest wartime level! Cut off all non-essential external communication links, including wired ones! All personnel, stand by, and are prohibited from using any wireless devices! Hurry!"

Her command was firm and decisive! Although Yan Zhensheng was puzzled, the solemnity Mingzhao displayed at this moment, even greater than when facing the Soviet accusations, made him realize instantly that the seriousness of the situation far exceeded his imagination!

Without hesitation, he sternly ordered, "Execute! Highest level electromagnetic silence! Immediately!"

The piercing alarm sounded again, but this time it was a mournful wail that signified the highest level of defense!

The entire base instantly entered a deathly silence of combat readiness. All lights were dimmed, external communications were physically cut off, and a powerful electromagnetic shielding field descended like an invisible giant bowl.

Almost at the same second that the shielding field was fully raised!

Buzz—!

Inside the control center, the backup receiver that had just printed out the "Watchmen" message suddenly burst out with an extremely sharp noise that almost pierced the eardrums!

Immediately afterwards, the received spectrum on the screen, which should have been blank, suddenly exploded into a violently distorted, extremely high-intensity interference signal that looked like countless venomous snakes coiling and rolling!

The interference was so strong that it even caused the other screens on the main control panel to display static for a moment!

"A powerful electromagnetic interference attack!" a technician screamed. "The source... the source is in the sky! And it's not just one direction!"

The red dots representing the interference sources on the screen flickered and moved like ghosts in near-Earth orbit! And it wasn't just one satellite!

They are using their orbital positions to conduct precise, saturation electromagnetic bombardment of the base!

"They want to cripple us! To prevent us from contacting the outside world!" Su Xuan understood instantly!

Valery and the Soviet technical experts stared in horror at this attack, which went far beyond the level of national confrontation.

Ambassador Vasily's eyes flickered, as if he were thinking of some terrible rumor.

"A trivial skill."

Mingzhao snorted coldly, her icy tone carrying a hint of disdain. Her fingers danced across the main keyboard, the mysterious symbols scrolling on the screen even faster, as if engaged in an invisible battle of offense and defense.

"Su Xuan! Take over the auxiliary control console! Coordinate input: Right ascension XXXX, Declination XXXX! Frequency lock: UHF band XXXX! Modulation mode: Inverse chaotic carrier! Power... push it to the limit!" Ming Zhao's commands were as fast as lightning.

"clear!"

Without any hesitation, Su Xuan rushed to the control panel and began operating it rapidly. He couldn't understand the information on Mingzhao's core screen, but he absolutely trusted every single command she gave!

A powerful electromagnetic wave, with unique chaotic modulation characteristics, rose against the tide from the main transmitting antenna array deep within the base, piercing like a sharp knife towards the most core and energetic red dot among the myriad sources of interference!

Sizzle—!

The most ferocious interference signal on the screen seemed to be choked, suddenly halting! The distorted waveform showed a clear collapse!

The symbolic flow on Mingzhao's core screen instantly seized this opening and surged in like a torrent!

"Analyze the characteristics of the interference source...lock the control channel...inject...countermeasure program!" Mingzhao's voice carried a cold, decisive tone.

A miracle has happened!

The red dot that was hit by the "countermeasure program" rapidly weakened and dissipated its violent interference, just like the receding tide! Immediately afterward, the other two red dots next to it that were attacking in coordination also seemed to lose their command, and their interference intensity dropped sharply!

The electromagnetic storm from deep space was instantly torn open by Mingzhao's precise and deadly counterattack!

"The interference has decreased! It's effective!" the technicians exclaimed in delight.

However, Mingzhao's face showed no sign of relaxation.

Her gaze was fixed on the core screen, where the green data stream representing the "countermeasure program" she had injected was engaged in a fierce battle with a more powerful and obscure defense mechanism deep within the core of the interference source!

The opponent's resistance was far stronger than she had anticipated!

"Warning! High-dimensional information entanglement and reverse engineering detected! Countermeasures are being reverse-analyzed! Core algorithm exposed at 87% risk!"

A glaring red alert popped up on the screen!

Mingzhao's pupils suddenly contracted!

The opponent's skill level is... terrifyingly high!

Not only can it resist her countermeasures, but it can also conduct high-dimensional reverse tracing along the data link, attempting to lock onto her core algorithm or even... her thought process?!

At this critical moment!

The control center door was flung open! A figure no one expected rushed in.

It was Chief Zhao of the Security Department, who was in charge of guarding the old warehouse where the prototypes and traces of stardust were sealed!

He clutched a small, palm-sized object sealed in a lead box, his face filled with anxiety!

"Minggong! Academician Yan! Something's wrong! The lead box containing the 'Stardust' remnants... it's... it's getting hot! It's vibrating! The things inside... seem... seem to have come alive!"

Buzz—!

As if responding to Lao Zhao's shout, the intense attack and defense data stream on Ming Zhao's main control screen suddenly changed!

A tiny marker representing the remnants of "stardust" suddenly burst forth with an unprecedented, dazzling golden light!

An indescribable energy fluctuation, carrying an ancient and vast aura, ignored the physical shielding, instantly penetrated the lead box, and permeated the entire control center!

Even more alarmingly, this golden energy stream, as if guided, actually merged into the green data stream on Mingzhao's screen that was battling the "Orion" defense mechanism!

boom!

The green data stream, which had been at a stalemate or even a disadvantage, was infused with divinity the moment it merged with the golden light! It suddenly erupted with overwhelming power! The obscure runes representing Orion's defense on the screen retreated step by step like melting snow!

A cold, inhuman thought, with an electronic, synthetic quality yet brimming with boundless rage, seemed to transcend endless time and space, forcibly squeezing into the minds of everyone in the control center:

"Low-dimensional insects! How dare they steal 'source matter'?! 'Orion'...the countdown to its arrival is on!"