The wind was still blowing outside, but no one in the command center was paying attention anymore.

Chen Hao stared at the question mark on the whiteboard, tapping his finger twice on the pen cap. The data report from the crystal lay on the table, and Nana's voice had just finished the last sentence: "The pulse signal is still ongoing, with its intensity increasing by three percent."

"That means it's more active than last night," Susan said, flipping through her notebook. "The direction hasn't changed; it's still 43 degrees southeast."

Carl stood in the corner, his hand on the toolbox handle, as if ready to turn and leave at any moment. "Have you ever considered that this thing isn't summoning others, but calling to its own kind?"

“Then there must be other similar beings first,” Chen Hao said. “You can’t have a walking army of stone living on the seabed, can you?”

“There are no entries related to ‘walking rocks’ in the database,” Nana immediately replied, “but there are three marginal theories that may partially match the current phenomenon.”

She brought up the projector, and three lines of text appeared in the air.

First item: Periodic displacement of deep-sea hydrothermal vent clusters. Second item: Slow creep of submarine faults. Third item: Stress release model of ancient geological structures.

“I’ve looked at them all.” Carl frowned. “None of them can explain how it swallowed the submarine.”

“So it might be something new.” Chen Hao sat back in his chair, the back of the chair making a dull thud. “Or maybe the old thing has just changed its way of life.”

Susan looked up: "You mean, natural phenomena have evolved?"

“I’m not sure,” he said, “but I’ve seen even more outrageous things. For example, I used to copy the wrong page when I was taking exams.”

Nana began searching for cross-referenced data. A dense stream of information scrolled across the screen, with titles constantly changing—"Statistics on Marine Resonance Frequencies," "Case Studies of Anomalous Mineral Acoustic Absorption," and "Research on the Correlation between Crustal Movement and Magnetic Field."

A few minutes later, she stopped.

"A record with a high degree of matching was found: 48 hours before a submarine earthquake in the Pacific Ocean 70 years ago, a weak pulse with a similar 17-second cycle was detected. The source was unknown and it has not been reproduced."

“The timing matches up.” Susan marked the location on the map. “The epicenter of that earthquake was less than 20 kilometers away from the direction we are measuring now.”

"A coincidence?" Karl sneered. "Or a hint?"

“It’s impossible to determine at the moment,” Nana said. “But we can confirm that this frequency does not fall within the range of known man-made devices or natural noise.”

Chen Hao stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and wrote three words: **moving, swallowing a ship, sending a signal**.

“We only have these three cards in our hand right now,” he said. “Whether it’s a monster or a machine, the question is—will it come after us?”

“If it operates through resonance,” Susan pointed to the crystal, “then it would require at least two points to generate a response. Right now, there’s only one sample, which means either the other fragments are missing, or… the source is still there.”

“That means it wasn’t coming for us,” Chen Hao nodded. “It’s this stone responding to our hometown.”

"It cannot be ruled out that it is targeting a new location," Nana added. "According to ocean current simulations, if the structure has limited mobility, it is expected to enter the warning area within three months."

"Three months?" Karl slammed his fist on the table. "Why didn't you say so earlier? What's the point of having a meeting? Just blow it up!"

"How do we blow it up?" Chen Hao looked at him. "Are you going to take a wrench and go down to break through the wall?"

“We can deploy an acoustic interference array,” Nana said. “By using the resonant properties of the crystal to excite it in reverse, we can make it deviate from its original frequency and theoretically interrupt the connection.”

"It sounds like a science fiction movie," Susan sighed. "The problem is, we don't even know where it is, so how can we interfere?"

"The signal indicates an area with a water depth exceeding 8,000 meters," Nana continued to report. "The maximum operating depth of existing submersibles is 5,200 meters, which is insufficient to reach the core area."

"So, we can only look, not touch." Chen Hao stroked his chin. "It's like watching a horror movie where the protagonist knows there's someone in the closet, but still has to reach in and touch it himself."

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

Then Susan suddenly laughed.

"You really think this is watching a movie?"

"What else?" Chen Hao shrugged. "Anyway, this isn't the first time I've been forced to act in a life-or-death movie. Last time when the storm came, I thought I was going to retire early and become fish food."

“The point isn’t whether we’re scared or not,” Carl said in a low voice. “It’s whether it’s worth it. To divert the entire base’s resources for someone who tells ghost stories?”

“He didn’t lie,” Nana repeated. “His physiological indicators remained stable throughout, and there were no contradictions in his speech.”

“But he didn’t prove anything.” Carl stared at her. “You only said he wasn’t lying, but you didn’t say what he said was true.”

“I didn’t say that,” Nana replied calmly. “I was just stating the test results.”

Chen Hao stood up and walked around the table. "Let's change our approach. Forget about whether it's true or false, just consider the consequences. If this thing is real, what will happen if we ignore it?"

“It might drift over,” Susan said. “Or it might stay still. But if it can really swallow large objects, once it gets close to the outer perimeter of the base…”

"Boom." Chen Hao snapped his fingers.

"What if we investigate?" she countered. "Who would we send to dive? What equipment would we use? What if something goes wrong on the way back?"

“That’s why I said we shouldn’t make a decision now.” Chen Hao returned to the whiteboard. “We’re just assessing—can this be taken seriously? Should we prepare for it properly?”

"Prepare what?" Karl squinted.

“Three days,” he said. “Stop the expansion project and prioritize three things: Nana, continue analyzing the data and calculate the approximate distance to the signal source; Susan, build an environmental prediction model to see just how dangerous that area is; and you are responsible for inspecting all the deep-sea equipment, even if we don’t use it, we need to know what we have.”

"Are you trying to test me?" Susan asked.

“I don’t want to gamble with my life,” Chen Hao shook his head. “But I also don’t want to wait for it to swim to the door before it cries for help.”

Nana has started the deep search program. A progress bar appears in the lower left corner of the screen: estimated completion time is six hours and forty-two minutes.

“I will try to build a composite mechanism model,” she said. “I suppose the structure is made up of a skeleton of special minerals, moves in a directional manner with the help of ocean currents and magnetic fields, and is remotely sensed through resonant fragments.”

“It sounds like a biological thing,” Susan said.

“Currently classified as a non-living entity,” Nana corrected, “but its behavior pattern is close to that of a quasi-living entity.”

"A quasi-life form?" Karl scoffed. "You mean it's half-dead?"

“The literal meaning,” Nana said, “neither conforms to the traditional definition of life, nor does it exhibit characteristics of localized autonomous behavior.”

Chen Hao grinned: "Good heavens, a hermaphrodite has appeared at the bottom of the sea."

Susan couldn't help but lower her head and cover her face.

Carl rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched.

"Continue," Chen Hao waved his hand. "Never mind what kind it is, the key is what it does."

“The potential threat level is under assessment,” Nana said. “The preliminary assessment is Level B: It does not have the intention to launch an attack, but it may cause irreversible damage under certain conditions.”

“Level B?” Susan frowned. “The last storm warning was only Level C.”

“Because we knew how to hide that time,” Chen Hao said. “This time we didn’t even see what it looked like.”

“There’s another question,” Susan said, flipping through her notebook. “The visitor said he survived thanks to this crystal. If it really is a beacon, why save him?”

“Perhaps it’s not about saving them,” Nana said, “but rather about screening them. Only life forms carrying resonance fragments can maintain their sense of direction within a specific field.”

"So he's the lucky one?" Karl sneered. "Or a guinea pig?"

“Unknown,” Nana replied.

The meeting room fell silent again.

Chen Hao picked up a pen and wrote a new line next to the existing question mark on the whiteboard: **Threat to be verified/Potential opportunity**.

“Let’s vote,” he said. “Informally. Raise your hand if you think the news cannot be ruled out as true.”

He raised his right hand first.

Susan hesitated for two seconds before raising her hand.

Nana followed closely behind.

Carl remained seated, tapping his fingers three times on the table.

“I reserve my opinion,” he said, “but I agree to do the three things you mentioned. At least we need to know if it’s moving toward us.”

"That's enough." Chen Hao nodded. "That's enough for today. Everyone get back to work, and we'll meet again at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

The meeting has ended.

The four people got up and left their seats.

Chen Hao stayed where he was, stared at the whiteboard for a few seconds, then turned and walked towards the control panel.

Nana accessed the deep database and started a long-running calculation program. The interface displayed "Model building in progress".

Susan walked out of the door with her folder in her hand, heading towards the living area, ready to organize the geographical maps.

Karl didn't return to the workshop, but instead turned directly into the warehouse passage, his keychain dangling from his waist.

Only one overhead light remained on in the command center.

The projection was still running, and a 3D topographic map was slowly rotating on the screen, with a red dot marked in the southeast direction.

At the edge of the red dot, a subtle ripple effect begins to appear.

Nana's voice suddenly rang out.

"A slight adjustment in the frequency of the pulse signal has been detected."

She paused for a second.

"The period has changed from seventeen seconds to sixteen point eight seconds."