Chen Hao stopped the playback recording. He stared at the control panel screen, his finger dragging back and forth on the playback progress bar. The ticking sound rang out again, short and rhythmic, like someone tapping a beat.

“Nana,” he said, “have you heard this voice before?”

Nana stood in front of the terminal without looking up: "It appeared on the seventeenth replay, at a frequency of three times per second, lasting for 0.6 seconds, repeating three times. It's not the original recording."

"So that was created by our system itself?"

"Yes. The system generates a check pulse during high-load playback to ensure data integrity. This ticking sound is the audio module's self-check signal."

Chen Hao leaned back, the chair creaking. "So it's not a problem, it's proof that our stuff still works."

Carl leaned halfway out from the sofa: "You're not going to use this to make some kind of big meeting again, are you? I just lay down."

"It's already started." Chen Hao casually selected the conference mode in the control room. The projection screen fell, and the title automatically popped up: Deep-Sea Exploration Interim Summary.

Susan walked over with a folder, glancing at the screen before sitting down. "You called everyone together because of some background noise?"

“It’s not because of the noise.” Chen Hao pointed to the waveform graph from earlier. “It’s because we can even clearly identify what the noise is now. Before, when we heard strange noises, we thought it was a ghost, and when the thrusters shook a couple of times, we thought it was going to explode. Now it’s different; we can break things down and see the details.”

Nana brought up the database interface and initiated the review protocol. The screen quickly divided into six categories, each filled with task numbers and keywords.

Equipment innovation, resource acquisition, ecological understanding, technological advancement, farm construction, and crisis response.

Karl leaned closer for a look: "Oh, so we've done all this before? I'd forgotten what the point of digging up that black rock was in Chapter 650."

“Rare metal ore samples were subsequently refined to produce a pressure-resistant coating material,” Nana said, “which is used to upgrade the casing of communication repeaters.”

"Oh right, that thing almost broke my wrist."

Susan flipped through her notebook: "The problem is, these results are too scattered. Some were discovered through trial and error, and some were just lucky. If a different team came, they simply couldn't replicate them."

“So we need to summarize.” Chen Hao picked up a pen and drew a circle on the whiteboard. “We not only need to remember what we did, but also why it worked.”

He turned to Nana and asked, "How many times have we been in danger since the beginning?"

“There were a total of twelve major risk events,” Nana replied. “Seven of these were resolved by relying on contingency plans, and five by relying on on-the-spot judgment.”

"Was there ever a time when you survived purely by luck?"

A brief silence.

Carl scratched his head: "Chapter 663, the underground river suddenly rose, and the sluice gate collapsed just as we ran out. I was tying my shoelaces at the time, and if I had been ten seconds slower, I would have been flooded."

“That wasn’t luck.” Nana pulled up the surveillance timeline. “You were tying your shoelaces, but Chen Hao noticed the abnormal water flow five minutes earlier and ordered an evacuation. The decision was made before the alarm was triggered.”

Susan nodded: "In other words, even if it looks like luck, there is actually information to support it."

"That's the key." Chen Hao wrote four words on the whiteboard: Information Closed Loop.

"As long as we are not blind, not deaf, and our brains are still working, we can observe, judge, act, and respond. Breaking one link might be unlucky, but breaking all of them is truly the end."

Carl muttered, "So, when we were surrounded by glowing fish in Chapter 660, the three of us crouched down with our heads in our hands. Does that count as a closed loop?"

"You could say that," Chen Hao laughed. "We observed the threat, determined that we couldn't win, and our action was to stay put. The feedback was that the fish left on its own. The process was complete, but the result depended on external forces."

Susan said softly, "But what if they don't leave next time?"

No one spoke.

Nana suddenly spoke up: "The current communication system has achieved dual-channel redundancy, and the health of equipment is monitored in real time. Personnel physiological indicators are integrated into the early warning model. The stability of the information link has improved eight times compared to the initial stage."

“What do you mean?” Carl asked.

“That means,” Chen Hao continued, “we won’t have to crouch down with our heads in our hands anymore because we can’t hear you.”

The meeting continued.

Nana then elaborated on the six major categories of achievements. In terms of equipment, the new diving suit has been upgraded to the third generation, and the oxygen tank's endurance has been extended by 40%; the propulsion system's maximum speed has exceeded four meters per second, adapting to various ocean current environments.

In terms of resources, the deep-sea vegetables they harvested have enabled the base to be one-third self-sufficient in its daily supplies; and the purification microorganisms successfully treated two pollution incidents in the wastewater system.

Ecologically, 47 new species were identified, three of which exhibited cooperative group behavior, and one was suspected of having rudimentary light signal communication capabilities—the same blue light-emitting biological community encountered in the previous round.

The most important aspects of this technological leap are the reverse engineering of coating technology and the partial decoding of ancient mechanical power sources. Although the principles are not yet fully understood, at least we know how to access them safely.

The farm was built entirely from scratch. Temperature, salinity, and light in the underwater planting area are all artificially controlled, and it currently produces two types of edible algae and one type of protein worm.

Finally, there's crisis response. Escaping danger from hidden currents, self-rescue from equipment malfunctions, controlling psychological panic… every single instance was documented in an operation log.

"Let's organize all of these into standard procedures," Chen Hao said. "So that when new employees come, they won't have to risk their lives to make mistakes."

Susan raised the question: "But everyone reacts differently. Some are calm, some panic. How can the process be standardized?"

Nana pulled up the data analysis results: "The only common point in all successful cases is not personality or experience, but uninterrupted information transmission. As long as communication is smooth, even if a decision is wrong, it can be corrected quickly."

"So the key isn't how smart people are, but whether they can recognize their mistakes in time," Chen Hao concluded.

Carl stretched and said, "From now on, if anyone dares to turn off communications, I'll kick them."

The atmosphere relaxed.

Chen Hao looked at Nana: "Since we can summarize the past, can we predict the future?"

Nana nodded and brought up a new interface.

A dynamic model framework appears on the screen.

The input terminal lists four items: environmental parameters (water pressure, temperature, electromagnetic field), biological activity frequency, equipment operating status, and personnel physiological indicators.

The calculation core is labeled "Probability Deduction of Historical Events".

The output includes risk level alerts and suggested response strategies.

"Is this the prediction method?" Chen Hao asked.

"It's a prototype," Nana said. "We need more data to train the model. Currently, the sample size is insufficient, especially since there's a lack of records of chain reactions under extreme conditions."

“But the direction is right.” Susan looked at the simulation curve. “For example, next time we encounter a similar blue-light creature, the system can remind us in advance not to turn on the bright light.”

“Or tell me when to shut up,” Carl interjected. “Last time I said, ‘This thing looks disgusting,’ the whole school of fish swam right at me.”

Chen Hao laughed: "Maybe they understood."

“It’s also possible that the vibration frequency just happens to match the attack signal,” Nana added. “The audio frequency band overlaps with the sensory range of certain organisms, which could lead to accidental touches.”

"Then let's add one rule: no swearing." Chen Hao noted it down in the remarks column.

The model continued to run, and several sets of virtual scenarios began to be simulated.

Group 1: Normal patrol, suddenly approaching high-pressure zone.

The system issues a yellow alert two minutes in advance, recommending that flight routes be adjusted.

Group 2: Three people working separately, one person's equipment lost connection.

The network self-healing mechanism is activated, the backup link takes over, and communication is restored within fifteen seconds.

Group 3: Encountering an unknown creature approaching.

The system compares historical behavior data and determines that there is no intention to attack. It recommends maintaining distance and turning off strong light sources.

“It looks pretty promising,” Carl said. “All that’s missing is a name.”

"Should we call it 'Deep Sea Prophet'?" Susan suggested.

"Too childish." Chen Hao shook his head. "It'd be more like a 'Guide to Avoiding Suicide'."

"The official name is tentatively set as 'Exploration Risk Prediction System'," Nana said. "The version number is Alpha-1."

"Fine," Carl shrugged. "Anyway, if it tells me to go east, I'll go west. Don't blame me if something goes wrong."

The meeting was drawing to a close.

Chen Hao turned off the projector, stood up, and stretched his shoulders. "This matter is now considered settled. There were many achievements, but also some problems. But most importantly, we're no longer wandering aimlessly."

Susan closed her notebook: "I'm going to the lab to archive the latest batch of biological samples."

“I’ll go check the armory,” Carl said, standing up. “And make sure the new repeater is really welded in place.”

Nana returned to the charging station, and the device entered a low-power state, while the background program continued to run, optimizing the prediction model. A faint blue light flickered in her eyes, as rhythmic as breathing.

Chen Hao walked to the water dispenser and pressed the hot water button. He filled four cups and arranged them one by one.

"I'm done with my work, let's take a break," he said. "I still need to sort out the equipment later."

He picked up his cup and blew on it.

Just as he was about to take a sip, a soft sound came from the control panel.

It wasn't an alarm or a notification sound.

It is a very short audio clip that plays automatically.

Drip, drip, drip.

Third tone.

It's exactly the same as the replay.

Chen Hao put down his cup, turned around, and walked back.

The system log on the screen shows: Self-test complete, verification signal generated.