Chen Hao stared at the infrared image on the main control panel. The silver-gray metal mesh was still glowing red, and the temperature had already risen to eighty-two degrees Celsius. He turned to Nana and asked, "What on earth is this thing doing?"

“Receiving signals.” Nana’s finger slid across the panel. “It’s not an active transmission, it’s a passive response. Like a radio, it starts ringing when it hits the right frequency.”

Susan leaned closer to the screen, her brow furrowing. "But there shouldn't be a radio station in this airspace. Who would send a signal from a place like this?"

Carl plopped down on the toolbox, wiping the dust off his face. "I told you, this metal box looks ominous. It's scrap from the Mars station, no wonder it's not usable."

“There’s no use talking about this now.” Chen Hao leaned back in his seat, gripping the control stick a little tightly. “The problem is, will the signals it receives expose us? Or will it just blow up the ship?”

“It won’t explode,” Nana replied quickly. “The material is heat-resistant and structurally stable. However, its continued heating can affect surrounding circuits and may cause a localized short circuit.”

“Then turn it off,” Chen Hao said.

“No,” Nana shook her head. “If we forcibly disconnect the connection, the outer reinforcement will fail. The crack may reopen.”

The cabin was quiet for a few seconds.

Susan asked softly, "Could you... turn it to mute? Just so I can ignore it?"

Nana glanced at her: "We can try blocking specific frequency bands. I'll adjust the protection field parameters to isolate it."

"Then hurry up and get it done." Chen Hao raised his hand and slapped the control panel. "Don't wait until it starts playing music before we know to run."

Nana didn't say anything more, but quickly tapped the menu to start the frequency filtering program. A few seconds later, a new prompt appeared on the screen.

"We have successfully located the frequency of the interference source," she said. "The protective field has been recalibrated, and the signal reception strength has decreased by 93 percent."

"Seven percent left?" Karl looked up.

“Complete blocking will take more time,” Nana said. “This is the best we can do for now.”

"That's enough." Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as it doesn't suddenly shout 'I'm an alien,' it's fine."

No one laughed.

He didn't expect anyone to laugh.

The spacecraft continued forward, and the attitude indicator showed that its flight was generally stable. The meteor shower had been left behind, and ahead lay a deep black expanse of airspace, with a blurry area of ​​energy fluctuations faintly visible on the radar image.

“That thing is still there.” Susan pointed to the spot of light in the distance. “It’s the place where we found the energy disturbance before.”

“The distance is 43,000 kilometers,” Nana added. “The range of fluctuations continues to expand, but the rhythm is regular, unlike an aggressive phenomenon.”

"How long will it take to go around?" Chen Hao asked.

“Seven days,” she said. “And we would have to deviate significantly from the original route. Our fuel and oxygen reserves are insufficient to support such a long detour.”

“Then we can’t go around,” Chen Hao said. “Stopping here isn’t a solution either; there might be more meteorites chasing us.”

Karl looked up: "You want to go through?"

"Otherwise what?" Chen Hao retorted. "We're not here for tourism. Let's get home early and go to sleep early."

“That area can interfere with the system,” Carl warned. “It already had a problem once when we were repairing it earlier.”

“I know,” Chen Hao nodded. “But the problem now is that staying put is even more dangerous. There are no supply depots, no repair stations, not even a rock to stand on. We can’t afford to wait.”

Susan said softly, "I think we can give it a try. At least we can record the data so that future generations can refer to it."

Carl was silent for a moment, then finally said, "Okay. But I have to stay in the engine room. In case of any trouble, I can cut off the power immediately."

"It's settled then." Chen Hao placed his hand on the joystick. "Nana, prepare the navigation plan. If the screen is completely garbled once we're in, you'd better be able to handle it."

“I’ve switched to manual calibration mode.” Nana stood in front of the main control panel, the data stream in her eyes constantly scrolling. “The backup sensors are also activated, and critical systems are given priority.”

"Alright." Chen Hao took a deep breath. "Everyone back to your positions. We're going to have a close call with death."

The spacecraft slowly changed direction, its engine thrust gradually increasing. The heading angle, initially fifteen degrees north of center, slowly turned towards the edge of the energy zone directly ahead. The light spot on the radar image became increasingly clear, like a slowly breathing cloud of mist.

Two minutes before entering the boundary, Chen Hao turned off all non-core lights. Only the faint blue light from the main control panel remained in the cockpit, reflecting on everyone's faces.

"The shield energy is maintained at 57 percent," Nana said. "External electromagnetic interference has increased, but it has not exceeded the design limit."

“Structural integrity?” Chen Hao asked.

"The temperature in the starboard repair area has dropped to 61 degrees Celsius, the signal reception strength remains low, and there is no leakage."

"Okay." Chen Hao stared into the darkness ahead. "Maintain a steady speed, don't accelerate suddenly."

The spaceship slowly entered the energy zone. Less than ten seconds after entering, the instrument panel began to fluctuate. The altimeter readings flashed wildly, the speed readings rose and fell erratically, and intermittent static could be heard on the communication channel.

"Auto navigation is offline." Nana immediately switched to manual mode. "I'll lock the parameters one by one now."

"Forget about all that fancy stuff," Chen Hao said. "As long as the engine and shield are still there, that's fine."

"Engine normal. Shield load is increasing and is automatically adjusting the distribution."

"Then let's keep going."

They maintained a steady pace. Outside the window, it was still pitch black, but they could feel an invisible pressure squeezing the hull. The metal walls occasionally creaked softly, as if something were gently tapping them.

Three minutes later, the data fluctuations stabilized.

“The system has adapted to the environmental frequency,” Nana said. “It’s safe for now.”

Just as Chen Hao was about to say, "Looks like you're in luck," he heard Susan suddenly take a deep breath.

There's something ahead...

Everyone looked straight ahead.

A colossal beam of light hovered in the distance, its shape constantly shifting, sometimes elongating, sometimes contracting, without a fixed outline. It did not emit light, yet it made the surrounding darkness appear even deeper.

"What is it?" Chen Hao asked.

“I don’t know.” Nana brought up a multi-band scan. “The material or structure cannot be identified. It’s not in any known database.”

"Has it moved?" Karl leaned out from the rear cabin.

“It’s moving.” Nana stared at the trajectory analysis. “Very slowly, and in the same direction as us.”

"Are they coming for us?"

“There’s no hostility in sight,” she said. “And there are no signs of it accelerating.”

“Then don’t mess with it.” Chen Hao slowed his speech. “Maintain your current course, don’t get close, and don’t go too far away. Treat it like a big ice floe.”

No one objected.

The spaceship continued its journey. The beam of light remained centered in their line of sight, neither shrinking in distance nor disappearing.

Susan held the recorder and carefully wrote down the time of appearance, location coordinates, and frequency of shape changes.

“It seems… to be breathing,” she suddenly said.

Nana glanced at the screen: "Its energy output does indeed fluctuate periodically, similar to a biological rhythm."

"Don't make it sound so scary." Chen Hao grinned. "Maybe it's just a streetlight that some civilized person lost."

No one responded.

The cabin was quiet, save for the low hum of the equipment. The beam of light still hovered ahead, like a boundless net, silently waiting for them to approach.

Chen Hao's hand remained on the control lever, his knuckles turning slightly white.

Data streams kept rolling in Nana's pupils as she simultaneously monitored more than thirty key parameters.

Carl sat down next to the toolbox, holding the testing pen, his eyes fixed on the power readings.

Susan's pen stopped on the paper, and the ink slowly spread.

The edges of the light and shadow suddenly distorted, like a piece of cloth being blown by the wind.