Chapter 284 Activating the Planetary Barrier

Chen Jianguo's face turned ashen. He recalled the launch of the Voyager spacecraft, which had been the pride and hope of the entire Blue Star civilization and a friendly greeting to the vast universe.

Who could have imagined that such goodwill might turn into danger?

His voice was hoarse, carrying a hint of unwillingness to give up, as he looked at Zhou Jue.

"Xiao Jue, what if we activate the barrier now..."

Even if Voyager is still broadcasting its coordinates, will they still be able to track down the hidden Earth?

This was the only glimmer of hope in the hearts of everyone present at that moment.

Zhou Jue gently shook his head, shattering this last glimmer of hope.

"The principle of the barrier is to strip away the dimension of information or sever the data link."

"It can make Earth an unsearchable 'ghost' in the macroscopic cosmic web."

"but……"

She looked at everyone and used a more straightforward example.

"It cannot change the signal that has already been sent out. That coordinate is like a postcard with an address already written on it, already dropped into the mailbox."

"Once someone gets their hands on this postcard, even if we hide at home, draw the curtains, and turn off all the lights..."

"He also knows where our home is."

"It's like an assassin knowing exactly where you're standing."

"Even if you immediately become invisible to him, it doesn't stop him from shooting directly at that coordinate."

Zhou Jue paused for a moment, then added an even more fatal point.

"Moreover, this [planetary barrier] itself is a product of that advanced civilization, and no one can guarantee that they don't have the technology to specifically crack this kind of 'invisibility'."

The temperature in the conference room seemed to drop even further.

"Thump, thump, thump."

Chief Zhang tapped his fingers heavily on the table, trying to regain his rhythm of thought.

He raised his head, and his usually sharp eyes were now filled with solemnity.

"So, the choice we face now is..."

His voice was slow and heavy.

"Are we waiting for that 'invitation' to be received by some unknown entity, and then, after the raiders arrive, we activate the barrier and take control of the system, just like in that parallel world?"

"Or...should we activate the barrier now, proactively 'unplug the network cable,' and buy ourselves more time?"

"But the price is that the coordinates are still drifting in the sea of ​​stars, becoming a time bomb that we never know when it will explode."

A dilemma.

Both choices lead to an unknown future.

“There’s another question,” Chen Jianguo interjected, his expression regaining the composure expected of a soldier: “Should we inform other countries about this?”

"Currently, this appears to be a crisis shared by the entire Earth civilization."

"I object."

Sun Jiuchou spoke up almost immediately. He pushed up his glasses, and his gaze behind the lenses was frighteningly calm.

"Commander, Staff Officer Chen, have you thought about how we should put it?"

"Tell them that there are advanced civilizations in the universe, locating and plundering countless planets? That our Blue Star is the next target?"

"They won't believe it."

Sun Jiuchou precisely dissected the cruelest reality.

"The US has just completed the deployment of new weapons in Japan. Europe is a powder keg ready to ignite, and the transport and movement of nuclear warheads has become routine for some countries."

"At a time like this, if we bring up this 'alien threat theory,' what do you think their reaction will be?"

"They will only think that this is a huge conspiracy fabricated by China in order to gain some kind of asymmetric advantage in international competition."

"At that time, we may not be facing an enemy from the stars, but a total war from within ourselves, ignited by suspicion and fear."

Zhou Jue listened silently, knowing that Sun Jiuchou was right.

Chief Zhang slowly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the confusion in his eyes had disappeared, replaced by decisiveness.

"Jiuchou is right."

"This matter is too big and too absurd."

"We can't make this decision on our own."

He stood up, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"The Planetary Barrier should not be used in time. All related information should be classified as top secret and must not be leaked."

"Cheng Gan!"

"Here!" Cheng Gan immediately stood at attention.

"Go to the Doomsday Command Center and ask Commander Qi to come here immediately."

"Yes!" Cheng Gan turned around and quickly left.

Chief Zhang then looked at Chen Jianguo and Sun Jiuchou.

"Jianguo, Jiuchou, you two stay at the base. We can't do without you here."

"Understood," the two replied in unison.

Finally, Chief Zhang's gaze fell on Zhou Jue.

"Xiao Jue, you come with me and Commander Qi, let's go to the capital together."

He picked up the encrypted phone on the table and dialed a number.

"Connect to Line 1."

The call was quickly connected, and Chief Zhang's voice became calm and powerful.

"Report, this is Zhang Yuanchao. My unit has top-level urgent intelligence that needs to be reported in person. Commander Qi, Comrade Zhou Jue, and I are expected to arrive in ten minutes."

A similarly calm voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Understood, the 'Red Boat' conference room will be waiting for you."

Less than ten minutes later, Commander Qi, dressed in military uniform with gray hair, pushed open the door and entered.

She glanced at the atmosphere in the room, then at the broken porcelain shards on the floor, asked nothing, and simply nodded to Chief Zhang.

Let's go.

Zhou Jue stood beside the two elderly people. With a thought, an invisible force enveloped the three of them. With a slight movement of light and shadow, the three of them instantly disappeared from the conference room.

The next second, they were already in a core conference room in the western part of the capital.

A dozen or so leaders with serious expressions were already seated around the huge circular conference table.

This is the true center of China.

There were no small talk, no formalities.

At Chief Zhang's instruction, Zhou Jue recounted her experiences on the battlefield of national destiny, as well as the crisis concerning the "Universal Coordinate Anchoring System" and the "Voyager," in the most concise language.

When she finished speaking, the entire conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Every face was filled with shock and a sense of impending doom.

After a long while, an elderly man sitting in the main seat slowly spoke.

"Comrades, you've all heard that."

"Share your thoughts."

After a long silence, a general spoke first.

"I believe we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater."

"The threat posed by the exposed coordinates of the Voyager spacecraft is future and uncertain, but the threat posed by thousands of 'world coordinate anchoring systems' is present and certain."

"If Comrade Zhou Jue's system was able to escape here, who can guarantee that a second or third system won't descend upon Earth for other reasons?"

“I agree!” another leader immediately chimed in: “We must activate the barrier first and take the initiative into our own hands! At the very least, we must ensure that we are not re-identified by other unknown ‘systems’!”

"What about the international community?" someone asked.

Commander Qi said in a deep voice, "This matter must absolutely not be made public."

Her gaze swept across the entire room.

"The current international situation is even more complex than Comrade Sun Jiuchou described. The US is stirring up trouble around the world in an attempt to muddy the waters."

“At this time, no matter what evidence we present to say that aliens are coming, they will interpret it as the latest version of the ‘Eastern threat’.”

The old man sitting in the main seat looked at everyone, and finally his gaze fell on Zhou Jue.

"Comrade Zhou Jue, when you activate the [Planetary Barrier], how confident are you that the process will be absolutely safe and undetected by any external forces?"

Zhou Jue nodded solemnly, meeting everyone's gaze.

"With the help of my system, I am 100% confident."

"good."

The old man made the final decision, his voice echoing throughout the conference room.

"Then start it."

"We will use this planetary barrier ourselves, and we will keep this secret ourselves."

"Comrades Zhang Yuanchao, Commander Qi, and Zhou Jue shall immediately return to the base to carry out this order."

He looked at Zhou Jue one last time, his tone filled with unprecedented solemnity.

"As for the 'invitation' that has already been sent out..."

"Let us use our own strength to try to intercept and forge an even stronger and more resilient force."