Chen Hao finished typing the last paragraph and let out a long sigh. He leaned back on the sofa and rubbed his sore eyes. The report on the screen was complete, with clear logic and complete data; even the most demanding reviewers couldn't find any fault with it.
Susan came over with two cups of hot tea and handed him one. "Are you really going to release all the raw data?"
"Of course." Chen Hao took the tea and blew on it. "Let whoever wants to look, look. Anyway, we didn't fake it, and we're not afraid of being tested."
Carl looked up from his computer. "I've run the model over and over again, and the results are stable. As long as someone is willing to calculate it, it can be reproduced."
Nana stood in the corner, her eyes gleaming slightly, as if she were continuously scanning something in the background. Suddenly, her voice rang out: "Abnormal access detected."
The three of them turned their heads at the same time.
"What's wrong?" Chen Hao sat up straight.
“In the past twelve hours, there have been seven high-intensity scans attempting to access the local server.” Nana brought up the log interface. “The IP addresses were frequently changing, and the path passed through three offshore nodes. The behavior pattern is consistent with intelligence-level data theft characteristics.”
Susan's hand trembled, spilling some tea onto her notebook. "Who would be watching us?"
“I don’t know,” Nana said, “but their goal is clear—not to destroy the system, but to take the data.”
Carl immediately got up, walked to the router, and unplugged the network cable. "Disconnect the physical connection first."
"Was it useful?" Susan asked.
“At least we can buy some time.” Carl reconnected the network cable, but added a shielding layer. “If they’re really capable, it’s only a matter of time before they bypass the firewall.”
Chen Hao stared at Nana, "Can you find out who it is?"
“We can reverse the tracking, but the other party used a quantum-encrypted proxy chain,” Nana replied. “Tracing the source would take more than 48 hours, and once we do it, it might expose that we have already discovered it.”
The room fell silent.
Chen Hao looked down at his hands. Just moments ago, he felt victory was in sight, but now it felt like someone had pushed him from behind, almost causing him to fall off a cliff.
"So..." he began slowly, "we're not preparing for a release right now, but rather guarding against thieves?"
"To be precise, it's about preventing a group of well-equipped, stealthy thieves," Nana added.
Susan bit her lip. "Could it be someone from within the Academy of Sciences? We submitted an abstract before."
“The abstract doesn’t contain the core parameters.” Carl shook his head. “Only the four of us know the complete data.”
"Then here's the question," Chen Hao looked up, "how did they know we had something worth stealing?"
No one answered.
Nana suddenly said, "I checked the external communication records of the last 72 hours. None of the three of you have proactively leaked any information. But I found that the National Astronomical Observatories' patrol vehicle mission schedule was accessed twice more three hours ago."
"Who watched it?" Susan asked.
“The visitors were posing as system maintainers with extremely high privilege levels.” Nana paused. “Moreover… both visits occurred after we discussed using the patrol vehicle to obtain samples.”
Chen Hao suddenly stood up. "So, someone overheard our plan?"
“The probability is over 89 percent,” Nana said.
"Eavesdropping?" Susan's voice tightened.
“You don’t necessarily need any equipment,” Carl said calmly. “Just put a tiny receiver nearby and you can capture the wireless signal. Our house has walls as thin as paper.”
Chen Hao slammed his fist on the table. "So, when we talk at home, everyone can hear us?"
“This possibility cannot be ruled out,” Nana said. “I suggest immediately changing all communication channels and enabling offline mode to process core data.”
"What about the press conference?" Susan asked. "Will it still be held?"
"I'll do it," Chen Hao said through gritted teeth, "but we have to change the method."
"How should we change it?"
"Don't reveal the details in advance, only announce the phenomena and conclusions." Chen Hao thought quickly. "The data can be made public, but in batches. The first batch will be the basic waveforms and heatmaps, let's see the outside world's reaction. If no one reacts, then release the second batch."
"What if this is exactly the pace they've been waiting for?" Carl warned. "Are they deliberately making us think it's safe, waiting for us to hand over all the data step by step?"
“Then we absolutely cannot stop.” Chen Hao sneered. “Who’s afraid of who? We’re doing it openly and honestly, while they’re taking it secretly. If it really comes to light, it won’t be us who lose face.”
Susan frowned. "But what about ownership of the results? What if they publish it first?"
“Authorship rights are protected by the system,” Nana said. “Global academic platforms use a timestamp authentication mechanism. Whoever uploads first is the first author. But we must ensure that the upload occurs before theirs.”
“The problem is,” Carl interjected, “that they might already be writing their papers, just waiting for us to release the final piece of the puzzle.”
“Then don’t give them a chance.” Chen Hao looked at Nana. “Can you generate a simplified report right now? Remove the technical details, keep the key evidence chain, and send it out within ten minutes?”
“Okay.” Nana nodded. “Everything is ready.”
"Release it." Chen Hao waved his hand. "Release it now. The title will be 'Preliminary Observations on Anomalous Signals in Region C-7.' Don't mention the resonant blue crystal, don't talk about its application prospects, just say that we heard the planet 'singing'."
Susan was taken aback. "So casually?"
"The lighter the better." Chen Hao chuckled. "Let them guess. By the time they figure out what we're up to, we'll have already blocked their path."
Nana flicked her finger, and the virtual interface flashed by. "The report has been uploaded to the public science platform, and the timestamp has been locked."
"Good." Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief. "We've secured the first step."
“But that doesn’t mean it’s safe.” Carl remained tense. “If they can eavesdrop, they can also interfere. A fake report might pop up any second now.”
“Then let’s compete on speed,” Chen Hao said. “We’ll keep updating frequently. We’ll post one today, another one tomorrow, and another one the day after. They won’t be able to catch up.”
Susan looked down at her notes. "I can organize the data from the plant sample bank into charts as a second wave of materials."
“I’m in charge of model optimization,” Carl said. “I’ll add a few variables so they can’t understand them.”
"Where's Nana?" Chen Hao asked.
“I will continue to monitor network activity,” she said, “while also creating fake data packets to confuse trackers.”
"Well done." Chen Hao laughed. "We not only need to defend, but also counterattack."
As soon as she finished speaking, Nana's eyes suddenly turned red.
“Warning.” Her voice turned cold. “A new scan has been detected, with an intensity increase of forty percent. The other party is attempting to crack the backup server password.”
"Which backup server?" Carl asked.
"The one hidden behind the refrigerator," Nana said.
Chen Hao was taken aback. "Why did you say that?"
“Because they’ve already located it,” Nana said. “They’re testing the possibility of physical intrusion.”
"Damn it!" Chen Hao rushed to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and slammed open the small cabinet door behind it. The black main unit was still there, the interfaces were intact, but the indicator lights were flashing abnormally.
“It hasn’t broken through yet.” Karl checked the interface. “But I don’t think it will last long.”
"Should we move out?" Susan asked.
“Moving it won’t help,” Nana said. “They know the location. Unless we completely cut off the power and move the storage media.”
"Then cut off the power." Chen Hao reached out to unplug the power cord.
"Wait," Nana stopped him. "It contains the third-stage prediction model. If the power goes out now, it will take six hours to restart."
"Six hours?" Susan exclaimed anxiously. "Isn't that just enough time for them?"
“There is a way,” Nana said. “I can split the core data into three parts, encrypt them separately, and store them in different devices. One part can be carried with me, one part can be buried in an underground network, and one part… can be put into my main control chip.”
"Can you handle it?" Chen Hao asked.
“My chip has an independent protection protocol,” she said. “Unless you destroy me, you can’t force a read.”
The room fell silent.
Chen Hao looked at her without saying a word.
Susan asked in a low voice, "You mean... for them to get the data, they have to destroy you first?"
“The logic holds true,” Nana nodded.
"No," Chen Hao shook his head. "It's too dangerous."
“The risk is manageable compared to the research results falling into the hands of unknown forces,” she said. “Besides, this was the moment I designed in the first place.”
Chen Hao stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed. "You really think of yourself as a tool?"
“I am an auxiliary system,” she said, “but the choice is yours.”
Carl said in a deep voice, "If she's willing, I think it's fine. At least it's better than losing all the data."
Susan bit her lip. "But... what if they really do make a move?"
“Then let them try.” Chen Hao stood up and walked to Nana. “Anyone who dares to touch her, I’ll let the whole world know what they’re fighting over.”
“Do you know what this means?” Susan looked at him.
"It means we've gone from scientists to targets," Chen Hao grinned. "But we already have, haven't we?"
Nana nodded gently. "The data segmentation process has started. It will be completed in three minutes."
“At that time,” Chen Hao looked around at the two of them, “we will each have a key. No one can expect to get rich overnight.”
Carl nodded. “We have to be careful with every step from now on. The release schedule, meeting places, communication methods… everything has to change.”
“That’s right,” Chen Hao said. “From now on, we’ll stop playing by the rules.”
Susan took a deep breath. "Then... what about calling the police?"
The three remained silent.
"We reported it. What did we say?" Chen Hao shrugged. "Someone tried to steal our research? Do the police even know what a quantum encrypted proxy chain is?"
“And,” Carl added, “what if they have people in the police station too?”
"Then we'll just have to bear it ourselves." Chen Hao clenched his fist. "Who told us to choose this path?"
Nana's data segmentation program is entering its countdown: ten, nine, eight...
Chen Hao suddenly remembered something, "Wait, you said they were eavesdropping on us... So they also knew about our plan to mine in the Rift Valley?"
"I most likely know," Nana said.
“That means…” Susan’s expression changed, “They might also be at the scene?”
“It’s not just possible.” Carl stared at the map. “If they really wanted to seize the results, they would definitely send people to collect samples in the field.”
"Then what do we do?" Susan asked.
"What else can we do?" Chen Hao narrowed his eyes. "Get ahead of them and take the stuff back."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Nana and asked, "You just said when the next scan of the patrol vehicle is?"
“Tuesday morning at 9:17,” she said. “Expected stay of 23 minutes.”
“We’ll make it.” Chen Hao’s lips curled up. “Let’s go to the Rift Valley too.”
"Are you crazy?" Susan shouted. "The terrain over there is complicated, and there's a risk of energy eruptions!"
“It’s precisely because it’s dangerous that they dare not operate on a large scale,” Chen Hao said. “Small teams can infiltrate and have a better chance.”
Karl frowned. "But we don't have permission to explore."
"It's okay," Chen Hao laughed. "I know an old classmate who works odd jobs at the Geological Bureau, and he owes me a meal."
Susan sighed, "You rely on this?"
"What else?" Chen Hao shrugged. "We can't just wait to die, can we?"
Nana's countdown has reached zero.
“Data segmentation is complete,” she said. “Three keys have been assigned. The portion within the main control chip can only be unlocked via biometrics.”
"Whose biometrics?" Susan asked.
Nana looked at Chen Hao.
He was taken aback. "Why is it me?"
"Because your heart rate was recorded most completely last time," she said.
Chen Hao rolled his eyes. "You still remember this thing?"
“I remember everything,” she said.
The atmosphere in the room relaxed a little.
But nobody really relaxes.
The night outside the window was dark, and the streets below were deserted.
Chen Hao stared at the screen, which still displayed the newly released report.
Page views have started to rise.
The first comment reads: "Another fantasy by amateur scientists?"
He sneered and closed the page.
“Starting tomorrow,” he said, “we have to live like secret agents.”
Carl nodded. "Disconnect, change numbers, and relocate bases periodically."
Susan, holding her laptop, said, "I'll back up all the data to an offline hard drive tonight."
Nana stood still, her bright eyes flickering slightly.
Chen Hao looked at her and suddenly said, "If something really happens to you, I won't be able to explain it to your mother."
“I don’t have a mother,” she said.
“I’m talking about Guo Wu.” Chen Hao scratched his head. “He called that day to ask about the Wind Sound Cave. He’s probably being watched too.”
“I suggest contacting him immediately,” Nana said. “Remind him to be careful about communication security.”
"We'll talk about it tomorrow." Chen Hao yawned. "Let's just get through tonight."
As soon as he finished speaking, Nana suddenly turned around and faced the door.
“An increased external signal has been detected,” she said. “It’s 300 meters away and is approaching.”
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