Chapter 41: The Twisted Sun

"I really didn't mean to make fun of you..."
"I left in too much of a hurry and just grabbed whatever was on hand."
"Worst comes to worst, I'll buy you a bottle of Oriental Leaf tea and pour it in later."
Walking up the stone steps of the Purple Mountain Observatory, Lin Xu spoke with a slight hint of embarrassment.
"Forget it!"
Jiang Xingye rolled her eyes at him.
"It's not like I desperately needed to drink... Remember for next time: if you bring a cup, you have to bring water, understand?"
"Lesson learned, lesson learned."
Lin Xu nodded repeatedly as the two continued their ascent, soon reaching the summit of Sanbao Peak.
Having expended a lot of physical energy, Lin Xu panted and drank the bottled ice water sold at the scenic spot, while Jiang Xingye, by contrast, looked completely calm and composed.
"I told you that you lack exercise. With a frail physique like yours, tsk tsk..."
"Can you even handle this, you skinny weakling?"
"...... I just have a fast metabolism, which proves I'm healthy."
Lin Xu stubbornly straightened his posture, though inwardly he was having second thoughts.
Maybe he really did need to start working out.
Ever since starting college, had his physical fitness been in a freefall?
Combined with the years of chronic overtime at the company, his stamina had dropped well beyond a negligible amount.
How could he go on like this?
There were still twenty years left until the apocalypse; if he kicked the bucket before the end of the world even arrived, that would be the ultimate joke...
Noticing his expression, Jiang Xingye let out a quiet laugh.
She turned her gaze toward the foot of the mountain and spoke:
"To be honest, the scenery here is still pretty good."
"No matter what, it's considered the second highest peak nearby, and the view is very open."
"It's a pity that North Peak will be off-limits from now on."
"Hey, do you know what they're building over there?"
"A deep space observatory."
Lin Xu answered casually.
"Not bad, you're quite knowledgeable."
"Or did you do your homework in advance because you knew you were coming out with me today?"
"...... Let's just say I did my homework in advance."
Lin Xu wiped his mouth and tossed the empty water bottle into a nearby trash can.
Duh. If I didn't even know that, why would I have come here?
Did you think I came here on an actual date?
He walked over to Jiang Xingye, raised his gaze, and looked toward North Peak in the distance.
Over there, a large number of construction machinery had already moved in. Massive tower cranes stood on the mountain slopes like swords piercing the vault of heaven, and beneath the scabbards of those swords were huge, gleaming reflective mirrors.
Judging by the scale, this deep space observatory was likely going to occupy the entire upper half of North Peak.
No matter how you looked at it, this was a mega-project.
---- But it was also a bit strange.
The Purple Mountain Observatory had actually been "abandoned" for a long time.
Most of the institution's facilities were either deployed in Xuyi or far away in the Northwest.
So why would the authorities suddenly make the executive decision to build a large new deep space observatory right here?
The geographical environment here was not the best, nor did the observation conditions hold any advantage.
Coupled with the interference from urban electromagnetic waves, the reception of cosmic signals would inevitably be disrupted.
Placing a deep space observatory here... always felt a bit redundant and tasteless.
With this thought in mind, Lin Xu turned to Jiang Xingye and asked:
"By the way, have you ever read any reports about this deep space observatory?"

"Why did the state set the location here? It always felt a bit unreasonable, didn't it?"
"...... You ask a girl out just to talk about this?"
Jiang Xingye's gaze drifted playfully, and Lin Xu spread his hands.
"Just talking about whatever comes to mind."
"...... Fair enough, as it happens, I'm interested too."
Jiang Xingye paused slightly before answering:
"I actually have read news about this deep space observatory. Back when the project was approved, I heard there was quite a bit of resistance."
"But in the end, the location was still chosen here."
"It seemed to take into account the needs of the Zhurong project?"
"Weren't there rumors back then saying it was because the Zhurong rover discovered something on Mars that they gave the final green light to build this deep space observatory?"
"It was hyped up everywhere, with all sorts of clickbait media jumping on the bandwagon—talking about extraterrestrial civilizations and a second home..."
"And then slowly, all the news died down, but the damn thing still got built anyway."
"I occasionally still run across short videos about it on my feed, saying nearby residents protested because of radiation."
"Come to think of it, it's quite funny---- what kind of people even live around Zhongshan? They haven't protested, so is it your turn to do so?"
"...... True."
Lin Xu chuckled and nodded.
He had only casually brought it up with Jiang Xingye, never expecting that she would know even more tabloid gossip about it than he did.
Because the Zhurong rover made a discovery on Mars, they had to build a deep space observatory on Purple Mountain?
That sounded like a fairy tale, but when combined with the things he had seen in the bracelet world...
Well, believe it or not, it was actually quite possible.
However, wanting to know what that "driving force" truly was would probably require infiltrating the interior of the observatory.
Access was impossible right now.
The only way in was through the bracelet.
Lin Xu carefully observed the overall layout of the distant observatory while chatting idly with Jiang Xingye.
Neither of them was particularly active by nature, so even if it was just standing at the summit enjoying the breeze, they found it quite pleasant.
Lin Xu memorized the paths leading into the observatory, then pulled out his phone to check the facility's equipment and systems.
From the results, this observatory was truly a high-spec setup.
Not only did it feature high-power radio telescopes, but it also housed a series of high-power microwave and laser transmission devices.
If construction continued according to this design plan, it would undoubtedly become the largest deep space observatory in southern China, leading the pack by a landslide.
Breaking in was likely going to be no easy task.
Facilities like this would undoubtedly be guarded by extremely high-spec security forces.
Could the mercenary squad in Skull's hands break through?
They would probably have to go through numerous rounds of trial and error...
Lin Xu's thoughts gradually drifted away, and right at that moment, Jiang Xingye beside him suddenly let out an exclamation.
"Lin Xu! Look at the sky!"
Lin Xu instinctively looked up.
And right there, directly above his head...
Was a gigantic solar halo!
The scope of the halo covered almost the entire sky above the Purple Mountain Observatory, extending even to the distant city skyline!
"Such a massive halo..."
Lin Xu was struck with awe.
"We really do have good luck."
"Yeah!" Jiang Xingye said excitedly.
"The weather forecast didn't even mention it! How could such a huge halo appear?"
"Weather forecasts are never accurate when it comes to celestial phenomena..."
Lin Xu took out his phone to take pictures of the halo in the sky. Compared to the human eye, the images captured by a camera's sensor were actually much clearer.
Within the outermost layer of the halo, Lin Xu also spotted a tiny circular ring.
It was glowing faintly, resembling some kind of... angelic halo.
He had to admit, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Perfect, perfect, perfect!"
Jiang Xingye exclaimed excitedly beside him:
"This is amazing! I knew coming out with you would bring good luck!"
"Look at the sun in the middle! It's heart-shaped!"
"That's enough of your romantic delusions!"
Lin Xu looked at his phone screen.
Then, to his utter astonishment, the sun really was heart-shaped.
---- No, to be precise, the shape of the sun was distorted and flowing.
One second it was a heart, the next a star, and eventually it even morphed into a squared-off rectangle.
The surrounding corona seemed constrained, forming brilliant boundaries, and the sun—which had burned silently for billions of years—now looked like a gigantic, alien lightbulb.
"Tsk... This halo is definitely going to trend on social media."
"Tonight when I scroll through short videos, it's going to be everywhere!"
"Good thing I came out with you today, otherwise I wouldn't have seen it this clearly!"
"Come on, take a picture of me!"
"Coming, coming."
Lin Xu took the phone handed over by Jiang Xingye and squatted down.
Yet at the exact moment he aimed his camera lens once again at Jiang Xingye's silhouette bathed in the sunlight, an unusual premonition suddenly surfaced in his heart.
The feeling was fleeting, gone before he could even grasp it.
It felt like nothing more than a passing case of déjà vu.
Lin Xu shook his head slightly and looked back down at his phone screen.
He pressed the button, and the screen flashed.
What remained was a crisp, clear photograph of Jiang Xingye standing beneath the giant solar halo...
.......
At the same time, Guizhou, FAST Sky Eye Observatory.
A white-haired scholar stared intently at the image just transmitted back, while beside him, a bespectacled man reported in a low voice:
"Confirmed, it's not optical distortion caused by the atmosphere. It belongs to an anomalous astronomical phenomenon."
"This is the fourth anomalous celestial event we've observed in the past four years... but we still have zero clues about its specific cause."
"Mhm."
The scholar slowly nodded.
"It doesn't matter, take your time."
"What's the feedback from the Zhurong rover?"
"Beijing has already completed the camera adjustments, but the specific results won't be transmitted back for another 46 minutes."
"3 minutes have passed since the anomaly began."
"The adjustment command was sent 1 minute ago."
"According to current Mars-Earth communication time, the command should arrive in about 13 minutes."
"Meaning that if the anomalous phenomenon can last for more than 12 minutes... we'll have a chance to obtain dual-point observation data."
"12 minutes."
The scholar lowered his head in silence.
"Let's hope there's still time..."