Chapter 262: Decoding

Words : 1700 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

After the communication ended, Xiao Yu once again gathered the observational data on the red dwarf star and began analyzing it. At the same time, the massive array telescope’s barrel once again locked onto the red dwarf. Xiao Yu meticulously analyzed various factors from the time of the event, such as the star’s evolutionary state, atmospheric composition, surrounding environment, and heavy element abundance. The results all came back normal. There was nothing unusual. Yet the warning from the Specter Race stirred a sense of unease in Xiao Yu’s heart. “My research seems to have fallen into a blind alley... Hmm... I need to start over and carefully analyze this incident. The elder of the Specter Race said this might be the beginning of a catastrophe... If that’s the case, with the power the elder and I currently possess, do we need to fear a natural disaster? Uh, that’s a bit of an overstatement. A galactic-level event like a supernova explosion could still kill me instantly, but this is just a small star. It doesn’t have the power for such a cataclysm.” “In that case, the catastrophe can only come from an intelligent lifeform. Intelligent lifeforms? Then could it be that this anomalous change in the red dwarf was caused by an intelligent species? If that’s the case, could this disaster actually be an attempt to transmit some kind of message? But that doesn’t make sense. If it was meant to transmit a message, why couldn’t the Specter elder decipher it, but I can?” Xiao Yu pondered silently, trying to understand the implications of this signal in his mind. Moments later, a sudden jolt surged through Xiao Yu’s spirit, it was like a bolt of lightning splitting through his brain. In that instant, Xiao Yu had already deciphered the message. Once he grasped the key, decoding the message turned out to be incredibly easy. “I understand. I understand now... I understand why I could decipher this message while the elder from the Specter Race could not... No, if what this message says is true, do I... do I still call him ‘Elder’?” A deep bitterness welled up in Xiao Yu’s heart. Just moments ago, Xiao Yu had, on a whim, tried decoding the signal using Morse code from Earth’s era, and the results were shocking. Using the Morse code system, the signal was effortlessly translated into a grammatically sound, structurally coherent, and logically clear message. Any moderately advanced intelligent lifeform would possess its own means of communication, this form of communication is typically referred to as language. And the method of recording that language is called writing. It’s a well-established fact that due to the differing evolutionary environments of various civilizations, it is practically impossible for identical or even similar languages to develop independently. Translating between different languages and scripts is a complex and profound science. To translate between different languages, one prerequisite must be met: there must be a sufficiently large set of samples for analysis. Only with enough samples can one analyze patterns such as the frequency and position of a specific character. This allows a civilization to infer whether a word serves as a subject, verb, or object, and gradually work from small elements to the entire language. This is precisely why, when Xiao Yu communicated with other civilizations, he always appended a dictionary segment to the first message he sent. A so-called ‘dictionary’ is a collection of many texts in that language, containing a multitude of usage examples. The purpose of this is to provide the recipient civilization with enough samples to analyze the language and understand the meaning of the message. If a highly advanced civilization that knew nothing about Earth’s civilization or writing were to receive a single character, such as ‘war,’ no matter how advanced their civilization, even at the Level 9 stage, they would be completely incapable of understanding what that character meant. There would be no way to analyze it. However, if that character for ‘war’ was accompanied by a copy of Dream of the Red Chamber as a dictionary, then through analysis, they would quickly be able to grasp the entire language and written system of that civilization. A dictionary is like a key that can unlock the meaning behind a message. So then... as a secondary language of a civilization, who in this universe would possess a dictionary for Morse code? Only Xiao Yu. Which means only Xiao Yu could decode this message. As for the aging Specter beside him, no matter how powerful it might be, even ten times stronger, it would still be unable to comprehend the meaning behind the strange flickering of that red dwarf star, because it lacked the dictionary and didn’t have enough samples to analyze. The moment he deciphered the message, Xiao Yu immediately sensed the deeper implications behind the act. It was obvious that this was meant specifically for him to understand, deliberately hiding it from the aging Specter by his side. That... made things very interesting. In fact, there was one other being besides Xiao Yu who could understand Morse code. And that was... the Specter Race born alongside Xiao Yu himself, formed from the gathered souls of Earth’s dead humanity. “Is this... is this the Specter Race speaking to me? The last time I encountered them, they could only express simple meanings, not even form a complete sentence. But now, after all this time and growth, with their strength increasing, they’ve already developed intelligence to this degree? Hmm... it has to be them. No one else would think of contacting me in this way.” “To communicate with me from twenty light-years away... First of all, superluminal communication wouldn’t work, because there’s no equipment I set up over there. Neither FTL radio signals nor conventional radio would work either... The stellar activity in this region is too intense; the signals would easily be disrupted. What’s more, using radio communication wouldn’t be safe, this aging Specter might’ve already implemented signal jamming across the surrounding area... They really went to great lengths. Under these circumstances, they actually thought of using the star itself to transmit a signal to me.” Xiao Yu felt a trace of emotion stir in his heart. He felt a deep sense of camaraderie toward the Specter Race born alongside him. This bond had grown even stronger after learning about the relationship between himself and the Specters through his exchanges with the aging one. This bond wasn’t just built on the shared fate of “if one dies, both die; if one lives, both live,” but more importantly, on the fact that they both originated from the same source. One could say that, in this dark universe, the only beings Xiao Yu could trust without reservation were the Specter Race born with him. “Ever since we parted ways in the Aquila Nebula, it’s been several thousand years now. Just knowing that you’re still alive, and doing well, puts my heart at ease. My companions, my comrades... did you sense that I was in danger, and come to save me once again?” “Don’t worry. Since you trust my intelligence, I won’t let you down. I will find a way to escape. Comrades... wait for me...” A feeling called emotion began to rise within Xiao Yu’s heart. Soaked in this emotion, he once again extracted that signal and let each word of the message flow slowly through his mind. “Main Civilization, you are in danger. The aging Specter beside you is not a selfless being who sacrifices itself for others. It has a purpose. As a technological civilization, you might not be able to sense it, but we have.” “We do not know what lies it used to make you willingly remain by its side. But you must understand: a lie is still a lie. No matter how beautiful a lie sounds, it can only lead you to disaster.” “Because we are uncertain whether you know about the special connection between the Main Civilization and the Specter Race, we will explain it briefly here. The Specter Race is born alongside the Main Civilization. Both come from the same origin. Because of this, a special link exists between them. The specific manifestation is this: If one dies, the other dies. The timing may be delayed, but death is inevitable.” “And in the Milky Way Galaxy, there can only be one Specter Race at a time. Only when the previous generation of the Specter Race dies will the next be born. But now, the situation is unusual. The previous generation has used various means to extend its life, lingering on the edge of death but refusing to die. This violates the rules, yet I, the next generation Specter, have still been born. My birth, in accordance with hidden universal laws, causes it great harm. You could say this: If it kills me, it gains another span of life. If it fails to kill me, it can last no more than a hundred more years, and will perish in the end.” “Originally, it had no hope of killing me. It was too gravely wounded and couldn’t search the cosmos for my trail. Its demise was all but certain. But then, you arrived, and changed everything.” “Because of the life-death link between the Main Civilization and the Specter Race, as long as it captures you, I must come to your rescue. That explains everything: it seized you and used you as bait, hoping to lure me out, so it could kill me and gain more time to live.” “We have sensed the danger you’re in, and we understand the entire situation. But sadly, even though it’s on the verge of death, it’s still far stronger than we are. We have no way to change this outcome or save you.” “All we can do is send you a warning. As for what you should do, that’s up to you to figure out.” “You don’t have much time left. From the moment you receive this message, you have no more than fifty years...” [T/N: Did anyone expect this twist?]

Chapter 262: Decoding

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