Les trois fantômes de la ville

Chapitre 3

When I had coffee with him, I didn't ask what the mission was, even though I was very curious. This guy was incredibly boring, strictly adhering to confidentiality clauses when it came to work. In the past, I'd only had access to inside information when I was assigned to a research project at Organization X.

In contrast to his tight-lipped nature, I often tell him about my experiences in detail, such as this recent trip to Mahabalipuram. Curiosity needs to be shared. Sharing is a joyful thing.

What puzzled me was that shortly after I started telling my story, the expression on the face of this handsome, aloof man became rather strange, and the strange look on his face did not fade until I finished telling the whole story with my mouth dry.

"Why that expression? Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Your current conclusion is that the owner of that skull only made a rough judgment about the geological evolution, so he made a vague prediction, and this tsunami has nothing to do with him?" Liang Yingwu said slowly.

"Yes, I was misled at first and overcomplicated things. It should just be like this."

"Do you know whether it is a human, an alien, or another kind of creature on Earth?" Liang Yingwu asked.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

"Do you know why he came to that tribe, and why he stayed for so long?"

"have no idea."

"Do you know what problem had been troubling him, and what answer he finally found?"

"have no idea."

"Do you know that his only possession before he died was really just a crystal ball used by astrologers, or that it was used in the exact same way as those prophets?"

"I don't know." By this point, I was already a little annoyed, but I just didn't know.

"With so many things we don't know, how can you be sure that those inscriptions were just to let future generations know that he once existed? What exactly did he mean by 'seeing the world clearly'?"

I was stunned. It seemed hasty to make a judgment without knowing so much. However, feeling a little embarrassed by Liang Yingwu's question, I retorted, "While I don't know the answers to those questions, no one else will. I can only make the most probable deductions based on the existing clues. What, do you have a problem with that?"

Liang Yingwu shook his head slightly: "Actually, I also think your deduction makes a lot of sense. If it were me, I would think the same way."

"So what did you mean by saying 'I know' and 'I know' all those times? Were you deliberately trying to cause me trouble?"

Liang Yingwu shook his head again: "Although I now think your conclusion makes sense, I know a little more than you, so I have doubts."

"Oh?" I immediately became interested: "Could it be that your mission this time is related to the ruins of Mahabalipuram?"

"No, that's not it." Liang Yingwu hesitated, then fell silent.

I frowned: "Why did you back down halfway through your sentence? It's another top-secret document from your X organization. Can't we just talk about it? Why didn't you say it earlier? What's with this suspense?"

Liang Yingwu smiled wryly: "Alright, since I let it slip, I'll just tell you. Luckily it wasn't top secret, otherwise I wouldn't have revealed it no matter what."

I pricked up my ears.

"On December 26 last year, a beam of high-energy particles was emitted from the depths of the Java Trench in southwest Sumatra. This peculiar phenomenon was detected by only a few institutions in the world."

High-energy particle beams? I searched my memory for this physics term. Cosmic rays are all high-energy particle beams, capable of penetrating solids, originating from distant and vast celestial bodies. How could Earth produce its own high-energy particle beams? I've never heard of that; it can't be.

Wait, December 26th, that's...

"On the same day as the tsunami? The Java Trench is..." I asked.

"The Java Trench was the epicenter of the massive earthquake that triggered the tsunami, and that beam of high-energy particles was generated less than a minute before the earthquake. However," Liang Yingwu looked somewhat troubled, "at this stage, humanity can only generate particle beams using high-energy colliders, and..."

Furthermore, the energy of the particle beams produced in the laboratory was far different from what we detected this time.

"So, high-energy particle beams aren't produced by Earth?"

“There are no natural conditions on Earth that can produce such a particle beam. Conversely, the arrangement and spacing of the high-energy particles in this beam are very unnatural.”

"Unnatural? What do you mean? How is it unnatural?" I asked.

Are the trees in Suzhou gardens natural?

“With gardeners pruning it every day, of course it doesn’t look natural.” I understood that Liang Yingwu was using a metaphor to explain to me, a layman.

"You mean, this beam of high-energy particles represents some kind of intention?"

"Current science cannot explain how Earth could possibly produce such a high-energy particle beam. If we use the process of elimination, then this high-energy particle beam must have been produced unnaturally, and unnatural production must have some intention."

"What is the intention?" I pressed for an answer.

Liang Yingwu shook his head: "If you've never seen a bird before, and one day you suddenly see one flying past you, would you know what it's trying to do?"

A person who has never seen a bird before will only be amazed when they first see one, wondering what it is, why it can fly, and what it is trying to do. Only by becoming an ornithologist can one truly understand. Liang Yingwu meant that even the most outstanding scientists today, when faced with a beam of high-energy particles, can only be amazed.

I know so little about high-energy particles that I can't tell the difference between them and radio waves, so I said, "Unnaturally arranged high-energy particles, do you think they might be some kind of communication device?"

Before I could finish speaking, Liang Yingwu laughed. It seems I, an outsider, have made some laughable mistakes again.

Unexpectedly, Liang Yingwu said, "Although no one can make an accurate judgment, researchers have still made various bold speculations, and the communication you mentioned has also been brought up by others."

"Then what are you laughing at?" I asked irritably.

"Because your guess is exactly the same as mine."

"Aha." I couldn't help but show a hint of pride. Liang Yingwu's scholarship was something I couldn't compare to.

"However, there are also significant flaws in speculating that this is a communication method. Although high-energy particles carry extremely high energy, their speed still cannot exceed the speed of light, making them significantly weaker than ordinary radio waves. If we ignore the harm they cause to the human body and use high-energy particle beams for communication, given the amount of information that current global radio communications carry every moment, even if all of Earth's energy were exhausted, it would probably be difficult to last even a second. Of course, we don't have that technology."

"But perhaps using high-energy particles as a means of communication has certain functions that radio waves cannot replace, and with the advancement of technology, the energy required to produce high-energy particles will certainly decrease." Based on this bold speculation, I think the difficulties Liang Yingwu mentioned are not a big problem.

Liang Yingwu nodded and said, "What you said is certainly possible, but speculation is just speculation. Even if we treat it as a means of communication, without further information, we will never be able to decipher the information in it."

A thought suddenly struck me, and I asked, "The region where the high-energy particle beam appeared should already be under investigation, right? Have you found anything?"

"Prudent investigation? Humanity's reach isn't that deep. The ocean is full of unsolved mysteries. The seabed in the area where this high-energy particle was produced has been drastically altered after the major earthquake. What clues could be found by sending a few submarines to search it? In the end, there were no answers to this matter. The organization that detected this high-energy particle tacitly did not release the information to the public."

Needless to say, Agency X was one of the few agencies that received the signal, and it's likely that some major powers also have similar agencies that received it.

What is hidden behind this tsunami? I originally thought Mahabalipuram's prophecy was just a coincidence, but now, like Liang Yingwu just now, I am full of doubts.

"Where is this beam of high-energy particles headed?" I remembered this important question.

Liang Yingwu slowly took a sip of coffee, looked at me, and held up one finger.

I looked up, following that finger, and through the low ceiling of the café, I saw...

Outer space?

"Yes," Liang Yingwu gave me an affirmative answer.

On December 26, 2004, deep in the Indian Ocean, on the eve of a powerful earthquake, a beam of high-energy particles was shot towards a certain location in deep space. No stars were observed along that trajectory. There are two possibilities; the first is...

It could be that it leads to a planet, and non-luminous planets in the distant sky are difficult to map into human star maps; the second possibility is that the destination of that beam of high-energy particles is the depths of the universe, beyond the reach of human vision.

That same evening I chatted with Liang Yingwu, I spent a lot of time studying the paintings hanging in my study. Of course, it was all in vain; in my opinion, the carvings from over two thousand years ago were nothing but scribbles.

Just when I was almost oblivious to the pictures in my study, a phone call from a stranger reminded me of my experience in Mahabalipuram.

It was late March, and disaster-prone Indonesia was hit by another major earthquake, measuring 8.5 on the Richter scale. The tremors were even felt in Shanghai that day. I'm a late sleeper and have a slow sense of time, so the slight tremors didn't stop me from sleeping until 10:30 in the morning.

I ordered takeout from the newspaper office and, as usual, started browsing news websites to see if there was anything I could write about. Not every time I did this, it was fruitful. After confirming that no Shanghai news story was worth following up on in depth, I retrieved the department's hotline logbook and checked the calls from citizens from last night to this morning for any leads. Since the *Morning Star* newspaper started offering high rewards for citizen tips, the hotline has been ringing much more frequently, and our social affairs reporters aren't as short of material as before.

The call log from the last ten hours was six pages long. I marked the calls that interested me with a triangle in pencil. After reading it through once, I had made seven marks in total. The takeout that had arrived on my table was almost cold. I planned to finish the meal in a few bites and then filter through it further. Just then, the phone on my desk rang.

"Hello, is that the number?"

A man's voice. His Mandarin wasn't perfect, but you couldn't tell where his accent came from.

"Yes, who are you?"

"This question may seem a bit abrupt, but did you post something on the EYES website on the 25th of last month?"

I was immediately stunned.

EYES is the name of that decoding website, but how did this person find me?

I thought about it again and realized that I hadn't filled in the correct contact information and real name when I registered for EYES BBS. Almost no one would do that when registering for free online. The only real information I filled in was my country and city—China, Shanghai. And my rarely used English name—NADO. Whether he was a BBS moderator or someone who hacked into seeing my registration information, there was no way he could find me based on that.

I was still in shock and doubt when the person on the other end of the phone asked again because I hadn't heard anything for a while: "Did you post a message on EYES on February 25th that contained a picture that needed to be deciphered?"

"Who are you? Do we know each other?" I asked in return. If he knew me, he might be able to guess my identity through NADO, because it sounds very similar to the pinyin of my name.

"No, we've never met. If it weren't for that post, I wouldn't know you either." My question just now actually admitted that I was the poster.

How did you find me?

"Oh...that's not the point. I'm very interested in that picture. If possible, could we meet? I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

“Okay,” I agreed immediately. Although this man hoped to get something from me, he must have known what the picture represented. Having visited the ruins of Mahabalipuram and learned about the high-energy particle beams in the Java Trench, this new clue that had fallen from the sky held immense appeal for me.

What I thought was an unsolvable mystery has suddenly shown signs of loosening. No matter how mysterious or potentially dangerous this person is, I have to find a way to get to the bottom of things.

Some people love money, some love fame, and some love beauty. I certainly like those too, but what tempts me most is the truth. Knowing the truth, a truth known only to a few, a truth that keeps the whole world in the dark, gives me immense satisfaction. That's enough. Aren't fame, fortune, and beauty all ultimately about providing satisfaction?

"When can we meet? I'm available anytime." He seemed very happy.

"How about tonight? Do you know Gengduyuan on Hengshan Road? Their private rooms are quiet and offer good privacy. How about eight o'clock?"

"Thank you, see you tonight."

After hanging up the phone, I was stunned for a while, until the hotline operator loudly asked several times, "Who has the logbook?"

It was only then that he came to his senses. At this point, he had no heart to further sift through news leads, so he randomly picked a complaint about an old neighbor collecting junk at home, causing the building to stink, and hurriedly left the newspaper office.

The interview was finished and the article was published; it was just before 6 PM. I ordered some takeout, then opened Internet Explorer and went to EYES's BBS.

Using the search function, I found my post. The last reply was from more than 20 days ago. The post had completely sunk to the bottom. Unless someone is specifically looking for it like I am, they would never see it.

It's impossible to tell who's interested from the previous replies. Perhaps the person who called me didn't even reply, because they didn't want to attract attention. Letting the post sink and then contacting the poster separately is the best way to keep it a secret.

I arrived at Gengduyuan half an hour early, ordered a pot of Dongding Oolong tea, and began to wait quietly. At eight o'clock sharp, a man wearing a long trench coat walked into the private room.

The moment this man walked in, I felt extremely uncomfortable. I looked him up and down. The temperature in Shanghai was starting to warm up at this time of year, and while wearing a long trench coat was certainly inappropriate, it shouldn't have given me this feeling.

The man had a slightly round face and an ordinary appearance, nothing special about him. Even his eyes were unremarkable, with somewhat cloudy pupils and a listless look. I was a little disappointed, but the unease in my heart remained.

"You must be Na Duo. I apologize for the intrusion. You can call me Zhang Ming."

What does "You can call me Zhang Ming" mean? I muttered to myself as I stood up, expecting him to shake my hand, but he didn't extend his hand.

I hesitated whether to reach out my hand, but Zhang Ming didn't react at all. The two of us stood facing each other, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.

"Oh, please sit down, please sit down." Zhang Ming gestured for us to sit down, but we ultimately did not shake hands.

I was a little annoyed, so I asked, "Mr. Zhang Ming, do you have any other ways of addressing me?"

That's my Chinese name.

I looked at him again with surprise. He didn't look like a foreigner at all. Was he Korean or Japanese?

"You're not Chinese?"

Zhang Ming nodded slightly. Most people would have introduced themselves at this point, mentioning their nationality and name, but he remained seated, showing no intention of explaining.