Twin Brothers

Inside the laboratory, amid puddles of blood across the floor, Pei Yurong cowered in the corner. Li Banfeng squatted down in front of her. "I have some coordinates here, supposedly for your research base developing controllable magnetic storm weapons. Would you mind giving them to me again?" Pei Yurong recited the coordinates. Li Banfeng followed up, "How do you usually transport experimental supplies to the offshore base?" "By boat." "Do you remember the vessels' registration numbers?" "I really don't remember that! I didn't handle those things personally!" "You should at least know how many ships there are, shouldn't you?" "Yes, six in total." The coordinates and number of vessels she gave matched what Gu Hao had said completely. Li Banfeng flipped open his pocket watch and had the dream bell verify it once more; the result remained unchanged. "When do you plan to deploy your controllable magnetic storm weapons?" "Once enough energy has accumulated, we will launch an attack the day after tomorrow." Li Banfeng frowned. "So soon?" "Yes. It is by the Demon Lord's command. The Demon Lord will invade the Huan Country the day after tomorrow, and Yuezhou is his first stop." "Why does it have to be Yuezhou?" "Because Yuezhou borders Santoucha, and Santoucha is Demon Lord Chernobog's grip point." "What do you mean by grip point?" Pei Yurong recited the scriptures of the Hundred Demons Workshop to Li Banfeng: "The great Demon Lord Chernobog extended his right arm beyond his domain, firmly gripping the soil leading to the lowly land. "The lowly land yearned for the Demon Lord's guidance and enlightenment, yet the Demon Lord suffered betrayal and profanation within his own realm. "He did not abandon the living souls of the lowly land; amid fierce battles, he still held fast to this uncivilized territory. "A swarm of parasites crawled onto the Demon Lord's arm, presuming to claim his flesh and blood as their own. Once the enraged Demon Lord vanquishes the traitors, he shall purge every last one of these vermin..." Li Banfeng listened intently to every word Pei Yurong spoke, wondering whether he ought to find a translator for her. To his ears, that entire rambling speech sounded like nothing more than a myth. Yet upon further reflection, this myth seemed rather peculiar. Where exactly that peculiarity lay, Li Banfeng could not say, but he felt an overwhelming sense that it was deeply tied to certain knowledge he had encountered before. There was not much more Pei Yurong could explain clearly. She fished a volume of scripture from among the scattered remains and handed it to Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng glanced over it; the text was written in an exceedingly obscure style, and whether due to poor translation or something else, most of the contents did not read smoothly at all. Was there anyone who could explain it to him? "Gu Hao told me there is also a Lavshan among you—an emissary sent by the Demon Lord." "Yes! A large part of our operations was directed by him! A lot of our technology was provided by him too!" A glimmer of hope surfaced in Pei Yurong's eyes; if Li Qi considered the Demon Lord's emissary the ringleader, she might still have a slim chance of survival. Li Banfeng was indeed very interested in this Lavshan. "Where is he right now?" "He's still in Yuezhou! He's preaching scriptures at our workshop hall." Li Banfeng smiled. "So you have another workshop hall? Can you take me there?" "Yes!" Pei Yurong was completely cooperative. Li Banfeng got to his feet and sent a message to Chen Changrui. *** In the conference hall, veins pulsed persistently on Chen Changrui's forehead. The meeting had dragged on for over three hours, yet to this moment, no conclusion had been reached regarding the nature of the Hundred Demons Workshop as an organization. "Comrade Changrui, we'd like to hear your perspective." Chen Changrui hardly knew what to say anymore. He had repeated it who knew how many times already: his view was to deploy combat personnel immediately to destroy the magnetic storm weapon research base. Yet since his superior had asked, Chen Changrui could not refuse to answer. Just as he was about to speak, his phone vibrated twice in his trouser pocket. Chen Changrui took out his phone and glanced at it, an action that drew displeasure from several people. "Comrade Changrui, in a meeting of such importance, you actually brought your phone inside? What kind of attitude is this?" Chen Changrui looked up. Rather than addressing the complaint about his attitude, he brought up a far more critical matter. "Director Li Qi has ascertained the enemy's attack date: the day after tomorrow." "Never mind which day—first explain your attitude... Wait, what attack did you just say?" Chen Changrui explained, "According to the Hundred Demons Workshop, it is an attack by the Demon Lord. According to our deductions, it is an attack from the Dark Star's Third Planet. Their target is Yuezhou, and their objective should be to open the exit at Santoucha." The hall fell utterly silent. Ten minutes later, the meeting reached a conclusion: Immediately dispatch a special operations task force to destroy the magnetic storm weapon research base; have the Dark Star Bureau spearhead an all-out effort to apprehend relevant members of the Hundred Demons Workshop; and issue an urgent notice to the Garrison Office to prepare for war. Chen Changrui let out a long breath. Before the war arrived, they had finally initiated the proper response protocols. His superiors could not really be blamed for mishandling things. Chen Changrui had been to Puluo Province; he knew the difference between Puluo Province and the Outer States. The Outer States had their own procedures, but so long as the right procedures were set into motion, based on past precedents, the ensuing response would face no problems at all. Come the next day, problems arose. First of all, the special operations task force's mission ran into serious trouble. They located the offshore base in international waters and deployed a hundred and seventy high-performance drones to execute the strike. However, those hundred and seventy drones failed to carry out the mission. The offshore base activated its magnetic storm weapon, severing all communications for the drones within a radius of twenty nautical miles. Deprived of communications, the drones could neither obtain positioning data nor exchange telemetry with the command center. They could only rely on their onboard automated control systems to perform basic data processing and bomb the offshore base. The special operations task force termed this autonomous combat under basic mode. As it turned out, the efficacy of this combat mode was abysmal. All one hundred and seventy drones were wiped out. The magnetic storm weapon dealt a tremendous shock to high command. They convened an emergency session to deliberate on their next course of action. Option one: Launch long-range missiles. The adversary's offshore base possessed a defensive network with interception capabilities. Missiles stripped of communications could only rely on inertial guidance; under incoming fire, their hit rate would be laughably dismal. Option two: Deploy unmanned submarines. Without communications, unmanned submersibles could only rely on sonar. In the absence of human intervention, pitting their basic combat mode against the offshore base's defensive network would almost certainly end as tragically as the drones had. Option three: Deploy warships. A bitter chuckle arose in the meeting room: "Without communications, how are warships supposed to fight? Charge in with shipborne cannons and risk their necks? How is that any different from naval combat in the Age of Sail?" Someone sighed. "To think our reliance on communications systems has grown this profound." Another remarked, "Indeed. And it's not just us. If our communications grid collapses, our offense and defense systems might regress to the Second World War era—or worse." Time was running out, and the meeting quickly settled on a decision: Deploy warships manned and operated by crews to destroy the magnetic storm base. *** Operations on the Dark Star Bureau's side were not progressing smoothly either. Chen Changrui led sweeps to round up Hundred Demons Workshop members everywhere, but efficiency was exceedingly poor. Nearly every time they raided a stronghold, they found only corpses. Late at night, Chen Changrui returned to the Dark Star Bureau building. He intended to organize intelligence and get some rest, but noticed the light on in Li Qi's office. Director Li was back! Delight washed over Chen Changrui's face. Reaching the door, however, he held back from entering immediately. He heard sounds from inside the room. *Beep... beep...* *Click!* *Beep... beep...* *Click!* Li Qi was placing a call—dialing repeatedly, yet no one ever answered. As a Watcher Cultivator, Chen Changrui possessed extraordinarily keen hearing. He caught the faint ringing of a telephone within the office building. Following the sound, he arrived at Shen Jingye's office. Li Qi had been calling Shen Jingye the entire time. Many suspected Li Qi had mental health issues, and Chen Changrui was among them. He had always believed Li Qi was Li Banfeng, and Li Banfeng truly suffered from mental illness. An episode had struck him; at times like this, it was best to leave him alone. Chen Changrui turned to walk away, yet the phone continued to ring. The persistent ring felt like a needle pricking deep into Chen Changrui's chest. Stepping into Shen Jingye's office, Chen Changrui picked up the receiver. On the other end of the line, Li Qi's voice sounded intensely agitated: "Little Shen, come to my office right away!" Worried that Li Qi might be in danger, Chen Changrui hurried over to Li Qi's office. Looking inside, he found Li Qi gone. Where had he gone? Resting on his desk were three severed heads. The first belonged to a blond, blue-eyed man. He was on Chen Changrui's wanted list—the Demon Lord's emissary to the Hundred Demons Workshop. The second belonged to a woman, also on the wanted list: the master of the Hundred Demons Workshop, Pei Yurong. The third belonged to a man whom Chen Changrui did not need any list to identify. It was Du Wenming; even reduced to ashes, Chen Changrui would recognize him. With these three heads, the bulk of the Dark Star Bureau's mission seemed to have been accomplished. *"When forest blossoms wither, even the heart is buried.* *When spring swallows return another day, where will this body be~"* The stylus reached the end of the groove. Chen Changrui flicked the needle back and let it play once more. He walked out of the office. The moment he closed the door, he faintly heard a sigh: "What a lovely song. Truly lovely." *** The following day, news of victory arrived from the sea. After a fierce battle, six warships breached the magnetic storm weapon base despite having lost communications. Equipped with a self-destruct mechanism, the base exploded shortly after being overrun. All equipment was thoroughly destroyed, and most personnel inside perished. The conclusion that most personnel had perished was an inference, as no one knew precisely how many people were inside the base; if specialized personnel had escaped, it meant the technology for controllable magnetic storms remained in their hands. While the maritime crisis was considered resolved, the threat on land persisted. Liao Zihui was leading the Sinless Army, setting up defenses with full vigor. All of Yuezhou was placed under martial law, poised for battle. According to high command's deductions, with the magnetic storm weapon base destroyed, the Demon Lord's invasion plan should have been disrupted. Even so, they dared not lower their guard; no one wished to face an attack unprepared. A week passed, and no war broke out. The earlier deduction proved correct: with the magnetic storm base eliminated, the enemy's war plans had been shelved for the time being. Yuezhou lifted its citywide martial law, and order was restored, yet war preparations did not slacken. No one could be certain whether the Demon Lord would build another magnetic storm base, nor whether he might wage war by other means. Gao Yina persistently inquired about Li Qi's whereabouts, hoping he would leverage his role as a balancer to avert the war through other avenues. Chen Changrui was searching everywhere for Li Qi as well, but Li Qi was no longer in the Outer States. Li Qi had made a trip to Tiemen Fort, seeking out Doctor Kang Zhenchang to treat Zhong'er's injuries. Kang Zhenchang's medical expertise was remarkable indeed, and Zhong'er showed marked improvement. With urgent matters settled, Li Banfeng went to the library at Yuezhou University to look up reference materials. He had acquired a substantial amount of technical data on magnetic storm weapons from the Demon Lord's emissary. His wife was keenly interested in it, yet still lacked basic knowledge in the field of magnetostorm science. Knowing nothing about magnetostorms, Li Banfeng found searching for suitable books far from easy. After browsing the library for quite a while, he caught sight of an announcement on an LED screen: *Professor Xie Jinning, specialist in the field of magnetic storms, will hold an academic presentation today...* Xie Jinning? Li Banfeng looked at the book in his hands. Three papers in this collection on magnetostorm science were authored by Xie Jinning. He was a leading authority in the field. Li Banfeng hurried over to the lecture hall. Upon arriving at the lecture hall entrance, Li Banfeng realized he had not read the full notice on the LED screen earlier. The notice stated that Professor Xie Jinning's presentation scheduled for today had been postponed to next month, and that Zhao Zhihong, a professor of astronomy, would present in his stead. In truth, even by next month, Xie Jinning might not be able to deliver a lecture; as one of the few magnetostorm specialists in the country, he had already been reassigned to war preparations. Who was this Zhao Zhihong? Li Banfeng felt the name was vaguely familiar, as though he had seen it somewhere before. Neither faculty nor students from the electromagnetics field had turned up for the lecture, though a few people from astronomy had. Before the presentation began, they were chatting outside the doors. "Why'd you come to hear Professor Zhao's lecture?" "Aren't you here too?" "I wanted to see for myself. Everyone says his presentations are hilarious." "Oh, entertaining beyond belief. Haven't you seen the content mill accounts he runs? Plenty of platforms have blacklisted him." Hearing that the man was so peculiar, Li Banfeng walked into the hall as well, curious to see just how interesting he was. A sparse audience of a few dozen sat scattered across the lecture hall. Li Banfeng found a seat in the back row and sat down. Zhao Zhihong was a man in his early forties, dressed in a suit and tie, with neatly combed hair. Judging purely by his appearance, the professor took this presentation very seriously. Opening his slides, he began by discussing the theory of the Sun's galactic orbit. "As everyone here knows, our Sun revolves around the center of the Milky Way at a velocity of 250 kilometers per second, with an orbital period of roughly 220 million years..." Li Banfeng listened with keen interest, whereas the astronomy students grew somewhat impatient. To them, this was rudimentary knowledge, and they had not come here to learn anyway. Moving on to the Sun's orbital trajectory, Zhao Zhihong stood at the center of the podium, his tone deepening noticeably. "Counting from my undergraduate years, I have engaged in astronomical research for over twenty years. From the moment I first encountered data regarding the Sun's galactic orbit, I developed a profound fascination with this academic field." Titters rippled through the audience below. Li Banfeng did not see what was so funny. A student behind him chuckled, "Here it comes. He's getting started." Zhao Zhihong displayed a set of figures on the screen representing the orbital radius of the Sun around the Milky Way. Li Banfeng still saw nothing humorous, but the astronomy students around him were grinning and laughing. Zhao Zhihong offered a brief analysis of the data: "Our Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way in an elliptical trajectory—though it would be more accurate to call it a near-perfect circle, as its eccentricity is remarkably small. "Along such a regular orbit, however, the Sun exhibits irregular motion over certain intervals. What causes this? Has any student ever pondered this question?" Zhao Zhihong highlighted several key data points in red, casting an expectant gaze across the few dozen listeners below. Everyone remained silent, collectively waiting for his punchline. Zhao Zhihong declared with ringing conviction, "Because the Sun has a twin brother!" A roar of laughter erupted from the audience. Li Banfeng suddenly remembered who this man was. The laughter did not dampen Professor Zhao's enthusiasm in the least. He pressed on: "This claim may strike everyone as somewhat bizarre, but this twin brother truly exists. It all begins on the day the Sun was born." On the subway once, Li Banfeng had browsed similar articles. Back then, he had first read about the famed sprinter Qiao Yuesheng, then the prominent singer Chu Zikai, and the third piece had been about the Sun's twin brother. Because all three articles began with "on the day they were born," Li Banfeng had not bothered to read it through. He truly had not imagined that the source of that article was a university professor. Professor Zhao continued his lecture: "As is widely known, our Sun was born 4.6 billion years ago. At that time, our Sun was still a relatively loose nebula. "Under the influence of its own gravity, the solar nebula slowly began to collapse. Matter converged toward the center, where temperature and pressure steadily rose. "Once a certain threshold was reached, hydrogen nuclei underwent nuclear fusion. The fusion radiated energy outward, reaching equilibrium with the inward gravitational pull, and thus the Sun was formed. "Yet has anyone considered this: the nebula that formed the Sun was vast—was its density truly uniform? Some might say it was pure coincidence, that the nebula forming our star happened to be distributed in perfect uniformity! "I tell you, while such coincidences can happen, the odds are abysmally low. The solar nebula was not nearly as uniform as imagined. During the collapse, it formed several clumps of varying sizes. "Through collisions and mergers, these clumps formed two relatively large protostars: one was our Sun, and the other was the Sun's twin brother. "Now someone might ask: were these twin brothers truly identical? "Through extensive data collection and simulations, I discovered significant differences between them. Our Sun was slightly smaller and exceptionally stable. "Its twin brother, on the other hand, was considerably larger and unstable. Approximately 4.2 billion years ago—four hundred million years after the brothers were born—the Sun's twin brother underwent an explosion. "Mind you, this was not a supernova in the sense we understand. The companion star did not have the mass required for a supernova. Like a balloon, it did not burst outright; rather, it sprang a leak." Laughter broke out again below. To students of astronomy, the analogy was downright comical. "Hear that? He's on balloons now." "The leaking balloon—Professor Zhao's signature routine." "I genuinely wonder if he actually studied astronomy." "Didn't someone say yesterday that he sells balloons in the park in his spare time?" Professor Zhao continued his earnest explanation: "In the course of leaking, the companion star lost vast amounts of matter and energy while generating a powerful shockwave. "Driven by this shockwave, the companion star rapidly drifted away from the Sun until the two were 3.1 light-years apart, only then forming a relatively stable binary star system." "Three-point-one light-years?" A student finally could not resist chiming in. "Professor, are you saying this companion star is closer than Proxima Centauri?" "Yes!" Professor Zhao replied with utter confidence. "We can observe Proxima Centauri, so why can't we see this companion star?" "As I just explained, the companion star lost massive quantities of matter and energy during the explosion, leaving it in a certain unstable state. Consequently, it cannot be observed with our existing scientific technology." Another student asked, "Why can't it be observed? Did it explode into a black hole?" This was not an earnest inquiry; it was clear heckling. Professor Zhao clarified, "As I stated earlier, this explosion was not a supernova in the conventional sense, nor did it meet the conditions for forming a black hole." "If the companion star cannot be observed, how do you know about this supposed explosion in the first place? What is the basis for it?" Zhao Zhihong was indeed conducting genuine research rather than making things up. He cited numerous examples and placed special emphasis on the aftermath of the companion star's explosion: "This blast stripped away Mercury's crust, devastated Venus's ecological environment, and caused a portion of planets to escape the Sun's gravitational grasp, carried away by the companion star." A student chuckled, "So you're saying our solar system is revolving around another star system?" Zhao Zhihong answered candidly, "Such scenarios genuinely occur within binary star systems. Both stars in a binary system can possess their own planetary systems." "Then have you observed that other system?" The student was baiting Zhao Zhihong, hoping to coax even more outlandish claims from him. And Zhao Zhihong walked right into it: "Observing exoplanets in the universe is extraordinarily difficult, yet our latest research findings have made some headway. Several rogue planets we previously identified are actually revolving around the same center of mass—and at that center of mass lies our companion star!" "Is there life on the companion star's planets?" "I believe so. In fact, I believe we have already engaged in a degree of communication with life from the companion star." "Across 3.1 light-years, Professor? How do you think we're communicating with them?" "Through certain specialized spatial channels..." "Professor, are you saying aliens have landed on Earth?" Uproarious laughter swept the room, dragging on for quite some time. Zhao Zhihong gave an awkward smile and stopped answering questions so readily. He had experienced many such occasions. He knew these people held no interest in scholarship; they had come here regarding his academic presentation as a comedy routine. Even so, he persisted through to the end of his lecture. From beginning to finish, his spine remained straight and his voice resonated with steady vigor. *** After the presentation concluded, Zhao Zhihong returned to his office. He paid no mind to the mockery in the hall; he was used to it. Li Banfeng knocked and entered the office. Walking over to Professor Zhao, he pulled up a chair and sat down. "Professor, could I get a copy of your slides?" Zhao Zhihong looked at Li Banfeng. "Which department are you from?" "I'm from the School of Science." "I'm sorry. Certain contents in my presentation are not suitable for public distribution." If they were already in the lecture slides, how could they not be suitable for public distribution? It was obviously an excuse. Zhao Zhihong refused to let Li Banfeng copy the presentation because he distrusted this student of unknown background. He did not want him using social media or news outlets to mock his research findings yet again. He had suffered through far too much of that already. Li Banfeng looked at Zhao Zhihong and said in a serious tone, "I'll pay." Zhao Zhihong grew rather incensed. "This isn't a matter of money! Speaking to me in such a tone is disrespectful to scholarship in itself!" Li Banfeng pulled out twenty thousand in cash and pushed it into Zhao Zhihong's hands. Veins bulging on his forehead, Zhao Zhihong glared at Li Banfeng. "What is the meaning of this?" "Honorarium. When consulting a professor, one ought to pay an honorarium." "Even if an honorarium is paid, it must follow proper financial procedures!" "I'll complete the procedures later, and I can sign a contract with you. My sole intention is to earnestly consult you on your professional expertise." "Your attitude is improper!" Professor Zhao sternly reprimanded Li Banfeng—and then pocketed the money. Li Banfeng copied the presentation file. "May I ask you a few questions?" "Of course," Professor Zhao replied, his anger having largely dissipated. "First question: the basis for your belief in the companion star's existence is the fluctuations in the Sun's galactic orbit?" "Yes. The irregular perturbations in the Sun's orbit are caused by irregular gravitational fluctuations from the companion star." "Second question: could the companion star's unobservability be explained by it having rapidly dissipated its energy and evolved into a black dwarf?" "That is highly probable, though strictly speaking, it cannot yet be considered a pure black dwarf. A pure black dwarf takes far too long to form, whereas our companion star still exhibits periodic energy radiation, and even energy eruptions." "The companion star's system is 3.1 light-years away from ours—a vast distance. If communication occurs between the two systems, through what channel is it achieved?" "I believe the most likely channel is a wormhole." "What is the interior space of a wormhole like?" Zhao Zhihong fell silent for a moment. "Actually, there was another professor before who delved much deeper into wormholes." The professor he referred to was presumably Yu Yaoming. Li Banfeng said, "I'd like to hear your findings." "How well do you grasp the fundamentals of astrophysics?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "I have virtually no background in it." Professor Zhao smacked his lips, pondering how to explain it in layman's terms. "Many believe the interior of a wormhole is exceedingly narrow, permitting only elementary particles to pass. In my view, that conception is mistaken. I need to use a balloon as an analogy." He truly loved balloons. He pulled a balloon from his desk drawer. "I'm going to blow it up." Li Banfeng looked around. "Uh, hold off on blowing for now. A general explanation will do." *Huff! Puff!* The professor inflated the balloon anyway and said to Li Banfeng, "The neck of the balloon is exceedingly narrow; tied off, even elementary particles can hardly pass through. "However, the space inside the balloon is not narrow at all. It could be like a massive helium balloon, or an even more enormous airship, or perhaps as colossal as an entire planet." "If it is as colossal as a planet, could life emerge within it?" "That possibility exists. Only, influenced by the unique environment inside the wormhole, life forms might exhibit varying degrees of mutation, and the internal space itself could undergo varying degrees of differentiation." He blew up another balloon, this one twisted into a giraffe, and pointed to the giraffe's head, then to its belly. "This is spatial differentiation." Li Banfeng imagined the environment inside that wormhole. He seemed exceedingly familiar with that environment. Perhaps that place was called Puluo Province. P.S. There is a certain degree of correspondence between this and the mythology of the Hundred Demons Workshop.