The Wizard of Truth: Starting with Analyzing All Things

Inside the "Stargazer" eco-pod, Luo Wei, who had successfully advanced to the rank of official Star Speaker (Ring One), was still recovering from his shock when he was forced to confront a new and urgent situation. The unusual movement of the crystal fragment in his palm and the faint tremor of the Abyss Mark hung like a sword of Damocles, warning of the impending crisis. Instructor Verna's judgment was clear: they had to solve the mystery of the coordinates as soon as possible; time was not on their side.

There was no time to celebrate the promotion; the team immediately threw themselves into the most intensive analysis of the "Star Core Resonator Fragment" and the incomplete star map.

In the center of the eco-pod, a star map trajectory projected from the fragments floated on the holographic projection, several times clearer than before. It was not a static constellation map, but a complex, dynamic path that was constantly extending and fine-tuning on a cosmic scale. At the end of the path, it pointed to a blurry point of light, marked with constantly changing parameters.

Mentor Verna stood before the projection, pure starlight flowing from her fingertips as she guided the massive information in the starship database against the star map data for comparison and calibration. Her face remained pale, but her eyes were sharp as stars. Lilith assisted her, using her exceptional alchemist's sensitivity to energy properties to analyze the frequency of the resonant fluctuations emanating from the fragments. Elder Anderson, meanwhile, accessed the historical geographical database, attempting to match the star map coordinates with the known star regions of Chilva and its surrounding areas. Barton and Lena were on guard, while Annie busily prepared potions to boost alertness and replenish mental energy.

As the direct bearer of the fragment and the core of the resonance with the star map, Luo Wei sat cross-legged beneath the projection, his eyes slightly closed, immersing himself entirely in it. After advancing to a formal Star Speaker, his perception, calculation ability, and understanding of the rules of the stars had all undergone a qualitative leap. He could more clearly "hear" the flow of information transmitted from the fragment, a mixture of spatial coordinates, temporal markers, energy characteristics, and... a very faint, yet clearly purposeful guiding intent.

[Star Core, fully assist in analysis, prioritizing matching with 'Observer Sequence' related navigation records and known high-energy reaction star regions.] Lowe issued the command via the Spirit Emblem.

[Command confirmed. Database search in progress... Match rate below 5%... Some similar trajectory fragments found, with a local overlap of 31% with the abandoned routes numbered 'Observation Station-7' and 'Outpost-Alpha'... The energy characteristics of the target light point have a 17.8% similarity to the 'large natural stargate' or 'artificial wonder of an advanced civilization' recorded in the database...] The star core is providing feedback on a massive amount of vague information.

Progress is slow. The star-marked area appears to be far from the regular routes recorded in the Stargazer's database, in an unknown frontier.

"The way the trajectory is calculated... is very ancient, even somewhat... clumsy, but exceptionally reliable." Verna suddenly spoke, her brows furrowing slightly. "It doesn't seem like the warp algorithm of modern starships, but rather... the technology of the 'star shuttle' era, which relied on celestial gravity for long-term inertial navigation. This technology was inefficient and had a very long range, and it was eliminated ten thousand years ago."

"The Star Shuttle Era?" Lilith wondered.

"That's a technology used by the early Stargazer civilization when exploring the star system," Verna explained. "It relied on the gravitational slingshot of the star and the orbital resonance of the planet to carry out long and precise voyages. This trajectory... if it really is a star shuttle route, then its destination is probably an extremely distant ancient colony or... observation outpost, perhaps even forgotten by mainstream star maps."

This discovery sent a chill down everyone's spines. If the target was so far away, it would be impossible for the "Stargazer" to reach it in its current state.

"No," Luo Wei suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze sparkling, "the 'guiding intent' conveyed by the fragments is urgent, and it exhibits characteristics of periodic activity. If the destination is a desolate land that would take tens of thousands of years to reach, where does this 'activity' and 'urgency' come from?"

He once again focused his mind, no longer concentrating on the star chart itself, but instead fully sensing the subtle fluctuations of the "guiding intent." His enhanced spiritual perception after his advancement allowed him to catch some details he had previously overlooked. That intent wasn't simply pointing; it was more like a…response? As if responding to a distant call, and the source of that call seemed to be moving along this ancient route in some way?

"It's not a static coordinate...it's a moving beacon! This channel is the historical trajectory of the beacon, and the debris is trying to predict or even synchronize its current position!" Lowe suddenly realized.

This deduction gave the analysis a new direction. Verna immediately adjusted the algorithm, fitting the fragment fluctuations to the constantly changing parameters in the star chart in real time, attempting to deduce the beacon's movement pattern and its current possible location.

Time ticked by amidst the tense analysis. Suddenly, Lina gasped softly, "Its fluctuations... seem to resonate slightly with the tides of the energy pool outside the starship?"

Lina's intuition once again played a crucial role! To maintain stealth, the starship periodically absorbs and releases faint background stellar energy, creating an extremely subtle energy tide. The fragment's fluctuations were imperceptibly synchronized with this!

A glint flashed in Verna's eyes: "I understand! The beacon not only moves in space, but its activity periods are also related to the cycles of certain cosmological constants or large-scale astronomical phenomena! For example... gravitational tides, dark matter flow fluctuations, or... the signal cycle of a specific pulsar!"

She immediately imported several cosmological constant periodic models into the calculation. When the periodic fluctuation data of the "Charon Dark Matter Flow" was input, the trajectory points on the star map suddenly brightened, and the parameter refresh rate increased significantly!

"Found it! Its activity cycle is synchronized with the main peak of Charon's dark matter flow! The next peak is in..." Verna calculated quickly, "71 hours from now!"

The target's location has been significantly narrowed! It should currently be in a region strongly correlated with Charon's dark matter flow, and will reach its peak activity in 71 hours!

"Can you pinpoint the specific star region?" Rowe asked eagerly.

Verna manipulated the holographic star map, focusing on a vast and unfamiliar region of stars near the main channel of the dark matter flow. The starship database contained very little information about this area, only marking it as an "unexplored area" with a few vague annotations: "suspected ancient stargate remnants," "unstable spatial structure," and "reports of anomalous gravitational sources."

"The area is still too large..." Elder Anderson shook his head. "With our current capabilities, we cannot conduct such a precise search over such a large area."

Just as everyone was once again in trouble, the fragment in Luo Wei's palm underwent another change! Perhaps sensing the approaching cycle, or perhaps nourished by the star power after Luo Wei's advancement, the faint light at the center of the fragment suddenly detached and condensed above the projection into an extremely small but exceptionally clear model of a binary star system! One was a blazing blue star, and the other was a dim neutron star that constantly absorbed matter from the blue star and periodically emitted intense X-rays!

"A pulsar! It's it! The beacon has locked onto this pulsar!" Lilith exclaimed. The extremely stable periodic signals of pulsars are among the most accurate clocks in the universe!

"Search the database and match this pulsar!" Verna commanded.

The star core processed rapidly, and after a moment, the result appeared: [Match successful. ID: PSR J1748-2446, also known as: 'Heart of Echoes'. Located on the edge of the 'Shattered Starfield,' approximately 12,000 light-years from our plane. The companion star of this pulsar is a blue giant. The binary system is highly active, with severe spatial distortion, making navigation extremely risky. Database records indicate that this region once had an ancient stargazing outpost, 'Echo Station,' but it was marked as 'lost' around star calendar 74,100.]

Shattered Starfield! Echoing Heart Pulsar! The Lost Outpost "Echo Station"!

All the clues point to the same place! There's a very high probability that the moving beacon is near the Echo Station, or that it was emitted by the Echo Station itself!

"The Shattered Starfield... I know where it is." Elder Anderson spoke gravely, drawing everyone's attention. He walked to the star map and pointed to the area: "There are scattered records in the ancient scrolls of the Discipline Tower. It was one of the battlefields of the ancient war, a place where space is extremely fragile, riddled with spatial rifts and gravity traps of all sizes. There are even legends of terrifying cosmic creatures like the Stardust Whale. Moreover, it's located at the edge of the known world; beyond that lies the endless void, undocumented even on star maps. It's a forgotten, dangerous corner."

Dangerous, but with a clear objective!

"We have to go!" Lowe said decisively. "The fragments are reacting stronger, and the Abyss's mark is a ticking time bomb. We can't just sit here and wait to die. 'Echo Station,' as the Stargazers' outpost, likely holds the technology, resources, and even... more intelligence about the Abyss that we desperately need. This could be the key to turning the tide!"

Verna pondered for a moment, then nodded: "The risks are enormous, but it's worth a try. Although the 'Stargazer' is damaged, a single, precise long-distance jump to the edge of the star system is theoretically feasible. However, the energy reserves will drop to a critical point after the jump, and we know nothing about the conditions in that star system."

"Then let's be fully prepared!" Barton rubbed his hands together, eager to get started. "It's better than just waiting here!"

Lilith immediately began calculating: "We need to stockpile enough energy crystals to manufacture protective equipment to cope with high-intensity radiation and spatial distortion, as well as prepare weapons and agents to deal with possible unknown threats."

Lina said worriedly, "The environment there... I can feel a kind of... sadness and chaotic tension. We must be very careful."

Anne stood firmly by Vera's side, making her stance clear.

"In that case, let's vote." Elder Anderson looked around at everyone. "Those who agree to go to the 'Echo Station' in the Shattered Starfield..."

Without a word, everyone raised their hands. A sense of crisis and opportunity united the team like never before.

"Alright!" Lowe stood up, his aura as a formal Star Speaker surging forth. "Mentor Verna, please take charge of the jump preparations and resource allocation with Lilith. Elder Anderson, you and Barton will be responsible for the final checks of the starship's defense systems and the operational plan. Lina, Annie, you will assist Lilith and be responsible for monitoring environmental changes during the jump. Star Core, calculate the optimal jump route, avoid known danger zones, and initiate the self-check procedure!"

"71-hour countdown begins! We must reach the 'Heart of Echoes' before the next peak of dark matter flow!"

The Stargazer, a starship that had been dormant for millennia, was now fully operational for the first time, embarking on a proactive expedition into the unknown. Everyone on board was filled with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation for the unknown. Did the star chart point to a glimmer of hope or a trap of destruction? The answer lay deep within that shattered starfield.