Don't go to the moon, there are gods on the far side of the moon.

On the tenth day, Zhu Rongtai took the initiative to contact the human world for the first time.

The method is different from that of Beitianmen.

The North Heavenly Gate follows rules, formats, and signatures. The Zhurong Terrace doesn't. It only conveys one thing, one sentence: I'm about to depart.

It's not a request for permission, it's a notification.

"Where is it going?" Xu Wangshu asked.

"I don't know," Qin Lan said. "The signal only gave the departure time."

"When?"

"It's the 40th hour from now."

For the first time, a different kind of tension arose in the venue.

All the objects mentioned above interact with humans: checking, exchanging, docking, and signing on behalf of others. Their purpose is to be "remembered."

Zhu Rongtai is not.

It doesn't ask people to remember anything, nor does it request any permission. It simply tells people that it is going to move.

"Should we stop them?" Lu Chenggong asked.

"It can't be stopped," the inspector said. "It's not controlled by the central system. It's part of itself."

"Should we apply for it and state its purpose?" the coordinator of the space city asked.

"Yes, it's possible," Xu Wangshu said. "But we need to figure out what to do if it doesn't respond."

"What else can we do?"

"We'll proceed as if it didn't answer," she said. "Just because it didn't answer doesn't mean we never asked."

"Wouldn't this be a waste of time asking questions?" the coordinator said, unwilling to give up.

"We've asked, and that's it," Xu Wangshu said. "If anyone says, 'You never asked,' we'll have that question on hand."

She demanded that Seven Cities archive the original text, time, and channel of this question. The question itself is also a record.

Xu Wangshu didn't immediately set the tone. She first asked each of the seven cities to think about how to respond when faced with someone who doesn't intend to negotiate with you but only informs you.

The answer provided by Seven Cities remains seven.

The space city advocated receiving the signal first; the sea city advocated retreating and giving way; the mountain city advocated preserving the notification; and the lake city advocated doing nothing for now. The other three cities only reserved the option of receiving the signal.

"No city lord spoke to it this time," Luo Xu said.

"Because it's not here to negotiate," Xu Wangshu said. "The premise of negotiation is that both sides want the same thing."

This time, Lin Jibai did not ask himself whether he should express his opinion.

He only asked one question: Will the spark pass through the line where the remnants of the nine suns are located during these forty hours?

Qin Lan did the calculations once.

"Yes," she said. "It's seventy kilometers away."

"Then Lu Chenggong has to decide on one thing," Lin Jibai said.

"What is it?"

"Should we keep the fragments under observation for the next forty hours, or put them behind the partition ahead of time?"

Lu Chenggong stood in front of the iron plate for a long time without saying a word.

Finally, he said, "I won't touch it. If it wants to pass, I'll let it pass. But I'll keep an eye on it."

"What if the fragment lights up again when it passes by?" Qin Lan asked.

"Then I'll put my hand on the iron plate," Lu Chenggong said. "With my hand on the iron plate, I won't be on the string."

Zhu Rongtai did not respond to this statement.

It simply read the time of the announcement again, as if to confirm that people had indeed heard it.

After reading it a second time, it added half a sentence.

That half-sentence was very short, and it took seven cities three takes to get it clear: I move, not to leave.

Xu Wangshu included this sentence in his archives, noting: "This is the only sentence; no further explanation is required."

"Why did it say that?" Lin Xiaoman asked.

"Because it knows we're guessing," Lin Jibai said. "It doesn't want us to guess it's what's coming."

"Then what is it?"

"It is fire," he said. "Fire doesn't explain itself, but it can tell you where it's not going."

Forty hours before, no one asked it any more questions.