Jiang Ye took out his phone and called Xu Aoqing.
"Did you see the satellite imagery? Why did the beast tide have a pincer attack?" Jiang Ye asked. "Those electronic parasites, are they commanded, like by a bug king or something?"
"You're asking me, how would I know?" Xu Aoqing's tone was helpless. "Meteorite Star escaped my control in just a few days, and the beast tide bloomed all at once. What can you expect me to know?"
"Don't you know the electronic parasites mutated?" Jiang Ye asked.
"What's the use of knowing that? We tried to issue orders to the electronic parasites, hoping to stop the beast tide with them, but the electronic parasites not only disobeyed but sent back massive amounts of junk data to paralyze our systems. If I had a solution, I wouldn't have abandoned this planet, would I?" Xu Aoqing said.
"Could it be someone manipulating things behind the scenes? Your planet's rebels, aliens, or the Galactic Separatist Alliance?" Jiang Ye asked. "This beast tide just now was definitely not natural. Two groups ran desperately, the middle was not fast, blocking the entire train on the tracks, almost succeeding."
"How about... you send a professional team of scientists to investigate?" Xu Aoqing tentatively asked. "I also have some research teams here that can cooperate, what do you say?"
Jiang Ye peeked at Cen Yemeng. She was hunched over the office screen, her fingers flying across the keyboard, contacting the research institutes and universities of the refugee star to urgently assemble a battlefield research team.
"Okay," Jiang Ye said. "Once the team is assembled, I'll connect with you."
The call ended.
Cen Yemeng was also done with her task.
"I've asked the refugee star, Birong Star, and Jiang Ye Star to send top experts in relevant fields," Cen Yemeng reported to her husband. "Within about two days, we should have the final list of the research team."
"Good," Jiang Ye said without further comment.
The couple continued to watch the live broadcast.
The first train was surrounded, but at the main city station, more trains were being assembled, and teams of soldiers were ready to depart.
If one train's firepower couldn't break through the beast tide, then several more would come.
Firepower was a panacea.
...
Meanwhile, the academic circles of the refugee star, Birong Star, and Jiang Ye Star began to stir.
The establishment of this scientific expedition team was a secret operation, not open to public recruitment, but conducted through internal contacts within the academic community.
Jiang Ye Star Military Academy, East 6 Teaching Building Auditorium.
The classroom was silent.
The white-haired old professor, Wen Puhe, was writing on the blackboard. This class was on the basics of electronic information warfare, and the students filling the seats were all young freshmen.
Halfway through Wen Puhe's writing, his phone suddenly rang.
He took out his phone, intending to silence it directly. Upon seeing the contact, his expression changed drastically.
The caller was an old titan of the industry, a big shot whose every move shook the entire sector.
"Students, I apologize, but this call is very important. I need to step out to take it." Wen Puhe bowed and hurried out of the classroom.
The students below looked at each other, all surprised.
They knew Wen Puhe's personality – rigid and proud. His phone always rang, and he'd silence it immediately. This was the first time he'd stepped out to take a call.
However, the students were all reserve officers, bound by iron discipline, and no one made a sound. The classroom remained silent.
A moment later, Wen Puhe re-entered the classroom. "My apologies, everyone. Your teacher needs to go on a business trip for a while and has to catch a flight now. You can all go back and rest for this class. I will find another teacher to cover the subsequent lessons."
With that, Wen Puhe grabbed his bag from the podium and turned to leave.
The students were stunned.
A business trip with no prior notice, leaving to catch a flight after just one phone call?
And so rushed that he couldn't even finish a single class?
What kind of assignment was so urgent?
...
Birong Star, Zu Chongzhi Interstellar University.
This was the third-ranked university on Birong Star, not a local institution but a branch campus that had relocated from another star system.
Zu Chongzhi Interstellar University had over a thousand campuses in the Milky Way, primarily focusing on mathematics, physics, and weapons manufacturing – in short, fields that fried your brain. The number of research achievements and cutting-edge theories emerging annually was like running water.
On some densely populated planets, to get into this university, one needed a score of over 950 out of a perfect 1000 on the college entrance exam, making it a selection of one in ten thousand.
Today was the quarterly meeting. The principal and a group of vice-principals sat on the rostrum. The hall below was packed with professors and lecturers. Just looking at their expressions conveyed an aura of academic authority.
The principal was speaking, engrossed in reading from his notes.
After about ten minutes, some of the elderly teachers and professors, unable to resist, began to nod off, their eyes glazing over.
Suddenly, the principal's voice reading the notes stopped.
He picked up his phone from the table, stared at the caller ID, and his expression was one of shock.
The vice-principal next to him glanced over and also wore a look of disbelief.
The principal stood up and scurried out of the conference room.
The dozing professors and teachers below woke up, looking confused and starting to whisper, speculating about who had called the principal.
Two minutes later, the principal ran back in.
He tapped the microphone. "There's an urgent matter. I need the comrades whose names I call to gather in my office now."
The principal began to read out names.
Professor after professor was called, rising in bewilderment and leaving the conference room.
Essentially, those who left were the pillars of the university, the people sitting in the front row.
After calling out more than twenty names, the principal cleared his throat. "I apologize, but I cannot continue this meeting. Vice-Principal Liu will preside in my stead."
With that, the principal scurried away again.
...
Refugee Star, Dark Night County.
The county governor's official car had just arrived at the star station. He alighted and, accompanied by his secretary, hurried along. In the center of the star station, a star-class spaceship was already waiting to take the governor to an extraterrestrial inspection project.
As the governor reached the spaceship, his secretary suddenly handed him his phone. "It's the Minister of Works."
The governor was taken aback and quickly straightened his posture, taking the phone to answer.
"Are you at the star station?" the Minister of Works asked first.
"Yes," the governor replied.
"You have a star-class spaceship flying to Dragon Snake Star, correct?"
"Yes," the governor nodded.
"The Planet Chief has a classified mission to quickly transport a group of professors, and the time is very urgent. Can we borrow your spaceship?" the Minister of Works said. "It will take about three days round trip. Can your trip be postponed by three days?"
"Yes," the governor quickly replied. "When will they arrive? What should I prepare?"
"They are already on their way and should arrive in about five minutes. You don't need to worry about anything, just go back and rest."
The call ended.
The governor shrugged and handed the phone back to his secretary. "We'll leave in three days."
"Ah?" the secretary was bewildered. "We're already boarding the spaceship. Is there something urgent for you?"
"I don't have anything urgent, but others do," the governor sighed. "Well, after working hard for half a year without a break, I can also catch my breath. You call my wife and tell her. Didn't she keep nagging about getting a divorce? We'll get it done tomorrow."