Chapter 123: The Disguise Plan

Inside the conference room, absolute silence reigned. Everyone was stunned by the news, rendered entirely speechless by shock.

What did humanity actually possess right now?

No superweapons!

No sub-light engines!

Aside from their crude nuclear arsenal, they didn’t have a single reliable space-combat weapon! In this state, confronting an advanced alien civilization head-on was a guaranteed death sentence.

Their minds went blank, paralyzed by the sheer gravity of the situation. Even the most brilliant scientists sat in grim, frowning silence.

The news was terrifying. A signal from an extraterrestrial civilization originating from outside the Solar System. Was it related to the alien wreck buried on Mars? Were they just passing through, or had they come specifically for this star system? Why did they broadcast a signal at all?

There were too many unknowns. If this approaching fleet was a rescue party for the crashed vessel, humanity would be dragged into a war of extermination with zero chance of survival. The outcome of fighting a true interstellar civilization was obvious.

The room was thick with dread. The psychological pressure was so immense that many felt they were on the verge of a total breakdown.

Seeing the despair written across their faces, Jason suppressed a sigh and broke the silence. “Everyone, listen to me. Let’s look at this from a more optimistic angle. It’s highly likely this approaching fleet has no connection to the vessel buried here. They might not even know we exist, which would explain why they carelessly leaked their signal…”

“If they were a hostile force coming specifically for us, no matter how much they underestimated our capabilities, they wouldn’t broadcast their position and give up the element of surprise, would they?”

Professor Thomson slowly nodded. “He’s right. When we intercepted the transmission, the signal strength was incredibly weak. We barely recognized it as an artificial broadcast. It was almost certainly an unintentional leak.”

“They’ve pinged our sensors four times now! The last two bursts were so faint that, if we hadn’t been actively looking for them, we would have dismissed them as standard cosmic background radiation!”

Jason pressed the point. “If they were here with hostile intent, they would just attack. They wouldn’t keep inadvertently exposing themselves. Therefore… they probably haven’t detected us yet!”

While they didn’t know exactly why a sophisticated alien fleet would leak radio waves, this deduction was the most logical silver lining they could find.

The attendees whispered among themselves, concluding that their best course of action was strict avoidance. The Federation still had a vast amount of recovered technology it hadn’t fully deciphered; there was absolutely no need to risk inter-civilizational communication right now.

The Noah was like a single grain of sand in the vast desert of the Solar System. With its main industrial reactors spun down, its thermal signature was practically nonexistent. No matter how advanced the aliens were, they couldn’t possibly scan every single rock in the system!

Their only real vulnerability was the radio telemetry emitted by their automated surface mining drones. However, those signals were low-power, degraded rapidly in the vacuum of space, and were easily drowned out by cosmic interference. Regardless, the administration had immediately recalled all surface machinery and even scuttled an active orbital satellite just to be safe.

Therefore… it was highly probable the aliens were blind to their presence.

Even so, a heavy weight remained on everyone’s hearts. These were all highly optimistic assumptions; no one knew the actual truth.

Humanity knew nothing about the wider universe. If the cosmos truly operated on a “dark forest” principle, where civilizations instinctively destroyed any potential rivals upon discovery then even the weaker party should strike first to seize the initiative!

But what if that wasn’t the case? Humanity was pathetically weak. Provoking a sleeping giant was tantamount to suicide. If an ant jumps up and bites a boot, it shouldn’t be surprised when it gets crushed.

To attack, or to hide? They were caught in an impossible dilemma. Even if they chose to strike, with what? Slow-moving nuclear missiles? Jury-rigged lasers and ion cannons that barely functioned?

Jason was torn. The universe kept throwing apocalyptic curveballs, catching them completely off guard.

Was this new civilization an opportunity, or the harbinger of their extinction? The question hung like a dark storm cloud over the room.

Just as the panic began to set in again, Jason suddenly stood up. His voice was firm, cutting through the anxiety. “Enough speculation. I am issuing two immediate directives. First, triangulate their exact coordinates as quickly as possible!”

“Second, parse that encrypted data packet immediately!”

At this critical juncture, as the leader of the Federation, he had to project absolute confidence and take control. If he faltered, the entire command structure would descend into chaos.

When Jason was giving the orders, the astronomers and cryptographers snapped out of their daze. These were concrete tasks they knew how to execute. With grim determination, they hurried out of the war room to solve the two problems Jason had set before them.

Meanwhile, Calvin sat in the corner, sweating profusely as he took a shaky sip of water. His precognitive simulation had finally yielded a result, but he was terrified to speak it aloud. He had seen an “endless, blinding light” the exact same doomsday vision from his previous prophecies! Was humanity’s true disaster not the crashed ship, but this approaching fleet? Or were his powers just malfunctioning?

Jason’s mind raced, rapidly analyzing their options. The strong and the weak could never negotiate as equals.

The idea that a highly advanced civilization would inherently possess a higher moral compass was pure, naive nonsense! History proved otherwise. When the Spanish Conquistadors encountered the technologically inferior Aztec Empire, it resulted in massive slaughter and enslavement. When the old European empires discovered resource-rich but industrially weak nations, they didn’t hesitate to launch wars of conquest!

How would an alien empire view humanity?

The humans themselves might be worthless, but the Noah was incredibly valuable. And what about the Perfect Element they possessed? That was an invaluable strategic resource for us and it might me same for them also!

He could not entrust the fate of the entire Federation to the assumed morality or the fleeting mood of an unknown alien race.

“Based on the Doppler shift of the intercepted waves, there is a very high probability they are heading directly toward the inner Solar System,” Professor Thomson reported gravely. “And they are moving fast!”

What now?

Keywords and tactical scenarios flashed through Jason’s mind. He slammed his fist onto the table, his eyes burning with resolve. “I propose we initiate a ’Disguise Plan’!”

“Launching a preemptive strike is useless; we can’t scratch them. Hiding relies entirely on luck. However, we can bluff! We can disguise ourselves as another highly advanced, native interstellar civilization!”

“If they detect us, we need to open a dialogue with them on equal footing. We must project absolute strength. We have to make them believe that the Federation is an apex predator not to be trifled with!”

The Disguise Plan, it will be the greatest bluff in human history. He was betting the survival of their entire species on a poker face.

Nature was the best teacher. Countless creatures survived by projecting false strength: harmless flies mimicking stinging wasps, defenseless caterpillars disguised as venomous snakes. The Federation would just have to do the same!

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