Chapter 125: Smoke and Mirrors

Today was a pivotal day that would determine the fate of humanity!

Jason stood in front of the recording console and took a deep breath, his heart pounding wildly against his ribs. He was arguably the most mentally resilient person aboard the Noah, but even he couldn’t shake the intense nerves.

Although the spaceship’s internal temperature was maintained at a comfortable 23 to 24 degrees Celsius, anxiety welled up inside him. He felt hot, incredibly hot, and sweat beaded on his forehead. He was genuinely terrified, fighting hard to force himself to calm down.

“Toughness” and “disguise” were the core pillars of their plan. Throughout this entire ordeal, humanity could not show a single ounce of fear!

In reality, humanity was no more than a stray cat, forced to puff itself up and roar like a lion to prove it was a genuine apex predator… That was exactly how everyone felt right now.

According to the Senior Scientists’ calculations, when two civilizations with similar technological levels met in the cosmos, the most likely outcome was mutual probing and small-scale skirmishes. Only after both sides realized that the cost of all-out war was too high would they even consider peaceful contact, intelligence exchange, or trade.

No one knew for sure if the Hostile Wilderness Theory was universally true. But from a human perspective, if the spoils of war did not outweigh the costs, then war could be avoided.

Ultimately, all human behavior was driven by self-interest, and perhaps alien civilizations were no different.

Assuming interstellar civilizations were rare, species capable of traversing the stars had to be highly intelligent. If this assumption held true, reasonable beings could sit down and negotiate; there was no need for a life-or-death struggle. Death was an outcome all living creatures wanted to avoid. With no preexisting hatred between them, war wasn’t an absolute necessity.

However, they still didn’t understand the aliens’ logic. Were they moral? Were they inherently belligerent?

Humanity could only rely on its collective wisdom and execute the plan that offered the highest chance of survival!

They must be intelligent and logical; otherwise, they couldn’t have developed such advanced technology. It’s safe to treat them as a rational species… Jason took another deep breath. They had to base their communication strategy on this assumption.

The first step of the disguise operation was communication or rather, deterrence!

Just like nations back on Earth, every civilization has its borders. A powerful interstellar empire would never allow an unknown alien vessel to approach unchallenged. Following this logic, humanity had to take the initiative and issue a warning, rather than cowering in the shadows.

It was the only way to project the image of a powerful civilization on equal footing with the intruders!

But how should they issue this warning? How could they make it firm yet appropriate? This had been the main topic of debate among the Senior Scientists for the past few days.

After careful deliberation, they concluded they should take the initiative and broadcast a radio signal to the alien vessel!

Just like the old nations of Earth, whenever foreign vessels or aircraft crossed a sovereign border, a stern and formal warning was always issued first. Deeper conflicts only arose if that warning was ignored…

Things might operate differently on a cosmic scale, but regardless, this kind of warning was the most logical approach. If the universe wasn’t a purely hostile wilderness, issuing a prior warning was undoubtedly the right move!

We are a powerful civilization! We must remain calm and composed! Jason repeated the mantra in his head, fighting to suppress his inner turmoil.

The team had ruled out sending text-based data packets. Humanity’s information encoding capabilities were relatively primitive, and an advanced civilization might easily recognize this as a sign of weakness. Sending a raw audio broadcast, however, bypassed this issue entirely. As long as the sound waves were recorded with high fidelity, the simplest analog encoding would suffice.

Jason’s tone couldn’t sound rushed or panicked. It needed to sound slightly irritated, like an equal addressing a serious boundary violation: You have crossed the line. Leave now, or this means war. Yes, exactly like that… they were equals!

After a long silence, he spoke slowly and clearly: “Unknown alien vessel, you have crossed our established security perimeter. Adjust your course and leave immediately! If you fail to comply, you will bear full responsibility for the consequences!”

Jason finished the statement in one breath, feeling quite satisfied with his delivery.

He listened to the playback several times, searching for any flaws. If his voice sounded even slightly hesitant or rushed, he would have scrapped it. This was already his third take.

The wording was highly deliberate. Phrases like “established security perimeter” and “bear full responsibility” were nothing more than empty threats, a massive bluff.

The scientists in the room nodded in approval. The lead psychological analyst finally spoke up, “That’s the one. There shouldn’t be any issues with this recording.”

In reality, the aliens absolutely could not understand English. From a single isolated sentence, even the most advanced translation matrix couldn’t possibly decipher its meaning. This was especially true for English, with its endless contradictions and complex grammatical rules making it difficult language to parse!

But that was fine. They didn’t need to understand the words. The tone alone would convey the warning!

This was another calculated layer of smoke and mirrors in their disguise. The unknown breeds caution. The extraterrestrials, unable to decipher the message, would inevitably harbor doubts and hesitate.

By maintaining this mystique, humanity would appear unfathomable. Best case scenario? The aliens would simply get spooked and leave!

The engineering team immediately got to work. They queued the audio file to be broadcast via the main communications array at a massive output of 30,000 watts, ensuring the signal would reach its target loud and clear.

“Captain! Radio waves travel at the speed of light. At their current distance, it will take approximately 8.57 days for the signal to reach them… Are you absolutely sure you want to transmit?”

Jason sighed softly, then gave a firm nod. He had no way of knowing if he was making the right call…

Some scientists had argued that in the pitch-black void of space, an object emitting zero or minimal radiation was nearly impossible to detect. Therefore, if humanity maintained strict radio silence, the approaching civilization might fly right past the Noah without ever noticing it.

But that passive approach had been quickly vetoed. Who knew how long the aliens planned to linger in the Solar System? What if they decided to survey Mars? A single reconnaissance probe in orbit would expose the Noah. Rather than entrusting their survival to blind luck, it was better to seize control of their own destiny. That was Jason’s stance, and the majority agreed!

“Transmit!” With Jason’s final command, the massive radio array beamed the message out into the void.

If they were going to play a part, they had to commit fully. Jason immediately ordered the Noah to lift off from the surface, ascending slowly until it hovered menacingly in the upper Martian atmosphere. The thousands of fake weapon batteries began to emit a faint, pulsing glow, creating the terrifying illusion of a warship charging its weapons for an imminent strike!

What followed was an agonizingly tense wait. It would be over eight days before the radio transmission reached its target…

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