Life Is Like a Play, It All Depends on

The fish had taken the bait—after using the disguised communication signal to call a hidden channel in the Darkflow Starfield, an FTL communication array connected to Deep Rock Fortress actually received an unknown response. The signal source vaguely pointed to some region of deep space where the Darkflow Starfield met the Great Triangle Nebula, and its encoding matched the results of Luo's recent decryption efforts.

Momo had already activated the sound-field shielding in the communications room. Inside the secure zone, the technicians immediately got to work:

"Quick, quick, quick! Lights in position, lights in position!"

"Boss, just pay attention to your lines later. And don't make too big of a move—be careful not to pull Old Qiao's arm off."

"Effects team, effects team, get the interference effects ready..."

"All units ready!"

"Received the secondary handshake signal. Communications device preparing to power on. Five seconds! Everyone, mute your microphones. 'Actor' entering—"

The communications device in the center of the room emitted a low hum. Above it, the large holographic projector rapidly filled with trembling lines. A signal from deep space, encrypted and disguised countless times, entered Deep Rock Fortress and was restored into a clear communications signal using the method Luo had deciphered recently. The trembling lines formed the figure of someone dressed in a white robe, with what seemed to be a magnificent palace in the background.

The other party's face had been processed, covered by a hazy filter. Even his voice was obviously altered when it came through: "Why did you contact us so suddenly? It isn't the agreed time for communication..."

Eileen suddenly tugged at Yu Sheng's hair. Even within the sound-field shielding, she instinctively lowered her voice. "Hey, do you think we can remove the mosaic covering this guy's face?"

Yu Sheng said, "Probably not. The image