The announcement had not even finished before social media platforms around the world erupted.
"Holy shit, aliens?"
"Not aliens. Alien bugs. Look at that observation image. Trypophobia warning."
"We're screwed, we're screwed. Is this an interstellar war? I haven't even paid off my mortgage..."
"Calm down, guys. We've got the High God. That title isn't just for show."
"The High God hasn't appeared in ages, and now these bugs turn up. Talk about lucky timing."
Before panic could spread among the public, the astronomy enthusiasts' livestreams went wild.
The Pengcheng Amateur Astronomy Association's "Stargazing with Old Zhou" livestream usually had just over three hundred viewers. Tonight, 4.27 million people flooded in.
Old Zhou's telescope was pointed toward Jupiter.
On-screen, Jupiter looked just as it always had. Orange-red bands, the Great Red Spot, and the four Galilean moons.
"Don't worry, everyone. Let me adjust the settings. The Gold-Eater Clan should be on the far side of Jupiter. From our angle, we might not be able to..."
His words caught in his throat.
The scrolling comments stopped for a second, too.
On-screen, to Jupiter's right, a streak of light appeared.
It was not a meteorite. It was not a shooting star.
It was a band of light spanning the entire field of view.
Its color defied description. It was not red, not white, not anything that belonged in a normal spectrum.
It existed, but the eye could not describe it. The telescope's sensor frantically reported errors. The color temperature was off the scale.
"What... what is that?" Old Zhou's voice rose out of pitch.
Comments cascaded down the screen:
"What is that??"
"An aurora? Jupiter has auroras too, right?"
"Have you ever seen an aurora like that? Horizontal? And still spreading??"
"No, no, no. Go outside and look at the sky!"
There