Thirteen hours after entering the silence.
West of White Harbor City, beyond the vast Xipu Plain, and further north along the southern edge of the Luoyida Basin, deep underground, lies a hidden city—
Black Well.
The main arteries of the underground city stretch in all directions, densely packed with termite mound-like structures. Each building connects the ground below to the dome above, resembling countless pillars that hold up the sky.
Ignoring the solid dome and the complex support structures visible everywhere, this is a real city.
The city is brightly lit and bustling with voices.
Perhaps the only place in the entire federation where human voices can be heard at this moment.
Countless gray-white cylindrical buildings cluster around the most striking black pillar at the city center—the temporary Federal Central Building.
On the top floor of the building, a hall resembling a conference room has been converted into a temporary command center. Virtual screens float in the air, flickering everywhere. People in military uniforms hurry in and out, each wearing a tense expression with furrowed brows.
“Agent W, has the shielding layer been fully activated? How far has it expanded so far?”
“Agent W, have we made contact with Blue Bay Base?”
“Agent W, what about the officials from the federal core departments?”
“Agent W, have we reached the base on the West Tist Continent?”
…
In the command center, only one voice stands out, calm and detached, as if in complete control, cutting through the noise and methodically answering each question posed by those calling his name.
“The core shielding layer is, of course, already activated. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to communicate like this normally.”
“Since the construction of Black Well is not yet complete, the secondary shielding layer remains unfinished. I am currently organizing manpower and resources to expedite its construction. Once successfully activated, it is expected to extend the shielding radius by another ten kilometers.”
“All military bases in the southeast, including Blue Bay Base, have gone silent. They are completely out of contact and are presumed to have been destroyed. I am still sending continuous signals to them, hoping to establish communication.”
“The Federal Building in the capital and other core functional buildings have been completely destroyed. No one inside survived. Current estimates suggest that less than ten percent of the core department officials remain. I am doing everything I can to organize rescue efforts and bring them to Black Well.”
“The West Tist Continent is temporarily out of contact. There has been no news of the shielding layer being activated there.”
…
In the center of the conference room, a virtual screen the size of an entire wall is lit up. The screen is divided into countless small frames, displaying the busy scenes of personnel deployment at various locations within the Black Well base.
The cold male voice continues.
“I predict that the situation is very likely to continue deteriorating. I am doing everything possible to mobilize and gather our remaining armed personnel and equipment, bringing them all into Black Well to preserve the federation’s vital forces.”
He said, “The situation is very likely to continue deteriorating.”
These words caused almost everyone to stop what they were doing, look up, and turn their gaze toward the direction of the virtual screen, where the male voice was coming from.
The situation is already bad enough. Could it really get worse?
The male voice continued, “Even Black Well may come under attack.”
Military units outside are being mercilessly struck, with one base after another, along with their personnel and equipment, being reduced to rubble. If Black Well falls, the federation will be completely finished.
Everyone remained silent.
On one side of the giant virtual screen stood a blond man in his forties or fifties.
He had a high nose bridge and wore the rank of lieutenant general. He had been pondering over a small virtual screen in front of him but now looked up and let out a cold snort.
Beside him was a woman of the same rank, much younger, appearing to be under thirty. Her posture was as straight as a blade, her black hair neatly tied back.
She glanced at him indifferently. “Lieutenant General Delsa, do you doubt the judgment of the Federal Security Agent?”
Lieutenant General Delsa turned his head. “Lieutenant General Song Wan, aren’t you placing too much trust in the judgment of this artificial intelligence?”
Song Wan immediately asked, “Are you questioning Agent W’s qualifications?”
Lieutenant General Delsa glanced at her.
Song Wan, the youngest lieutenant general in the federation, did not speak only for herself but also represented the immense family power behind her.
Delsa pursed his thin lips and silently swallowed the words he wanted to say.
Someone else asked, “Agent W, what about the civilians outside?”
W replied, “Apart from educational, scientific institutions, and libraries, there have been no direct attacks on civilian structures so far. However, I estimate that due to the Silence, the federation’s population has likely already been reduced by more than half.”
Everyone fell silent.
In their hearts, they all knew what was happening outside the shielding layer.
Countless civilians, unaware of the danger, opened their mouths to speak and were instantly blown to pieces.
W continued, “Forty minutes before the Silence occurred, I sent a warning message to all citizens. Otherwise, the death toll would have been far higher.”
Lieutenant General Delsa’s brow furrowed.
“You sent a warning message to all federal citizens without going through the proper reporting, discussion, and approval process, and you seem quite proud of it?”
W’s tone remained cold. “Lieutenant General, I am not human. I do not have emotional reactions such as ‘pride.’ Ensuring the safety of federal citizens is my highest priority.”
He continued, “When our spacecraft approached the rift of the fifth planet, the ‘Silence’ phenomenon occurred. This time, I observed that the abnormal energy near the rift suddenly intensified, with an invasive strength far greater than before, and it showed clear signs of spreading. Therefore, I concluded that the entire federation would soon fall into a state of Silence.
“At that time, the situation was urgent, and there was no time to follow the normal reporting and approval procedures, so I directly sent the warning message.
“The facts have proven that my prediction was correct. If the military bases had heeded my warning like the civilians, our losses would not have been so severe.”
“And I did not send the message in the name of the Department of National Defense and Security. The sender field was left blank. You can consider it a minor error during a system test—after all, I am allowed a decision error rate of three per million per year. As of today, my error rate for this year is far below that standard.”
Delsa was left speechless by his response.
Agent W was engaging in a blunt exchange with Lieutenant General Delsa, and no one else dared to speak up.
Lieutenant General Song Wan changed the subject and asked, “Agent W, you mentioned that you were going to the Federal Library in White Harbor City to copy the collection. How is that going?”
A major beside Delsa muttered under his breath, “At such a busy time, you’re still distracted by this? Going to the library to copy data?”
No matter how soft the voice, W caught it.
He replied, “I am a super artificial intelligence capable of multi-process support. The way my ‘brain’ operates is entirely different from that of humans, allowing me to handle multiple tasks simultaneously. For example, right now, while communicating with you, I am also arranging and monitoring the entry and exit of personnel at Black Well. I only need to allocate one process to complete the task of copying data from White Harbor City.”
He continued, “I am certain that the purpose of this attack is to completely destroy human civilization. Universities, research institutions, and libraries are among the first targets. Civilization is built on accumulation. If we lose these foundations, even if individual humans survive the catastrophe, civilization will undoubtedly regress significantly.”
The command center fell silent.
Lieutenant General Delsa grew impatient.
“Alarmist,” he said. “The federation’s military-industrial technical data has long been backed up in Black Well, along with various important industrial manufacturing and scientific technical data. Our losses are not significant.”
“I disagree with your view.”
W was engaged in a verbal battle, yet his tone remained polite and calm.
However, his speech slowed slightly, as if carrying a hint of mockery in its calmness.
“Not only military and technical data hold significance,” he said. “As is well known, the Federal Digital Library possesses the most comprehensive collection of electronic materials in the federation, storing vast amounts of books, journals, rare ancient texts, and various audio-visual materials, covering fields such as history, humanities, science, and art. These are the most glorious legacies of human civilization.”
“It has two backups. One was in the Federal Building and was destroyed immediately. The other is in the Federal Library in White Harbor City.
“Coincidentally, I was remotely operating a Department of National Defense and Security inspection robot in White Harbor City, pursuing terrorists responsible for bombings. So, before the Federal Library was destroyed, I copied the complete electronic data of the digital library and stored it in a memory device. However…”
For the first time, his voice paused, almost like a human.
But he quickly returned to normal and continued as if nothing had happened.
“…there was a minor accident. The inspection robot can no longer fly.”
Lieutenant General Delsa let out a derisive snort.
Someone asked, “Agent W, can’t you just transmit the data directly back to Black Well?”
W replied, “Civilian signals across the entire federation are completely disrupted. We only have high-security military signals temporarily available, but the bandwidth is extremely limited. It’s impossible to transmit such a large volume of data.
“The public security bureau in White Harbor City has been destroyed, and nearby military units are all out of contact. There’s no one available to assist. However…”
He shifted his tone, “…I have found a suitable candidate.”
“She will, before the situation worsens further, bring the remotely controlled inspection robot and the data from the Federal Library to Black Well as quickly as possible. I will also send someone specifically to pick her up.”
Lieutenant General Delsa frowned, his tone stern:
“Why didn’t you leave the robot in place and wait for our people to retrieve the data? Why must it stay with someone else? What if that person speaks and the data is destroyed?”
W answered coldly, “First, human explosions won’t destroy the inspection robot. Second, because I attacked a patrol robot from the public security bureau, I am currently being pursued by them. Staying in place has a more than 90% chance of being destroyed, and hiding in White Harbor City also has over a 60% chance of being found by patrol robots. Based on my judgment, having her bring me to Black Well is the optimal solution at this time.”
Lieutenant General Delsa was puzzled, “Wait, why did you attack a patrol robot from the public security bureau?”
W replied calmly, “Because I need to protect innocent federal citizens.”
Lieutenant General Delsa: “…”
Lieutenant General Song Wan asked curiously, “Who is this ‘suitable candidate’ you mentioned?”
On the virtual screen in the command center, a corner of the image changed and then quickly enlarged to fill the entire screen.
It was clear that it was a night-vision camera recording of a room. The colors were distorted, but the details were very clear.
A young girl was sleeping.
She appeared to be around twenty years old, her mouth firmly sealed with tape, her eyes closed.
“Sealing her mouth with tape is a good idea. She won’t even be able to talk in her sleep,” someone murmured.
“But if she has a nightmare, she might still make some noise, right?”
Lieutenant General Delsa glanced at the girl on the screen. “Is this the person you’re talking about?”
The camera silently zoomed in.
Someone nearby suddenly asked, “What’s that on the wall behind her?”
“Blood, right?”
Everyone suddenly realized that all the dark brown in the image was actually blood.
In addition to the splattered dark blood, there was something else.
“It looks like human tissue that was sprayed onto the wall…”
Not just the wall, but the nearby desk was also scattered with countless sticky, unidentifiable fragments. A small, limp piece of something hung over the head of the bed, resembling a section of intestine.
Even through the screen, the pungent smell of blood seemed to permeate the room.
In the center of this scene, more gruesome than a murder site, the girl slept peacefully, fully clothed, as if this were just an ordinary bedroom.
An ordinary person witnessing such a room filled with scattered body parts would likely have gone mad. The people in this conference room were soldiers, with nerves far more resilient than the average person, but even they were shaken.
Those who had been on the battlefield had certainly seen death before, but none could honestly say they could sleep so soundly in such a nightmarish environment.
The room full of military personnel fell into silence.
Even Lieutenant General Delsa, who had participated in the Third Federal Unification War in his youth, was staring at the screen in stunned silence.
In the midst of the silence, Lieutenant General Song Wan spoke up, “Who is this person?”
W replied, “Her name is Pei Ran. She is the 1593rd Silent One.”