nashuaworldcup Chapter 336 Journalism
Chapter 336 Journalism
The next day, Lin Yeming went to work as usual, only to find the members of the Victory Team sitting together, watching the big screen.
The Tokyo Daily commented: "The fact that the Delta Force and TPC Carlo Station, which are so close to each other, failed to discover the Wangjiazicui site suggests a lack of exploration ideas among space experts and a waste of considerable funds."
When Lin Yeming stepped into the command room, he felt precisely this oppressive and resentful atmosphere.
Shinjo was so angry that his face turned red. Horii tried to analyze the "economic principles of media attracting attention" with his scientist's logic, but he obviously couldn't convince himself either.
Lina pursed her lips tightly, while Vice Captain Zongfang crossed his arms, his face grim.
Captain Megumi gazed calmly at the screen, but beneath that calm lay a profound stillness.
Daigo stood to the side, his brows furrowed. When he saw Lin Yeming enter, he gave him a helpless yet questioning look.
There seemed to be something deeper in those eyes, a hint of confusion about the misalignment between one's own responsibilities and the perceptions of the outside world.
Ye Rui quickly switched screens, pulling up a detailed exploration report and some blurry remote images of the Royal Valley ruins, attempting to demonstrate the difficulty and randomness of the exploration. "According to the records of the Carlo base, there are anomalous spatial folds and energy interference in that area, which are easily missed by conventional scans. The main monitoring direction of the Delta Space Station is also not the ecliptic plane region where the ruins may exist."
However, his professional explanations appear pale and powerless in the face of deliberately sensational headlines.
"They have no idea what it's like to navigate and explore space!" Xincheng was still indignant. "Can they just sit in their offices and type on keyboards and deny the efforts and dangers faced by those on the front lines?"
"This is public opinion, New City team members." Captain Megumi finally spoke, her voice steady yet powerful. "Part of our job is to face and deal with this kind of voice. TPC's exploratory work is pioneering, and it will inevitably be accompanied by controversy and misunderstanding. The important thing is whether we are clear about what we are doing, and how to make the public understand in a more effective way."
She turned to Ye Rui: "Prepare a concise report on the technical challenges and risks of deep space exploration, as well as the discovery process of Wangjia Valley, highlighting its scientific value and the accidental and dangerous nature of the discovery. Contact the publicity department to provide background information to influential media outlets in an appropriate manner."
"Understood!" Ye Rui immediately began operating the system.
Deputy Captain Zongfang snorted: "I'm afraid those guys only want to see what they want to see."
“We’ll just do our duty.” Megumi’s gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Lin Yeming and Daigo, pausing slightly. “Sometimes, actions speak louder than words. Especially now that ‘unconventional’ events are so frequent.”
Lin Yeming nodded, indicating his approval of Ju Jianhui's handling of the matter.
However, this Tokyo TV commentary offended most of the members of the GUTS team.
Shinjo's best friend is a member of a space expedition team, Rena's father is a staff officer at the space station, and Daigo and Rena are getting along very well...
Not to mention that because the space station and the Carlo base are outside of Earth, they are extremely dangerous now that monsters could appear at any time.
As a soldier, Munakata disliked him even more.
As for Lin Yeming, he also extremely disliked this kind of media.
Before he could even speak, Shinjo grumbled in dissatisfaction, "The Tokyo Daily, does it even look like a major newspaper anymore?"
"Isn't this just making things difficult for us by misleading public opinion like this?"
The perceptive Lina immediately checked the public opinion surrounding the program after it aired and found that most people were on TPC's side.
Then he discovered a problem.
This so-called Tokyo Daily commentary account is like a fake account, posting controversial news every day.
Even so, some media outlets still blatantly lied, deliberately shortening the Tokyo Daily commentary to the Tokyo Daily version.
Moreover, according to his research, this Tokyo Daily commentary is very similar to that of TV Tokyo; they both share a significant characteristic.
After reading the science article, Lina burst out laughing.
Lina's laughter sounded particularly crisp in the tense air, carrying a hint of mockery. All eyes immediately focused on her.
"Team member Lina?" Captain Megumi asked, looking at her questioningly.
Lina quickly projected the information she had found onto the main screen: "Look, everyone, this 'Tokyo Daily Review' is actually an independently operated online media account. Although it borrows the name from the Tokyo Daily, it has no affiliation with the real Tokyo Daily. It... gains traffic by publishing sensational, even often distorted, 'comments.' What's even more interesting," she switched pages and brought up another window, "I checked its historical publication records and related information, and found that its operating model, and even some suspicious aspects of its funding flows, overlap with some small, extreme media networks that claim to be 'exposing supernatural phenomena' or 'spidering extraterrestrial civilizations.' Moreover, just as the Tokyo Daily, which it imitates, is a legitimate newspaper, the 'style' it imitates seems to be that famous 'TV Tokyo.'"
"TV Tokyo?" Horii pushed up his glasses, suddenly realizing, "Oh! That's the TV station that, no matter how major the event, always broadcasts its scheduled programs, anime, and even food programs without fail? Popularly known as 'TV Tokyo's strongest legend'?"
Munakata recalled the secret his friend had told him and said, "I've heard of that. When Golza appeared, TV Tokyo was still airing anime."
"Therefore, many people feel confident."
"As long as TV Tokyo doesn't change its plans, the world won't be destroyed."
"I remember there was a zombie movie that used this angle."
“Yes, later the people simply voted against the other side, and the fact is that no problems arose because they were going against the majority.” Lina nodded, her smile fading and turning serious. “This ‘Tokyo Daily Review’ seems to be trying to do the opposite, creating another kind of ‘strongest’—regardless of the facts, it will publish the most incisive and eye-catching negative commentary, attempting to create an image of ‘being the only one who is sober in a world of drunks’ and ‘daring to expose the dark side of TPC’ amidst the chaos of public opinion. Simply put, it may not be pursuing the truth, but rather the attention brought by controversy, or even… it may be deliberately creating antagonism and distrust between TPC and the public for some specific purpose.”
Deputy Captain Zongfang snorted coldly: "As expected, these are just some underhanded tricks. But even rats can bite and hurt, especially in this era of rapid information dissemination."
Captain Megumi's eyes sharpened: "Deliberately creating antagonism and distrust... Nori, can you follow the clues discovered by Lina and delve deeper into the more detailed online connections and possible supporters behind this account? Especially its connection with those organizations that spread the 'extraterrestrial threat theory' extremist rhetoric."
"Leave it to me, Captain!" Ye Rui instantly got into the zone, his fingers flying across the keyboard, his eyes gleaming with the brilliance of a tech expert facing a challenge. "I'm best at cracking these tricks hidden behind the data."
Although Xincheng was still angry, he calmed down a bit when he heard that the other party might have ulterior motives. He clenched his fists and said, "If they are deliberately targeting TPC, then we can't let them succeed!"
Daigo walked up to Lin Yeming and whispered, "Yeming, do you think... this is just a simple media frenzy, or is there some real reason behind it?"
Lin Yeming looked at Daigu and secretly admired his keen insight.
Daigo felt a little flustered by Lin Yeming's gaze, but soon noticed that Lin Yeming's expression had turned serious.
"Xincheng, do you really think this is just a mistake?"
Lin Yeming's words immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.
Lin Yeming's question was like a pebble thrown into a calm pond, the ripples instantly spreading throughout the command room. Xincheng was stunned, his indignation turning to astonishment: "Yeming, what do you mean by that? If it wasn't a mistake... could it have been intentional?"
All eyes were on Lin Yeming, even Captain Ju Jianhui cast an inquiring glance at him.
Daigo's heart skipped a beat. He realized that Lin Yeming might be about to say something he had vaguely sensed but hadn't clearly articulated.
"Yorui, retrieve the scan reports of the lunar surface, especially the area around the Royal Valley ruins—no, a much wider area, including both publicly and privately released data from the TPC, as well as records of all anomalous space readings, energy fluctuations, and unconfirmed signals from the Delta Space Station and Carlo Base over the past year. Perform multiple comparisons and cross-analysis by timeline and geographic coordinates."
Without the slightest hesitation, Ye Rui executed the command immediately, his fingers moving so fast on the console that they almost left afterimages. On the main screen, complex star charts, data streams, and waveforms began to scroll, overlay, and compare rapidly.
"Ye Ming, what are you suspecting?" Captain Ju Jianhui asked in a deep voice, her gaze fixed on the rapidly changing information on the screen.
Lin Yeming walked to the large screen and pointed to the area marked "Wang Family Valley": "Captain, everyone. Let's look at it another way. The media's questioning of 'not detecting it at such close range' implies either 'incompetence or dereliction of duty.' But what if we assume... this 'failure to detect it' isn't simply a matter of technical limitations or bad luck?"
"You mean... someone, or something, is interfering with the detection? Deliberately hiding that relic?" Horii was the first to react, his scientist's mind quickly following Lin Yeming's train of thought. "That... is theoretically possible. If the relic itself possesses some kind of technology to shield or distort detection waves, or..."
“Or perhaps a third party, before us, implemented information concealment in that area,” Vice Captain Zongfang continued, his eyes sharp as knives. “To monopolize the secrets of the ruins, or… to wait for a certain opportunity?”
Daigo felt his heart race. He thought of the pyramids, of Golza and Melba, of those ancient ruins and monsters that seemed to appear at specific times and places. Too many coincidences cease to be coincidences.
"Found it!" Ye Rui suddenly raised his voice, highlighting a set of comparative images and waveforms processed by a complex algorithm. "Captain, Ye Ming's speculation might be based on something! Look here, here, and here!"
On the screen, several different regions on the far side of the moon, including the vicinity of the Royal Valley ruins, exhibited extremely weak, brief, and highly similar energy disturbance signals at different times. These signals were very subtle, mixed in with the cosmic microwave background radiation and solar wind interference, and would be almost impossible to notice individually without this kind of large-scale, high-precision, in-depth cross-comparison and pattern recognition.
“These signals…don’t belong to any known natural phenomenon or the known operating frequencies of TPC’s existing equipment.” Ye Rui’s voice carried a mix of technical excitement and tension. “Their timing doesn’t follow a clear pattern, but each occurrence corresponds to a brief decrease in the accuracy of conventional detection in the relevant area—a very small decrease, within the allowable error range, so it was previously ignored. But when all these ‘tiny errors’ are superimposed on the temporal and spatial dimensions…”
“This forms an ‘invisible curtain’,” Lin Yeming continued, pointing to the faintly visible network of signal points. “This curtain isn’t continuous; it’s activated intermittently and selectively in specific areas, cleverly utilizing the ‘folds’ and ‘noise’ of the spatial environment itself to create even deeper ‘blind spots’ within the ‘blind spots’ of conventional detection. The Wangjia Valley ruins may very well have always been within such a carefully maintained ‘information shadow’.”
Xincheng gasped: "So, it's not that we didn't notice, it's that someone...something, doesn't want us to find out?"
Lina covered her mouth: "Then why were we discovered again? Did the curtain malfunction? Or..."
"Or did 'it' or 'them' deliberately remove the shield so we could discover it?" Daigo uttered the chilling guess.
A brief silence fell over the command center. If this deduction is correct, then the malice and targeting hidden behind that seemingly foolish and inflammatory article in the Tokyo Daily are far more terrifying than simply seeking attention. It precisely pinpointed the "anomaly" in TPC's exploratory capabilities and amplified and questioned it through public opinion—this in itself seems like a...test? Or, a signal that some kind of action is about to begin?
Captain Megumi's expression was more solemn than ever before. She looked around at her team members: "If there is such an unknown third party that can have a long-term, covert impact on our ability to explore the moon and even deeper into space, then its technological level, its intentions, and... its possible lurking location are all the highest priority matters that we must investigate immediately."
She quickly gave the following orders: "Nori, classify this analysis as top secret, codenamed 'Moon Shadow.' Continue to delve deeper into all relevant data, attempting to reverse-engineer the principles and possible origins of this shielding technology. Horii, you will work with Nori, starting with energy properties and signal simulation. Shinjo and Lina, prepare to pilot the Flying Swallow, carrying a new type of high-sensitivity, broad-spectrum detector, to conduct covert, close-range reconnaissance of relevant areas on the far side of the moon. Note that the operation must be kept absolutely secret to avoid alerting the enemy."
"Understood!" the group responded in unison, their previous frustration replaced by heightened vigilance and fighting spirit.
"Deputy Captain Zongfang, increase the alert level of the base and all outer space facilities, especially information security and counter-reconnaissance measures."
"Yes!"
Although the conclusion was somewhat off track, Lin Yeming achieved his main objective.
Next, he needs to make some preparations.
Just in case, we'll have to take Daigo to the moon.
When necessary, Naga and Tiga will join forces for a righteous one-against-two battle.