Chapter Thirty-Five: The Mysterious Thunderous Sound

“Loud bang? No, everything in the lab is normal.”

The two men in the elevator listened to the radio report, feeling puzzled. Everyone had heard the sound just now, and it had definitely come from this direction.

When the elevator stopped at the laboratory floor, they stepped out. Sun Chenglin, the duty officer, hurried over. “Minister Lin, we didn’t hear any loud bang.”

“That huge noise just now, none of you heard it?”

Sun Chenglin shook his head. “We really didn’t hear anything.” The other duty staff behind him also shook their heads, signaling the same.

Without further questions, Lin Guangming rushed into the duty room, checking the collider’s safety status at the control console.

“How strange!”

Looking at the panel data, the collider was indeed fine. What was that loud bang, then?

“Beep beep…”

Lin Guangming’s communicator rang—it was Wang Bowen calling.

“Hello, Director Wang, I’m in the lab right now. The sound didn’t come from inside the laboratory.”

Wang Bowen’s voice over the phone was anxious and urgent. “Old Lin, everyone at the base thinks there was an explosion in the lab. Are you sure there’s no problem?”

“I’m here in person, I’ve checked everything myself. The machines are fine. It seems the bang didn’t come from our lab. Maybe it was from farther away.”

After repeatedly confirming with Lin Guangming that the lab was safe, Wang Bowen finally relaxed. “Alright, check your equipment thoroughly and ensure everything is safe. I’ll contact the surrounding units and have them search the area.”

After hanging up, other members of the Energy Department arrived. Lin Guangming quickly gathered them and sent everyone back to their posts to inspect all the equipment. Even if the lab wasn’t the source, they had to make sure the bang hadn’t affected any machinery.

Upon receiving the orders, everyone dispersed, and Zhang Mingyang led his team to begin their checks.

At that moment, Qian Zhongshu hurried over with his laptop. “Old Lin, this is odd.”

“Odd?” Lin Guangming replied, “What’s going on, Old Qian?”

Qian Zhongshu handed him the laptop. “Look, this is what I just saw on the external network. The loud bang wasn’t just here—it happened all over the world!”

“All over the world?”

Lin Guangming was astonished. “That can’t be, the energy from that bang couldn’t have traveled around the globe!”

“It didn’t travel the globe,” Qian Zhongshu showed him the data he’d gathered. “Look, there are already reports online from 14 countries and 78 cities about mysterious loud bangs. It wasn’t a single noise, but simultaneous sounds in different regions. The range isn’t large—each one basically covers a city.”

Lin Guangming looked at the data and browsed the online reports, stroking his nearly vanished beard, unsure what to say. Was this a coincidence, or something inexplicable?

“Old Qian, I think we’d better not sleep tonight. I suggest everyone does a thorough check of the equipment to see if the bang caused any impact. That way, we’ll be prepared if it happens again.”

Listening to Lin Guangming, Qian Zhongshu replied, “You think this bang could happen again?”

Staring at the collider, Lin Guangming shook his head. “Hard to say, but whether it happens again or not, we should check everything to prevent any trouble.”

“Alright, I agree.” Qian Zhongshu nodded. “Let’s do as you say. I’ll arrange for everyone to gather in the lab, and we can split into groups for the inspection.”

“Good.”

With that, the two got to work.

Soon, all the Energy Department staff received Qian Zhongshu’s message. Upon learning the sound hadn’t come from the lab, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If an explosion had occurred, no one in the base would have survived.

“Sister Bai, look.”

On the base plaza, a female logistics worker showed Bai Muqing the online information from Qian Zhongshu.

“All over the world? I thought only we heard it.”

Logging onto the wider network, they saw that almost every post discussed the loud bang. Some said it was a sonic boom from a jet, others claimed aliens had arrived, and the comments ranged wildly.

“Sister Bai, someone even said it was the heavens letting out a fart.”

“Haha…”

“I don’t even read the trending news anymore, just the comments. There are all kinds of geniuses out there.”

After scrolling for a while, Bai Muqing received a message on her communicator: no losses had been caused by the bang. Besides factory and Energy Department staff, everyone else could go rest.

“Sister Bai, let’s go, everything’s fine.”

Before leaving, Bai Muqing glanced back toward the laboratory, then headed to her dormitory.

Returning to her room, she changed clothes, turned off the lights, and climbed into bed to rest.

Just as she lay down, she remembered something, jumped out of bed, and retrieved the letter from her pocket—the one Zhang Mingyang had given her.

On the envelope, there was only one line: “To Bai Muqing, personally.”

Opening the envelope, two sheets of letter paper fell out.

“In this day and age, someone still writes letters?”

She unfolded the pages and read the contents. “This…” The further she read, the redder her cheeks grew. “Zhang Mingyang, you’re dead meat tomorrow!”

...

Meanwhile, in the laboratory, Zhang Mingyang was leading four others to inspect the equipment.

“Engineer Wang, if we all check together, it’s too slow. How about this—we split up, each of us checks our own area. It’ll be faster and more efficient.”

“Alright.”

The others headed to their assigned regions, while Zhang Mingyang went alone to inspect the magnetic wall segment.

“Why do I feel like I’ve forgotten something?”

...

That night, more than 1,100 staff in the Energy Department worked through the night, checking equipment for safety.

At five in the morning, Zhang Mingyang’s team finished their inspection and headed to the small plaza to report their findings.

“Sir, our group has finished checking—no issues.”

Lin Guangming reviewed Zhang Mingyang’s report. “Good, thank you. Go get some rest.”

Seeing the bloodshot eyes of his mentor, Zhang Mingyang urged him to rest as well. “Don’t push yourself too hard. The project’s only just begun—you don’t want to burn out already.”

“You rascal, go on, get some sleep,” Lin Guangming said, nudging him away. “I’ve got two more teams to wait for—once they’re done, I’ll head back.”

“Forget it, I’ll wait with you.” Dodging his mentor’s push, Zhang Mingyang sat on a bench nearby.

Lin Guangming teased, “Looks like you’re not tired at all.”

Though he joked, Lin Guangming felt reassured by his apprentice’s concern.