Chapter 21 Chapter Fourteen "I Know..."

The "Stelting War" dragged on for a total of two more months, but Hommel was not at all bored during this period.In his special capacity as mediator, he found himself at the center of interstellar affairs, a role that made him complacent. There were no major battles at this point, only a few sporadic skirmishes, not worth mentioning at all.After the base made the necessary concessions, the terms of the peace treaty were fully finalized.According to this peace treaty, Steiting was able to retain his original title, but lost almost everything else.His fleet was disarmed; with the exception of the Kalgan system, all other domains were granted autonomy and allowed their citizens to vote to determine their future fate-either to restore their original status, or to be completely independent, or It is a confederation with the base.

On June 2, 377, A.D. 377, on an asteroid in Terminus' own system - one of the oldest fleet bases in the Base - the war came to an official end.The peace treaty was signed by Lev Melas on behalf of Kargan, and Hommier happily acted as a witness. During the entire mediation process, Hummel did not meet Dr. Darrell, nor did he meet any other "accomplices".But it doesn't matter at all, his news is not in a hurry to be announced.And whenever he thought of that thought, he couldn't help but smile. Dr. Darryl's return to Terminus was a few weeks after "Day of Triumph."In the evening of that day, his house became the gathering place for the five accomplices again.Fourteen months ago, they drew up the plan for the first step in the same place.

The five of them finished their dinner slowly, and then drank for a long time. It seemed that no one wanted to return to that old topic. It turned out that it was Joel Tubb who broke the silence first.With one eye fixed on the deep purple liquid in the glass, he murmured, somewhat to himself, "Well, Hommier, I can see that you're a big shot now, and you put Things are going well." "Me?" Meng En immediately laughed out loud, looking very happy.For some reason, he hadn't stuttered for months.He explained, "I didn't do anything at all, and that's all Argadia's fault. Oh, by the way, Darryl, how is she doing? I hear she's coming back from Trantor soon."

"What you heard is correct," Daryl said in a steady tone, "The spaceship she's on should arrive within this week." After finishing speaking, he secretly observed everyone's reactions, seeing There is nothing but joy, joy, cheers, and sighs of relief.Apart from these mixed positive reactions, he didn't find anything else. Tu Bo added: "Then it's really all over. Last spring, who could have foreseen all this? Meng went to Kalgen and is back now; Arcadia came from Kal Roots go to Trantor, and are now on our way home; we've had a war, and God help us to win it. We've always heard that the great trends of history can be predicted in advance, but this past What happened for a while made our parties dizzy, as if it was impossible to predict."

"Bullshit," said Ansel, looking displeased, "what on earth is making you so proud? It sounds like we really won a war. In fact, we won a trivial war." opponent, but enough to make us get carried away and forget about the real enemy." There was an uneasy silence, during which only Hummel Moon gave a very disproportionate chuckle. An Suo suddenly punched hard on the arm of the chair, seemingly extremely angry in his heart.He said: "Yeah, I meant Second Base. No one mentioned it tonight, and if I'm right, everyone was trying to avoid it. The illusion of victory hanging over this idiot world, really. Is it that charming? Makes you all feel like you should join in? So why not jump for joy, do somersaults, clap each other's arms, and throw confetti streamers through the window. Let it all out and drain the excitement Light—Come back here when you're exhausted and come back to your senses, and we'll continue to discuss that old problem. Last spring, you all sat here, and everyone's eyes were rolling, and you were caught by that The nameless enemy is frightening to death; and now, in fact, the problem is still there, and it has not changed at all. Do you think that the master of mind science at the Second Base is not afraid of defeating a stupid fleet commander?"

He finally stopped, already flushed and panting. Meng En asked in a low voice: "Would you like to listen to me now, Ansuo? Or, do you still want to continue playing the role of an outspoken conspirator?" "Go ahead, Hommyer," said Darryl, "but we should all refrain from displaying that garish rhetoric. It's not bad in itself, but it just annoys me at the moment. " Hommier Moon leaned back in his armchair, picked up a decanter from his elbow, and carefully poured himself another glass of wine. "You unanimously sent me to Kalgen," he said, "and hoped that I could find as much useful information as possible from the records of the Mule Palace. I also spent several months working, but I will never Credit. As I mentioned just now, I was able to enter the Mule Hall with the help of the clever Argadia. I can confidently say that my original understanding of Mule’s life and that era is already considered Small accomplishments. However, after months of hard work, I had a lot of fruitful gains, thanks to access to original documents that no one else had access to."

"As a result, I'm now in the unique position of being able to assess with considerable accuracy the real threat to Second Base. I'm much better equipped than our angry friend." An Suo gritted his teeth and said, "So, how do you assess their threat?" "Ha, equal to zero." After a brief silence, Avit Cermick asked in a surprised and unbelievable tone: "You mean, their threat to us is equal to zero?" "Of course, my friends, there is no Second Base!" Ansuo sat upright, closing his eyes slowly, his face was pale and expressionless.

Now that Meng En has become the focus of everyone's attention, he felt very proud, and continued: "The more interesting point is that the second base never actually existed." Darryl asked: "What is the basis for your amazing conclusion?" Meng En replied: "I don't admit that this is a surprising conclusion. You have all heard the story of the mule's search for the second base, but do you know the scale and concentration of the search? At that time, he had almost unlimited human and material resources at his disposal. , financial resources, and he did invest all his resources. He wanted to find the second base wholeheartedly-in the end, he failed after all, and there was no trace of the second base at all."

"He has almost no hope of finding it," Tu Bo emphasized in an impatient tone, "Second Base has a way to protect itself, and won't let those searchers succeed." "Even if the searcher is a mule with mutant spiritual power? I don't think so. But please be patient, you can't expect me to finish all the important contents of the fifty reports in five minutes. According to the The signed peace treaty, all these documents will be donated to the 'Seldon History Museum' for permanent preservation, and you can analyze those materials calmly like I did back then. At that time, you will find that the mule's conclusion is clearly written , and that’s what I’ve just said—Second Base doesn’t exist, never did.”

Cermick interrupted suddenly: "Well, then what is stopping the mule's ambition?" "My God, what do you think is stopping him? Death, of course, which we all meet sooner or later. God.One of the biggest superstitions circulating today is that the invincible and invincible mule is driven by some force This is the result of interpreting everything from a wrong point of view. "Of course everyone in the galaxy knows that Mule was a deformed person both physically and mentally. He died before the age of forty because his maladjusted body could no longer survive. During the few years before his death, He was always sick; even in the best of health he was not equal to the infirmity of the common man. Well, he conquered the whole galaxy, and then, by the laws of nature, fell into the arms of death. He could follow It is really a miracle that Death has fought for so long and achieved such great achievements. My friends, these are clearly recorded in the literature. All you need is patience, and you just need to try to explain everything with a new perspective fact."

Darryl said thoughtfully, "Very well, Meng, let's try it. It's going to be a fun experiment, and if it doesn't yield anything, at least it will help our brains. For those Disturbed people—how are you going to explain those records that Ansel showed us more than a year ago? Please teach us how to interpret them with a new perspective." "Too simple, how old is EEG analysis? Or, let me put it another way, how well-developed is the research and development of neural networks?" "I can tell you that we are conducting research in this area." Daryl replied. "Okay, so, how plausible is your explanation of what you and Yasuo call the 'disturbance plateau'? How sure are you of your theory? It's enough to prove the existence of some powerful force. Does it exist? Don't forget that all other evidence is negative. It is the simplest way to attribute unknown phenomena to the supernatural or divine. "However, this is human nature. In the past history of the galaxy, there have been many examples of isolated planetary systems degenerating into savage worlds. What do we learn from those examples? In each case, the savages will not understand them. The natural forces of the world—storms, plagues, droughts—are all the result of the power of the gods. The so-called "god" here refers to all life forms that are more powerful than human beings and can dominate the universe. "This is the so-called 'simulation of the gods and man'. And I believe that on this issue at present, our attitude is no different from that of savages, and we have fallen into a rut without knowing it. Blaming Superman for everything we don't understand—Second Foundation in this case, just because we thought of the little hint Seldon left." "Oh," Ansuo interrupted Meng En, "So you still remember Seldon, I thought you forgot him. Seldon did say that there is a second base, please explain this." "Do you understand Seldon's overall intentions? Do you understand how many necessary factors were involved in his calculations? In fact, the Second Foundation may be a very necessary 'scarecrow', with a very specific purpose in the whole plan. Like, how did we beat Calgan? What did you write about in the last series, Tubo?" Tu Bo moved his sturdy body, and replied: "Yes, I know what conclusion you want to draw. I went to Kalgen, Daryl at the end of the war. The morale of that planet was unimaginably low, which is very Obviously, I've carefully read their news records, and... well, they all believe that they are doomed to lose. In fact, they all think that the Second Base will definitely intervene in the end, and naturally extend a helping hand to the base, so all The soldiers and civilians have completely lost their fighting spirit." "Exactly," Meng said. "During the war, I was there all the time. I told Stelling that Second Base didn't exist, and he believed me, so he felt safe. But there was nothing he could do about it." The deep-rooted beliefs of the people were reversed overnight. So in this cosmic chess game arranged by Seldon, that legend has indeed become a very useful pawn." At this moment, An Suo suddenly opened his eyes, staring at Meng En's calm face with mocking eyes: "I said you were lying." Hou Mier suddenly turned pale, and retorted: "You accuse me like this, I will never accept it, and I don't have to defend myself." "I said that without any intention of attacking you personally. You can't help lying, and you don't know about it, but you still lied." Cermick put his skinny hand on the young man's sleeve and advised him, "Calm down, young man." Yasuo shook his hand away, rather rudely: "I've lost patience with you guys. I haven't seen this man a few times in my life, and I can't believe how much he's changed. You guys People have known him for years, and it's maddening to ignore the fact. Do you think this man is Hummel Moon? He's not the Hummel Moon I used to know. " This sentence caused a burst of confusion, and Meng En shouted loudly: "You say I'm a counterfeit?" "Maybe not an ordinary impostor, but still an impostor. Please be quiet, everyone! I want you to listen to me." Yasuo also had to shout hard to drown out the noise. He stared at everyone with piercing eyes, forcing everyone to shut their mouths.Then he said again: "Does any of you remember what Hommyr Moon used to be like? I remember he used to be a shy librarian, and he seemed very shy every time he spoke, and his voice was tense and nervous. He stutters about things he's not sure about. But is this guy like him now? He's fluent, confident, theoretical, and, for God's sake, he doesn't stutter at all. Is it okay? Is it the same person?" Even Meng En was a little confused now.Perris Ansel took the opportunity to encourage: "Okay, shouldn't we come to verify it?" "How?" Daryl asked. "You still want to ask me how to do it? There is the most obvious way. You have the EEG recording for him fourteen months ago, don't you? Now do it again and compare it. .” Pointing to the frowning librarian, he said fiercely, "I bet he'd refuse to be analyzed." "I have no objection," said Meng En not to be outdone, "I've always been myself." "How do you know?" Ansel retorted in a contemptuous tone. "I'm going to push further, because I don't believe everyone in this room. I want everyone to be analyzed. A war has just ended, and Meng En is in Kalgan stayed for several months; Tu Bo traveled all over the war zone with the fleet; Darryl and Cermick also left-but I don't know where the two went. Only I have stayed here, isolated from the world I am safe and sound, so I can no longer trust any of you. To be fair, I am willing to take the test myself. Do you all agree? Or do you want me to leave immediately and go on with my own plan?" Tu Bo shrugged and said, "I have no objection to this proposal." "I've said I have no objection," Meng said. Cermick silently waved his hand, indicating that he also agreed.So An Suo waited quietly for Daryl to express his attitude, and finally Daryl finally nodded. "Let me go first," Ansel said. The young neuroelectrician sat motionless on the recliner, his eyes were tightly closed, as if he was meditating on something.At this point, the pointer is tracing complex curves on the grid paper.Darryl had dug out the old file, and now he pulled out Yasuo's EEG record from it, and showed Yasuo the file. "It's your own signature, isn't it?" "That's right, that's right, this is my own record, let's compare it quickly." The scanner projects the old and new records on the screen, and the seven curves of each record are clearly visible.In the darkness, Meng En said in a piercing but clear voice: "Ha, hey, everyone, look there, there has been a change." "Those two are the main waves of the frontal lobe. They don't make any sense, Hommel. Those extra jagged ripples you point to represent only anger, and the other curves are accurate." After speaking, he lightly pressed a control button, and the seven pairs of curves on the screen overlapped.Except that there is no overlap at the larger amplitude of the two main waves, the other six curves are completely indistinguishable. "Satisfied?" Ansuo asked. Darryl nodded slightly, and sat down on the recliner by himself.After him it was Cermick's turn, and then Tu Bo.Everyone stopped talking, took the measurement quietly, and compared the results quietly. Meng En was the last person to sit on the recliner, he hesitated for a while, and then said in a self-defeating tone: "Okay, listen to me, I'm the last one, and I'm very nervous, I hope you can take these factors into consideration go in." "It will," Darryl assured him. "Conscious emotions will only affect the main wave at most, and it won't matter at all." Then there was silence again, and time seemed to have passed for several hours... Then during the comparison process, Ansuo suddenly shouted in the dark: "It's true, it's true, this is just a beginning complex. Remember what he said just now? He said that there is no interference this time It's all just stupid 'simulacrum' ideas. But look here! I guess it's just a coincidence?" "What happened?" Meng En asked sharply. Darryl pressed the librarian hard: "Calm down, Meng - you have been manipulated, and your mind has been adjusted by 'them'." Then the room was bright again, and Meng En looked around with slack eyes, desperately trying to force a smile. "Of course you won't be serious. There must be some purpose for this. You want to test me." But Daryl shook his head resolutely, and said to him, "No, no, Hommier, this is all true." Meng En burst into tears suddenly, and cried: "I don't feel anything wrong, I don't believe it." Then he seemed to think of something suddenly, and said again: "You are all in collusion, this is a conspiracy." Darryl wanted to reach out to pat Meng En and give him some comfort, but he pushed him away unexpectedly.Meng En yelled: "You have planned to kill me, God, you have planned to kill me!" An Suo suddenly rushed in front of him, and then Meng En fell to the ground with a "crack", and his whole body collapsed into a ball, with that expression of astonishment still on his face. Ansor struggled to his feet and said to the others, "We'd better tie him up and gag him. Then we'll discuss what to do next," he said, brushing his long hair to the back. Tu Bo asked, "How did you guess that Hou Mier had a problem?" Ansuo turned to Tu Bo, with a mocking expression on his face, and replied, "It's not difficult, you know, I just happen to know where the second base is." The successive shocks have already made everyone feel a little numb... So Cermick asked in a rather gentle tone: "Are you sure? I mean, we've just heard what Meng said..." "My story is different." Ansel replied, "Darryl, when the war broke out, I discussed with you in a very serious manner and tried to persuade you to leave Terminus. If I could trust you, then The time has already been told to you, and it is not necessary to wait until today." "You mean, you knew about it half a year ago?" Darryl said with a smile. "When I heard that Argadia was going to Trantor, I had it all figured out." This sentence surprised Daryl, he stood up abruptly, and asked, "What does this have to do with Arcadia? What are you trying to say?" "What I want to say is definitely something we already know. Argatia encountered big trouble in Kalgan, but she didn't rush home, but fled to the former center of the galaxy; Di Ruiji The police officer is our best spy in Kalgen, but his mind has been adjusted; Hummel Munn went to Kalgen, and the mind was disturbed; the mule conquered the entire galaxy, but ended up unexpectedly Chose Kalgan as his base - which makes me wonder if he was a conqueror or just a tool? In every event we always meet Kalgan, Kalgan - always It's Kalgan. Over the past century, warlords big and small have fought countless wars, and the world has always been safe." "Then what is your conclusion?" "It's too obvious," Ansuo said with a strange gleam in his eyes, "The second base is in Kalgen." At this moment, Tu Bo suddenly interrupted: "I have been to Kalgen, Ansor, I was there last week. Unless I am crazy, there is absolutely no second base on that planet. To be honest, I would Think you're crazy." The young man suddenly turned to face him, and retorted: "Then you are the number one idiot. What do you think the second base looks like? Is it like an elementary school? Do you think there will be a radiation field on the entry route of the spacecraft 'Second Foundation' colored lettering in tight beamforms? Listen to me, Tu Bo, no matter what kind of organization they are, they must form a tight oligarchy. They must be hidden in the world they live in Dense, just like that world in the Milky Way without end." Tu Bo's facial muscles twisted spontaneously, and he said, "I don't like your attitude, Ansuo." "This really bothers me." Ansuo deliberately sarcastically said, "Look around at Terminus. We are the center, core and starting point of the first base, and we have all the physical science knowledge of the first base. However, How many people are scientists? Do you know how to operate a power transfer station? How much do you know how a hypernuclear engine works? Huh? On Terminus—even on Terminus—there were never more than a hundred real scientists one-third. "And what about the second base, which must be strictly kept secret? There aren't too many real experts in it, and even in their own world, they will still hide their names." "But," said Cemik cautiously, "we've only just knocked Kalgan down..." "We did it, we did," Yasuo added, sarcastically, "Oh, we celebrated victoriously, cities are still lit up, people are still setting off fireworks in the streets, and congratulating each other loudly on video calls But having said that, from now on, when we are going to look for the second base again, which place will be the last thing that will be noticed? What will be the last place that everyone will not be noticed? It is Kalgen! "We didn't hurt them at all, you know, didn't really hurt them. We just wrecked some ships, killed thousands of people, shattered their 'empire', took over some trade, economic power— —but none of this makes sense. I bet that the real ruling class in Kalgan, everyone must be unharmed. On the contrary, their situation becomes much safer, because no one will doubt that place any more, only I'm not the only one. What do you say, Darryl?" Darryl shrugged and replied, "It's very interesting. I received a message from Argatia more than two months ago. Now, I'm trying to corroborate your theory with her words." "Oh, a message?" Ansel asked. "What's in it?" "Well, I'm not sure. It's just five short words, but it's very interesting." "Wait a minute, there's one thing I don't understand," Cermick interrupted, his tone very urgent. "whats the matter?" Cermick weighed his words carefully, closed his lips, and said reluctantly: "Well, this, Humir Munn just said that although Hari Seldon claimed to have established a second base, it was actually It's a bluff. Now you're saying that's not the case, that Second Base isn't just a front, huh?" "No, he wasn't bluffing. Seldon claimed he had a second base, and that's what happened." "Okay, but he also said something else. He said that he set up these two bases at two opposite ends of the galaxy. Well, young man, isn't that a bluff? ?Because Kalgan isn't on the other side of the galaxy." Looking a bit annoyed, Yonsor replied, "That's just a small problem, and the reason he said that was probably a deliberate smoke screen to protect them. Come to think of it, anyway—putting those mind-science What is the use of the masters on the other side of the galaxy? What is their role? It is to try their best to maintain the Seldon plan. Who is the main implementer of the plan? It is us, the first base. In other words , where should they be located in order to observe our actions and best meet their own needs? At the other end of the galaxy? Absurd! They must be fairly close by to make sense." "I like that," Darryl said. "It sounds reasonable. Listen, Munn's been sober for a while, and I'm proposing to untie him. He can't hurt us, really." Ansor didn't seem to agree, but Hommier nodded vigorously.Five seconds later, he began rubbing his wrists vigorously. "How are you feeling?" Daryl asked. "It's terrible," Meng En said angrily, "but it's okay. I have a question, and I want to ask this young talent in front of me. I have heard his long speech, I hope you will let me ask him, he What do you think the next step should be?" What followed was an eerie silence for a while. Meng En sneered, and then asked: "Okay, assuming that Kalgen is really the Second Foundation, who are the members of the Second Foundation on Kalgen? How do you find them out? If you find them, what are you going to do?" deal with them?" "Ah," Darryl said, "what a coincidence, I just happen to be able to answer this question. Shall I report what Cermick and I have been up to for the past six months? Ansel, the reason I insisted on staying At Endpoint, that's another big reason." He continued, "First of all, I want to tell you that I have been engaged in the research of EEG analysis for many years. In fact, I have a purpose that no one can guess. I want to detect the minds of Second Foundation members. It's not an easy thing to do, more difficult than simply finding the 'disturbance plateau.' I haven't quite succeeded, but I've been on the verge of it. "Does any of you know what the mechanism of emotional control is? It has been a popular subject for novelists since the days of the mule, and all the nonsense, writings and records of discussions on the subject, etc., are literally In most theories, it is always regarded as a mysterious and mysterious ability, of course, this is not the case. In fact, everyone knows that the human brain is the source of countless subtle electromagnetic fields. Every flying emotion Or emotions, will more or less, directly or indirectly, change those electromagnetic fields, which everyone should know. "So, we can imagine a special kind of mind that can perceive these variable electromagnetic fields, and even resonate with them. In other words, there may be a special organ in the brain that can interpret it. The detected electromagnetic field pattern. As for the real working principle, I have no idea, but it does not matter. For example, if I am a blind person, I can still understand the quantum theory of photons, so I can accept the visual Scientific explanation - when the eye absorbs a photon of a certain energy, it will cause a chemical change in an organ of the body, which can detect the presence of the photon. But of course, because I can't see it, so what Also unable to understand the concept of color. "Can you all understand what I mean?" Yasuo nodded vigorously, and the others nodded blankly. "This hypothetical psychic resonance organ, when tuned to resonate with the electromagnetic fields emitted by other psyches, can sense the emotions of others, as the legend says, and even be able to achieve more subtle 'other-mind communication'. From Starting from this assumption, we can easily imagine another similar organ that can forcibly adjust the mind of others, that is, it can emit powerful electromagnetic waves to assimilate the weaker electromagnetic field of other people's brains—just like a powerful A magnet that fixes the orientation of the atomic dipoles in the steel strip, making the strip permanently magnetized. "I've figured out the math for the mechanism of the second base. By constructing an equation that predicts what combinations the neural network must make to form the organ I've just described—but, unfortunately, , that equation is too complicated to be solved with any existing mathematical tools. This is really bad, which means that if you rely on the EEG pattern alone, you can't identify those psions at all. "But fortunately, I have another way. With the help of Semik, I have made a device named 'spiritual noise device'. With our current scientific level, it is not difficult to create a An energy transmitter capable of replicating any brain wave. The electromagnetic waves emitted by this device can be set to completely random changes. For the 'sixth sense', random electromagnetic waves are a kind of 'noise' or 'Noise'. So it can shield our minds and make those special minds inaccessible. Do you still understand?" Cermick chuckled.When he helped Darryl make the device, although he only knew about it but didn't know why, he still made a guess, and now it proves that his guess is completely correct.This old man really has two brushes. "I think I understand," Ansel said. "This device is fairly easy to mass-produce," Darryl continued, "and I have all the resources of the base at my disposal in the name of wartime research and development. Now the mayor's office and the legislature have been 'spirited. Noise' protection, and the important factory here, and this building are no exception. Today, we can say that we have become relatively secret; in the future, we can also make any place absolutely safe, no matter the second No al Qaeda, or mule-like Inhumans can invade - that's what I'm reporting to you." He spread his right hand and made a gesture of finishing his speech. Tu Bo looked extremely surprised: "So, everything is over, Seldon bless, everything is over." "No," Daryl said, "not quite." "Why not? Is there anything else we don't know?" "That's right, we haven't really found a second base yet!" "What," Yasuo yelled immediately, "you mean..." "Yeah, I'm going to say this - Kalgan isn't second base." "And how do you know?" "Too easy," Daryl murmured, "you know, I just happen to know where Second Base really is."