Prologue

August 2029, Rocket City, Liangguo

After nearly six years in flight, the Lingguang probe was about to arrive at Psyche. Among half a million asteroids, Psyche was unique. Its primary components were metals such as iron and nickel; its surface was rugged and pocked with honeycomb-like cavities.

According to Professor Braun, it was likely the remnant core of an ancient planet.

When Lingguang unfurled its solar panels, they stretched as large as a tennis court, supplying power to its novel propulsion system. Xenon ions, excited by electrons and the propulsion system, reacted to leave a dreamlike turquoise plume trailing through the shadowy expanse of space.

Inside the control room of the Liangguo Space Agency, Dr. Daphne Braun, a member of the Lingguang team, stared intently at the massive monitor.

Perhaps due to nerves, her body instinctively leaned toward Michael Max beside her. The two had been passionately in love for more than half a year.

Michael Max was the world’s richest man, a legendary figure.

In 2023, his company, AceBay, had launched Lingguang for the Liangguo Space Agency using its exclusive Birdhunter-5 rocket. Naturally, Michael and his company became collaborators on the Psyche mission.

It wasn’t AceBay’s first partnership with the space agency: once the rocket had placed Lingguang in orbit, its mission was complete. For years after the launch, Michael had shown little interest in the probe.

But last year, he suddenly became fervently passionate about Psyche—seemingly due to his affection for Daphne, who had joined the team straight out of university, but in truth because he had discovered something special about the asteroid.

Spectroscopic analysis from Earth confirmed the presence of iron and nickel in Psyche, but scientists strongly suspected it also contained vast quantities of gold.

Gold, naturally, drew far more public and media attention than asteroid research. Some enthusiasts estimated that this metal-rich star was worth over a trillion dollars.

Yet Michael Max was indifferent to wealth; he was an “adventurer” who turned wild ideas into reality. Becoming the world’s richest man was never his goal—merely a byproduct of his pioneering spirit.

His interest in Psyche had nothing to do with money.

“Lingguang has entered orbit and the imaging system is online,” Daphne announced excitedly. It was her first time participating in such an important project, and joy shone on her face. After nearly a year of waiting since joining the team, her anxiety was at last dispelled.

“Are the images coming in real-time or as compressed packets?” Michael asked.

“Real-time. Psyche is about 1.7 astronomical units from Earth right now. In fifteen minutes, we’ll receive the first high-definition image,” Daphne replied.

As Lingguang approached Psyche in its orbit, not only the imaging system but also the spectrometer, mass spectrometer, and high-resolution radar were activated in turn. Each of the probe’s electronic devices emitted frequency signals, superimposed across the asteroid’s surface.

This lonely, aimlessly spinning asteroid was finally visited by humanity, bathed in the strobing flashes of various electromagnetic signals.

Suddenly, Psyche seemed to come alive, emitting invisible, intangible, ultra-low-frequency electromagnetic waves—chaotic at first, then intensifying. The resulting resonance and harmonics instantly destroyed all of Lingguang’s electronic systems.

Fifteen minutes later, after decompression, a clear image of Psyche appeared on the control room’s giant screen.

Daphne exclaimed, “Wow, the hollow cross-sections are all perfectly hexagonal—it almost looks artificial!”

Michael was unfazed. “Nature is a masterful artist; anything is possible.”

Daphne adjusted the high-resolution radar’s signal amplifier and observed the radar reflection signals from Psyche displayed on the screen. The signals fluctuated and leapt across a continuous range from low to high frequencies, as if an EEG had been made of the asteroid.

Anomalies began to appear in the ultra-low-frequency band; the amplitude steadily increased, and the 0.5 to 30 Hz frequencies battered the top and bottom edges of the display.

In a flash, all images and radar signals from Lingguang ceased.

The air in the control room seemed to freeze. The team, refusing to give up, adjusted equipment and rebooted systems. After repeated attempts, they had no choice but to accept the cold, hard truth: the Psyche probe project had ended just as it began.

That night, in Michael’s home—a prefab house befitting the world’s most unconventional billionaire—Daphne inputted the non-classified Psyche data into Michael’s supercomputer.

Michael settled into a custom chair reminiscent of an aircraft seat, donned a sensing helmet, pulled down the visor, and began a meditation session merging mind and machine.

Since 2018, Michael Max had assembled a lab, recruiting top experts in biology and computer science to develop a brain-computer interface.

By 2019, the first prototype was complete. It could connect to human brainwaves via non-contact magnetic sensors, assisting with memory retrieval, thought mapping, and pathfinding—dramatically increasing the efficiency and depth of thought.

At that time, a new landmark had just been completed in Neon City, designed by a British architect inspired by India’s ancient stepwells.

The landmark had no practical function—just an endless sequence of massive metal steps interconnected and rising skyward. Indian stepwells descended, but these steps rose, layer upon layer. It was nicknamed “The Ladder to Heaven.”

Michael was so taken with this concept that he named his brain augmentation device after it: VESSEL.

Michael’s imagination always leapt further than others’. When AI fueled by logical algorithms was all the rage, he began researching brain-computer fusion, drilling a hole in the skull, implanting a chip, and making “opening your mind” a literal procedure.

When GPUs merged computing and display and AI advanced from logic-driven to scene-driven models, sparking wild excitement, Michael had already improved from invasive implants to non-contact brain-computer interfaces.

He remained convinced that the human brain was the most complete and energy-efficient neural network, and that computers should assist human thought—not the other way around.

Daphne sat by the window, quietly waiting for the answer Michael would glean from VESSEL. The summer breeze slipped through the open window, gently caressing her golden hair.

She had already analyzed the data herself, but she still hoped Michael and VESSEL—the “superbrain”—would provide a more precise analysis, for her own conclusion was almost unbelievable.

Michael tapped the power button on the right armrest, lifted the visor, and removed the helmet. He blinked, still deep in thought.

“Any results? What do you think happened?” Daphne asked.

“I analyzed the four ultra-low-frequency bands and their amplitudes,” Michael replied, rising to the blackboard and quickly writing, as if afraid the thoughts would slip away:

Frequency: 14–30 Hz, amplitude: 5–20 microvolts.
Frequency: 8–13 Hz, amplitude: 20–100 microvolts.
Frequency: 4–7 Hz, amplitude: 100–150 microvolts.
Frequency: 0.5–3 Hz, amplitude: 20–200 microvolts.

“These correspond to the human brain’s beta, alpha, theta, and delta waves,” Daphne said, voicing the same conclusion she’d reached, awaiting Michael’s confirmation.

“Yes, Daphne. My analysis indicates that Lingguang received electromagnetic waves similar to those emitted by the human brain.”

“A body of metal, about 250 kilometers in diameter—how could Psyche possibly emit brain-like electromagnetic waves?” Daphne seized Michael’s arm, shaking it as she murmured, “How is that possible?”

Collected lines from classical poetry:
Songs linger, weary yet welcoming. —Song Dynasty, Liu Zai
The morning drum hastens the court, ending the short night. —Ming Dynasty, Li Xing
A thousand tangled thoughts fill two sheets of paper. —Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi
In the ninefold palace, waking and sleeping, I remember loyalty. —Song Dynasty, Chen Liang