Chapter 249: Grand Opening of the Technology Festival: Future Device Sparks Fluctuations

Zhao Jianguo slipped his phone back into his pocket, lifted his foot and walked into the Control Room. Sunlight streamed in from behind, casting a long shadow on the floor. He didn't turn on the main lights, just pressed the activation button by the wall, and a row of Screens lit up in succession.

Today is the opening day of the Technology Festival.

The main exhibition area was set up in the front Courtyard of the Siheyuan, with booths arranged in a circle along the blue‑brick wall. San Daye arrived early in the morning, brought in several tables, covered them with blue cloth, and displayed the children's little inventions one by one. The most conspicuous spot held a moving tin frog, with a note underneath: "Zhao Yang's work, do not touch, it will jump."

Zhao Jianguo put on his work badge, walked to the doorway broadcast station, and picked up the Speaker: "Attention, neighbors, the Technology Festival is now starting; please watch your children and don't press the buttons at random."

As soon as the words fell, a group of children rushed in.

The Triplets were also among them. Zhao Xing wore a red vest, ran the fastest, and headed straight for the holographic projector in the middle. Zhao Chen clutched a visitor route map in his hand, reciting as he walked: "First stop, smart agriculture; second stop, home robots; third stop… Hey, you two, wait!"

Zhao Yang had already climbed into the simulated cockpit, and before his bottom settled, he shouted: "Dad! Can this car fly?"

"No," Zhao Jianguo said, walking over to pull him down. "It's a tractor model; it can only run on the ground."

"That's boring," Zhao Yang pouted. "I want to go see the drone."

"Listen to the explanation first," Zhao Jianguo patted the back of his head and said, "Go line up over there."

San Daye stood in front of the smart agriculture booth, holding a plastic straw, holding it up high: "Everyone, look—this system lets the crops find water themselves. Sensors are buried underground; when the soil dries, it waters automatically."

"Whoa, smarter than a person?" Wang Nainai leaned over, adjusting her glasses to look closely.

"Exactly," San Daye puffed out his chest. "We tested it yesterday; the water pipe bends on its own, winding around the vegetable roots, delivering just the right amount—no more, no less."

The onlookers all nodded. Several elementary students pulled out notebooks and took notes.

Zhao Jianguo scanned the whole venue, confirming that all devices were in low‑power mode. He walked to the Main Control Console, inserted the research Permission Card. A green light flashed, and the System Prompt displayed: Security linkage activated.

He exhaled, turned, and headed toward the children's interactive area.

Zhao Xing slipped again to the corner of the inactive booth. There sat a silver‑colored box, smooth on the surface, buttonless, with a label reading "Future Device·Awaiting Test." This machine wasn't supposed to be powered, but during setup someone mistakenly connected a power cord.

Zhao Xing placed his hand on the side of the box.

Zhao Jianguo saw from afar, quickened his steps: "Don't touch that."

But it was already too late.

Blue light suddenly seeped from the box's seam, growing brighter. Several surrounding lamps began to flicker. Zhao Jianguo rushed over, scooped up Zhao Xing, and used his body to shield the booth.

The alarm didn't sound, but his watch vibrated. Looking down, a line popped up: Second‑generation traverser Energy Fluctuation detected.

His expression darkened; he carried Zhao Xing back to the safety zone.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Xing turned his head and asked, "Why is that thing glowing?"

"It's fine," Zhao Jianguo whispered, "You were too close just now."

He lifted his wrist, quickly entered a command, trying to cut the power. But the system replied: Device has detached from local control.

The blue light kept flashing.

Laughter rose from the crowd over there. No one noticed the anomaly here.

Zhao Chen ran over: "Where's brother? I can't find him."

"He's here." Zhao Jianguo handed Zhao Xing to him, "Watch your brother, don't let him run wild again."

"What happened?" Zhao Chen sensed something was off.

"Nothing, the device just overreacted a bit." Zhao Jianguo smiled, "You all go play elsewhere."

The Triplets left. Zhao Jianguo turned back, staring at the box, the blue light reflecting on his face.

He pressed the communication button: "He Yushui."

"Here." The other side replied immediately.

"Seal off the data interface of Zone C, remote network cut, no trace left."

"Understood. Need to notify anyone?"

"No." Zhao Jianguo said, looking at the device, "I'll handle this."

He hung up, walked closer to the booth. The blue light still hadn't faded. He reached out, brushed the box's surface; the temperature was normal. Just as he was about to check again, he suddenly saw several numbers appear on it.

2025.

Clearly visible.

Zhao Jianguo paused his breathing. It wasn't printed, nor a projection—it seemed to emanate directly from within the metal.

He looked left and right. Tourists were still taking photos, children on the other side were playing with remote‑control cars, no one was looking this way.

At that moment, the distant sky trembled faintly.

A human silhouette appeared.

Wearing a gray jacket, short hair, the face resembled Zhao Jianguo's by about seventy percent.

Chen Jianguo.

He stood beneath the locust tree in the center of the Courtyard, his figure semi‑transparent, as if separated by a veil of mist. His gaze fell on Zhao Jianguo, and he spoke.

"What is destined to come will eventually arrive."

The voice was soft, yet clearly reached his ear.

Zhao Jianguo didn't move.

The next second, the silhouette vanished.

Everything returned to normal. Sunlight fell on the brick ground, and the wind rustled the treetops.

Zhao Jianguo stood where he was, staring at the spot of the locust tree.

He knew that only he had seen that scene.

He lowered his head, glanced at his watch; the system log had a new entry: Temporal‑spatial signal briefly accessed, source unknown.

He marked the information as top‑secret and locked it into an encrypted folder.

Then he walked back to the main exhibition area.

The event was still ongoing.

Sha Zhu's son led a group of students in teaching programming blocks. A bespectacled little boy assembled a walking mechanical dog and jumped up with joy. Li Yeye walked by holding Tie Dan, and the dog gave the mechanical dog two Dog Barks, then was pulled away by Li Yeye's leash.

"Don't mess around, they have high tech." Li Yeye muttered.

Zhao Jianguo walked over to the triplets. Zhao Xing was leaning over a map, pointing with his finger at Xinjiang's location.

"What are you looking at?" Zhao Jianguo asked.

"Just now an uncle said they fixed the tractor in their village." Zhao Xing raised his head, "Did we teach them?"

"Yes." Zhao Jianguo nodded.

"Then I also want to make things for people to use." Zhao Xing said seriously.

Zhao Jianguo rubbed his head, saying nothing.

He raised his head and looked around.

People were laughing, children were running, machines were operating. The festival atmosphere was strong.

But he knew, some things were different now.

He walked back to the future equipment. The blue light had dimmed a bit, but was still flashing. The characters "2025" remained clear.

He reached out and covered those characters.

A slight vibration came from his palm.

Like a heartbeat.

He withdrew his hand and stepped back.

Just then Zhao Chen ran over: "Dad! We want to go see the flight device exhibition area!"

"Go ahead." Zhao Jianguo said, "Don't touch machines without labels."

"Got it!" Zhao Chen pulled his two brothers and left.

Zhao Jianguo stayed in place.

He took out the permission card, swiped the system again. He called up the backend monitor and found that the signal just now had left a tiny data packet that could not be parsed.

He decided not to touch it for now.

We'll talk about it again in the evening.

He put the card away and walked to the next booth.

On the way he ran into Wang Nainai: "Master Zhao, your technology festival is really lively."

"If you like it, bring your grandkids more often." Zhao Jianguo said with a smile.

"Of course." Wang Nainai nodded, "My little treasure says he wants to be a scientist when he grows up."

Zhao Jianguo made an affirmative sound and continued walking forward.

Upon reaching the laboratory door, he stopped.

The newly hung signboard still reflected light in the sun. The four characters "technology self-reliance" were painted solidly.

He looked for a moment, then pushed the door open and went in.

The room was empty.

He opened the internal network terminal, created a new encrypted document, and wrote the title: "Abnormal Event Record 001".

Just as he typed the first line, cheers came from outside.

He stood up and walked out.

It turned out that a small drone had taken off in the flight device exhibition area. The children formed a circle, looking up as it drew the two characters "welcome" in the air.

Zhao Xing clapped his hands and jumped: "So cool!"

Zhao Jianguo stood behind the crowd, watching the sky.

The drone flew steadily, the signal was normal.

But he clearly felt in his heart that the real fluctuation was not in the sky.

He called up that unparsed data packet on his watch and enlarged the waveform diagram.

The pattern looked very much like some kind of bioelectric signal.

It also looked like a segment of code.

He closed the interface and put the device into the drawer, locking it.

As he turned his head, he saw Zhao Xing walking toward the future equipment again.

He quickly stepped forward and blocked him: "You can't go over there."

"Why?" Zhao Xing asked.

"It's broken." Zhao Jianguo said, "It needs fixing."

"Can I help?"

Zhao Jianguo looked at his eyes. They were full of curiosity, with not a trace of fear.

"No." He said, "This requires an adult."

He took Zhao Xing's hand and led him back.

The other children were still playing.

Laughter continued.

Zhao Jianguo took the triplets to Teacher Zhao Chen and asked her to help look after them.

After finishing these, he returned to the exhibition booth.

The blue light finally went out.

But the "2025" on the box's surface remained.

He reached out and touched it.

This time, the vibration was more noticeable.