Morse code?
Xiao Lou hadn't thought of this at first, but after Shao Qingge reminded him, he quickly realized: "Morse code is an internationally used code that has been around for many years. Short dot signals [·] are read as [drip], and long signals [—] are read as [ta]. Short signals last for 1 second and long signals last for 3 seconds—which are exactly 1 and 3."
Ye Qi was dumbfounded: "They're even using Morse code now? It's like playing a spy game!"
Lu Jiuchuan chuckled and touched his nose: "So, this box of banknotes left by Grandpa Shao really is Morse code? CEO Shao, do you know how to decipher it?"
Shao Qingge thought about it carefully and said with a headache, "When I was a child, my father taught me that this is a kind of code passed down from a very ancient era. What he taught me is the same as what Professor Xiao said: short sounds and long sounds, different combinations can be deciphered into different numbers and letters. On coins, 1 represents a short sound and 3 represents a long sound, which does make sense."
Ye Qi joked, "You actually know Morse code? Our CEO Shao is finally not a diamonds idiot anymore."
Shao Qingge was both amused and exasperated: " I only just remembered the memories Guardian instilled in me."
He bent down and picked up the banknotes with clues from the ground, saying, "This one has the clue number 31. Deciphering it using Morse code long and short vowels, it represents the letter N; this one is 333, long long long, representing the letter O; 13 represents A; 1111, four short vowels, representing H; 111 represents S; 13 represents A; 131 represents R; 313 represents K..."
This was a clue his father had specifically left for him.
Shao Qingge quickly recalled the Morse code he had learned in his childhood and deciphered the Morse code on the banknote. Xiao Lou then took a blank sheet of paper and followed Shao Qingge's rhythm to record the code.
At this point, Xiao Lou suddenly said, "Wait a moment."
Shao Qingge turned to look at him, and Xiao Lou turned the paper with the letters written on it over to show everyone.
NOAHSARK.
Tang Ci was the first to react: "Noah's Ark?"
Xiao Lou nodded seriously: "That's right, the Morse code that CEO Shao just deciphered, when put together, means Noah's Ark."
Everyone: "......"
It can only be said that Shao Qingge's father's method of leaving the code was incredibly clever, far more complex than any Diamonds puzzle code they had ever encountered before, and in the end...
It matches the Morse code.
Coins, numbers, Morse code, English letters—Noah's Ark.
Even if someone with a keen eye finds the safe he left behind, they won't understand its secrets. Most people, seeing a box full of banknotes, will instinctively assume he left his son a cabinet full of money…
Shao Qingge's feelings were complicated: "Continue deciphering?"
Xiao Lou said, "Let's continue. Take all the banknotes out of the box and let's all help sort them out. Remove the consecutive numbers and sort out the banknotes with messy serial numbers and those containing the numbers 1 and 3 in order."
Apart from Shao Qingge and Xiao Lou, everyone else began to take action.
The large box contains 8 rows of banknotes, with 9 stacks in each row and 100 banknotes in each stack, totaling 7200 banknotes. Among them, 3600 banknotes with consecutive serial numbers are distractors and have no meaning. There are 3600 banknotes with the clues of the numbers 1 and 3...
Ye Qi had never seen so many banknotes before; he counted money until his hands cramped.
Yu Hanjiang, Tang Ci, and Lu Jiuchuan were also quickly sorting the coins, then placing them in stacks in front of Shao Qingge in order.
Shao Qingge deciphered the code one sheet at a time, while Xiao Lou recorded it on blank sheets of paper.
The room was extremely quiet, with only Shao Qingge's deep voice and Xiao Lou's writing sound.
"1311, letter L... 3313, letter Q... 3113, letter X..."
Ye Qi sat beside him, barely daring to breathe.
Listening to Shao Qingge constantly counting and deciphering codes, he even felt the same tension he had when watching a spy drama, where underground party members intercepted a telegram with its "didi-dada" sound and deciphered it into Chinese.
3600 passwords—a tremendous amount of work.
To ensure that the decryption would not go wrong, Shao Qingge's memories of learning Morse code in his childhood became clearer and clearer. After converting 1 and 3 into short and long sounds, the decryption speed became faster and faster.
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Lou's paper was already covered with the deciphered letters.
The process continued until all 3,600 banknotes were deciphered.
Xiao Lou began translating from the beginning—
" The Noahs Ark Project was officially launched on July 15, 2975. Scientists have overcome the challenge of cell replication, and the cell culture medium they have created is theoretically sufficient to grow a cell into an adult."
"The experiment had to be kept secret. Ideally, the human cells should be provided by a select few of us who knew the lover. So, like them, I took my son Shao Qingge's cells and added them to the experimental group..."
Upon reading this, Xiao Lou couldn't help but look up at Shao Qingge.
Shao Qingge sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation: "Let's continue. Even if I'm a clone, I can accept it."
Xiao Lou continued translating: "Professor Zhang used cells from her daughter Lin Yan; the cells provided by His Majesty came from the newborn prince Xiao Lou."
Upon hearing his name, Xiao Lou remained calm. He paused for a moment, then continued, "A week later, the Academy of Sciences launched a secret experiment. I was very uneasy. Once, I went to the lab and discovered that they had cloned more than a dozen of my son's cells and placed them in petri dishes. I questioned them, 'Wasn't it agreed that only one copy would be used as an organ donor for our children's future?' They explained that cell cloning carries the risk of failure, and doing multiple copies would ensure a higher success rate."
"This approach scares me even more—what if all of them succeed? How am I supposed to face five, six, or even a dozen identical Shao Qingges in the future?"
"Qingge is the fruit of my love with my wife. How can I explain to my son that he has so many identical 'brothers' if they're copied so casually? I initially agreed to this plan to create a clone to be my son's therapist, just in case. According to scientists, human aging is due to the aging of organs. If we raise a young clone as a donor, we can take organs from the clone whenever we get old, thus extending our lifespan; and if we get sick, we can get healthy organs to transplant into the original body without worrying about rejection. Cloning is like buying life insurance for ourselves, giving ourselves an extra life. Believing them was incredibly foolish!"
"Now, the research of these madmen has strayed from its original purpose, and I must stop it all."
"I secretly went to the lab and destroyed Qingge's specimen. I felt like I was killing someone. Those cells were almost growing into the shape of babies... I saw countless tiny babies in the lab, oh my god!"
"Due to the scientists' mistakes, although the cells grew into babies, the babies raised in the in vitro culture medium had too many physical defects and all died before they were six months old. The Noahs Ark Project was forced to announce its termination!"
The deciphered information stops here.
This is only a record of the first plan; there's no record of the Noahs Ark Project restarting. Clearly, the safe was prepared by Shao Qingge's father after the first plan ended, as evidenced by the banknotes being taken from 2975. When the second plan was launched, perhaps he was already under surveillance, or perhaps he was quickly silenced, leaving no time to leave further clues.
The teammates looked at each other in bewilderment.
The thought of directly taking children's cells and creating countless identical babies is chilling. Xiao Lou took a deep breath: "The first plan failed, all the clones died? So, five years later, the plan was restarted, they should have more advanced technology by then?"
For example, it's like forcing growth by pulling up seedlings to accelerate cell replication and infant development. How can an infant grow to five years old in just one year? Otherwise, how can you explain that the second batch of clones in the palace are all the same age as Xiao Lou?
The mad scientists seem to have overlooked the fact that once human reproduction methods, growth rates, and even genetic inheritance are affected...
If humans could completely control their own characteristics, and scientists could modify human traits at will, just like modifying a machine... then those bred in that way could no longer be called "humans"!