I Have a Friend...

Waking up in bed once again, Lin Xu hurried over to his computer and recorded the clues he had just obtained.

[The person who invented the industrial production method for the key material was named Xu Jin, a researcher at the Materials Research Institute.]

[Xu Jin joined the Planetary Reincarnation organization and later caused a disaster, possibly a terrorist attack (unconfirmed).]

[An operation Xu Jin took part in caused severe consequences and drew retaliation from a civilian organization (unconfirmed).]

After the three clues were updated, the mystery before Lin Xu not only remained unsolved, but grew even deeper.

The good news, however, was that the threads surrounding the organization known as Planetary Reincarnation had become much clearer, and the direction of his investigation now lay plainly before him.

Xu Jin.

Finding this person would mean finding the loose end.

If he followed that thread all the way down, then one day, Planetary Reincarnation would be completely exposed before him.

After spacing out for a moment and letting his mind recover, Lin Xu updated the material document with the data he had recorded.

Completion progress...

10%.

At this rate, as long as he entered Bracelet World another dozen or so times, he would probably obtain a complete industrial production process.

It sounded slow.

In reality, it was astonishingly fast.

Entering Bracelet World a dozen times would take three days at the most if he pushed it, and even under conservative estimates, it might take only two days.

Two days!

Two days to bring a new material with broad applications and irreplaceable importance in critical fields directly into mass production—what kind of efficiency was that?

What more could he ask for?

Lin Xu saved the document with satisfaction, then opened his browser and typed in the keywords "Jinling Materials Research Institute Xu Jin."

The search results appeared quickly, but there was no useful information at all.

He entered the Jinling Materials Research Institute's public information section, but Xu Jin's name was nowhere to be found in the published staff lists either.

Strange.

Lin Xu continued searching unwillingly. After nearly twenty minutes, he finally found a clue.

It was a public notice listing prospective hires.

Xu Jin would complete his graduate studies in June of this year, 2025. He had just passed the Materials Research Institute's interview and entered the final public announcement stage.

No wonder he couldn't find him on the employee list. The guy hadn't even started work yet!

Then he really was young.

So this was what a true genius looked like?

He wondered how far Xu Jin's research had progressed.

Had he already achieved results, or had he only just begun?

At that thought, an idea suddenly surfaced in Lin Xu's mind.

Maybe he didn't need to keep entering Bracelet World over and over to search for the final result?

At least, he wouldn't need to repeat it too many times?

If he found Xu Jin and handed over what he had, letting Xu Jin continue the research based on it, the efficiency might not improve—but could the results become more complete?

After all, relying solely on a "document" to guide industrial manufacturing would inevitably leave some gaps.

There was another benefit to doing this. If the company or the authorities later investigated the source of the technology, he would have an explanation that could hold up.

And after establishing contact with him, Lin Xu could keep a closer eye on his movements.

According to the "history of the future," Xu Jin was certain to join Planetary Reincarnation.

When the time came, perhaps he could bring Lin Xu in as well...

Plan approved √.

Lin Xu made his decision in an instant.

He found Xu Jin's detailed information and confirmed his alma mater.

Jinling University.

As expected of a top student.

Judging by the timing, he should have just completed his final thesis defense and ought to still be at the university.

If Lin Xu went directly to the school, he should be able to find him.

He just needed a slightly better reason.

What reason should he use?

—No matter what reason he came up with, he first needed a basic understanding of the man.

Should he dox him?

Better not. Digging into someone's personal life was too creepy.

He would think about it slowly.

Lin Xu felt that he had rested enough. He lightly touched the bracelet and entered another world once more...

That night, Lin Xu used up the bracelet's final two uses.

He had been thoroughly drained, the kind of drained where not a drop was left.

When she saw his listless state at work the next day, Jiang Xingye immediately frowned.

"Didn't you say you went to the National Library to look up information? What kind of information did you look up to end up like this??"

"I stayed up late..."

Lin Xu answered casually.

"This doesn't look like staying up late. You look like you got drained dry in some juicer's bed!"

"You can tell that?"

Lin Xu stared at her in astonishment.

"Really?! You actually found a juicer??"

Jiang Xingye glared at him.

"Of course not."

Lin Xu spread his hands helplessly and handed Jiang Xingye a stack of printed materials.

"Take a look."

"I did get thoroughly tortured yesterday—but it was my brain cells that got tortured."

Jiang Xingye took the documents. After casually flipping through two pages, she frowned slightly.

"PEEK-RTM? M46X?"

"What are these?"

"I know PEEK. One direction in structural materials right now is to use PEEK materials to replace the previous generation of carbon fiber."

"But this material hasn't entered industrial production yet, has it?"

"It actually has."

Lin Xu replied,

"But PEEK's industrial production still has a major problem: the cost remains extremely high."

"PEEK-RTM is a new manufacturing method based on liquid molding technology. Its performance is slightly better than traditional PEEK materials, while its cost drops dramatically."

"It would be more accurate to say the cost drops enormously."

"If this industrial production route can be opened up, the future production and construction costs of space shuttles can be reduced by at least 20 percent—I've run the numbers carefully."

"Didn't the boss ask me to provide more details for the proposal? These are the proposal details."

"No, you call this proposal details???"

Jiang Xingye was dumbfounded.

"Bro, the boss wanted proposal details so you could further optimize the space shuttle design—things like what materials to use, where to source them, the technology iteration cycle, project milestones, and so on."

"And now you're telling me you just came up with two new materials??"

"Is that even your job? Is that something you can do??"

"You..."

Jiang Xingye could not continue.

She was not criticizing Lin Xu.

On the contrary, he had moved too fast and gone too far ahead that she could not accept it for the moment.

How was that even possible?!

He was just a programmer who worked on flight control!

How could he solve the materials problem too??

Was he going to leave anyone else a way to make a living??

"...Where did this material come from? Are you sure it's correct?"

"Don't worry about where it came from for now. But the material is correct. I'm certain of it."

Lin Xu nodded solemnly.

"Come on, we're going to see the boss."

Without another word, Jiang Xingye grabbed Lin Xu's hand. Chen Yan happened to be passing by, and he gave the two of them an odd look before asking,

"You two are... Office romances aren't allowed, you know."

"Mind your own business!"

Without looking back, Jiang Xingye and Lin Xu jogged all the way toward the chairman's office upstairs.

They had no appointment, but Jiang Xingye felt that this situation no longer required one.

She directly explained the situation to the chairman's secretary, then led Lin Xu into the chairman's office.

At that moment, Chairman Ren Jian had only just arrived at the office. He had not even taken off his suit and was sitting on the sofa making himself tea.

Seeing the three people enter, he looked up at the secretary with slight surprise. The secretary quickly reported,

"Boss, Team Leader Jiang has important progress to report. I saw that you had exactly twenty minutes free in your schedule, so I brought them in first."

"Mm, that's fine."

Ren Jian nodded. The secretary closed the door and left the room, while Jiang Xingye stepped closer to the sofa and handed over the materials in her hands.

"Boss, these are two key material reports Lin Xu obtained—they concern key structural materials that can be used in the Star Traveler One project."

"No, more accurately, these are structural materials that can be used in all future low-cost spacecraft."

"Please take a look. If..."

"Enough."

Ren Jian raised a hand to interrupt Jiang Xingye.

"I'll look through it myself. You two sit for a while."

Ren Jian did not ask any further questions. Every movement he made displayed the composure expected of a chairman.

He opened the materials and read them quietly for several minutes.

Then he sat up straight and let out a long breath.

"The materials are incomplete."

"Lin Xu, go call Secretary Yang in."

"Okay."

Lin Xu immediately got up and went out to call in the chairman's secretary. Ren Jian continued,

"Cancel all my appointments for today."

"Call Engineer Chu over."

"Bring Old Liu, who handles material procurement, too."

"And... forget it."

"Let's digest this internally first."

"Go."

"Understood."

The secretary left in response. Ren Jian turned to Lin Xu and asked solemnly,

"Lin Xu, this is no longer a small matter."

"Tell me honestly. Where did these materials come from?"

Lin Xu paused.

Then he answered,

"I have a friend at Jinling University..."