Too Full to Eat

"So what you're saying is, the entire human world only has one hour left?"

"So that's why you're taking the aerospace launch base—you plan to escape on a spaceship?"

Before Skullhead could finish, Lin Xu cut in:

"No."

"The apocalypse is just a cover. I actually just want to get in and steal their flight-control program data."

As soon as he said that, Skullhead's eyes lit up with an I knew it look.

"I knew it!"

"There aren't that many apocalypse survivalists in this world. This is what a businessman should be doing!"

"Then there's no need to say more. We get in fast, get out fast—break in, search, then withdraw!"

"The drone reconnaissance is complete. Security positions confirmed. Let's move!"

Skullhead raised a hand and gave the order. Lin Xu got out of the vehicle right behind him.

The attack proceeded exactly as before. They cut the power, established radio interference, and, guided by Lin Xu, the squad quickly entered the main control room at the rear of the facility.

This time, though, both Lin Xu and Skullhead seemed far more relaxed.

After closing the main control room door, Skullhead watched Lin Xu work with interest, then asked the exact same question again.

"So you're actually an insider?"

"You walk in here like you're coming home. You know all the passwords, and you can even pass biometric verification."

"Tch... You even have access to the main console."

"Seriously, if you really wanted to steal classified data, why not just sneak in when no one was around?"

"...Good question."

Lin Xu's fingers kept tapping across the keyboard as he answered:

"Maybe I was trying to balance the books?"

"You know, if some things disappear without a sound, it's always hard to explain. But if they're taken in a high-profile robbery, then no one can say anything."

"...All you capitalists deserve to die."

Skullhead clicked his tongue.

"To be fair, you're a capitalist too."

"Your net worth is over a hundred million, yet instead of retiring, you're still out here risking your life on the front lines. You're a real oddball."

"You don't understand. I'm just a mercenary who does this for fun."

Skullhead spread his hands with easy confidence. Lin Xu chuckled.

"If your wife weren't an alarm clock who did it for fun, you wouldn't be a mercenary who did it for fun either, would you?"

Silence.

Only the clatter of keyboard keys remained in the control room.

"She isn't... She just lives a little extravagantly and likes to have fun, that's all."

"She loves me very much. She's never done—wait, how do you know?!"

"You investigated me? Who the hell are you?"

Lin Xu gave Skullhead a sympathetic look. The other mercenaries in the control room also instinctively looked at Skullhead, but quickly looked away again.

"You told me yourself."

Lin Xu didn't even raise his head.

In this world, he actually had no memories of either investigating or hiring the mercenary squad. His memories began at the exact second the one-hour countdown started.

However, during the many previous loops, he had indeed heard Skullhead talk about his wife.

And the sympathy in the other squad members' eyes had already explained everything.

Poor guy.

"I told you myself?? When did I ever tell you that?"

Skullhead raised his gun and aimed it at Lin Xu.

"Does that matter?"

Lin Xu glanced at his watch. Forty-five minutes remained.

He had already found the flight-control code, but it wasn't what he was looking for.

What was displayed on the screen was the flight control for a series of mature products. The sheer volume was so massive that he couldn't possibly memorize it in a short time. Even if he could, it wouldn't be much use for the current project.

What he wanted was only the code for Skyvault Technology's first experimental outer-space rocket from twenty years ago.

"Doesn't it matter? I would never slander my own wife in front of outsiders. No matter what she did wrong, that's our own business!"

"You have to tell me where you learned that! I have to know!"

"Seriously..."

Lin Xu was dumbfounded.

He had never encountered something like this in his previous experiences.

Damn, you really were a hopeless romantic?

"Talk!"

Skullhead continued pressing him, but at that moment, an explosion sounded from outside the door.

"Boom!"

"Hold them off for forty minutes, then I'll tell you!"

"Forty minutes??"

Skullhead stared at him in disbelief.

"What the hell are you stealing that takes forty minutes?!"

"In forty minutes, they could flood this place and drown us!"

"Can't be helped. That's the mission—delay them as long as you can. I'll be as fast as possible!"

"...Fine!"

Skullhead gritted his teeth and agreed.

Though he was extremely dissatisfied with what Lin Xu had said about his wife, a mission was a mission. That was his professional code.

The blast door opened, and gunfire erupted at once.

Lin Xu rapidly searched the system for his target information. After twenty years of development, the database had become staggeringly vast.

Fortunately, the company's archival work was excellent. Several minutes later, among the massive database, he finally saw a folder named in the way he knew best.

"Test Ship-003 Main Project Shared Files."

This was it!

Lin Xu eagerly opened the files. After finding the flight-control code, he began scanning through it at a glance.

"Wait, are you planning to memorize all this stuff directly?!"

After emptying a magazine, Skullhead turned back to look at Lin Xu. Lin Xu raised a hand.

"Don't make noise! I'm thinking!"

He really was thinking. He was figuring out how to commit the most crucial parts to memory as quickly as possible.

"We can't hold them much longer!"

"Two minutes! I'm calling for outside support to cover our retreat!"

Skullhead's voice was growing hoarse, but Lin Xu remained unmoved.

He quickly scanned through the relatively short code and finally found those few lines of core data.

So the solution was that simple.

They had merely added several self-check loops to the PID algorithm.

Lin Xu checked the time and saw that thirty-five minutes remained.

Since I'm already here, I might as well look at something else!

He quickly opened a file dated 2030. Its name was "Star Voyager 1 Reusable Rocket Project Master Package."

This time, he didn't delve into the details. Instead, he rapidly skimmed the project's overall design plan.

Power, engines, core module, flight control, return system, fuel, communications...

The complex plan filled his vision, and Lin Xu was completely absorbed in it.

But at that very moment—

"Boom!"

A massive explosion rang out.

Lin Xu was hurled away by the shockwave, while Skullhead beside him was slammed hard into the ground.

Blood poured from his nose and mouth as his life rapidly ebbed away.

"You... who exactly..."

"I'm just an ordinary person!"

Lin Xu struggled to answer first.

"No... I wanted to ask..."

"Did you... sleep with my wife or not?!"

Lin Xu had no answer.

He grabbed the assault rifle beside him and pressed it to his head.

The next second—

"Bang!"

Lin Xu opened his eyes once again.

He shook his groggy head, struggled over to the computer, and entered everything he had memorized into it.

When he ran it again, the program simulated in the system finally operated smoothly.

It really worked!

Lin Xu let out a long breath.

So was this the wristband's proper use after all??

He paused slightly. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly picked up the mouse and created a new folder on the computer.

Star Voyager 1 Reusable Rocket Project Master Package.

Then, he began filling in the framework of the project.

Though he had none of the details, if he could keep entering Skyvault Technology headquarters twenty years in the future...

He might be able to copy the whole thing out ahead of time!

Wouldn't that mean taking off for real?

Lin Xu nodded in satisfaction, then called Jiang Xingye.

"Hello, Team Leader."

"The problem's solved."

"Yes, it wasn't complicated, but it needed a lot of luck."

"I'll upload the update right away."

"What? Late-night snack?"

"Forget it. I'm really too full to eat anymore..."