Travel Plan

Purple Mountain Observatory!

I should have thought of it sooner!

Lin Xu sat up in bed, immediately pulled out his phone, and began searching for information related to Purple Mountain Observatory.

Before long, a piece of information popped up in front of him.

"Purple Mountain Observatory in Jinling is constructing the nation's largest deep-space ground station, expected to be completed in January 2027."

"Once completed, Purple Mountain Station will handle ground reception tasks for China's deep-space exploration programs. Working in effective coordination with the Queqiao relay satellite, it will become the world's largest deep-space ground station, with the broadest coverage and most stable communications..."

Without a doubt, Jiang Xingye had used the deep-space ground station's large-scale laser communication transmitters to affect devices across the entire city.

So, obviously, if he wanted to establish contact with her, the first thing he had to do was enter Purple Mountain Observatory and gain control of the ground station.

That didn't sound easy.

But it was still far easier than flying from Jinling to the capital within an hour, then going straight to seize the Zhurong—which he did not even know where was being kept!

Break in, seize control, send Jiang Xingye a message, ask his questions, and get her answers.

That was right. If he could accomplish this step, not only would the mystery of the Zhurong be solved, but he would also be able to obtain more information about Planetary Reincarnation and the apocalypse.

Perfect.

Lin Xu closed the webpage with satisfaction, then entered the new information into his clue document.

[ Xu Jin did not reach Mars and most likely fled overseas (unconfirmed) ]

[ Xu Jin planned the operation to seize the Zhurong probe (unconfirmed) ]

[ The Zhurong probe itself possesses unusual properties. The struggle over it caused severe consequences (heavy casualties) ]

As he wrote this, Lin Xu recalled what Skullhead had told him in Bracelet World.

Because of the Nabk Incident, nearly all extremist armed groups across the Middle East had been wiped out.

Damn, what kind of scheme was this—using a tiger to devour wolves?

For the members of those organizations, this probably counted as a disaster that had come out of nowhere.

They probably hated Planetary Reincarnation enough to grit their teeth over it too.

It was kind of funny, really.

Lin Xu scratched his head and finally typed five words into the document.

[ Purple Mountain Observatory ].

Afterward, he saved and closed the document, then walked over and sat on the sofa in the small living room.

He was tired.

Perhaps he had taken in too much information over the past hour. His brain felt even more exhausted than when he had entered Bracelet World before.

Although the number on the bracelet was still 1, he had no intention of going in again.

After ordering takeout, drinking an iced cola, and resting for quite a while, Lin Xu finally recovered.

Only then did he remember that he had not yet updated Xu Jin on what he had discussed with Ren Jian today. He returned to his computer, quickly compiled a brief summary, and sent it to Xu Jin.

Looking at the harmless cartoon kitten avatar on Xu Jin's WeChat, Lin Xu found it hard to connect someone who should have been such a "pure" Asperger's patient with the future instigator of large-scale terrorist attacks.

What had changed him?

His excessively stubborn way of thinking? The obsession that grew deeper by the day? Or perhaps a goal that had originally seemed impossible, only to suddenly become attainable?

He didn't know.

But no matter what, he had to remain wary of him.

Otherwise, the backlash Xu Jin might bring would be more terrifying than anything anyone else could cause...

Just as Lin Xu was considering how to keep Xu Jin under control, a reply arrived from him.

"Thank you. I am very grateful for everything you have done for me."

"I hope we can cooperate well in the future and create even more brilliant achievements together."

"I also hope I can be of help to you. If you ever need me, please do not hesitate."

Xu Jin's tone over the phone was like that of a middle-aged man, so Lin Xu replied in his usual style with an official, formal message.

With that, the information had been fully synchronized.

Next, he just needed to settle a series of contract and business matters, establish the company, and swiftly bring the two materials into production.

It should not take long.

With Xu Jin's father's resources, how soon could the equipment be put in place?

Two weeks?

A month?

By then, he should also have finished producing all the manufacturing process documents.

Smooth.

Lin Xu was very satisfied with his plan. Leaning back on the sofa, he relaxed for once and began scrolling through short videos.

He had probably searched too much similar content over the past two days, so the short-video platform kept recommending videos about the universe, space exploration, and the like.

Most of it was not particularly informative, just marketing accounts reheating the same old topics over and over.

However, a post from Purple Mountain Observatory's official account did catch his interest.

Probably because it was the off-season, visitors no longer needed reservations to tour the observatory.

In that case, since tomorrow was the weekend...

Why not go take a look?

Bring Jiang Xingye along?

Well, this was not a date. It was simply to maintain client relations.

After all, he still needed her to break the deadlock in Bracelet World.

It was perfectly reasonable to start building that relationship twenty years in advance, wasn't it?

With that thought, Lin Xu took out his phone and sent Jiang Xingye a message.

Lin Xu:

"Purple Mountain Observatory doesn't require reservations tomorrow. Reply 1 if you want to go."

A moment later, Jiang Xingye replied.

"2."

Lin Xu:

"3."

Jiang Xingye:

"4."

Lin Xu:

"...Are we counting numbers here? Are you going or not?!"

Jiang Xingye:

"I'll go. How could I not go when President Lin invites me?"

"What time? I finally have a full day off, so I want to sleep in."

Lin Xu:

"Then sleep in. Wake up naturally, then we'll head out."

Jiang Xingye:

"OK.gif."

The travel plans were successfully finalized.

Of course, Lin Xu was not going there just for the tour.

He still wanted to visit in advance, familiarize himself with the terrain, and learn about the equipment.

After all, the next time he went there from Bracelet World, he would be carrying a gun...

He checked the time on his phone. It was already ten at night.

His overworked brain felt muddled. He showered in a daze, did not even have time to dry his hair, and fell asleep the instant he lay down...

Meanwhile, inside Zhongshan Sanatorium.

Xu Qianlin lay in his hospital bed, holding a set of materials that had just been compiled.

His complexion was terrible, and every slack muscle on his face showed exhaustion.

In contrast, his gaze was exceptionally sharp.

A few minutes later, he put down the materials and turned to ask the security officer standing beside him:

"This material—are you certain it came from Skyvault Technology?"

"Yes."

The security officer nodded and replied:

"Our field investigator tracked the movements of the employee named Lin Xu and obtained surveillance footage of him and Xu Jin in the café."

"These materials were extracted from the footage—the detailed contents of the documents he handed to Xu Jin."

"They are not entirely complete, but they have already been analyzed by the technical department."

"As long as it was captured on camera, there should be nothing missing."

"Good."

Xu Qianlin nodded slowly.

"What about the audio? Was there no audio recorded on the surveillance footage? What did they discuss?"

"There was no audio. The surveillance camera's recording function was damaged."

"Also, the seats they chose were rather... coincidental. Their lip movements were mostly obscured, and lip-reading analysis did not yield many meaningful results."

"But judging from their reactions, their communication went smoothly."

"The most crucial part is this material... We have also sent it to the experts at the Materials Research Institute for assessment. According to their feedback, this material is... highly unusual."

"Of course it is unusual."

Xu Qianlin let out a soft breath.

"This is a highly complete set of industrial production process materials, specifically for the two materials my son has been researching."

"Very strange... What exactly is Skyvault Technology trying to do?"

"If they already possess complete material packages themselves, why not put them directly into production? Why bring my son into it instead?"

"Perhaps they are looking for backing?"

The security officer ventured cautiously:

"The current technological development environment is not very favorable, especially for cutting-edge technologies with such broad applications. Once they develop them, the domestic and international pressure they face will not be insignificant."

"Finding backing is indeed a good strategy. Perhaps they simply want to use Comrade Xu Jin as a stepping stone to establish further contact with official institutions?"

"That is possible."

Xu Qianlin blinked.

"If that is the case, then continue observing them."

"They most likely just want to engage in some power speculation and should not have any particularly malicious intentions."

"However... besides Skyvault Technology, I suggest that we also keep an eye on the employee named Lin Xu."

"I have a feeling that he may be far less simple than our initial assessment suggested..."