Counselor Wang got carried away

"Wake up. We're here," Old Chen said.

Gao Jian opened his eyes.

Someone was already waiting for him outside the Consulate General in Houston.

"Engineer Gao, you're finally back." Clerk Zhou came up to meet him.

"Sorry, sorry for all the trouble. Where's Counselor Wang?" Gao Jian asked.

"Counselor Wang is waiting for you inside."

Gao Jian lowered his voice. "Is you-know-who here?"

"Mr. Elon is inside too, but he's here in secret. It's a delicate situation, and there are too many eyes and ears out here. Let's talk inside." Clerk Zhou glanced around and lowered his voice, looking a little nervous.

Gao Jian understood perfectly. Any low-level diplomatic staffer would be nervous if the richest man in the world suddenly showed up at their consulate.

"How long has he been here?"

"He came around noon yesterday and has stayed ever since," Clerk Zhou said.

"He hasn't left at all?"

"No. He insists on seeing you."

Gao Jian's heart tightened.

He turned his palm over, and a Dustless Memory Pill appeared in his hand. These specialty pills had been purchased back home from the Southern Heaven Cultivation World. Their greatest effect was selectively blurring memories... His other pills were all gone, but he still had plenty of Dustless Memory Pills.

"Still won't leave, huh? Looks like I really will have to feed you one."

He had no choice now. After staying at the Consulate General for so long, Elon must have noticed something. Gao Jian absolutely could not let his identity as a cultivator be exposed.

"Let's go," Gao Jian said, closing his hand around the pill.

Zhou led him down a corridor covered with an old carpet. Several landscape paintings hung on the walls on either side. The Consulate General in Houston had actually closed once eight years ago, but President Vance had announced its reopening as soon as he took office. As a result, the interior still retained its furnishings from eight years earlier, only now they looked somewhat worn.

After passing through the corridor, Gao Jian extended his divine sense again, only to detect dozens of additional people outside the consulate. They were in plain clothes, but all carried standard-issue weapons. Judging by the credentials in their pockets, they were all from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Was the FBI openly watching him now?

They would not storm in just yet, though. The Consulate General's immunity was like a mountain-protecting formation that ordinary law enforcement agencies could not breach. But this formation had one weakness: its range ended at the consulate walls.

Once he stepped through the gate, the formation would stop working.

Leaving the consulate to catch a flight home would be a problem.

The two soon reached the Consulate General's reception room. Zhou stopped and gestured for Gao Jian to enter. Gao Jian nodded and pushed open the half-closed door.

Inside, six people sat on the reception sofas, facing each other in two groups of three. The Consul General occupied the head seat, with Counselor Wang beside him. There were several other officials as well.

The moment he saw Gao Jian, before Counselor Wang could even rise, Elon Musk stood up from the principal guest's seat.

He jogged over.

Under the astonished gazes of the Consul General and Counselor Wang, the world's richest man hurried over with quick little steps. Gao Jian instinctively took half a step back.

But the richest man in the world had already clasped his hand.

Facing the astonished group, Elon Musk turned around and smiled warmly. "Observer Gao and I are very good friends. We hit it off right away, didn't we?"

Gao Jian could only nod repeatedly, deliberately taking a deferential tone. "Yes. It's an honor to know you, Mr. Elon."

Goddammit, I have to give you this Dustless Memory Pill. I'm putting it in your coffee in a minute.

Gao Jian forced a flattered smile as the others came over. Counselor Wang had originally intended to scold him a little, but after seeing Elon Musk's attitude just now, he abandoned the idea.

Counselor Wang approached and looked Gao Jian up and down. "As long as you're all right."

Gao Jian began:

"I'm sorry, Counselor Wang. I-"

Counselor Wang had already waved him off.

"Sit down first. We'll discuss your situation when we get home. Never mind me-even Mr. Elon has been waiting a long time for you. You'll need to have a proper chat with him later, but not now."

He motioned for Gao Jian to sit on the sofa by the wall, then returned to his own seat. Elon Musk followed closely, switching seats to sit beside Gao Jian. The others looked as though they wanted to say something but held back.

Was the head of Starship really that eager to establish ties with CNSA? If so, he could simply go to China himself. Given his stature, CNSA could hardly refuse to receive him. Why insist on hovering around a junior engineer?

It wasn't as though Gao Jian could make the decisions.

Well, he was not entirely without influence. Gao Jian's background was indeed a little unusual; his grandfather held considerable standing back home. But that was strictly an internal matter and had nothing to do with foreign affairs like these.

Everyone was rather puzzled.

"Consul General, now that he's back, shall we go over the situation first?" Counselor Wang asked the man in the head seat.

The Consul General was a lean older man with graying temples. He spoke quickly and got straight to the point:

"Comrade Gao Jian, I'll keep this brief. The FBI has already established your movements at the Kennedy Space Center. After the lunar mission failed, they investigated practically everyone in the launch center's firing room down to the last detail. They've identified you and designated you the prime suspect in the lunar mission affair. They've even leveled the sweeping accusation that CNSA interfered with NASA's lunar mission.

"Although Mr. Elon brought you there, too much has happened lately, and relations between the two sides are tense and sensitive. Even Mr. Elon himself has been placed under investigation. He can barely protect himself, let alone you."

As the Consul General said this, Elon Musk shrugged helplessly beside them.

The Consul General continued:

"Two hours ago, they submitted a request for assistance to the Consulate General through judicial channels, charging you with unlawful entry into a federal government facility. We temporarily rebuffed them on the grounds of consular immunity, but they're taking a very hard line this time. I'm sure you noticed on your way in that quite a few FBI agents have surrounded our consulate. If Old Chen had been even half an hour later, you would probably have been intercepted on the road."

While the Consul General spoke, Liu came in and poured tea for everyone. Gao Jian's gaze flickered. He secretly dropped an almost transparent, nearly invisible pill into one cup, then took the initiative to bring the tea over, giving Elon Musk a cup as well.

Elon Musk looked overwhelmed by the gesture.

Gao Jian looked even more overwhelmed by Elon Musk's flattered reaction.

Drink it. Come on, drink it!

The Consul General looked at Gao Jian. "Gao, you were far too reckless. Even if you're on good terms with Mr. Elon, you can't do something like this..."

Gao Jian immediately folded.

"Consul General, this was my fault. I'll admit my mistakes to the organization. I was just too curious about the SLS rocket project..."

From the Consul General's remarks, Gao Jian confirmed one thing: while he had been away, Elon Musk really had been covering for him.

In that case, he could build on the cover story already in place.

He had already come up with a brilliant excuse.

"Explain yourself when we get home."

The Consul General cut off Gao Jian's attempted justification. To him, how Gao Jian had ended up in the firing room did not matter, nor did what he had done there.

What mattered was how to get Gao Jian home.

Ever since learning that Gao Jian had watched the entire ignition process, everyone at CNSA had gone practically mad.

And now the entire country knew that a CNSA observer had "graced" NASA's launch site with his presence to "provide guidance." Gao Jian's remark in particular-"You NASA people are all amateurs"-was simply too much.

That alone might have been manageable, but then the lunar mission had failed, the Orion return capsule had miraculously made it home, and all four astronauts had miraculously survived... With all those factors piled together, public opinion had exploded.

If Gao Jian did not return home in one piece, never mind Counselor Wang-the Consul General himself could forget about keeping his job.

Counselor Wang added from the side, "Gao Jian, the Federal Court has signed a search warrant specifically naming you. At this point, I have no doubt they're considering taking you by force. The main issue is that they have video evidence. Although the surveillance cameras were hacked for some unknown reason, there are still phone recordings from every angle. The evidence is indisputable, and they won't let go."

Gao Jian sighed repeatedly.

"Can this be resolved through diplomatic channels?" a military attaché asked.

"Under normal circumstances, perhaps. Certainly not now. The Houston Meteorite Incident is even more serious than the Cuban Missile Crisis was. Going through diplomatic channels would only provoke them. The current instructions from above are to get him home secretly by any means necessary, whether through disguise or an altered appearance."

The military attaché continued, "Didn't the Americans previously agree in principle to handle this through diplomatic channels? But there was one prerequisite: before Gao Jian leaves the country, he must undergo one face-to-face interview with the FBI. They made that a condition of allowing him to leave."

"Don't believe them. It's complete bullshit. The moment he steps through that gate, they'll arrest him," Counselor Wang said with a frown.

Gao Jian also spoke fearfully. "No, that won't work. If I'm arrested, I'll never get home."

"Exactly. Gao is an unarmed engineer. How could he withstand the ordeal of an FBI interrogation?" the Consul General said, also frowning.

The military attaché frowned without speaking.

They were on someone else's turf, after all. Even if they overturned the table, they could not win. The military attaché really was in a difficult position.

Elon Musk pondered for a moment. "How about I go outside..."

Gao Jian waved his hands repeatedly. "Mr. Elon, we absolutely cannot let them know you're here. Otherwise, you won't be able to clear your name either."

If news broke that the world's richest man had remained alone at the Consulate General in Houston, it would instantly hit number four in the news rankings. Then they would be even more screwed.

Elon Musk stood. "I'll go make a few calls to some old friends."

After Elon Musk left, Counselor Wang adjusted his glasses. "Gao Jian, if I didn't know your grandfather, I'd almost think you were Musk's illegitimate son. Look at him. He's putting even more effort into your situation than we are."

Gao Jian waved his hands repeatedly. "Counselor Wang, we can't joke about things like that."

"We can't rely entirely on others," the Consul General said.

The Deputy Consul General suggested, "This is urgent, so we need to act quickly. We can't give them an opening. The best approach is to have you leave here secretly. They must not notice any part of your journey, from leaving the Consulate General to boarding the plane. I'll prepare an identity for you and buy a ticket on a regular commercial flight in advance. Once you've slipped out, everything will be fine. Of course, we'll have to disguise you."

"No problem." Gao Jian nodded.

"What about flights?" Gao Jian asked.

Counselor Wang glanced at his phone. "Arranging a dedicated flight is definitely out of the question. The electromagnetic storm has only just ended, and many flights haven't resumed yet... This really is a bit of a problem."

"I have suitable flights available." Elon Musk returned.

Counselor Wang's eyes lit up at that. "Your private jet, Mr. Elon?"

Elon Musk shook his head. "No, my private airline. I own more than twenty Boeing and Airbus wide-body passenger jets. They're all ready."

An eerie silence fell over the entire reception room.

A private airline... What an unfamiliar phrase.

"But even a private airline can't take off from an airport without centralized coordination by the U.S. Aviation Administration, can it?" Counselor Wang asked.

"I also have a private airport."

"..."

"Ha ha." Counselor Wang gave two dry chuckles. "Then sorry for the trouble, Mr. Elon. We'll work out a detailed escape plan."

Elon Musk spoke earnestly. "All you need to do is find a way to shake the FBI's surveillance. My people are everywhere. As long as Observer Gao reaches any one of our rendezvous points, they'll take him out of Texas and to my nearest private airport."

Oh, damn. He had more than one private airport, too.

In any case, with a powerful local player like Elon Musk helping, the difficulty of Gao Jian's escape from the United States instantly dropped from hell mode to easy mode. Once he was on the plane, surely they would not shoot it down with a missile.

"We absolutely cannot let the FBI stop you. I'll have Old Chen, Zhou, and the others warm up the cars ahead of time. They'll leave in consulate vehicles, and the consular convoy will draw some of the attention away from you. The others will create the illusion that you're still inside the diplomatic compound." Counselor Wang began laying out the specific escape plan.

He stood, walked over to Gao Jian, and patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry. Even if I have to put these old bones on the line, I'll get you out. Scientists will always be our country's most precious assets."

At that point, perhaps carried away by his emotions, Counselor Wang picked up the cup of tea on the armrest between Gao Jian's and Elon Musk's seats and drained it in one gulp under Gao Jian's horrified gaze.

Counselor Wang's eyes hardened. "Don't worry. Worst comes to worst, we'll turn this into a major diplomatic incident. Have a few firearms accidentally go off or something and blow the whole thing up. Fuck it. I refuse to believe we can't get you out."