Chapter 39: Travel Plans

Purple Mountain Observatory!
I should have thought of that sooner!
Lin Xu sat up in bed, immediately took out his phone, and began searching for information related to the Purple Mountain Observatory.
Soon, a result popped up before him.
"The Jinling Purple Mountain Observatory is currently constructing the nation's largest deep-space ground station, expected to be completed in January 2027."
"Once completed, the Purple Mountain station will undertake the ground reception tasks for our country's deep-space exploration projects, forming an effective link with the 'Queqiao' relay satellite to create the world's largest, most extensive, and most stable communication deep-space ground station..."
Undoubtedly, Jiang Xingye was using the large-scale laser communication transmitter at this deep-space ground station to exert influence over all the devices in the city.
Then, obviously, if he wanted to establish contact with her, the first step was to enter the Purple Mountain Observatory and gain control of the ground station.
It didn't look easy.
But it was certainly much simpler than flying from Jinling to the capital within an hour and then directly seizing the Zhurong rover, whose location he didn't even know!
Break in, seize authorization, send a message to Jiang Xingye, pose the questions, and get the answers from her.
That’s right; as long as he could accomplish this step, it wouldn't just be the mystery of the Zhurong rover that would be solved—more information regarding the Planetary Reincarnation and the apocalypse could also be successfully obtained.
Perfect.
Lin Xu closed the webpage with satisfaction and then entered new information into his clue document.
[Xu Jin did not reach Mars; high probability of having fled overseas (unconfirmed)]
[Xu Jin orchestrated the plot to seize the Zhurong rover (unconfirmed)]
[The Zhurong rover itself possesses unique qualities; the struggle over it caused severe consequences (significant casualties)]
Writing this, Lin Xu recalled what the skull had told him in the bracelet world.
Because of the Nabucco incident, extremist armed groups throughout the Middle East had been almost completely wiped out.
Good grief, what kind of "driving the tiger to devour the wolf" strategy was this?
For the members of those organizations, this was likely an unmerited disaster.
They probably hated the Planetary Reincarnation with a passion, didn't they?
It was kind of funny, in a way.
Lin Xu scratched his head and finally typed five words into the document:
[Purple Mountain Observatory].
He saved and closed the document, then walked over to the sofa in the small living room and sat down.
He was tired.
Perhaps it was because of the sheer volume of information he had absorbed in the last hour, but his brain felt even more exhausted than it had when he first entered the bracelet world.
Although the number on the bracelet was still at 1, he didn't intend to go back in again.
After ordering takeout and drinking an iced cola, he rested for a long while before finally feeling refreshed.
Only then did he remember that he hadn't synchronized what he had discussed with Ren Jian today with Xu Jin. He returned to the computer, briefly compiled a summary, and sent it to him.
Looking at the harmless cartoon kitten avatar on Xu Jin's WeChat, it was truly difficult for him to associate such a supposedly "simple" Asperger's patient with the perpetrator of future large-scale terrorist attacks.
What exactly changed him?
Was it an overly stubborn mindset, a fixation that grew deeper with each passing day, or perhaps a goal that had once seemed hopeless but suddenly had a chance of realization?
He didn't know.
But regardless, he had to be on guard against him.
Otherwise, the backlash he might bring could be more terrifying than anyone else's...
As Lin Xu pondered how to control Xu Jin, the other party replied.
"Thank you. I am very grateful for what you have done for me."
"I hope we can cooperate well in the future and create more brilliant achievements together."
"I also hope I can be of help to you. If there is anything you need me for, please do not hesitate."

Xu Jin’s tone in his text message was as formal as a middle-aged man's, and Lin Xu replied in kind with an official and formal message.
With that, the information was synchronized.
Next, it was time to handle the series of contract and business issues, get the company established, and then rapidly push for the implementation of the two materials.
It shouldn't take much time.
With the resources of Xu Jin’s father, how long would it take to get the equipment?
Two weeks?
A month?
By then, he should have finished outputting all the manufacturing process documents.
Smooth.
Lin Xu was satisfied with his plan. He leaned back on the sofa and, for a rare moment of relaxation, scrolled through short videos.
Perhaps because he had been searching for similar content over the past two days, the short-video platform kept pushing videos about the universe, space exploration, and the like to him.
Most of the content was not very nutritious, just marketing accounts rehashing old news.
However, a post from the official account of the Purple Mountain Observatory caught his interest.
Perhaps due to the off-season, no reservation was needed to visit the observatory.
Since that was the case, and tomorrow was the weekend...
Go take a look?
Ask Jiang Xingye along?
Well, this wasn't a date; it was just for maintaining client relations.
After all, in the bracelet world, he still had to rely on her to break the stalemate.
Operating twenty years in advance was quite reasonable, right?
Thinking of this, Lin Xu took out his phone and sent a message to Jiang Xingye.
Lin Xu: "The Purple Mountain Observatory is reservation-free tomorrow. Type 1 if you want to go."
A moment later, Jiang Xingye replied.
"2."
Lin Xu: "3."
Jiang Xingye: "4."
Lin Xu: "...Are you counting? Are you going or not?!"
Jiang Xingye: "I'm going. Can I refuse when Manager Lin asks me?"
"What time? I finally have a day off, I want to sleep in."
Lin Xu: "Then let's go later. Wake up naturally, then set off."
Jiang Xingye: "OK.gif."
The outing plan was successfully finalized.
Of course, it wasn't just for sightseeing.
He mainly wanted to go there in advance to check it out, get familiar with the terrain, and understand the state of the equipment.
After all, the next time he went there from the bracelet world, he would be carrying a gun...
He glanced at the time on his phone; it was already 10:00 PM.
His brain, exhausted from overexertion, felt muddled. He took a shower in a daze, didn't even have time to dry his hair, and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow...
...
Meanwhile, at the Zhongshan Sanatorium.
Xu Qianlin lay in his hospital bed, holding a document that had just been compiled.
His complexion was poor, and the slack muscles on his face showed total exhaustion.
But in contrast, his eyes were incredibly sharp.
A few minutes later, he put down the materials and turned to ask the guard standing nearby:
"Are you sure this material came from Tianqiong Technology?"
"Yes," the guard nodded and replied.
"Our scout tracked the movements of the employee named Lin Xu and retrieved the surveillance footage of him and Xu Jin at the coffee shop."
"This information is the detailed content of the materials he handed to Xu Jin, extracted from the surveillance footage."
"It's not entirely complete, but it has been analyzed by the technical department."
"As far as what was captured, there shouldn't be anything missing."
"Good," Xu Qianlin nodded slowly.
"What about the audio? Did the surveillance record any sound? What did they talk about?"
"No audio was recorded; the surveillance camera was damaged."
"Additionally, the positions they sat in were quite... coincidental. Most of their lip movements were obscured, so lip-reading analysis didn't yield many meaningful results."
"But judging by their reactions, their communication went smoothly."
"The most critical part is this document... We have already provided the material to experts at the Materials Research Institute for evaluation. According to their feedback, this material... is very special."
"Of course it's special," Xu Qianlin exhaled softly.
"This is a high-completeness industrial production process document, targeting the two materials my son is researching."
"It's very strange... what exactly does Tianqiong Technology want?"
"If they already have the complete materials themselves, why not go directly into production instead of drawing my son into the mix?"
"Perhaps they are looking for a backer?" The guard suggested tentatively.
"The current technical development environment is not very favorable, especially when it comes to cutting-edge technologies with such broad applications. Once they develop it, the pressure they will face, both domestically and internationally, will be quite significant."
"Finding a backer is indeed a good strategy. Perhaps they just want to use Comrade Xu Jin as a stepping stone to further engage with official institutions?"
"It's possible," Xu Qianlin blinked.
"If that's the case, then continue to observe."
"They are most likely just engaging in some power speculation; they shouldn't have any major malicious intent."
"However... outside of Tianqiong Technology, I suggest we also keep an eye on that employee named Lin Xu."
"I have a feeling that he might not be as simple as we first assumed..."