Chapter 57 Mirror Space?

One hour later.

At the entrance of the Ministry of State Security.

Lin Xu gazed somewhat blankly at the endless stream of traffic on the street, his eyes filled with a trace of disbelief.

The words Xu Qianlin had just spoken to him were still echoing in his mind.

"……Actually, we—especially me—do not care at all where the technology in your hands came from."

"Everyone has their own secrets. As long as what you do is beneficial to the country and the people, in many cases, we can choose not to pry deeply."

"Of course, saying it like this sounds a bit too 'official'."

"However, the logic remains the same."

"I know you still cannot fully trust us yet, but we are willing to give you time, and to a certain extent, we are willing to provide you with some assistance."

"I hope you don't overthink it and continue doing what you ought to do."

"Besides, there is no need to care too much about the 'surveillance' our comrades have placed on you."

"Most of the time, that is merely a form of protection..."

...

Protection?

Perhaps.

At least, judging from the current situation, the surveillance by state security has indeed not disrupted his normal life.

He hadn't even been aware of their existence.

Lin Xu gently sighed, and then his thoughts drifted back to what Xu Qianlin had mentioned regarding the "doomsday."

"……We have indeed observed some abnormal celestial phenomena, and such anomalies have occurred more than once or twice."

"From our existing technological and scientific levels, these abnormal celestial phenomena are difficult to explain."

"Inevitably, among our ranks, some comrades have also developed pessimistic thoughts."

"For example, just as you said, is the doomsday approaching?"

"In my view, however, perhaps it is not that serious."

"When the ancients witnessed solar eclipses, they also thought the end of the world had arrived."

"When Wheeler established the observer effect in the delayed-choice experiment, he also thought the edifice of physics was collapsing."

"But what about now?"

"We are still living well, and the edifice of quantum physics continues to be built brick by brick."

"The sky is not falling. As the great man once said, fighting against heaven and earth brings infinite joy."

"We must prepare for the worst, but we must not blindly wallow in self-pity."

"Therefore... no matter where you come from or what your intentions are,"

"I hope you can remain full of confidence in the future."

"As for the rest, I will not say more, nor will I ask more."

"Let's give both sides some time, shall we?"

"I can still hold on for a while longer. Whenever you have figured things out, you can come to find me at any time."

"I will push things upward as soon as possible and try to secure higher clearance for you."

"By then, we can talk about the 'doomsday' you mentioned, and discuss the clues both sides hold."

"Perhaps after talking, you will find that things are not yet that serious?"

...

In the end, Xu Qianlin did not press him on where his technology came from, nor did he probe into how he had formed his judgment regarding the "doomsday."

He had been lenient toward him to the absolute extreme.

He even hinted that the authorities would use the information they already possessed to "exchange" with him, rather than forcibly seizing the information he held when he lacked the proper clearance.

Damn it, if every official was like him, then cooperating with the authorities wouldn't be much of a problem at all, right?

——The catch, however, was that not every official was like him.

As an older-generation scientific researcher, Xu Qianlin possessed a reverence for knowledge and unknown fields that far surpassed anyone else.

Precisely because of this reason, he had given him a chance.

But what if one day he was no longer around, or if he could no longer find shelter under his protection?

Then his own situation would become completely unpredictable.

Therefore, he still needed to hold enough bargaining chips in his hands.

A single piece of technology was not enough; what he needed was more technology, more information that surpassed this era!

As long as he had enough chips, he would be the one in control.

And no rational group would ever be foolish enough to try to interfere with the actions of the "controller"!

His mind suddenly became lucid.

Lin Xu looked back in the direction of the Ministry of State Security, a trace of gratitude welling up in his eyes.

Why else would they say true revolutionary veterans are irreplaceable?

The ideological awareness of their generation was simply not something ordinary people could casually critique...

At that moment, the car arranged by Xu Qianlin arrived.

Lin Xu got into the car, and the driver in the Zhongshan suit drove him all the way to the entrance of Sky Dome Technology. After parking the car, the driver very properly rushed over to open the door for him.

However, Lin Xu was completely unfamiliar with this protocol; by the time the driver stepped out, Lin Xu had already rudely pushed the door open and gotten out.

The driver nearly bumped into the door, and the two exchanged a somewhat awkward glance, nodded at each other, and went their separate ways.

Lin Xu walked straight toward the office building, but when he returned to his office, he found that there were already people inside.

They were none of the others than Ren Jian and Chu Xu.

"Boss? Engineer Chu?"

Lin Xu asked with a puzzled expression:

"You guys... is something the matter?"

"Nothing, nothing at all!"

Ren Jian waved his hand.

"Originally, I wanted to discuss the subsequent progress of the Donghua Chemical Fiber Plant project with you, mainly regarding some minor discrepancies in qualifications and paperwork."

"Student Jiang said you had gone out, so we just waited here for a bit."

"But it's fine now; I just received a call, and the problem has been solved."

"Solved?"

Lin Xu unconsciously repeated the word.

He had just said it casually, but falling into Ren Jian's ears, it sounded like a "confirmatory inquiry."

After all, he had just witnessed Lin Xu stepping out of a car with a white-background license plate.

Ren Jian knew all too well what a driver in a Zhongshan suit represented...

Therefore, he hurriedly replied:

"Yes, it has already been resolved."

"Things are being handled very smoothly over there, and the paperwork should be approved by the day after tomorrow."

"By then, the equipment installation will also be completed, and trial production can begin."

"I see..."

Lin Xu nodded thoughtfully.

He hadn't really considered the issues of qualifications and paperwork before, or rather, he had assumed that even if such matters arose, Ren Jian could handle them on his own.

It seemed, however, that things weren't that simple.

Fortunately, it had been resolved in the end.

Either through Xu Jin's connections or Xu Qianlin's connections.

Ultimately, it amounted to the same thing.

It appeared that Xu Qianlin was extending goodwill to him in advance.

He truly needed to carefully consider how to conduct future cooperation with them.

Thinking of this, Lin Xu coughed softly and said:

"It's good that the problem is solved—Boss, if there's nothing else..."

"Right, there's nothing else."

Ren Jian stood up and said:

"Anyway, if you need anything, just let me know. We don't have that much capability and can't solve major problems."

"However, we can certainly take care of the logistical work."

"Alright, I won't disturb you any further."

"You've worked hard today, make sure to get some rest."

With that, Ren Jian turned around and left.

Watching their retreating figures, Lin Xu felt somewhat baffled, yet somehow...

It still felt quite reasonable??

Whatever.

Lin Xu shook his head, walked over to his desk, sat down, and took out his phone.

First, he sent a text message to Jiang Xingye to let her know he was safe, and then he tapped on the newly added chat box of Bai Mo.

The other party hadn't sent any messages.

Perhaps she was still immersed in massive emotional fluctuations and hadn't recovered yet.

Lin Xu pondered for a moment, then typed two lines into the chat box.

"Still the same question, why did you want to go to Mars?"

"I gave you many keywords, which one was it?"

A moment later.

Bai Mo's reply came through.

"No... it wasn't because of those keywords..."

"I have never heard those keywords before!"

"However... I know you can understand!"

‌"Have you also been to that place??"

"The mirror... that mirror space!"

"In there... the entire world is flat!"