Reborn in 2011, I am the chief designer of aerospace.

Song Xingye couldn't figure out the old man's methods.

After going through so much trouble to expose him as the "mastermind," what exactly is his intention?

He repeatedly considered whether his encouragement of Jiang Mian to secretly read the documents constituted an illegal acquisition of confidential information.

But after thinking it over, those historical archives that have already been declassified or partially declassified are at most just unauthorized access, which doesn't amount to any serious crime.

So they decided not to be afraid of the other party's threats anymore.

Having made up his mind, Song Xingye went straight to the point, "Sir, what exactly do you need us for?"

The elderly man in the Zhongshan suit in the driver's seat did not answer immediately.

He scrutinized Song Xingye for several seconds through the rearview mirror with his cloudy yet sharp eyes.

Jiang Mian, standing to the side, was so intimidated by the oppressive atmosphere that she dared not utter a sound, only daring to steal glances at what lay ahead.

"My name is Zhuang Zhipeng. I used to be a professor at China Southern Airlines, but I've retired now."

The old man first introduced himself, then paused for a moment, his expression turning slightly serious. He then said solemnly, "As for who you two are, you don't need to tell me, I'm not interested!"

As he spoke, he turned to the side, leaning half his body towards the back row, squinting as he stared at Song Xingye's face.

"I just want to know, why are you investigating a space station that disappeared almost thirty years ago? Why are you investigating Salyut 7?"

Why?

Song Xingye felt a chill run down his spine.

Of course, it's because of my best friend Wang Han from my past life!

The other side investigated Salute No. 7 so thoroughly that they drove the person to madness, making them insane and paranoid, and in the end, they vanished without a trace!

He must find out the truth.

But he couldn't say these things aloud, so Song Xingye remained expressionless and replied casually, "It's purely a personal interest. What, is it wrong for a researcher to have a little curiosity?"

Zhuang Zhipeng's face was expressionless, but his tone was domineering: "No way!"

For a moment, the car was completely silent.

Song Xingye seemed surprised that the other party would say such arrogant words.

What? You think you can control them just because you've caught a tiny weakness?

He chuckled and retorted, "Professor Zhuang, shouldn't we be reasonable? If we don't agree, are you planning to take us both to the security office?"

"I'm not that bored."

Zhuang Zhipeng's face darkened, and he turned his head away, leaning back in his chair.

He seemed to know he couldn't dissuade the young man, and after thinking for a while, he fell into a dilemma.

After a long while, Zhuang Zhipeng once again turned his gaze from the rearview mirror to the two people in the back seat.

"The secret of Salyut 7 is not something just anyone can access. Take my advice, don't go looking for trouble. Otherwise, you'll be in big trouble... even your life will be in danger!"

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mian turned pale with fright.

She was already a bit timid, and hearing that her life was in danger made her even more panicked.

Song Xingye, standing next to him, didn't react excessively; instead, he became even more interested in Zhuang Zhipeng.

Because he had personally witnessed someone's disappearance.

"You sound so certain? Who exactly are you, and how many secrets does Salyut 7 hold?"

Song Xingye tried to pry out more clues, but Zhuang Zhipeng remained silent.

Clearly, he was tight-lipped about that secret.

Since the other party was unwilling to disclose anything, Song Xingye couldn't press them for details, since he wasn't from the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics.

After a brief standoff, Zhuang Zhipeng opened the armrest storage box, took out a business card, and casually tossed it into the back seat.

"This is my phone number. If you're still stubborn and insist on courting death, I won't stop you. But if you need to collect your bodies someday, you can consider contacting me. Get out of the car, and let's pretend we never met!"

The other party gave them the order to leave.

Song Xingye pursed his lips, picked up the business card and put it in his pocket, then pulled the still somewhat dazed Jiang Mian out of the car.

As soon as he closed the door, Zhuang Zhipeng didn't even look at them, stepped on the gas, and drove away from the library.

"This old man is really strange..."

Song Xingye watched the taillights disappear into the distance, and muttered to himself.

The girl next to him nervously tugged at his sleeve. "Song Shen, could it really be as sinister as Professor Zhuang said? Salyut 7 is just an abandoned space station, what secrets could it possibly hold?"

Song Xingye smiled and said:

"Don't listen to his nonsense. These old men are retired and have nothing better to do than be suspicious. There's really nothing to be curious about. A space station that's been abandoned for almost 30 years can't cause any big trouble."

"But... Salyut 7 does have some oddities..."

Jiang Mian frowned and thoughtfully recounted the story of the astronaut crew's "four dead and one missing" from "Mysterious Events (Volume 2)".

Song Xingye listened patiently to this mysterious anecdote that had been recorded in the archives, and his heart stirred slightly.

"The fact that the Russians recorded it in black and white means it's almost certainly true..."

But he quickly shook his head, pretending to be nonchalant, and said, "However, I think the possibility of it being made up is also very high. Think about it, what kind of person is an astronaut?"

Those were exceptional individuals, selected through rigorous processes, one in a million, even more precious than Air Force ace pilots. How could they possibly have health problems, suffer from a brain tumor, and die suddenly?

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mian nodded in deep agreement, "That's right, how could astronauts suddenly get sick? Their medical examination standards are the most stringent in all of humanity!"

"Furthermore, you said that three crew members died in a plane crash caused by pilot error after returning to Earth. That's even more outrageous. They were air force veterans, with medals that could probably fill a cabinet. They survived even test flights, so how could the plane capsize during a routine flight?"

"Emmm...indeed, flying a plane is easier for them than driving a car; a basic mistake is unlikely..."

Song Xingye came up with a bunch of reasons to refute the contents of the document, and Jiang Mian finally nodded in agreement, "It seems it really is fabricated. Those Russians can really talk nonsense!"

"Right? A shabby space station can't hold any secrets. If we're talking about really strange and unusual things, there's the mystery of the pyramids' construction, the mystery of the destruction of the Mayan civilization, the mystery of the mercury system at Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum, the Bermuda Triangle, the Tunguska event, Atlantis..."

Song Xingye persuaded people with reason and continued to supplement the evidence to solidify the "fabricated" claim: "These unsolved mysteries are much more interesting than Salyut 7, so there's no need to worry about them. It must be the Russians and Zhuang Zhipeng exaggerating."

"Hey, he's a retired professor, can't you have some manners, Comrade Song?"

Jiang Mian's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was finally at ease, though she was a little disappointed.

I thought I'd be caught up in some kind of epic adventure, like a movie heroine.

Once I relaxed, I changed my address from "God Song" back to "Comrade Little Song".

Song Xingye didn't know why this girl always referred to herself as "comrade," as she exuded a strong, old-fashioned, bureaucratic air.

Next, guided by his words, Jiang Mian's attention was smoothly diverted to the Russian-to-Chinese meeting minutes.

The two spent the afternoon in the coffee shop, with Song Xingye listening to Jiang Mian recount the contents of the minutes word by word.

This girl is not only a genius in applied mathematics, but also has a photographic memory; she can memorize hundreds of pages of notes after reading them only a few times.

Song Xingye tapped his fingers lightly on the table, listening and analyzing the logic of the content.

Finally, Corporal Cotton, his mouth dry from talking, had finally emptied his brain of all the information he had.

"That's all?"

"These are not enough? I had to put in a lot of effort to remember them. I feel like I didn't work this hard even when I was doing my PhD."

Jiang Mian grumbled in dissatisfaction and slumped into her chair.

"Yes, that's quite a lot. You've worked hard today!"

Song Xingye sincerely thanked him, but then started to have some doubts.

No clues have yet been found that are directly related to the failure of the "Firefly-1" launch.

Could it be that all the information we've found so far just happens to avoid the point of failure?

This is incredibly bad luck.

However, it wasn't a complete loss; at least they found some clues about Salyut 7.

Especially the news that the entire crew had been wiped out—although he told Jiang Mian it was fabricated, he already believed it in his heart.

Considering Wang Han's bizarre actions in his previous life, everything beyond imagination can be rationalized.

Song Xingye simply didn't want Jiang Mian to get involved in this mess.

If there is any real danger to his life, he can take full responsibility!