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

Chapter 83 The Wasteland Stalker

After hearing these terrifying descriptions, Wang Jianxin, sitting in the back row, started to have second thoughts.

Indeed, with such a severe cold wave coming from Siberia, if you were to accidentally get trapped in Snake Mountain and transportation was cut off, wouldn't you just be waiting to die?

"If we're any less lucky, we'll become snacks for those wolves—"

Wang Jianxin breathed on his hands and rubbed them together, muttering anxiously.

Song Xingye, on the other hand, remained calm and composed.

He reached out and ruffled the huge dog's head in the passenger seat, laughing, "What are you afraid of? We have connections."

I heard that Black Sun's old flame is a she-wolf; they're practically family, how can he just bite her like that?

Joking aside, his gaze warily swept out the car window.

Whether it was just my imagination or not, deep in that snow-covered wilderness, there seemed to be several pairs of green eyes gleaming, always watching the off-road vehicle and following it all the way.

The big black dog in her arms seemed to sense something, baring its fangs from time to time and growling impatiently.

But in a flash, the feeling of being spied on disappeared.

The off-road vehicle climbed the hill, and Mira finally brought them to Snake Mountain.

It is said to be a mountain, but it is actually just a solitary hill rising in the wilderness.

From a distance, two enormous parabolic antennas, each 25 meters in diameter, stand tall in the wind and snow, resembling two giant ears, silently listening to the whispers of the universe.

As everyone got off the bus, the cold wind felt like knives cutting their faces.

Song Xingye held onto Hei Ri's rope and followed closely behind Mira.

The chubby boy Wang Jianxin and the skinny boy Ivan with glasses hunched their shoulders, looking around with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

The hill offers an exceptionally wide view, while to the northwest, a majestic black mountain range stretches across the horizon—or rather, towering peaks.

Mira pointed to the mountain and said, "That's Black Sun Mountain," and that's where the big black dog got its name.

At this moment, Black Sun was panting heavily, sniffing around, maintaining a high level of vigilance.

The Alabama's long, thick fur allows it to remain fearless and majestic even in temperatures as low as minus thirty degrees Celsius, its breath steaming hot white vapor.

"Hey! This dog is amazing!" Wang Jianxin exclaimed in amazement. "I didn't notice it when it was curled up in the car, but now that it's landed, it looks like a little donkey!"

This dog is extraordinary. Legend has it that it was found in the Siberian snowfields during Genghis Khan's westward expedition. It has a very ancient lineage and can survive in various harsh environments.

It is said that three adult Alabai dogs, once trained, can gang up on a wild boar king weighing a thousand kilograms, so Kazakh herders often take these giant dogs out with them.

Song Xingye nodded, then changed the subject, "Alright, enough rambling, let's get to work. Maybe we can find the Forbes tonight, and we can go home first thing tomorrow morning."

So the four of them got to work.

Song Xingye untied the black dog's rope, no longer worried about it running away, because Mila said it was very smart and would not only not be naughty, but could also help keep watch and so on.

After releasing the dogs, the four men took out their equipment from the trunk and walked towards the tracking station, stepping on the creaking, dead wood.

In the vast expanse of white snow, the two enormous parabolic antennas were already rusted and looked like the remains of some prehistoric creature.

Scattered all around were some collapsed radar dome bases, twisted gantry frames, a few dilapidated tile-roofed houses swaying precariously in the wind, and spiral antennas that still pointed to the sky but had long been de-energized.

Looking at this dilapidated scene, Song Xingye couldn't help but wonder: Can this pile of scrap metal still be used?

As you continue forward, a three-story Soviet-style technical building suddenly appears.

The big black dog charged ahead to scout the way, its heavy paws slapping against the terrazzo floor with a loud thud.

The muffled thud echoed through the empty stairwell.

"Wow—this place is really creepy. If you got a director here to make a horror movie, it would definitely be a box office hit—"

Wang Jianxin blew a string of clear snot from his nose, his voice trembling.

Song Xingye looked around and saw that it was a three-story building, but the height of each floor was exaggerated, reaching five or six meters.

Mira explained that computers and telemetry equipment during the Cold War were huge and generated enormous heat, requiring raised floors for wiring, which is why technology buildings at that time typically had such high ceilings.

After touring the building, which featured a distinct Cold War architectural style, and getting a clear picture of the situation, Song Xingye returned to assign tasks.

Wang Jianxin and Ivan were responsible for repairing the external antenna array, while Mira was responsible for debugging the outdated vacuum tube receiver.

The four split up, with Song Xingye turning to find the diesel generator that Mira had mentioned.

After searching for a long time, we finally found the generator in a room on the corner of the first floor.

After a great deal of effort and pulling the starter rope more than a dozen times, we finally got this old machine running.

The diesel generator started up with a whirring sound, emitting a pungent blue smoke.

A red auxiliary fuel tank hangs next to the generator, and the fuel line is connected to a huge oil storage tank painted blue outside.

The oil tank is about three meters long and two meters wide.

The oil tank was supported by a rusty iron frame, and the gauge showed that it was still more than half full of oil.

Song Xingye shook it vigorously, and seeing that the shelf did not sway due to years of rust, he left with peace of mind.

When he returned to the lobby, the dim lighting had dispelled the darkness, and the entire building had become bright.

After much effort, the four of them finally got these systems, which had been shut down for many years, running again.

Wang Jianxin and Ivan remounted the antenna and adjusted the azimuth angle. Mira's bulky receiver also lit up its indicator light and emitted a standby buzz.

This place is about 120 kilometers from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It took us all morning to get here, and now it's evening and the temperature is starting to drop sharply.

The group had only brought some dry food and water with them. Just as they were discussing whether to go out in the dark to collect firewood, Hei Ri, who had been patrolling outside, suddenly ran back and howled at them a few times.

Mira gestured for everyone to calm down: "This isn't a warning; it's trying to take us somewhere."

So the group followed the big black dog all the way to a locked warehouse.

Song Xingye picked up a stone, smashed the rusty lock, and pushed open the door. Good heavens, the whole room was filled with coal!

Looks like I won't have to freeze tonight.

They hurriedly carried some coal back to the technical building and lit a stove next to the vacuum tube receiver.

Bathed in the warm glow of the fire, they took turns putting on headphones and began a long period of listening.

According to model predictions, the Phobos will have at least four opportunities to fly over Baikonur in the coming week.

Once a signal is captured, the orbital elements of the Phobos satellite will be solved.

Perhaps it was due to aging equipment, perhaps the severe snowstorm disrupting the signal, or perhaps the signal from the Forbes' narrow frequency band was simply too weak.

When Song Xingye put on that huge, old Soviet-style military headset and listened intently in the room, all he heard was a rhythmic hissing sound, all background noise from outer space.

No suspicious bright spots appeared on the small screen of the radar main control console.

Mira found a pot from somewhere, went outside to scoop up a pot of snow, boiled water, and cooked the rice she had brought into porridge. The group quickly finished their dinner.

Wang Jianxin drank four bowls of wine before patting his round belly and saying contentedly, "This place is really nice. There's a diesel generator and coal. I even found a storage room filled with canned goods, but unfortunately they were all expired!"

Song Xingye found it a bit strange and asked Mira, "This place has such complete facilities, why didn't you take the supplies with you when you evacuated? It doesn't look like it was abandoned normally."

Mira shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either.

All that is known is that this place has never been used since it was abandoned, and the people of Baikonur seem to be unfamiliar with it as well.

Seeing that he couldn't get a clear answer from the questions, Song Xingye had no choice but to give up.

Outside, a massive blizzard raged on, while inside, the buzzing of a diesel generator and the crackling of charcoal fire filled the air.

The four people and the dog guarded this dilapidated old building, constantly adding coal to the stove to ward off the biting cold, and taking turns in pairs to listen in with headphones on.

Because of the extreme cold, while one person was listening, the other had to constantly boil water, warm the receiver's vacuum tubes with towels, and occasionally go out to knock ice off the radar's large dish.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, but the group still hadn't found anything.

Logically, the Phobos had already flown over Baikonur twice, yet the radar hadn't detected it at all.

On the morning of the fourth day.

When Song Xingye opened his eyes and woke up, there was a large iron kettle on the stove in the room, and the water was boiling so hard that the lid was constantly being overturned.

The big black dog that had been sleeping by the stove suddenly stood up and paced restlessly around the room, letting out a low whimper.

Song Xingye wrung out a towel to wipe his face and casually asked Wang Jianxin, who was on duty, "What's wrong with this dog? It ate more than you last night, how come it's hungry again so soon?"

Wang Jianxin was so sleepy that his eyelids were drooping. He waved his hand and said, "Don't mind it. This stupid dog has been acting crazy all night, whimpering and making noises. I don't know what's wrong with it."

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Just as Song Xingye was wondering, suddenly, the big black dog let out a howl.

Then it suddenly rammed the door open with its head, rushed into the swirling snow, and barked wildly into the vast white wilderness!