I started with a ship full of max-level veterans, and I'm just a complete noob.

"What's wrong? Why are you spacing out?" Qian Xuesen raised his eyebrows slightly as he looked at Jiang Ming's stiff facial muscles.

"No, no!" Jiang Ming snapped back to reality, quickly rubbing his eyes vigorously, feigning overwhelming excitement. "Teacher, I'm just so happy. I'll definitely study hard and never let you down!"

Qian Xuesen looked at the young man with red eyes in front of him, smiled gently, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, go back and get some rest. The ship docks tomorrow, and you'll have plenty to do once you get back home."

"Yes! Goodnight, teacher!"

Jiang Ming bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle, then turned and tiptoed out of room 107.

The moment the cabin door closed, the dim light from the corridor shone on Jiang Ming's face.

The respect on his face vanished instantly, replaced by an almost distorted, ecstatic joy. (✧◡✧)

It's out!

This time it's really big!

Jiang Ming glanced around like a thief, and finding no one there, he immediately scrambled into the adjacent room 108.

He locked the door with a "click" and, still not satisfied, moved a chair over and placed it against the doorknob.

After doing all this, he didn't even take off his shoes before collapsing onto the soft single bed, pulling the blanket over his head tightly.

"System! Come out here!" Jiang Ming excitedly muttered to himself in bed.

hum!

Within the space of consciousness, the bronze-colored "Record of Human Connections" suddenly magnified.

The four large seal characters "通古达今" on the cover burst forth with a dazzling divine light, as if traversing the long river of history for thousands of years, bringing a profound sense of vicissitude to the viewer.

The heavy pages of the book turned on their own without any wind, with a rustling sound.

The first page, which was originally blank, is now covered with countless golden specks of light.

The points of light quickly converged and condensed into an ancient-style calligraphy scroll that shimmered with dazzling golden light.

Qian Xuesen

[Status: Gold Activated]

[Trust Level: A Bond of Life and Death]

[Entry Date: September 9, 1955]

Upon seeing the four words "A Pact of Life and Death," Jiang Ming trembled with excitement, tears welling up in his eyes. (≧▽≦)

This was a life-or-death pact between the father of China's space program and his son!

Looking back on these past few days, from the heart-pounding fear during the group photo, to the frantic sweating during the room check, and then to the life-or-death struggle in the engine room.

He, a mediocre college student from 2024, finally managed to latch onto the biggest benefactor on this ship!

With this name card, his starting point in the scientific research community of New China soared directly from the basement to the atmosphere!

But that's not the most exciting part.

The core function of Tongtianlu is to trace the lineage!

"Come on, let me see just how monstrous the master's skill tree is!" Jiang Ming rubbed his hands together, his eyes wide like saucers.

On the system panel, above Qian Xuesen's gold name card, a dazzling golden thread suddenly extended.

This thread is like the trunk of a towering tree, brimming with vitality, growing straight upwards.

Jiang Ming knew that it was about tracing back to the previous generation of mentors.

Who was Qian Xuesen's mentor?

That's Theodore von Kármán, the absolute pioneer of the aerospace field!

Further up, there's Prandtl, the father of aerodynamics!

As long as you follow this line, all the top physics knowledge of the 20th century—hypersonic wind tunnels, ballistic missile trajectories, rocket engines—is his backyard!

The golden threads climbed rapidly upwards, quickly converging at the top to form a node.

A name slowly emerged in the void.

Theodore von Kármán (1881-1963)

"It's here! It's here! The ancestral master has appeared!" Jiang Ming was so excited he almost rolled around on the bed.

however.

The moment the golden thread touched the name von Kármán, a sudden change occurred!

The originally dazzling golden light seemed to have hit an invisible iron wall and was instantly extinguished.

That node didn't turn gold; instead, it turned into a deathly gray.

Immediately afterwards, a large, gray, phantom-like padlock appeared out of thin air and fastened itself tightly to the name of Theodore von Kármán.

【Ding! 】

[System notification: The character at this node is still alive!]

[Live player blocking rule triggered!]

[Current node status: Gray seal. Unreachable vertically, unable to communicate through spirits.]

Gurgling?

Jiang Ming's ecstatic expression froze instantly, as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over his head in the dead of winter. (°Д°)

What's going on?

It's sealed?

What the hell is this "blocking of living people"?!

Jiang Ming panicked and quickly clicked on the flashing notification, where lines of small text appeared.

[The Living Blockade: The essence of the Tongtianlu (Record of Heavenly Connection) lies in connecting with the academic spirits of the deceased that remain in the world. The spirits of the living still reside within their own bodies, forming a spiritual wall that blocks the pathways above.]

[Unlock method: The host must personally interact with the living person, establish genuine trust, and register their name card. Alternatively, the host can passively wait for the person to pass away naturally.]

Jiang Ming was dumbfounded.

He abruptly threw off the covers, sat up in bed, and frantically grabbed at his short hair. (Ｔ▽Ｔ)

This crappy system even requires physical isolation?!

Theodore von Kármán is alive and well, living far away in the United States, drinking coffee and doing research every day.

Jiang Ming is returning to China tomorrow. The US and China are separated by the entire Pacific Ocean, and are about to enter a decades-long Cold War blockade.

Where is he supposed to build genuine trust with von Kármán? Does he have to sprout wings and fly there?

As for waiting for him to pass away naturally?

It was clearly written on the panel that they were going to live until 1963!

If we really have to wait eight years, the daylily will be completely out of season!

"What a rip-off!" Jiang Ming was on the verge of tears, cursing the system's designer in his mind.

The sealing of Theodore von Kármán means that this wall also blocked Prandtl above.

This road to heaven was blocked off by a security door as soon as it began, leaving no gaps.

Jiang Ming slumped on the bed like a deflated balloon, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The more excited I was just now, the more desperate I am now.

Is this cheat code just for show and not for use?

Just as Jiang Ming was feeling disheartened and preparing to wash up and go to bed...

The system panel in the consciousness space suddenly flashed again and emitted a crisp buzzing sound.

【Ding! 】

[Vertical tracing is obstructed; horizontal exception rules for peers are activated!]

Swish!

Next to the gray von Kármán node, three golden horizontal branches suddenly and without warning extended out.

These three branches, like ivy, bypassed the large gray lock and grew wildly to the side.

Jiang Ming's eyes widened suddenly, and his breathing became rapid.

Expand horizontally!

Oh right, how could he forget that!

As a master of his generation, Theodore von Kármán had more than just Qian Xuesen as his student!

His students are practically a concentration camp where gods fight!

If any of these disciples have already passed away, wouldn't they be unaffected by the obstruction of the living?

The three golden branches quickly coalesced into three highlighted nodes.

The three names lit up simultaneously, radiating an alluring golden light.

[Deceased fellow disciple A: Can communicate with spirits]

[Deceased fellow disciple B: Status: Able to communicate with spirits]

[Deceased fellow disciple C: Status: Able to communicate with spirits]

"There's always a way out! System, I was wrong about you!" Jiang Ming slapped his thigh excitedly, almost jumping out of bed. (✧◡✧)

He immediately focused his attention on the first highlighted node.

A line of detailed information instantly unfolded in my mind.

[Personal Information: Pioneer of Vacuum Tube and Radar Physics in the Early 20th Century]

[Birth and death dates: Deceased]

[Academic Fields: High-Frequency Vacuum Tube Design, Early Radar Band Derivation, Fundamentals of Microwave Communication]

[Current Status: Psychic communication is available (Limited to 3 times per day for 15 minutes each time for beginners)]

Upon seeing the words "vacuum tube" and "radar," Jiang Ming's heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer, pounding wildly.

He knew all too well the value of those words!

This was in 1955!

The communication and radar technologies of the new China were almost non-existent, and even air defense early warning had to rely on the naked eye and the ear.

Moreover, the biggest bottleneck in the cellular network and distributed communication that he had casually boasted about in order to fool Mr. Qian was the lack of sufficiently advanced hardware support.

Without high-frequency vacuum tubes and microwave technology, his groundbreaking ideas would have been nothing but castles in the air and empty promises.

Now, a ready-made pioneer of radar and vacuum tubes has opened the door to knowledge to him without any defenses!

The intense emotional rollercoaster of extreme joy and sorrow made Jiang Ming feel like he was on a rollercoaster.

The Tongtianlu (Record of Heavenly Enlightenment) is indeed rigorous.

It doesn't give you the chance to mindlessly take advantage of others; it forces you to struggle and work your way up in the real world.

But it is indeed incredibly powerful, always able to open a window for you in dire straits, directly shoving the knowledge base of history into your face.

Jiang Ming took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the overwhelming joy in his heart.

He rolled out of bed, walked quickly to the writing desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

He took out the kraft paper notebook that Chen Zhiyuan had lent him from the drawer and uncapped the Hero brand fountain pen.

Lay out the paper and grip the pen firmly.

My palms were sweaty, and even the pen was slippery.

Jiang Ming swallowed hard, staring intently at the luminous name in his mind that represented the pioneers of vacuum tubes.

The restrictions on the "White Paper" are very strict; each session is only fifteen minutes long.

He had to seize every second to extract the most essential technology from the mind of this late sage!

Jiang Ming closed his eyes, a silent roar emanating from within.

"System, requesting a spiritual dialogue with the first sage!"