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

Director Wang didn't even bother to update the document registration at the door. He walked to the long table and placed the interrogation report in front of Qian Xuesen, then his gaze locked onto Jiang Ming next to the whiteboard.

The guard outside chased after them half a step in, but upon seeing the people inside and the top-secret documents on the table, he could only hand the register to Director Zhang and close the conference room door first.

"The situation is urgent. The interrogation team has just completed double verification, and the testimonies, old documents, and fragments of the mine manual have corroborated each other."

Director Wang pulled out the first page of the briefing; the edges of the paper had burrs from being bound overnight.

"Meng Dechang vomited. The three missing pages of Lightning-7 were an original radar anti-jamming frequency hopping plan that Lei Jun completed before his death."

"Meng Dechang sold the original case to the other side and then framed Lao Lei!"

Factory Director Zhang was filling out an entry registration form with his pen when he heard the last sentence. The pen tip pierced the paper, and the ink splattered outwards along the name column.

He raised his hand to take off his reading glasses, and with his other hand reached for the cigarette case in his uniform pocket, but pulled his fingertips back after touching the corner of the case.

The material requisition form from six years ago, the incomplete inspection stamp, and Lei Ming's disappearance record have always been buried in the old case of the Third Electronics Factory. Many people know that there are doubts about them, but they have always lacked the core evidence that can close the case.

Director Wang unfolded the second page, next to the interrogation record, where the paper identification results of the Lightning No. 7 manual were attached, and the missing page binding hole corresponded to the original copy of the case preserved in the mine.

"The original design by Lei Ming used multiple sets of pseudo-random frequency points to improve the radar's survivability when facing narrowband suppression. The data was in the internal verification stage at the time."

"Meng Dechang used his material verification authority to obtain a copy, removed three pages of key algorithms, and then handed them over to the overseas technical line through the transportation system."

"Afterwards, he altered the material requisition and review records, placing all the responsibility for contacting the original case, requisitioning equipment, and transporting it westward under Lei Ming's name."

Factory Director Zhang put his glasses on the table, his eyes already red-rimmed, but his gaze remained fixed on the signature area of ​​the interrogation record.

Can the confession be overturned?

"The key part is locked by three sets of evidence, and he can't overturn them even if he wants to."

Director Wang took out the summary of the mine's technical supervisor's confession and put together the 1949 transportation schedule and Meng Dechang's train ticket stub.

"The technical supervisor revealed the original time of receipt of the case, the mine fragments retained Lei Ming's personal seal, and Meng Dechang explained the process of rewriting the material requisition form."

"The original paper, the year of the ink, the binding holes, and the transportation route have all been verified. The charges against Lao Lei for leaking secrets and defecting can be formally dropped. The subsequent conclusions will be submitted for approval by the special task force."

Factory Director Zhang lowered his head and gripped the temple of his glasses. The words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat. After a long while, he pushed the interrogation report back to Director Wang.

"Please include his full title and the original case details in the report; don't just gloss over it with 'missing person' anymore."

Director Wang nodded, but his hand remained pressed against the latter half of the briefing.

"Old Lei's case has solid evidence, but there is still a deeper thread in Lightning Seven. Meng Dechang was only responsible for obtaining information, altering records, and organizing transportation. The person who actually took over the original case had another identity."

The hushed conversation that had just arisen in the conference room due to the debate over the model all stopped. The major general also turned away from the whiteboard and looked at the last page that Director Wang was not yet open.

"We found the name of the big boss who took over the original case and set up the No. 04 mine system in the Northwest."

Director Wang opened the briefing, where a magnified photo of the burned secret letter was pasted at the top of the page, with the results of paper restoration and stroke comparison marked next to the remaining ink marks.

"His surname is Deng, which is the other half of the character '阝'."

The experts around the long table exchanged glances, their earlier enthusiasm for checking the calculations on the whiteboard quickly fading. The major general took the last page, first checking the grade, then looking at the job title annotations after the name.

Jiang Ming could only judge from their reactions that the person this surname pointed to was far more difficult to deal with than Meng Dechang. As for the specific network of relationships and the boundaries of authority, the briefing only left large areas of cover lines.

Director Wang superimposed the photo of the burned secret letter with the list of attendees from the 1949 meeting, and the remaining ink was precisely positioned to correspond to the left stroke of the name in the fifth line.

"Meng Dechang called him Mr. Deng and never used his full name when they met. The mine's technical supervisor only knew his code name, but the time, place, and transfer permits for both of them all pointed to the same person."

"He could mobilize old military supply relationships and influence the organization of technical personnel. After Meng Dechang was arrested, some people in Beijing tried to find out about Jiang Ming from both the archives of his return to China and the Third Electronics Factory."

Factory Director Zhang put his glasses back on and picked up the special protection document.

"Was the fake maintenance worker at Xi'an Station also from this railway line?"

"It's still under review. The source of the documents is related to the old railway system. At this stage, it can only be listed as a related incident and cannot be directly included in the case."

Director Wang clearly defined the boundaries of the information, neither expanding the conclusions based on a single sheet of paper nor relaxing the protection arrangements for Jiang Ming.

After reading the briefing, the major general turned the paper face down on the table.

"If this person truly has these connections, the personnel allocation, equipment distribution, and test site selection during the preparation of the Fifth Academy may all be affected."

A returning expert folded up the manuscript paper that was just filled with calculations, and his voice became much lower.

"The guidance team also needs to draw people from multiple units. If any part delays the approval, the model will just remain on the whiteboard."

Director Wang looked at Jiang Ming. The marshalling papers seized at Xi'an Station, the observation vehicles evacuated from the west side of the barren rocky beach, and the signs of approaching Beijing archives were still three clues to be investigated.

The only fact he could confirm was that Jiang Ming had entered the other party's sphere of attention, and the risk level would continue to rise once the preparatory positions of the Fifth Academy were made public.

Qian Xuesen closed the interrogation briefing, stood up from the end of the long table, picked up his notebook and Jiang Ming's draft reply, and walked to the whiteboard filled with formulas.

The whiteboard holder was equipped with casters. He unfastened the fasteners and personally pushed the entire whiteboard away from the wall, all the way to the center of the conference room.

The red line cuts off the old deduction path, and the new aerodynamically compensated microwave guidance framework fills the right side, with the verification results left by several experts and the marks to be measured interspersed.

Qian Xuesen held onto the whiteboard frame, his gaze falling on the major general, the returned expert, and Director Zhang in turn.

"If the Fifth Research Institute simply copies existing data, it will forever only be able to follow behind others and patch up errors. This whiteboard today has shown that we need people who can identify gaps from an overall perspective."

"Jiang Ming's experience with components, frontline experience, and modeling capabilities perfectly fill the weakest link in the guidance system."

The major general glanced at the gyroscope data he had posted below the whiteboard, then reached out and put the original projection table back into the folder.

"The deputy chief engineer is involved in organizational appointments. The military's requirements group can approve him as a candidate, but the specific authority needs to be written into the preparation documents."

Qian Xuesen picked up a red pen and wrote Jiang Ming's name in the blank column of the guidance team member page, then placed the pen on the top-secret document.

"No matter who's in the way, I'll protect Jiang Ming, the deputy chief engineer of the guidance team, on this project."

Director Zhang pushed the personnel support documents for the Third Electronics Factory to the center of the table.

"502 retains his technical lead qualification, and the factory's equipment, materials, and pre-research team will continue to support him. I will be responsible for the transfer procedures."

The major general took out the military requirements group's seal, stamped it in red in the candidate comments section, and then handed the document to the other preparation leaders.

The model in front of the whiteboard went from personal derivation to an internal demonstration project of the Fifth Research Institute, and Jiang Ming's identity also changed from the technical head of the Third Electronics Factory to the core preparatory level of the national missile guidance system.

Qian Xuesen then opened Jiang Ming's draft reply and turned to the last page.

"You have already answered Mr. Feng's two questions using your own methods, and the boundary layer derivation has even been incorporated into today's guidance model. This reply can be sent now."

He signed his name in the technical review section, handed the manuscript to his secretary, and requested that the translation, proofreading, and airmail be processed through the International Exchange Office of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that same day.

The secretary took the document, placed it in a special envelope on the spot, and after Jiang Ming signed the mailing registration form, the letter was taken out of the conference room and officially entered the communication channel with Pasadena.

Deep within his consciousness, the bronze pages turned on their own, and the cracked gray seal above Qian Xuesen's name card began to peel away, allowing dozens of academic rays to pierce through the original obscuring barrier and extend across Europe.

The names, obscured by the gray fog, gradually revealed their outlines. Aerodynamics, applied mathematics, engineering mechanics, radio theory and precision control, and other related fields were interconnected, and the originally isolated nodes quickly formed a vast academic network.

[Initial technical response confirms entry into direct communication channels.]

[The Von Kármán node restriction has been lifted.]

[A portrait of Europe's academic giants begins.]