Chapter 125 The Moment You Walk Down

In the Northwest, at a certain military airport.

By the time the plane landed, it was already three o'clock in the morning.

The cabin door opened, and a minus twenty-degree cold wind poured in like a knife.

Klaus wrapped his thin suit tightly around himself and shivered violently.

He carried the old suitcase he regarded as his life—

Inside it contained all the core blueprint backups he had accumulated in his life; it was his pledge of allegiance to the "Prophet."

He followed Lin Xi down the gangway.

There were no red carpets here, no flowers, only the endless Gobi Desert and the biting cold wind.

A few jeeps with peeling paint were parked by the runway, their headlights casting two beams of yellow light into the dark night.

Zhang Zhengguo and the others were wrapped in thick military overcoats, shivering in the wind.

Seeing Lin Xi come down, he immediately rubbed his hands and walked up to meet them, a simple and eager smile on his face.

Klaus stopped and looked around.

The red brick houses in the distance were dilapidated, and the windows were even covered with newspapers.

The cement road surface was potholed; was this the so-called "national-level base"?

The huge sense of disparity left him somewhat dazed.

This must be the typical difference between "buyer's show" and "seller's show"!

"Men... Mentor..."

Klaus's teeth chattered, his voice filled with self-doubt,

"Is... is this what you called the world's most top-tier laboratory?"

Never mind comparing this place to a precision factory in Zurich.

Even compared to a car repair shop in the countryside of Germany, it seemed shabby.

This is the future?

This is the place that can create the "God Formula"?

I think it's more like exile!

A military overcoat was suddenly draped over his shoulders.

Lin Xi helped him button it up one by one.

"Right now, it indeed is not."

Lin Xi turned around, looking at the complex of buildings silent in the cold wind, his gaze like a torch.

It seemed to pierce through the brick walls, seeing Liu Xiaodong working through the night inside, seeing Zhao Qiang with his hands full of grease, seeing Jiang Jun working desperately for his daughter.

He patted Klaus's shoulder, his voice not loud:

"But, Klaus."

"The moment you step down."

A curve of arrogance appeared on the corner of Lin Xi's mouth:

"It will be."

Before his voice had faded, Zhang Zhengguo had already strode over.

His face was full of smiles, not caring whether Klaus was willing or not.

He grabbed Klaus's hand and shook it vigorously:

"Welcome, welcome! A warm welcome!"

"Welcome Mr. Klaus to join our big family!"

Klaus was shaken until he was dizzy by this enthusiastic, strange strength.

Wrapped in the ill-fitting military overcoat Lin Xi had given him, snot was still swirling in the cold wind.

He was in a completely dazed state.

"This is General Manager Zhang." Lin Xi acted as a translator on the side, a smile on his lips.

"The conditions are a bit tough, but our sincerity is one hundred percent!"

While speaking, Zhang Zhengguo quietly led Klaus toward the jeep.

Afraid that this hen that could lay golden eggs would fly away.

"Let's go to the dormitory first; getting settled is the most important thing."

"Other work can wait until tomorrow; no rush, no rush!"

Taking advantage of the gap while Klaus was getting in the car, the smile on Zhang Zhengguo's face vanished instantly.

He grabbed Lin Xi's neck.

Lowering his voice, his tone was fierce but betrayed uncontrollable excitement:

"You brat, you're something! Launching a sneak attack?"

"The report said you were going to get equipment, but you ended up kidnapping a living person and bringing him back?"

"It was an emergency, there wasn't time to report."

"Special circumstances require special handling."

Lin Xi rubbed his frozen hands and chuckled,

"General Manager Zhang, having this old man is better than getting ten machines."

"Stop your glib talk!"

Zhang Zhengguo glared at him, but the smile in the corners of his eyes couldn't be hidden,

"I'll have a translator assigned to you by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow morning you accompany him to get familiar with the work, and in the afternoon come report to me and Old Qian."

"Remember, take good care of this precious treasure."

"If this foreigner runs away, I'm holding you accountable!"

The livestream chat was scrolling happily.

[Hahahaha, Old Zhang is a typical case of being hard-mouthed but soft-hearted; he's probably overjoyed inside!]

[LMAO, General Manager Zhang's acting skills are at least forty years ahead of the Oscars.]

[Typically getting the advantage and still complaining; look at him, he's grinning so hard his molars are almost showing.]

[Section Chief Lin: Not only did I save money, I even brought someone back; tell me, isn't that great!]

...

After settling Klaus in, Lin Xi also returned to his own dormitory.

However, this night was destined to be sleepless for Klaus.

Although the base had provided him with a two-bedroom apartment according to the highest standards.

But compared to his original living conditions, it was like heaven and earth.

He lay on the hard wooden bed, listening to the whistling wind and sand outside the window, watching the incandescent light bulb swinging on the ceiling.

This is the legendary "mysterious oriental base"?

According to Lin Xi's introduction.

Hot water actually required taking a thermos to the end of the corridor, to that boiling water room emitting white steam, and queuing up to get it?

Even taking a shower required queuing at a public bathhouse.

You have to know, in his Zurich apartment, even the toilet seat was heated!

"Oh God..."

Klaus wrapped the quilt tightly around himself, shivering in the dark, his mind filled with wild thoughts:

"Have I been tricked into some black coal mine?"

"This is a research base? This is clearly a place of exile!"

...

The next morning, the sunlight was blinding.

When Lin Xi brought Klaus, who had two large dark circles under his eyes, toward Workshop No. 5, the whole base was abuzz.

In this closed-off Northwest, apart from the backs of the Soviet experts who left when they withdrew.

Many young workers had grown up, and this was the first time they had seen a living Westerner who wasn't on a movie screen.

The road from the canteen to the workshop was crowded with workers in blue work clothes.

Some were holding lunchboxes, some were holding wrenches.

Everyone stretched their necks, like looking at a giant panda, their eyes filled with pure curiosity and inquiry.

"Wow, is this a foreign devil? Why is his nose so big, like a clove of garlic hanging there!"

"Look at that hair, white? Or yellow? Is it not washed clean?"

"Shh! I heard it's a big expert invited back by Section Chief Lin, who can make machine tools, even more capable than the people from the Soviet Union!"

Klaus felt like a monkey stripped of its fur, being exhibited on the street to hundreds of eyes.

That naked gaze made him, a European gentleman who values "social distance," so embarrassed that his toes could dig out a three-bedroom apartment.

"Go, go, go! What are you all doing!"

At the workshop entrance, Big Sister Liu rushed out brandishing a large broom, scattering the crowd like chasing chickens:

"Haven't you seen a big nose before? What's there to look at!"

"Everyone go back to work!"

"Whoever keeps looking, this month's bonus will be deducted!"

The crowd then dispersed with laughter.

[So realistic! My grandfather said that when they first saw a foreigner back then, the whole village went to watch, just like watching an alien.]

[At that time, the newspapers specifically advocated, "Do not crowd around foreigners"!]

[Klaus: Who am I? Where am I? Why are the people here looking at me like they are looking at ingredients?]

The crowd dispersed, and Lin Xi slowly pushed open the door of Workshop No. 5.

"This is our laboratory."