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

On the deck of a cruise ship.

The sunlight was so bright it was hard to open one's eyes, and the salty sea breeze howled, making one's clothes flutter.

Jiang Ming was practically dragged up here by Chen Zhiyuan. His mind was now like a broken-down tractor, buzzing loudly.

In the middle of the deck, more than twenty returned overseas students had gathered in twos and threes, ready to line up.

As soon as Jiang Ming showed his face, his gaze swept across the crowd and instantly settled on a person in the center of the front row.

The man wore a slightly faded suit jacket, was slender, but his back was ramrod straight. He had a broad forehead and a refined air; even standing silently in a crowd, he exuded a composure that was impossible to ignore.

Qian Xuesen!

The real, living Qian Xuesen!

Jiang Ming felt his kneecaps soften instantly, and cold sweat suddenly broke out in his palms.

As a 2024 graduate of a third-rate university, he had only ever seen this bigwig in history textbooks and documentaries before. Now, with the real person standing less than ten meters away, the sheer weight of that presence across time and space completely shattered his psychological defenses.

"Come on, Brother Jiang, come over here!" Chen Zhiyuan was an easygoing person and pulled Jiang Ming into the crowd.

"No, no, no, Brother Chen, I'll stand at the back. I'm tall, so it'll be fine for me to stand at the back..." Jiang Ming desperately tried to back up, clinging tightly to the deck with both feet.

Are you kidding me? Send him to the front?

That's the starting area for max-level experts! He's a complete novice who can't even pass Materials Mechanics, wouldn't he be asking for trouble if he went there?

Jiang Ming forcefully broke free from Chen Zhiyuan's grasp and darted to the very edge of the back row. He hunched over, trying to become invisible, frantically chanting in his mind: "You can't see me, you can't see me..." (Ｔ▽Ｔ)

"OK! Everybody, look at me!"

The foreign photographer on board, holding an old-fashioned camera, began directing the participants to take their positions.

He glanced at the camera, frowned, and pointed at Jiang Ming in the back corner, shouting, "Hey! That guy in the gray suit! Come to the front!"

Jiang Ming pretended not to hear and lowered his head to count the wood grain on the deck.

The photographer got impatient, walked over, grabbed Jiang Ming's arm, and forcibly pulled him out from the back row.

"The picture is unbalanced. You, stand here!"

The photographer gestured and pushed, directly placing Jiang Ming in the front row.

Jiang Ming looked up, as if struck by lightning.

To the left is the vast and boundless Pacific Ocean.

On the right is Qian Xuesen, smiling as he looks at the camera.

He was forcibly pressed to Qian Xuesen's left!

This is the sub-center next to the center! Σ( ° △ °|||)︴

Jiang Ming felt like he was about to have a heart attack. He could even smell the faint scent of soap on Old Qian's clothes. This was a million times more terrifying than being stared at from behind by the headmaster for ten minutes while playing on his phone in class!

"Smile! One, two, three!"

"Snap!"

The moment the spotlight flashed, Jiang Ming's facial muscles completely lost control, and he stiffly grinned, leaving behind a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Thank you!" The photographer put away his camera with satisfaction.

After the group photo was taken, the originally tightly packed crowd began to disperse in twos and threes.

"Phew..." Jiang Ming felt as if he had been granted a pardon and let out a long breath.

I'm outta here! I need to get back to my cabin and pretend to be seasick! As long as I don't talk to these big shots, I'll never be exposed!

He had just turned around, his right foot hadn't even had a chance to step out yet.

"This student."

A gentle, calm voice, yet carrying an undeniable power, came from behind.

Jiang Ming's right foot was suspended in mid-air, and his whole body was frozen as if he had been frozen in place.

He swallowed hard, and like a rusty mechanical puppet, he turned his head inch by inch.

Qian Xuesen did not leave. He turned around and calmly looked at Jiang Ming.

"Hello, Mr. Qian..." Jiang Ming stammered, his palms sweating nervously.

Chen Zhiyuan, who hadn't gone far, also came over and looked at them curiously.

Qian Xuesen nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Ming's ill-fitting old suit before finally settling on his slightly flustered face.

"I just glanced at the list of returnees," Qian Xuesen said in a casual tone, as if chatting with someone. "Your name wasn't originally on the list; it was added to the end later with a pen. Which school did you graduate from?"

boom!

It was as if a nuclear bomb had exploded in Jiang Ming's mind. His CPU was instantly burned out!

What I feared most has come to pass! A max-level player has come to raid my room!

This problem is absolutely fatal!

His past life's memories told him that he attended a diploma mill in the United States, whose name was almost revoked, majoring in mechanical engineering, and his grades were terrible.

How should I answer?

Tell the truth? Tell Qian Xuesen that I was actually a mediocre student from a diploma mill, who didn't even know basic formulas, and that I only got on the ship to go back to China and make a living?

In this setting filled with top elites, if he dared to say such a thing, he would be utterly scorned and completely ruined! He might even be mistaken for a spy who had infiltrated the ship!

So you're lying? Making up a background from an Ivy League university?

If Qian Xuesen were to casually ask, "Who is your advisor?" or "What is your research area?", he would be exposed on the spot and suffer an even more humiliating defeat!

Just as Jiang Ming was sweating profusely and his mind went completely blank...

"clang!"

Deep in my mind, that ancient bell tolled once again.

The bronze-covered book, *The Record of Human Connections*, suddenly opened in my mind, and a line of gleaming gold characters jumped out:

[Ding! Target detected: Qian Xuesen!]

Current trust level: Strangers.

[Hint: After gaining the initial trust of the target, you can add them to the nameplate to unlock their lineage and trace their mentorship!]

[Warning: Genuine trust must be earned; false flattery is strictly prohibited. If you deceive others with lies and are exposed, it will be considered betrayal, your calling card will be destroyed, and your network will be permanently blocked!]

Looking at the warning in his mind, Jiang Ming felt like he wanted to die.

System, are you kidding me?!

This situation—where lying is forbidden and the truth cannot be told—is an unsolvable dead end!

The sea breeze blew across the deck, and the surroundings seemed to quiet down.

Chen Zhiyuan chimed in with a laugh, "Brother Jiang was a little embarrassed just now. To be added to the end of the list, you must be a hidden gem from some prestigious university, right?"

That statement was like adding fuel to the fire.

Qian Xuesen was not interrupted by Chen Zhiyuan. He continued to smile and look at Jiang Ming, waiting for his answer.

But there was a hint of unintentional scrutiny in that gentle gaze. A young man who had squeezed onto the ship at the last minute certainly aroused some curiosity and some suspicion.

Jiang Ming took a deep breath, his lungs filling with the salty sea breeze.

His hands were clenched into fists in his pockets; he couldn't lie.

The system's rules are clear: you can fool some of them, but not all of them. Faced with such intellectually superior scientific giants, any elaborate lie is as fragile as paper.

Then we have no choice but to take a gamble!

Jiang Ming raised his head and met Qian Xuesen's scrutinizing gaze, his mind rapidly reorganizing his vocabulary.

He decided to give an answer that wasn't exactly a lie, but it was definitely not the whole truth either.