Don't go to the moon, there are gods on the far side of the moon.

The old ground station in the western suburbs of the space city has been abandoned for seven years.

On the surface, it was just a park that Tianheng rented in its early days when it conducted track material testing. A few low-rise factory buildings, a rusty telemetry antenna, and weeds growing outside the wall. Later, Tianheng moved its core business to a new base, and this place was left only for security patrols and warehouse registration.

But Lin Wangchuan's message made everyone realize that abandonment was only a facade.

That place must also contain a physical confirmation terminal that could provide the old navigation map to the second maintenance satellite.

The question is, who will go?

Lin Jibai couldn't go. His stability was still stuck at 41%, and the response from his toolbox was getting slower and slower. Lu Chengong had just had his adaptation layer stripped off by the Nine Suns Fragment, and the nerve signals in his right arm were chaotic, making it difficult for him to even stand. Lin Xiaoman couldn't leave the DreamNet listening area either; she needed to observe the Fire Seed and the crack in the North Heavenly Gate.

Xu Wangshu looked at Qin Lan.

Qin Lan is already mobilizing the ground team.

"The nearest joint security convoy takes twelve minutes."

Wen Zhaolin said, "It's too late. The maintenance star will enter the edge of the shadow in six minutes. Once the old navigation map is uploaded, Beitianmen will have a reason to locate the door gap to the Heavenly Ladder test section."

Xu Wangshu asked, "Your people?"

Wen Zhaolin shook his head.

"The old Tianheng ground station might not listen to me now. Wen Qingyue probably can't get involved either."

On the public channel, Wen Qingyue coldly stated: "I did not activate this ground station."

No one completely believed her statement, but no one had time to interrogate her.

Qin Lan suddenly looked up.

"Dr. Xu, you can't go."

Just as Xu Wangshu was about to speak, Qin Lan added a sentence.

"You are the only person who can simultaneously control the refusal to use the seat, the DreamNet record, and the wording of Beitianmen. If you leave the seat, the control will be in chaos."

Xu Wangshu remained silent.

It wasn't that she didn't want to go. The old station in the western suburbs was connected to Lin Wangchuan's old connection, and also to the landmark that marked the first real landing of Beitianmen. But she knew better than anyone that the main control room wasn't just a command post; it was a knot temporarily tied together by all the rejection clauses in the human world. Once the knot untied, the fire, bows, and people rescued earlier would be reclaimed by the old system.

She knew Qin Lan was right.

Just then, a line of text lit up in the toolbox.

[West Gate of the Exhibition Hall.]

Everyone was stunned for a moment.

Lin Jibai added the second half of the sentence intermittently.

The repair team is nearby.

Qin Lan immediately mobilized personnel around the aerospace city exhibition hall. Due to previous anomalies, the underground water sampling point at the west gate of the exhibition hall had been maintained by a maintenance team, including two veteran maintenance workers who had previously worked with Lin Jibai on outsourced projects. They were only four kilometers away from the old ground station in the western suburbs, much faster than the joint security team.

Xu Wangshu frowned.

"Ordinary maintenance workers should not get involved in the old Heavenly Court's affairs."

Lin Jibai's flashlight flashed very slowly.

【ask.】

Another question.

It was not a mobilization, not an order, and not an implicit acceptance that ordinary people could be pushed forward for the sake of the greater good.

Qin Lan immediately connected to the maintenance team's public channel, explaining only the practical risks: the old ground station in the western suburbs might be transmitting navigation maps to the out-of-control maintenance satellite, requiring manual activation of the physical circuit breaker; there are risks of electromagnetic anomalies, equipment explosions, and unknown mythical signals; and she refused to pursue any further action.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the channel.

A gruff voice rang out.

"Is Lin here?"

There was static coming from the toolbox.

Xu Wangshu answered for him: "He's here, but he's not feeling well."

"He used to repair the West Gate pump house, and he owes me two packs of cigarettes," the man said. "Put it on my tab. Send me your address."

Another, younger voice snapped, "Old Zhou, don't make it sound like you're going to collect a debt."

Old Zhou retorted, "Then you said you'd go save humanity? You're shameless, but I am."

The tense atmosphere in the main control room was slightly eased by these two rough exchanges.

Lin Xiaoman's eyes welled up with tears.

Xu Wangshu, however, did not waste any time.

She compressed and sent the old ground station plan, the possible location of the circuit breaker, and the old Tianheng port that should not be touched, while emphasizing: Don't touch anything you don't understand, don't touch anything that shines, and don't answer when someone calls your name.

After listening, Old Zhou clicked his tongue.

"This job is more troublesome than fixing a leak."

The young repairman asked, "Uncle Zhou, are we really going?"

Old Zhou said, "I asked you, so if you're afraid, just answer."

The young man remained silent for two seconds.

"I'm driving."

Four kilometers is not a long distance.

But every second is stretched very tightly by the orbital graph.

The second maintenance star was already close to the edge of the solar sail's shadow. Its cold, white patrol markings flickered like eyes peeking out from the crack of the Northern Heavenly Gate. It didn't need to fight for fire or shoot arrows; it only needed to hand over the old navigation map of the Heavenly Ladder test section to the Northern Heavenly Gate, and the crack could claim that the darkness of the human world connected to the deep space frontier.

At that point, Beitianmen's intervention will change from "insufficient grounds" to "conclusive evidence".

When Lao Zhou and the young repairman arrived at the old ground station in the western suburbs, the factory gate had already opened by itself.

In the surveillance footage, the rusted antenna slowly turned towards the sky. Cold white light shone through the factory windows, like an eye that had been closed for seven years opening again.

Xu Wangshu immediately reminded him.

"Don't use the main entrance."

Old Zhou, panting, said, "I know. Lin once said that Tianheng's main gate is for the leaders; we work through the back wall."

The toolbox flashlight lit up briefly.

It looks like a smile.

Two maintenance workers scaled the back wall and crawled into the factory area through the drainage ditch. Old Zhou was clearly very experienced in this kind of work, cursing Tianheng's unethical drainage design as he climbed. The young man was breathing heavily with tension, but he didn't fall behind.

Inside the factory, the cold white light grew brighter and brighter.

When they found the first distribution cabinet, a line of strange text appeared on the cabinet door.

Unauthorized personnel are not permitted to enter.

The young man was so frightened that he took a half step back.

Old Zhou shone a flashlight on it.

"It's written quite convincingly."

Xu Wangshu said on the channel: "Don't read it a second time, just skip it."

Old Zhou immediately covered the young man's eyes.

"Did you hear that? Don't try to act like you know a lot of words."

They went around to the side of the factory and found a maintenance mezzanine. At the end of the mezzanine was a row of old-fashioned manual gates, one of which was enveloped in a cold white light and was being slowly pushed up.

Upon seeing the screen, Wen Zhaolin immediately said, "That's it. Pull it all the way down, and insert the red mechanical pin on the side."

Just as Lao Zhou reached out, the mezzanine loudspeaker suddenly went off.

The voice was very gentle.

"Zhou Jianguo, your application for work injury compensation has been rejected."

Old Zhou paused for a moment.

The young man's expression changed: "Uncle Zhou?"

The broadcast continued.

"Tianheng can reimburse your son's medical expenses from three years ago. Please submit supporting documentation."

Inside the main control room, everyone's heart sank.

Beitianmen was using records to lure him.

It touched Old Zhou's wound.

Xu Wangshu immediately spoke up: "Old Zhou, that's not Tianheng Finance, don't answer."

Old Zhou lowered his head, his hand hovering over the gate.

The broadcast continued: "Submit the old ground station anomaly, and your household records will be corrected."

The young repairman panicked: "Uncle Zhou!"

Old Zhou suddenly chuckled.

"Correction?"

He grabbed the manual brake.

"I've been asking them for my money for three years, and they wouldn't even let me in through the security guard. Now some broken announcement says they can fix it?"

He gritted his teeth and pulled down.

"It's too late."

A sudden, blinding flash of cold white light scalded Old Zhou's palm, causing it to bleed instantly. The young man rushed to help him, and together they pushed the switch all the way down.

Wen Zhaolin shouted, "Lock!"

The young man grabbed the red mechanical pin, his hand trembling so much he couldn't aim accurately.

The broadcast suddenly switched to another voice.

"Chen Rui, your mother's hospital admission can be scheduled earlier."

The young man froze.

Old Zhou kicked him.

"Insert!"

Chen Rui snapped back to his senses and slammed the mechanical pin into the slot.

Click.

Physical melting complete.

On the orbital chart, the cold white patrol pattern of the second maintenance star suddenly went out. Like a piece of iron that had lost its string, it slowly drifted away from the edge of the shadow.

The gap in the North Heavenly Gate suddenly narrowed by half.

Suppressed cheers erupted in the main control room.

Xu Wangshu immediately contacted the repair team.

"Old Zhou, Chen Rui, evacuate immediately, and don't take anything with you."

Old Zhou was breathing heavily.

"I know. Remember to write down those two packs of cigarettes for Lin."

Inside the toolbox, a flashlight gently illuminated.

Three words appeared on the screen.

[Noted.]

Lin Xiaoman stopped crying and started laughing.

Before the laughter could even subside, the rusty antenna of the old ground station in the western suburbs suddenly sank down on its own, revealing an even older silver structure underground.

The cracks on the Linwangchuan brand product are shiny.

His voice came out intermittently.

"The area below... wasn't built by Tianheng."

"That's an old road sign for Beitianmen."