After Li Xiaocao woke up, she learned that Wang Aiguo had already sent a telegram back to his hometown.

He fell silent.

Wang Aiguo explained to Li Xiaocao, but Li Xiaocao still seemed unwilling to listen.

The two remained silent in the hospital room until the end.

The dark clouds outside the window gradually dispersed.

Mingzhao stood by the window. This was the core area belonging to Wang Ai's project team.

Today, the Skyhawk Project Team's sign has replaced the old logo, nailed to the thick wooden door painted green.

In the center of the room was a huge experimental table. Mingzhao's fingertips brushed across the cool metal surface, on which were spread complex circuit diagrams and calculation drafts.

The view outside the window was obscured by dark clouds.

The laboratory is no longer shabby; brand-new oscilloscopes, signal generators, frequency counters, and other instruments gleam with the brilliance of precision instruments.

Several gray-green metal boxes, roughly the size of suitcases, are being assembled and are already taking shape.

That was the core of the Tianyin system, a prototype of a fixed repeater station.

The goal is to break through the line-of-sight limit and establish a strategic communications network covering the entire military region's defense zone.

Stability over ultra-long distances, stability under high-power transmission, and resilience in wartime environments.

"Mingzhao, the preliminary modeling of the ionospheric monitoring data has been completed."

Su Xuan's voice carried a hint of weariness, but his glasses sparkled.

He handed me a thick stack of calculation papers, densely covered with hand-drawn curves and formulas.

He is now a core member of Project Skyhawk, responsible for handling data and documents.

"Based on historical labor patterns and feedback from our simple monitoring stations, combined with the algorithm model you provided, we preliminarily predict that within the next 72 hours, the ionospheric reflection efficiency of shortwave communication may increase by 15% to 20% in specific time periods and frequency bands."

Mingzhao took the calculation draft and quickly scanned the algorithm results.

The massive ionospheric disturbance predictions and adaptive frequency hopping techniques from the Federal Era, as I recall them, corroborate the models on paper.

Mingzhao nodded slightly.

"By marking the predicted optimal communication time window and frequency into the control logic of the repeater, we have found the key to leveraging ultra-long-distance communication under the existing logic."

"Understood." Su Xuan perked up and immediately returned to his drawing board.

We began modifying the design of the control circuit.

"The heat dissipation structure of the high-power transmitter tube still needs to be optimized."

"Does it still need optimization? What we can do now is already a significant improvement over our current technology."

Their current technology is already far superior to China's current technological level. It's already so advanced, why do they need further optimization? Can it even be optimized?

Su Xian found Mingzhao's idea somewhat unbelievable.

Mingzhao walked to a half-finished box and pointed to the thick, high-power vacuum tube inside that gleamed with metallic luster.

“Traditional air cooling is not enough. Inside the cavity, a spiral baffle is installed to work with external forced air cooling to form a resonant vortex that carries away heat evenly and efficiently.”

"Here on the outer casing, there is a reserved water cooling interface."

Mingzhao quickly sketched several key changes on the drawing with a pencil, creating an ingenious structure that far surpassed the current heat dissipation design concepts.

"Understood! I'll revise the structural diagram right away." Old Zhou, the engineer in charge of the mechanical structure, replied immediately, his eyes full of admiration.

The laboratory was bustling with activity, everyone's face showing focused dedication to overcoming challenges, along with a hint of excitement.

Night was falling.

Most of the research institute was shrouded in darkness and silence.

Only the security guard's duty room and the windows of the Tianyin Laboratory were still lit.

Under a tall sycamore tree not far from the laboratory, two dark figures almost blended into the thick darkness of the night.

"Did you bring the things...?"

A deliberately lowered voice, trembling slightly nervously, rang out.

He is a warehouse manager.

He looked around nervously, clutching a bulging brown paper document bag tightly in his arms.

What's the rush?

The other voice was colder and more composed, with a commanding tone that came from above.

It's Chen Songnian.

He was wearing an inconspicuous dark coat, with the brim of his hat pulled low, obscuring most of his face.

Only those eyes gleamed with a cold, venomous light in the darkness.

"Confirmed? Is it the core blueprint launch module? And her control logic? And her mysterious prediction algorithm?"

"No mistake, Engineer Chen!" The warehouse manager's voice was filled with eagerness to claim credit.

“I copied it from his unlocked drawer while Su Xuan was out eating! The latest power amplifier circuit and that strange heat dissipation structure... are all here.”

After he finished speaking, he carefully handed over the file bag.

Chen Songnian did not immediately take it, but instead took a step closer and lowered his voice.

"Old Li. Blueprints alone aren't enough! His skills... are too uncanny, something we couldn't possibly create. I suspect... I suspect he's up to something, and the big shots up there think so too!"

Chen Songnian paused, his sinister gaze sweeping across the brightly lit laboratory window, where Mingzhao's silhouette could still be seen working at his desk.

"We must find out his background and we must... firmly control him."

Chen Songnian's voice was resolute.

"The blueprints you gave me are just a starting point. After this test, regardless of the outcome, we must find a way to get her away."

"If he can get to a place our people can access, he must have a big secret. We must dig it out."

Old Li was startled by the implication in his words and nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, yes, yes! Engineer Chen, you're right! We'll do whatever you say."

"besides……"

Chen Songnian's voice was like a venomous snake spitting its tongue.

"Rumors alone are not enough. Go and spread the word to Deputy Director Chen as well."

"That means Mingzhao's background and connections are unclear, the source of his technology is highly questionable, and he may even be colluding with the enemy! Muddy the waters... understand?"

"Understood! Understood!" Old Li replied hastily.

"Go, according to plan, hand over the things...out."

Chen Songnian finally took the heavy brown paper bag and quickly stuffed it into his pocket.

Then, after glancing left and right, his figure flickered and disappeared into the dark path on the other side of the sycamore tree.

Old Li, like a frightened mouse, hunched over and quickly scurried away.

What they didn't notice was that a taller, thicker sycamore branch cast a shadow.

A figure, seemingly blending into the night, silently surveyed everything below.

...

Late at night a few days later.

A huge waste dump at the research institute.

The place reeks of a mixture of rust, machine oil, and decay; it doesn't smell very good.

Zhao Gang, dressed in dark overalls, moved like a ghost through the shadows of the waste mountain.

He didn't come here to help Mingzhao rummage through the trash.

He helped Mingzhao a lot when she was searching here before.

So much so that he never imagined that in the deepest part of this airport complex, in a blind spot near the wall, it was all there.

There was a dead old locust tree there, its roots and an inconspicuous shallow pit eroded by rainwater.