Did You Destroy the World Today?
Chapter 4: Why Has Everything Changed?

"Clap clap clap----"

"Excellent. The report from our flight control development team was brilliant, and your applause has already demonstrated everyone's recognition of their work."

"The success of the flight control team proves one thing."

"That is, our company's policy of valuing and empowering young talent is absolutely correct!"

"When I first proposed this policy, there were many dissenting voices among the leadership."

"Everyone believed young people lacked experience and sufficient knowledge, fearing they couldn't handle core positions in major projects."

"But facts have proven that young people can also unleash tremendous energy!"

"Each generation produces its own talents, and new waves push the old ones forward."

"Our organization has already seen outstanding young talents emerge, like Jiang Xingye and Lin Xu."

"I hope everyone can take them as examples in future work, continuing to strive and make great strides forward."

"The company will never let down any hard worker!"

"Another round of applause!"

"Clap clap clap----"

......

In the conference room, Lin Xu mechanically followed the crowd in clapping.

Many eyes were focused on him, as if just as the boss had said in his speech, he had become a rising star.

But of course, compared to such empty fame, what Lin Xu cared about most was exactly how big his bonus would be.

Seeing the meeting move to the next agenda, he quietly opened the internal messaging app and sent Jiang Xingye a message.

LinXu004267:

[Team leader, how much will our project bonus be?]

A moment later, Jiang Xingye replied.

JiangXingye003876:

[It's confidential. Can this kind of thing be casually discussed?]

LinXu004267:

[It's money being distributed to us anyway. Can't you just tell me the number?]

JiangXingye003876:

[Of course not. You'll know when it's officially announced.]

[But don't worry, your share won't be small—it'll definitely be the lion's portion.]

LinXu004267:

[How much is the lion's portion? If you won't tell me the ratio, at least give me a number.]

JiangXingye003876:

[About 60 to 70 thousand... Don't tell anyone in advance, got it?]

LinXu004267:

[Got it, got it... That's it? I thought it would be at least over 100k.]

JiangXingye003876:

[What are you thinking? The company hasn't been doing too well lately. I heard Test-1's financing isn't going smoothly, and the Series B valuation got hammered—they only raised just over 200 million.]

[The Series B plan hasn't been finalized yet. Qianhai is demanding we come up with a more ambitious development plan.]

[Get ready. Once the preliminary development for Test-1 wraps up, preparations for the new project will start immediately.]

[You'll have to charge ahead again. Young people should seize opportunities.]

LinXu004267:

[Can I just lie flat?]

JiangXingye003876:

[Only if you go out for late-night snacks with me tonight.]

LinXu004267:

[.......You really need to control yourself. Do you talk like this with everyone?]

After sending the message, Jiang Xingye didn't reply for a long time.

Lin Xu looked up and saw the admin staff managing the meeting had somehow appeared beside him.

He coughed, closed the chat window, and put on an "attentive listening" expression.

However, the remaining agenda items were all unimportant fluff that held little interest for him.

His thoughts drifted back to the world inside the wristband.

So, was a woman like Jiang Xingye the same type as Skull Head's wife?

They seemed completely different.

Though Jiang Xingye had a habit of saying outrageous things with no filter, she was usually quite proper with others.

It was only because they were close that she particularly enjoyed teasing him, her "Xiao Chunan."

And Skull Head's wife?

From what Lin Xu had gathered, everyone in the mercenary squad attacking the space base knew about her promiscuity—to the point where going downstairs to buy cigarettes would mean running into a dozen men who'd slept with her.

It was hard to say whether Skull Head was being kept in the dark or just deceiving himself.

Quite a tragic guy.

—But then again, his suffering was over now.

The world was ending. Dying while immersed in the illusion of being loved didn't seem so bad?

In the face of life and death, truth and lies didn't matter much.

But what exactly was that world-ending catastrophe?

Super nuclear weapons?

Gamma-ray bursts?

Vacuum decay?

Antimatter collisions?

Lin Xu's thoughts wandered further, until finally, amid another round of applause, the interminable meeting came to an end.

Lin Xu stood up, and Jiang Xingye, sitting in front of him, turned around and blinked:

"Come to my office. Let's talk."

"...That eager?"

Lin Xu teased. Jiang Xingye rolled her eyes:

"Bring your laptop. I want to discuss the next project with you!"

"Oh..."

Lin Xu obediently followed Jiang Xingye to her office. She closed the door, then collapsed onto the sofa without a care for appearances, sighing:

"Damn meeting... What should've taken 15 minutes dragged on for two hours..."

"No overtime today. Head back early and rest."

"But before you go..."

Jiang Xingye sat up, composing herself slightly before asking:

"About that 'more ambitious plan' I mentioned earlier—do you have any thoughts?"

"Me?"

Lin Xu was taken aback.

"Isn't that something leadership should decide? Why ask me?"

"Didn't you hear the boss? 'New waves push the old ones forward.' I'm just looking for inspiration from the new wave."

Jiang Xingye spread her hands:

"Just say whatever comes to mind. It's just for reference—no penalty for wrong answers."

"I see..."

Lin Xu frowned slightly.

He thought of the project he'd seen in the wristband.

Star Voyager-1.

If, in the future, Tianqiong Technology really did shift toward becoming a space tourism service provider, did that mean this direction was actually correct?

After a moment's hesitation, he spoke:

"If you really want my opinion, I don't think commercial launch vehicles are a great long-term strategy."

"The barriers to entry seem high, but they're actually not."

"Think about it—ten years ago, low-altitude flight services were a high-barrier industry too. Now?"

"So if we want sustainable growth, just providing launch services isn't enough."

"We should consider offering more value-added services."

"Not bad."

Jiang Xingye looked at Lin Xu approvingly.

"You make a lot of sense. Go on—what kind of value-added services?"

"Space tourism."

Lin Xu said seriously.

"Space tourism?"

Jiang Xingye looked surprised:

"Isn't that concept a bit too ahead of its time? Or maybe too... abstract?"

Lin Xu shook his head and continued:

"It's not abstract at all... The boss himself proposed the vision of reducing launch costs to under 10,000 per kilogram, ideally 5,000."

"At that rate, sending an adult to space would only cost a few hundred thousand."

"Think about it—how much does an Antarctic trip cost these days? Or a Hawaiian vacation for the wealthy?"

"If you price it like a luxury hotel stay, wouldn't those people easily spend over a million per trip?"

"Now, going to space wouldn't even cost a million. Which would you choose?"

"That makes sense."

Jiang Xingye nodded thoughtfully, while Lin Xu pressed his advantage:

"There's another very practical benefit to this plan."

"What benefit?"

Jiang Xingye asked eagerly.

"Simple—it's a story capital loves."

"If you're rich, which sounds better: '50,000 to send a nuclear warhead into space' or '50,000 to take you on a space tour'?"

"Perfect!"

Jiang Xingye stood up excitedly, clapping:

"I'll submit this idea!"

"I have a feeling the boss will love your thinking!"

"Tsk tsk... Lin Xu, you're really going places."

"In a couple years, you might even outrank me."

As she spoke, Jiang Xingye's gaze suddenly turned suggestive.

She leaned closer to Lin Xu and continued:

"Looks like I'll have to treat you to those late-night snacks after all..."

........

At 8 PM, Lin Xu returned to his rented apartment.

In the end, he didn't go for late-night snacks with Jiang Xingye.

They did have dinner together, but nothing noteworthy happened.

As Lin Xu saw it, Jiang Xingye was a classic "banana"—yellow on the outside, white on the inside.

After dinner, before Lin Xu could even bring it up, Jiang Xingye excused herself by claiming she had to work late.

As if worried he'd take her "late-night snacks" joke seriously and drag her home to see his cat do backflips.

The thought almost made Lin Xu laugh.

For someone in her mid-twenties, outside of work, she sometimes acted like a kid.

He wondered what kind of man someone like her would eventually marry.

—Though it probably wouldn't be him.

Lin Xu shook his head and glanced at the wristband.

After two days of rest, the number on it had reset to "5."

Meaning he could re-enter that world and endure another round of suffering.

This time, Lin Xu didn't plan to hijack a spaceship.

In the control room, he'd seen documents about Star Voyager-1.

He intended to use all five chances to memorize as much of that information as possible.

Who knew—it might prove useful in the real world?

After tidying his bed, Lin Xu put on his sleep mask.

Then he lay down, tapped the wristband lightly, and—

In an instant, his consciousness emptied again.

When he opened his eyes, he was back at the familiar space base...

—Wait!

Not familiar!

Lin Xu bolted upright, banging his head against the car roof with a loud "thud."

Skull Head stared at him in shock, but Lin Xu was already pressing against the window, staring at the space base outside.

Holy shit.

Everything had changed.

The entire layout of the space base was completely different from what he'd seen dozens of times before!