Chapter Eighty-Two: The Secret Mission

Xu Yuqing left Zhang Mingyang utterly confused. How had he never heard his senior mention such a place?

“Xu, did you actually see my senior go to the transmission tower last night?”

“Would I lie to you?” Xu Yuqing gestured animatedly, mimicking Peng Dongli’s mannerisms from the previous night. “I happened to be on duty, and just as I was leaving the research institute, I saw him sneaking toward that direction. I followed him and saw him slip into the room beneath the transmission tower.”

“When did my senior leave?”

Xu Yuqing shook her head. “I didn’t have time to wait for him. Once I saw him enter, I left.”

Judging by Xu’s expression, Zhang Mingyang felt she wasn’t lying.

“It should be nothing serious. My senior also handles electronic communications. He probably went there for maintenance.”

Though Zhang Mingyang didn’t know why his senior had gone to the tower, he knew he was obliged to keep things confidential because of his job.

“All right. It’s your business, you handle it.”

“Xu, I’ll be going then.”

“Okay.”

They parted ways. Zhang Mingyang headed toward his room. Outside, the red light above the door was on—his senior must have returned.

Passing through the pressurization chamber, Zhang Mingyang entered the inner room. His senior was already waiting for him.

“When did you get back?” he asked.

Peng Dongli stared at him in silence.

The look in his senior’s eyes unsettled Zhang Mingyang. “You’re scaring me, senior!”

“So you do know fear!” Peng Dongli’s face was taut, his tone grave.

“What… what did I do?”

“What did you do?”

“Bang!” Peng Dongli slammed the table and stood abruptly. “Zhang Mingyang, I really misjudged you! If you won’t help me argue with that old witch, fine, but how dare you actually help her with her work? That’s treason, do you understand?”

Hearing this, Zhang Mingyang’s heart dropped. Peng Dongli’s expression had been so cold, he’d thought his senior might kill him.

“Senior, you can’t blame me! If I don’t help her, we won’t get any good food for days. You’ve seen how tough she is—my small frame wouldn’t last long!”

Peng Dongli’s anger subsided by half. “You don’t need to fear her, junior. After you left, I asked her colleagues—they all say that old witch isn’t human, she’s a butcher, spends all day squeezing them dry. Someone like her shouldn’t be in the base, she belongs in prison!”

Zhang Mingyang walked over and patted his senior’s back, coaxing him to sit. “Senior, somehow I feel Xu isn’t that kind of person.”

---

“What did you say?” Peng Dongli sprang up, glaring at him. “Junior, I can tolerate your neutrality, but I will not allow you to defect. Try it if you dare!”

He cracked his knuckles menacingly.

“Fine, fine, I’m neutral.”

Zhang Mingyang hurried back to his own bed, deciding to say nothing more.

…

At twelve noon lunar BJ time, Zhang Mingyang called his senior to lunch, but he refused. Zhang Mingyang had to go alone.

On his way to the cafeteria, feeling bored, he gazed out the window at the scenery.

Wait!

“Isn’t that my senior?”

Outside, he saw someone in a white spacesuit hopping eastward. Even in the suit, Zhang Mingyang recognized Peng Dongli from his movements.

“What’s he doing on the east side? East side… east side!” He remembered Xu’s words—could his senior really be sneaking to the transmission tower?

Zhang Mingyang decided to follow and find out.

So, while Peng Dongli hopped outside, Zhang Mingyang followed inside, all the way to the easternmost end, where there were no more rooms.

He watched as his senior hopped toward the distant, sharp-edged transmission tower. He was certain Peng Dongli was headed there.

But why was he hiding it from him? Why couldn’t anyone from the base enter that tower? He’d have to wait for his senior to return and ask.

Once Peng Dongli disappeared from sight, Zhang Mingyang returned to the cafeteria, pondering the matter as he ate.

After lunch, he grabbed an extra meal for his senior and brought it back.

In the room, Zhang Mingyang sat on a chair, staring at the door, anxiously awaiting his senior’s return.

“Why isn’t he back yet? The food’s getting cold.”

He waited nearly an hour more. Just as the porridge began to congeal, Peng Dongli finally returned.

As soon as he entered, Zhang Mingyang rushed up. “Senior, why are you so late? The food’s cold.”

Peng Dongli took off his spacesuit, glanced at the food on the table, and replied, “I’m not hungry, you eat. I’m going to shower.”

Since his senior walked in, Zhang Mingyang noticed he looked troubled. Never mind, I’ll just ask directly.

---

“Senior, what were you doing at the transmission tower?”

Peng Dongli was taken aback, then smiled. “Transmission tower? I just needed some fresh air and went for a walk.”

Seeing the evasiveness in his senior’s eyes, Zhang Mingyang knew he was lying. “Senior, I saw you go in—don’t bother denying it.”

“You saw me enter?”

Zhang Mingyang nodded. “Xu saw you at the tower last night, and I followed you today all the way to the east end and watched you head toward the tower.”

Realizing he couldn’t hide it anymore, Peng Dongli pulled Zhang Mingyang to a chair and took a small round box from his pocket. He pressed a button and placed it on the table.

Seeing the odd device, Zhang Mingyang pointed at it. “What’s this, senior?”

Peng Dongli replied solemnly, “An electronic jammer. It temporarily disrupts all micro cameras and audio recorders in the room.”

“There are cameras and recorders here?” Zhang Mingyang glanced around.

“Stop looking—they’re above us, under both our beds.”

“Installed?”

Zhang Mingyang examined the area but found nothing.

Peng Dongli pulled him back, speaking seriously. “Junior, it was my mistake not to tell you about this secret mission sooner.”

“Secret mission?” Zhang Mingyang was utterly confused. “Senior, you went to the tower for a secret mission?”

Peng Dongli nodded. “Do you remember the spy incident at the base half a month ago?”

Zhang Mingyang nodded. “Of course. It threw the whole base into chaos. If it hadn’t been for Old Qian and Director Wang, who knows what would have happened.”

“And you’ve heard about the ‘Oceanic’ losing contact?”

“Definitely,” Zhang Mingyang said. He hadn’t been at the base long, but he was familiar with both incidents.

“And you know the spy was said to be from the spaceship’s monitoring room?”

“Right, that’s what everyone says.”

“You’re wrong—the spy was here!”