I changed the world.

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Major Zhang Chengxi was sitting at his desk, carefully reading through the various documents compiled for him. These documents contained information about the incident involving the Suifenhe exploration and testing ship. Because he had participated in the entire incident as the airport duty commander at the time of the event, and had been involved in formulating the plan for dispatching the assault team to land on the Suifenhe and rescue the crew, Base Commander Major General Schwartz had assigned him to assist in the initial investigation, characterization, and follow-up work of the incident.

Of course, Major Zhang Chengxi's own request also played a part. Few people knew that the captain of the Suifenhe exploration test ship, who had sacrificed his life, was not only his classmate at military academy but also his close friend and roommate. Both for his own sake and for his own, he wanted to know what exactly happened on the Suifenhe test ship!

Due to its unique location, the Fengsuibao base has always served not only as a military base but also as an airport and research base, housing multiple research teams conducting scientific studies. Therefore, following the incident, the base temporarily assembled a team of scientists specializing in medicine, astrobiology, space pathology, and space physics to provide recommendations for the investigation and analysis of the incident.

To date, the exact cause of the incident on the Suifenhe remains inconclusive. The most plausible theory is that it was caused by some kind of background radiation in subspace that induced a neurological disorder in the organism. However, this is only a suspicion, and there is no actual evidence to prove it.

However, Major Zhang Chengxi felt that this was not the truth.

He couldn't explain why he felt this way, but the whole incident left him with a strange unease, as if he had subconsciously overlooked something important...

However, this was just a strange feeling without any reason, because even after careful consideration, he couldn't figure out what he had overlooked...

A large amount of data was compiled, including analysis reports from various experts and oral testimonies from surviving crew members. Some of these testimonies even contained contradictions. In total, it amounted to hundreds of pages. Lieutenant Commander Zhang Chengxi did not wait for the intelligence team, which was mainly responsible for the investigation, to produce the final integrated report. Instead, he chose to read all of this himself, word by word.

After finishing another document, Major Zhang Chengxi rubbed his temples. Overworking his brain had made him slightly hypoglycemic. He looked up to catch his breath and subconsciously shifted his gaze to a small photo frame on the corner of his desk. It was a graduation photo of the students from the Aerospace Command Department of the Imperial Military Academy.

The group photo showed a group of young and vibrant faces. He still remembered that on graduation day, the sun shone brightly, just like those smiles.

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"We are a generation of soldiers heading into space, a generation of soldiers facing competition head-on. We are soldiers of the empire, and we must open up space for survival for future generations of the nation!"

"...No matter what challenges I may face in the future, I will confront them head-on! Remember our school motto: Loyalty, Courage, Responsibility, Country! If that day ever comes, my friends, please drape the battle flag over my shoulders!"

He still remembers the young man's powerful and resonant speech on the day of the graduation address.

"How could someone like that... possibly have a mental breakdown and harm themselves!" Major Zhang Chengxi covered his face with his hand, and after a long while, he slammed his fist on his desk in frustration...

"Bang!!!" A muffled sound accompanied by a cracking sound rang out. Zhang Chengxi felt a sharp pain coming from her hand. She instinctively pulled her hand back, and bright red blood was already flowing from the side of her little finger.

Zhang Chengxi looked closely and realized that his earlier blow had unfortunately hit the side of a pen. The impact had completely shattered the pen's casing. Pens used under low gravity conditions have internal pressure chambers, which had now burst. Fragments had pierced his hand, cutting a deep wound that exposed bone on the side of his little finger.

Cursing her bad luck inwardly, Zhang Chengxi quickly grabbed a few tissues and pressed them against her wound. Then she loosened the seat brace and prepared to stand up to find some bandages to treat the wound.

However, at this moment, Zhang Chengxi suddenly froze. He suddenly seemed to realize something, and some memories that he had just ignored came back to him as if he had just woken up from a dream.

He suddenly sprang up from his seat, and because he didn't control his strength, he even hit his head on the ceiling with a dull thud.

After that, he didn't bother to bandage his wound. He just grabbed the tissue pressing against the wound and rushed towards the door.

The Beacon Tower is located on a giant asteroid in the Kuber planetary debris belt. This asteroid, which is more than 90% iron and nickel, has a diameter of 143 kilometers. The Beacon Tower was built on this asteroid, and therefore, it has a weak gravity. However, even so, in her anxiety, Zhang Chengxi still stumbled and bumped into walls, roofs and other structures many times along the way.

But at this point he couldn't care less about any of that. About five minutes later, he passed through two security checks and finally arrived at his destination—a few rooms used to store physical evidence.

This place contains many important pieces of evidence retrieved from the Suifenhe experimental ship. These items are so diverse that several rooms have been specially set aside to store them.

Before entering, Zhang Chengxi had already put on a protective suit. The entire environment here is under negative pressure to ensure that any viruses, bacteria, or other such items will not leak out.

Chapter 554 The Obscured Memories

"Major Zhang, may I ask what brings you here so late?" the guard at the gate asked politely.

"I have made an important discovery and need to find physical evidence to confirm it."

After successfully passing the guards' inspection, Zhang Chengxi entered the room, which contained a large number of sealed evidence boxes. These boxes contained evidence that had been retrieved from the Suifenhe test ship.

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In a separate isolation room, Zhang Chengxi took two evidence boxes that the guards had brought over. These boxes contained all the evidence found in the captain's cabin.

Even now, Zhang Chengxi's mind was still somewhat confused. Looking at the evidence box in front of him, the events that had occurred earlier flashed through his mind once again...

This seemingly bizarre incident was ultimately resolved by the Marines' boarding assault. Unfortunately, after boarding, the ship's control panel inexplicably caught fire. It was later discovered that the computers recording navigation logs and shipboard surveillance videos had been damaged. It is unknown whether this was intentional. Even if it can be restored, it will take a considerable amount of time, as the beacon tower does not possess the necessary technology and equipment.

In short, this caused the investigation to lose its most valuable piece of evidence, leaving it to rely solely on the testimonies of surviving crew members to reconstruct the truth of what happened.

However, are there really no key records? Just now, Zhang Chengxi clearly recalled that Ge Huaiyuan had a habit of writing a diary, and because of this habit, he was once ridiculed by his roommates in the dormitory.

“These days, who keeps a diary?” He remembered another roommate from back then teasing him about being old-fashioned.

I remember that Ge Huaiyuan just smiled and replied that his mother had forced him to write a diary since elementary school, and that's how he developed the habit.

What puzzled him was why he hadn't thought of this before.

There's no reason for it... I should have made that connection immediately...

If I'm not mistaken, Ge Huaiyuan should have maintained this habit.

As she pondered this, Zhang Chengxi opened the first evidence box. Inside were some books, souvenirs, personal accessories, tools, a bloodstained watch, and even a commemorative medal. It was a medal engraved with a blue dragon holding a sword. Zhang Chengxi remembered that she also had one; it was a commemorative medal for outstanding graduates of the Imperial Military Academy.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Chengxi gently shook his head, closed the evidence box, and prepared to open the second evidence box to take a look...

Then…wait? What was I…looking for just now? Zhang Chengxi suddenly froze. The goal that had been so clear in his mind just moments ago was now completely blurry, and he couldn't even remember why he had come here…

No matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't remember his purpose for coming here, or why he had come in the first place.

A feeling of unease rose within him. He began to expand his thoughts, examining the entire process that had just occurred. After being injured, he seemed to have made some kind of discovery. Ge Huaiyuan… he remembered how he died, his body covered in wounds, which, according to preliminary confirmation by professionals, were self-inflicted, and he had almost bled to death… He must have come here to find something…

Wait... scars... self-harm... discovering oneself after being injured...

Suddenly, a strange and bizarre guess came to Zhang Chengxi's mind. He turned to look at his palm. Although he was wearing protective clothing, he felt that the pain had subsided, probably because the wound was starting to stop bleeding...

He gritted his teeth and forcefully punched his wound...

A sharp pain shot through him! To confirm his suspicions, he seemed to have used too much force. Zhang Chengxi was certain that his fingers under his protective gloves were bleeding again.

However, at that very moment, as if a rag had been wiped across the window covered by a thin mist, Zhang Chengxi suddenly realized the purpose of her visit! That's right! She had come to find Ge Huaiyuan's diary!

What happened to me just now? Was there some kind of force deliberately blocking my thoughts?!

If such a power truly exists, then where are its boundaries? Has our investigation been interfered with by this power from the very beginning?

Based on what I just discovered, could severe pain improve this condition?

If we consider this perspective, perhaps Ge Huaiyuan also realized this back then. If so, his self-harm becomes understandable. It seems that pain cannot solve the problem once and for all, so he needed constant stimulation to maintain his consciousness. If this is the case, then his self-harm makes sense...

But what force caused this mental block?

Zhang Chengxi was certain that she had never encountered such a bizarre situation before. This power was extremely subtle, so much so that it was impossible for anyone to realize they had been bewitched. It made people subconsciously overlook certain crucial information that they should have noticed without them even realizing it...

Zhang Chengxi could even imagine that at this moment, there must be many people in the entire base who were already in a similar state to her, and it was even possible that... all of them were in the same situation!

As Zhang Chengxi pondered, he quickly opened the second evidence box. Soon after, he found a blue-covered notebook stained with blood in an evidence bag at the bottom of the box. Strangely, this notebook, which should have been an important piece of evidence, had been overlooked by everyone who handled it until it was placed in the evidence box…

This is absolutely unacceptable!

At the same time, this is also a fact that makes Zhang Chengxi feel horrified. Imagine, an important piece of physical evidence, all the people involved in the accident investigation have turned a blind eye to it, as if it were a blind spot in their thinking and everyone was deliberately ignoring it!

At this point, Zhang Chengxi disregarded the relevant regulations and directly took the notebook out of the evidence bag. Instead of immediately opening it, he opened his phone and set three alarms for 5, 10, and 15 minutes, with only one reminder:

Pain can bring back memories!!!

Then, he opened his diary and began to read it...

The front part of the notebook, judging from the date, contains some everyday trivia that happened about a year ago. Judging from the dates in the diary, Ge Huaiyuan did indeed record something every day, sometimes very little, just one or two sentences, and sometimes more.

Chapter 555 Ge Huaiyuan's Diary

Zhang Chengxi didn't bother to look at the previous entries; she quickly flipped through the diary and soon found the section from February of this year onwards.

March 2, 2th year of the Seiwa era

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I received a video from home, and I was surprised to find that my little potato can already call me "Dad." I really miss them... Now that I'm back, I think I can take a long vacation and spend quality time with them...

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March 3, 2th year of the Seiwa era

Today, the test ship set sail successfully, and the young men were all very excited. Everyone knew that this voyage would be recorded in history. Of course, we all hoped to make some new discoveries during the journey…

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March 7, 2th year of the Seiwa era

We encountered a space turbulence. Subspace travel is quite different from normal space travel; it's more like being pushed forward in a turbulent river. This requires constant adjustments to the ship's attitude. In this regard, I feel we can develop a more powerful assisted driving system. Of course, this may require collecting more data.

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March 9, 2th year of the Seiwa era

I never expected Henry and Clive to have such a hobby. I personally don't discriminate against men... well, maybe I am a bit old-fashioned. I warned them today that, at least on my ship, they can't do that...

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March 10, 2th year of the Seiwa era

Today, Clement brought up Henry and Clive's story again. Considering the future, with the widespread use of subspace travel, the distance and time of interstellar travel will become increasingly longer. He suggested that we should appropriately increase the proportion of female crew members in the future, otherwise, the young men might fall in love with their left hands.

I think he's right. On our ship, there are only six women in the radar and electromechanical departments, two of whom are married. The overall ratio is indeed too low.

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As he turned this page, Zhang Chengxi suddenly stopped what he was doing. He suddenly remembered something: he knew about the six female crew members mentioned in the diary. The Suifenhe had a total of 62 crew members, six of whom were female, assigned to radar and electromechanical departments. However, he also remembered that the onboard scientist, Ms. Vivian, was also a woman…

It is clear that she was not included in the diary. Is this a typo, or was it only the official crew members who were counted?

Zhang Chengxi frowned slightly. In his mind, Ge Huaiyuan was a very meticulous person... In fact, this was a quality that many aerospace command students were required to cultivate.

After all, war is a matter of vital importance to the state, a matter of life and death, a path to survival or destruction... As a future captain, or even a fleet commander, any carelessness could lead to serious consequences.

He still remembered that during the war game simulation before graduation, Ge Huaiyuan and he were on the same team. His team won, and because of their good performance in the simulation, they were successfully selected for the Earth Defense Force...