"Lin, I am also very grieved over your father's passing, but your factory's debt has already exceeded six million. If it can't be paid off, the town has no other choice."
"Wan, please help me out. I've made some friends in America, and I'll ask them for solutions."
"Sigh! You've called me Uncle Wan, so I can't refuse to help. The credit union won't have an inspection until the end of next month, and there are forty days left until then. You'll have to figure it out!"
Lin Ju watched the middle-aged man leave his doorstep and turned to look at his empty home, closing his eyes and taking a long breath.
He had traveled through time, from the year 2024 back to 2014, back to just after his graduation.
It was July, which was also the most painful time of his life.
Lin Ju's father had run a tractor factory in the town for more than a decade, and their family had been quite well-off. However, in the time that followed, his mother died of cancer, along with several other elders, leaving only him and his father to rely on each other.
Perhaps due to the shock of his mother's death as well as the outdated equipment of the tractor factory, the business became increasingly difficult to manage.
This year, his father secured a life-saving deal for the nearly bankrupt tractor factory: to produce a batch of water pumps.
Making this kind of small electromechanical equipment wasn't difficult for the tractor factory, and the profits were not low. The entire factory was counting on this order to come back from the brink.
However, no one expected that Lin Ju's father would encounter a landslide while delivering the goods, rolling into the valley together with the cargo.
The man was gone, and so were the goods, bringing disaster upon the small family of two.
Lin Ju, who had just completed his golden stay in America, flew back overnight and had no ability to deal with the mess.
According to the original history, since the land was in Lin's hands, Lin Ju, with the help of his father's friend, the vice president of New Yuan Town Credit Union, Uncle Wan, decided to use the land to offset the debts.
Then, after selling the equipment and their home and vehicle for a pittance, he was able to pay off the owed wages and thus settle the debts.
In the following ten years, Lin Ju struggled alone. Having grown up in the tractor factory, he had a special affection for industry, and eventually became a senior engineer.
Before he traveled through time, he was in America, watching the launch of a Starship of Sky Fork. Unexpectedly, the Starship's engine shut down halfway, and it turned 180 degrees to crash down towards him.
The 32-year-old Lin Ju was hit head-on by the Starship plummeting at five times the speed of sound, weighing over 5000 tons.
When he awoke again, he was already standing in the familiar yet strange home.
The scenes from his memory unfolded once more, Uncle Wan, representing the creditor, was again persuading him to sell off the land, but this time Lin Ju chose to refuse.
With his own power, of course, he had no way to turn things around, and ten years of experience wouldn't make a difference.
But this time, it wasn't just his memories that had followed him through rebirth; he also had the "Universe Voyage System."
This system was said to be created by a high-dimensional human civilization with the goal of advancing the technological progress of human civilizations in other dimensions.
As long as one had their own base and continuously improved their space exploration progress, they could gain a variety of advanced technologies.
After traversing time, the Universe Voyage System had registered Lin Ju's most valuable asset, the New Yuan Town Tractor Factory, as the initial base. He couldn't change it unless he created a second one.
If he lost his base, the system would disappear as well.
So Lin Ju really had no choice but to preserve the factory and seek high-tech development through the system.
However, looking at the exploration progress displayed in the system, the big "0" was particularly eye-catching.
According to the system's prompts, the most basic exploration involved launching a sounding rocket that needed to reach over 100 kilometers above the ground.
That is, it had to cross the Kármán line and enter what is substantially outer space.
For each point of progress increased, one could earn points as rewards and exchange them for various technological items.
But with Lin Ju's current strengths, even if including the tractor factory, he definitely had no way to build a rocket.
After carefully considering the current situation, Lin Ju, now an adult, decided to employ two skills: playing the victim and PUA.
As for the target, it was the system, of course.
The system isn't a prescribed program; it comes with an intelligent assistant whose intelligence is absolutely MAX.
"System, didn't you say that all transversers get benefits? Shouldn't I at least get a newcomer's gift package?"
[Sorry, the items provided by the system must comply with system rules, and the 'newcomer's gift package' does not fall under rule-based items, so it cannot be given.]
The system's outright refusal left Lin Ju somewhat dumbfounded, but he was still determined and continued,
"But this puts me in a tough spot! Unless you give me raw materials and equipment right now, it's not just Universe Voyage that's at stake, I won't even be able to keep the base safe.
Even if equipment isn't possible, can you provide a loan? Cash, gold, silver, anything works!"
[Searching keyword: loan. Suspected request for host assistance received, system is evaluating…]
[Evaluation ongoing, host is confirmed to be in need of assistance. Do you require assistance? Please note, assistance is not without cost; difficulty will be adjusted during exploration tasks.]
Lin Ju's eyes lit up at this unexpected function hidden within the system, an assistance feature!
As for the cost? He thought since it was all free-loading anyway, he'd deal with the challenges later.
"Accept assistance! Not just assistance, I want full assistance!"
[Request for full assistance confirmed, assistance plan is being devised, please wait...]
[Plan A: Assistance loan of 20 million US dollars, to be provided in small cash amounts, originating from Merck Co.
Difficulty adjusted: Increase scientific payload crossing the Kármán line to 250 kilograms]
[Plan B: Assistance with complete blueprints and manufacturing information for the DX-1 type rocket, System Engineer Level C*1, Skill Upgrade Card Level D*3, Base Upgrade Card Level D*1
DX-1 Rocket Description:
A three-stage liquid rocket, diameter 2.5 meters, launch thrust 120 tons, launch mass 95 tons, low Earth orbit payload capacity 400 kilograms
Difficulty adjusted: First launch to send a 380-kilogram scientific payload into low Earth orbit
System Engineer: Matched for assistance projects, skills depend on the level, can level-up with the project, once given average industry salary, the engineer will stay loyal.
Skill Upgrade Card: Can be used for base technicians to enhance professionalism; the level of enhancement depends on technicians' own base skills; once upgraded, as long as average industry wages are maintained, technician loyalty will be kept, and can be considered as System people.
Base Upgrade Card: Upgrades to factory equipment and production line levels to some extent]
[Note: Full assistance means providing enough assistance for the assisted to complete full independent production. The system provides two options, financial and technical, both theoretically feasible.
Assistance task deadline: September 1, 2014.
The assistance plan will be automatically socially rationalized without the host's concern.]
After the system's assistance plan was laid out, Lin Ju's eyes were brimming with tears.
The system really was a system, with assistance that was incredibly domineering!
20 million in cash, over 100 million RMB, just given away? Plus, they helped with social rationalization, which was wonderfully convenient.
The other option was like being spoon-fed, provide people, provide equipment, it'd be foolish to fail.
As for which assistance plan to choose, Lin Ju didn't hesitate much.
Although Plan A had more money, it was impossible to produce a rocket in just over a month.
Besides, as an engineer, Lin Ju also wanted to develop his own industrial capability and become a true manufacturing magnate.
"System, I need assistance Plan B!"
[Acceptance of assistance request in progress... Assistance items have arrived in system space, please make use of them as soon as possible!]