Starting as a Wallfacer, his defection to the Three-Body Problem shocked the world.

Crisis Era 4, April.

Eagle: Cape Calaveral Space Station.

Cheng Xin and Vadim, along with many other PIA staff, have been working here for nearly two months.

Since the Ladder Project was approved by the PDC, Cheng Xin, as the proposer of the Ladder Project, naturally became the project leader in the early stages of the project.

As the most senior technical member of the entire PIA, it was only natural that Vadim would come with Cheng Xin. Vadim's experience could effectively compensate for any weaknesses that Cheng Xin might overlook in the engineering layout.

They will conduct missile tests for the Ladder Project here, which is crucial.

If, during the execution of the staircase plan, the intercontinental ballistic missile fails to deliver the nuclear warhead to the designated location for detonation, the flight trajectory of the probe carrying the human brain will likely be affected by the shockwave of the explosion, deviating from its intended course.

This is extremely detrimental to the entire plan.

Even the slightest error can have disastrous consequences; if the detector's position shifts, the entire staircase plan will be a complete failure.

The timeline has been moved forward by several years from the original storyline. Because of Lin Xuan's influence on Wade, Wade has gained more say in the PDC than in the original storyline.

With the help of the butterfly effect, the ladder plan, originally scheduled for two years later, has been started ahead of schedule by Wade.

As a result, the preliminary preparations for this project happened to coincide with the second Wallfacer, Radiaz, who was frantically manufacturing hydrogen bombs.

Therefore, Cheng Xin and her team have been busy here for more than a month, waiting for the US to transport the intercontinental ballistic missiles intended to target Diaz from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.

However, they were not idle during this month, repeatedly simulating and calculating the explosion trajectory of these intercontinental ballistic missiles and the resulting shock wave thrust more than a dozen times.

Ultimately, a faulty parameter that could have caused the probe sails of the Stairway Project to break was corrected.

This erroneous parameter was discovered by Vadim, but strictly speaking, it is not actually an error.

Based on Vadim's years of experience participating in aerospace experiments, it seems that more weight needs to be added to reinforce the connection point of the probe's sail, in order to provide as much tolerance as possible.

We shouldn't place too much faith in what computers calculate. Those data are ultimately just simulations based on ideal physical models, while real-world problems are often more complex than those encountered in simulations.

Clearly, Cheng Xin is qualified in terms of professionalism, but she is still far behind Vadim in terms of experience.

In the original storyline, after Project Ladder began, the detector carrying a piece of Yun Tianming's brain was ultimately destroyed by the shockwave of a nuclear bomb at the connection point of the radiation sail, which caused Project Ladder to turn from an active operation to a passive one.

In this world, Vadim, through Lin Xuan's butterfly effect, successfully corrected this mistake, which may lead to some unexpected outcomes in what follows.

"Actually, I've been shirking responsibility."

Vadim's expression showed a hint of struggle.

"What responsibility?"

Cheng Xin looked up at the night sky, her attention focused on finding the location of her own star, DX3906.

"I am the most suitable candidate for the Ladder Project."

Cheng Xin was taken aback by what she heard and turned to look at Vadim beside her, but she suddenly realized that Vadim was right.

First, he has a background in aerospace knowledge; second, Vadim has a background in diplomacy; and third, Vadim has a very stable ability to accept new things and is relatively mature.

Indeed, from this perspective, Vadim is the most suitable candidate to be a participant in the Ladder Project.

"But you are healthy!"

Cheng Xin retorted that, just as she excluded Yun Tianming from the option, she could not allow a healthy person to participate in the plan.

Looking into Vadim's struggling eyes, Cheng Xin frowned slightly.

"Is someone giving you psychological suggestions? Is it Wade?"

Based on Cheng Xin's understanding of Wade, he seemed to be the kind of person capable of doing such a thing. Cheng Xin still remembered the question Wade asked her when she first met him after joining PIA.

Would you be willing to sell your mother to a brothel?

This is a saying that veterans use to tease newcomers. This industry is based on deception and betrayal. Only by going against one's conscience can one survive in a place like PIA.

But Cheng Xin couldn't do it. Even though she had worked in the intelligence department for so long, she still didn't agree with Thomas Wade's style of doing things.

"No, this is just me shirking my responsibility. I only got married three years ago, and my daughter is only about a year old. My wife and daughter are very important to me. I am not afraid of death, but I don't want them to see me like this, worse than death."

This was the first time Vadim had told Cheng Xin his true thoughts.

Working at PIA requires you to be constantly vigilant, because even your colleagues in the intelligence department will try to extract valuable information from you.

“This is not your responsibility. Neither PIA nor PDC has the right to order someone to carry out a suicide mission like the Ladder Project. Vadim, there is nothing wrong with you learning to take responsibility for the people you love. We can find someone else to be the right person for the Ladder Project.”

"Don't blame yourself too much. You're just an ordinary person. You don't need to shoulder such a great mission as saving humanity."

Hearing Cheng Xin's comforting words, Vadim felt much better.

"Thank you."

After thanking Cheng Xin, Vadim turned to leave, but as he turned, he accidentally cut his hand on the railing, and blood immediately flowed out from the wound, which he could not stop.

……

A few days later, Vadim died.

He didn't die from that wound. Even if he had tetanus, it wouldn't have killed such a mature man.

He died in a car accident; his car went off the Hamilton Bridge and plunged into the Harlem River.

After the body was recovered, the forensic doctor issued a death certificate.

Like Shi Qiang, he had been diagnosed with leukemia at a young age, but he kept his condition a secret after arriving at Cape Calaveral space station.

Cheng Xin was heartbroken. Vadim had always cared for her like an older brother.

But she soon became suspicious.

What a coincidence!

Why did Vadim suddenly develop leukemia?

After investigating Vadim's office, Cheng Xin made a startling discovery.

Under Vadim's pillow was a photograph of his wife and daughter, on which radioactive elements were detected, which was the cause of Vadim's illness.

Cheng Xin had already guessed who did it.

Thomas Wade!

Cheng Xin finally understood what Vadim was worried about: he was afraid!

Vadim concealed his illness, so Veder's plan failed, and Vadim was not selected as the final candidate for Project Ladder.