Howard? Hughes used to be a test pilot with a passion for flying, he designed the plane himself, flew it himself, and treated things like this as if it were his own life.

The first time Hughes fell from the sky was in September 1935. At that time, he was very interested in the experience of the American pilot Lin Bai flying a plane across the Atlantic, tried to break the record set by Lin Bai, and began to develop a new type of aircraft himself.

It took 15 months and repeated rework, and they finally had a finished one. The aircraft is a monoplane with a length of 8.2 meters and a wing length of 7.6 meters. This is a model that no one has ever seen before, and the fuselage is so short that no one knows how long it can fly in the air.

No one in Hughes's company dared to fly this plane for a test flight, and even under the temptation of huge bonuses, no one dared to joke with their lives.

Eventually, Hughes decided to take the flight personally.

On that day, the first test speed of the aircraft was invalidated, because it violated the rules of the aviation association and did not do horizontal flight. So Hughes made another circle in the air and did a second horizontal flight. This time he succeeded, breaking the world record, flying at a speed of 566 kilometers.

Excited, Hughes did not immediately return home, but continued to fly in the air over and over again. Unexpectedly, his plane ran out of fuel in the air. The engine stopped running in mid-air, and Hughes's plane fell from the sky.

The rest of the story is said to be like this, Hughes managed to control the plane with all his might, and made a safe forced landing in a sugar beet field. When people rushed over, Hughes was found unharmed. Holding a note in one hand and a pencil in the other, he kept recording the flight experience.

This kind of thing makes people feel that Hughes is really fateful and lucky. If it's just this once, maybe Alex doesn't think it's strange, after all, there are no surprises in the world, and it's understandable that it happens once in a while.

But that wasn't the end of the story, Hughes crashed another plane more than a decade later, around July 1946. Also during a test flight, the plane malfunctioned and crashed in Beverly Hills. The plane crashed into three houses. and cause a fire.

This crash. Hughes is said to have been rescued by a Marine Corps sergeant major, who broke his collar bone, six ribs, and suffered extensive burns in the accident. A lot of people thought that Hughes would definitely not survive, and the results were surprising. He survived.

Originally, Alex had always thought that Hughes was really lucky. You can survive in this situation. Hughes is said to have been involved in 14 air accidents and car accidents in his lifetime. Fragments of metal from the accident are still in his skull.

But from Lawrence's words, Alex sensed that there must be something inside this. Maybe Hughes is a human with an immortal body? Since Alex in this world realm has superpowers, others should also have some special abilities. Like the so-called "Curse of the Holy Child". Sounds like an evil one.

Not human? Alex really couldn't understand Lawrence's words, he never felt that Hughes didn't look like a human anymore, even if he had an immortal body, he shouldn't be said to be not human.

"I'm going to find a chance to find out Hughes's secrets," Alex thought to himself, "just touch his body." ”

Thinking of the word body, Alex's mind flashed back to the first time he met Hughes. Based on what he saw at the time, Alex didn't think Hughes's body had been badly wounded, at least not the burned skin. He didn't think much of it at the time, but now it seems that Hughes really has a secret that no one knows.

That night, Alex called Hughes on the pretext of explaining the intentions of the Rockefeller consortium. He said on the phone: "Now they want to work with our SCC company, what do you think?" ”

"Nope! Never work with these guys! Hughes replied categorically on the phone.

"For what?"

Alex was surprised by Hughes's violent reaction, and that there would normally be no personal grudge in the struggles of the upper classes. As long as it is profitable, even two feuding families can join forces, or betray each other for profit, etc.

If, like Hughes, he does not compromise with his enemies, then the world will be completely in turmoil. What's more, in the eyes of mature thinkers, no grudge can compare to interests. If there are people who only stare at hatred and do not know how to put it aside, and work together for the common good, such people will definitely not last long.

Hughes was obviously not such an irrational person, but his behavior and thoughts made such an irrational choice.

"I naturally have enough reasons!" Hughes replied, "It's an existential matter, and you don't have to doubt it." ”

"Life and death?"

Alex didn't understand even more, whether it was Hughes or Lawrence, they all seemed to have some secrets. Could it be that they have really reached the point where they are incompatible, and they will not stop until they distinguish between life and death?

"Yes! As for the specifics, I'm going to find the right time to tell you. ”

"Why not now?"

"There's a lot to change in the future, and I can't tell you until I'm sure of something. Sorry! It was the first time Hughes had been so low-profile, and it was the first time he had apologized to Alex.

"I don't understand! Is there anything you can't tell me? ”

"Do you want to believe me, do you know the truth! We are partners and we stand on a united front. ”

Hughes's words made Alex feel the sincerity in his words, and he sighed and said, "Okay! I believe in you, Hughes! ”

Sometimes, Alex really wants to rush to Hughes's base and forcibly copy the other person's puppet so that he has no secrets to speak of. However, it is too despicable to do so, and sometimes you really need to trust your friends. If there is no one in this world who can be trusted, then it is really too miserable to live.

Thinking of the feud between Hughes and the Rockefeller consortium, Alex remembered another rumor, that is, Hughes's plane accident was actually man-made. At that time, Hughes happened to be engaged in a hard struggle with Pan American Airlines, and as for the backstage of Pan American Airlines, it is said that he was inextricably linked to the Rockefeller consortium.

A few years ago, in order to prevent Global Airlines from falling into the hands of the Rockefeller consortium, Hughes directly transferred all the shares in his hands to the Carpenter family, which can also see how deep the grievances between Hughes and the Rockefeller consortium are.

After thinking about this matter, Alex didn't pay attention to Lawrence's words anymore, after all, the other party couldn't speak clearly, and he probably wanted to provoke the relationship between him and Hughes through such means.

"By the way, I heard what you proposed at the meeting about the concept of the space station and the plan for the equatorial ring." Hughes deliberately diverted the topic in order to ease the atmosphere between them.

"Yes, human beings are not satisfied with a short trip to space, and in order to develop space, it is necessary to establish a base for long-term life and work."

"Well, I also think that space station concept of yours is very interesting, and with the advancement of aerospace technology, the conditions for building a new home in space will become more and more mature. When the time comes, I want to fly to outer space to have a good time, hehe! ”

Alex was not surprised by Hughes's idea, he was just a little worried: "Can your body hold it?" ”

"Of course, that's no problem, after so many years of recuperation, my physical condition is many times better than when I was back then."

The two chatted for a while, and exchanged their views on various things such as rockets, satellites, space stations, and equatorial rings, and everyone felt that the future would definitely be a stage of rapid development of aerospace technology. At the same time, they have high confidence that the SCC will become the world's top aerospace technology hegemon, and as for when it will replace NASA as the brain and heart of the US space agency, Hughes and Alex have some different opinions.

"I didn't expect Eisenhower to support Grennan, and now that NASA has been established, I'm afraid it won't be able to be done for a while. Maybe you can lower your posture now, so that you can get more orders from them, at least you won't be seen as a thorn in their side anymore. ”

Hughes feels that it is enough to be able to force NASA to this point now, and if it continues like this, I am afraid that it will cause both sides to lose. He had the idea that he would take it when he saw it, and of course he would still move towards his goal until he reached a consensus with Alex.

Now Hughes-controlled congressmen and politicians have done their best in Washington, but with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and other conglomerates, there is no way to get NASA to dissolve even if they can remove Glennan from power. At this time, it is time to go down the steps of Glennan, otherwise it will really cause a big change of blood in NASA, and the people who come to power at that time may not give them good fruit to eat.

Alex thought for a moment and said resolutely: "No, we finally came out alone, and now it's too late to run over and hug someone's thigh." ”

"So you want to hold on? That's not going to work, don't Glennan eat up what we've given them, they'll get rid of us right away. ”

"Just them? I'm not really worried about that. I think that as long as the Soviet Union is on top for a day, NASA will not have a good day. As for our SCC company, we don't need to compete with the Soviet Union and NASA for the first place, as long as we can commercialize it. Now many companies need to launch satellites, and we can do this business without fear of not making money. ”

Hughes thought about it for a while, and thought it sounded good, although he didn't have the strong support of the government, he could do it on his own. As long as they can make money, they are not afraid that they will not be able to develop, and one day they will be able to achieve their goals. It's just that he still has some concerns, and he doesn't know if he should make it clear to Alex.

After thinking about it for a while, Hughes finally dispelled the idea of telling Alex the inside story, and he could only agree with the current development plan of the SCC and stick to the goal of unwavering development. (To be continued......)