I Found A Planet

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Four places and more than 100 applicants for partnership. One could already imagine how desperately and bitterly this fierce competition would devolve.

The first hurdle: pay the guarantee deposit! Half of the countries present could be expected to be eliminated.

The rules announced by Xing Hai Technologies were very simple. The minimum sum for the guarantee deposit was 10 billion. If there were too many countries who could afford this price, say, more than 50, then the more affluent countries could increase their deposit sums. Each price increase could not be less than 1 billion. Lastly, the top 50 countries that had handed over the highest amounts of deposit money would advance to the next level.

The rest would all be eliminated. This completely disrupted the plans of the smaller countries. It was hard for them to even get 10 billion. After that, they still had to increase their bidding amount for the guarantee deposit at each round with at least a one billion increase each time.

However, there were several countries who increased their prices very fiercely. Even if the poor countries behind them couldn't keep up and had no choice but to give up, they still kept increasing their bids. Their main purpose was to create a good impression on Xing Hai Technologies.

Japan said, "We'll add 8 billion for a total of 18 billion for the guarantee deposit."

Gorea followed. "We'll add 9 billion and pay 19 billion for the guarantee deposit!"

Singapore declared, "We'll add 10 billion!"

Germany continued, "We'll add 11 billion."

The vast majority of poor countries could only look on enviously and think they're really rich.

After multiple rounds of mark-ups, the top four countries that could pay the highest amounts of money for the guarantee deposit were listed as such—Japan at 30 billion, Gorea at 29 billion, Germany at 26 billion, Singapore at 23 billion … Generally, they were all paying more than double the minimum sum for the guarantee deposit.

However, Xing Hai Technologies wouldn't choose their partners simply based on the money that the nations were willing to pay. After passing the first level, these countries would now stand on the new competition platform.

All the countries that had advanced to this point would have equal opportunities and be treated equally! Xing Hai Technologies wouldn't be biased towards any country. The representatives of the countries that were eliminated left the hall in order. Suddenly, the number of people present was reduced by more than half.

The second round of competition had officially started. What was this round about? Chen Jin requested the staff to bring out 50 tablets. Every country's diplomatic representatives received one.

He said, "Friends, do you still remember last year that Xing Hai Technologies had the various heads of state to make comments on their social media platforms to praise Z nation? Actually, this method of doing things is very inappropriate. To really praise someone, it needs to come from the heart. It's necessary to truly understand a country's particular history, customs, and culture before one can truly fall in love with it. To speak words of praise without understanding, these words are just a mere courtesy.

"So, I've gotten some help and prepared a test specifically to test all of you. Let's see how much understanding you, as diplomats or heads of state, have of the Z nation.

"There are 100 questions on this set of questions. One point for each question and a total of 100 points!

"You have 60 minutes to answer. You can use 30 minutes of the allocated 60 minutes to make calls back to your respective nations to consult for answers.

"The test paper will be collected in an hour. No matter how many questions you have answered correctly or how many points you've accumulated, all test papers will be collected.

"According to the test scores of the countries, the top ten will advance to the final round of selection."

The tablets for the test and the styluses were distributed. After, the language was set to that of the corresponding country, and the test began!

The various diplomatic representatives were stunned as soon as they saw the questions displayed on the tablet. This was because the questions were the following:

What are the eight major cuisines of Z nation?

Who were the emperors of the Sui Dynasty?

How many ethnic groups are there in Z country?

What is the "Scientific Outlook on Development"?

What are the specifics of the "Three Represents"?

What are the core values of 16 character socialism?

…

Even an ordinary Z nation would have difficulty getting a high score on these 100 questions, let alone these diplomatic representatives from foreign countries?

They could only call to ask for help from their respective countries!

However, they were only allowed half an hour to telephone for help. They still had to find scholars who really understood the culture of the Z nation, try their best to search for information online, and the like during these 30 minutes.

Even the most efficient country could probably only solve the questions at a rate of one problem per minute during this half an hour.

As for the remaining questions, it would depend on the performance of these foreign diplomatic representatives and whether they had sufficient understandings of Z nation.

…

After an hour, the fifty tablets were collected and the answers submitted. The system automatically marked the papers and presented the scores on the big screen on the wall.

Chen Jin shook his head, looking disappointed. There wasn't even a single country who had scored 60 points.

Japan, who emerged as the top of this test, had only scored 59 points. The rest generally scored thirty to forty points. The lowest scores ranged from ten to twenty points.

From this, one could see that these countries didn't really understand Z nation, let alone adore it from the bottom of their hearts. A cultural test had instantly exposed the archetype of these countries, indicating that they weren't really willing to be bootlickers. How could they have such a superficial knowledge of their master?

Especially those who couldn't even answer the "core values of 16 character socialism"; Chen Jin wanted to eliminate them straight away, but the selection could only proceed in accordance with the rules. The top ten countries with the highest scores were allowed to advance to the final round of competition.

So what was the last round of competition about? Chen Jin didn't know what they should compete in either. Also, he was in a bad mood because of the second round of competition. After thinking about it, he wrote the words "woof woof woof" on a tablet and indicated that this round was limited to two hours. Whichever head of state could do these three words and earn themselves a partnership.

After that came a scene that stunned the entire world.

Within two hours, several heads of state did a performance on social media, one after another.

The Japanese Prime Minister's acted the fastest. He was the first to release a short video. "Hello everyone. Recently, I've learned a bit of vocal mimicry. I can imitate the sound of an animal. I will give everyone a performance. Woof, woof, woof…" Japan had successfully won for themselves a partnership with Xing Hai Technologies.

The president of Gorea, who also posted a video soon after, was smarter. In the video, he held a puppy in his arms and said, "This is a pet dog from my home. It's called Duoduo. Duoduo, say hello to everyone. Woof, woof, woof. Duoduo, follow me and woof." Gorea also successfully passed this round.

However, Gorea's follow-ups rapidly appeared. Singapore and Germany won the remaining two partnerships. The rest were eliminated! After this, the selection was over.

Besides the countries who had been eliminated, even those countries who had won for themselves a partnership with Xing Hai Technologies couldn't stand it. It was too much. Xing Hai Technologies was too much!

This company had actually tormented them and humiliated their dignity! This was rage-inducing and unacceptable!

Could one do whatever one wanted simply because one had the technology? Well, it was true that one could do whatever one wanted if one had the technology, but Xing Hai Technologies had caused other countries to feel too aggrieved; it was unbearable.

However, there were a few smart countries who immediately discovered a new method that would allow them to preserve their dignity, gain a partnership, and collaborate on equal footing.

There were even a lot of benefits. This particular partnership was more than ten thousand times stronger than partnering with Xing Hai Technologies! And that was to find a way to become a "friendly nation" to Z nation.

The government of Z nation also had a company on their side that could provide intelligent learning machines, virtual factories, work assistants and other technical services. The threshold for a partnership wasn't high. A country could become a partner with that government company as long as it was a "friendly nation" of Z nation.

Other than the tens of billions that a country wouldn't have to pay in the form of a guarantee deposit, the country would even receive loan assistance provided by Z nation that was way more than tens of billions after becoming a "friendly nation."

So what was there to hesitate over? Was there a need to continue comparing?

Therefore, many countries used Pakistan as a learning model. They applied to visit Z country one after another and set up the law of "Friendly Relations With Z Country." They also announced visa exemptions for tourists from Z nation, protection of the personal safety of Z citizens overseas, and protection of the interests of Z country's companies…

In an instant, "friendly nations" of Z nation sprung up rapidly like spring bamboos after rain.