Superstars of Tomorrow

Panda Novel

Planet Bu was vast but sparsely populated with lots of dry arid land. Although there were areas with frequent storms, there were also areas with less.

Building an aviation test site here was also very convenient. However, Planet Bu didn’t have any mineral resources, and this was a reason why Spaceflight General Headquarters never got around to finalizing it. Now, they had selected a suitable site, probably because they were given a push by the discovery of the Alkaid.

However, Spaceflight General Headquarters hadn’t yet officially made the decision and they merely had people inspecting various areas every day. Because this was done in secret and it wasn’t made known, Flemington hadn’t been aware of it.

Fang Zhao had heard what the personnel from the Spaceflight General Headquarters had said in private, but he wouldn’t reveal it.

In the few days that followed, Fang Zhao, Zaro, and the others participated in filming according to the director’s arrangement. The process was still considered rather relaxed.

Zaro felt that Fang Zhao was a strange person that didn’t know what was rest.

When they were all sleeping in, Fang Zhao would be writing his thesis.

When they were outside digging and playing around, Fang Zhao would be composing.

When they were out drifting, Fang Zhao would read.

When they played cards, Fang Zhao would do assessments.

To prevent Fang Zhao from relaxing, Mo Lang had supplemented quite a lot of assessments and recommended more than 10 books for Fang Zhao to read. Thus, outside of filming, Fang Zhao still had quite a lot of tasks.

Zaro especially sympathized with Fang Zhao. “What a pity, you can’t even dodge homework despite coming all the way to a foreign planet!”

Mitisy could understand a little. “After all, he is still going through advanced studies. Evaluation for these advanced courses are all about assessments, works, and thesis. He won’t be able to get the graduation certificate if he doesn’t produce all of this. He might even be kicked out if he fails to do so.”

When he had been a professional tennis player, he would still receive calls from his coach occasionally while he was on vacation asking him to practice and do drills every day.

On one of the days, Flemington gathered the few of them to discuss the reward. Zaro kept fighting for his share of the reward and put forth ample justification——

“If I didn’t join the team, then Barbara and Woo Tianhao and Mitisy wouldn’t have hopped on either. Without us, the program team wouldn’t have done anything large-scale and they wouldn’t have looked for this poor and barren base on Planet Bu to collaborate with. Then, Bu Base wouldn’t have willfully contacted Fang Zhao. As a result, Fang Zhao wouldn’t have been in the program team and would never have heard the signal emitted by the Alkaid!

“Also, that metal piece with the ‘η’ imprint was dug out by me!”

Barbara and Woo Tianhao stood on Zaro’s side this time. They still would have persisted in fighting for it even if the reward wasn’t much. What exactly was it that they were striving for?! Money?

It was for the records in the scientific annals for the discovery of the Alkaid!

Very soon, newly published science journals would introduce the Alkaid. And the names of the people who discovered it would be shown.

They didn’t want to have a “just a bit” part in it!

Their intention was: We will still donate whatever we promised and not a single bit less! However, we must have a share of the reward, and furthermore, our names must be added to the news and official reports!

Flemington wasn’t very willing. After Fang Zhao looked for Flemington and talked to him, Flemington gave Zaro and the others a bit of leeway during the second round of negotiations. When the reward was conferred, they would be called along to sign their names for the verification of the reward and permitted to take part in the photo taking.

The shares of the reward allocated to these few of super aristocratic background wasn’t considered much. However, they were very satisfied and agreed to donate even more stuff because they were in high spirits.

The Inter-planetary Fund and Spaceflight General Headquarters were very efficient and after the Alkaid was completely unearthed, the big shots of the Inter-planetary Fund personally arrived. However, the majority of unrelated personnel were removed, and the program team crew were confined to their quarters and couldn’t see the live situation.

When the program team crew were allowed out again, the majority of the Inter-planetary Fund’s personnel had already left. The spacecraft’s black box was reportedly brought away by them as well.

The sound that Fang Zhao had heard sounded again during the process of the Alkaid’s excavation. The interval between the previous time had been seven days and it persisted for 20 hours as well.

This was a very rhythmic signal.

After the Inter-planetary Fund brought the black box away, Fang Zhao never heard the sound again.

As for the Alkaid couldn’t be transported easily, the Alkaid was left there for the time being. Personnel from the Spaceflight General Headquarters said that the Alkaid might be dismantled into parts in the future and reassembled at a newly constructed museum where it would be sheltered from the forces of nature.

The technological core of the Alkaid had already been taken away by the Inter-planetary Fund. What remained was just an empty shell. However, even if this was the case, it was still a rather rare bit of experience and history for many people.

The program team’s director had some ideas and held discussions with the Inter-planetary Fund and Spaceflight General Headquarters for quite some time before obtaining permission for filming. However, there was a time constraint and only one episode could be recorded.

So be it if it was just one episode. The director was already very satisfied.

This was also a gimmick!

With the filming permits, the director suddenly felt as though his own style had been raised. It was just like a person who only had scraps of vegetables in the past but was suddenly given a new diet of seafood and luxurious meats. He even felt a little unaccustomed to it.

The director once again perked up his spirits and directed his crew to prepare for filming.

Filming a program inside a spacecraft from Dream Team. How many entertainment program directors ever received this sort of treatment?

He was the one and only!

Elsewhere, although most of the Inter-planetary Fund’s personnel had left, there were still some left behind to handle the remaining work which included the arrangements for the reward.

There were also a few authoritative media outlets that had come over to take photographs.

Flemington brought Fang Zhao, Zaro, and the others along, and after the all the related procedures were complete, the few of them signed on the form for the verification of the reward.

The first to sign was Fang Zhao. Nobody had any objections with that. The second person to sign was the commanding officer on behalf of Flemington. No one had any objections either. Following that, the signing order with the remaining four was Barbara, Mitisy, Woo Tianhao, and Zaro.

Naturally, Zaro wasn’t pleased to be last, but he couldn’t do anything. He only had his luck to blame for drawing the last spot.

“Cough, I heard that other people still wore masks in photographs where they received a reward. Do we wear our masks later during the photo taking?” Mitisy asked.

Zaro stared at Mitisy as though he was an idiot.

They had worked so hard to get the rights to show off their faces. Why would they even wear a mask?

Mitisy was also kidding. With his status, it wasn’t necessary for him to conceal his face.

During the photo taking, Fang Zhao carried Curly Hair and stood in the center with Flemington. Zaro and the other three were split up on the sides, while the background was filled up with some military officers and part of the program team.

After the photo taking, Mitisy and the others were extremely surprised when they found out Fang Zhao would be donating his share of the reward to Bu Base.

“Really donating all? Not a single cent less?” Mitisy couldn’t understand why Fang Zhao would make such a decision.

Although Flemington said that he would help Fang Zhao apply for meritorious service, this little bet wouldn’t be enough to get Fang Zhao promoted. Besides, even a promotion for reserve duty personnel didn’t give any real authority. As long as Fang Zhao didn’t enter the military, it really wasn’t of much use. What the h*ll was he thinking by donating billions away?

“I’m supporting Planet Bu’s construction efforts,” Fang Zhao replied with a smile.

The others viewed didn’t take it for real and took it as a joke.

These were billions of dollars. Who would be so selfless? In the past, there were indeed rich and powerful people that had donated assets worth billions, but that was when they were reaching the ends of their lives! How old was Fang Zhao now? Why didn’t he think about his own future?

Fang Zhao didn’t try to explain, and when everyone dispersed to work, rest, or play around, Fang Zhao returned to his own room and watched the sky outside his window.

Now, the third strategic location for a military base on Planet Bu had already been confirmed. The Spaceflight General Headquarters had already decided on an area and was waiting to publicly announce it. Fang Zhao had a gratified smile plastered on his face as he thought about the new spaceport, cities, and spaceflight experimental base that would be constructed on Planet Bu.

Substance and water brought about life.

Technology and civilization assured the future.

If there had been a second choice at that time, would the people during the Period of Destruction have experienced a different future?

On the internet.

Official government media outlets reported the news of the Alkaid.

The first batch of reporters covering the news of the Alkaid didn’t mention the program team because of the director’s arrangements. The reporters that came along with the Inter-planetary Fund and Spaceflight General Headquarters were all from reputable authoritative media outlets and had a more stringent style. The director had talked over with them to quash any information of the program team for the time being until after the first episode was broadcast.

The few official governmental reporters insisted on honest meticulous reports, but they also agreed to give the program team time. Once the allocated time was up, they would meticulously publish their drafts.

The news of the Alkaid’s discovery gave rise to fervent discussions on the internet. However, many people weren’t aware of the importance of it. Since all the official government media outlets were reporting on it, people just followed and talked about it.

Compared with the significance of the Alkaid, what most people paid attention to was the “100 billion”.

“I just found out from an adventurer friend. The Inter-planetary Fund’s reward for finding the Alkaid is 100 billion!! It was found by Bu Base!”

“Bu Base has struck gold!”

“Isn’t this basically making a great fortune overnight?”

Two days later, the hype had started to dissipate slowly. Netizens that were paying attention to the entertainment section learned that the first episode of “Up Close Contact” was about to be released!

Many people eagerly anticipated the release when they recalled the grand and luxurious guest lineup for the program.

Of course, there were also people who felt that it was senseless.

“What’s so nice to watch about it? Wouldn’t it be the same old routines again?”

“They’re just going to appeal for everyone to provide assistance to impoverished areas, get donations from everyone, and make people willing to donate. First, they will bemoan their poverty and then show how tough and miserable it is by playing the emotional card.”

“There are so many such programs. Do you think they ever showcase places with great investment value on this sort of show?”

“Just take it as doing charity and accumulating karma. Some token donations as a sign of goodwill will do.”

Netizens thought themselves to be wise and farsighted for seeing through all the patterns of the program team.

The time arrived for the program to broadcast.

The first episode of the new season aired, and people tuned in with varying attitudes.

The opening sequence was completely different from previous season’s. A grand and biting accompaniment made viewers tremble slightly.

A deep and resounding voice seemingly filled with a vast energy reverberated——

“This was humanity’s greatest adventure…”

The scenes cut to precious images, videos, and sound clips from 400 years ago——

[Rocket thrusters in order!]

[All systems green!]

[Countdown starting…10…9…]

[Ignition!]

[…3…2…1!]

Seven spacecraft rose into the sky at daybreak. The seven spacecrafts were like stars lighting up the heavens as they began their own journeys into space.

The spectacular scenes and the extremely embellished accompaniment music stirred up the hearts of viewers.

Yet, the audiences who reckoned themselves as wise and farsighted had dumbstruck looks on their faces.

They logged out and checked the directory of the web page. This was the entertainment program “Up Close Contact”. There was no mistake!

They clicked and reentered the video page.

Huh???

Where was the promised poverty alleviation program?

Where was the said entertainment reality show?!

With such a solemn opening, I f*cking thought that I had clicked on some documentary on a history channel platform!!

Five minutes later.

The comments section for the program exploded.

“So this time the program team’s target for poverty alleviation was the military base on Planet Bu that just received 100 billion?!”

“Seeing this set up, it seems that when the program team went to Planet Bu, it was still a poor place. Bu Base only discovered the Alkaid after the program team went over.”

“Did the program team bring along the god of wealth?”

“From a certain angle, this also counts as poverty alleviation.”

“I just want to know how much share of the reward the program team got!”

“Ermmmm… Then do we still donate this time around?”

“I feel that the whole nature has changed. This cannot be called donation anymore. Perhaps to be more festive, it can be said that we are giving red packets.”

Very quickly, the bottom of the program’s web page for donations to Planet Bu’s military base became “red”.

“[Red Packet] Congratulations on Bu Base receiving an overnight windfall!”

“[Red Packet] Celebrating Bu Base’s upward rise!”

‘[Red Packet] Joining in the festivities. Hope I strike the lottery!”

“[Red Packet] Paying my respects to the god of wealth!!”

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