Chapter 1336: The Blood of Civilization

[Mission: Space Component A]

[Description: Materials are the flesh and blood of civilization. From ancient city walls to giant star rings, all magnificent wonders of the world are closely related to materials technology.]

[Requirement: Find a material with a Young’s modulus ≥ 2.1 TPA and breaking strength ≥ 80N/m…]

[Reward: 500,000 material science experience points, one lucky draw ticket, 1,000 general points.]

Lu Zhou’s physics was already at full level. He wanted to work on the field of materials science. He had the reference to the materials required for Lagrange Space Base; it was like this mission was tailor-made for him.

“A super tensile material?

“It sounds interesting.”

A smirk appeared on the corners of Lu Zhou’s mouth.

As for how to achieve this technology, he already had an idea in mind. However, he still needed to conduct experiments to verify his conjectures.

If everything went well, this mission shouldn’t take him a long time.

“500,000 material science experience points… Just enough to reach materials science level 8.”

After he looked at his experience bar in his characteristic panel, Lu Zhou reached out and selected this mission without any hesitation.

He saw the “mission accepted” dialog box pop up. He reached out his finger and swiped across the holographic screen, closing the mission panel.

But just before the mission panel disappeared completely, Lu Zhou suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a letter “A” at the end of the mission name.

“Does this mean… This is a series of missions?”

Lu Zhou began to think.

Since there is an A, does this mean there will be a B, C, and D in the future?

But fortunately, this mission was not the kind of mission chains he had encountered in the past; the kind that took years to complete and could not be forfeited.

Otherwise, he would have to consider whether it was worth investing so much time and cost for a mere 500,000 experience points…

…

Lu Zhou was lying on his bed in the system space. Far away in Chang’an Avenue in Beijing, inside a rustic conference room, people in formal clothes sat at the table with serious expressions.

Judging from the name tags on the conference table, the people sitting here were all important individuals. They were either the leaders of science and technology departments or the leaders of key national units.

Director Li glanced at the time on his watch and saw that there were still about ten minutes before the meeting would begin. He unscrewed his vacuum flask and took a sip of tea.

He was about to close his eyes and organize the thoughts in his mind when Vice Minister Liu, the second in command at the Ministry of Science and Technology, turned toward him and spoke.

“The cheque this time is larger than usual.”

Director Li didn’t quite understand what his colleague was saying; he thought about it for a moment, then simply nodded and casually said, “Yeah.”

Two super projects were being carried out at the same time; both were large projects with hundreds of billions of investments.

Even with China’s current national strength, it was quite a considerable expenditure.

Especially since both of these two projects were concentrated in the aerospace field; they were money-burning projects that couldn’t make any profits in the short-term.

Perhaps it would be worthwhile in the long run and would benefit countless future generations of the Chinese people. But who could guarantee this to be true?

Most of them wouldn’t survive to see that day. When the project was finally complete, most of the responsible people would no longer be alive…

Therefore, even though this plan was initiated by Lu Zhou himself, not everyone agreed with this plan.

During previous high-level meetings, this had caused a controversy.

“Do you think it is correct to do this project now?”

Director Li finally knew what his colleague meant.

So he’s just trying to see what I think…

Director Li spoke with a smile.

“It depends on how you look at this problem.”

Vice Minister Liu asked thoughtfully, “What do you mean?”

“I remember that Academician Lu told me some time ago that the Lagrange Space Base is a springboard to distant galaxies. The Mars Scientific Research Station is an experiment for colonizing distant galaxies. Together, the two will become a driving force for our aerospace industry. They are a catalyst for prosperity and development for the next century. If we intend to explore the distant stars, this step will have to be taken sooner or later.”

“It’s just a matter of sooner or later?” Vice Minister Liu sighed and said, “That’s true, but I feel like… It sounds like a long journey.”

Director Li didn’t know what to say; he just nodded.

“Of course it is.”

This conversation seemed to have ended.

But Vice Minister Liu suddenly thought of something and asked, “I heard that when the president went to Shanghai, he met with Academician Lu?”

Director Li was taken aback for a moment; he nodded subconsciously.

“It seems like so.”

There was a trace of realization in Vice Minister Liu’s eyes. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and spoke.

“Then this meeting is going to be interesting.”

At ten o’clock on the dot, the meeting officially began.

Just like the previous discussion meetings, the president was the one in charge. However, unlike the previous few meetings, what was shown at the beginning of the meeting was not a PowerPoint. Instead, it was a… strange device.

“… What is that? An air humidifier?”

Vice Minister Liu looked at the thin mist floating out of the device.

Most people reacted the same way; they were a little confused by this oddly shaped machine.

The old man standing at the conference table smiled and explained, “A holographic projection system.

“I discovered that this set of equipment is not only used for entertainment, it can also help abstract concepts become more intuitive during presentations.”

A blue light radiated from the top of the strangely shaped machine. A magnificent space fortress appeared in the veil-like mist.

When the black space fortress appeared in the mist, people’s attention was completely taken away by it.

As the president looked at the shock and emotion from their eyes, he smiled and continued, “When I was in Shanghai, Academician Lu gave me a demonstration of this device. I was just as surprised as you guys.

“The Space Fortress we see is a three-dimensional conceptual map of the Lagrange Space Base.

“This can also display the final form of the Martian City… Just like this.”

The image in the white mist changed; the light particles reorganized into a wave of yellow sand. A mirage-like futuristic space city appeared.

The president looked at the sci-fi city and spoke.

“This is a conceptual map of the Martian City… It is also the ultimate goal of the Mars Scientific Research Station. Just like our Guanghan Special Economic Zone, this will one day become a reality.

“As for whether to make it a reality, is our choice.”

The light and white mist above the holographic system disappeared.

After the president paused for a moment, he smiled and continued, “I think since we are now standing in an era of rapid development, we should also be more imaginative about the future.

“And this was a young man’s advice to me.”

Vice Minister Liu, who was sitting at the table, suddenly had a surprised look on his face. He quietly spoke to himself.

“So he did talk with Academician Lu.”

Director Li’s face was also full of surprise. Although he knew Lu Zhou’s influence, he didn’t expect it to be so impactful.

The president on stage didn’t pause. He continued in a serious tone, “We have been discussing this for a long time, so we should come to a conclusion today.

“If this is the case, then let’s cast a vote!”

The voting session soon began.

Director Li looked at the voting machine on the table. He didn’t hesitate before he reached out and pressed the approval button.

He had thought about this a long time ago, and his opinion had never changed.

The blueprint for the space base was deeply imprinted in his heart. He believed that with the efforts of Academician Lu and the Chinese aerospace team, the blueprint had a chance to become a reality!

Regardless of whether he had the opportunity to see the day when it would become a reality, he hoped that, at the very least, he was not the one who was holding it back.

Director Li suddenly noticed from his peripheral light that Vice Minister Liu, who was sitting next to him, also pressed the same button as him on the voting machine.

It seemed that although Vice Minister Liu’s tone was full of doubt, in the end, he voted in favor.

Director Li suddenly felt a little happy.

However, he didn’t know why he was happy.

Five minutes went by.

The voting results soon appeared on the big screen.

A total of 211 votes in favor, 13 votes against, and 5 abstentions.

There was no doubt that this was an overwhelming victory in favor!

The president looked at the voting results on the screen. His eyes showed a touch of approval as he nodded gently.

He looked back at the meeting room and announced the result in a solemn and calm voice.

“I hereby announce…

“That the Mars Scientific Research Station and Lagrange Space Base project…

“Is approved!”

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