190: Chapter 190 While the US is still researching 5G, China has already settled on Mars.

Across the ocean, the midday sun was blinding and sweltering. On the South Lawn of The White House, a grand celebration press conference was underway. Ribbons fluttered, champagne towers stood taller than a person, and a military band played a rousing march.

The President of the Eagle stood behind bulletproof glass, his face glowing with radiance, as if he had aged twenty years younger. He held up a newly released prototype that was as thick and heavy as a brick, and towards the thousands of reporters below, he let out a deafening shout: "This is a great moment! This is the victory of the free world!"

"After countless scientists fought day and night, we have finally broken through the technical blockade! We have successfully bypassed the Dragon Kingdom's photon patent and developed our own — 5G millimeter-wave independent networking technology!"

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and some people were even moved to tears. It hadn't been easy. For the past six months, they had been rubbed into the ground by Chenxing Technology; even their aircraft carrier had been fished away, and the national self-confidence had long been shattered. Now that they had finally come up with 5G, even though it was a generation slower than the other side's 6G and the equipment overheated a bit, it was at least independently developed!

"What does this mean?" The President waved his fist, spittle flying everywhere: "It means we have not been defeated! Our download speed can now reach 1G per second! We are still a technological powerhouse!"

However, just at the moment when the whole audience was cheering and the atmosphere reached its climax, an abrupt, special notification sound, like a virus, rang out simultaneously on all the reporters' mobile phones at the scene. "Ding-dong—" It was the broadcast notification from the official "Chenxing Technology" livestream channel.

Under normal circumstances, people might have ignored it out of politeness. But this notification was different; it was a forced push across the entire network, and even the large screens used for broadcasting at the scene had their signals forcibly cut off at that instant. The screen flashed. The high-definition view of The White House lawn was gone. Replacing it was a desolate, lonely, yet breathtakingly magnificent — crimson wilderness.

Violent winds whipped up red sand and gravel, whistling past. The sky was not blue, but a murky orange-red. The camera shook a few times, revealing Jiang Chen's face, which was covered by a full-face breathing mask. He seemed to be outdoors, and the background was filled with the pitter-patter of sand and wind hitting his helmet.

"Ahem, how's the signal?" Jiang Chen tapped his helmet, his voice traveling across hundreds of millions of kilometers via quantum communication, clearly reaching the ears of every person on Earth: "Um... I just heard that the Eagle side is celebrating the launch of their 5G network? Congratulations, that's not easy."

"To celebrate this 'great moment,' I'll also show everyone a fun place." As he spoke, he turned around and moved out of the way of the camera. All the viewers, including The President who was still holding his 5G phone, had their pupils shrink to the size of pinpoints at this moment.

Behind Jiang Chen, on that red horizon, a massive, hemispherical energy dome emitting a soft blue light was quietly embedded in the wilderness like a brilliant pearl. The dome was absurdly large, with a diameter of at least over ten kilometers. Through the translucent energy wall, one could clearly see green trees lining the interior, tall buildings standing in rows, and even an artificial river winding through it.

Outside the dome, hundreds of gray mechs were busy transporting supplies; those were the hardworking alien laborers. The massive luan niao starship hovered above the dome like a loyal guardian, using its shadow to block the alien sun.

"Wh... where is this?" The "5G brick" in The President's hand fell to the ground, hitting his toe, but he felt nothing. He stared blankly at the red sky, watching the two satellites, one large and one small. As a person with aerospace knowledge, a despairing coordinate instantly popped into his mind. Mars.

"That's Mars! That's Mars!" An old reporter in the audience suddenly screamed in a breakdown, his finger pointing at the screen trembling violently, "That mountain peak! That's Olympus Mons! The highest mountain in the Solar System! I recognize it!"

In the livestream, Jiang Chen's voice sounded at the right moment, carrying a sense of "humblebrag" that made people's teeth itch: "That's right, this is Mars."

"A couple of days ago, I felt that Earth was too noisy and the air wasn't great, so I thought about finding a quiet place to take a vacation. It just so happened that I had some spare money and an engineering team that was bored out of their minds."

Jiang Chen pointed to the ecological city behind him, which was already taking shape, and shrugged: "So, it took about... hmm, a week. Just built a little village. The conditions are a bit crude, bear with it."

Just? A week? Crude? The President felt a tightness in his chest, and he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood. This is what you call crude? That ecological circulation system inside the dome, that anti-gravity architectural structure, that energy shield that obviously looked like alien technology! This is basically moving "Cyberpunk 2077" to Mars, right?! And it only took a week? It takes our Eagle side three years just to conduct a feasibility study for building a subway!

"Thump." The President sat down on the ground. He looked at the 5G phone by his feet that he had just been bragging about, and suddenly felt it was a joke. A complete and utter joke. They were already building villas, constructing cities, and even starting to green the environment on Mars. And here he was, feeling smug about a slightly faster internet speed?

This was like a primitive human who had just learned to make fire by drilling wood and was preparing to celebrate with a bonfire party, only to look up and see aliens having a barbecue party in a spaceship overhead. How the hell are we supposed to compete with that!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, at SpaceX headquarters, Musk was sitting in his office watching the livestream. When he saw the city standing on the red soil of Mars, this madman who once swore to die on Mars silently took out his proud "Starship" model. Then, "Snap." He broke the model and threw it into the trash can.

He covered his face and let out a desperate whimper: "I'm still researching how to get people up there alive... He... he's already doing real estate development up there? This isn't fair! He must be using a god-mode cheat!"

On the livestream screen, Jiang Chen didn't know how much the mental state of the big shots on Earth had collapsed. His current identity was that of a dedicated — real estate salesman.

"Hey everyone." Jiang Chen walked inside the dome. Instantly, the sound of howling wind and sand disappeared, replaced by the chirping of birds, the scent of flowers, and the sound of gurgling water. He stood in front of a villa floating in mid-air and flashed the enthusiastic smile typical of a salesman at the camera: "Earth is too crowded, and housing prices are too expensive, right? It doesn't matter, Chenxing Technology is here to solve your worries. I announce that the Mars Phase I Ecological City — [Galaxy Bay], is now open for pre-sale!"

He pointed to the red land beneath his feet, his tone full of incitement: "The first batch of one thousand 'sea-view rooms' is now available! Although this sea is dry, this is the genuine 'Mars Red Sea.' This view, this horizon—you can't buy this on Earth no matter how much money you have! Permanent property rights! Includes residency! Includes a ticket!"

"The most important thing is..." Jiang Chen leaned closer to the camera and smiled mysteriously: "The gravity here is only one-third of Earth's. In other words, if you live here, your weight is divided by three! You can be as light as a swallow without even dieting! How about it? Interested? Don't just think about it, act! 9.98 million per unit, act fast or miss out!"

Before the words even finished, the wealthy people around the world went crazy. New York's Long Island, London's Hyde Park, Tomson Riviera—in the face of the four words "Mars real estate," they all turned into nothing but trash! This wasn't just buying a house! This was a ticket to a new world! This was a qualification to become an "interstellar species"!

"Buy! I'll buy ten units!" "Money is not an issue! I want to go to Mars to lose weight!" "God Jiang! Save one for me! I'll sell my company on Earth to scrape together the money for you!"

Looking at the pre-sale data exploding in the background, Jiang Chen nodded with satisfaction. What is the point of doing technology? Isn't it just for this moment, standing on the soil of an alien planet, to harvest the leeks of the entire Earth?

"It seems the development funds for this second planet are secured." Jiang Chen turned off the broadcast and looked up at the deep starry sky. There, more distant challenges were waiting for him.