492: Chapter 472 (Anti-theft Chapter) (Main text will be updated in one hour)

As the launch day for America's spaceship drew near, Neo began a massive publicity campaign, striving to overshadow China, which had moved its schedule forward, as well as Ying Country, whose launch was on the same day.

Since Zhang Mu, in his identity as "Mr. Gao," had informed him that the date was set for three days later, Neo had urgently mobilized major departments that very night to announce the news through multiple channels, including physical newspapers and social media platforms.

After three days of buildup, the American public's excitement had reached its peak.

The day before the launch, workplace elites sitting at their office desks tapped rapidly on their keyboards, seemingly focused on work, but their eyes frequently glazed over as their thoughts drifted to the rocket base established in the suburbs of New York.

They were all thinking about the same thing: asking their supervisor for leave to go to the site tomorrow and watch "Gao's" maiden flight.

Precisely because they were all thinking the same thing, and it just so happened that company regulations only allowed leave slips to be submitted during the lunch break, it was quite unfortunate for those who were a step slower; since the faster colleagues had crowded the entrance to the supervisor's office, they couldn't get in, and their carefully prepared leave slips were rendered useless.

However, their moods soon turned from cloudy to clear.

The leave slips of the colleagues who had arrived early were ultimately tossed into the wastebasket by the corridor as well—the supervisor had gone to his own superior to ask for leave, so his office was completely empty.

Freelance Professionals had it much more convenient in this regard. They planned their itineraries early, packed their camping gear, and set off immediately—arriving at the rocket base days in advance to snag positions with an excellent view.

The launch day fell during school hours, so theoretically, students would miss the grand event. However, Neo had taken this into account and announced a national school holiday for that day.

Students from cities far away from the rocket base protested, as one day wasn't even enough for them to reach the destination. Official personnel replied on the website: "Overcome the difficulties yourselves."

Upon receiving the announcement, the students first expressed their rage in social media groups with intense words and actions, including but not limited to insulting Neo and his family and editing various Guichu-style images to humiliate him.

After a whole day of this, their anger was successfully vented, but the problem remained unsolved. After ten seconds of deliberation, the students decisively made a choice: skip class.

To ensure they weren't caught and brought back by their parents mid-journey, they moved in the dead of night, using every available means of transport to increase their speed. The categories ranged from cars down to skateboards, all in an effort to flee far enough before their parents discovered their escape.

Thus, a spectacular sight appeared on the wilderness highways.

As if the schools were organizing a massive spring outing, students of all ages formed long lines, advancing along the edges of the highway.

When a group's will is highly unified, mutual help among members becomes inevitable.

Elementary schoolers on skateboards grabbed the back seats of middle schoolers' bicycles to save energy and gain speed. When college students driving pickups saw this, they enthusiastically helped them load the bikes into the back, squeezed out space in the rear seats, or simply let them sit on their laps for the ride.

Along the way, the beds of most pickup trucks were piled high with all sorts of bicycles and skateboards.

By early morning, the first light of dawn shone from behind the horizon.

A young man in the back seat rolled down the window and sang loudly into the cool morning breeze. The little girl with flying blonde hair on his lap didn't know the song, but she enthusiastically clapped her hands to the rhythm.

Everything was progressing in a beautiful direction, and then they were arrested by their parents, who grabbed them by their collars.

It wasn't that the parents had discovered them in time and caught up; rather, the students had accidentally run into their parents, who were also skipping work to rush to the rocket base.

Originally, the tinted windows blocked their view, so the parents couldn't see that their children were in the pickup truck overtaking them. The tragedy was that, caught up in the young man's singing, everyone had rolled down their windows to sing along, and then...

The parents were very hesitant at that moment. If they sent the kids back to school, they would definitely be late themselves. If they didn't... they would be quite irresponsible as parents.

After a brief discussion, several pairs of parents called the school, hoping the school could provide assistance.

However, the staff member who answered told them that the principal, professors, teachers, and even the school staff had given themselves a day off this morning on the grounds that "all students skipped class," and they had collectively boarded a flight to New York an hour ago.

Then, the staff member told the stunned parents that they had to catch the next flight and hung up.

Regaining their senses, the parents shrugged. Since the teachers weren't at school, there was no point in going back. Let's hit the road together.

Just like that, the young man's cheerful singing once again drifted in the wind, only this time, it was accompanied by the fathers' light tapping on the steering wheels.

Two days later, spectators from all over America arrived one after another.

The spaceship, named orion, crouched quietly on the concrete clearing. Soldiers armed with live ammunition formed a square human wall around it, their sharp gazes scanning the surroundings to prevent the crowd from suddenly rushing the ship in a frenzy.

The base was located in the wilderness on flat terrain. The spectators on the periphery had their views blocked by the crowd, making it difficult to see the full view of orion. Fortunately, Neo had well-prepared.

At the edges of the clearing in all four directions, giant LCD screens were set up, with the camera angle rotating around orion. Their purpose didn't end there; they would be used to live stream the entire process from orion's takeoff to its landing on the moon.

As the launch time approached, the crowd gradually became restless.

Spectators nearby tossed away their potato chip bags and stood up to look at the spaceship, while those further away raised the binoculars hanging from their chests and stared tensely at the screens.

Soon, the countdown announcement sounded. The moment the count reached zero, a distortion appeared in the void beneath orion's belly, and it soared into the air, tilting toward the blue sky.

Having the experience of the xuan niao ship, the astronauts weren't worried at all about design flaws in the new spaceship. They sat calmly in their seats, discussing when Mr. Gao would arrive.

Neo had hinted to them that Mr. Gao would accompany them on this moon landing. However, after waiting for a long time, they still saw no sign of Mr. Gao, to the point that they even ignored the excitement of flying into outer space.

"Hey guys, we're about to cross the atmosphere." The captain sitting in the middle looked at the data on the center console screen, his tone slightly disappointed. "Could it be that Mr. Gao has something to deal with and can't make it?"

"Maybe. I hope Mr. Gao can arrive in time." The crew member on the left shifted in his seat.

Seeing the somber atmosphere in the cockpit, the female crew member on the right changed the subject to ease the mood: "Mr. Neo said our landing site is near the Chinese moon base. How close is it?"

The captain looked at the ceiling, recalling, "Hmm, very close. Within visual range of each other."

"It feels like we'll be neighbors with them for a long time to come. Should we say hello?"

This was clearly a momentous occasion in human spaceflight history, representing a key step toward interstellar colonization, yet the crew member's tone made the captain feel like he was moving into a new home and going to meet an elderly neighbor.

The strange sense of incongruity took a while to dissipate, though a bit of it still lingered. The captain scratched his head. "I guess... we should?

The base construction site decided by Mr. Neo is only a little over a kilometer from China's. It's about... as far as one end of a street to the other. We'll eventually bump into them when performing missions outside; it would indeed be quite awkward to stay silent."

"Hahaha... true. The Chinese base has been under construction for over half a year, so their supplies must be abundant. I want to go scrounge a lunch."

The laughter of the astronauts echoed in the cabin, while the Chinese astronauts far away on the moon were also discussing the same topic.

In a long, clean white corridor, two engineers walked side by side, the sound of their hard plastic soles hitting the metal floor echoing off the walls.

"That's basically it. We can start expanding the living area tomorrow and request more manpower from the Blue Star side." One of them flipped through a file.

Beside him, his colleague had his hands in his pockets, gazing through the glass at the desolate, silver-white land outside. "I heard America's spaceship is launching today. Where do you think they'll land?"

Suddenly stopping, he closed the file and also looked at a flat area outside the window. "Probably... right there."

"Huh?" The colleague turned his head in surprise. "Right next to us?"

"Anyway, it won't be too far."

"What's the reason?"

"How would I know the specifics? It's just a guess. Since we chose this spot, they probably think there's some special significance or benefit here, and then they'll just follow suit."

The colleague was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Hahaha—don't say it, that's actually quite possible."

"Hey, does this mean we're going to be neighbors?"

"Most likely."

"Can we visit?"

Any country has strict constraints on the social activities of personnel engaged in classified work.

For example, employees of state-owned enterprises must hand over their passports and are strictly forbidden from going abroad during their tenure. Even if they are ordered abroad on official business, personnel in Core positions must undergo years of screening after returning home. Some countries even conduct secret 24-hour surveillance.

He thought for a moment. "Visiting and such is probably unrealistic, but waving from a distance should be fine."

"Nonsense, could intelligence possibly be transmitted through eye contact?"

He grew curious. "Why are you thinking about visiting?"

"It's quite novel, isn't it? Visiting neighbors on the moon—one has to experience that."

"We're almost busy to death, yet you still have the heart to think about this."

"The busier it gets, the more you need to find some fun for yourself, or it'll be even more boring."

"That makes sense."

The two resumed their walk, chatting along the way.

"The next xuan niao ship is coming soon. The captain said there are three spots for returning to Earth to visit family this time. Did you apply?"

"I'll wait for the next trip." The colleague looked at the corridor ahead. "I haven't spent enough time on the moon yet; why be in such a hurry to go back?"

"I guess everyone is thinking the same thing. The captain said yesterday that the three spots are still empty."

"Speaking of the xuan niao ship, the captain said people from the Special Investigation Bureau will be coming to the moon on this trip."

"Hmm?" He turned to look at his colleague. "Isn't the Special Investigation Bureau responsible for contacting the Mountain Gate? What business could they have on the moon?"

"Take a guess?" The colleague raised an eyebrow.

He took on a thoughtful expression, and after a while, he seemed to think of something and said in surprise, "Someone from the Mountain Gate is coming? Who is it?"

"Guess. Among the people from the Mountain Gate who have been announced... Immortal Xu, Fellow Daoist Ye, Senior Brother Zhou... that's three... oh wait, Kunpeng counts too."

"What about Group Leader Luo and the others?"

"Of course they count, but obviously it can't be them this time; the country needs them to stay behind."

"True. Which one do you think it'll be?"

"First, rule out Kunpeng; he's at the elder level and generally doesn't handle Mountain Gate affairs. Fellow Daoist Ye is at the Mountain Gate Liaison Office and probably can't spare the time."

"Then it's only Immortal Xu or Senior Brother Zhou?"

"Yeah."

"Between these two immortals, I feel like Xu, Xu..."

The colleague's smooth speech suddenly faltered. His eyes, fixed on the window, slowly widened as he unconsciously walked toward the glass, pressing his entire face against it.

"Immortal Xu?!"