78: Chapter 78 The Moon's 'Jade Rabbit Cup' Square Dance Competition

Gao Yuan had been deeply shocked when he first saw Longjing.

Where is this?

The style was completely different from Longjing; a massive light screen could be seen above, completely covering the area.

Moreover, it was clear that this was likely a large-scale base.

Various instruments stood upon the massive platform.

As Gao Yuan was looking around, he heard an announcement over the intercom.

"Passengers, please board immediately. Space Tourism Bus Y-2031 bound for the Moon is about to depart!"

While Gao Yuan was still dazed, a robot stopped him.

"Passenger, this is a restricted work area. Please leave!"

"Where to?"

"Get on the bus... it's departing immediately!"

Before Gao Yuan knew what was happening, he was pushed into an elevator by the robot...

The elevator went up and opened into a corridor. Gao Yuan walked in and found himself boarding a massive vehicle.

Inside, it was divided into twenty decks, with each deck partitioned into dozens of small sections...

As Gao Yuan was still observing, a robot approached.

"Mr. Passenger, please return to your seat. We are departing shortly!"

Gao Yuan didn't even have a seat...

Seeing that the carriage was quite empty, he found a spot and sat down.

As soon as he sat, an alarm sounded from the seat.

"Beep, beep, beep! Identity information mismatch! Please select another seat..."

Just then, a robot came over...

"Mr. Passenger, it has been detected that you have not purchased a ticket... Would you like to pay for one now? Otherwise, you will be fined upon disembarking!"

Since Gao Yuan was already on board...

...he also wanted to see what a space bus from this era was like, especially since he had several space bus production lines in his warehouse...

...it was just that they hadn't been put into operation yet.

Familiarizing himself now would help him formulate a strategy later.

"I'll pay for the ticket..."

"Beep. Identity information verified. Please select a payment method..."

Gao Yuan paid directly using his Brain-Link...

Then, he sat down under the robot's guidance.

Then, a voice came over the intercom: "The destination of this journey is Mare Nectaris on the Moon. Estimated flight time is two hours and twelve minutes..."

Gao Yuan took a deep breath, feeling inexplicably nervous. He had originally just wanted to see if there was a pattern to where his space-time gate appeared, but he never expected to accidentally end up on a trip to the Moon...

Just as he was thinking, Gao Yuan felt a vibration, and the scenery outside the window began to change.

Gao Yuan watched the outside tensely; he wanted to see how this vehicle would break through that light screen, and what that screen actually was.

Just then, he saw the space bus pass through the light screen without any resistance.

Beyond the light screen lay the night sky of this world...

Gao Yuan's neck grew sore from watching, so he finally turned back.

From what he could see, this space bus didn't seem much different from a regular bus—it was even smoother than buses in the real world!

Even more amazing was that there was no pressure or resonance felt inside the cabin. In the real world, selecting an astronaut was incredibly difficult, requiring massive amounts of manpower, resources, and time, but in the future, traveling to the Moon was as simple as a trip to the neighboring city.

Gao Yuan looked around; most of the passengers were elderly, with very few young people...

Gao Yuan sighed; this was basically a tour group for seniors.

It would be hard to even find a young girl to talk to and pass the time.

Just then, a young bus safety officer walked into the carriage. Gao Yuan noticed she didn't have a collar around her neck—she was a real person...

Before Gao Yuan could speak, the safety officer looked at him with surprise.

"Sir, are you going to the Moon on official business?"

"Why do you ask?" Gao Yuan inquired.

"Haha, very few young people travel to the Moon... Not to mention those at the bottom who have no money, but even middle-class youth wouldn't come to the Moon for a vacation because there's nothing here! They prefer Europa! Europa has a massive ice shell where they can do extreme sports. Plus, Europa is much better than the Moon; its radiation is very low! You don't need heavy protective suits; you just need Constant Temperature Clothing and an oxygen tank to exercise!"

Gao Yuan was shocked...

He was still being too conservative; he knew too little about the Future World...

Previously, he had only wandered around that small area of Longjing and had once entered a jungle, but he never expected the youth of the Future World to be so wild!

Unless one was an astronomy enthusiast, they wouldn't even know where Europa was...

They might even think it was some kind of club.

In reality, Europa is Jupiter's second-largest moon, and scientists in the real world predicted it might harbor life.

Gao Yuan looked at the safety officer.

He asked, "Have you been working this route for long?"

"About ten years now. Why?"

"What are all these elderly people going to the Moon for?"

The safety officer curled her lip. "What else? To dance the Moon Dance! To exercise. Square dancing is banned in Earth's big cities, and these seniors have nothing to do. The upper class can grow flowers, but many middle-class people can't afford that, so they come to the Moon to meet dance partners and stretch their legs! Right now, it's the 'Jade Rabbit Cup' Square Dancing Competition, and many of them are here to compete!"

Gao Yuan was stunned...

He could have racked his brain forever and never come up with that answer.

It was too unexpected...

To think that the elderly of the future still couldn't escape square dancing...

But dancing across planets—that was truly impressive!

Then, the safety officer stood up. "Sir, I need to continue my inspection. Have a pleasant journey!"

"Thank you..."

Gao Yuan leaned back in his chair and looked outside; they must have reached space by now.

A streak of blue was exceptionally striking against the pitch-black void of space.

Gao Yuan closed his eyes and rested for a while...

When he opened his eyes again, he saw the safety officer from before right in front of him, so close that he could see her eyelashes.

"Sir, we've arrived..."

"Ah? So fast?"

Gao Yuan stood up, ready to leave.

But the safety officer stopped him. "Sir, you haven't put on your protective suit yet..."

After putting on the protective suit, Gao Yuan thanked her. "Thank you very much. By the way, what's your name? ...Wang Yifei Xiaoxue!"

Gao Yuan froze for a moment...

"Do you know someone named Wang Yifei Bingbing?"

"Ah? You know my sister? Let me think... Are you her supervisor?"

Gao Yuan didn't expect such a coincidence!

"I don't know her... I was just in a tour group she led before!" Gao Yuan didn't want to elaborate.

Wang Yifei Xiaoxue watched Gao Yuan's retreating back. "Bingbing led a group of young people? Strange... I never heard her mention that!"

Gao Yuan got off the bus...

Seeing the lunar landscape below, his heart swelled with emotion. He had originally wanted to make his first moon landing a bit more ceremonial.

But his rhythm was broken by an old man behind him. "Hurry up, don't block the doorway..."

Gao Yuan felt a shove and stepped onto the lunar surface completely unprepared.

This was the largest human base on the Moon—Mare Nectaris Base.

It was adjacent to the Selene Mines and the Wu Gang Observatory...

Mare Nectaris Base was like a small human city. As Gao Yuan walked out of the station, he saw that it was crowded outside...

But Wang Yifei Xiaoxue was right; they were all elderly people...

There were even advertisements from shops outside...

"Wishing the 'Jade Rabbit Cup' Square Dancing Competition a complete success! Our shop offers custom 'Cheer Megaphones' and 'Hovering Banners'..."

Seeing this scene, Gao Yuan felt he might have come to the Moon by mistake... but then, a bold thought occurred to him. Since he was already here..."}],