Star Sky Hotel was located in the most central part of Tiangong City. It was the most luxurious business hotel in Tiangong City and was also the preferred venue for various major academic conferences.
In fact, this hotel was the only business left by Star Sky Technology. When Tiangong City was first established, Star Sky Technology invested a lot of money here to develop infrastructure, but unfortunately, due to poor management, the giant company began to dwindle.
The ownership of this hotel was sold to a local real estate company in the 2050s. With Lu Zhou’s current financial resources, it was easy to buy it back, but he himself had no interest in operating a hotel.
Also, Star Sky Technology was now an empty shell of its former self. Even if it were bought back, it would be a headache to operate it. It would be better to leave it alone.
The next morning, on the way downstairs to eat, Lu Zhou met a scholar who also came from Earth. Perhaps because Lu Zhou was too famous, the young man could see him from far away, and he waved to him excitedly.
Lu Zhou thought that this guy was quite interesting, so he invited him to sit together for breakfast. During the breakfast chat, Lu Zhou learned that the young man’s name was Wu Qinglai, a professor at the Space Station Research Institute of the Pan-Asian Academy of Engineering, and he only became a regular employee two years ago.
After listening to the young man’s self-introduction, Lu Zhou looked around curiously. He wasn’t able to recognize any of the faces, so he asked with interest, “Can I ask, did the other academicians of your research institute not come? I mean, how did Tiangong City find you?”
The young man could just be really talented, but Lu Zhou had no impression of him at all. He wasn’t familiar with his name.
Generally speaking, if the young man was really an outstanding scholar, forget about hearing his name at academic conferences, at the very least, Lu Zhou should have heard of his papers.
As if seeing through Lu Zhou’s thoughts, the professor whose nickname was Xiao Wu, shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, “I know what you mean. Generally speaking, this kind of major meeting shouldn’t invite an unknown person like me, but you may not know that although there is only a five-minute delay, the academic circles on Mars and the academic circles on Earth are basically independent. To put it bluntly, they don’t particularly look up to us.”
Lu Zhou was taken aback for a moment. He then looked at him inexplicably.
“Why do they think so?”
“Historical reasons.” Wu Qinglai shrugged and said, “It would take all day to tell the story in detail. In short, since they made it clear that our opinions are not valued, should we send our best experts? Cross-planetary navigation is a hassle, and if I had the choice, I wouldn’t come here either.”
So far, the warp engine was only equipped on the Qinling. Most flights to and from Earth were done by traditional flights. Although from the perspective of a 21st-century citizen, it was quite fast to reach Mars from Earth in three days, for people in the 22nd century, who had not experienced truly long sailing time, they wouldn’t appreciate the speediness of the journey.
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “The essence of academics lies in communication, this kind of pre-positioning approach is not good.”
Wu Qinglai smiled bitterly and said, “We all know this is not good, but what can be done? Compared to Earth, this is a large local area network. Even if I want to reply to emails, I have to pay credit points. Coming here means staying for at least half a month or even a month. I am completely out of touch with academia on Earth.”
Although Lu Zhou was very interested in the history of Mars when he was absent, this didn’t seem to be a suitable place to discuss this issue. The two of them soon talked about the local culture in Tiangong City.
Perhaps it was because Xiao Wu was not particularly valued at the Academy of Engineering, this was not the first time he was sent here as a puppet. He was so familiar with this place that he treated it like his second home.
After eating, the two of them walked in the direction of the elevator together.
At this moment, a man in his early forties walked over with a group of people from the front entrance of the hotel.
Judging from the person’s clothes and the attitudes of the rest, this guy probably had a high status. As if he had noticed Lu Zhou, the man was taken aback for a moment. He then frowned slightly and walked over here.
“You’re Lu Zhou?”
Although Lu Zhou felt that this guy’s tone seemed a bit off, he was not the petty kind, so he didn’t take his attitude to heart and said in a gentle tone, “Yes, what’s the matter?”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Without showing too much joy on his face, the man reached out his right hand and shook hands with Lu Zhou. He said, “Welcome to Tiangong City, I hope this city can leave a good impression on you. We will discuss the technical feasibility and specific implementation plan of Europa’s development at the meeting. We look forward to hearing opinions from you, and I hope you won’t hold back any criticism.”
Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.
“For sure.”
After some words of greeting, the man left with the group of people.
Lu Zhou curiously glanced in the direction that the man was leaving. Lu Zhou didn’t hear him introduce himself, so he asked casually, “Who’s that person?”
“Yang Chongping,” Xiao Wu said in a complicated tone. “The director of the Institute of Aerospace Technology of the Tiangong Research Institute and an academician of the Mars Academy of Sciences… His theories in the field of spacecraft design are excellent, especially in the design of large starships and space stations. Even my supervisor admits that this guy is impressive.”
Lu Zhou nodded, but his focus was in a strange place.
“There is also an Academy of Sciences on Mars?”
“That’s for sure… Didn’t I say that the situation on Mars is complicated?” Xiao Wu said with a light cough. “Because the policies of the regional alliances on Mars, colonies are managed by the local residents, so there is actually a trade organization similar to a non-tariff alliance between the colonial cities on Mars. In recent years, the scope of cooperation has gradually expanded to the fields of culture, scientific research, and even politics… You can think of the Mars Academy of Sciences as an academic organization from a century ago.”
In other words, on the issue of territorial ownership, Tiangong City was moving closer to Pan-Asian Cooperation. But in the economic and cultural fields, the cooperation between the colonial cities on Mars was closer.
Lu Zhou felt like this place was more like a vassal state of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.
However, he was not very interested in these political issues. After inquiring about the Mars Academy of Sciences, he changed the conversation to Academician Yang Chongping himself.
“It feels like he doesn’t like me very much?”
“There is no city on this planet that welcomes foreigners, especially for native Martians. We are only slightly better than aliens,” Xiao Wu shrugged and joked. “Of course, they do have pride in their aerospace. After all, the heavy industry on Earth is basically abandoned. The most cutting-edge production bases in the entire industry are distributed around Tiangong City… I’m sure you know that the materials for the space elevator are all produced here.”
Lu Zhou nodded, expressing his understanding.
He knew this.
After all, he was the largest individual shareholder of East Asia Heavy Industries. He had a rough idea of the distribution of the industrial chain for East Asia Heavy Industries and its cooperative suppliers.
Wu Qinglai thought Lu Zhou had a previous dispute with Yang Chongping, so he glanced at him and spoke.
“Actually, you don’t need to care about him, he is just jealous of your achievements.”
Lu Zhou was slightly stunned. He then said with a light smile, “I just think this guy is interesting. That’s it, don’t think too much about it. Tell me about the food here. I was in a hurry when I passed through Tiangong City, and I didn’t have time to take a good look at this city…”
“Then I recommend you to take a trip to the Central Dome! It’s right next to the Star Sky Hotel. You can go through the underground passage or take the transfer escalator.” Wu Qinglai continued with excitement, “Apparently, standing on the observation deck of the Central Dome, you can see the outline of New Virginia! And the revolving restaurant there is one of the must-visit attractions in Tiangong City!”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Really? Then I have to go there if I have time.”
Lu Zhou was quite an old person. Naturally, he didn’t want to hang out with such a young guy.
After returning to the room to rest for a while, Lu Zhou saw that there was still some time before the afternoon meeting. He remembered that the tourist spot recommended by Professor Wu was not far away, so he went out for a stroll.
He had to admit that the scenery there was quite breathtaking.
Lu Zhou went on the escalator belt leading to the next building. He then took an elevator to the hall of the Central Dome and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows. He was immediately greeted by the scenery.
The three-dimensional transportation networks spread outward like layers of spider webs, forming a web of civilization on this barren land.
“Ling.”
Ling’s pupils flickered slightly. He looked at Lu Zhou and replied with an electronic voice, “Yes, commander.”
After being silent for a while, Lu Zhou said with some emotion, “I’m starting to understand those people’s ideas.”
Being able to build a city on this barren land required more than just wisdom and courage. And they, who had created such a miracle, deserved to be proud.
This estrangement between Mars and Earth might not be caused by time and distance…
Unable to understand the deep meaning of Lu Zhou’s words, Ling tilted his head with a confused expression on his face.
However, Lu Zhou didn’t explain much. He just paused and admired this beautiful city for a while. After that, he turned around and left…
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