Superstars of Tomorrow

When Zaro was starting the live broadcast as Leizhou’s smiling angel, Fang Zhao was on his way to planet Wai.

Planet Wai’s position at the tail end of the development sequence was similar to the planet Baiji of the past. The planet’s circumstances were not much different from the old Baiji, as it essentially relied on military funds and donations to get by. However, their condition was slightly better than Baiji’s had been, as it was a little warmer there.

This warmth did not mean the planet’s climate but referred to the life forms on this planet.

Perhaps just looking at planet Wai’s plants and animals, there wasn’t really anything unusual, but when compared to those on planet Baiji, these life-forms were really much warmer.

If creatures from planet Baiji were rated on a scale from 1 to 10 according to how dangerous they were, here on Wai one would rarely see anything that exceeded a 5.

Because this planet was not as dangerous and the soil quality was pretty decent, every year, more research personnel came to planet Wai than went to planet Baiji. Even Fan Lin had came over to survey. If not for the fact that experiment results at planet Baiji had been more favorable, Fan Lin would have established a laboratory on Wai instead.

Although no large corporations or investing initiatives supported them, many researchers had set up laboratories here. In the past, planet Wai’s situation had been much better than planet Baiji’s. Furthermore, with its natural conditions and warmth, military service applications to this planet were not under the "extremely arduous" category.

Fang Zhao had seen planet Wai’s introduction. Here, they only had grade A− power source ore. Just a grade lower yet the difference was so vast. When the people at the Wai base saw the resources that planet Baiji had, it was little wonder they felt anxious. Even if the latest models of detection equipment weren’t able to detect grade A power ore, they would still have put aside their pride and approached Shanta to ask to borrow Fang Zhao for a while just so that they could confirm whatever expectations they had in their hearts.

The person sending Fang Zhao over to planet Wai was none other than Edmund, the colonel who used to be in charge of the mining area. Now he had probably become a major general. Since the establishment of the Baiji military district, Shanta’s trusted aides had been on the uprise alongside the developments; they had all been promoted.

Originally, Edmund had starting writing his application to transfer to civilian work, but now, he would not leave no matter what. Only an idiot would choose to leave planet Baiji when they were reaping in rewards.

Edmund was very grateful to Fang Zhao for discovering the grade A power ore. Many people said that even if there hadn’t been a Fang Zhao, Baiji ore would still have been discovered eventually by miners, but Fang Zhao’s discovery had been too timely. Other people might have had the patience to wait, but Edmund was different. If the discovery had been 10 days later, perhaps he might have already submitted his transfer application. Once it had been submitted, there would have been no retracting it. When he recalled this, Edmund still shuddered at the thought.

Shanta had appointed Edmund to take charge of this transit. It was rare for Edmund to be in this sort of amiable manner, and he had not grumbled about this assignment. He had even given Fang Zhao the best room.

When people on the transport ship saw the always stern Edmund flash a warm smile at Fang Zhao, goose bumps appeared on their skin. People who were oblivious might even mistakenly think Fang Zhao was an illegitimate child of Edmund’s.

Before arriving at planet Wai, Edmund told Fang Zhao about the situation there. Other than classified information, Edmund spoke a lot so Fang Zhao would have a rough idea of the situation there.

Also, planet Wai was where one of the other stars of Project Starlight was based—Channel S4’s Woo Tianhao.

The transport ship was not suitable to enter the Wai base and so stayed in space. Smaller transport crafts flew out from inside the transport ship. Fang Zhao was within one of these smaller transport crafts.

Wai base’s commanding officer, Lieutenant General Huo Yi, was already waiting in the parking space. As the commanding officer of a military base, Huo Yi was not required to personally receive them, but there was special significance this time. To show his sincerity, Huo Yi had decided to personally meet Fang Zhao when he had received news of Fang Zhao’s arrival.

When he saw Fang Zhao disembarking from the transport craft, Huo Yi’s smile widened and he strode forward.

"Welcome to planet Wai!"

Edmund walked to the front of all the people disembarking from the craft. Whether it was intentional or accidental, he blocked Fang Zhao from Huo Yi’s line of sight. When Edmund arrived in front of Huo Yi, he saluted. "Baiji military district’s Edmund in charge of transporting Baiji ore. All 10 tons have been safely delivered!"

Edmund’s voice was loud and clear, and he placed an added emphasis on the words "military district" and "Baiji ore."

The looks on the faces of those from Wai base did not seem so good. Although they tried their best to hide it, Fang Zhao could feel that the surrounding atmosphere was not that great.

The Wai base commanding officer, Huo Yi, had an unassuming smile on his face, but deep down, Edmund’s words were making him boil with rage. I know that you have established a military district and have mined grade A ore and you are now showing off, but just hearing from your tone, I would have thought you had delivered a kiloton of ore. In the end, there are only 10 tons. How petty!

"Major General Edmund, still as imposing as ever. Cough." After he said this, Huo Yi’s gaze went past Edmund and glanced at Fang Zhao behind him. "You must be Fang Zhao? How does your first time on planet Wai feel? Isn’t there a sort of especially placid and refreshing feeling?"

Fang Zhao agreed with what Huo Yi had just said. Indeed, since he had left the transport craft, Fang Zhao had not felt the need to keep up his guard at every moment. Although it could not be considered entirely safe, in comparison to Baiji, the place was rather peaceful. It was not just limited to Wai base, on the whole, it seemed especially peaceful.

Without waiting for a reply from Fang Zhao, Huo Yi went on. "Here it isn’t as dangerous as planet Baiji. It is really suitable for living. Perhaps you might build a large manor or chateau?"

Manors and chateaus were a fantasy of many youngsters. Huo Yi had decided to use this angle to entice Fang Zhao.

When Edmund heard these words, his complexion darkened. Your father is still here! And you are so impatient to try and poach from us?

However, Huo Yi was the commanding officer of this base and had a military rank of lieutenant general. This was also his territory, so Edmund did not dare to make a fuss. Perhaps in the past, even if he was a colonel, he would have put in a few objections, but now, Edmund felt that there was no need. Getting into a dispute with the dirt-poor Wai base was beneath him. All he did was take a mental note of what Huo Yi said. When he returned, he would mention it in his report to Shanta.

Huo Yi also did not want to get into an argument with Edmund. He got his men to do an inventory check. Ten tons of power ore was planet Baiji’s assistance to the poor. Although his heart did not feel so comfortable, any free benefits were better than nothing. This was genuine grade A power ore!

After the inventory check, Huo Yi did not have any intention of keeping Edmund here any longer.

Edmund also did not wish to remain here for too long. It was always busy on planet Baiji and he still had a bunch of matters to attend to. Edmund repeated some words to Fang Zhao, then brought his men and left.

After Edmund and his men left, the mood lightened.

Besides Fang Zhao, there were three others: a major and two captains from the Yanzhou military district. Huo Yi had checked up on them already. Although these three belonged to Baiji military district now, they were not men that Shanta could dispatch. Their duty was to ensure Fang Zhao’s safety, and Huo Yi would not make things difficult for them.

After the arranged banquet, Huo Yi did not immediately bring Fang Zhao to the mines. He instead arranged for his men to show Fang Zhao around and take in planet Wai’s scenery. He would let Fang Zhao relax first and adjust to the place before bringing Fang Zhao to the mines the next day.

Huo Yi was worried that Fang Zhao would be too tired. In his heart, he was itching to pull Fang Zhao to the mines and use his "Diting ears" to listen, but for the sake of getting the most accurate results, he was willing to wait a while more. They had already waited for so long, what was another 10-odd hours of waiting?

Actually, Huo Yi himself knew that planet Wai probably did not have any grade A power ore. Therefore, although he hoped for a good result, he had also mentally prepared himself for bad news.

When he thought about the current state of planet Baiji, Huo Yi had a pained feeling.

In fact, he and Shanta had been dispatched to planets Wai and Baiji around the same time. Then, Huo Yi’s methods had won him the upper hand, and he had managed to get the warmer and less dangerous planet Wai.

If the situation was as before, comparing the two planets with similar grade ore, planet Wai would surely have developed faster than Baiji. But now, the two could no longer be compared. At the current rate of development, even after a hundred years, planet Wai might not even have developed to the point of setting up their own military district.

How regrettable!

As Huo Yi was sighing ruefully about his life, Fang Zhao was led to the research section of the base.

Planet Wai’s base headquarters was three to four times the size of the old Baiji at best. At the side was a special area for researchers. The person showing Fang Zhao around pointed to the buildings ahead and showed Fang Zhao which were the researchers’ dormitories and where the laboratories were. Fang Zhao also caught sight of a vast experimental plot.

From all of these, it could been seen that if grade A power ore had not emerged on planet Baiji, planet Wai would surely have developed much faster than planet Baiji. Its investment value was slightly higher too.

Fang Zhao gazed at the not-too-distant experimental plot, and his voice revealed his slight surprise. "Are those... peach trees?"

Wheat fields and other grain crops were nothing surprising. The base needed to grow its own food supply. But what were those in front?

Fang Zhao thought his own eyes were playing tricks on him.

Although he had seen some being planted on Muzhou farms, the large majority that should have become extinct during the Period of Destruction had actually appeared here.

The person showing Fang Zhao around was momentarily stunned by Fang Zhao’s outburst, but it was quickly replaced by a sense of pride. "That’s right, those are peach trees. Follow me. Although we can’t enter, observing from the outside should provide you with enough content to brag about for half a year."

His tone implied that he was going to bring Fang Zhao to gain knowledge and experience.

"Over at this side are peach trees, over there are apple trees, and at that side..." The person leading him suddenly got stuck. He could not recognize the tree species.

"Tangerine trees, oranges trees, apricot trees, and those are cherry trees." As they walked, Fang Zhao called out the names of many different fruit trees in succession.

As they continued forward, there were even many ornamental plants that had only existed in the Old Era!

"Yes, yes, yes, that’s right, these are the ones! These are still in the experimental stage, I think for a few decades already. I heard that they will be able to hit the market soon. This isn’t an illegal laboratory. Any experiment run here has to be approved. Actually, we have been applying for a separate research base, but it hasn’t been approved yet." The person leading the way sighed helplessly. After sighing, he asked Fang Zhao, "How is it? Are you interested in investing here?" Even at this sort of time, he wouldn’t forget about trying to solicit investments.

A faint fragrance lingered in the air.

The scent of osmanthus flowers.

As though Fang Zhao was in a daze that had brought him back to the past.

It turned out that even though many people did not know about it, they had survived on another planet, away from home.

The seed bank that many people had given their all to protect, the ark 1 that preserved life, had never been stranded after all. It had been sailing all along.