Chapter 1276: Out of Necessity
For a superpower country, it was easy to punish a warlord in East Africa.
Marach returned to the base with a tracker on him. He didn’t know that the reason why he was alive was purely because no one took him seriously.
But now, his greed had turned into a force of anger. China wasn’t the only one looking at him; the whole world was watching him.
They weren’t curious as to how he would escape.
They were curious as to how he would die miserably…
Lu Zhou, who was visiting Copenhagen, didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes.
To be honest, these things were beyond his scope. Even though the attention that was focused on him made him feel a little worried, he was far from scared.
The aeros.p.a.ce forces were on standby for 24 hours a day. There was no one in this world safer than him.
It was a shame that Li Gaoliang didn’t come to meet him on the cruise s.h.i.+p after completing the mission. Lu Zhou would have bought him some drinks.
Lu Zhou was staying at the most luxurious hotel in Copenhagen. He sat in the executive lounge, drinking afternoon tea while swiping through Weibo on his phone.
The headlines of the major news media were dominated by the orbital aeros.p.a.ce paratroopers that descended from the sky. The most interesting thing was that the netizens gave them weird names.
For example, names like “flames from heaven”, “celestial soldiers”, “s.p.a.ce knights”, and so on. Moreover, these terms were actually quoted in newspapers.
As for netizens in North America, they were more serious.
They complained that NASA spent a lot of money every year yet didn’t achieve any results.
In fact, this was not fair.
Even though NASA did spend a lot of money, they absolutely did not spend money carelessly.
This was how scientific research investment was. Spending money wouldn’t guarantee success. Unless there was another talent like Lu Zhou, they would not have any hope of catching up with China in the aeros.p.a.ce field for a long time.
“Tomorrow morning, the mayor of Copenhagen wants to visit you. Do you have time?”
Sitting across from Lu Zhou was the Chinese amba.s.sador to Denmark, Du Yanming. This gray-haired old man was 60 years old and had lived overseas for 20 years.
“He’s that eager?” Lu Zhou raised his head and looked at the old man across from him.
Over the past two days, he had almost met all the dignitaries of this small country. He was given a lot of business cards, but he couldn’t even remember a single name.
“Normally, they aren’t this enthusiastic.
“But this time is different.
“Because in the past, we have never made such a big mess during our trip.” The gray-haired amba.s.sador smiled, picked up the teacup, and took a sip of the black tea in the cup. He said, “You know what? An army is stationed outside this hotel.”
Lu Zhou had a baffled look on his face.
In fact, this was not his fault.
He would never have thought that someone would target him on a cruise s.h.i.+p.
This kind of thing had never happened before, not when he visited Russia or France.
Lu Zhou didn’t speak. Amba.s.sador Du used his index finger to gently touch the teacup. He smiled gently and continued, “I noticed that you seem to have no interest in tea, but anyway, I really recommend you to try this cup. The black tea in this cup is produced by a farm in Sri Lanka. The farm has a history of more than 100 years and is considered Danish. It’s also one of the royal family’s properties. They only serve it to the most distinguished guests.”
Lu Zhou sighed and reluctantly took a sip. He then put down the teacup.
“I’m really not used to drinking tea. I would rather have a cup of instant coffee.”
“Academician Lu’s tastes are quite unique.” Amba.s.sador Du smiled and said, “Speaking of which, are you not married yet?”
“Sort of.”
“Do you need my help to introduce someone?”
“No, thanks, I already have a partner.”
“Oh, my apologies then.” Amba.s.sador Du Yanming had an apologetic smile. He quickly changed the subject as he said, “Speaking of which, Amba.s.sador Zhang asked me to thank you for him.”
Lu Zhou raised his head. “Amba.s.sador Zhang Wenbin?”
“Yes.” Du Yanming smiled and nodded. He said, “Prince Frederick sent a tweet, thanking and praising your behavior on the cruise s.h.i.+p. The citizens of Sweden also expressed their grat.i.tude. They did not expect Academician Lu to be so brave, standing up in times of crisis and was braver than their Royal Guards, saving their lovely little princess… If Princess Lilia was a little older, this could have been a romantic story.”
Lu Zhou coughed.
“Let’s not talk about that.”
Amba.s.sador Du patted his leg and laughed.
“Haha, just kidding, don’t take it to heart. In any case, this is a good thing for our country’s diplomatic relations with the Nordic countries. What do you think?”
The gray-haired old man grinned at Lu Zhou.
If it weren’t the gray hair, Lu Zhou would have almost thought that this man was the same age as him.
To be honest, this was not a very interesting experience.
For someone who was approaching his thirties, he couldn’t help but imagine himself growing old.
Lu Zhou didn’t expect that an unintentional act of kindness would actually bring such an improvement to the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
…
Sat.u.r.day.
The climate summit was held as scheduled.
People from all over the world gathered at this world-famous event. Not only because high-level leaders from all countries would attend this event, but also because Academician Lu, who previously won the second n.o.bel Prize in his life in Stockholm, was standing on the podium, speaking on behalf of China.
Honestly, environmental protection was not Lu Zhou’s field. He had no specific research on how to improve the atmospheric environment. But he could still say some words from a non-professional point of view.
The cameras were all focused on him.
Lu Zhou could feel that the moment he stood on the stage, high-level officials from other countries stopped talking and looked at him with attentive eyes.
In addition, some well-known environmentalists were also invited.
This included the popular teenage Swedish activist, as well as representatives of “Greenpeace”, and a series of extreme environmentalists.
The most excited ones were of course the reporters.
The moment Lu Zhou stepped into the room, they began to press their camera shutters.
However, these trivial things did not have any impact on Lu Zhou.
This was not the first time he did a report. Instead of being nervous, he was actually used to standing here.
Lu Zhou reached out and straightened the microphone. He nodded to the audience, cleared his throat, and spoke in a calm tone.
“It’s an honor to be here. It’s my pleasure to represent my country and show the world what we have done.”
With a written speech in his hand, Lu Zhou had a friendly smile on his face. He continued to speak in a gentle tone, “This is my second speech after the n.o.bel Prize. I’m sure everyone knows the topic of this speech. I won’t repeat myself too much.
“What have we done over the past five years?”
“I want to emphasize on the number five.” Lu Zhou paused and continued, “Five controllable fusion reactors were successfully ignited, the energy of controllable fusion has benefited at least five countries of the world. Also, we have eliminated more than 90% of thermal power plants in five years and replaced more than 50% of fuel-burning vehicles, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels to the level of half a century ago.
“This is unprecedented in the history of human development.
“We were not satisfied with our achievements. We also promoted clean energy to Southeast Asia and spread the convenience brought by technology to more distant places.
“Civilized countries spread civilization, barbaric countries spread barbarism. We have fulfilled our responsibilities and have set an example for the cause of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
“Thank you.”
The speech was over, and there was applause from the audience.
Lu Zhou had fulfilled his responsibilities as a “mascot”. He nodded gently and was about to step down. However, suddenly, an audience member raised their hand.
A girl wearing a green dress and a green baseball cap stood up with her pen. She then spoke in an impolite manner.
“I have a question.”
“It seems like I have no choice to refuse.” Lu Zhou didn’t know why the girl had hostility in her eyes. He still looked at her and nodded gently and said, “For convenience sake, can I ask for your name?”
“You can call me Greta.” The girl did not hide the hostility in her eyes. She looked at Lu Zhou and said, “Mr. Lu Zhou, in your opinion, does the development of lunar resources can also be regarded as your country’s contributions to the world?”
Lu Zhou: “Of course.”
The girl’s shoulders trembled, and she continued aggressively, “How dare you!
“I’ve heard that excessive use of the resources of the moon would affect the tidal environment of the earth. It will kill the fish, disorient the dolphins, and cause permanent damage to the marine ecological environment! Why can’t we cherish our only home, do more to make it better, instead of exporting our terrible troubles to other places?”
Lu Zhou waited quietly for her to finish.
“It seems like you have heard a lot of things, so besides hearing, have you done your own research?”
The girl was stunned. She didn’t seem to know the true meaning of research.
Seeing that she didn’t speak, Lu Zhou smiled faintly and continued, “It looks like you have a liberal arts background, but you lack scientific thinking.”
Looking at the triggered girl, Lu Zhou was not angry. He only had a smile of pity on his face.
After thinking for about two seconds, he continued, “If the moon disappears in an instant, the things you said are indeed possible, and waves will flood our coastal cities in an instant. But if this is a slow gradual process, that will not happen at all. Not to mention, our development of lunar resources is minuscule, and organisms will naturally adapt to changes in the environment, just like what they have been doing for billions of years.”
She was dissatisfied with this explanation, and the young girl trembled with anger. She stared at Lu Zhou.
“Why do we force lives to adapt to the troubles we bring? Only for our own selfish desires?”
The high-level officials of other countries sitting in the audience were about to fall asleep listening to the girl. But now, their eyes were on Lu Zhou, waiting to see what he would do.
However, their expectations were not met.
Faced with the girl’s accusation, Lu Zhou’s reaction was very calm. There was not even a slight change in emotions.
“Do you think it is selfish to allow more people to live?” Lu Zhou looked at the girl and said, “Or do you think we should go back to being barbarians, and be one with nature?”
“Can’t we—”
“Stop dreaming.”
Lu Zhou interrupted her and looked at the girl with a blank face. He looked past her deformed and twisted face, at the people behind her who were also wearing green vests.
He spoke in a rational and pragmatic voice.
“The problem that any life form will face is the lack of living s.p.a.ce. As the global population continues to increase, sooner or later, the only way out is to expand our borders into outer s.p.a.ce.
“I am not joking around.
“We can’t stay in the cradle forever. Even if it is comfortable, so comfortable that it is difficult for us to find a subst.i.tute in other star systems, there is a limit to this cradle.
“The day when the tipping point is reached can be delayed, but it will eventually come. The exploration of outer s.p.a.ce is not so much to satisfy one’s selfish desires; it is more of a long-term self-help.
“So yes, sooner or later we have to export our troubles to s.p.a.ce.”
Lu Zhou glanced at the cameras on the wall, then took a quick glance at the high-level officials from various countries, as well as other civilians who held their breaths.
“This is not to satisfy selfish desires.
“This is merely out of necessity.”