Chapter 221: Touring
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
When the Aurora City project was first proposed, it had met with voices of concern from the environmentalists. They argued that the land was better left alone to preserve its natural habitat. However, despite the different opinions at the beginning of the project, the city was built without much pushback. Since the natural scenery was the main draw of the city, the developers had poured billions upon billions of dollars on preserving the environment. Looking back, those investments on the environment were well worth it.
Earth was humankind"s homeland, and therefore, it had a particular attraction to every earthling. The City of Aurora was built at the most highly sought-after tourist destination on earth. Therefore, after it was built, the Aurora City had become the first choice for event organizers regardless of the type of the events.
But who had initiated this project?
FFC had taken up thirty percent of the share, the Li had ten percent, and the Zhang had fifteen percent. The three families controlled fifty-five percent of the total share, and in other words, they had the total control over the fate of the Aurora City. The rest of the forty-five percent was divided up between numerous investors and banks. The City had been hugely profitable and ever since its opening day, all the shareholders had made a bucket load of fortune.
The Aurora City never lacked sensational news and events. But this time, the importance of the event that was about to be held was unprecedented. Scientists from all over the Galaxy came to witness the announcement of the VZPE battery. To the researchers, the secrets of the VZPE battery were something worth dying for.
The event also had attracted thousands of media personnel, be in the form of traditional journalism or the modern virtual style. Every news agencies rolled up their sleeves, trying to land an exclusive interview with the inventor of the VZPE battery.
Ma Xiaoru and Li Ruoer stood on the hundredth floor of the "Hotel Point Zero", looking down at the beautiful city. It was the first time Ma Xiaoru visited the city, despite her family being the biggest shareholder. She could have visited here long ago, but she felt the excess of luxury was not really her style. She had lived a simple and plain life in her parent"s house until she was sent off to the Li Family, who were well known for their ascetic way of living.
The great houses knew that a powerful family meant nothing if it didn"t have a solid successor, and therefore, the current great houses focused most of their attention on the growth of their children.
"It"s so pretty here. Let"s get out and have some fun."
"Nah, we will attract too much attention out there. Everyone is on a hunt for clues about the VZPE battery. We better stay in here." Ma Xiaoru didn"t even want to come to the Aurora City, much less sightseeing. She agreed to come here because she felt a tug inside her as if she was here to fulfill a forgotten promise she had made long ago.
"Are all the Enchantresses obedient like you, or is it just me who is too rebellious? Maybe it’s the latter, and that explains why my brother scolds me for not listening to him."
"I wish I could be like you! I wish Samantha was here. I"m sure she will like it."
Li Ruoer"s eyes flashed," She perhaps wouldn"t want to be here."
"Yea, rebuilding Ayrlarng is not an easy task." Xiaoru had clearly missed the point.
"Hold on a second." Li Ruoer darted out of the room and was back in a second with a pack of clothing. "Put them on." She said to Ma Xiaoru.
"What are we doing?"
"Going out there, of course."
"There"s bodyguard out there."
"That is exactly why we will need the disguise. We are too powerful for anyone to hurt us. I am more worried that we would accidentally hurt anyone else. It would be easier to sneak away with this if you know what I mean. Come on now, put them on. I don"t want to stay in here forever." As Li Ruoer spoke, she had already started to change her clothes.
Ma Xiaoru shook her head and did as she was told.
"It"s better if I go with her. At least someone will be looking after her." Ma Xiaoru thought to herself.
In addition to the science fair, the Happy Girl was also holding their concert here, bring a drastically different crowd than scientist and engineers. Within a few days, most of the hotel rooms were booked, and the price of the rest of the hotel rooms had risen to double or even triple the regular price. w.a.n.g Tong and his friend could tell that Samantha had spent a lot of money on them this time. Only through her connections was she able to secure rooms for her students.
Samantha even invited the students from Bernabeu. Although Bernabeu was an A cla.s.s academy, Martyrus did not have the same resources as Samantha to splurge on the students. Samantha did this as a way of returning the favor of Martyrus for helping her bringing Ayrlarng on the right track.
The students were excited when they saw the faces of their former teammates. The girls decided to go shopping together, and the boys went off together for sightseeing.
Walking with their cla.s.smates, w.a.n.g Tong and Apache felt bored, and they found the sightseeing was not half as exciting as dissecting a Zerg.
The ones that were having the most fun were s.h.i.+ Liang and Hu Yangxuan. Hu Yangxuan"s family was wealthy, so budget wasn"t an issue to him. He had been to the Aurora City before when he was a child before he went to the Templar.
After a while, even Hu Yangxuan had lost interest in the bustling streets, so the boys started to talk about their recent findings in their studies.
"My friend in the Anti Smuggling unit told me that the Confederation is considering a new military campaign. There is still some resistance on Norton apparently." Apache announced.
"What? What do you mean resistance? I thought our fleet had wiped them all out."
"That was in the s.p.a.ce. The progress had been slow on the ground. They had conducted many bombings, but the Zergs would simply hide under the ground; it was hard to cause any real damage to them. So, the Confederation had been mired in a war that they would never win. "
"What"s worse is that they had realized that the war had cost them too much, even more than the benefit they could get after fully taking control of Norton. The Ivantians have already left the campaign, and the Earth military is in negotiation with the Martians." Cao Yi said.
"I knew it would happen. Once the Zerg took hold of a planet, it is almost impossible to eradicate them. This is going to be a longer war than we thought. I have heard that the Martians are leaving soon as well. Some congressmen had proposed to draft Academy students to join the war. Whoever serves the military would be able to boost his or her school grades, and retain the rank he or she had obtained during the campaign when rejoining the military after they graduated." Apache"s eyes glinted as he talked.
"It"s a good proposal, but I wonder if the new soldiers would slow down the veterans or even worse, get them killed." Best felt that this proposal was not likely to be pa.s.sed.
"A calm sea does not make good sailors, and there will be casualties. That is why the proposal had set a minimum requirement for the students to be drafted into service. They had to be at least in their third year, and a recommendation letter from the academy was also required."
"There is no way it will be pa.s.sed."
"When it was first tabled, only the Li family had supported it, saying that a soldier should not become a soldier if he or she were afraid of sacrifices."
"That"s pretty convincing."
"Haha, what we are seeing is just a show. The politicians were playing another entirely different game under the table. That being said, I am very interested in visiting Norton, so I hope the proposal will be pa.s.sed." Apache felt that his growth at school was too slow.
Truth be told, Apache"s level had far exceeded the limit of whatever benefit the school"s training routing could provide. Only a cruel and real war would be able to bring his ability to the next level.
"What do you think, Cao Yi?" w.a.n.g Tong asked.
Cao Yi scratched his head and said," I wish I could go. After all, I can collect a lot of first-hand information even if I don"t partake in the fighting."
Everyone"s eyes landed on w.a.n.g Tong. He did not like the idea of returning to Norton. Even thinking of the nutrient pill made me gag.
"I will... think about it." He said eventually.
"Well, it"s still too early to decide anyway. The politicians change their minds faster than they change their mistresses. Nevertheless, the rank we gain would be very beneficial since we don"t have an advantageous family background." Apache said.
"That"s for sure. The ground experience would be an a.s.set later when we apply for a position on a fleet. They said the confederation is making it a policy in the future that anyone working on the fleet needs to have experience fighting on the ground." Best announced.