Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 150 Return to Glory Blue Star Live Broadcast
On Earth, the competition between the Eastern Dragon and the Bald Eagle is a comprehensive and all-encompassing contest.

Having held the top position on Earth for many years, the White-headed Eagle was unwilling to let the scepter slip from its grasp.

In the field of science and technology, this manifests as relentless suppression.

From the very first day of the birth of the new regime in Dongxia, technological blockade has never left this land.

However, while he can always get the better of others, he's been finding it increasingly difficult to get the better of Dongxia by the neck, and sometimes he even ends up rolling his eyes back in his own throat.

For example, lunar development plans.

Putting aside the cover-up function of the "Invitation to the Moon" project team, Dongxia is making solid progress in lunar exploration, taking one step at a time. From exploration to landing, to settlement, to development, every step is planned clearly.

Moreover, as part of a systematic advancement, we can see rockets, spacecraft, landers, lunar rovers, lunar bases, nuclear power plants, and other steps progressing in tandem around specific timelines.

The core of Bai Diao's plan can be summarized in one word: preemption.

If you, Dongxia, want to land on the moon in five years, then I will land on the moon in three years; if you, Dongxia, want to build a lunar base in eight years, then I will build a research station in five years; if you, Dongxia, say you will build a lunar nuclear power plant in ten years, then I will announce that it will only take seven years!
In short, the winner must be the great Kingdom of White Eagles!

As for the breakdown plan...

What breakdown? What plan?
The most important thing is not to hurry up and invest in this great cause with broad prospects and unlimited potential, so that everyone can get rich together?
Why bother planning that thing?

Look, we've even designed a glittering model of a lunar mining vehicle, covered in priceless minerals. One shovelful of ore will yield tens of millions!
How do you get up there? Don't ask. As long as the investment is in place, everything will be a piece of cake!
Driven by this ideology, the Bald Eagle is in charge of developing the Cynthia Project on the Moon, also known as the Beast's Mistress Project or Apollo's Sister Project, which has already attracted investment from more than fifty countries on Earth.

Up to four months ago, the two private companies responsible for outsourcing the Cynthia Project were making a fortune, but the timeline was like a runaway horse, constantly being delayed.

But four months ago, everything changed.

All signs indicate that Dongxia seems to have discovered something extraordinary on the far side of the moon, in a place beyond the sight of the White Eagle Empire.

The Empire's massive intelligence machine was operating at full capacity. As the fragmented information detected by Project "Invitation to the Moon" accumulated, the high-ranking officials of the Bald Eagle finally could no longer sit still.

Technological breakthroughs in other fields are fine; you can go to the sky, the ground, or the sea. But there are two things that are absolutely unacceptable.

First, it prevents the white-haired men from making money.

Secondly, it delays the life extension of the white eagles.

Unfortunately, the Eastern Xia recently seems to have both.

Firstly, Dongxia is rapidly advancing the miniaturization of controlled nuclear fusion. There is evidence that Dongxia has already moved up its plans to set up a nuclear power plant on the moon by at least three years.

Once Dongxia's nuclear power plant is established, especially in the lunar south pole region, which is suspected to be the richest in resources, all subsequent development efforts by various countries must avoid this area for safety reasons, according to the outer space development agreements signed by various countries on Earth.

Although agreements are like toilet paper to Bai Diao, which can be torn up at any time, when the opponent is Dongxia, even if a country withdraws from the group and voids the agreement, the other party has the ability to make the withdrawing country still "voluntarily" abide by the agreement.

From this perspective, once Dongxia starts acquiring land, bringing core mining resources under its control, and then publicly revealing the actual situation on the moon, its boasts will likely be exposed, and it will no longer be able to rely on that high-end "gold mine truck" to swindle money.

How can I bear this?

It's not over yet. The empire's officials are squeezing money out of the country in every way possible. What's the core reason behind this? It's to prolong their lives.

In the field of top-tier life science research, the Empire still reigns supreme, far ahead of the competition. Isn't this precisely to avoid the terrible situation where the lords die before their money is spent?

Now, Dongxia may have obtained some mysterious substance that can combat the physiological functions of excessive aging and physical decline, but instead of selling it, it is being used privately for the treatment of certain experts.

This is such a waste of resources.

The Empire has already negotiated with the Eastern Xia through secret channels, but the results have been quite unsatisfactory.

Dongxia firmly denied the existence of this mysterious substance.

The Imperial intelligence department also concluded that it was impossible to obtain this mysterious X substance from Dongxia through normal channels.

Sean, the third deputy director of the General Intelligence Agency, made this point clearly in his report.

"The special substance obtained by Dongxia should be extremely rare. Apart from a very few people who are regarded as pillars of Dongxia, no one else can obtain treatment from this mysterious Ninth Laboratory."

"It even includes several former high-ranking government officials who still wield considerable influence in Dongxia today."

"Comprehensive analysis indicates that Dongxia may only have a single-digit reserve of this X substance."

This essentially cut off any possibility of obtaining it normally from Dongxia.

After all, even if Dongxia were willing to sell, at most there could only be one or two copies. Considering the need for verification, who among the empire's officials would use it and who wouldn't?
This must have driven the empire's high command to despair.
Therefore, despite the pressure exerted, the empire focused its main efforts on assessing the source of materials from the Eastern Xia.

The more intelligence you have, the denser the information, the clearer the clues become.

Moon's back!

Dongxia is fully committed to exploring the far side of the moon, and each time they return from a lunar mission, they bring back some strange and unusual things.

Just four months ago, after Dongxia returned from another lunar soil collection mission, it secretly arranged for the treatment of three academicians, which finally triggered a major uproar among the high-ranking officials of the White Eagle Empire.

As he once again signed off on the Bald Eagle space exploration program and its budget approval, the President kept spreading his hands and issuing new instructions.

"I have been taking various measures to protect our Eagle Kingdom. I have abolished those disastrous clauses and withdrawn from those treaties that harmed the Eagle Kingdom. The people love me, and the country is stronger than ever before!"

"Now, it's time for us to end this terrible infighting and let the Empire truly return to the moon."

"There are our possessions there: helium-3, water ice, and perhaps other things. They all belong to the great eagles. You know, we already had the moon back in the last century."

"It's a pity we took a nap. Now, those despicable thieves are harming the Empire's interests by using technology they stole from it."

"I need you to take immediate action."

"Let our opponents only be able to follow us and eat our dust. They will come begging to us to leave them a small place to settle down!"

"God bless the magnificent white eagle!"

The machinery of the empire began to rumble.

The Empire ceased all support for the Trident Democracy, which was at war and fighting bloody battles with the Double-Headed Eagle for the benefit of its allies, and grabbed the democratic leader by the neck, forcing him to accept a peace treaty that ceded territory.

Although this military support had previously been provided in the form of loans or debts, now that the bald eagle is about to accomplish something big, the days of going out and returning thirty times are no longer allowed!
The Empire also increased security spending in every location with overseas troops to ensure that, under the management of Mr. Smith at all levels, a portion of the enormous military budget could still be squeezed out to support the Empire's development.

Of course, the excitement surrounding this space exploration project also prompted the more than fifty participating countries of the Cynthia Project to contribute another round of funding.

A massive amount of money was invested, and the results were remarkable. For example, the lunar probe rocket exploded 20 seconds later this time than the last one.

For example, the lunar rover prototype, which cost over a billion yuan to build, ran for up to fifteen minutes in a simulated environment.

Just when everything was thriving, Dongxia suddenly accelerated the "Invitation to the Moon" project.

The original plan, which was proceeding in an orderly manner, was suddenly interrupted by two lunar landings, and the two were launched in quick succession within half a month. One of them landed but did not return, while the other landed and returned with a small amount of lunar soil.

Although Dongxia claimed that this was simply because some minor data was missing during previous lunar environment research and topographic map production, and needed to be supplemented, the bald eagles were now completely unbelievable.

After yet another emergency meeting, the Empire finally made a painful decision.

To launch a lunar exploration mission, and it will be an unmanned one.

This is equivalent to the lunar exploration technology that Dongxia had already mastered and used multiple times.

In the past, in order to maintain its leading position, the empire could never follow in the footsteps of the Eastern Xia.

To give a simple example, if Dongxia has a sixth-generation fighter jet today, then the Empire must have had a sixth-generation fighter jet many years ago, not even a day later than Dongxia.

The empire can only win, must win, and must keep winning!

Now, if the Empire were to adopt the same "rudimentary" unmanned lunar exploration technology as the Eastern Xia, it would be tantamount to admitting that the Eastern Xia had become the leader in this area, which was emotionally difficult for the Empire to accept.

However, there was no other way; the Empire could not tolerate Dongxia engaging in underhanded tactics behind its back.

I must see this clearly and make sure I get a share of the good stuff!
The Imperial machine unleashed its final "efficiency," and despite frequent accidents, the unmanned lunar mission "Return to Glory" (codename: PGR) was finally ready, albeit with some setbacks.

The timing was chosen with great "deep meaning"—the day before the eve of the Lunar New Year in the Eastern Xia Dynasty.

Dongxia has completed many lunar exploration missions before, but it has always used animated demonstrations and post-mission video recordings for public release, only showing a small amount of real-time footage in certain scenarios.

Since we're already behind in terms of time, we can't afford to fall behind in terms of performance.

Not to mention the deafening drums and massive crowds at the launch, on the twentieth day after the launch, the bald eagle suddenly held a press conference.

The Empire's spokesperson, a blonde bombshell, delivered a passionate speech at the pre-launch press conference.

"We suspect that Dongxia's lunar soil sampling technology may contaminate the lunar soil, leading to inaccurate sampling results. Therefore, our 'Return to Glory' mission will precisely land near Dongxia's previous landing site to conduct necessary independent verification of the reliability of Dongxia's lunar exploration and the authenticity of the data!"

As soon as this statement came out, the whole audience was in an uproar!

A reporter stood up and asked loudly: "Madam Spokesperson, as far as I know, your country has signed the famous 'A Small Step Towards the Heritage of Mankind' Space Act, which clearly stipulates that all human exploration activities must avoid and stay away from the landing sites of your country's previous lunar landings."

"Now, your country wants to land on the landing site of Dongxia's lunar rover. What's your explanation? Is this a double standard?"

The spokesperson smiled, seemingly oblivious: "There is no Q&A session scheduled for this press conference. We urge all journalists to focus on this live broadcast of humanity's first-ever lunar exploration!"

The prominent media outlet of the United Kingdom of Big Blue Lions and Little Blue Lions, Double Lion Broadcasting, immediately seized upon the flaw in the statement and launched a fierce interrogation: "Didn't your country already complete a live broadcast of a manned moon landing in the last century? What does this 'first time' mean now? Is someone lying?"

The scene instantly erupted in chaos!

Double Lion Broadcasting Company is not some third-rate tabloid.

It is one of the earliest broadcasting companies in the history of Earth and the first television station in the history of Earth. Although the former global hegemony of the United Kingdom of Two Lions is gone, Two Lions Broadcasting Company can be called the industry hegemon in terms of manipulating public opinion and distorting the truth.

They've given us a handle to use against us, and who knows what kind of trouble that might cause.

The spokesperson could only awkwardly shout, "Now, please enjoy the greatest live broadcast of humankind's lunar exploration ever!" before hastily leaving the scene.

Clearly, this was a premeditated surprise attack, aimed at catching Dongxia off guard.

To prevent Dongxia from causing trouble for them.

After all, if you can do something yourself, you'll assume that others will do the same.

For the remainder of the day, Bald Eagle invited various hosts, actors, and singers to turn the live broadcast into a grand carnival.

As for the commentators, while boasting about the empire's advanced technology, they would occasionally reminisce about its glorious past achievements, praise the empire's great history, and extol the wisdom and prowess of the current leader...

And, subtly take a jab at a certain despicable country that "stole the technology of the Eagle Kingdom".

Regardless of how advanced the technology is, the performance was certainly top-notch.

One day later, the White Eagle Empire's lunar probe finally began its exciting lunar descent.

Well, although it was aimed at the landing point in Xia Country, it seems to have deviated slightly. However, an error of a few kilometers is not a big deal.

Amid the witty banter of the host and commentator, the entire planet focused its attention on the live broadcast, watching the lander, representing "imperial glory," slowly descend into the cold gray dust of the lunar south polar basin.

The hatch opened, and the sophisticated lunar rover was released, its wheels leaving clear tracks on the soft lunar soil.

"The Empire's probes have taken a great step forward, and we believe that no one can stop the Empire's return to the moon!"

The narrator's voice was filled with passion: "Ladies and gentlemen, viewers and friends! What we are seeing now is the lunar south polar basin, a mysterious region that contains unimaginable mineral resources!"

"We have witnessed the Empire's great return to this territory it once conquered!"

Of course, besides the official commentary, there are many unofficial commentary channels. For example, a well-known streamer with black skin shrugged at that moment.

"Seeing this empty land, I'm starting to believe that bald eagles really did come here. You know, there are no indigenous people in the places they've been!"

"Oh my God! What...what is that?!"

Blackie's voice instantly changed, filled with disbelief and horror!

Behind a moon rock not far away, a creepy creature is rushing out of the shadows at an astonishing speed!

It resembles a giant skeletal spider! Eight long legs made of stark white bones alternately touch the ground with an eerie and swift gait, drawing chilling arcs in the low-gravity environment as it rushes straight toward the probe!

Without any communication or hesitation, and under the astonished gaze of billions of viewers worldwide, the skeletal spider lashed out a bony arm with a sharp, spear-like tip, piercing the fragile outer shell of the probe!

The probe swayed twice like a catfish pierced by a harpoon before being overturned by the monster. The front-facing camera on the right side was right up close to the monster's side, clearly showing the scratches on the stark white bones.

In that instant, across the entire Blue Star continent, from the Bald Eagle to the Twin Lion Kingdom, from the Crescent Sands to the Lotus Federation, billions of Blue Star people watching the live broadcast almost simultaneously let out an uncontrollable gasp.

A mixture of shock, fear, and incredulous gasps!
(End of this chapter)