The virtual empire starts from the game

Chapter 647 World Mission Settlement! Satellite Showdown!
The Braised Shrimp Ship, carrying all the captured NPCs, slowly landed outside the city of Mansheng.

The hatch opened, and the NPCs disembarked from the spaceship.

Players were already waiting here in their cars to welcome the NPC's return.

However, NPCs receive different treatment—

Alicia, Tang Qian, Little Moon, and the owners of the coffee shop and flower shop... all these highly popular characters attracted large numbers of players who flocked to them, with various luxury cars available for selection.

But those unknown NPCs don't get this treatment.

Of course, it wasn't necessary for him to walk back on foot—a kind-hearted player brought him a bus.

As the convoy carrying NPCs and the warriors returning to the surface entered the Sprawling City, a magnificent cloud of colorful smoke shot into the sky from the central square!

The World Tree glowed with a soft white light, and the outdoor screen began playing a montage of exciting war footage. Residents on both sides of the road opened their windows to present flowers and cheers to the victorious players.

Until the last captured NPC returned to the city by bus, all the players who participated in this operation—whether they directly engaged in combat, participated in logistical support, or simply donated supplies—had lines of text flashing before their eyes:

-

World Quest [Beyond the Cradle] Victory Results Announcement!
All warriors:
Through your fearless battles and wise negotiations, we successfully defeated the Plans Shrimp's fleet, regained control of the moon and geosynchronous orbit, and used the blood of alien races to wash away the shame of the world's invasion.

Today, the torch of civilization has been lit in space, and you have proven that you have the ability to leave the cradle of civilization and venture into the cold, cruel, but infinitely possible sea of ​​stars!

Congratulations, player!

Successfully broke out of the prison and unlocked the [galaxy]!

The entire galaxy will be gradually opened to all players for free!
In addition, to celebrate this magnificent victory, even more rewards await all warriors:

[Virtual Rewards]

1. Limited Title: [The First Space Warrior]
Title Attribute: In space scenarios, all attributes are increased by 3%.
Title Reward: [Raging Knight] Armor Transmog
Non-restricted titles: [City Hero], [Ambassador of Civilization], [Shrimp Man Conqueror]
2. Thirteen large-scale technology blueprints, including space cruisers, interstellar transport ships, and large space stations, have been officially added to the drop list.

3. Several secret updates have been added; players are encouraged to discover them on their own.

[Real-world rewards]

1. Figurines and model souvenirs

The system will randomly select 10000 participants from all participants and award them the following physical prizes:
1000 Plans Shrimp Man merchandise items, 1000 Peregrine Space Marine action figures, 1000 miniature Deep Space String models, 1000 Titan Ring space station models, 1000 Shrimp Man cruiser models, 1000 Sky Shuttle and Cloud Pivot spaceship models, and 1000 Molten, Anvil, and Thunder-class spaceship models.

Players whose performance or contribution ranks in the top 0.1% will not participate in the lottery, but can choose three items themselves.

2. Maglev Commemorative Medal

The [First Human Space War Commemorative Medal] is now available for pre-order. Once the quantity is tallied, the factory will begin production.

The first 10 units are free to pre-order!

3. Invitation to the Launch of the Aurora Communication Satellite
One hundred players will be randomly selected to attend the launch of the Aurora Communications satellite, witness the rocket launch up close, and see the Dream Building Game usher in a new chapter.

(Strictly speaking, this is a launch test, and you might even witness the rocket explode. But rest assured, we have prepared six rockets, and you will definitely see a successful launch. —Xu Meng)
4. Early access to the Global Developer Creative Competition

10000 players will be randomly selected from the registered players to experience the brand-new game created by global developers ahead of time.

(Note: These projects are all in their early stages and may have unexpected bugs or unpleasant gameplay experiences. By participating, you agree to accept any negative issues that may arise.)
finally--

For the next week, all alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages at Mansheng Metropolis will be free!
Let's cheer once again, warriors!
Let's give a round of applause for your glorious victory!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the bustling metropolis, players who were immersed in the city's cheering atmosphere were instantly drawn to the task completion notification.

Reading through them one by one, my feelings were extremely complicated:

There were both surprises and confusions.

I want to both praise Mr. Xu for his generosity and loudly complain about Zhumeng's stinginess.

A variety of sounds rose and fell on the street:

"A free mega-update! The entire solar system! Awesome! But what does 'gradual updates' mean?"

"Haha, it must be because we finished too fast, Mr. Xu hasn't finished yet!"

"The original space warrior! That's a cool name! Let's take him!"

"Blueprints...we'll talk about that later, we'll talk about that later. Let's get in line at the massage parlor first!"

"Another secret update! We haven't found the previous ones yet!"

"Just wait and see, sooner or later Boss Xu will just keep updating with words! Anyway, we can't find it, so who knows if it's true or not?"

"These models... issuing 1000 of each, who are they trying to smug about???"

"Magnetic levitation commemorative medal, great stuff, I'll take it!"

"Holy crap, how did I get to number 25 in the queue?? Are you guys that fast?"

……

The lively atmosphere and shouts suddenly subsided after the last two rewards were announced.

Instead, a series of question marks appeared:

"Wait a minute! The Global Developer Creativity Competition?? Hasn't this event only started a month and a half ago??"

"What's going on? It's not just Dream Chaser Games that's cheating, other development teams are doing it too?"

"Why didn't you guys take me with you when you were cheating??"

"In a month and a half... at most two months, I find it hard to imagine what these virtual game beginners could develop?"

"Please pick me! Even if it's just a pile of papers from my thesis defense, I want to taste it!"

……

Players already know that Genesis Engine comes with intelligent assistance, making development incredibly efficient.

But how can a habit formed over many years be so easily reversed?

The reason why Zhumeng was able to develop so quickly is because Xu Meng is awesome.

The rest of you are developing so fast too... What, are you all as awesome as Xu Meng?

Nobody really believed it.

They are unwilling to believe it until they see concrete evidence.

Curious netizens flocked to ask the developers who occasionally popped up online, eager to know their progress.

It was soon discovered that most developers were also full of questions.

They were even more shocked than the players!

Yu Liyan was completely dumbfounded and posted a confused message asking:

"What's going on? Someone's almost finished?? Are they about to start the demo?"

How come I didn't know?!

The developers' reactions have made players even more curious about this demo!

I've played plenty of impressive and sophisticated virtual games, but I've never experienced a virtual thesis defense!
This time, we have to give it a try, no matter what!
Yu Liyan quickly changed his mind after posting that update.

Less than five minutes later, he deleted the post and reposted another sentence:

"Boss Xu, pick me! Pick me too! I want to try it out!"

Netizens were furious upon seeing this:
"Get out of my way! Don't take up a spot!"

……

The gaming community is buzzing with excitement.

But the most influential and talked-about item by global media and netizens is undoubtedly the [Invitation to the Aurora Communications Satellite Launch]! This not only shocked gamers but also caused a huge sensation across the entire internet—

"Wait, a satellite? Mr. Xu is about to launch a satellite??"

"No, wait a minute, it's only been a few months? Isn't that too fast?!"

"Six rockets just for fun, huh? Then the success rate is definitely guaranteed..."

"Awesome! The boss can use satellites to drop holographic media from space, bringing the game into reality!"

"An earthly (game) divine kingdom, right?"

"Stop talking nonsense... If Boss Xu really wanted to build a holographic city, why would he need to go through all this trouble? Ningzhou is already practically a holographic city!"

"So... this is for countries that don't cooperate? Anyone who doesn't obey will be scared by having a medium bomb dropped from space!"

"What the hell is this medium bomb... Can't you guys be normal for once?"

"All I want to know right now is: if I didn't get an invitation, can I go to see it at my own expense?"

……

The booming development of the virtual world has greatly reduced the attention that players and a vast number of netizens pay to real-world news.

This has led to news about boxing, confrontation, and the sale of anxiety receiving less attention than before.

With everyone's minds completely focused on the virtual world, they tend to "let it go" when things don't go their way in the real world.

But news about building dreams is an exception.

Every major move Xu Meng makes attracts nationwide attention!
It's incredibly popular!
This time is of course no exception.

In less than 10 minutes, the news of "[Dream of launching a satellite]" caused a global sensation.

Domestic media outlets have been leveraging their connections to search for relevant information.

It's not that difficult.

—In order to improve efficiency, with Xu Meng spending lavishly, three launch sites, six rockets, and five communication satellite production lines started construction simultaneously, involving an astonishing number of workers and engineers.

The scope of the upstream and downstream industrial chains involved is ridiculously large.

It's unrealistic to expect complete secrecy.

Xu Meng and the Aerospace Academy did not intend to keep it a secret.

Because Xu Meng has spent a lot of money on cultivating aerospace talents, many graduate students and even undergraduates in related fields have already received their first subsidies.

The related news had already been circulating in a small circle, but it hadn't been noticed by mainstream media.

Now that Xu Meng has suddenly made it public, the situation is naturally very different!
Numerous clues and information were unearthed from every corner of the internet—

The civil engineers worked in shifts, keeping the construction site running 24 hours a day, and magically built three brand-new launch sites at an incredible speed.

The satellite maps can't keep up with their construction speed!

This June, all recent graduates who entered the aerospace field received a "reimbursement for pursuing their dreams" from the industry.

This subsidy does not restrict which company you work for, nor does it matter where you graduated from.

As long as you don't go abroad and are in the aerospace field, you will receive subsidies without discrimination!
As for the rocket recovery test, it began less than two weeks after Xu Meng announced the satellite launch.

However, in the initial stage, it is mostly simulation testing and miniaturization verification.

The "launch" that Xu Meng is announcing now is actually the first real launch test.

Six arrows were launched in quick succession in the middle of next month!

There are also rumors that Xu Meng originally planned to launch on October 1st as a gift for National Day.

The result was quite frightening for everyone, and it was only after almost everyone advised against it that they managed to avoid that time.

—A failed launch is bad enough normally, but what if it explodes on October 1st…

Just thinking about it makes their scalp tingle!
……

Thanks to the tireless efforts of netizens and the media, all sorts of news, big and small, kept popping up, much to everyone's delight.

Only one thing—

The key to this satellite launch mission—a communications satellite—has yet no valuable information been revealed.

All people know is that production lines have been expanded, upstream and downstream operations have been restructured, and there are triple wages and overtime work... these are just general news items.

Going deeper, not a single detail about the satellite's specifications, technology, cost, and so on has been leaked.

However, only people in the professional field would realize this detail.

How could an ordinary internet user notice this?

Many people even believe that all communication satellites are the same thing, and that the technology should be roughly the same.

Right now, everyone is really only concerned about two things:
First: Will the launch be successful? How many of the six rockets will explode?
Second: Can I go to the scene to watch the excitement?

More proactive players have already started booking hotel rooms near the launch site.

Without a doubt, all the rooms in these hotels were fully booked within ten minutes during those days in mid-October!
……

Compared to the enthusiastic atmosphere in China, the situation overseas is somewhat delicate.

In recent years, everyone has seen how satellite networks have fared in the peripheral industries.

The development of global satellite network services and its enormous value in war and conflict should not be underestimated.

Now, the Dream Building Society of Xia Kingdom has also started doing this.

It's hard not to worry them.

Consider also Xu Meng's nickname "Digital Emperor," the increasingly widespread adoption of holographic devices globally, and the lifelike robots that Zhu Meng is about to sell worldwide...

That would be even more terrifying!

……

America.

Thomas Booker, the founder of Edge Industries, was quickly surrounded by reporters from various television stations asking for his opinion on the matter.

Thomas Booker, who is known for his bold and outspokenness, was remarkably tactful when faced with this question.

He ignored the reporters who were desperately trying to stir things up and hope that he and Xu Meng would have a war of words.

From a scientific research perspective, the article rationally and objectively discusses several of the most common challenges faced by reusable rockets, as well as the solutions they have adopted.

He then politely wished the launch of Zhumeng a success and welcomed them to join the great cause of exploring space.

Thomas's restrained demeanor naturally disappointed the media and netizens who were eager for big news.

However, the media, with their keen sense of smell, quickly discovered:
After the hasty interview, Thomas Booker did not go home, but went straight to the headquarters of Edge Industries.

The lights in the conference room stayed on all night.

After daybreak, he took the earliest flight and headed straight for California!
That's where the headquarters of Edge Industries' aerospace business is located.

Clearly, he was not as calm as he appeared on camera!

Thus, even though neither Xu Meng nor Thomas Booker ever said a bad word about the other in public, they still became "fated rivals" thanks to the relentless hype from the global media.

What's even more incredible is that these two "fated rivals" will soon face off in a crucial showdown!
Let's not even mention Xu Meng's challenge.

Since he announced the satellite launch, the already high frequency of low-orbit satellite network launches by the peripheral industry has increased again.

This is clearly Thomas Booker's response to Xu Meng's challenge!

Next month, this showdown will reach its climax!
The media hyped it up like crazy, and netizens got excited too, eager to witness this showdown!
(End of this chapter)