The virtual empire starts from the game

Chapter 672 The Battle for Near-Earth Orbit! (Seeking monthly votes)

"What crashed and caught fire?"

"Very likely! But with so much debris... could it be that the International Space Station has disintegrated?"

"The International Space Station should have been retired 10 years ago! It kept delaying its retirement until now, and now look what happened, it's blown up! I wonder if any of the astronauts inside survived."

……

In the brightly lit and bustling Jinghu Holographic Park, a large group of tourists watched as a fiery rain burned on the magnificent aurora screen, analyzing it with great seriousness.

Until an older guy next to me couldn't stand it anymore and chimed in, "The International Space Station is on the other side of the Earth! And it's still perfectly fine!"

"What fell down must have been a satellite affected by a strong geomagnetic storm."

The group, who were engrossed in their conversation, paused for a moment.

Then he was greatly alarmed:

"Huh? Could it be Mr. Xu's satellite? The rocket was successfully recovered, but the satellite launch failed?"

"Nonsense! If we were really going to fail, we would have fallen long ago. Why would we wait until now?"

"But the aurora borealis happened! Who can stop an unexpected event?"

"I think it's satellites from peripheral industries. With so many satellites, the probability of them being affected is significantly higher than that of Zhumeng!"

Opinions differed, and no one could convince anyone else.

Whenever this problem arises, everyone has a simple and effective solution—

Ask Xu Meng directly.

Xu Meng will respond most of the time, as long as enough people ask.

This time is no exception.

They even replied exceptionally quickly—

As soon as netizens opened his social media page, they saw a brand new post:
[The rocket launch mission was a complete success! The rocket recovery technology verification achieved great results, and 216 aurora communication satellites were successfully put into orbit and are operating well.]

Thank you all for your concern.
Everyone immediately understood upon seeing this:

Whether what fell was a satellite from a peripheral industry is unknown, but it certainly wasn't from Zhumeng.

Aerospace professionals quickly emerged, posting the information they had gathered to further confirm the identities of these satellites.

That's a satellite for peripheral industries!

Today, it's not just peripheral industries watching the launch of the satellite; aerospace agencies from various countries, and even space enthusiasts on the ground, are all paying attention to this event.

Footage has already been captured of the edge industrial satellite re-entering the atmosphere and catching fire.

Thus, the worries of netizens in Xia Kingdom vanished, leaving only detached observation and schadenfreude:
"I've overestimated Mr. Xu as much as I could, but I still underestimate him every time! I no longer believe in any technological barriers between different industries!"

"So...what's going on?"

"I don't understand it, I don't understand it at all."

"You don't need to understand, just keep shouting 'Awesome!' and that's it!"

"This 'satellite rain'... won't it hit someone?"

"No, satellites are very small and will burn up during their fall."

……

The extremely rare, even counterintuitive, low-latitude aurora, coupled with the first-ever catastrophic large-scale satellite crash in human history.

The spectacular shower of satellite fire falling amidst the aurora borealis quickly shocked the world.

An explosive wave of discussion swept the globe.

Unlike the Xia Kingdom players who simply "enjoy the scenery," their mindset is far more complex.

Xu Meng had just launched a satellite into space when a large number of satellites fell from the edge of the industry. It would be hard for them to believe that this had nothing to do with Xu Meng!

Voices of doubt and accusation kept emerging:

"They have no business ethics."

"Violation of international law."

"Hindering the development of human spaceflight."

"The militarization of outer space threatens global communications security and personal safety."

……

Various criticisms kept pouring in, almost overshadowing the praise for the successful rocket recovery.

Xu Meng saw these voices but ignored them.

In the command center at the launch site, the engineers from Xia Kingdom also ignored it.

They had already considered the consequences of this matter two weeks ago.

Xu Meng had already stated at the time that those who felt psychologically burdened could withdraw from the mission, and that it would not affect their subsequent personal development.

But no one quit.

They certainly knew that doing so could easily trigger serious technological, public opinion, and even diplomatic conflicts.

But they also knew that this step was unavoidable if Xu wanted to complete his three-tiered orbital satellite array plan.

His satellite array plan is also an essential piece of basic hardware infrastructure for virtual business to fully cover the globe.

Therefore, these tracks are something that Zhu Meng, and even the Xia Kingdom, are determined to obtain!
However, the battle for near-Earth orbit is almost impossible to win through negotiations.

Only by engaging in a real fight, making the other side realize that they are doomed to defeat, and that Xu Meng not only has the ability to do it, but also dares to do it, will they choose to back down.

As for the current turmoil...

It can only be considered a necessary price to pay.

Besides, people have long been unhappy about the peripheral industries' frantic attempts to seize control of the railway tracks.

Now that even if the sky falls, Boss Xu will hold it up. This is an opportunity not to be missed, as it will not come again.

Quitting is not possible.

They were even full of energy and couldn't wait for another round!
……

Of course, while the project team was so arrogant, the official stance of the Xia Kingdom was much more subtle.

The official account of the Xia Kingdom Meteorological Observatory quickly released a notice:

Breaking news! Residents of Ningzhou and several surrounding cities in my country have witnessed a large area of ​​positive luminescence in the night sky!

It is understood that this rare mid-to-low latitude aurora event is an occasional extreme natural phenomenon occurring against the backdrop of peak solar activity.

This phenomenon caused some commercial satellites in the region to fall.

These satellites will burn up completely in the atmosphere and pose a very low threat to people on the ground, so please don't worry.

According to forecasts, this unusual aurora phenomenon will disappear within an hour. The public is advised to view such astronomical phenomena scientifically and rationally.

The National Space Weather Monitoring and Early Warning Center will closely monitor subsequent changes and release relevant information in a timely manner.
-
The command center for the peripheral industries was eerily silent.

After a long pause, someone angrily said, "This is the official explanation from the Xia Kingdom? The aurora is a natural phenomenon?!"

"Was our satellite crash simply bad luck and a natural disaster?"

"Are they treating us like idiots?!"

……

In the command center lobby, everyone looked indignant, completely disbelieving this absurd reason.

What solar activity or extreme celestial phenomena? Are you the only ones in the world who can observe them?
What exactly is this "occasional natural phenomenon"?

Can you explain yourself clearly?!
But there was nothing they could do but feel angry.

Even a public rebuttal is not allowed—that's the job of the public relations department.

Tver was also quite helpless.

"They're not trying to convince us."

"They're just making up some excuse to appease the public, and whether we or the public believe it... they don't seem to care."

The room full of simple-minded technicians became even more enraged upon hearing this, demanding that Tver release evidence to expose their ridiculous lies. One person even shouted, "We'll take this to the United Nations! Let the International Court of Justice try them!"

Tver simply shook his head.

The biggest problem in this conflict is not the destruction of the more than 60 satellites.

Although it was a heavy loss, the peripheral industries could make up for it within a week.

The real problem is:
They are powerless against attacks on the outer space of the Dream Building project.

They didn't even understand how Zhu Meng had triggered this localized magnetic storm.

The underlying principles are still unclear, so how to defend against them is even more out of the question.

So the issue now is not who is more in the right, or who can win in a debate or in court—if such a court even exists.

The question now is-

What if we continue doing this after we've built our dreams?
How long can they endure being constantly attacked and unable to fight back?
Before all their satellites are destroyed by Zhumeng, can they figure out Zhumeng's methods and take defensive or even counterattack measures?
Tver was not confident about this.

After demanding that the existing information be organized and the technical means of building the dream be analyzed as soon as possible, he left the command center with a furrowed brow and made a phone call to Thomas Booker.

Thomas Booker was in an even worse mood than him.

Just 10 hours ago, he confidently assured a group of engineers in a conference room that they would definitely win.

Now that I've been thoroughly humiliated, I don't even want to go into the meeting room anymore.

To make matters worse, he tried to get help from NASA officials, but the process was very difficult.

His patience was already nearing its limit, and now, dealt another heavy blow by Zhu Meng, he finally decided to resort to his ultimate weapon—

Contact the president.

The current president was elected, and he spent money like crazy and did a lot of work.

Although their relationship later broke down, they maintained private contact—Thomas guessed this was because he was waiting for Thomas to apologize and repent.

He certainly has no intention of apologizing.

However, the current approach of pursuing this dream has already threatened the outer space security of the United States and even the world, as well as the future progress of the space program of all countries.

He had to communicate with the person in charge of the highest authority and explain the pros and cons.

He dialed the number himself, listening intently to each ring.

The call was finally answered just as it was about to disconnect automatically.

A tired voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hello, Thomas."

Thomas was a little surprised. "What's wrong? You don't sound well."

"It's nothing, it's rare for you to call me first. Is there something you need?"

"You should have seen the news. The satellite launched by Zhumeng triggered a geomagnetic storm through an unknown means, causing 63 communication satellites to crash. However, the media in Xia Country claimed that this was a natural phenomenon."

Thomas Booker put it as succinctly as possible: "This poses a tremendous threat to national outer space security!"

"If we allow Zhuo Meng to continue and fill outer space with their aurora satellites, all our launch missions will be seriously threatened!"

Contrary to Thomas's expectations, the president was not angry.

He didn't even speak immediately.

After a minute of silence, the president finally spoke: "I will speak with Xu Meng."

This statement greatly surprised Thomas.

This was ten times more powerful than the most powerful response he had anticipated!
He had assumed that the White House spokesperson would begin with a condemnation, followed by official dialogue between the diplomatic missions of the two countries. After several rounds of back-and-forth exchanges, a transnational symposium would be organized to jointly discuss and formulate a charter.

He never expected that the president would actually want to speak directly with Xu Meng to get to the root of the problem!
This is so reliable and awesome!
Thomas hung up the phone with excitement and began to wait.

……

The president did not have Xu Meng's phone number.

However, it was not difficult for him to contact Xu Meng.

He registered a Dream Building account using his real identity information, and then activated the holographic device in the Oval Office.

Afterwards, we entered the Mansheng Metropolis and sat down by the central square.

Before his coffee arrived, a pink-haired girl squeezed out from the crowd and looked at him in surprise.

The president looked at him and said bluntly, "I need to talk to Xu Meng."

Many celebrities and special figures in real life are marked in Zhumeng's database. As long as they log into the virtual world, they will be noticed by Xiaomeng.

In most cases, no one will bother them.

But the situation of the US president is rather special.

First, he is indeed special and important enough.

The second is...

Xu Meng was very curious about his health!
He was one of the few people who regained his youth on his own before the [Rejuvenation] system was launched.

He is also the only person who has not been registered in the system after the [Rejuvenation] system was launched.

They never even registered using their real identity information.

This means that if he continues to log into the virtual world using a "fake identity," there is a very high probability that he will still appear young.

Furthermore, there is no system to share the burden.

Keeping the brain under such high stress for such a long time is by no means an easy thing for an elderly person who is nearly 80 years old.

Xu Meng doesn't want any users to actually die while using her devices.

Therefore, Xu Meng specifically instructed Xiao Meng: if he reappears, immediately tell her.

"Wait a minute!" Xiaomeng reached out and poked him from a distance, trying to check on his condition.

But it was soon discovered that he had only logged in using a holographic device and could not obtain much information.

Only then did he hurriedly go to inform Xu Meng.

Xu Meng was already lying in her room at the launch site, leisurely scrolling through holographic short videos.

—The work after the launch had nothing to do with him.

"Master! He's here!" Xiao Meng suddenly jumped out of thin air, and Xu Meng subconsciously turned off the holographic image in front of her.

"?" Xiao Meng looked at Xu Meng in surprise.

Xu Meng felt a little embarrassed.

He didn't look at anything strange; he just happened to come across the "Wooden Donkey Master's" new work.

[A couple of iron virgins].

This isn't his fault; it's the algorithm of the short video platform that's to blame!
Seeing pink code floating around Xiaomeng's head, Xu Meng quickly interrupted her: "Ahem! Who did you say came?"

"The US president! He logged into Mansheng City using his real identity! But he used a holographic device," Xiaomeng answered obediently.

"You're still alive? That's good." Xu Meng breathed a sigh of relief.

These past two days, US social media has been filled with rumors that the president is dead, making many people suspicious.

"Let's go! Let's go meet him!"

Xu Meng didn't get out of bed; she simply sat up on the bed.

With this movement, his clothes and the appearance of the room changed rapidly, and a bustling central square quickly descended into the room.

Across from the president, Xu Meng was already sitting there dressed in appropriate casual wear.

"Hello, we meet again." Xu Meng picked up the small cup of milk tea that Xiao Meng had prepared for him and made a "drink" gesture.

"You've come to me at this time to ask about the satellite?"

Xu Meng figured that the people opposite her were probably there to demand an explanation, so she took the initiative.

But the US president opposite her shook his head and said something Xu Meng had never expected:
How long until your technology is ready to achieve 'consciousness upload'?

Xu Meng abruptly stopped, the cup she had already brought to her lips, and forced a sound from her throat:
"what?"

(End of this chapter)