Chapter 64
Xia Anran’s livestream was no longer a daily event. She would usually save up a few days of broadcast time for a one-hour stream, posting a notice on the StarNet a day in advance so that no one would show up to an empty channel.
The production team had stayed in the vast nature reserve for about a week and had streamed twice, both with excellent reception. The Beastman viewers, in particular, absolutely loved the place. Every time you looked at the comments, they were the ones howling with excitement.
The idea that the interstellar races originated from Earth was fast becoming a consensus, at least in their eyes. The United Star System and the Beastman race were confirmed to be from Earth.
And then the Interstellar Empire suddenly realized, with a jolt, that they had been isolated. The United Star System and the Beastman race seemed to have formed a bloc! They were the only ones left, targeted by both sides.
Phileas was so worried he hadn’t slept for days. Especially when he discovered that the Beastman race had begun to station troops on the border of the United Star System. Forget sleeping; he had almost passed out from the shock.
After a full day of meetings with his ministers, a lifeless Phileas slumped on his throne, peeled an orange, and viciously stuffed it into his mouth.
Director Hukeni, on the side, looked on with a pained expression—pained for the orange, of course. Although Xia Anran was holding lotteries frequently now and the quantity had increased, Earth’s resources were still very precious.
“Sigh,” Phileas let out a long sigh. “Our Empire has missed the first move.”
Hukeni had been listening to him ramble on for a whole day and was now immune. With a wooden face, he thought to himself that the United Star System must have contacted Host Anran privately. Otherwise, how could those barbaric Beastmen possibly cooperate with them? There must have been a condition that the Beastman race couldn’t refuse. And that condition could only be related to Earth.
Damn it all! How many good things has the United Star System gotten from Host Anran behind their backs!
Phileas clutched his hair, extremely distressed. This was arguably the biggest political crisis since his ascension to the throne.
“It’s not a good time to fight now, and we’re a step behind the Beastman race in forming an alliance,” he muttered to himself, not minding the lack of response. “The Beastman race has stationed troops directly on the border. This clearly means they see us as the enemy.” It’s difficult. Just thinking about it is making my hair fall out.
Since it’s come to this, maybe we should test the waters? Phileas’s fingers curled, tapping rhythmically on the armrest. His eyes narrowed as he seriously considered this possibility.
Before he could come up with a reliable plan, his photon-computer suddenly received an urgent notification from his personal assistant.
[Your Majesty, the latest official announcement from the United Star System. They will be holding a video communication with the rulers of the Hua nation the day after tomorrow, and will be signing an agreement. The negotiation process will also be made public.]
“!!!”
Phileas shot up from his chair, completely throwing the idea of “testing the waters” to the wind. What was there to test? It was time to go hug some thighs.
The United Star System had made this decision in anticipation of the Interstellar Empire’s possible move to force their hand. Since things had already developed to this point, there was nothing to hide. It was better to directly and publicly announce this hard-won official meeting to put some pressure on the Interstellar Empire, at least to make them not dare to act rashly in the near future.
…
After the two sides had finalized the time, Xia Anran and the production team also returned to the capital directly through the portal. For security reasons, the child portal had been set up in the most secretive location, the Academy of Sciences. When they stepped out, they found themselves in an empty laboratory. Not daring to wander around, Xia Anran obediently called Professor Gong to tell him they had arrived.
Before long, he came to pick them up, and with him was the Qilin, who had been at the academy for two days.
How should she put it? Although it had only been two days, she felt that the Qilin’s fur was much smoother, its fiery red coat like a burning auspicious cloud. By the looks of it, it was being well-fed.
The Qilin shot out, squeezing through the door before Professor Gong. It came to a screeching halt, its large head almost bumping into her. “You’re finally here! I smelled you from far away,” it said, excitedly circling her.
Professor Qi also followed closely behind. She had returned to the capital with Professor Gong and the others two days ago and had been taking care of the Qilin. The Qilin was very picky. A casual pat was fine, but not just anyone could stay by its side all the time. As the only person currently related to the beast race, it only allowed her to accompany it.
Xia Anran stroked its head and found that the creature had actually put on quite a bit of weight in two days. Even its head was rounder.
The Qilin nudged her hand and said coquettishly, “These humans are so scary. They’re so stupid, and they ask too many questions.”
Professor Gong, on the side, gave a sheepish smile. Ever since the Qilin had arrived, the number of people who wanted to see it could have formed a line from the academy all the way to the Great Hall. The professors from the history department, in particular, practically treated it as a living historical recorder, circling it with their notebooks from morning till night.
“Mr. Qilin, I’d like to ask, what was the process of the rise and fall of the Sanxingdui civilization?”
“Mr. Qilin, I’d like to ask, what was the specific way of life of humans during the Han Dynasty?”
“I’d like to ask, what was the social structure like during the Wu Zetian period?”
“Mr. Qilin, can you help us answer some questions about the Three Kingdoms period?”
The Qilin’s head was spinning from all the questions. It had tried to escape but had been hopelessly surrounded, unable to even get out the door. It could only squat there pitifully, being bombarded with questions from morning till night. For the first time, it hated itself for being so restless and liking to wander around. As a result, it actually, damn it all, knew the answers to the questions these humans were asking! As a divine beast, it couldn’t bring itself to deceive them and could only answer each question honestly.
The professors were both pained and happy. Of course, they were happy to know these historical truths, but the painful part was that it looked like a whole bunch of textbooks would have to be rewritten again.
So, the moment it heard Xia Anran was coming, it had rushed over to seek protection.
Xia Anran was also at a loss as to how to help its situation. When she had first come to the capital, she had also fallen into the hands of these professors, who had surrounded her and asked her what felt like ten thousand questions.
Sure enough, someone soon came looking for the Qilin, saying that Professor Ke from the history department had arrived. The Qilin immediately adopted a “I can’t hear you, la la la” expression and shrank behind her.
Professor Gong said helplessly, “Professor Ke is ninety years old this year. He rushed over from the south overnight after hearing about the Qilin.”
The Qilin: “…” Detestable humans, actually using its sympathy!
Professor Gong continued to add fuel to the fire, sighing dramatically. “Sigh, Old Mr. Ke also has a heart condition that’s plagued him for years. If he hears any bad news and can’t catch his breath… aiyo.”
The Qilin, with a pained expression, jumped out. “Alright, stop talking! I’ll go, okay?!”
Professor Qi left with the Qilin. Xia Anran and the others were led downstairs by Professor Gong.
“The Chiefs are busy with this afternoon’s Global Science Summit. Many of the professors from the academy have also gone to help,” he said, chatting with her as they went down.
The Hua nation was indeed very busy recently. Every day when she surfed the internet, she could see a lot of major international news.
Professor Gong led them into a conference room for them to rest temporarily. After entering, he said to them in a low voice, “The Chief has decided to announce the matter of the planetary impact to the world at this science summit.”
Xia Anran was shocked. “Why so suddenly?” She hadn’t heard any news about this.
“It was a last-minute decision made today,” he said. “This science summit is different from usual. The heads of state of many countries have proactively come to participate. The leaders discussed it and felt it was a good opportunity.”
This matter had to be made public sooner or later. After all, it wasn’t something the Hua nation could solve on its own.
But… could the problems the leaders were worried about before be solved now? Ren Yi also frowned when he heard this news. His intuition told him this would be a tough battle.
Xia Anran asked about the concerns she had just had. Professor Gong also sighed helplessly. “Time waits for no one. We cannot turn a blind eye to the lives of so many innocent people around the world. And it just so happens that the world’s top scientists are all gathered here. It’s a rare and excellent opportunity.”
“Do your best, and leave the rest to fate.”
It seemed they really had a lot to be busy with recently.
…
At this moment, the head of state of country A, Kaelen, had once again landed at the airport in the Hua nation. The second-in-command had personally come to greet him. After shaking hands, they got into a car and headed directly for the conference venue.
Kaelen looked at the familiar scenery outside the window and couldn’t help but feel a little emotional. He had come to the Hua nation three times in the past few months. It strangely felt like coming home.
“Mr. Kaelen, for your visit this time, our Chief has specially instructed that you must stay for a few more days. There are important matters to discuss,” the second-in-command said.
Before he had boarded the plane, the top leader had personally called him and had specially mentioned this matter. And his tone had been serious and solemn. So, from the moment he had hung up, he had been pondering it. The Hua nation had been pulling too many new tricks lately; he really couldn’t guess what it was.
So, he asked tentatively, “I wonder what it’s about?”
The second-in-command smiled. “About a matter of global life and death.”
Kaelen smiled politely, but secretly sneered. That was as good as saying nothing. The people of the Hua nation were always like this. They could turn catching a rabbit into a matter of global life and death. It was the same old rhetoric, with no novelty at all.
At this moment, Kaelen still didn’t know that this time, they really weren’t exaggerating. This perfunctory diplomatic phrase had actually become a reality.
…
Ren Yi and Xia Anran rushed to the conference venue and met with the leaders in the rest area.
“Little Xia is here,” the top leader said, greeting her with a smile. Before they had come in, the leaders had probably been chatting. The atmosphere was very pleasant and relaxed, not at all like they were about to drop a bombshell on the whole world.
The top leader patted the empty seat beside him, signaling for her to sit down. Ren Yi was also pulled over by Marshal Yue for a chat.
“Are you planning to announce it directly at the meeting?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“The science summit is a grand event for the scientific community. We should try not to affect the scientists. We’ll talk about this at the closing ceremony,” he said with a smile.
The schedule for the Global Science Summit was very concise. It was only one day, starting at ten in the morning and ending at six in the afternoon. There were no lengthy academic reports. Every scientist who went on stage delivered pure, unadulterated substance. Of course, not many scientists could go on stage.
For a rare change, Xia Anran also listened to the entire scientific discussion of the world’s top researchers, from gene editing to quantum physics. Besides the opening “Ladies and gentlemen, hello,” she didn’t understand a single word.
It wasn’t until the last scientist had finished his speech and it was the top leader’s turn to give the closing remarks that she was jolted awake. The main event of the day was finally here.
Over a hundred scientists were sitting in the auditorium, with the political leaders of various countries sitting in the first two rows. The top leader walked slowly to the stage. After conventionally expressing his congratulations on the perfect closing of the summit and the progress of global science, he changed the subject and officially began to talk about the impending alien invasion and planetary impact event.
“In the scientific community, there is a topic that the sun may expand in the future and swallow the Earth, leading to the destruction of humanity. The issue of the life and death of our mother, Earth, has always been of wide concern to all countries in the world, and it is the same today.”
Kaelen, sitting in the audience, also went from his initial indifference to gradually becoming serious. He had dealt with the Hua nation too many times. From their state, he knew that what they were going to talk about today was probably not some trivial matter.
“What I am about to say may be a bit incredible, but please believe that every word I say below has been verified.”
The top leader said, word for word, “In a few years, aliens will invade Earth and cause it to collide with a planet, and from then on, be annihilated in the universe.”