Superstars of Tomorrow

"Fang Zhao style" had exploded to prominence on the internet. Silver Wing’s operations team had played a part, as had merchants who had seized the opportunity to make more profits, and there had also been assistance from the government. When many brands saw this, they were envious and also wished to collaborate with Fang Zhao, but they could not get ahold of him.

Planet Baiji had restored its communications network, but there were emergency measures in place, so contacting Baiji was rather difficult. Nobody outside knew what was going on. There were rumors online that the twelve continents had sent a fleet over to establish a military district, but there had been no official announcement yet and these rumors could only be considered guesses.

However, the common folk did not really care much about a large military district or military affairs, as those were too far away to impact their lives. So what if Baiji became a large military district? Their wages wouldn’t rise and their taxes wouldn’t be cut. Everyone would just go about their daily lives as normal. Thus, they preferred watching meaningful entertainment gossip. In the case of planet Baiji, their attention was on Fang Zhao.

Anyone browsing online was very clear on the level of Fang Zhao’s popularity right now. Because of this, Shanta once again came looking for Fang Zhao.

"We will be collaborating with the the Inter-planetary Fund to organize an online auction and will bring out a few items to be auctioned off. You can contribute an item too. I heard that the item you celebrities bring out will be highly coveted. You don’t have to spend too long thinking about it, just something simple like clothes or daily necessities will do just fine."

Although planet Baiji had emergency measures, as the highest-ranking officer on Baiji, Shanta had special privileges. He had seen the popularity of "Fang Zhao Style" online.

Shanta told Fang Zhao that, for this sort of auction, all the money earned would be used for planet Baiji’s construction. Therefore, Fang Zhao did not need to provide something of value; a token item would be enough.

"Don’t worry. Even if you auction of a piece of paper, it won’t fetch a low price."

Shanta did not elaborate much, but Fang Zhao could still guess the reasons.

As of now, planet Baiji’s position in the development sequence was fifth, and the spot was near the front.

Were they lacking investors?

No.

Lacking money?

Not anymore.

As for the auction Shanta had spoken about, simply put, it was actually another chance for companies or investors that had not been able to squeeze into planet Baiji’s construction efforts. This auction would provide a means for them to spend money to purchase a spot, and it was being publicly announced by planet Baiji, meaning it was highly reliable.

For those lacking connections or who did not have enough status or ability to get a spot investing in planet Baiji, this was indeed a really good opportunity, perhaps even their only chance in the near future.

Shanta had approved this sort of method to attract even more teams. Whether it was for balance or external power, to canvass more funds, or for a whole range of other reasons, Shanta would not disclose these reasons and Fang Zhao would not ask.

Shanta had looked for Fang Zhao to bank on his popularity and get the ordinary audiences to place their attention on and understand planet Baiji’s development. The views of the masses could not be ignored.

Although Shanta had told Fang Zhao that any item was fine, Fang Zhao would not just randomly produce an item. He did not pay much attention to the happenings online, but he had learned quite a bit from Kevin Lin. Nowadays, news about him was under the scrutiny of the public. Putting forward a random item might seem half-hearted and lacking in sincerity. This could easily turn into fodder for gossip. The auction would not be soon, so Fang Zhao still had time to make preparations.

Soon, teams from every continent’s military district arrived in succession. Hong Lou had brought men from Yanzhou and had arrived on Baiji base.

If not for the continuous construction on planet Baiji over this period, there would not have been enough space for so many people arriving all at once.

Hong Lou was 70 years old. In the New Era, this was considered the prime of one’s life. His rank was major general, and he already held considerable authority. He had a lot of room for growth in the future.

When Fang Zhao saw Hong Lou, Hong Lou looked tired, probably from all the bustling, but he was in a good mood.

When he noticed Fang Zhao, a smile appeared on Hong Lou’s face. His originally imposing manner of a leader dissipated somewhat.

"Haha, Fang Zhao, I really have to thank you this time. However, recently there have just been too many matters. After this busy period is over, let’s have a good chat. Are you serving at Outpost 23’s district?" As he spoke, he pointed to the other three people in the room. "These three will be following you temporarily."

Fang Zhao glanced over. To the side were three men standing silently. From their epaulets, there was one major and two captains. They had probably been lectured by Hong Lou, but whatever was going through their minds was not displayed on their faces. One of them even grinned when Fang Zhao looked over.

Fang Zhao looked at Hong Lou suspiciously. "They are?"

"My wife... Your director Duan feels that it is not safe enough for you here. In the future, there will surely be more people coming to planet Baiji, and with so many personnel, things can get complicated. There is also no telling what else might happen. You have a special status, and it’s better to have a few extra men protecting you. Don’t worry, I have instructed them not to appear in the live broadcasts; nobody will know about it," Hong Lou replied.

In short, he meant that he was assigning men to protect Fang Zhao.

Fang Zhao wanted to say it was not needed, but from Hong Lou’s manner, it looked like it had been arranged for some time already and he had discussed with Duan Qianji before making this decision. Fang Zhao remained silent and did not reject it.

Hong Lou had a lot of stuff to attend to. Every day, he would be summoned by Shanta to discuss important matters, so he did not say much to Fang Zhao. He just told Fang Zhao to look for him if he encountered any troubles. After that, he hastily rushed off toward the base’s conference room.

Fang Zhao then brought along his three new bodyguards and headed toward Outpost 23.

Seven days after the teams from all twelve continents’ military districts arrived, the alliance announced the establishment of planet Baiji’s military district, which was also the fourth large off-world military district.

Planet Baiji was ranked fifth on the development sequence. Of the first four planets, three already had established military districts set up and were what everyone knew as the three large off-world military district. But now, the big three had become the big four. At the same time, planet Baiji was officially included in the immigration plan and became the key area of development for the immigration plan.

A large military district and a key area of development. These two labels proclaimed the splendid future of planet Baiji.

Since Baiji Military District was being established, the duties and ranks of many people originally at Baiji base would change as well. Shanta was promoted from a lieutenant general to a general and so remained the highest-ranking commander in this military district.

Establishing a military district and getting promoted to general was double happiness for Shanta. It could even be said that Shanta was recently flushed with success. When he was pleased, he could not help but recall all the past grievances he had suffered and he could not help but contact some old acquaintances to share his sentiments. Whether he was on good terms or bad with them, he contacted them all the same.

Connected to exploratory spaceship Arcturus, commander Luo Sha.

"Old Luo, what are you so busy with nowadays. If you have the time, come over to my planet Baiji for a gathering, ha!"

Arcturus commander Luo Sha remained expressionless and gave an ice-cold reply, "Get lost! No time for you!"

Connected to exploratory spaceship Formalhault, Commander Ma Jika.

"Old Ma Ji, when will you have time to come over to Baiji~ Military District. We can all catch up..."

Ma Jika’s temperament was not as straightforward as Luo Sha’s. When he heard Shanta’s words, he paused momentarily and laughingly replied, "Okay, but we have to discuss something first. Transfer Fang Zhao’s military service record over here—"

"Scram!" Before the other party had finished talking, Shanta had already severed the comms.

After ending the call, Shanta thought back to when he had first received Fang Zhao’s military service application. It was funny, but at the same time, Shanta was glad. Back then, if any of those two had decided to accept Fang Zhao’s application, planet Baiji would never have gotten to see this day.

A single person could really change the fate of an entire planet.