Chapter 933: Port Leasing
Translator: Min Editor: Rundi
In a lounge on New Moon Island, next to the training ground, soldiers who had just completed their live-fire shooting training were taking a shower and grabbing their clothes from their compartments.
When they finished, everyone suddenly noticed that a poster.
On the poster, there was a massive spaceship. Beside the spaceship, there was an armed soldier equipped with heavy armor. The background was Mars… Zhang Feng didn’t know if it was Mars or not. Anyway, looking at the surface of the bare planet, it certainly didn’t resemble Earth.“Space Defence Force? What is this?” He tore off the propaganda poster and used the towel on his shoulder to dry his wet hair. He then sat down on the bench to carefully examine the small characters on the poster.
“Maybe, this is the movie that was just released?” The Mexican machine gunner on his team came to his side and inched his face closer. “How did they post this? This is a military restricted zone.”
“Use your brain and think about it, Jack,” a big hand slapped on the Mexican’s shoulder, the rifleman Liu Duntao grinned. “Since this is a military restricted zone, it is our people that posted this.”
“The was posted by me, but of course, it was the order from the above.” A man in a military uniform walked into the lounge and took the hat that was left on the bench. “You better consider it seriously, it’s a good opportunity…”
After that, the officer from the logistics department left.
Several soldiers took some time to process the information before looking at each other in bewilderment.
“I heard that Celestial Trade is working on an interstellar colonization plan. I thought they were joking… Sh*t, it seems that they are serious? We… we have the opportunity to change from the Marine Corps to Interstellar Corps?”“Going to outer space to combat? It’s so cool!”
“Very good. Compared to fighting against humans, I would much rather fight aliens, even though we don’t know if they exist.”
“Sh*t, you planned to be a deserter? I can’t just let this go.”
“…”
Zhang Feng ignored his comrades’ chattering and bantering. He carefully read the words on the poster.
To be honest, he was not very interested. After all, he was already a captain in the Marine Corps and led a team of six soldiers. No one knew the nature of this newly-established force, and it was uncertainty if the concept of space defence would really be taken seriously.
After returning to his dormitory, his roommate, who just came back from a mission, saw the poster he had placed on the table.
“I heard that it’s a new force established by the headquarters. The salary is very high and the retirement benefit is also good. I have already registered… the orbital airborne unit. What about you?”
“Me?” Zhang Feng shook his head. “I am going to consider it again.”
The base salary was 12,000 XND for a regular soldier. Those with military ranks and command experience would be promoted first. With his rank and resume, the transfer shouldn’t be a problem and he’d probably be promoted immediately.
The monthly salary of 20,000 XND was almost twice his current salary.
However, the selection requirements were extremely strict. In addition to physical examination, genetic sequencing was also required. In contrast, the physical requirements of applicants were relatively low.
According to the description on the poster, even if you are weak, our training from hell will make you a real man.
Should I register?
Zhang Feng shook his head, took a form from his drawer, and pulled out a pen.
Might as well try, since I may not be selected anyway.
With the thought in his mind, he wrote his name on the form and simply filled in his resume. Leaning on the chair and stretched his body, he put the form aside. He was about to go to cafeteria to eat, then register at the military office.
…
These days, Jiang Chen lived a relaxing lifestyle.
The Hua-side had yet to reach a conclusion, and Ye Qinghua didn’t come to see him again. Russia was thinking about something else, Natasha didn’t mention the space elevator, and no one came from the Kremlin.
Europe was stable. There were no other moves besides ESA’s publication of several papers on the space elevator, ranging from the space elevator may be affected by extreme climatic conditions and the potential hazards of the design. In the quagmire of the economic crisis, they did not have the economic power to develop space resources.
NASA called and simply inquired about the space elevator and the fee. Jiang Chen tossed a brief introduction to them and sent their people away. They did not call again when they received the information.
There were many large, medium, and small private enterprises that contacted Celestial Trade. The line of Celestial Trade Outer Space Track Development, responsible for managing the space elevator business, was almost at full capacity 24/7. The sheer number of companies could form a line form Coro Island to Silicon Valley.
Among them was SpaceX, NASA’s appointed space exploration technology company. The space elevator completed the first batch of materials transportation from the ground to the orbit, and the private space companies instantly mourned in agony. SpaceX took the first and foremost hit, with the market prospect of the Falcon rocket series instantly vanishing. After falling for a few consecutive days, its market value had fallen from twelve billion dollars to less than ten billion dollar. Even Google felt the pain of the loss with its stock price taking a hit.
Because the caller was from SpaceX’s founder, Elon Musk, the operator of Celestial Trade transferred the call to Jiang Chen.
After the call connected, the American legend who founded PayPal spoke politely.
“Hello, Mr. Jiang. We exchanged business cards at the Silicon Valley Summit. I don’t know if you remember me?”
“Of course, Mr. Musk.” Jiang Chen smiled and joked. “I’d remember you even if we didn’t exchanged business cards. After all, I grew up listening to your success story.”
The hobo richer than an entire country, Musk. The ordinary looking but wealthy, Jack Ma. The man who climbed to the peak from the troughs, Jobs. Countless aspiring young listened to their success stories. Although Jiang Chen sneered at such stories, it didn’t stop him from being bombarded by these chicken soups when he went to school.
But now, his story also started to “aspire” the future generations.
“Unemployed youth who started from scratch.” He vaguely recalled that he was labeled with this phrase on some inspirational talk on Weibo.
Although Musk knew Chinese, he did not understand the joke. However, he only slightly hesitated, and looked past this. After all, he didn’t call to make small talk, but for business inquiry.
“I don’t know if you have the intention to lease a space elevator track?”
“Celestial Trade is willing to provide a comprehensive service from the port on Earth to the synchronous orbit. There is no plan to lease, or contract out an entire track,” Jiang Chen said with a smile, and directly rejected Musk’s proposal.
Musk was not discouraged when he heard the response, but a glimmer of joy appeared in his eyes.
“Oh? It seems that you are also quite optimistic about the prospects for the development of outer space resources?”
“Of course, after all, the future is there,” Jiang Chen said, full of passion.
“We have a win-win proposal here, are you interested?” Musk smiled.
“If it is a proposal other than leasing.” Jiang Chen once again emphasized this.
“Although it’s related to leasing, it’s not about leasing the tracks,” Musk shook his head and cleared his throat, then he introduced seriously, “SpaceX hopes to lease the port at the space station. Our offer will not disappoint you.”
