Chapter 702: Silicon Valley Superstar?

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

California, United States.

Inside a mansion in Bel Air.

Musk took out two champagnes and half a box of pizza from his fridge. He placed the pizza into the microwave and sat down on the sofa with his champagne. He grabbed the robot control and turned on the TV, quietly waiting for the show to begin.

The most popular football game of the year was about to begin in an hour.

However, that wasn’t where his attention was at.

Rather, it was the Columbia TV news that was playing before the game.

Even though most high-tech Silicon Valley people more often used trendy news sources, such as Twitter or Facebook, for Musk, the upcoming TV news was more important.

Because in a minute, the s.p.a.ce-X logo would appear at the center of the screen.

Soon the host of the Columbia TV news channel would report on his s.p.a.ce-X speech, well as his interviews after the press conference.

The BFR super rocket equipped with 42 Raptor engines would attract everyone’s attention in Silicon Valley. The liquid methane engine technology would change the field of aeros.p.a.ce.

This type of feeling was more satisfying than becoming an international pop-star.

Even though he didn’t know what it felt like to be an international pop-star…

“To s.p.a.ce and beyond.” Musk unscrewed the champagne bottle cap and filled his goblet. He looked at the Columbia TV news program starting to play and said, “Cheers!”

The news program began.

Just like he had expected, the concept image of the BFR rocket was placed at the center of the screen. After quoting an interview with NASA experts who had worked closely with s.p.a.ce-X, the program began to present a concept map of s.p.a.ce-X’s lunar base and their plan to colonize Mars by 2024.

While Musk was drinking champagne and watching TV, he heard a ding over at the microwave.

Musk’s pizza had finished heating. He reluctantly got up from the sofa and walked to the kitchen. He placed the pizza on a plate and quickly walked back to the living room.

However, the news program took an unexpected turn.

“Elon Musk, Chairman and CEO of s.p.a.ce-X, stated that they will conduct the first test of BFR rockets this year…”

The news reporter was cut off, and Musk could see someone hand the news reporter a piece of paper.

The news reporter read the content on the paper and looked surprised.

She took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

“Apologies, we have breaking news…

“Around two hours and 50 minutes ago, the Skyglow s.p.a.ce shuttle carrying China’s latest ion thruster propulsion system was successfully launched at the Jin Ling City launch site.

“This was first reported by CTV and has been confirmed by other Chinese media outlets such as Everyone Daily. We are contacting NASA to confirm the authenticity of the information. So far, we have not received a clear response… For follow-ups on this report, please keep an eye on our news…”

The hot slice of pizza fell, smearing the ground with cheese and sauce.

Musk looked at the TV with a blank face. He didn’t even pick up the slice of pizza. He had no idea what was happening.

His brain was completely shut down; he was muddled.

Skyglow?

Ion thruster propulsion?

???

Did they make a mistake?

The news program continued, the subsequent reports were still regarding s.p.a.ce-X and his BFR s.p.a.cecraft.

However, he didn’t have an inch of interest in this news segment even though he was one of the designers of the s.h.i.+p…

He took out his phone and quickly went on Twitter. He began to search for information about Skyglow.

However, he wasn’t able to find any additional information. After all, until a few hours ago, Star Sky Technology didn’t even make any announcements about Skyglow. He couldn’t find any content regarding Star Sky Technology.

Instead, all of the people in Silicon Valley were talking about Skyglow in an astonished tone.

Musk turned off his phone. The news broadcast had already ended.

He then muttered, “Jesus Christ…”

He tried to take a sip from the champagne bottle but didn’t realize that the cap was still on the bottle…

…

The Americans weren’t the only ones who were shocked.

The ones who were most shocked by this news was still the Chinese people themselves.

The moment Skyglow was safely put in orbit, the CTV reporter waiting at the Jinling ground command center sent the news straight to Beijing. After receiving approval from the Communist Party of China, CTV began to report and congratulate Skyglow on reaching low-Earth orbit. The broadcast was sent to the entire country, almost as a New Year’s Day gift.

Of course, not everyone was cheering.

There were a lot of people who were having headaches over this matter.

State Administration for National Defense.

Director’s office.

Director Li was holding his phone in his hand, and he was on a call with the Jinling launch site.

When he heard that Lu Zhou was also in the s.p.a.ce shuttle, his smile disappeared. His phone dropped onto the table and nearly fell on the ground.

Director Li quickly picked up his phone and made sure that his screen wasn’t cracked. He put his phone up to his air and spoke anxiously.

“What?! Professor Lu is on Skyglow?”

Hou Guang, who was at the other end of the phone, gulped and replied, “Yeah…”

“Did you guys even do any inspections? How did you miss a living person?”

1“We did do inspections… But I think Professor Lu sneaked in.”

Director Li’s vision was becoming blurry, and he nearly pa.s.sed out.

Thankfully, his hands were holding the table, preventing him from falling.

He sat back in his chair and asked, “Then where is he now?”

“He’s on the flight.”

Director Li couldn’t help but say, “No sh*t! I know he’s on the flight, where else could he be? I’m asking about his situation, is he healthy? Are there any problems?”

“Not really, Skyglow is very stable, and according to the pilot, Professor Lu… seemed to have trained himself at home.”

Jesus…

Director Li had a throbbing headache.

He had authority over other people, but he couldn’t control Lu Zhou at all.

“That’s good, that’s good he’s safe…”

Director Li took a deep breath and hung up the phone.

He stood up and walked around the office. He slammed the table and grabbed his coat. He then looked at his a.s.sistant, who was muddled.

“Xiao Zhou, buy me a train ticket!

“I want it as soon as possible!

“To Jinling!”