Lu Yongchang and Fang Xu's expressions changed slightly.

"As expected of the United States..."

Fang Xu sighed softly: "Even a centipede with a hundred legs doesn't die easily; the United States is probably the best example of that."

Lu Yongchang nodded in agreement, his tone tinged with regret: "You're right."

"I never expected that three half-baked volunteers could successfully land on Mars. The US was really lucky this time!"

Fang Xu glanced at Lü Yongchang beside him with a strange expression.

That tone doesn't sound good at all!

In order to uphold the core socialist values, Fang Xu quickly changed the subject: "Ahem!"

"So what should we do? Just watch the US stay on Mars for three months?"

Now, Lü Yongchang's expression also turned strange.

"Otherwise what?"

"What else do you want to do? Send Xuan Nu No. 1 over to destroy it?"

"Cough cough cough!" Caught off guard by Lü Yongchang's blunt words, Fang Xu choked on his own saliva.

After catching his breath, he waved his hands repeatedly and said, "I didn't say that! Don't frame an innocent person! I'm a pacifist!"

Seeing Fang Xu's righteous and stern expression, Lü Yongchang's eyes grew even stranger, and he emphasized, "I understand, I understand, nuclear peace, I understand!"

Fang Xu: "..."

You don't know anything!

Seeing Fang Xu's speechless expression, a smile flashed in Lü Yongchang's eyes, and he gently patted Fang Xu's shoulder: "Alright, why worry about the US?"

"Don't forget, the Xia Kingdom has its own path to follow."

...

Within the first ring road of Beijing.

Hong Qiming stood respectfully in front of the solid wood desk and asked softly, "Speaker, did you want to see me?"

Upon hearing Hong Qiming's voice, the old man slowly put down his pen, took off his glasses, gently rubbed his sore eyes, and said softly, "Qiming, how is Professor Lü doing lately?"

Hong Qiming's eyes flickered slightly, and he said in detail, "The first batch of automated lunar mining equipment is almost ready."

"In addition, the second-generation fusion reactor and the Xuan Nu II project are also being carried out simultaneously."

"In addition... Professor Lü is preparing to launch the lunar mining project the day after tomorrow."

Representative Li pondered for a moment before asking again.

"Where is the resource reserve plan at?"

Hong Qiming's expression immediately turned serious: "We've already completed 80%."

"In addition, most of the unnecessary light industries have begun to implement transformation plans, and it is expected that a smooth transition can be completed within a year!"

Representative Li nodded in satisfaction: "Good, well done."

"In that case, it's time to bring our original plan to the table."

Hong Qiming was slightly taken aback.

plan?

What plans were prepared at the beginning?

Seeing the meaningful look in Councilor Li's eyes, Hong Qiming suddenly realized what was going on.

His breathing quickened slightly, his lips trembled slightly, and he said with difficulty, "You mean... the New Generation Leadership Program?"

The councilor nodded slowly and said, "With a natural disaster approaching, the role of a leader is of paramount importance to everyone!"

"When nuclear fusion was announced, we had already tried it. Not only was the domestic response positive, but I was also very satisfied with Lü Yongchang's handling of the situation."

"Therefore, I want to take advantage of the launch of the Moon Palace Project to truly bring Lü Yongchang to the forefront!"

Hong Qiming's pupils trembled, and a look of struggle flashed across his face.

The so-called new generation of leaders program, in layman's terms, is what is commonly referred to as a "deification" program.

"Creating gods" has both advantages and disadvantages.

The benefits are obvious. Once the plan succeeds, when natural disasters strike, Lü Yongchang can use his personal influence to rally the support of 1.4 billion people in Xia Kingdom and open up a path to survival!

As for the downsides...

On the one hand, this plan is a great test of Lü Yongchang's character.

The Speaker of the Legislative Council had already evaluated Lü Yongchang on this point when the nuclear fusion technology was first announced.

At that time, Xia Guo exposed Lü Yongchang's identity and then did a lot of publicity for him, just to observe his reaction after becoming famous!

As for appointing him as the head of the space agency, it was to observe his reaction after he gained immense power.

The result greatly satisfied the Speaker of Parliament.

The evaluation team unanimously agreed that Lü Yongchang is a true scientific research talent and perfectly fits the requirements of the "god-making" plan!

On the other hand, bringing Lü Yongchang into the public eye would inevitably attract the covetousness of other countries.

Given Lü Yongchang's habit of spending most of his time in the laboratory, nothing would happen in peacetime.

After all, there were a large number of troops stationed around the laboratory, and the Xia Kingdom prohibited firearms and had very strict screening of laboratory personnel, so Lü Yongchang was in almost no danger.

However, the "Chaotic Era" is about to begin, and once the "God-Making" plan is launched, Lü Yongchang's safety will face unprecedented challenges!

Hong Qiming took a deep breath and said softly, "Speaker, what about Professor Lü's safety..."

Speaker Lee chuckled softly.

"It's alright."

"The Xia Kingdom at present is not a place that just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can mess with."

“As for the United States on the other side…” A cold glint flashed in Representative Li’s eyes, “I hope they’ll do something rash.”

"We've endured this for so many years; it's time for the Xia Kingdom's basic policies to change!"

...

As usual, Zhao Zijie turned on the TV after dinner and tuned it to the news channel.

At 7 p.m. sharp, the familiar melody began to play.

Good evening, everyone...

Faced with this familiar opening, Zhao Zijie subconsciously picked up his phone, intending to chat in a group to pass the time.

The moment he unlocked his phone, the host's tone changed.

"Breaking news from our station!"

"Project Lunar Palace has officially started, with Professor Lü Yongchang as the project leader."

"Currently, the first batch of automated lunar mining equipment is nearing completion."

"It is expected that at 12 noon the day after tomorrow, Xuan Nu-1 will carry some of the lunar automated mining equipment to the moon..."

"The entire launch process will be broadcast live across the entire internet. All viewers are welcome to watch!"

At the same time, almost every news and social media app on Zhao Zijie's phone displayed a notification.

The Xia Kingdom officially launches the Moon Palace Project!

"Holy crap..." Zhao Zijie stared dumbfounded at the dozen or so pop-up news notifications on his phone, muttering to himself, "What's going on..."

Without thinking twice, he instinctively opened the QQ group.

Sure enough, everyone was talking about the news that had just been released.

"Holy crap... ten messages popped up on my phone all at once, it scared me so much I almost threw it away!"

"As it turns out, you can never trust what a rabbit says. He silently completed the automated mining equipment and called it the official start of Project Lunar?"

"What activation? It's just a notification before the plan is successfully implemented."