Chapter 22

Looking at Stark hurriedly leaving, Fang Shao said with a smile, "What an impatient person."

Mr. Zhu smiled but said nothing.

Fang Shao poured a cup of hot water for Mr. Zhu and handed him the price list. "What would you like to eat today?"

Mr. Zhu picked up the menu and looked through it carefully, then ordered a braised chicken with rice. It was dinner time at the Wandering Earth, and he hurried over from the table, his stomach rumbling.

Ten minutes later, the hot braised chicken was served on a bed of white rice. He took a handful of rice and put it in his mouth, chewing it slowly, and then took another piece of chicken.

"The chicken tastes good, but it's a little bitter because there's too much spices in it. The rice is also not very tasty." As expected of someone from another country that loves food, the old man quickly made an accurate review.

Fang Shao looked nonchalant. As for pre-prepared dishes, the quality was already pretty good. And the customers who had ordered the braised chicken rice before were all foreigners. They either thought it was oriental cuisine and accepted it completely, or they just ate it and never ordered it again. No one really gave Fang Shao any feedback.

Mr. Zhu did not continue to follow up on this topic. He was old and ate slowly. He had to drink a sip of hot water after eating for a while. But even if he ate slowly, it would only take him ten minutes to finish the meal.

Fang Shao put away his plate, leaned against the bar, supported the table with his hands, and faced Zhu Lao with a calm smile on his face. His meaning was simple: if they wanted to talk business, they could start now.

The old man took out a USB flash drive from his clothes.

"Another one... for me?" Fang Shao raised his eyebrows and took the USB flash drive. It was obviously the same model as the one Stark had just received, except that the one in his hand was gold in color.

"This is not a gift, I just want you to check whether the answer we gave to your hint is correct."

hint?

Fang Shao was interested, but he didn't have the ability to open the "disk" with his bare hands like Iron Man, so he had to take out his computer from the drawer. After completing the boot process, the contents of the USB flash drive were displayed on the screen.

Very good, a laptop in 2023 can still open a USB flash drive from another world decades later. Fang Shao was a little relieved, if it couldn't be opened, it would be a bit of a joke.

Compared with the densely packed files in Iron Man's USB drive, this new USB drive only has two files: the video of the movie version of "The Mist" and the "Stephen King Novella Collection".

A collection of novels? I haven't read this one, but I'm a little interested.

But the government of The Wandering Earth is really powerful. Fang Shao was a little emotional. He didn't look at the painting deliberately to give Mr. Zhu any hints. First, he was not sure whether there were any traces of The Mist in The Wandering Earth. Second, The Mist was not a particularly famous movie, and the painting had never appeared in the movie.

All I can say is that the United Government's capabilities are indeed top-notch, as it can stand out among a sea of ​​apocalyptic science fiction works and strongly promote a plan like The Wandering Earth that is literally "earth-shaking".

At this point, Fang Shao suspected that his computer's ability to read the USB flash drive was not a bug in the world, but was deliberately done by The Wandering Earth. After all, there were more factors in his bar, and many packaged supplies appeared directly during the rescue. It was much easier to infer the timeline than to judge the world of "The Mist".

Fang Shao raised his head and gave Zhu Lao a thumbs up. The old and the young smiled at each other, and everything was said without words.

"The guest over there is a representative from the military. They have a very strong interest in the unknown world. I think you have a basis for negotiation and you can both get what you need." Fang Shao spread his hands, "But the problem now is that you have to meet the top first."

"Meet?" Why would it be a problem to just meet? But Mr. Zhu quickly figured it out, "Is the appearance of the bar random?"

Seeing Fang Shao nod, the old man showed genuine surprise, "Mr. Fang, even you can't control it?"

Fang Shao shook his head, pointed to the price list with the bar's logo on it, and highlighted the word "Yuan". "If it could be controlled, wouldn't I be able to attract a hundred or eighty customers every day?"

Seeing this young man showing a little bit of personal emotion, Mr. Zhu nodded in understanding. "I understand. We will wait patiently, and at the same time we will continue to promote the Wandering Earth Project."

Fang Shao nodded in agreement. Both the Misty World and the Arrow Project itself have high uncertainties. It's fine to keep this as a backup plan, but if it disrupts the Wandering Earth Project, it will be a loss. At least at this stage, it is absolutely not possible.

Mr. Zhu sat in the bar for a long time, but no other customers came, let alone the one he was looking forward to. Fang Shao sometimes chatted with him, and sometimes opened the "Stephen King Novella Collection" and read it with relish.

It was not until nearly eight o'clock in the evening in the real world that Fang Shao showed signs of closing the shop. The slightly disappointed old man politely said goodbye to Fang Shao.

His behavior actually softened Fang Shao's heart.

"Wait a moment." Fang Shao called out to the old man.

He copied the contents of the USB drive to the computer hard drive, and then spent a few minutes downloading a file from the Internet. With his Internet speed, he certainly couldn't download the movies of The Wandering Earth 1-2. What he downloaded was a file of only a few KB - Liu's original novel of The Wandering Earth, and also attached a copy of The Wandering Earth Chronicles, which has the highest number of likes.

From a fantasy point of view, these short 20,000 to 30,000 words are the source of creation of the world of The Wandering Earth.

Fang Shao handed the USB drive to Mr. Zhu and said, "This is just a small encouragement for you guys to guess the correct answer. I hope it will be useful to you."

Although Mr. Zhu complained a little superstitiously about his bad luck when he left, the ones who had bad luck were actually the foggy army that he had been waiting for silently.

Although David was the first to come into contact with the world of bars, he had the upper hand. However, David was initially resistant and ignored the bar many times, and later he simply gave up his status as a customer. George, as a military representative, only went in three times in the past two years, and the first time was brought in by David.

The guests they met were not satisfactory, either the cute Totoro who looked innocent in the face of all problems, or Harry and Han Yunxi, who had no concept of the world. Moreover, both of them were not interested in George's approach, and they did not achieve their expected purpose of contacting the other world.

All I can say is that the Mist Army's luck is really bad. If they had met Iron Man, it would have been a different story.

The military also wondered if there were different levels among the guests, so they were very angry with David for giving up his guest status. Fortunately, compared with the military in the Marvel world, the military in the Mist world still had some integrity and did not do the stupid thing of kidnapping David. This is also the luck of David and the five protagonists.

But George's life is not so easy. In the past two years, he has enjoyed super treatment in the army and 24-hour protection to ensure that he can maintain a perfect state to enter the bar that may appear at any time. But such perfection comes at the cost of his increasing inner pressure, and this extremely long time interval makes him anxious.

So the last time he entered the bar, the military asked George to bring a backup replacement. But this man was a scientist, and he had enough knowledge but not enough common sense. He was too eager to contact the bar owner and failed to win his favor, so he could only quietly withdraw according to plan B. George couldn't tell whether he felt regretful or fortunate at the time.

Now more than half a year has passed, which is much longer than the previous two intervals. George's anxiety has begun to grow again. But all he can do is continue to wait.

The Arrow Project, which had been stalled, was started again.

This has little to do with the bar's delay. In the eyes of the military, the technology they have is what they value most. Previously, they just caused trouble and were investigated by Congress, so they had to show some attitude. Now they think they have passed the limelight, so of course they are starting to get restless again.

George was secretly happy about this news. After the Arrow Project was restarted, most of the attention on him immediately shifted away. Although George had a strong sense of responsibility, he was not a masochist after all, so it was good to be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

But at this moment, the bar appeared again. Military leaders and scientists rushed over immediately, and all the pressure fell on George's shoulders again.

The young soldier adjusted his breathing and put on a friendly smile.

At this moment, the perfect George is back.

"Hello, Mr. George."

As soon as he entered the bar, an old man with white hair but vigorous spirit smiled and extended his hand to him.

"Hello." This was the first time George was welcomed so warmly in a bar, but he was well-trained after all, and he reacted immediately and shook the warm and strong big hand.

"My name is Zhu Huang. I'm a representative from another world. We call ourselves the Wandering Earth World. I'd like to discuss a cooperation with you." Mr. Zhu introduced his purpose directly.

George's beautiful blue eyes lit up immediately, and all the pressure and anxiety he had felt before disappeared in an instant. He suppressed his excitement and gestured to the old man, "Please tell me more."

As a relatively formal meeting, although he had noticed the bar counter on Fang Shao's side, George still chose the booth he had been sitting in. Fang Shao did not disturb them, allowing the representatives of the two worlds to have their first contact in his small bar.

The two people and the world they represent have been looking forward to this meeting for a long time, but this is only the first contact after all, and there is no substantive progress. Especially for George, unlike Zhu Lao, who is an authorized plenipotentiary representative, his role is closer to a liaison sent by the Misty Army, so he spends more time listening and recording.

Mr. Zhu's goal was clear. The Arrow Project, which could open the door to the other world, was the turning point they were expecting. But George was dazzled by the list of technologies that Mr. Zhu handed over.

"Planetary Engine", "Quantum Computer", "Space Elevator"...

George even needed to consult several times before he could understand some terms. After all, Zhu had seen the movie and the original novel of The Wandering Earth, but George knew nothing about The Wandering Earth. And things like planetary engines are completely black technologies that can only be developed in the special environment of The Wandering Earth.

The World of Mist is also a bit strange. It is obviously a movie from 2007, and the story is set in the modern society of the 20th century, but they don’t know the popular image of the last century, Totoro, nor the top IP of this century, Harry. She is really different and beautiful among Fang Shao’s guests.