"It's probably an illusion …"
Lu Zhou looked at the mission panel that exuded a pale golden aura. He shook his head hard and drove the strange feeling out of his mind. He then focused on the mission itself.
The requirement was to complete the Mars manned landing plan within the year.
This was not a big deal.
Manned Mars landing was one of China's space plans this year, and it was also a prerequisite project for the Mars scientific research station.
As for the reward being determined by the number of people landing and the remaining mission time …
Faced with this strange reward standard, Lu Zhou couldn't help but go silent.
If he sent a hundred people to Mars at once, wouldn't he get tens of millions of experience points?
Of course, he was just thinking about it.
Not to mention the technical difficulty, risk, and moral issues associated with it, even if he could really send so many people up at once, the system might not allow him to farm more than 10 million EXP.
After all, the reward bonus might increase with the number of people, but it might not increase linearly.
"In short, I just have to find a way to send people to Mars as soon as possible … This mission should be quite simple."
Not long ago, the aerospace launch site sent a spacecraft to Mars orbit for a cruise. Now, he just had to find a way to bring the life-support device over and drop the volunteers and the landing capsule together.
Lu Zhou closed the holographic panel.
Even though the feeling of uneasiness still lingered, it was not his style to worry about unknown and clueless things. Therefore, he just frowned and struggled for a while, then put this matter aside for the time being.
After exiting the system space, the sky outside the window had completely darkened.
He raised his watch and looked at the time. It was already past ten o 'clock in the evening. Lu Zhou was about to close his eyes and go to sleep, but he found that the drone controlled by Xiao Ai was lying on the bedside table next to him, staring at him.
Lu Zhou hesitated for a moment before he spoke.
"Is there a problem?"
Xiao Ai: [Master, there was a call just now. (☆ -v-)]
Lu Zhou changed the topic.
However, it was more important.
"Okay."
Lu Zhou yawned and picked up his phone. He looked at the dozen or so missed calls and wondered who would be so bored as to call him at night. He then dialed the number back.
The call was quickly connected.
Director Li's voice appeared on the other end of the phone.
"Hello? Academician Lu, why haven't you slept yet? "
"…"
Hearing this, Lu Zhou could not help but complain in his heart.
With so many phone calls bombarding him, even if he was asleep, he would probably be woken up.
But thinking that he hadn't slept yet, he didn't care. He leaned his head back on the pillow and asked casually.
"What is it? Say it."
"Haha, it's not a big deal —"
"Then I'll hang up first. We'll talk tomorrow."
"Hey, wait a minute. Don't hang up yet. I just want to … consult you about something. It won't take up too much of your time!"
"Tell me then."
"You've heard of space elevators —"
"Du —"
The busy tone of the phone suddenly rang, cutting off the voice on the other end of the phone.
"Ah … I accidentally hung up the call."
Lu Zhou looked at the phone that had been hung up. He muttered to himself, turned off the phone, and threw it aside. He then turned over and went to sleep.
Director Li, who was far away at his home in Shangjing, was listening to the busy tone from the phone with a confused look on his face.
Why did he suddenly hang up?
Did the phone run out of battery …
…
While Lu Zhou was sleeping, the headquarters of the International Union of Materials Research Societies on the other side of the Pacific Ocean was busy.
Chairman Swift was sitting in his office. He was chatting with the secretary-general, Professor Merry Finch, about the annual Society Award selection while dealing with the mountain of headache-inducing work.
However, at this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door outside the office, followed by a young assistant holding an unopened letter in his hand. He walked in quickly.
"Chairman, here is a letter from the Max Planck Society."
Chairman Swift put down the pen in his hand. He cast his tired eyes at him and asked weakly.
"What does it say?"
"The letter is from Professor Gerhard Ertl, the director of the Fritz Haber Institute." The assistant opened the envelope on the spot. After a quick glance, he said hesitantly, "He says hello to you in the letter … He hopes to nominate Lu Zhou as a candidate for the annual Society Award."
The moment he heard these words, Chairman Swift suddenly pressed his index finger and thumb to his eyebrows with a headache, muttering under his breath.
"Another one."
But this was understandable.
Lu Zhou had always had a good relationship with the Max Planck Society. Not only did he receive a Hoffmann Medal from the German Chemical Society, but he also cooperated with those Germans on the stellarator project.
Professor Meryl Finch, who was standing next to him, shrugged his shoulders. The expression on his face didn't seem to be surprised by the content of the letter at all.
In fact, there was nothing surprising about it.
Even without considering their past friendship, the academic value of that paper was indeed worthy of the German Chemical Society's attention.
During this period of time, they had received at least ten nomination letters from the top big names in the materials science, hoping that they could include Lu Zhou's name in the selection list for this year's Society Alliance Award.
In fact, this wasn't a big deal.
But for Chairman Swift, this was a headache.
Although the International Union of Materials Research Societies was nominally a joint organization of materials science societies from all over the world, because the center of the world materials science community was in Boston, this organization was actually a bit similar to the ILHCRC. They were both international organizations in name, but in fact, they were more influenced by a single country.
Under such circumstances, even if they should seriously consider Lu Zhou's research results, they had to take into account the diplomatic position of their own authorities.
What's more, they had already discussed and planned to award this year's Society Alliance Award to Professor Colhart of Stanford University in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of corrosion electrochemistry of complex systems.
If Lu Zhou was allowed to participate at this time, the entire selection would become a matter of no suspense.
"You can leave now."
"Okay, okay …" Chairman Swift waved to him. The assistant standing at the door hesitated slightly. He left the opened letter in his hand on the cabinet next to him and left the office.
The office door closed. Secretary-General Merry Finch, who had been standing next to him without speaking, spoke thoughtfully.
"It seems that our European friends are starting to feel dissatisfied with our little tricks."
The Society Alliance Award was not an open secret. Regardless of whether it was tacitly accepted or not, other societies had no good way to manipulate the selection of this award.
After all, this kind of limited favoritism was really difficult to define, and it was difficult to find evidence.
Under normal circumstances, the candidates they nominated were not weak. It was just that when the candidates were at the same level or not far behind other candidates, they would be more inclined to choose scholars who were native to North America or had the intention to stay and work in North America.
Therefore, Professor Ertl's nomination of Lu Zhou in the name of the Max Planck Society was a bit interesting.
After all, for a regional research institution like the Max Planck Society, even if the nomination was not from their own country, it would generally nominate scholars working in Germany.
He couldn't be blamed for thinking too much. Professor Ertl's nomination felt like he was putting pressure on them.
Obviously, Chairman Swift also thought of this. He cast a look of help to Lu Zhou, who was standing next to him, and asked with a headache.
"What should we do now?"
"If we refuse so many nomination letters, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction from other societies." Secretary-General Merry Finch said after thinking for a while, "Why don't we be generous and admit his research?"
"That's impossible!" Chairman Swift said without hesitation, "If it were someone else, it would be fine, but it has to be Lu Zhou … Not to mention Stanford University and Professor Colhart, the Congress will definitely not be satisfied with our choice."
"Not necessarily."
Chairman Swift cast an inquiring look at Secretary-General Merri Finch, who had said this, and waited for his explanation.
Without letting him wait for a long time, Secretary-General Merri Finch explained after a pause.
"Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the United States has lost the space race and has chosen to compromise with China on a series of historical issues related to controllable fusion technology. Even though NASA is still using the threat of aerospace weapons on the other side of the Pacific Ocean to demand funding from Congress, haven't you noticed? The opposition from the government is actually getting smaller and smaller. "
"So?"
"The people are gradually tired of this fruitless confrontation. The White House also knows that it is difficult to rely on victory in the confrontation in the short term to win support for themselves. Successive failures will only make voters gradually lose confidence. "Secretary-General Merry Finch looked at Chairman Swift and said seriously," If Lu Zhou can visit North America, maybe this can be an opportunity to repair relations between the two countries. "
Chairman Swift furrowed his brows.
"I don't want to bring politics into academia."
"What's the point of saying this now? Don't forget who is supporting our funding. "Secretary-General Merry Finch shrugged and said," Besides, this is not bringing politics into academia. Do you think his paper, a Nobel Prize-level achievement, is not worthy of an annual award? "
"As for Stanford University and Professor Colhart, if you really care about their feelings … I don't think losing to Professor Lu is a shameful thing."
Seemingly convinced, Chairman Swift was silent for a long time this time.
After about five minutes, he finally spoke.
"Go to the White House and ask for their opinion.
"If they plan to use this opportunity to repair relations with China …
"I believe Professor Colhart will understand our situation."
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