"Mars Harbor, the place where the galaxy dream begins … What is that? What are the people from the City Hall up to this time? "
Gong Tianwen, who was sitting at his desk, muttered in a low voice. He swiped his index finger across the holographic screen in front of him and swept the latest issue of "Tiangong Daily" into the trash can. However, the content of the newspaper made him unable to forget it for a long time.
The place where the galaxy dream begins …
Needless to say, for a native Martian, this sentence was quite fascinating.
In this report, in view of the breakthrough of faster than light technology and the completion of the first phase of the space elevator project, the demand for shipping on Mars was expanding day by day. The old space facilities were no longer enough to meet people's needs, so the city hall launched a new development plan for the Mars Harbor.
The plan was announced by the new mayor, Xiao Hong. The city hall authorities would spend 100 billion credits to build a larger space port in orbit around Mars.
This port would no longer just serve as a shipping transit station, but it would also serve as an orbital residence for production and living.
As a Martian who loved his hometown deeply, no one was more eager for this place to become more prosperous than before.
Most people would say this. Compared with the pleasant scenery on Earth, the environment on Mars was a bit harsh, but that was outside the dome of Tiangong City.
For the world inside the dome, this was a paradise that most people on Earth who had never been to space could not imagine.
Unlike Guanghan City, which had been forgotten for half a century, because of the transfer of light and heavy industries and mining industries, the colony on Mars had been developed by generations of colonists. It had long been different from the original scientific research station with only a dozen people.
Because of the needs of survival, people living here constantly improved the life-support facilities of the colony to expand the living space, so that every brick and tile here was the crystallization of technology. It was no exaggeration to say that even a floor tile from the ground contained the top wisdom of the entire human civilization.
Gong Tianwen was a native Martian. Although he had heard that there were vast forests and seas on Earth, and countless ancient wonders, he did not yearn for them.
As a descendant of the first generation of colonists, as a "citizen of Tiangong", he had always been extremely proud of his identity.
They were the descendants of explorers.
His business, on the other hand, was a spaceship component factory that produced spare parts for explorers.
In addition to the pride of being a Martian, the Mars Harbor described in this news made him see huge business opportunities.
The only thing that worried him was that the mayor's style of speaking and doing things didn't seem very reliable.
Could this Mars Harbor really be built during his tenure?
Gong Tianwen had some doubts.
As usual, after watching the morning news, he turned on the holographic intelligent office system on his desk and began to deal with today's work with the assistance of business AI.
Just as he was about to sign a document, his AI assistant floated out of his desk.
"Boss, there's a visitor outside who wants to see you."
Visitor?
Who could it be so early in the morning?
With this in mind, Gong Tianwen said casually.
"Let him in."
The holographic image floating beside the desk disappeared, and the office door quickly opened.
Not long after, a man in a suit and leather shoes walked in from the outside with steady steps.
"Hello, dear Chairman Gong, I am the manager of the Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation. This is my business card."
Alpha Centauri Colonial Exploration Foundation?
The moment Gong Tianwen heard this name, he couldn't help but frown. His first impression of the person in front of him suddenly soured.
The reason was simple.
In his opinion, these funds that targeted the galaxies outside the solar system were basically a large-scale Ponzi scheme. Through a beautiful land certificate card and a beautiful but unrealistic lie and empty check, they swindled credits from the hands of ordinary people.
Of course, this was not the most hateful thing.
These swindlers who were good at deceiving people were usually stingy. They loved to talk big when talking about business, but when it came to signing contracts, they would change the subject.
Gong Tianwen had seen many people who ran similar fund companies, hoping to reach a "strategic cooperation" with his factory through the exchange of equity or "waste paper". They even threw out the bait of helping him go public on Earth.
However, he had always scoffed at these ridiculous proposals.
If you wanted to buy his factory or the parts he produced, you could, but please come up with real money. As for the rest, he didn't want to say anything more than "get out of here".
"Mr. Gladstone?"
Gong Tianwen glanced at the holographic business card in his hand. He dragged it into the address book, then cast a glance at the man in front of him. "Welcome to our company … I heard from my secretary that you have business plans to discuss with me? Can you tell me what the specific business is? "
When he said this, his eyes had unconsciously drifted to the clock in the corner of his vision.
He had made up his mind. The moment this guy showed the same intentions as those swindlers, he would use the shortest time to drive him out of his office.
However, Mr. Gladstone's first sentence was beyond Gong Tianwen's expectations.
"I want to build a ship."
"Ship building?" After staring at the man in a suit in front of him for a moment, Gong Tianwen frowned slightly and continued, "Did you come to the wrong place? We don't produce starships, we only produce — "
"Starship parts, right?" Taking out a black card from his arms, the man in a suit gently handed it to Gong Tianwen's hand. "Under normal circumstances, we will contact the shipyard directly, but our needs are special … This thing, do you think you can build it?"
"Let me see."
After taking the black memory card, Gong Tianwen showed a serious look on his face. He reached out his finger and clicked on it.
Soon, a light blue holographic image was projected in front of him.
When he saw the parameters on the drawing, his eyebrows twitched fiercely. He couldn't help but speak in a sarcastic tone.
"Five-kilometer-long keel … Are you planning to build a mothership?"
Although he was not a professional engineer, he had been in this industry for so many years. Even if he didn't cook, he had seen what pork looked like.
This was the first time he had heard of a civilian-class starship that needed such a long keel.
Gladstone smiled slightly and continued in a very soft voice, "You just need to answer if you can build it.
"You just need to answer whether you can make it or not. If you can, I'll place the order now. If not, I'll look elsewhere."
Hearing these words, Gong Tianwen raised his chin slightly with a proud expression on his face.
"As long as there are blueprints and materials, there is nothing we can't build! However, the scale of this kind of thing is a bit large, and the cost of warehousing and labor are not cheap. If you breach the contract, we can only sell it as scrap iron … So the deposit may be more expensive. You may have to pay 50% of the total price. "
"No problem."
To Gong Tianwen's surprise, the foreigner with a hooked nose didn't even try to bargain. He actually agreed so readily.
"Where is the contract? As long as you ensure that the order can be completed within the specified time, I can pay the deposit now. "
Gong Tianwen looked at him in a daze. He gulped and stretched out his trembling index finger and tapped it on the desk.
"The contract will be ready soon … Please, please wait a moment."
After receiving the electronic contract, the foreigner just glanced at it, then signed his name and paid a deposit of 5 billion credits.
It was as if this was not a business worth tens of billions of credits, but going to the supermarket downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes.
Looking at the order worth tens of billions of credits in his hand, Gong Tianwen felt his hands tremble a little. His whole body was full of a surreal feeling.
It wasn't until he pinched himself and confirmed that he was not dreaming that he recovered from his dull expression.
"This is crazy …"
Looking at the office door that had been closed in front of him, he gulped, and it took him a while to calm his wildly beating heart.
An order worth 10 billion is in my hand …
This world is crazy.
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