Jiang Yexing, Bai'e City.
In the city center, a construction site roared with activity, hundreds of construction robots working simultaneously, kicking up vast amounts of dust.
Several portly human foremen stood outside the construction site, smoking cigarettes and gazing at the work through a transparent protective wall.
This construction was fully mechanized, requiring almost no human workers. The machines followed their programs throughout the process, so the foremen didn't actually have much to be responsible for, but they were accustomed to watching over the construction sites.
Many idle citizens were also observing from outside the construction site, mostly men, ranging from young boys to old men. After all, watching a construction site was a sort of innate male tendency.
Finally, a young man walked over and offered cigarettes to the foremen.
"Uncle, what are they building here?" the young man asked.
"A hospital," a foreman replied.
"A hospital? Isn't the Bai'e City First People's Hospital just on the next street? Why are they building another hospital here?" the young man asked in surprise. "Is it a small hospital specifically for treating a certain illness?"
"Not small," another foreman chimed in. "This is only a quarter of the entire project. Once it's all built, it will be larger than the First People's Hospital. This hospital, whatever it is, I heard it's called something like a Longevity Hospital."
"Longevity Hospital?" The young man was even more astonished. "Is it publicly funded?"
"Publicly funded, with direct appropriations from higher up," the foreman nodded.
The young man looked confused. He gazed at the busy construction site, vaguely feeling that this was no ordinary project.
...
Birong Star, a residential building in a certain district.
Outside the window, the night was deep. A young couple sat on the living room sofa, playing on their phones while watching television.
The television was broadcasting the evening news, but the couple paid it no mind, as they were waiting for the soap opera after the news.
The news anchor began to speak, enunciating clearly:
"The Immigration Administration Bureau of Birong Star, Jiang Yexing, and Exile Star announced that starting February 1st, a one-time immigration tax of one million yuan will be levied on alien immigrants."
The couple both froze, looking up at the television with expressions of astonishment.
"A tax of one million? Are they crazy?" the wife said.
"Weren't they encouraging aliens to immigrate here before?" the husband asked, looking bewildered. "Now they suddenly impose such a high tax, who will come?"
"What is the higher-ups thinking?" the wife shook her head. "The planet's population isn't saturated yet, and right now we're in need of labor. More people mean a better economy. With this, the economy might even suffer."
On the television, the news anchor continued reading the script:
"Any citizens from other planets who wish to settle on Birong Star, Jiang Yexing, or Exile Star must make a reservation one week in advance and complete the tax payment before obtaining local citizenship of the Three Stars."
"Citizens of Birong Star, Jiang Yexing, and Exile Star migrating between the three planets will not be required to pay an immigration tax, but they must apply one week in advance and obtain approval."
"A press conference by the Birong Star Police Department was held in the capital city. Police departments in each city will establish separate immigration bureaus to strictly crack down on illegal stowaways..."
"The previous regulation allowing stowaways to obtain household registration by paying a fine has been abolished. From now on, illegal stowaways will be repatriated to their original planets."
The couple exchanged glances.
"What's going on?" the husband asked, confused. "It seems like the direction from the top has changed. They were previously actively accepting alien immigrants, but now they're shutting the door on them?"
"That shouldn't be the case, why is this happening?" the wife wondered.
"I think this is a matter of great importance," the husband said. "Let's wait and see if there's any analysis online. There should be some experts who can interpret the intentions of the higher-ups."
...
Five days later.
On the trending searches of Jiang Yexing, Exile Star, and Birong Star, new topics began to appear.
"Jiang Yexing is intensively building 466 Longevity Hospitals, exceeding the scale of local People's Hospitals!"
"On-site report: 512 Longevity Hospitals on Birong Star have begun construction!"
"Exile Star is intensively approving land for hospital construction! Construction teams in various cities are on standby!"
"Jiang Yexing experiences an immigration surge, receiving over 18 million alien immigration applications in one day, causing the immigration official website to crash for 3 minutes!"
"Top-secret call recording exposed: Birong Star has become a pilot zone for average lifespan reform, with the planet's average lifespan expected to increase from 81 to 240 years!"
"Birong Star's largest-ever illegal immigration case: over 120,000 people have illegally entered in two days, with a 40-meter long queue at the police department's fine payment office!"
"Alien buyer groups flock to several major cities on Exile Star, with daily sales of commercial housing increasing sevenfold!"
The atmosphere on the three planets had completely changed.
All sorts of rumors were circulating, people in streets and alleys were discussing privately, and some were openly spreading information online.
The average daily internet usage time for people on these planets increased by two hours, and the daily active users of some news platforms grew by hundreds of millions. Many people who previously never watched the news had started paying attention.
The second main platform was short video platforms. The viewership of entertainment and dance videos plummeted, while some news videos and prophecy videos easily garnered millions of likes.
The most famous was an account called "Old Dai."
This account only posted one video, yet it gained 380 million followers, and the video received a staggering 1.7 billion likes!
The video uploader was a short man with a slight stubble, and the video content was simple and unpretentious, just him talking to his phone camera.
"Hello, netizens of Birong Star, I am Old Dai! Just an ordinary small boss!"
"Old Dai was originally from Eugene Star, but an hour ago, I spent 100,000 yuan at the Tian Shui City Police Station on Birong Star to process a fast-track naturalization. Now I am legally recognized as a Birong Star citizen!"
Old Dai held up an ID card and waved it in front of the camera.
"Not only that, but I also processed fast-track naturalization for my wife and children, my parents and in-laws, and several of my friends. We have decided to abandon everything from our homeland, take a gamble, and come to Birong Star to settle!"
"I am very excited right now. I just cried, and you can see my eyelids are still red."
Old Dai rubbed his eyelids and continued.
"I want to tell you all a very important piece of news: citizens of Birong Star will soon be able to undergo large-scale longevity surgery, and their average lifespan is likely to be extended by one or two hundred years, or even more!"
"Do you know what this means? As long as you are a citizen of Birong Star, you can live one or two lifetimes longer than people on other planets!"
"Don't think I'm talking nonsense. I'll briefly explain the information I've received."
"First, ten years ago, I saw a news report, which you might still be able to find if you search for it, about the military deciding to strive to conquer low-cost longevity technology."
"Three years ago, there was another news report saying that low-cost longevity technology had achieved a major breakthrough."
"These two news reports didn't attract much attention, but I paid attention and remembered them clearly!"
"A month ago, while doing business on an alien planet, I was having dinner with a building materials boss from Guiwu Star. He told me that Guiwu Star was planning a lifespan reform, and the lifespan of ordinary people could be extended by at least a hundred years."