[Biron Star Tianrao Clothing Company rewards "Gold Mountain" x1000]
"Ten billion, Tianrao really has guts." Liu Jizi was surprised, "Is she that rich now?"
"Of course, she's so rich her family rains money." Isabelle said, "Actually, I could easily reward ten billion too, but my company needs to expand recently, so I don't have much spare cash."
Following this, rewards poured into the livestream room, with companies from various Jiangye Stars and Biron Stars throwing money around.
Firstly, spending money in such a highly anticipated livestream was worth it for the special effect advertising slots. Secondly, it was a chance to show loyalty; to do big business, one needed the support of Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng on this planet. Thirdly, the atmosphere had been set; competitor companies were rewarding extravagantly, and in such a situation, could you afford to be stingy?
Besides the big companies footing the bill, many ordinary people also kept sending rewards, then posting on social media to show off, with captions like "I'm donating war funds for my home planet," "War is good, donating two months' salary first," "I've even taken out my coffin money to buy missiles for the frontline soldiers, my ashes can be scattered anywhere in the sea after I die."
This fervent trend quickly spread from ordinary people to celebrities.
Stars and public figures from Jiangye Star and Biron Star alike posted their contributions, some genuinely, some out of necessity.
Even the livestream platform made a statement: given the special circumstances, all rewards from netizens to companies would not be charged a commission and would be entirely transferred to the Biron Star military. Simultaneously, the livestream platform also donated five billion in the company's name.
In just five hours after the war began, the total reward amount in the livestream room surged to a staggering 178.8 billion and was still rising.
Concurrently, the battle reports from the front lines began to become extremely exciting.
[Jiangye Star Air Force announces that all satellites of the Exile Star have been destroyed, and 110 of our satellites have now been released into orbit around the Exile Star.]
[Biron Star Air Force reports battle results: currently, 2201 aerial combat aircraft of the Exile Star have been shot down, and 18890 space missiles of the Exile Star have been intercepted, with an interception rate of approximately 99.8%.]
[Exile Star media reports: Ganglis State Air Force base was hit by missile attacks, casualties are currently unknown.]
[Exile Star media reports: Orange Ding State military industrial park was subjected to massive missile bombardment, the park is now ablaze, and the fire is about to spread to the arms depot.]
[Jiangye Star Air Force announces the completion of the first round of strikes on Sakon State, Moxi State, and Fansha State, with 615 targets bombed.]
[Biron Star Mechanized Infantry Division Eighth Division has completed its airborne landing and entered the outer perimeter positions of Pingkang City.]
[Exile Star media reports: multiple locations in the capital have been hit by missile attacks, casualties are currently unknown.]
Isabelle and Liu Jizi were tired of standing, so they left the square and went to a roadside 4S shop. Both were platinum clients of the 4S shop and were directly invited to the VIP lounge, where they were served with massage chairs, small fruits, and various beverages.
Strangely enough, despite not sleeping all night, the two girls felt no fatigue at all, their eyes shining as they continued to follow the war's progress.
At six in the morning, Cen Yemeng suddenly delivered a televised address.
She wore a black military dress uniform, her hair tied up, and her expression was serious.
"I am Cen Yemeng, the commander-in-chief of this military operation, and I am now reporting to all citizens of Jiangye Star and Biron Star."
"As of now, the first round of military strikes against the Exile Star has achieved all predetermined objectives, paralyzing all of the Exile Star's satellites, major air force bases, major naval bases, state government seats, and military industrial parks."
"A total of 120,000 aerial combat aircraft and drones of the Exile Star, as well as aircraft stationed on the ground, have been destroyed."
"In addition, 3407 military targets have been bombed and eliminated, including Exile Star military camps, hidden military factories, naval vessels and aircraft carriers, missile launch silos, ground forces, radar stations, and so on."
"The second round of military strikes is about to commence, and the allied forces of Jiangye Star and Biron Star are confident and capable of expanding our gains."
The report concluded immediately, without any superfluous remarks.
Isabelle and Liu Jizi both looked surprised.
"What was Jiang Ye thinking, letting his wife show her face? You used to be his secretary, do you know what he was thinking?"
"I don't know, perhaps the commander had his own considerations. I've been away from the center of power for a long time."
...
A week later.
It was holiday time again.
Isabelle, wearing a pink long dress that accentuated her curves, sat at a window seat in the Cloud Sea Restaurant on the 99th floor of the Yunyun Commercial Building in the city center, waiting. Outside the window, white clouds stretched like a plain made of clouds.
The clicking of high-heeled boots.
Liu Jizi sat opposite with a smile, holding two magazines.
"On the way here, I saw a long queue at the bookstore. I was curious what was selling so well, as bookstores are places that never have queues." Liu Jizi handed a magazine to Isabelle, "This is it."
Isabelle was somewhat surprised and took it.
The magazine was an issue of "Cosmic Observation" from an alien planet. She had heard of it; it was very popular on many planets. The magazine's name suggested it was an obscure astronomical publication, but in reality, it was a fashionable magazine introducing news and customs of various planets. Kanshu Wu.net
Flipping through the table of contents, Isabelle raised an eyebrow and immediately understood why the bookstore had a queue.
The first thirty pages were entirely dedicated to the Exile Star; this issue's focus was the Exile Star!
Isabelle flipped back to the cover. The cover image was of a female militia member, about ten years old, with a yellow silk scarf tied around her elbow, standing in a dirt hole and firing a submachine gun outwards, shell casings clattering down. There seemed to be corpses in the corner of the photo.
"What do you want to eat?" Liu Jizi asked.
"The usual eight." Isabelle said without looking up. The two had been to this restaurant countless times and had tried all the dishes, finally agreeing that only eight were the best, so they ordered those eight every time.
Liu Jizi ordered on the screen at the edge of the table.
Isabelle flipped to the first page of the magazine and began reading the interview.
[First interviewee: Weilder Edisa, 15 years old, member of the Yellow Turban Army]
[Weilder Edisa: We received orders to assemble on the outskirts of Dragon City half an hour before the air raid began. I was in the fourth echelon, the last reserve team, so I waited in the suburbs for two hours after the air raid started. To avoid aerial reconnaissance, we all sat in trees, hiding in the leaves like birds.]
[The captain had a homemade radio, palm-sized. After the war started, we kept hearing bad news. The first echelon of two thousand people was wiped out by the city defense forces in less than five minutes. The second echelon of two thousand people held on for half an hour, with over half casualties. We all cried in the trees; the team we had painstakingly built was killed in such a short time. Our weapons were too poor, not from the same era as the city defense forces.]
[By the time we entered the city, the city defense forces were all dead. Only a small portion were killed by our troops; most died in the air raid. The air raid used cluster bombs. Each high-yield bomb had thousands of steel balls inside its outer casing. When it exploded, it was like the firepower of a division sweeping the streets. The outer walls of those buildings were like fluffy foam boards, and the enemy corpses were almost reduced to minced meat in human form.]
[I heard that souls exist after death. I went to the battle zones at midnight to see, but I didn't see the expected blue-purple ghosts. I thought ghosts would circle like shooting stars.]