Jiang Ye set off for Daughter Star's interstellar prison to see the captured Toad people prisoners.
His visit was completely secret, with no news reports. After all, Jiang Ye wanted to conceal his behind-the-scenes identity from the public, and Fu Qiuyan also needed her public persona.
Late at night, Jiang Ye's private ship arrived at Daughter Star's A11 space station.
The space station was under martial law, with the public announcement claiming it was due to a major overhaul of the power system, hence the suspension of operations. However, a simple renovation and repair would not typically involve military vehicles cordoning off the surrounding area.
Jiang Ye stood at the entrance of the spaceship, waiting. The cabin door slowly opened. It was a dark and windy night, and the entire space station was shrouded in darkness, with only the distant terminal lit. Below the escalator, several people were waiting, all in gray formal suits. The figure at the front was very familiar.
Jiang Ye descended the escalator and extended his hand, shaking Fu Qiuyan's.
"Shall we rest and eat first, or head straight to the prison?" Fu Qiuyan asked.
"Let's head straight to the prison," Jiang Ye replied.
"These are the new cabinet members," Fu Qiuyan introduced the people behind her.
"Greetings, Chief Jiang," the high-ranking cabinet members said in unison.
Jiang Ye shook hands with each of them, exchanged brief pleasantries, and encouraged them to work hard. Although this was their first meeting, Jiang Ye had reviewed the files of every cabinet member and personally approved them, so he was very familiar with them.
The official car was already waiting. Jiang Ye and Fu Qiuyan got into the same car, while the other members took another. A late-night snack was prepared in the car, and Jiang Ye, being hungry, started eating as soon as he got in.
"While you're here, there's something I'd like to discuss with you," Fu Qiuyan said, also eating.
"Alright," Jiang Ye nodded.
"The low-cost life extension surgery, you've performed many of them on your side. I've seen the public data from Jiang Ye Star, Birong Star, and Exile Star, and the average lifespan reform is quite successful," Fu Qiuyan said. "The new cabinet had an internal meeting a couple of days ago, and we all had an idea: could our Daughter Star also benefit and popularize the life extension surgery?"
"Of course, it's possible, but how exactly would we operate?" Jiang Ye agreed immediately. "The Galactic Empire's intention is that my planets are among the first pilot planets, and other planets can only obtain the technology qualification after the pilot period ends."
"Operating through legitimate channels is definitely impossible. We don't know when the pilot period will end. If it takes more than ten or even decades, we can't afford to wait," Fu Qiuyan blinked. "So, could we perhaps do this secretly, on the down-low?"
"Do it secretly, on the down-low?" Jiang Ye frowned. "If it's one or two surgeries, then no problem, we can do it anytime. But if you want hundreds of billions of people to undergo surgery, how can that be done secretly?"
"We've thought of a way," Fu Qiuyan said. "Tour groups."
"Tour groups?" Jiang Ye frowned. "You mean... Daughter Star organizes tour groups to go to my planets, and the life extension surgery is completed during the tour?"
"Yes," Fu Qiuyan nodded. "I'll secretly arrange for personnel here to handle the tour group quotas, and you can also send some people to secretly arrange for reception. It would be best to set up sister cities, with a city on my side paired with a city on your side, and one of your life extension hospitals responsible for receiving one of our tour groups."
Jiang Ye remained silent, quietly eating.
Fu Qiuyan stopped eating and stared at Jiang Ye nervously, waiting with trepidation.
"We can try," Jiang Ye said. "But the specific operational difficulty is very high. Our current life extension hospitals operate day and night, with four shifts of medical staff for each hospital. Citizens applying for surgery have an app on their phones where they can view their surgery schedule. If the time shifts by a few days, everyone can accept it. But if hundreds of billions of people are inserted, pushing the schedule back by several years, it will definitely cause social unrest."
"You mean we need money to build more life extension hospitals?" Fu Qiuyan said. "Our planet can provide the funds, but in the future, after our citizens have completed the life extension surgery, the related hospitals should be under our management."
"This plan is acceptable. The specific implementation details can be discussed later. I can't give you a final decision right now because life extension hospitals are closely related to urban planning, economic development, and the balance of medical resources," Jiang Ye said. "I'll talk to my subordinates later and have the experts finalize it. You should also send some people to my place for meetings, and strive to finalize the plan within a month and start construction next month."
"Alright," Fu Qiuyan smiled. "I won't thank you. This planet is now also your planet, and this is what you should do."
"Don't say that. No matter what, you are still the Planet Governor," Jiang Ye smiled. "I can only say that the relationship between our planets is like family. This kind of thing, moving money from one pocket to another, is easily arranged."
Light suddenly shone in from outside the window.
Jiang Ye looked up. The official car had flown into the bustling city.
The city was quite vast, with uniform hundred-story buildings whose rooftops were hidden in the night clouds.
Having traveled between different cities thousands of times over the years, Jiang Ye had developed an intuition for city scales. Just like an experienced farmer who could estimate the harvest by looking at a field, Jiang Ye judged that this city could house at least two hundred million people.
Under the night sky, every building was brightly lit, magnificent and beautiful, causing severe light pollution. Many buildings along the streets were covered with giant electronic advertising projections, displaying both static posters and holographic advertisements.
The official car sped through the city. Ahead, there was a holographic projection face with a diameter of dozens of meters. It was a beautiful woman with pink wavy hair, rosy lips, and white teeth, holding an electric toothbrush and smiling as she brushed the floating cars passing by.
This was Jiang Ye's first time seeing such an advertising format. The giant holographic projection visible throughout the city could even interact with passing cars. He stared blankly as the giant woman with pink wavy hair extended a huge hand. The toothbrush, composed of light points, was positioned directly in front of the car. The next moment, the official car rushed into the bristles of the toothbrush, like a small flea jumping into a toothbrush.
"Tang Qianli is a very famous movie star on our planet. She's only 26 years old, but the total box office revenue of the movies she starred in has exceeded two hundred billion. Her social media accounts have over five billion followers from more than forty planets," Fu Qiuyan paused. "If you like her, I can send someone to contact her and introduce you."
"I'm not looking at her face; I'm looking at the advertisement," Jiang Ye gazed out the window. "I've seen giant holographic projection advertisements in the sky over cities on other planets, but this is the first time I've seen an advertisement that can interact with passing vehicles."
"It's actually a very simple technology. Tang Qianli records her motion capture and facial modeling at the advertising company, and an advertising program can be generated," Fu Qiuyan said. "These tall buildings are equipped with devices that monitor the location and speed of passing floating vehicles. Originally, this was to prevent vehicles from losing control and crashing into buildings, but now the advertisements borrow this data to create interactive effects."