Cen Yemeng did not appear; she still had to take care of the child at home, and Jiang Ye could not bear to let her suffer.
Accompanying Jiang Ye throughout the entire process were only a few people: Feng Zishuang, Che Zhen, Shao Wan, and Qiu Huazang.
This was a matter of diplomatic etiquette. With so many planetary leaders arriving, as the host, several top-ranking figures had to be present to welcome them.
Qiu Huazang was the oldest, but he was surprisingly energetic throughout the entire event, more so than a twenty-year-old. According to him, he had experienced such scenes thousands of times and found them to be a piece of cake.
Che Zhen and Shao Wan were both from military backgrounds, seasoned veterans who had fought in continuous battles for many days. Standing for a day to welcome foreign guests was as easy as drinking water for them.
Jiang Ye was quite exhausted. If he had to work continuously for a whole day alone, he wouldn't have much of a problem. However, he had been lacking sleep for the past half month and had already lost fifteen pounds. Several planetary leaders, while shaking his hand, had inquired about his health. After all, a weak, clammy hand covered in sweat was quite telling.
The one who struggled the most was surprisingly Feng Zishuang.
She had persevered from one o'clock in the morning until eleven o'clock at night.
In the end, she was trembling uncontrollably, her vision darkening.
Her face had become visibly pale.
Fearing that she might fall ill from exhaustion, Jiang Ye quickly called for a military doctor to take her away.
After all, she was purely a civilian staff member who spent her days in an office, and her physical functions had severely deteriorated.
On the first day, a total of 72 planetary leaders, 8 diplomatic ambassadors, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and 4800 accompanying personnel had all arrived.
Summit City was immediately filled to capacity.
All the newly constructed luxury residences were put into use. The streets were filled with bodyguards and guards, with layers of overt and covert sentries. Sniper positions were on every rooftop, and gun barrels were visible from the windows of high-rise buildings. Drones disguised as birds flew everywhere, and even flies were made of metal. Although Jiang Ye Star strictly prohibited firearms, these regulations clearly did not apply to the planetary leaders' security details. All bodyguards and guards carried weapons of various lengths, from light to heavy to energy-focusing weapons, some slung over their backs, others creating bulges under their clothes. Anyone passing through the streets would be stopped every few steps. If one were to circle the city, the repeated searches alone would likely take four to five hours.
Local staff had been warned in advance to strictly refrain from running in the streets, as they could be riddled with bullets from all directions within five steps.
Morning, noon, and evening, chefs would drive food trucks to deliver meals to the various residences.
These were not flying vehicles; no one dared to send large aircraft near Summit City. All food trucks were traditional open-top sedans, but their rear ends were modified to carry stacked insulated food containers.
The food trucks had to depart forty minutes in advance because they were stopped and searched at every intersection.
The searches were extremely thorough, even using flexible probes to extend into the engines through the exhaust pipes to check for explosive devices. The delivery drivers and accompanying chefs returned sweating profusely. According to their reports, all the bodyguards and guards who stopped them for searches had terrifying eyes, akin to serial killers.
In the morning and evening, the changing shifts of bodyguards and guards would run laps around the city.
These planetary leaders often gathered for meetings, and their security teams had already become familiar with each other. This led to the peculiar sight of bodyguard teams from over a dozen planetary leaders automatically forming a single group for their runs.
Shao Wan later submitted a brief report to Jiang Ye, having specifically observed the bodyguards brought by the various planetary leaders.
"The vast majority kept their hair at a two-millimeter length, almost bald. While on duty, they wore bulletproof vests, plain clothes, or special operations uniforms. During their morning runs, they uniformly changed into loose silk clothing and cloth shoes. They might have martial arts backgrounds, perhaps from martial arts families or temple monks, possessing a very special and rare aura. Only one-fifth showed clear military markings.
"Their physical fitness is astonishing. My guards ran with them specifically. They appeared to be running slowly, but in reality, their speed was quite fast. My guards, whose physical fitness is considered top-notch in both the police and military, were completely unable to keep up. Their stride frequency was at a normal pace, making them deceptive. In reality, each step was very large. There are a total of eight morning running routes in Summit City, which were changed only once on the first day, and then fixed. These eight routes are the optimal routes covering all major intersections that should be patrolled and densely populated areas. These individuals could quickly determine them based solely on experience and observations along the route, without needing discussion, and everyone's answer was completely consistent, demonstrating excellent bodyguard professionalism.
"The total length of each morning run is 21 kilometers, completed in just over an hour. They maintained a constant pace throughout, with almost no severe panting. Many marathon runners, even when giving their all, could not achieve such results, yet for them, it was merely routine training every morning.
"Among the snipers, women are numerous, accounting for about sixty percent. Their skill level is unknown. Judging by their demeanor, none of them are novices.
"All personnel are taciturn, showing no emotions, often not speaking for four to five consecutive hours. My guards observed them closely. In fact, they do get distracted, but when they are distracted, they maintain an appearance of serious vigilance. This is manifested by a relaxed posture, a stern expression, and seemingly scanning their surroundings, but their gaze lacks focus; they are merely going through the motions. Distractions typically last no more than three minutes, but they occur frequently, about six to eight times per hour. Without close observation, one might think these individuals are vigilant all day like machines, with complete focus.
Jiang Ye had also noticed these planetary leaders' bodyguards and had only one feeling: envy.
Only large planets could have sufficient talent reserves to assemble such an exceptionally elite guard.
Given the foundation of Jiang Ye Star, this was currently impossible.
While they appeared to be just a few bodyguards, the screening process, cultural indoctrination, experience accumulation, financial investment, and training systems behind them were all things only large entities could provide.
On the second day, after all planetary leaders had arrived, they rested during the day and attended a banquet in the evening.
The banquet was, of course, extremely luxurious. Over three hundred culinary teams were cooking simultaneously, with each team consisting of more than ten people. Golden plates, silver bowls, and white jade cups were constantly replenished with wine and light, as the feast continued. The dishes were prepared according to the tastes of each planetary leader, eschewing the cheap products of food printers for genuine ingredients.
For the shark fin soup alone, 600 sharks were slaughtered. After the banquet, the cleaning staff still found over forty bowls of untouched shark fin soup. Some of these bowls had even become ashtrays or tissue holders; the planetary leaders, busy with conversation and laughter, had casually flicked their ashes into them or tossed used tissues inside.
Throughout the night, 4600 fresh apples were consumed, not for eating, but simply to be stacked in large golden platters as apple towers, emitting a fruity fragrance.
The apple tower arrangement was something Liu Shuzeng had privately introduced to Jiang Ye as a regular practice for planetary leaders during meetings and meals. Many planetary leaders were women, and women's sense of smell is more sensitive than men's, so there was a need for a fragrance that was neither vulgar nor awkward to permeate the entire venue. Perfumes or incense were too gaudy and overpowering, whereas fruit fragrances were natural and light, pleasing to everyone and visually appealing.
Following the banquet was a grand fireworks display, which lasted for over an hour with vibrant colors, so grand that it could be seen from satellites. The cost of this fireworks display alone reached 16 billion yuan, a truly astonishing figure.
Jiang Ye's wallet suddenly became much thinner.
He estimated that even if Empress Dowager Cixi were resurrected, she would exclaim at such a spectacle.
But it didn't matter. If everything went smoothly, the summit would officially commence the next day, and the aid received would be ten times, a hundred times greater!