On the day of the press conference.
Conference Hall No. 1 at the Jinling Aerospace Launch Center was packed.
Reporters of every skin color stood inside, filling almost every inch of what had originally been a fairly spacious conference hall.
To leave enough room for the reporters, all cameras, whether automated or manually operated, had been arranged along the two sides of the hall, leaving the center clear.
"With a crowd this big, do you think Academician Lu can handle it?"
Standing beside Director Li, the young man in formal attire glanced around in mild surprise and muttered the question almost to himself.
As the secretary to the director of the Science and Industry Bureau, he had originally been assigned to act as the spokesperson at this press conference. But since Lu Zhou had agreed to attend in person, he had become the backup.
Hearing his secretary's question, Director Li laughed.
"Can he handle it? Are you kidding? That fellow has probably seen more major events than I have, including plenty livelier than this. We don't need to worry about him over something this small."
The hour hand on the wall clock reached the appointed hour.
Under everyone's expectant gaze, Lu Zhou walked onto the stage in formal attire.
Facing the eyes fixed on him throughout the hall, Lu Zhou calmly cleared his throat and spoke in a steady voice.
"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Lu Zhou, chief designer at the Manned Mars Landing Office."
"Under our original arrangements, the second group of researchers bound for the scientific research base on Mars would depart at the end of the year along with the next shipment of supplies. However, because we discovered signs of a suspected extraterrestrial civilization near the coordinates 15° south, 128.1° west, we revised the original launch schedule and