Chapter 1 Astonishing News

　　It had been several days since they returned to Mingyue City. Li Miaomiao also came back from Binhai, and all her belongings had been moved to the new house. The new house was a detached villa in the suburbs of Mingyue City. Although the location wasn't as good as her parents' old house, it was much larger.

　　The villa's basement was a full two hundred square meters, which Xu Jingming had transformed into a professional training room.

　　The villa also had an eight-hundred-square-meter yard, part of which had been turned into an open-air martial arts training ground. For example, a large wooden stake was planted in the yard. The stake was forty centimeters thick and three meters long, with one meter buried underground and two meters above ground.

　　Xu Jingming, wearing a vest and shorts, barefoot, took a step forward and slammed his palms against the wooden stake.

　　The burst of speed during the step was extremely strong, instantly increasing his full-body speed, like a fierce tiger pouncing. Then, both palms slammed hard against the wooden stake.

　　"Bang!!!"

　　The forty-centimeter-thick wooden stake vibrated violently from the impact.

　　Xu Jingming took a step back, then stepped forward again, his speed exploding as he slammed his palms onto the wooden stake once more. After striking ten times, Xu Jingming changed his technique, using shoulder strikes, back strikes, elbow strikes…

　　Each strike caused the wooden stake to tremble violently.

　　"Jingming, let's go to my parents' place for dinner tonight," Li Miaomiao said, wearing virtual reality glasses as she walked to the living room door, leaning against the frame, watching Xu Jingming practice stake techniques in the yard.

　　"Sure," Xu Jingming responded, "But when are you planning to move in here?"

　　"What, feeling lonely at night?" Li Miaomiao glanced at Xu Jingming with a teasing smile.

　　"It is a bit lonely by myself," Xu Jingming said, stopping his practice and looking at Li Miaomiao.

　　"Look at you, so pitiful," Li Miaomiao laughed and said, "I've only been back in Mingyue City for a few days. I need to spend more time with my parents." It would be a headache for her to be with her parents twenty-four hours a day; young people need space too.

　　During the day, she was at the new house, and at night, she went to her parents' house to sleep and chat with her mother.

　　"In a few days, my parents will be sick of me," Li Miaomiao said. "Then I'll come over."

　　"Okay," Xu Jingming nodded. "By the way, I have to take Grandpa to the hospital tomorrow, so I probably won't be here during the day."

　　"Then I won't come over tomorrow," Li Miaomiao said, walking back to the living room and immersing herself in the virtual network again.

　　Xu Jingming continued to practice his fist techniques.

　　Suddenly—

　　Li Miaomiao, sitting on the sofa in the living room, showed a look of shock, carefully browsing the news on the virtual network.

　　"Jingming, Jingming, something big has happened!" Li Miaomiao exclaimed from the living room.

　　"Bang."

　　Xu Jingming, whose fists were slamming into the wooden stake, was startled by his girlfriend's exclamation and stopped, "What's wrong?" he said, walking into the living room.

　　"Look at this quickly," Li Miaomiao said, standing in the living room, making a gesture, and a light screen condensed in mid-air, showing a video playing.

　　"195 countries around the world have simultaneously announced that they will hold a press conference in three days, on July 21st at 9 p.m. Beijing time. At that time, 195 countries around the world will broadcast live simultaneously."

　　"9 p.m. Beijing time, 8 a.m. Metropolitan time, 1 p.m. London time, 10 p.m. Edo time… press conferences will be held simultaneously in different time zones around the world! It must be a major event, an incredible event. The last time there was such a big stir was when 195 countries formed the Blue Star Alliance."

　　"No information has been revealed about this press conference. The more secretive it is, the bigger the event."

　　Short videos slid across the light screen one by one.

　　Now the entire internet was buzzing with the sudden news, and countless netizens were expressing their opinions.

　　"It is indeed a major event!" Xu Jingming said solemnly. "It is likely to be a major event affecting the fate of all humans on the planet."

　　"There are too many countries in the world," Li Miaomiao nodded. "Saying 195 countries, but in reality, some small countries are not even as big as a small town in our Xia country. The simultaneous announcement by 195 countries is an attitude! The last time there was such solemnity was when the Blue Star Alliance was formed to develop Firefly Star (Mars)."

　　"When humans first landed on Firefly Star, countries frantically developed space technology, competing to develop Firefly Star. In the end, 195 countries formed the Blue Star Alliance to jointly develop Firefly Star," Xu Jingming nodded. "The formation of the Blue Star Alliance to develop Firefly Star was the biggest event of the past few decades. I wonder what this is for."

　　"There's a lot of discussion online, but no information has been revealed, it's completely confidential," Li Miaomiao said, also paying close attention.

　　"The level of secrecy is very high," Xu Jingming said, with anticipation. "Let's watch the live broadcast in three days."

　　******

　　The whole world was buzzing about the upcoming press conference. Most of the topics online were about the upcoming press conference. Because such a big event had only happened once in the past hundred years, and that was the formation of the Blue Star Alliance.

　　What was it for this time?

　　Time passed day by day, and it came to July 21st, 8:55 p.m. Beijing time.

　　"The global live broadcast is about to start."

　　"I wonder what the big event is."

　　At Xu Jingming's new house, Grandpa Xu, Xu Jingming's parents, Li Miaomiao's parents, and Xu Jingming and Li Miaomiao were all gathered in the living room, the light screen already locked on the global live broadcast.

　　…

　　Beijing, Liu Hai's residence.

　　"Dad, do you know what the big event is for this global live broadcast?" Liu Hai's residence was also full of family members, all waiting for the global live broadcast press conference.

　　"I'm not sure, the level of secrecy is very high," Liu Hai said, sitting there. "Don't worry, it will be officially announced in a few minutes, we'll know when we see it."

　　Although Liu Hai didn't know, he had heard from above: "This time, the list of key national training is related to the global live broadcast press conference on July 21st."

　　…

　　"Global live broadcast press conference, what is the big event?"

　　The Cheng family was also gathered together.

　　The head of the family, Cheng Liwei, and his wife, as well as his eldest son Cheng Zitong's family and his second son Cheng Zihao.

　　"Dad, even with your connections, you don't know about this press conference?" Cheng Zihao asked in surprise, sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, eating a banana.

　　His father, Cheng Liwei, was the controller of the giant "Tiger Shark Group," a company with a market value of five trillion. His influence was possibly greater than that of some small-country leaders. If even he didn't know the secret on this planet, then the level of secrecy was obviously extremely high.

　　"I don't know," Cheng Liwei said solemnly. "I've inquired, and this time, although it's said that 195 countries are releasing it simultaneously, most of the heads of state don't know. Only the 32 member states of the alliance know the secret."

　　In the Blue Star Alliance, general matters could be decided by the five permanent members. Even for major events that determined the fate of the world, 32 member states could decide. As for the smaller countries? They were just waving flags and shouting in the alliance, with no decision-making power. They only had the power to obey the decisions of the alliance.

　　"If it affects the fate of all mankind, it will definitely affect the fate of our Tiger Shark Group," Cheng Liwei said. "Pay close attention to this press conference."

　　Cheng Zitong and Cheng Zihao were also watching carefully.

　　When the Blue Star Alliance was formed, international exchange increased greatly, and the Tiger Shark Group reaped the benefits, infiltrating the group into many countries around the world.

　　A powerful group must keep up with world trends and act accordingly.

　　…

　　At this moment, in Xia country, the Roman Empire, the White Eagle Federation, the Land of Ganges, the Cherry Blossom Country, and other countries and regions around the world, whether it was day or night, whether they were rich or poor, most of the people around the world were watching this live broadcast.

　　All entertainment on the internet was suspended, all live broadcast platforms, video platforms, and all official media, no matter how much you refreshed, there was only one program: this global live broadcast press conference!

　　Even the various large screens and advertising screens on the streets were playing this press conference.

　　At this moment, for people living on this planet, it was difficult not to know about this live broadcast.

　　"It's about to start!"

　　Xu Jingming, Li Miaomiao, and their families were sitting in the living room, watching the live broadcast on the screen.

　　In the live broadcast, representatives from one hundred and ninety-five countries were seated, with Angus, the current Secretary-General of the Blue Star Alliance, sitting in the main seat.

　　"I am very honored to be able to host this press conference, because this will be a press conference that goes down in human history," Secretary-General Angus said with a smile. He was speaking in Latin, but all media in Xia country broadcasted it in Chinese, and in the Cherry Blossom Country, it was broadcasted in Japanese… the language heard in each country was their common language.