Superstars of Tomorrow

"AHHH——I have lost Little Riches!" Little Bear had a panicked look. "Should I head back to Planet Bu to search?"

After a brief discussion between the Inter-planetary Fund’s personnel, the big boss transmitted the sound of Little Bear’s whistle to their personnel that had remained on Planet Bu. If Little Riches heard this signal, it would appear.

"What if it doesn’t appear? Would it have been captured by other people? We have to guard against Spaceflight General Headquarters’ personnel as well as Bu Base personnel." An old man raised his thoughts.

"That won’t happen." As he said this, the panic on Little Bear’s face subsided. "Little Riches possesses more than 300 escape methods. Furthermore, the material it was created from is special. Generally, it is impervious to blades and guns. If it awakens and discovers that I am not around, it will immediately seek out nearby organisms as a cover. Small animals that are harmless and have low intelligence are prioritized."

"That’s good." All of the Inter-planetary Fund personnel gradually relaxed.

Having finally found the last superintelligence that had been lost and having the chance to interact with the one and only superintelligent body, the personnel of the Inter-planetary Fund were very indulgent towards Little Bear.

Little Bear first went to pay respects to his already deceased owner and founder of the Inter-planetary Fund, Master Heng Xin. Back then, he had already make his preparations before taking on this mission and leaving the planet. Thus, Little Bear wasn’t too overly sentimental when he was paying his respects.

After returning back here after 400 years, Little Bear wanted to first familiarize himself with the environment.

Director general Meche Assis felt a little apprehensive when he was called over by the big boss. He was afraid that he would be demoted by the big boss because of a mistake he might have committed.

"This is Meche Assis, the current Inter-planetary Fund director general. Little Bear, you can follow him and familiarize yourself for a period of time. There have been huge changes compared to 400 years ago. You will be given a week to adapt quickly and will start work after a week."

"A month! Kids also need vacations!" Little Bear started to haggle. "I was trapped in darkness under the sand for a long time. I am afraid of the dark and it’s tiring. Perhaps I may even be claustrophobic. I wish to visit more vast and bright outdoor areas and rest for a period of time."

Inter-planetary Fund: "..."

Stop being ridiculous! Do you want to see the logs from the spacecraft for yourself?!

Does he really think he is a kid?

After the spacecraft met with an accident and was marooned on Planet Bu, the power levels of the craft had been played around with until it had reached critical levels, and this bear kid had no choice but to go dormant. Claustrophobic my *ss!

To put it simply, after sleeping so long, he just wanted to head out and explore!

The big boss finally spoke. "50 days. Come back to work after 50 days!"

It wasn’t that the Inter-planetary Fund’s personnel were being strict, but rather when it came to matters concerning superintelligence, they needed to keep an eye on him all the time. A long vacation was impossible, especially for the one before them that was liable to cause trouble as long as he had too much free time.

Planet Bu, at the sand pit where the Alkaid was at.

Fang Zhao had followed the program team into the the Alkaid for filming. As there was personnel limitations, Nanfeng and the others also couldn’t enter. They waited with a leashed dog at the rest areas.

Curly Hair wasn’t willing to remain indoors and wasn’t afraid of the heat, so he laid down outside the door and was playing with sand.

Suddenly, Curly Hair’s ears twitched. He got up abruptly and stared at a distant sand dune.

"Woof Woof Woof!"

Curly Hair barked and wanted to take a few steps in that direction but was held back by the leash.

Nanfeng was chatting idly with Yan Biao and Zuo Yu when he was startled, got up suddenly, and rushed out.

"What’s going on?"

Nanfeng glanced in the direction of Curly Hair’s sights.

There seemed to be something below the sun running towards them.

Yan Biao and Zuo Yu, who also came running out after hearing the activity, raised their guard. They signaled for Nanfeng to bring Curly Hair in .

However, Curly Hair didn’t cooperate. His line of sight was fixed on the activity beneath the sand, and Nanfeng wasn’t able to make Curly Hair budge no matter how hard he tugged.

Seeing the thing get closer and closer, Nanfeng was at a loss at being unable to make a dog budge and shielded Curly Hair behind his own body.

Sha Sha Sha Sha——

The thing beneath the sand finally showed itself.

It was a flat, black oval-shaped bug of some sort. It had quite a number of legs and had two long feelers protruding from its front.

As its head peeked out, three black holes of gun muzzles were pointed at it.

The black bug’s feelers stiffened and with a whoosh, its legs and feelers were retracted and the bug curled up into a black ball about the size of an orange.

Nanfeng and the other two stared fixedly at this black ball and detected no sign of activity from it for quite some time.

Curly Hair ran over and swatted it with his paw, and the black ball rolled forward.

Seeing this, Curly Hair excitedly scrambled to chase after the ball. Nanfeng, who was holding on to the leash, ran along as he was pulled.

"Hey! Curly Hair, stop! Don’t run!"

Having caught up to the ball, Curly Hair raised his paw and swatted it again, and the black ball shot forth once again. Curly Hair was even more excited now.

At another rest house not too far away, someone watched through the windows as Nanfeng was being dragged along by a dog. Disdainfully, he said, "Look at our neighbour Fang Zhao’s trash assistant. He can’t even hold onto a dog!"

After Fang Zhao finished his filming assignments aboard the Alkaid for the day and came out, he saw Curly Hair who was chasing the ball and Nanfeng on the verge of tears from being dragged along.

"What are you all up to!" Fang Zhao berated.

Curly Hair’s ears twitched. He didn’t control his paw strength too well, and the black ball was sent flying in another direction.

Mitisy had also just finished filming and was dripping with perspiration. His assistant was holding an electric fan aimed at him, but Mitisy felt that it wasn’t strong enough. He held up a commemorative alloy fan that Bu Base had given him. He had only fanned himself for a short while when someone shouted, "Careful!"

Noticing the black ball flying over, Mitisy instinctively swung his fan. His posture and lightning-quick reflexes were the mark of a true professional.

The black ball that was flying over was hit and sent flying away.

Mitisy’s eyes lit up. All tiredness from filming disappeared instantly. Hey, this ball isn’t shabby at all!

His hands had been itching for quite some time!

Mitisy turned to his assistant and said, "Go fetch my racket!"

The ball flew in the direction of where Woo Tianhao was at. When he saw Mitisy’s actions, he perked up, flipped open his own commemorative Bu Base alloy fan, and used it as a racket to strike the ball back.

Having already gotten a hold of his racket and seeing the ball being returned, Mitisy shouted, "Great return!!"

Thwack!

The black ball was accurately returned once more.

Woo Tianhao had difficulty catching this ball and shouted, "Zaro come over quickly! This Mitisy fella is playing for real! Us amateurs have to work together!"

"Hey! Take a look at my skills!" Zaro gleefully picked up his own fan and joined in.

Seeing this spectacle, the program team director shook his head and chuckled. "Ahh, young people!"

The cameraman didn’t need to be told and started to record this rare friendly match in the desert.

At the end, Mitisy struck a shot that Zaro was unable to receive, and the ball flew all the way over to an area where a Spaceflight General Headquarters’ officer was patrolling.

Frowning, he picked up the black ball and squeezed it. The ball was rather soft.

Nearby, Curly Hair growled twice, came over, and stared at the ball in the person’s hands.

Raising his head to see what the ruckus was all about, the person from Spaceflight General Headquarters reprimanded them with a stern face. "Do not randomly throw the dog’s toys around!"

Nanfeng promptly apologized, "Sorry, sorry! I will take note!"

The other managers and agents came over to make clear that they would not in the future.

The officer from Spaceflight General Headquarters eased up when he saw that these people were apologetic and that Zaro and the others were no longer creating a ruckus. He squeezed the black ball once more before handing it over to Nanfeng. He couldn’t help but ask, "Where did you buy this ball?"

Nanfeng stammered, "Uh... I don’t know either."

The officer didn’t get angry even though he didn’t get the answer he was looking for. Forget it. It wasn’t anything important either. He could search for it on the Internet once he got back. He waved his hands dismissively and let them leave.

After Nanfeng received the ball, Curly Hair tugged on his trousers, wanting the ball. Curly Hair was very obedient once he had the ball in his mouth. Wagging his tail, he followed Nanfeng back and refused to lend the ball to Mitisy and the others along the way back.

After returning to their rest area, Nanfeng recounted the matter about the black ball to Fang Zhao.

Fang Zhao took the black ball from Curly Hair’s mouth and squeezed it. It was really soft indeed, and Fang Zhao couldn’t determine what it was made of. Curly Hair had struck the ball so many times, Mitisy had hit it around as a tennis ball, and Curly Hair had then carried it around in his mouth. Yet its appearance remained glossy, like it was new, and there weren’t any scratches on it at all. An organism from Planet Bu? No! Fang Zhao had a feeling that this wasn’t any ordinary living organism!

Curly Hair whimpered at the side as he turned to Fang Zhao before staring at the ball miserably.

"It seems like Curly Hair especially loves this toy." Nanfeng realized that he had also been fooled after he said this. This wasn’t a real ball. It was a bug!

Fang Zhao considered for a bit before returning the black ball to Curly Hair. He then instructed Nanfeng and the other two, "Let’s keep it for now. Watch it properly."

"Yes, Boss!"

Elsewhere, the Spaceflight General Headquarters’ officer on patrol was thinking to himself. I wonder what material that little black ball is made off, it feels really good in the hand. I’ve got to buy a few for the kids and dog at home when I return.

As he mulled it over, he saw someone walking over and his face stiffened. "Aren’t you headed for the base?"

The person who came was the Inter-planetary Fund supervisor who was still stationed on Planet Bu.

Spaceflight General Headquarters and the Inter-planetary Fund had a cooperative relationship, but they also had a rivalry. Take for example the Alkaid’s core technology. The Spaceflight General Headquarters had thought about it for very long but had no chance of touching it. This time, Spaceflight General Headquarters had reacted quickly, but it had still been snatched by the Inter-planetary Fund first. They never even got to see any trace of its "black box". It was no wonder he couldn’t put on a smile when the two ran into each other.

The Inter-planetary Fund supervisor currently wasn’t in a mood to talk much either. He smiled and headed over to the Alkaid.

The supervisor got his subordinates to stand guard on the outside before he entered the Alkaid once more. After that, he broadcast the sound clip that he had just received.

After some time, there still wasn’t any sign of activity.

He wasn’t willing to give up and tried broadcasting the sound at areas nearby the Alkaid.

Because this was a secret matter, he couldn’t search for it openly. Neither did he dare tell anyone else. Even his own subordinates didn’t know what he was looking for. He could only go about it alone and wondered to himself why wasn’t a position tracker placed on such an important thing?!

The sound clip was broadcast for three days straight and the search area was widened. However, not a single trace was found.

Helpless, he finally submitted a report of this outcome.

Base soldiers stationed at this region also heard the whistling in the past three days. Each time they weren’t nearby and couldn’t see it clearly, so they thought that it was the Inter-planetary Fund personnel that was whistling. They joked in private, "The guy from the Inter-planetary Fund looks strict, but it turns out that he likes to whistle. And he whistles such a kiddy tune too."

The supervisor from the Inter-planetary Fund after he heard the rumor: "..." Forget it, I will just be the scapegoat.

Some days later.

The highly anticipated second episode of "Up Close Contact" was released. Indeed, it was shot aboard the Alkaid, and it satiated the curiosity of many people just that...

Inter-planetary Fund Headquarters.

Director General Meche Assis pointed at a certain black ball that was being hit around in the scene of the program. "Is that it?"

Little Bear said with an equally stunned face and widened eyes, "... Yes."

"Didn’t you say that it has over 300 escape mechanisms? Didn’t you say it would avoid humans and look for cover?"

"It really does!"

"Then what is going on here?"

"Playing dead procedures activated."

Before many doubting eyes of the Inter-planetary Fund, Little Bear explained himself, "Simply put, it is just... like many animals that play dead when they meet with danger; shutting itself down in a defensive state."

All the Inter-planetary Fund personnel present heaved a sigh of relief. If it could shut itself down so easily, it was indeed just a retarded toy.

However, according to Little Bear, the material used to built that retarded machine toy was very special, and it had to be retrieved as soon as possible. The material and technical knowledge couldn’t be leaked.

Little Bear scratched his head. He was puzzled too. In theory, unless it faced a natural predator, Little Riches wouldn’t have so easily activated its highest level defensive measure—playing dead procedure. Could it be that too much time had passed and some of the components inside had malfunctioned? Forget it, when the Inter-planetary Fund retrieves Little Riches and brings it back, I will give it an upgrade.

As for the time being...

Whatever! It’s vacation time! Time to head out and let loose!!