There were only four countries on Earth with the ability to explore the moon.
This time, the mission to explore the moon included not only people from these four major countries, but also experts in astronomy from smaller nations who had been invited specifically for their skills.
Some experts felt honored by the invitation and recognized the great responsibility that came with it.
However, there were also those who were skeptical. They believed that this was just another plot by the big countries to try stealing talents from the smaller countries.
Over the past century, many realized that powerful countries often used notions like democracy, environmental protection, and human rights to violate the rules of other countries. Small or weak countries often lack the diplomatic power to protect themselves. Naturally, when a powerful country gave you something, they're likely plotting to take something from you behind your back.
Pete came from a weak country where thousands of tons of oil were pillaged every day, and his country was powerless to stop it.
He didn't believe in the so-called moon exploration plan.
To him, the idea of a lost spacecraft or the presence of aliens on the moon seemed like a hoax created by the four nations involved. Although he was unsure of the true motive behind the plan, he was certain the countries shared a common interest
"Hey, Pete, do you believe in aliens?" Peter's friend asked as they walked together.
"Ha! If they're real, I'll eat the White Rabbit Nine from Great Xia!" Pete said.
Truth be told, he would've never came here if Great Xia hadn't paid him so much. And no, although the country that was stealing oil from his homeland wasn't Great Xia, as far as he was concerned, all big nations were the same.
"Hey, if you have the guts, why don't you say that inside?" Peter teased, pointing at the Great Xia Space Agency not far away.
"Why would I want to not get paid?" Pete shrugged, figuring he could just go along with whoever that was paying him.
Peter pulled out a camera from his backpack, "Suit yourself, I'm filming this for future reference. Once we start to build our own national space agency is established, this will serve as a good reference..."
Pete thought for a moment and went forward to help. The two of them assembled the camera and carried it to the space agency.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the door, they were stopped by a guard.
"Sorry, we need to take this machine away. You can't bring it in!"
Pete was annoyed, "With all due respect, soldier, who do you think we are? We're here on behalf of our country, and you won't even let us bring a camera?"
"I'm sorry, it's the policy," the guard replied. "All electronic devices, including your phones, must be surrendered before entering. They will be returned to you when you leave."
Peter smiled and said, "Hey, pal. This device is an antique. Chief Engineer Yang gave it to me as a gift years ago. We're here to represent our countries' friendship."
The guard shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry, but when Chief Engineer Yang came in this morning, he didn't have any electronic devices with him. We can't make an exception for you."
The two men negotiated for a while, but their efforts were in vain. In the end, they gave up, feeling a little disappointed.
As they prepared to enter, Peter added a sarcastic comment.
"Hey soldier, handle my device with care. It's expensive. Don't break it..."
..
"This operation involves all four major countries. Why isn't it being broadcasted live?!"
"I know, right? Still, the officials said that the Moon exploration mission is not open to the public."
"But can't we at least have a text live stream?"
"Unfortunately, even that is not available. I just want to find someone who has insider information and can leak some details."
Despite the worldwide excitement, there was no live broadcast of the several rockets launched by the four major countries for the moon exploration mission. Needless to say, this caused a lot of frustration.
Everyone was curious and eager to know every detail of the mission.
"Get the full live broadcast of the moon exploration mission by the four major countries for just $30, only 88 spots available, first come, first served..."
"$199 for internal staff transfer of the moon exploration live stream, pay first and receive later..."
"Don't fall for these scams. The two upstairs are scammers. They scammed me $30 and my wife $199..."
"I run a data statistics website. From what I've looked up, within an hour of the launch of the rockets, at least a million people worldwide were scammed..."
Even on regular days, the popular science media had a lot of followers. So naturally, this moon exploration mission officially backed by the four major countries was attracting a lot of attention.
The popularity of the moon exploration mission was beyond everyone's expectations.
Some clever businessmen quickly seized the opportunity and bought several civilian organisations related to aliens, established websites, and then searched for people who could truly obtain insider information.
Their motto was 'Let the world have no secrets," They found a top ten global ranking hacker organisation, Ghost Eye.
Because they often organised activities and exposed the secrets of various countries, their reputation was widely known. Even those who didn't know their name had certainly heard of the things they had done.
Such high exposure naturally had to do with interests. This was a hacker organisation that could be hired for money.
Today, Ghost Eye received more than 20 orders, which left them confused.
"Did we price it too low, or did some bastard expose our port?!"
Ghost Eye Three was responsible for receiving orders. Receiving one or two orders a month was typical, but in just one hour, dozens of orders had been received.
"Hey Three, did you miss the news? The four major countries launched a moon exploration rocket today."
Ghost-Eye Four was uninterested until he stumbled upon the statistics of a small website, revealing that millions of people were eager to watch the moon exploration live stream but had been scammed. He realized that this was another lucrative opportunity to make money.
Ghost-Eye Three was a little confused. After a few operations on the computer, the desktop displayed a few messages with high repetition.
"Are we really ready to welcome the aliens?!"
"Are the three astronauts on White Rabbit Nine still alive?!"
"Will the moon exploration plan anger the aliens and lead to the destruction of Earth?!"
After reading these message, his eyes lit up, and he excitedly said, "This is a big deal…"
"We've received deposits from more than 20 organizations. "
The problem is that they all have the same demand: to obtain insider information on the moon exploration missions conducted by the four major countries."
Ghost Eye Four grinned and said, "Let's make a killing by doing just one job. I've already informed the others."
As soon as he finished speaking, the lights representing the other members of the organisation started to light up, and in no time, everyone had gathered.
"Wait, could this be a trap?!"
Ghost Eye Nine, who was more cautious, expressed his concerns.
"Almost 20 people have entrusted us with this task. We can't just refuse, but what if it's a trap? What if someone wants to take this opportunity to mess with us?!"
"Haha, Nine, you're such a coward !" Ghost Eye Two laughed.
"That's right. Who would dare set a trap for us ?!"
After some back and forth, Ghost Eye One got up from his seat and spoke up to the group.
"Guys, we will accept this request! They're looking for us to dig up some valuable intel on the top four Space Agencies, and they're willing to pay big bucks for it..."
Ghost Eye One continued, leaning in to emphasize his point, "Whatever they don't want to reveal, I say, let's all show it to the whole world!"