Chapter 152: A Hundred Thousand Dollars a Cup of Tea

"Hi everyone! I am currently here at the restaurant in the recreation area of Chang'e City on the Moon. The location is quite elevated, offering a panoramic view of the entire Chang'e City while also letting us gaze out at the lunar landscape."

Dennis Totti accompanied a few familiar billionaires to the restaurant in the recreation area to recharge their energy. Normally, their meals were pre-arranged, but these wealthy individuals were naturally not going to miss the opportunity to dine at this restaurant.

At this moment, they were seated at the highest level on the top floor of the restaurant district. Accompanying him were Mark, Gregor, and Prince Mohammed. The four of them sat at a table in the restaurant, and through the thick tempered glass, they could overlook the desolate lunar surface at a glance. At the same time, they could see the Earth in space, radiating a halo of life. Looking at the Earth from here, the sunlight refracted by the planet made it appear extraordinarily bright and exceptionally beautiful.

"This location is simply fantastic. Enjoying a fine meal in a place like this is truly one of life's greatest pleasures."

Prince Mohammed looked at the scenery outside the tempered glass, unable to hold back his admiration.

"Indeed, this trip is well worth it. While enjoying delicious food and taking in the scenery—looking at the desolate Moon and then at the beautiful Earth—one cannot help but marvel at how breathtakingly gorgeous the Earth is."

Gregor nodded along, looking outside with a somewhat entranced expression.

"Gentlemen, let's see what kind of delicacies they have here."

Mark picked up a menu. In truth, this place was merely Chang'e City's cafeteria, but catering to these eleven billionaires posed absolutely no problem because the chefs here were of an exceptionally high standard. Naturally, the goal was to ensure that the astronauts, scientists, and staff stationed in Chang'e City on the Moon ate exceptionally well.

"Australian steak: $200,000 per serving."

"Stir-fried tomatoes with eggs: $200,000 per serving."

"Kung Pao chicken: $200,000 per serving."

"Longjing green tea: $100,000 per cup."

Upon opening the menu, the billionaires could not help but twitch their eyebrows. A casual order of any single dish cost $200,000, and a cup of beverage cost $100,000. Even though they had mentally prepared themselves beforehand, they still had not expected the prices to be so astronomical.

"Tsk tsk, these prices are certainly not cheap!"

Mark couldn't help curling his lip as he spoke.

"Of course the prices aren't cheap. These items have to be shipped all the way from Earth and prepared by top-tier chefs. Being able to enjoy Earth's cuisine right here on the Moon makes this price quite reasonable. Today, dinner is on me; let's treat everyone to a lunar meal."

Prince Mohammed, the Saudi tycoon, naturally didn't care about such a small sum of money. He called over the waiter and began ordering. Soon, a table laden with over a dozen dishes was served, each one carefully prepared by the master chef, boasting magnificent colors, aromas, and flavors.

"Tsk tsk, Middle Eastern tycoons are truly wealthy. This table of dishes plus drinks comes to over three million US dollars, and he didn't even blink an eye. It would really be a crime not to fleece these tycoons," the restaurant waiter whispered quietly with a faint sigh as he watched them tuck into the feast. They were well aware of the prices of these dishes; while meals were free for everyone else living inside Chang'e City, fleecing these sightseeing billionaires was practically mandatory.

"The taste is really quite good. This money wasn't wasted at all."

Half an hour later, the group was sipping tea and chatting while rubbing their fully satisfied bellies. The skill level of the chefs here was exceptionally high, and the table full of dishes had been completely swept clean by the group.

"Hmm, it really is good. I originally thought it would be just like the space food I'd eaten before—rather unpalatable. I never expected to enjoy such delicious food right here on the Moon."

Dennis rubbed his stomach, took a gentle sip of tea, and stretched comfortably. The space food he had eaten during his previous space trip had been truly dreadful, focusing solely on nutrition while completely ignoring flavor.

"Everyone stationed in Chang'e City consists of astronauts, scientists, engineers, and the like, so their food is naturally top-notch. What a great pleasure in life!"

Gregor gazed at the scenery outside and let out a long, appreciative sigh.

"How about we all go for a stroll together? Since we've just eaten our fill, let's treat it as a walk to aid digestion and move our legs a bit."

"Let's go, let's go take a good look around."

Soon, unable to curb their curiosity any longer, the four of them began wandering around inside Chang'e City. This period of time was set aside for free activities, followed by rest and sleep, as they would set out from Chang'e City to explore the lunar surface tomorrow.

On the second day, all eleven individuals gathered together, each appearing quite excited because they were about to venture out of Chang'e City for exploration under Yan Ping's guidance.

"Everyone, please put on your spacesuits. The spacesuits are equipped with compressed air to last you for 24 hours, and they feature a dual-redundancy safety setup. Furthermore, the lunar rovers you will be driving have relatively low speeds, so if you're hoping to stage a lunar street race, that probably won't be possible. Also, all the lunar rovers are operated via virtual reality systems, so it doesn't matter whether you actually know how to drive or not."

Before setting off, Yan Ping naggingly emphasized these points once more. In truth, all the precautions had already been explained to them multiple times beforehand. Soon, everyone changed into the thick spacesuits and arrived at the lunar rover parking area. Each person selected a rover, connected to the virtual reality system, and could control it directly with their minds, entirely eliminating the need for manual operation.

"Oh, this vehicle is too cool! Cooler than any car I've ever driven. Once I get back, I'm definitely going to buy one for my collection."

The wealthy Saudi prince expressed his amazement on the group's chat channel while using the virtual reality system to control his rover's movement. As a Saudi tycoon prince, he owned countless luxury cars, yet this time, driving a lunar rover on the Moon, he found himself utterly captivated by a vehicle controlled entirely through virtual reality.

"Your Highness, you can purchase this lunar rover as a souvenir, though its price tag isn't cheap—it costs a bit over 20 million US dollars," Yan Ping said over the public channel as he skillfully maneuvered his rover to lead the team outward.

"Twenty million US dollars? No problem at all. Make sure to have it shipped back to Earth for me later."

A tycoon is a tycoon. Upon hearing that it only cost 20 million US dollars, he bought it on the spot. In reality, the lunar rover didn't involve overly complex technology; it was merely a standard lunar rover integrated with virtual reality control technology. With a manufacturing cost of under 500,000 Chinese Yuan, it easily fetched a price of 20 million US dollars.

"Ship this one back to Earth too, take it home as a keepsake. Driving it out in the future will definitely be super cool."

"Bring mine back to Earth as well."

With someone setting the example, the other billionaires naturally refused to be outdone. One after another, they expressed their desire to buy the rovers and take them back to Earth as souvenirs. To them, spending 20 million US dollars to acquire a lunar rover that had actually been used on the Moon was a deeply meaningful endeavor.

Twelve lunar rovers traveled slowly across the desolate lunar surface. These billionaires acted just like children—sometimes engaging in lunar rover races, sometimes curiously operating the mechanical arms on the rovers to hoist blocks of the most common lunar basalt, or even digging holes in the lunar surface, having the time of their lives.

"Haha, Mark, you've fallen behind again."

Dennis drove his lunar rover across the Moon with great exhilaration. He was already getting on in years and could no longer drive cars on Earth because his hand-eye reflexes couldn't keep up. However, driving a lunar rover was immensely satisfying because it only required telepathic control via the virtual reality system.

"Hey guys, look what I found! Just now, I used the cutter to slice open a block of basalt and actually stumbled upon this thing."

Mark drove his rover to catch up, the mechanical arm of his rover grasping a glittering object. He appeared thoroughly excited at the moment, never expecting that casually operating the lunar rover to cut open a piece of basalt would lead to the discovery of such a sparkling item.

"Mark, you've really struck it lucky! This is most likely something like a diamond."

"No way, I'm going to cut basalt too!"

Upon seeing this, the other billionaires immediately started cutting open basalt blocks one by one, feeling as though they had discovered a new world, brimming with curiosity.

One hour later, the group arrived at a massive mining zone—currently the only mining area exploited by China. The place was brilliantly illuminated, with massive engineering vehicles continuously excavating rock and soil, loading them onto large lunar rovers, and transporting them back to Chang'e City for further processing.

"Everyone, please take a look. This is China's rare earth mining zone on the Moon. It can extract over 1,000 tons of rare earth minerals every day—higher than the rare earth production of the entire Earth—and all of it is high-purity rare earth ore."

Yan Ping led the group in their lunar rovers to the mining area and began introducing the overall situation of the complex.

"Tsk tsk, lunar mining truly holds infinite wealth. A single mining site like this can yield a thousand tons daily—that means the entire Moon is practically a mountain of gold and silver!"

Except for a few, the moment the billionaires present heard the explanation, their eyes lit up instantly. Each of them seemed to envision towering mountains of gold and silver.

A daily output of a thousand tons of rare earth elements—what kind of concept was that? It surpassed the rare earth production of the entire Earth, and judging by the setup, the extraction process was extremely simple and effortless. Immediately, they looked at the desolate surrounding landscape, as if they were gazing upon infinite opportunities.

Without a doubt, the minerals on the Moon were not only easy to extract but also exceptionally high in concentration, possessing immense value.

"Lunar mining holds massive potential for the future!"

Zhang Xianzu's eyes gleamed brightly. As a Chinese national, he naturally had more opportunities than others. With China heavily supporting the space industry, lunar mining would likely be opened up to private enterprises soon enough. When that time came, as long as one staked a claim on the Moon, they could continuously unearth endless gold and silver.

As for the billionaires from other countries around the world, they were naturally planning their future investments in their minds while secretly drooling. Yet, when they thought about their own countries' aerospace technologies, they could only shake their heads in helpless resignation.