Chapter Ninety-Eight: Each Striving on Their Own

The car had already left the town of Qingshui and was now driving along the country road leading to Qinglan Mountain. On both sides of the road stood rows of tall trees, beyond which stretched fields, and beyond the fields, towering mountains. Green leaves drifted down from the trees, swirling in the gusts as the car sped past.

Lin Nan gazed at the sunset by the mountain in the distance, the sky painted a vivid shade of orange-red, with clouds burning like flames. He couldn’t help but think of the characters in his story, who, after Earth’s rebirth, would watch the sunrise and sunset every day. If reality’s dusk was this enchanting, he must ask Xia Shiyang to make the comic’s illustrations even more beautiful.

At that moment, Si Fangxiang smiled and asked, “Aren’t you really into basketball? You play so well, so why have you taken up astrophotography now?”

Lin Nan pondered for a moment, then fully shared the “Million Club” plan with Fangxiang. After all, he wasn’t an outsider.

Anyone who first heard of the Million Club plan would think Lin Nan was young and reckless, unaware of his limitations, though his intentions were good. But once they learned he had already successfully completed the plan once, they began to see him as a genius—and a kind-hearted one at that.

Fangxiang was no exception; he was quite shocked. Having grown up abroad, he suddenly felt a deep sense of comfort, always believing that Chinese youth were no weaker than those from any other country. Now, with Lin Nan’s emergence, he felt an overwhelming pride.

He wondered how the world would view this young man from the East when Lin Nan reached level two and publicly announced the Million Club plan.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Fangxiang noticed that Si Dong, sitting beside him, seemed rather unsurprised. His eyes flickered, and the pieces fell into place as he sighed inwardly, “Girls can’t be held back.” Still, he was very satisfied with Lin Nan. Surely, his parents who taught him must be exceptional as well.

Feeling as if a major life matter had been settled, Fangxiang smiled and pressed the accelerator, driving the car straight up Qinglan Mountain. Eventually, they stopped atop a hill in front of a mountaintop villa.

Stepping out, Lin Nan went straight to the trunk and took out a box containing his equipment. He found a flat spot suitable for setting up the equatorial mount and unfolded the tripod. Si Dong naturally came over to help.

Seeing this scene, Fangxiang was unsure how to react. To be honest, if he had met someone like Lin Nan at Si Dong’s age, describing such a grand plan as the Million Club, he would have resolutely followed in his footsteps. Who wouldn’t want to be a person who shapes an era, even if only as a supporting character? After all, being part of such a noble cause was an honor—like soldiers eager to march in parades and nurses willing to fight on the front lines.

With that realization, Fangxiang could only quietly fiddle with his own equipment nearby. He knew the Million Club sought authenticity and depended on their own efforts. He couldn’t lend them his good gear nor offer much help. Earning a million personally and then using it for charity was the true standard of a Million Club member!

Soon, Lin Nan opened the compass app on his phone and aligned the equatorial mount’s polar axis to true north.

Next, he completed the coaxial calibration of the main telescope and finder scope and roughly aligned the polar axis. Then, through the finder scope, he centered the first-quarter moon in the field of view and shifted his gaze to the main eyepiece. The crescent moon appeared, though not yet sharply focused.

Lin Nan skillfully adjusted the focus manually, first bringing the image roughly into clarity, then fine-tuning it within a narrow range until it reached perfect sharpness.

Finally, a fairly clear first-quarter moon appeared before him for the first time. Though not quite at the level of the experienced members of the starry sky group, he could already make out the craters and the Mare Crisium on the moon.

Still, Lin Nan was unsatisfied. When he mounted the DSLR camera, the image quality didn’t meet his ideal standard for the “Million Starry Sky Comic.”

At that moment, Si Dong pulled out a professional astronomical camera and smiled, “Try this. I bought it with my own New Year’s money. We can record it for the Million Club.”

Lin Nan took the camera, touched by the gesture, but hesitated, “Um, I’ve never used this before...”

Si Dong chuckled softly at his awkwardness, “Let me set it up.”

She took the camera from him and installed it behind the main lens with practiced ease. Together, they filmed several video clips of the first-quarter moon.

Si Dong confidently said, “When I get home, I’ll use my computer to do the post-production. I know all the software we need. Producing a few high-quality photos won’t be a problem.”

Lin Nan nodded in trust.

Afterward, Si Dong approached her father and said, “Dad, let’s head back. We’ve finished shooting; now it’s just post-processing at home.”

Fangxiang thought to himself: ...he hasn’t even started yet...

But he kept silent. Well, for the sake of these young people’s starry sky comic project, he might as well be their errand boy.

Soon, they packed up and loaded everything into the car. After dropping Lin Nan off at the neighborhood entrance, Fangxiang and the father-daughter duo said their goodbyes and left.

Lin Nan thought about visiting Si Dong’s home, but she strongly refused. Was there something a girl wouldn’t want others to see at home?

Shrugging it off, Lin Nan carried his box and headed inside.

Meanwhile, Xia Shiyang was diligently working at his computer, synchronizing hand-drawn sketches with digital software. Their starry sky comic pursued originality, requiring Xia Shiyang to first draw the drafts by hand, creating original characters, then color them digitally.

As soon as Si Dong got home, she uploaded the videos online and began post-processing using all the techniques she knew—video stacking, sharpening—to produce the highest quality moon photos possible.

Learning via QQ that Si Dong and Xia Shiyang were hard at work, Lin Nan realized he couldn’t idle either. He opened his own computer and accessed the Star Comic website.

This was the largest domestic hub for comics, hosting many original works from China, though the most popular and renowned ones were mostly from abroad. The domestic comic industry was still far behind compared to those countries.

Nevertheless, Xia Shiyang was confident their starry sky comic would stand out.

Lin Nan spent the entire night browsing the top-ranked comics, familiarizing himself with various styles and comparing them with their own work, inspiring him to craft a more refined storyline.

That night, all three worked diligently for their starry sky comic.

The next day, Lin Nan woke and immediately went to the study, opening his computer to find the file Si Dong had sent.

Upon opening it, a perfect image of the first-quarter moon appeared before him: the terminator running north to south, the craters Aristoteles and Eudoxus, the Mare Crisium below, the crater Posidonius, the central Mare Serenitatis, the southern Mare Nectaris and Theophilus crater, and the densely pocked impact region near the near side, with the prominent Maurolycus crater.

All the details expected on a first-quarter moon were crisply visible—no blurring or jitter.

Lin Nan was thrilled.

Si Dong had even set the background to the pitch black of the comic’s universe, making it seem as if one were gazing at the moon from space.

Lin Nan then created a group chat named Starry Sky Comic and added Si Dong and Xia Shiyang.

Soon, Xia Shiyang saw Si Dong’s first-quarter moon work and praised in the group, “My Dongdong is amazing!”

Lin Nan replied below: ...Agreed.

After quickly washing up and eating the breakfast Ye Xinlan had made, Lin Nan returned to the study and found Xia Shiyang had also sent a file.

Opening it, two vivid comic characters appeared on the screen.

One had bangs just touching the eyebrows, a sharply defined and cool yet resolute face, youthful but tall and slender body, and especially bright eyes that shone with mysterious depth—black pupils that stirred endless imagination.

Lin Nan knew this was Junzi Yu, a 17-year-old prodigy.

He looked as if he had stepped straight out of a comic—indeed, he was the comic come to life.

The other figure was ethereal—a hazy silhouette that radiated a surreal aura, with naturally flowing shoulder-length hair, a delicate and exquisite figure, and a face of unearthly beauty.

Lin Nan knew this must be the intelligent life-form Starshine.

Indeed, she was not of this world.

Lin Nan immediately congratulated below: “Master Shi Yang, the great artist!”

Si Dong replied, “My Shi Yang is even better!”

Lin Nan then uploaded a file to the group: the first chapter of their story “A Glance Back Under the Starry Sky,” which he had conceived the previous night.

It chiefly portrayed the terrifying gray mist layer and Earth’s humanity living without sunlight.

The plot led to Junzilan’s laboratory being struck by a meteorite, featuring mainly the father and son Junzilan and Junzi Yu.

The entire first chapter aimed to explain the origin and formation of the gray mist layer.

After reading, Si Dong and Xia Shiyang agreed on Lin Nan’s storyline.

Now, the main task was to create the gray mist layer—Lin Nan took this on.

He already had an idea: collecting images of foggy weather, sandstorms, thunderstorms, and other harsh environments, then synthesizing their details to create a composite, which would be stylized into the gray mist layer in the comic.

However, after spending hours online gathering high-quality images, Lin Nan realized he didn’t know how to use Photoshop-like software, nor did he have any installed on his computer...

The pinnacle.