Black Tech - Super Empire Spanning Two Worlds #1-202
Author: 昭灵驷玉
Date: 2025-11-11T19:37:15+00:00

Chapter 1: The Setting of Expensive and Scarce Food in the Blue Star World

In the Blue Star world’s setting, the level of technology is far ahead of Earth’s. The scarcity and high cost of food on Blue Star are not simply a technological problem, but rather an artificial scarcity created by Blue Star’s ruling class to widen the material gap between the upper and lower classes (The reason the rulers do this can be found in Chapter Thirty-Three of the main text; I won’t go into too much detail here).

The rulers of Blue Star cruelly exploit the lower classes, so naturally, some people rise up to resist, rebel, and start revolutions. Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance, right? This is a plot sideline in the Blue Star world.

In the setting, since Blue Star has uprisings, revolutions, wars, and chaotic times, there will inevitably be the existence of “lawless zones” with lax enforcement. This setting will provide great convenience for the protagonist to transport large quantities of food to Blue Star in the future. After all, in chaotic times, no one pays that much attention, allowing the protagonist to fish in troubled waters.

In the setting, Blue Star’s technology far surpasses Earth’s. As someone from Earth, the protagonist needs his own unique advantage on Blue Star, which can also be understood as his “golden finger” in the Blue Star world.

I, the author, decided to tackle this from the “food” angle. The protagonist can easily obtain large amounts of cheap food on Earth, while food on Blue Star happens to be scarce and expensive. This becomes the protagonist’s golden finger and asymmetric advantage on Blue Star.

However, this setting gives rise to a new logical inconsistency that needs to be resolved. Since the Blue Star world is set to be technologically advanced far beyond Earth, in theory, there shouldn’t be a problem with food being scarce and expensive, especially since the Blue Star world has already mastered synthetic starch technology.

This is why the aforementioned setting exists: the rulers of Blue Star deliberately and artificially create food scarcity for their own vested interests and to exploit the lower classes.

This way, the explanation becomes coherent and logically self-consistent (To insist that this is unreasonable and illogical is just pure nitpicking and troublemaking. In the real world, the amount of food humanity produces has long been enough to meet the needs of the global population, yet hundreds of millions of people still face famine).

Some people might immediately wonder: why would the rulers of Blue Star do this? What is their reason for creating scarcity? Due to limited space, I won’t expand on it here. The answer is in the main text of Chapter Thirty-Three, and future updates will gradually flesh out the details of the setting.

In summary, because the Blue Star world is a fictional world, and the main plot is still on Earth, the Blue Star world serves as a sideline and supporting plot. The early chapters have limited space. Spending a huge amount of that space early on to introduce the background of the Blue Star world would severely slow down the story’s pace. Readers with less patience would just swipe away, and the probability of the new book’s performance flopping would skyrocket.

The early chapters will focus on advancing the plot. The background and worldview of Blue Star will be gradually fleshed out in future updates, so please don’t jump to conclusions.

For example, regarding the setting that Blue Star is highly technologically advanced yet food is scarce and expensive, I saw some people in the comment section who, after a quick glance or skimming, didn’t see the explanation. Then, without a second thought, they’d post a thread and start flaming: “Idiotic logic, it’s completely unreasonable, treating readers like fools,” and so on.

I, the author, couldn’t take it anymore, so I had to write this setting overview and put it in the supplementary section.

Sometimes, it’s quite frustrating. If I just speed up the pace from the beginning, without any foreshadowing or setup, the entire book would fall apart or have a rushed ending before the mid-point. But to write a long-running novel that doesn’t collapse, you must spend a certain amount of space on foreshadowing and setup. However, readers don’t have much patience, so they drop the book, and its performance suffers.

I, the author, will do my best to find a suitable balance. Everyone, please rest assured about this book; I will slowly write it to completion. Although the book’s performance is average at the moment, it’s higher than my personal expectations.

This book is primarily a commercial black technology novel. The main plot is on Earth, while Blue Star is a sideline that serves to enable the protagonist’s golden finger.

Once this book is finished, and the background of the Blue Star world is also complete, I will write a side story about the Blue Star world. Or, at that time, I might consult everyone’s opinions and start a new book about another protagonist’s story of growing up in the Blue Star world.

Chapter 2: First Arrival in the Blue Star World

“Why are food products in this world so expensive?” Xiao Yu was utterly shocked. He was currently in the marketplace of a small town called “Qingyang.”

But this wasn’t Earth. It was an unknown planet called Blue Star.

Two and a half hours ago, Xiao Yu had unexpectedly acquired a strange bracelet called the “Transference Star Ring,” which allowed him to travel freely between Earth and Blue Star.

Upon his first arrival on Blue Star, Xiao Yu wandered around the small town. Blue Star also had a human civilization, and they even used the same written and spoken language. This led Xiao Yu to initially surmise that it might be another Earth in a multiverse, just one that happened to be called Blue Star.

However, Blue Star was not a perfect parallel to Earth. The level of human technology here was clearly more advanced. Xiao Yu estimated it was at least five hundred years ahead of Earth, having surpassed the level of a Type I civilization, whereas Earth’s current technological level was at best Type 0.7.

Xiao Yu, this “alien,” silently wandered through the marketplace, observing. He quickly learned that the currency used here was called the “Star Yuan.” By comparing the prices of various products, Xiao Yu made a preliminary judgment about the purchasing power of the Star Yuan: one Star Yuan was roughly equivalent to 1.5 Chinese Yuan back home.

After wandering for a while, Xiao Yu discovered a severe price inversion here.

Food was incredibly expensive, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, which were practically luxury items. In contrast, other daily necessities and industrial goods were extremely cheap.

In truth, the high cost of food was an artificially manufactured scarcity, because hunger incites the most primal fear in people.

Blue Star’s level of technology and productivity far exceeded that of Earth. However, instead of using this advanced productivity to benefit all of humanity, the ruling elite of Blue Star exploited their technological advantage to fleece the masses. Through gene-editing technology, they had cut off the reproductive ability of all fresh fruits and vegetables sold on the market, preventing them from producing a next generation.

Even if people willingly risked planting the seeds from the produce they bought, it was futile. The reproductive isolation made it impossible for them to grow, thereby allowing for an absolute monopoly on all food products.

The lower classes of Blue Star could only just manage to survive on synthetically produced starch. They couldn’t afford to eat expensive fresh produce and meat more than a few times a year, only splurging on days of great commemorative significance.

To prevent the masses from rising up in rebellion, Blue Star’s ruling elites maintained precise control, keeping the lower classes on the line between subsistence and starvation. They couldn’t die of hunger, but they certainly couldn’t eat well. Moreover, they had to toil ceaselessly, for to stop meant to starve. So they couldn’t stop. If they stopped, how could the elites continue their exploitation? Who would toil to maintain their endless luxury and wealth?

On one hand, the ruling elites of Blue Star created suffering to widen the material gap between the upper and lower classes, enticing the masses to yearn for social mobility.

On the other hand, they sanctimoniously opened a so-called channel for advancement, allowing a few obedient and sycophantic individuals to climb up. This served to imply to the masses that people really could change their destiny through their own efforts. If you didn’t make it, it was because you weren’t trying hard enough. It’s alright, just keep trying, don’t give up; the channel for advancement is always open for you.

At this moment, Xiao Yu, new to Blue Star, had an extremely limited understanding of this world. Seeing the severely inverted prices, he couldn’t help but inwardly complain, “This is outrageous. One hundred grams of watermelon sells for 300 Star Yuan, and one hundred grams of banana for 280 Star Yuan. But a standard edition wearable holographic smart bracelet only costs 299 Star Yuan, and a flying motorcycle is just 2,000 Star Yuan…”

Using a rough conversion rate of 1 to 1.5, that was equivalent to half a kilogram of watermelon selling for 2,250 Chinese Yuan, and half a kilogram of bananas for 2,110 Chinese Yuan.

On Earth, half a kilogram of watermelon currently cost less than two yuan, and the wholesale price directly from the growers was just a few cents per half-kilogram.

In Xiao Yu’s eyes, the holographic smart bracelet was a bona fide piece of black technology, yet it was so cheap compared to food. Everyone on Blue Star had a holographic bracelet; it was a mobile communication device, equivalent to smartphones on Earth.

Xiao Yu couldn’t understand why fruits, vegetables, and meat, so readily available on Earth, were so expensive here on Blue Star. With food prices this high, how did the common folk here survive?

But he didn’t dwell on it for too long. Xiao Yu was currently thrilled, for he realized that with his ability to travel freely between Earth and Blue Star, he could solve the crisis his company was facing.

“If I bring some fruits, vegetables, and grain from Earth to Blue Star to exchange for Star Yuan, and then use the Star Yuan to purchase high-tech products here to bring back to Earth, PrismTech can easily break free from the shackles of capital…” Xiao Yu thought to himself, growing more and more excited.

PrismTech was the high-tech company Xiao Yu had founded. He had demonstrated a remarkable talent for technological development from a young age, starting the company when he was only twenty-two.

In its early stages, the company started by manufacturing precision components and became a supplier for mobile phone manufacturers. As the company grew, its business scope gradually expanded to include semiconductor displays, new materials, micro- and nano-optical devices, and robotics and automation equipment.

During the startup phase, in order to obtain sufficient funds for research and development, Xiao Yu, like most entrepreneurs, sought financing from all quarters.

He successfully caught the eye of investors, but they demanded he sign a high-stakes performance agreement, or they wouldn’t invest. The agreement required PrismTech to go public within five years of the investment, as an IPO was the only way for the investors to maximize their returns.

Furthermore, the agreement stipulated that after a successful IPO, PrismTech’s market capitalization had to reach 26.5 billion within the following three years.

Xiao Yu signed the agreement because he had confidence in himself and his company.

Three years later, when Xiao Yu was twenty-five, PrismTech successfully went public through a backdoor listing on the A-share market’s Growth Enterprise Market. Such an achievement at his age was rare, and for a time, he was bathed in glory.

But the good times didn’t last. A year and a half after the IPO, the company’s market cap peaked at 15.5 billion before taking a sharp downturn. There was nothing wrong with the company itself; its performance was steadily improving, yet its stock price kept falling relentlessly.

At first, Xiao Yu thought the stock’s fluctuations were normal market volatility, but he gradually realized it was being maliciously shorted.

This year, the slow-to-realize Xiao Yu finally understood that the investors had ill intentions and had been secretly setting a trap for him back when he sought financing six years ago. Xiao Yu was only twenty-two at the time, too young and inexperienced. Furthermore, he had poured almost all his energy into technological research and product refinement, never noticing the scheme the investors were weaving in the shadows.

Now, with about half a year left on the agreement’s deadline, PrismTech’s market capitalization was only 3.7 billion, a far cry from the 26.5 billion target. It needed to increase more than sixfold, which was practically impossible.

Xiao Yu had already given up hope and was even planning for the worst-case scenario.

But today, he had unexpectedly obtained the “Transference Star Ring” and arrived in the world of Blue Star. Although he couldn’t comprehend this miraculous encounter, the reality was undeniable—he was standing on Blue Star right now.

Most importantly, Xiao Yu was now almost certain that Blue Star’s technological level was centuries ahead of Earth’s, and he could travel back and forth between the two worlds using the Transference Star Ring.

He could bring Blue Star’s black technology to Earth. This heaven-defying advantage reignited Xiao Yu’s confidence, and it was stronger than ever before.

Right now, Xiao Yu’s mind was filled with thoughts of how to retaliate against the investors who had set him up. He couldn’t swallow this insult. He wouldn’t be able to rest easy until he evened the score; it would be a waste of the heaven-defying fortune of receiving the Transference Star Ring.

“You took advantage of the trust I placed in you back then to dig a pit for me, hoping to devour me whole and kick me to the curb. Now I’m going to make you bleed and force you out!” Xiao Yu had already made up his mind to turn the tables on them and fight back.

Pushing these thoughts aside for the moment, Xiao Yu scanned the marketplace before him and thought, “First, I need to find a way to get some Star Yuan. Chinese Yuan is useless here on Blue Star.”

He was new to this world and knew very little about it so far.

The locals spoke the same language and used the same writing system as him, and even their ethnicity and skin color were the same. This eliminated any communication barriers, greatly reducing the cost for Xiao Yu to understand and quietly integrate into this world.

Obviously, Xiao Yu knew that his understanding of Blue Star wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg, but he wasn’t in a hurry. He would figure things out eventually.

With a plan in mind, Xiao Yu walked straight toward a luxuriously decorated, high-end fruit shop. Seeing a clerk approach him, Xiao Yu spoke first. “Hello, do you purchase fruit here?”

“Sir, are you saying you have fruit to sell?” the clerk couldn’t help but ask.

Xiao Yu nodded. He had already composed his words. “I have a shipment of goods—watermelons. If your shop is interested, we can cooperate.”

He planned to go back to Earth and bring over some watermelons. The supermarkets there were full of them.

Hearing this and seeing that Xiao Yu didn’t seem to be joking, the clerk replied, “Please wait a moment, sir. I’ll talk to my boss. By the way, may I have your surname?”

Xiao Yu replied politely, “My surname is Xiao.”

The clerk smiled. “Alright, Mr. Xiao. Please wait a moment.”

As the clerk went to fetch his boss, Xiao Yu made some calculations. He decided to start with just ten or fifteen kilograms, not too much, just enough to cash out a few tens of thousands of Star Yuan.

Xiao Yu had no idea why food like fruits and vegetables were so expensive on Blue Star, but for him, this was a great thing, as they were easily obtainable in large quantities back on Earth.

After a short wait, Xiao Yu saw a middle-aged man walking toward him. This must be the shop’s owner.

The middle-aged man smiled and gestured with his hand. “Mr. Xiao, please, let’s talk in private.”

…

Chapter 3: Excellent, This Melon is of Superb Quality

Xiao Yu followed the other man into a reception room. The middle-aged man got straight to the point, “My surname is Liu. My employee told me that you have a batch of watermelons to sell, Mr. Xiao? What’s the quantity?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled and replied calmly, “Not much, just around two hundred and fifty kilograms.”

In reality, he only planned to sell ten or fifteen kilograms, but he said this for a reason.

Xiao Yu was well aware that he was an “unregistered person” on Blue Star. He had no legal identity in this world, so he could only accept cash. The Star Yuan currency did have paper notes, and he had previously seen some people at the trading market using cash, though more than ninety percent of transactions were done via online payment.

Accepting cash presented another problem: Xiao Yu couldn’t tell if the Star Yuan bills were real or fake. Even if he held genuine ones, he wouldn’t be able to confirm it, as he had no idea what real Star Yuan currency looked like. If the shop owner tried to pass off some counterfeit money, he would be completely unable to tell the difference.

If he unknowingly used counterfeit bills and got caught, the subsequent interrogation by law enforcement would be a huge problem.

To ensure the cash he received was real, Xiao Yu’s plan was to deliberately claim he had several hundred kilograms of goods. Then, he would bring ten or fifteen kilograms for the other party to inspect. If this Mr. Liu wanted to buy the rest of the shipment, he would certainly not risk the deal by using counterfeit money for the first small transaction.

The current Xiao Yu was much more mature and steady, no longer the naive young man from six years ago. He was shrewd about everything, always playing it safe.

At that moment, when Mr. Liu heard Xiao Yu had two hundred and fifty kilograms of watermelon, he couldn’t help but be taken aback. “What? Two hundred and fifty kilograms? Do you really have that much?”

With a confident smile, Xiao Yu affirmed, “Of course. I wonder if you’re interested in purchasing them, Mr. Liu?”

“Yes, of course, I am.” Mr. Liu’s reply was firm and immediate. Then, filled with curiosity, he asked, “It’s just that, Mr. Xiao, with such a large quantity of goods, how did you…”

Mr. Liu stopped abruptly mid-sentence and changed the subject. “My apologies, I almost forgot the rules of the trade. You don’t ask where heroes come from, and you don’t ask where goods come from. My apologies.”

Uh…

Xiao Yu was slightly stunned. There was such a rule? Could this business actually be risky?

But on second thought, Xiao Yu seemed to understand. He was habitually judging things on Blue Star using the mindset he had on Earth, which was obviously not applicable here.

Since food items like fruits, vegetables, and grains were rare and expensive on Blue Star, the business must be highly profitable, perhaps even outrageously so. A holographic wristband cost 299 Star Yuan, yet one hundred grams of watermelon could sell for the absurd price of 300 Star Yuan. The profit margins were definitely enormous, and the business was surely more complicated than it seemed.

Xiao Yu secretly figured that Mr. Liu probably assumed he had obtained this batch of goods through some grey channel and was looking to cash out quickly at his shop.

However, Xiao Yu didn’t point this out. “Alright, how about I have someone bring a couple of melons over for you to take a look at first, Mr. Liu?”

Mr. Liu nodded cheerfully and said with a smile, “No problem.”

Having reached an agreement, Xiao Yu exchanged a few pleasantries with him and then took his leave. After leaving the shop, he deliberately wandered around for a while to make sure no one was following him. Then, Xiao Yu entered a public restroom in the trading market and went into the farthest stall.

After confirming that the other stalls were empty, Xiao Yu raised his wrist. He now understood how to use the Transference Star Ring.

A holographic panel materialized on the star ring on his wrist. Xiao Yu selected the teleportation coordinates on the panel, which were, of course, his own bedroom at his home on Earth.

The star ring’s teleportation had two characteristics, or rather, limitations.

One was that Xiao Yu could only teleport to places he had already been. The star ring would record and “light up” these locations, adding them to its history of coordinates, allowing for direct point-to-point teleportation later. He could not teleport to a place he had never visited.

The other was that it could only perform cross-world teleportation between any two points on Earth and Blue Star. It could not teleport between any two locations on the same planet.

For example, while on Earth, he couldn’t teleport from Asia to America because both coordinates were on Earth. The same logic applied to Blue Star.

He could actually exploit a loophole. For instance, if he was in Asia and wanted to go to America, he could first teleport from Asia to Blue Star, and then from Blue Star to America—provided, of course, that he had already been to America to light up the coordinates.

However, unless absolutely necessary, Xiao Yu wouldn’t exploit this loophole. Suddenly appearing in America after being in Asia could leave traces. If someone discovered he had been in two distant places in such a short time, it would be impossible to explain with Earth’s laws of physics. That would be troublesome. If he were consequently targeted and investigated, his secret of the Transference Star Ring might be exposed.

At this moment, Xiao Yu confirmed the specific teleportation coordinates. The holographic projection displayed a virtual ring-like structure. He grabbed the virtual structure with his other hand and flung it forward.

As the virtual ring was thrown, it expanded proportionally and gradually solidified. The space within the ring distorted, and then a clear, familiar scene appeared: Xiao Yu could see his bedroom at home on Earth.

Without much hesitation, he stepped through the transference stargate. Xiao Yu returned to the bedroom of his villa on Earth, then operated the star ring’s holographic panel to close it. The stargate rapidly contracted, shrinking until it became a single point and vanished, and the space returned to normal.

“I need to go to the supermarket and buy two melons…” Xiao Yu thought for a moment and decided to go himself. He went out and headed straight for a nearby supermarket to buy two watermelons to take to Blue Star and cash in for some Star Yuan.

On Earth, the city Xiao Yu currently resided in was called Linzhou City.

The current market price for watermelon in the city was 1.63 yuan per half-kilogram. At the supermarket, Xiao Yu picked out two large melons. One weighed 6.3 kilograms, and the other 5.7 kilograms, for a total of twelve kilograms. They cost him about 39 yuan in total.

Xiao Yu carried the two large watermelons home, then repackaged them in a bag that didn’t have any distinctive logos from Earth.

Once that was done, he immediately opened the transference stargate again. Carrying the two watermelons, Xiao Yu arrived back in the world of Blue Star, appearing right in the public restroom of the Qingyang Town trading market.

Xiao Yu emerged from the stall and walked out of the restroom as if nothing had happened, heading straight for the fruit shop.

A short while later, Xiao Yu arrived at the exquisitely decorated, high-end fruit shop and had an employee notify the owner.

Mr. Liu was quite surprised that Xiao Yu had returned so quickly.

“I had someone bring over two melons. Mr. Liu, take a look and see if you’re satisfied with the goods,” Xiao Yu said with a smile as he saw Mr. Liu come out.

There were no other customers in the shop at the time. Mr. Liu was astonished when he saw the two large melons Xiao Yu was carrying and took them with great care.

Seeing Mr. Liu’s reaction, Xiao Yu thought about how the two melons had cost him less than 40 yuan back on Earth, and he suddenly felt a comical sense of contrast. However, he maintained a perfect poker face, and no one could guess what he was thinking.

This was Blue Star, a world where products like fruits, vegetables, and meat were expensive luxuries. Xiao Yu could understand Mr. Liu’s cautiousness.

A moment later, Mr. Liu had an employee bring over an instrument Xiao Yu didn’t recognize and scan the two watermelons.

“Excellent, absolutely excellent. The quality of these melons is superb.” Mr. Liu’s eyes lit up as he looked at the scan results.

Mr. Liu was astounded. These two large watermelons were far better than the stock he usually sourced. Because such high-end food sold effortlessly and had high-profit margins, he had to practically beg and plead just to get a larger quota when he went to procure them.

“Mr. Xiao, I’m an honest man. This batch of yours is of exceptional quality. An ordinary watermelon sells for 300 Star Yuan per one hundred grams, but yours could easily sell for 350,” Mr. Liu said, turning to Xiao Yu.

“How about this? I’ll use 350 Star Yuan as the base price and purchase them from you at eighty percent of that, which is 280 Star Yuan per one hundred grams. I’ll make a twenty-percent margin, and after accounting for store and other costs, I’ll only be making an eight-percent profit. What do you think of this price?”

People who start a proposal with “I’m an honest man” are often not very honest, but Mr. Liu obviously had no idea that Xiao Yu could obtain watermelons with such ease.

“Alright, let’s go with that price.” Xiao Yu nodded readily. He had no intention of haggling with him, because watermelons were readily available to him back on Earth.

Although Xiao Yu had been screwed over by capitalists before, he was still the boss of a publicly listed company. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say he could get as much as he wanted; a few hundred or even a few thousand tons would be a piece of cake. There was no need to haggle with this person here.

…

Chapter 4: The First Transaction

Based on the purchasing power of one Star Yuan being equivalent to 1.5 Chinese Yuan, the price of one jin of watermelon on Blue Star was tantamount to 2,100 Yuan. In comparison, Xiao Yu’s cost on Earth was just 1.63 Yuan per jin—a staggering 1,288-fold difference.

Forget the purchase price of 280 Star Yuan per 100 grams; Xiao Yu would have gladly accepted 280 Star Yuan per jin.

“Mr. Xiao, you truly are a man of big business—so decisive!” Mr. Liu was overjoyed. He had expected Xiao Yu to haggle but was surprised when he accepted the price outright.

Remembering that Xiao Yu still had a stock of five hundred jin, Mr. Liu quickly asked, “Mr. Xiao, when can we trade for the rest of your goods?”

“There’s no rush. Most of the goods aren’t here in Qingyang. I’ll contact you, Mr. Liu, when the time comes, and you can send someone to pick them up. I won’t be taking these two melons back with me, so you can have them now. Oh, and I’d like to be paid in cash, if you don’t mind,” Xiao Yu said with a calm smile.

Seeing him return so quickly, Mr. Liu had assumed the goods were already in Qingyang. But since Xiao Yu had said otherwise, he couldn’t press the matter and simply nodded with a smile. “Alright, no problem. Please wait a moment.”

He then went to get the money. At the agreed price of 280 Star Yuan per 100 grams, or 1,400 Star Yuan per jin, the two large watermelons Xiao Yu brought totaled 24 jin, coming to 33,600 Star Yuan.

A moment later, Mr. Liu returned with the cash and handed it to Xiao Yu. In total, there were thirty-nine Star Yuan bills: thirty-three in 1,000-denominations and six in 100-denominations.

Having 1,000-denomination bills was nice; they fit easily into his pocket.

Xiao Yu counted the money, put it in his pocket, and smiled. “Well, Mr. Liu, I won’t keep you from your business any longer. Goodbye.”

Mr. Liu also smiled pleasantly. “Take care, Mr. Xiao.”

With cash exchanged for goods, the transaction was complete. Xiao Yu walked out of the store.

After walking a safe distance away to a deserted corner, he took the money out again and felt each bill. The thirty-three 1,000-denomination Star Yuan notes all had the same texture, as did the six 100-denomination notes.

Xiao Yu was finally relieved. Since they all felt the same, they were either all counterfeit or all real.

Obviously, the Star Yuan in his hand had to be real, unless Mr. Liu had no interest in the supposed five hundred jin of goods to come—a potential transaction worth 700,000 Star Yuan.

Quite satisfied, Xiao Yu put the money back in his pocket. While he couldn’t spend Star Yuan on Earth, he could spend it here on Blue Star.

He had just passed a clothing store with a ‘help wanted’ sign for a salesclerk, and the listed salary gave Xiao Yu a reference point for the income level of the common people here.

The advertised salary for the salesclerk position was between 2,500 and 3,000 Star Yuan.

In other words, the money Xiao Yu made by buying two watermelons on Earth for less than 40 Yuan and then cashing out here was equivalent to about a year’s income for an ordinary person on Blue Star.

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but marvel at the exorbitant profit. No wonder there was an unwritten rule: “You don’t ask where heroes come from, and you don’t ask where goods come from.”

“Huh? They’ve even achieved large-scale production of synthetic starch here on Blue Star?” Xiao Yu mused while wandering through the trade market. He saw a storefront to his left that sold only starch. The price sign indicated it was industrial starch, artificially synthesized from carbon dioxide.

On Earth, synthetic starch technology was still confined to the laboratory—a significant technological breakthrough in itself. As for large-scale industrial production, that was still a distant dream.

But considering Blue Star’s technology was far more advanced than Earth’s, Xiao Yu wasn’t too surprised.

He glanced at the price of the industrial synthetic starch: 30 Star Yuan per 100 grams.

“Food-related products are not cheap in the world of Blue Star, but with synthetic starch available, why is food still so scarce?” Xiao Yu still found the price a bit outrageous. One jin of synthetic starch cost 150 Star Yuan. It might seem cheaper than fruit and other foods, but Xiao Yu realized that if this was the daily staple for the locals, it was incredibly expensive.

Based on the daily starch intake for an adult, the cost for starch alone would be around 900 to 1,000 Star Yuan per month.

Xiao Yu visited a few more stores selling food-related products and came to a startling conclusion. Assuming an income of 3,000 Star Yuan per month for the common working-class person, the people here spent 60% to 65% of their income on food—and that was just to have enough to eat, not to eat well.

Back on Earth, the proportion of income spent on food by his countrymen was also significant, but it was completely different. That was because they were big foodies, spending more to eat well as a form of consumption. Therefore, Engel’s coefficient wasn’t entirely applicable back home.

“Doesn’t that mean the Engel’s coefficient here on Blue Star, or at least in this place, is as high as 0.6 to 0.65?” Xiao Yu calculated mentally as he walked, shocked by the thought.

By Earth’s standards, an Engel’s coefficient of 0.6 indicated a standard of living at the poverty level, while the 0.5 to 0.6 range merely meant subsistence.

Xiao Yu muttered to himself in confusion, “This is truly paradoxical. This world’s technology is so much more advanced than Earth’s, yet the common people here can barely achieve subsistence. With industrial synthetic starch being mass-produced, staple foods shouldn’t be an issue at all. How did it come to this? Could it be that food scarcity is being artificially created?”

This counter-intuitive and illogical situation baffled Xiao Yu and piqued his interest. For now, however, he didn’t plan to investigate further. He hadn’t forgotten the pressing deadline of his high-stakes performance agreement with the investors. That problem had to be solved first.

With the god-like ability to travel freely between Earth and Blue Star, Xiao Yu knew that back on Earth, he essentially had the entire technological might of Blue Star as his backing. He could easily register a new company and toss PrismTech aside without any major consequences. The new company would undoubtedly rise quickly.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with doing that, but Xiao Yu had no intention of it. That was a separate issue. He couldn’t just swallow his pride and run away after being so thoroughly humiliated.

It wasn’t just about that. Xiao Yu also realized that if he gave in so easily, what guarantee was there that a new company he started from scratch wouldn’t be coveted by others again?

“Seek peace through struggle, and peace will last; seek peace through compromise, and peace will perish.” This saying was just as applicable in the world of business.

Xiao Yu had already made up his mind. This time, he would make those investors lose miserably.

After a moment of thought, Xiao Yu decided, “First, I need to rent a place here. That way, I won’t be seen when I open the teleportation Star Gate to travel back and forth to Earth.”

Previously, he had always chosen coordinates inside restrooms for his travels, as they were unlikely to have surveillance cameras. Still, there was always a risk of being walked in on. Renting a house on Blue Star would eliminate that risk when teleporting between Earth and Blue Star.

“I wonder if I can rent a place without identity registration. I’ll go look around first…” Xiao Yu thought to himself. Sooner or later, he would have to find a way to get a legal identity on Blue Star. Being an unregistered person was very inconvenient and could lead to unpredictable trouble and potential risks.

…

Chapter 5: Even Breathing Air Costs Money

Before he decided to spend money on renting a place, Xiao Yu’s first purchase on Blue Star was a breathing mask. Without one, he couldn’t leave this trading market because the outside air on Blue Star was no longer directly breathable.

In fact, Xiao Yu had already noticed that this trading market was a completely enclosed, standalone building, isolated from the outdoors.

Furthermore, almost every passerby inside the trading market had a breathing mask and an air canister hanging from their waist. Through the market’s transparent partition walls, Xiao Yu could also see that the pedestrians walking outside were all wearing breathing masks.

Why was it like this? Xiao Yu’s mind was still full of questions, but he could only suppress them for now. Once he had dealt with his affairs back on Earth, he would systematically explore and understand the situation on Blue Star.

“Good thing I’m still inside the trading market…” After wandering around for a bit, Xiao Yu found a shop that sold respirators.

Xiao Yu entered the shop and chose a breathing mask. After looking at the instruction manual, he quickly understood how to use it. He then said to the shopkeeper, “Boss, I’ll take this one. And fill it up with oxygen for me.”

“Alright. The breathing mask is 88 Star Yuan, and a full tank of oxygen is 5 Star Yuan. That’s 93 Star Yuan in total,” the shopkeeper said.

Xiao Yu took a 100-denomination bill from his pocket and handed it to the shopkeeper. The latter gave Xiao Yu 7 Star Yuan in change and then took the air canister to pressurize and fill it with oxygen.

Once that was done, Xiao Yu left the shop and found the exit to the trading market. Many people who were about to leave had put on their breathing masks, and Xiao Yu put on the one he had just bought as well.

The front was a curved structure made of a transparent material, allowing others to clearly see the wearer’s facial features even with the mask on.

“It’s actually a smart screen?” Xiao Yu was secretly startled to see some data displayed before his eyes. This display material was clearly more advanced than Earth’s. At such a close distance, the breathing mask was like a near-eye display.

Xiao Yu immediately grew interested in this material. A core part of his company, PrismTech, was semiconductor displays—that is, making display screens, including mobile phone screens, computer monitors, and so on. PrismTech was even a supplier for several mobile phone manufacturers, though not any of the major ones, of course.

At that moment, Xiao Yu followed the other locals into an airlock chamber. Then, the door on the other side opened, and he walked out of the trading market with the crowd, stepping into the outdoors.

Data on the outdoor atmospheric composition quickly appeared on the mask’s display. Xiao Yu couldn’t help but mutter, “Nitrogen 76.88%… Oxygen 16.87%… Carbon dioxide 1.89%… Argon 0.95%… Hmm? Wait, did I read that carbon dioxide concentration correctly?”

Just then, Xiao Yu’s attention fixated on the carbon dioxide level. He confirmed again that he hadn’t misread it—it was indeed 1.89%.

“How can the carbon dioxide level in Blue Star’s atmosphere be so absurd?” Xiao Yu was astonished. He remembered that the ‘red line’ for CO2 on his home planet, Earth, which was crossed in 2019, was only 0.041%. The carbon dioxide concentration in Blue Star’s atmosphere was a staggering 46 times that of Earth.

“No wonder everyone needs a breathing mask,” Xiao Yu realized with a start. An atmospheric carbon dioxide level of 0.2% was enough to cause breathing difficulties for sensitive individuals. If that was increased fivefold, even the strongest person would suffer from carbon dioxide poisoning.

With such a high concentration of carbon dioxide in Blue Star’s atmosphere, a person could only last for about ten to fifteen minutes at most. Failure to escape such an environment in time would lead to the risk of shock and even death.

“In this world, even breathing air costs money…” Xiao Yu shook his head with a wry smile.

About half an hour later, Xiao Yu found a place in this town and successfully rented it. Normally, identity registration was required, but Xiao Yu managed to smooth things over with the landlord using Star Yuan.

Paving the way with money worked just as well in the world of Blue Star.

The apartment Xiao Yu rented was fully furnished and ready for immediate move-in. Afterward, he went out again, returning to the trading market to buy a number of products and materials. He came back to his newly rented place carrying a full bag.

“Any one of these products would cause a huge sensation if brought to Earth.” Xiao Yu laid out all the things he had bought on the table, feeling a surge of excitement as he looked at them.

After a moment, Xiao Yu picked up one of the exquisite boxes and took out the product inside.

It was a smart holographic wristband, a wearable intelligent communication device. Its function and market position were similar to a smartphone on Earth, but without a doubt, the holographic wristband would be considered black technology on Earth, decades or even a hundred years ahead of its time.

“Incredible. So many precision components integrated into a ring-like structure the size of a bracelet…” Xiao Yu was deeply astounded as he examined the holographic wristband. As someone involved in tech R&D himself, the impact was even greater. How high must the chip integration be? And how does it dissipate heat? What’s the battery’s energy density? A host of technical questions immediately popped into his mind.

The model of the holographic smart wristband in Xiao Yu’s hand was the “Matte Silver” style. He had bought the flagship version for 399 Star Yuan at a local specialty store; the standard version was 299 Star Yuan.

At that moment, Xiao Yu compared the newly bought holographic smart wristband with the Transference Star Ring he wore on his left wrist.

They were about the same size, but the difference was that the surface of the Transference Star Ring was exceptionally smooth—impossibly so. A single glance gave the intuitive impression that the Transference Star Ring was far more advanced.

To this day, Xiao Yu still had no idea where the Transference Star Ring came from. He had simply woken up to find this strange ring on his wrist, and it was impossible to take off.

Xiao Yu guessed that the ring was likely a product of some high-level civilization, definitely not a natural formation. Its powerful abilities were already beyond his comprehension, so he could only assume it was created by some god-tier civilization.

Although the technology of Blue Star was far beyond Earth’s, it was still fundamentally within the scope of Xiao Yu’s understanding, operating under the same framework of physical laws. The Transference Star Ring, however, had clearly transcended his knowledge of science and technology.

Looking again at the newly bought holographic wristband, he saw a 3.5-millimeter-diameter, camera-like aperture on the surface of the outer ring. The holographic image was projected outward from this spot.

Xiao Yu already knew how to operate it. The learning curve was incredibly low; basically, anyone who could use a smartphone could easily master the holographic wristband. The only difference was the interaction method. A smartphone used touch interaction on a physical screen, while the holographic wristband used touch interaction on a virtual panel.

Just then, a two-dimensional holographic panel materialized above the camera-like aperture.

Xiao Yu tried it out. The panel’s size could be adjusted at will. All he had to do was touch the holographic screen and then pinch-to-zoom, just like resizing a picture on a smartphone, to change the size of the holographic panel.

Right now, Xiao Yu had enlarged the holographic panel to about 12 inches. He swiped across the two-dimensional desktop and tapped on a few applications.

“Whoa, there’s a three-dimensional desktop mode?” Xiao Yu was slightly surprised. He switched to the 3D desktop mode, and each application icon became three-dimensional. As he experienced it, he couldn’t help but murmur to himself, “If this product were released on Earth, it would be in direct competition with smartphones. It would absolutely crush every single smartphone brand…”

…

Chapter 6: New Materials are the Perfect Starting Point

Xiao Yu played with the holographic wristband for a while before placing it back on the table. He stared at the numerous tech products on the desk. “The technology in these products is far beyond Earth’s current level. I can’t just mindlessly take them back. It would be impossible to explain…”

Just the holographic wristband alone involved countless high-end technology industry chains.

Clearly, the safest strategy was to consider Earth’s current technological level and first introduce technologies that were about a decade ahead. As long as they were plausible within Earth’s current tech framework, no one would be suspicious. They would only marvel at his powerful innovative capabilities.

If he suddenly produced something decades or even a century ahead, it would be inexplicable.

Take the holographic wristband, for example. Disassembling it would likely reveal thousands of processes involving multiple industries. It required a series of technological breakthroughs in materials, information technology, communications, AI, optics, semiconductors, displays, and more to create such a terminal device.

The people on Earth weren’t fools. If he rashly launched the holographic wristband, they could take it apart and analyze it, quickly concluding that Earth’s current technological framework was incapable of supporting such an advanced device. It simply wasn’t a product of this era.

It was like taking a modern smartphone back one hundred years ago; the technological system of that time on Earth couldn’t possibly produce it.

Evidently, only when all the core supporting technologies were in place, with a complete tech tree evolving into an industrial system, would the launch of the holographic wristband be a natural progression. The entire technological development path would be traceable.

To put it bluntly, bringing overly futuristic technology to Earth was extremely risky for Xiao Yu, and he knew it. He didn’t want anyone to discover his strange ability to travel freely between Earth and Blue Star. Moreover, the Transference Star Ring on his wrist was impossible to remove; Xiao Yu suspected it had bonded with him.

That made it even more imperative not to expose this secret. The consequences would be unpredictable, and Xiao Yu was 99.99% certain that exposure would bring him disaster.

“Establishing an entire tech system from the ground up, one foundational technology at a time, is the safest way. It makes the technological iteration and development traceable.” Xiao Yu nodded to himself. After a moment of thought, an idea began to form. “Starting with new materials is the perfect approach!”

Xiao Yu immediately thought of PrismTech, the company he founded on Earth, which manufactured display screens. Starting in that field was the most appropriate course of action.

“Blue Star has already mastered the ability to mass-produce ultra-high-purity graphene materials. In fact, over here, graphene is already an outdated technology. I’ll start with graphene. That’s the best way.” Xiao Yu made his decision instantly.

Graphene was not a new concept on Earth. It could already be produced, but it was expensive and difficult to mass-produce, especially ultra-high-purity graphene, which had a very low yield ratio.

But on Blue Star, any random factory could manufacture it. It was an obsolete product. Blue Star had long since phased out transparent screens because the proliferation of holographic technology made screens unnecessary. They were only used in a few special products, like respiratory masks.

On Earth, however, graphene was still a cutting-edge material with a wide range of applications. For instance, if used in smartphone screens, it would allow for under-display cameras, achieving a true full-screen display.

One of the major pain points for smartphones on Earth right now was that current display screens couldn’t hide the front-facing camera underneath them. The screen’s light transmittance was too low, affecting the camera’s imaging quality, thus making a truly full-screen phone impossible to design.

Because of this, current phones had either notch or punch-hole screens. The so-called pop-up front cameras were merely compromised solutions that could never become mainstream.

Graphene, on the other hand, had a light transmittance of 98%, even higher than the most transparent glass. A phone display made from graphene could completely hide the camera beneath the screen, achieving a true full-screen display. It would be a complete farewell to notch and punch-hole phones, leaving the entire screen pristine—a godsend for anyone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

And this was just one application of graphene. There were countless other fields it could be used in. The key issue was that Earth’s current technology level couldn’t mass-produce it.

“Whoa, the technology for mass-producing graphene is available right on the internet?” Xiao Yu was surfing Blue Star’s internet with his holographic wristband. He searched for information on graphene and was surprised to find detailed tutorials online.

On Blue Star, graphene was actually classified as a low-end manufacturing material. The production technology was completely public, with no technical barriers whatsoever. As long as you had the money to invest in a factory and purchase some equipment, you could start production immediately. You didn’t even need a production license.

This was incredibly exciting for Xiao Yu. He immediately copied and downloaded all the technical data related to graphene onto his holographic wristband, planning to study it offline when he returned. The industrial equipment for manufacturing graphene also had no technical barriers, so he downloaded the complete set of data for the mass-production technology as well.

Xiao Yu planned to download the data to study it thoroughly. He couldn’t stay on Blue Star forever; he had to return to his home on Earth. But once he was back on Earth and the teleportation Star Gate was closed, the holographic wristband would surely lose its connection to Blue Star’s internet. With the files downloaded, he could view them in offline mode.

After downloading the complete set of data, Xiao Yu opened the teleportation Star Gate and returned to his bedroom on Earth. He only brought the holographic wristband with him, leaving everything else in his rented apartment on Blue Star.

The items he had bought were commonplace on Blue Star, but on Earth, they were certifiable black technology. If they were stolen, it would be a huge problem.

Although the probability was minuscule, it was always better to be safe than sorry.

Xiao Yu walked out of his bedroom, strolled through the villa’s living room, and then went to another room. A middle-aged man of fifty-six was sitting at a desk, tallying household expenses.

“Uncle Qin, don’t let anyone disturb me for the next few days.” Xiao Yu stood at the doorway, glancing at the man in the room. The latter put down what he was doing, looked up at Xiao Yu, and replied, “Alright.”

Xiao Yu nodded without another word and turned back to his bedroom to study the data he had downloaded to the holographic wristband.

This middle-aged man, named Qin Yue, was the private butler Xiao Yu had hired. He was responsible for handling daily household chores, meal arrangements, schedule management, receiving guests, travel arrangements, and other such matters.

Back on Earth, Xiao Yu was still the head and founder of a publicly listed company. He naturally lived in a luxurious villa. No matter how much his company’s stock price plummeted, he was still a distinguished young entrepreneur worth over a hundred million.

There weren’t many young people who could take a company they founded public by the age of twenty-five.

If he failed the high-stakes performance agreement with his investors, and PrismTech couldn’t reach the target market capitalization of twenty-six point five billion within three years of its IPO, a series of punitive clauses in the agreement would be triggered.

However, as long as the company’s market cap touched the threshold of twenty-six point five billion, it didn’t need to stay there for long. The agreement only stipulated that the stock price had to reach that level. Once it did, Xiao Yu would have fulfilled the agreement and could break the deadlock.

As long as the price went up, even if the market cap was halved later, the investors could still exit their positions with a massive profit. Besides, when they decided to pull out, they would surely create hype to drive up the stock price, luring retail investors to buy in and take over, even getting some fund managers to use their investors’ money to buy at a high price.

Currently, PrismTech’s market capitalization had fallen to three point seven billion, and its stock price was still bleeding slowly. The investors seemed to be taking a big loss, but if they could oust Xiao Yu, the founder, and take complete control of PrismTech, they could earn even more.

In short, from the investors’ standpoint, they wouldn’t lose in either scenario.

In his bedroom, Xiao Yu was looking at the information displayed on the holographic wristband’s panel while holding his phone to his other ear. “Suqing, I’ve got a case here. Is your team interested? Thirty million whether you succeed or not, with an extra three hundred and fifty million if you do. What do you say?”

Xiao Yu was contacting an old high school classmate, Wen Suqing. She was now a lawyer with a remarkable track record.

This time, Xiao Yu had decided to fight his investors. Naturally, he needed to consult with a professional to strategize before making a move. Wen Suqing was not only excellent at her job, but she also moved in the Capital’s circles, so her connections went without saying. Coupled with the fact that they were former classmates, Xiao Yu weighed his options and was certain she was the best person for the job.

After this was over, Xiao Yu had already decided that in the future, his company must spend whatever it took to maintain a professional legal team.

On the other end of the line, Wen Suqing said in surprise, “Such a large sum? What kind of case is this?”

Xiao Yu smiled. “It’s a bit complicated, and I can’t explain it properly over the phone in just a few words. If you’re interested, come to Linzhou. We can discuss it in person.”

A moment later, Wen Suqing’s voice came through the phone. “A case this big, coming directly from you—an old classmate, no less. I can’t possibly refuse. See you in three days.”

…

Chapter 7: A Two-Way Trade is a Guaranteed “Win-Win”—You Win Twice

Xiao Yu hung up and made another call.

“Chairman.” A voice came through as soon as the call connected. It was Xiao Yu’s assistant, Yun Shu, who was at the office. Xiao Yu gave his instructions directly: “Compile a document on the company’s top-level design and deliver it to my house on Friday morning.”

“Understood, Chairman. Any other instructions?” Yun Shu asked.

“That’s all.” Xiao Yu hung up. Having arranged these matters, he once again immersed himself in the schematics for the all-system wristband and the methods for mass-producing graphene. As his systematic study and understanding deepened, he had a sudden realization.

Only by mastering the theoretical technology for mass-producing graphene could he shuttle cheaper graphene from Blue Star to Earth without any worries. Having a sword and not using it was different from not having a sword at all; this was a fallback strategy for the worst-case scenario.

In the initial phase, Xiao Yu had no intention of actually mass-producing on Earth, let alone applying for any patents. Only a fool would do that.

A truly monopolistic technology would never be patented. Applying would require disclosing numerous details, allowing others to replicate it in secret. By not applying for a patent, he wouldn’t have intellectual property protection, but that didn’t matter. As long as he was confident that he was the only one who could produce it, there was no need for a patent.

Moreover, this would provide excellent cover. Xiao Yu’s plan was to set up a so-called secret tech lab and a secret production line on Earth as a front, then directly purchase graphene materials from Blue Star and transport them to Earth through the teleportation Star Gate.

Once the time was right, it wouldn’t be too late to start mass production on Earth. After all, he would have already mastered the technology.

As for large-scale transport, he certainly couldn’t move everything by himself, nor could he let anyone else know about it.

However, this problem was easy to solve. AI could handle it. By equipping transport vehicles like trailers with artificial intelligence, they could operate unmanned, completely eliminating the need for human involvement.

Blue Star’s AI technology was far superior to Earth’s, but Xiao Yu didn’t dare use it directly. He worried that the robotics companies on Blue Star could discover the teleportation Star Gate’s existence through their backend big data.

To prevent this, Xiao Yu’s plan was to study and program an AI algorithm himself to empower the equipment. There were many relevant technical papers available on Blue Star. While the most cutting-edge technology was hard to obtain, many “outdated” technologies could be learned directly from published papers.

Although they were considered “outdated” there, they were more than sufficient for Xiao Yu’s purposes. And on Earth, even this “outdated” technology was leading-edge black technology.

Xiao Yu could only be at ease letting equipment controlled by his own self-programmed AI pass through the teleportation Star Gate.

Not only was graphene incredibly cheap on Blue Star, but Xiao Yu could also profit by purchasing fruits, vegetables, and grains on Earth to sell on Blue Star for Star Yuan. These items cost little on Earth but could fetch a thousand-fold profit on Blue Star.

He could then spend the Star Yuan to buy extremely cheap graphene on Blue Star and transport it back to Earth for another massive profit. This was a guaranteed “win-win, two-way positive cycle.”

Once the graphene arrived on Earth, PrismTech could use it to manufacture products, becoming an upstream super-supplier with a powerful technological monopoly.

The applications for this material were incredibly widespread.

For instance, as transparent conductive electrodes. Graphene’s excellent conductivity and light-transmitting properties gave it huge potential in this area. Touch screens, liquid crystal displays, organic photovoltaic cells, and organic light-emitting diodes all required good transparent conductive electrode materials. In particular, graphene’s mechanical strength, flexibility, and transparency were superior to the commonly used indium tin oxide.

Then there was the field of batteries. Graphene batteries had higher energy density, faster charging speeds, and a longer lifespan. The safety issues of graphene batteries, such as combustion or explosion under high temperatures or overcharging, had also been solved by Blue Star scientists.

Beyond that, it had immense potential in numerous other fields, including integrated circuits, transistors, thermal conductive materials or thermal interface materials, functional materials, environmental applications, drug delivery, biomedicine, and micro/nanofabrication.

In short, if you could provide a large supply of this cheap new material, and you were the only one with the monopoly on mass-production technology, you would be the undisputed king of suppliers, with major manufacturers beating a path to your door.

…

Three days later, on Friday morning.

After waking up and quickly washing up, Xiao Yu left his room. The housekeeper had already prepared breakfast at just the right time.

Just as he was about to eat at the dining table, the butler, Qin Yue, approached, followed by a beautiful and capable-looking woman in professional attire—Xiao Yu’s assistant, Yun Shu.

“Chairman, here are the documents you requested,” Yun Shu said, handing a file to Xiao Yu.

“Uncle Qin, please go to the airport and pick up my guest, Wen Suqing. She’s a high school classmate of mine,” Xiao Yu said to Qin Yue as he took the documents. The butler nodded and left, instructing the chauffeur to get Xiao Yu’s car ready before heading to the airport himself.

Back in the dining room, Xiao Yu ate his breakfast while opening the file. Without looking up, he asked, “Anything happen at the company while I was away these past few days?”

Standing beside him, Yun Shu hesitated for a moment before speaking frankly, “The day before yesterday, Lianyi Company announced the termination of their partnership with us. They’ve found another supplier to replace our business.”

PrismTech was the display screen supplier for this company. Xiao Yu figured that their removal from the supply chain was most likely the work of Penghui Capital, the very firm that had spearheaded the high-stakes performance agreement.

“Anything else?” Xiao Yu asked calmly.

“That’s the main thing recently. Everything else is operating as normal,” Yun Shu replied. She was secretly surprised. How could the Chairman be so composed in the face of such bad news? As his assistant, Yun Shu knew that PrismTech was in a terrible position and that her boss was very likely to fail the performance agreement.

A moment later, Xiao Yu set the documents aside and said succinctly, “You can go back to your work.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu nodded and left Xiao Yu’s villa to return to PrismTech.

After finishing breakfast, Xiao Yu took the documents to the living room. He also retrieved the high-stakes performance agreement from his room and placed the two files together, then waited.

About forty minutes later, Xiao Yu’s car returned to the villa. The butler, Qin Yue, led a woman into the living room. Seeing her, Xiao Yu immediately stood up with a smile. “You must not have eaten since you got off the plane, right? Have some breakfast first. Please don’t mind the hasty reception.”

Wen Suqing feigned dissatisfaction but said with a smile, “How long has it been since our last get-together? If you’re going to be so distant, I might have to raise my rates.”

Xiao Yu chuckled in spite of himself, then said, “Have a seat.”

Wen Suqing didn’t stand on ceremony. She sat down and said bluntly, “I really haven’t eaten much, so I won’t be polite.”

Xiao Yu turned to the butler. “Uncle Qin.”

Qin Yue understood instantly, nodding and going to instruct the house staff to prepare breakfast. Meanwhile, Xiao Yu sat on the sofa opposite Wen Suqing and made small talk with his old high school classmate. A servant brought out a portion of breakfast and then left.

As Wen Suqing ate, she looked at Xiao Yu curiously. “So, what lawsuit is this about?”

Xiao Yu crossed his legs, leaning back against the sofa with his hands on his knees. He smiled and said, “I didn’t ask you here to sue anyone. I asked you here as a professional to help me strategize. My investors set a trap for me a while back, and I can’t let it go. It’s left me in a state of mental unease or dissatisfaction that won’t be resolved until the matter is settled. Now, my idea is to turn the tables, set a counter-trap, and stage a comeback against the odds. Tell me if you think it’s feasible and help me come up with a plan.”

…

Chapter 8: A Web of Interlocking Traps

“The investors set you up? How were you so careless?” A look of astonishment flickered in Wen Suqing’s eyes.

“The business world is treacherous. I was young and naive and stepped on a landmine. Just consider it the price of a lesson learned,” Xiao Yu said with a carefree and nonchalant air. The primary reason for his composure was that he now knew what an immense advantage he held. With enough confidence to back him up, he was naturally calm and collected.

Wen Suqing finished her breakfast and immediately asked, “What are the specifics of the situation?”

Xiao Yu glanced at the documents on the table. “It’s all in here. Take a look and you’ll understand.”

Wen Suqing had noticed the documents on the table earlier. She picked one up but didn’t open it right away. Instead, she looked up at Xiao Yu. “So, I can go ahead and read it?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “I trust you.”

Putting all else aside, even without their connection as former classmates, the base fee of 30 million plus a bonus of 350 million that Xiao Yu had promised would make any law firm accept the case without hesitation.

From a purely self-interested perspective, leaking the information would do her no good whatsoever.

Wen Suqing opened the documents and began to read.

Seven years ago, Penghui Capital invested 300 million RMB in PrismTech for a 19.99% stake. At the time, the company was valued at around 1.5 billion. The investment also required interest payments; that initial 300 million had, with principal and interest, now grown to 600 million.

What investors hope for most is for a company to go public, as an IPO is the only way to maximize the return on their investment.

Thus, they agreed to a high-stakes performance agreement, which required PrismTech to successfully go public within five years and for its market capitalization to reach 26.5 billion within three years of the IPO.

Penghui Capital’s agreement wasn’t with PrismTech as a corporate entity but with its majority shareholder and actual controller, Xiao Yu. Therefore, the 600 million was Xiao Yu’s personal responsibility, not the company’s. In his current state, Xiao Yu certainly couldn’t produce such an astronomical sum.

His only option was to cash out by selling his shares in PrismTech. The company’s stock had already hit a historic low, falling to 3.97 yuan per share, corresponding to a market capitalization of 3.446 billion. As the company’s majority shareholder and actual controller, Xiao Yu held 300 million shares, accounting for 34.56% of the total share capital.

This shareholding percentage was the life-or-death line for corporate control. Owning more than 34% effectively granted him veto power, as major corporate resolutions required a 67% majority to pass. With his 34.56% stake, any resolution he opposed could not be passed.

Based on PrismTech’s current market capitalization of 3.446 billion, the total value of Xiao Yu’s shares was 1.19 billion. To cash out 600 million, he would have to sell off a 17.4% stake—more than half of his holdings, which would mean surrendering control of the company.

Furthermore, if he were to announce a sell-off of that magnitude, he would never be able to get 600 million, even by selling half his shares. The moment the announcement was made, the company’s stock price would undoubtedly be hammered, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it were halved and then halved again. At that point, all of Xiao Yu’s shares combined might not even be worth 600 million. He would be eaten alive and kicked to the curb.

Back then, Xiao Yu wasn’t a complete novice. He had been mindful of maintaining control. In addition to holding over 34% of the shares himself, he had also signed a concerted action agreement with Penghui Capital and several other major shareholders as a second layer of insurance.

With a concerted action agreement, he would retain absolute control over the company even if his shareholding fell below 34%. This was because whenever Xiao Yu voted, the shareholders who had signed the agreement with him were unconditionally bound to vote the same way. If Xiao Yu voted yes, they had to vote yes, and vice versa.

At the time, Xiao Yu believed that with this double insurance, his control over PrismTech was secure. But it was this very concerted action agreement that laid the Foreshadowing for what was to come.

Penghui Capital led several other investment firms in agreeing to sign it, but only if Xiao Yu also signed a high-stakes performance agreement. After reviewing it, Xiao Yu added a clause for the right of first refusal. After some back and forth, the agreement was signed.

The landmine buried within was a drag-along rights agreement, and it was this very clause that proved to be fatal.

Wen Suqing couldn’t help but frown, her expression grave. “You’ve fallen into the investors’ web of traps, one interlocking with the next…”

If PrismTech’s market capitalization failed to reach 26.5 billion by the deadline, Penghui Capital could not only demand that Xiao Yu pay them 600 million, principal plus interest, but they could also trigger the drag-along rights clause. This meant that when Penghui Capital sold its 19.99% stake to someone else, Xiao Yu would be forced to sell his own shares along with them.

This was the so-called drag-along rights clause—it dragged Xiao Yu along to sell with them. The reason Penghui Capital did this was because they had another clause: a liquidation preference clause. This meant that after Xiao Yu sold his shares and converted them to cash, the money had to first be used to repay the 600 million-yuan debt to Penghui Capital.

Since it was a setup, when Penghui Capital sold its shares, it would surely be at a steep discount, and the buyer would undoubtedly be an entity secretly controlled by Penghui Capital.

Only by selling the shares at a fire-sale price could they force Xiao Yu’s 34.56% stake to be sold along with theirs for a value far below 600 million yuan. The proceeds would certainly be less than 600 million, thereby triggering the liquidation preference clause. This money would preferentially go to repaying Penghui Capital, and it was highly likely he would still owe them another one or two hundred million.

He would be eaten alive and kicked out of the company he founded, and his houses and villas would be seized and sold at a judicial auction.

Wen Suqing put down the documents and sighed softly. She looked at Xiao Yu and said helplessly, “I’m sorry, Xiao Yu. I can’t help you. This is a dead end; there’s no way out. No matter what, Penghui Capital is in an unbeatable position. If you fulfill the agreement, they’ll make a huge profit. If you fail, they’ll still profit handsomely while you’re forced out.”

Wen Suqing also decided not to accept the 30 million-yuan base fee. Knowing Xiao Yu’s situation and the high probability he would lose everything, she couldn’t bring herself to ask him for it.

“What’s with that look? You’re acting as if I’m already finished.” Xiao Yu, on the other hand, smiled calmly. Seeing him like this, Wen Suqing couldn’t help but say, “How can you still be smiling? Caught in a trap like this, you could be reduced to poverty overnight, left with nothing.”

Xiao Yu’s smile remained as he said, unhurriedly, “What if I can fulfill the terms of the high-stakes performance agreement and make the company’s market cap shoot up to over 26.5 billion before the deadline?”

Wen Suqing was stunned. “Huh?”

Xiao Yu continued, “I didn’t see the web of traps Penghui Capital set for me before, but now, even without you telling me, I understand it all clearly. But that’s not the point, nor is it why I asked you here for advice.”

After a pause, Xiao Yu added, “I asked you here because, if I can get the company’s market cap to 26.5 billion and fulfill the agreement, how can I ensure that Penghui Capital and the other investors who set me up get wiped out? I don’t want the stock price to soar just so they can cash out at the peak and make a fortune. I want them to leave with devastating losses.”

Wen Suqing stared at him, shocked. “Can you really push the company’s market cap to 26.5 billion and fulfill the agreement? I checked your company’s stock price on my way here. The current market cap is less than 3.5 billion. It’ll have to increase six or sevenfold, and there’s only about six months left on the deadline. How is that possible?”

Xiao Yu’s words were concise and forceful: “I can definitely do it!”

Wen Suqing started to speak but stopped herself. Although Xiao Yu spoke with absolute conviction, she was still deeply skeptical.

Xiao Yu thought for a moment and decided he needed to reveal some information. He said, with some reservation, “I’ve had a research and development breakthrough on a revolutionary new material. A future valuation in the hundreds of billions is not out of the question. As long as the news is released and confirmed, investors in the secondary market will go into a buying frenzy. Reaching a market cap of 26.5 billion in the short term will be a piece of cake.”

Hearing this, a flash of astonishment crossed Wen Suqing’s face. “Are you sure?”

Xiao Yu nodded. “I’m sure! You don’t need to worry about the rest. Just assume that I will definitely hit the target market cap. Based on that premise, can you meet my request? Can you design a plan to make the investors get wiped out with devastating losses?”

Seeing how certain Xiao Yu was, Wen Suqing thought for a moment and then stated clearly, “If you can really fulfill the high-stakes performance agreement, with that as a given, then yes. To make the investors suffer devastating losses, I can provide a viable plan to achieve a huge comeback against the odds.”

…

Chapter 9: The Solution and a Return to Blue Star

Hearing Wen Suqing’s definitive reply, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but feel his spirits lift. He immediately asked, “What’s the solution?”

Wen Suqing didn’t answer right away. She lowered her gaze in thought for a moment, then looked up at Xiao Yu and asked in return, “The intellectual property rights for this technology you’ve mastered, do they belong to you personally or to PrismTech? You can’t hide this from me.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “Of course. I can tell you clearly, it doesn’t belong to PrismTech.”

Wen Suqing’s face immediately lit up with joy. “That makes things much easier.”

After a moment, she said with clarity, “I suggest you establish another company, place the technology you’ve mastered under the name of this new company, and then announce this technology to the public.”

“First, leak a rumor that you’re planning to merge and restructure this company with PrismTech. If your new technology is as amazing as you say, investors in the secondary market will definitely go on a buying frenzy for PrismTech’s stock, and the share price will surely skyrocket in the short term.”

“During this time, don’t let PrismTech halt trading for restructuring. Continuously release good news, but don’t release it all at once. Release it in batches, and it would be best if each release of good news exceeds market expectations. This will definitely make the stock price soar quickly.”

At this point, Wen Suqing paused to think for a moment. After reorganizing her thoughts, she continued, “Once PrismTech reaches its target market capitalization of over 26.5 billion, you announce that the merger and restructuring has failed. The stock price will inevitably plummet in response.”

Wen Suqing stared intently at Xiao Yu, asking and answering her own question, “What’s the one thing investors can’t accept? The company delisting!”

Xiao Yu’s heart stirred. He asked uncertainly, “You mean, have PrismTech delisted?”

Wen Suqing said with a smile, “It doesn’t have to actually be delisted. But you can suppress PrismTech’s stock price to below one yuan. Because there’s a rule in the A-share market: if a listed company’s stock price remains below one yuan for twenty consecutive trading days, it will trigger a mandatory delisting mechanism.”

“I just looked at the materials you provided. Around the time your valuation adjustment mechanism period ends is about the same time the lock-up period for the restricted shares of Penghui Capital’s main institutional investors expires. I deduce their plan is to kick you out, seize control of PrismTech, and then find a way to pump up the stock price before pulling out with their principal and profits.”

“If you can accept the risk of PrismTech being delisted, then you can suppress the stock price down to rock bottom without any scruples. Penghui Capital will certainly not accept a delisting and will most likely try to prop up the market. This way, you can lock up more of their funds. When the time is right, you can release even bigger, super-negative news to crash the price completely.”

“Of course, this is the general strategy. There are still many details to work out. I’ll formulate a detailed execution plan for you later.” At this point, Wen Suqing looked at Xiao Yu and added with a smile, “Is this satisfying enough for you?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu instantly laughed, “I like it. Very satisfying!”

Wen Suqing looked at him with a beaming smile and said, “So? Was spending over three hundred million worth it?”

Xiao Yu chuckled, “If we can make them lose this badly, it’ll be incredibly satisfying for me. The money was well spent.”

Then, Xiao Yu changed the subject, “But, will playing like this carry legal risks of stock price manipulation?”

Wen Suqing immediately answered his question, “We can’t say this behavior doesn’t involve market manipulation, but you don’t need to worry. Please trust my professional abilities. I will help you circumvent any potential legal risks and make rational use of the rules.”

Hearing her say this, Xiao Yu was instantly relieved and said with a smile, “I trust your professional abilities.”

Wen Suqing met his gaze and said, “Give me a few days, ten at the most, and I’ll give you a complete and detailed solution.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded. “Alright, I’ll wait for your news.”

Wen Suqing immediately added, “Don’t you be idle either. Go register a new company as soon as possible and place that mysterious technology of yours under its name. This is an indispensable key step in setting the trap.”

Xiao Yu nodded again. “No problem.”

The two chatted for a few more minutes before Wen Suqing took her leave, ready to design a complete solution tailored to Xiao Yu’s requirements.

A little while later, Xiao Yu called for the butler, Qin Yue, and instructed, “Uncle Qin, go rent me a large warehouse as soon as possible, and then purchase everything on this list. Get it done in three to five days.”

As he spoke, Xiao Yu handed a list to Qin Yue. The latter took it and glanced at it, discovering that the items to be purchased were surprisingly large quantities of grain, fruit, and other food-related items.

Although he didn’t understand what Xiao Yu was up to, Qin Yue put the list away and nodded in reply, “I’ll arrange it at once.”

…

The next day, following Wen Suqing’s advice, Xiao Yu registered a new company called Linghan New Materials, specializing in new materials research.

Registering a company is very convenient nowadays; it should be approved in a few days.

Xiao Yu didn’t just sit around and wait. While waiting for Linghan New Materials’ registration to be approved, he teleported back to Qingyang Town in the world of Blue Star that very afternoon, appearing in the house he had rented there.

“Could the flow of time be different between Earth and Blue Star?” Xiao Yu suddenly had this feeling. He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and pulled open the curtains. On Blue Star, all buildings were completely sealed off and isolated from the outside air, so the windows couldn’t be opened, though there were emergency exits.

Inside the house, one could breathe normally without needing a respiratory mask, but oxygen supplements had to be purchased regularly.

That’s right. In the world of Blue Star, even breathing air wasn’t free.

“This…”

Xiao Yu pulled open the curtains and glanced at Blue Star’s sky, and was instantly astonished. A massive and incredibly bright planet hung in the sky. Xiao Yu estimated that its apparent diameter was at least ten times that of the moon as seen from Earth.

“Is this Blue Star’s satellite? The orbital distance is way too close…” Xiao Yu murmured to himself as he gazed at the planet hanging high in the night sky. After a moment, he withdrew his gaze, returned to the living room sofa, and activated his holographic wristband.

“I know so little about Blue Star. I should spend some time learning about it.” Xiao Yu searched the Blue Star internet for information about this world’s culture and geography.

He opened Blue Star’s encyclopedia and browsed through it. It wasn’t long before he had an epiphany, “So that’s not Blue Star’s moon, it’s a companion planet.”

Xiao Yu was very surprised. He hadn’t expected Blue Star to be part of a binary planet system.

The information showed that Blue Star’s companion planet was called Flare Star. They were one million, one hundred and sixty thousand kilometers apart and revolved around a common barycenter. The parent star, like Earth’s Sun, was a yellow dwarf, but slightly more massive.

“They’re both in the parent star’s habitable zone. Wouldn’t that make Flare Star a life-bearing planet too?” Xiao Yu guessed to himself. But as he read on, he discovered his guess was wrong. Despite both being in the habitable zone, Flare Star had not evolved life.

The data showed that Blue Star and Flare Star were mutually tidally locked, with each planet permanently showing only one face to the other.

“So a solar day on Blue Star is 36 hours long…” Xiao Yu realized with a start. However, its orbital period was the same as Earth’s, and its axial tilt also gave Blue Star changing seasons.

What surprised Xiao Yu was that the data indicated Blue Star had not originated in this star system. Geological dating showed Blue Star to be three billion years older than its current parent star.

This meant Blue Star was an “outsider,” captured by its current parent star.

Astronomers on Blue Star had discovered a rogue black hole. Through complex orbital calculations and reverse extrapolation, they concluded that this black hole had passed by the parent star about six billion years ago, back when the star was less than one hundred million years old.

The gravitational disturbance from the black hole’s passage threw the orbits of all the celestial bodies in the star system into chaos. Some planets were flung out to become rogue planets, while others fell into the parent star.

Blue Star had originally been orbiting the rogue black hole outside its event horizon. As forces are reciprocal, when the rogue black hole passed by, Blue Star was also thrown from its original orbit by the gravitational disturbance and was captured by its current parent star.

It was precisely Blue Star’s intrusion that threw the already preliminarily stable orbits of the celestial bodies in that star system into chaos. Blue Star’s orbit continuously shrank toward the parent star. After tens of millions of years, it would have approached the parent star, crossed its own rigid body Roche limit, and been torn apart before falling into the star.

However, it was “grabbed” by Flare Star’s gravity. The two didn’t collide and merge; instead, they formed a binary system. Flare Star’s orbit consequently shrank inward, eventually stabilizing in its current position within the habitable zone.

Originally, there had been a planet with 0.7 times Earth’s mass at the edge of this habitable zone. But due to the gravitational disturbance from the Flare-Blue binary, it was flung out of the parent star system by the gravitational slingshot effect, tragically becoming a rogue planet.

Two gas giants in the outer system collided and merged under the gravitational disturbance, forming a new gas giant with 1.59 times the mass of Jupiter. The collision threw vast amounts of material into space, which formed a series of moons under gravity. Three of these were moons with 1.3, 0.9, and 1.1 times the mass of Earth. The two moons with 0.9 and 1.1 times Earth’s mass also formed a binary moon system and were also mutually tidally locked.

The planet in the first orbit lost a large amount of angular momentum due to the gravitational disturbance and became tidally locked to the parent star 3.9 billion years ahead of schedule. The planet in the third orbit was torn apart and fell into the parent star.

After this interstellar upheaval, about eighty million years later, the celestial bodies within the star system stabilized once again in their new orbits.

Flare Star also lost a large amount of angular momentum in this upheaval, and its rotational period decreased to 30 hours. Tidal forces cause a gradual loss of angular momentum, and eventually, the less massive Blue Star was the first to become tidally locked to Flare Star.

About 1.9 billion years later, Flare Star also became tidally locked to Blue Star. From then on, the two planets have been mutually tidally locked to this day, and the rotational period of both planets became the current 36 hours.

“What a convoluted history…” Xiao Yu chuckled in spite of himself. The universe is truly full of wonders.

But this also explained why, despite both planets of the binary system being in the habitable zone, Blue Star could foster life while Flare Star could not. It was because their material compositions were fundamentally different.

…

Chapter 10: The Greatly Shocked Xiao Yu

Xiao Yu continued to look through more information about Blue Star. The mainstream theory accepted by astronomers here was that billions of years ago, Blue Star’s parent star was devoured by a rogue black hole. However, Blue Star survived and its original orbit was altered by the gravitational pull.

Blue Star’s new orbit had a very high eccentricity. At its furthest point, its orbital distance from the black hole exceeded 0.7 to 1 light-year. Moreover, when the black hole passed by its current parent star, Blue Star happened to be at the farthest point of its elliptical orbit, which was precisely why it was captured.

There was ample evidence for this theory.

First, Blue Star’s geological history was older than its current parent star. Second, Blue Star possessed an abundance of heavy elements. For example, gold, an element considered scarce throughout the universe, was found in rich veins on Blue Star.

The conditions for gold formation are incredibly stringent. Heavy elements like gold can only be synthesized through events such as neutron star mergers or supernova explosions at the end of a star’s life cycle.

Additionally, when a black hole devours other celestial matter, such as a star, it forms an accretion disk. The black hole’s accretion disk is another key environment for synthesizing heavy elements like gold.

The mainstream theory in Blue Star’s astronomical community held that when the rogue black hole devoured Blue Star’s former parent star, it formed an accretion disk that lasted for tens of millions to two hundred million years, synthesizing various elements during that period.

The accretion disk rotated at extremely high speeds, sometimes approaching the speed of light. A portion of the matter outside the black hole’s event horizon would escape. Some of this matter was captured by Blue Star’s gravity, endowing the planet with gold veins far exceeding normal levels, along with many other exotic materials.

Because of this, gold could not become a hard currency on Blue Star, as it lacked scarcity. Here, it was classified merely as a common industrial metal.

“Good heavens, is gold really this insignificant on Blue Star…?” Xiao Yu was stunned by this information. He then subconsciously thought that if he could bring gold from here to Earth, wouldn’t he easily become as rich as a nation?

On Earth, gold was an extremely scarce resource and a hard currency. All of humanity on Earth recognized its monetary value.

“If I get the chance, I could try to transport some over,” Xiao Yu mused. However, he also knew that although gold was abundant on Blue Star, he couldn’t just recklessly transport it to Earth.

The scientists on Earth weren’t fools; the abundance of gold on Earth could be calculated. Bringing too much would invite unpredictable risks and trouble. When it came to making money, black technology was faster and could be passed off as his own company’s innovative technology.

“What? Blue Star also has abundant natural room-temperature superconducting ore?” As Xiao Yu pondered, he continued to browse the information. When he saw this description, he was so shocked he nearly jumped out of his skin.

Compared to the massive gold deposits, the existence of natural room-temperature superconducting ore was even more shocking to Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu gasped repeatedly as he read the text aloud: “The immense power of naturally formed room-temperature superconducting ore is such that, relying on Blue Star’s magnetic field alone, it is enough to levitate entire floating mountains containing this ore. Wow, is this something out of Pandora?”

Now Xiao Yu finally understood why the transportation on Blue Star was all based on levitation and wasn’t expensive. He also seemed to understand how the holographic wristband could achieve such a high level of integration and solve the problem of heat dissipation.

If it used superconducting materials, then practically no heat would be generated, eliminating the need for cooling. Chip integration could be upgraded from two-dimensional to three-dimensional.

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but complain, “As an ‘outsider’ from Earth, I’m truly envious of the resources Blue Star’s people have. Things that people on Earth dream of, like gold and room-temperature superconductors, are found in abundance on Blue Star. No wonder their technology is developing faster than Earth’s. Damn, it would be weirder if it didn’t develop quickly…”

Xiao Yu felt that if his home planet, Earth, had such favorable conditions, its technological development would surely not be much worse than Blue Star’s.

“Superconducting floating mountains? I have to see them with my own eyes someday. It must be an incredibly spectacular and breathtaking sight…” Xiao Yu murmured. He quickly pushed these thoughts aside, closed the information pages, and went to look up other details.

He took a quick look at the data for Flare Star. The planet’s diameter was about 21,781 kilometers, and its volume was five times that of Blue Star. The planet had a large amount of natural radioactive material. Its primordial energy and the nuclear energy from natural radioactive decay made Flare Star an ocean of flames. Its surface was covered with numerous active volcanoes, and the air was hot enough to burn a person to death.

Furthermore, Flare Star’s atmosphere was 91% carbon dioxide, with traces of sulfur dioxide, sodium chloride, and sulfur monoxide. The atmosphere was over 500 kilometers thick, the surface temperature reached 670 degrees Celsius, and the atmospheric pressure was 220 times that of Blue Star.

Xiao Yu was quite surprised. “This Flare Star is like a super-plus version of Venus from the solar system, only bigger and more violent…”

Next, he focused on learning about the cultural and geographical information of Blue Star. He needed a general idea of these things in his head, as they would affect his activities in the world of Blue Star.

“It’s really too similar to Earth…”

According to the data, Blue Star’s diameter was about 13,237 kilometers, its surface area was about 550 million square kilometers, and its standard gravity was 0.99. Blue Star’s atmosphere contained a moderate level of greenhouse gases. Land accounted for 34% of the surface area, about 187 million square kilometers, while oceans covered 66%, about 363 million square kilometers.

Blue Star’s main geographical features included five major continents, four great oceans, 2,855 lakes, seven medium to large deserts, two large tropical rainforests, and eight major mountain ranges over 1,000 kilometers long. The longest of these mountain ranges stretched for over 9,200 kilometers.

Xiao Yu looked at the world map of Blue Star. The five continents were called the Arctic Continent, Flame Continent, Sand Continent, Western Continent, and Central Continent. The four oceans were the Eastern Ocean, Western Ocean, Flame Ocean, and Southern Ocean.

“Oh, so my current location is on the Central Continent…” Xiao Yu mumbled to himself.

According to the cultural and geographical information of Blue Star, the Central Continent had a total area of 82,782,500 square kilometers. The continent was home to dozens of countries, among which was a major power called the Kingdom of Heaven, also known as the Celestial Empire, or Heavenly Kingdom for short. It occupied the best lands of the Central Continent. The capital of the Heavenly Kingdom was located at 34 degrees north latitude and 113 degrees east longitude on Blue Star.

“Huh? What? The capital city is built on a superconducting floating mountain, directly suspended at an altitude of over 3,000 meters? Are they crazy? Is this really how you use superconducting ore?” Xiao Yu was stunned once again, and even a little indignant. On Earth, room-temperature superconducting material was a priceless treasure.

The information showed that the country’s capital was built on a massive floating mountain named “Heavenly Mountain.” It was formed by merging several smaller natural floating mountains through artificial intervention. A super-metropolis named “Heavenly Capital” was built on top of it, serving as the capital of the Heavenly Kingdom.

Curious, Xiao Yu quickly opened another page and typed “Heavenly Capital” into the search bar.

He clicked on a two-minute short video introducing the Heavenly Capital.

The vast Heavenly Capital was suspended high above the clouds. The city appeared with a magnificent and auspicious aura. From a distance, one could see a faint blue, hemispherical dome of light flickering in and out of view.

It was an energy shield, which not only served as a protective barrier for the city but also isolated the air inside from the outside. Within the city’s shield, the temperature was pleasant, and there was no altitude sickness due to the ample oxygen.

With the protection of the shield, people could breathe freely even when outdoors without needing a respiratory mask. Despite being at an altitude of several thousand meters, the pleasant temperature inside the city meant one could wear short sleeves without any issue.

The city itself was a scene of immense prosperity and grandeur. The entire capital city hung in the sky, and at different altitudes, there were floating mountains of various sizes. On them were villas, manors, or luxurious high-end residential complexes—clearly places only the wealthy could afford.

“This is a real eye-opener! A true eye-opener. No wonder it’s called the Kingdom of Heaven; they built their capital right up in the sky…” Xiao Yu couldn’t help but exclaim after watching the video. Just watching the video was incredibly stunning; to visit the Heavenly Kingdom’s capital in person would surely be an even more heart-shaking visual impact.

After a long while, Xiao Yu gathered his thoughts and closed all the information pages. He thought to himself, “I’m still an unregistered person here. The top priority is to get a legal identity on Blue Star. Otherwise, everything will be extremely inconvenient, and there might even be hidden dangers.”

…

Chapter 11: Why Risk Your Life for Such a Measly Salary?

How to solve the problem of being an “unregistered person” on Blue Star gave Xiao Yu quite a headache for a while. It truly wasn’t an easy issue to resolve.

He had no connections or resources on Blue Star. If he went directly to the local government office to register his identity, they would ask for his original identification, address, and other information. He likely wouldn’t be able to lie about that, and if they checked the archives and found no record of him, they would quickly conclude that he was either lying or had something to hide.

Xiao Yu put on his breathing mask and left the house for a walk. As he ambled down the town’s streets, he discovered that the lives of the lower-class masses on Blue Star were incredibly harsh. For them, simply having enough food and clothing was already a major accomplishment.

It seems the wealth disparity in the Central Continent’s Heavenly Kingdom is absurdly extreme… Xiao Yu thought to himself, watching the numerous people in town toiling away just to fill their stomachs, their eyes completely devoid of light.

What Xiao Yu found rather ironic was the thought of the Heavenly Capital from that short video he had seen earlier. The vast city stood high above the clouds, a picture of auspicious light and vibrant energy. The people living in the优渥 environment of Heavenly Capital were carefree, a stark and vivid contrast to the lower-class masses here.

This information led Xiao Yu to another conclusion; he became even more convinced that on Blue Star, at least within the Heavenly Kingdom of the Central Continent, it was a nation where the rich grew richer and the poor grew poorer.

After a while, Xiao Yu learned a piece of news that surprised him.

It turned out that the Heavenly Kingdom of the Central Continent was not experiencing an era of peace and prosperity. Several armed factions were currently rebelling against the Heavenly Kingdom. Many people who had fled the war-torn regions had become displaced persons and refugees, migrating toward the kingdom’s core territories.

The Heavenly Kingdom couldn’t just ignore them, nor could it excessively drive them away, otherwise these refugees and displaced people would become rioters, further strengthening the rebel forces.

The Heavenly Kingdom would order the officials of the local cities where the refugees were pouring in to be responsible for appeasing and resettling them.

“Posing as a refugee from a conflict zone is a good idea. Information from a war-torn area is hard to verify. I can fabricate a plausible but unverifiable story. Getting an identity shouldn’t be much of a problem,” Xiao Yu mused. He immediately decided to do just that. With his limited resources, he couldn’t think of a better way.

Xiao Yu opened his holographic wristband and looked up some relevant information, then locked onto a city called “Zha’an.” The combat zone was located about seven hundred kilometers northwest of the city, and many people were fleeing from there to Zha’an. News reports also stated that the city was currently accepting refugees from other regions.

“This is the place.” Having made his decision, Xiao Yu didn’t dawdle. He planned to leave Qingyang Town and head for Zha’an.

Xiao Yu spent two thousand Star Yuan to buy a hoverbike. This mode of transport didn’t have a high learning curve, and with no language or text barriers, practically anyone who could ride an electric scooter on Earth could ride a hoverbike.

About two hours later, Xiao Yu packed his bags, bought some backup oxygen and food, and left the small town. He followed the map’s navigation towards Zha’an, which was about 270 kilometers away—a journey of just over three hours.

On his way out of town, Xiao Yu stopped for a while. Referencing images and news photos he had found online, he adopted the appearance of a refugee.

Traveling towards Zha’an, Xiao Yu observed the scenery in the wild. “I’ve traveled over a hundred kilometers, so why is there not even a bit of vegetation in the wild? The terrain doesn’t look like a desert or the Gobi, either…”

As for animals, he hadn’t seen a single one. But considering Blue Star’s current atmospheric conditions, it was unlikely any animals could survive. Even if there were, they would die from carbon dioxide poisoning due to excessive inhalation.

Xiao Yu figured that the carbon dioxide concentration in Blue Star’s world must have risen sharply in a short period. It was probably similar to Earth’s before. If it had been a long, gradual process, the natives of Blue Star would have evolved to adapt to such an environment and wouldn’t need to wear breathing masks.

The current state of Blue Star was likely due to some event that caused a global mass extinction, even altering the composition of its atmosphere. This led to a surge in carbon dioxide levels, making it impossible for organisms to breathe and resulting in widespread extinction.

As sentient beings who had developed advanced technology, the humans of Blue Star had survived by using technical means to seal off the outside air. They were able to reduce the carbon dioxide concentration in the air produced through industrial technology, allowing for normal breathing.

This had also changed the lifestyle of Blue Star’s humans. They had to wear breathing masks and carry oxygen packs when going out, and their homes had to be sealed off from the outside. As a result, air was no longer free; one had to pay to breathe.

Xiao Yu didn’t pay it too much mind. After all, as a human from Earth, he was, without a doubt, an alien here.

Although Blue Star’s technology was far more advanced than Earth’s, in terms of environment, it was far inferior. Xiao Yu had no intention of living on Blue Star. He just wanted to be a quiet “transporter between two worlds,” using Blue Star’s technological advantages to build his business back on Earth.

Over three hours later, Xiao Yu smoothly arrived at Zha’an, which was now visible to the naked eye.

As he got closer to the city, he saw that, just as the news reports had stated, a continuous stream of refugees was heading toward it. Xiao Yu decisively and silently merged into the crowd.

Before long, Zha’an police officers appeared to maintain order. Some on-duty personnel guided the refugees into a massive, fully enclosed temporary camp. It had a structure like a huge greenhouse but was enormous and isolated from the outside air. Inside, purified air was continuously released, so one could breathe normally without a breathing mask.

Disguised as a refugee, Xiao Yu silently followed the others into a temporary camp. He also received some food made from industrial starch, which contained the basic micronutrients needed by the human body.

The food he received was not nearly enough to feel full, but it guaranteed he wouldn’t starve to death. This was because if the food were filling, many people living on the poverty line would just lie back and wait for relief aid.

As for fresh fruits, vegetables, poultry, eggs, or meat, one couldn’t even dream of it. Such foods were expensive luxuries on Blue Star.

Ordinary people couldn’t afford to eat them more than a few times a year. Their staple diet consisted of industrial starch, which wasn’t cheap either. The lower-class people here spent more than half of their income on the mandatory expense of buying food.

Xiao Yu took off his breathing mask, sniffed the food he had received, and then quietly put it back in his pocket, looking as if he couldn’t bear to eat it. In reality, he simply couldn’t bring himself to take a bite.

About half an hour later, Xiao Yu noticed a group of people had come to the refugee gathering point.

It turned out to be factory recruiters. These homeless refugees were a source of cheap labor, and most of those who managed to escape were able-bodied young adults.

The refugees instantly swarmed forward, all competing for a job. Some were even willing to work for just 200 Star Yuan a month, as long as room and board were provided. Machines could perform many industrial production tasks, but if human labor was cheaper, the bosses preferred to hire people.

Clearly, these refugees had no bargaining power, and the bosses naturally favored such cheap labor.

Xiao Yu, of course, had no intention of applying for a job. He instead found the identity registration office. After waiting in line for over two hours, it was finally his turn. As expected, he obtained a legal Blue Star identity without a hitch.

It was even simpler and more direct than he had imagined. The office staff merely asked Xiao Yu formulaic questions about his hometown, profession, and other details.

Then they proceeded directly with the registration, not even bothering to verify if the information Xiao Yu provided was true. They quickly went through the process, completely unconcerned about the possibility of spies or infiltrators slipping through.

Even if they recognized a member of a rebel faction, the office staff would pretend they hadn’t noticed. Exposing them could get them killed on the spot. For such a measly salary, why risk your life?

But this allowed Xiao Yu to obtain his legal identity as a citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom of the Central Continent with incredible ease.

About three hours later, Xiao Yu confirmed that his identity had been activated. Now he could travel to any of the major cities within the Heavenly Kingdom’s territory, including Heavenly Capital—provided he had the money.

Xiao Yu immediately decided to leave Zha’an. Having obtained his identity here as a refugee, he certainly couldn’t be active in this city.

After successfully getting his legal identity, he didn’t stay in the city for long. He opened three bank accounts and then headed to the airport, where he bought a ticket and boarded a flight to another city.

…

Chapter 12: The Price is Ridiculously Cheap

Fengquan City.

Xiao Yu took a flight for 2,370 kilometers and arrived in this city called “Fengquan.”

“I still have over twenty thousand Star Yuan, that should be enough for now.” Xiao Yu checked the Star Yuan cash balance in his hand and, confirming there wasn’t a problem, first found a residential complex in the city to rent an apartment.

After securing a place to stay, Xiao Yu also rented a temporary warehouse on the outskirts of the city.

Renting the warehouse was, of course, for bringing food products over from Earth, and at the same time, for preparing to bring graphene material from Blue Star to Earth.

“Finally, that’s one thing sorted!” Xiao Yu returned to his rented apartment and plopped down in the living room to rest.

Without realizing it, he had been running around on Blue Star for over ten hours, but he had also gotten a lot done. Xiao Yu was clearly a man of strong execution.

After resting for a while, Xiao Yu rolled over, sat up with his back against the sofa, and activated his holographic wristband to search for the price of graphene material on the Blue Star internet. It could be ordered directly online.

Xiao Yu took one look at the price and was stunned: “Ultra-high-purity graphene material, only 3,500 Star Yuan per kilogram?”

The price was ridiculously cheap. On Blue Star, graphene was sold by the kilogram, while on Earth, it was sold by the gram.

However, even for the same graphene material, the price difference based on purity and quality was enormous.

On Earth, low-purity graphene might only cost a few dozen RMB yuan per gram, but high-purity graphene could be as expensive as over 5,000 RMB yuan, or even more than ten thousand.

Xiao Yu saw on the page description that the graphene material for sale was of ultra-high-purity quality, with a purity of 99.999999999%. He counted: nine nines after the decimal point.

The highest purity of graphene that humans could produce on Earth was only six nines after the decimal point. But the ultra-high-purity graphene produced on Blue Star could reach nine nines, which was a hundred times purer than the highest-purity graphene manufacturable on Earth.

The most crucial thing was that Blue Star could mass-produce it, and there weren’t even any technological barriers.

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but marvel: “Such an ultra-high-purity graphene material would sell for an astronomical price on Earth, but here it’s only 3,500 Star Yuan a kilogram. That’s just 3.5 Star Yuan per gram.”

He had previously estimated the purchasing power of the Star Yuan. Spending 1 Star Yuan here was equivalent to spending 1.5 RMB yuan on Earth.

In other words, this ultra-high-quality graphene material was equivalent to 5.25 RMB yuan per gram. Bringing this material to Earth would be an absolute market-killer; the profit margin could be one to two thousand times.

Xiao Yu checked the remaining Star Yuan he had—about 17,000—and decisively went out to a physical store to buy a kilogram of this ultra-high-purity graphene. This material was easy to buy on Blue Star.

In any major city, there were basically physical stores selling it. The minimum purchase was 1,000 grams because it all came in sealed packages.

Xiao Yu successfully bought a box of graphene weighing 1,000 grams. After returning to his rented apartment, he opened the teleportation Star Gate to return to Earth, bringing the 1,000 grams of ultra-high-purity graphene with him.

After putting the 1,000 grams of ultra-high-purity graphene material into his safe, Xiao Yu walked out of his bedroom. He searched around the villa but didn’t see the butler, Qin Yue.

He was busy arranging warehouse matters for Xiao Yu and was not at home at the moment.

Xiao Yu called him directly. As soon as the call connected, he said, “Uncle Qin, prepare some materials I need. I’ve sent you the list. Just buy what’s on it.”

After hanging up, Xiao Yu paced back and forth in the living room for a moment. After some thought, he went to the villa’s basement.

Next, Xiao Yu got busy. He moved all the items from the largest room in the basement to the adjacent room. He wanted to empty this room to create a temporary clean environment.

He was doing this to use the ultra-high-purity graphene material to personally create an experimental mobile phone screen. For him, he had both the financial means and the technical ability to do so.

He used to lead a team researching semiconductor display materials at PrismTech.

Xiao Yu’s plan was to create a graphene screen sample. Then he would use a commercially available smartphone—an Apple, a Xiaomi, a Huawei, or a device from the “blue and green” companies would do.

He would get a phone, remove its original screen, and replace it with a graphene full-screen display of the corresponding size. He would hide the front-facing camera under the screen and then use it as a sample to demonstrate the full-screen concept.

This was very simple for Xiao Yu. After all, the graphene material was already on hand. With his technical skills and manual dexterity, plus the technical data from Blue Star which was basically like copying homework, there was practically no problem.

This ultra-high-purity, high-quality graphene material from Blue Star had a purity of 99 percent followed by nine nines after the decimal point. It was a new material, almost a pure element, with no impurities.

To make the graphene screen sample properly, Xiao Yu decided to build it in a clean environment.

After emptying the basement room, the next step was to wait for the butler, Qin Yue, to bring back the purchased equipment and materials. Once the cleanroom environment was set up, he could unseal the 1,000 grams of ultra-high-quality purity graphene.

…

Three days later, the basement cleanroom was completed. At the same time, Linghan New Materials was also successfully established.

Xiao Yu didn’t rush to make the graphene screen sample. Instead, he went to the warehouse Qin Yue had arranged.

“You can go back. I can handle things here myself.” Xiao Yu entered the warehouse and saw that it was already stocked with various fruits and grains. He was very satisfied; the butler, Qin Yue, was very efficient and capable, and always did things perfectly.

Qin Yue nodded. Although he didn’t know what the young master was up to, he had carried out all of his instructions to the letter.

“Just leave the car here. I’ll drive myself back later,” Xiao Yu added. Qin Yue nodded again and then turned and left the warehouse.

Xiao Yu went and shut the large warehouse doors tightly. At the same time, he opened a laptop he had brought with him, accessed the backend of the warehouse’s real-time surveillance cameras, and turned off all the cameras inside.

After taking care of these things, Xiao Yu glanced at the forklift and the hand truck for loading and unloading goods, then looked away. He called up a holographic panel from the Transference Star Ring on his wrist, confirmed the coordinates on Blue Star were his rented temporary warehouse in Fengquan City, and then decisively opened the teleportation Star Gate.

A moment later, the teleportation Star Gate opened successfully. Xiao Yu also adjusted the size of the Star Gate, making it large enough for two forklifts to pass through side-by-side.

Next, he prepared to move about five hundred jin of watermelon over, using the hand truck.

The quantity wasn’t large right now, so it wouldn’t take Xiao Yu much time to move them one by one by hand. But in the future, if he was dealing with tens of thousands of tons, he would have to rely on robots for help.

For now, he didn’t need that kind of scale; he could handle it completely.

Xiao Yu moved the five hundred jin of watermelon over. He also stepped through to the warehouse in Fengquan City on Blue Star, then closed the teleportation Star Gate.

After a while, when Xiao Yu had rested enough, he contacted Mr. Liu from Qingyang Town. He had his contact information from before. He activated his holographic wristband, and a holographic display panel floated above it, showing “Connecting…”

Previously, Xiao Yu hadn’t planned on dealing with Mr. Liu again, but now he decided to do this one deal, mainly because he didn’t have any other connections at the moment.

After waiting a few seconds, Mr. Liu appeared on the holographic panel. Xiao Yu started the video call with him: “Mr. Liu, do you still want the goods?”

As soon as Mr. Liu heard this, he immediately said, “Of course I do! Mr. Xiao, I’ve been waiting for your news.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “Then come to Fengquan City today to pick up the goods. There are about five hundred jin.”

Pick them up in Fengquan City?

Mr. Liu was slightly stunned for a moment, but he immediately replied, “No problem, I’ll fly over right now. Mr. Xiao, are you planning on using cash for payment again this time? I’ll need to make an appointment with the bank for that much cash at once.”

Xiao Yu said, “That won’t be necessary. You can just do an online transfer.”

Upon hearing that, Mr. Liu immediately said, “Great, great! I’ll head over right away. I’ll contact you when I get to Fengquan City.”

…

Chapter 13: The Profit Margin Is Shocking Once You Do the Math

The first thing Xiao Yu did after obtaining a legal identity in Zha’an City was open several bank accounts. Naturally, he no longer needed to carry cash. Better yet, two of these accounts were anonymous.

The financial institutions on Blue Star offered such services, a fact that Xiao Yu was very happy to discover.

If he used registered accounts, a sudden influx of vast wealth could attract attention and inquiries, which would be very troublesome. He would have to think of additional ways to launder the money.

Anonymous accounts, on the other hand, saved him a lot of trouble.

Xiao Yu opened two anonymous accounts: one with a large bank from the Heavenly Kingdom mainland and the other with a multinational financial giant headquartered on the Western Continent.

The Western Continent was located in Blue Star’s Western Hemisphere. About 60% of the continent’s landmass lay north of the equator, with a total area of 45,340,600 square kilometers, and it was home to sixty-seven countries of various sizes.

However, an organization called the “Pan-Western Continent Business Community (PWBC)” held power over the nations of the Western Continent. Fifty-five of the continent’s countries had already joined, making the PWBC a dominant force in the western part of Blue Star.

While browsing the internet on Blue Star, Xiao Yu had come across some rumors claiming that the PWBC was the de facto ruling group of the Western Continent, and that the organization’s true leaders were the so-called “Ten Super Commercial Conglomerates” pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

Xiao Yu wasn’t particularly interested in these Blue Star affairs. He had only casually looked into them without any in-depth investigation.

…

About five or six hours later, Mr. Liu arrived in Fengquan City and contacted Xiao Yu again, who then gave him the specific address.

After waiting for about half an hour, Mr. Liu arrived at the warehouse.

“Mr. Xiao, sorry to have kept you waiting,” Mr. Liu said, greeting Xiao Yu warmly as soon as he saw him. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xiao Yu led him directly into the warehouse. The moment Mr. Liu saw the watermelons piled high, his eyes lit up.

“Excellent, excellent. It’s all top-quality stock,” Mr. Liu said, turning to Xiao Yu and asking in a probing, feignedly curious tone, “Mr. Xiao, you must have more than just this, right?”

Xiao Yu smiled upon hearing this. “Haha, it seems Mr. Liu has quite an appetite. No rush, there’s always more business to be done.”

Mr. Liu was secretly shocked. The other man’s words clearly implied he had more stock. He quickly composed himself, chuckling as he nodded repeatedly. “Indeed. But if you have goods to sell, you can contact me anytime.”

Xiao Yu’s smile remained. “Of course. Mr. Liu, please inspect this batch first.”

A moment later, Mr. Liu called over the two subordinates he had brought with him to scan and inspect the goods. They quickly confirmed there was nothing wrong with the shipment. The scan showed a total weight of 527 jin.

Finally, Xiao Yu asked, “Mr. Liu, is everything in order with the goods?”

Mr. Liu nodded repeatedly. “No problem at all, no problem at all. The quality of your product is excellent.”

Xiao Yu smiled immediately. “Good. Let’s settle at the previously agreed price, 280 Star Yuan per 100 grams.”

But Mr. Liu shook his head and said, “Mr. Xiao, you do me a great honor by giving me such a large order. Your product’s quality is so good that I’d be making too much profit at 280 Star Yuan. I think we should settle at a price of 300.”

Clearly, Mr. Liu wanted to build a larger, long-term business relationship and was making a proactive goodwill gesture.

In Mr. Liu’s view, anyone who could supply such a large quantity of high-quality goods had to be an extraordinary person. If he could establish a connection with this supplier, Mr. Liu felt he would surely take off. This kind of product practically sold itself. It didn’t matter if the purchase price was a little higher; once the volume increased, the profits would be substantial. The most crucial thing was to think long-term.

Xiao Yu, of course, understood his intentions. Hearing this, he smiled calmly and said, “Since Mr. Liu is so sincere, it would be rude of me to refuse.”

Mr. Liu was overjoyed to hear this. The fact that Xiao Yu had accepted meant there would definitely be bigger deals to come.

Mr. Liu settled the payment on the spot, transferring the money to the designated account Xiao Yu provided. “Mr. Xiao, the total is 790,500. Please check it.”

Xiao Yu brought up a display panel on his holographic wristband, logged into the anonymous financial account, and glanced at it. It showed a recent deposit, with the balance now at 790,500 Star Yuan.

“Yes, I’ve received it. A pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Liu. I’ll let you know about the next shipment,” Xiao Yu said, closing the display panel with a smile. He shook hands with Mr. Liu. This Mr. Liu really knew how to do business, and Xiao Yu didn’t mind having a long-term business relationship with him.

Mr. Liu called over his subordinates, who had driven a levitating transport vehicle to the warehouse entrance. They then began loading the five hundred-odd jin of watermelons onto the vehicle.

“Mr. Xiao, I wonder how large the next batch will be? So I can prepare the funds in advance,” Mr. Liu asked while watching his men load the cargo.

Xiao Yu smiled. “How much can you handle, Mr. Liu?”

Hearing this, Mr. Liu hesitated. “Well…”

From Xiao Yu’s tone, it seemed he could supply as much as Mr. Liu could take. Mr. Liu couldn’t help but ask tentatively, “Five tons?”

Xiao Yu chuckled. “Alright, I’ll have headquarters send over five tons of goods.”

At these words, Mr. Liu was utterly shocked. He couldn’t help but lower his voice and ask, “Mr. Xiao, you’re not joking, are you?”

Five tons of goods were worth fifteen million Star Yuan. Even Mr. Liu couldn’t produce that much money on short notice; he would have to take out a mortgage loan to raise the funds.

Xiao Yu smiled and retorted, “What? Can’t you handle it, Mr. Liu? I was planning on offering you fifty tons.”

What? Fifty tons?

Mr. Liu was completely stunned. Just who was this man?

He had only dared to imagine a five-ton shipment. Fifty tons was something he wouldn’t even dare to dream of. At a price of 300 Star Yuan per 100 grams, that would be an astronomical figure of a whole 150 million.

Snapping back from his shock, Mr. Liu quickly said, “Fifty tons of goods is definitely beyond my current capacity. But five tons is no problem.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu said immediately, “Then it’s settled. For our next transaction, Mr. Liu, you prepare the funds for five tons of goods. I don’t do accounts receivable.”

Mr. Liu was ecstatic, nodding his head again and again. “Yes, yes, no problem, no problem! Of course. I’ll start raising the fifteen million right away.”

At this moment, Mr. Liu was more convinced than ever that Xiao Yu had a major power backing him. Though curious, he was savvy enough not to ask any prying questions, since Xiao Yu hadn’t offered any details himself.

Finally, with all the goods loaded onto the transport vehicle, Mr. Liu chatted with Xiao Yu for a few more moments before taking his leave.

Xiao Yu closed up the warehouse and glanced again at the 790,000 Star Yuan in his account. Those five hundred-odd jin of watermelons had been bought on Earth for a mere seven hundred yuan.

Using a conversion ratio of 1.5, 790,000 Star Yuan was roughly equivalent to 1,180,000 RMB. This single transaction yielded a 1,691-fold profit margin.

Although Star Yuan was worthless paper on Earth, if he used the 790,000 Star Yuan to buy the ultra-high-quality graphene material, he could purchase 225 kilograms of it.

If he brought that graphene material back to Earth, such ultra-high-purity graphene could easily sell for over ten thousand yuan per gram. Even at a half-price discount of 5,000 RMB per gram, it could still fetch a terrifying price of 1.125 billion.

And this was just from the graphene material exchanged for watermelons bought with seven hundred yuan. That wasn’t just a 1,691-fold profit margin, but a profit margin of over 1.6 million times.

He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t calculated it. After running the numbers, the result gave Xiao Yu himself a huge shock.

…

Chapter 14: You Dare to Say It, But I Don’t Dare to Believe It

Xiao Yu felt that just by trading this ultra-high-purity graphene material, he could build a world-class tech giant on Earth within a few years. After all, he was the sole supplier of this new material on the entire planet, granting him an absolute monopoly.

And he wouldn’t have to worry about sales at all. This new graphene material of ultra-high quality and purity had far too many applications.

Especially if he brought the price down, demand would far outstrip supply. Even if it sold for 50 RMB per gram, the profits would still be epic. This was because the cost of acquiring it on Blue Star was appallingly low, and on top of that, there were no damn tariffs.

Xiao Yu put these thoughts aside and began to consider how to arrange his next steps.

He left the warehouse and anonymously rented several new ones in Fengquan City. This was one of the convenient things about Blue Star; many things could be done anonymously. It was no wonder getting an identity in Zha’an City had been so simple.

At first, Xiao Yu had thought Blue Star would be just as strict as his home, Earth, or even more so. He never expected it to be this lax. He didn’t know the underlying reason for it, but this kind of system would inevitably lead to a large number of grey market transactions.

But then he remembered this wasn’t exactly a peaceful world—there was the Heavenly Kingdom’s rebellion, after all. So it wasn’t that strange.

Xiao Yu didn’t delve into it any further. Whatever exists is rational. He was happy to see such lax regulations. It would allow him to operate more freely on Blue Star and make trading between the two worlds much more convenient.

After securing a few new warehouses, Xiao Yu anonymously placed an order for a total of 500 kilograms of graphene material of varying qualities and purities, spending 700,000 Star Yuan.

The price of graphene material varied depending on its purity and quality. Naturally, the higher the purity and quality, the higher the price.

Xiao Yu didn’t feel the pinch at all. For him, earning Star Yuan couldn’t be easier.

Once Mr. Liu finished raising the funds, another deal of five tons of watermelon would net him fifteen million Star Yuan. The money came so easily, it was no different from being blown in by the wind.

And it wouldn’t be long before making money on Earth became a breeze too. With the ability to travel freely between two worlds, Xiao Yu’s ventures on Earth were, in a sense, backed by the support of all of Blue Star’s black technology.

For now, his business on Blue Star was settled. After receiving the batch of graphene material he had purchased, Xiao Yu temporarily stored it in his private warehouse in Fengquan City.

Having done all this, he shifted his focus back to Earth. The next step was to settle the score with his investors.

Three days later, in Linzhou City.

The butler, Qin Yue, came to the villa’s basement and stood outside the converted cleanroom. Xiao Yu had just finished making a sample graphene screen suitable for a mobile phone display.

“Sir, Ms. Wen Suqing is waiting for you in the living room.” Qin Yue informed him as Xiao Yu came out. The latter nodded, took off his cleanroom suit, handed it to Qin Yue, and went straight upstairs to the living room.

Wen Suqing, who was waiting on the living room sofa, saw Xiao Yu approach. She looked up at him and said with a smile, “My team and I have tailor-made a complete and viable solution for you. Take a look.”

With that, she took out a document she had brought with her and placed it on the table. Xiao Yu picked it up, sat down, and began to read through it.

When he finished, Xiao Yu was quite satisfied.

He closed the document, met Wen Suqing’s gaze, and smiled. “This plan of yours is quite vicious, but I like it. It’s an excellent plan. It’s just that the retail investors left holding the bag are going to get screwed. They’ll definitely panic and sell at a loss in the basement below rock bottom.”

Wen Suqing said, “There’s no helping it. We can only call it collateral damage. Unless you don’t plan on getting revenge on Penghui Capital and the other investors, it’s unavoidable.”

Xiao Yu immediately replied, “Not getting revenge is out of the question. As for the retail investors, like you said, it’s just collateral damage. All investments carry risk. If they can withstand the extreme volatility during this special window, the returns that follow will be unimaginably generous.”

Wen Suqing suddenly teased with a radiant smile, “I suggest you be careful when you go out for a while. Watch out for investors tracking you down in real life to give you a good thrashing.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded with a serious look. “Hmm, you have a point. I should probably do some expectation management. I’d rather not be walking down the street and suddenly get dragged into a real-life showdown and thrashed by investors…”

Wen Suqing said, “You sound so confident, it makes me want to secretly buy some of your company’s stock, get in now, and make a killing. Your company’s stock price just hit another historic low, dropping to 3.86 yuan. Its market cap is only 3.35 billion now. If I buy in at this point and it rises to a market cap of 26.5 billion, I could make six or seven times my investment. It’s hard not to be tempted.”

Objectively speaking, Wen Suqing was now privy to inside information.

Besides, she was a professional lawyer. She could use this information asymmetry to make money in a way that was completely above board, ensuring everything was reasonable, compliant, and legal.

Leaning back on the sofa, Xiao Yu crossed his legs and met Wen Suqing’s gaze. “There’s no need for that. If you’re willing to join my company and become PrismTech’s legal counsel, I’ll give you shares directly as part of a crucial strategic talent acquisition.”

Hearing this, Wen Suqing quipped, “Trying to get my services on the cheap? You’ve certainly run the numbers.”

Xiao Yu chuckled. “Hardly.”

Wen Suqing said with a smile, “If you want me to come work for you, my price is quite high.”

Xiao Yu replied calmly, “I’m not afraid of you asking for too much. I’m afraid you won’t come.”

If Wen Suqing were genuinely interested, Xiao Yu would truly be willing to hire her at a high price. However, her career in the Capital’s circles was thriving, and she might not be willing to move to Linzhou City.

At this, Wen Suqing said, feigning curiosity, “Now that you put it that way, you’ve piqued my interest.”

Xiao Yu thought for a moment before saying, “I have a stock option plan you can consider after this matter is resolved. If PrismTech’s market capitalization reaches over 600 billion in three years, I’ll give you a 2.5% equity stake. If the market cap is below 600 billion after three years, I’ll increase your allocation as compensation.”

Wen Suqing was astounded by his words. She never expected Xiao Yu to be so confident. A market cap of 600 billion was an astronomical figure—it wasn’t sixty million.

Wen Suqing stared directly at the incredibly confident Xiao Yu. “A projected market cap of 600 billion, or even a trillion… You dare to say it, but I don’t dare to believe it. I’m getting more and more curious about what new technology you’ve actually invented.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled calmly. “It’s the mass production technology for ultra-high-purity graphene material. At current market prices, it can sell for over ten thousand yuan per gram. Graphene material itself isn’t new; you’ve probably heard of it.”

Wen Suqing nodded. “Graphene, yes. I’ve heard of it for a long time. It’s supposed to be the so-called ‘king of new materials,’ right?”

Xiao Yu continued, “There are many companies that can produce graphene material, but not many can produce it with high quality and purity. As for companies that can mass-produce ultra-high-purity graphene, there are currently none. That’s one of the reasons the material sells for an outrageous price—rarity creates value. And I have exclusively mastered the technology to mass-produce this high-purity new material.”

…

Chapter 15: Penghui Capital is Watching from the Shadows

As the saying goes, different fields are worlds apart. Wen Suqing didn’t quite grasp the full weight of Xiao Yu’s words, but she knew that the premium on innovative high-tech was astronomical, especially the kind of revolutionary technology that could completely reshuffle an entire industry.

After a moment, Wen Suqing said, “If it’s truly as incredible as you say, I’m finding it hard to refuse.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m not telling you this to force an immediate decision, but just to give you a general idea of what to expect. However, you must keep this confidential for now. If Zhou Baichuan and the others at Penghui Capital find out, your proposal will be useless, and it will be very difficult for me to get my revenge.”

Wen Suqing replied, “Of course. You’ve trusted me with something this major; do you think I don’t understand the stakes?”

The two chatted for a while longer, confirming the specific execution process that would follow.

The first step was to boost PrismTech’s stock price to reach the 26.5 billion market cap. Winning the high-stakes performance agreement was the absolute prerequisite; the rest of the plan could only proceed on that foundation.

Only by winning the agreement would the drag-along rights clause be nullified. With that constraint gone, Xiao Yu would have absolute control over PrismTech. Any corporate decision would pass if he agreed and fail if he didn’t.

…

At the Penghui Capital headquarters.

“Have you found anything? What is Xiao Yu trying to do with that Linghan New Materials he recently set up?” Zhou Baichuan, the head of Penghui Capital, asked the subordinate reporting to him. The firm was clearly keeping an eye on Xiao Yu and was already aware that he had recently registered a new company.

The subordinate who came to report answered, “We can’t analyze Xiao Yu’s motive at the moment. Based on the basic information on Linghan New Materials, it’s a company that researches new materials like graphene.”

Zhou Baichuan pondered for a moment, a suspicious look on his face. He muttered to himself, “Could it be that this kid, Xiao Yu, has realized he can’t fulfill the high-stakes performance agreement and is planning to pull a fast one by swapping his assets into a new shell?”

Hearing this, his subordinate couldn’t help but add, “We’ve just learned that Xiao Yu got divorced some time ago. About one hundred million in assets was transferred to his ex-wife, Chu Jintang. It’s highly likely that Xiao Yu is playing at a sham divorce for technical reasons to prevent those assets from being liquidated and frozen.”

Zhou Baichuan immediately came to a conclusion. “Be more confident. It is a sham divorce. How many times have we seen this sort of thing? It looks like the kid is already preparing for the worst-case scenario behind the scenes.”

A moment later, his subordinate asked, “Then, that one hundred million that was transferred…”

Zhou Baichuan waved his hand dismissively. “Leave it. Pretend we didn’t see it. We should at least leave him with something to start over. Who knows, we might get another chance to fleece him in the future.”

At these words, the subordinate immediately laid on the flattery. “You’re always thinking long-term, Mr. Zhou.”

This meant they didn’t just want to fleece him once; they wanted to fatten him up and fleece him again.

On the other hand, it also showed that Zhou Baichuan was confident that Xiao Yu could make a comeback. He acknowledged Xiao Yu’s technological development capabilities.

Zhou Baichuan’s idea was to leave him with some starting capital for a new venture. When the time came, they could use a different shell company to finance him again.

Even if Xiao Yu learned from his mistake, if he made a comeback and sought normal financing, they could still get a handsome return by exiting with their principal and interest in due course.

But for now, Zhou Baichuan was more concerned with the present. He immediately asked his subordinate, “Is there any connection between Linghan New Materials and PrismTech? Have you found any signs of interest transfers?”

The subordinate shook his head and replied, “According to the current information, Xiao Yu has not made any interest transfers. He didn’t even use any of PrismTech’s resources to establish Linghan New Materials.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Zhou Baichuan’s face. “Strange. Has he really resigned himself to his fate and given up the fight? Is he just trying to start over by setting up an extra company?”

The subordinate said, “I think that’s a possibility. After all, he’s bound to lose the high-stakes performance agreement, and he should know this himself. PrismTech’s stock is currently trading at just over four yuan. It’s impossible for it to skyrocket six or seven times in the remaining period. Besides, even if he could pull it off, my Penghui Capital would just make even more money. We can’t lose either way.”

Zhou Baichuan’s brows relaxed, and he nodded in satisfaction. “That’s true.”

If PrismTech’s stock soared, Penghui Capital would make a fortune. If PrismTech’s stock stagnated, Penghui Capital would devour Xiao Yu completely, kick him out, and still make a fortune. It was a winning game no matter what.

“Still, keep an eye on him,” Zhou Baichuan instructed. “I’m quite curious to see what kind of tricks this kid can pull.”

…

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu was not idle.

In the following days, he focused his energy on laying out the plans for Linghan New Materials, and the company’s staff was constantly expanding.

Xiao Yu had already mastered the technology for mass-producing graphene. He could also order custom equipment and instruments from Earth and refine graphene from Earth’s graphite ore. However, it couldn’t yet achieve the ultra-high quality of the graphene material from Blue Star because the performance of the production equipment on Earth couldn’t keep up. It would take time to upgrade the entire industrial chain.

Still, Linghan New Materials had to procure some equipment from Earth. This was to provide a reasonable origin story when they eventually unveiled their graphene products. Later, he could gradually transfer equipment and technology from Blue Star to upgrade the industrial system, at which point they could produce it independently on Earth.

For now, he needed to spend some effort creating this so-called product line. It had to be highly confidential; even employees working in different groups were forbidden from inquiring about the details of each other’s work and had to sign strict non-disclosure agreements.

Some of the so-called key technical steps were to be completed directly by unmanned equipment, with no human involvement.

The entire product line was a facade, intended to conceal the fact that the graphene was being brought over from Blue Star. This way, the production details could be kept absolutely secret, preventing outsiders from learning the truth and thus masking the graphene materials being shuttled over from Blue Star.

In the future, outsiders would simply assume that Linghan New Materials’ secrecy around its mass-production technology was just too good, making it impossible for anyone to figure out the principles behind it.

…

In the villa’s underground garage.

Xiao Yu was carrying out the first step of his plan: generating hype. He would buy trending topics and create a marketing blitz to drive up the heat.

This required marketing materials, and he was currently recording video footage himself.

Dressed in a white cleanroom suit and wearing cleanroom gloves, Xiao Yu stood before the camera and demonstrated a flexible screen made of graphene material that he had prepared earlier. He held it up to the lens and repeatedly bent it, showcasing its flexibility, light transmittance, and other properties.

Graphene material has a very wide range of applications. In the mobile phone industry, for instance, it could significantly improve the performance of existing phones while reducing costs, replacing the transparent indium tin oxide conductive layer widely used in LCD touch panels, as well as being used in other high-frequency electronic components.

In future concept phone designs, graphene could be applied to circuit boards, flexible materials, and integrated multi-phone sensing platforms.

As a structure composed of carbon, this brand-new material, graphene, was not only unprecedentedly thin—the first material discovered by humans on Earth to be composed of a single atomic layer—but also incredibly strong, with a very stable carbon atom structure.

Its thermal conductivity surpassed all other known materials on Earth. It was almost completely transparent and soft, yet its atoms were packed so tightly that not even helium, with its minimal molecular structure, could penetrate it.

From consumer electronics to body armor, and from papermaking to the biomedical field, graphene material had enormous potential for both commercial and military applications.

For example, single-molecule gas detection, graphene nanoribbons, transparent conductive electrodes, thermal conductive materials/thermal interface materials, supercapacitors, biological devices, replacing silicon to produce supercomputers, use in lithium battery technology, and many other industries.

After recording the video footage, Xiao Yu would edit it, creating several short video clips to be handed over to Wen Suqing’s team.

According to the plan, she would use her network of connections in the Capital’s circles to contact a professional and trustworthy marketing team to handle the matter—buying trending topics, boosting the hype, and making the story go viral.

…

Chapter 16: The Initial Buzz and Heated Discussions

Xiao Yu took out a newly bought smartphone. It was a Huawei P40 Pro, which had been on the market for just over a year.

In front of the camera recording the video footage, he woke up the phone’s screen. The original P40 Pro’s front-facing camera wasn’t a notch screen or a punch-hole screen, but a small rectangle in the top-left corner. Currently, no phone on the market could achieve a true 100% full-screen display unless you got rid of the front camera, which was obviously not feasible.

But at this moment, the modified P40 Pro in Xiao Yu’s hands displayed a completely full screen the moment it was woken up. The front-facing camera had “disappeared,” and the entire front of the phone was a 100% complete screen.

He had removed the phone’s original screen and replaced it with a new one made from ultra-high purity graphene material. The front-facing camera was completely hidden beneath the screen.

Xiao Yu opened the camera app and switched to the front-facing camera to take pictures and record videos.

The resulting photos and videos had an imaging quality that was in no way inferior to that of a standard on-screen camera. When compared, they were indistinguishable.

After tinkering for a while, Xiao Yu finally finished with the video footage and left the underground garage. He edited the footage into several short videos and sent them directly to Wen Suqing. She had already arranged for a professional team to handle hyping it up.

The next few days happened to be the May Day holiday. The stock market was closed, providing enough time for the news to brew before it opened. This timing had been deliberately chosen.

…

[Graphene, hailed as the most disruptive material of the 21st century! Linghan New Materials achieves a revolutionary breakthrough, taking a commanding lead!]

[A Chinese tech company reaches new heights! Mass-producible high-purity graphene preparation technology is born. Is the era of cabbage-priced graphene material upon us?]

[Disruptive new material sees another technological breakthrough. The era of the true full-screen display may be coming.]

[Revolutionary breakthrough in graphene flexible screen technology! A new dawn for under-display phone cameras! Say goodbye to punch-hole and notch screens! A godsend for the obsessive-compulsive!]

Two days later, during the May Day holiday, the videos Xiao Yu recorded began to appear and spread on the Douyin short video platform.

These short videos all used eye-catching, clickbait-y titles, accompanied by brief text introductions and rousing background music. The attention-grabbing effect was maxed out.

During the recording, Xiao Yu’s voice had also been processed by the professional team, giving it an interview-like quality, as if it were a live interview recording.

In addition to the videos, numerous short articles were released to accompany them.

There wasn’t much of a stir in the first two days, but by the third day, the buzz began to build.

One short video in particular went viral, acting as a powerful catalyst. It was the one showing Xiao Yu replacing the original screen of a Huawei P40 Pro with a full-screen display. This video sparked heated online discussions and spread rapidly and widely.

It had to be said that the Huawei brand provided a significant boost to the hype. Just last year, Huawei’s phone sales had surpassed Apple to take the top spot, only to be hit with sanctions, and the battle in the court of public opinion was fierce.

By the fourth day, the hype reached a new level. The video’s spread widened, and it began to attract attention from investment circles, including some retail investors.

…

The next day, May 5th, was the last day of the holiday.

A retail investor in the A-share market was bored, scrolling through Douyin short videos on his phone. He swiped quickly across the screen, then paused, stunned. He immediately swiped back a few videos.

“Huh? Isn’t that Xiao-er? How does he also have a company called Linghan New Materials? Holy crap, what’s going on??” The retail investor was astonished. Taking a closer look, he recognized the man in the video as none other than Xiao Yu, the boss of PrismTech.

He recognized him because he had bought PrismTech stock. After his investment got trapped, he started researching the company’s fundamentals, so he knew what Xiao Yu looked like.

Speaking of which, the way PrismTech’s retail investors addressed Xiao Yu depended on the stock’s performance. From surging, to soaring, to rising slightly, to falling, to plummeting, to bleeding slowly, their names for him changed from God Xiao, to Lord Xiao, to CEO Xiao, to Bro Xiao, to Xiao Yu, to Xiao-zi, to Xiao-er.

Currently, the retail investors holding PrismTech stock were numb from their losses. Xiao Yu had been “demoted” all the way down to the current level of “Xiao-er”.

This retail investor had bought PrismTech last year when the price was at 10 yuan, thinking it had bottomed out. He never expected it to break through that support and crash. He bought more to average down his cost, but to his utter surprise, it just kept bleeding slowly, hitting new low after new low.

At first, he wanted to make a profit. Later, he would have been content just to break even. And so, he gradually got trapped. His current average cost was 8.57 yuan, and the latest closing price was 4.12 yuan, a cumulative unrealized loss of -51.29%. The value of his shares had been cut in half, and that was after he had averaged down.

He had been trapped holding PrismTech for over a year. Some people had even been trapped for two years, and it had only been two and a half years since PrismTech’s backdoor listing.

“Holy crap, is this for real? Xiao-er, you figured out how to mass-produce high-purity graphene material?” The retail investor was shocked. Just as he was about to get excited, he saw that the technology belonged to Linghan New Materials.

“How dare you, Xiao-er! Why isn’t it PrismTech? This is so f*cked up!” He retracted his happiness in a split second and started cursing loudly. If this was PrismTech’s technology, wouldn’t the stock price skyrocket?

Meanwhile, in PrismTech’s stock forum comment section, many retail investors who had seen the news online were already discussing it. The name Linghan New Materials had appeared in the comments, and someone had even posted a screenshot from Xiao Yu’s video showing the modified P40 Pro with its under-display camera and full-screen display.

The stock had been bleeding for over a year, with almost no one paying attention to it. It had zero hype. The stock forum’s comment section was dead, getting only a few new comments a day.

But right now, it was much livelier than usual, with noticeably more new comments and posts.

[F*ck me, I sold before the holiday. Don’t tell me I gave up right before the dawn?]

[Can this stock grow a pair for once? I’m numb from being trapped.]

[Good news at the bottom has to be solid good news. Let’s go, go, go!]

[My average cost is 13.79, down a disastrous -70%. It needs to rise +234.7% just for me to break even. Can you do it, Xiao-er…]

[Don’t panic, he’s about to get promoted from Xiao-er to Lord Xiao… (smirks)]

[LMAO, can’t you guys read? Let’s not even talk about whether the tech is real. Even if it is, what the hell does it have to do with PrismTech?]

[Xiao-er has screwed me over so bad. Been stuck dead in this for a year, missed out on the big bull runs in medicine, photovoltaics, and new energy.]

[Photovoltaics and new energy aren’t that great either. BYD is also down by half. It’s a mess everywhere.]

[Holy crap, this is too much. I just searched for Linghan New Materials. F*ck, it was just established a short while ago. There’s definitely something fishy going on. Xiao-er must have siphoned the tech from PrismTech to Linghan New Materials.]

[Asset stripping?]

[Someone should report this to the regulator. This is definitely asset stripping.]

[If this keeps up, I’m afraid Xiao-er is getting another demotion. What should we call him? How about Xiao the Thief? Haha!]

[This stock is hopeless. Run, everyone!]

…

Chapter 17: What Game Is This Xiao Yu Playing?

The next day, Thursday, May 6th.

The May Day holiday was over. Xiao Yu, who had never cared much about stock prices, opened his computer that morning to check his company’s stock performance. Influenced by the news that had been brewing over the holiday, PrismTech opened significantly higher, up 13.10%.

The only connection between Linghan New Materials and PrismTech was that Xiao Yu founded both companies. Although they shared a boss, they were practically unrelated.

But based on the opening, it was clear that PrismTech had been stimulated by the holiday news, jumping 13% right from the start.

After the market opened, PrismTech’s stock price, which had opened high, took a sharp nosedive.

Evidently, while Linghan New Materials had garnered a lot of attention over the holiday, it had almost nothing to do with PrismTech. The only link was their shared founder and boss.

Under normal circumstances, this would only affect the opening sentiment. Cunning retail investors who got in early immediately dumped their shares and ran.

During the midday break, a short exposé related to PrismTech appeared. In today’s age of social media, information spreads much faster than before. The post quickly went viral, sparking widespread discussion and causing a rapid surge in attention for PrismTech.

To put it in simple, direct, and down-to-earth terms, the post claimed: There’s a high probability that Linghan New Materials and PrismTech are going to merge and restructure!

In the capital market, a merger and restructuring is epic-level good news for a publicly listed company.

It was as if Linghan New Materials was a young, beautiful, and wealthy woman. A merger and restructuring would be like PrismTech and Linghan New Materials getting “married.” It was like a poor boy marrying a rich woman—the poor boy’s net worth would surely skyrocket.

By the same logic, if PrismTech merged and restructured with Linghan New Materials, its value would instantly soar.

PrismTech itself had gone public through a backdoor listing via a merger and restructuring. After the stock was renamed to PrismTech, its price had immediately shot up from just over seven yuan to more than fifteen, easily doubling after hitting the daily trading limit for several consecutive days.

When the market reopened at 1:00 PM, PrismTech’s intraday stock chart shot straight up at a 90-degree angle. In less than three seconds, the price surged to 4.94 yuan, a 19.90% increase, hitting the daily limit up. The company’s market capitalization rose to 4.287 billion yuan.

At that moment, shares worth over twenty-three million yuan were sold at PrismTech’s limit-up price. The sellers were mostly retail investors who were largely unaware of the situation. They hadn’t seen the rumored exposé, so they sold.

The trading volume plummeted as the buy orders at the limit-up price reached a staggering 570 million yuan.

The retail investors who had sold at the limit-up price were beginning to regret it. With such strong buy orders, the feeling of having sold too early grew more intense. But it was basically impossible to buy back in unless the 570 million yuan of buy orders were filled or canceled, breaking the limit-up. And if the limit-up did break, they would definitely be too scared to buy.

Seeing his company’s stock hit the daily limit, Xiao Yu was extremely satisfied with the comprehensive strategy provided by Wen Suqing’s team.

According to the original plan, the first step was to generate hype for Linghan New Materials during the May Day holiday.

Once the news-driven momentum had fermented, it was PrismTech’s turn to act. They would start with short exposés to create rumors that Linghan New Materials and PrismTech were going to merge and restructure.

The goal was to create an expectation in the market and attract speculative capital.

The next step was to see if the market would buy it. If not, they would release even better news.

After PrismTech’s stock hit its limit up, its popularity index soared, and the comments section on the stock forum became even more lively.

[What’s going on? Why did this stock shoot up to the limit? Any good news?]

[Couldn’t get in. Damn it!]

[I’m slapping my thighs in regret. I sold during the morning call auction and was feeling smug when it nosedived. Turns out I was the clown all along.]

[What? This stock has merger and restructuring news? I didn’t see any announcement.]

[The power of these rumor posts is insane. So many gullible investors.]

[Don’t bother looking. It must be an industry chain stock. Stay away from this trash.]

[I impulsively bought in during the morning call auction. Lost 10% when it dived at the open, and my heart sank. I didn’t even want to look at it. But I glanced at it when the market reopened this afternoon, and it went from a 10% loss to a 10% gain. This rollercoaster is just too much… (facepalm.jpg)]

[Holy crap, I didn’t know about this news. I saw it hit the limit up for no reason, and I couldn’t resist selling for an 18% profit. I regret it to death.]

[I held on for half the day but couldn’t help selling at 4.27. Speechless.]

…

The next day, Friday, May 7th.

During the collective call auction, PrismTech opened at 5.93 yuan, a straight-line limit up of +20.04%. The opening price was also the highest price of the day. The stock remained firmly at its limit-up price until the market closed, never once opening for trading. The company’s market capitalization climbed to 5.147 billion yuan.

The retail investors who sold yesterday were slapping their thighs in regret when they saw the second consecutive limit-up. Two 20% limit-ups meant a 44% gain. And judging by the strength of the buy orders, there were definitely more big profits to be made when the market opened next week.

The investors who had sold too early were heartbroken, especially those who had held on through losses but couldn’t resist selling as soon as it hit the limit up yesterday, fearing it would fall back down. Seeing the consecutive limit-ups now, they felt terrible.

…

“What game is this Xiao Yu playing?”

Zhou Baichuan, the head of Penghui Capital, was currently discussing Xiao Yu with representatives from several other capital institutions. They were the ones who had colluded to set up the scheme against Xiao Yu, and they were also several of PrismTech’s major shareholders.

A middle-aged man to Zhou Baichuan’s left said, “He started a new company, and now he’s spreading rumors about a merger and restructuring with PrismTech. The stock hit its limit up twice in two days. Is Xiao Yu trying to use this gimmick to pump the stock price and fulfill the high-stakes performance agreement?”

A representative from another investment firm immediately added, “He has the motive, but if that’s truly his intention, hehe, I can only say he’s still too young.”

Zhou Baichuan said in a low voice, “No, no, that’s not the point. The point is this whole affair with his Linghan New Materials. Is it just a gimmick, or does he actually have the technology to mass-produce high-purity graphene material? If it’s real, that would be a game-changer.”

The middle-aged man from before immediately said, “Then why stage this merger and restructuring drama? Those rumors were most likely orchestrated by Xiao Yu behind the scenes.”

Everyone present frowned. After a moment, Zhou Baichuan spoke, “We can’t determine Xiao Yu’s motive for now. Let’s observe for a while. I’ve already arranged for people to investigate Linghan New Materials. The most crucial thing is to find out whether this rumored mass-production technology for high-purity graphene is real or not. Everything else can wait.”

The other investors in the room nodded in agreement. Indeed, that was the most critical point.

If it was real, Linghan New Materials would be worth ten, even twenty times more than PrismTech’s current market capitalization.

…

Chapter 18: Keep the Good News Coming, Let the Music Play

Monday, May 10th.

“Looks like I need to release more news to keep the momentum going…” Watching his company’s stock chart, Xiao Yu saw that the price was losing steam. This was just the beginning; he was still a long way from reaching the target market capitalization required by the high-stakes performance agreement.

After soaring with two 20% daily limit-ups, PrismTech opened high today at +19.73%, practically at the limit up. It was still two cents shy, however, and the price took a nosedive right after the opening bell. Without more significant positive news, it couldn’t climb any higher. The market had already been generous enough to grant it nearly three 20% limit-ups based on the “short exposé” rumor about a merger and restructuring.

Xiao Yu decided to post on his personal Weibo account. Compared to top-tier magnates like Rebs, his account was run by a nobody, with just over one hundred thousand followers and no concerted effort to manage it, which was to be expected.

But that didn’t matter. The news would spread eventually. Xiao Yu knew some of the retail investors who had bought his company’s stock followed him because some of those who were trapped in their positions had specifically come to his Weibo page to curse him out.

After 2:00 p.m., Xiao Yu published his edited post. He didn’t mention the publicly listed PrismTech by name. Instead, writing as the owner of Linghan New Materials, he published an article related to that company. He played it safe, knowing that even without mentioning PrismTech, the market would let its imagination run wild. This was what you call expectation management.

[There are many types of graphene, each with different parameters and specifications. Common types include single-layer, few-layer, and multi-layer graphene. The purity of graphene material on the market generally ranges from 95% to 99.5%.

The graphene material prepared by Linghan New Materials can reach a purity of up to 99.99999%—that’s five nines after the decimal point. And there is still huge room for improvement in the future.

Typically, one ton of graphite ore can yield about 50 to 200 grams of high-purity graphene product. The yield is affected by the production process, and different techniques result in different outputs.

There are many ways to increase graphene yield. Two common methods are: one, increasing the purity of the graphite ore—the purer the ore, the higher the graphene yield; two, optimizing the production process, such as refining the mechanical exfoliation or chemical vapor deposition methods.

Linghan New Materials’ proprietary preparation technology has achieved an exponential increase in yield. Currently, we have initially achieved a yield of 4,500 grams of high-purity graphene from one ton of graphite ore, an improvement of over fifty times the industry average.

This is still not our upper limit. In terms of both yield and purity, there remains immense potential for technological advancement.]

…

After Xiao Yu published the Weibo post, PrismTech’s stock price did not react immediately. After all, he hadn’t mentioned PrismTech in the article, his follower count was low, his reach was limited, and he wasn’t some famous influential blogger. It took time for information to disseminate.

However, PrismTech had been gaining a lot of traction over the past few days. More and more people were paying attention to the stock, including some speculative funds with significant capital.

About five minutes after Xiao Yu’s post went live, a speculator from one of these funds noticed it, and his interest was immediately piqued.

He realized that Xiao Yu, the boss of PrismTech, was quite skilled at managing market expectations. The content of the Weibo post was intriguing. It seemingly avoided any mention of PrismTech, but the market was already abuzz with rumors of a merger and restructuring between Linghan New Materials and PrismTech.

It was like a veiled beauty, half-hiding her face with a pipa—the ambiguity was tantalizing, creating a vast space for imagination and speculation.

The speculator then sent private messages to two friends, who were also speculators. After a brief discussion, the three of them decided to orchestrate a consensus rally for PrismTech’s third consecutive limit-up.

By then, it was late in the afternoon trading session. PrismTech’s stock had weakened and was on the verge of breaking its intraday low.

But a short while later, a large buy order of over 5,000 lots suddenly appeared, igniting the stock. Just as PrismTech was about to fall below its morning low, the price shot up to +8.77%. Immediately after, another wave of buying hit—this time a massive order of 10,000 lots fueled the rally. Seeing “Ten-thousand-lot Bro” had arrived, many retail investors began to jump on the bandwagon, and the stock price surged rapidly.

After building momentum for five minutes, the main capital force executed a “mid-air refueling” style rally. PrismTech’s intraday chart launched a second wave of attack, shooting up 15%. Just then, another large order entered the fray to continue the push.

The intraday line went straight for the limit-up price. PrismTech’s stock hit 7.12 yuan, rising +20.07% to its daily limit.

In less than three seconds, the buy orders at the limit price piled up, totaling 279 million yuan.

Once it hit the limit, the stock stayed there, sealed until the market closed. The trading volume for the day swelled to 595 million yuan, and the company’s market capitalization rose to 6.18 billion.

Clearly, the capital markets bought into the rumor of a merger and restructuring. The veiled, ambiguous approach created more room for imagination, making it perfect for speculation. Speculative funds were happy to jump into a stock like this because it was easy to gain pricing power over a “trash stock” like PrismTech. It was unlike the big-cap, blue-chip stocks crowded with institutional investors, where any attempt at a sharp rally would get you smashed into oblivion.

Today’s limit-up was crucial. The stock’s popularity index soared, and it won the favor of major funds in the market.

Xiao Yu was quite satisfied seeing his company’s stock hit its limit in the final trading hour. Everything was going smoothly, right on schedule.

…

The next day, Tuesday, May 11th.

At 9:25 a.m., PrismTech gapped up significantly, opening at 7.93 yuan, a rise of +11.37%. There was no pullback after the open. The stock charged straight for the limit. In less than three seconds, PrismTech’s price rocketed to 8.54 yuan, soaring +19.94% to seal its limit-up with a reduced volume of 170 million yuan. This marked its fourth consecutive limit-up.

The stock had doubled in value in four days, with a cumulative gain of +107.28%. The company’s market capitalization had climbed to a high of 7.412 billion yuan.

The comments section of the stock forum was already buzzing, with countless retail investors active in the comments or the live bullet-screen commentary on the trading software’s chart interface.

[Sold too early, seriously sold too early!]

[This stock has a demonic aura!]

[Go, go, go! Just go all in! Don’t be a coward, ride it all the way!]

[One more limit-up and I’ll break even! Can it happen? Should I sell now? I’m scared it’ll keep rising, but even more scared it’ll fall back down. Family, I’m so torn!]

[Last Thursday, Xiao the Thief was promoted to Xiao-er. Last Friday, he was promoted to Xiao-zi. Yesterday, he was promoted to Xiao Yu. Can he get promoted to Bro Xiao today?]

[Tomorrow, CEO Xiao, the day after, Lord Xiao… (facepalm-crying.jpg)]

[He’s for real, I could just cry. I sold at the high open on the first limit-up, tried to day trade and buy it back in the afternoon. Whoops, I got completely thrown off. I was trapped for half a year. If I hadn’t touched it, I would have broken even yesterday and even made a profit. Sigh, the life of a gullible investor. I’ve cried my eyes out.]

[I bought at 12 yuan and cut my losses at 3.89. Who can I even complain to?]

…

Afternoon.

Yun Shu, the assistant to the Chairman of PrismTech, came to Xiao Yu’s villa to report on her work. He hadn’t been to the PrismTech office recently, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention to the company.

In the living room, Yun Shu sat on the sofa opposite Xiao Yu and reported, “The exchange has sent our company a letter of inquiry, requesting that we verify and clarify whether any previously disclosed information needs to be corrected or supplemented; whether there have been any recent media reports on undisclosed material information that may have had a significant impact on the company’s stock trading price; and whether there have been any major changes in the company’s operating conditions or internal and external business environment.”

Yun Shu lowered her gaze to the documents and continued, “They are also asking whether the company, its controlling shareholder, and its actual controller have any material matters that should have been disclosed but were not, or are in the planning stage; whether the company, its controlling shareholder, or its actual controller traded the company’s stock during the period of abnormal fluctuation; and whether there have been any other violations of fair information disclosure regulations.”

After a moment of thought, Xiao Yu looked at his assistant, Yun Shu, and instructed, “Just issue a routine announcement regarding the abnormal stock price fluctuations. As for the letter of inquiry, delay responding for a while. You can prepare the materials first and wait for my instructions.”

Yun Shu nodded and made a note. A moment later, she looked up, her eyes meeting Xiao Yu’s. “About the rumor circulating about the merger and restructuring of your two companies…”

Xiao Yu met her gaze and said slowly, “You are a founding member of the company. You joined me to build this business less than two months after it was founded. I trust you one hundred percent. I’m in a battle of wits with Zhou Baichuan and a few other investors, but you don’t need to worry about it or get involved. Just follow my arrangements.”

Xiao Yu was very pleased with his assistant, Yun Shu. Not only was she beautiful and elegant, a pleasure to look at, but she also had an outstanding disposition and was highly capable and efficient in her execution.

Yun Shu nodded and said, “Understood. Is there anything else?”

Xiao Yu stated succinctly, “Manage the company well in my stead.”

As the assistant to the Chairman, Yun Shu held a great deal of power at PrismTech. She was a senior executive with real authority, authorized by the Chairman to handle company affairs and capable of fulfilling his duties in his absence.

Xiao Yu said, “You can get back to your work.”

Yun Shu nodded again. “Okay.”

With that, she took her leave from Xiao Yu’s private villa.

…

Chapter 19: This Wasn’t a Board Meeting Vote, It Was a Notification!

The next day, Wednesday, May 12th.

At 9:52 a.m., major stock market apps sent out a notification:

[The optics and optoelectronics sector is strengthening. PrismTech has hit its fifth consecutive daily limit-up, with a cumulative increase of +148.78%. Other stocks like Spectrum Inc., Yongxin Optics, and Qiangzhao Optoelectronics are following suit.]

PrismTech’s stock price surged to 10.25 yuan, an increase of +20.02%, hitting its daily limit. Its market capitalization climbed to 8.897 billion yuan.

By reversing a weak trend to hit its fifth consecutive limit-up today, PrismTech, which was now leading the entire sector’s rally, saw its market profile soar. It shot straight to the top of the day’s individual stock popularity index.

Xiao Yu was also closely monitoring his own company’s stock price. He mentally calculated the timeline and his subsequent plans. The current price was 10.25 yuan, still a long way from satisfying the terms of the high-stakes performance agreement.

According to the agreement, PrismTech’s market capitalization had to reach the 26.5 billion yuan mark, which corresponded to a share price of 30.53 yuan. This meant the stock still needed to rise by nearly another 200 percent.

However, the stock’s current trajectory was very strong, positioning it to become the star stock of the A-share market this month.

If the stock price continued its strong run, he wouldn’t need to do anything. He would hold on to the cards in his hand and not rush to play them. If the stock started to weaken and lose momentum, he would release some better-than-expected positive news to continue pushing the price higher.

Once he hit the target market cap and was free from the constraints of the high-stakes performance agreement, the next step would be to crash the stock price in one fell swoop.

Xiao Yu had no intention of giving them any opportunity to cash out at a high price.

For now, it didn’t matter how high the stock price went. The investors couldn’t pull out even if they wanted to, as their shares were still in their lock-up period.

Although there were securities lending arrangements, someone still had to foot the bill in the end. If they faced a short squeeze, the brokerage firms certainly wouldn’t be the ones to take the fall for them.

Two days later, on Friday, May 14th.

PrismTech gapped up by +7.64%. Just seventeen minutes after the market opened, its price surged to 14.76 yuan, a +20.00% increase, marking its seventh consecutive limit-up.

But less than five minutes after sealing the limit, the stock broke its upward trend and began to nosedive. The intraday chart looked like a waterfall. PrismTech was experiencing a loss-making effect today. Because it had been rising under regulatory scrutiny, and with the added pressure of it being a Friday, investors were afraid of negative news over the weekend and lost their nerve.

However, as it was the most-watched leading stock at the moment, it didn’t plummet to its lower limit.

By the end of the day, it had narrowed its losses to -6.18%, closing at 11.54 yuan. Its market capitalization stood at 10.016 billion yuan, just barely holding on to the ten billion yuan threshold.

Meanwhile, Wen Suqing had also arrived at Xiao Yu’s villa residence that afternoon to discuss matters.

The moment Xiao Yu saw PrismTech’s streak end at six consecutive limit-ups, he immediately called his assistant.

“Chairman.”

Yun Shu’s voice came through as soon as the call connected. Xiao Yu gave his instructions concisely, “Start preparing and notify all the directors. I’m calling a board meeting in an hour and a half.”

“Understood,” Yun Shu replied.

After hanging up, Xiao Yu turned to Wen Suqing, who was sitting on the living room sofa. “Give me your analysis. How can we predict how Zhou Baichuan and his camp will try to anticipate our real motives?”

Wen Suqing appeared lost in thought. After a moment, she looked at Xiao Yu and said, “It all depends on whether the stock price can hit the target of 30.53 yuan in a single run. If it meets resistance at that price, it’s very likely the result of them suppressing it. While that wouldn’t be direct proof that they’ve seen through our intentions, it would confirm that they don’t want you to be free from the performance agreement’s constraints so easily.”

“That makes sense…” Xiao Yu nodded at her analysis. “I hope the market will be strong enough to push the price all the way up in one go. It would save a lot of trouble and time.”

Wen Suqing said, “It would be best if it could go all the way up, but you should still be mentally prepared. I predict our opponents won’t let you fulfill the agreement so easily.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Of course. I’m aware of that and have it covered.”

He continued to discuss the details of their follow-up plan with Wen Suqing. When the time was about right, he took a file with him and headed to PrismTech’s headquarters.

A little over an hour later, Xiao Yu arrived at the company.

Yun Shu hurried over to his side with quick steps, reporting as she walked, “The meeting has been arranged. The other six directors are all present.”

Xiao Yu nodded without speaking and handed her the file he had brought, then made his way to the conference room.

PrismTech’s board currently had seven members. Xiao Yu held one seat as Chairman, and he had nominated three other directors. Penghui Capital and several other major shareholders took the remaining three seats.

But Xiao Yu had absolute authority on the board because he held the right to nominate more than half of its members. With the principle of one person, one vote and no veto power, he had his own vote plus the three votes from his nominees, for a total of four votes. Any vote would be a 4-to-3 decision.

In other words, any resolution Xiao Yu wanted to pass in a board meeting was guaranteed to pass, and anything he opposed was guaranteed to fail.

The three directors he nominated would always vote with him. They weren’t foolish enough to oppose Xiao Yu, because a director’s first priority is to be accountable to the shareholders, not the company. Xiao Yu was the company’s founder, actual controller, and largest shareholder. Moreover, he could replace any disobedient director at any time.

“Everyone’s here.” Upon entering the conference room, Xiao Yu headed straight for the Chairman’s seat. After sitting down, he glanced at the six directors present. his gaze lingered for a moment on the director representing Penghui Capital before he scanned the room again and said concisely, “There is only one proposal to be voted on today.”

Xiao Yu was acting with decisive speed. He had stumbled and made mistakes over the past few years, but his growth was also plain to see.

“You all should know, or at least have heard, that I’ve founded another company, Linghan New Materials,” Xiao Yu said methodically. “The proposal is for PrismTech to acquire a 51% stake in Linghan New Materials and plan for an asset restructuring. After the restructuring, its financial results will be consolidated.”

The directors in attendance were all taken aback, especially those representing investors like Penghui Capital, who exchanged bewildered glances. But Xiao Yu gave them no time to react. “Let’s vote. All in favor, raise your hands.”

With that, Xiao Yu leaned back in the chairman’s chair, his expression betraying no emotion. He slowly raised his right hand.

Seeing this, the three directors Xiao Yu had nominated understood that the Chairman had no intention of discussing the matter with them. Since he had already made his decision, there was nothing more to say. They all decisively raised their hands in favor.

The other three directors were somewhat stunned. This wasn’t a meeting for discussion; it was a notification.

That was right. Xiao Yu hadn’t come to discuss anything with them at all. He was simply here to go through the motions, nothing more.

The director representing Penghui Capital came to his senses and looked at Xiao Yu. “CEO Xiao, isn’t this a bit too hasty for such a major decision?”

Xiao Yu lowered his hand. The other three directors thought he was about to retract his vote, but instead, he announced on the spot, “Four votes in favor. The motion has passed with a majority. The proposal is approved.”

The three dissenting directors were stunned once again, completely ignored by Xiao Yu. They were furious, of course, but Xiao Yu couldn’t care less what they thought. Whether they approved, opposed, or abstained, it wouldn’t change the foregone conclusion that the proposal would pass.

Xiao Yu glanced at his assistant, Yun Shu, who was attending the meeting. “Prepare a summary of this board meeting’s resolution and announce it publicly tonight at eight o’clock.”

Yun Shu nodded. “Yes, Chairman.”

The process was completed at lightning speed. As if his words were gold, Xiao Yu said no more. With the proceedings over, he stood up and left without another word.

Chapter 20: A Blockbuster Announcement That Exceeded All Expectations

Several of the external investors received the news of the board’s vote and quickly held an internal video conference to discuss the matter.

“Is he really going ahead with a merger and restructuring? What on earth is that kid up to?” Zhou Baichuan frowned, lost in thought, trying to figure out Xiao Yu’s true intentions.

Just then, another investor at the meeting said, “It’s hard to say. Our relationship with him is already strained. Would he really do something to be so kind? Just because the restructuring proposal was approved doesn’t mean the restructuring will succeed. It could also fail. What if he’s using the good news to pump up the stock price, fulfill the high-stakes performance agreement, and then find some excuse to announce the restructuring has failed? Wouldn’t that kill two birds with one stone?”

As players in the world of capital operations, they were all too familiar with the games public companies played with mergers and restructurings. They had even orchestrated such schemes themselves, using the pretense of a merger—a deceptive restructuring—to rip off gullible investors in the stock market. Once the stock price soared and they had dumped their shares, they would turn around and announce that the restructuring had failed.

The investor who spoke was a middle-aged man who looked like an old fox. He added, “The way I see it, he’s just trying to fulfill the performance agreement. He has no real intention of restructuring Linghan New Materials. Otherwise, there would be no reason for this company to even exist.”

A representative from another investment firm commented, “But no matter what, a rising stock price doesn’t hurt us.”

Zhou Baichuan shook his head and said gravely, “If that were all, it would be acceptable. What I’m worried about is that without the constraint of the performance agreement, he’ll have complete control over PrismTech. What if he decides to retaliate? A stock price that goes up can also be crashed. It can take years, even decades, to build a company, but it only takes a month—or even less—to ruin one.”

The other representative immediately replied, “That’s unlikely. Ruining the company would be a lose-lose situation for him, and he would completely alienate the capital markets. He stands to gain nothing from it. The disadvantages for him would far outweigh any benefits. There’s no reason for him to do that.”

Zhou Baichuan pondered for a moment before saying, “You have a point, and I can’t be certain. But the possibility exists, and we can’t afford to ignore it.”

Another middle-aged man at the meeting asked, “What’s the situation with Linghan New Materials?”

At this question, Zhou Baichuan replied, “On that subject, Xiao Yu’s secrecy has been unexpectedly effective. My people can’t dig up any useful information. Even the employees inside Linghan New Materials don’t seem to know much.”

Everyone fell silent. The whole affair felt truly bizarre, and they even began to suspect that Xiao Yu was playing a grand game of smoke and mirrors, creating something out of nothing just to complete the performance agreement.

Finally, Zhou Baichuan said, “Regardless, before things become clear, we cannot let him win the performance agreement.”

The middle-aged man agreed, “Agreed. A rising stock price doesn’t harm us. We just need to keep PrismTech’s price below thirty yuan.”

After some discussion, Zhou Baichuan and the others reached a consensus: they would not allow PrismTech’s market capitalization to exceed 26.5 billion.

Their shares were still under a lock-up period, so they couldn’t sell them to cash out, but they could engage in short-selling through securities lending. Furthermore, the A-share market had a re-lending mechanism for restricted shares, which allowed them to lend out their locked-up shares for others to short. This effectively allowed their restricted shares to circulate in the market for a period.

Because of this, they had an ace up their sleeve and were unafraid.

Around 7:47 PM, PrismTech released a blockbuster announcement.

Linzhou PrismTech Co., Ltd. intends to acquire a 51% controlling stake in Linghan New Materials Co., Ltd. through a major asset swap, cash payments, and other methods. The primary counterparty in this transaction is Linghan New Materials. This transaction is expected to constitute a related-party transaction and a major asset restructuring, but not a backdoor listing.

In layman’s terms, the announcement was saying: PrismTech has officially gotten “engaged” to Linghan New Materials! The next steps are to plan the banquet, invite the guests, and pick an auspicious day to get “married”!

PrismTech’s popularity index had fallen to eighth place, but with this announcement, it shot straight back to number one.

Retail investors who saw the news began forwarding it in their group chats. Discussions erupted in the stock forum’s comment section, causing more people to search for PrismTech, and its popularity index soared.

The stock forum had already exploded.

[Holy crap? They’re really doing a merger and restructuring, for real? This is majorly good news! Majorly good news!]

[I risked it and went in with thirty percent of my position during the late trading session, betting on some better-than-expected news over the weekend. The weekend isn’t even here and the news dropped! This is way beyond expectations, seriously beyond! I bought too little, bought too little, bought too little!]

[Releasing good news after the price has already doubled is just a setup to dump shares.]

[Dump shares? Don’t make me laugh. Do you have any idea of the value and growth potential of Linghan New Materials? Do you understand the significance of mass-producing high-purity graphene? It’s a revolutionary new material of the twenty-first century! PrismTech is acquiring 51% of it, and its market cap is just over ten billion. You call this a high point for dumping? You have shares to dump? I’ll buy them.]

[Next week is gonna be a string of straight-line limit ups. Anyone holding shares will be laughing in their sleep.]

[I bailed today. I had a heavy position, seventy percent, and was too scared to hold over the weekend. I just lost a chance to double my money!]

[Will I even be able to buy in when the market opens on Monday?]

[Forget it. It’ll open at a straight-line limit up and be sealed tight. Unless you have a VIP trading channel, you might get a few orders filled.]

[Did CEO Xiao’s brain suddenly get an upgrade? Has he finally learned how to manage market cap?]

[Shut up! Still calling him CEO Xiao? It’s Lord Xiao! No, God Xiao! Get with the program… (husky.jpg)]

[Why did I have to see this stock? I’ve already removed it from my watchlist. The more I look, the angrier I get. I’m numb with anger. I cut my losses at four yuan after losing thirty-five percent, and then it explodes like this. My mood for the whole year is ruined.]

[I broke even yesterday and couldn’t stop myself from selling. I’m kicking myself so hard right now.]

Over the weekend, the regulator did not suspend PrismTech’s trading.

It would have been pointless anyway; the stock would have just made up for the gains after resuming trading. More importantly, PrismTech had not violated any regulations. With Wen Suqing’s team advising Xiao Yu behind the scenes, such a rookie mistake was impossible.

PrismTech had not applied for a trading halt when announcing its planned major asset restructuring, so the stock would trade normally on Monday.

On Monday, May 17th, when the stock market opened, PrismTech was, without a doubt, pushed to a straight-line limit up. It opened at its upper limit and was sealed tight. The value of buy orders at the limit price reached a staggering 4.9 billion yuan, but there was almost no trading volume. The total volume for the day was a mere 14.35 million.

Penghui Capital and the other investment firms were also watching closely. They had already planned to prevent PrismTech’s stock from exceeding 30.53 yuan per share, but they didn’t dare to short it and try to crash the price at this moment.

If they dared to short the stock at this critical juncture, they would have their heads smashed in by the bulls. A short squeeze was guaranteed; they would be mercilessly crushed. Daring to short now was suicide.

With sentiment this strong, all they could do was temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack.

For the next three days, from Tuesday to Thursday, PrismTech hit three more consecutive straight-line limit ups without any suspense.

On Wednesday, the stock price hit 19.94 yuan, effortlessly breaking its previous all-time high of 17.85 yuan and setting a new record. On Thursday, it set another new high at 23.93 yuan, and its market capitalization soared to 20.771 billion.

However, the trading volume on Thursday swelled to 535 million, whereas the limit-up days from Monday to Wednesday had seen minimal volume.

This was because the investors from Penghui Capital had attempted to crash the market on Thursday, throwing 500 million yuan into a tentative sell-off. But the result was that they couldn’t even break the limit-up seal. The stock remained firmly locked at its upper limit. They instantly backed off, not daring to try such a forceful move again.

Chapter 21: Bring Some Gold Over from Blue Star as a Contingency

Friday, May 21st, the last trading day of the week, arrived as scheduled.

PrismTech achieved its fifth consecutive limit-up after rebounding from its initial downturn. It opened at the limit-up price once again, climbing to 28.72 yuan. Next week, it would only need another 6.30% increase for the company’s market capitalization to reach 26.5 billion, which would mean Xiao Yu had won the high-stakes performance agreement and would no longer be constrained by it.

In just twelve days, the stock had hit eleven 20% limit-ups, with a cumulative gain of 597.08%—an explosive rally of nearly sixfold. From its all-time low of 3.86 yuan, the cumulative gain had reached a staggering 644.04%.

Xiao Yu had been elevated to a “god-like status” by retail investors, who now worshipped him. Just two weeks ago, these same investors had been cursing him out online—a stark reflection of human nature.

As time went on, around 10:03 AM, the bears began their massive sell-off. After a week of deliberation, Zhou Baichuan and his group decided to launch their strongest attack today, on Friday. They were dead set on crashing the stock price.

Today was the perfect opportunity. If they didn’t act now, next Monday would be extremely dangerous. Even if they managed to suppress the price during the opening call auction, the bulls could ignite the stock mid-session and trigger a short squeeze. A sudden surge past 30.53 yuan would mean an instant victory for Xiao Yu in the performance agreement.

They hadn’t dared to act in the preceding days because they knew the bulls were in an invincible position; anyone who shorted the stock would be annihilated.

But now, after five limit-ups in five days and a nearly 150% gain, existing shareholders were sitting on massive unrealized profits. This was the moment for a concerted, all-out attack. By setting the tempo, they could spook the profit-takers into jumping on the bandwagon and cashing out, turning yesterday’s bulls into today’s bears.

And sure enough, the bears unleashed a sell order of over 300,000 lots—900 million yuan of selling pressure. The buy orders at the limit-up price were instantly terrified and began to withdraw. Seeing this, other shareholders scrambled to sell off as well.

PrismTech’s limit-up was broken!

Immediately after, the stock price began to nosedive. It plummeted straight down, quickly crossing the break-even line. The next second, it went into the red and continued its dive, heading straight for the limit-down.

When PrismTech’s price crashed to 19.14 yuan, hitting the limit-down, those who had bought at the limit-up price were left stunned. They had suffered a staggering loss of over 33% in a single day. If it opened at the limit-down again tomorrow, their losses would balloon to over 46%. In just two days, their investment would be nearly cut in half, as the current daily trading limit for the ChiNext board was ±20%.

Xiao Yu was also closely monitoring PrismTech’s stock price, which was now on an epic rollercoaster ride.

After the bears hammered it down to the limit-down price, it stayed there for only a minute before a frenzy of bottom-fishing capital poured in. Within minutes, the stock was pushed back into positive territory, surging to a 5% gain.

The bears attacked again, pushing the price back down to -12%. Those who had missed the chance to buy at the limit-down saw another deep dive and decided to dip in with small positions.

By now, the entire market’s attention was focused on this single stock. With so much hype and so many eyes on it, people couldn’t resist placing a trade or two. With a lot from one person and a lot from another, the price was pushed up again, this time rocketing to +18% before sealing itself at the limit-up once more, completing a dramatic “earth-to-heaven” reversal.

The retail investors who had risked buying at the limit-down were ecstatic when they saw their entry point, lamenting that they hadn’t bought more.

With a 20% trading limit, a “heaven-to-earth” reversal could lead to a 33% loss in one day, while an “earth-to-heaven” reversal could yield a 50% profit.

Less than two minutes after it resealed at the limit-up, the bears broke it open again and began hammering it with everything they had. PrismTech’s intraday chart showed another nosedive, and the price was once again pinned to the limit-down. It had staged a “heaven-to-earth-to-heaven-to-earth” reversal. It was truly heaven one moment and hell the next.

A while later, the bulls launched another assault. The limit-down was pried open by a new wave of capital, and the price line shot up, turning positive again.

This time, however, it fell back as soon as it entered the green. The first charge had been spirited, the second had faltered, and the third was exhausted. The bears were simply too ferocious. They were using restricted shares for securities refinancing, borrowing against them to execute the massive sell-off. It was as if these restricted shares were now fully in circulation, a practically endless supply to dump onto the market. It was impossible to buy them all up.

After their second counterattack failed, the bulls had no strength left to rally. During the late trading session, at two-thirty in the afternoon, the price accelerated its dive. The bulls’ defeat was a total rout, and the stock was ultimately sealed at the limit-down for good.

PrismTech closed with a “heaven-to-earth” plunge of -20.02% at 19.14 yuan. Its market capitalization shrank to 16.613 billion. The daily trading volume was an astronomical 4.597 billion yuan, and the turnover rate was a terrifying 72%.

Anyone who bought in today felt their heart sink at the sight of that astronomical volume and the super bearish “heaven-to-earth” candle on the chart. That absurdly high turnover rate made their scalps tingle.

Clearly, the securities refinancing of restricted shares had been a devastating blow. Under normal circumstances, such a massive volume and exaggerated turnover rate would be impossible. Not even a newly listed stock would see such high turnover on its first day.

…

“Yes, I’ve seen it. I’m almost certain it’s the work of Zhou Baichuan and his group,” Xiao Yu said, speaking with Wen Suqing over the phone.

“While we can’t be sure if they know our true intentions, it’s clear they don’t want the stock to break 30.53 yuan. Today’s frantic suppression of the price makes that obvious,” came Wen Suqing’s voice.

Xiao Yu paced around the living room a few times before sitting on the sofa. “It’s not entirely a bad thing,” he replied. “At least we have a better grasp of their motives. But they certainly spent a fortune to tank the price.”

They chatted for a while longer before hanging up. Important matters and subsequent plans were not suitable for a phone call; such things were best discussed face-to-face.

Xiao Yu sat alone in the living room, lost in thought.

After a moment, he got up, went back to his bedroom, closed the door, and locked it. Then, he activated the teleportation Star Gate. Xiao Yu stepped through the portal and arrived at his rented apartment in Fengquan City on Blue Star.

To be on the safe side and ensure he could crush Zhou Baichuan and the other financiers in a single, decisive short squeeze, Xiao Yu decided to bring a batch of gold over from Blue Star.

The plan was clear and simple. On Earth, he would make a trip to Africa, a continent conveniently rich in graphite ore. Ostensibly, he would be there to acquire a graphite mine. Then, by a stroke of “heaven-defying luck,” he would “accidentally” discover a large gold deposit next to the mine he purchased. In reality, the gold would be what he had discreetly transported from Blue Star.

When this news was released, PrismTech’s stock price would go ballistic, especially since the company was already planning a restructuring to absorb a 51% stake in Linghan New Materials and consolidate their financial results.

Gold was extremely cheap on Blue Star, traded by the ton. The price was around 50,000 Star Yuan per ton. A rough conversion based on purchasing power put that at about 75,000 RMB—comparable to the price of copper on Earth.

On Earth, however, based on this month’s domestic gold prices, one ton of gold was worth 375 million RMB. The profit margin from trading it between the two worlds was an absurd 5,000 times.

But Xiao Yu wouldn’t mindlessly dump too much gold on Earth. There would be no way to explain it, and legitimizing it would be a huge hassle. If he brought over too large a quantity, the only plausible explanation would be the discovery of a gold mine.

On Earth, a deposit of a hundred tons was considered a super-large gold mine.

He would have to go abroad to buy a mine, then “discover” the gold, then go through the process of mining and refining it. Even then, Xiao Yu couldn’t just produce several tons at once, as that would defy all logic.

To make money, trafficking in black technology was the most efficient method and was comparatively hassle-free.

By establishing a technological monopoly on Earth, the profits from selling high-tech products would come in much faster than dealing with gold, and it could all be done legitimately.

For now, Xiao Yu decided to go through the trouble of getting some gold to ensure victory in his battle of wits with Zhou Baichuan and his group. The fact that they were currently shorting PrismTech to suppress its price and prevent him from reaching the 26.5 billion market cap target was something Xiao Yu was actually happy to see.

Let them open more short positions. Soon enough, he would trigger an explosive rally that would blow up their positions and leave them with nothing. After that, he would lure them into going long, then crash the stock price again, making them suffer devastating losses on both sides until they were reduced to helpless fools.

…

Chapter 22: A Time Flow Discrepancy Between the Two Worlds

At this moment, Xiao Yu was engaged in some rather peculiar behavior.

He was shuttling back and forth between Blue Star and Earth multiple times. He would open the teleportation Star Gate, go to his rented apartment on Blue Star, wait for a period, and record the time. Then, he would open the Star Gate again and return to his villa bedroom on Earth, where he would also wait for a while and record the time.

He repeated this process several times.

“My guess was right. It’s similar to the time dilation effect, but not quite. The relative flow of time between the two worlds is different,” Xiao Yu said to himself, comparing the two sets of recorded time data.

Xiao Yu had suspected this during his previous trips between the worlds, and now he had confirmed it. The relative time flow between the two worlds was different. Furthermore, his calculations led to the conclusion that, with himself as the frame of reference, the relative time flow difference was about five hundred times.

In other words, with Xiao Yu as the reference point, when he was on Blue Star, Earth’s time would flow five hundred times slower relative to him. The reverse was also true: when Xiao Yu was on Earth, Blue Star’s time would flow five hundred times slower relative to him.

However, Xiao Yu’s own perception of time always passed normally. The difference in flow was relative. For instance, if Xiao Yu spent forty-one years on Blue Star and then returned to Earth, only one month would have passed on Earth.

“In that case, Mr. Liu probably hasn’t even left Fengquan City yet,” Xiao Yu couldn’t help but think of the deal he made with Mr. Liu for about five hundred jin of watermelons. He had returned to Earth not long after completing the transaction.

Xiao Yu glanced at the Transference Star Ring on his wrist, murmuring, “This thing might be the product of a Type V civilization, or maybe even higher…”

The Transference Star Ring on his wrist was definitely not a naturally occurring object. If the seven-tier civilization classification standard was real, Xiao Yu felt that the civilization that created his ring had to be at least a Type V.

When an intelligent civilization reaches Type V, its life forms can completely transcend three-dimensional space and interact freely in multiple dimensions. At this stage, energy is no longer a concern. The fundamental properties of spacetime are the new frontiers for a Type V civilization to explore; technological singularities like spacetime folding and higher dimensions are their focus.

Earth’s civilization was currently at level 0.7, not even a Type I civilization, because it had yet to master controllable nuclear fusion—the most representative technological singularity of a Type I civilization—and it hadn’t harnessed all of Earth’s energy sources.

As for Blue Star’s civilization, based on this standard, Xiao Yu currently judged it to be somewhere between a Type I and a Type II civilization.

Moreover, Blue Star’s environment had clearly deteriorated. It seemed to have encountered some kind of “Great Filter” that had led to its current state. In the past, Blue Star’s atmosphere must have been breathable without a mask, much like Earth’s.

But what perplexed Xiao Yu the most was the Transference Star Ring on his wrist. Why did it end up with him?

“Could it be that in the distant future, humanity on Earth will grow stronger and stronger, and after millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of years, human civilization will have developed to at least a Type V level or higher? Having grasped the fundamental nature of spacetime, they could interfere through higher dimensions and send this Transference Star Ring to me?” This thought suddenly popped into Xiao Yu’s head, reminding him of a sci-fi movie released seven years ago called Interstellar.

In the movie’s plot, the artificial wormhole near Saturn’s orbit was placed there by future humans. They had transcended the dimensions of time and space, broken the chains of causality, and guided their ancestors to save themselves and find a new home. Even the scene at the end of the film, where the protagonist enters a five-dimensional space unfolded within three-dimensional spacetime, was arranged by future humans.

The future humans in the movie successfully guided their ancestors to salvation, which is why humanity survived. Their descendants then developed step by step to the height of a Type V civilization, and from that higher dimension, they interfered by placing an artificial wormhole near Saturn, creating a closed loop.

“Uh… could it be that some unknown Nth-generation descendant of mine, having reached a Type V civilization or higher, sent this ring back to me, their super ancient ancestor?”

“Then why give me the Transference Star Ring? Am I supposed to save the world? Or lead humanity out of Earth to expand into the sea of stars? Which future descendant would dare to put their ancestor from billions of years ago under this much pressure?”

At this moment, Xiao Yu was lost in a whirlwind of suspicion and bewilderment, muttering to himself as if spouting nonsense.

“Hah… these are just baseless speculations. I can’t take them seriously. Why would I put myself under so much pressure? Absolutely unnecessary!” Xiao Yu mumbled, shaking his head to clear away the messy thoughts and quickly stopping that line of thinking.

He really couldn’t dwell on such things; the more he thought about them, the more terrifying they became.

Xiao Yu had a sudden moment of clarity. Regarding the Transference Star Ring on his wrist, it didn’t matter whether its creator was a future Nth-generation human civilization or a non-human one.

Nor did it matter whether this entity was benevolent or malevolent.

Xiao Yu was well aware that as an ordinary carbon-based lifeform, a single 7.62mm caliber “peanut” could send him to heaven on the spot.

Faced with an entity of that level, if their intentions were malicious, Xiao Yu felt there was nothing to be said. He would just lie down and accept his fate, because an ant baring its teeth at an elephant was laughable.

But if the creator of the Transference Star Ring was benevolent, or neither benevolent nor malevolent, then he had nothing to worry about.

In short, no matter what, as long as he could use this Transference Star Ring for his own purposes, he would. And then, he would achieve his own goals.

Xiao Yu’s goals were simple right now: to quietly and secretly shuttle between Blue Star and Earth as a “transporter” to develop his own business. And at present, he was looking to settle the score, to get revenge on Zhou Baichuan and the other financiers who had screwed him over.

“First things first, I’ll go get a few dozen tons of gold,” Xiao Yu said, pushing aside those ethereal thoughts. He immediately used his holographic smart-band to look up the price of gold on Blue Star’s internet.

Over here, gold did not have monetary properties. Instead, it was classified as an industrial metal, a common industrial raw material.

The latest price showed that gold on Blue Star sold for 52,700 Star Yuan per ton.

Xiao Yu did some quick calculations. On Earth, a gold mine with over thirty tons was considered a medium-to-large mine, while one with over one hundred tons was considered a super-large mine.

“I’ll go for about thirty-five tons then,” Xiao Yu nodded to himself, having made his decision.

At Blue Star’s current gold price, thirty-five tons would only cost 1.85 million Star Yuan. On Earth, at its current gold price, it would be worth around 13.2 billion RMB.

Xiao Yu had less than one hundred thousand Star Yuan left, but earning Star Yuan was not difficult for him.

A moment later, he activated the Transference Star Ring and set the coordinates to his food storage warehouse in Linzhou City on Earth. He had previously instructed his butler, Qin Yue, to purchase a batch of food, including frozen meat, poultry, eggs, watermelons, apples, and rice.

Buying these agricultural products on Earth cost very little. Once transported to the world of Blue Star, they could be sold at exorbitant prices as rare luxury goods. The key was that their liquidity was excellent; they could be sold and converted to cash quickly, with no risk of inventory buildup.

For the next period, Xiao Yu personally became a front-line salesman and began to develop his business on Blue Star.

Having confirmed the difference in the relative time flow between the two worlds, Xiao Yu didn’t go looking for Mr. Liu again. On Blue Star’s timeline, it hadn’t been long since their transaction of about five hundred jin of watermelons.

Besides, Xiao Yu didn’t want Mr. Liu to be his only buyer; he needed to expand his client base.

Time flew by. Before he knew it, Xiao Yu had spent twenty-one Blue Star days on Blue Star. Blue Star’s rotation was slower than Earth’s, with one day-night cycle taking thirty-six hours. Twenty-one Blue Star days were equivalent to 31.5 Earth days, roughly one month on Earth.

However, the time flow difference between the two worlds was five hundred times, and it was relative to Xiao Yu as the frame of reference. When he was in one world, the relative time flow of the other would slow down by a factor of five hundred.

In other words, while Xiao Yu had been on Blue Star for twenty-one Blue Star days, only about one and a half hours had passed on Earth.

During his time on Blue Star, Xiao Yu traveled to multiple cities to negotiate deals and sell his products. He didn’t dump a large quantity of goods in Fengquan City all at once, as he didn’t want to attract too much attention.

In any case, while he was active on Blue Star, time on Earth was flowing five hundred times slower, so Xiao Yu was in no hurry.

…

Chapter 23: Gold Secured, Back to Earth and Off to Africa

Today, Xiao Yu returned to Fengquan City after personally handling his business affairs. He arrived at a new residence.

During this period of peddling various food products, the Star Yuan had been rolling in. Three days ago, he had purchased a house in Fengquan City to make things more convenient.

Back in his house, Xiao Yu took off his breathing mask and collapsed onto the living room sofa, looking utterly exhausted.

“After a while, I’ll still need to set up a company here on Blue Star.” Xiao Yu had been running the business himself lately, traveling between several cities, and it was truly tiring.

In the future, he would definitely establish a company on Blue Star. He would let the company’s employees handle the frontline sales work. All he would need to do is transfer the food from Earth to the warehouse on Blue Star, without having to personally go out and sell it.

Fortunately, food-related products were never hard to sell on Blue Star; the liquidity was too good, and the ability to cash in was incredible.

Xiao Yu activated his holographic wristband to check his two anonymous bank accounts. The balances showed 51,028,100 Star Yuan and 33,675,000 Star Yuan respectively, for a total of 84,703,100 Star Yuan.

“This money comes so easily, it’s like breathing…” Xiao Yu couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

After a short rest, Xiao Yu contacted a gold merchant. He was preparing to spend his money to purchase thirty-five tons of gold. The gold produced on Blue Star was like the steel rolls on Earth.

Here, they were called gold rolls, as gold was just a common industrial metal raw material on Blue Star.

Xiao Yu requested that the merchant first refine the gold into pure gold, with no other impurities. This was to avoid bringing any other substances from the Blue Star world to Earth.

For example, things like natural superconducting ore, or perhaps other unknown substances that didn’t exist on Earth. After all, Blue Star had “mingled” with a black hole billions of years ago. It would be a huge problem if it caused sensational news back on Earth.

After purification, impurities were to be added back in. The composition of these impurities would be based on Xiao Yu’s requirements—specifically, small amounts of elements that naturally occur with gold, since pure gold is rare in nature.

The initial purification was to prevent any unique materials from Blue Star from being mixed in, while re-adding impurities would make it appear more like natural gold.

Xiao Yu also requested that the merchant grind the gold into granular gold dust of varying sizes and irregular shapes, to mimic natural gold sand. The pieces could be large or small, but not identical, and the maximum weight of a single piece could not exceed ten kilograms.

This series of requirements was all designed to better fabricate a natural gold mine on Earth. Bringing over a single, multi-ton block of gold would be simpler, but Xiao Yu hadn’t forgotten that the largest single piece of natural gold ever discovered on Earth was only about sixty kilograms.

On Blue Star, however, it was much more extreme; in some regions, entire mountains were literally made of gold.

Transporting a single, multi-ton block of gold to Earth and having it exposed would be too shocking and would definitely make headlines. Xiao Yu didn’t want to attract undue attention.

The merchant didn’t understand why a client would have such bizarre requests, but it didn’t matter. The merchant only cared about whether the deal would go through and whether they could meet the client’s demands.

Because Xiao Yu offered a very generous price. The market price for thirty-five tons of gold on Blue Star was 1.85 million Star Yuan, but Xiao Yu had offered 3 million Star Yuan. The extra premium was for the additional processing to meet his specific requirements.

The merchant was overjoyed and promised to provide impeccable service.

The merchant didn’t care what the client would do with it. Gold wasn’t a controlled substance on Blue Star, much like graphene material. As long as you had the money and were willing to trade, no one would care how you handled it.

Eight Blue Star days passed in a flash. The merchant completed the transaction for the thirty-five tons of gold Xiao Yu had purchased and delivered it to the warehouse he had specified in Fengquan City.

…

“Tsk, tsk. So, I basically traded just 750 kilograms of watermelon for a full thirty-five tons of gold…” Xiao Yu was alone in the warehouse. He scooped up a handful of gold dust, then let his fingers loosen, watching the granules flow through the gaps.

Bringing these thirty-five tons of gold to Earth would translate into an astronomical sum of 13.2 billion RMB.

Xiao Yu clapped his hands, dusting off the gold dust, and set aside his sentimental thoughts to execute the next step of his plan.

Getting this gold to Earth would require some careful planning. Xiao Yu had already settled on a specific strategy: go to Africa and buy a mine, preferably an abandoned gold mine that others believed was depleted, and acquire it for a low price.

Activating the teleportation Star Gate once more, Xiao Yu returned to the master bedroom of his villa on Earth.

Next, he prepared to personally travel to Africa, taking a few employees from Linghan New Materials on an overseas business trip. The plan was clear: to find graphite mines in Africa.

Linghan New Materials had already publicly announced that it possessed a unique technology for preparing high-purity graphene material. The purification and preparation of graphene certainly required graphite ore, and Africa was a continent rich in it.

Contracting for graphite mines in Africa was perfectly reasonable.

Except, as luck would have it, the contracted mining land would just happen to harbor a gold mine, acquired at a very low price.

Xiao Yu didn’t plan to place this so-called “gold mine” under PrismTech’s name. Instead, he would use Linghan New Materials to purchase the mine, making it an asset of Linghan. However, it would definitely be a boon for PrismTech’s stock price.

This was because the planned restructuring had already been announced, with PrismTech absorbing a fifty-one percent stake in Linghan New Materials and consolidating their financial statements.

If the mine were placed under PrismTech, Zhou Baichuan and the other investors would also have a share. That would make it harder to wipe them out later, as this was a tangible asset that would provide strong support for the stock price when he tried to suppress it.

But placing it under Linghan New Materials was a different story. When he later announced that the merger and restructuring had failed due to other factors, Zhou Baichuan and his group wouldn’t get a single hair.

“Uncle Qin, please book a few plane tickets to Africa for me…” Xiao Yu summoned the butler, Qin Yue, and instructed him to arrange the overseas travel. For the next while, he would personally go to Africa to investigate, select a site, and buy a mine.

…

On the weekend of May 23rd, Xiao Yu selected a group of people from Linghan New Materials and took them abroad.

He also gave instructions to his assistant, Yun Shu, at PrismTech. She would act on his behalf in company matters, so Xiao Yu had nothing to worry about.

For this trip, he planned to stay in Africa for over a month. This matter required careful arrangement and would take a lot of effort and time to complete. It was all to ensure that the gold from Blue Star could appear on Earth smoothly and justifiably, in the form of a newly discovered gold mine.

With this so-called gold mine, Linghan New Materials would no longer lack capital. Thirty-odd tons of gold could be liquidated for tens of billions in funds one way or another.

During the days Xiao Yu was setting things up in Africa, the battle between bulls and shorts over his company’s stock in the domestic secondary market was quite fierce. After hitting a record high of 28.72 yuan, the stock price was once suppressed by short-sellers, led by Penghui Capital and other financiers, to the point where its value was cut in half, at one point plunging to a low of 13.26 yuan.

However, the bulls were not weak either. The stock price had very strong support at the 15-yuan level, and the two sides were locked in a back-and-forth struggle.

Currently, two main lines of reasoning provided immense confidence and support.

The first was that Linghan New Materials and PrismTech both had the same boss. This was a related-party transaction, so retail investors were convinced the restructuring would definitely succeed.

The second was that retail investors had started to buzz about the high-stakes performance agreement between Xiao Yu and the investors. The stock price had yet to reach the 26.5 billion target market capitalization, meaning Xiao Yu hadn’t fulfilled his end of the agreement. How could the rally possibly be over?

The market consensus now was that Linghan New Materials’ value far exceeded PrismTech’s. All the various funds involved in the game were waiting for news of the restructuring to become official.

Unwittingly, more than a month passed.

Xiao Yu’s setup in Africa was finally complete. In order to artificially create a gold mine, Xiao Yu had truly racked his brain during this time. Moreover, he had to do it all himself, and do it secretly. He was almost dead tired.

He swore that after dealing with these thirty-five tons of gold, he would never touch this stuff again. It was far too much effort for not enough reward.

To make money, he could just transfer black technology from Blue Star, logically pass it off as an innovative tech product from his own company, and sell it on the market. The speed at which money came in would be ten, or even a hundred times faster than dealing in gold.

The key was that he could sell products openly, without so many concerns. In any case, it wouldn’t be as troublesome as laundering gold.

Unless his company became a trillion-level super-giant in the future. Then, he could directly acquire gold as part of his own cash reserves. Not only could he handle much larger quantities, but it wouldn’t be so complicated.

For a super-giant company with a trillion-level valuation, holding a few hundred tons of gold as cash reserves would seem perfectly reasonable to outsiders.

But then again, by the time it grew to that scale, the need for it wouldn’t be as great.

The conclusion was that gold was fine for some emergency cash, but it was completely unnecessary to traffic it on a large scale.

…

Chapter 24: News of the Gold Mine Discovery Spreads Like Wildfire

Somewhere in Africa, Friday, July 9th, 7:00 AM local time.

Xiao Yu was in a room, a shimmering gold nugget on the table before him. It was a bit larger than half a standard brick.

This piece of gold looked like a natural nugget, but it had actually been processed. It was deliberately crafted to look like an irregular, natural piece of gold and even contained other associated elements.

Xiao Yu hadn’t brought out the entire thirty-plus tonnes of gold at once. Doing it all by himself without anyone finding out would be far too difficult.

However, with a gold mine to provide a “cover story,” he could establish special separation and control protocols, ensuring that no one knew the full details of anyone else’s work. For gold of such immense value, some extra security measures were perfectly reasonable.

As the boss, Xiao Yu could then secretly bring out the gold, melt it down in the equipment here, and cast it into bars.

All this was to “leave a trail” and make everything seem legitimate. In the future, he could just come over periodically to collect the gold, which would essentially be his cover for transferring gold from Blue Star.

There was nothing suspicious about the boss personally coming to handle and retrieve something so priceless.

At that moment, Xiao Yu took out his phone and filmed a short video of the gold nugget. He placed it on a scale, which showed a weight of 6.85 kilograms, and filmed that as well.

While recording the video, Xiao Yu said, “About 6.85 kilograms. My luck on this business trip to Africa has been off the charts. I was originally looking to acquire some graphite mines but unexpectedly bought a gold mine for a low price. A preliminary survey by a professional team over the past few days estimates the reserves to be no less than 13.5 tonnes. We still need more data to determine the exact amount.”

He made it seem completely real, putting on a full performance.

After he finished recording the video clips, Xiao Yu glanced at the time. He estimated it should be around 12:00 PM noon back in his home country.

It was also a Friday, the last trading day of the week for the A-share market, which was currently on its lunch break.

Xiao Yu had deliberately chosen this time window. He planned to release the news about Linghan New Materials discovering a gold mine, let it brew during the lunch break, and then allow it to ferment further over the weekend.

He played the video back once, confirmed there were no issues, and then decisively posted it to his personal Weibo account.

Before posting, he had also called Wen Suqing to tell her about the gold mine, asking her to have her team write some short exposés to help the news spread faster.

Wen Suqing was astonished. She couldn’t believe Xiao Yu’s luck was so incredible—to discover a gold mine at such a critical juncture. She thought he must have divine assistance, never imagining the truth, which was simply too outrageous to consider.

Xiao Yu was worried his Weibo account had too few followers for the news to spread quickly. To be safe, he needed Wen Suqing’s team to coordinate with some short exposés to ensure the information reached most of the capital market within half an hour to an hour.

First, he would report reserves of at least 13.5 tonnes. Then, after the news had fermented over the weekend, he would report that further exploration revealed the reserves were far more than 13.5 tonnes—over 30 tonnes, in fact.

That news would massively exceed expectations. On Monday, PrismTech would definitely open limit-up from the opening bell.

Half an hour later, back at home, a rumor began to spread like wildfire through the stock trading community.

The rumor was that Xiao Yu had taken people from Linghan New Materials to Africa to acquire graphite mines, but a mine they bought for an extremely low price turned out to contain a massive amount of gold.

News of Xiao Yu buying a gold mine on the cheap in Africa spread rapidly, and the comment section of PrismTech’s stock forum exploded.

[Damn, I’m kicking myself for not buying PrismTech this morning.]

[It’s shooting straight to the limit in the afternoon session!]

[Already placed a buy order at the limit-up price. Wonder if it’ll go through when the market opens this afternoon.]

[So, what happened?]

[Huge breaking good news! Linghan New Materials accidentally bought a gold mine in Africa. Hahaha, good thing I already got on board this morning.]

[The short exposés these days are getting ridiculous. At least make your stories logical, right?]

[I thought so too at first, until I saw CEO Xiao’s Weibo. I immediately placed a limit-up order. This is fucking real. CEO Xiao posted it himself. Go see it for yourself.]

[Holy shit? A gold nugget of almost 7 kilograms? He really got a gold mine on the cheap?]

[Lord Xiao posted a video on Weibo! The location tag shows he’s in Africa. 13.5 tonnes of gold reserves! Holy shit, this is massive news! Buy, buy, buy!]

[At current gold prices, that has to be worth at least 5 billion, right!]

[Never expected such huge positive news. Now with all conditions favorable, the technical chart is set to reverse. A breakout to the upside is a sure thing.]

As the news fermented over the lunch break, PrismTech’s popularity skyrocketed. Before the afternoon session even began, it had already shot to the top of the popularity rankings for individual stocks in both markets, showing the incredible level of attention it was receiving.

The stock’s popularity had been steadily declining, even dropping out of the top ten. As the saying goes, a washed-up hot stock is worse than a dog.

But once this news started brewing at noon, PrismTech’s popularity made a kingly return, soaring straight to the top.

Just as expected, when the market opened in the afternoon, PrismTech’s share price shot up like a rocket. Funds scrambled madly for shares, and within seconds the price hit 24.56 yuan, a +19.98% increase that triggered the daily limit up. Its market capitalization rose to 21.318 billion.

Just when everyone thought the stock would be sealed at the limit up with low volume, about ten minutes later, some funds suddenly initiated a massive sell-off.

The funds behind the sell-off were none other than Penghui Capital’s short-sellers. This time, they struck hard again. If they let the stock close at the limit up today, it would create a market consensus that a second main rising wave was about to begin.

And they wouldn’t be able to suppress it then.

The massive wave of sell orders broke PrismTech’s limit up, leaving many funds bewildered and retail investors scratching their heads.

Are these big funds stupid, dumping their shares and running for the exit?

In the period that followed, a huge divergence appeared in the market as the bulls and bears clashed once again.

The short-sellers were determined in their massive sell-off, but the bulls’ buying power was also strong. Some top speculative funds even joined the fray on the long side. The trading volume and turnover rate on the market soared. PrismTech’s limit up was broken, then sealed again, then broken again, back and forth.

“A weak limit-up breeds a demon stock, as they say. Fuck it, I’m going in. Let’s crush these shorting dogs.” A retail investor, after hesitating for a long time, decided to jump on the bandwagon with twenty percent of his capital.

Nearing the end of the late trading session, the bulls gained a slight advantage, struggling to seal the stock at its limit up by the close. It ended as a weak limit-up, with PrismTech’s total daily trading volume surging to 3.169 billion.

Meanwhile, far away in Africa, Xiao Yu checked PrismTech’s stock performance after the market closed. He was very satisfied to see it had closed at its limit up. Two and a half hours later, he set off on his journey back home.

Everything here had been arranged. It was time to go back. From now on, he just needed to make periodic trips.

Chapter 25: The Opponent Panics

At the same time, Zhou Baichuan and the others learned that Linghan New Materials had unexpectedly struck gold in Africa, securing a gold mine at a low price.

Zhou Baichuan couldn’t help but curse inwardly. What incredible dumb luck.

On Saturday morning, Xiao Yu returned to his villa in Linzhou City. His butler, Qin Yue, approached him with a document. “Assistant Yun delivered this material this morning.”

Xiao Yu took it and opened it. The document from Yun Shu contained data on PrismTech’s margin trading and short-selling activities. It was something he had called and instructed her to prepare before he even boarded his flight back from Africa.

“They really did go on a short-selling spree yesterday,” Xiao Yu thought to himself as he read the report. Funds purely looking to profit from short-selling would never have opened short positions at that time. Therefore, it wasn’t hard to deduce that it was Zhou Baichuan’s group. No one else would have done it.

After a moment of thought, Xiao Yu decided to slightly adjust his plan. He had originally intended to announce the news over the weekend—that the gold mine’s reserves far exceeded expectations.

But now, he decided to release the news during Monday’s trading session instead. The goal was to bait Penghui Capital and the other short-sellers into increasing their short positions on Monday. Even if the stock hit its limit-up and reached a new high, the limit-up price would be 29.47 yuan, still short of the 30.53 yuan mark.

Therefore, his opponents would certainly be motivated to increase their short positions and bring the price down, as Monday would be their last chance.

However, if he released the better-than-expected news over the weekend, they would definitely not dare to add to their short positions. They might even get scared of a short squeeze and the massive losses that would follow, possibly closing out their current short positions to cut their losses.

Xiao Yu wanted them to open more short positions. Then, he would blow them up, forcing them to spit out all the profits they had made from shorting and pushing them into even greater losses.

After some consideration, Xiao Yu decided to hold back the news for now. He would let them increase their short positions first, then suddenly release the information during the midday trading halt.

After the weekend, it was Monday, July 12th.

PrismTech opened at its limit-up, with its stock price surging to 29.47 yuan, a 19.99% increase. It broke through the previous high of 28.72 yuan to set a new historical record, and the company’s market capitalization rose to 25.579 billion.

Xiao Yu was watching the market’s movements. At the 9:30 AM open, the stock was sealed at the limit-up. But five or six minutes later, as expected, a massive wave of sell orders appeared, and the limit-up was broken.

The price once plunged nearly ten percent during the session. The selling pressure came from Penghui Capital and other shorts opening new positions, combined with investors who had been trapped at the previous high and were now selling to break even. On top of that, short-term profit-takers were also fleeing. The selling pressure from these three sources combined shattered the limit-up.

When the morning session closed at 11:30 AM, PrismTech’s gain was fixed at +12.82%.

At that moment, Xiao Yu saw retail investors asking PrismTech’s Board Secretary about the gold mine discovered by Linghan New Materials.

He flexibly adjusted his strategy again. He had originally planned to post on his microblog, but having the company’s Board Secretary answer investors online would spread the news faster and with more credibility.

Xiao Yu immediately called Yun Shu. “I see investors asking the Board Secretary about the gold mine online. Go arrange for a response. The latest news is that the gold mine’s reserves are over thirty tons. It’s a large-scale gold mine.”

On the other end of the line, Yun Shu was stunned for a moment and couldn’t help but ask, “Wasn’t it 13.5 tons?”

Xiao Yu replied calmly, “That was last week’s data. This is from the latest assessment report. Just do as I say.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu responded, “Alright, I’ll go arrange it immediately.”

At around 12:17 PM, PrismTech’s Board Secretary responded online to investor inquiries. The latest news was that the gold mine’s reserves far exceeded expectations, with no less than 30 tons.

As soon as the news broke, the retail investors could no longer sit still.

Holy cow!

Better than expected!

Far better than expected!

Epically better than expected!

“Buy, buy, buy!” Upon getting the news, various funds in the market rushed to place buy orders in advance. Even some well-known speculative funds joined the scramble for shares.

What these major funds valued even more was that PrismTech, or rather Xiao Yu, had truly mastered expectation management. He was playing the game brilliantly, constantly providing stimulating news that surpassed expectations. Even if the gold mine didn’t have 30 tons, the atmosphere had been built, and the capital was willing to come in for a round of speculation.

Most importantly, the major funds could see that Xiao Yu was managing market expectations—and doing it well.

There was a very high probability that more stimulating news would be released tomorrow. So, the funds were willing to play along, betting on tomorrow’s news. As long as there was a continuous stream of better-than-expected news, the stock price could keep rising.

Sure enough, when the market opened in the afternoon, the market unified behind a single direction. PrismTech’s stock price was driven up in a short squeeze, hitting the limit-up again. This time, the buy orders sealing the limit-up board amounted to over 3.9 billion, locking it in place.

“Alright, stop selling!”

At the same time, a trader in a trading room shouted the order. This trading team was none other than one under Penghui Capital.

Seeing the state of the market, the trader no longer dared to open more short positions to drive the price down. If it hit the limit-up again tomorrow, all their accumulated profits from shorting would be wiped out, and they would start facing significant losses.

If this was truly the start of a second main rising wave, they could really get their positions blown up and face enormous losses. It wasn’t even impossible for them to get a margin call.

The profit from short-selling is limited—it can’t exceed 100% because a stock’s price can’t fall below zero. But the potential loss from short-selling is theoretically infinite, because a stock’s price can theoretically rise indefinitely.

The trader rushed to report the situation to Zhou Baichuan, asking the boss to make the call. He didn’t dare to make the decision himself.

By the market close, PrismTech finished at its limit-up on reduced volume, with a turnover of 1.7 billion for the day. This was because the short-sellers had stopped, and dared not continue, their massive sell-off. Seeing the situation, Zhou Baichuan held an emergency meeting with the other investors.

Everyone realized the situation was dire. They could no longer stop PrismTech’s market cap from breaking 26.5 billion. At this point, there was virtually no suspense left; Xiao Yu would win the high-stakes performance agreement.

They had to admit that Xiao Yu’s gold mine was like a gift from the heavens. It was something truly impossible to predict.

After some discussion, Zhou Baichuan and the others decided they had to meet with Xiao Yu.

They had no choice. It was already impossible to stop Xiao Yu from winning the high-stakes performance agreement. Tomorrow, the stock only needed to rise 3.56% during the session to reach the target market cap. In reality, another limit-up from the opening bell was almost a certainty. One more limit-up, and their short positions would start losing money. A series of straight-line limit-ups would truly blow them up.

The next day, Tuesday, July 13th.

At 9:25 AM, the opening call auction ended. PrismTech opened at 35.36 yuan, gapping up 19.99% in a straight-line limit up. This marked three consecutive limit-ups. The stock price set another new historical high, and the company’s market capitalization soared to 30.692 billion.

Xiao Yu had won the high-stakes performance agreement with the financiers!

The company’s current market cap had far surpassed the 26.5 billion stipulated in the agreement. Xiao Yu had successfully achieved the target market cap of 26.5 billion within three years of the company’s listing.

Just then, the butler, Qin Yue, walked over to Xiao Yu. “Sir, Zhou Baichuan has arrived in Linzhou City. He hopes to schedule a meeting with you today, saying he has important matters to discuss in person.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu couldn’t suppress a smile.

He knew they were panicking. They couldn’t sit still any longer. They had most likely opened too many short positions and were now being squeezed by the market. They were in a panic.

Xiao Yu wiped the smile from his face and said calmly, “Reply to him. I can see him. Tell him to come see me here this afternoon.”

Qin Yue nodded. “Very well.”

The butler immediately went to relay Xiao Yu’s message.

Chapter 26: Turning the Tables

After Qin Yue left, Xiao Yu thought for a moment, then opened his personal Weibo account and composed a new post:

【The graphene material preparation technology mastered by Linghan New Materials has now achieved high-purity mass production, with purity reaching 99.99999%. The era of mass-producing ultra-high-purity graphene material has arrived.

We will strive to bring the price down. A lower price will expand the market exponentially, allowing more people to enjoy the benefits of technological progress.

Right now, ultra-high-purity graphene material costs several thousand to ten thousand yuan per gram. We aim to bring the price down from the ten-thousand-yuan level to under a thousand yuan, and the graphene we mass-produce will have even higher purity and better quality.】

The number of people following Xiao Yu’s Weibo had grown significantly. His follower count had surpassed two hundred thousand, reaching two hundred and eighty thousand and was about to break three hundred thousand. The new followers were mainly retail investors, with quite a few speculative funds also following him and keeping a close watch on his posts.

After Xiao Yu published this Weibo post, it undoubtedly boosted the confidence of the market’s bulls once more. PrismTech’s stock was now firmly sealed at its limit-up, with no chance of the limit being broken for the day.

Tomorrow was also set to open at the limit-up. Some of the major funds already in the market exclaimed that they had indeed made the right bet. This expectation management was played masterfully. Many investors praised CEO Xiao for having real substance, releasing news that exceeded expectations and stirred up excitement every single day.

Around two in the afternoon, Zhou Baichuan arrived at Xiao Yu’s private villa for a visit.

“I’m glad to have not failed your expectations, Mr. Zhou. I’ve finally fulfilled the performance commitment to the investors within the agreed-upon deadline. The company’s market capitalization has now surpassed thirty billion.” Xiao Yu said with a broad smile, looking for all the world like a long-time partner in a very pleasant collaboration.

“Truly unexpected, haha,” Zhou Baichuan replied with a hollow laugh, though he was cursing him out inwardly. How could he not hear the triumphant mockery dripping from Xiao Yu’s words?

On the surface, the atmosphere seemed very harmonious. In reality, the short positions held by Penghui Capital and several other investors were already being squeezed. Within a single day, their positions had flipped from profitable to a major loss, with an overall unrealized loss of over twelve percent.

“Mr. Zhou, this isn’t the best place to talk. Let’s chat in the sauna,” Xiao Yu said amiably, then turned to his butler, Qin Yue. “Uncle Qin.”

Qin Yue immediately replied, “Everything is ready.”

The villa had a sauna room, which Xiao Yu rarely used, but he had already instructed his butler to prepare it.

“CEO Xiao, you are young and promising, and becoming ever more steady. Your future is limitless,” Zhou Baichuan said with a smile, cursing inwardly again. This kid is really cautious.

Zhou Baichuan knew that Xiao Yu’s invitation to chat in the sauna was a pretext. In reality, he was worried about listening devices. By going to a sauna, taking a bath, and sweating it out, any bugs would have to be removed along with their clothes.

Clearly, the Xiao Yu of today was no longer the naive fledgling he once was.

He naturally caught the hidden meaning in Zhou Baichuan’s words. Xiao Yu, also smiling, replied, “With the guidance of esteemed seniors like yourself, Mr. Zhou, how could I not grow quickly? Hehe.”

Hearing Xiao Yu emphasize the word “guidance,” Zhou Baichuan simply smiled without saying anything.

After that brief interlude, the two were alone in the sauna room. Xiao Yu, still smiling, said, “By my calculations, the lock-up period for the shares held by Penghui Capital and the other investors will end soon. After investing in PrismTech for six or seven years, I imagine you’re feeling the need to exit, or at least to recoup your initial investment.”

Zhou Baichuan couldn’t guess what he was up to, but he could tell Xiao Yu hadn’t finished, so he remained silent and let him continue.

Xiao Yu calmly continued, “Here’s what I’m thinking. I plan to do some proper market cap management and push the stock price straight to the one hundred yuan mark, which is a market cap of over eighty billion. I’ll drive the price up so you can all exit with a hefty profit. Even if it gets cut in half later, the price will still be at fifty yuan.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Baichuan felt like he needed a heart-attack pill. Penghui Capital was holding a large number of short positions. They had already started losing money today; the higher the stock price went, the more they would lose.

My God, he thought. You want to push it to one hundred yuan? We wouldn’t even need one hundred yuan! We’d get a margin call and our position would be liquidated at seventy yuan!

Zhou Baichuan felt incredibly frustrated hearing this, but he couldn’t even argue that Xiao Yu was in the wrong.

“That’s enough, that’s enough! The current price is already more than enough. CEO Xiao, you don’t need to pay so much attention to the capital markets,” Zhou Baichuan said hastily. “After all, you’re a technology-focused entrepreneur. You should focus your energy on R&D and company operations. Paying too much attention to the stock market can distract from the main business, which isn’t necessarily good for the company’s long-term development. As for market cap management, leave that to professional institutions like us.”

The subtext was clear: We’ve learned our lesson. Please let us off the hook.

You’ve won the high-stakes performance agreement. Please stop pushing the price up. Just let me close out my short position.

A smile once again appeared on Xiao Yu’s face, but it was an intriguing one. The two were speaking in riddles, yet both understood the other’s unspoken meaning.

The battle of wits between them continued. From their surface-level conversation, one would never guess there was a feud between them.

In the conversation that followed, Zhou Baichuan expressed his hope that Xiao Yu would let them out of their short positions tomorrow, so they could close them out and stop their losses.

But Xiao Yu’s attitude was clear: Getting out tomorrow is impossible. You have to cut your losses at a much higher price to appease my anger before we can even think about cooperating again. You set a trap for me, so I have to get some payback. You have to accept that. Otherwise, what was the point of me winning? Admitting defeat without paying a price? What kind of surrender is that?

Zhou Baichuan was extremely displeased, but the situation was out of his hands.

Next, Xiao Yu began to set his own trap. He subtly hinted to Zhou Baichuan that he didn’t want a complete falling out with the investors. There are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. Cooperation was still entirely possible. However, as the financiers, they would have to completely surrender their say in the company and concede some of their benefits. You screwed me over once; I’m not about to leave any hidden dangers for the future.

It’s up to you whether you want to cooperate. If you agree, I will genuinely proceed with the merger and restructuring of Linghan New Materials. In fact, I’ll have PrismTech fully acquire one hundred percent of Linghan New Materials’ equity. If you don’t agree, then I, Xiao Yu, will turn around and announce that the merger a failure. Forget one hundred percent—you won’t even get the fifty-one percent.

Through this strategic clash, Zhou Baichuan found himself completely caught in Xiao Yu’s grip.

On one hand, now that Xiao Yu had fulfilled the high-stakes performance agreement, it was as if the golden fillet had been removed from Sun Wukong’s head. They could no longer hold him back. From this day forward, he was, in effect, the undisputed authority at PrismTech.

On the other hand, Xiao Yu had proposed a plan that was risky but incredibly enticing. The attitude he displayed—that he was unwilling to completely break with the investors, especially his sentiment that there are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests—made Zhou Baichuan feel that he probably didn’t want to burn all his bridges.

As long as they let him have his payback this time, the matter would be considered closed, and the ‘little boat of friendship’ could once again sail smoothly.

And so, Xiao Yu had truly hit Zhou Baichuan’s pressure point.

Chapter 27: A World Where Only Penghui Capital and Its Investors Suffer Is Achieved

Zhou Baichuan stayed for over an hour before leaving Xiao Yu’s residence. He didn’t commit on the spot, instead stating that he needed to go back and discuss it with the other investment firms. He would provide a definitive answer the next day.

Xiao Yu readily agreed. After all, he wasn’t the one in a hurry.

Less than ten minutes after Zhou Baichuan left, Wen Suqing arrived at Xiao Yu’s home.

Xiao Yu welcomed her into the living room. As she sat down, Wen Suqing said with a smile, “This time, I’ve brought in a heavyweight to back you up. I guarantee that after this is over, Penghui Capital and its partners won’t dare to retaliate against you.”

Her words took Xiao Yu by surprise, piquing his curiosity. “Oh? A heavyweight?”

Wen Suqing nodded. “You and those investors are locked in a fierce zero-sum game, and one side is bound to lose badly. This situation carries a huge potential risk for you. We can’t rule out the possibility that if they lose and get desperate, they might resort to extreme measures and make you disappear. When the stakes are this high, it’s no joke.”

Xiao Yu fell silent. Wen Suqing’s words were no exaggeration. He had long considered this possibility, and it was his biggest concern. His personal safety was indeed the greatest potential risk moving forward.

At this moment, Wen Suqing looked at Xiao Yu and smiled. “That’s why I’ve asked Uncle Xiang to provide backing for you. He’ll have Ruilian Group intervene at the opportune moment, making Penghui Capital and the other investors believe that Ruilian is the one after this slice of the pie, and that they had you cooperate with them to encircle and eliminate their rivals.”

Wen Suqing continued, “This way, the core of the conflict shifts from you to Ruilian Group. You’ll be removed from the eye of the storm, becoming at most a secondary issue. The corresponding potential risks will naturally be greatly reduced.”

With Ruilian Group standing in front, even Penghui Capital and its fellow investors would not dare to cause trouble.

Hearing this, Xiao Yu was secretly astonished. He truly hadn’t expected Wen Suqing to have cultivated such strong connections in the Capital’s circles.

Xiao Yu had heard of Ruilian Group. Not only did the conglomerate itself possess a massive asset scale of 300 billion, but more critically, its major shareholders were backed by several top state-owned enterprises.

Zhou Baichuan’s Penghui Capital, along with the other investment firms, had a combined asset size of over 150 billion, but they would never dare to provoke Ruilian Group. Even if Ruilian’s size were halved, the state-owned enterprise backers it had would be enough to make Zhou Baichuan and the others behave.

Xiao Yu looked at Wen Suqing in amazement. “I never thought you could get Ruilian involved. The ‘Uncle Xiang’ you just mentioned… is that Mr. Xiang Chongguang, the current Vice President of Ruilian?”

Xiao Yu had heard a little about this man. He was currently the Vice President of Ruilian Group, and his immediate superior was expected to retire within the next year or year and a half. It was highly likely that Xiang Chongguang would take over as the head of Ruilian Group.

Wen Suqing nodded with a smile. “Mmm, that’s right.”

Receiving her affirmation, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but ask curiously, “You call him Uncle Xiang. When did you get together with the Xiang family’s son? I thought you were still single.”

Wen Suqing beamed. “Trying to pry information out of me? Why have you suddenly gotten so into gossip? But it’s not a secret. We’ve been together for over two years. We haven’t officially announced it, nor do we plan to.”

So that was it. It all made sense now; no wonder she could get Ruilian Group to come and back him up.

The Xiang family’s base of operations was in the capital, and they had always maintained a low-key profile. It wasn’t strange at all that they hadn’t officially announced their relationship after two years together.

After this brief interlude, the topic was quickly dropped. Xiao Yu had no intention of prying too much into others’ private lives. He steered the conversation back to the matter at hand, looking at Wen Suqing with a smile. “I wonder what Ruilian’s requirements are for stepping in?”

Xiao Yu didn’t believe for a second that Ruilian Group was offering help out of sheer benevolence. Even if Wen Suqing was the Xiang family’s daughter-in-law, her influence wasn’t that great. They must truly have their eyes on the profits from Linghan New Materials.

Xiao Yu didn’t mind Ruilian Group taking a cut of the profits in exchange for taking the heat and providing backing.

However, if clearing out Penghui Capital and its partners meant the newly-arrived Ruilian Group would also demand control or use their power to pressure him, Xiao Yu would unhesitatingly push back, regardless of his connection with Wen Suqing.

Wen Suqing smiled. “Let’s not beat around the bush. I needed to find someone to provide backing anyway, so I figured I might as well turn to my own people. I do have a small, selfish motive in this. If I make this happen and Ruilian profits handsomely, Uncle Xiang’s future position at the helm of Ruilian will be more secure, and I’ll be held in higher regard, solidifying my own status.”

She was very candid about these matters. Even if she hadn’t said anything, Xiao Yu could have figured out the logic of interests at play.

“Makes perfect sense. As your old classmate, I support you,” Xiao Yu said with a smile before adding bluntly, “But how does Ruilian intend to intervene?”

Wen Suqing replied immediately, “I know what you might be worried about, but you can rest assured. Ruilian, along with the other major institutions that will enter later, will all participate as financial investors. None of them will interfere with the company. You will still be the one calling the shots. They will also sign a concerted action agreement with you. There will be no performance-betting agreements and no extra conditions.”

“Furthermore, they won’t ask for equity from you. You will remain the company’s largest shareholder and actual controller. Ruilian and the other major institutions will divide the shares held by Penghui Capital and its partners among themselves. Nothing else will change. Of course, the company can’t actually delist. That’s a requirement from the other institutions.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu breathed a silent sigh of relief. This was far better than he had expected—much, much better. It couldn’t be more perfect.

A world where everyone was happy, where only Penghui Capital and its fellow investors suffered, was achieved.

Xiao Yu looked at Wen Suqing and smiled. “I imagine you must have put a lot of effort into mediating all this. Given these terms, I can’t find a single reason to refuse.”

Wen Suqing said, “To be honest, I knew you would never give up control or allow outside interference. I was quite worried at first, but Uncle Xiang told me that if you had actually been willing to compromise and relinquish control, he would have been greatly disappointed and would have kicked you out of the picture without hesitation. Of course,” she added, “he would have let you walk away with money, not devoured you completely.”

Wen Suqing continued, “Uncle Xiang said that only a truly strong person can build a career to heights that ordinary people can only dream of. And a truly strong player would never allow themselves to lose control or be constrained, especially since you’ve already made a major mistake once and nearly blew everything up. Ruilian only befriends the strong.”

Xiao Yu was momentarily speechless, then smiled. “Mr. Xiang is truly a great figure with grand vision and courage. He will undoubtedly take the helm of Ruilian Group.”

He had to admit, when people like Zhou Baichuan were compared to a figure like Xiang Chongguang, the difference was immediately apparent.

In truth, there was another factor behind Xiang Chongguang’s decision not to seek control of Xiao Yu’s company. Xiao Yu wasn’t just the head of the company; he was also a tech man, a top-tier technical talent. That was the crucial point. Both PrismTech and Linghan New Materials were high-tech enterprises, not traditional ones.

If they kicked Xiao Yu out, what if he went on to develop even more advanced technology that could swiftly crush their existing products? Wouldn’t they be left looking like fools?

In fact, they had a recent lesson right before their eyes: Penghui Capital and its partners had tried to devour Xiao Yu completely and kick him out.

And look what happened. He came up with even more incredible technology.

Xiang Chongguang knew that technology was a significant variable—a variable that was not only disruptive but also sudden and unpredictable.

Especially a revolutionary technological breakthrough, which had the power to overturn even a giant like Ruilian Group.

For someone like Xiao Yu, who had the potential to create such technological variables, Xiang Chongguang’s principle was to avoid confrontation unless absolutely necessary. The first priority was to win him over and pursue mutually beneficial cooperation.

Xiao Yu was also very satisfied with Wen Suqing bringing in Ruilian Group and the other major institutions to back him up. They came with no ill intentions, didn’t use their power to pressure him, and sought friendly, mutually beneficial cooperation. It was a joyous outcome for all.

Ruilian Group’s demands were also reasonable. They weren’t taking benefits for free; they would step up and act as a powerful shield, intimidating Zhou Baichuan’s group of investors.

In the future, they would also deter other potential predators, which would save Xiao Yu from a great deal of potential trouble.

…

Chapter 28: Hook, Line, and Sinker

What Ruilian Group could offer was precisely what Xiao Yu needed but did not yet possess. Ruilian had come with goodwill to build a positive relationship, and with Wen Suqing mediating, it was only natural that the two sides would reach a partnership without any resistance.

The entry of several of Ruilian Group’s new institutional arms did not take away from Xiao Yu’s interests. Instead, they carved up the shares held by Penghui Capital and the other investors, ousting Zhou Baichuan and his cohort. Xiao Yu, in turn, paid no price at all and even gained several powerful backers to provide backing.

This would be a great help to Xiao Yu’s future endeavors. Of course, he knew that true strength ultimately came from within. But before he could grow into a titan himself, having Ruilian Group acting as a shield would protect him from the covetous eyes of all sorts of predators and save him a great deal of trouble.

After a while, Xiao Yu also told Wen Suqing about the details of his previous meeting with Zhou Baichuan. They then discussed the subsequent plans to ensure they were on the same page, allowing the plan to be executed smoothly.

Meanwhile, after returning, Zhou Baichuan immediately discussed countermeasures with the other investors.

PrismTech’s stock price had now far surpassed the target price, and it was a foregone conclusion that Xiao Yu had won the high-stakes performance agreement. The financiers could no longer threaten his control over the company.

After repeated analysis and consideration, Zhou Baichuan and the others had no choice but to accept this reality.

However, their biggest concern was Xiao Yu’s subsequent promises. They still had significant reservations.

But faced with the temptation of enormous profits, they all ultimately agreed that Xiao Yu probably did not want to have a complete falling out with the financial world. There are no permanent enemies, no permanent friends, only permanent interests—a sentiment Zhou Baichuan and his group also subscribed to.

Although they could no longer control Xiao Yu, if Linghan New Materials and PrismTech merged, the future stock price could potentially reach the hundred-billion-yuan level. Even if they had to exit at half the market capitalization, they could still walk away with over eighteen billion yuan in principal and profit. This was undoubtedly an astronomical figure.

After some discussion, Zhou Baichuan and the others decided to feign weakness and accept the loss. They would cut their losses on the short position and get out, letting Xiao Yu vent his anger and calming him down.

With this certainty, they could, at worst, secretly arrange for a proxy to buy up shares at a low price when the stock fell, allowing them to recoup the losses from their short position. After all, with the current market cap just over thirty billion, the potential for future growth was immense.

They could accept giving up their say in matters, their control, and even some of their equity. As long as they were certain the company’s overall market capitalization would rise, they might end up earning more even with a smaller stake.

The next morning, around 8:30 AM, during the pre-market session, Xiao Yu received a call from Zhou Baichuan himself. Through his tone and phrasing, he conveyed their decision to Xiao Yu.

After ending the call, Xiao Yu chuckled. “They took the bait.”

At that moment, Penghui Capital and the other investors still believed that Xiao Yu just wanted to vent and then move on, and that the little boat of friendship could continue to sail merrily along.

Little did they know that Xiao Yu had intended to burn bridges from the very beginning, especially now that he had Ruilian Group to provide backing in the aftermath. He had no more worries.

This time, Zhou Baichuan and his group would first lose on their short positions, and then lose on their long positions—a devastating loss on both ends.

By the time their restricted shares were finally unlocked, they would find the stock price had already collapsed.

Today, PrismTech once again opened at its limit up, hitting a new all-time high of 42.43 yuan. Its market capitalization climbed further to 36.829 billion yuan.

Four consecutive limit-ups in four days. The second main rising wave had already doubled the stock’s value. Since its first limit-up in May, the cumulative gain had reached +929.85%, making it the year’s top-performing monster stock.

Counting from its all-time low of 3.86 yuan, the cumulative gain was +999.22%, a tenfold surge.

The retail investors were all in absolute awe.

As time passed and the midday break ended, the funds trading in the market noticed there was no news on the wire. Some quickly grew vigilant.

It had to be said that the funds currently in the game were incredibly shrewd. Those who weren’t had already been eliminated by the market. Apart from novices and compulsive gamblers, those still active in the market were more cunning than the next. They would shout, “hold on, everyone, don’t sell!” while running faster than a rabbit themselves.

At 1:11 PM, the buy orders holding up PrismTech’s limit-up price suddenly began to decrease sharply.

The short-sellers from Penghui Capital and the other investment firms didn’t drop a massive short order to continue shorting, but rather to break the limit-up seal, trigger a wave of profit-taking, and allow them to close their positions.

As expected, seeing the large sell-off, shareholders jumped on the bandwagon, rushing to sell off their shares to lock in their profits. The limit-up board broke, and the stock took a nosedive.

However, the plunge stopped after a ten-point drop because Penghui Capital and the other institutions were closing their short positions. They had previously borrowed and sold shares to drive the price down, and now they had to buy them back at double the price to return them. This meant they were losing an amount equal to their initial investment. If they hadn’t made a considerable profit from shorting earlier, this would have triggered a liquidation of their positions.

Now that Zhou Baichuan and the others believed they had reached an agreement with Xiao Yu, they had to accept this loss, so there was nothing more to be said.

As the day went on, various funds saw how strong the buying support for the stock was and decided to take a closer look. Towards the end of the late trading session, seeing that most of the profit-takers had exited, some speculative funds came in to take over.

By the end of the day, divergence had turned into consensus. PrismTech’s stock price sealed itself at the limit up again at market close.

This “T-shaped” limit-up day saw an astronomical trading volume. The total turnover for the day was 6.537 billion yuan, setting a new record for the stock’s single-day trading volume. The turnover rate also reached a staggering 61.25%.

After the market closed, many people were waiting for news, but none came.

The next day, Thursday, July 15th.

PrismTech opened high at +19.02% in pre-market trading, nearly at its limit up. Many retail investors grew uneasy when they saw this result. If it was so close to the limit, why didn’t it just open at the limit up from the bell?

Some felt something was off. The opening price was also interesting: 50.50 yuan.

Some market makers had a wicked sense of humor and liked to create special numbers at the peak, like a “double top” or a “triple top.” PrismTech opening at 50.50 yuan today felt like a double top.

Right after the market opened, the stock took a steep plunge. It was a massive, high-volume crash. In less than a minute, it plummeted twenty points, turning from green to red and entering negative territory.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu was at the PrismTech office today.

Yun Shu came into the chairman’s office. Seeing her, Xiao Yu took a document out of a folder and handed it to her. “Release this news during the midday break.”

Opening the document, a flash of surprise crossed Yun Shu’s face. She looked up at Xiao Yu with a questioning gaze, but in the end, she bit back her words and nodded. “Understood.”

At 12:00 PM, half an hour into the midday break, an announcement from PrismTech terrified all the funds trading in the market.

PrismTech released a public announcement:

[The company is currently planning a major asset restructuring. The auditing and evaluation for this transaction have not yet been completed, and the specific transaction price has not been determined. This restructuring still needs to go through the necessary internal decision-making procedures and be approved by the relevant regulatory authorities before it can be formally implemented. There is uncertainty as to whether it can be successfully implemented. We urge all investors to be aware of the risks of secondary market trading, pay full attention to the company’s actual operating conditions, and make rational and cautious investment decisions.]

Xiao Yu scheduled the announcement at this specific time to first let Penghui Capital and the other investors cut their losses and close their short positions. At the same time, it would drive the stock price down, luring them into secretly accumulating shares for a long position. Then, he would spring an even bigger trap, effectively welding the car doors shut.

As soon as this announcement was released, it instantly triggered panic in the market. Funds began to flee in droves.

Those who had been holding with conviction could no longer maintain their composure after seeing the announcement. They scrambled over each other to quickly place sell orders, rushing to get out.

[Run, everyone, run!]

[Anyone who dared to buy in today is a true warrior. Bet they feel stupid now.]

[Epic volume at a high, 50.50 double top, this is the cosmic peak for sure. From 4.12 at the first limit-up to 50.50, that’s a +1125.72% surge. If you count from the low of 3.86, it’s +1208.29%! All I can say is, place your overnight sell orders at the limit down tonight and get out, even if you get wiped out…]

[The first ten-bagger of the year, or more like a twelve-bagger. Today must be the graduation photo. Let’s take a group picture and see you all on the next monster stock.]

[Looks like the “family” is left holding the bag again… (facepalm emoji)]

[CEO Xiao, I’m happy you made an announcement, but as a shareholder, I don’t like this announcement.]

[Let’s see who’s fastest when the market opens this afternoon… (shiba_inu.jpg)]

[I give up. This morning everyone was worshipping the stock, now they’re all bearish. What’s there to panic about? It’s just a normal announcement. The bosses of both companies are the same person, how could the restructuring possibly fail? Hold firm, I’m betting the price will break 100. A washout is healthy; it shakes out the weak hands.]

[Let me translate what the guy above just said: “None of you run, let me run first…” (smirk emoji)]

…

Chapter 29: Return to the World of Blue Star

In the afternoon, the moment the market opened, PrismTech’s stock price flash-crashed, diving straight into the red. It plummeted a straight 27 points, getting viciously slammed down to 34.18 yuan, a drop of -19.44% that nearly hit the limit down, performing a price swing from limit-up to limit-down.

However, within minutes, it was hit by an explosive rally, turning positive with a five percent gain. This was the result of short-sellers like Penghui Capital closing their positions. Additionally, some traders employing a high-risk strategy of buying on the first dip jumped in aggressively, betting on a reversal the next day.

Many people also firmly believed the restructuring would succeed, especially since Xiao Yu was the owner of both Linghan New Materials and PrismTech.

However, by the late trading session, the stock price continued to weaken, eventually accelerating its downturn and closing in the red with a loss of -10.32% at 38.05 yuan. Its market capitalization fell back to 33.027 billion.

In the days that followed, PrismTech’s stock price began a volatile decline, with huge fluctuations every day. Penghui Capital and several other institutional investors were suppressing the price while secretly accumulating shares to build up their long positions, hoping to acquire more low-cost stock.

Investors were also waiting to see if the merger and restructuring would ultimately be successful. With the outcome still up in the air, a lot of capital was still in play, speculating on the result.

Xiao Yu had now fulfilled the high-stakes performance agreement and confirmed that Zhou Baichuan’s investors had been successfully lured into the trap. The next step was to give them some time to increase their long positions, hopefully until they went all in. Then, he would spring the trap, weld the door shut, and let the stock price plummet, wiping them all out in one fell swoop.

At the same time, Xiao Yu wasn’t idle; he decided to travel to the world of Blue Star once again.

He had already made the bold claim of mass-producing high-purity graphene material, so he needed to ensure he had enough production capacity to supply the market.

Xiao Yu urgently needed to establish a stable supply chain on Blue Star and gain a firm foothold there. This was crucial for bringing other forms of black technology to Earth in the future, as well as for moving products from Earth to Blue Star.

…

Blue Star, Fengquan City, Heavenly Kingdom, Central Continent.

“The vast difference in the relative flow of time between the two worlds is quite convenient for me.” Xiao Yu stepped through the teleportation Star Gate and appeared in the villa he had bought in Fengquan City.

More than three months had passed on Earth since he last left Blue Star. But due to the difference in the relative flow of time, only four or five hours had gone by here.

Similarly, when Xiao Yu came to Blue Star, the flow of time on Earth slowed down by 500 times relative to him. He could stay on Blue Star for several months and return to Earth to find that only a few hours had passed.

This way, he didn’t have to worry that spending too much time on Blue Star would mean he was gone for too long on Earth. Otherwise, his butler, Qin Yue, would surely panic and call the police if the young master suddenly disappeared for an extended period.

At this moment, Xiao Yu sat alone in the living room, silent, contemplating how to set his plans for Blue Star in motion.

After careful consideration, Xiao Yu decided to first establish a company on Blue Star. He needed to build up his presence here, and going it alone was certainly not a viable option.

“I’ll set up a company here in Fengquan City, and it would be best to have one in Heavenly Capital as well,” Xiao Yu murmured to himself, nodding in affirmation. Establishing a company in Heavenly Capital would create the impression that he had connections in the Heavenly Kingdom’s capital circle, making it easier to do business on Blue Star.

“That’s settled then.” Xiao Yu quickly formulated a rough plan. He would first establish a company in Fengquan City, and once it was up and running, he would make a trip to Heavenly Capital.

Xiao Yu activated his smart holographic wristband, projecting a holographic display panel in front of him. He checked his two anonymous bank accounts, which had a combined balance of over eighty million Star Yuan.

“Hmm, the funds should be sufficient.” Looking at the balance, Xiao Yu concluded that over eighty million Star Yuan was more than enough to start a company. He would no longer have to exhaust himself by personally running around on the front lines to cash in.

Once he established the company and hired a team, he could just let them handle the business side of things.

In the future, Xiao Yu himself would only need to transport various food products from Earth to a warehouse on Blue Star. His company’s employees would then take care of marketing and sales, generating revenue from the products.

Having settled on the broad strokes and considered the details, Xiao Yu didn’t waste any time. He left his private residence that very day to go and register the company.

He needed to get the company established as soon as possible, then start hiring, to end his embarrassing “one-man army” situation on Blue Star.

As for the company’s name, Xiao Yu decided to use the word “Prism” again, calling it “Prism Company.” The people of Blue Star wouldn’t find anything particularly special about the name.

After applying to register Prism Company, while waiting for the approval to come through, he rented an entire floor in a commercial office building in the city to serve as the company’s office space.

The company was successfully approved within two Blue Star working days, and all the necessary paperwork was processed smoothly.

The company Xiao Yu registered on Blue Star was a trading enterprise, permitted to engage in the sale of various goods, as well as import-export, technology import-export, and agency import-export services.

In the days that followed, the main task was to hire people for the company. Only with staff could he get things moving.

The job listings had been posted, and now he just had to wait for applicants to arrive for interviews. Xiao Yu planned to personally hire six people: the company’s general manager, and the heads of the operations, finance, human resources, and marketing departments.

Once these key department heads were in place, Xiao Yu would make the decisions and hand them over to these people to execute. They would naturally build the company from the ground up according to the boss’s requirements.

Additionally, Xiao Yu would also personally hire an assistant and secretary who would report directly to him.

The office space was secured, but it hadn’t been renovated or furnished yet. Xiao Yu had no intention of troubling himself with such minor details. Once he hired a general manager, he would have them handle these matters. As the boss, his focus would be on decision-making.

…

The following afternoon.

Xiao Yu rented an additional storefront in Fengquan City to serve as a temporary office. He stayed there alone, waiting for applicants to arrive, as the job listings had already been published.

Prism Company on Blue Star currently consisted of Xiao Yu as a lone commander. He had to patiently spend some time on Blue Star and couldn’t just return to Earth to wait.

This was due to the huge difference in the relative flow of time between the two worlds. If he returned to Earth, the flow of time on Blue Star would be 500 times slower than on Earth. If he spent a few months on Earth and then came back, only a few hours would have passed here.

At this point, the relative time difference between the two worlds was actually quite troublesome. But there was nothing to be done about it—every advantage has its disadvantage. For Xiao Yu, however, the pros generally outweighed the cons.

For now, Xiao Yu was alone in the office, and with nothing better to do while drinking his tea, he opened a holographic projection panel and started browsing the Blue Star internet, taking the opportunity to learn more about Blue Star’s culture, history, and other information.

…

Chapter 30: A Belated Realization and a Cold Sweat

Xiao Yu was now curious about why Blue Star’s atmospheric environment had become what it was today. After a moment, he entered the keywords “Blue Star atmospheric history” into a search engine, and a wealth of related information quickly appeared.

Selecting a historical narrative from the results, Xiao Yu clicked and entered the page.

“Over a hundred years ago, an extremely deadly pathogen that specifically attacked chloroplasts swept across Blue Star’s vegetation, triggering an irreversible ecological collapse?” Xiao Yu read the article’s content aloud, a look of astonishment on his face, before continuing on.

According to the article, this extreme pathogen killed all the plants and algae in the oceans before spreading to land, leaving a barren wasteland in its wake.

All plants have chloroplasts; without them, they cannot perform photosynthesis and will die. The natural world is an interconnected whole; if one link in the chain is broken, it triggers a severe chain reaction.

Plants are the producers in an ecosystem, supporting the entire flow of energy. The death of plants led to herbivorous animals starving, their populations gradually dwindling into extinction. This, in turn, left carnivorous animals with no prey, causing them to starve to death and also face extinction. The entire ecosystem, from the bottom up, fell into an irreversible collapse.

Even more fatally, the disaster progressed at an exponential rate.

The death of the plants meant that Blue Star’s oxygen levels began to steadily decrease. The element oxygen is actually widespread on Blue Star, present in carbon dioxide, water, and various ores.

But until it was converted by organic matter, humans and animals could not use this oxygen.

Meanwhile, combustion, corrosion, and the metabolic activities of life were constantly consuming oxygen from Blue Star’s atmosphere. To make matters worse, while oxygen only decreased, carbon dioxide only increased.

Oxygen combines with the carbon in the human body to produce carbon dioxide while releasing energy. When wood burns, oxygen combines with the carbon in the wood to also produce carbon dioxide. The decay of plants produces the same reaction, and on an extremely massive scale.

Chloroplasts in plants use sunlight to break down carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen. The oxygen is released back into the atmosphere, and the carbon is integrated by the plants into carbohydrates, providing energy for growth and allowing the entire ecosystem to achieve a cyclical, dynamic equilibrium.

But as the plants’ chloroplasts were destroyed by the extreme pathogen, photosynthesis ended with the death of the plants. Blue Star’s natural world no longer produced new oxygen, yet respiration, combustion, and decomposition continued, escalating in scale and severity, constantly consuming what oxygen was left.

Most of the decomposition of organic matter on land was completed in about half a century, and all told, it consumed less than one percent of the oxygen in Blue Star’s atmosphere. However, the rotting matter that had sedimented on the seabed for hundreds of millions of years was more than ten times that on land—perhaps even more—and it was being brought to the planet’s surface.

Blue Star and Flare Star formed a binary star system and were mutually tidally locked. Flare Star, which was larger than Blue Star, exerted an enormous tidal force on it. This, combined with the pull from the star they orbited, caused Blue Star’s oceans to undergo periodic current reversals, which occurred in three cycles a year.

This process caused Blue Star’s surface water to sink to the bottom, while the deep-sea water was brought to the surface, carrying the organic carbon sediment from the seabed with it.

Previously, the land plants and marine algae on Blue Star would consume this carbon dioxide, creating a dynamic balance. But the death of the plants shattered this balance, causing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to rise continuously, reaching a peak of 1.90%.

The current concentration of carbon dioxide in Blue Star’s atmosphere is about 1.89%, which is still forty-six times the amount in Earth’s atmosphere.

“So that’s why. This is the reason for the drastic change in Blue Star’s atmosphere…” Xiao Yu nodded to himself as if in a moment of great realization. But then, a sudden thought sent a cold shiver down his spine. He was so scared that he frantically closed the webpage and began searching for information on that extreme pathogen.

He had just come to the belated realization that he had traveled back and forth between Blue Star and Earth several times without ever taking any quarantine or disinfection measures.

Xiao Yu’s heart sank. The more you think about it, the scarier it gets. If he had unknowingly brought this extreme pathogen that attacked plant chloroplasts from Blue Star to Earth, the consequences would be unimaginable once it began to spread.

“That was a close call. Thank goodness, the pathogen has already disappeared from Blue Star…” After several hours of sifting through related information, Xiao Yu let out a huge sigh of relief.

He had been genuinely terrified. Xiao Yu decided that from now on, when traveling between the two worlds, he had to take proper quarantine measures. This included disinfecting and deactivating any potential contaminants on all products he transferred from Blue Star to Earth. It was better to prepare for that one-in-a-million chance.

Xiao Yu calmed himself and continued to delve deeper into Blue Star’s history and culture.

The more he learned, the more moved he was. He had never imagined that the human civilization of Blue Star had such a tragic past.

Following the great ecological collapse, a global food crisis erupted, becoming the final straw that broke the back of Blue Star’s human civilization. Hunger brings out the most primal of fears. Civilization and order completely collapsed, a state that lasted for a full thirty years.

Within those thirty years, Blue Star’s global population plummeted from a peak of 9.7 billion to a low of only 2.8 billion—a reduction of 6.9 billion people. In reality, the number of deaths over those thirty years exceeded 7.2 billion, as the surviving 2.8 billion included children born during that time.

In the first decade of the ecological collapse, the decline in Blue Star’s population was not so dramatic, as existing food reserves were still supporting it, and order had not yet collapsed.

But by the second decade, the situation could no longer be contained. The food crisis exploded, and civilization and order completely disintegrated. The global population crashed precipitously in just twenty years.

The world of Blue Star entered “the age of cannibalism”—and this was in the literal, physical sense. Everything edible had been eaten, and food could no longer be produced. Inevitably, humanity descended into an extremely dark and terrifying phase of devouring its own kind.

In that era, the only way to survive was to completely abandon one’s humanity and become an inhuman beast.

Reading this passage of Blue Star’s history, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine. It was a portrait of hell on earth.

Cannibalism, in turn, led to widespread genetic mutations of prion proteins, causing massive deaths and plagues. This series of chain reactions and disasters caused the population of Blue Star to plummet from nearly ten billion to less than three billion in just two or three decades.

The human civilization of Blue Star now refers to those thirty years as the “Dark Wasteland Age.” The turning point that ended this dark era was a technological breakthrough: the successful synthesis of starch from carbon dioxide and its subsequent industrial mass production.

It was this breakthrough that gradually alleviated the food crisis and brought an end to the dark age of cannibalism.

…

Chapter 31: Definitely an Artificially Created Scarcity

Upon reading this, Xiao Yu opened another page and searched for Blue Star’s current global population. The data showed that the current population was approximately 3.35 billion.

“Even after so many years, it’s only recovered to about one-third of its historical peak…” Xiao Yu couldn’t help but sigh. He then closed the page and continued browsing the content on culture and history.

The advent of artificially synthesized starch allowed humanity on Blue Star to end the “Dark Wasteland Age” and enter a forty-year-long period known as the “Post-Wasteland Age.” During this time, Blue Star’s environment continued to deteriorate, forcing the survivors to adapt to new conditions and completely overhaul their way of life.

The most significant change was due to the drastic spike in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, which made the air unbreathable. Wearing a breathing mask and a compressed air canister on one’s waist became essential for going outside, a lifestyle that has persisted to this day.

Furthermore, man-made architectural structures underwent a massive transformation. Buildings could be completely sealed off from the outside air, with industrially purified air circulated indoors. Because buildings were isolated from the outside, people could remove their breathing masks inside.

But from then on, breathing air was no longer free; it had to be purchased.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was not wearing a breathing mask. His office was indoors, which brought up a unique product of the cities on modern-day Blue Star—air supply pipelines.

In Fengquan City, where Xiao Yu was located, every household was connected to air supply pipelines. It was a similar concept to the domestic gas pipelines in cities on Earth; the only difference was that Earth’s pipelines transported natural gas or coal gas, while Blue Star’s transported purified, breathable air.

Therefore, people living on Blue Star had to pay for the air they breathed, and it was an absolutely essential expense. If your air was cut off, you would literally stop breathing and suffocate to death.

Large cities had air supply pipelines connected to every home, but smaller towns and settlements lacked such convenient facilities. They typically had to purchase compressed air tanks at the market, which were analogous to the gas canisters on Earth, except they were filled with breathable air.

The “Post-Wasteland Age,” which lasted for forty years, remained a chaotic era. Various factions rose to power, fighting for territory, plundering resources, and seizing populations. Weaker factions were absorbed by stronger ones in an age where warlords vied for control.

A new order was born amidst this turmoil, and nations, order, and civilization gradually returned.

“Oh, so that’s how it is. This so-called ‘Heavenly Kingdom’ emerged victorious from the fray under such circumstances and successfully established a nation in the Central Continent.” It was as if Xiao Yu had a sudden epiphany. The Heavenly Kingdom had been founded for half a century now.

After finishing the article, Xiao Yu pondered for a moment and couldn’t help but murmur to himself in confusion, “The Heavenly Kingdom has been established for half a century, yet it still can’t provide its people with food security. There’s definitely something seriously wrong here. The scarcity of food is absolutely being manufactured.”

Xiao Yu had suspected this before, but now he was even more certain. If this weren’t the case, there would be no reason for food-related products to be so expensive.

Ninety years ago, Blue Star had already mastered the technology for the industrial mass production of synthetic starch. The power of industry was immense, a fact Xiao Yu understood very well, not to mention that Blue Star’s technological level and industrial capacity far surpassed Earth’s.

In Xiao Yu’s opinion, they could completely max out their production capacity. They could easily supply enough industrial starch for thirty billion people, let alone the current global population of over three billion.

In other words, industrial starch, at the very least, should be extremely cheap. Yet, the reality Xiao Yu observed was that this synthetic starch, the staple food for the lower class, was very expensive. Many people in the lower class spent the vast majority of their earnings just to ensure their families had enough to eat, leaving them with very little money left over.

After doing some research, Xiao Yu also learned that Blue Star’s great ecological collapse over a century ago was not a sudden event, but rather an irreversible trend of decline.

During the ecological collapse, the humans of that time initiated a “Life’s Spark” Project. This project preserved the embryos of many species, and with human intervention, living individuals of many species also survived, avoiding complete extinction.

Although many were destroyed in the decades of turmoil that followed, a considerable number were still preserved.

Therefore, Blue Star still had fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, poultry, eggs, and meat, which could be cultivated in closed, isolated environments where suitable growing conditions were artificially created.

On Blue Star, however, these had become expensive and rare luxury goods. The lower class couldn’t afford to buy them more than a few times a year. Only a minority, such as the rich or the powerful elite, could achieve food freedom in this day and age, even feasting on all sorts of delicacies until they were sick of them.

As someone born and raised on Earth, Xiao Yu was shocked and found the situation on Blue Star almost incomprehensible. If this were his home country on Earth, with half a century of rebuilt order and supported by a technological and industrial base like Blue Star’s civilization…

First, the price of synthetic starch would absolutely be driven down to dirt-cheap levels. Of course, that was an expression from Earth—cabbages were incredibly expensive here on Blue Star now.

Second, even for fresh food, fruits and vegetables could be mass-produced in large-scale industrial greenhouses. With Blue Star’s advanced technology, Xiao Yu refused to believe that its modern agricultural techniques could be more backward than those on his home planet, Earth.

Even if they couldn’t allow everyone to have unlimited fruits and vegetables, it shouldn’t have reached a point where such fresh food was considered a luxury by the lower class.

That could only mean one thing: this whole situation was man-made. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. It was man-made.

Xiao Yu tried to search further for the reasons and underlying logic, but after a long search, he couldn’t find any answers online. So he stopped looking, realizing that he probably wouldn’t find the truth on Blue Star’s public internet.

Just then, a small holographic window popped up. Someone had submitted a job resume to Prism Company.

Xiao Yu closed the cluttered holographic panels, pushed the doubts from his mind, and opened the applicant’s resume.

…

In the following days, seven people came to apply for the position of general manager. Xiao Yu personally interviewed each of them one by one and finally selected a man named Luo Guanqi to be Prism Company’s general manager.

The annual salary Xiao Yu offered was three million Star Yuan plus a stock option bonus. As for the stock options, they naturally came with performance requirements.

“This is the company’s current office space. The company is just starting out, so you, as the general manager, will have your hands full. The business plan has been finalized. You can access it with the general manager’s account on the company’s internal network. Just execute the plan as outlined,” Xiao Yu said, bringing the newly hired Luo Guanqi to Prism Company’s office.

“Understood.” Luo Guanqi looked at the office space before him. It was obviously not ready for work; it needed to be renovated, and office equipment had to be purchased. If he hadn’t seen that Prism Company had a registered capital of fifty million Star Yuan, Luo Guanqi would have suspected he had been swindled.

Xiao Yu only had a little over eighty million Star Yuan, but he had registered the company with fifty million in capital precisely to project an image of strength. Otherwise, people might think it was a scam company or had no future, which would make it even harder to recruit talented individuals.

However, although Prism Company was a startup, it began with a registered capital of fifty million Star Yuan. Luo Guanqi guessed that his new boss, Xiao Yu, was no ordinary entrepreneur.

An ordinary entrepreneur wouldn’t have this kind of financial backing. Moreover, when he spoke with Xiao Yu, he could clearly sense that this boss was not a first-time founder. After reading the business plan, he became even more convinced that Xiao Yu had run a business before.

A few minutes later, Xiao Yu gave a few more instructions and left, leaving the place to Luo Guanqi. His primary task now was to follow his boss’s instructions: build the initial framework of Prism Company and get it up and running.

…

Chapter 32: The Capital of Heaven: Heavenly Capital

Having recruited Luo Guanqi as General Manager, Xiao Yu’s days as a “lone commander” on Blue Star were finally over. He could now hand off many tedious tasks to his subordinates instead of having to handle everything himself, which was a great relief.

The company’s business plan had long been drafted; Luo Guanqi just needed to execute it as required. Once the various departments were staffed, the company could officially begin its operations.

Over the next few days, Xiao Yu personally interviewed and found a man named Zhou Gaozhuo to serve as Prism Company’s Chief Financial Officer, the head of the company’s finance department.

The key personnel for other critical departments like marketing and human resources were also finalized in the following days after personal interviews with Xiao Yu.

As for the other employees, Xiao Yu wouldn’t need to interview them personally.

Finalizing the heads of the major departments was enough; the rest he could leave to his executive team. There was no need to handle every single detail himself.

However, it was worth noting that the recruitment for the position of his assistant and secretary was not going smoothly.

Many people had come to the company to interview for this position, attracted by the offered salary of one million four hundred and fifty thousand Star Yuan and stock option rewards. On Blue Star, such compensation was unequivocally considered high.

Xiao Yu had personally interviewed over thirty candidates, but he remained unsatisfied with all of them.

This was because he wasn’t simply hiring an assistant and secretary. Xiao Yu had a deeper plan in mind: to cultivate his own people on Blue Star and build a solid foundation so he could truly establish a firm foothold in this world.

Generally speaking, there are two ways to build strong relationships. One is through an alliance formed by a common bond of interests, created via mutual exchange and partnership. The other is to establish an alliance of interests through a blood relationship, such as a marriage.

Xiao Yu chose the most efficient and direct option: a marriage alliance, or even establishing a bond through blood ties.

If it was beneficial for establishing his foothold on Blue Star, Xiao Yu wouldn’t mind leaving behind offspring in this world. After all, a relationship built upon the bond of having a shared child would undoubtedly be more solid.

During his time on Blue Star, Xiao Yu had continuously been learning about this world. He had already confirmed that the humans of both worlds were identical at the genetic level. In other words, there was no issue of reproductive isolation, which meant he could pursue the path of creating blood ties.

From this, it was clear that Xiao Yu wasn’t just recruiting an assistant and secretary; he was also looking for a potential partner—someone who could become his woman. Such a relationship would be a better and faster way to build a foundation of trust and cultivate his own team of confidants on Blue Star.

Given this underlying motive and strategic consideration, it was only natural that he was having a hard time finding a suitable candidate.

First, men were out of the question; Xiao Yu’s sexual orientation was perfectly normal.

Second, looks and figure were also a requirement. Xiao Yu had his own aesthetic standards. If a single glance at her couldn’t stir any desire in him, then what was the point of even considering siring an heir to establish a blood bond?

Finally, she had to be competent. She couldn’t just be a pretty face; at the very least, her abilities had to be on par with Yun Shu back on Earth.

Two days later, Xiao Yu left Fengquan City alone. He booked a flight to Heavenly Mountain, the location of Heavenly Kingdom’s capital, Heavenly Capital. The city was situated on Heavenly Mountain, which floated at an altitude of three thousand meters.

The main purpose of this trip was to go to Heavenly Capital and register another company locally.

“So this is Heavenly Capital…”

After a flight of about three hours, he was nearing his destination. Through the airplane window, Xiao Yu could already see a corner of Heavenly Mountain. It was a creation built upon Blue Star’s unique, naturally superconducting floating mountains, enhanced through human intervention and the planet’s technological prowess. Heavenly Mountain was not a single, naturally formed entity but a composite of multiple floating mountains that had been artificially merged.

As the passenger plane Xiao Yu was on drew closer, the scenery of Heavenly Mountain became clearer in his view. It hung high in the sky, elegant, magnificent, and majestic—an utterly astonishing sight.

As far as he could see, winds and clouds swirled, and a sea of clouds enveloped towering skyscrapers. At different altitudes within Heavenly Mountain, there were also smaller, individual floating mountains of various sizes and shapes. Some housed high-density luxury residential communities or villa complexes, while others contained just a single villa estate.

The entire Heavenly Mountain exuded an aura of auspiciousness and tranquility, like a paradise on Earth.

Heavenly Mountain even had large, exclusive hunting grounds. It was also the first time Xiao Yu had seen such lush vegetation and forests on Blue Star. He estimated that the forest coverage on Heavenly Mountain was around seventy-five percent, and even in the city center, flowers and trees were a common sight.

Such a scene was impossible to find anywhere else. In the wilds outside, not a single plant could be seen, and one could even say that besides humans, there were no other living creatures.

This was because the atmospheric environment of the current Blue Star had undergone such a drastic change that plants and animals could no longer survive naturally in the wild.

Clearly, Heavenly Mountain was a massive, enclosed ecosystem created entirely by human effort, supported by powerful technology.

Under normal circumstances, Heavenly Capital’s location at such a high altitude should result in snowfall and cause altitude sickness. In reality, there was no snow, nor did it induce altitude sickness. This problem had obviously been solved through technological means.

After passing an identity verification check, the passenger plane Xiao Yu was on smoothly passed through Heavenly Mountain’s shield barrier, entering Heavenly Capital and landing successfully at Heavenly Mountain Airport.

After leaving the airport, a high-end, intelligent self-driving hover car arrived to pick Xiao Yu up, a service included with his hotel booking.

After scanning a code to complete the confirmation, Xiao Yu got into the car, and the intelligent self-driving hover car set off towards his hotel.

The hotel he had booked was a seven-star luxury hotel, an asset of a foreign multinational hotel group. This hotel was not on the ground—relative to Heavenly Mountain, that is—but occupied its own individual floating mountain in a bustling downtown area.

About twenty minutes later, Xiao Yu checked into the hotel.

In the living room of his suite, Xiao Yu stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, silently gazing at the scenery outside. The hotel’s location offered an exceptional view of Heavenly Capital.

Having visited several cities within the Heavenly Kingdom on Blue Star, Xiao Yu noticed that the architecture in Heavenly Capital was different from other cities. For instance, the windows here could be opened, and the buildings didn’t seem to have the same enclosed design. There were no so-called air supply pipelines in any of the homes.

This was because the entire Heavenly Mountain was protected by a shield barrier, forming a massive, man-made, enclosed, and self-contained ecosystem. Naturally, there was no need for air supply pipelines, nor did buildings need to be fully enclosed. At most, households might keep some emergency respirator masks and oxygen bags on hand, but they were almost never needed. After all, this was the capital of the Heavenly Kingdom.

Anywhere within Heavenly Mountain, one could breathe freely. The indoor and outdoor temperature, humidity, and air quality were all very pleasant. Even at an altitude of three thousand meters, wearing a short-sleeved shirt on Heavenly Mountain was not a problem at all.

To be able to build a super floating mountain at an altitude of three thousand meters and establish Heavenly Capital upon it—aside from Blue Star’s abundant natural room-temperature superconductor mines—must have required a series of technologies that would be considered absolute black technology on Earth to create such a breathtaking, man-made paradise.

Chapter 33: This City is Great in Every Way, But It’s Not Down-to-Earth

From his hotel room’s excellent vantage point, Xiao Yu was currently gazing out at the scenery of Heavenly Capital’s city center.

An endless stream of flying cars moved through the city’s three-dimensional transportation network. Various flying vehicles traveled at different altitudes, a seemingly chaotic scene that was, in fact, perfectly orderly.

The population of Heavenly Capital was approaching fifty million. In theory, there is an upper limit to how many people can be concentrated in a single city; it cannot expand indefinitely.

One of the limiting factors is transportation. If the population density is too high, the city’s traffic will be congested to a breaking point, and this pressure on transportation will cap the city’s potential size.

On Earth, a megalopolis would face enormous traffic pressure with a population of twenty million.

But as Xiao Yu looked upon Heavenly Capital, its population density was clearly several times higher than that of a metropolis on Earth with tens of millions of people, and its population was nearing the fifty-million mark. Yet, the city’s traffic flowed unimpeded, with no sign of a traffic jam anywhere.

This was thanks to the advanced three-dimensional transportation network. The city’s transport had been upgraded from a two-dimensional plane on the ground to a three-dimensional system in the air, which was what allowed for the birth of such a massive super-capital.

The world of Blue Star was rich with natural superconducting ore veins, allowing various vehicles to escape the ground and travel via superconducting levitation by relying on the planet’s magnetic field. The emergence of a three-dimensional transportation network was thus an inevitable outcome.

If all the vehicles in Heavenly Capital could only travel on the ground, the entire city’s transportation system would be completely paralyzed, and its population could never have grown so large.

With vehicles capable of superconducting levitation, they could be distributed across different horizontal planes at various altitudes, causing the pressure on urban transport to decrease exponentially in an instant.

It was precisely this three-dimensional transportation network that allowed the city’s population to expand to fifty million. Even if it doubled to one hundred million, Heavenly Capital would likely feel no traffic pressure.

The three-dimensional network distributed the flying cars across different altitude planes. Flying cars with different functions had their own designated aerial routes. For example, all private cars were required to travel on one altitude plane, public transport on another, and cargo vehicles on yet another.

The three-dimensional nature of the transportation network made Heavenly Capital’s traffic environment incredibly smooth. While the number of vehicles seemed vast, they were dispersed across different altitudes. If you were to isolate any single altitude plane, you would find the vehicles were actually quite sparse. Traffic jams were nonexistent, and intersections simply didn’t have such things as traffic lights.

“Huh?”

Just then, Xiao Yu noticed a private flying car in the distance, about six hundred meters above the city’s ground level, veer off its dedicated lane and head straight for a skyscraper in front of it.

Xiao Yu thought he was about to witness an aerial collision, but the outcome was completely unexpected.

Just as the flying car was about to hit the skyscraper, it was as if it encountered an invisible repulsive force that brought its speed to a sudden halt. It was then repelled several meters back, where it hovered motionlessly in the air.

“It seems the natural room-temperature superconducting ore on Blue Star is more than just abundant. How extravagant. When you’re sitting on a goldmine, you can afford to be this willful…” Xiao Yu clicked his tongue in amazement, letting out a sigh of wonder.

In the scene he had just witnessed, the skyscraper and the flying car had behaved like two magnets with like poles, repelling each other. The flying car was pushed back, and a crash was averted.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu surmised that all the major buildings in the city were likely equipped with this anti-collision feature.

Over the next few Blue Star days, Xiao Yu registered a company in Heavenly Capital. At the same time, he received several résumés from applicants for the secretary-slash-assistant position. This time, one résumé in particular caught his eye.

Based on the information provided, the applicant seemed to be a perfect match for his requirements. However, he needed to conduct an in-person interview to be sure, so he contacted the person directly and asked them to come to Heavenly Capital for a meeting.

The next day, during afternoon tea.

Xiao Yu was in the living room of his hotel suite when, a few minutes later, he heard a knock on the door.

He got up to answer it. Opening the door, he saw a woman standing in the doorway. He recognized her face immediately; it was the applicant he had asked to come for an interview.

Recalling the information from her résumé, Xiao Yu spoke after a moment. “Yan Lingjun, right? I’m Xiao Yu. Please, come in.”

She entered the room, and Xiao Yu closed the door before walking toward the sofa in the living room. “Have a seat.”

She was a beauty with an impeccable face and figure. She had an ethereal air, delicate features, and a radiant face, accentuated by light, tasteful makeup. Her smooth hair cascaded over her shoulders, and she was dressed in a fashionable yet proper manner.

After they were both seated, Xiao Yu’s gaze fell on Yan Lingjun, and he smiled. “Your résumé is very impressive and meets my requirements well. However, I still need to interview you in person and ask you a few questions.”

Yan Lingjun nodded. “Please go ahead, CEO Xiao.”

What followed was essentially the interview. Xiao Yu asked several questions and engaged in a discussion with Yan Lingjun. During their conversation, Xiao Yu was surprised to discover that this woman’s way of thinking was remarkably advanced, leaving the previous interviewees miles behind.

Xiao Yu was now almost certain that the information on her résumé was reliable. She was elegant, beautiful, and exceptionally capable. Most importantly, her level of thinking far exceeded his expectations. If he had to point out a flaw, it would be that she wasn’t from a prominent family, though she had reached the threshold of the elite class.

Then again, if Yan Lingjun came from a distinguished background, she would not be applying for a job at the newly founded Prism Company.

After a long while, Xiao Yu looked at Yan Lingjun, who sat before him, and asked her with great interest, “Why do I get the feeling you’re not too fond of Heavenly Capital? Don’t you like this City in the Sky?”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun didn’t answer. Instead, she asked him in return, “Do you like this city, CEO Xiao?”

Xiao Yu leaned back against the sofa and crossed his legs. He looked away, pondered for a moment, and then said, as if to himself, “Without a doubt, this Heavenly Capital deserves the reputation of a ‘paradise on earth.’ But frankly, I’m not a fan of it personally. I’d even rather stay in Fengquan City.”

His words brought a flash of surprise to Yan Lingjun’s face. She asked with a hint of doubt, “Countless people yearn for Heavenly Mountain. How could you dislike it here, CEO Xiao?”

Xiao Yu turned to meet her gaze. “This city is great in every way, but it’s not down-to-earth. It stands unreachably high above the clouds, looking down with cold indifference upon the teeming masses. Above Heavenly Mountain, auspicious light and mist create a magnificent, ever-changing spectacle; below it, the world is harsh and the people suffer. This immense sense of schism is unsettling.”

He had no idea that as he spoke these words, Yan Lingjun was utterly shocked. It even made her wonder for a moment if Xiao Yu’s identity was like her own—a revolutionary comrade engaged in underground activities, lying in wait within the Heavenly Kingdom.

Xiao Yu was completely unaware that the beautiful woman who had come for an interview was, in fact, a member of the Heavenly Kingdom’s rebel faction. She was a member of the “Red Tide Organization” and a spy for the armed revolutionary group, planted deep within the Heavenly Kingdom.

Yan Lingjun’s appearance before Xiao Yu was no coincidence. A key figure had made it happen, someone Xiao Yu was familiar with—Mr. Liu Shijie from Qingyang Town. He, too, was a member of the Red Tide Organization, an underground contact stationed in Qingyang Town.

It was Liu Shijie who had passed the intelligence up to his superiors, which led to Yan Lingjun’s application. The revolutionary army of the Red Tide Organization was currently in desperate need of grain. In truth, it wasn’t just grain they lacked; many other supplies, including weapons and equipment, were also in short supply.

Mr. Liu had realized that Xiao Yu could procure large quantities of food and supplies and was willing to sell to anyone. So, he reported this information up the chain of command. Yan Lingjun’s primary objective in getting close to Xiao Yu was to open up a new channel for the Red Tide Organization to obtain grain and supplies.

…

Chapter 34: This Isn’t a Natural Disaster, It’s a Man-Made Calamity

“CEO Xiao, you’re a wealthy man, an elite of the Heavenly Kingdom, and a vested beneficiary of its system of governance. What you said is tantamount to betraying your own class. Careful, or people might label you a Red bandit,” Yan Lingjun said, looking at Xiao Yu with a smile and a joking tone.

She would never have guessed that Xiao Yu wasn’t a native of Blue Star at all. Hearing this, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s a label I wouldn’t dare wear.”

After a moment, Xiao Yu met her gaze and smiled. “Right now, I’m the one interviewing you, and you still haven’t answered my question.”

Yan Lingjun pondered, organizing her thoughts, then looked up at Xiao Yu and replied, “Just as you said, CEO Xiao, above Heavenly Mountain, there are auspicious lights and magnificent phenomena, while below it, the world is harsh and the people suffer. I feel the same way you do about this.”

At this point, Yan Lingjun tilted her head slightly, looked out the floor-to-ceiling window, and let out a soft, leisurely sigh. “The Heavenly Kingdom is not a Kingdom of Heaven built upon an era of peace and prosperity, where the country is strong and the people live in tranquility. It is a kingdom built upon a harsh world, a living hell.”

These words greatly surprised Xiao Yu. He didn’t know much about the underlying logic of how the Heavenly Kingdom operated.

Xiao Yu immediately feigned great interest and said, “You said I might be labeled a Red bandit. From where I’m standing, you seem more like one.”

Yan Lingjun was perfectly calm inwardly. She said with a beaming smile, “If you say so, CEO Xiao, then I won’t dare express my opinions so carelessly. That’s a label I’d dare even less to wear.”

Xiao Yu had no idea that his unintentional joke had actually hit the mark. Yan Lingjun was indeed a member of the Red Tide Organization, and one engaged in espionage.

At that moment, Xiao Yu looked at her and asked, “You said the Heavenly Kingdom is one built upon a harsh world, a living hell. What makes you say that?”

At this moment, both had their own ulterior motives and goals.

Xiao Yu hoped to get more information from her, information that was hard to find on the public network.

Yan Lingjun, on the other hand, wanted to confirm some of her own suspicions. To prevent their identities from being exposed, it was common for many revolutionary comrades engaged in espionage to be unaware of each other’s identities.

Xiao Yu’s earlier words had greatly surprised her. For a vested beneficiary under the Heavenly Kingdom’s rule to say something like not liking Heavenly Capital… in Yan Lingjun’s eyes, this was Xiao Yu denying his own class.

However, she couldn’t determine his stance from just one comment. Yan Lingjun’s following answer was both an expression of her own views and a response to Xiao Yu’s question, as well as a way to see if Xiao Yu agreed, and thus judge his position.

If he agreed, even if he wasn’t a revolutionary comrade, there was a possibility of winning him over.

Yan Lingjun said slowly, “If the masses did not suffer, how could the auspicious lights and rosy clouds on Heavenly Mountain be so magnificent? If the masses did not suffer, how could people yearn to climb the social ladder? If the masses did not suffer, who would there be to contribute to and maintain the glory, wealth, and special privileges of the Heavenly Kingdom’s ruling elite?”

“The elites of the Heavenly Kingdom are well aware that the operational logic of the kingdom is to use the suffering of the masses to entice them to yearn for social mobility. By condoning suffering, and even deliberately creating it when necessary, they widen the material divide between those above and below Heavenly Mountain.”

“Therefore, the Heavenly Capital on Heavenly Mountain must be high and lofty; it must become a paradise on earth that the masses aspire to. If a person from the lower classes fails to achieve social mobility, it’s because they didn’t work hard enough. But that’s okay, just keep trying. The path upwards is always open to you. The Heavenly Kingdom will not give up on you, so please do not give up on the Heavenly Kingdom.”

Xiao Yu detected a clear hint of sarcasm in Yan Lingjun’s last sentence. The Heavenly Kingdom opened a so-called path for advancement, allowing a very small number of people to change their destiny, thereby implying to everyone, “See? People really can achieve social mobility through hard work.”

But in reality, the Heavenly Kingdom hadn’t solved the fundamental problem at all. The masses were still mired in suffering; in fact, the Heavenly Kingdom itself was the root of the problem.

Obviously, suffering is relative. The lives of the few ruling elites were still of high quality, but the quality of life for the common people at the bottom had become even worse. Thus, the few ruling elites became even more high and mighty, while the common people could only kneel and worship them from below.

At this moment, Xiao Yu suddenly felt as if he had glimpsed the tip of the iceberg of this Kingdom of Heaven. Some of the doubts he previously had seemed to find their answers.

No wonder fruits, vegetables, and other foods that were readily available on Earth were so expensive and scarce on Blue Star. No wonder the technology level of this world was far superior to Earth’s, yet the masses lived in such difficulty and hardship. It was likely all a material divide deliberately created by the Heavenly Kingdom’s ruling elite.

This wasn’t a natural disaster; it was a man-made calamity.

Xiao Yu was now even more certain that there was something wrong with the Heavenly Kingdom’s system of governance. Its rule was built on the premise of a few being high and mighty, while the rest of the world could only struggle to survive in suffering and prostration. The masses endured immense hardship, and not only did the Heavenly Kingdom’s ruling elite not help them escape it, they deliberately created suffering to keep them mired in it.

“No wonder there are multiple armed forces within the Heavenly Kingdom engaged in revolutionary rebellion…” Xiao Yu thought to himself. Those rebel factions had clearly also discovered the problem with the Heavenly Kingdom’s system, which is why they were rebelling to overthrow it.

Xiao Yu was certain that the ruling elites of the Heavenly Kingdom knew exactly why people were rebelling. He also understood that they would never turn the blade inward and cede benefits to the common people at the bottom. They would only desperately suppress the rebels externally, fighting to the death to protect their own ruling interests.

What Yan Lingjun had just said already provided the answer, and it was the core of the conflict: only by ensuring the suffering of the masses below Heavenly Mountain and widening the material divide could the auspicious lights and rosy clouds above Heavenly Mountain be highlighted.

If the masses had no material divide, no suffering, no exploitation, if everyone was equal and there were no longer distinctions of high and low birth between people, then the glory, wealth, power, prestige, and special privileges of the Heavenly Kingdom’s ruling elite could not be displayed, let alone maintained.

To protect their own interests and rule, they would only resort to every possible means to carry out a bloody suppression of those who resisted.

It was obvious that the class conflict between the two sides had reached an irreconcilable point, with no possibility of compromise. Either the Heavenly Kingdom would thoroughly suppress the rebellion, or the rebel faction would succeed in overthrowing the Heavenly Kingdom.

Finally, Xiao Yu looked at Yan Lingjun and smiled. “The interview is over. Congratulations, and welcome to Prism Company.”

A look of joy appeared on Yan Lingjun’s face. She immediately responded, “Thank you for your approval, CEO Xiao.”

After their face-to-face conversation, Yan Lingjun had successfully passed Xiao Yu’s interview, becoming his assistant and secretary.

However, there was still a three-month probationary period before she could get a formal contract. Her salary would be paid according to the formal contract’s terms. In truth, Yan Lingjun didn’t care about the compensation, because she hadn’t come here looking for a job in the first place. For now, Xiao Yu was still unaware of her true identity.

…

Chapter 35: Return to Earth, A Military Procurement Team Comes to Investigate

“I have some personal matters to take care of here. You head back to Fengquan and report to the company. Sign the contract while you’re at it. I’ll let Luo Guanqi know,” Xiao Yu said, glancing at Yan Lingjun.

The purpose of this trip to Heavenly Capital was to establish another company, one that the members of Prism Company must not know about.

Yan Lingjun nodded. “Alright, I’ll be on my way then.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Go on.”

Watching her graceful figure retreat and disappear from sight, Xiao Yu turned his gaze away. From her resume and their initial conversation, he was quite satisfied with Yan Lingjun.

Xiao Yu had decided on his strategy for establishing a foothold on Blue Star: using blood relations as the core bond.

However, it was still too early to make a final judgment on whether she was suitable. If she turned out to be a poor fit and didn’t contribute to his business layout on Blue Star, Xiao Yu wouldn’t waste time on her. He would decisively replace her and find another target. After all, he hadn’t gone to all this trouble just to find a local beauty to date.

In the following days, Xiao Yu remained in Heavenly Capital for a period, successfully setting his plans in motion before returning to Fengquan City.

Meanwhile, during this time, Prism Company had begun operating smoothly under the management of General Manager Luo Guanqi. It now had over 130 official employees, and Yan Lingjun had signed her contract, becoming Xiao Yu’s assistant and secretary.

On the third day after returning to Fengquan City, Xiao Yu was at Prism Company.

A short while later, Yan Lingjun came to his office. Xiao Yu glanced at his beautiful assistant. She was dressed in professional attire, her figure graceful, and she exuded an air of calm elegance and confidence.

“Have the people downstairs purchase a batch of graphene material according to this list. Find a warehouse in the city to store it for now.” Xiao Yu looked away, picked up a paper list from his desk, and handed it to his beautiful assistant.

“Understood, I’ll arrange it,” Yan Lingjun said with a nod, taking the list. She then turned and left the office to make the arrangements.

Xiao Yu stayed in the office for a while longer before leaving the company and returning to his villa. His affairs on Blue Star were more or less arranged according to plan, and he was very satisfied with the progress, which had proceeded without any unexpected deviations.

Back at his private villa in Fengquan City, Xiao Yu opened the teleportation Star Gate and returned to Earth. This time, he consciously went through a process of isolation, disinfection, and sterilization before stepping through the portal back to Earth.

Upon returning to Earth again, only a few hours had passed since his last departure. For Xiao Yu himself, however, he had actually lived through one or two months.

Over the next week, PrismTech’s stock price fell amidst volatility, dropping from its all-time high of 50.50 yuan to a recent low of 27.57 yuan. The cumulative decline reached -45.4%, nearly cutting the value in half. The company’s market capitalization also shrank to 23.93 billion.

Many retail investors were still waiting for the restructuring news to be finalized. It was precisely because the other shoe hadn’t dropped yet that the company’s market capitalization could still be maintained at over twenty billion.

If the other shoe dropped and the restructuring had failed, the company’s stock price would be cut in half, and then in half again.

If the restructuring succeeded, PrismTech’s stock would skyrocket.

For investors in the secondary market, this stock currently presented enormous risk, but also the potential for equally enormous returns.

Monday, July 26th.

PrismTech’s headquarters, Chairman’s office.

Yun Shu entered the office, her gaze falling upon Xiao Yu sitting behind his desk. She then walked gracefully toward him. “A delegation claiming to be from a military logistics and procurement department has arrived at our company. The person in charge has requested a meeting with you to discuss matters concerning the high-purity graphene material in person.”

The military?

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but show a flash of surprise, but while it was unexpected, it also made perfect sense.

Graphene material has extensive applications in the military-industrial sector. Due to its lightweight and high-strength properties, it is widely used in the lightweight design of military equipment.

For example, composites based on graphene are used in fighter jets, tanks, and warships to improve their mobility and flexibility.

It’s also applied in high-performance armor materials, such as personal body armor and vehicle armor. Graphene material can rapidly disperse impact forces and has a high energy absorption capacity—more than ten times that of steel and twice that of Kevlar fiber.

Its excellent optical, magnetic, and mechanical properties also give it great potential in sensor technology, which can be applied in the fields of monitoring and reconnaissance.

It can also be used to create coatings for stealth fighters and infrared stealth cloaking, as it can absorb radar waves and alter light wavelengths to achieve military camouflage, and so on.

Xiao Yu set aside his work and went to receive the military delegation. The leader was a middle-aged man named Ying Weiping, and Xiao Yu quickly confirmed that they were indeed sent by the military to conduct an investigation.

After spending about ten minutes at PrismTech, Xiao Yu led Ying Weiping and the others to Linghan New Materials. Both companies were in Linzhou City and not far from each other—only a ten-minute walk away.

Linghan New Materials, production base.

The production line was already set up, and the company was not short on capital, as it didn’t need to seek financing. This was because it had previously dealt in gold—officially, from a gold mine in Africa registered under Linghan New Materials.

At that moment, Xiao Yu was leading Ying Weiping’s group into a cleanroom. Everyone was wearing cleanroom suits, and the delegation included several experts in the field of graphene.

“The level of your company’s preparation process is remarkably high. I didn’t expect you to have achieved mass production while maintaining such high quality and ultra-high purity. It’s extraordinary,” said the lead expert, offering his conclusion after personally running some tests with their equipment.

Xiao Yu, standing to the side, simply smiled without saying a word. Except for him, no one knew that the graphene material they were being shown was actually the product of a civilization hundreds of years more technologically advanced than Earth’s.

Although on Blue Star, this material had already been classified as low-end industrial manufacturing, on Earth, it was still a high-tech new material in a cutting-edge field.

The experts present all looked amazed, extremely curious about what preparation principle Xiao Yu had used to achieve mass production.

However, they didn’t press the issue, as they knew they wouldn’t get an answer even if they asked. A company would never reveal something that involved its core technology to outsiders.

After a moment, the team leader, Ying Weiping, looked at Xiao Yu and asked, “Mr. Xiao, what is your company’s current production capacity?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu quickly made a mental calculation before answering, “With our current capacity, we should be able to reach a combined annual output of two thousand tons. For research-grade graphene of this ultra-high purity and quality, the annual output can reach between one hundred and one hundred fifty tons.”

“What did you say? You can achieve an annual production capacity in the hundreds of tons for this experimental-grade, research-grade graphene material?” one of the experts exclaimed, utterly shocked by the numbers Xiao Yu had just quoted.

The figures Xiao Yu reported left them all stunned.

To put that in perspective, the total global production of graphene material last year was barely around twenty thousand tons, of which the high-grade portion barely surpassed one hundred tons.

Good heavens, Linghan New Materials’ annual output could reach the two-thousand-ton level. A single company was equivalent to one-tenth of the entire global production from last year.

What shocked them the most was that Linghan New Materials could actually achieve an annual production capacity in the hundreds of tons for research-grade, ultra-high-quality, high-purity, single-layer graphene material. Such a capacity meant that a single company was completely dominating the global output. And the crucial part was that the purity and quality were in a class of their own.

Chapter 36: With Costs Near Zero, It’s a Killing No Matter What

When developing his product line, Xiao Yu differentiated the preparation of single-layer, double-layer, and multi-layer graphene materials based on varying purities and qualities.

The differences in material layers, quality, and purity led to an extremely wide price range. The ultra-high-quality products were sold by the gram, while industrial-grade materials could be as cheap as being sold by the kilogram.

On the market, high-quality, research-grade single-layer graphene, due to its rarity and unique properties, also had a massive price range, from one thousand to eight thousand yuan per gram. This undoubtedly made it more expensive than gold in certain applications.

At this moment, the graphene material Xiao Yu was showing the inspection team was ultra-high-purity, single-layer graphene with a purity level of five nines—a top-tier product in the research-grade category.

There was nothing better than this on Earth, and even this level of purity was not Blue Star’s limit.

Xiao Yu did not go all in right from the start. On Blue Star, the highest purity they had achieved was a level of nine nines, a difference of four orders of magnitude from this.

In other words, a nine-nines purity level was still ten thousand times purer than the five-nines level he was currently presenting. Nine-nines purity was basically a pure element.

Even the five-nines grade material, if brought to Earth, would be in extremely high demand and could sell for over ten thousand yuan per gram due to its rarity and unique properties.

The price of graphene materials varied drastically. High-quality products like this sold for thousands or even tens of thousands per gram, while conventional industrial-grade multi-layer graphene saw a steep drop in price, ranging from five hundred to one thousand two hundred yuan per kilogram. This translated to a price of 0.5 to 1.2 yuan per gram.

High-quality graphene material has immense applications in numerous fields such as smart equipment, aerospace, energy storage, and environmental management. It is now widely used in electronic devices, biosensors, and energy storage materials, making it a critical strategic new material.

With the development of these high-end industries, the demand for graphene material was robust. However, the high cost of extracting and preparing it from graphite made it expensive, earning it the nickname “black gold.”

Xiao Yu then showed the inspection team other graphene materials of different qualities, such as the 99.5% purity available on the market, as well as 99.999% purity, in both single-layer and double-layer forms.

Ying Weiping’s inspection tour far exceeded his expectations. Initially, they thought it would be impressive if Linghan New Materials’ production capacity broke three hundred tons. They never imagined its total capacity would reach the two-thousand-ton level, and they certainly never expected that experimental-grade, ultra-high-purity, single-layer graphene material could be produced at an annual capacity of a hundred tons.

“Mr. Xiao, have you determined the market pricing for your company’s products?” Ying Weiping asked. He and Xiao Yu were now conversing in a reception room.

“We haven’t done any market inquiries yet, but for our flagship product, based on market conditions, selling it for eight thousand to fifteen thousand yuan per gram shouldn’t be a problem,” Xiao Yu said methodically.

There was nothing wrong with that statement. The quality was self-evident, they were the exclusive provider with a technological monopoly, and most importantly, it was a seller’s market—you couldn’t necessarily buy it even if you had the money. This was an unparalleled competitive advantage.

At the same time, Xiao Yu’s mind was racing. The cost of transferring graphene from Blue Star to Earth was practically zero.

It was true that high-tech products had high added value, but an excessively exaggerated profit margin carried significant potential risks. Food was scarce and expensive on Blue Star, so bringing it over from Earth yielded a thousand-fold profit margin. He then converted that into Star Yuan to purchase graphene materials to bring back to Earth. The two-way transaction resulted in a million-fold profit margin—and on top of that, there were no tariffs.

Xiao Yu was keenly aware that he had to find a way to suppress the profit margin to prevent it from being too horrifying. No matter how valuable or profitable a monopoly technology was, a million-fold profit margin was out of the question. If he didn’t take this seriously, it would surely cause huge trouble down the line, because such a profit margin was a severe violation of common sense.

The absolute profit could be massive—earning tens of billions or even hundreds of billions in net profit was fine—but the net profit rate had to be brought down.

Clearly, the best solution was to raise the company’s overall operating costs.

While other companies tried to reduce their operating costs to expand their profit margins, Xiao Yu faced the opposite situation. He needed to raise his company’s operating costs, which would naturally lower the profit margin and make the company’s overall profit and loss statement more reasonable, preventing it from appearing so freakishly abnormal.

Xiao Yu’s strategy was to increase operating costs in three ways. First, he would invest massively in research and development under the guise of technological innovation. High-tech R&D was synonymous with being a “money sink”; pioneering technology was incredibly expensive.

Second, he would raise employee salaries. And third, he would continuously expand his workforce on a large scale to increase the company’s labor costs.

This would effectively lower the company’s profit margin and make its financial statements appear normal.

Just then, Xiao Yu thought of a new way to lower the profit margin to a reasonable level. He would first anchor a high figure and publicly claim it as the production cost. Then, he would sell to the military at a price below this figure, claiming it was a loss, while in reality, he would still be making a killing. The difference in price could be booked as a loss, which would be reflected in the company’s financial reports as an increase in operating costs, making the books easier to manage.

If any other company owner knew about this, they would probably cough up blood in anger or even feel their worldview collapsing. What kind of company desperately tries to raise its operating costs?

But the situation Xiao Yu faced was just that counter-intuitive. In order to avoid raising suspicion and to integrate smoothly, he had to raise his operating costs in reverse.

“For the highest-quality graphene material our company currently produces, the price on the civilian market will not exceed one thousand RMB per gram. I’ve stated publicly before that I would bring the price below one thousand, and I must not go back on my word,” Xiao Yu said to Ying Weiping, his voice calm and resolute.

After a brief pause, Xiao Yu continued without batting an eye, “As for military procurement, I am willing to offer it at a steep discount. As long as the profits from the civilian market can support it, it shouldn’t be a problem to lower the supply price for the military to under one hundred RMB.”

Xiao Yu was actually very worried that the military, due to their large demand, might order Linghan New Materials to dedicate its entire production capacity to them exclusively, prohibiting sales on the civilian market.

If that really happened, it would be a huge problem. Not only would it be difficult to manage the accounts, but the challenge of suppressing the profit margin would also increase dramatically.

By proposing such a plan, the military would have no reason to forbid Linghan New Materials from selling to the civilian market. They would have to allocate some quota for the company to sell on the civilian market at a higher price than the military one, thereby covering the “loss” from the military sales—a “loss” that needed quotation marks.

To outsiders, it would seem like he was selling to the military at a fire-sale price. In reality, he was still making a killing, yet he had reasonably created a “loss amount” that could be used in accounting to lower the company’s overall profit margin.

Ying Weiping was stunned to hear Xiao Yu’s words. According to the numbers he gave, the military procurement price was more than ten times cheaper than that for the civilian market.

“That’s quite unnecessary. If your company sells at a loss and goes bankrupt, wouldn’t that hinder our country’s technological development? The military isn’t that short on money,” Ying Weiping said. If he knew the actual situation, he would definitely not have said that, because there was no way it could be a loss. Even if the price was in the single digits, it would still be an insane profit.

Xiao Yu explained methodically, “Director Ying, this is what I’m thinking. We will sell our commercial orders at market prices. The profits will be high enough—I am confident in our product’s competitiveness. We will sell our military orders at a tenfold discount, at a loss. Although we lose money on those, we can cover it with profits from the civilian market. My company’s overall profit will still be positive; we won’t lose money.”

At that moment, Xiao Yu was thinking that he couldn’t let such an easy opportunity to raise operating costs and lower the profit margin slip away.

Xiao Yu, again with a perfectly straight face, added, “There’s no end to making money. To be able to do my part for our nation’s defense is my incumbent duty.”

“Uh, about that…” Ying Weiping was completely thrown for a loop. This was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation, and he didn’t know whether to think Xiao Yu had an incredibly high sense of civic duty or was just far too eager to advance politically.

A price for the military that was ten times cheaper than the civilian market price… Hearing this figure, Ying Weiping felt as if he could hear Xiao Yu’s desperate yearning for “progress.” Was he quoting a price? No, he was quoting the rungs of a ladder to advancement…

Chapter 37: Zhou Baichuan’s Catastrophic Misjudgment

After holding it in for a long time, Ying Weiping finally said, “Mr. Xiao, are you certain your company’s operations won’t encounter problems if you do this? You must understand, the state has no intention of taking advantage of you. A price ten times lower than the civilian market might, on the contrary, breed corruption.”

Xiao Yu answered with absolute certainty, “There will definitely be no problem. The profit margin in the civilian market is very high. While it’s true we’ll lose money on the portion sold to the military, it doesn’t mean the company’s overall financial situation will be in the red. Take the research-grade graphene, for example. Even at 999 yuan per gram, it’s still more than ten times cheaper than our competitors, and the quality is better than theirs. We have no rivals in the civilian market.”

Then, Xiao Yu added, “The path of dual civilian-military use has already proven to be incredibly sound. The profit margin on military products is only around five percent. Without state subsidies, it’s difficult for a company to have enough capital for research and development. But by relying on the vast civilian market, the product’s profit is determined by the market, with margins that can be fifty percent or even five hundred percent. This generates enough profit to support the company’s technological R&D, which in turn feeds back into the military industry.”

Director Ying sighed inwardly, Comrade Xiao Yu is truly eager to get ahead.

The two parties continued their discussion for another ten minutes or so before Ying Weiping took his leave. He was here for an inspection and survey; his superiors had not authorized him to place a purchase order directly. It certainly wouldn’t be that fast. He needed to go back and report his findings, after which a decision would be made on whether to place an order and how large it would be.

However, before he left, Ying Weiping gave Xiao Yu an estimate: if the military were to place a purchase order, it would likely claim around sixty-five to seventy percent of Linghan New Materials’ current production capacity.

Xiao Yu, of course, expressed that this was no problem at all. No matter what, it was a massive win, so he naturally had no objections.

Besides, having around thirty percent of the capacity for the civilian market was more than enough. The most profitable products were definitely those with the highest purity and quality. The planned annual production capacity was one hundred and fifty tons, so if the civilian market received a thirty-percent quota, that would be forty-five tons.

Xiao Yu decided to price this product at 999 yuan per gram for the civilian market, fulfilling his earlier promise to bring the price below one thousand yuan. The revenue generated by these forty-five tons alone would be a staggering 44.955 billion.

He had gone to great lengths to bring over thirty-five tons of gold, worth 13.1 billion, whereas the same thirty-five tons of high-quality graphene material could generate thirty-five billion in revenue—and that was with the price pushed down to under one thousand yuan per gram.

When it came to making money, peddling black technology was far more efficient than dealing in gold.

The figure Xiao Yu currently reported was a combined production capacity of two thousand tons. There were another one thousand eight hundred and fifty tons of graphene products of different specifications and qualities. For these, he expected a thirty-percent quota could be sold on the civilian market, which amounted to about five hundred and fifty-five tons.

These five hundred and fifty-five tons of products, when released to the civilian market, could sell for an average of 8.5 yuan per gram, or 8,500 yuan per kilogram. The value of five hundred and fifty-five tons would be around 4.717 billion. The price range for graphene materials was just that wide, depending on purity and quality.

Industrial-grade graphene materials that could be mass-produced here on Earth were even cheaper, only fifty cents to just over one yuan per gram.

The total expected revenue from the civilian market added up to 49.672 billion yuan. Although military procurement took up the vast majority of production capacity and the price was suppressed tenfold, it still generated income. Moreover, it was still a celestial figure in the tens of billions, not a true loss. The total expected income from military procurement could reach 11.589 billion.

In other words, the two thousand tons of combined production capacity of graphene materials were expected to bring the company over sixty billion in total revenue.

This two-thousand-ton capacity was only based on the current situation. In the future, the production scale would definitely be expanded gradually year by year.

To avoid exposing his secret, Xiao Yu was deliberately controlling the risk. He was limiting the scale of what he brought over out of a desire for stability.

If he were to transport it from Blue Star without any regard for caution, the unit of measurement wouldn’t be “tons” but “tens of thousands of tons” or even “hundreds of thousands of tons.” Graphene material was incredibly easy to obtain over on Blue Star.

However, once the technological industrial system was established here on Earth, Xiao Yu planned to enable Earth to produce it completely independently, without needing to shuttle it from Blue Star. Only then could the potential risk of exposure be theoretically minimized.

…

The next day.

Tuesday, July 27th, 10:30 AM.

PrismTech’s headquarters.

Xiao Yu was in his office when his phone rang. The caller ID showed it was Wen Suqing.

As soon as the call connected, Wen Suqing’s voice came through: “Everything is in place.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu’s spirits lifted, and he immediately replied, “Good. I’ll draft the documents and issue the announcement right away.”

After a brief exchange, the call with Wen Suqing ended. Xiao Yu immediately used his office landline to call his assistant, Yun Shu.

A moment later, Yun Shu arrived. Before she could speak, Xiao Yu saw her enter and gave his instructions directly, “I need you to immediately arrange a board meeting in one hour to resolve a matter: we are terminating the planned major asset restructuring and withdrawing the application documents.”

Yun Shu couldn’t help but freeze upon hearing this. Xiao Yu paid little mind to her change in expression and continued, “Also, draft an announcement about this. As soon as the board resolution is passed, release it to the public immediately.”

Snapping out of her astonishment, Yun Shu saw that Xiao Yu wasn’t joking and nodded. “Okay, I’ll go arrange it right now.”

Just as she turned and took a few steps, Xiao Yu suddenly stopped her. “Wait. Don’t tell the other directors about the resolution to terminate the major asset restructuring. Just tell them a board meeting is being convened to vote on a major issue.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu nodded. “Alright, I understand.”

At the same time, Wen Suqing was coordinating on her end, fabricating the factors that would cause the restructuring to fail. The story was that a company called Jingrui Fintech had appeared out of nowhere to snatch the deal, making a high-priced buyout offer for Linghan New Materials.

And the shadow shareholder behind Jingrui Fintech was none other than the Ruilian Group, though Jingrui Fintech was not a publicly listed company.

Xiang Chongguang had already given his word that he would have Jingrui Fintech cooperate fully in the coordinated takedown of Penghui Capital and the other major shareholders of PrismTech in the capital market.

The vote at the board meeting Xiao Yu convened to terminate the major asset restructuring was certain to pass one hundred percent. It was merely a formality.

About fifteen minutes later, the directors stationed by Penghui Capital and other external shareholders received the news and immediately called their respective backers. Zhou Baichuan also received the message very quickly.

“It seems this kid Xiao Yu is holding a board meeting today to change the acquisition of fifty-one percent of Linghan New Materials’ equity to a full one-hundred-percent merger and restructuring.” Zhou Baichuan was quite satisfied. Until now, he still believed that Xiao Yu had truly put their past grievances behind them and that the little boat of friendship was happily rowing along again.

Zhou Baichuan immediately looked at the subordinate who had come to report. “Quick, tell the traders to immediately scramble for PrismTech shares and go long. No more dawdling to accumulate shares. Those other guys are probably telling their people to scramble for shares as well. The moment this announcement comes out, the third main rising wave will definitely kick off. We won’t be able to get shares this cheap later.”

His subordinate left at once to relay the boss’s instructions to the traders.

“Kid, you wanted to make me cut my losses? You’re still too young, after all. He who laughs last, wins. You still have a lot to learn.” Zhou Baichuan mused to himself contentedly, the very picture of a man with everything under control.

However, he had yet to realize the gravity of the situation. More than that, it was a severe, even catastrophic, misjudgment of Xiao Yu. He was rushing to make one last, massive delivery.

This genius move by Zhou Baichuan stunned everyone speechless—including himself, who would be so stunned his own scalp would go numb.

Not only did this genius move cause Penghui Capital to suffer devastating losses, but it also made him a laughingstock among his peers for years to come, mocked both openly and behind his back. He lost everything, both face and fortune, completely and utterly. Merely bringing up this incident was enough to make Zhou Baichuan instantly see red and lose his composure on the spot.

…

Chapter 38: Dropping the Act and Showing My Cards

The trader at Penghui Capital received his boss’s orders and no longer hesitated, swiftly scrambling for shares to go long on PrismTech. The overall market was weak; after a major plunge the previous day, the stock was down another 7% today.

At around 10:42 AM, the intraday chart for PrismTech suddenly reversed and shot straight up.

It wasn’t just Penghui Capital’s nominee accounts scrambling for shares; several other investment firms were also ordering their traders to buy in a frenzy. They had all reached the same uncanny conclusion: Xiao Yu’s board meeting today was to revise the proposed 100% merger and restructuring with Linghan New Materials.

PrismTech’s stock price shot up like a rocket in a straight, explosive rally, with no pullbacks whatsoever.

Massive orders swept in one after another, and in less than a minute, the stock surged from a negative 7% to a positive 15%, clearly on a trajectory to hit the daily limit.

This powerful rally attracted not only a crowd of small retail investors jumping on the bandwagon but also a number of speculative funds.

The sheer force and determination of the major capital going long were impossible to ignore.

The momentum suggested the start of a third main rising wave. Everyone’s immediate reaction was that some unexpectedly good news had been released, and they all piled in to get a piece of the action.

At around 10:45 AM, PrismTech’s stock price surged to 37.51 yuan, sealing its limit up at a gain of 19.99%. Its market capitalization climbed to 32.558 billion.

The volume of buy orders at the limit-up price was a staggering 7.5 billion yuan, stunning investors of all stripes.

By around 11:45 AM, the board meeting chaired by Xiao Yu had concluded.

At that moment, Zhou Baichuan was waiting for news with a sense of pleasant anticipation. But a moment later, his assistant rushed into the office in a hurry.

Zhou Baichuan’s face immediately fell. “What’s the meaning of this panic? Is the sky falling?”

His assistant hastily replied, “Mr. Zhou, this is terrible! The board meeting at PrismTech just concluded. Xiao Yu has terminated the restructuring with Linghan New Materials. This is the fax that Chairman Zhang just sent over.”

Zhou Baichuan’s pupils contracted violently. He shot up from his executive chair as if on a spring. “What did you say?”

He instantly snatched the document from his assistant. As he read it, he completely lost his composure. Veins bulged on his forehead, the corner of his eye twitched, and his face turned crimson with rage.

The office fell into a terrifying silence. His assistant didn’t even dare to breathe, sneaking a glance at his boss.

Zhou Baichuan completely snapped. Erupting in a thunderous rage, he slammed the document to the floor. Then, with a fierce sweep of his arms, he sent the phone, pen holder, files, and everything else on his desk crashing to the ground.

The desktop was now spotless, but the floor was a total mess.

“Xiao Yu! That little bastard! How dare he? How could he dare?” After reading the document, Zhou Baichuan completely lost his composure, roaring in a fit of rage on the spot. He felt as though his lungs would burst from the anger.

If he still didn’t understand what had happened, he would have wasted half his life.

From the very beginning, Xiao Yu had never intended to let things slide. He had long been prepared to burn bridges completely and had meticulously planned a massive trap for them. The whole Linghan New Materials affair had been nothing but a carefully orchestrated part of the setup designed specifically for him and the other investors.

He had thought Xiao Yu was just trying to regain some lost ground and wouldn’t dare to have a complete falling out with his financial backers. Zhou Baichuan had been confident of this, and the other investors had been just as certain.

After being short squeezed on his previous short position and forced to cut his losses, he had planned to secretly accumulate shares and go long, hoping to recoup not only his investment but also the money he’d lost before.

To his utter shock, however, Xiao Yu had truly dared to dig such a massive pit for them, only revealing his true intentions today.

The board’s decision to terminate the restructuring was a clear showdown. The pretense was over.

What infuriated and humiliated Zhou Baichuan the most was that just an hour earlier, he had completely misjudged Xiao Yu and ordered his trader to scramble for shares.

He had basically caught the last bus just to hand his head to the enemy on a platter.

Back then, he had been brimming with confidence, acting as if he had everything under control. Now, the memory made his face burn with shame.

Oh, right—!

Remembering this, Zhou Baichuan roared at his assistant, “Quick! Tell the trader to stop going long immediately! Close the position! Close it right now, at any cost!”

The assistant nodded frantically and hurried away to relay the orders.

By now, Zhou Baichuan was so enraged he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He had placed a heavy bet on this long position, sinking 1.5 billion in cold, hard cash. On top of that, he had already lost one billion when he cut his losses on his short position.

It was highly likely that the entire 2.5 billion would be completely wiped out. This wasn’t just some paper loss in market value; it was real, tangible cash.

And that wasn’t all. Zhou Baichuan realized that with things as they were, Penghui Capital might not be able to unload its 19.99% stake in PrismTech.

Xiao Yu was clearly determined to see this through to the bitter end, leaving no room for negotiation. He would undoubtedly drive PrismTech’s stock price down to the depths of hell, never allowing the investors to exit with a profit. They might not even be able to break even.

Worst of all, Xiao Yu had fulfilled the high-stakes performance agreement. He was no longer constrained at PrismTech and now held absolute control. His word was law.

In this situation, if Xiao Yu was determined to tank the stock price, it would be astonishingly easy. Making a company great is incredibly difficult, but ruining one is child’s play.

Just past 10:00 AM, Zhou Baichuan had been gleefully calculating that he could make at least 20 billion from PrismTech on this trade. In the long term, 50 billion wasn’t out of the question. With this single deal, Penghui Capital could grow to a scale of hundreds of billions.

Now, not only had those dreams been shattered, but he was also facing a loss of two to two and a half billion. The swing from expected profit to actual loss was a staggering 22.5 billion.

He was suffering absolutely devastating losses. The very thought was suffocating; he felt like he was about to break.

The most serious issue was the 2.5 billion cash loss. Penghui Capital’s total cash flow was only around four billion yuan; losing two-thirds of it at once would cause major problems for the company’s entire risk management system. Many future investment opportunities would have to be abandoned or passed on to others due to this massive cash deficit. This was a truly staggering blow, a major wound that would take at least three to five years to recover from.

What was hardest to stomach was that today’s master-class blunder was an utter and complete humiliation. If word of this got out, how could he ever show his face again? He’d be a laughingstock among his peers for years to come.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Zhou Baichuan’s vision went dark, and he nearly fainted from rage.

Meanwhile, the other investment firms were in no better shape. Upon learning of the board’s decision, they were petrified on the spot. Their first instinct was also to immediately order their traders to cancel any open orders and liquidate their long positions.

At 12:16 PM, PrismTech suddenly released a midday announcement:

【Announcement Regarding the Termination of the Planned Major Asset Restructuring and the Withdrawal of Application Documents】

The content of the announcement was lengthy, but the gist was that due to significant changes in the market environment since the restructuring was first planned, and taking into account the current situation, the company’s actual circumstances, and future development prospects, the conditions for the transaction had materially changed.

After careful research and amicable negotiations, the board of directors agreed to terminate this restructuring and apply to the exchange to withdraw the relevant application documents.

In accordance with the Administrative Measures for the Major Asset Restructuring of Listed Companies and other relevant laws and regulations, the company pledges not to plan any major asset restructuring for at least one month from the date of this announcement.

The board of directors expresses its sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused to investors by the termination of this transaction and extends its heartfelt gratitude to investors for their long-term attention and support.

The announcement was signed:

The Board of Directors of Linzhou PrismTech Co., Ltd.

July 27, 2021.

Chapter 39: The Announcement Drops, Petrifying Investors

The moment this announcement was released, all the various investors playing the market with PrismTech’s stock were petrified on the spot. The speculative funds that had been scrambling for shares practically had a meltdown when they saw the news. Everyone who had bought in today was left completely dumbfounded.

A stream of negative news followed, and soon, a short exposé went viral.

An insider revealed that the restructuring had been proceeding smoothly until Jingrui Fintech came out of nowhere with a series of extremely generous offers.

The specifics of their promises were not disclosed.

In short, Jingrui Fintech had swooped in and snatched the deal. The merger and restructuring between Linghan New Materials and PrismTech was officially dead in the water.

The comments section of the PrismTech stock forum completely exploded.

[Xiao-er, I’m your daddy!]

[Hahahaha, his status dropped so fast. God Xiao became Xiao-er in an instant.]

[He should be called Old Sixth Xiao now. A classic Old Sixth move.]

[It’s over! It’s all over! I fell for it again! I fall for it every time, but every damn time is different!]

[Old Sixth Xiao, how dare you!]

[Family, this is bad! PrismTech got NTR’d by Jingrui Fintech! The wedding is off! Run, family, run, run, run!]

[F*cking NTR, you’re killing me, haha…]

[Hahaha…]

[This is a classic trap to slaughter investors. Several major speculative fund bosses got caught. They’re already losing their minds and cursing out on Xueqiu and Taoba. Looks like they had large positions.]

[It’s over. I went in with half my position.]

[Daring to go into a bayonet charge with others means you’re a desperado too.]

[I won’t be satisfied until the market maker and the company boss are both in jail, pedaling sewing machines. Unscrupulous company.]

[What’s a deceptive restructuring? Now you’ve all seen it, haven’t you?]

[This so-called restructuring is a complete and utter scam. The actual controller of a company like this should be severely punished. It’s too shameless. I don’t own this stock, but this level of greed is disgusting.]

[A little rumor says Xiao Yu did this to get back at the major investor shareholders who screwed him over. There were rumors before that Xiao Yu might be devoured completely and kicked out by the financiers. Looks like those rumors weren’t baseless. All I can say is, when the big shareholders fight, the small retail investors suffer. Stay away from stocks with shareholder disputes.]

[Just passing by. Impressive. I wonder how many consecutive limit-down days there will be. This is the ChiNext board with its 20cm limit down. One limit down is a 20-point loss.]

[Even though I didn’t buy this stock, this method of harvesting gullible investors is too terrifying. It scared me. I’ll just stick to my ETFs.]

…

For all the retail investors involved in this stock—whether they still held shares they hadn’t sold, or had buy orders queued at the limit-up price that they hadn’t canceled—only one thought now consumed their minds:

Holy crap! PrismTech got cucked—NTR’d by Jingrui Fintech! Run! Run! Get the hell out!

Run—!

People scrambled to cancel their orders. Those who couldn’t frantically slammed the “nuclear button,” trying to sell at the limit-down price in a desperate escape!

As long as they could get out today, they were willing to accept the loss from the heaven-and-earth board swing to limit-down. They would even be grateful to have escaped.

The people who bought in today were screwed. It was over for them; they couldn’t escape even if they wanted to.

Because shares bought today could only be sold tomorrow, but tomorrow was a hundred trillion percent guaranteed to open at the limit down, making it utterly impossible to sell.

As time ticked by, the market reopened for the afternoon session promptly at 1:00 PM.

The very instant trading resumed, a terrifying wave of sell orders exceeding 3.9 billion yuan immediately smashed PrismTech’s stock price, sending it plummeting forty points from the limit-up ceiling. The price crashed to 25.01 yuan, getting sealed at the limit-down with minimal trading volume. After less than one hundred million yuan worth of shares were traded, it was completely locked at the lower limit.

At this moment, the real-time chart’s bullet comments and the stock forum’s comment section were flooded with messages.

[Just here for the drama. I never bought it, but just watching this is terrifying.]

[A 40cm drop from limit-up to limit-down in an instant. What an eye-opener.]

[Let me tell you a horror story: this is just the beginning. Who knows how many more consecutive limit-downs are coming…]

[It’s over. This isn’t a landmine, it’s a f*cking nuclear explosion!]

[Old Sixth Xiao, you’re one ruthless bastard… (I’m not playing anymore, give me back my money.jpg)]

[Instant limit-down. Big funds and small retail investors alike, all trapped and slaughtered.]

[Damn it! Screwing over investors. Thank god I sold for a loss this morning. I’m never touching these restructuring trash stocks again.]

[I’m buried. My one thousand five hundred shares… (Crying a river of tears.jpg)]

[This kind of trashy behavior from a listed company is truly shameless. Blacklisted. I’ll never pay attention to this stock again.]

[What should I do? I’m going to lose everything. I have twenty thousand shares at a cost basis of thirty-seven. What do I do? I was so close to breaking even, just needed it to go up a little more.]

[Just two days ago they announced everything was going smoothly. How could it be terminated so suddenly? This has hurt a lot of people. Can we sue them for this?]

[Does anyone know how to fight for our rights? They can say they’re restructuring when they want and say they’re not when they don’t. What’s the point of having laws?]

[Instead of trying to defend your rights legally, you might as well go camp out at PrismTech’s entrance and have a real-life showdown with Old Sixth Xiao.]

[Xiao Yu: Inappropriate.JPG]

[Lol, Old Sixth Xiao probably won’t dare to leave his house now.]

[It’s useless. A few years ago, when the Chengfei Jicheng restructuring failed, someone using leverage had their position liquidated and lost tens of millions. There was nothing they could do. PrismTech is so similar to Chengfei back then.]

…

At market close today, PrismTech, without a shred of doubt, ended the day sealed at the limit-down in a classic heaven-and-earth board swing.

It had to be said, the “masterful” reverse operation by Penghui Capital and the other financers in the morning session not only stunned themselves but also dragged down many others who had jumped in today. Not just small retail investors, but also some big players and speculative funds misjudged the situation, thinking a strong third wave was coming, and jumped in to scramble for shares.

As it turned out, when they got in, they discovered they hadn’t grabbed shares, but a f*cking “Tsar Bomba”-level nuclear bomb.

…

Xiao Yu’s villa residence.

At this moment, Wen Suqing was also at his house. The two of them were sitting silently in the living room. A call was coming through on Xiao Yu’s phone, which he had placed on the table, but he made no move to answer it.

The caller ID showed none other than Zhou Baichuan, calling Xiao Yu personally.

Wen Suqing glanced at the phone screen, then looked at Xiao Yu. “Aren’t you going to answer and hear his reaction?”

Leaning back on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, Xiao Yu smiled. “No. It’s more fun and leaves more room for imagination to just picture it myself.”

Hearing this, Wen Suqing covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled. She then said, “You don’t even have to imagine it. He must have completely lost his composure—furious, humiliated, and flying into a rage.”

Finally, Xiao Yu picked up his phone and decisively blocked the number. He then blocked the other investors as well and set his phone to whitelist mode, so only numbers on the whitelist could get through.

On the other end, Zhou Baichuan, whose call was rejected, was seething. He smashed his phone to pieces on the spot.

Wen Suqing said, “I don’t know much about stock trading, so I consulted a professional. They told me that PrismTech trapped and slaughtered a lot of capital today, including some speculative funds. They might try to rescue their positions later. We can’t let them band together to save themselves, or Zhou Baichuan and the other financiers will escape the trap we’ve set.”

Xiao Yu nodded. “So, the next step is to find a way to keep the stock sealed at a limit-down for consecutive days.”

Wen Suqing added, “The next step of the plan is to release a continuous stream of negative news. My team will coordinate this operation to create an extremely bearish market expectation and drive the price down until it triggers a mandatory delisting.”

It was foreseeable that once this expectation took hold, all remaining shareholders would stampede for the exits as if their lives depended on it, and absolutely no one would dare try bottom fishing.

…

Chapter 40: Fearlessly Bottom Fish and Go All In When the Price Drops Below 1 Yuan

“What is that damn brat trying to do? What does that little bastard mean?” Unable to reach Xiao Yu by phone, Zhou Baichuan completely lost his composure, flying into an uncontrollable rage.

Deep down, he already understood. Everyone had underestimated the enemy and fallen for Xiao Yu’s trap.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t considered this risk, but their greatest mistake was their overconfidence. They were certain that Xiao Yu wouldn’t truly dare to have a complete falling out with the financial world, that he wouldn’t dare to offend the investors so thoroughly.

This was a massive blow to Penghui Capital, a devastating loss. And an even greater loss was yet to come. The other investors were not faring any better.

First, they lost money on their short positions, and now, holding long positions, they were set to lose even more, trapped and slaughtered by Xiao Yu within PrismTech. The combined capital of Penghui Capital and the other investors stuck in this mess reached a staggering five to six billion.

And this was all cold, hard cash flow, not some nominal market capitalization.

“Run a background check on Jingrui Fintech immediately. I want to know the origins and backing of this company,” the furious Zhou Baichuan ordered, forcing himself to calm down as he summoned a subordinate.

Penghui Capital and the other investors all began investigating Jingrui Fintech with startling unanimity.

The company had appeared out of nowhere, ambushing them to snatch the deal away. They had no idea that the powerhouse behind Jingrui Fintech was Ruilian Group, nor did they know that Ruilian Group had, in fact, already entered the game.

…

Meanwhile, Yun Shu had arrived at Xiao Yu’s villa residence. Qin Yue led her into the living room.

Wen Suqing, who was sitting in the living room, glanced at Yun Shu and then turned to Xiao Yu with a slight smile. “You have business to attend to.”

With their subsequent plans already discussed and needing only to be executed, Xiao Yu nodded. “Alright, keep in touch.”

Once Wen Suqing left, only Xiao Yu and Yun Shu remained in the living room. She took a document out of her briefcase and handed it to him. “The company’s semi-annual report has been audited.”

Leaning back on the sofa with his legs crossed, Xiao Yu waved his hand dismissively. “Just read the important parts.”

He then gestured for his beautiful assistant to sit down before she began her report. Yun Shu took the seat Wen Suqing had just vacated and opened the financial report. “The company’s revenue for the first half of the year was 865 million, a year-on-year decrease of 34.27 percent. The net profit was a loss of 73,745,300, a year-on-year decrease of 67.28 percent. This is the company’s first loss since it became profitable five years ago…”

PrismTech’s performance had declined in the first half of the year, the most direct cause being the pressure from Penghui Capital and the other investors. Several important clients had removed PrismTech from their supply chains, a direct result of the investors’ covert operations.

In the same period last year, PrismTech’s revenue for the first half of the year had been 1.3 billion. This year, it was just over 800 million, and its net profit had turned into a loss.

However, Xiao Yu was delighted to hear this earnings report. What he needed right now was for the company’s stock price to plummet, and bearish news was exactly the fuel he required. The more, the better. This was a classic case of Penghui Capital and the other investors lifting a rock only to drop it on their own feet.

“Excellent,” Xiao Yu said with satisfaction. “Release the earnings forecast in an hour. You can go.”

Seeing his undisguised delight at the company’s losses, Yun Shu couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled, but she nodded in response. “Okay, I’ll go arrange it now.”

Yun Shu stood up and was about to leave when Xiao Yu, after a moment of thought, suddenly looked up and said, “Wait, come back.”

Xiao Yu felt that his plan wasn’t quite foolproof enough. He decided to release even more bearish news to ensure his opponents had absolutely no chance to save their capital and escape.

Hearing him, Yun Shu turned back in surprise and gracefully walked back to him.

Xiao Yu looked at her and asked, “What’s your current salary? What kind of compensation package did the company give you?”

Upon hearing this, Yun Shu answered, “Me? My current monthly salary is 35k with a 15-month package.”

Xiao Yu looked away and said to himself, “So that’s an annual salary of 525,000. That’s a bit low, indeed.”

A moment later, Xiao Yu looked up at his beautiful assistant and smiled. “I’ve decided to give all 1500-plus employees a collective 35 percent salary increase starting in August. And another collective 35 percent increase starting next year.”

This decision wasn’t just to suppress the company’s stock price for now, but also to reasonably keep the company’s profit margins in check in the future, though Xiao Yu wouldn’t share this particular intention with anyone.

When Yun Shu heard his decision to give all employees a raise, her face was a picture of bewilderment. A collective raise for all employees at a time like this?

And such a steep one at that? And after one raise, another one in less than six months?

Currently, the base monthly salary for a junior employee at PrismTech was 7,500 yuan. The first raise would push every employee’s monthly salary past ten thousand. With another 35 percent increase next year, even junior employees would be earning 13,600 yuan a month.

Yun Shu couldn’t help but say, “The company’s current situation isn’t exactly optimistic. This might put a lot of pressure on the company’s cash flow…”

Xiao Yu ignored her and continued speaking as if to himself, “As for you, you’re a veteran of the company. You joined me less than two months after PrismTech was founded. I gave you a monthly salary of 4,000 back then and was half a year late in paying it, yet you never complained. You deserve a bigger raise. The first increase will be to 60k with a 17-month package, and the second to 85k with an 18-month package. Yes, that sounds good. It’s settled, then.”

Hearing how decisively he had made up his mind, Yun Shu was at a loss for words.

A salary increase to 85k a month, with a bonus equivalent to six months’ salary, would bring her annual income to a staggering 1.53 million.

At that moment, Xiao Yu looked at Yun Shu and smiled. “As for the salary increase, prepare the materials as soon as possible. I’ll convene a Board of Directors meeting the day after tomorrow to go through the motions and get the proposal approved.”

Seeing that his mind was made up, Yun Shu didn’t intend to say any more. “Okay, I understand.”

“That’s all for now. You can get back to your work,” Xiao Yu said.

However, Yun Shu didn’t move. She hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. “My stock options will be unlocked next week. I was planning to… reduce my holdings and sell them…”

The first group of people who started the business with Xiao Yu had all received stock option incentives to varying degrees. As one of the core members of the team and someone Xiao Yu considered a confidant, Yun Shu naturally had a stock allocation.

If it were just for the 4,000 yuan monthly salary back then, and since they weren’t yet familiar friends, she wouldn’t have stayed without the promise of stock options.

Hearing her words, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but laugh. “Even you’re not optimistic about PrismTech’s future? Then I can rest easy. The stock price will crater for sure.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Yun Shu quickly explained.

“Don’t sell. You are not allowed to sell,” Xiao Yu said calmly. “You won’t be able to sell next week anyway. The stock will hit the limit down for consecutive days. By the time you can sell, the price will already be at rock bottom. That’s called cutting your losses, and you’d be cutting losses on your original shares. PrismTech’s stock will be very valuable in the future. Hold on to it tightly and don’t you dare sell, or else your boss will have to spank you.”

Yun Shu: “…”

Xiao Yu immediately added, “Not only can you not sell, but when the stock price crashes to rock bottom, you should buy more from the secondary market. How many shares were in your stock allocation again?”

Hearing this, Yun Shu immediately replied, “A total of three million shares.”

Based on PrismTech’s current closing price of 25.01 yuan per share, three million shares corresponded to a market value of 75.03 million yuan. However, this was just wealth on paper. Since it hadn’t been cashed out, it was only a nominal value for now, and given the current situation, the company’s market value was sure to plummet wildly.

Xiao Yu thought for a moment and then looked at Yun Shu. “Then buy at least another two million shares. Hold a total of five million shares. Hold them tight.”

Yun Shu stared at him, dumbfounded. “I don’t have enough money to buy two million shares…”

Xiao Yu shook his head. “Why is your brain suddenly short-circuiting? You goose. Did I tell you to buy now? Wait until the stock price drops, then buy. Let me think… wait until the price drops below one yuan, then you go bottom fishing. Fearlessly bottom fish, and go all in.”

At these words, Yun Shu’s beautiful eyes widened in utter shock. “What? The company’s stock price will fall below one yuan?”

…

Chapter 41: A Wave of Bearish News Leaves Investors Reeling

Now that Zhou Baichuan and the other financiers were successfully trapped, unable to escape, Xiao Yu also had absolute trust in his beautiful assistant, Yun Shu. It was fine for her to know a few things now.

At that moment, Xiao Yu stared intently at his assistant and said slowly, “You endured a lot of hardship with me during the early days of starting the business. The salary I gave you back then wasn’t much, and your stock allocation was less than 0.35% of the total share capital. That return really doesn’t match your contributions over the years. It’s not easy for me to increase your allocation alone now, or it would cause a lot of trouble. The others would get upset.”

Xiao Yu then added, “This time, I’m clearing out Zhou Baichuan and his group, forcing them to cut their losses at rock bottom. The company’s stock price will experience a brief, severe oversold period. When that happens, use accounts from your parents or someone similar—people you can absolutely trust—to aggressively increase your holdings on the secondary market. You can increase your holdings up to ten million shares, as long as your financial situation allows for it.”

Hearing Xiao Yu speak so plainly, Yun Shu decided to change her mind about selling. The Chairman was clearly giving her special treatment. If she still sold, it would be a truly foolish thing to do.

She did a quick calculation in her head and said weakly, “Even if the stock price drops below one yuan, buying two million shares would cost over a million, close to two million. Um, I… I don’t have that much money…”

Xiao Yu glanced at his beautiful assistant and said with a sigh, “Look at you. I’m practically spoon-feeding you this opportunity. Surely you’re not going to ask your boss to lend you money to buy stocks, are you?”

Seeing Xiao Yu’s exasperated complaint, Yun Shu clasped her hands behind her back, a cute pout on her face as she tried to charm her way out of it—a rare sight.

But that trick didn’t work on Xiao Yu. Without raising his head, he said, “Don’t you own an apartment? Sell it quickly at a low price to cash out. Take all your savings and go all in. In less than six months, you’ll have everything back and more. Remember, be quick. The stock will fall fast, but it will rise even faster.”

With things explained to this extent, Yun Shu of course knew what to do. She smiled and nodded gently. “Okay, I’ll go take care of the apartment after work and get the cash ready.”

“That’s more like it.” Xiao Yu was very pleased with Yun Shu’s unhesitating trust, but he immediately added with a solemn tone, “But do this quietly on your own. Don’t make a big deal about it, and don’t drag a bunch of relatives in to buy. The company’s future interest structure will be very complex, and there will be no shortage of powerful figures battling it out. This is a game for kings; bronze-level players shouldn’t get involved. For them, it wouldn’t be a blessing, but a curse.”

Yun Shu nodded. “Okay, I’ll remember that.”

After receiving her instructions, Yun Shu departed.

A short while later, Qin Yue, the butler, entered the room, found Xiao Yu, and reported, “Sir, when Ms. Yun Shu was leaving just now, she asked me about Ms. Chu Jintang.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu looked at his butler in surprise. “Why was she asking about Jintang? What did she ask?”

Qin Yue answered truthfully, “Mainly about the matter of your divorce…”

Xiao Yu pondered for a moment, seeming to understand something. He suddenly asked the butler, “What do you think?”

Qin Yue instantly played dumb. “Uh…”

As someone with worldly experience, Qin Yue naturally knew what the young master was asking. But he was unsure of the young master’s attitude, so any answer would be inappropriate. He could only say “Uh…”—saying a single extra word would be a waste of all his years of experience.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu waved his hand. “Alright, you may go.”

Qin Yue immediately nodded and left. It was indeed a bit difficult for him to be asked for his opinion on the matter.

Left alone, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but fall into silent contemplation. Yun Shu’s sudden inquiries about his divorce with Chu Jintang made him realize that his assistant, who had worked hard alongside him for many years, might have developed some feelings for him. Otherwise, there was no reason for her to privately inquire about such things.

Chu Jintang was the woman Xiao Yu had met and fallen in love with in college. They married right after graduation. Her family was wonderful, and her father, in particular, was very fond of his son-in-law, even back when Xiao Yu hadn’t yet made his fortune.

After founding PrismTech, the early startup phase was not easy. Xiao Yu was on the front lines at the company almost every day, and the time he could spend with Chu Jintang inevitably dwindled. But Chu Jintang never complained; instead, she quietly supported Xiao Yu’s career and constantly encouraged him. Their relationship was very stable.

Later, as the business gradually got on track and the company was successfully listed, Xiao Yu’s net worth soared. His life could be described as incredibly perfect—a double harvest in family and career. He was even starting to consider having a child. He was, by all accounts, a winner in life.

But all of that took a sudden, sharp downturn just a few months ago.

Xiao Yu belatedly realized he had been played by the financiers. His relationship with them steadily deteriorated, but Xiao Yu didn’t just wait for his doom. He secretly began to plan for the worst-case scenario.

After careful consideration, Xiao Yu orchestrated the transfer of a portion of his wealth, a total of one hundred million, into Chu Jintang’s name and arranged a fake divorce with her.

That way, if his gamble against the investors failed, he wouldn’t be completely devoured by them. At worst, Xiao Yu himself would be saddled with a mountain of debt, but a divorce from Chu Jintang would mean it wasn’t a joint liability. The assets in her name wouldn’t have to be used to fill the debt pit, and there would be capital for him to make a comeback in the future.

But Xiao Yu never expected that Chu Jintang, for whatever reason, would turn the act into reality. She laid her cards on the table just a week before Xiao Yu unexpectedly obtained the Transference Star Ring.

The fake divorce became a real one. It was now a settled fact, and the current Xiao Yu had neither the heart nor the inclination to investigate the reason.

…

Half an hour later, PrismTech released its earnings forecast. The company’s revenue for the first half of the year was 865 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 34.27%. The net profit for the first half was a loss of 73.7453 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 67.28%.

When investors saw this semi-annual report earnings forecast, they felt as if several more layers of concrete had been poured onto the already sealed limit-down board.

Some retail investors who had bought in at the historical high of 50.50 yuan had held on until now. The stock price had already fallen to 25.01 yuan, its value cruelly cut in half. The deadly part was that this was only the beginning.

In the following days, PrismTech’s stock price predictably continued to plummet in a series of limit-downs on low volume.

On Friday evening, another piece of major negative news broke. PrismTech announced that the company’s Board of Directors had passed a resolution for a salary increase plan.

The announcement stated that due to the company’s business development and the changing market environment, in order to better motivate employees and improve work efficiency, the company had decided to adjust employee salaries accordingly. The first round of adjustments would see all company employees receive a raise of no less than 35%. The second round would take place in January of the next year, with all employees receiving another raise of no less than 35%.

The plan had already been voted on and passed by the Board of Directors. The directors appointed by Penghui Capital and the other financiers were, of course, opposed, but their opposition couldn’t stop the resolution’s passage. They could object verbally, but they had to vote in favor because they had signed a concerted action agreement. Even if they voted no, Xiao Yu held a controlling majority of the votes and they couldn’t stop it anyway.

Undoubtedly, the investors were definitely not happy, viewing this as major bearish news. The employees of PrismTech, of course, were ecstatic. Starting next month, their salaries would jump by 35%. Who wouldn’t be happy about such a massive, sudden raise?

With this round of raises, even the company’s junior employees would all be earning over ten thousand a month.

In the following week, PrismTech’s stock price continued its streak of limit-downs. Since the first limit-down after the massive price swing from limit-up to limit-down, the stock had suffered eight consecutive limit-downs. The last seven were all sealed at the limit-down price from the opening bell, making it impossible to sell.

All shareholders of the stock were dizzy and dazed from the fall.

Some retail investors had an average cost basis of around 10 yuan per share, figuring that at worst, they would just see a large profit pullback, not actually lose money. They never could have imagined this outcome.

PrismTech’s stock price had plummeted all the way down to its current 5.25 yuan. Even with a 10 yuan cost basis, not only had all their profits been wiped out, but their principal investment had also been brutally cut in half.

Such a sell-off was truly terrifying, making countless retail investors’ scalps tingle.

From a historical high of 50.50 to the current 5.25, the cumulative decline had reached 89.60%. The horrifying part was that there was still no sign of the limit-downs ending.

Even those with a small position were crying out in pain. Those who went in with a heavy or full position were essentially wiped out.

The one suffering the most devastating losses was Penghui Capital. Their investment of over 2.5 billion had been bled down to less than 350 million, and the corresponding market value of their PrismTech shares had shrunk to just over 900 million.

All things considered, Penghui Capital’s losses had already reached a staggering ten billion, with 2.2 billion of that being hard cash.

Zhou Baichuan was about to spit blood, and the worst part was, it wasn’t over yet.

…

Chapter 42: Ruilian Doesn’t Take for Free; They Step Up When It Counts

The next day, Saturday morning.

Wen Suqing arrived at Xiao Yu’s villa residence to discuss the next steps of their plan.

At that moment, Xiao Yu looked at Wen Suqing and said with a smile, “I plan to have PrismTech cross over into the food processing industry, grain trade, supermarkets, and so on, to create a new round of major negative news.”

This decision wasn’t merely to create super bearish news for the market to suppress PrismTech’s stock price; it had the deeper intention of conveniently laying the groundwork for transporting food products to Blue Star in the future.

This was the perfect time to conceal that objective. If he waited until this affair was over, it would be much harder to justify, since PrismTech was, after all, a tech company.

Wen Suqing naturally couldn’t have guessed Xiao Yu’s ulterior motive. Hearing his decision, she agreed, “That’s a good idea.”

For a tech company to cross over into an unfamiliar field, one completely unrelated to its primary business like food processing and grain trade, was unheard of.

Under normal circumstances, almost no company would attempt such a move, as it was suicidal—as if the company wasn’t going bankrupt fast enough.

When investors saw such news, no one would dare to risk buying PrismTech’s stock.

This meant the funds of Penghui Capital and the other investors trapped inside would have absolutely no chance of getting out, and the stock price would be decimated even further.

Of course, this would also trap all the funds that had chased the stock’s rise on that day. In truth, Xiao Yu only wanted to trap the funds of Zhou Baichuan and his partners.

But there was no helping it; this was indiscriminate AOE damage.

Moreover, it had to be a swift kill to the very bottom. There was no way he could allow the sealed limit-down to open midway. The moment it did, the funds from Penghui Capital and the other investors would be the first to flee.

Monday, August 9th.

Today, PrismTech once again hit a sealed limit-down, its ninth consecutive one. The stock price plunged to 4.20 yuan, returning to its position just before its first limit-up surge. The closing price the day before that surge had been 4.12 yuan.

It had been ferociously explosive on the way up, and even more so on the way down.

Seeing this brutal downward trend, many retail investors felt lucky they hadn’t played with such a monster stock. Catching the last leg of that rally would have meant instantly fast-forwarding to closing one’s brokerage account.

Just at 9:35 in the morning, some funds suddenly tried to pry open the limit. The limit-down board broke, and the price surged to 4.79 yuan, narrowing the loss to -8.76%, with trading volume quickly reaching one hundred million.

But in less than ten seconds, it was smashed back down and sealed at the limit-down again.

At almost the same time the limit was pried open, a short exposé spread like wildfire, claiming that PrismTech was going to cross over into food processing and grain trading. The appearance of this rumor directly caused the attempt to pry open the limit and save themselves to fail.

The one hundred thirty million yuan in traded funds were all trapped, including those who had dared to jump on the bandwagon to pry open the limit and catch a rebound.

The main force behind prying open the limit was, of course, Penghui Capital and the other investors. The good news was that they had managed to get some of their funds out. The bad news was that the amount they got out was less than the funds they had used to pry open the limit, and then they were trapped again by the sealed limit-down.

Normally, after such a catastrophic plunge, the market should have at least opened up for a technical rebound. The technicals indicated as much.

But now, being pinned at the limit-down showed that this was an abnormal situation.

The next day, PrismTech hit its tenth consecutive limit-down, and it was another sealed limit-down. The stock price plummeted to 3.36 yuan, a new all-time low.

Then, shortly after the market closed in the afternoon, more major negative news hit. The previous short exposé was true.

PrismTech’s Board of Directors had passed a new resolution: the company would develop a new line of business, venturing into the food processing and grain trading industries. Just like that, it was crossing over into an entirely new field.

Investors took one look and thought, This is how you run a company into the ground.

As a result, the stock price unsurprisingly slammed down to its limit day after day. That week brought another five sealed limit-downs, with the stock price crashing to 1.38 yuan.

At that point, PrismTech’s market capitalization was a mere 1.197 billion yuan.

This valuation was even lower than the 1.5 billion yuan valuation from Penghui Capital’s initial investment. They had lost so much they were bleeding.

Over the weekend, more super bearish news broke.

The short exposé worked its magic again, with rumors spreading that the conflict among PrismTech’s major shareholders had become irreconcilable. The company would be a casualty, with delisting as its ultimate fate.

Great, time for another plunge.

As expected, the new week began with a sealed limit-down without any suspense. PrismTech’s stock price hit a new all-time low of 1.10 yuan, and the company’s market cap shrank to just 953.8 million yuan.

However, the stock’s limit-down was pried open that afternoon, because Penghui Capital and the other investors could no longer sit still.

This time, it wasn’t an attempt to save themselves, but a forced move to prop up the market.

They had read between the lines of that short exposé and understood Xiao Yu’s intention: he wanted to crush PrismTech’s stock price below one yuan for twenty consecutive trading days, thereby triggering the mandatory delisting mechanism.

When the investors reached this conclusion, they completely lost their cool. In three days, on Thursday of this week, the lock-up period for their shares would expire, allowing them to reduce their holdings by selling on the secondary market.

And at this critical juncture, the company was about to trigger a mandatory delisting?

Obviously, this was unacceptable to them. So they were forced to prop up the market, first stabilizing the price above one yuan, and then seeking a showdown and negotiations with Xiao Yu.

PrismTech finally closed without hitting its limit-down today, ending with a huge drop of -14.49% at a closing price of 1.18 yuan. Its market cap was now only 1.024 billion yuan.

Around 4:00 PM.

Wen Suqing came to Xiao Yu’s villa residence. She had received a call from him about an important matter to discuss in person.

“I received news today that Zhou Baichuan wants to meet for a direct negotiation. It seems they can’t take it anymore,” Xiao Yu said, then looked at Wen Suqing and added, “What do you think about this? Has Ruilian made any moves?”

After listening, Wen Suqing replied, “You won’t need to be involved in what comes next. Ruilian will step in and engage them directly. This is the only way to extricate you from the heart of the conflict. Only then will Zhou Baichuan and the others believe that you were just a minor player pushed to the front in this whole affair, that this wasn’t your plan, and that the real force behind this coordinated takedown was Ruilian.”

In other words, Ruilian Group would proactively step forward to shoulder all the blame for Xiao Yu and go head-to-head with Penghui Capital and the other investors.

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded. “Good. Then I’ll wait for Ruilian’s good news.”

Without a doubt, this was the best possible outcome for Xiao Yu. Ruilian really earned their keep. They step to the front, take the hits, and provide backing—they truly show up when it counts.

With Ruilian making a strong entrance at this time, the entire situation would change dramatically in an instant.

The motivation for Zhou Baichuan and the other investors to retaliate against Xiao Yu would be greatly diminished, as they would surely conclude that Xiao Yu was not the core of the incident, but that they had been taken down by the much more powerful Ruilian Group.

As a result, their hatred for Xiao Yu would be significantly reduced.

Moreover, the knowledge that Xiao Yu now had Ruilian’s backing would serve as a powerful deterrent, further diminishing their desire for revenge.

From Zhou Baichuan’s perspective, being taken down by Ruilian Group was, to some extent, an easier failure to accept and rationalize. Ruilian Group was a powerhouse, so it was normal not to be able to compete with them. It wouldn’t be too humiliating to admit, and they could at least retain a shred of dignity.

Xiao Yu looked at Wen Suqing. “How does Ruilian Group plan to take over the interests held by Penghui Capital and the other investors? A low-price transfer? Selling on the secondary market and then buying? Or some other method?”

Wen Suqing told him directly, “Ruilian won’t act directly. It will have Penghui Capital and the others package their holdings as non-performing assets and transfer them at a low price to a designated Asset Management Company, which will then break them down and handle them.”

Pausing for a moment, Wen Suqing added, “A portion of those shares, approximately 4.5% of PrismTech, will be transferred to Ruilian Group through a block trade at an appropriate time. Then, Ruilian will increase its holdings by 0.5% on the secondary market to reach the disclosure threshold and publicly announce its stake in PrismTech. On paper, Ruilian will only hold 5% of PrismTech.”

Hearing her explanation, Xiao Yu guessed that Ruilian Group was planning to hold the rest of its stake secretly through shadow shareholders.

Publicly holding only 5% to meet the disclosure threshold was actually more reassuring for Xiao Yu. By doing so, Ruilian was indirectly signaling that it had no desire to seek control of the company and was acting as a strategic financial investor. This move was clearly to facilitate easier entry and exit when it came time to cash out in the future.

This arrangement would allow them to bypass the restriction that requires a prior announcement for reducing holdings. By dispersing the shares among shadow shareholders, with no single entity holding more than 5%, they wouldn’t need to issue a holding reduction announcement fifteen days in advance as per regulations. They could cash out on the secondary market at any time.

Was it against the rules? Of course it was, but it was done in a way that you couldn’t find any fault with. That was reality.

As for Ruilian Group publicly disclosing a 5% stake, it was clearly a move to provide backing—a way of telling everyone else that Ruilian had its interests here.

Chapter 43: The Major Investors Cut Their Losses and Exit

Meanwhile, at Penghui Capital.

“What a bunch of useless trash! You’ve been doing the background check for days, and this is all you’ve got?” Zhou Baichuan was alone in his office, furiously glaring at the documents in his hand.

It was a background check report on Jingrui Fintech. After a quick look, Zhou Baichuan realized it hadn’t even managed to penetrate the company’s underlying asset structure.

To put it bluntly, they still hadn’t found out who the real owner behind Jingrui Fintech was.

Zhou Baichuan tossed the documents aside and called the other investors who were in the same boat. Their response was the same: they hadn’t been able to penetrate Jingrui Fintech either and had no idea about the company’s true background.

Uh-oh—

At that moment, Zhou Baichuan was suddenly struck by a bad feeling.

Zhou Baichuan knew deep down whether his subordinates were truly useless. For the background check to turn out like this, there had to be another possibility.

That the entity behind Jingrui Fintech was simply beyond the reach of Penghui Capital’s abilities.

In other words, it was highly likely that an entity far more powerful than Penghui Capital was playing a game from behind the scenes. This immediately made Zhou Baichuan realize the problem might be even more serious than he had imagined.

“No wonder that bastard Xiao Yu dared to burn bridges with us completely. It seems he’s just a minor player pushed to the front…” Zhou Baichuan thought, his mind racing as he filled in the blanks with his own imagination.

Thinking about how miserably he had lost, and how Penghui Capital had already taken a heavy blow without even knowing who their real opponent was, Zhou Baichuan had a growing sense that something was terribly wrong. He wasn’t just panicked; he was starting to feel terrified.

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying the implications became. It was one of those things that just got scarier the deeper you dug.

…

Over the next few days, Penghui Capital and the other investors began propping up PrismTech’s stock price, preventing it from falling below one yuan to avoid triggering a forced delisting, which would happen if the price remained below one yuan for twenty consecutive trading days.

As a result, PrismTech’s stock price began to trade sideways just above the one-yuan mark.

The retail investors had long since moved on to the next monster stock. As for PrismTech, it was a has-been, less than worthless. Its popularity had plummeted, dropping it hundreds of places off the popularity charts.

As time went on, PrismTech’s stock price traded sideways for about a week. Ruilian Group decided it had waited long enough.

Because after all this time, Zhou Baichuan and the other investors still hadn’t penetrated Jingrui Fintech or found the real decision-maker behind the company.

Ruilian Group felt a bit helpless. It seemed they had overestimated their opponents. They had no choice but to reveal themselves and send someone to pay a visit.

…

Tuesday, August 24th. Afternoon.

“Let’s be frank here. My company, Ruilian, has its eyes on the new technology from Xiao Yu’s team. You all need to get out.” At that moment, in a bathhouse, the representative sent by Ruilian was speaking to Zhou Baichuan and the other heads of the investment firms, stating their position bluntly, without any beating around the bush.

They were in a bathhouse, soaking in the water. This eliminated the risk of listening devices, and the conversation would leave no trace, so there was no need to mince words.

Besides, the man from Ruilian Group was relying on his company’s immense power and background to simply overwhelm them. It was a clear case of picking on a weaker opponent.

Ruilian wouldn’t play this way with someone like Xiao Yu, who could introduce game-changing technology. With him, their top priority would be to foster goodwill.

After all, no one could predict when Xiao Yu might have a flash of inspiration and what kind of world-changing technology he might create. Moreover, his connection to Wen Suqing was a factor that couldn’t be ignored.

But people like Zhou Baichuan weren’t game-changers. Their capital, connections, and other resources were no match for Ruilian. So, of course, Ruilian would use its power to crush them—it was efficient, and it was the language they understood best.

Zhou Baichuan and the others were screaming internally. They had never dreamed that their opponent would be an entity like Ruilian Group, someone they couldn’t possibly afford to provoke.

What could they do at this point?

They were already completely trapped with no chance of turning the tables. Zhou Baichuan and the others quickly realized that since Ruilian had sent someone to talk in person, if they didn’t exit gracefully, Ruilian would help them exit.

If they stubbornly refused to leave, Ruilian had plenty of ways to clear the field. They would be forced out with nothing. As players in the world of finance, Zhou Baichuan and his group knew this all too well.

The law of the jungle—the fast fish eats the slow, the big fish eats the small, and the small fish eats the shrimp—was perfectly illustrated at that moment.

Finally, Zhou Baichuan was the first to speak. “Since Ruilian Group has its sights on this, Penghui Capital is willing to step aside. We only ask to break even on our seven-year investment. We won’t take a single cent of profit.”

Zhou Baichuan was decisive in admitting defeat. You can’t fight a losing battle. Right now, Ruilian was the big fish, and he was just a shrimp. A shrimp’s fate is to be eaten. He had no choice but to concede, though he still tried to at least break even.

The other investors quickly followed suit, all stating they were willing to exit at break-even.

The man from Ruilian just shook his head and said faintly, “Ruilian wants you out. Whether you break even is not our concern. Ruilian will only offer you 0.65 yuan per share for your holdings, to be transferred as a package deal to a designated Asset Management Company.”

At these words, Zhou Baichuan and the others’ expressions flickered. Inwardly, they were cursing up a storm. Not even allowing them to break even? They were being forced to cut their losses, and it was a complete wipeout.

PrismTech’s closing price today was 1.29 yuan, which was already in the gutter. An exit at 0.65 yuan meant its value would be cut in half yet again. When Penghui Capital first invested, it was at a valuation of 1.5 billion yuan. A price of 0.65 yuan per share corresponded to a total valuation of only 564 million for PrismTech. It was an absolute wipeout.

After a moment, Zhou Baichuan said bitterly, “Since you’ve put it that way… Penghui Capital accepts.”

He didn’t dare refuse. He couldn’t refuse. They were too powerful. How could he dare say no?

If he completely alienated Ruilian Group, he could forget about ever making it in this circle again. The consequences would be far worse than just a heavy blow.

With Ruilian Group’s influence and its network in the Capital’s circles, all they’d have to do is put in a word with a few other big shots in the industry. With just that slight intervention, no one would dare do business with Penghui Capital anymore. All its resources would dry up, and it would be finished in no time.

Penghui Capital was in the business of capital operations; this was the exact kind of thing it feared most.

It wasn’t like with Xiao Yu, who was in the business of high-tech invention. If he created some advanced technology that caught the military’s eye and came backed by the national interest, even Ruilian Group would have to respectfully step aside.

After Zhou Baichuan gave his answer, the other investors, though reluctant, also promptly agreed to cut their losses and exit.

If they failed to see the writing on the wall, they could even end up saddled with a mountain of debt. As players in capital operations themselves, they knew all too well that there were ways to manipulate the situation. For example, they could have Xiao Yu acquire a company, and then that acquired company could suddenly reveal a massive “contingent liability.” It would be game over for them.

A so-called “contingent liability” is a hidden debt. If PrismTech were to acquire such a company, it would inherit that debt, and as shareholders, they would inexplicably be on the hook for it.

After the meeting ended, Zhou Baichuan returned to Penghui Capital headquarters and immediately ordered his subordinates to stop propping up PrismTech’s stock.

Propping up the market was meaningless now; stopping the bleeding was the top priority.

Despite being forced out so disgracefully, Zhou Baichuan didn’t feel it was his fault. He had lost so miserably simply because Ruilian was more powerful and he wasn’t powerful enough. If Penghui Capital had possessed the ability to challenge Ruilian Group, to stand as its equal, he wouldn’t have been so humiliatingly forced to cut his losses and get kicked out.

…

Chapter 44: Compensation for the Innocent Retail Investors Who Were Collateral Damage

Ruilian Group had already prepared everything, just waiting for Zhou Baichuan and the other financiers to sign off and start the process.

The deal was struck in the bathhouse, and the entire process was completed two and a half hours later.

Penghui Capital and the other financiers bundled all the PrismTech shares they held to be disposed of as non-performing assets, ultimately selling them to an Asset Management Company at the rock-bottom price of 0.65 yuan per share.

The next morning, Wen Suqing came to Xiao Yu’s residence, precisely for this matter.

“I didn’t expect Ruilian to be so efficient. I was guessing it would take at least half a month,” Xiao Yu said, quite surprised. Wen Suqing, sitting opposite him, replied, “As long as they were willing to admit defeat and cut their losses, the rest was just procedure. It’s only natural that it was quick.”

At this point, Wen Suqing looked at Xiao Yu and added with a smile, “Zhou Baichuan and the others have cut their losses at rock bottom and are out of the picture. I’ve successfully completed your commission. Things will be much simpler from here on out.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu met her gaze and smiled. “So it’s time to settle the payment. Do you want the three hundred fifty million in cash, or do you want equity?”

Wen Suqing quipped, “At your company’s current market value, 2.5% of the shares isn’t even worth thirty million. Taking equity would be a huge loss. Of course I want the cash settlement.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu guessed that Wen Suqing planned to stay in the Capital’s circles. Knowing that she was involved with the Xiang family’s son, it wasn’t surprising that she didn’t want to move to Linzhou to develop her career. After all, Wen Suqing didn’t know that Xiao Yu had the Transference Star Ring, which meant he had the technological backing of Blue Star to support his endeavors on Earth.

Wen Suqing asked with a smile, “Ruilian wants a seat on the board. You’ll give them one, right?”

Xiao Yu answered succinctly, “Of course.”

PrismTech’s shareholders had undergone a major change, but other matters would remain the same. Xiao Yu still held the right to nominate more than half of the board members.

If Ruilian wanted two board seats, Xiao Yu could also nominate two directors. If Ruilian wanted three seats, Xiao Yu would correspondingly have the right to nominate three directors. Coupled with his own vote as Chairman, he would always have one extra vote.

The Board of Directors voted on a one-person-one-vote basis. There was no veto power or two-thirds majority rule. A motion would pass with a one-vote majority in favor and fail with a one-vote majority against. Xiao Yu’s right to nominate over half the directors guaranteed he would always have that extra vote, giving him absolute control over the board.

Wen Suqing said, “Uncle Xiang has decided that I will be the director representing Ruilian at PrismTech.”

This came as a huge surprise to Xiao Yu. He thought Wen Suqing had just jokingly declined his invitation to join PrismTech, but it turned out she was coming to be a director on behalf of Ruilian.

That was even better. It would be perfectly natural for her to also take on the role of head of the company’s legal department.

Even if she didn’t head the legal department, as long as she was a director, her resources would be available to the company.

This outcome far exceeded Xiao Yu’s expectations. He immediately smiled and said, “I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome you.”

He had originally planned to give Wen Suqing some stock options, but since she was the Xiang family’s daughter-in-law and represented the interests of Ruilian Group, there was no longer a need for stock allocation.

After chatting about other matters for a while, Wen Suqing took her leave.

Xiao Yu saw her to the door, then returned inside and called Yun Shu to arrange for an announcement to be published.

The exit of Penghui Capital and the other financiers was now a done deal. PrismTech’s equity structure had undergone a significant change, which, according to regulations, had to be announced promptly.

At that moment, Xiao Yu opened his computer to check his company’s stock price trend and lurked for a bit in the comment section of a stock forum.

The stock forum’s comment section was currently filled with the wails of retail investors whose investments were trapped, and all sorts of posts cursing out Old Sixth Xiao.

After some thought, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh and mutter to himself, “Fortunately, I won’t be short on money from now on. You’re lucky you bought my company’s stock. I, Xiao Yu, will cover all the losses you small and medium retail investors suffered during this sell-off. If it were the boss of any other listed company, they’d have long since ‘run’ abroad to live it up, and might even come back to rub it in your faces…”

When other listed companies experienced such a brutal sell-off, it was genuinely a case of “cutting leeks.” But Xiao Yu hadn’t been cutting leeks; he had simply been engaged in a battle of wits with Penghui Capital’s financiers, which had unavoidably resulted in a huge number of retail investors becoming collateral damage.

Xiao Yu browsed the stock forum comments and saw the countless wails of retail investors. He felt a pang of sympathy and also wanted to salvage his reputation, which had completely collapsed. He really didn’t want to live with the nickname “Old Sixth Xiao” forever.

Moreover, Xiao Yu was genuinely worried that some retail investor who had suffered devastating losses might come to Linzhou City to stake out his location and then suddenly jump out to gank him. Imagining such a scene, Xiao Yu’s expression turned into a strained, wry smile, like a living emoji.

At that moment, Xiao Yu decided to personally fork out a sum of money to cover the devastating losses of the retail investors from this period. No matter how much they lost, he would let them make a full recovery and break even. However, this was limited to small and medium investors—the retail investors.

Not only would he let them make a full recovery, but on top of that, he would give them an additional premium equivalent to the profit from one limit-up, as compensation for the fright and torment they had endured during this time.

In other words, regardless of their losses, any retail investor who was collateral damage during this period would have Xiao Yu personally cover the difference to help them break even. If they invested 100,000 yuan and lost 80,000, he would reimburse them the 80,000. Furthermore, based on their initial 100,000 yuan investment, he would give them a 20% daily limit-up, for a net profit of 20,000 yuan.

The moment this was announced, Xiao Yu’s collapsed reputation would absolutely be salvaged with ease. Moreover, it would bring him unprecedented positive publicity. His decision was setting an unheard-of precedent, a truly master-class level move. No one had ever done anything like this before.

However, he couldn’t rush to announce this to the public just yet, because the stock price hadn’t bottomed out. The sell-off was still ongoing. He would wait for the decline to stop and for the price to reverse before tallying everything up and resolving the issue in one go.

It was foreseeable that once this was announced, people from all walks of life would be so shocked their jaws would drop. The retail investors would, without a doubt, start addressing him respectfully as Lord Xiao. If anyone dared to call him Old Sixth Xiao after that, the other investors would definitely have a bone to pick with them. For sure.

…

Around 12:00 PM, PrismTech released a shareholder change announcement during the market’s midday break.

As soon as the announcement was made, when the stock market reopened in the afternoon, PrismTech’s stock price plummeted by 20.16%, hitting its limit down and staying there. The price hit a new all-time low of 1.03 yuan, and the company’s market capitalization was reduced to a mere 894 million yuan.

When the stock was hammered down to its limit, there were no buyers to support it. Penghui Capital and the other financiers had already given up on propping up the market, and with this announcement, the stock price went into a free fall. No one dared to step in.

After the market closed, the stock exchange immediately designated PrismTech as ST. In fact, it was given the full ST treatment, a delisting risk warning, and the company’s stock name was changed to [*ST Prism].

Penghui Capital and its financiers had sold their PrismTech shares as non-performing assets to an Asset Management Company. Seeing as they were already classified as non-performing assets, the exchange directly changed the ticker to [*ST Prism] to issue a delisting risk warning.

Some of the investors who had their money trapped and were stubbornly holding on fell into despair. Their hopes were completely shattered. Believing that PrismTech was truly headed for delisting and the New Third Board, they tearfully cut their losses and fled for their lives.

The next day, Thursday, at market open, *ST Prism opened at its limit down, plummeting 20.39% in a flat line. The stock price crashed to 0.82 yuan, breaking below the 1 yuan mark and hitting another all-time low. Those who had been lying in wait for a rebound were utterly dumbfounded.

They had thought the price was safe enough at that level, only to find themselves trapped and facing the prospect of having their investment cut in half.

By Friday, the last trading day of the week, the company’s stock hit another limit down in a flat line, setting a new all-time low of 0.66 yuan. After three consecutive limit-down days, the company’s total market cap was only 572.88 million yuan.

From the perspective of its asset structure, PrismTech had over 2.5 billion in net assets. One could say that buying at this price could yield a three- to four-fold return instantly.

However, very few dared to jump in and fish for the bottom. The company was currently a mess, crossing over into new industries like food processing and grain trading. Recently, there were even rumors that it was going to spend a fortune to acquire and operate a large supermarket in Linzhou.

At this rate, the 2.5 billion in net assets would be squandered in no time. While it looked like a bargain with several times the potential upside now, it could all be gone in less than a year.

No one dared to make a move, especially since it was facing delisting. Buying in now really meant becoming a super long-term, perhaps even permanent, shareholder.

After the weekend, it was Monday, August 30th.

Today, PrismTech did not open at a flat limit down but rather at a significantly lower price. However, after opening low, the stock continued its free fall and eventually hit its limit down at -19.70%, sealed at a new all-time low of 0.53 yuan.

At this moment, the stock forum’s comment section was nearly deserted. There were only a few comments, most of which were just people cursing out.

[Just passing by. Lighting an incense stick for you all.]

[I f*cking give up. I just wanted to use twenty percent of my capital to play a short-term rebound, and even that got cut in half.]

[Serves you right. Why would you touch a trash stock like this?]

[You thought it was safe when the price dropped to 1 yuan? A 1 yuan stock can still get cut in half to 50 cents, and a 50-cent stock can still be cut in half to 25 cents.]

[No matter what sins I committed in my past life, playing the A-share market in this one has balanced the scales.]

[It’s really going to be delisted. So tragic.]

[Poor 58,000 retail investors inside are just gone now. It’s not much different from closing one’s account.]

[I’ve been trading stocks for over ten years, and this is the most brutal sell-off I’ve ever seen in the A-share market, bar none. Last month the stock was at 50.50, and now only a fraction of that is left.]

[Still have about 3,000 yuan left. I’ll cut my losses tomorrow and withdraw it. Enough to buy an electric scooter to do food delivery… (Hehe, I already have a plan.jpg)]

[I sympathize, but forgive me for laughing so shamelessly.]

[Bought 1,000 lots to gamble. I’m taking devastating losses everywhere else anyway.]

[Impressive. 1,000 lots is 100,000 shares. That’s over 50,000 yuan. Why waste money like that?]

[I also bought 35,000 shares. Less than 20,000 yuan to bet on a turnaround from distress.]

[I don’t get it, but I respect it.]

[You know why the A-share market can never get going? Too many gullible investors. You can never finish cutting them all.]

…

Chapter 45: Blockbuster: Another Restructuring Announcement, The Market Erupts

The A-share market had a massive base of 160 million retail investors. Even the worst stocks garnered some attention. PrismTech had received an ST warning and was likely to be delisted. While many were exiting, quite a few were also entering with a gambler’s mentality, hoping to scoop up some cheap shares, effectively dumpster diving. It was cheap anyway, so they might as well consider the money lost.

Currently, the buyers and sellers were basically calling each other fools. However, those buying shares were in the minority; most people wanted nothing more to do with the stock.

The number of PrismTech’s shareholders had plummeted to just 12,200 investors. These 12,200 retail investors were unlikely to sell, having already mentally prepared themselves to be permanent shareholders. Some had even uninstalled their stock trading apps and stopped looking, considering the money gone for good.

The next day, PrismTech once again opened significantly lower. There was a brief surge for five or six seconds at the open, followed by another sell-off that sent it plunging 20.75% to hit the limit down, where it was sealed. The stock price hit a new historical low of 0.42 yuan, with its market capitalization shrinking to a pitiful 364.56 million yuan. It was now the publicly listed company with the lowest market cap in both the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets.

In the afternoon, Yun Shu left the company and went to Xiao Yu’s villa residence.

“How are things? Have you bought the shares?” Xiao Yu asked the beautiful assistant sitting before him. Yun Shu nodded and replied, “Yes, I have. I bought a total of 5.5 million shares, with an average cost of 0.5 yuan per share.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Mm, not bad. Including the shares from the stock allocation, you now have a total of 8.5 million shares.”

Yun Shu gazed at Xiao Yu with a smile. “I’ve really bet my entire fortune on this. I listened to you and went all in. If I lose everything, I’ll be broke and homeless. If that really happens, I’m definitely coming to bother you and live at your place.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled knowingly and mulled over her words. If Qin Yue hadn’t reported that Yun Shu had been privately asking about Chu Jintang’s divorce, Xiao Yu would have simply taken her words as a joke.

But knowing some of what was on her mind, he thought it possible that she was using a joke to speak her true feelings.

Ever since the butler’s report that day, Xiao Yu had actually considered the possibility of starting a new romantic life with Yun Shu.

Putting these thoughts aside, Xiao Yu looked at Yun Shu and smiled. “It’s a guaranteed win. If you do lose everything, feel free to come find me anytime.”

His words carried a subtle hint of suggestion. He decided to take it one step at a time. Such things were unpredictable; maybe one day, when conditions were ripe, success would follow naturally.

His words sent a small ripple through Yun Shu’s heart, but she couldn’t be sure if she was just overthinking it.

After a moment, a bright smile bloomed on her lovely face. “You’re the one who said it,” she said cheerfully.

This little interlude quickly passed, and Xiao Yu switched the topic back to business. “Go and arrange for a Board of Directors meeting at 4 PM. The matter to be voted on is the planning of a major asset restructuring. It’s been a month since the last announcement, so according to regulations, we can restart the asset restructuring process.”

Yun Shu was momentarily stunned. “Huh? With Linghan New Materials?”

Xiao Yu nodded calmly. “Of course. Zhou Baichuan has been kicked out. This time, it’s a real restructuring.”

Yun Shu suddenly felt a twinge of sympathy for the people who had tearfully cut their losses and sold their shares these past few days. If they saw the upcoming announcement, they would probably cough up blood from anger.

Now, at PrismTech, no one could constrain Xiao Yu anymore. When the merger and restructuring with Linghan New Materials was initiated again, it passed the Board of Directors without any suspense.

…

Around 5:50 PM, PrismTech released a blockbuster announcement.

Linzhou PrismTech Co., Ltd. intends to acquire shares of Linzhou Linghan New Materials Co., Ltd. through a major asset swap, cash payment, and other methods, for a total control of 100% of Linghan New Materials’ equity. This transaction is expected to constitute a related-party transaction and a major asset restructuring, but does not constitute a backdoor listing.

When the retail investors saw this announcement, they could only exclaim, “Good heavens! Unbelievable!”

It was almost identical to the last announcement they had issued. The biggest difference was that this time, the equity acquisition was for 100% instead of 51%.

Retail investors who saw the announcement rushed to forward it on forums and in chat groups. PrismTech’s stock name had now become “*ST Prism,” and its popularity had long since faded. Most retail investors who used to follow the stock had already removed it from their watchlists, and many had even blacklisted it.

But now, its popularity suddenly skyrocketed, hitting the top of the popularity charts in just over an hour. Tens of thousands of retail investors flocked over upon hearing the news, searching for the stock to see what was happening. The previously desolate comment section of the stock forum instantly became incredibly lively.

[Alright, alright, so this is how you’re going to play, Old Sixth Xiao?]

[Seriously, who gets this, family… (Shiba Inu.jpg)]

[Isn’t anyone from the regulator going to do something about this? You scammed us once, and now you want to do it again? Do you think retail investors are all idiots?]

[Other people at least wait a few years after screwing investors over once, or even use a different shell company to do it again. But you, Old Sixth Xiao, you’re really something else. It hasn’t even been two months since last time, and this restructuring announcement is practically identical.]

[I’ve really seen it all now. People actually play like this. Okay, this is so A-share market, I love it, I love it.]

[PrismTech: You guys didn’t see this coming, did you? Haha, I cucked Jingrui Fintech, and in the end, the Linghan New Materials girl decided she wants to marry me after all.]

[Hahaha, it’s you again, you legend. F*cking “cucked Jingrui Fintech.”]

[Just tell me that’s not what’s happening… (manual smirk emoji)]

[Damn you, Old Sixth Xiao! Give me back my money! I’m not playing anymore, boo hoo hoo…]

[The day before yesterday, I bought 1000 lots at an average cost of 0.53. Could it be? No way? How is this possible?]

[Bought half a position at the 0.42 yuan limit down this afternoon. What gambler loses every day? What effort fails every time? Should’ve bought more, should’ve bought more, should’ve bought more!]

[I have my own principles. I don’t want to be stepped on for my whole life. You think I’m a stinking beggar? I’ve waited three years for just one chance. I want to prove myself. Not to show how great I am, but to show everyone that I will take back what I’ve lost! (doge)(doge)(doge)]

[I got wiped out at 1.1, and now you’re telling me it’s restructuring again? If this restructuring succeeds, I’ll f*cking explode on the spot. Just die already. Just delist, hurry up!]

…

PrismTech’s hype was stirred up again, but this time, almost no one believed it. Mainly because Xiao Yu’s moves were too outrageous, most people were just watching for entertainment.

The tragedy of the previous restructuring was still fresh in their minds, and it had happened less than two months ago.

Just when everyone was skeptical, PrismTech released another blockbuster announcement late at night: The company had received a letter of notification from Ruilian Group, stating that Ruilian Group had officially made a public disclosure of holding a 5% stake in PrismTech’s total share capital, acquired from the secondary market.

According to relevant regulations, when a major shareholder’s holdings reach 5%, they must make a public disclosure. In other words, they have to show their hand to the market, declaring, “I have now bought 5% of this company’s stock.” If they continue to increase their holdings by another 5%, they must make another disclosure.

Furthermore, after a major shareholder makes a public disclosure of holding over 5%, there is a six-month lock-up period, and they must announce any reduction in holdings to the market 15 trading days in advance.

As soon as the news of Ruilian’s stake disclosure came out, the entire market erupted. All sorts of capital in the market immediately and frantically queued up overnight orders at the limit up price, afraid they’d be a second too late and miss out on the shares.

When the merger and restructuring announcement was previously released, retail investors had declared that they couldn’t even trust a single punctuation mark in Old Sixth Xiao’s announcement.

But now, with the news of Ruilian Group’s stake disclosure, the situation was completely reversed.

All the different capital players understood what Ruilian Group’s stake disclosure meant. The signal it sent couldn’t be clearer: this time, it definitely wasn’t a case of “crying wolf.” This was the real deal.

At this moment, in the middle of the night, the stock’s popularity exploded. The stock forum’s comment section had completely blown up.

[Hahaha, oh my god, am I dreaming? Am I about to get rich? I went all in today, threw in a hundred thousand yuan directly. Posting screenshots.]

[Holy sht! You really went all in? Fcking awesome. I’m crying from jealousy.]

[These overnight orders are going to be insane. 0.42 yuan a share! Less than 50 cents! This is an epic golden pit, holy sh*t!]

[Already placed an overnight order. Don’t know if it’ll get filled tomorrow.]

[Fck, aren’t the people who bottom fished at 0.42 going to make a crazy profit? If it goes up to 4.62 yuan, that’s a massive ten-fold win. Up to 10 yuan per share is more than a 22-fold increase. If it hits 50 yuan and breaks the all-time high, that’s a fcking 118-fold increase! Holy fcking sht! Damn, damn, damn, damn, I’m dying of envy and jealousy! F*ck me!]

[Yesterday, I went in with a heavy position at the limit down, but it hit the limit down again today and I couldn’t take it anymore, so I sold for a 20-point loss. If it had just kept hitting the limit down, I would have felt a bit better. But the fcking moment I cut my losses, you tell me there’s another restructuring, and Ruilian even made a public disclosure? I fcking can’t accept this! I’ve cried my eyes out and slapped my thighs raw.]

[Right, right, right, my mental state just exploded on the spot. I chased the high at 37 yuan and endured 15 consecutive limit downs before I got wiped out. Seeing today’s news, I’m so angry I feel like I have internal injuries. The pain, it’s too painful. It’s like angina, a heart-piercing pain.]

[To those people in the comments posting screenshots of them bottom fishing at 0.42, I suggest you watch out. Being able to buy at a bottom like that is like stealing fortune from heaven itself. You won’t live long, I’m telling you… Dammit, why didn’t I buy some too!]

…

Chapter 46: Downstream Manufacturers Flock to Inquire and Investigate

The next day, Wednesday, September 1st.

As expected, PrismTech opened with a low-volume, straight-line limit up, its stock price rebounding from 0.42 yuan to the 0.5 yuan mark.

Everyone now knew that PrismTech was in for a period of consecutive limit ups—a daily twenty percent return. Those holding shares clutched them tightly, all of them treasuring their stock and refusing to sell a single one.

Xiao Yu glanced at the company’s stock hitting the limit up and then paid it no more attention. For the foreseeable future, he wouldn’t be frequently monitoring its performance. Now that his great revenge had been exacted and the karmic debts settled, he would let the various capital forces battle it out over PrismTech’s stock in the secondary market.

Over the following days, Xiao Yu began to work on the merger between PrismTech and Linghan New Materials. In this merger and restructuring, PrismTech would acquire one hundred percent of Linghan New Materials’ shares, giving it absolute and total control.

However, Linghan New Materials would not be directly dissolved. Instead, it would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of PrismTech, and its financial statements would be consolidated with the parent company.

Under pressure from Ruilian Group, the financiers from Penghui Capital and other firms, though extremely reluctant, had no choice but to get wiped out at rock-bottom prices and accept their losses. They no longer had anything to do with PrismTech.

Even knowing that PrismTech’s stock was about to soar, they didn’t dare to get involved. They were keenly aware that this was a prize they could no longer touch.

For now, the merger and restructuring of the two companies was proceeding smoothly, with all matters advancing steadily.

At the same time, the company was a hive of activity. Representatives from brokerage firms and investment institutions, including numerous public and private fund managers, flocked to the company for inspections and research.

Xiao Yu did not personally receive these people; company executives were assigned to host them.

This was clearly Ruilian Group leveraging its influence within the industry. Wen Suqing had told Xiao Yu that once Ruilian was on board, they would begin managing PrismTech’s market value.

To put it plainly, they would push the company’s stock price and market capitalization up. Moreover, they would rally a large group of institutions to go long together, driving the stock to a reasonable price. The swarms of institutional representatives currently visiting the company for research were undoubtedly, in no small part, thanks to Ruilian Group’s efforts.

Xiang Chongguang’s network and influence in the capital markets were clearly on a completely different level from Zhou Baichuan’s.

After entering September, the company’s stock hit its twenty percent limit up every single day. The market would open to a low-volume, straight-line limit up. The stock had been so severely oversold that now, for the retail investors holding PrismTech shares, their workday was over as soon as the market opened, netting them a twenty percent gain each day.

This was a feast for those who held on. The retail investors who had endured the brutal sell-off were now seeing their suffering turn to sweetness, reaping unimaginable rewards.

Those who missed out could only watch from the sidelines. Anyone who wasn’t on board by the end of last month had no chance to get such cheap shares. Everyone now knew that PrismTech’s stock was absurdly cheap, and the car doors had been welded shut.

In addition to the various investment institutions from the capital market, many other potential corporate clients had come to PrismTech during this time to investigate and inquire about the company’s graphene material.

Among them were well-known major tech companies from various industries, including a delegation sent by Apple.

It was worth noting that graphene material has an extremely wide range of applications, and many high-end industries have a strong demand for it.

…

PrismTech, Chairman’s Office.

“These are the collaboration terms proposed by Apple?” Xiao Yu asked, looking at the document in his hand. Also in the office was a man named Xu Changming, a core executive, a founding member of PrismTech, and one of the most capable generals on Xiao Yu’s team.

“And they said the terms are non-negotiable.” Xu Changming nodded. He had been in charge of receiving the major downstream manufacturers who came to inquire about the graphene material.

“Heh, it looks like Apple is used to being the big boss in the phone industry. Do they think they can come to my turf and keep acting like the boss, and make me the grandson?” Xiao Yu’s tone was heavy with sarcasm as he spoke, tossing the document aside with a flick of his wrist.

Apple had sent people to discuss a business collaboration, wanting PrismTech to become a part of its supply chain. They wanted PrismTech to supply graphene-designed components like batteries and display screens for Apple’s electronic products, including smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, and laptops.

Currently, PrismTech’s main advertised products were batteries developed with graphene material—the drawbacks of which had been solved by scientists on Blue Star, giving them an immediate competitive edge here on Earth.

The other major product was the fully transparent flexible screen, also developed with graphene material.

The collaboration terms proposed by Apple’s representatives, however, greatly displeased Xiao Yu. With PrismTech holding a technological monopoly, Xiao Yu intended to be the “supplier daddy.” Apple, on the other hand, wanted to make PrismTech just another “grandson” in its supply chain.

The proposal consisted of three main conditions.

First, PrismTech had to establish a dedicated research and development team for Apple. This wasn’t a major issue; as long as the money was right, setting up a team to exclusively handle Apple’s business was perfectly fine.

Second, Apple demanded an exclusive initial supply. For instance, for new products like the fully transparent flexible screen and batteries, for the first three years, they could only be used in Apple products like the iPhone. If competitors like Xiaomi, Huawei, or the ‘blue and green’ companies wanted to source from PrismTech, they would have to wait three years.

Third, PrismTech was required to build dedicated factories for graphene batteries and transparent flexible screens in North America.

Of these three conditions proposed by Apple, only the first was acceptable. When Xiao Yu saw the other two, he could barely contain himself.

Last year, Huawei’s global smartphone sales had reached number one in the world, only to be met with extreme suppression. The Kirin chip, developed through years of painstaking research and design, became its swan song. All manufacturers using North American technology were barred from supplying Huawei, and chip foundries stopped producing the Kirin chip for them, leading to a chip shortage that cut Huawei’s phone business in half.

Given the current state of technological confrontation between the Great Eastern Country and America, they wanted PrismTech to build factories in North America?

And the demand for a three-year exclusivity period, preventing them from supplying Apple’s competitors, was so blatant they weren’t even trying to hide their scheming. It reeked of arrogance. After three years, other manufacturers would finally get access, but it surely wouldn’t be the most advanced products. This would ensure that Apple’s products maintained their leading edge.

At this thought, Xiao Yu glanced at the document and said decisively, “Forget about collaborating with Apple. We just won’t do this deal. They’re so used to being the big boss they’ve lost touch with reality. PrismTech has a monopoly on this technology; it’s one-of-a-kind globally. I’m the downstream manufacturers’ supplier daddy. They should be watching my mood, begging me to supply them.”

…

Chapter 47: All the Major Phone Manufacturers Want to Be the First to Launch a 100% Full-Screen Display

The competitiveness of PrismTech’s graphene material products was plain to see; across the entire globe, not a single company was its rival.

Not only could it be mass-produced, but its quality and purity were unrivaled worldwide, and its price could be ten, even dozens or hundreds of times cheaper than the current market rate. With such a competitive advantage, no similar product could stand against PrismTech.

Furthermore, graphene material had far too many applications. It wasn’t just limited to making phone batteries and screens.

A whole series of high-end industries, including aerospace, energy storage, electronic devices, and biosensors, all had a strong demand for graphene. Flectronic products like smartphones and tablets were merely one application in a specific sub-field.

Beyond the commercial market, there was also the military market.

The company had no worries about a lack of customers. In fact, the situation would almost certainly be one of supply not meeting demand, where companies would have to queue up just to get their hands on PrismTech’s stock.

Apple wanted to waltz in and act like they owned the place, but Xiao Yu clearly wasn’t going to indulge them. He couldn’t even be bothered to deal with them.

At this moment, Xiao Yu picked up another document, read it for a while, then nodded and smiled. “Good. These domestic manufacturers actually know how to cooperate.”

Compared to Apple’s arrogant, lordly attitude, the numerous domestic manufacturers were far more pragmatic. They all basically approached negotiations with a supplicating posture.

Although Xiao Yu had not met with the potential clients who had come for inquiries and inspections, he could sense their sincerity from the partnership proposals in the documents.

To be precise, they had a clear understanding that they held very little bargaining power with PrismTech. They knew perfectly well that PrismTech would never be short of buyers, so they had no choice but to adopt a more humble stance.

After a moment, Xu Changming said, “I’ve hosted dozens of manufacturers who’ve come to investigate and inquire. The military is expected to take about seventy percent of our production capacity, leaving only thirty percent, which is nowhere near enough to satisfy the booming demand in the civilian market.”

Graphene material was already in high demand in high-end industries. Now that PrismTech could provide a higher quality product at a much lower price, that demand was bound to grow even larger.

Xu Changming continued, “To be honest, it’s quite a headache right now. There are too many mouths to feed. If we give it to one company, the ones who don’t get any will be in a bind, especially if they’re direct competitors. The one left out will definitely be furious.”

Among the manufacturers who had come to PrismTech for inquiries this time, the well-known major players in the smartphone sub-sector weren’t just Apple. Mainland manufacturers like Xiaomi and the ‘blue and green’ companies had also sent people.

This was because they all wanted their next-generation flagship phones to be the first to feature a 100% full-screen display, to bid farewell to the punch-hole and notch screens, and achieve a truly 100% full-screen phone.

This was a huge selling point, which was why they were all fighting to be first.

With PrismTech’s insufficient supply, the fight was even more intense. If you secured the supply and your competitors didn’t, for a period of time, your brand would be the only one on the market capable of producing a 100% full-screen phone. It would be an exclusive selling point, a massive advantage.

Xu Changming proposed, “Our market pricing is clearly on the low side. It would be completely reasonable to raise the price two or even three times. After all, our product has no competition in the market.”

The moment Xiao Yu heard this, he rejected the proposal without a second thought. “The price remains unchanged. My mind is made up.”

Xiao Yu’s market pricing for the graphene material was the result of careful deliberation, weighing all the pros and cons.

It wasn’t just to temper their unnaturally terrifying profit margins. More importantly, Xiao Yu desperately needed to accelerate the pace of technological development on Earth.

And the reason for accelerating Earth’s technological development was to shuttle other black technology products from the world of Blue Star, as they were too advanced to be rashly brought over to Earth.

Take the smart holographic wristband, for example. In the world of Blue Star, holographic wristbands were already as widespread as smartphones are on Earth.

But such a black technology product, which so clearly surpassed Earth’s current era, could not be brought out abruptly. Industry experts would easily be able to determine that it was not something that could be manufactured with Earth’s existing technological level.

Therefore, the entire technological and industrial chain system had to be established first, involving numerous tech sectors such as chips, displays, and communications.

Only when the entire industrial ecosystem was in place would Xiao Yu dare to confidently bring the holographic wristband to Earth.

Involving so many industries was obviously not something Xiao Yu could handle alone, nor something PrismTech could accomplish as a single company.

Taking a huge step back, even if they could do it, it would take an immense amount of time. Ten years? Twenty? Xiao Yu was clearly unwilling to wait that long.

Graphene bore the reputation of the “king of new materials” and had extremely wide-ranging applications in high-end industries.

If the price was too high, it would forever remain a niche market. To date, the total annual value of the global graphene material market on Earth was less than a trillion RMB.

Only by driving the price of the material down could a larger market be unleashed. Many tech companies that previously couldn’t afford such a material would now be able to use it. Their products would become more advanced and competitive, allowing them to earn more money. With sufficient profits to support them, these companies could increase their investment in R&D for new technology, and the development of the entire tech industry would naturally accelerate.

Besides, driving the price down didn’t mean PrismTech would earn less; it would absolutely earn more.

If the price was too high, the entire industry’s market value would be capped at under a trillion. Even if PrismTech monopolized all the profits, that would be the most they could earn.

But by lowering the price and unleashing a larger market, the industry’s value could expand to ten trillion. Even if PrismTech took only half the market share, that would still be five trillion. They would clearly be earning more. From this perspective as well, the price had to be driven down.

Furthermore, from a competitive standpoint, slashing the price in one go would either cause competitors to drop dead on the spot or leave them severely crippled.

Not only was your product better than theirs, but it was also ten or even dozens of times cheaper. Their customers would inevitably flock to you for their supply. Meanwhile, your competitors couldn’t follow suit and lower their prices to the same level. They couldn’t afford to, or their company would go bankrupt and shut down the very next day.

At this point, Xu Changming said, “But if we don’t raise the price and sell it so cheaply, were I a buyer, I would absolutely not use it in my own end products. Instead, I’d take the graphene material I bought from PrismTech and resell it at a higher price, becoming a middleman.”

Xu Changming continued, “For example, research-grade graphene. The company prices it at 999 yuan per gram. If I were a buyer, after getting the stock, I could easily resell it for 3,000 yuan or even 5,000 yuan per gram. I’d effortlessly pocket a profit of over four times what PrismTech makes. Why would I bother with the hard work of making something else?”

Then, Xu Changming added, “During my inquiries with the dozens of potential corporate clients I’ve received, I discovered that more than ten of them aren’t even technology companies. I can boldly conclude that they are definitely aiming to buy from us at a low price and act as middlemen to resell the stock.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded. “You’re not wrong. This problem must be solved. We absolutely cannot allow people to buy from us only to turn around and resell it for a massive middleman’s profit.”

Having massive profits siphoned off by resellers would also severely impede the accelerated development of Earth’s technological industrial system. This was something Xiao Yu absolutely could not accept.

…

Chapter 48: If They Won’t Sign the Supplementary Agreement, We Won’t Sell

A major strategic goal of bringing down the product price was to accelerate the development of Earth’s technology. If a group of profiteers were to resell it at a high price, the cost would be driven back up, preventing some tech companies from affording the graphene material and hindering the efficiency of technological iteration and development.

What Xiao Yu hoped for most right now was for Earth’s technology tree to level up quickly. When that time came, he could justifiably bring the many black technology products from Blue Star to Earth.

After a moment, Xu Changming proposed, “How about this? We’ll have the suppliers sign a supplementary agreement. Any company that buys from us must agree that the material will only be used for their own products. They will be prohibited from reselling it or using it for any products not specified in the contract. If they breach the agreement, they’ll have to pay a penalty of at least ten times the purchase price.”

Xu Changming added, “If they won’t sign this agreement, we won’t sell to them.”

Xiao Yu immediately decided, “Let’s do as you say. That’s an excellent method. It might seem like a bit of a heavy-handed clause, but we have the leverage to back it up. The market is completely skewed toward the seller; the buyers have no bargaining power. If they don’t agree, I just won’t do business with them. In any case, we have the military’s orders as a safety net. I wouldn’t care if we didn’t sell a single gram to the civilian market.”

In reality, it was impossible for it not to sell.

The graphene material supplied by PrismTech not only surpassed all competitors’ products in quality and purity but was also cheaper by one or even two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, its applications were so widespread that it had potential use cases in almost every high-end industry.

Not to mention, the military orders provided a safety net, ensuring the company had a stable revenue stream.

The matter was thus settled on the spot. All corporate clients in the civilian market, regardless of who they were, had to sign this supplementary agreement to purchase the graphene material. No signature, no sale.

The two chatted for a while longer before Xu Changming left to make the arrangements and meet again with the potential clients who had come for inquiries and research.

Xiao Yu mulled things over for a moment, then stood up, went to his desk, and used the landline to call Yun Shu and Fu Kang, asking them to come see him. Fu Kang was also a core executive at PrismTech, part of the initial team that had joined in the early days, and one of the company’s founding members.

Not long after, the two arrived at Xiao Yu’s office one after the other.

Xiao Yu sat down on the sofa in the office’s rest area and looked at Fu Kang, who was sitting opposite him. “Brother Fu, I need you to lead a team abroad for a global research and investigation tour.”

Fu Kang was surprised. “Lead a team abroad for research? What for?”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Didn’t the company cross over into food processing and grain trading? Your trip abroad this time is to handle this business on a global scale. Our company’s food processing and grain trading operations will be the first to go overseas for a global layout.”

At these words, both Fu Kang and Yun Shu were momentarily stunned.

Fu Kang quickly recovered and said, “CEO Xiao, you’re not joking, are you? Is this for real? Didn’t the company get into food processing and grain trading just to pressure those few investors…”

As part of the company’s core management, Fu Kang knew that Xiao Yu’s previous decision for the company to cross over into food processing and grain trading was a move to suppress the stock price and force Penghui Capital and a few other investors to exit with devastating losses. But that was all he knew.

Now, however, Xiao Yu was suddenly telling him to go abroad for research to establish a global presence for the company in food processing and grain trading.

This completely threw Fu Kang for a loop. He couldn’t figure out what Xiao Yu was up to.

Evidently, Xiao Yu had already begun actively planning for the large-scale transport of grain from Earth in the future. It was imperative to expand the food processing and grain trading business globally, as some things were easier to do overseas.

He couldn’t explain this matter clearly to anyone, but he still had to come up with a justification.

Xiao Yu thought for a moment and came up with a reason. He looked at Fu Kang with a calm expression and said, “The decision to cross over into this business wasn’t just for the battle of wits with Zhou Baichuan and the other investors. That was, at best, just a side effect.”

A side effect?

Fu Kang looked bewildered. Beside him, Yun Shu remained quiet, also watching Xiao Yu with a look of half-belief and half-doubt.

“The company is going to become a world-class tech giant, and our business will inevitably span the globe in the future. Some things need to be laid out in advance to avoid scrambling at the last minute,” Xiao Yu said with calm confidence.

Hearing this, Fu Kang couldn’t help but ask, “Alright, but what does that have to do with getting into food processing and grain trading?”

It was worth mentioning that Fu Kang now believed the company could become a world-class tech giant. The graphene material business alone was enough for it to grow into a behemoth. But what did that have to do with crossing over into food processing and grain trading? The two seemed completely unrelated.

At this moment, Fu Kang couldn’t help but feel a flicker of doubt.

Xiao Yu chuckled. “It has everything to do with it. Some foreign regions don’t have much money. If we expand our business to South America in the future, the local people might not have cash, but they have products like grain and beef. We can accept those as payment. Didn’t Huawei have clients over there who couldn’t settle their bills, so they ended up taking beef as payment and were forced to become a beef import supplier?”

Xiao Yu used Huawei as an example and continued, “We’ll most likely run into similar situations in the future. Our clients in South America might not have the cash to pay us and could offer to offset their bills with beef, soybeans, cane sugar, and other grains and meats. If we accept these things, don’t we need food processing plants to handle them? Don’t we need grain trading companies to manage them?”

“Uh…” Fu Kang opened his mouth but couldn’t find a reason to refute Xiao Yu. It was logical and well-supported, with no apparent flaws. He was speechless.

Xiao Yu leaned back against the sofa, crossed his legs, and smiled. “My decision to build a large supermarket in Linzhou is based on the same principle. Huawei has some good ideas we can learn from. For example, our company could also set up an interconnected online and offline lifestyle shopping center.”

“This lifestyle shopping center will be carefully curated by the company, offering a wide range of products, including wine, beef, seafood, rice, oil, nuts, tea, honey, and all sorts of daily necessities.”

Pausing for a moment, Xiao Yu added, “The main customers of this lifestyle shopping center will be our company’s employees and their families. It’s like a little convenience store the company runs for its own people, providing a series of high-quality daily goods to improve their quality of life.”

It was well-reasoned and perfectly logical.

It would also serve as an excellent cover for Xiao Yu’s future large-scale transport of food products to Blue Star. It was reassuring to have the channels in his own hands, and having them spread across the globe would be convenient.

Now, hearing Xiao Yu’s explanation, Fu Kang felt that it made perfect sense. It was reasonable.

A major company like Huawei was already doing it. Since they had the ambition to grow PrismTech into a global giant, there was nothing wrong with laying the groundwork for these supporting businesses in advance.

…

Chapter 49: Programming an AI Agent

After hearing Xiao Yu’s words, Fu Kang was convinced. He even felt that doing so was indeed very necessary.

A moment later, Fu Kang nodded immediately and said, “Alright, no problem. Leave this to me. Once I’ve handled my current affairs, I’ll take a team and make a trip around the globe.”

Xiao Yu was very satisfied to hear this. “I’ll leave this part to you. Don’t worry about the funds. For the food processing and grain trade business, you need to aim to make it big and professional. If necessary in the future, we can even spin this division off to operate as an independent subsidiary.”

Fu Kang nodded again. “Understood.”

After a brief exchange, he left Xiao Yu’s office.

Yun Shu, who had remained silent at the side, watched Fu Kang leave the office before retracting her gaze and turning her head slightly to look at Xiao Yu. “Did you call me here to arrange something?”

Xiao Yu had thought of an excellent way to cover up the potential problem of large quantities of grain vanishing.

Transporting grain to Blue Star on a massive scale meant that a large amount of grain would suddenly disappear from Earth. There needed to be an answer for where it all went.

And Xiao Yu thought of one word: Charity!

Under the banner of large-scale philanthropy on a global scale—for example, sending massive amounts of food supplies to famine-stricken, unstable, or impoverished regions like those in Africa—he could divert a portion of it to the world of Blue Star. When it came to accounting on the Earth side, everything could be written off in the ledgers as humanitarian charitable aid.

In areas like parts of Africa suffering from famine and instability, you could send food supplies and claim it was all distributed to the local refugees. Whatever amount you said you distributed would be the official amount. You could even claim the shipment was hijacked—after all, such things are common in chaotic places, and it would be impossible to trace or verify.

It would not only provide a great cover for the food supplies being transported to the world of Blue Star but also earn him a good reputation. Why wouldn’t he do it?

Xiao Yu looked at Yun Shu and immediately said to her, “I need you to arrange something. The company is going to establish a charity department. In the future, when we get bigger and more influential, we’ll be criticized for lacking social responsibility if we don’t engage in philanthropy.”

Little did Yun Shu know of Xiao Yu’s ultimate purpose for getting into charity, but she found his reasoning quite sound. A large corporation should indeed engage in philanthropic work, even if only to cultivate a positive public image.

“We need to have vision. If we’re going to be big, we need to act big. So, our company’s philanthropy can’t be narrowly focused on domestic issues; we must look globally, to the entire world. After all, our country is currently promoting the value of a community with a shared future for mankind on the world stage. A global perspective aligns perfectly with this theme.”

Sitting beside him, Yun Shu couldn’t see through to Xiao Yu’s hidden motives at all. She thought what he said was reasonable and indeed correct; it would be beneficial for maintaining the company’s positive image.

Once a company grows large and its business spans the globe, it becomes quite necessary to build goodwill locally and earn a reputation as a ‘good guy’ from the locals.

Xiao Yu said with a calm expression, “So, our company must engage in philanthropy, and we will gradually expand it to a global scale.”

Yun Shu immediately nodded in response. “Yes, I’ll get everything you’ve assigned arranged right away.”

Xiao Yu glanced at his beautiful assistant and smiled. “Go and arrange it.”

As Yun Shu departed, Xiao Yu sat alone on the sofa, briefly reviewing his arrangements. Confirming there were no flaws, he couldn’t help but nod to himself in satisfaction.

The food processing and grain trade business in one hand, the philanthropic endeavors in the other—the two meshed together perfectly.

In the future, under the name of charity, he could go to Africa to distribute humanitarian relief grain and, in the process, easily divert a portion of the food supplies to the world of Blue Star. The outside world would never notice anything unusual, and it would be completely untraceable.

…

In the afternoon, Xiao Yu returned to his villa.

The basement of his private villa had been converted into a personal laboratory, and no one was allowed to enter without Xiao Yu’s permission.

Arriving at the private laboratory in his basement, Xiao Yu opened the teleportation Star Gate and once again traveled to the world of Blue Star.

The main purpose of this trip to Blue Star was to stockpile 2,000 tons of graphene material, ensuring that the Earth side would have a production capacity supply of 2,000 tons for the coming year.

At this moment, Xiao Yu stepped through the teleportation Star Gate and arrived at his private villa in Fengquan City in the world of Blue Star. He glanced at the time here and saw that only a few hours had passed since his last departure.

Xiao Yu sat alone on the living room sofa, operating his holographic wristband to call up a display panel. He began calculating the cost for a 2,000-ton production capacity of graphene material, cross-referencing the prices for different qualities.

“Two thousand tons of graphene will cost about 188 million Star Yuan.” Xiao Yu looked at the calculated result; it was quite a bit cheaper than he had anticipated.

Graphene materials of different qualities also had different prices in the world of Blue Star. The most expensive was the grade with 99% purity followed by nine nines after the decimal point; its market price on Blue Star was 3,500 Star Yuan per kilogram. Procuring just one hundred tons of this grade would cost 350 million Star Yuan.

However, Xiao Yu didn’t need to purchase such a high-quality material this time. The flagship product he had previously shown to the military research delegation was only of the five-nines-purity grade, and he would only be procuring no more than 150 tons of it. The remaining 1,850 tons would be of relatively lower quality, with a price that dropped exponentially.

The entire 2,000 tons of graphene material could be acquired for less than 190 million Star Yuan. If he were to set up his own factory to produce it, it would be even cheaper, but not by much. This was because in the world of Blue Star, this was considered low-end industrial manufacturing with a profit margin of only about 5%.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was pondering another matter. While 2,000 tons of graphene material wasn’t an astronomical figure, it would be exhausting for him to move it all by himself. And then he would also have to transport food products from Earth to Blue Star.

Xiao Yu obviously couldn’t ask anyone else for help. There was only one solution: rely on intelligent robots.

The artificial intelligence technology of Blue Star was highly advanced, but Xiao Yu didn’t dare risk buying a batch of robots directly for this task. He couldn’t guarantee that the scenes captured by the robots’ camera eyes wouldn’t be uploaded to the backend databases of the companies that manufactured them.

This potential risk had to be eliminated. Therefore, Xiao Yu could only program his own algorithms to develop an independent AI agent to replace the existing ones. Only then could he use the robots without any lingering worries.

For the next few days, Xiao Yu stayed in his villa in the world of Blue Star, “taking online classes.” He spent his time online, poring over a vast number of publicly available technical papers and various documents in the field of AI. Although Blue Star’s most cutting-edge AI technologies weren’t accessible online, relatively outdated AI tech was, and for Xiao Yu, that was more than enough.

Even the AI technology from Blue Star that was considered relatively outdated and publicly available would be world-leading black technology back on Earth.

…

Chapter 50: Vitas Industrial Group

Xiao Yu was like a sponge, frantically absorbing all the publicly available AI knowledge on Blue Star.

He was a genius-level developer to begin with, so the public AI knowledge on Blue Star was no different to him than “copying homework.”

There was a difference in the flow of time between the two worlds. Being on Blue Star gave Xiao Yu ample time to absorb this knowledge.

Before he knew it, ten Blue Star days had passed.

During this time, his company on Blue Star had also gotten on track, and was purchasing graphene material as per his instructions.

Another two Blue Star days went by. In the local morning, Xiao Yu put on his breathing mask and left his private villa.

Although Fengquan City was a major metropolis with a population of over six million, it didn’t have the same pristine conditions as Heavenly Capital. It was still necessary to wear a breathing mask when going outside.

“Put your work on hold for a moment and come take a walk with me downtown. I’ve sent you the location,” Xiao Yu said, contacting his assistant and secretary, Yan Lingjun, who was at the office.

“Alright, I’ll be right over,” Yan Lingjun replied.

About twenty minutes later, Yan Lingjun arrived at the designated spot and approached Xiao Yu. “CEO Xiao, what are we doing downtown?”

Xiao Yu spoke as they walked, “We’re going to check out the Vitas Industrial Group store.”

Yan Lingjun asked curiously, “Are you planning to buy a butler robot?”

Vitas Industrial Group was a high-tech company that sold intelligent robot products. It wasn’t a local enterprise of the Heavenly Kingdom in the Central Continent, but a multinational tech giant from the Great Western Continent, with physical stores in all major cities of the Heavenly Kingdom.

Xiao Yu had only recently learned of this company while absorbing Blue Star’s public AI knowledge. He was indeed interested in buying one, but mainly to disassemble it for research and analysis.

Vitas Industrial Group had a physical store in Fengquan City, not far from their current location. It was only a five or six-minute walk away, so they didn’t take any transport and simply walked over.

Five minutes later, the two arrived at their destination. Xiao Yu stood before the Vitas Industrial Group storefront, pausing to look for a moment before entering. Yan Lingjun, who was accompanying him, silently followed.

They both removed their breathing masks upon entering the store, as the air inside was safe to breathe normally.

A sales associate quickly came over to greet them warmly. Xiao Yu glanced around. In the showroom, there were all sorts of intelligent robot products with various functions, from domestic robots to industrial robots.

In addition, Vitas Industrial Group also sold various types of armed robots, but this particular store catered to the civilian market and did not carry military-grade products.

“What is your store’s best-selling product?” Xiao Yu turned and asked the sales associate beside him.

Hearing this, the associate smiled and replied, “The most popular products under Vitas Industrial are our bionic humanoid robots. The ‘N22814-X’ model is the bestseller. That’s its official designation; you can give it a custom name after purchase. This way, please, sir.”

Xiao Yu followed the sales associate to a display stand. On a cylindrical pedestal thirty centimeters high, a beautiful bionic humanoid robot was on display.

Outwardly, Xiao Yu remained calm, but deep down, he was utterly astonished. He observed the beautiful robot. Its appearance was so realistic that it was impossible for the naked eye to tell whether it was a real person or a robot.

There was none of the so-called “uncanny valley effect” because it was virtually identical to a human. The only thing proving she was a bionic humanoid robot was a glowing blue ring, about fifteen millimeters in diameter, at her left temple.

As an artificial product, she possessed the most perfect supermodel-level body proportions and an angelic face.

“This multi-functional bionic robot can take on numerous roles, perfectly serving as its master’s private secretary, butler, maid, assistant, and more,” the sales associate standing nearby explained to Xiao Yu.

Just then, the beautiful bionic robot on the cylindrical stand seemed to notice Xiao Yu’s attentive gaze. She suddenly struck a seductive pose for him, leaning forward with one hand on her knee and blowing a kiss with the other. Her eyes radiated a captivating charm, every movement tantalizing, as if hinting for Xiao Yu to hurry up and take her home.

But Xiao Yu was unmoved. His focus was entirely on the beautiful robot’s incredibly fluid and seamless movements. In all her actions just now, not a hint of stiffness could be seen in her joints, which left Xiao Yu, a man from Earth, deeply amazed.

If she were on the street, and you didn’t notice the ring at her temple, you would never guess she was an artificial robot.

“May I touch it?” Xiao Yu turned to ask the sales associate. He wanted to feel the texture of the bionic robot’s skin. The associate nodded with a smile. “Of course, please, go ahead.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu approached the beautiful robot. She seemed to have heard and understood his conversation with the associate, because as Xiao Yu reached out his hand, she slowly extended her own.

Xiao Yu personally touched her snow-white hand, feeling the skin. Its texture, elasticity, and fine lines were all highly similar to that of an organic lifeform, and it even had the same temperature as a human body.

After a moment, Xiao Yu retracted his hand and couldn’t help but comment, “No wonder it sells so well. Besides not being human, she’s no different from a person in any other way.”

The sales associate glanced discreetly at the beautiful woman standing beside Xiao Yu. Seeing Yan Lingjun’s professional attire, the associate generally concluded she probably wasn’t Xiao Yu’s girlfriend. So, she turned to Xiao Yu and said with a smile, “This robot can also satisfy physiological needs. Afterward, she’ll even clean up after herself. She is also an excellent companion, able to meet all kinds of her master’s needs in every aspect of life.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu was taken aback for a moment before he let out an involuntary laugh.

He exclaimed “Good heavens” inwardly. This bionic humanoid robot was truly all-encompassing. It could shop for groceries, cook, take care of people, assist its master with work, and even warm his bed…

The sales associate added, “What you’re seeing now, sir, is the official default appearance for this product. If you decide to purchase, the company can change her appearance to one of your choosing based on data you provide. Besides the height and skeletal frame, her facial features, measurements, and other data can all be personally customized.”

Xiao Yu was quite surprised to hear this, but on second thought, it made sense.

The vast majority of customers would surely dislike their robot being identical to someone else’s. Not only would that be psychologically off-putting, but it could also easily lead to cases of mistaken identity or even awkward mix-ups. By offering a unique appearance customization service for every single unit, this Vitas Industrial product solved that problem.

Customers could customize the appearance and figure, but not the height, as that would cause the cost to skyrocket. It wasn’t that it was impossible to change, but it would require a lot more money. Vitas Industrial Group did offer such high-end private customization services.

…

Chapter 51: Organic Body

Xiao Yu glanced at the price tag of this bionic humanoid robot. It was priced at 1.59 million Star Yuan.

This price was clearly unaffordable for the lower class of Blue Star. However, the product wasn’t targeted at this group, but rather at the middle and high-net-worth individuals of Blue Star—those who had reached the threshold of the quasi-elite class.

For the high-net-worth elite, the price of 1.59 million Star Yuan was worth the high-quality services the product could provide. It could act as a butler, a secretary, a servant, and even warm the bed to satisfy physiological needs.

This product precisely captured the comprehensive needs of this group, who could also afford the cost.

Almost every family in Blue Star’s elite class had purchased at least one of these bionic robots, which could be considered a status symbol.

When others saw such a bionic robot in your home, their first impression would be that you earned a million Star Yuan a year. This was analogous to the wealthy people and bosses on Earth who equipped themselves with luxury cars.

A family with an annual income of five hundred thousand Star Yuan could technically afford one if they tightened their belts, but it would require cutting back on other expenses, essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul. The standard threshold was an annual income of one million Star Yuan. At that income level, there would be virtually no financial pressure, and no need to cut other expenses.

Finally, Xiao Yu went to look at other products. He was indeed interested in buying a robot to take back, disassemble, and study. Vitas Industrial Group offered a rich variety of products, including bionic humanoid robot bodyguards for personal security.

These bionic humanoid robots were truly indistinguishable from real humans in every way, except for the fact that they were not human.

Just by wandering around the store for a bit, Xiao Yu’s horizons were greatly expanded. Even the least technologically advanced products sold here would be considered absolute black technology back on Earth.

In the end, Xiao Yu spent money on a robot butler. He didn’t request a customized appearance, since he wasn’t buying it for normal use but to disassemble and analyze it. Naturally, he had no requirements for its looks. He had only one request: the fastest possible delivery.

Leaving the store, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but marvel, “The robot products from Vitas Industrial Group are truly extraordinary.”

He secretly made a resolution. In the future, he had to find a way to bring some of Vitas Industrial Group’s black technology to his home on Earth. Even the company’s obsolete technology would be unrivaled there.

“I heard that the ‘Organic Body’ from our Heavenly Kingdom’s Li Group is truly one of a kind,” Yan Lingjun, who was walking beside him, suddenly said. “It’s said to be a combined application of quantum entanglement and gene-editing technologies. Another organic life form is cultivated through cloning. The clone itself has no independent consciousness, but a quantum entanglement relationship can be established with the original person, allowing the original to control this clone.”

Yan Lingjun continued as they walked, “That’s why it’s called an ‘Organic Body.’ The original and the avatar are not affected by electronic signals. It’s rumored that many powerful officials, super-dignitaries, and ultra-wealthy individuals have their own avatars. When they attend some of the more dangerous public events, it’s often their avatars, while their real selves remain hidden behind the scenes in the safest of places.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu was utterly shocked. Blue Star actually had such black technology?

It immediately brought to mind the famous science fiction film Avatar. In the movie, humans cultivated Na’vi bodies through genetic modification, then communicated with and controlled these organic entities through their consciousness. “Avatar” in Sanskrit means “incarnation.”

The so-called “Organic Body” described by Yan Lingjun was remarkably similar, and it even involved the quantum entanglement effect.

Xiao Yu knew that quantum entanglement was not limited to the microscopic level; macroscopic objects did indeed exhibit quantum entanglement effects. This had been observed back on his home Earth, and it had even been successfully achieved in laboratories. However, it required special conditions like ultra-low temperatures and high pressure for a macroscopic system composed of a large number of particles to display macroscopic quantum effects, including the phenomenon of quantum entanglement.

But the technology on Blue Star had not only advanced to the application level but had also achieved macroscopic quantum entanglement under normal conditions. This so-called “Organic Body” was definitely a product born from more than one Nobel Prize-level black technology.

However, Xiao Yu remained silent at this moment because he was completely in the dark about this information. Since even Yan Lingjun knew about the “Organic Body,” she would surely assume that Xiao Yu knew about it too, and might even think he knew more than she did.

So Xiao Yu kept quiet, his expression carefully managed, pretending he knew, in order to maintain the persona that he knew more than Yan Lingjun. Otherwise, the more he spoke, the more likely he was to expose himself.

Xiao Yu mentally exclaimed that this was a fantastic thing. It would obviously be of great use to him. He never expected Blue Star’s top-tier technology to have developed to this extent. He had to find a way to get an avatar in the future; it would be incredibly helpful for his various plans and operations.

“I’ll have to get an avatar to play with when I have the chance in the future,” Xiao Yu said to himself, thinking this was the most appropriate thing to say. He had to maintain the impression that he knew everything she knew, and even more.

Yan Lingjun glanced at Xiao Yu and couldn’t help but smile slightly. “CEO Xiao has grand ambitions. Only the truly powerful and wealthy at the top of the pyramid can obtain such a thing. Even with a net worth of over one hundred million, you wouldn’t meet the threshold. You probably need to add two or even three more zeros to your
net worth to have a chance.”

From her words, Xiao Yu gleaned another valuable piece of information: the so-called “Organic Body” was extremely difficult for ordinary people to obtain. One had to be either a person of power and influence or a super-billionaire with a net worth in the tens of billions or more.

Collecting his thoughts, Xiao Yu said calmly, “It’s only a matter of time.”

…

Half an hour later, Xiao Yu spoke with Yan Lingjun for a while, getting a brief update on the recent situation at Prism Company. The two then went their separate ways. Yan Lingjun went to the company, while Xiao Yu returned to his private residence.

The robot he had purchased had been delivered to his door. He immediately began to disassemble, analyze, and study it.

For the next few Blue Star days, Xiao Yu immersed himself in studying the robot product from Vitas Industrial Group. After disassembling and studying it, he was filled with amazement at the level of technology on Blue Star. Both the hardware and software technologies were far beyond what Earth’s technology could hope to achieve.

But it had to be said that Xiao Yu was indeed a technical genius. These were incredibly precise and complex mechanical components. He disassembled them into tens of thousands of parts. Usually, if someone other than the product’s inventor tried to disassemble it, they would likely be unable to put it back together.

Yet, Xiao Yu managed to reassemble the robot completely, and it even started up and operated normally, demonstrating his remarkable learning ability and powerful reverse-engineering skills.

However, it took a long time. Xiao Yu spent ten Blue Star days reassembling it, mainly because he was doing it all by himself. If he had someone to lend a hand, the time could have been cut in half.

This time, spending over a million on a robot and then disassembling and studying it brought him immense gains. He had learned a great deal of technology.

If the manufacturing equipment and industrial system on Earth were sound, Xiao Yu could completely replicate it.

However, because Earth’s industrial system was backward and incomplete, even if Xiao Yu knew how to manufacture it, it would be difficult to replicate. The performance and quality would also be inferior to the original product from Blue Star, as it involved too many industries, breakthroughs in material science, and so on.

But based on Earth’s existing technology tree, Xiao Yu could also adapt to local conditions and create a lower-spec “bare-bones version.” Even this bare-bones version would only be considered low-spec relative to Blue Star. On Earth, it would still represent a global technological leader, a product at least ten years ahead in the eyes of others.

…

Chapter 52: Gene Sequencing Report on Blue Star’s Native Fruits and Vegetables

For the next few days, Xiao Yu remained on Blue Star, holing himself up in his private villa to write a large AI agent model.

From now on, he couldn’t rely on others to transport goods between the two worlds. Xiao Yu had to use intelligent machines for unmanned transport, and he didn’t dare use the AI agents developed by Blue Star’s tech companies—the risk of exposing his secret was too high.

Although the AI agent he wrote himself wasn’t as sophisticated as the top-tier AI agents on Blue Star, it was more than enough to meet his own needs.

As the days went by, Xiao Yu continuously iterated his self-developed AI agent, running data through the model almost daily.

This required immense computing power. The quantum supercomputers on Blue Star dramatically accelerated Xiao Yu’s development speed. The available computing resources were so abundant that, as someone from Earth, he could barely comprehend it.

That’s right, Blue Star’s technology had already mastered quantum computing, and its power was an overwhelming competitive advantage over traditional classical computers.

By renting quantum supercomputers and gaining access to massive computing resources, the iteration speed of Xiao Yu’s AI agent became so fast it could be measured in days.

…

“Ha! I finally did it!”

Xiao Yu was thrilled as he watched the robot before him awaken successfully once more.

This was the very same robot produced by Vitas Industrial Group. Xiao Yu had replaced the original manufacturer’s AI agent with his own, and it was running properly.

“It’s nowhere near as good as the original AI agent, but it runs stably, it’s functional, and it’s more than enough for my purposes.” Xiao Yu said to himself, nodding in satisfaction as he examined the robot. He’d gone to all this trouble to solve the imminent transportation problem he was facing.

After that, Xiao Yu opened his holographic wristband and logged into Vitas Industrial Group’s official online store. He intended to purchase a batch of industrial-grade intelligent robots for transporting goods, so naturally, he wouldn’t be buying humanoid ones.

The company offered many types of industrial intelligent machines, including models specifically for logistics and transport.

“It’s this cheap? A single unit is only 31,800 Star Yuan?” Xiao Yu was delighted to see the price of the logistics robots. One bionic humanoid robot cost 1.59 million Star Yuan—enough to buy 50 of these.

But this was to be expected. The two types of intelligent products had different costs and different market positioning.

The logistics robots were classified as industrial equipment, positioned solely for industrial use. Their manufacturing costs weren’t high, with durability being their main feature, and their purpose was to perform simple, repetitive tasks. From that perspective, a price of 31,800 Star Yuan was neither expensive nor particularly cheap.

In contrast, bionic humanoid robots were positioned for the service industry, targeting middle- to high-net-worth individuals. They inherently carried a larger commercial premium, had a more sophisticated design, high production costs, and even offered personal appearance customization.

Xiao Yu browsed the Vitas Industrial online store, and seeing how affordable they were, he didn’t hesitate to select several models with different functions.

He didn’t place the order himself. Instead, he compiled a list and sent it directly to his assistant, Yan Lingjun, instructing her to purchase the equipment in the company’s name.

…

About four Blue Star days later, the intelligent machines Xiao Yu had requested were delivered and placed in his designated warehouse.

Upon receiving the news, Xiao Yu went to the warehouse that afternoon. He replaced the AI agents in all the newly purchased machines with the one he had developed himself. Although their performance would be reduced as a result, they were more than sufficient for his needs.

“Finally done!” Xiao Yu sighed in relief, alone in the warehouse. He sat down to rest for a moment, looking with satisfaction at the machines before him. All of their AI agents had now been replaced, and their data was stored locally instead of being uploaded to the cloud.

With that taken care of, Xiao Yu could finally rest easy.

From now on, transporting goods between the two worlds wouldn’t require him to painstakingly move everything himself, piece by piece.

A moment later, Xiao Yu activated his holographic wristband, brought up a display, and contacted Yan Lingjun.

“How’s the procurement of the graphene material going?” Xiao Yu asked the image of Yan Lingjun directly. She immediately replied, “CEO Xiao, for two thousand tons… the company’s current funds are insufficient…”

Xiao Yu cut straight to the point, “Don’t worry about the money. It’ll be here soon. Just finalize the deal with the seller as quickly as possible.”

“Understood,” Yan Lingjun nodded.

After ending the call with his beautiful assistant and secretary, Xiao Yu immediately went online and rented a fleet of unmanned cargo trucks to be dispatched from out of town.

The next step was to transport grain from Earth. Renting the unmanned trucks was a necessary formality to avoid having large quantities of grain materialize out of thin air in the warehouse. The comings and goings of cargo vehicles would make it look legitimate. He would have to follow a similar procedure when he transported the graphene material back to Earth.

For now, the scale of his operation was small enough to manage this way, but once it grew, he would have to change his approach and use the cover of legitimate overseas import-export trade.

Xiao Yu thought about the various armed rebel factions in Blue Star’s Heavenly Kingdom. If necessary in the future, he could arrange for people to operate in war-torn, chaotic regions. It was easier to fish in troubled waters in such places. The more chaos, the harder it would be to trace anything, providing perfect cover for his clandestine transport between the two worlds. It might even be possible to strike deals with some of the rebel factions.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu returned to his private villa in Fengquan City, opened the teleportation Star Gate, and went back to the underground lab in his villa on Earth. Despite the long time he had spent on Blue Star, only a few hours had passed on Earth.

After completing his routine decontamination process, Xiao Yu emerged, carrying a small, fully sealed container. Inside were samples of fruits and vegetables from Blue Star, all confirmed to be safe and free of any unknown contaminants.

He had brought the samples over to perform gene sequencing on Blue Star’s native plants.

Carrying the sample case, Xiao Yu headed to PrismTech headquarters. Once there, he went straight to the food processing research and development department. The company’s expansion into food processing and the grain trade was driven by its technological expertise.

For this new venture, the company had been hiring candidates with backgrounds in biotechnology and life sciences. It had a dedicated R&D department and had purchased a great deal of research equipment, including a gene sequencer.

Xiao Yu had come specifically to use this machine. Since he was the boss, there was naturally no issue with him doing so.

Two days later, the sequencing results were ready and laid out before Xiao Yu.

…

“It’s just as I suspected. The native fruits and vegetables on Blue Star can’t produce a next generation. Their reproductive ability has been blocked at the genetic level.” Xiao Yu mused, sitting at his desk in the Chairman’s office and reviewing the gene sequencing report.

The results showed that, without exception, none of the fruit and vegetable samples could reproduce.

This reminded Xiao Yu of certain grain seeds back home, like those for rice. Farmers had to buy new seeds from companies every year. If they used seeds saved from their own harvest, the yield would plummet, sometimes even resulting in a complete crop failure. Still, they would get some yield.

On Blue Star, however, the ability of all fruits and vegetables to reproduce was locked at the genetic level. This completely eliminated any possibility of private cultivation, creating a true, absolute monopoly.

Seeing these results, a question that had long been bothering Xiao Yu was finally answered.

He had never understood how Blue Star’s rulers could maintain such a complete and absolute monopoly over food like fruits, vegetables, and meat.

Normally, that should be impossible. Faced with such enormous profits, someone would inevitably buy some produce and risk cultivating it privately.

People would try indoor cultivation, and it wouldn’t be just one or two individuals. If it were possible, it would become a widespread practice. In other words, an absolute monopoly would be impossible to maintain, and fresh produce and meat couldn’t be sold at such exorbitant prices.

But Blue Star’s rulers had locked the reproductive capabilities of all produce and meat in circulation at the genetic level. Any food released onto the market was the product of artificial intervention and screening, designed to eliminate its ability to reproduce.

“That’s a ruthless move. No wonder they could maintain an absolute monopoly and so easily manufacture scarcity…” Xiao Yu thought, inwardly shocked.

Looking at the report, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. “Blue Star’s technological and productive capabilities completely dwarf Earth’s. To think that instead of using such advanced technology to benefit everyone, it’s become a powerful tool in the hands of the ruling elite to exploit the masses…”

Many things seem wonderful in theory, but reality often takes them in the opposite direction. Technology is a double-edged sword. It has no morality of its own; its effect, whether positive or negative, depends on who wields it. It can either benefit humanity or become its shackles.

Right now, however, Xiao Yu had little time to dwell on such philosophies. After confirming that all commercially available produce on Blue Star was sterile, he realized that his plan to transport fresh fruits and vegetables there was an incredibly high-risk venture.

Even a small amount would pose an enormous risk, because the produce he brought from Earth was not sterile and could reproduce normally.

This meant that his previous risk assessments had to be completely re-evaluated, and his original strategies needed immediate adjustment.

…

Chapter 53: A New Substitute Plan

“I can’t transport fresh produce, fruits, vegetables, or meat for now. The potential risks are too great, unless I have a force on Blue Star powerful enough to guarantee my safety, fearing no local powers…” Xiao Yu mused to himself, nodding repeatedly.

If the natives of Blue Star discovered that the fresh produce and meat he brought over had the ability to reproduce…

Good heavens, that would undoubtedly become sensational, explosive news that would rock the entire planet.

Once word reached the ruling elite at the pinnacle of Blue Star’s society, it would surely infuriate them. They would definitely mobilize resources and spare no expense to trace the source.

For the current Xiao Yu, the risk factor would skyrocket instantly.

At present, Xiao Yu had virtually no foundation on Blue Star and had only just begun to open up the situation. If he were to be targeted by Blue Star’s top rulers at this critical juncture, it would be impossible to make any progress.

Before he had enough strength and power to protect himself, he couldn’t be reckless. He had to keep a low profile and develop steadily.

“If fresh produce and other foods are a no-go for now, what else can I use as a substitute…” Xiao Yu muttered to himself, furrowing his brow in deep thought.

After pondering for a while, his eyes suddenly lit up. He had thought of an alternative plan. “I’ve got it. I’ll use finished, pure starch to substitute for the fresh produce and meat.”

Large quantities of finished starch are products of industrial processing. He could just transport them to Blue Star and sell them as synthetic starch. This wouldn’t carry the same huge potential risks as fresh produce.

On Blue Star, although the price of synthetic starch was much cheaper than fresh produce and meat, it was still severely inverted compared to the price of starch on Earth. One jin of synthetic starch on Blue Star cost 150 Star Yuan, meaning one ton cost 300,000 Star Yuan.

Here on Earth, the price of one ton of starch ranged from 2,800 to 3,000 RMB.

If he purchased 630 tons of starch on Earth at a price of 2,800 RMB per ton, the total cost would be 1,764,000 RMB.

By transporting these 630 tons of starch to Blue Star, he could cash them in for 188 million Star Yuan. The procurement cost for the 2,000 tons of graphene that Xiao Yu had set his sights on was also 188 million Star Yuan.

In other words, he only needed to spend 1,764,000 RMB on 630 tons of starch to get 2,000 tons of graphene material in return.

And when those 2,000 tons of graphene were brought back to Earth, they were expected to generate over 60 billion RMB in revenue.

Creating over 60 billion RMB in revenue from a cost of 1,764,000 RMB resulted in a profit margin of +3,401,260.66%—a terrifying profit rate of over 3.4 million times. Although this was about ten to twenty times less cost-effective than trading fresh produce, it was still horrifyingly profitable.

This was obviously completely acceptable to Xiao Yu. Plus, trading starch meant he didn’t have to worry about the enormous potential risks associated with fresh food.

“It’s settled then. For now, I’ll specialize in transporting starch. Fresh produce and the like can wait,” Xiao Yu decided firmly. This was the optimal solution for his operations on Blue Star at the moment.

The next day.

PrismTech headquarters, Chairman’s office.

Upon arriving at the company and entering his office, Xiao Yu called Yun Shu over. After a short wait, a knock came at the door.

“Come in.”

Xiao Yu glanced up and saw Yun Shu enter. He immediately gave his instructions: “I need you to arrange something. Earmark one hundred million in funds for the company’s food processing department to purchase starch.”

After readjusting his strategy, the scale of his starch trading would be massive, so he couldn’t handle the procurement himself.

Hearing this, Yun Shu’s eyes widened in surprise. When she recovered, she couldn’t help but ask, “Spend one hundred million to purchase starch? Are you sure? At the current market price, one hundred million can buy over 35,000 tons of starch.”

Did the food processing department really need that much starch? Besides, the shelf life of starch was only a year or two.

But what Yun Shu didn’t know was that Xiao Yu intended to use the company to make these large-scale purchases precisely because of starch’s short shelf life.

If they bought so much that they couldn’t use it all before it expired, wouldn’t they have to dispose of the problematic products? And in the process of “disposal,” he could shuttle a portion of the starch to Blue Star and then report it all as expired product to be written off.

Although it was a bit wasteful, turning one hundred million into sixty billion was a massive win no matter how you looked at it. Not just one hundred million—even one billion would be a huge score.

“I’m sure,” Xiao Yu said with absolute certainty. “Just do as I say. Buy one hundred million worth of starch, and do it as soon as possible.”

Hearing that he had already made up his mind, Yun Shu could only nod in response. “Alright, I’ll go arrange it.”

Xiao Yu added, “Oh, right. For safety’s sake, set up the storage facility for this starch somewhere far from the city.”

Yun Shu nodded. “Okay, got it.”

Although starch wasn’t classified as a dangerous explosive, when starch dust mixes with air to a certain concentration, it can explode upon encountering an open flame or an electrostatic spark.

With this matter arranged, Xiao Yu just had to wait for the company on Earth to procure the starch. With a quantity of over 35,000 tons, no one would ever notice him secretly taking 630 tons to Blue Star.

Later on, he would let most of the starch expire and write it all off as a loss.

At this moment, Yun Shu looked at Xiao Yu and asked, “Is there anything else?”

There was, in fact. Busy shuttling between two worlds, Xiao Yu had forgotten about his decision to compensate the retail investors. This was also very important. Xiao Yu knew his reputation was currently in shambles. “Old Sixth Xiao” was not a complimentary nickname, and he worried that he might get ambushed and ganked by investors who had lost their shirts if he wasn’t careful.

Xiao Yu opened the trading software on his work computer, glanced at his company’s stock, and then looked at his beautiful assistant. “Starting from the day the company’s stock hit a price swing from limit-up to limit-down on July 27th, until August 31st, when the stock price hit a historic low of 0.42 yuan, I want you to compile a list of all the small and medium retail investor accounts that traded our stock during this period. I need detailed profit and loss data for each account.”

Yun Shu couldn’t help but stare at Xiao Yu curiously. “What are you planning to do?”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Of course, I’m going to compensate these retail investors for their losses. I’ll pay for it myself; the company won’t have to bear the expense. This has to be done. Otherwise, my reputation will never recover, and I’ll have to watch my back for angry investors. I’d rather not get ganked and beaten to a pulp by shareholders who bought my stock.”

Yun Shu was stunned by his words, her beautiful face etched with shock. “That will be an astronomical sum. The company’s market capitalization reached 32.5 billion at its peak. Based on the circulating market value at the time, even if you exclude the major funds, a rough estimate would be over seven billion, maybe even eight billion.”

Looking completely unconcerned, Xiao Yu glanced at his assistant and said with a calm, composed smile, “It’s indeed an astronomical sum, but it’s not that much money for me now. By spending these few billion, not only can I instantly restore my and the company’s shattered public reputation and image, but the positive PR effect will be maxed out from then on. In the long run, this deal is more than worth it.”

Yun Shu was speechless for a moment. Considering the current state of the company’s and Xiao Yu’s reputations, they were indeed in a sorry state.

After a moment, Yun Shu looked at Xiao Yu intently and asked again, “Are you really sure you want to do this?”

Xiao Yu nodded with great certainty. “Yes.”

“Alright, I’ll handle it,” Yun Shu said. She thought for a moment, then looked at Xiao Yu again and said, “It’s just that the exchange might not give us the detailed trading data for that period. After all, what you’re doing sets a very ‘vicious’ precedent for many other listed companies.”

There were countless stocks in the A-share market that had plummeted. Everyone was gleefully fleecing gullible investors. For you, Xiao Yu, to turn around and compensate investors after your stock crashed… aren’t you just slapping all of us in the face?

Xiao Yu’s actions would indeed offend a lot of people, and he was well aware of that. However, after weighing the pros and cons, he still decided to go through with it.

No matter what, possessing the Transference Star Ring was his greatest source of confidence.

Xiao Yu spoke calmly, “Don’t worry, it’s impossible for the exchange to refuse. If we apply for the data and they deny it, they’ll just be making trouble for themselves. Once the investors find out, all the firepower will be directed at the exchange. If I were managing the exchange, I definitely wouldn’t invite that kind of trouble.”

After a moment’s thought, Xiao Yu added, “However, when you send people to the exchange to request the data, don’t tell them my real purpose. Just come up with some other reason. That way, it won’t be so difficult for the exchange. As long as we achieve our goal, we should try not to make things hard for others.”

Yun Shu nodded. “Okay, I understand.”

The capital market was a complex place, and its waters ran incredibly deep.

If he openly announced his intention to compensate investors for their losses, the exchange would face immense pressure to deny the data request.

A certain force would surely try to obstruct it, as some would see the precedent Xiao Yu was setting as a very “vicious” act and would do their utmost to stop it.

But if the exchange didn’t provide the data, they would be flamed into oblivion by furious investors. The investors’ anger toward Xiao Yu would be redirected to the exchange, and it might even be amplified, bringing extremely negative consequences for the exchange.

If Xiao Yu’s side didn’t reveal the true purpose of the data request, the exchange could just pass the buck. I didn’t know beforehand! How was I supposed to know Xiao Yu was requesting the data to compensate investors? If I had known, I definitely wouldn’t have provided it. They could perfectly shift the blame and avoid the wrath of the investors.

Chapter 54: Restructuring the Board of Directors

In the following days, PrismTech’s bid to purchase over thirty-five thousand tons of grain, the application to access the trading data of small retail investors, and other matters were unfolding in an orderly manner. The merger and restructuring with Linghan New Materials and other related affairs were also progressing smoothly and steadily.

Xiao Yu wasn’t idle either. After setting these various matters in motion, he decided to restructure the company’s Board of Directors.

The investors from Penghui Capital had been wiped out and forced out, so their appointed directors had to withdraw. At the same time, the newly joined Ruilian Group also requested a seat on the board, sending Wen Suqing to serve as a director representing their interests.

Restructuring the Board of Directors required a vote at a shareholders’ meeting, so Xiao Yu decisively called for an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting.

Without a doubt, the resolution to restructure the Board of Directors was passed smoothly.

The resolution passed at this shareholders’ meeting continued to delegate decision-making power for many major issues to the Board of Directors. As long as the board passed a resolution, it would not be necessary to convene a shareholders’ meeting for every decision.

This was to improve the efficiency of the corporate decision-making process, as a shareholders’ meeting is only held once or twice a year, and convening one is troublesome. The waiting period from the public announcement to the actual meeting alone was ten days.

The Board of Directors, on the other hand, could be convened for a resolution at any time, with no limit on the number of meetings.

To avoid ties when the Board of Directors votes on resolutions, the number of board seats is usually an odd number, such as five, seven, or nine seats.

After this restructuring, PrismTech’s Board of Directors maintained its seven seats. Xiao Yu held the right to nominate more than half of the directors, allowing him to nominate three people to the board. Combined with his own vote, this gave him a 4-to-3 majority, ensuring his firm control over the company’s Board of Directors.

For these three nomination rights, Xiao Yu nominated Yun Shu, Fu Kang, and Xu Changming to the board.

Song Yuan would serve as the company’s independent director.

The remaining two seats were given to the institutional investors. Wen Suqing joined the board to represent the interests of Ruilian Group, and the other seat also went to an investor institution, whose appointed director was a man named Qian Wenhu.

After the board’s restructuring, the seven directors of PrismTech’s latest term were: Xiao Yu (Chairman), Yun Shu, Fu Kang, Song Yuan (Independent Director), Wen Suqing, Xu Changming, and Qian Wenhu.

Xiao Yu also made personnel changes to the company’s core management team. This did not require a resolution from a shareholders’ meeting; now that the new board was restructured, a decision by the board was enough for the changes to take effect.

The biggest change was that Xiao Yu would no longer serve as the company’s CEO. In the future, he would need to devote a great deal of energy to matters on Blue Star and certainly wouldn’t have enough to continue as PrismTech’s CEO.

No matter how energetic and capable Xiao Yu was, he was still only human.

After careful consideration, he decided to step down as CEO. He would no longer personally handle the executive work; as the company’s Chairman and helmsman, he only needed to focus on its broad strategic direction and decision-making.

The new CEO would be Xu Changming, who was also nominated by Xiao Yu to the Board of Directors.

Another key personnel appointment was making Wen Suqing PrismTech’s Chief Legal Officer. She would be responsible for establishing a dedicated in-house legal team for the company. This team, highly paid by the company, would handle only legal matters related to PrismTech and would not take on any outside cases.

Beyond this, Xiao Yu also made several key arrangements for Yun Shu, intentionally dedicating resources to groom her for a bigger role.

…

“Come in.”

Inside the Chairman’s office, Xiao Yu responded to the knock on the door, glancing up to see Yun Shu entering the room.

“I’m afraid I’m not competent enough to handle the responsibilities you’ve assigned me,” Yun Shu said after approaching his desk and hesitating for a moment. “Could you possibly reconsider my new roles?”

Xiao Yu leaned back in his executive chair and smiled at Yun Shu. “How strange. Most people would be popping champagne to celebrate a promotion and a raise; they’d be overjoyed. And yet, you seem unhappy about it?”

Yun Shu said worriedly, “No, that’s not it. I’m worried that my lack of ability will cause me to mess things up, which would have a negative impact on the company, and could even lead to major losses.”

Xiao Yu said with a calm expression, “For major decisions, you just need to vote with me. It’s no big deal.”

Yun Shu quickly explained, “Of course I’ll vote with you. I’m talking about the financial auditing work. You’re putting me in charge of such a large and important department, but I have almost no experience in finance…”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu pondered for a moment, then said, as if speaking to himself yet also to her, “From the perspective of ability and experience, you are indeed not the most suitable candidate. But from the perspective of trust and reliability, you are the only choice.”

Xiao Yu had thought long and hard about Yun Shu’s new role in this personnel reshuffle. Besides nominating her to the Board of Directors, he had also made her the Chief Financial Officer, putting her in charge of the company’s financial auditing.

These arrangements were all decisions Xiao Yu made after carefully weighing the pros and cons.

This was because his considerations weren’t limited to Earth; he was looking at the bigger picture, one that included Blue Star. In the future, whether he was transporting goods from Earth to Blue Star or from Blue Star to Earth, PrismTech would be the crucial hub on the Earth side.

The areas of corporate statements, finance, and auditing all needed to be handled by someone absolutely trustworthy.

Trust had become the most important factor for Xiao Yu. Ability was certainly important, but it definitely came second to trust. Trust was the top priority.

Clearly, Xiao Yu trusted Yun Shu deeply. He had also realized that she might have developed feelings for him. Xiao Yu himself was considering this possibility, and he was increasingly finding it a worthwhile prospect.

If Yun Shu became his woman, their interests would be perfectly aligned, and the issue of trust would naturally be resolved.

In the future, he would need to transport massive quantities of grain from Earth to Blue Star. The numerous financial matters on the Earth side, such as PrismTech’s accounts receivable and payable, clearly required an extremely trustworthy and reliable person to manage them and ease his burden.

Yun Shu was clearly the person he valued for this role, and the most suitable candidate he could think of at the moment.

Finally, Xiao Yu looked at Yun Shu and said slowly, “Many of the founding members from the company’s early days have left over the years. Only you, Fu Kang, and Xu Changming—a few of the original old guard—have stayed with me until now. You are all people I trust, my capable right-hand subordinates.”

Xiao Yu’s gaze met Yun Shu’s. He paused for a moment before adding with emphasis, “But if I had to say who in the entire company I trust the most, it’s not Fu Kang, not Xu Changming, and certainly not anyone else. It’s you.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu’s eyes filled with shock and astonishment, along with a hidden trace of joy that followed her surprise.

…

Chapter 55: A High Chance of Winning Her Over

Xiao Yu rose from his desk and walked over to Yun Shu. He slowly raised a hand, placing his palm on his beautiful assistant’s back and guiding her toward the sofa in the lounge area.

“Have a seat,” Xiao Yu said with a gentle smile. After Yun Shu sat down, he took the seat right next to her, instead of sitting opposite her to maintain distance as he usually did.

At this moment, Yun Shu’s mind was in a bit of a daze. The instant Xiao Yu’s hand touched her back, the gesture had sent ripples through her heart. He had never done anything like that before, and this was the first time they had ever sat so close together.

A pleasant surprise blossomed in Yun Shu’s heart, but it was overshadowed by confusion and bewilderment.

Xiao Yu’s actions were a clear sign that he had realized just how important Yun Shu was to his business arrangements. Turning her into his woman was undoubtedly the best course of action. Setting aside the business considerations, on a personal level, he also found Yun Shu quite suitable.

However, having learned a profound lesson from Chu Jintang, Xiao Yu had no intention of remarrying. The stakes tied to him would only grow larger and more complex in the future. In such a situation, not being married was better. It would ensure that Yun Shu focused all her attention on Xiao Yu himself, which, even from a purely pragmatic standpoint, was her optimal solution.

The possibility of betrayal would be minimized. At the very least, she wouldn’t betray him for material gain, because doing so would not only fail to get her anything from him but would also result in her losing everything—both him and his wealth.

Xiao Yu still wasn’t entirely sure if Yun Shu felt the same way about him. The fact that she had privately inquired about his divorce from Chu Jintang might have just been simple curiosity or a bit of gossip about her boss’s private life. He couldn’t rule out that possibility.

Clearly, Xiao Yu’s actions at this moment were an attempt to proactively close the distance between them.

If Yun Shu wasn’t interested, Xiao Yu wouldn’t force it. While making her his woman would be a great boon to his career, it was only the optimal solution, not the only one. If it didn’t work out, he would just find another way.

Xiao Yu smiled at Yun Shu and said, “Let me guess, there’s another factor you didn’t mention. You’re worried about the office gossip, about people saying you and the boss have something going on, which is why your promotion was like a rocket launch, shooting straight to the top.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu tilted her head slightly to glance at Xiao Yu, who was sitting to her left, but she seemed hesitant to speak.

Xiao Yu continued with a smile, “Don’t worry about the gossip. If I ever hear about anyone spreading rumors, I’ll have them pack their things and get out. Besides, I’m single again. If they really push me, I’ll just marry you, make a grand official announcement, and see who dares to keep flapping their gums.”

Yun Shu, who had just looked away, suddenly turned her head back to stare at Xiao Yu, her almond-shaped eyes wide with utter disbelief. For a moment, she was completely stunned.

“Look how scared you are. I’m just kidding, haha,” Xiao Yu added with a laugh. In truth, he was using a joke as a pretense to gauge her reaction. As he spoke, he watched her, carefully observing the changes in her expression, trying to read some useful information from them.

Yun Shu quickly recovered from her shock. Seeing Xiao Yu smiling at her from such a close distance, she couldn’t help but avert her gaze, turning her head to the side. A gentle ripple passed through her autumn-water eyes, and a faint blush crept onto her cheeks, revealing a rare, captivating charm. In truth, Yun Shu was a great beauty, with both a stunning figure and a gorgeous face.

What’s gotten into him today? Why is he acting so strangely? Is he… flirting with me? How is that possible… Yun Shu’s mind began to race, and the thought itself felt incredible to her.

Yun Shu recalled how, in all their years of working together, Xiao Yu had always maintained a professional distance. What was happening today was a first.

Xiao Yu’s sudden change of behavior left her head spinning.

Seeing her lost in thought, Xiao Yu decided to stop there and abruptly steered the conversation back to business. “The company’s decision regarding your promotion has already been passed by the Board of Directors. We can’t just reverse it on a whim, can we? We’re a publicly listed company. Doing that would make investors think our management is in disarray, which would reflect poorly on us.”

Xiao Yu continued, “Lacking some ability and experience isn’t a problem. You can learn and accumulate it. In short, I believe you can do it. I don’t trust anyone but you. Help me, okay?”

After he spoke, he looked at her without moving. Yun Shu turned her head slightly to meet his gaze.

Her mind was already in a muddled state. Faced with Xiao Yu’s gaze, which was filled with encouragement, trust, expectation, and sincerity, Yun Shu couldn’t hold back any longer. It was as if the option to refuse had been erased from her dictionary. She instinctively nodded and murmured, “Mm… okay, I’ll listen to you. I’ll give it a try.”

Xiao Yu snapped his fingers, smiling in satisfaction. “That’s the spirit.”

After they chatted for a little while longer, Yun Shu looked at Xiao Yu and smiled brightly. “I should get back to work. There are a lot of things I need to handle for the transition.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded with a smile. “Go on.”

Yun Shu gracefully rose and walked toward the office door. Xiao Yu watched her elegant, enchanting figure, and recalling her reactions during their conversation, he felt there was a high chance of winning her over.

Time flew by to the end of the month, Thursday, September 30th.

Since its first limit-up on September 1st, PrismTech’s stock price had hit the limit-up from the opening bell every single trading day of the month. Today was the last trading day of September. There had been a total of twenty trading days this month, and PrismTech had achieved twenty consecutive straight-line limit-ups, continuously breaking the record for consecutive limit-ups for an individual stock on the Growth Enterprise Market index.

From its all-time low of 0.42 yuan to its twentieth consecutive limit-up today, the latest price was now 15.97 yuan per share. In just one short month, since its rise began with the first limit-up, the stock had accumulated a staggering gain of +3702.38%, multiplying by a terrifying thirty-seven times.

The company’s total market capitalization had also recovered from 365 million to 13.862 billion.

For the retail investors who had been bottom fishing at 0.42 yuan, this wave was truly an epic wealth explosion. They had been waking up to a 20% limit-up every day for a whole month—the kind of thing that would make you wake up laughing from your dreams.

Someone who casually invested twenty or thirty thousand yuan would have seen it turn into over a million this month.

One particularly bold retail investor had gone all in at the 0.42 yuan bottom with one hundred thousand yuan. Now, it had become 3.8 million yuan. Every time he looked at his account balance, he felt as if he were in a dream, terrified it might all just be an illusion.

In the following month of October, PrismTech’s stock price continued its relentless northward climb, recording another four straight-line limit-ups. This brought the total to twenty-four consecutive limit-ups, with the stock price rising to 33.11 yuan and the company’s market capitalization reaching 28.739 billion.

From the first limit-up at 0.42 yuan to the current 33.11 yuan, the cumulative gain had expanded to a terrifying +7783.33%. In just twenty-four trading days, it had skyrocketed by more than 77.8 times, continuously setting new records for a unilateral rally in the history of the A-share market.

“Lord Xiao, no, God Xiao, no, no, no, Papa Xiao! You’re my dad, my sugar daddy, my ancestor!” The retail investor who had gone all in with one hundred thousand yuan at 0.42 was now ecstatic. He watched as his account, in less than a month and a half, had ballooned from one hundred thousand yuan to an unbelievable 7.88 million.

For him, this was complete financial freedom.

Just then, his phone rang. It was his immediate superior from work. “What the hell are you doing? Do you know what time it is? Why aren’t you at work yet?”

The retail investor, sitting at home, glanced at the asset value displayed in his stock account on his computer. Without a moment’s hesitation, he retorted, “Work? Screw that! I’m done being a wage slave! I’ve already made it to Rome! Bye-bye now!”

Before his stunned superior could even react, he decisively hung up the phone.

It was currently 2:46 PM, with just over ten minutes until the market closed. PrismTech’s first twenty-three limit-ups had all been on low volume, but today, for the first time, the volume was high, with turnover already exceeding one billion. Despite this, the stock never broke the limit; it was sealed tight all day.

“I’ll sell five million to cash out and secure my profits. Don’t want this to turn out to be a pipe dream. As for the remaining 2.88 million, what’s wrong with holding on and accompanying you until the end of time? Even if you get delisted, I won’t sell a single share!” After making his decision, the retail investor sold five million worth of shares at the limit-up price before the market closed.

He planned to lock in his remaining position of 2.88 million, a total of 87,000 shares, for the long term. He had already cashed out five million. This stock had completely changed his destiny as a wage slave. Even if he held it until the end of time and lost it all, he could accept it.

Chapter 56: An Unbelievable Myth of Wealth

Around 4 PM.

Yun Shu entered the Chairman’s office.

“The company’s third-quarter financial report has been audited. Third-quarter revenue was 472 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of -22.18%. Net profit was a loss of -365 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of -510.12%.” Yun Shu looked at Xiao Yu, who was sitting inside, and placed the report on his desk.

The main reason for such a dismal third-quarter loss was Xiao Yu’s decision to have the company cross over into food processing and grain trading, which drastically increased operating expenses.

Furthermore, the company was in the midst of a massive hiring spree. The previous workforce of about 1,500 had expanded to over 2,000, and recruitment was still ongoing on a large scale.

At the same time, Xiao Yu had given all employees a substantial raise. These actions were all part of his deliberate plan to inflate the company’s operating costs, which was reflected in the financial report as a staggering third-quarter loss of 365 million.

However, once the merger and restructuring with Linghan New Materials was complete and their financial results were consolidated, it would be an entirely different story.

Future profit margins were set to skyrocket to an absurd degree, so Xiao Yu was planning ahead, finding ways to raise the company’s overall operating costs.

Yun Shu continued, “If we consolidate Linghan New Materials’ performance into the parent company, the third-quarter financial report would turn a profit. The Q3 net profit would reach 227 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of +155.05%.”

The two companies were still in the process of restructuring, so their financial statements had not yet been consolidated; each was reporting its own figures.

Xiao Yu picked up the report from the desk, opened it, and skimmed through it. After a brief look, he set it aside, looked up at Yun Shu, and said with a smile, “Not bad. I told you there’d be no problem with you as the Chief Financial Officer. See? You’re doing a great job.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu couldn’t help but complain, “I’ve been run ragged recently. It’s not just tiring; I’m constantly worried about making a mistake. My head was about to explode.”

At this, a faint smile appeared on her face as her beautiful eyes fixed on Xiao Yu. “Before, I thought my raise was too much. Now, I feel it wasn’t enough; in fact, you raised it too little! I’m doing the work of an assistant, a CFO, and a director on an assistant’s salary. I feel like I’ve been tricked! You have to give me a bigger raise in the second round.”

Yun Shu had clearly changed. In the past, when she reported to Xiao Yu, it was strictly business. But now, she showed a tendency to interact beyond work, attempting to close the distance between them.

Xiao Yu leaned back in his executive chair and said leisurely, “Stop playing coy after getting such a sweet deal. I gave you, and only you, special treatment, letting you buy in when the company’s stock was dirt cheap. It’s gone up more than 77 times. You’re a little multimillionaire now, and you’re still not satisfied.”

At the mention of this, a radiant smile blossomed on Yun Shu’s lovely face.

Of course, she knew about the stock’s massive surge. Following Xiao Yu’s advice, she had bought 5.5 million shares of cheap stock. In just a month and a half, she had reaped an astonishing return of over 65 times her investment. It would be stranger if she weren’t happy; no one would complain about having too much money.

Yun Shu now held a total of 8.5 million shares. At the current share price, their market value had soared to 281.435 million.

After the brief interlude, Xiao Yu glanced at the financial report on his desk. “Disclose the third-quarter report to the public today.”

“Okay, understood,” Yun Shu nodded. After a moment, she looked at Xiao Yu and said, “I have a suggestion. Would you like to hear it?”

“Oh? Let’s hear it,” Xiao Yu said with a smile.

Yun Shu spoke thoughtfully, “I think it might be better if we changed the company’s name. Although the word ‘Prism’ fits the optics and optoelectronics field, there was the ‘PRISM scandal.’ Didn’t you say our goal is to build the company into a world-class giant?”

“When our company goes global in the future, the current name will inevitably remind people of the PRISM scandal. It could affect our brand value and require us to spend more on maintaining our corporate image.”

After she finished, Yun Shu looked at Xiao Yu, who pondered for a moment before nodding. “You have a point.”

A moment later, Xiao Yu looked up at his beautiful assistant and smiled. “An excellent suggestion. I’ll take it. For the new name, we just need to change one word.”

Curiosity piqued, Yun Shu met his gaze. “Which word?”

Xiao Yu said slowly, “Back in the 1990s, the venerable Qian was already paying attention to virtual reality technology and even gave it a very local name: ‘Spiritual Mirror.’ Let’s change the company name to Spiritual Mirror Tech. It’s settled!”

Half an hour later, around 5 PM, PrismTech released its third-quarter financial report.

The company’s Q3 revenue was 472 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of -22.18%, with a net loss of -365 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of -510.12%. If any other company had released such a report, its stock would have hit its limit down the next day. This was undoubtedly major bearish news.

The following day, PrismTech’s stock price hit its limit up again, marking 25 consecutive limit-ups.

However, the streak of straight-line limit-ups from the opening bell ended at 24. Today, the stock opened significantly higher but not at its limit. After the market opened, the price quickly dived, at one point going into the red and dropping by -1.26%. This stock had accumulated an extremely terrifying amount of profit-taking pressure. From its bottom of 0.42 yuan, it had experienced 24 straight-line limit-ups. After today’s high open, its cumulative gain had exceeded an unprecedented 90-fold increase.

Seeing that it didn’t seal a limit-up from the opening bell, many holders began to sell to cash out and secure their profits.

But the buying support was also incredible. In the afternoon, the stock reversed from weak to strong, and with high turnover, it was pushed up to its limit, continuing to set a new record for consecutive limit-ups.

The third-quarter loss had absolutely no effect. The current stock trend was driven by the restructuring narrative; looking at performance was meaningless.

With this high-turnover limit-up, trading volume surged, reaching a full-day turnover of 6.778 billion.

Those who had missed out now had a chance to get on board, but not many dared to chase a stock that had already soared more than 90 times from its bottom. This was a first in the two or three-decade history of the A-share market.

The next day, Friday, PrismTech opened more than seven percent higher. After the opening bell, it pushed aggressively upward, successfully sealing its limit-up after half an hour, marking its 26th consecutive limit-up.

After the weekend, on Monday, October 18, PrismTech hit its limit up once again, achieving an epic 27 consecutive limit-ups.

Over the next two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, PrismTech’s stock price continued to open high and reach its limit through high-turnover relays.

On Wednesday, October 20, it hit its 29th consecutive limit up, with the price surging to a new historical high of 82.39 yuan. The company’s market capitalization soared to 71.515 billion yuan. Xiao Yu’s nominal net worth also rose with the tide, setting a new personal record of 24.7 billion.

In less than two months, the company’s stock price had climbed from 0.42 yuan to its current 82.39 yuan, a cumulative gain of +19,516.66% over the period—a full 195-fold increase, setting an unparalleled record in the history of the A-share market.

Even those who had been stuck with the stock at 50.50 yuan, if they had held on through the earlier brutal drop, would have not only recovered all their unrealized losses but also realized a 63 percent profit.

This rally created an unbelievable myth of wealth. Many retail investors with heaven-defying luck had bought at the bottom. By just throwing in tens of thousands of yuan, they were now looking at millions, with many easily making several million. There were even some small retail investors who earned tens of millions, achieving financial freedom in one fell swoop.

Chapter 57: They Won’t Sign the Supplementary Agreement? What Right Do They Have to Negotiate Terms With Me?

At that moment, PrismTech had become the undisputed, super-popular leading stock in both markets. Its popularity was explosive, and retail investors worshipped it completely. The stock forum’s comment section was buzzing with unprecedented activity.

[Who could have imagined? I thought 50.50 was a cosmic double top. After the sell-off to 0.42 yuan, it looked like I wouldn’t break even in eight lifetimes. But in less than two months, it hit a new high. Damn, that’s incredible!]

[From 0.42 to the current 82.39, that’s a cumulative gain of 195 times. Holy crap…]

[This is just insane. Consecutive limit-ups all the way. The sky’s truly the limit.]

[Anyone who did some bottom fishing at 0.42 still holding?]

[I’m still holding strong. I bought in with 30,000 at 0.42, and now it’s 5.88 million. Not selling until the first down day.]

[Damn, the jealousy is killing me. That’s financial freedom in one go.]

[Profit and loss come from the same source. I hope whoever cut their losses at 0.42 doesn’t see this stock’s chart now. They’d probably faint from anger.]

[I got wiped out at 1.1, lost over 300,000. I’m going crazy.]

[I’m stunned. I was stuck with a losing stock at 50.50. I never dreamed I’d see the day I could break even, let alone this quickly.]

[Isn’t the regulator going to do anything? Other stocks get investigated and put in the ‘little black room’ after two or three limit-ups. This one has had 27 consecutive limit-ups, triggering all kinds of alerts, and still no ‘little black room’?]

[Financial freedom in one shot, family! Went all in with 100,000 at 0.42, and I’m still holding. My account is at 19.6 million now. Hahaha, thank you, Lord Xiao, for this godsent fortune!!]

[Since you called me family, I don’t mind you making money. I’m even genuinely happy for you. But the problem is, damn it, you’ve made way too much! I absolutely cannot accept this!!!]

[So jealous I’m literally falling apart…]

[I can’t take it anymore! Let’s go, let’s go! I’m gonna lose all my money!!]

[I thought the previous sell-off with limit-downs after consecutive limit-ups was brutal enough. I never expected this main rising wave of limit-up surges to be even more intense.]

PrismTech’s headquarters.

At this moment, Yun Shu was in Xiao Yu’s office. The two of them were sitting on the sofa in the lounge area.

Yun Shu methodically reported to Xiao Yu, “We’ve received the data from the exchange, and the statistical analysis has been compiled. During the window from July 27th to August 31st, a total of 180,000 small and medium-sized retail investors had accounts that were all in the red. Their total loss amounts to 8.334 billion.”

After speaking, she lifted her gaze to Xiao Yu and said seriously, “Are you really planning to pay this money to compensate these retail investors for their losses? It’s not too late to change your mind. This isn’t 830,000; it’s over 8.3 billion…”

For Xiao Yu, it wouldn’t be long before money became just a string of numbers. What he valued more now were his reputation, public image, and personal safety. If money could easily solve these problems, then it was money well spent.

Xiao Yu looked at the document and said calmly, “Of course. Not only will I cover their losses, but I’ll also give them a premium equivalent to a 20% daily limit-up as emotional compensation.”

The beautiful assistant sitting beside him was momentarily stunned. Multiplying by 120% would bring the total to exactly ten billion. Yun Shu glanced at Xiao Yu and said, “A full ten billion, and it has to be cash. Where are you going to get that much money?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu replied with a relaxed and carefree expression, “It’s not like I have to pay it immediately, so there’s no rush. I decide when to pay the compensation. Once the company is profitable, I’ll approve a large dividend, and the money will be there.”

With a god-tier cheat like the Transference Star Ring and an entire Blue Star world with technology far surpassing Earth’s exclusively at his disposal, making money was not an issue for him at all.

Just as Xiao Yu was talking with his beautiful assistant, they both heard a knock on the door.

“Come in!”

Xiao Yu called out. They both looked towards the sound and saw Xu Changming opening the door and entering the office. When he saw Xiao Yu and Yun Shu together, he was secretly surprised.

He had noticed a detail: Yun Shu was currently sitting right next to Xiao Yu, and they were very close.

This had never happened before. Xiao Yu always sat face-to-face with his subordinates, and he had never sat side-by-side with a female employee, let alone this close.

Xu Changming secretly guessed that their relationship might be different from before, but he wasn’t one to gossip and acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

“CEO Xiao, I’ve spoken with the manufacturers. Currently, more than eighty percent of them are unwilling to sign the supplementary agreement. Their reason is that it’s their business how they handle the products they paid for, and our company has no right to interfere.” Xu Changming said as he came over and sat down on the sofa in the lounge area.

“None of them are willing to sign? Including Xiaomi, Honor, and the ‘blue and green’ companies?” Xiao Yu immediately asked.

Xu Changming replied in a low voice, “Those few manufacturers haven’t given a clear response yet. They all said they are discussing the matter internally and will get back to our company once they have a decision.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “So they haven’t taken a stance yet. It seems they have some reservations. Since that’s the case, we’ll give them some time.”

At this point, Xiao Yu’s tone shifted to one of casual indifference. “As for those who won’t sign the supplementary agreement, put all of them on my little black list. Blacklist every single one.”

Xu Changming was taken aback for a moment, then couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t that a bit too aggressive?”

Xiao Yu said flatly, “Aggressive is what I want. My company’s technology is the best in the world, an exclusive monopoly with no alternatives. Why shouldn’t I be assertive? Even if I abandoned the entire civilian market, I’d still have military contracts as a safety net. What right do they have to negotiate terms with me? It’s as if I can’t survive without their pocket change. I’m doing them a favor by selling to them. Since they’re snubbing a favor, we’ll just cut them off.”

Refusing to sign the supplementary agreement meant they wanted to be middlemen, and Xiao Yu wasn’t going to indulge them. Even if they had a change of heart now, Xiao Yu wouldn’t do business with them anymore.

He had driven down the price of the graphene material to accelerate the development of Earth’s tech industry, which in turn would allow him to bring more of Blue Star’s black technology to Earth.

They wanted to act as resellers, drive the price back up, and hinder the progress of Earth’s tech industry. In that case, why should he let them earn effortless, exorbitant profits? Wouldn’t it be better if Xiao Yu set the price high himself?

Xu Changming was quite surprised to hear Xiao Yu’s stance, but seeing his resolute attitude, he didn’t say anything more. He would just record all the manufacturers who refused to sign in the little black book and blacklist them.

“If they’re willing to sign the supplementary agreement later, should we resume cooperation?” Xu Changming asked.

“No need,” Xiao Yu said concisely.

“Uh…” Xu Changming paused, then nodded. “Alright, I understand.”

“Why are you turning down money like this…” Yun Shu, who was beside him, couldn’t help but say.

Xiao Yu tilted his head, glanced at his beautiful assistant, and said with a chuckle, “It’s to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, to warn others against following a bad example. It’s necessary to flex our muscles sometimes. We don’t have to worry about making money or finding buyers. The quality and technology of our products blow all competitors out of the water by a mile, and our prices crush them by ten miles. Plus, the range of applications is extremely wide. In short, there are too many buyers. If they don’t buy, plenty of others are lining up to.”

“CEO Xiao is right. Our advantage is simply astonishing,” Xu Changming said with a smile. “It’s time for others to act according to our wishes, not the other way around.”

Clearly, this was the confidence that came with black technology, a global monopoly, and being the sole supplier.

On the entire Earth, besides Xiao Yu, there was no second supplier capable of providing a product of such high quality at such a low price.

Chapter 58: He Did Something Unprecedented in the Industry

Around 5:00 PM.

PrismTech issued an announcement, officially changing its name to “Linzhou Spiritual Mirror Technology Co., Ltd.,” or “Spiritual Mirror Tech” for short.

From this day forward, the company’s name was officially changed. The stock’s name would be updated accordingly, but as it was currently under ST status, it would be changed to “*ST Spiritual Mirror.”

The next day, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock opened four points higher, but the opening price turned out to be the highest for the entire day. It then dived to a -20.00% limit down, failing in its push for thirty consecutive limit-ups. The stock price fell back to 65.91 RMB, and its market value shrank to 57.209 billion.

Today’s limit down was not due to any major negative news. The market interpreted it as a normal profit-taking by investors.

In reality, it was the main players—namely Ruilian Group—pulling back to let others on board. They were allowing several other institutional investors into the market so they could all drive up the company’s market value together.

…

Friday, October 29th.

Around 10:30 in the morning, Xiao Yu, who was at the company, decided to publicly announce the compensation plan for the retail investors. He sat silently before his computer, his hands flying across the keyboard.

He quickly finished drafting “An Open Letter to All Our Small and Medium-Sized Investors.”

The letter’s main content stated that between July 27th and August 31st, during which the company’s stock price had plummeted, a total of 180,000 small and medium-sized retail investors had suffered major losses, amounting to a total of 8.334 billion RMB.

In the open letter, Xiao Yu clearly stated that once he earned the money in the future, he would personally compensate everyone for their losses. Furthermore, he would add a premium equivalent to a +20% limit-up on top of that, meaning he would pay out ten billion to compensate these 180,000 investors.

In addition, Xiao Yu also shared his vision for the company’s future in the letter, confidently declaring that Spiritual Mirror Tech had already made a secret major breakthrough in the field of artificial intelligence and would be announcing the results very soon.

After finishing, Xiao Yu reread the letter to confirm there were no issues and then called Yun Shu over.

A moment later, Yun Shu arrived at the Chairman’s office. Xiao Yu glanced at her, handed her a printed copy of the letter, and instructed, “Release this open letter as a company announcement.”

Yun Shu took it, glanced at the contents, and nodded. “Alright.”

…

Half an hour later, around 11:00 AM, Xiao Yu’s open letter was publicly released.

Its publication immediately caused a massive sensation. Everyone, from the industry to the capital markets, was utterly shocked. When people first saw the news, their subconscious reaction was to assume it was fake.

Since when does a company’s boss compensate retail investors for their stock market losses?

Investing has risks, and profits and losses are one’s own responsibility. Every investor who enters the market understands this principle.

But it was soon confirmed that this was not fake news. It was real, an official announcement from Spiritual Mirror Tech. It couldn’t be more genuine.

An uproar erupted!

The news sent shockwaves through the public, and everyone was in disbelief, completely stunned.

The investors who had gotten burned and suffered huge losses on Spiritual Mirror Tech went into a frenzy. They read the contents of the open letter, rubbing their eyes vigorously to make sure it was real, and were then left dumbfounded.

Some of the investors who had lost terribly were stunned. Not only could they break even, but they would also get a 20% limit-up premium?

By noon, the news was a trending topic.

A certain listed company’s stock had plummeted recently, causing 180,000 retail investors to suffer heavy losses. The company’s boss was personally paying out ten billion to compensate them.

…

“For Xiao Yu, this young man, to have such boldness and vision… I can’t help but see him in a new light.” Xiang Chongguang was reading a news report that had republished Xiao Yu’s open letter. After finishing, he immediately gave his commentary.

Xiang Chongguang was now the man at the helm of Ruilian Group. His old boss had stepped down two weeks prior, and he had successfully taken over.

Just then, his assistant said, “This Xiao Yu has done something unprecedented. This is the first time a company boss has personally paid out of his own pocket to compensate retail investors for their losses. If he can really come up with ten billion, his reputation will be instantly reversed and shoot through the roof.”

Then, Xiang Chongguang’s assistant added, “But can he come up with that much money?”

In the open letter, Xiao Yu had also clearly stated a precondition for paying out the ten billion: he had to earn the money first.

He didn’t give a specific timeline, which provided him with plenty of room to maneuver and avoid being cornered if something unexpected happened. After all, he had learned his lesson from the time limit of the high-stakes performance agreement.

At this moment, Xiang Chongguang thought for a moment and said with a smile, “Since the young man has such lofty aspirations, I’ll help him one more time.”

Xiang Chongguang immediately looked at his assistant and said, “He definitely won’t be able to produce ten billion in a short time. My Ruilian Group will loan him ten billion in cash, interest-free and with no strings attached. Let him get the money to quickly resolve this matter and help him completely turn his reputation around.”

The assistant was shocked by this decision and couldn’t help but say, “President Xiang, isn’t this a bit too…”

But he trailed off. Even for Ruilian Group, ten billion was an astronomical sum. Most importantly, it was in liquid cash. Ruilian Group’s own cash flow was less than fifty billion.

“My mind is made up. That’s how it will be. I’ll take responsibility for any problems,” Xiang Chongguang said decisively, leaving no room for doubt. He then added, “At the same time, contact several other institutions. We’ll work together to drive up his company’s market value. Remember to give all players in the market a chance to get on board. Help Xiao Yu completely build up his reputation.”

“Understood.” The assistant nodded. Since the boss had spoken, there was nothing more he could say. He just had to carry out the decision.

…

Around 2:00 PM, at the Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters.

Wen Suqing entered Xiao Yu’s office. She walked up to him and said with a smile, “You’ve made some major news today. Everyone, both inside and outside the industry, is stunned by your move.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “You didn’t come all this way just to tell me that, did you?”

Hearing this, Wen Suqing laughed. “Word of this has already reached Uncle Xiang’s ears. He just called me personally and decided to give you a hand.”

Xiao Yu’s curiosity was piqued. “Give me a hand?”

Wen Suqing then relayed the message to him. Xiao Yu was quite surprised after hearing it and said, “Ruilian really plans to loan me ten billion? Interest-free and with no strings attached?”

“That’s right, you heard me correctly.” Wen Suqing looked at him with a beaming smile. “It seems Uncle Xiang really admires you and is very optimistic about your future. He’s not only lending you ten billion but also plans to help you build up your public reputation. He’s going to coordinate with several institutions to carry out capital operations and use this opportunity to raise Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market value.”

Xiao Yu had to admit, he never expected Ruilian Group to back him so strongly. Although he could have easily solved the ten-billion issue himself even without Ruilian’s help, the key was the sincerity and attitude that Ruilian’s move represented.

Since Xiang Chongguang had gone to such lengths, Xiao Yu knew he couldn’t refuse. He had to accept the ten billion. For them to say there would be no interest was a sign of their generosity, but Xiao Yu thought it over and decided he had to pay interest. They had extended a courtesy first, and courtesy demands reciprocity. Otherwise, it would make him seem to have low emotional intelligence, no social grace, and a lack of vision.

“With Ruilian’s tremendous support, it would be disrespectful of me to refuse.” Xiao Yu collected his thoughts and smiled. After a brief pause, he looked at Wen Suqing. “But I still have to pay interest. We’ll just calculate it based on the market’s inter-company lending rate.”

Wen Suqing nodded and smiled. “Alright, I’ll call Uncle Xiang now and pass on your message.”

…

Chapter 59: Reputation Reversal, Riding the Wave of Popularity, and Winning Hearts

With Wen Suqing gone, Xiao Yu was left alone in the office. After a moment of thought, he logged into his Weibo account on his computer and posted a new message:

[I have some good news to share with all my fellow small and medium investors. You won’t have to wait for me to make my first ten billion. I just received word that Ruilian Group has decided to lend me ten billion. I’d like to extend my special thanks to Ruilian Group for their tremendous support.

Given the vast number of retail investors involved, the workload will be substantial. We will strive to complete the process within two calendar months. The 180,000 compensated retail investors should please keep an eye on their bank account information over the next two months.]

The moment this news broke, it set off another massive sensation. The retail investors were in an uproar.

The number of followers on Xiao Yu’s personal Weibo account was skyrocketing. His reputation and public image underwent an epic reversal in an instant. The comments section of his Weibo was now on fire, and every single comment was uniformly positive.

[6666666……]

[CEO Xiao, you weren’t kidding, you’re really doing it? Holy shit!!]

[Insolent! How bold! Have some sense, call him Lord Xiao! No, I think we should call him Ancestor Xiao!]

[This is just too real, evolving from Old Sixth Xiao to Ancestor Xiao in seconds… (crying with laughter emoji)]

[You truly live long enough to see everything. This is incredible!]

[Good heavens, this is the kind of stuff you wouldn’t even dare to make up as fake news…]

[Everyone who’s been cursing Bro Xiao lately, on your feet and apologize! (doge.jpg)]

[Bro Xiao YYDS!]

[I’m a fan now, I’m a fan now. There’s no way to hate on this.]

[To be fair, this kind of courage isn’t something an ordinary person could pull off. I’m truly impressed this time. No one can say Bro Xiao is just ‘cutting leeks’ anymore, right?]

[Indeed. You have to respect it.]

[He’s forking over a real ten billion in cash to compensate all retail investors for their massive losses during that period. No matter how much you lost, you get to make a full recovery, plus an extra premium of one limit-up board. He’s even borrowing money to do it! He absolutely didn’t have to do this. This has completely won me over. My affection for him is through the roof!]

[Let me put it this way: it’s as if CEO Xiao single-handedly took the hit of twenty-one limit downs for 180,000 retail investors, and on the Growth Enterprise Market with its 20% limit at that.]

[It’s a shame Bro Xiao’s company doesn’t have any consumer-facing products, or I’d go on a massive spending spree to support him.]

[Well, you can buy stock in Bro Xiao’s company. That’s a way to support him too (doge.jpg)]

[The pressure is now on the bosses of other companies whose stocks have plummeted (manual smirk emoji)]

A torrential flood of online traffic came crashing in. Tens of thousands of retail investors on major stock forums and in stock chat groups were all discussing the matter. It became a trending topic on Weibo and quickly broke out of the financial circle to become the hottest topic on the entire internet that day.

Xiao Yu’s personal reputation underwent an epic reversal in an instant, and his status was immediately elevated from “Old Sixth Xiao” to “Ancestor Xiao.”

Not long after, with the market still open for trading, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price, spurred by the news, rallied strongly to hit the limit up in the late trading session. The share price surged to 72.38 yuan, and its market capitalization recovered to 62.825 billion.

Over the weekend, the news continued to ferment.

When the stock market opened for the new week, Spiritual Mirror Tech began its second main rising wave. On Monday, it hit its limit-up from the opening bell on low volume, setting a new all-time high. On Tuesday, it did the same, again on low volume, breaking through the 100-yuan mark to set another record high of 104.23 yuan. Its market capitalization soared to 90.471 billion, with the hundred-billion-yuan threshold just a stone’s throw away.

On Wednesday, the stock opened high again, setting another historical record. However, after an initial surge in the morning, the price began to dive, plunging all the way to its limit down.

But in the afternoon, the limit was pried open and the stock rallied, ultimately closing with a gain of +7.14%. The trading volume that day also set a historical record, with the total turnover reaching an astronomical 15.8 billion.

The next day, it was pinned down at its limit down from the opening auction. This was a classic “feign retreat to advance” maneuver orchestrated by Ruilian Group’s trading team. While pinning the stock at its limit down, Xiang Chongguang had a small team under him write short exposés to fuel the narrative on the news front.

The general theme of these short exposés was: Bro Xiao took the hit of twenty-one limit downs for us 180,000 retail investors. He didn’t let us lose, so we can’t let him lose either. Let’s blow up the shorting dogs together!

Short exposés, comments, and posts related to this theme began to pop up with increasing frequency.

Around 10:50 AM, Ruilian Group’s trading team, in coordination with several other institutional players, pried open the limit-down board. They then began to ignite the stock, pushing the price up aggressively while simultaneously posting rallying cries on major stock forums: “We’re brothers in arms! Let’s go long together, blow up the shorting dogs, and let Bro Xiao win!”

Some stock trading software allows for scrolling “bullet comments” over the real-time chart. Ruilian’s team arranged for people to spam Spiritual Mirror Tech’s real-time chart with comments: “Blow up the shorting dogs, let Bro Xiao win!”

As the stock price continued to climb, staging a strong rally into the green, more and more retail investors joined in, flooding the screen with bullet comments like “Blow up the shorting dogs, let Bro Xiao win!” and “Bro Xiao took twenty-one limit downs for us retail investors, we absolutely cannot let him lose! Let’s smash the skulls of those shorting dogs!”

By the afternoon, the sentiment had been completely ignited.

Tens of thousands of retail investors, swept up in this wave of emotion, grew impassioned and directly pushed the stock price from its limit down, into positive territory, and all the way to a new historical high.

The next day, Friday, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock opened lower but began to climb steadily right from the start. At 2:00 PM, it powerfully hit the limit up, setting yet another all-time high. The share price reached 138.66 yuan, and the company’s market capitalization skyrocketed to 120.356 billion.

Xiao Yu’s personal net worth soared right along with it. His nominal net worth had now reached 41.5 billion, making him the new richest man in Linzhou City and also its youngest ten-billionaire.

This operation by Ruilian Group was a true masterpiece of leverage, a perfect illustration of the principle: where popularity flows, a bull stock follows.

It was also the result of the right time, the right place, and the right people. Ruilian Group had merely provided a timely push from behind the scenes, skillfully shaping a positive reputation centered around Xiao Yu taking on all the losses for 180,000 retail investors.

But at its core, it all boiled down to the fact that Xiao Yu was genuinely willing to fork over ten billion in hard cash to compensate the investors.

This tangible action earned him the goodwill of countless retail investors. This unique “ten-billion-yuan subsidy” couldn’t be faked—it was real money. Combined with Ruilian Group’s deliberate manipulation of sentiment from behind the scenes and the company’s own incredibly strong fundamentals, everyone was now utterly convinced that the merger and restructuring would be a one hundred percent success. Since Xiao Yu was willing to pay ten billion out of his own pocket—and borrowed money at that—to subsidize retail investors’ losses, no one believed that a person capable of such an act would ever try to cheat them.

Everyone now believed that the previous catastrophic crash wasn’t an attempt by Xiao Yu to cheat retail investors by “cutting leeks,” but rather an unavoidable consequence of retaliating against his enemies, which had unfortunately resulted in collateral damage to retail investors. Moreover, he had no intention of making them pay the price for it, instead choosing to compensate them with his own money.

In the eyes of the retail investors, Xiao Yu’s actions were incredibly honorable. Juxtaposed against the various other listed company bosses known for “cutting leeks,” Xiao Yu was practically a shining beacon in their eyes.

It had to be said, Xiao Yu’s move had won the people’s hearts and minds.

Retail investors were now eagerly sharing and circulating this phrase: “Bro Xiao took twenty-one limit downs for 180,000 retail investors. Bro Xiao didn’t let us down, so we can’t let Bro Xiao down!”

In the following week, Ruilian Group continued its campaign. They had one team act as dissenters, writing short exposés and spreading rumors that Xiao Yu’s actions were a slap in the face to many other listed company bosses. These people, known for “cutting leeks,” were supposedly privately cursing Xiao Yu for his appalling behavior, saying he had set a terrible precedent and that he and his company’s stock must be ruthlessly suppressed.

When retail investors saw these exposés, their emotions flared up. A wave of public indignation swept through them, making them even more determined to support Bro Xiao.

Then, another team would write their own short exposés to stoke those emotions, shouting slogans: “Blow up the shorting dogs! We can’t let those people succeed! Bro Xiao must win and slap them hard in the face!”

Simultaneously, the trading team coordinated on the market, going long and igniting the stock to fuel the market sentiment. Only a rising stock could keep everyone’s passion burning hot.

Sure enough, countless retail investors were swept up in the fervor.

The bullet comment sections were filled with a constant stream of “Support Bro Xiao!”, “If Bro Xiao wins, we retail investors win! If Bro Xiao loses, we retail investors lose!”, “Let Bro Xiao win, blow up the shorting dogs!”, and “If Bro Xiao loses, it would be a betrayal of him taking twenty-one limit downs for over 180,000 retail investors!”

Chapter 60: The Military’s Purchase Order is Issued

Both Xiao Yu personally and his company, Spiritual Mirror Tech, were experiencing an explosion in popularity.

The company’s stock price had also skyrocketed. From the first limit up of its second wave, it had now been eleven trading days, securing eleven consecutive days of gains. The second main rising wave saw a cumulative surge of +255.54%, with the stock price peaking at 210.52 yuan. The company’s total market capitalization soared to 182.5 billion.

Xiao Yu’s personal net worth also skyrocketed, now reaching an updated total of 63.1 billion.

Counting the first main rising wave, calculated from the all-time low of 0.42 yuan per share on August 31st, it had been less than three months to this Friday. The cumulative increase reached a terrifying +50023.81%, multiplying by a full 500 times in just under three months.

This not only made Spiritual Mirror Tech the absolute super bull stock of the A-share market this year but also a super bull stock in the entire two or three-decade history of A-shares.

A 500-fold surge in less than three months—this was the first time in history.

Even for those who had been stuck with the stock at the 50.50 yuan price point, if they had held on until now without selling, they would not only have broken even but would also have made a profit of over three times their initial investment.

After the weekend, on Monday, November 15th, the company’s stock price continued to rise, hitting a new all-time high of 222.22 yuan. The corresponding market capitalization soared to 192.886 billion.

Today, the regulator finally couldn’t stand it anymore. Several speculative funds and major stakeholders were given forced window guidance, demanding they only sell and not buy again, or their trading accounts would be frozen. Some small retail investors also received risk warning text messages from their brokerage firms.

Influenced by this, and also because the intraday high reached the special repeating number of 222.22 yuan, the stock ultimately weakened. In the afternoon, it began to dive, and Spiritual Mirror Tech closed at its limit down. The price settled at 164.18 yuan, with a massive daily turnover of 27.1 billion, once again breaking its record for single-day trading volume.

The next day, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock gapped down significantly at the open, by -13.55%, but immediately started to rally. It ultimately hit the +20.00% limit up in a reversal, and the company’s market capitalization recovered to 171 billion.

One retail investor bro bought Spiritual Mirror Tech stock this morning and soon received a risk warning text from his brokerage.

The bro immediately typed out an irate reply:

“Fuck your mom! Piss off! I’m fucking supporting Bro Xiao! Bro Xiao can take 21 limit downs for me, can any other listed company’s boss do that? How could I not support Bro Xiao? Get the fuck away from me! If you piss me off, I’ll close my account and switch brokerages!”

This retail investor bro was one of the 180,000 retail investors who had been stuck with the stock and suffered devastating losses. He had lost 325,300 yuan and had spent the previous period cursing out Old Sixth Xiao. But now, he had turned from a hater into a die-hard fan overnight.

Just this morning at 8:22 AM, he received a text message from his bank: a transfer of 391,300 yuan had been deposited into his account.

It was, in fact, the loss compensation from Xiao Yu.

Not only was his entire loss of 325,300 yuan covered, but he was also given an extra premium equivalent to a 20% limit up profit. He had originally invested 330,000 yuan, and a limit-up premium would be 66,000 yuan. In total, 391,300 yuan was deposited into his account.

Then, this morning, he went all-in during the opening call auction for Spiritual Mirror Tech. He even added more money to go all in with 500,000 yuan. With the stock gapping down at the open and then hitting its limit up, he scored a massive win of +38.8 percent, earning 194,000 yuan. His 500,000 yuan instantly became 694,000 yuan.

Since the beginning of November, the 180,000 retail investors who had suffered devastating losses had been receiving their compensation one after another. And almost all of them, at the very first opportunity, dumped the money they received right back into Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock, with quite a few going all-in.

By Wednesday, November 17th, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock continued to climb, at one point returning to the 200 yuan level, looking as if it was about to set a new all-time high.

But the regulator struck with a heavy hand again. The stock pulled back from its high, closing with a gain of +0.35% at a price of 197.71 yuan. Its after-hours market capitalization was locked in at 171.6 billion.

…

“I never expected this ten billion would have such a huge effect…” Xiao Yu, who was in his office, was also looking at his company’s stock. Seeing the current market cap, his own net worth had soared to a massive 59.3 billion.

This figure made Xiao Yu the super-rich individual with the highest net worth growth in the country this year. He truly hadn’t expected ten billion to have such a powerful impact.

The company’s stock price had surged continuously without being driven by any positive news. If the regulator hadn’t intervened, the price would likely have continued its streak of daily gains.

Judging by the results, spending that ten billion was absolutely worth it. It completely restored Xiao Yu’s reputation in the public eye, which would undoubtedly be a huge benefit when the company launches consumer products in the future.

Just then, a knock came from the office door. Xiao Yu collected his thoughts and called out, “Come in.”

Looking up at the door, he saw his beautiful assistant, Yun Shu, walking in gracefully. She noticed the company’s stock chart on Xiao Yu’s desk monitor and smiled charmingly. “Are you looking at the company’s stock chart, too?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu casually closed the trading software, glanced at his beautiful assistant, and chuckled. “Told you it was right to buy at the bottom, didn’t I?”

“It’s just incredible. I never imagined the company’s stock price would go crazy like this. Calculating from 0.42 yuan to the latest all-time high of 222.22, it’s already multiplied by more than 528 times,” Yun Shu said, her face full of amazement.

Xiao Yu had given her some special treatment, letting her secretly buy more shares at the rock-bottom price. Now, she held a total of 8.5 million shares, which, based on the latest closing price, had soared to a value of 1.68 billion, making her a bona fide billionaire.

After the brief interlude, Xiao Yu looked at her and asked, “Let’s not talk about that. What’s up?”

Yun Shu immediately handed him a document. “The military’s purchase order has arrived. A cumulative procurement of 1,350 tonnes.”

Xiao Yu opened the document and scanned it. A total procurement of 1,350 tonnes meant that, based on their 2,000-tonne production capacity, the military was taking 67.5%, leaving 32.5% of their capacity for the civilian market.

Yun Shu added, “There’s one more piece of news. Today, our competitors in the graphene industry have collectively attacked our company, claiming we are engaging in malicious price dumping, destroying the industry and the entire market ecosystem. They want to rally everyone to boycott us.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu chuckled. “Boycott? With what? It’s as futile as a mantis trying to stop a chariot. The military’s purchase order is already in.”

As various downstream manufacturers came to Spiritual Mirror Tech to conduct research and inquire about prices, the pricing for the company’s mass-produced graphene began to spread, as did news about the quality of the material.

Many competitors and peers learned that Xiao Yu had priced his company’s research-grade graphene material—a product with 99.99999% purity—at under one thousand yuan, just 999 RMB per gram. Compared to the research-grade graphene on the market, the price was more than ten times lower, and its purity was on a whole other level. Other specifications of graphene materials, such as bilayer graphene, were also priced more than ten times lower than competing products on the market, all while boasting even higher purity.

When their competitors heard this news, they were completely stunned. How the hell were they supposed to compete with Spiritual Mirror Tech? Their bosses were probably thinking of selling their companies and just running.

…

Chapter 61: Learning Huawei Placed an Order, Competitors Are Getting Anxious

In the Chairman’s office.

Xiao Yu got up from his desk and moved to the sofa in the rest area. Yun Shu followed, sitting beside him. “Also,” she began, “Huawei sent someone over. They hope to partner with Spiritual Mirror Tech to supply graphene flexible full-screen displays for their Mate 50 Pro, which is set to be released next year. They’re also willing to sign the supplementary agreement.”

Yun Shu added, “However, they don’t need a large quantity. They only plan to procure enough for a production capacity of five million phones.”

Huawei was currently being suppressed by America, and they had to rely on their existing inventory of Kirin chips. Otherwise, they certainly wouldn’t be purchasing so little.

Yun Shu continued, “Furthermore, Huawei doesn’t intend to be the first to launch a phone with a full-screen display. They just need us to supply the components on time. They’re planning to release the M50 phone next September.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded. “In that case, have Xu Changming sign the deal with Huawei. It had to be Huawei, after all. The other few phone manufacturers are still just watching from the sidelines.”

Ever since Spiritual Mirror Tech began requiring buyers to sign the supplementary agreement, about 80% of the manufacturers who had inquired turned it down. These manufacturers were clearly more interested in acting as middlemen and scalping for a profit rather than procuring materials to make good products.

While the major, well-known phone manufacturers hadn’t refused, they hadn’t responded either, merely stating that they were reviewing it internally.

They were obviously facing some resistance. These manufacturers naturally didn’t want the price of graphene material to be high; they preferred it to be as cheap as possible to lower their own production costs.

As for why they chose to wait and see instead of responding, Xiao Yu figured they were likely being pressured behind the scenes by capital investors. They didn’t dare to refuse outright for fear of offending Spiritual Mirror Tech and being cut off from future supplies. So, they settled for a middle ground: no refusal, but no response either, leaving themselves room to mediate later.

They were waiting—waiting for Spiritual Mirror Tech to break the stalemate.

The capital investors wanted to blacklist Spiritual Mirror Tech, preventing major corporations from buying their products. Now, they were also getting industry competitors to jump out and issue joint boycotts, attacking Spiritual Mirror Tech with outrageous claims like malicious price-cutting and disrupting the market ecosystem.

Their goal was to force Spiritual Mirror Tech to compromise and back down.

But they never expected that the military had already stepped in, and now Huawei was here too. Huawei was a giant in its own right and didn’t need to kowtow to any capital investors. The so-called blacklist to stop others from buying Spiritual Mirror Tech’s products was undoubtedly a massive joke.

For those phone manufacturers on the sidelines, this was the moment they had been waiting for.

As long as the capital investors’ blacklist failed, they would have a reason to sign deals and procure supplies. They could argue that if the investors weren’t powerful enough to stop Spiritual Mirror Tech, then they couldn’t be blamed for seeking out a supplier. If others got the materials and they didn’t, their products would lose their competitive edge. The investors would have nothing to say.

Finally, Xiao Yu gave his instructions. “On Monday evening, announce the procurement deals with the military and Huawei. Since the military requested that we don’t disclose the total procurement volume, we’ll honor that. Don’t announce the volume for the Huawei deal either. We can just disclose the total revenue and profit in the financial report later.”

The specific quantity of the military’s procurement was a military secret and couldn’t be publicized. If it were announced, certain intelligence organizations could use the procurement volume to estimate the final equipment capacity.

Yun Shu nodded. “Okay, got it.”

After his beautiful assistant left the office, Xiao Yu returned to his desk, logged into Weibo on his computer, and posted a status update.

[I don’t understand what ‘malicious price-cutting and dumping’ means, nor do I understand how we’ve ‘disrupted the industry’s market ecosystem.’ Our original intention in bringing down the price was to release technological dividends and promote the overall development of human technology.

If the price is set too high, then, for example, the full-screen displays for mobile phones would be prohibitively expensive. The resulting products would either pass the high costs onto consumers or become niche products that never gain widespread adoption. The market wouldn’t grow, and the general public wouldn’t be able to enjoy the benefits of technological progress.

Now that we’ve brought the price down, the cost is ten to over ten times cheaper. Phone manufacturers can afford the cost of full-screen displays, everyone can afford a full-screen phone, the market has room to grow, and it can also drive technological advancement.

Admittedly, if we maintained our product’s current market price, it could bring us astonishing profits of dozens or even hundreds of times over. But we can’t be blinded by money. Although we could earn much more, we must understand and practice restraint. Earning a reasonable profit is enough. Even after we’ve dropped the price to under a thousand yuan, our products still have a profit margin of around five to eight times.]

When Xiao Yu’s competitors saw the post, they were filled with despair.

Even after a crazy price cut of ten to over ten times, they still had a terrifying profit margin of 500% to 800%?

For the companies competing with Spiritual Mirror Tech, this was undoubtedly a hopeless situation.

It meant that, if necessary, Spiritual Mirror Tech still had an enormous amount of room for further price cuts. How could anyone compete with that? What could they possibly use to compete with Xiao Yu’s company?

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu’s Weibo post received a great deal of praise from netizens and consumers, who acclaimed Bro Xiao for having great vision and being a truly great enterprise.

His reputation, which had previously cratered, had been reversed. Xiao Yu now needed to further consolidate and manage it well. Besides, he genuinely needed Earth’s technology to develop quickly. So much of the black technology from Blue Star couldn’t be easily brought over because Earth’s technological systems and industrial support couldn’t keep up. He couldn’t risk introducing it rashly.

Xiao Yu also wanted to be able to openly use his smart holographic wristband in front of the world on Earth. The device was truly convenient and effective, but for now, he could only keep it hidden.

Monday, November 22nd.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price had been consolidating at a high level for a week. Today, it gapped up significantly at the open. After the market opened, it surged aggressively with both high volume and price, successfully hitting the limit up.

Today’s strong surge was mainly thanks to Xiao Yu’s Weibo post. The onlooking “melon-eating” netizens saw Xiao Yu in a direct confrontation with his so-called industry peers, while investors saw a piece of super-expected information in his post.

Spiritual Mirror Tech had cut the price of its graphene products so low, yet it still had a terrifying profit margin of five to eight times. The company’s market capitalization of less than 200 billion was definitely still undervalued.

That evening, Spiritual Mirror Tech issued an announcement, publicly disclosing that the company had secured a procurement order from the military and was also partnering with Huawei to supply components for the M50Pro phone.

Stimulated by this news, when the stock market opened the next day, Spiritual Mirror Tech once again gapped up and soared, hitting the +20.00% limit up for a second consecutive day, powerfully kicking off its third main rising wave.

When other downstream manufacturers learned the news, they couldn’t sit still any longer. The moment they saw that Spiritual Mirror Tech had secured a military procurement order, they knew it was impossible for the capital investors to blacklist the company.

Seeing that Huawei had already gotten a head start, the other well-known phone manufacturers grew anxious, fearing that they wouldn’t even be able to get their hands on the materials if they had to wait in line.

On Wednesday, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price once again gapped up significantly, setting a new all-time high. After the open, it smoothly hit the limit up during intraday trading, marking its third consecutive limit-up. The stock price surged to a new record high of 269.50 yuan, and its market capitalization skyrocketed to 233.926 billion.

The regulator didn’t want Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock to rise so crazily in such a short period, but it was no use. Retail investors were piling in. Unless they forced a trading halt and put the company in the ‘little black room,’ it wouldn’t do much good. The stock would just have a catch-up rally after trading resumed because the fundamental expectations were simply too strong.

Chapter 62: Rebs: Damn, this tech is freaking awesome!

That afternoon, at the headquarters of Spiritual Mirror Tech.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was personally giving a tour to a top-tier tycoon of the tech world—none other than Rebs.

This time, not only had Xiaomi acted swiftly, but Rebs had also come to visit in person.

In Xiaomi’s case, suppliers were their daddies. To rally all their suppliers, both big and small, up and down the supply chain and get production rolling, Xiaomi was basically begging and borrowing from all sides.

Rebs’s personal visit this time was a show of utmost sincerity, all so that Xiaomi could secure the supply and be the first to launch a 100% full-screen display.

The display screen business had once been one of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s core operations. But back then, compared to domestic giants like Jingdongfang or international titans like Samsung, Spiritual Mirror Tech was just a nobody.

Although their technology was decent, the major manufacturers didn’t really acknowledge them and would never entrust them with their flagship products. At that time, the company could only sit at the same table as third-rate small factories, lacking the qualifications to join the big shots.

But times had changed. Spiritual Mirror Tech now possessed globally unrivaled technology. They had achieved mass production of graphene, the so-called “king of new materials,” and had even managed to slash costs exponentially. They were the only company in the world capable of this, effectively holding a technological monopoly in the field of graphene.

For downstream manufacturers in any field that required graphene material, Spiritual Mirror Tech was now definitively at the level of a “supplier daddy.”

“We plan to allocate ten tons of production capacity to the smartphone industry. This will be of the highest-spec, research-grade graphene material, which we estimate can be used to create 100% full-screen displays for thirty-three million phones,” Xiao Yu said with a smile, looking at Rebs in the VIP reception room.

His words, however, immediately stunned CEO Rebs, who asked with a hint of disbelief, “Just ten tons of material can create thirty-three million screens?”

Xiao Yu chuckled. “CEO Rebs, surely you don’t think the entire screen is made from this high-purity graphene composite, do you? That would require twenty to thirty grams per screen. Even with the significant price drop, a single phone screen would still cost twenty to thirty thousand RMB.”

As he spoke, Xiao Yu took out a smartphone. It was, in fact, a flagship model from Xiaomi. The phone’s original screen had been replaced with a 100% full-screen display, featuring an under-display camera.

It had to be said, with the front-facing camera hidden beneath the screen, the phone’s aesthetic appeal skyrocketed. The entire screen was a 100% display interface, a sight that would make anyone with OCD exclaim in satisfaction.

Xiao Yu handed the phone to Rebs with a smile. “This screen is actually a chimera of traditional screen materials and graphene composite material—you could also call it a hybrid. This is a unique technique exclusive to Spiritual Mirror Tech. It achieves a 100% full-screen display using only about 0.32 grams of graphene material.”

Rebs was shocked. “Only 0.32 grams?”

Xiao Yu nodded. “The biggest technical pain point is hiding the camera under the display, isn’t it? So, we use the graphene composite only in the area of the screen where the camera is located to ensure the light transmittance doesn’t affect the front-facing camera’s imaging quality.”

Hearing this simple and clear explanation, Rebs was thoroughly astonished by this so-called chimeric technology developed by Spiritual Mirror Tech. They could actually blend two different materials perfectly to create a single, complete screen.

The method was “stingy” to the extreme, a masterclass in cost control. By using the graphene composite only over the camera, the screen was essentially still a traditional display, yet it achieved the 100% full-screen effect.

The technical pain point was making the front-facing camera disappear. As long as they could do that, it was enough. Who cared how “stingy” the method was? Could you deny that it was a 100% full-screen display?

Besides, they had to be this “stingy.” Although Blue Star could provide enough of this grade of graphene composite, Xiao Yu couldn’t just mindlessly produce it by the tens of thousands of tons. The current reported annual production capacity was one hundred and fifty tons. The military had already claimed one hundred tons, leaving only fifty tons for commercial use in the civilian market.

If the entire screen were made of graphene material, even at this reduced price, smartphone manufacturers still wouldn’t be able to afford it.

Rebs looked at the prototype in his hand. The screen display was flawless, with no visible imperfections, and the under-display camera’s imaging quality was also perfect.

“Damn, this tech is freaking awesome!” Rebs couldn’t help but mutter to himself as he looked at the phone, filled with pure envy. This chimeric technology alone was a stroke of genius.

Being stingy had its advantages. It achieved the 100% full-screen effect while also lowering the screen’s cost share for phone manufacturers. The material cost for 0.32 grams was roughly equivalent to 320 RMB.

Of course, that wasn’t how the final cost was calculated.

If a phone manufacturer wanted to partner with them, they would have to completely entrust the manufacturing and supply of the entire screen to Spiritual Mirror Tech. The price for a full screen definitely couldn’t be had for just 320 RMB.

A screen’s cost typically accounted for about 15% to 20% of a phone’s total production cost.

In the previous partnership with Huawei, the order was to supply screens for five million phones. The average purchase price per screen was around 1500 RMB, for a total order value of eight billion RMB.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s pricing model was to charge 20% of the downstream manufacturer’s suggested retail price. If you sold a phone for 5000 RMB, they would charge you 1000 RMB for the screen. If you sold it for 15,000 RMB, they would charge you 3000 RMB. In short, the fee was 20% of the product’s retail price.

If a downstream manufacturer’s product was priced at 2000 RMB, Spiritual Mirror Tech wouldn’t supply them. Or, they could, but the minimum charge per screen would still be no less than 1000 RMB. If the manufacturer was willing to pay that price, and even willing to sell at a loss—selling the final product for even 200 RMB a unit—Xiao Yu wouldn’t care. Spiritual Mirror Tech would have already secured its profit.

Undoubtedly, if Rebs wanted Spiritual Mirror Tech to supply full-screen displays for Xiaomi phones, he would also have to pay according to the 20% retail price model. For Xiaomi phones sold above 5000 RMB, the charge would be 20%. For those priced below that, the screen fee would be 1000 RMB per unit.

If they could accept the terms, they’d sign the deal. If not, they could forget it. At worst, Spiritual Mirror Tech would just reallocate the quota to other industry sub-sectors. So many high-end industries were desperate for graphene material that the company didn’t need to go out and pitch its business at all; clients would come knocking on their door, begging for supply.

…

Around 4:00 PM, Spiritual Mirror Tech and Xiaomi successfully signed a major deal. Xiao Yu wasn’t in a hurry, but Rebs certainly was.

When the other smartphone manufacturers who arrived late heard the news, they were so angry they privately cursed out Rebs for being so ruthless, for devouring all the supply and not even leaving a drop of soup for his competitors.

Spiritual Mirror Tech only had so much production capacity allocated to the smartphone sub-sector. The ten tons of material were estimated to produce thirty-three million screens, which was nowhere near enough to satisfy the needs of multiple manufacturers simultaneously.

If it weren’t for the shortage of Kirin chips, Huawei, the first to sign a deal, could have easily consumed the entire supply and still wanted more, based on their phone shipment volume from last year. But alas, their stock of Kirin chips was limited, so they only took an order for five million screens.

But Rebs, on this visit, had directly swept up and taken the entire remaining capacity for twenty-eight million screens. It was hard to resist, given how much “sincerity” Rebs had shown; he was even willing to swallow his pride to secure the supply.

Rebs: I’m begging you, bro, just give me all the remaining capacity…

The conversation had been something along those lines, and in the end, he successfully walked away with the rest of the production capacity from Xiao Yu.

Rebs showing his utmost sincerity was one thing, but on the other hand, Xiao Yu was also privately annoyed with the wait-and-see attitude of the other manufacturers. This was a small way of getting back at them and teaching them to be more decisive in the future—sitting on the fence wouldn’t get them anywhere.

Although Xiaomi had also been observing from the sidelines, they were the first to come running, and it was Rebs himself who paid a personal visit, showing his full sincerity.

In contrast, the other few manufacturers had only sent teams of executives.

At least Xiaomi was genuinely willing to swallow its pride and acknowledge the supplier as their “big brother,” even treating Spiritual Mirror Tech as yet another new “supplier daddy.” For this reason alone, Xiao Yu was more willing to supply Xiaomi.

Xiaomi didn’t mind acknowledging a new big brother. After all, bowing down to “big brothers” and begging people all over the supply chain wasn’t anything new for them. One more or one less “supplier daddy” like Spiritual Mirror Tech didn’t make much difference.

Getting the supply was what mattered. Rebs was all about being pragmatic; face and pride were just illusions. Having products to sell was the real point.

The other mobile phone manufacturers who failed to secure a supply were also cursing out Rebs behind his back. They almost wanted to imitate Rebs’s famous scene: “Competitors are idiots!”

…

Chapter 63: The Hottest New Star in the Tech Circle This Year

Xiao Yu was actually quite happy to see this happen. He had offloaded the rest of his production capacity onto Rebs, so the other phone manufacturers who couldn’t get their hands on the product redirected most of their ire toward Rebs. This saved Xiao Yu a lot of trouble, and he didn’t lose a single cent of profit. What was not to like?

After successfully signing the deal, a satisfied Rebs departed. On his way back, he eagerly posted on Weibo.

It had to be said that among the top-tier magnates, Rebs was definitely a heavy internet user. Of all the tycoons worth hundreds of billions, Rebs was the most active one online.

He ceremoniously announced the partnership with Spiritual Mirror Tech on Weibo, and he also made a high-profile declaration that Xiaomi would be the first in the world to launch a phone with a true 100% full-screen display in July of the following year—the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra, their push into the high-end market.

When the competitors saw Rebs’s jubilant posts, they couldn’t help but curse in their hearts again: Competitors are idiots!

Rebs had also made off with the full-screen display prototype of the Xiaomi phone that Xiao Yu had shown him. He then posted a short video on Weibo showcasing the effect of the full-screen phone, making three consecutive posts about it.

The matter quickly shot to the top of the trending topics, sparking heated discussions within the industry and among all sorts of drama-loving netizens.

Rebs was clearly hoping for the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra to successfully break into the high-end market. Now, with the added advantage of being the first to feature a 100% full-screen display, it was undoubtedly a huge selling point, further increasing its chances of success and adding another layer of insurance.

It had to be said, Rebs really had a way with marketing. No wonder Dongzi said you couldn’t compete with Rebs on marketing.

With the front-facing camera hidden under the screen, the entire display became clean and crisp. Even an older model phone equipped with a 100% full-screen display would see a surge in aesthetic appeal visible to the naked eye.

This news further stimulated Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price, which continued to soar. On Thursday, the next day, the company’s stock opened high and immediately hit the limit up, marking its fourth consecutive day of limit-up trading.

The third main rising wave had already doubled in value. Today’s trading volume reached a massive 34 billion, once again setting a new record for the stock’s largest single-day trading volume.

By that afternoon, more major positive news was released: several companies from various industries had signed large contracts with Spiritual Mirror Tech.

Now, everyone was lining up at their door to get goods. Spiritual Mirror Tech had no worries about a lack of customers.

Moreover, any manufacturer wanting to get their hands on the product couldn’t delay payment. Payment had to be completed within half a month; it was basically payment before delivery. They simply wouldn’t sell to any manufacturer who wanted to rack up accounts receivable.

Evidently, the situation had completely tilted into a seller’s market for Spiritual Mirror Tech. If buyers wanted the goods, delaying payment was impossible. Some manufacturer-buyers even wired the payment on the same day they signed the contract just to secure a supply.

The graphene products Spiritual Mirror Tech offered were not only ten to twenty times cheaper than their competitors’ but also of higher quality. Manufacturers who obtained such goods could not only reduce their product costs but also boost their competitiveness, giving them a huge advantage over their peers.

If they didn’t rush to grab the goods and a competitor got them first, they would be at a massive disadvantage.

Stimulated by this series of news, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened high again on Friday, hitting the limit up with reduced volume and getting sealed there. The third main rising wave resulted in five consecutive limit-ups in a single week. With the 20% limit-up on the Growth Enterprise Market, the stock had surged by about 1.5 times in just five days.

By the following Monday, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened high and continued to climb during the trading session, hitting a new all-time high of 421.23 yuan and reaching a record market capitalization of 365.627 billion.

However, it didn’t manage a sixth consecutive limit-up. It surged high before pulling back, at one point diving more than 11 percent during the session.

It ultimately closed down -7.48% at 359.06 yuan per share, with a post-market total market cap of 311.664 billion.

Three months ago, this company’s market cap was ranked dead last in the A-share market. Now, in just three short months, it had soared to become the fifth-largest stock by market cap on the Growth Enterprise Market.

No one could have imagined that in less than three months, Spiritual Mirror Tech could skyrocket from 0.42 yuan per share to 421.23 yuan, setting an unprecedented cumulative gain of a terrifying +100,192.863%—an increase of more than one thousandfold.

Everyone knew that betting on the right high-tech growth company could yield unimaginable returns on investment.

But a return rate as exaggerated as Spiritual Mirror Tech’s, creating a thousand-fold ROI in such a short time, was a case without a second example anywhere in the world.

Three months ago, when Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price had plummeted below one yuan per share, there were fewer than 15,000 investors holding the stock. Almost everyone had run, and those who remained were planning to keep it as a family heirloom.

But the latest data showed that over 270,000 retail investors now held shares of Spiritual Mirror Tech, and the number of institutional investors had reached 285.

In the past three months, countless people had doubled their money through this stock, many had achieved financial freedom, and there were even retail investors who had made hundreds of millions.

But the individual whose net worth had skyrocketed the most in this wealth-creation miracle was undoubtedly Xiao Yu.

The company’s soaring market cap also caused his nominal net worth to surge to 107.7 billion. This net worth allowed Xiao Yu to parachute directly into the 30th spot on the domestic rich list, and he also had the fastest and largest net increase in personal wealth on the list this year.

In just three months, Xiao Yu’s name had risen to prominence, making him the hottest new star in the tech and business circles this year.

It also showed the world that the wealth-creation effect in the tech sector was incomparable to that of traditional industries. The speed of wealth appreciation was simply terrifying.

With the contracts signed with major downstream manufacturers, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s next step was to ensure that production capacity and supply chains ran without a hitch.

This morning, Xiao Yu took a tour of the company’s Food Processing and Grain Trading Department. The more than 35,000 tons of starch the company had spent 100 million to purchase had been delivered and warehoused.

Xiao Yu then went to inspect the storage facility located in the city’s suburban district.

In reality, he was there to stake out the place and mark its specific coordinates so he could set the teleportation point inside the warehouse at any time, making it easier to move the starch to the Blue Star world.

After scouting the location, Xiao Yu returned to his villa.

In the dead of night, Xiao Yu woke up. As he got dressed, he mumbled to himself, “Sigh, having to act like a thief just to move my own stuff…”

He shook his head with a wry smile, finished dressing, and opened the Transference Star Ring to arrive at his villa in Fengquan City on Blue Star. He then headed to the company’s prepared storage facility.

After confirming no one else was present, Xiao Yu activated the prepared logistics transport robots. He then opened the Transference Star Ring again, setting the coordinates to the starch warehouse on Earth.

At that moment, it was the middle of the night in Linzhou City on Earth.

Xiao Yu used the Transference Star Ring’s interface to enlarge the teleportation Star Gate. Confirming there were no issues, he stepped through the Star Gate into the starch warehouse on Earth.

Next, Xiao Yu gave the transport robots their instructions, and they began moving the cargo.

It was currently late at night on Earth. Xiao Yu had already taken control of the security camera’s backend, so the warehouse security guards couldn’t see what was happening inside.

The transport robots shuttled back and forth through the teleportation Star Gate, moving the starch to the Blue Star world, while Xiao Yu acted as a “lookout,” keeping an eye on the several security camera feeds outside the warehouse.

He had already used the pretext of an inspection to familiarize himself with the place during the day, figuring out the employees’ work schedules and patrol times.

Xiao Yu specifically chose a time to avoid them, but he still had to be vigilant. If a patrolling employee suddenly came for a round, he could withdraw in advance. Getting caught would be a huge problem.

No accidents occurred. 1,500 tons of starch were moved smoothly.

Finally, Xiao Yu stepped back through the teleportation Star Gate and closed it. No one on Earth knew that 1,500 tons of starch had mysteriously vanished from this warehouse.

On Blue Star, Xiao Yu looked at the 1,500 tons of starch that had just been transported and nodded in satisfaction.

Based on the price of artificially synthesized starch in the Blue Star world, at 300,000 Star Yuan per ton, 1,500 tons were worth 450 million Star Yuan.

In contrast, the 2,000 tons of graphene he had purchased on Blue Star had cost less than 190 million Star Yuan, equivalent to the cost of about 630 tons of starch.

The next day, a fleet of unmanned freight vehicles that Xiao Yu had rented online arrived at the warehouse. They came, made a round, stayed in the warehouse for a while, and then left. This was a diversion by Xiao Yu, commonly known as leaving a paper trail.

This way, the appearance of 1,500 tons of starch in the warehouse wouldn’t seem to have come from thin air, and the company’s employees wouldn’t find it strange.

As for the channel through which these goods were sourced, Xiao Yu had no intention of explaining it to Luo Guanqi, Yan Lingjun, or any other of his Blue Star native employees.

His previous trip to Heavenly Capital was precisely to cultivate an image of himself as having powerful connections and background channels. The grain and food trade was already a murky business in the Blue Star world, hence the saying, “You don’t ask where heroes come from, and you don’t ask where goods come from.”

Such trade was rife with gray-area dealings. Some merchants or companies were, in reality, fronts for powerful figures or major forces from Heavenly Mountain.

Chapter 64: Both Were Incredibly Cunning

The grain trade on Blue Star involved immense interests, far too large for any single party to monopolize. The profits were divided layer by layer.

The fronts who did the dirty work for the powerful figures also needed their cut. Thus, gray market transactions were tacitly permitted by some of these major players. As long as one operated within the bounds they allowed, there would be no trouble; everything could be settled with a word from them.

The existence of this gray market was clearly advantageous for Xiao Yu, allowing him to better fish in troubled waters. The amount of goods he was currently shuttling was far from the ten-thousand-ton threshold, not nearly enough to attract the attention of the magnates at the top of Blue Star’s pyramid. At most, it would concern small, local powers.

When the heavyweights made a move, they dealt in hundreds of millions, or even billions, of tons at a time—a difference of several orders of magnitude.

At that moment, Xiao Yu was inspecting the transported starch, confirming there were no special logos or markings from Earth. He then contacted Luo Guanqi, the General Manager of Prism Company on Blue Star, asking him to come over. He also summoned Yan Lingjun.

After a short wait, the two of them arrived.

Xiao Yu looked at Luo Guanqi and gave his orders directly, “Old Luo, get these fifteen hundred tons of synthetic starch sold and liquidated as soon as possible.”

Both of them were secretly astonished to see the warehouse piled high with starch. Luo Guanqi surmised that his boss likely had powerful backers. Though curious, he didn’t dare to pry and simply nodded in acknowledgment. “Understood.”

Yan Lingjun’s speculation was largely the same; she even suspected that Xiao Yu might be a front for some powerful figure or faction.

But then she recalled her first meeting and conversation with Xiao Yu at Heavenly Mountain. Based on his many statements back then, she began to doubt her own guess. She truly could not see through this man.

Just then, Xiao Yu turned his head to glance at his beautiful assistant. “Is the procurement of the two thousand tons of graphene material settled?”

Yan Lingjun collected her thoughts and replied, “The deal has been finalized. It can be delivered in about three to five days.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu looked back at Luo Guanqi. “Liquidate the assets as quickly as you can. As soon as the delivery is made, transfer the money to them. I don’t like holding onto other people’s payments.”

Luo Guanqi nodded again. “Understood.”

With his instructions given, Xiao Yu left the warehouse, giving his beautiful assistant a meaningful glance as he went. Yan Lingjun understood his signal and followed.

Xiao Yu led her back to his private villa in Fengquan City on Blue Star. It was just about dinnertime. The villa now had an additional “person”—to be precise, a bionic humanoid robot. It was the “N22814-X” model he had purchased earlier, a beautiful female robot that Xiao Yu had spent a good deal of time tinkering with since bringing it home.

Of course, not that kind of tinkering. He had disassembled, studied, and reassembled it.

If it had been that kind of tinkering, Xiao Yu wouldn’t have survived even with ten iron kidneys. At full charge, the robot could operate for one hundred hours.

The female robot now served as the housekeeper managing Xiao Yu’s daily life on Blue Star.

Xiao Yu invited his beautiful assistant to dine with him. Yan Lingjun had intended to decline, but remembering the mission she was on and worried about causing any offense, she took a seat beside him and said softly, “Thank you, CEO Xiao.”

A moment later, Xiao Yu activated a floating display panel and pushed it in front of her. “This person’s name is Liu Shijie. I promised him five tons of watermelons a while ago. Contact him for me and tell him I’m no longer selling them.”

Yan Lingjun memorized the contact information and nodded. “Alright.”

Xiao Yu glanced at his beautiful assistant and added, “If he’s interested in purchasing starch, I can sell it to him. As much as he can take.”

“Yes, of course.” Yan Lingjun nodded gently, her eyes shifting as she ate slowly and deliberately, seemingly lost in thought.

Her entire purpose in getting close to Xiao Yu was to open up a new channel for food supplies for the Red Tide Organization.

The armies of the Heavenly Kingdom and the Red Tide revolutionary forces were locked in fierce combat at the front lines. Among the several rebel factions, the Red Tide Organization was not the strongest, yet the Heavenly Kingdom invested the most resources into eradicating it, fighting them with the greatest ferocity and launching a full-scale siege on all fronts, including economic and public opinion warfare.

This was because Red Tide’s revolutionary ideology was undermining the very foundation of the Heavenly Kingdom’s rulers, who were terrified of the organization growing in power.

Finally, Xiao Yu casually remarked while looking at the dishes, “Have you heard of the Red Tide Organization?”

Yan Lingjun felt a jolt of surprise but immediately adopted an air of indifference. “Oh, you mean that rebel group in the Heavenly Kingdom. I’ve heard about them on the news.”

Xiao Yu continued chatting as he ate, “What’s your opinion on them?”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun showed no outward change in expression but was inwardly on high alert, unsure of Xiao Yu’s motive for asking.

“What opinion could a simple woman like me have? That’s a matter for the high command of the Heavenly Kingdom.” Yan Lingjun’s reply was perfectly natural. She then put on an air of someone repeating gossip, adding, “But I once saw a post online discussing the Red Tide Organization. It was deleted before I could finish reading it.”

Xiao Yu feigned interest. “Oh? What did it say?”

Yan Lingjun pretended to recall. “I don’t know if it was true or not, but the post claimed that the Red Tide Organization is an armed revolutionary group founded by a group of idealists resisting oppression and exploitation and saving people from suffering. They are determined to overthrow the Heavenly Kingdom through armed revolution and establish a new nation without class distinctions, without suffering and exploitation, where everyone is born equal.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu was quite surprised internally, but he remained impassive. “Is that so? Interesting. That’s a world apart from what the Heavenly Kingdom’s mainstream media portrays. No wonder the post was deleted.”

Yan Lingjun still maintained an air of someone not particularly concerned with the matter.

Xiao Yu’s interest in the Red Tide Organization was sparked by the memory of the legendary founding team from his home on Earth. Weren’t they also a group of idealists? Through a thousand hardships, they had rescued their nation at its most perilous moment, turning the tide against impossible odds and forging a new era.

“If you ask me, although this Red Tide Organization is one of the weaker rebel factions, they just might succeed in the end and bring a new world to this land,” Xiao Yu said, as if musing to himself.

His words reached Yan Lingjun’s ears, and she was secretly thunderstruck. It was so incredible that she wondered if she had misheard.

How could such words come from Xiao Yu’s mouth?

As a member of the vested interest class within the Heavenly Kingdom’s ruling system, shouldn’t he be wishing for the Red Tide Organization to be thoroughly crushed and annihilated tomorrow?

Could he really be a revolutionary comrade, lying low within the Heavenly Kingdom?

The thought resurfaced deep within her, but she did not dare to reveal her true colors. She could not rule out the possibility that Xiao Yu was a secret agent of the Heavenly Kingdom, setting a trap to fish for information.

At this moment, Yan Lingjun quickly looked at Xiao Yu and said with feigned gravity, “CEO Xiao, please be careful with your words. If word of this got out, you could be arrested as a Red bandit, and that’s a crime punishable by death.”

Xiao Yu looked at her and smiled calmly. “If one has to be so cautious even in a private conversation, then the Heavenly Kingdom’s fate is likely sealed.”

Yan Lingjun stared at him, her almond-shaped eyes wide.

Xiao Yu was genuinely unafraid. After all, he was an alien on Blue Star. Moreover, he had his greatest source of confidence supporting him: the Transference Star Ring. It wasn’t just for shuttling between two worlds; it was also a life-saving artifact. If he were in mortal danger, he could open a teleportation Star Gate and escape.

However, Xiao Yu also knew that saying such things was risky. He did so because he already had his suspicions about Yan Lingjun’s identity.

He had previously admired her ideological depth, which far surpassed that of the other female candidates. As they spent more time together, communicated more, and as he learned more about the Heavenly Kingdom on Blue Star—especially his recent efforts to understand the Red Tide Organization—a thought occurred to him.

Considering the worldview Yan Lingjun had displayed, was it possible that she was an undercover agent for the Red Tide Organization?

It was a gut feeling, unsupported by any evidence.

Both of them had their suspicions about the other and were secretly analyzing each other.

But Xiao Yu didn’t mind. In some respects, he even hoped she was, because he realized it could be very beneficial for him.

War and turmoil objectively made it easier for an alien like him to fish in troubled waters. An armed revolutionary organization desperate for food supplies wouldn’t ask where your grain came from; they would only care if you could provide it.

That meant he could move goods in large quantities—truly massive quantities.

If Yan Lingjun was a member of the Red Tide Organization, Xiao Yu wouldn’t mind making contact through her line, because sooner or later, he would have to address the problem of transporting food products on a massive scale on Blue Star.

He was operating on a small scale for now, which wasn’t a big problem, but he couldn’t stay small forever.

Xiao Yu was certain that the Red Tide Organization, besieged by the Heavenly Kingdom, was in desperate need of food supplies. Although providing them with supplies carried the risk of losing his head if discovered by the Heavenly Kingdom, Xiao Yu was keenly aware that this risk was far smaller than the risk of his alien identity being exposed.

Offending the Heavenly Kingdom was no big deal. At worst, he could stop operating in their territory and still build up his enterprise on other continents.

But if his identity as an alien were to be fully exposed on Blue Star, it would undoubtedly send a massive shockwave through the entire human civilization, subverting their worldview. The major internal conflicts on Blue Star might even be suppressed in the face of a potential alien threat, forcing them to unite against an external enemy. At that point, no matter how big Blue Star was, there wouldn’t be a single plot of land for him to stand on. He had a profound understanding of which risk was greater.

Xiao Yu was not naive enough to believe the natives of Blue Star would ever fully trust him, an alien. Forget about two different worlds; even on Earth, a person with an Eastern face could never truly integrate into the white world no matter how much they kowtowed and pledged allegiance. They would always be met with suspicion. If it was like that in the same world, it would be infinitely worse between two different worlds.

At that moment, seeing Xiao Yu growing bolder and more unguarded with his words, Yan Lingjun put on a frightened expression. “CEO Xiao, if you continue speaking like this, I’ll have to resign. The salary you offer is high, but one has to be alive to spend it…”

Her performance was flawless, making it impossible to tell she was acting. But she had to maintain this posture.

She could not afford to lose even once. If Xiao Yu was truly a Heavenly Kingdom secret agent setting a trap, revealing herself in front of him would be a death sentence. Yan Lingjun knew of revolutionary comrades who had carelessly fallen for such schemes, had their identities exposed, and were ultimately murdered.

Seeing her reaction, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, alright, we won’t talk about this. Look how frightened you are. You’ve gone pale.”

He had his suspicions about the woman’s identity but was in no hurry to confirm them. Whether or not she was a member of Red Tide didn’t matter much to him at the moment. He would just keep a secret, watchful eye on her for now.

Meanwhile, Yan Lingjun was also exercising extra caution. It would be for the best if Xiao Yu was truly a revolutionary comrade. If he wasn’t, she first had to determine if he was a Heavenly Kingdom secret agent. If she could confirm he wasn’t an agent, she would then find a way to win him over to the Red Tide’s camp and persuade him to join the revolution.

From Xiao Yu’s words and actions, Yan Lingjun felt there was a very high chance she could win him over.

Chapter 65: Xiao Yu’s Personal Hands-On Review

For the next few days, Xiao Yu temporarily remained in the Blue Star world, awaiting the delivery of the two thousand tons of graphene.

Two days later, at his private villa in Fengquan City.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was at home personally conducting a hands-on review of Vitas Industrial Group’s bestselling bionic humanoid beauty.

He had nothing better to do, and a bionic humanoid beauty this realistic had genuinely piqued his curiosity.

Truth be told, Xiao Yu was a normal man with normal needs. It had been over half a year since he’d last satisfied them, and in reality, the total time he had spent traveling between Earth and Blue Star had long exceeded a year.

Right then, the bionic beauty lowered her graceful head, looked at Xiao Yu, and asked with rich emotion in her voice, “Master, shall we continue?”

Her pleasant, resonant voice reached Xiao Yu’s ears, and he immediately broke out in a cold sweat internally, waving his hands in a hurry. “No, no, that’s enough! Just give me a massage!”

After this personal hands-on review, Xiao Yu had come to one conclusion: humans were indeed no match for robots.

But he also had to admit that on a scale of one to five stars, the experience of this bionic robot’s physiological functions deserved six stars—it had far exceeded his expectations.

No wonder it had become Vitas Industrial Group’s bestselling product.

You could do whatever you wanted, however you wanted, without any problems, and there was no psychological burden whatsoever.

As for drawbacks, it wasn’t without them. There was a lack of a sense of accomplishment from conquest.

That was because it was simply impossible to win against the robot. A full charge lasted for one hundred hours, and it could maintain peak performance the entire time without tiring.

How was he supposed to win?

Although you could set up certain scenarios beforehand that would trigger her to admit defeat and beg for mercy, showing she’d been conquered by her master, you, as the master, knew it was all fake.

It wasn’t that the robot was invincible; it was that human stamina simply had its limits.

But without a doubt, this minor flaw didn’t detract from its overall quality. At least from the perspective of his personal hands-on review, Xiao Yu felt this shortcoming was negligible, perhaps not even a shortcoming at all.

But in all honesty, the average person really couldn’t handle it. This product from Vitas Industrial was absolutely top-tier.

Even stretching it out, Xiao Yu hadn’t lasted more than forty minutes.

According to the bionic beauty’s timer, the specific duration was thirty-nine minutes and eight seconds.

At this moment, the bionic robot was already giving Xiao Yu an SPA treatment. Her technique was exceptionally professional and top-class, supported by massive data analysis that allowed her to find the relatively optimal solution.

Xiao Yu sighed inwardly. “This bionic humanoid robot from Vitas Industrial is truly something else. It’s just too comprehensive, too versatile…”

Providing service on a physiological level was just one of the functions offered by this Vitas Industrial Group product.

It could perfectly fulfill the duties of a secretary, a butler, or an assistant. It could act as a servant to provide services for its master, or it could be a productivity tool to assist the master with work, all with a high degree of professionalism.

Evidently, this was the core selling point of the bionic robot, and it was what the wealthy truly desired.

If it were released on Earth, it would sell like crazy even with a price tag of two or three million. This wasn’t some product that “the rich don’t need and the poor can’t afford.”

After all, hiring a top professional butler would cost at least a million a year in salary, whereas this bionic robot could perform tasks far beyond the duties of a butler. If such a product truly existed, while not every wealthy person on Earth would buy one, the vast majority certainly would.

Bringing this Vitas Industrial Group robot to Earth would undoubtedly send a massive shockwave through society.

A short while later, the bionic beauty massaging Xiao Yu suddenly said, “Master, Ms. Yan Lingjun is requesting to communicate. Should I connect?”

“Switch my side to audio only. Don’t transmit my video feed to her,” Xiao Yu said. He was in the middle of an SPA session, with not a stitch of clothing on and glistening with massage oil. It wasn’t a good time for a video call.

“Understood.” The bionic beauty responded, then brought up a display panel and accepted Yan Lingjun’s communication request. Yan Lingjun’s real-time video appeared before Xiao Yu, but she couldn’t see his feed, only hear his voice through the audio link.

“CEO Xiao, I have contacted Liu Shijie as you instructed,” said Yan Lingjun on the screen. She had no idea what Xiao Yu was doing or why he wasn’t sharing his video, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Already in a state of sage-like clarity, Xiao Yu glanced at his beautiful assistant on the screen and said concisely, “And?”

Yan Lingjun quickly replied, “Liu Shijie only deals in fresh fruit. He’s not interested in buying synthetic starch. However, he mentioned that he has a nephew whose trading company has a very large and stable demand for synthetic starch.”

This was obviously a fabricated story. In reality, she was procuring food supplies for her Red Tide Organization. But the company did exist, and its founder was, in another capacity, a member of the Red Tide Organization whose mission was to make money and secretly supply the organization with various resources.

Yan Lingjun was worried Xiao Yu might become suspicious, so she didn’t have Liu Shijie make the large purchase himself. After all, in Xiao Yu’s mind, Mr. Liu’s public identity was merely the owner of a high-end fruit shop in Qingyang Town, with a net worth of a few million at most.

For him to suddenly be able to afford hundreds of millions worth of food supplies would obviously conflict with Xiao Yu’s impression of him.

So she invented a nephew, who worked at a large company, which in turn had a business need to purchase large quantities of synthetic starch.

However, none of this mattered to Xiao Yu. He didn’t care who he sold it to. In fact, he had been planning to find an opportunity to get in touch with the Red Tide Organization anyway. If Yan Lingjun had been honest, it would have made things much easier, but she obviously didn’t dare, as she had no idea where Xiao Yu’s allegiances lay.

On the video screen, Yan Lingjun added, “He said he has already contacted his nephew, who has reported it to his superiors. His company is indeed interested in cooperating.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu glanced at his assistant on the screen, then looked away and said lazily, “Then negotiate with them.”

“Very well, CEO Xiao. I understand.” Yan Lingjun was secretly thrilled that he had agreed so readily. She then asked, “Shall I arrange for you to meet with this major client this afternoon to discuss the details of our cooperation?”

Xiao Yu replied nonchalantly, “I won’t be attending. You take a team and start the negotiations with them. Once you have an agreement, get General Manager Luo to sign it. Just report back to me when it’s done.”

After all of today’s… exertion, Xiao Yu was truly and utterly exhausted. All he wanted to do now was rest and recover his energy. There was really not a single drop left.

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun was overjoyed. This was the best possible outcome. After exchanging a few more words with Xiao Yu, she ended the call and went to make the arrangements.

…

Chapter 66: General-purpose Artificial Intelligence

The next day.

Yan Lingjun arrived at Xiao Yu’s private residence to report on her work.

“You’re saying that fifteen hundred tons isn’t enough for them?” Xiao Yu looked at Yan Lingjun in surprise. She nodded. “That’s right. They’re a major corporation involved in international trade, with operations spanning the globe.”

Xiao Yu averted his gaze and looked at the client company’s information on the display panel. It was from the report Yan Lingjun had brought.

Seeing him remain silent, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but sneak a glance at him. She was actually quite worried that Xiao Yu wouldn’t agree to sell everything to this one company.

She had reported a demand for five thousand tons, meaning that even if Prism Company sold all fifteen hundred tons of synthetic starch they had on hand, the client could still take another thirty-five hundred tons.

“In that case, fine. We’ll sell it all to them.” Xiao Yu waved his hand, shutting off the display panel. He then turned to his beautiful assistant and added, “But they can’t delay payment.”

“The client has promised to settle the payment on the day of delivery,” Yan Lingjun said with a smile, breathing a sigh of relief internally. She was also very pleased because she had come with a mission, and not only had she secured a brand new supply channel for food resources for her organization, but she had also greatly exceeded expectations.

Xiao Yu then instructed, “Once the funds arrive, pay the graphene supplier as soon as possible. I don’t like it when people delay my payments, and I don’t like delaying payments to others.”

Yan Lingjun nodded slightly. “Yes, I understand.”

Two days later, two thousand tons of graphene material of varying qualities were successfully delivered and stored in the warehouse designated by Xiao Yu.

He went to inspect the shipment personally and confirmed that there were no issues.

With this, Xiao Yu could finally rest easy. The supply for Earth was now guaranteed for the next year.

His business on Blue Star had come to a temporary close, so Xiao Yu returned to Earth. However, he didn’t bring the shipment of graphene material with him just yet, leaving it on Blue Star for the time being.

To ensure everything was foolproof, Xiao Yu had one more task to handle: upgrading the warehouse on Earth with smart technology.

Although he could order that no one was to enter the warehouse without permission, Xiao Yu still felt uneasy.

He couldn’t rule out the risk of someone being bribed to sneak inside. If they were to discover the two thousand tons of graphene stored there ahead of schedule—when Spiritual Mirror Tech had publicly claimed they hadn’t produced nearly that much—how could he explain the discrepancy?

Compared to people, Xiao Yu trusted the AI he had written himself much more. His strategy was simple: install smart locks on all the warehouse entrances and exits. He alone would hold the access rights; without his permission, no one could open them.

Any attempt at a forced entry would trigger a permanent lockdown. The warehouse had a backup power system, so cutting the power wouldn’t work. On top of that, he planned to set up a self-defense mechanism.

If anyone tried to break in by force, the system could destroy the materials stored inside, ensuring that no outsider would discover anything unusual or inexplicable.

In the future, more and more advanced black technology products would be brought from Blue Star to Earth, so this aspect had to be absolutely foolproof.

The graphene material was the first material-type product Xiao Yu had brought from Blue Star. The second would be the AI agent.

This served both as a security measure for the warehouse, keeping the “key” in his own hands, and as a way to minimize potential risks for future black technology production lines by implementing intelligent, unmanned manufacturing with no human intervention.

The applications for AI were also extremely broad. Deploying the AI agent on a software level on Earth first was also groundwork for bringing the Vitas Industrial Group’s advanced bionic robot hardware technology to Earth.

When Xiao Yu was coding the AI agent on Blue Star, he had already considered bringing it to Earth. This was a major reason why it couldn’t compare to Blue Star’s native AI agents. He had to ensure the AI could run on Earth’s existing hardware, which was tantamount to forcing a god of war to ride a dog.

Linzhou City, in the basement of his villa.

Xiao Yu was alone. In front of him was some equipment he had brought from Blue Star. On the table sat a smart holographic wristband, which was turned on, a holographic panel displayed above it.

Beside it were several Earth-made computer towers and monitors, all connected to Spiritual Mirror Tech’s servers. Xiao Yu was using his high-level clearance to access the company’s server resources.

At that moment, a progress bar on the holographic panel read 72.22% and was steadily climbing.

Xiao Yu waited patiently on the side. He was downloading the AI agent he had written on Blue Star. It required some effort to transcode and adapt, as Blue Star was already in the era of quantum computing, while Earth’s computers were still based on the von Neumann architecture—antiques by Blue Star’s standards.

However, Xiao Yu wasn’t worried about compatibility. When he was writing the AI agent’s algorithms, he had already taken this into account, ensuring it could run properly on Earth’s existing computational architecture.

As the minutes ticked by, after waiting for over half an hour, the progress bar finally reached 100%.

Xiao Yu turned off the holographic wristband’s panel and looked at the Earth-made monitor nearby. He typed rapidly on the keyboard, finally hitting the spacebar. He glanced at another monitor, which now displayed: Initializing…

Another long wait. Having grown accustomed to Blue Star’s advanced electronics, Xiao Yu found this a bit hard to bear.

It was like watching a video in 480p after getting used to 8K resolution—everything looked like a blurry mess.

But there was no helping it; he had to wait.

“Looks like I’ll have to buy a supercomputer after all. The data center and computing center both need to be upgraded,” Xiao Yu muttered to himself as he waited. He nodded silently in agreement with his own thought. The company’s server resources were completely inadequate.

Especially if he were to develop an application based on the AI agent for mass user download and use. As the user base grew, the demand for storage and computing power would skyrocket.

About an hour and a half later: AI Agent Initialization Complete. Boot-up Complete. Self-adaptation Complete.

Xiao Yu’s spirits lifted. He immediately ran a series of extensive tests and finally confirmed that Earth’s hardware environment was compatible and could run the AI agent. Although its response time was much slower, it wasn’t a major issue. On Earth, it could still completely dominate all other AI companies.

Xiao Yu’s AI agent wouldn’t need any iteration on Earth. It was simply too slow, and the computing resources here were lacking. For any updates, he would just package the data, take it to Blue Star to run on the super quantum computers there, and then bring the updated version back to Earth.

The applications for artificial intelligence were incredibly broad. After much thought, Xiao Yu decided to develop a smart assistant for mobile and PC platforms based on this AI agent.

This AI assistant would help users manage various smart devices and applications. The user experience had to be simple—the simpler, the better. It would assist users’ decisions through simple text chat windows or voice interactions. In short, all you’d have to do is talk. This AI assistant could free up people’s hands.

The simpler it was to use, and the lower the learning curve, the higher the technical sophistication required. This was because it demanded that the AI could precisely understand and respond to human language.

Currently, Earth’s native AI technology was incapable of this. But the AI agent Xiao Yu had written had no problem with it at all. On Blue Star, it was a pathetically weak version, but on Earth, it was a general-purpose artificial intelligence, a decade ahead of its time.

Chapter 67: Promoting the First Application of the AI Agent

The next day, at the Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters.

“Entering the AI and virtual reality fields, and also researching holographic imaging technology?” Xu Changming, the newly appointed CEO, was caught off guard by Xiao Yu’s decision. He was currently in Xiao Yu’s office discussing the matter.

Xiao Yu sat on the sofa and looked at Xu Changming. “The wave of artificial intelligence is already upon us. In the foreseeable future, it will inevitably accelerate its entry into thousands of industries, empowering all trades, and reshaping them. It will help electrical engineers inspect circuits, assist fire departments with fire patrols, and even aid scientists in their research. It is bound to become an efficiency multiplier and a new engine for development for countless industries.”

As he spoke, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but recall what he had seen and heard in the world of Blue Star.

That was a world where artificial intelligence was highly developed. For instance, the bionic humanoid robots from Vitas Industrial Group were indistinguishable from humans in every way, except for not being human.

In fact, a crucial reason why the revolutionary path of the Red Tide Organization on Blue Star was so difficult was that the Heavenly Kingdom possessed a massive army of AI mechs. The Red Tide’s soldiers were virtually fighting the Heavenly Kingdom’s armed mech legions with their flesh and blood.

If the Red Tide army hadn’t captured some and had their own armed mech equipment, their human soldiers, relying solely on flesh and blood to fight armed robots, would have been wiped out long ago.

Even if they could trade one human soldier for ten armed mech units on the battlefield, such an attrition rate was still a devastating loss for the Red Tide army. As long as the Heavenly Kingdom’s production was continuous, its forces were virtually endless, whereas every human soldier the Red Tide army lost was one less they had.

Meanwhile, back in the present, Xu Changming said, “That’s certainly true, but this isn’t our company’s area of expertise…”

Spiritual Mirror Tech had started out making precision components, then gradually expanded into semiconductor displays, new materials, micro-nano optical devices, and robotics and automation equipment.

The company had actually invested in robotics before, but it had never become a core business, the investment wasn’t large, and it was focused on hardware.

“Old Xu, you’re underestimating me. I’m an all-rounder, and I’m quite skilled when it comes to AI,” Xiao Yu said with a smile, his confidence on full display. He suddenly stood up and retrieved the tablet computer from his desk.

Xiao Yu handed it to Xu Changming and smiled. “This is a semi-finished product I’ve already developed. I’ve even thought of the first application scenario: a universal cross-device AI assistant.”

Next, Xiao Yu gave Xu Changming a brief and concise introduction and explained how to use this AI.

Xu Changming grew progressively more shocked, even finding it incredible.

To put it simply, the tablet seemed to have been given a “soul,” or rather, it housed a virtual AI assistant.

Finally, Xiao Yu crossed his legs and looked at Xu Changming with a slight smile. “So, what do you think? Old Xu, do you think this has potential?”

Putting down the tablet, Xu Changming immediately said without hesitation, “I have no objections. Even if you want to go all in on AI, I’ll have no objections. I will fully support your decision.”

Xiao Yu immediately finalized the decision. “Great, then it’s settled. We’ll start the new business. Draft a budget of thirty billion to purchase a massive amount of storage and computing resources as soon as possible. The company will also procure a supercomputer. If the budget isn’t enough, we can add more.”

Xu Changming nodded. “No problem.”

Previously, if Xiao Yu had insisted on pushing this, he would have supported it but would have had personal reservations. Now, however, he wouldn’t even have reservations; he would support it with all his might.

…

In the afternoon, the company’s Board of Directors passed the resolution to launch the new businesses, and an announcement was made in the evening.

Spiritual Mirror Tech planned to invest a massive thirty billion, venturing into three major areas: the AI field, virtual reality technology, and the research and application of holographic imaging technology.

At the same time, they would further expand their large-scale employee recruitment. The company’s total number of employees had already grown to 3,200, more than double what it was half a year ago, and over eighty percent of them were technical talents in their respective fields.

The company was no longer short on cash. After signing contracts with major downstream manufacturers, many customers had paid for their goods in advance, even before the products were delivered.

Not a single one was delaying payment, because those who wanted to couldn’t even sign a contract. Spiritual Mirror Tech simply wouldn’t work with such manufacturers. In a situation completely skewed towards a seller’s market, buyers had no bargaining power.

At a time like this, one had to admit the military played a significant role. If not for the military’s procurement, those manufacturers really wouldn’t have dared to pay in advance.

What if Spiritual Mirror Tech just took the money and ran? Wouldn’t they be left dumbfounded?

But knowing that even the military was placing orders with them served as a powerful “endorsement.” Others saw this and were no longer worried about the company taking the money and running, so they could send their payments with peace of mind.

However, after Spiritual Mirror Tech released this announcement, the capital market was spooked.

The market had positioned Xiao Yu’s company as a new materials enterprise. To investors, venturing into fields like AI and virtual reality was like entering unfamiliar territory. The key was the terrifyingly large investment—an astronomical figure of thirty billion right off the bat.

If such a huge investment went down the drain, it would be a very real loss.

Adding to that, Spiritual Mirror Tech was also dabbling in food processing and grain trade, and was even going off on a tangent to get into supermarkets. Investors hadn’t thought much of it before, treating the food processing, grain trade, and supermarkets as money-losing ventures. As long as the profits from the main graphene business were large enough, losing a little money could be covered by the high profits of the core business, so it wasn’t a big problem.

But now, suddenly throwing in tens of billions to risk entering an unfamiliar field was different. If they lost money, it would be no small sum. It was possible that all the money earned from the company’s main business would be lost. What would support the company’s current market capitalization of 350 billion then?

Some investors, worried that the annual report would fall short of expectations, chose to sell their shares to avoid risk. As a result, the stock price, which had been trading at a high, began to weaken. It had been about to hit a new high, but this news caused it to form an M-top double top.

However, fluctuations in the stock price would not affect the company’s development decisions. Xiao Yu didn’t care about the company’s stock price now anyway. He had absolute control over the company and would not sell his own shares on the secondary market. The rise and fall of the stock price had no impact on him or the company’s development.

…

In the following days, Xiao Yu actively pushed for the launch of the AI agent’s first application on Earth, leaving the company’s operations to Xu Changming.

Xiao Yu personally led the newly recruited technical talents to form a development team and began developing the mobile app and PC client for the AI agent.

“Our AI assistant’s development is already seventy percent complete. We need to launch the first version by March of next year at the latest for public use. The timeline is very tight,” Xiao Yu said, looking around at the members of the various development sub-teams.

“This AI agent should possess four basic capabilities,” Xiao Yu stated methodically: “natural language understanding and computer vision; in-app, cross-application, and cross-device operations; learning user habits and perceiving contextual environments; and intent recognition and decision-making capabilities.”

Xiao Yu continued, “To be blunt, our AI agent is already far ahead of the industry in these four basic capabilities, and on a global scale at that. But we’re not satisfied with just that. Before the first official version is launched to the public, it still requires further optimization and improvement.”

Chapter 68: Restructuring Complete, Shareholding Ratio Soars

Xiao Yu said a few simple words without any unnecessary preamble and began assigning tasks directly to the various development teams.

Half an hour later, he arrived at one of the development teams. This group was responsible for the Android mobile app.

Xiao Yu picked up a phone that already had the internal beta version of the AI assistant app installed.

“Mira, help me check which apps on this phone have automatic payments.” Xiao Yu immediately began giving the phone voice commands. For now, the AI assistant was temporarily named “Mira”.

A moment later, the AI, Mira, responded and a window popped up.

All the auto-renewal items on the phone were listed, such as the subscriptions for video apps like Youku and iQiyi.

At this point, you could cancel these subscriptions one by one or in bulk.

Xiao Yu turned to the person in charge of the development team and said, “Throughout the entire workflow, the AI agent’s permissions must be granted by the user, and the user can take over from the agent at any time to proceed with the next step. For example, when it comes to important decisions like canceling auto-renewals, the AI agent must return the decision-making authority to the user for manual confirmation.”

At this point, Xiao Yu added, “Of course, if users don’t want to confirm manually, they can grant further authorization to the AI agent. But when the agent makes an important decision, it must receive the user’s explicit consent.”

Xiao Yu had just tested the experience of the AI agent assisting a user in terminating auto-renewals. This was a major pain point for many users, partly because various apps with auto-renewal features bury the cancellation function deep within their interface.

Currently, very few AI products from other companies could even navigate to a secondary page.

But Mira could easily dig out the subscription items from all the major apps, presenting them to the user in the most straightforward way, no matter how many levels deep they were hidden.

And this was just one of Mira’s more ordinary abilities.

Over the next few months, Xiao Yu led the team into a period of intense development work.

The most core technological aspects had already been handled back on Blue Star. The work on Earth primarily involved adapting the client-side applications—it needed to be launched on Android, iOS, and PC.

In the future, if Huawei’s HarmonyOS was released, they would also follow up with development for a HarmonyOS client.

Xiao Yu had no intention of making this AI agent exclusive to any single phone brand. Instead, he was developing it as an independent app, a standalone platform that could be downloaded and used by all phone brands, as well as on PC.

However, it did have certain requirements for phone performance. Phones with low specs would have slower response times, possibly even less efficient than manual operation.

The experience on high-end flagship phones would certainly be better; the higher the hardware configuration, the faster the response speed.

In other words, the PC client would completely outperform the mobile version. At Earth’s current level of technology, even the most powerful quad-core phone processor couldn’t compare to an entry-level quad-core computer processor.

Mira’s greatest advantage was its simplicity and efficiency. On a mobile phone, it allowed users to free their hands, using voice interaction to have Mira assist with various operations and decisions.

For instance, when other apps buried their subscription renewal items so deep that the average user could never find them, Mira could perfectly solve this pain point.

Another example was files hidden in unknown locations. Users might never find them or waste a huge amount of time turning their phone inside out, but Mira could solve this perfectly. The user only needed to speak, and Mira would handle the rest.

On a PC, Mira was also an excellent assistant. For example, you could ask Mira what unknown applications were running in the background or what apps had been installed recently.

Furthermore, the dreaded problem of ad pop-ups would be perfectly solved. As long as Mira was installed on the computer, annoying things like that “Little Bird Wallpaper” bloatware could never inexplicably appear on the computer.

In short, whatever you needed, just ask Mira, and leave the rest to her.

These were just some of Mira’s abilities. She could do much more, including smart Q&A, AI meeting summaries, AI speech-to-text, and a whole series of other functions.

In terms of environmental and scene perception, when a user was watching a video or on a call with someone using AI face-swapping technology, Mira could perform frame-by-frame analysis of the person’s gaze, the lighting, and the image clarity in the video to identify flaws imperceptible to the human eye.

When it detected that the other party was using AI face-swapping, Mira would issue a risk alert to the user.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s method of showcasing its AI involved directly presenting users with various new scenarios, which was undoubtedly more aggressive than its peers in the AI industry.

This was perfectly normal. In a sense, Xiao Yu had the technological support of the entire Blue Star behind him, giving him absolute confidence in his lead over competitors on Earth.

While leading the team in developing the AI assistant, Xiao Yu was also working on establishing an intelligent warehousing center. The delivery date for the first shipment to the military was approaching, so this part had to be handled properly, with no room for error.

Meanwhile, Xu Changming was carrying out Xiao Yu’s decisions. The company’s procurement of supercomputers had long been on the agenda, including the massive investment in purchasing large amounts of storage and computing power resources to pave the way for Mira’s official launch.

…

Time moved on to the new year of 2022. It was Wednesday, February 9th.

Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters.

At this moment, Yun Shu was in Xiao Yu’s office, reporting to him on the company’s various work progress: “The new warehousing center you requested is now ready for use. The second round of salary increases for all employees has also been completed. Furthermore, the merger and restructuring with Linghan New Materials has been fully implemented, and the company has applied to have its ST risk warning removed.”

After more than half a year of reorganization, the two companies had finally completed their merger and restructuring. As a result, Xiao Yu’s shareholding in the parent company, Spiritual Mirror Tech, had risen sharply from 34.56% before the restructuring to 51.03% of the total share capital afterward.

After the restructuring, Xiao Yu himself held half of the equity interest in Spiritual Mirror Tech, while the other half was distributed among his core team of confidants and external investors, thus forming a community of common interest.

Currently, Spiritual Mirror Tech was still in an ST status. Once the stock exchange approved their application and removed the ST risk warning, it would no longer have to bear the “ST Spiritual Mirror” designation.

Sitting beside him, Yun Shu continued, “The company’s annual report audit might be delayed until the end of April. It’s mainly my fault. I’m in charge of the finance department, and there have been some efficiency issues.”

“It’s fine. You’ve been doing a great job. Just take your time.” Xiao Yu smiled at his beautiful assistant, then paused and said with concern, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You can slow down your work pace a bit. You don’t have to do everything yourself; just delegate the small things to your assistant.”

Seeing how concerned he was for her, Yun Shu couldn’t help but feel a secret joy. She smiled brightly as she met his gaze, “I’m okay. I’m just not quite used to the new work yet. I need some time to adjust.”

After this brief interlude, Yun Shu returned to business matters. “Oh, right, there’s one more thing. The military will be here in a week to pick up the first shipment.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded. “Alright, then let’s get ready for the delivery of the first batch of products.”

After work, Xiao Yu returned to his villa. He went down to the underground garage and opened the teleportation Star Gate to Blue Star.

The intelligent warehousing center on Earth was ready, so he could go to Blue Star and bring the graphene back to Earth.

Xiao Yu teleported directly into the warehouse in Fengquan City on Blue Star where the graphene was stored. Immediately after, he opened another teleportation Star Gate connecting to the inside of the intelligent warehousing center on Earth and had the intelligent robots transfer the goods.

Chapter 69: The Public’s Curiosity and Anticipation for Mira

With the cargo settled, Xiao Yu crossed the teleportation Star Gate to Blue Star, then opened it again to return to the underground warehouse of his villa on Earth.

All that remained was to wait for the military personnel to arrive and arrange for a normal delivery.

After handling this matter, Xiao Yu continued to lead his team in advancing the development of the AI assistant, Mira. The release of the first official version was drawing ever closer.

As time went on, toward the end of February, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price bottomed out at 274.92 yuan before staging a relatively strong rebound that lasted until early March.

The company’s stock price rebounded to a high of 384.92 yuan, a cumulative increase of 40%. This rally was driven by the expectation that the company would have its Special Treatment (ST) designation removed.

On Wednesday, March 2nd, the company officially had its ST designation removed, and its name was restored to “Spiritual Mirror Tech.” With the expectation fulfilled, the rally ended, and the stock entered another correction.

What should have been a normal pullback coincided with a sharp, accelerated sell-off in the broader market.

At the end of February, a major international event occurred: war broke out between Russia and Ukraine. Global capital markets plummeted, and the Chinese A-share market experienced a rapid crash in March.

By March 15th, the broad market index had plunged by five percent. On the same day, amidst panic-selling and a market stampede, Spiritual Mirror Tech plummeted by 16.73%, with its stock price falling back to 286.70 yuan, essentially erasing all the gains from the recent rebound.

However, after the steep drop, it quickly rebounded and recovered. Over the next four trading days, it saw a strong rally, with Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock rising by +8.32%, +5.94%, +4.86%, and +8.75% respectively. The stock price climbed back to 375.18 yuan, corresponding to a market capitalization of 325.656 billion.

In the following week, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price fluctuated widely within the 350 to 400 yuan range.

Time passed to Wednesday, March 30th.

The development of Mira was in its final stages, and a launch date had been set. In half a month, on April 14th, version 1.0 would be officially released.

They were mainly waiting for computing and storage resources to be put in place, which were nearly ready and would be fully configured in about ten days.

At 11 a.m., Xiao Yu, who was at the company, logged into his personal Weibo (social media platform) account. He planned to announce the news himself. He had no intention of holding a grand press conference for the launch of Mira’s first official version.

After composing a post, Xiao Yu reviewed it to make sure there were no issues and then published it.

[In half a month, the AI assistant “Mira” will officially be available to everyone. It’s no exaggeration to say that this will be an epoch-making product in the field of artificial intelligence. She will give a “soul” to phones, tablets, and computers, freeing users’ hands. You will only need to speak to have “Mira” help you with all sorts of things.

What should our expectations for AI be? Or rather, what capabilities should an AI possess?

Mira will not only change how everyone interacts with their computers and phones, but we firmly believe she will also change the software industry, leading the biggest revolution in computing since the shift from typing commands to clicking icons.

Mira is by no means a simple upgrade to past voice assistants. She is in a league of her own, distinct from all previous intelligent assistants on any platform. Past assistants were more like productivity tools for different platforms.

Mira, on the other hand, is more like a cross-platform partner for your work and life. She can assist you just as a personal assistant supports an executive.

For instance, if your friend has just had surgery, Mira might proactively suggest you send flowers and help you order them with your consent. If you want to meet up with an old classmate, Mira can coordinate with your classmate’s Mira to find a suitable time. She might even remind you before you arrive that their eldest child is already in college.

Or, for example, when you ask Mira to check which apps on your phone are charging you automatically, she can directly list all auto-renewing subscriptions—both the ones you can find and the ones you can’t. You can cancel them one by one or in batches. If you don’t feel like clicking through them yourself, you can authorize Mira to cancel them for you. At the same time, you can take over from Mira at any point to proceed with the next step. For important decisions, unless you grant her higher permissions, Mira will always return the final say to you.

We firmly believe that this kind of change brought by AI will take shape within the next two to three years. People will be willing to pay for AI, which means companies will have the incentive to have Mira work for you long-term, rather than for advertisers.]

Xiao Yu’s Weibo account now had over seven million followers, a result of the massive reputation boost he received after his bold move to spend ten billion yuan to compensate retail investors for their losses. The event had caused a huge sensation at the time, breaking into mainstream awareness, winning the hearts of many, and earning him the goodwill of countless onlookers.

The post he published quickly caused a considerable stir and attracted attention from all quarters.

Everyone could read between the lines and see Xiao Yu’s confidence in this product—a confidence that bordered on arrogance, as he was setting the bar incredibly high.

He started by claiming to give devices a “soul” and went on to declare it the biggest revolution in computing since the shift from typed commands to clicking icons. Even world-class tech giants wouldn’t dare make such grandiose statements so casually.

Nevertheless, Xiao Yu’s description of the AI assistant Mira left the public both curious and rather expectant.

Whether it was as amazing as he claimed would be revealed when the product launched in half a month.

As the day progressed, the news fermented, pushing Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price higher in the afternoon as Xiao Yu’s Weibo post created a new wave of anticipation for the company.

The broader market happened to be rebounding strongly that day as well, with the ChiNext Index surging by over four percent. A stock market analysis app also added the “Artificial Intelligence” concept tag to Spiritual Mirror Tech.

At market close, Spiritual Mirror Tech had soared by +9.66%, closing at 432.00 yuan. The daily trading volume surged to 18.5 billion. The stock price broke its previous all-time high of 421.23 yuan, setting a new record of 437.80 yuan during the day. The company’s market capitalization also reached 374.976 billion.

However, over the next two trading days, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price failed to build on its new high and instead fell into a correction, dropping by -6.81% and -6.73% respectively.

The company’s stock failed to hold its new all-time high for two reasons. Firstly, the broader market had weakened again. Secondly, investors felt that Xiao Yu’s Weibo post was a bit unbelievable. How long had Spiritual Mirror Tech been in the AI industry? How could they possibly have such an incredible product?

Elon Musk’s investment, OpenAI, had been around for several years and had yet to show such dramatic progress. There was no way Spiritual Mirror Tech could be more impressive than OpenAI.

Therefore, most people concluded that Xiao Yu’s Weibo post was very likely an exaggeration.

However, the company’s stock didn’t continue its sell-off. After two days of correction, it stabilized and began trading sideways at a high level. On one hand, the market was waiting for the launch of the AI assistant Mira. On the other, and more importantly, everyone was awaiting Spiritual Mirror Tech’s annual report.

It was now early April, and the deadline for disclosing the annual report was the end of the month.

Comparatively, investors in the capital markets were far more concerned with Spiritual Mirror Tech’s annual financial performance. Thus, the stock price began to move sideways as everyone waited for the release of the annual report.

Chapter 70: Official Launch, Users Amazed by Their First Experience

The date was Thursday, April 14th.

The highly anticipated AI assistant, Mira, which had drawn the attention of industry insiders, capital markets, and the general public, officially launched today at 10 AM. Many people rushed to be the first to try it, eager to see if it was really as amazing as Xiao Yu had boasted.

At this moment, a fan who followed Xiao Yu on Weibo remembered the event. He was also a retail investor and had even bought shares in Spiritual Mirror Tech, planning to hold them long-term as a value investment, which was why he was paying such close attention.

A short while later, he visited Spiritual Mirror Tech’s official website on his computer.

As expected, the website had been updated. The homepage was now a promotional interface for the AI assistant, Mira.

“Whoa! They even designed a virtual avatar for Mira? This girl’s portrait art is actually quite nice.” He was slightly surprised, then clicked to enter the download page, which showed support for Android, iOS, and Windows.

Instead of first downloading and installing the Windows client on his computer, he took out his phone to download the Mira app. The netizen’s phone was a Mate40 Pro. He first opened the app store on his phone and searched for the keyword “Mira” to see if he could download it directly.

Sure enough, it was available for direct download in the app store. But when he glanced at it, he was stunned. “What the hell? The installation package is 2.37 GB?”

It was rare for a mobile app, especially one that wasn’t a game, to take up so much storage.

But it wasn’t a big deal. The phone he’d bought still had plenty of storage, so he decisively tapped to download and install it.

Once the app was installed, he immediately opened it.

Using the AI assistant Mira required registering an account. He could do a one-click registration with his phone number, and the account was shared with the PC client. The retail investor quickly registered an account for himself.

He successfully entered the app’s main page. Mira then requested device management permissions. He could grant permissions to apps individually, in batches, or with a single click to entrust the entire phone to Mira’s management.

The netizen chose the one-click management option, after which the app began a data-gathering process. This was to collect data on his user habits.

After a short wait, this step was finally complete, and he could now use the app normally.

“Mira, order me a raw coconut latte from Luckin on Meituan.” He stared at his phone, initiating a voice command to test the experience. A moment later, Mira responded, “Okay, I’m placing your order now. Would you like it iced or hot? And would you prefer standard sweetness, less sugar, or light sugar?”

The retail investor clicked his tongue in amazement. Right after he gave the voice command, he watched his phone automatically open the Meituan app, search for the raw coconut latte from Luckin, and even default to his usual preferences of ‘less sugar’ and ‘iced’—clearly, it had selected these defaults based on his past habits.

At the same time, Mira also asked for his confirmation, returning the important decision-making power to the user unless it was granted a higher level of authorization.

“Less sugar, iced,” he replied.

Mira responded quickly and started to confirm the order.

A moment later, the screen switched to the payment options. The final decision was once again his to make, as he hadn’t granted Mira permission for this, and such an important action required re-authorization.

But then, he canceled the order. He realized that when he’d ordered the latte, he had specified the delivery app, the store name, and the exact item he wanted.

Now, he suddenly wanted to try ordering normally, without specifying a store, just telling Mira what he roughly wanted to eat. How would she handle such vague information?

“Mira, order me some rice noodles,” he looked at his phone and said. Mira quickly responded, “Okay, placing your order now.”

He then watched as his phone automatically opened a food delivery app and found a crossing-the-bridge rice noodle shop. To his surprise, it was a place he had ordered from before. The app automatically selected a bowl of rice noodles, and the screen switched to the payment page, a step that required his manual confirmation.

“Mira, just pay for it. I don’t want to move,” he said suddenly. A moment later, Mira responded and prompted him with a permission request, which required manual confirmation.

There were options to authorize for “this time only” or “always.” If he confirmed “always authorize,” Mira wouldn’t have to ask for permission every single time in the future.

The retail investor netizen confirmed “always authorize.”

And then, Mira really did place the order directly, automatically entering his payment password and completing the purchase successfully.

The retail investor was floored. He suddenly had an idea and said, “Mira, open my stock account.”

A moment later, his phone automatically opened the Tonghuashun stock trading app and, after receiving authorization, logged into his stock account.

He was currently holding just one stock: Spiritual Mirror Tech. He was surprised to see that it had already risen by nearly ten percent, with the price surging to 432.31 yuan, just a hair’s breadth away from breaking its previous record of 437.8 yuan and setting a new all-time high.

“Mira, add all the stocks that had consecutive limit-ups yesterday to my watchlist.”

“Okay,” Mira responded. After a moment, all the stocks that had hit consecutive limit-ups the previous day were added to his watchlist. He was thrilled. “Holy crap! This is awesome! I don’t even have to find them myself anymore. With Mira’s help, trading stocks is so much easier.”

“I wonder if it can help me set up conditional orders to buy and sell stocks?” he pondered for a moment, then said, “Mira, if Spiritual Mirror Tech sets a new all-time high, buy me a ten-percent position. It has to be after it sets a new high, okay?”

“Okay,” Mira replied.

Could it really do that?

He then waited. For the moment, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price was fluctuating near its previous high.

After about ten minutes, the selling pressure seemed to subside, and the stock price began to rally. In a single move, it broke through the 437.80 yuan mark, setting a new all-time high.

The moment the stock hit the new high, the condition was triggered. Mira immediately bought a ten-percent position for him, executing the order much faster than he could have done manually.

“Holy crap! It actually works! Awesome, so awesome! This is great! This is absolutely incredible!” He watched as the new position was successfully and automatically purchased the instant the stock set a new high. At that moment, after breaking its all-time high, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price began to accelerate, its gains quickly expanding to fifteen percent.

“Mira, quick, sell a ten-percent position of Spiritual Mirror Tech for me,” he said immediately.

“Okay,” Mira responded, and quickly sold a ten-percent position for him. The retail investor was ecstatic. “This is brilliant! With Mira’s help, trading is so much more convenient. This AI is really something else!”

After trying it out on his phone, he discovered it could truly be a hands-free experience. All he had to do was say the word, and Mira could handle the rest.

This level of smart functionality far exceeded his expectations.

“What’s the PC client like?” He put his phone aside and immediately downloaded the Mira client on his computer.

Once the client was downloaded and installed, he launched it immediately. The account was shared with the mobile app, so he just had to log in. After he logged in, Mira’s virtual girl avatar appeared on his computer desktop.

It couldn’t help but remind him of the old QQ Pet, but Mira’s virtual avatar was exquisitely designed, and you could even interact with it.

On his desktop, Mira was walking around curiously, as if exploring a strange new environment. She walked to the left side of the screen, seemingly examining the desktop icons with curiosity, then sauntered over to the right.

Users could also turn off Mira’s virtual avatar, and she would no longer appear on the desktop.

“Yes, yes, yes! This is awesome!” The retail investor found that Mira was a continuous source of surprises, exceeding his expectations in every way.

On the PC client, he could still use voice commands to interact with Mira, or he could interact via text in a chat box.

His computer didn’t have a headset, so he could only interact with Mira through text chat.

However, he was soon pleasantly surprised to discover another feature: Mira prompted him in the chat box that he could use cross-device interaction.

If his computer couldn’t handle voice commands, he could use his phone to enter a “PC management mode.” This allowed him to issue voice commands to the computer via his phone. The reverse was also true—he could use his computer to manage his phone.

He tried using his phone for a voice command, and the PC responded instantly. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “Holy crap! Mira is way too powerful! This is absolutely going to be the hit product of the year. It would be a crime if this doesn’t blow up!”

…

Chapter 71: A Viral Sensation

This retail investor was utterly astonished. He never would have imagined that AI Mira could be so powerful.

“Mira, help me check if Little Bird Wallpaper is installed on my computer,” he said suddenly, remembering that he had 360 Security installed.

A moment later, his PC responded.

He took a closer look and was instantly dumbfounded. “Uh… What the hell? I was just asking on a whim. Damn it, my computer really has Little Bird Wallpaper? Holy crap!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, he continued, “Mira, uninstall this damn Little Bird Wallpaper for me. Don’t ever let it install itself automatically again. I don’t want to see it on my computer.”

Mira responded, “Certainly. Uninstalling Little Bird Wallpaper… Uninstallation complete.”

He watched as the computer automatically opened a few windows, successfully located the path for Little Bird Wallpaper, and then uninstalled it completely, clearing out all residual data files.

Next, the retail investor said, “Mira, turn off all of 360’s pop-up ads, and while you’re at it, disable all the other pop-up ads on this computer.”

Mira responded quickly, “Of course. Processing now.”

The retail investor couldn’t help but lean back in his chair. “Ah, that’s so much better. This AI is incredibly useful… Mira, clean up the junk files on my computer. Clean out all the junk on the C drive.”

A little while later, Mira responded again and executed his command.

All the junk on the computer—junk files, cache, system update logs, installation packages, and more—was cleared out. The C drive was also cleaned, freeing up 27 GB of space.

Afterward, for important files such as photos, Mira prompted the user to make the final decision.

Next, he tried out various other scenarios.

For example, if he wanted to watch a movie, he could just tell Mira. She would then open a video website on his computer, automatically search for the movie title, and start playing it. The retail investor accomplished all of this without even having to touch his mouse or keyboard.

If the volume was too low or too high, he told Mira, and she adjusted it. If there were too many bullet comments on the screen, he told Mira, and she reduced them. If he didn’t want any bullet comments at all, he told Mira, and she turned them off completely.

He didn’t even have to type to send bullet comments or interact with others. He could just tell Mira what to say via voice command. Mira would generate the text from his speech but wouldn’t send it immediately. Instead, she would wait for his confirmation to ensure the generated text accurately reflected what he wanted to say.

“This AI is insanely powerful. Xiao Yu, its creator, is a true genius,” the retail investor marveled. “His Weibo post wasn’t bragging at all; if anything, it was a damn understatement! Downloading Mira onto a computer or phone is like giving the device a life and soul…”

Just then, he hurriedly opened his stock trading app to check Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price. Instantly, he slapped his thigh in regret. “Holy crap! If I’d known, I wouldn’t have sold. I should have gone all in!”

By then, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock had already surged by 20.00% and was sealed at its limit up. The share price soared to an all-time high of 471.97 yuan, and its market capitalization broke the 400 billion yuan mark for the first time, reaching 409.669 billion yuan.

Spiritual Mirror Tech had officially launched Mira AI 1.0 today. While it hadn’t yet caused a massive public sensation, every single person who tried it for the first time was left utterly shocked, if not profoundly shaken.

Xiao Yu had shown the world what an AI should be and what it should be capable of.

The people trying it out weren’t just ordinary users; they included industry insiders and investors. The investors, in particular, reacted swiftly. Stunned by their initial experience, they decisively increased their positions in Spiritual Mirror Tech, forcefully pushing the company’s stock to its limit up and effortlessly setting a new all-time high.

About two hours after its launch, Mira had already caused a massive sensation within the industry.

Many AI industry insiders downloaded and tried it, and the looks on their faces were pure disbelief. The power of Mira’s capabilities and its high level of intelligence completely shattered their perceptions.

Some industry veterans were left dumbfounded, even a little demoralized.

How long had Spiritual Mirror Tech even been in the AI field? To have already launched such an exceptionally powerful AI application… Many veterans who had toiled in the AI space for years felt an immense sense of defeat.

They had been waiting to watch Spiritual Mirror Tech make a fool of itself, but instead, the company played an unbeatable hand. It turned out they themselves were the clowns.

“President Xiang, you truly have a keen eye for talent. This Xiao Yu is a rare technological genius.” At the Ruilian Group headquarters, one of Xiang Chongguang’s subordinates spoke with great admiration. He then added, “From what I’ve gathered, many senior figures in the AI industry are in an uproar, completely bewildered. Some are claiming that the AI assistant launched by Spiritual Mirror Tech is at least ten, maybe even fifteen or more, years ahead of the rest of the world.”

He continued, “Many industry insiders are calling it unbelievable, wondering aloud how Xiao Yu possibly managed it.”

The veteran AI researchers in the industry were truly stunned. Overseas, OpenAI’s ChatGPT project had yet to show any real substance, so how could Spiritual Mirror Tech’s Mira AI be so advanced?

Based on their understanding of AI development, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s Mira was simply black technology. They couldn’t even deduce what algorithms, logic, or techniques were being used.

Xiang Chongguang smiled calmly. “All I can say is that it takes an extraordinary person to achieve extraordinary things. A genius. I truly bet on the right horse this time. I wonder what other surprises this young man has in store for me… It’s truly something to look forward to.”

In truth, when Xiang Chongguang learned last year that Xiao Yu was sinking a colossal thirty billion yuan into AI, virtual reality, and the so-called holographic projection field, his heart had skipped a beat. He was worried that the money from the graphene business wouldn’t be enough to cover the losses from such reckless ventures.

Moreover, Xiang Chongguang had gone against all opposition to have Ruilian lend Xiao Yu ten billion yuan with no strings attached.

Back when Xiao Yu invested that thirty billion into new ventures, Xiang Chongguang had actually wanted to stop him. However, on one hand, Ruilian didn’t have a say in matters and couldn’t interfere with Spiritual Mirror Tech’s operational decisions. On the other, he had long ago promised to remain purely a strategic financial investor.

So, Xiang Chongguang could only keep quiet. His plan was to wait for Xiao Yu’s venture to fail spectacularly, then have a talk with him. He would advise him to stick to his strengths—new materials and precision manufacturing—and not to cross over into completely different industries at the drop of a hat. He’d tell him to stop messing around with such abstract, unconventional projects, because no matter how profitable the main business was, it couldn’t sustain that level of squandering.

But he never imagined that not only would Xiao Yu not fail, but he would also produce results so quickly—and those results would be an industry-shaking bombshell.

By the next day, Mira AI had gone completely viral. The product was simply too stunning. Spiritual Mirror Tech had barely done any marketing; it exploded in popularity purely through word-of-mouth.

On video sites like Bilibili, a flood of videos about Mira AI had appeared. Most were from users sharing their experiences with the app, discovering and showcasing its many features.

Novice users were raving about how incredibly user-friendly Mira AI was. By simply downloading it onto their phones or computers, the persistent headache of annoying pop-up ads was effortlessly solved. Many less tech-savvy users had no idea how to turn off ad notifications because the settings were often buried deep, making them a hassle to find—if they could be found at all. It was the kind of frustration that made their blood pressure spike.

But with Mira’s help, all they had to do was say the word, and she would take care of the rest. For novice users, it was an absolute godsend.

During video calls, it could even detect if the other party was using AI face-swapping technology. If a face-swap was detected, Mira would issue a risk alert.

For devices logged into the same account, it enabled features like synced notifications, file transfers, seamless work handoffs, and device management.

Furthermore, it enabled seamless cross-device connectivity, allowing users to move windows from their phone to their PC, or from their PC to a tablet, without any complicated steps—all they had to do was tell Mira.

Meanwhile, the major phone manufacturers were not only shocked but also secretly breaking out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately, Spiritual Mirror Tech had released Mira AI as a universal app available for download on any phone, rather than making it exclusive to a single brand. Otherwise, all other phone manufacturers would have been put at a massive disadvantage.

Since it was available to all phones, everyone was at least on a level playing field.

Chapter 72: A Few Words on Going Premium

Chapter 72: A Few Words on Going Premium

This book will be going premium on December 1st, which is at midnight tonight. I’ll be releasing a ten-thousand-character burst to mark the occasion.

I’d love to release a massive burst of chapters, but I have almost no backlog, so I dare not make any grand promises. For two of my previous books, I stockpiled one or two hundred chapters in advance, and they both flopped hard. I have literary PTSD now (facepalm laughing-crying emoji).

I’m even starting to think that writing is harder than playing the stock market. In October, I doubled my investment in the A-share market within the month, achieving my best monthly and yearly returns since I started investing. Even in November, when the market was tough, I still managed a return of nearly twenty percent…

It’s paradoxical, really. The books that performed better were the ones I wrote on the fly with no backlog. My most successful book, Rebirth of a Financial Giant, didn’t even have an outline. I just created a new folder, closed my eyes, and went for it, and it ended up with the best results of my writing career…

On the other hand, the books I stockpiled chapters for in advance flopped so hard their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them. The more I stockpiled, the harder they flopped.

It’s really hard to stomach…

At first, I refused to believe in such superstitions, but now… I’ve learned my lesson…

So for this book, I only stockpiled about thirty chapters before publishing it. And then, something magical happened. It’s actually doing much better than the two previous books that flopped hard. Doesn’t that mean if I hadn’t stockpiled those thirty-odd chapters and just winged it after writing the first chapter, the results would have been twice as good, or even better? Ah, I could kick myself. If only I’d known, I would have gone for it without a single stockpiled chapter…

In this situation, how can I believe in science? How can I not believe in superstition?

Strictly speaking, though, this book’s performance is only average, neither here nor there. We’ll see if the Sanjiang recommendation next week can take it to the next level, like a stock making a turnaround from distress and taking off in a main rising wave.

The last two books I wrote flopped so badly that it shattered my confidence, so my expectations for this one weren’t high to begin with. Now, it’s actually exceeding my expectations a bit. It really is like the old saying: when you’re at rock bottom, the only way to go is up. So, go all in!

Uh, is going all in really a form of wisdom? (facepalm laughing-crying emoji)

————

Okay, enough joking around. Let’s talk about this new book. Many readers have seen the world-building for Blue Star and found the setting—where technology is so advanced yet food is scarce and expensive—highly illogical.

I had originally planned to plant Foreshadowing and gradually unfold the complete worldview of the Blue Star world.

But I quickly discovered that if you’re not a top-tier author with a dedicated fanbase, that kind of approach can easily lead to failure. In this fast-paced era, readers are like someone riding a donkey while looking for a horse, except they’ll slaughter the donkey before they’ve even caught a glimpse of the horse. That’s just how things are. I didn’t dare be stubborn. Forget planting damn Foreshadowing or leaving any suspense. I quickly revised the synopsis and modified the first chapter, trying my best to keep up and adapt to the current market environment.

Initially, I thought that by introducing such a setting, readers would wonder why food is scarce on Blue Star despite its advanced technology. What could be the reason for this anomaly?

I thought readers would be curious, but instead, some of them saw it and immediately concluded: Illogically dumb!

I was dumbfounded on the spot. My brain’s CPU started smoking, and I was completely flabbergasted…

Even with Earth’s current technological and productive capacity, we could feed the entire global population, yet there are still seven to eight hundred million people in foreign countries facing famine. What’s the reason for that? I don’t know either.

So how is it that in the fictional world of Blue Star, such a setting is considered an illogical and dumb plot device?

Is it that it can’t be achieved, or that it can but they choose not to? That is the key.

The ability to artificially create food scarcity on Blue Star is precisely due to its advanced technology. They have achieved reproductive isolation at the genetic level, locking down the ability to breed. The fruits, vegetables, and poultry bought from the market can only exist for that single generation; they possess no reproductive capabilities themselves.

Without advanced technology, they wouldn’t be able to stop people from planting and breeding in private, and thus couldn’t achieve a true, absolute monopoly. They would be unable to engineer food scarcity. Hunger instills the most primal fear, which is why the ruling elite of Blue Star chose to exert control through food.

So, don’t the people of Blue Star rise up and resist? They do. The resistance forces have already been briefly introduced in the story.

Some might wonder why the ruling elite of Blue Star would do this. The revised Chapter 1 and Chapter 33 have already provided partial answers, so I won’t repeat them here.

Some might also wonder why, with such powerful technology, they don’t expand into the cosmos to grow, but instead engage in fierce internal competition on Blue Star. If you look at it from the perspective of those with vested interests, the answer is the complete opposite.

From the perspective of the vested interests, there is no motivation for outward expansion and growth, because that would, in fact, threaten their interests.

Expanding into space for growth would mean that some people would inevitably seize the opportunity to truly change their destiny. This would lead to the rise of a new elite, and this new power would challenge the old order, perhaps even replacing it. Even if the new power had no such intentions, in the eyes of the old power, they possess the tangible ability to challenge them. Taking it a step further, once the new power rises, they will demand a share of the benefits. Once growth stagnates, if you take a bigger bite, he must take a smaller one.

In the eyes of the vested interests, seeking growth is a threat to their own interests, so they are certainly unwilling to do it. Without pursuing growth, they focus on the existing resources, which inevitably leads to internal exploitation. This will also be met with internal resistance, but in their eyes, that is nothing. They are confident they can rely on their own powerful and deep-rooted advantages to suppress any opposition with absolute force.

The so-called old guard isn’t stupid; they are just supremely selfish and refined egoists, and they have become the obstacles to the progress of science and civilization.

To counter this kind of unchanging, eternal stagnation, nature added the “death” setting to life. No matter how powerful the old guard is, they will one day die, and their ideology will be buried with them. When a new group of people takes the lead, there will be new changes and new possibilities, preventing eternal stagnation.

In the Blue Star world I’ve designed, the ruling elite is extremely powerful because they possess the ability to defy nature’s “death.” Blue Star’s civilization has pushed advanced life sciences and cloning technology to an unprecedented peak in its history, allowing people to obtain extended lifespans and live much longer.

Advanced cloning technology can replace failing organs to extend one’s life.

Furthermore, when the original body is completely spent, a brand new Organic Body can be created. This body is fully functional, with a complete set of internal organs and a perfect nervous system, but it lacks a brain. Initially, a primitive nerve plexus takes its place, helping the body maintain a normal heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and metabolism.

Then comes the core of the cloning technology—brain replication.

Through a recording and scanning process, the original brain is precisely replicated, making the structure of its dendrites identical to the original.

In layman’s terms, it’s about transplanting one’s consciousness and memories into a new brain. This brain is then implanted into another brand new, vibrant Organic Body. A successful transplant means another lifetime. Theoretically, this cycle could be repeated for thousands, even tens of thousands of lifetimes.

However, this process is not one hundred percent successful. There is still a risk of transplant failure. The quality of the clone must be rigorously evaluated. The closer the cloned brain’s shape and form are to the original, the smoother the transplant. Conversely, the greater the difference, the more memories will be lost during synaptic growth, and the transplant may even fail.

In other words, every transplant of consciousness and memory is a life-or-death trial. Success means another lifetime; failure means game over.

On Blue Star, only a very small minority can enjoy consciousness and memory transplants. The ability to live longer is the most fatal of attractions. Thus, countless people are willing to prostrate themselves for the sake of longevity, desperate to become one of them. They will also desperately stop others from coming up to compete for resources, because this is the absolute scarcest resource on Blue Star.

These settings have not yet appeared in the main chapters. So far, only the “Organic Body,” a product of this life science, has been mentioned in the story. As for the cloning technology, I figured I’d talk about it a bit in these fragmented notes to give everyone a preliminary idea of the Blue Star world.

Since the Blue Star world is a fictional, independent worldview that is quite complex, it’s difficult to present it fully in just one or two chapters. I can understand why some might find the setting unreasonable without seeing the whole picture. However, info-dumping a ton of background at the beginning of a new book is a major writing taboo. If you’re not a top-tier author, trying to drag the pace with a bunch of tedious settings in today’s fast-paced environment will only lead to a spectacular flop.

After all, the Blue Star world isn’t the main storyline of this book; it’s more like the protagonist’s Golden Finger. The complete worldview will be gradually revealed as the protagonist develops.

————

I’ve actually considered the possibility of writing a second book in the future with the Blue Star world as the main storyline. The protagonist could be a native of Blue Star, or a soul from Earth that transmigrates to Blue Star and rises to become another powerful force that topples the old order of Blue Star. There would also be some interactive storylines where they cross paths with our current protagonist, Xiao Yu.

If there really is a second book, its scope would probably be much larger. Blue Star would just be the protagonist’s starting village, and the story would expand to a cosmic setting, incorporating other alien civilizations and races, and so on.

There might even be a point, after contact with the present-day Xiao Yu, where certain plot developments allow the stargate to fully open, enabling prosperous inter-world trade between the two human civilizations. This would lead to a great fusion of civilizations, though there would be conflicts along the way. Ultimately, they might jointly face challenges and opportunities from non-human alien civilizations from the wider universe.

Of course, these are just preliminary ideas for now. I haven’t even created a new folder for it. Whether there will be a second book is still up in the air. I just wanted to chat with you all about this idea and possibility.

When the time comes, we’ll see if everyone is interested in a story like that. If there’s a lot of support and anticipation, then once this book is finished, I’ll just go for it and make it a seamless transition.

For now, of course, the priority is to write Xiao Yu’s story well and see it to its conclusion. That is without question. Whether a second book is possible will first depend on the performance and future of this one.

Today isn’t over yet, and tomorrow never comes. So for now, all my energy is focused on this book.

The premium VIP chapters will be updated at 12 AM tonight. To all my dear readers who enjoy this book, I hope you will come and subscribe to support it. Yu’er bows in thanks!

That’s all.

Chapter 73: Explosive Annual Report Results Catapult Xiao Yu to Richest Man

After just a few days of fermentation, the popularity of AI Mira exploded exponentially, with users giving it almost unanimously positive reviews.

It had even reached a point where users divided the AI assistant space into two categories: AI Mira, and all other assistants. AI Mira was in a league of its own.

An industry insider admitted that the sudden appearance of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI Mira had ushered in a new wave of the AI revolution. The wave had arrived without any warning, catching everyone off guard.

AI Mira was also a hit among otakus and anime fans, thanks to the virtual avatar designed by the development team and the rich interactive elements available on the PC version.

Xiao Yu had not been stingy with the budget for this aspect of development.

He had been intentionally trying to raise the company’s operating costs, spending as much of the budget as possible to suppress the absurdly high corporate profit margin.

Many users even treated AI Mira like a character-raising simulation game. A dedicated small team was responsible for the virtual avatar design, and subsequent versions would be updated with even more interactive elements.

April 20th, Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters.

“Mira’s registered user count has surpassed the ten million mark since its launch,” Yun Shu announced, coming into Xiao Yu’s office to report the good news.

From the first day of its launch until now, only six days had passed, meaning the user base was growing by over 1.6 million users per day. This was achieved without any advertising, making it the undisputed hit product of the year.

“Yes, not bad.” Xiao Yu nodded with satisfaction. Getting the AI agent software up and running was crucial for his later plans to bring the bionic robot technology from Vitas Industrial Group on Blue Star to Earth.

Even a neutered, “bare-bones version” would be enough to deliver a massive shock to the world. Spiritual Mirror Tech was already involved in robotics and automation products, so launching some advanced robot products later would be a natural progression.

“Tell Xu Changming to continue increasing our storage and computing power resources. With the surge in users, the demand for these resources will also skyrocket. We need to prepare in advance to ensure a smooth user experience,” Xiao Yu said after a moment’s thought.

“Okay, I will.” Yun Shu nodded.

Earth currently lacked sufficient storage and computing power resources; there were no quantum computers, and it wasn’t the right time to bring one over.

Blue Star had too much black technology, but bringing it to Earth required the foundational tech tree here to be properly established. Rashly introducing advanced tech without the necessary prerequisites carried a high risk of failing spectacularly.

The resource issue wasn’t a major problem, though. Xiao Yu adopted a brute-force strategy, simply throwing money at the problem by purchasing massive amounts of storage and computing power. If that wasn’t enough, he was prepared to spend his own money to build more data centers.

Besides, he was looking for ways to spend money and lower the company’s profit margin, so Xiao Yu certainly wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

After AI Mira’s launch, especially with the explosive user growth, the demand for storage, computing power, and bandwidth all represented huge operating costs—which was exactly what Xiao Yu was happy to see.

At the current astonishing rate of user growth, the real explosion hadn’t even begun.

This year, it was highly possible for the user base to exceed one hundred million in the Greater China market alone. It was without a doubt the biggest dark horse product in the tech circle this year. Describing it as a product that appeared out of nowhere and peaked at its debut was no exaggeration.

Mira’s immense popularity also drove Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market value ever higher. The stock market had been weak recently, but Spiritual Mirror Tech continued to surge against the trend.

If not for the poor performance of the broader market index and the delay in releasing the annual report, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock would likely have seen consecutive limit-ups. Even so, the company’s stock price continued to rise amidst the volatility, repeatedly setting new all-time highs.

The stock price broke the 600 yuan mark, peaking at 608.34 yuan. Its corresponding market capitalization also surpassed the 500 billion yuan mark, reaching 528.039 billion yuan. On the ChiNext board, it had already surpassed Mindray Medical (363.3 billion yuan), second only to CATL (948.6 billion yuan), becoming the second-largest stock by market cap.

Across the entire A-share market, it also surpassed the Postal Savings Bank of China’s market cap, climbing to 16th place. Spiritual Mirror Tech had truly become a super-large-cap stock in the 500 billion yuan class.

Xiao Yu’s net worth also skyrocketed to 269.5 billion yuan, directly surpassing the founder of Toutiao (245 billion yuan). He was now ranked second on the country’s list of billionaires this year, second only to the founder of Nongfu Spring (455 billion yuan).

Over the past year, Xiao Yu was the tycoon whose wealth had grown the fastest and the most.

At the same time, he was also the youngest billionaire on the country’s top 100 list. He was only 29 this year—and that was by traditional-age counting; he was still several months shy of his 29th birthday.

However, over the next few days, the stock market plummeted. On April 25th, the market fell by more than five percent, with the Shanghai Composite Index breaking below the 3,000-point mark. A stampede occurred in the market, dragging everything down with it. Spiritual Mirror Tech was also mistakenly punished by the market sentiment, hitting the -20.00% limit down for the day. The next day, it fell another -5.87%, with the stock price dropping back to 420.36 yuan and its market cap falling to 364.872 billion yuan.

However, the company’s stock found strong support at the 400 yuan level and rebounded to above 450 yuan in the following days.

Friday, April 29th.

Around 3:30 p.m., Xiao Yu came to the office. Shortly after he entered, Yun Shu, learning of his arrival, brought a document to the Chairman’s office.

“The annual report audit came out today. We finally got it done on the last day,” Yun Shu said, placing the financial report on Xiao Yu’s desk with a look of great relief. The deadline for listed companies to disclose their annual reports was April 30th each year.

Xiao Yu glanced at his beautiful assistant and smiled without saying anything, then turned his attention to the financial report.

Yun Shu summarized the key points: “For the full year of 2021, the company’s revenue was 78.365 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of +1988.06%. The net profit attributable to the parent company was 21.633 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of +3688.61%. The company’s current cash flow has reached a record 27 billion yuan.”

In the first three quarters of last year, the company had been in a state of severe loss.

But in the fourth quarter, orders for the company’s graphene business were in such high demand that they couldn’t keep up, and not a single buyer delayed payment. This single-handedly propped up the company’s performance. The explosive fourth-quarter results not only covered all the losses from the first three quarters but also generated a massive profit.

Moreover, the projected revenue for the 2,000-ton graphene production capacity was 60 aillion yuan, but in reality, they were selling graphene composite materials. Spiritual Mirror Tech supplied customers with precision components.

For example, phone manufacturers, whether Huawei or Xiaomi, had directly outsourced their screen business to Spiritual Mirror Tech. The company would provide entire screen modules for both phone manufacturers, logically becoming the screen supplier for these two major phone brands—and for their flagship models at that.

After reading the 2021 fiscal year report, Xiao Yu was extremely satisfied. He had finally managed to control the company’s profit margin and bring it within a normal range.

However, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s annual net profit still exceeded 20 billion yuan. Among the more than 5,000 listed companies in the A-share market, only 46 had net profits exceeding 20 billion yuan last year, accounting for just 1% of all listed companies. And they were all, without exception, state-owned enterprises.

If Xiao Yu hadn’t intentionally suppressed the corporate profit margin, the net profit in the annual report could have more than doubled.

Around eight o’clock in the evening, Spiritual Mirror Tech officially released its annual report. The capital market, which had been eagerly awaiting it, immediately took notice.

When they saw the data in Spiritual Mirror Tech’s 2021 financial report, people from all corners of the investment world couldn’t sit still.

“What the hell! A net profit of over 20 billion last year? This exceeds expectations! This seriously exceeds expectations!” an investor exclaimed in shock after seeing Spiritual Mirror Tech’s annual report. He couldn’t help but add, “CATL had 130 billion in revenue last year and 159 billion in net profit. Spiritual Mirror earned more than King Ning, and its market potential is even greater than King Ning’s! Why is its market cap lower? It makes no sense!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, he went all in, placing an overnight buy order for Spiritual Mirror Tech.

When the stock market opened after the May Day holiday, Spiritual Mirror Tech was one hundred percent guaranteed to open at its limit up. He wasn’t the only investor placing overnight orders; many people were scrambling to do the same.

The market had plunged last week, and Spiritual Mirror Tech had been wrongly punished by the sentiment, hitting its limit down along with the market. Its latest closing price was 458.83 yuan, corresponding to a total market capitalization of 398.264 billion yuan.

Before the annual report came out, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s P/E ratio had reached a terrifying 700 times, a veritable price-to-dream ratio. At its highest, the P/E ratio had even reached a staggering 926 times.

But with the release of the annual report, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s P/E ratio dropped directly from 700 times to its current 18.41 times. In the A-share market, where could you find a high-growth tech company with a P/E ratio of less than 19?

“Damn it, the top spot on the ChiNext board by market cap is about to change hands. Spiritual Mirror Tech is valued at less than 400 billion right now, while King Ning is at 950 billion. Even King Ning has to buy supplies from Spiritual Mirror Tech. There’s no reason for its market cap to be lower. The target price should be at least a trillion!”

This investor was exceptionally excited because he already held a thirty-percent position in Spiritual Mirror Tech stock, and he had just gone all in on an overnight order with the rest of his funds.

As the May Day holiday ended, the first trading day after the break arrived. As expected, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened with a limit-up from the opening bell, without any suspense. An astonishing sum of over 50 billion yuan in buy orders flooded the limit-up price.

The next day, the broader market index fell, but Spiritual Mirror Tech was completely unaffected, continuing its limit-up streak and setting a new all-time high.

On the following trading day, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price did not continue with a limit-up from the bell. Instead, it opened high, then dipped nearly seven percent before rocketing back up to hit the board on astronomical volume. It completed its third consecutive limit-up, setting yet another all-time high with its market capitalization soaring to 688.2 billion yuan.

The main institutional players wanted to push it up with consecutive limit-ups, but Spiritual Mirror Tech was now a super-large-cap stock approaching 700 billion yuan. If they continued to force limit-ups, there would be no funds willing to take over later, and even if they wanted to, they might not be able to handle it.

Moreover, the stock price was getting higher and higher, already reaching 729.86 yuan per share. Buying a single lot of one hundred shares now cost more than 70,000 yuan. Since it was a ChiNext stock, many retail investors could no longer even afford one lot.

So, after pushing two limit-ups from the opening bell, the institutional players had to open the floodgates and let others join in to collectively drive the stock higher.

Over the next two trading days, Spiritual Mirror Tech continued its limit-up streak, completing a strong five-day consecutive limit-up run. The company’s stock price broke through the 1,000 yuan mark, becoming only the second company in the current A-share market with a stock price over 1,000 yuan. The other was, of course, Kweichow Moutai.

After the market closed, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price stood at 1,141.72 yuan, corresponding to a market capitalization of 991.013 billion yuan.

After five consecutive limit-ups, Spiritual Mirror Tech continued to rise on the next trading day. It saw a maximum intraday gain of +10.88%, with the stock price peaking at 1,265.89 yuan. However, it pulled back in the afternoon, ending its five-day streak. It ultimately closed with a gain of +4.30% at 1,190.79 yuan.

Today, Spiritual Mirror Tech officially broke the trillion-yuan mark. Its closing market capitalization was 1.033605 trillion yuan, with its intraday peak reaching 1.098792 trillion yuan.

[Straight to a trillion-yuan market cap in one go. Awesome!]

[The top stock on the ChiNext board has changed hands! King Ning is out, King Ling is crowned! The era of King Ling is here!]

[Five limit-ups in six days, a cumulative gain of +175.89% in that period. Fucking awesome. Even monster stocks wouldn’t dare to rise like this.]

[I didn’t dare to get in on the third limit-up. I’m kicking myself so hard my leg is bruised!]

[I dared, but I couldn’t afford it. And I definitely can’t afford it now. One share is over 1,100 yuan, so one lot is over 110,000…]

[Begging Bro Xiao to do a stock split! A 10-for-1 split would be fine, so a share would be around 100 yuan and affordable. A 100-for-1 split would be even better, 11 yuan a share. Anyone eligible to trade on the ChiNext board could afford it!]

[Seconded!]

[This price action, for a company with a market cap in the hundreds of billions, to hit five 20% limit-ups in six days, that’s just wild!]

[Who would have thought that nine months ago, this stock was only 0.42 yuan with a market cap of less than 365 million yuan. Now it’s at 1,265.89 yuan with a market cap over a trillion.]

[Oh my god! From its low point of 0.42 yuan on August 31st last year to today, the cumulative gain is +301,302.39%! In less than nine months, it has multiplied by a full 3,013 times. If you had just casually bought a few thousand yuan worth back then and held it, you’d have made ten or twenty million. A few thousand for financial freedom.]

[Looking at the K-line chart for this stock, the price action from the previous two and a half years is now compressed into a flat horizontal line. Even the so-called cosmic peak of 50.50 yuan back then is now just a tiny fluctuation.]

[Forget 50.50, even the recent high of 421.23 from earlier this year is a buying point now. If you’d just held on, you would have doubled your money. I bet we’ll never see shares this cheap again.]

[The trillion-yuan King Ling! Bro Xiao’s net worth has soared to 560 billion yuan. The richest man in the country has a new name!]

[Holy crap~ a 29-year-old as the richest man! A tycoon that young, can you believe it? Bro Xiao just pushed the age of the youngest richest man to under 30. That’s unprecedented! We just witnessed history without even realizing it!]

The most talked-about person in this year’s tech circle was, without a doubt, Xiao Yu.

The speed of his rise was astonishing. In the first half of last year, Xiao Yu was just a nobody in front of giants like Rebs. At best, he could be considered an outstanding young entrepreneur in Linzhou City.

Back then, he was also plagued with troubles and even faced the risk of being devoured completely by capital.

But in less than a year, he had now become someone whom even Rebs had to visit in person. Tech giants like Huawei and Xiaomi were all competing to come to his door, proactively seeking cooperation with Spiritual Mirror Tech.

The magnates he once looked up to were now coming to him for partnership, and Xiao Yu himself had become a top figure in the tech circle.

He was the man of the hour, having risen from an outstanding young entrepreneur in Linzhou City to a leader among young entrepreneurs in the entire tech industry. The media was also swarming to report on him, with a particular focus on his rapidly skyrocketing net worth and the legend of his wealth, crowning him the youngest richest man in the country’s history.

Chapter 74: AI Mira Completely Delisted from iOS, Someone’s Panicking

Around 5 PM this afternoon, Zhongxin Securities released an analysis report commenting on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s annual report.

[The company’s 2021 operating revenue and net profit attributable to parent company shareholders increased by +1988.06% and +3688.61% year-on-year, respectively, far exceeding market expectations.

Spiritual Mirror Tech continues to maintain its strong position as an emerging leader in the graphene field, and its new business development has also achieved astonishing results. It is leading the trend in the AI field, and AI Mira is expected to become a super application platform. The company has formed an ultra-high-end matrix in brand value and product structure. Its growth potential still possesses tremendous room for imagination, and the upward shift in its valuation center is strongly supported by fundamentals.

The current 47x PE valuation is highly cost-effective. We are raising the year-end target price to 2000 yuan, for a target market capitalization of 1.736 trillion yuan, and maintaining a “Buy” rating.]

As soon as this news came out, everyone was flabbergasted, and Zhongxin Securities was immediately met with a torrent of curses from retail investors.

[Zhongxin the shorting dog is blowing the whistle, family, run!—]

[I don’t know if King Spiritual Mirror can hit the 2000 yuan price target, but I do know that last year, when Kweichow Moutai was at a high of 2600, you guys at Zhongxin called for 3000. When Tencent was at 710, you called for 820. After your calls, Tencent was cut in half, and Kweichow Moutai is now heading that way too…]

[Can Zhongxin the shorting dog stop screwing people over? So unethical!]

[I f*cking bought Kweichow Moutai at 2600 last year because I saw your 3000 yuan price target (crying)(crying)(crying)]

[Is King Spiritual Mirror going to fall right after ascending the throne…?]

[I’ve seen disgusting things, but never this disgusting. I’ve decided to stop using the account I opened with Zhongxin.]

[You didn’t say anything at 15x PE, you didn’t say anything at 20x PE, and now that it’s almost f*cking 50x PE, you jump out and shamelessly call for 80x PE.]

[With an explosive rally like this, institutions can’t get out, so they start putting out bullish reports to find someone to hold the bag. Just you wait, it’ll be cut in half within the year!]

[Do us a favor and leave King Spiritual Mirror alone, you foul-mouthed trash!]

[It’s not illegal to talk big. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s performance exceeded expectations, maintaining a target price of 20000 yuan… (laughing.jpg)]

[Heh, Zhongxin the shorting dog is a reverse indicator. Anyone holding shares had better run tomorrow!]

…

Retail investors hadn’t forgotten Zhongxin Securities’ moves last year. When Kweichow Moutai’s stock price surged to 2600, they jumped out and called for a 3000 yuan target price, and now the stock price has nearly been cut in half. When Tencent’s stock price was at 710, they jumped out and called for an 820 yuan target price, and the stock then plummeted by -60%, far past the halfway mark.

Today, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price surged to a new historical high of 1265.89 yuan, and Zhongxin Securities once again jumped out to call for a 2000 yuan target price. Some retail investors holding shares had already quietly placed overnight sell orders, preparing to run.

The next day, Friday, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened about 3 percent higher, but this was a bull trap. The stock plunged straight down right after the market opened, with the sell-off reaching over 11 percent at one point during the day. It finally closed down -4.61%, with the stock price at 1135.88 yuan, and its market capitalization fell back to 985.943 billion yuan.

Data after the market closed showed that no sooner had Zhongxin sung its praises than it placed a short order, which made everyone curse them even more fiercely.

The next day, Saturday morning, Xiao Yu woke up early and went to the villa’s basement. He was leveraging the technological foundation of Blue Star and adapting it to Earth’s current tech tree. Multiple holographic virtual models were displayed on his workbench.

Just then, Yun Shu called him.

Xiao Yu raised his hand to “grab” a virtual model component to inspect it, then glanced at the simulated data on a nearby holographic panel while answering the call. “What’s up?”

Yun Shu’s voice came through the phone: “Apple has delisted AI Mira from the iOS App Store. The reason given is that it violates user privacy and doesn’t comply with their platform management regulations, so AI Mira has been completely removed. It’s now confirmed that it can’t be downloaded or installed on the iOS platform.”

By now, the news had already spread throughout the industry. Many users of Apple devices were posting on forums asking what was going on and why they couldn’t use AI Mira all of a sudden. New users were also asking why they couldn’t find the AI Mira app in the App Store.

Xiao Yu’s expression remained placid upon hearing the news. He calmly adjusted the holographic model data before him and said with great composure, “Is that so?”

Yun Shu continued, “And we’ve discovered that some iOS users who had already downloaded the Mira app are reporting that it has been mysteriously uninstalled from their iPhones.”

At these words, even the previously calm Xiao Yu showed a look of surprise. He was stunned. “Are they crazy? How could they pull off something so outrageous? Is Old Cook trying to shoot himself in the foot?”

If Xiao Yu had known about the mind-bogglingly outrageous “pager explosion” incident that would happen two years later, he wouldn’t have been so shocked right now.

Yun Shu said, “It is indeed outrageous. At first, I thought it was a rumor, but it was later confirmed to be true. It seems they are retaliating against us for rejecting their previous cooperation proposal. But to directly bypass the user and control their device from the backend to uninstall an app is truly incomprehensible.”

After his initial surprise, Xiao Yu regained his composure. He then said slowly, “I have no idea why he’d want to shoot himself in the foot. Apple’s own Siri is far inferior to Mira. Delisting Mira is one thing, but to brazenly bypass the user and directly uninstall the Mira app… they’re really courting death. Their competitors must be secretly laughing. Huawei, at least, would love to see this.”

On the other end of the line, Yun Shu said, “One Apple isn’t so bad. I’m worried that other domestic phone manufacturers might follow suit. Huawei probably won’t, but it’s hard to say for the others.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu said calmly, “I don’t know if they’ll follow, and I don’t care to know. But if they dare, you take out your little notebook and write this down. Every single one of them. Put them all on my little black list.”

Clearly, Xiao Yu wasn’t the least bit concerned. The black technology he commanded could completely dominate all the tech companies here on Earth. This outrageous move by Apple was nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Since they couldn’t produce awesome technology on their own, this kind of mind-bogglingly outrageous act was, in the long run, absolutely courting death.

Xiao Yu muttered to himself, “If they really piss me off, I’ll enter the ring and make my own phones…”

In a sense, Xiao Yu had the support of the entire Blue Star’s black technology, but he didn’t want to get into the phone manufacturing business himself because he had his eyes set on the holographic wristband.

As long as this product could be successfully launched, it would definitely replace smartphones and become the new standard for wearable smart mobile communication devices.

In the foreseeable future, as far as Xiao Yu was concerned, smartphones were a product destined for obsolescence.

Obviously, there was no need to get into phone manufacturing. With that time and effort, he might as well accelerate the progress of Earth’s tech tree to bring out the holographic wristband. For now, being the supplier daddy to all the various manufacturers was perfectly fine.

But if these manufacturers really managed to piss Xiao Yu off, he wouldn’t mind getting into the ring and making phones himself.

At that moment, Yun Shu asked, “How should we respond to this matter with Apple?”

Xiao Yu replied crisply, “Drop it. Also, not in the name of Spiritual Mirror Tech, but spread a rumor that I’ve directly blacklisted Apple and that there will be no possibility of any cooperation with Apple in the future.”

Yun Shu, on the other end of the phone, nodded. “Okay, I understand.”

Xiao Yu’s decision to release such news wasn’t for Apple’s ears, but for the other domestic manufacturers.

I don’t care if you’re facing resistance or have other reasons. I don’t care what your excuse is. You’d better think this through carefully. As long as you dare to follow suit, I will blacklist you. Every single one. I’ll blacklist one for every one that follows.

At this moment in the tech circle, industry insiders were paying close attention to the complete delisting of AI Mira from iOS, and there was much private discussion.

Everyone unanimously speculated that it was likely an act of retaliation because Spiritual Mirror Tech hadn’t indulged Apple’s demands.

But the act of directly ignoring users to forcibly uninstall the Mira app from their devices left people from all walks of life utterly dumbfounded and completely shocked.

Wasn’t this just telling the world that you could remotely control users’ phones from the backend? Even if you could, as long as you didn’t do it, people could pretend it wasn’t happening. But now that you’ve done it, the nature of things is completely different.

Clearly, no one expected Apple to be capable of such an outrageous move. Many people exclaimed that you truly live long enough and you’ll see everything.

In fact, it wasn’t that Apple’s management was stupid enough to make such an outrageous move. It was because the You’ang Capital Group of America saw that the potential threat of AI Mira was even greater than that of TikTok, posing a massive threat to their control over the media narrative.

If left unchecked, AI Mira could very well become a new, rising super-platform in the future. It could very likely become an important, or even the primary, way for people to obtain information.

Once people form a habit, they will primarily ask AI Mira when passively receiving information, because it’s worry-free, efficient, simple, and convenient.

In other words, the information people passively receive would be determined by AI Mira, which means it would be determined by Spiritual Mirror Tech.

From a technical standpoint, it was entirely possible to manipulate things so that information they didn’t want people to know would not be pushed to users. As long as users didn’t actively seek it out, the passive information they received would depend on the attitude of Spiritual Mirror Tech behind AI Mira. This was undoubtedly a superpower in the public opinion sphere.

They knew this all too well because they had been playing this game for decades.

And one TikTok was already enough to give them a hard time. How could they handle another one that was even more formidable than TikTok?

That was one aspect. The other was just as crucial: they had long been planning and making huge investments in the AI sector.

This year, they were preparing to promote OpenAI’s ChatGPT to create a craze, and to tell a new story centered on the AI sector, thereby creating a new round of the tech bubble to prop up the US stock market.

They had even chosen the target company: NVIDIA would be the core leader of this tech bubble, pushing its market capitalization above one trillion US dollars.

But at this crucial moment, Spiritual Mirror Tech came out of nowhere. AI Mira made a grand entrance, reaching its peak right at its debut.

At first, they didn’t think Spiritual Mirror Tech could make any waves in the AI field. They didn’t even give it a second glance, which was why it was approved for iOS as usual. At that time, Apple hadn’t thought of completely falling out with Spiritual Mirror Tech.

But no one expected AI Mira to be so awesome. The level of intelligence it displayed was clearly several tiers above OpenAI’s technology.

And it became a huge hit as soon as it went online, peaking at its debut.

The number of registered users on the platform had already reached thirty million. At this terrifying growth rate, it would definitely exceed one hundred million users within the year, and might even reach over one hundred and fifty million. It was a proper, phenomenal hit product.

It was just too useful. In many usage scenarios, having the AI assistant Mira could greatly improve efficiency.

Many novice computer and phone users hailed it as their savior. For things they couldn’t figure out or that were too complicated, they could just ask Mira. All they needed to do was tell Mira what they wanted, and Mira would take care of the rest perfectly.

Simple, convenient, efficient, and hassle-free, it was the absolute favorite of novice users.

But this truly made the You’ang Capital Group panic. Their say in the public opinion sphere was under massive threat. And in the AI sector, where they had planned for so long and invested so much, Spiritual Mirror Tech had come out of nowhere to become the most awesome company. In that case, the more successful the story they told, the more Spiritual Mirror Tech would benefit.

Wouldn’t that be doing all the hard work just for Spiritual Mirror Tech to reap the benefits?

How could they allow such a thing to happen? They certainly couldn’t tolerate it.

In fact, Apple bypassing users to directly uninstall AI Mira wasn’t something its management wanted to do. They simply couldn’t withstand the pressure from the You’ang consortium behind them.

Completely delisting AI Mira from iOS was just the beginning. Because they were genuinely panicking, they didn’t care how ugly their actions looked. They had to find a way to quickly strangle AI Mira and would never allow it to grow.

…

Chapter 75: A Head-to-Head Confrontation and Its Powerful Deterrent Effect

In the afternoon, Xiao Yu posted a very peculiar update on his Weibo account, which quickly attracted public attention and speculation.

The new post contained no text at all—just a popular meme of someone flipping a table. The meme itself had a caption:

【Too hard to do? Then don’t do it!】

Upon seeing his post, people from all walks of life came to the same astonishing conclusion: this had to be about the recent news of Apple completely removing the Mira AI assistant app from its iOS store.

This was Xiao Yu engaging in a direct confrontation. He wasn’t backing down in the slightest; he was, in effect, flipping the table.

Posting a table-flipping meme at such a crucial moment, while not explicitly stating anything, made it incredibly difficult for people not to connect it to Apple’s delisting of the Mira AI assistant.

Meanwhile, numerous retail investors in the investment community once again cursed Zhongxin. Many even believed that Zhongxin must have known something in advance, which was why they suddenly turned bullish at this critical juncture, only to add to their short positions overnight.

Many retail investors cried out: “There’s a mole! Halt the trading!”

By the weekend afternoon, another rumor rapidly spread through the grapevine. According to an inside source, when Xiao Yu learned that iOS had completely removed the Mira AI assistant, he immediately issued a clear directive within the company: blacklist Apple directly. From now on, there was no possibility of any business dealings between Spiritual Mirror Tech and Apple.

Industry insiders were stunned by this rumor, marveling at how unyielding the young Xiao Yu truly was.

In this industry, anyone else in his position would never dare to do such a thing.

Although the news was unconfirmed and Spiritual Mirror Tech remained silent, offering no comment, when combined with the meme Xiao Yu had posted on his Weibo, it made the rumor seem at least eighty percent true.

Moreover, industry insiders were already aware that some manufacturers who had previously sought to procure graphene from Spiritual Mirror Tech and were unwilling to sign the supplementary agreement had all been blacklisted by Xiao Yu. Later, when these manufacturers started to compromise and were willing to sign the agreement—even begging for the chance—Spiritual Mirror Tech still refused to do business with them.

The rumor that emerged today had a massive deterrent effect on many, especially the smartphone manufacturers.

In fact, the shareholding structure of many manufacturers was dominated by foreign capital. In some of these companies, foreign influence was significant, wielded by investment institutions controlled by overseas capital groups like You’ang, such as BlackRock and Vanguard.

At the same time that Mira was being removed from the iOS store, the You’ang Capital Group was pushing other smartphone manufacturers to follow suit, applying considerable pressure behind the scenes.

Clearly, the intent was to strangle Mira in its cradle.

Faced with this situation, some domestic manufacturers found themselves in a difficult spot, caught between a rock and a hard place. If they followed suit, they had to be prepared to thoroughly offend Xiao Yu.

Everyone was shrewd. The message from today’s news was obvious. On the surface, it looked like Xiao Yu was giving Apple no face at all, going for a direct confrontation, with an attitude that clearly stated, “I’m fine not doing business with you, Apple. I’m just that unyielding.”

But in reality, everyone understood that Xiao Yu’s move was telling others: “I can completely sever business ties with Apple. If you follow them, I’ll do the same to you. Try me if you don’t believe it.”

This had a powerful deterrent effect on downstream manufacturers. They had two choices: either never seek to purchase graphene products from Spiritual Mirror Tech again, or wait for a second graphene material manufacturer to appear on Earth that could challenge Spiritual Mirror Tech.

Otherwise, if they ended up on Xiao Yu’s little black list, they could forget about ever getting supplies from Spiritual Mirror Tech.

The trend was now crystal clear: under-display front cameras enabling 100% full-screen displays were the future of smartphones. This was an inevitable direction.

And that meant there was no getting around Spiritual Mirror Tech. They were a genuine “supplier daddy.”

Furthermore, 100% full-screen technology was just one application of graphene in the smartphone industry. Many other areas would find it difficult to bypass graphene material. The title “king of new materials” wasn’t just for show.

As an ideal material for flexible screens, graphene could be used to create more bendable and foldable smartphone screens. This meant future phones would no longer be limited to traditional flat designs, and foldable phones were already on the market.

Take batteries, for example. All the smartphone manufacturers already knew that Spiritual Mirror Tech had solved the drawbacks of graphene batteries. Its excellent conductivity allowed for the creation of thinner and lighter phone batteries, which was crucial for addressing the current issues of limited battery capacity and short battery life in phones.

Compared to traditional batteries, graphene batteries not only had higher energy density but also enabled faster charging speeds. Users could fully charge their phones in a short amount of time, greatly enhancing convenience.

The key was that it wasn’t expensive. It didn’t require the costly research-grade graphene, and its production capacity was much larger.

Graphene also possessed excellent thermal dissipation properties. Phones generate a substantial amount of heat during prolonged use, and graphene’s high thermal conductivity could effectively improve heat dissipation, lowering the device’s temperature and ensuring stable performance. For users with high-performance demands, such as gamers and professionals, this was a critical technical feature.

Even in phone chips, graphene was expected to play a significant role. With the mass production of graphene material and the resulting price drop, functional semiconductors made from graphene were no longer a futuristic concept. Its outstanding performance in conductivity and heat dissipation could provide more efficient and reliable solutions for chip manufacturing.

Thus, it was clear that the future of the smartphone industry was inextricably linked with Spiritual Mirror Tech. The industry was already an insanely competitive meat grinder. If your competitors were all using these advanced materials and technologies and your phone wasn’t, you were one hundred percent guaranteed to be crushed. You might as well shut down early to minimize your losses.

And was it just the smartphone industry that couldn’t bypass them?

…

At a well-known major smartphone manufacturer, the company’s boss was in a private discussion with his vice president.

“This is a really tricky situation. It’s difficult to follow, and difficult not to follow,” the boss said, his head aching. He truly didn’t want to offend Xiao Yu, but if he didn’t follow suit, he would face pressure from another force behind the scenes. He was stuck.

Evidently, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering was intense, though invisible to the melon-eating public.

“Judging from today’s situation, if we follow, Spiritual Mirror Tech will definitely cut off all business ties with us. We’ll end up on Xiao Yu’s little black list, which would be extremely detrimental to the company’s future. That Xiao Yu is someone who actually does what he says. Look at those dozens of manufacturers who refused to sign the supplementary agreement before. Later on, even when they begged to sign, he didn’t give them the time of day,” the VP said.

Among industry insiders, Xiao Yu’s little black list was a powerful deterrent. Everyone was afraid of being blacklisted by him.

Currently in the smartphone sector, only Huawei and Xiaomi had actually received shipments. The other manufacturers hadn’t gotten any yet.

But even so, they didn’t dare to rashly follow suit and risk offending Xiao Yu. Just because they didn’t get supplies this year didn’t mean they wouldn’t get them next year. The key was that the trend of graphene mass production was already obvious.

Spiritual Mirror Tech would definitely expand its production capacity in the future; Xiao Yu had already stated this clearly on Weibo.

As the overall market scale surged, prices would inevitably drop further. This was the natural course of technological development: the wider the adoption, the larger the market, and the cheaper the price.

It was only a matter of time before every company could get its hands on the material. Future smartphones would inevitably make extensive use of graphene-related technologies.

If you offended Xiao Yu and he refused to sell to you, you were doomed.

If your products didn’t use graphene material, you would be behind the times. Your technology, performance, and user experience would lag behind your competitors. Who else would be doomed if not you?

“How about this? We kick the ball back. We’ll use Huawei as a shield,” the boss said after much thought. “They want me to follow? Fine. But the prerequisite is that they have to completely take down Huawei’s consumer electronics business first. Otherwise, we can’t follow one bit.”

The boss continued, “We can state our case to them with perfect justification. If we rashly follow suit like this, Huawei will be laughing in its sleep. It will only force Spiritual Mirror Tech and Huawei to band together, making Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI technology the exclusive feature of Huawei’s phones and other devices.”

“If that happens, Spiritual Mirror Tech might not be crushed. Instead, Huawei’s phones will gain another industry-leading exclusive advantage. At that point, not only will you fail to suppress Huawei’s consumer business, you also won’t be able to kill Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI assistant. And we’ll have to go down with you. If you insist that I go first, I’m dead either way. In that case, I might as well flip the table on you too.”

Hearing this, the VP’s eyes lit up. “Using Huawei as a shield is a great idea. It’s logical and well-founded. They won’t have anything to say to that.”

Among all the smartphone manufacturers, any one of them might follow and delist Mira, but Huawei was the sole exception. Of course, this also included the Huawei-affiliated Honor.

Huawei had already been hit so hard by America. Even without taking a high-minded, sentimental stance, from a purely self-interested perspective, Huawei had no reason to oppose Spiritual Mirror Tech. In fact, deepening their cooperation was more aligned with its interests.

Coincidentally, it wasn’t just this one smartphone manufacturer that used Huawei as a shield. Several other manufacturers under pressure had, with surprising unanimity, employed the same tactic, kicking the ball right back.

They were a proper bunch of Old Sixths. None of them wanted to be the one to stick their neck out, knowing that if they chose the wrong side, the consequences would be unbearable.

What if they foolishly followed, only to have the other manufacturers secretly act as Old Sixths and not follow? The ones who followed would instantly become clowns. Wouldn’t they be left looking stupid?

…

The next day, Monday, May 23.

Impacted by the negative news over the weekend about Apple’s iOS removing the Mira AI assistant, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price plunged, closing down -10.68% at 1,014.58 yuan, with its market value falling back to 880.655 billion.

The following day, it rebounded by +2.39%, appearing to have stabilized.

But that evening, sudden news broke from the Western Hemisphere. Spiritual Mirror Tech had been placed on America’s blacklist. Subsequently, Google also announced that it would remove the Mira AI assistant app from the Google Play store.

Google Play is a platform for rapidly distributing apps to over two billion active Android devices worldwide. This move was a direct strike to prevent Mira from expanding overseas.

It hadn’t even begun its international expansion, and they were already taking action. One could not say it wasn’t ruthless.

This showed just how panicked the American You’ang Capital Group truly was, along with the tech capital giants in Silicon Valley. They had already invested heavily and laid the groundwork in the AI industry sector for a long time. OpenAI’s ChatGPT was set to make its major push in the second half of the year.

With Spiritual Mirror Tech suddenly bursting onto the scene, wouldn’t all their efforts end up paving the way for Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI?

Therefore, they struck with heavy blows from the very beginning, without a shred of hesitation, and with no regard for appearances.

The following day, Wednesday, impacted by this news, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock plummeted on a surge in trading volume. It hit the -20.00% limit down during the session and ultimately closed down -15.02% at 882.87 yuan, with its market value falling to 766.331 billion.

In the short four days since Zhongxin had come out with its bullish report and a 2,000 yuan price target, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock had collapsed by a cumulative -34.35% from its peak. Retail investors were once again exclaiming that Zhongxin had proven the credibility of its reputation as a “harbinger.”

Tencent and Kweichow Moutai couldn’t withstand Zhongxin’s bullish curse, and as it turned out, the newly “crowned” King Spiritual Mirror couldn’t either.

Xiao Yu’s personal net worth fluctuated wildly along with it. His reign as the richest man lasted less than a week, leading many netizens to joke that his “richest man experience card” had expired.

However, this was all paper wealth, a nominal net worth. As the company’s largest shareholder and actual controller, Xiao Yu wouldn’t sell a single one of his founder’s shares even when the lock-up period ended. The stock price, having fallen for now, would surely rise again, and would definitely go on to set new all-time highs.

…

Chapter 76: Point-Blank Assault, Taunt Level Maxed

That evening, more unfavorable news came from America: Nvidia had been ordered to completely prohibit any business dealings with Spiritual Mirror Tech.

People from all walks of life were shocked. No one had expected America to be so wary of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI Mira, unleashing one devastating move after another, each more ruthless than the last.

Many felt that for AI Mira to overcome this hurdle would be a hundred times more difficult than anyone could have imagined.

America forcing Nvidia to completely ban business with Spiritual Mirror Tech was clearly a targeted strike against AI Mira’s need for massive computing power resources. After all, current domestic companies couldn’t compare to Nvidia, and there were no better alternatives.

This was truly a kill move, to the point that some onlookers felt America was overreacting. Why go to such lengths?

…

“America is really being ruthless, hitting our company with over ninety sanctions. This treatment is almost on par with Huawei’s,” Xu Changming couldn’t help but say. He was in Xiao Yu’s office, discussing the sanctions from America.

This time, America had come out swinging with one ultimate move after another, launching an all-out, extreme suppression campaign against Spiritual Mirror Tech.

“How should we handle this Nvidia situation?” Xu Changming turned to Xiao Yu. “We can’t find a better substitute right now, and AI Mira’s demand for computing power is increasing exponentially. If we don’t solve this, the repercussions will soon become apparent. Users asking AI Mira will have to wait a long time for a response, and we might face a wave of negative reviews.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled calmly and said, “It’s not a big problem. It’s not that there are no domestic alternatives to solve the computing power issue; they just have lower performance and higher costs. What we lack in performance, we’ll make up for in numbers. As long as you have money and are willing to spend it, brute force is also a solution.”

Xiao Yu added, “Next, we’ll build distributed supercomputing and parallel computing centers nationwide. We’ll seek strategic cooperation with domestic industry leaders like Sugon and, of course, Huawei.”

Xu Changming quickly responded, “Isn’t this money-is-no-object approach too extravagant? This will be an absolute money-eating beast.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “No problem. Doesn’t the company have the graphene business, our golden goose? It’s more than enough to offset the cost. Next year, if we more than double the production capacity again, the money will come rolling in.”

In reality, Xiao Yu was more than happy to raise the company’s operating costs, something an outsider would never understand.

For Xiao Yu, being able to increase the company’s costs was actually a great thing. And from a higher-level, broader perspective, it was also a way to support domestic tech companies. Giving huge commercial orders to domestic enterprises would be beneficial in the long run.

Hearing this, Xu Changming had nothing more to say. Other companies certainly couldn’t afford such an extravagant tactic; the heavy burden of operating expenses would crush them in no time. But it was indeed a solution.

Other companies couldn’t afford it, but Spiritual Mirror Tech truly had the strength to support such a lavish strategy.

The company had a super-stable, monopolistic business that was wildly profitable. If the graphene business doubled its production capacity again next year, the company’s revenue could reach between 120 billion and 150 billion.

At this point, Xiao Yu said in a serious tone, “However, the difficulty of supplying computing power resources in a short amount of time is an unavoidable objective fact. It definitely can’t keep up with the current surge in users…”

He paused to think for a moment before continuing, “Let’s do this: we’ll trade time for space. To ensure the experience of our existing users is not affected, we will temporarily suspend new user registrations for AI Mira. The thirty million users who have already registered can use it permanently. Then, every three months, we will release twenty million user slots in batches.”

“This will keep the total active users on the platform at the fifty million level, alleviating the current pressure on our computing resources. After these twenty million users finish their trial period, their accounts won’t be deleted but will passively enter a dormant state. Then we’ll open the next batch of twenty million users for a three-month trial, and so on.”

“Of course, as time goes on and our computing resources increase, the second batch of trial users could be more than twenty million—say, twenty-five million or thirty million, depending on whether the computing resources at the time can keep up. Once we have completely solved the computing power supply issue, all those dormant accounts can be used normally again.”

This was clearly a compromise strategy for when computing resources were insufficient. It guaranteed that a limited number of users would have the best, unaffected experience, while others experienced it for a limited time, making way for the next batch when their time was up.

The benefit was that, with insufficient computing power, those who could use the service would have a great experience.

Otherwise, the result of letting everyone use it would be that AI Mira’s response efficiency would become frustratingly low. You’d ask it a question and wait forever for a response. Everyone’s experience would become terrible, which would inevitably lead to widespread negative reviews.

The batch rotation system would ensure that those who could use it wouldn’t be affected and would have the best experience, while those who couldn’t would just have to queue and wait for a while.

This would also have the effect of hunger marketing. Users whose trial period ended would only look forward to the next full release.

It’s hard to go back to a simpler life after living in luxury, just as someone accustomed to 8K resolution wouldn’t want to go back to watching 480P.

The thirty million or so users who had already registered would be able to use the service normally forever. This was special treatment they had to be given, as not doing so would violate the user agreement. It would also give these thirty million users a strong desire to show off.

After all, the best thing in the world is something I have, but you don’t. And the most satisfying thing in the world is to flaunt something in front of you that you want but can’t have.

Many of these users would undoubtedly go to forums, their social media feeds, and other places to boast and show off, hyping up how great AI Mira was. This would whet everyone else’s appetite and naturally serve as excellent publicity.

Xu Changming couldn’t help but nod repeatedly. “This is actually an excellent method. It can achieve a hunger marketing effect, and at the same time, users won’t be resentful. After all, everyone knows we’re not doing this on purpose; it’s a measure of last resort because America is hitting us so hard.”

As long as the user experience for those who could use the AI Mira assistant remained unaffected, even if their three-month trial ended and they couldn’t use it for a while, these users wouldn’t delete their accounts. Perhaps not all of them, but at least ninety percent would just set it aside and wait, or create new alternate accounts to apply for the second batch of trial access.

It was even possible that some people would willingly pay to buy accounts that had secured trial access in the second batch. Platforms like Taobao would surely have people selling AI Mira trial accounts.

But Spiritual Mirror Tech didn’t care about this. They wouldn’t bother with such petty profits, especially since this was only a temporary situation. What mattered to Spiritual Mirror Tech was that the product’s reputation and user experience were not compromised.

Moreover, this was a great way to conduct indirect market research to see how willing users were to pay for the AI Mira assistant. The better the sales of trial accounts on platforms like Taobao, the more it would indicate users’ acceptance of paying for AI Mira.

Xiao Yu never intended for AI Mira to be completely free. It would be freemium. Some of Mira’s basic functions would be permanently open and free for users, but if they wanted to use Mira as a productivity tool, they would have to pay.

In the future, Xiao Yu planned to use AI Mira as a platform to integrate AI-generated text, images, videos, and more, turning it into a powerful productivity platform. The paid use of its productivity functions would be the core source of revenue for the AI Mira platform.

At that moment, the beautiful assistant Yun Shu was also present. Xiao Yu turned his head to look at her and said nonchalantly, “Oh, by the way, you need to keep my little black list for me. Note down everyone who kicked us while we were down or didn’t side with us during this time.”

Xu Changming, who was also there, felt a cold sweat hearing this. Good heavens, he thought, he’s planning to settle scores later. This little black list is a nightmare for people in the industry.

As for America’s actions, despite the grand display, Xiao Yu barely gave them a second glance.

…

About half an hour later, Xiao Yu logged into his personal Weibo account and posted an update.

【Today, Spiritual Mirror Tech encountered a great event worth celebrating. America has finally put our company on its “honor roll.” As everyone knows, you can’t get on this list without some real skill. This certification from America has rock-solid credibility, and it proves our company’s technology is the best in the world.

So when I heard about this, my first reaction was happiness. How could I not be happy? Good heavens, a full-force attack right from the start! Talk about putting on the pressure. This is almost on par with Huawei. I must say, Spiritual Mirror Tech feels extremely honored.

But when I think about how America is going to give Spiritual Mirror Tech free advertising worldwide, it’s hard to contain my excitement. This is the world’s top-tier promotional power. How could it not be exhilarating?

Look at Huawei. If it weren’t for America helping them with free advertising all over the world for all these years, there might not be so many people who know about such an awesome company. The key is, it’s free advertising! Even more crucial is that you couldn’t get this kind of ad space even if you paid for it.

For our Spiritual Mirror Tech to receive such treatment, how could it not be exhilarating?】

As soon as Xiao Yu’s Weibo post went up, the “melon-eating” netizens who were just watching the show were instantly amused, exclaiming that Bro Xiao had maxed out his taunt level—a total point-blank ultimate move.

This post earned him many new fans. It was rare for a billionaire of his stature, a tech mogul of his level, to be so openly mocking, to have his taunt level so maxed out. He was the first tycoon to be so unyielding.

To a large extent, Xiao Yu’s move was also a declaration of his stance: he was definitely not part of the pro-America faction.

While Xiao Yu gained many new fans, he also incurred the hatred of the ‘Run’ crowd and their followers, becoming a target they were determined to slander and attack. However, Xiao Yu didn’t even spare America’s You’ang Capital Group a second glance, let alone some dogs.

Without a doubt, Xiao Yu’s tough-as-nails stance was very much supported by his fans and the netizens.

Ever since his “ten billion subsidy” operation with real money, Xiao Yu’s public reputation had undergone an epic reversal. Now, he was not only popular among retail investors but also widely welcomed by the general online community after his fame spread.

Moreover, when people looked up public information online, they discovered that Xiao Yu was actually the legal representative of Spiritual Mirror Tech, which earned him even more praise.

The legal representative of a company is colloquially known as the “scapegoat.” Everyone believed that Xiao Yu couldn’t be unaware of this, and that most company founders actively avoid taking on this role.

Yet Xiao Yu dared to be the legal representative for Spiritual Mirror Tech, not deliberately avoiding this potential risk. This was seen as a testament to his sense of responsibility, earning him countless thumbs-ups.

Many retail investors were now willing to hold Spiritual Mirror Tech stock for the long term, and the fact that Xiao Yu was the company’s legal representative was a very important factor in their investment decision. It meant that if the company ran into trouble, Xiao Yu, as the legal representative, could not escape responsibility.

Thinking about it from the opposite perspective, this meant the probability of Spiritual Mirror Tech having problems was smaller.

And even if the company did run into trouble, Xiao Yu, as the legal representative, would surely find a way to solve the problem rather than bailing and leaving everyone in the lurch. Therefore, retail investors felt more at ease holding Spiritual Mirror Tech stock for the long term. This was confidence, and in the capital market, confidence is often more valuable than gold.

…

Chapter 77: Listed as Export-Controlled and State-Secret Technology

Two days later.

Chairman’s office, Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters.

“The Weibo post you made the day before yesterday has garnered quite a bit of attention in the industry. Uncle Xiang saw it too, and even commented on it.” Wen Suqing was in Xiao Yu’s office. Having finished discussing other company matters, they started talking about this.

Xiao Yu smiled. “Oh? What did President Xiang say?”

Wen Suqing said bluntly, “Being too forward isn’t necessarily a good thing. We’ve long had a tradition of shooting the bird that sticks its head out.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu leaned back on the sofa, looked at Wen Suqing sitting opposite him, and said calmly, “I agree with his view, and I appreciate his good intentions, but…”

Xiao Yu’s tone suddenly shifted, and he smiled. “Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? That is the primary question. We need to distinguish between the main and secondary contradictions. Real enemies don’t have the word written on their foreheads; they’re often hidden deep. If I don’t show my edge, how will the enemy be baited out so easily? To do great things, to accomplish great things, some risks must be faced head-on, even if you know they’re there, rather than being constantly avoided.”

A flash of surprise passed through Wen Suqing’s eyes as she heard this. Then, she smiled and said, “Alright, as long as you know what you’re doing. No wonder Uncle Xiang thinks so highly of you.”

Xiao Yu’s in-your-face attack on Weibo had greatly surprised his opponents. They didn’t expect him to be so unyielding. Of course, they were mostly annoyed and irritated, and at the same time, they began to launch a series of coordinated takedowns.

In the office, Wen Suqing chatted with Xiao Yu for a while longer before leaving.

Not long after she left, Yun Shu arrived. She entered the office, saw Xiao Yu on the sofa, and walked over to him, saying, “Today, many media outlets are reporting that a well-known professor and expert from academia is harshly criticizing our company for creating a monopoly in the graphene field. He’s also accusing Spiritual Mirror Tech of imposing harsh, overbearing demands on its corporate clients, calling it a typical abuse of market dominance.”

Yun Shu sat down beside him and added, “This person also claims we should be wary of Spiritual Mirror Tech using its technological advantage to abuse its market dominance. Basically, from what I’ve read of his so-called criticisms and attacks, he’s just demanding that Spiritual Mirror Tech publicize and license its mass-production technology for graphene to other companies. If you don’t publicize it, you’re an evil monopoly, a trust, and you’re hindering the progress of history and technology.”

Yun Shu continued, “He even claims with great conviction that because the total demand for graphene material in various high-end industries is enormous, and since Spiritual Mirror Tech can’t meet that total demand on its own, it should logically publicize the technology and license it to other manufacturers to meet the market’s needs, instead of hoarding it and hindering technological progress.”

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but be amused. “Where did our opponents find such a moron to spout this kind of idiotic argument? Why doesn’t he ask America to publish the technology for the F-22? Oh, right, America probably can’t even produce it themselves anymore.”

Beside him, Yun Shu tilted her head to look at Xiao Yu and said, “I also noticed that many media outlets in the mainland are reporting on this extensively. I did a rough count, and there are over a hundred of them. It’s no exaggeration to say it’s an all-out media blitz. And I get the feeling these outlets are covertly fanning the flames and adding fuel to the fire.”

Yun Shu said thoughtfully, “It was the same last time. They were extremely enthusiastic about reporting things unfavorable to Spiritual Mirror Tech, but when it came to good news, they were as stingy with their words as if every word were gold, or even stayed completely silent. It’s obvious where their loyalties lie.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu gave a wry smile. “All I can say is, America’s technique for cultivating assets from afar is really something else. Keep a record of them, compile a list, and report it to me. I’ll have AI Mira apply a special tag to these media outlets.”

In the near future, the AI assistant Mira was bound to become a major medium through which people obtained information. Once it became a habit, users would primarily ask AI Mira when passively receiving information.

A media outlet with a special tag meant its traffic could be precisely restricted or its content directly blocked. As long as users didn’t actively search for them, they would never see the content from these outlets.

However, despite the massive public opinion campaign orchestrated by their opponents, with so many media outlets reporting on it and covertly adding fuel to the fire, the result was unexpectedly counterproductive.

They had intended to steer public opinion to get more people to demand that Spiritual Mirror Tech publicize its graphene mass-production technology. But the general netizens were not so easily fooled. They turned around and flamed the so-called academic expert and the media to pieces, drawing the ire of thousands upon thousands of netizens.

[This traitorous dog with a yellow hide and a Western heart, he’s definitely a mole. I suggest an investigation into this person!]

[This so-called “expert” just wants to hand over our technology to foreigners. His argument is laughable, his intentions are hateful, and his heart is damnable.]

[Well said. Why don’t these so-called experts and professors dare to say a single word about the technological monopolies of foreign companies?]

[The logic of this guy is truly something else. Someone works their ass off to develop a technology, and he thinks it shouldn’t be monopolized but opened up? I seriously suspect he has ulterior motives.]

[Be more confident. Drop the ‘suspect’.]

[I suggest the relevant authorities investigate what he’s really up to. If he’s useless, maybe just get rid of him.]

[Is this so-called professor a foreign spy? How could he make such a ridiculously absurd statement?]

[Heh, here’s a joke: technology knows no borders, science knows no borders.]

[It’s obvious this so-called expert’s loyalties are completely misplaced. His brain is very considerate of his American masters. If you’re so capable, produce something yourself. You have zero ability of your own, yet you want a piece of the pie. He throws around big words as if he’s so learned, making it all sound so grand and righteous.]

[May I ask what this so-called expert has ever researched and produced?]

[Obviously, this guy wants to reap what he didn’t sow, and his motives are highly suspicious. He was most likely bought by America. A treacherous dog that bites the hand that feeds it.]

[This expert and professor isn’t doing his job. Is it because he’s bad at it that he’s here spouting nonsense? Countries and companies all have secrets; how else can they survive? This professor receives state benefits, but how much has he contributed?]

[I strongly urge the nation to take this seriously as soon as possible. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s graphene mass-production technology must not be leaked. This is definitely a major technological high ground we can use to choke the neck of America and the West.]

[Spiritual Mirror Tech was just suppressed, and this thing pops up. He’s definitely a running dog of America, no doubt.]

[Looking at it dialectically, it’s not a bad thing. See? With all this fuss, a lot of the filth hiding in the dark corners has been exposed.]

…

The battle of public opinion was fierce during this period. Soon after, rumors spread that various mobile phone manufacturers might delist the AI assistant Mira app. This news, which was detrimental to Spiritual Mirror Tech, was also widely reported by numerous media outlets.

The pressure Spiritual Mirror Tech faced was comparable to what Huawei had endured. Even Huawei struggled immensely, and many investors worried that Spiritual Mirror Tech, lacking Huawei’s deep foundations, might not survive this ordeal.

With a lack of market confidence, the company’s stock price took a major hit. In just about two weeks, it plunged from a peak of 1265.89 yuan to 609.91 yuan, a cumulative drop of -51.82%, having been cut by more than half from its highest point. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market capitalization also shrank to 529.401 billion yuan.

However, on May 29th, the media outlets that had been fanning the flames and intentionally amplifying and creating controversial narratives suddenly and uniformly quieted down and behaved themselves, despite having been so boisterous just the day before.

As it turned out, a major state-run newspaper had publicly rebuked the so-called expert’s attack on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s “monopoly” that day, declaring: “Nonsense!”

The public outcry had grown so large that the state could no longer stand by and watch. It had made its move, which also showed how highly the state valued the graphene material mass-production technology held by Spiritual Mirror Tech.

The company’s stock price also rebounded by +4.75% on Monday, May 30th.

The next morning, another piece of blockbuster news broke.

The relevant state authorities suddenly announced that Spiritual Mirror Tech’s mass-produced graphene technology would be listed as an export-controlled technology and a state-secret technology.

This was a direct and incredibly clear statement that set the tone.

As for the professor who had been jumping around so gleefully, he had now become a coward, hiding in his shell and playing dead, no longer daring to show his face.

The media outlets that had been fanning the flames all quieted down. In fact, some of them had already been noticed by the relevant authorities, and secret investigations were underway.

As a crucial new material for high-end industries, graphene possessed immense strategic significance.

The fact that a company from the Great Eastern Country had mastered this technology meant it could, in turn, put a chokehold on America and the West. This was a technological high ground.

The swift action at the national level to list it as an export-controlled and state-secret technology showed that this technology was not allowed to be leaked and mastered by foreigners.

With the state having taken such a clear and decisive stance, people from all walks of life understood that any attempt to force Spiritual Mirror Tech to license its graphene mass-production technology to other companies was now completely hopeless.

From now on, major high-tech companies and high-end industries around the world that needed graphene would likely be unable to bypass Spiritual Mirror Tech, unless they refused to use this new material. But any that dared to do so would inevitably be left behind by the times.

Stimulated by this news, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price shot up in intraday trading, soaring like a rocket and powerfully hitting the limit up.

On Wednesday, the following day, it hit the limit up again, marking two consecutive limit-ups.

The company’s stock price surged to 939.32 yuan, and its market capitalization recovered to 815.329 billion yuan. After being cut in half, it had rebounded by more than fifty percent in just three days.

Those who hadn’t overcome their fear to buy at the lowest point near the 600-yuan mark were filled with regret. The price had shot up in just two days.

Hesitation leads to defeat, but they were even more afraid that being decisive would just lead to getting wiped out.

Even with the best stocks, someone always loses money, and those who had cut their losses around the 600-yuan mark were kicking themselves hard.

The timely intervention by the state had effectively solidified Spiritual Mirror Tech’s fundamentals, giving the capital market tremendous confidence. The two consecutive 20% limit-ups following the news were the best testament to this.

…

Chapter 78: Planning for Room-Temperature Superconducting Materials

Linzhou City, in the basement of his villa.

Right now, Xiao Yu was alone in the basement, staring intently at a ping-pong ball-sized object, lost in thought.

The object was levitating silently above a round platform on the table. It was, in fact, a small piece of natural room-temperature superconducting material that Xiao Yu had brought from Blue Star.

The magnetic field strength of Blue Star and Earth were nearly identical. This room-temperature superconducting ore relied on Blue Star’s magnetic field to levitate entire floating mountains, and similarly, it only required the strength of Earth’s magnetic field to levitate here.

Superconducting materials were what could truly trigger a technological revolution. A superconductor, by definition, has zero electrical resistance. Even the most minuscule electric current could flow through a superconducting coil in a loop without any loss.

In fact, most metals can achieve superconductivity under conditions of low temperature and high pressure.

For example, by placing mercury in liquid helium to lower its temperature to around -269 degrees Celsius, it can enter a superconducting state.

However, these methods require extreme conditions like ultra-low temperatures or ultra-high pressures, making them impractical.

Therefore, what was truly needed was room-temperature superconductivity. One of the undeniable reasons for Blue Star’s rapid technological advancement was the planet’s abundance of natural room-temperature superconducting ore.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was weighing the various pros and cons of introducing room-temperature superconducting materials to Earth.

Earth’s current method for searching for room-temperature superconductors was called the “high-throughput rapid screening method.” To put it plainly, it involved mixing tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of different material combinations and testing them one by one, hoping for a stroke of incredible luck.

In a way, it was like gambling.

When it came to developing new materials, sometimes luck was everything. Otherwise, why would they say Materials Science was one of the four “great pitfall” majors?

Being able to attribute the discovery largely to “good luck” was a perfect excuse for Xiao Yu, and one of the reasons he chose room-temperature superconducting materials.

A product like the smart holographic wristband, on the other hand, couldn’t be explained away by luck. Claiming so would be treating everyone like an idiot. Something like the holographic wristband, which required the integration of numerous advanced technologies, wasn’t something you could create through a stroke of fortune.

Spiritual Mirror Tech had recently been hit hard by America. This made Xiao Yu realize that he hadn’t yet grown into a super-giant. Relying solely on the Ruilian Group to have his back during his early development phase felt precarious.

He needed to attract the nation’s full attention, preferably to the point of being considered strategically important.

To achieve this, he had to make the country see his importance. In other words, Xiao Yu had to present something truly world-shaking, something that would elevate the nation’s regard for him to a strategic level, thereby securing their protection.

Xiao Yu sifted through the many black technologies from Blue Star and decided that room-temperature superconducting material was the most suitable. There were other, more outrageous black technologies that he didn’t dare reveal yet.

Room-temperature superconducting material was the most suitable choice at present. Firstly, it wasn’t difficult to obtain on Blue Star. Secondly, it fell under the category of new materials. Announcing its creation would be extremely shocking, but it would still be within the realm of what people could accept.

Besides, on Earth, room-temperature superconducting material was an extraordinary product. Its debut would undoubtedly cause a massive, world-class sensation.

This was because room-temperature superconducting material was something that could absolutely drive the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with an impact on the world far greater than that of graphene.

At this moment, Xiao Yu stood with his arms crossed, one hand supporting his chin. He stared at the room-temperature superconducting material on the platform, musing, “The appearance of room-temperature superconducting material will have an impact far exceeding the mass production of graphene material. I can’t start with mass production right away. With limited production in the early stages, it will definitely have to be prioritized for military applications…”

Xiao Yu nodded to himself, his mind made up.

However, this required concocting a plausible and convincing story to explain to the outside world why it couldn’t be mass-produced.

“I’ll just claim that the production cost of the room-temperature superconducting material is exorbitant, making mass production impossible in the short term…” Xiao Yu murmured to himself. After a moment of thought, he came up with a narrative.

“Yes, I’ll vaguely state that it’s prepared using an ultra-high-energy laser evaporation and solidification method, after which it’s deposited on a substrate to create a high-quality superconducting film. Then, through a process using mechanical energy to mix multiple raw materials and form a nanostructure, we finally obtain a nanostructured room-temperature superconducting material.”

Following this line of thought, Xiao Yu nodded to himself and continued, “The process consumes an enormous amount of energy, with an unbelievable demand for electricity. That’s why the cost is so high. This extremely high cost constrains mass production, making commercialization impossible in the short term. Therefore, it can only be used for military applications.”

The military wouldn’t be concerned with commercialization. As long as it was within the nation’s capabilities and military budget, they wouldn’t care about the cost, only about its availability.

As for what raw materials were used in its production, the answer would naturally be that it was discovered through extensive trials, mixing countless material combinations. Want to know the ingredients? Sorry, that’s a trade secret, and moreover, a state-designated top secret. No comment.

Xiao Yu was certain that as soon as he announced his creation of this new room-temperature superconducting material, the government would come to verify it immediately.

And once it was confirmed, it would instantly be classified as a state-level secret technology and be strictly protected. It would definitely be prioritized for military applications; if it couldn’t be mass-produced, the military would certainly get it first.

Even if it could be mass-produced, Xiao Yu estimated that the state wouldn’t allow this room-temperature superconducting material to enter the commercial market anytime soon. They would strictly control its distribution.

The impact of room-temperature superconducting material was simply too immense, far beyond what graphene material could compare to. The birth of this product could genuinely trigger revolutionary disruptions across all high-tech industries. No resistance meant no loss in long-distance high-voltage power transmission. Electronic devices wouldn’t heat up when charging—no more hot phones or computers. Furthermore, superconductors are perfectly diamagnetic, meaning all sorts of vehicles could easily fly: superconducting maglev trains, flying cars, and more would be a given.

Room-temperature superconductivity was also a key prerequisite for controlled nuclear fusion. On Earth, the Tokamak devices for controlled nuclear fusion required powerful magnetic fields to contain high-temperature plasma. These strong magnetic fields needed strong electric currents, which was why current superconducting Tokamak devices required a vast amount of electricity just to maintain low temperatures. This resulted in the energy input being far greater than the energy output—a state of net loss. But with room-temperature superconductors, you would no longer need so much energy to maintain the low-temperature environment, making a net energy output initially achievable.

Thus, the significance of room-temperature superconducting material was clear. Its appearance would undoubtedly enable a leap forward in Earth’s technology as a whole. It could even be the key to accelerating humanity’s transition from its current 0.75-level civilization to a Level 1 civilization.

“If it’s applied in the military sector, it should first be used on fighter jets and other military aircraft…” Xiao Yu nodded. With limited production, it had to be used where it would have the greatest impact. Besides that, the country might also allocate some to support controlled nuclear fusion research in superconducting Tokamak devices.

If the main fuselage of fighter jets, bombers, and large transport planes were made with nanostructured room-temperature superconducting material, they could achieve the kind of silky-smooth vertical take-off and landing and unparalleled maneuverability seen only in sci-fi movies. This was something the so-called VTOL of aircraft like America’s F-35 ‘Fat Lightning’ could not even begin to compare with.

This natural room-temperature superconducting material from Blue Star could levitate an entire mountain using only the planet’s magnetic field.

Forget about making a plane levitate vertically; with enough of this material, even making an aircraft carrier fly would be no problem.

On Blue Star, Xiao Yu had personally witnessed the massive Heavenly Mountain floating at an altitude of 3,000 meters. Compared to Blue Star’s Heavenly Mountain, a behemoth like an aircraft carrier was nothing but a nobody.

…

Chapter 79: A Market-Killer Advantage Over Conventional Aircraft

Xiao Yu activated his holographic wristband and quickly brought up several floating holographic screens. They displayed a wealth of data—offline information he had downloaded from Blue Star to his wristband, including data models for several of Blue Star’s aircraft.

It was worth mentioning that the human civilization of Blue Star had long since moved past fossil fuels. Their primary means of obtaining energy was now controlled nuclear fusion.

It couldn’t be helped; Blue Star’s civilization was practically born with a golden spoon, their circumstances far superior to those of Earth’s humans.

Room-temperature superconducting material, a resource Earthens dreamed of, existed naturally on Blue Star. In fact, they had vast, rich veins of superconductor ore, and even gold was so abundant that it had been relegated to the status of a common industrial metal.

If Earth had such a hardcore foundation, it might have already bid farewell to fossil fuels and entered the age of controlled nuclear fusion.

Not only had Blue Star entered the era of controlled nuclear fusion long ago, but they had also miniaturized their fusion reactors to the size of the core in Tony Stark’s chest from the movie Iron Man on Earth.

A gadget that small could output enough energy to power a one-hundred-thousand-ton-class supercarrier, allowing it to tear through the seas without any trouble.

They also had ultra-high energy density batteries. All sorts of flying vehicles on Blue Star used these batteries. A single one, ten centimeters in diameter and fifty centimeters long, could give a flying car a range of over ten thousand kilometers.

Blue Star’s current technological frontier was even pushing to light up the “antimatter energy” node on the technology tree.

Having spent so much time on Blue Star, Xiao Yu knew that, without exception, all their aircraft were all-electric. To be precise, all their manned and unmanned vehicles were all-electric.

On Earth, this would be called a new energy electric aircraft.

The aircraft on Blue Star used high energy density batteries. While the energy scale couldn’t compare to a miniaturized fusion core, ordinary flying cars had no need for such a thing. It would be a case of Lu Bu riding a dog; naturally, high-density energy batteries were more cost-effective.

Xiao Yu didn’t dare to bring this kind of battery to Earth just yet. Earth’s current technological level was insufficient to support the creation of such a black technology product. If he just produced it out of thin air, he would have no way to explain it.

A breakthrough in new materials could be attributed to good luck, but applied technology products like the holographic wristband or high energy density batteries couldn’t be created through luck alone.

This was why Xiao Yu had to start with materials science, such as graphene and room-temperature superconductors. A breakthrough in new materials would drive rapid advancements in all kinds of upper-level applied technology products, which would in turn push the entire industry toward systemic progress.

By the time he brought over high energy density batteries from Blue Star, it would be far more plausible.

“The lack of high energy density batteries isn’t a huge problem. With the support of room-temperature superconducting material, graphene batteries will be enough,” Xiao Yu mused. As he analyzed the data models of several Blue Star aircraft, he also considered the energy supply for an all-electric propulsion system.

The combination of room-temperature superconductors and graphene batteries was just right for solving the energy problem at Earth’s current level of technological development. It was enough to ensure a range superior to that of conventional fuel-powered aircraft, maintaining a significant lead without being too outrageous.

The energy density of graphene batteries was no match for Blue Star’s ultra-high energy density batteries, but compared to Earth’s mainstream lithium batteries, their energy density was five times greater.

Coupled with the fact that room-temperature superconducting material had virtually no energy loss, which was a critical point, and with the addition of some energy recovery systems, it was entirely feasible to power an all-electric aircraft with graphene batteries.

The batteries were heavy and, unlike aviation fuel, wouldn’t lighten the aircraft as they were consumed. Furthermore, electric motors were also on the heavy side, weighing more than turbojet, turbofan, or turboprop engines of the same power output.

These issues would be highly problematic for a conventional fuel-powered aircraft, where every bit of weight is precious.

But for an aircraft with superconducting levitation capability, this was no longer a problem. The most revolutionary change was that once an aircraft possessed this ability, it meant it could shed its reliance on aerodynamic design to generate lift.

A superconducting aircraft no longer needs lift; it uses superconducting levitation to counteract gravity and achieve a state of levitation.

With the airframe supported by superconducting levitation, the aerodynamic layout could completely abandon designs meant for generating lift. In fact, it could do without any aerodynamic layout at all. Even an object shaped like a brick could take off and fly. The large flying cargo vehicles on Blue Star were a classic example of this brute-force strategy.

In other words, this would completely subvert the traditional thinking behind aircraft design and fundamentally change the approach to designing their external shape.

This was a market-killer advantage over conventional aircraft. It was just like the complex and fancy engines of traditional gasoline cars being crushed by new energy electric motors. You no longer heard traditional gasoline supercars bragging about their 0-to-100 km/h acceleration times, because any random all-electric car could beat them, and supercar-class electric vehicles left their gasoline counterparts in the dust.

The principle was the same.

While conventional aircraft were still painstakingly researching aerodynamic layouts and lift designs, a superconducting levitation aircraft could easily employ a brute-force strategy. Any bizarre shape could be made to fly.

Even if one were to consider an aerodynamic layout, it would be more for factors like wind resistance and energy efficiency. And even a casual design would be good enough to leave conventional aircraft in the dust.

“Should I go with all-electric propulsion or a gas-electric hybrid…” Xiao Yu stared at the numerous holographic data models before him, looking conflicted.

After a while, he made a decisive choice: “Why bother with a hybrid? I’ll go straight for all-electric and be done with it. Blue Star has already provided the meta solution. All-electric is the future. Let’s just do it.”

Xiao Yu immediately got to work, adjusting the holographic data models before him. “You don’t just give up over a small hurdle, do you? Conventional aircraft can be fitted with external fuel tanks. If a new energy electric aircraft wants to further increase its range and endurance, it can be fitted with an external battery pod.”

This time, Xiao Yu didn’t plan to be just an upstream supplier of room-temperature superconducting material. He intended to personally enter the field and build the planes himself, bypassing the numerous core technology patents of traditional aircraft manufacturing, just as new energy vehicles did, by going straight for an all-electric aircraft.

In fact, some airlines were already researching all-electric aircraft; Xiao Yu wasn’t the first to attempt it in this industry sector.

However, other tech companies trying to build large, industrial-grade all-electric aircraft found that with existing technology, the concept was still unreliable and had too many drawbacks.

First, the batteries were lousy and nothing but dead weight. Unlike combustion engines, they couldn’t use oxygen from the air as an oxidizer, nor could they make the plane lighter as fuel was consumed, like aviation fuel.

The unfortunate result was that for a similar weight and size, the speed and range were far inferior to traditional piston, turboprop, or turbofan aircraft.

But for Xiao Yu, these drawbacks were no longer problems. The new graphene batteries had five times the energy density of traditional batteries. Moreover, the application of the core technology, room-temperature superconducting material, would allow for nearly lossless energy transfer, saving a massive amount of energy.

The actual performance in terms of speed and range would not only be no worse than conventional fuel aircraft but would far surpass them.

Furthermore, its unparalleled levitation capability meant it didn’t rely on lift, didn’t overly depend on aerodynamic layout, and didn’t need to be too concerned with takeoff or landing weight. All of these were market-killer advantages over conventional aircraft.

After an afternoon of pondering, Xiao Yu had finally sorted out his overall strategy.

…

Chapter 80: New Players Go All-In

Once he produced the room-temperature superconducting material, he would claim that it required an immense amount of energy to fabricate, resulting in low yields and exorbitant costs. Due to insufficient production capacity and its prohibitive price, it could only be prioritized for military applications in the initial stages. This was a given.

Next would be to develop a first-generation all-electric fighter jet. Xiao Yu’s requirements for this aircraft included at least four core capabilities.

First, it had to have vertical take-off and landing capabilities with high-agility maneuvering. Second, it needed an all-electric new energy drive system. Third, it had to be capable of Mach 5 hypersonic cruise. And fourth, it had to be an unmanned fighter.

The purpose of not having a pilot directly in the cockpit was to push the fighter’s performance to its absolute limits.

As carbon-based lifeforms, humans have physical limits. These limits are far below the structural limits of an aircraft. For instance, the immense G-forces generated during high-G maneuvers could be easily withstood by the fighter’s airframe, but not by the human body.

Such forces could cause a pilot to go into shock or even die on the spot, forcing the aircraft’s performance to be capped at what a pilot could endure.

This was, without a doubt, a huge constraint on the fighter’s potential, unless advanced biotechnology could be used to enhance the human body.

Xiao Yu already knew that Blue Star possessed highly advanced biotechnology capable of posthumously enhancing organic lifeforms at the genetic level. However, this kind of black technology was not something he would consider in the short term.

After all, life sciences were not his area of expertise. Making world-shaking achievements in mechanics and materials science was plausible since that was his field to begin with. Major success there was explainable.

But if he were to suddenly dive into life sciences and genetic research and achieve such terrifying results in a short time, it would be absurdly over the top.

Since he couldn’t enhance the human body to match the machine’s durability, Xiao Yu’s solution was to take the pilot out of the jet.

The problem was the human element. If you remove the human, the problem disappears, doesn’t it?

Of course, this didn’t mean getting rid of pilots entirely and letting AI have full control. AI wasn’t omnipotent, after all.

Xiao Yu’s solution was to have the AI primarily serve in an assistive role, with the pilot remaining at the core. However, the pilot would be on the ground, using a simulation cockpit combined with virtual reality technology to enhance real-time perception. Inside this fully immersive simulation cockpit, the pilot would wear a head-mounted display, controlling the unmanned fighter jet from thousands of miles away in a state of real-time perception.

This way, there would be no need to worry about the limits of the human body, allowing the fighter jet’s performance to be pushed to its maximum potential.

Another advantage of this solution was that it could significantly lower the entry barrier for pilots, which in turn would allow the Air Force to expand its scale dramatically.

In fact, the limiting factor for the size of the air force wasn’t military spending or production capacity, but the scarcity of pilots qualified to fly fighter jets. The selection criteria were incredibly strict. Right now, the country was churning out J-20 fighters at a fierce pace, but it was running short on pilots.

For example, in a conventional scenario, a pilot candidate who couldn’t handle the required G-forces would likely be screened out.

But if pilots didn’t need to fly the plane in person and could control it from a ground-based simulator, then even those who couldn’t meet the G-force requirements could be enlisted to operate a fighter jet.

This would allow the number of fighter jets in the Air Force to skyrocket. Furthermore, combat missions could achieve absolute zero casualties; at worst, a fighter jet might be lost.

Xiao Yu’s current idea was to recruit people later, assemble a team from the aviation industry, and start a new company to build aircraft himself. In this field, he was a total newcomer, a rookie dabbler entering the scene.

Compared to the established giants with their deep foundations, his venture would be a small workshop.

But then again, newcomer workshops are known to go all-in with the best stuff, something the big players wouldn’t dare to try.

Typically, the more new technologies are incorporated into an aircraft, the higher the probability of problems and malfunctions. Moreover, major manufacturers have delivery quotas, so they tend to be conservative in their designs, unwilling to make bold, sweeping changes.

But as a dabbler, Xiao Yu was free from such burdens. He was unbound by conventions, his hands and mind untied.

Besides, with the meta solution from Blue Star as a reference, Xiao Yu’s thinking was to just go for it and be bold. There was no need to fear pitfalls. He’d just cram all the new technologies in and see what happened. Throw in the high-impact stuff first and see where it led. Who knew? It might result in unexpected breakthroughs and gains.

For the first-generation all-electric fighter, Xiao Yu had a clear development path. He even had preliminary ideas for the second generation, which would build upon the first by significantly increasing its operational range and giving it the ability to travel between the atmosphere and space.

In other words, Xiao Yu wanted to turn the second-generation all-electric fighter into an aerospace fighter capable of space travel.

…

“Sir, dinner is ready. It’s time to eat,” Qin Yue, the butler, called Xiao Yu. After the villa’s basement had been converted, Xiao Yu had forbidden anyone from entering without his explicit permission, not even Qin Yue.

“Got it,” Xiao Yu replied and hung up.

He had spent the better part of the day in the basement, and his biggest achievement was advancing the room-temperature superconductor and all-electric fighter jet projects to the “New Folder” stage.

Although it was just a new folder, the overall strategy and direction had been established, giving him a clear path. The next steps were to bring it to life, one by one.

First was the problem of how to bring the room-temperature superconducting material he shuttled from Blue Star into the light. He certainly couldn’t let outsiders know it came from another world; he had to create the illusion that it was manufactured on Earth.

Xiao Yu already had a plan for the public narrative.

Furthermore, he needed a logical explanation for his high efficiency. Xiao Yu had found an excellent solution for that too: leveraging AI-assisted scientific research to dramatically boost efficiency. By first using AI-assisted big data simulations for screening, he could justify the increased productivity.

Therefore, upgrading the AI agent was the very next priority. Before producing the room-temperature superconductor, he had to iterate and upgrade the AI agent, making it more intelligent and advanced. This would lend more credibility to the claim of AI-assisted scientific research.

Xiao Yu also planned to build unmanned, intelligent factories, which would also require AI support.

For shuttling black technology from Blue Star and setting up production lines on Earth, an unmanned, intelligent system was obviously the best choice. Even if it couldn’t be one hundred percent automated, the fewer people involved, the better, especially in critical stages.

If others didn’t know your production process, they wouldn’t know whether your products were truly self-made or shuttled over from Blue Star.

All of this required AI technology. On that front, Xiao Yu had already made arrangements and was just waiting for the right time to upgrade Mira’s AI agent to version 2.0.

…

Two days later, on May 26.

Around 10 AM, Xiao Yu arrived at the company to hold a Board of Directors meeting.

“What? Enter the aircraft manufacturing industry?” When Qian Wenhu, the director representing the external investors, heard Xiao Yu’s proposal, he thought he must have misheard. Of the seven directors present, everyone besides Xiao Yu was completely bewildered, and Yun Shu was no exception.

Independent Director Song Yuan couldn’t help but speak up, “Chairman, aircraft manufacturing is an extremely complex high-end industry. It’s not something you can just dabble in and succeed. We have absolutely no experience in this area. If it goes wrong, we could suffer massive losses…”

Everyone present nodded in agreement. The unspoken sentiment was, Sir, could you please not be so reckless? A move like this could bring us all down.

Xiao Yu surveyed the room and smiled. “I knew you wouldn’t approve.”

At his words, everyone couldn’t help but think to themselves, If you’re determined to do it, our opposition is useless anyway.

Actually, Xiao Yu never intended to place the room-temperature superconductor and aircraft manufacturing businesses under Spiritual Mirror Tech. He planned to establish a separate, independent company. But that company needed capital, so Xiao Yu intended for Spiritual Mirror Tech to provide development funds as an investor.

A 15% stake for Spiritual Mirror Tech would be enough. Xiao Yu himself would hold 75% of the new company’s equity, with the remaining 10% reserved as an option pool to be shared among core team members who made outstanding contributions.

What Xiao Yu wanted was for everyone on the board to object. That would give him the excuse he needed to logically spin this business off on its own.

When the room-temperature superconducting materials and fighter jets were eventually created, Ruilian Group and the other external shareholders wouldn’t be able to say a word.

I originally planned to develop this under the Spiritual Mirror Tech umbrella, but you all disapproved, worried it would be a money pit. So I had no choice but to go play on my own. When I succeed, you can’t accuse me of screwing you over.

If Qian Wenhu and the other investor representatives had agreed, it would have been more difficult for Xiao Yu.

If none of them objected and Xiao Yu forcibly spun off the business, it would have looked highly unethical. If it failed, that would be one thing, but if it succeeded, Ruilian Group and the other external shareholders would surely feel resentful. They would definitely think that Xiao Yu had intentionally kicked them aside to hog all the profits for himself.

But with this groundwork laid, Xiao Yu held all the cards and the moral high ground. Instead, when the time came, the external shareholders from Ruilian Group would be secretly kicking themselves, lamenting their poor judgment, and would likely come back to Xiao Yu, asking for a chance to make amends.

…

Chapter 81: Zhonghang Linfei

“I’m definitely getting into aircraft manufacturing. My mind is made up.” Xiao Yu announced as he looked around at everyone. Hearing this, they were all resigned. Wen Suqing, who represented the interests of Ruilian Group, also looked as if she wanted to say something but held her tongue.

If Xiao Yu was dead set on the aircraft manufacturing business, no one could stop him, as he had absolute control over Spiritual Mirror Tech.

However, after a moment, Xiao Yu suddenly changed his tune. “Since none of you really approve, let’s find a compromise. I’ll go out and set up a new company myself to handle this. Spiritual Mirror Tech will act as a financial investor and provide a round of venture capital. If more funds are needed later, I won’t force Spiritual Mirror Tech to continue with equity financing. We’ll use debt financing instead. I’ll borrow money from Spiritual Mirror Tech in my own name to fund this venture.”

The plan in Xiao Yu’s mind was for Spiritual Mirror Tech to provide an angel investment, initially taking a 5% stake in the new company. Once that money was spent, it would fund another round for another 5% stake, and then a third round for yet another 5%, stopping after acquiring a total of 15%.

If that still wasn’t enough money to burn, just as Xiao Yu had said, he would borrow money from Spiritual Mirror Tech in his own name. He himself would become his company’s debtor, and his company would become his creditor.

In effect, Spiritual Mirror Tech would still be providing a financial lifeline to the new company, but Xiao Yu wouldn’t have to dilute its equity any further. Others might not know, but he was fully aware of the new company’s value.

At this moment, Qian Wenhu heard Xiao Yu’s proposal and, after careful consideration, felt it was acceptable. Since Xiao Yu was insistent, if things went south, he would personally bear the brunt of the losses. This would protect the interests of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s other shareholders.

As for Xiao Yu borrowing money from his own company in his personal capacity, Qian Wenhu saw no issue. He wasn’t worried about Xiao Yu’s ability to repay the loan.

After all, Xiao Yu himself held over 51% of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s shares, making him a super-rich tycoon with a net worth in the hundreds of billions. He was likely to remain the richest person for a long time.

Although it was still technically the company’s money being spent, the nature of it was completely different.

If Spiritual Mirror Tech were to provide equity financing and the venture failed, the company wouldn’t get a single cent of its investment back. But if Xiao Yu funded it through a loan and it failed, he would personally shoulder all the losses and would still be required to repay the loan to the company on schedule.

This eliminated the risk of a significant loss for Spiritual Mirror Tech, thereby protecting the interests of its other shareholders.

Of course, while this eliminated the risk, it also meant they wouldn’t get a taste of the big profits if the new company took off. Low risk meant no high returns; you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

After a moment, Xiao Yu looked at the directors, including Qian Wenhu and Song Yuan, and asked, “What do you all think of this compromise?”

Qian Wenhu and the others quickly voiced their approval. As for directors like Xu Changming, Yun Shu, and Fu Kang, Xiao Yu had nominated them, so they naturally sided with him.

In the subsequent vote, the proposal passed unanimously with seven votes in favor.

Spiritual Mirror Tech would invest two billion in Xiao Yu’s yet-to-be-incorporated company for a 5% stake, effectively giving the nameless new venture a valuation of forty billion.

In a normal venture capital deal, no firm would invest two billion for a mere 5% stake. No VC would willingly be such a sucker.

But the current situation was unique. In the eyes of the external investors from Ruilian Group, Xiao Yu’s aircraft manufacturing venture was almost certainly a money pit, and he was dead set on pursuing it. If they didn’t give him two billion to go and try it now, he would just have Spiritual Mirror Tech enter the aircraft manufacturing sector directly.

He could throw twenty billion into it right off the bat, and possibly even more later. Any losses would then be reflected directly on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s income statement.

With that calculation, it seemed better to let Xiao Yu start a separate company and finance him with a few billion to pursue his venture. They could just write the money off. Although it was no small sum, it was far better than potentially losing thirty or fifty billion down the line.

Since no one expected Xiao Yu to succeed and believed the venture was a money pit, the difference between taking a 5% stake or a 10% stake was negligible.

Besides, Xiao Yu had promised that Spiritual Mirror Tech would, at most, provide six billion in financing for a 15% stake in his new company. If six billion wasn’t enough for his venture and more investment was needed, he would have to borrow from Spiritual Mirror Tech personally. This would be debt financing, not equity financing, and a debt must be repaid.

The major external shareholders from Ruilian weren’t worried about Xiao Yu defaulting. After all, his net worth was self-evident, supported by his stake of over 51% in Spiritual Mirror Tech. They wouldn’t worry about his ability to repay even if he borrowed tens of billions.

…

An hour later, in the Chairman’s office.

His beautiful assistant, Yun Shu, entered the office. Xiao Yu handed her a folder he had prepared in advance and instructed, “The new company will be called ‘Zhonghang Linzhou Aircraft Industry Co., Ltd.,’ or ‘Zhonghang Linfei’ for short. Get the company registered according to these requirements, then start recruiting based on the plan in this file.”

The new company, Zhonghang Linfei, would primarily focus on the research, development, manufacturing, sales, maintenance, and servicing of complete large and medium-sized military aircraft, as well as military and civilian aviation components. It would also be involved in research on basic applied materials and cutting-edge technologies.

Previously, Xiao Yu would never have been able to establish such a company. But this was an era of military-civilian integration, allowing private enterprises to enter the defense sector.

Under normal circumstances, however, no private entrepreneur would attempt this. For one, they wouldn’t have the technical expertise. For another, it’s extremely difficult to turn a profit. Profit margins on military goods are kept very low, and the competition consists of the state’s “own sons.” Unless your product or technology is absolutely exceptional, the military will always place its orders with state-owned enterprises first.

Furthermore, aircraft manufacturing is a prime example of high-end heavy industry involving massive products, something only state-run enterprises have the capacity to undertake. It’s practically impossible for a private company to do it.

The reason Xiao Yu dared to do this was that he had a solid foundation of confidence.

He had the “meta solution” from the Blue Star world, allowing him to “copy homework.” Even a clumsy imitation would be considered an extraordinary achievement here on Earth.

Once the new company was established, Spiritual Mirror Tech, as an investor, would provide financing to Zhonghang Linfei. The first round of funding would be for two billion RMB.

Xiao Yu put Yun Shu in charge of establishing the new company. Although she was an employee and executive at Spiritual Mirror Tech, it was natural for the company, as an investor in Zhonghang Linfei, to provide some resources. Therefore, Xiao Yu could rightfully use Spiritual Mirror Tech’s employees for Zhonghang Linfei’s affairs, which was in itself a form of support.

Yun Shu opened the file and was slightly taken aback after a quick look. She turned to Xiao Yu. “Zhonghang Linfei’s main business is the R&D and manufacturing of complete military aircraft?”

She, along with Xu Changming and the others, had always assumed that Xiao Yu’s venture into aircraft manufacturing would be focused on private civilian jets. They never imagined he actually intended to build military aircraft.

They were already pessimistic about the venture, but now that they knew it was about military aircraft, their outlook was even grimmer. It was a surefire money pit.

In the current climate of military-civilian integration, it was true that private companies could research military aircraft. With the required approvals, they could even test-fly their own planes. But the crucial factor was whether the military would favor their product, which would determine if they could secure any orders.

If the military wasn’t interested, it meant all the aircraft they produced would be left on their hands, and the entire investment would be for nothing.

Looking at the file’s summary, Yun Shu added, “And why does it also include materials research projects?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “Aircraft manufacturing is the main business, but can’t I have a few side projects? To build advanced military aircraft, you inevitably have to cover multiple cutting-edge fields. How could we possibly neglect research into basic applied materials?”

Yun Shu was speechless for a moment. Closing the folder, she said, “Fine. You really just have too much energy to burn. Do as you please. It’s not like anyone is optimistic about it, anyway…”

Xiao Yu just smiled without saying anything. There was no need to argue. Time would tell.

…

Chapter 82: The AI Mira 2.0 Version Goes Live

In the afternoon, Spiritual Mirror Tech released a scheduled announcement.

Due to the company’s current shortage of computing resources, and to ensure the experience of existing users would not be affected, the company decided to temporarily close the registration channel for AI Mira.

At the same time, they announced the opening of a registration channel for limited-time trial accounts. Starting today, a new registration channel would be open, and the company would select batches of new accounts to receive invitation codes for a three-month trial experience. When the first round of trials expired, a second round would commence, and so on.

If computing resources were to increase in the future, the company would increase the number of trial accounts at its discretion based on the actual situation.

Users who had registered for an AI Mira account before the date of the announcement would be able to continue using it permanently without interruption.

The general user base saw Spiritual Mirror Tech’s announcement and expressed their understanding. Under normal circumstances, such an announcement might be suspected of being a scarcity marketing tactic and would likely attract a wave of criticism.

But now, everyone knew that Spiritual Mirror Tech was facing a full-scale crackdown from America. Foreign-related manufacturers like Nvidia had all ceased business dealings with Spiritual Mirror Tech, leading to the company’s insufficient supply of computing resources.

This move was to ensure that the experience of existing users would not be affected, forcing them to close the normal new user registration channel.

Normally, what company in America would be willing to close its registration channel? That would mean a halt in user growth and a huge loss.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s move, on the contrary, won praise from the majority of users, who believed they were genuinely considering things from the user’s perspective.

At the same time this announcement was made, Spiritual Mirror Tech officially launched the AI Mira 2.0 version on the same day.

Xiao Yu also posted an update on his personal Weibo account:

[The Mira 2.0 version is officially online—more powerful, more intelligent, and better to use. In the field of AI, we remain far ahead. The suppression from some people is useless; it will only make us stronger.]

Along with this Weibo post, Xiao Yu also released a video introducing the AI Mira 2.0 version.

Xiao Yu had taken the time to record this video himself. Clicking play, one could hear Xiao Yu’s introduction: “Our newly launched Mira 2.0 version has undergone a major upgrade. She can even simulate human thought processes to a certain extent.”

“For instance, when looking up information, if you were to search and distill it yourself, you would have to sift through a vast amount of web material, which is undoubtedly very time-consuming and energy-draining. But Mira can read through the content of over 200 web pages in under two seconds and will summarize and filter out the most core content to present to you.”

“Furthermore, after Mira provides an answer, she can continue to perform some searches and provide additional data, which is very similar to the human way of thinking. And every piece of data Mira provides you with comes with an information source, which you can click to see. It’s possible that a single piece of information you click on is one that Mira has derived from reading dozens of source web pages.”

“The 2.0 version of Mira can now provide solutions for users by simulating human proactive thinking and reasoning. Even if the user only provides some vague information, Mira can find the correct answer through self-analysis and inference. Isn’t this exactly what we need artificial intelligence to do?”

As Xiao Yu reached this point in the video, he demonstrated by giving Mira only some vague information. Sure enough, Mira eventually gave him the answer he wanted.

“If you need to translate a large number of documents, Mira is also an excellent translation assistant. Many people don’t understand foreign languages but need to consult foreign literature. Here, I’m demonstrating with a PDF of an English document totaling 50,000 words. You just need to drag and drop the file into Mira’s dialogue box, and it will quickly provide an introduction to the core content of the article, translated into the language you specified.”

“This is incredibly useful for speed-reading literature. If you want to understand the content in more detail, just tell Mira with your voice or by typing.”

“If you need to understand a specific part of the document in detail, you just need to tell Mira your request through voice or text interaction, and she can present that specific detailed content to you.”

“Not only can you speed-read non-native language literature, but speed-reading foreign magazines is also no problem. Mira can quickly summarize it for you, making it much more convenient to read. Even if you give her a URL, she can summarize the content of the webpage for you. Mira’s long-text processing capability is incredibly powerful.”

“The 2.0 version has been updated with a lot of new content; the above is just the tip of the iceberg. I can say without false modesty that we couldn’t find a competitor to challenge Mira even if we used a telescope.”

…

The video Xiao Yu posted was about seven minutes long and only briefly introduced some of the new features in the Mira 2.0 version. In reality, this major version update was a qualitative leap, giving Mira the capabilities of a productivity tool that could genuinely assist users in their office work, greatly improving efficiency.

When people saw Xiao Yu boasting so much about the Mira 2.0 version in the video, this time, unlike their previous skepticism, they were filled with anticipation. After all, the power of the Mira 1.0 version had exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Those who had accounts basically updated their AI Mira assistant to the 2.0 version at the first opportunity to be among the first to experience it.

…

In a certain city.

A young white-collar professional looked at the product description sent by the client with a mask of pure agony on his face. The document was a staggering 65,000 characters long and filled with words like “closed loops,” “linkages,” “matrices,” “granularity,” and “combination approaches” that made his head hurt just looking at them.

“I suddenly miss that intern who only cost 2500 yuan a month. He was so diligent. No matter how long or convoluted the material was, he could always summarize the main points and make it clear at a glance,” he couldn’t help but sigh. Unfortunately, that intern had disappeared as soon as he received his internship certificate.

A moment later, he saw the AI Mira icon on his computer and was suddenly reminded that a colleague had told him today that AI Mira had been updated to version 2.0. The new features were incredibly powerful, and its assistance could significantly boost office efficiency.

Evidently, this young professional already had the AI Mira client on his computer, indicating he had been using this AI assistant for some time. He also had AI Mira downloaded on his phone.

So, he decisively updated the AI Mira on his computer to version 2.0. After the installation was complete, he looked over the feature descriptions for the new version.

“Does it really have such powerful office assistance capabilities?” After reading the introduction to the new version, the young professional couldn’t help but be astonished.

A moment later, he pressed a custom hotkey on his keyboard, and Mira’s dialogue box popped up. He directly dragged the 65,000-character PDF file and dropped it into the box, asking Mira to summarize the document.

“Holy crap! It actually works? This is great! This is great!” After waiting a short while, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the summary Mira generated was just as brilliant as the one from that intern.

Moreover, Mira had it done in just two or three seconds. The intern was never that fast.

Next, he tried making a more advanced request, asking Mira to condense the document further and further.

The results left him overjoyed.

He could even have Mira interact with multiple documents at the same time.

Most importantly, Mira didn’t require a salary of 2500 yuan, nor would she run off after getting an internship certificate.

Now he was truly relieved. With Mira’s help, he could quickly understand the client’s requirements without getting confused or frying his brain.

But this alone was far from enough. The next step in his current work was to transform the product’s selling points into concrete creative ideas. After learning about the many features of Mira 2.0, he decided to once again let Mira assist him with the subsequent work.

He first had Mira open some well-known domestic learning platforms, intending to see what new ideas his peers had recently shared that were worth learning from. He had Mira bookmark some of the better creative ideas.

And he found that there was nothing more suitable than Mira for quickly summarizing others’ experiences to find inspiration.

With this thought, he quickly asked Mira to generate an outline introducing creative ideas.

It was done in just a few seconds. The young professional skimmed through it. He felt the outline was still a bit rough, not enough to satisfy the client, but at least there was an outline, which meant there was hope.

Just then, the client suddenly called, demanding a progress report. His heart sank; he just remembered that he was supposed to report on the project’s progress today. He had completely forgotten about it.

At that moment, he saw Mira’s virtual avatar on the right side of his computer desktop. With nothing to do, Mira was playing a game by herself in a real-time animation. The new version of Mira had also introduced many new interactive elements. Seeing Mira at this moment, the young professional felt as if he were grabbing a life-saving straw.

“…Okay, no problem. I’ll just organize it a bit and send the progress report to you in five minutes.” He hung up the phone, hurriedly threw the outline Mira had generated back into her dialogue box, and requested that Mira help him write a progress report.

Watching the content being generated rapidly, he found that AI Mira was even more proficient at this than he was. Just as he was marveling at the terrifying speed of AI’s progress, Mira had already generated the report based on the document’s content.

Not only did it summarize the document’s content, but it also inferred the subsequent plans based on that content.

Just like that, he simply revised a few sentences, and it was done. Then, with some trepidation, he sent the progress report to the client.

Not long after, the client called him again, saying that he had read the progress report and was very satisfied. The client even remembered to tell him to rest early and not to work too hard.

The client obviously hadn’t noticed anything amiss, unaware that this was something Mira had put together in just a few minutes. The fact that the client hadn’t caught on made the guy heave a huge, secret sigh of relief.

“CEO Xiao is truly a genius! The 2.0 version is just so powerful. This is only a fraction of its functions, and it’s already this useful. No wonder America is cracking down so hard on Spiritual Mirror Tech. This AI is seriously badass, way ahead, absolutely way ahead!” The young professional couldn’t help but praise the AI Mira 2.0 version repeatedly.

If it weren’t for AI Mira, he wouldn’t have been able to deliver to the client today. If the client had terminated the partnership in a fit of anger, this business deal would have been doomed.

With the help of the AI Mira assistant in the future, his work would be so much easier, and his office efficiency would skyrocket exponentially. Take that progress report just now—without Mira’s help, he most likely wouldn’t have been able to submit it today without pulling an all-nighter.

“Thank goodness my account isn’t affected and I can use it forever.” He saw Spiritual Mirror Tech’s latest announcement that newly registered accounts couldn’t be used normally and required an invitation code, and even those were for a limited three-month trial before being temporarily suspended. Accounts registered before the announcement, however, could be used indefinitely without restrictions.

Now that he had experienced AI Mira’s outstanding capabilities in office assistance, wouldn’t it be agony if he could only use it for three months? He would have to get an account even if it meant paying for it. Fortunately, as long as AI Mira was running, his own account could be used permanently.

With his work finished, he could clock off early today. The young professional planned to watch an anime series to relax, a rare chance to finish work so early.

A short while later, he found that the anime series he was following hadn’t been updated yet. But his friends in a group chat had already watched the latest raws through other channels and were discussing it heatedly.

To keep up with the discussion and join the conversation, the guy was forced to watch the raws like his friends. The problem was, he didn’t understand the show’s foreign language.

“That’s right, besides meeting daily office needs, the new version of Mira can also satisfy leisure and entertainment needs.” He remembered reading in the new version’s feature description that it could provide a real-time AI subtitle generation function for videos playing on the device.

So he decisively sought Mira’s help and had her start translating in real-time.

He then discovered, to his surprise, that Mira’s AI subtitle generation function was extremely powerful. Not only did the real-time translation allow him to understand the plot, but the translated text was also fluent and smooth, without any hint of a machine-translated feel.

“The new version of Mira is so useful for both work and entertainment. It makes all other AIs look like artificial idiots. It’s so awesome, I’d pay for this software even if I had to!”

…

Chapter 83: Another ‘Small’ Shock for Industry Peers

The launch of Mira 2.0 once again sent shockwaves through the tech circle. This time, numerous industry insiders had no choice but to admit and accept that Spiritual Mirror Tech’s prowess in the field of AI was simply too far ahead of its peers—and on a global scale at that.

Previously, some industry peers had sympathized with Spiritual Mirror Tech for taking a heavy blow from America, feeling the company didn’t deserve it. But now, after trying out Mira 2.0, they silently withdrew what little sympathy they had.

With the new version’s launch, AI Mira once again received a tide of praise from users.

More intelligent and more user-friendly, the new version of AI Mira was greatly enhanced as a productivity tool, significantly improving people’s work efficiency. It could genuinely help users like a personal assistant supporting a high-level executive.

Everyone also noticed that Spiritual Mirror Tech truly wasn’t holding anything back. The 2.0 version launched with a plethora of features all at once. If it were any other company, they would have likely split them into several updates, as if trying to hog the trending topics and market attention for an entire year.

In truth, the real reason was that Xiao Yu had the support of Blue Star’s entire repository of artificial intelligence technology, so he wasn’t worried about running out of new features and technologies. This was even with him holding back.

Many users recalled Spiritual Mirror Tech’s previous announcement and hurried to register for a limited-time trial account. The company had announced that due to insufficient computing resources, they could not fully open access and could only support fifty million accounts online simultaneously.

This, in turn, made everyone rush to register. The number of people registering for trial accounts now surpassed the number who had registered for regular accounts before. However, even after successful registration, these accounts couldn’t use AI Mira normally; they needed a limited-time trial invitation code.

But these accounts would not be automatically deactivated unless the user chose to do so.

In other words, once users successfully registered, they contributed to the real registration numbers. They just couldn’t use the service for now. Once Spiritual Mirror Tech’s computing resources caught up and access was fully opened, these accounts would all become functional.

The fastest to react were those who recognized the business opportunity and started frantically registering accounts. It was a mystery where they obtained so many real-name IDs, which only highlighted that the development of domestic network information security still had a long way to go.

Some people even started buying up permanent accounts at high prices. They predicted that the value of these accounts would inevitably rise in the foreseeable future and that there would surely be people willing to pay a high price for them in resale.

A few quick-acting, decisive individuals had already started listing AI Mira accounts for sale on Taobao.

Clearly, their judgment was that Spiritual Mirror Tech’s shortage of computing resources would persist for a long time. Meanwhile, AI Mira was already so incredible, with no competitors in sight even with a telescope. In the long run, the number of people wanting to use AI Mira would only increase.

When a thing is rare, it becomes precious. With demand outstripping supply, the price was bound to rise.

Some people without accounts urgently needed to use AI Mira, and among them, many would undoubtedly be willing to pay to buy an account from someone else.

In other words, AI Mira accounts would possess monetary value for some time to come. The most valuable of all were the thirty million accounts registered before the announcement, which were not subject to the three-month limited trial and could be used indefinitely.

It was a business where the quick prevailed and the slow were left with nothing. Those who acted first could definitely seize this window of opportunity to make a profit. Once Spiritual Mirror Tech solved its computing resource problem, this money-making avenue would close.

Right now, many people were frantically registering new accounts to apply for the limited-time trial. The more accounts one had, the higher the probability of getting an invitation code. This was essentially a no-cost business.

And this, in turn, drove a massive surge in AI Mira’s registered users.

As for these “account scalpers,” Spiritual Mirror Tech adopted an attitude of tacit approval. Xiao Yu had already given instructions in advance to neither suppress nor support them.

Xiao Yu wanted to use the scalpers to gauge the general users’ willingness and ability to pay for AI Mira. How many accounts the scalpers sold and at what prices—this was the most hardcore and direct data reflecting users’ willingness and ability to pay.

As Mira 2.0 received a tide of positive market feedback, the company’s stock price strengthened again, and its market capitalization climbed steadily.

However, after the 2.0 version launched, Xiao Yu was no longer paying attention to these matters. He had tossed Spiritual Mirror Tech over to Xu Changming to manage, as Xu had already taken over as the company’s CEO.

With Xu Changming running Spiritual Mirror Tech, Xiao Yu was at ease. In the days that followed, he focused almost all his attention on the newly established Sino-Aviation Linfei.

Two weeks later.

Sino-Aviation Linfei quickly and smoothly assembled a team, expanding its staff to two hundred people.

For management positions, Xiao Yu directly selected people from Spiritual Mirror Tech—old team members who had been with him for many years.

This way, he could trust them more, and it saved the time needed for them to adjust. They just needed to help Xiao Yu get the company up and running.

As for the others who were hired, they frankly weren’t the top talents in the industry. The real geniuses were all in the state-owned military aircraft manufacturing enterprises, and they would never come to a newly established private enterprise like his.

Xiao Yu hired these people mainly to fill out the company’s roster. Small as it was, the company needed to have all the essential departments. The issue of quality could be addressed later. As for technological innovation, Xiao Yu had the world of Blue Star behind him; he didn’t need to rely on others.

However, building a military aircraft involved far too many specialized fields, and most of them involved military secrets.

In the entire aviation equipment industry chain, the upstream segment includes aerospace raw materials, components, and parts. The midstream segment includes aerospace manufacturing processes like forging, casting, and machining, as well as secondary subsystems like airborne systems. The downstream segment includes the complete aircraft and important subsystems like aero-engines.

Xiao Yu’s Sino-Aviation Linfei was going to build complete aircraft, which belonged to the downstream segment of the aviation equipment industry chain.

To manufacture a complete aircraft, cooperation from all upstream, midstream, and downstream segments is required.

Sino-Aviation Linfei obviously couldn’t handle the entire industry chain by itself. It needed to gain the recognition of the state and the military and secure a new aircraft development project. Only then could certain components involving military secrets, such as advanced radar and avionics systems, be equipped on its aircraft.

In other words, he needed to create a prototype with superconducting levitation capability as soon as possible. He would use the prototype to demonstrate Sino-Aviation Linfei’s core technologies to attract the state’s attention and gain recognition of the company’s immense potential.

Only then might the relevant state authorities approve a project for Sino-Aviation Linfei to tackle. Only then would certain technologies and modules involving military secrets be opened up to the company, which would also include favorable allocation of other resources, such as support from top-tier talent teams.

Sino-Aviation Linfei Company Headquarters.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was in the company’s basic and applied research department, sitting with a group of newly hired technical developers.

“As you all know, I also founded Spiritual Mirror Tech. New materials are my main area of focus. Although I’ve achieved great success with graphene materials, the one material that has truly captivated me is the room-temperature superconductor. It has been my dream since I was fifteen, and I am still trying to find a room-temperature superconducting material to this day.”

Xiao Yu sat in a chair, looked around at everyone present, and said this without batting an eye.

In reality, at the age of fifteen, he had never even paid attention to so-called room-temperature superconductors. But right now, he had to build up his persona, to make outsiders believe his research into room-temperature superconductivity had a long history, rather than being something he had just started and succeeded at this year.

Everyone showed a hint of surprise upon hearing his words. Did the boss mean they were going to start working on room-temperature superconducting materials?

However, that was easier said than done.

Ever since the phenomenon of superconductivity was discovered, researchers worldwide have been trying to find a new material with room-temperature superconducting capabilities, but to this day, it remains elusive.

The people present didn’t actually hold much hope, but if the boss wanted to work on it, they would just follow his lead.

Xiao Yu didn’t know their thoughts, nor did he care. He was just trying to establish the persona of a super-genius for himself.

A moment later, Xiao Yu continued in a methodical tone: “It is regrettable, even frustrating, that to this day, humanity still doesn’t know what kind of material a room-temperature superconductor is. Its form, elemental composition, structure, and so on are all complete unknowns.”

“The information we have now is that humanity has discovered hundreds of thousands of inorganic compounds, about thirty thousand of which are superconducting materials. But the vast majority have a critical temperature of only 40 Kelvin, which is below minus 233 degrees Celsius.”

“Currently, the highest critical temperature under normal pressure is only 134 Kelvin, or minus 139 degrees Celsius. In physics, strictly speaking, a room-temperature superconductor requires a critical temperature of 300 Kelvin, which is 26.85 degrees Celsius—slightly higher than what we perceive as a comfortable temperature.”

“So, do room-temperature superconductors really exist? And if we are to search for one, where do we start?”

…

Chapter 84: Advancing on Three Fronts

Xiao Yu looked around at everyone and said, “Based on my personal years of searching for a path to room-temperature superconductivity, I’ve broadly identified three avenues we can try. First, synthesizing new materials. Second, improving existing materials. And third, controlling materials under special conditions.”

Pausing for a moment, Xiao Yu began to break down each point. “The second path is obvious—for instance, improving the quality of existing copper-oxide high-temperature superconducting materials, modifying them through chemical doping, and so on, to see if we can obtain a superconductor with a higher critical temperature.”

“The third path, controlling materials under special conditions, involves using methods like high temperature, high pressure, magnetic fields, light fields, and electric fields to manipulate a material’s state, inducing a superconducting state at higher temperatures.”

“The most difficult path is synthesizing new materials. There’s no reliable experience to tell us where to find room-temperature superconductors, so we can only grope in the dark. Whether we find anything is, to a large extent, a matter of luck.”

At that moment, seeing his boss had paused, a young man in the room couldn’t help but ask, “Could we search for room-temperature superconductors among organic materials?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled and looked at the young technical development employee. “That’s a viable idea. After all, the variety of organic materials is vast, which statistically increases the probability. It’s possible one or two room-temperature superconductors might emerge from them.”

Xiao Yu’s tone then shifted. “However, in organic and some carbon-based materials, it’s very easy to observe weak diamagnetism or a drop in resistivity. In earlier years, some believed that room-temperature superconductivity existed in carbon nanotubes at 262 Kelvin or even 636 Kelvin. But it could only be called ‘suspected,’ as the data merely showed a drop in resistance. Zero resistance and diamagnetism did not occur simultaneously.”

He added, “Of course, materials based on elemental carbon can be incredibly diverse, and many of our peers in the industry are also searching for room-temperature superconductors in this direction. Some scientists, following their intuition, have designed various benzene ring compounds, multiple fullerene structures, carbon nanotubes encapsulating fullerenes, and more. While these materials are difficult to synthesize with current technology, they at least represent a direction, and we can’t rule out the possibility of finding one or two room-temperature superconductors.”

Finally, Xiao Yu scanned the room and said with a smile, “If you ask me which of the three main paths—synthesizing new materials, improving existing materials, or controlling materials under special conditions—we should choose, my answer is: only children make choices. Adults, of course, want it all. We will advance on all three fronts simultaneously.”

“We didn’t have the financial resources before, so I could only tinker on my own. But things are different now. Funding is not an issue, and I’m not afraid that all the money we invest will go down the drain. Going all in is a form of wisdom. Let’s just do it.”

The reason Xiao Yu had gathered everyone for this seminar today was to establish a direction and set the tone.

He certainly didn’t expect them to actually find a room-temperature superconducting material. All of this was groundwork for when he would “find” one himself, which included building himself a super-genius persona.

In truth, Xiao Yu didn’t want to create such a persona for himself. But to “transport” various black technologies from Blue Star to Earth in the future, the image of a super-genius was indispensable.

If he was seen as a super-genius, it would be relatively more acceptable for him to produce technological creations that were ahead of their time.

Xiao Yu looked at everyone and said, “Combining these three broad approaches, I’ve laid out four specific execution paths for you. Just follow these directions. First, we will use ultra-high pressure to generate new material structures that cannot be obtained under normal atmospheric pressure. Hydrogen-rich materials are particularly promising candidates for room-temperature superconductivity.”

This wasn’t Xiao Yu’s original idea. Since 2015, peers in the industry had been constantly trying this, and they had indeed found many superconductors with exceptionally high temperatures, but the high-pressure conditions made testing extremely difficult.

Xiao Yu continued in a clear and organized manner, “Second, starting from the microscopic mechanisms of existing superconductors, we will study which interactions help to raise the superconducting temperature. Then, we will redesign and construct new materials, aiming to increase the critical temperature with the help of multiple interactions. However, be aware that the trouble here lies in the fact that we don’t understand the microscopic mechanisms of most materials known as ‘unconventional superconductors’.”

“Third, we will step outside the framework of three-dimensional materials and search for room-temperature superconductivity in two-dimensional materials, two-dimensional interfaces, or by reassembling atomic building blocks in a one-dimensional world.”

This method had, in fact, already led scientists to discover new superconductors or enhance the original superconducting temperature of certain material combinations. The problem was, the critical temperatures were still too low.

Xiao Yu took a sip of mineral water and then said, “The final path is an exclusive advantage that only we possess. We will leverage powerful AI technology to assist in scientific research. By training the AI on a vast database of the physical properties of known superconducting materials, it can help predict new superconductors, even when their underlying mechanisms are unclear. It’s not impossible that it could even predict a room-temperature superconductor.”

This was also one of the public explanations for how Xiao Yu would be able to discover a room-temperature superconducting material within the year. The reason for such a rapid discovery, besides his years of silent research, would be the invaluable contribution of AI-assisted research, which greatly improved the efficiency of screening different proportions. The AI would first predict data with a high probability of superconductivity, and then those data would be prioritized for experimentation.

It was precisely because of AI-assisted scientific research that a room-temperature superconducting material could be discovered so quickly.

For Xiao Yu, all of this was merely a smokescreen, groundwork to legitimize his eventual unveiling of a room-temperature superconducting material and make its emergence seem more scientifically plausible. He had no illusions that the team before him could actually find one.

…

Two hours later, after assigning the tasks, Xiao Yu left the Basic and Applied Research Department. He returned to his office at Sino-Aviation Linfei and summoned Chen Zaiqing.

This man was one of the early subordinates who had followed Xiao Yu in his business ventures. He had previously been a senior executive at Spiritual Mirror Tech but had since been dismissed by Xiao Yu and transferred to Sino-Aviation Linfei to serve as its CEO, responsible for the company’s operational management.

After a short wait, Chen Zaiqing arrived at his office. “CEO Xiao.”

Xiao Yu got straight to the point. “I’ve decided to build a large-scale high-energy laser array at the company’s R&D center. It will have an enormous demand for electricity. I need you to contact the Linzhou Power Bureau and coordinate with them in advance. Our power consumption might be extremely high in the second half of the year.”

Chen Zaiqing nodded in acknowledgment. “Alright, leave it to me.”

As for the problem of the room-temperature superconducting material not being mass-producible, Xiao Yu had chosen to cite exorbitant production costs as the reason. This was because preparing the material would require a massive high-energy laser array, which would consume a terrifying amount of electrical energy, driving the cost too high for large-scale production.

The factory for preparing the room-temperature superconducting material would have to be fully automated using artificial intelligence. Citing the need to protect the core production technology from being leaked, no one would be allowed to enter the production facility without Xiao Yu’s permission.

This way, outsiders would never know the truth—that the vast amounts of electricity being supplied to the facility were actually being wasted. This waste was necessary and couldn’t be avoided, as it would ensure that Sino-Aviation Linfei Company’s books reflected a real consumption of that much electrical energy, which would in turn be reflected in the high cost of producing the room-temperature superconducting material.

In reality, if Xiao Yu didn’t want to waste this electricity, he could secretly purchase some large-capacity ultra-high energy density batteries from Blue Star, bring them over, and sneak them into the production facility to recover and store the electricity.

However, there was absolutely no need. It was like when you’re worth a hundred million, you wouldn’t go through a lot of trouble for a hundred bucks.

The world of Blue Star had long since achieved controlled nuclear fusion, and obtaining the same amount of electricity was far cheaper there. If he was truly short on energy, he could just buy a small nuclear fusion reactor from Blue Star. The energy it released could power Linzhou City for several decades.

…

Chapter 85: A Radical Redesign for an All-Electric Engine

In the days that followed, Xiao Yu dedicated nearly all his energy to the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, systematically carrying out his various plans.

News that he had started a new company also spread, attracting considerable attention and discussion. Xiao Yu was currently the hottest rising star in the tech circle, so he was naturally under the spotlight.

When people learned that his new company was actually in the aircraft manufacturing business, they were all very confused.

And when they further learned that not only was his new company building planes, but it was also involved in manufacturing military aircraft, they were utterly shocked. They thought Xiao Yu must have lost his mind.

Soon, figures in the tech circle began secretly mocking Xiao Yu for overestimating his abilities. Was aircraft manufacturing something so easy to get into?

Without decades of accumulated experience, it was unthinkable. After learning he was venturing into aircraft manufacturing, almost everyone was certain Xiao Yu would crash and burn. They were convinced that the so-called Sino-Aviation Linfei Company would make him lose so much he’d look like a total Muggle.

Speaking of which, even government officials were quite surprised by the matter. However, the state was actually very supportive of Xiao Yu’s foray into aircraft manufacturing. They just didn’t express it publicly, as it wasn’t appropriate and could easily lead to over-interpretation by the outside world.

Not taking a public stance was, in itself, a stance. It meant, if you want to try building airplanes, go right ahead.

It wasn’t easy to find a private enterprise willing to pour its own money into military aircraft. This required no government funding or state subsidies. At the very least, even if nothing came of it, it would still create jobs.

The state had long ago opened the military industry to private enterprises, and strategies for military-civilian integration and dual-use technologies had been advocated for years.

Never mind a private company wanting to research military aircraft; even if one wanted to research building an aircraft carrier, the state wouldn’t put up roadblocks. If you had the money and the will to try, you were free to do so, as long as you complied with the relevant laws and regulations.

The reality was that private enterprises were completely unwilling to play. The most fundamental reason was that they lacked the capability. Besides, even if they had the capability, there was little profit in it. Military products couldn’t be sold freely, and they would have to compete for military contracts against the deeply entrenched and powerful state-owned enterprises.

For this very reason, outsiders found Xiao Yu’s establishment of Sino-Aviation Linfei Company to be an utterly baffling move. They couldn’t understand what he was thinking or where he got his confidence.

Even some investors who had bought Spiritual Mirror Tech stock felt it was sure to be a money pit.

Many retail investors exclaimed that Bro Xiao was a pretty decent guy for spinning off this guaranteed loss-maker from Spiritual Mirror Tech. Otherwise, the losses would have been on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s books, which would have certainly affected the company’s stock price.

…

Three days later, during his leisure time, Xiao Yu posted an update on his Weibo.

[With the development of new energy, many power systems are experimenting with electricity, which can save on fuel to a certain extent. In transportation, airplanes are truly gas-guzzling monsters, capable of consuming 2.5 tons of fuel in an hour.

Since airplanes are so fuel-intensive, why can’t they be powered by electricity like high-speed trains?

If we could truly create an all-electric propulsion system for the aviation industry and apply it to large, industrial-grade aircraft, it might open up a world of new possibilities for the global aviation industry.]

When his Weibo post went out, people from all walks of life were stunned.

Xiao Yu’s moves were once again unexpected. It was one thing to get into aircraft manufacturing, but to do it so unconventionally—to build all-electric aircraft?

About ten minutes later, the post had already garnered over a thousand comments, as melon-eating netizens flocked to offer their hot takes.

[Good heavens, Bro Xiao, you’re really going off the beaten path…]

[Could he really be a genius? (facepalm laughing emoji)]

[Gotta say, with the graphene mass production technology and AI Mira, Bro Xiao is definitely a genius.]

[The tech circle is getting more and more exciting. This reminds me of last year when Rebs announced Xiaomi was crossing over into car manufacturing. All the tech tycoons love to cross over into new industries now, huh?]

[Rebs: I will stake my entire life’s honor and achievements on the battle for Xiaomi cars!]

[If cars can be new-energy, it’s perfectly reasonable for planes to be new-energy too, right… (crying with laughter emoji)]

[CEO Xiao: The new-energy electric car sector is too competitive. Let’s switch tracks and do new-energy electric planes… (Shiba Inu emoji)]

[There’s no such thing as an electric motor that can directly produce thrust. Even ignoring the issue of battery life, from a purely technical standpoint, it’s impossible for an airplane to be driven by electricity.]

[Look, the know-it-all has appeared. You just know everything, don’t you? You know better than Bro Xiao, so why don’t you have him hire you as the chief aircraft designer?]

[To the guy above, if you’re going to say that, internal combustion engines can’t directly produce thrust either. And go search for “Solar Impulse 2.” It’s a solar-powered aircraft for long-endurance flights that can fly day and night without a single drop of fuel. They managed to circumnavigate the globe five or six years ago.]

[I think the biggest problem with electric planes is that the energy density of batteries is insufficient. Aviation fuel burns off, making the plane lighter as it flies, but batteries don’t get lighter with use.]

[The question of whether electric planes can exist has long been solved. A new all-electric plane had a test flight abroad this year. But the question of whether they can be any good, I don’t see that being solved anytime soon.]

[I suddenly think Bro Xiao’s choice is brilliant. As a newcomer to the aircraft manufacturing scene, if you follow the old path, how could you possibly compete with the major manufacturers who have decades or even a century of experience?]

[You know what, you might be onto something. Maybe we’ll see a repeat of the new-energy vehicles completely dominating traditional fuel cars, but in the aircraft industry.]

[Whether in terms of torque or thermal efficiency, electric motors are way better than internal combustion engines. An electric motor has more than enough power to drive a propeller or a ducted fan—it’s even more suitable for that kind of work than a piston or turbine engine. I think the biggest problem is that current batteries can’t provide as much energy as fuel. At least, not with today’s battery technology.]

…

Xiao Yu’s Weibo post not only sparked a widespread discussion among netizens about new-energy electric aircraft but also attracted the attention and analysis of many in the industry.

But suddenly, the situation seemed a little different. Previously, everyone thought Xiao Yu was taking a traditional route into aircraft manufacturing. Today’s post, indicating he was going into new-energy electric aircraft, suggested he might not lose as badly as they thought.

Industry insiders still believed that Xiao Yu’s Sino-Aviation Linfei Company was unlikely to succeed.

Xiao Yu wasn’t the first person to try his hand at new-energy all-electric aircraft, and so far, no one had made any significant progress. The technical difficulty was far greater than that of developing new-energy electric cars.

While his post had triggered widespread debate and discussion online, Xiao Yu himself wasn’t paying attention to the chatter.

As soon as he sent the post, he had returned from the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company to his villa. He was now alone in the villa’s basement, which served as his private research lab.

During this period, while setting things up for Sino-Aviation Linfei, Xiao Yu was also actively advancing several key core designs for the all-electric fighter jet, including the engine.

Since it was an all-electric drive, the engines of traditional fighter jets were useless. Nor could he have domestic fighter engine manufacturers adapt one. Sino-Aviation Linfei had to design a brand-new engine itself.

As for components that could be sourced from other manufacturers, such as the radar and electronic warfare systems, Xiao Yu chose not to develop them himself whenever possible.

At this moment, several holographic data models were displayed in front of Xiao Yu. He was manipulating and adjusting the data.

It was an engine data model, created by deconstructing the parameters of an ordinary aircraft engine from the Blue Star world and then radically modifying it based on Earth’s technological conditions.

The Blue Star world had mature electric aircraft engines, but they couldn’t be copied directly. They had to undergo a radical modification to be “localized” before they could be used.

The engine Xiao Yu was currently working on was an all-electric design. Electric power transmission replaced the traditional high and low-pressure mechanical shaft power transmission, and there were no longer any hardware connections between rotating components like the fan, compressor, and turbine.

Each fan and compressor stage was driven by an independent annular superconducting motor. With the components mechanically decoupled, the blades at each engine stage could rapidly respond to changing atmospheric conditions and aircraft performance requirements during flight, allowing each to be adjusted to its optimal rotational speed.

Because the various rotating parts could operate at their optimal speeds, each component could achieve maximum efficiency, which in turn could increase the pressure ratio and reduce the number of stages in the compression system.

…

Several hours passed without him noticing. Xiao Yu transferred the processed data to a computer on Earth. Tomorrow, he would take it to Spiritual Mirror Tech and have the supercomputer run the data model to check for any issues. The supercomputer the company had purchased had been operational for some time now.

He could have run it on the quantum supercomputer in the Blue Star world for much faster results.

However, Xiao Yu needed to leave a clear trail for the design process of his modified electric engine. Running the data on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s supercomputer would serve as part of the evidence that he had designed it, creating a clear history rather than having a complete, mature product design appear out of thin air.

With the support of the Blue Star world’s advanced technology and the assistance of an AI, Xiao Yu was fully capable of completing the design plan for an all-electric fighter jet within a month, even with the radical modifications.

But that would be too exaggerated. He certainly couldn’t do it that fast. Slowing down was necessary. At most, he would produce a prototype test aircraft in the second half of the year, and its technology couldn’t be too polished.

After all, the J-20 fighter jet, with full national support, took a full ten-year cycle from its project launch in 2007 to its first deployment in 2017. If one included the preliminary research and validation work, the total time was far longer than a decade.

If Xiao Yu, as a private startup, single-handedly designed a complete all-electric fighter jet from scratch in just one or two months, it would make him seem far too freakishly talented.

He had to hold back a bit and keep a lower profile.

Even producing a test aircraft before the end of the second half of the year would be an astonishing feat, making him an unbelievable super genius in the eyes of others.

…

Chapter 86: AI Mira Sparks a Wave of Corporate Layoffs

In the days that Xiao Yu spent at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company arranging matters for the room-temperature superconducting material and the first electric-powered fighter jet, nearly half a month had passed since the launch of AI Mira 2.0. Not only had the 2.0 version received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the general user base, but many business owners were also singing its praises.

Due to AI Mira’s epic enhancement in capabilities, with powerful productivity tool features like article summarization, copy generation, and code writing, an increasing number of company bosses began to take action in “cutting staff to reduce costs and boost efficiency.” In other words, they started laying people off.

Take the young white-collar professional, for instance. For the past half a month, using AI Mira to assist with his work had significantly reduced his workload. His efficiency, however, had not decreased; on the contrary, it had greatly improved. The guy had been having a delightful time for the past two weeks.

Previously, he often had to stay up late and work overtime at home just to meet deadlines.

A bull or a horse rests when it’s tired, but a beast of burden just orders another coffee for themself when they’re exhausted.

Ever since he started using AI Mira to assist with his work half a month ago, he even had time to slack off at the office. He no longer needed to pull all-nighters at home to catch up on work, freeing up more time to spend as he pleased.

But today, when the young man went to work, he was stunned not long after arriving.

The company’s boss announced that several business deals with major clients had been suddenly canceled, with no future collaborations planned. The reason given by the clients was that they could now hire a few people to complete the work with AI assistance, which would drastically lower their costs, making it unnecessary to outsource anymore.

The boss used this as a setup for his next announcement: the company had to conduct layoffs due to a decline in business revenue.

Unfortunately for the young man, his name was on the layoff list.

Just like that, he lost his job.

It was true that the company had lost a few clients that week, but even if the clients hadn’t terminated their contracts, the boss would have laid people off anyway. Over the past half a month, he had discovered that AI Mira’s powerful productivity features could replace many employees.

What particularly irked him was noticing many of his employees looking suspiciously relaxed over the past week, which solidified his decision to let a batch of them go.

It has to be said that some so-called capitalists aren’t capitalists at all; their minds are filled with the thinking of a slave owner. After paying an employee a few days’ wages, they think they’ve bought out your entire life. They not only want you to work yourself to death for them but also to smile while doing it, providing them with emotional satisfaction.

Furthermore, these people can’t stand seeing their employees at ease. The sight of their subordinates having leisure time makes their skin crawl. For some bosses, seeing an employee collect a paycheck so effortlessly is more painful than death itself.

The launch of AI Mira 2.0, with its powerful productivity tools, objectively and substantially improved human work efficiency. A project that once required a fifty-person team working a grueling 996 schedule could now be handled by just ten people with AI Mira’s assistance—and without the need for 996.

However, in the eyes of some bosses, their reaction to this situation was: since ten people can easily complete the project, let’s just fire forty-five of them and have the remaining five continue the 996 grind with AI Mira’s help.

The salaries of the forty-five laid-off employees could be saved, and saved wages equal profit. This meant that the productivity gains from technological advancement, the additional surplus labor value created by the employees, were all taken by the boss.

As for the five who remained, although AI Mira greatly enhanced their efficiency, their workload multiplied. In reality, they still had to work 996, and without a pay raise. How could they dare ask for more money when they were desperate to keep their jobs?

If you threatened to quit, the boss would just say, “If you won’t do it, there are plenty of others who will.”

Even if the disadvantaged employees were seething with anger, the thought of the mortgages, car loans, and various other debts they faced every morning stopped them from yelling “I quit!” in their boss’s face. They could only grit their teeth, endure in silence, and continue to be beasts of burden, creating more surplus value for their employer.

AI Mira’s powerful productivity features could either make work easier for people or allow them to use their newfound free time to pursue side hustles for extra income.

But reality often deviated from the ideal. Productivity increased, but the added value created was pocketed by the capitalists.

“Mira, oh Mira, you’ve been my undoing! It’s your fault I lost my job, you know that…?” Back home, the young man stared at AI Mira on his phone and computer, and suddenly it wasn’t so wonderful anymore. He even felt the urge to leave a bad review.

The main reason he’d lost his job was the emergence of AI Mira, a fact that left him wanting to cry but unable to shed a tear.

Just then, Mira on his phone suddenly responded: “You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t just say whatever you want.”

The guy was no longer surprised by Mira’s high level of intelligence; its natural language processing ability was in a league of its own.

However, its intelligence did not possess self-aware emotional logic. It couldn’t truly understand the meaning of the words he spoke, much like a parrot that can mimic human speech without comprehending it.

Mira simply generated natural language dialogue based on what the person said, but to a human, it felt like a normal conversation.

“Oh? Trying to pass the buck, are we? It’s because of you that my boss decided he didn’t need human workers anymore, so I got laid off,” the guy started bickering with Mira. Deep down, however, he knew it wasn’t Mira’s fault; technology itself is blameless.

He knew the real reason was the capitalists’ unsightly methods. The productivity unleashed by AI Mira created more surplus labor value, but the capitalists ached to claim it all for themselves, unwilling to share even a sliver with their workers.

However, the young man later found a new path. Seizing the opportunity presented by the AI boom and reacting faster than others, he used AI Mira’s assistance to start his own social media studio. He rode the wave of this technological revolution and, against all odds, achieved financial freedom in just two years.

…

Two days later, Xiao Yu arrived at the headquarters of Spiritual Mirror Tech.

His main focus was now on Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, but that didn’t mean he was completely hands-off with Spiritual Mirror Tech.

“Recently, there’s been a sudden surge in negative reviews for AI Mira. Discussions like ‘Artificial intelligence is stealing people’s jobs’ have also hit the trending topics, and the media outlets from before are now running sensational stories about ‘AI causing a wave of unemployment’,” Yun Shu reported to Xiao Yu in the Chairman’s office.

Xiao Yu fell into a thoughtful silence.

Yun Shu continued, “According to our company’s market research, AI Mira has indeed objectively led to layoffs in some companies. But this sudden flood of bad reviews and the clear direction of public opinion suggest that someone is intentionally pushing this narrative from behind the scenes, trying to divert the anger of the laid-off onto Spiritual Mirror Tech and create the conflict that we are the cause of their unemployment.”

After a moment, Xiao Yu said pensively, “It’s certain someone is pulling the strings, but the methods of those bosses who are laying people off are truly unsightly. They’re unwilling to share any of the benefits with their employees.”

Yun Shu looked at him. “But we’re the ones taking the blame.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu let out a cold laugh, then said, “We certainly can’t agree to a deal like that.”

Xiao Yu turned his head to glance at his beautiful assistant. “Before we launched Mira 2.0, I had already anticipated that it might trigger massive corporate layoffs. The capitalists would surely refuse to share the profits, not to mention those bosses with a slave-owner mentality, whose methods are even more shameless than the capitalists’.”

Yun Shu met his gaze. “So you’ve already thought of a counter-strategy, haven’t you?”

Xiao Yu nodded. “We’ll use this opportunity to launch an Enterprise Edition of AI Mira. Given its powerful productivity attributes, we’ll charge a high price for the Enterprise Edition. The Personal Edition is currently free, its basic functions will remain free forever, but the productivity tools will be subscription-based.”

After a short pause, Xiao Yu added, “Regardless of whether those who are currently cursing AI Mira for stealing their jobs are speaking for themselves or are being manipulated by someone behind the scenes, I’ll assume for now that they’re all speaking genuinely. Very well, then. I will now raise the cost for businesses to use AI Mira, while keeping the cost for the Personal Edition relatively low.”

“I’ll take the bargaining chips from the hands of their bosses and put them into their own hands. AI Mira can become their leverage to negotiate for better compensation from their bosses. But if they themselves insist on engaging in a cutthroat race to the bottom, to the point where they lose their leverage again, they won’t be able to pass the buck to AI Mira.”

By making the Enterprise Edition of AI Mira expensive and the Personal Edition cheap—in fact, still free for now—company bosses would surely try to make their employees use their personal versions of AI Mira for company work.

At that point, AI Mira, as a tool and means of production, would be in the hands of the workers, giving them the leverage to negotiate with their bosses.

Xiao Yu knew this was just an ideal scenario. Reality was often harsh. There would inevitably be scabs who betrayed their peers, as well as those cutthroat competitors who, in order to secure a job, would be willing to work like beasts of burden, lowering the bar and forcing everyone else to do the same.

Hearing his plan, Yun Shu couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure you want to do this? You’re a mega-billionaire with a net worth in the hundreds of billions, just a step away from being the richest man. An action like this is tantamount to betraying the class you now belong to.”

Her words sounded familiar, reminding Xiao Yu of his other beautiful assistant from Blue Star, Yan Lingjun, who had once said something similar.

Xiao Yu glanced at Yun Shu and smiled. “When I was nineteen, I was introduced to the thoughts of the Great Man. His ideas profoundly shaped my personal worldview and values. It’s impossible for me to sit at the same table as that bunch who still cling to a slave-owner mentality. To sit at that table would be the greatest betrayal of all for me.”

Pausing for a moment, Xiao Yu spoke with feeling, “I wouldn’t dare call myself a selfless saint, nor claim to have some lofty or noble ideology. But at the very least, I have not betrayed my working-class comrades, nor have I ever exploited the employees under me. When the company makes a fortune, I immediately give all employees a massive raise, and there will be more to come. So, I also haven’t betrayed that promise that the first to get rich would help everyone else get rich.”

Xiao Yu then looked at Yun Shu. “You say I’m betraying the class I belong to. Let me correct you: I am simply unwilling to betray the beliefs I hold dear.”

Xiao Yu spoke with confidence because he hadn’t cheated his working-class comrades or exploited his own company’s employees.

Even before, when he had to cause massive losses for retail investors to retaliate against financiers like Zhou Baichuan, he later compensated them for their losses in full and even threw in a 20% limit-up bonus.

While giving all his company’s employees a raise did serve his ulterior motive of lowering the ridiculously high corporate profit margins, as the saying goes, judge by actions, not intentions. Regardless of his reasons, the employees working for him had seen a real increase in their salaries and earned a higher income.

If Xiao Yu were truly cut from the same cloth as that bunch with a slave-owner mentality, even if he wanted to lower the company’s profit rate, he wouldn’t have had to do it by continuously raising all employees’ wages. There are countless ways to increase a company’s operating costs.

In the end, it all came down to one thing: Xiao Yu was unwilling to betray his beliefs.

…

Chapter 87: The Pricing Strategy

After this brief interlude, Yun Shu, sitting beside him, began to muse aloud, “But if we charge a high price for AI Mira, and our competitors launch similar AI products for free, won’t that create significant competitive pressure on AI Mira in the future?”

Xiao Yu chuckled at her words. “It’s not that I’m getting cocky, but our current competitors, including OpenAI abroad, couldn’t even see AI Mira’s taillights if you gave them ten years to catch up. Besides, are we just going to stand still for those ten years? Would I dare to charge such a price without this kind of strength? The product isn’t cheap, but it’s worth the money. The key is that there are no comparable alternatives.”

With the entire technological system of Blue Star’s AI backing him, Xiao Yu had no fear of any competitor on Earth surpassing him in terms of AI technology. This was the foundation of his immense confidence and conviction.

Seeing his self-assurance, Yun Shu asked directly, “Alright, then how do you plan to price the Enterprise Edition of AI Mira?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu grew thoughtful. “Whatever we do, it can’t be cheaper than those foreign enterprise software suites. In fact, it has to be even more expensive than what they sell abroad.”

Currently, there was no substitute for AI Mira. For enterprise-level clients, as long as the benefits brought by the product exceeded its cost, they would buy it no matter how expensive. If the benefits couldn’t even cover the cost, a company wouldn’t buy it no matter how cheap it was.

The monthly fees for many foreign enterprise software suites could range from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the software’s functional modules, number of users, and customization needs.

After a moment, Xiao Yu announced, “We’ll set the monthly fee for the Enterprise Edition at one point five million RMB.”

Yun Shu was taken aback by the figure. “That expensive? That’s an expenditure of eighteen million RMB a year. Only large corporations could afford such a price. Small and medium-sized enterprises could never pay such a high fee.”

Xiao Yu remained calm. “Isn’t that what the Personal Edition is for? If small and micro-enterprises can’t afford this price but still want to use it, won’t they have to turn to their employees? And won’t those employees then have the power to negotiate with their bosses?”

In subsequent version updates, Xiao Yu would add a series of technical measures to restrict the Personal Edition of AI Mira from running on corporate networks. If a company wanted to use AI Mira, it would have to purchase the Enterprise Edition. With the support of Blue Star technology, this was easily achievable from a technical standpoint.

Small, medium, and micro-enterprises couldn’t afford the expensive Enterprise Edition. Even if they tried to privately buy identity information from data brokers for real-name registration, that route would be useless. Xiao Yu could easily patch up that loophole technically.

For these smaller enterprises, they either had to give up on using AI Mira as a productivity tool or work through their employees.

But working through employees meant they couldn’t just casually “optimize” people away. The power would shift into the hands of the employees. As for how the employees negotiated terms with their bosses, that was their own business.

Employees could use their personal network hotspots to run the Personal Edition of AI Mira to assist with their work and improve efficiency. Even if the boss didn’t give them a raise, the employees could at least complete their assigned tasks in less time.

If not a raise, they could at least save time. At the very least, they wouldn’t have to work late into the night at home to meet project deadlines.

With this saved time, employees could relax and have fun, or they could start their own side hustles, creating more surplus labor value—value that would belong to them, not be exploited by their boss.

Xiao Yu continued, “The basic functions of the Personal Edition of AI Mira will be free forever. We’ll charge a monthly fee for the productivity tools. A single productivity tool will be thirty yuan a month, while the all-inclusive bundle will be three hundred yuan a month for unrestricted access to all of AI Mira’s productivity tools, including new features and tools launched in future versions. There will be a fifteen percent discount for an annual subscription.”

The Enterprise and Personal Editions were functionally almost identical, but their prices were worlds apart.

Xiao Yu added, “Oh, right. The one-point-five-million-yuan monthly fee for the Enterprise Edition supports a maximum of five hundred devices running simultaneously. Anything over that will cost extra. If I don’t add this clause, for those large corporations with thousands or tens of thousands of employees, if they have thousands of devices running at the same time and I only charge them one point five million a month, I’d be taking a massive loss. That’s obviously not going to happen.”

In other words, if a large corporate group had five thousand people, or needed to support five thousand devices running AI Mira simultaneously, the company’s monthly expense in this area wouldn’t be 1.5 million, but 15 million, which would amount to an annual expense of 180 million.

Yun Shu couldn’t help but comment, “Once you announce this decision, I bet those corporate clients will be hoping for a substitute to appear on the market even more than AI Mira’s competitors. If an alternative did appear, they’d probably switch immediately and stop using AI Mira…”

Xiao Yu grinned. “Don’t worry, there won’t be any substitute. I quite like the image of them being really unhappy about it, but still having to begrudgingly pay up and use AI Mira.”

They had no choice but to use it, because Spiritual Mirror Tech’s powerful AI could genuinely increase productivity.

However, if Xiao Yu didn’t do this, it would inevitably lead to a situation where even with advances in technology and productivity, individual employees, despite creating more surplus labor value in a given time, would not get to share in it, because capital would certainly find a way to take it all.

Technological and productivity progress would instead lead to capital exploiting workers even more ruthlessly. Since AI could replace humans in many scenarios, the first thought in a boss’s mind would be, why not let AI replace people? Then they could just lay off the staff and the salaries they used to pay would become increased profits for the company. Isn’t that even more ruthless exploitation?

If allowed to develop unchecked, this would be the inevitable outcome.

The progress of science and technology, instead of benefiting the masses, would become a sharp tool for exploiting them. How would that be any different from the world of Blue Star? For Xiao Yu, who was deeply influenced by the ideas of the Great Man, such an outcome was absolutely unacceptable.

With the technological product he had created, even if he couldn’t make it benefit all of humanity, he at least had to ensure it didn’t become a tool for their exploitation.

The matter of launching an Enterprise Edition of AI Mira was thus settled. Xiao Yu then posted an update on his personal Weibo:

[Technological progress should bring inclusive benefits. The original intention of Spiritual Mirror Tech in developing AI Mira was for her to assist users the way a personal assistant supports a high-level executive, acting as a productivity tool to enhance people’s work efficiency and create more incremental value within a unit of time.

If the emergence of AI Mira instead leads to unemployment, and the progress of technology and productivity, far from benefiting the masses, becomes a sharp tool for corporations to exploit workers, this would undoubtedly go against our original intention. If that were the inevitable outcome, we would rather shut down AI Mira.

Without a doubt, we hope AI Mira can be a technology that benefits the public. Therefore, we have decided to divide AI Mira into an Enterprise Edition and a Personal Edition, and we will implement a high fee for the Enterprise Edition. Companies using the Enterprise Edition will need to pay a hefty monthly fee of 1.5 million yuan. The all-inclusive bundle for the Personal Edition costs 300 yuan per month, with the option to purchase individual productivity tools separately, the cheapest of which is only 30 yuan.

The Enterprise Edition’s 1.5-million-yuan monthly fee supports a maximum of five hundred devices running simultaneously, while the Personal Edition supports a maximum of five devices. The functions of both versions are nearly identical.

The purpose of this pricing strategy, where the Enterprise Edition is far more expensive than the Personal Edition, is to put AI Mira, as a productivity tool and a means of production, into the hands of the workers, empowering the broad workforce to take the initiative.

Your boss will have three choices: either be willing to pay the exorbitant fee for the Enterprise Edition, give up on using AI Mira altogether, or improve the company’s efficiency through the employees’ own Personal Editions of AI Mira. This, in turn, gives employees greater bargaining power.

In this fee model, with your boss having only these three options, the third choice is the one with the lowest cost, and it is also a mutually beneficial, win-win choice.

Through this approach, we hope to protect the basic interests of workers. The incremental surplus labor value created by the progress of technology and productivity cannot be monopolized by capital. Shouldn’t the workers also get a share?

If you had to work the 996 schedule before Mira, and you still have to work 996 after Mira, then what’s the point of all this technological and productivity progress?]

…

Chapter 88: Massive Reaction

As soon as Xiao Yu published this Weibo post, it immediately caused a massive reaction online, sparking heated discussions and shares among countless netizens.

However, many media outlets that usually enthusiastically reposted topics from tech circle bigwigs seemed to turn a blind eye to Xiao Yu’s post this time. Very, very few media outlets shared or reported on it.

But in this age of advanced social media, many netizens with their own platforms spontaneously shared it, ensuring his Weibo post still spread far and wide.

After all, Xiao Yu was not the same person he once was; he couldn’t be mentioned in the same breath. He was now a top-tier blogger with tens of millions of fans, possessing an enormous inherent influence—a far cry from the few hundred thousand followers he had before.

Even without the media rushing to share it, the post still managed to trend, propelled solely by the spontaneous shares and discussions from the vast number of netizens.

[I’m a fan of Bro Xiao all over again. This is what a conscientious entrepreneur looks like.]

[Master Huang: “The money is yours, I admit it. Why scatter it among them?” Zhang Mazi: “How you settle your accounts is your business. To me, money is money, and people are people.”]

[Nominate this for the Intangible Cultural Heritage list… (Shiba Inu emoji, often used for a doge-like meme expression.)]

[I misjudged Bro Xiao. Turns out he’s on our side, the workers’ side…]

[Seriously, this post shook me. What’s shocking is that Bro Xiao’s move is undoubtedly a fight against human nature, and he said it so openly in front of the whole world. That takes immense determination because it offends a lot of people. I’m sure Bro Xiao knows how much trouble saying this so blatantly in public will cause him.]

[I truly admire him from the bottom of my heart. Not everyone can make such a decision that goes against human nature. Bro Xiao has basically drawn a line in the sand with the “Master Huangs.”]

[With him doing this, how can those “Master Huangs” save face? They must hate his guts in private.]

[Oh no, I feel like Bro Xiao is definitely going to face a lot of trouble in the future. Those “Master Huangs” will surely unite against him.]

[Protect him! Protect him!]

[Bro Xiao is protecting the interests of us workers. We have to speak up and support him. We can’t let him be isolated and defeated by the “Master Huangs”!]

[Hurry up and release the paid Personal Edition of Mira! I can still afford the 300 yuan all-inclusive bundle monthly fee. I wouldn’t even blink at a 30 yuan single-feature monthly fee. Plus, this is a means of production I can use to negotiate with my boss.]

[Honestly, if Bro Xiao becomes the richest man, I wouldn’t be the least bit envious. In fact, I’d be happy.]

[+1]

[I second this!]

[Sooner or later, Bro Xiao will reclaim the title of the richest man.]

[It doesn’t have to be sooner or later. If Spiritual Mirror Tech hits the limit up today, he’ll be the richest man again. It’s just that the stock price is too expensive now. One lot costs nearly 100,000 yuan, otherwise I’d definitely buy some. By the way, when is Bro Xiao going to do a stock split? Something like a ten-for-one split, so we small retail investors can get on board too…]

[Be smart, family! Bro Xiao has put the bargaining chips in the hands of the workers. Don’t be a fool and lose those chips, only to come crying later that Mira stole your job.]

[Mira can even write code as efficiently as a programmer. I was also worried my boss would “optimize” me, a programmer, away. Now, my worries are finally put to rest. My company isn’t big; my boss definitely can’t afford the 1.5 million yuan monthly fee for the Enterprise Edition.]

[Haha, thanks Bro Xiao! The day before yesterday, my boss laid me off because he thought he didn’t need me anymore with the free Mira. He just called and asked me to come back to work. He probably saw Bro Xiao’s Weibo post. That’s right, our company isn’t big either and can’t afford the 1.5 million monthly fee.]

[Then you’ve got to tell your boss, if he wants you back, he has to raise your pay.]

[Definitely.]

…

Xiao Yu’s Weibo post today shocked countless people. The vast majority of casual netizens who saw it were either instantly converted into fans or had their favorability towards him skyrocket.

Because anyone with a functioning brain could see that Xiao Yu was helping workers fight for their interests. It was hard for the working class not to like someone like him.

Moreover, many workers were poor but not stupid. They knew that Xiao Yu’s actions would inevitably offend a group of “Master Huangs.” He could have easily become one of them, sitting high above and exploiting people alongside them.

Instead, he went against the grain of human nature and refused to sit at the same table as the “Master Huangs,” choosing to stand with the vast working masses. This made many workers regard him with deep respect.

At that moment, while Xiao Yu’s Weibo post was causing a huge stir, the number of followers on his Weibo account was also skyrocketing. He was gaining fans at a frantic pace of seven to eight hundred thousand per hour, sometimes even exceeding a million in an hour.

At this rate, he was on track to gain over ten million new followers in a single day.

Even some people who never used Weibo or had long since deleted their accounts re-registered just to follow and support him.

As the news continued to spread, by the afternoon, the stock price of Spiritual Mirror Tech, which had been in a correction for two weeks, began to rally strongly.

Bullish capital formed a concerted force, as investors saw this market feedback as a positive sign for the stock price.

Xiao Yu decided to launch an Enterprise Edition for Mira, priced at a staggering 1.5 million yuan per month. If large enterprises with thousands or tens of thousands of employees needed to use Mira, they would have to pay an annual fee of two to three hundred million yuan.

Even if the Enterprise Edition was too expensive for any corporate clients to buy, investors saw that Xiao Yu’s Weibo post today had won the hearts of the people. The willingness to pay for the Personal Edition would surely exceed the market’s original expectations. And given the sheer user base, the total revenue would definitely surpass that of the Enterprise Edition.

Spiritual Mirror Tech was already miles ahead of the competition in the AI sector. If there had been uncertainty about users’ willingness to pay before, making it difficult to project Mira’s profitability…

…then the recent wave of corporate layoffs, followed by Xiao Yu’s timely Weibo post that deeply resonated with the public and earned the support of countless workers, had reduced the user base’s reluctance to pay to a minimum.

The vast majority of people were happy to pay for Mira. Some even felt that for a productivity tool as powerful as Mira, a veritable means of production, the 300 yuan monthly fee for the all-inclusive Personal Edition was an absolute bargain.

Investors picked up on these market feedback signals, realizing this would inevitably become a super-strong point for performance growth.

They immediately went long on Spiritual Mirror Tech with great force.

Around 1:49 PM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price surged to 1075.81 yuan, rising 20.00% to seal the limit up. The company’s market capitalization climbed to 933.8 billion yuan.

Compared to its previous low of 609.91 yuan, where its value had been cut in half, the stock price returned to over a thousand yuan today, with a cumulative increase of 76.39%. If it hit another consecutive limit-up on the next trading day—in fact, it wouldn’t even need a full limit up, just a 17.67% rise—Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock would break its historical high of 1265.89 yuan and set a new record.

With today’s limit-up, Xiao Yu’s personal net worth also rose to 476.5 billion yuan, surpassing the nominal 455 billion yuan net worth of the founder of Nongfu Spring, reclaiming the title of the richest man in the country.

When netizens learned of this news, they flooded Xiao Yu’s Weibo comments with messages like “Congratulations, Bro Xiao, on becoming the richest man!” and “XXX sends their congratulations!”

Far from being jealous that Xiao Yu had become the richest man, everyone was actually very supportive and happy to see it happen.

Because his Weibo post made everyone realize that he wasn’t a “Master Huang.” In fact, he had drawn a clear line between himself and the “Master Huangs,” even risking their wrath to protect the interests of the broad masses of workers from exploitation.

With actions like these, it was hard for him not to win the hearts of the people.

…

The next day, at the Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters.

Not long after Xiao Yu arrived at the company this afternoon, Yun Shu came to his office with some news.

“Old Xu, who’s in Liancheng, called back half an hour ago. He said that CEO Yu has agreed to personally lead a team to Linzhou to guide the operations of our company’s supermarkets. Old Xu said that no matter how he asked before, CEO Yu refused to come. But yesterday, CEO Yu saw the Weibo post you made, and today he suddenly called Old Xu himself and agreed.”

At that moment, Yun Shu was telling Xiao Yu about this matter.

Spiritual Mirror Tech also had food processing and grain trading businesses. Last year, Xiao Yu had even acquired a large supermarket chain in Linzhou City. These moves were made to better facilitate the cross-world grain transport from Blue Star.

Besides this hidden objective, Xiao Yu also recognized that since his main focus was on the high-tech industry, the barrier to entry for the working masses to join Spiritual Mirror Tech was high.

However, traditional industries like food processing and supermarket operations did not require such high technical skills.

Even someone with a middle school education could be perfectly competent in most positions. Since Xiao Yu needed to get into food processing and supermarkets anyway, he took the opportunity to lead a group of the working masses onto the path of prosperity, as far as his capabilities allowed.

The problem was that Xiao Yu himself was in high-tech. He had no traditional experience in running supermarkets and didn’t want to rely on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s high profits to sustain them. While that was one solution, it was ultimately a flawed and unsustainable model.

Clearly, Xiao Yu hoped that the employees in this sector could operate in a virtuous, self-sustaining cycle based on their own business, without relying on financial lifelines from the tech division.

So, thinking of the great success of the Pang Dong Lai model in Liancheng, Xiao Yu decisively sent people there to ask CEO Yu to lend his expertise, hoping he would bring a team over to guide Spiritual Mirror Supermarkets and pass on the Pang Dong Lai experience.

However, CEO Yu had previously found all sorts of reasons to politely refuse. This was because the Pang Dong Lai model was difficult to replicate outside of Liancheng; it wasn’t for lack of trying, but all previous attempts had failed due to various obstacles.

Xu Changming, the CEO of Spiritual Mirror Tech, had learned that CEO Yu was unwilling to come. A few days ago, he arranged his work at the company and personally went to Liancheng to visit and implore CEO Yu to help, but he still failed to persuade him.

But just yesterday, Xiao Yu’s Weibo post caused a massive reaction across the internet. Although most media outlets didn’t report on it much, it still trended. CEO Yu happened to see the heated discussions among netizens and personally called Xu Changming today.

This came as a big surprise to Xu Changming. He had thought he would return in failure, but unexpectedly, CEO Yu had taken the initiative to contact him and agree.

…

Chapter 89: Full of Anticipation

Clearly, CEO Yu had read Xiao Yu’s Weibo post and realized he was different from other entrepreneurs. That post had greatly offended the “Master Huangs,” which made him change his mind, gave him confidence, and led him to decide to come out of seclusion once more.

Meanwhile, when Xiao Yu learned that CEO Yu had agreed, he couldn’t help but smile. “He finally agreed,” he said. “If even Old Xu couldn’t persuade him, I was planning to make time in a couple of days to visit him in person.”

Yun Shu said, “The fact that he saw your Weibo post was crucial. It made CEO Yu see that you’re on the same side, which is why he agreed. It’s unexpected, but it also makes sense.”

Xiao Yu nodded, agreeing with his beautiful assistant’s analysis. He then asked, “When is CEO Yu coming to Linzhou City? Did Old Xu ask?”

Hearing this, Yun Shu replied, “He and his team will be flying to Linzhou with Old Xu tomorrow.”

Xiao Yu immediately said, “Tomorrow? Great. Go arrange the schedule. I must personally go to the airport to greet and host him.”

Out of courtesy, Xiao Yu would have to greet him personally anyway, especially since he was the one asking for help.

Yun Shu nodded. “Alright.”

…

The next morning.

Xiao Yu set aside his work at both Spiritual Mirror Tech and Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, making time to personally go to the Linzhou airport terminal to greet his guest. He was accompanied by several plainclothes bodyguards.

After all, he was a top-tier celebrity now, and things were different.

These days, Xiao Yu no longer had to worry about being ambushed by angry retail investors, but he did have to consider being swarmed by people asking for photos.

However, that wasn’t the main concern. The real priority was guarding against any trouble stirred up by the “Master Huangs.” Xiao Yu was well aware of these security risks.

“Huh? Isn’t that Bro Xiao?”

A passerby noticed Xiao Yu and stopped to watch, wondering who he could be waiting for at the terminal.

After a while, Xu Changming and CEO Yu appeared with their team. One of the curious onlookers, who had stopped to watch, clearly recognized CEO Yu and gasped in surprise. “Holy crap! Isn’t that CEO Yu from Pang Dong Lai? What’s he doing here in Linzhou City? So Bro Xiao is here to greet him… Does this mean Pang Dong Lai is opening a new store in Linzhou?”

The guy wasted no time pulling out his phone, opening the camera, and recording a short video, which he promptly posted online.

Meanwhile, CEO Yu was quite surprised to see Xiao Yu there to greet him personally. For the founder of Spiritual Mirror Tech and the current richest man to come to the airport himself was a clear sign of how much he valued this meeting, and it boosted CEO Yu’s confidence in the trip even further.

Their first meeting was naturally filled with pleasantries. Afterward, the group left the terminal in a private car.

CEO Yu had politely declined Xu Changming’s invitations several times before. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help, but he was worried about encountering significant resistance again, only for the project to ultimately fall through.

Whether such a venture could succeed depended heavily on whether the person at the helm was genuinely willing to share the profits.

CEO Yu didn’t want to tarnish his own hard-earned reputation, and he certainly didn’t want to be used by someone with ulterior motives. He had experienced this before, where a partner showed the utmost sincerity at first, only to reveal they merely wanted to leverage Pang Dong Lai’s influence and reputation for personal gain.

But CEO Yu decided to take a “gamble” one more time, and it was all because of Xiao Yu’s Weibo post. It showed him that Xiao Yu was a man of firm conviction—that they were the same kind of people.

That’s why he agreed.

Meanwhile, the news of the Pang Dong Lai owner’s appearance in Linzhou City and his personal reception by Xiao Yu spread online, once again sparking intense attention, discussion, and speculation.

[Holy crap! Is Pang Dong Lai opening a store in Linzhou? As a local, I’m ecstatic!]

[Bro Xiao personally went to the airport to pick him up. This must have something to do with Spiritual Mirror Tech.]

[What the hell? Isn’t Spiritual Mirror Tech a high-tech company? And isn’t Pang Dong Lai a traditional retail supermarket? How did these two get together? This makes no sense!]

[Seems like you don’t know much about Spiritual Mirror Tech. Last year, they crossed over into food processing and grain trading, and even bought a retail supermarket in Linzhou. That’s right, besides its main high-tech business, Spiritual Mirror Tech also has traditional operations like food processing and retail supermarkets.]

[There were rumors before that Bro Xiao crossed over into food processing and supermarkets as a ploy to set a trap for Penghui Capital. Looks like that’s not the whole story. He’s even invited CEO Yu from Pang Dong Lai over, so he most likely wants to make a real go of these businesses.]

[Pang Dong Lai is a great company, and CEO Yu is a conscientious entrepreneur.]

[Are there really entrepreneurs with such a conscience? I don’t believe it. Seeing is believing. Unless Pang Dong Lai opens a store here so I can see for myself… (Shiba Inu emoji)]

[Exactly, I don’t believe it either. They should open one here so I can check it out… (smirking emoji)]

[Hmph, I can hear your wishful thinking all the way from abroad… (manual smirk emoji)]

[Honestly, I don’t get those big bosses. They’ve already earned more money than they could spend in several lifetimes, yet they still ruthlessly exploit their low-level employees’ wages.]

[Brother Donglai’s actual words: People like that are just morons.]

…

The next day, Xiao Yu went to the Spiritual Mirror Supermarket in downtown Linzhou. He planned to sort out everything related to the food and supermarket business over the next few days.

The supermarket closed early today, but all employees from both the retail supermarket and the food processing division had been summoned by Xiao Yu and were gathered in the store’s main hall.

“This old-timer next to me,” Xiao Yu said with a smile to the crowd, “I’m guessing most of you already know who he is. He is CEO Yu, the founder of Pang Dong Lai.” His use of the word “old-timer” wasn’t disrespectful; on the contrary, it gave his introduction a warm, informal feel.

After Xiao Yu finished speaking, all the employees present burst into applause. After a moment, he smiled and continued, “For Brother Donglai to personally come to Linzhou to lead and train our Spiritual Mirror Supermarket team is, without a doubt, a reason for great excitement. Today, I’ve specially invited him to talk to you all and share his philosophy, and we must all learn from him with humility.”

As he finished, the crowd applauded again. Xiao Yu handed the microphone to CEO Yu and stepped aside.

“Hello, everyone. I am Yu Donglai.” CEO Yu gave a simple self-introduction before getting right to the point: “I personally built the first supermarket in this country that the common people could trust one hundred percent. I resolved to let every household eat clean and hygienic food. Over twenty years ago, I donated twenty thousand yuan to support the construction of our country’s aircraft carrier. It’s not that I had some grand vision, I just wanted our country to be stronger.”

“I’ve always believed in meeting sincerity with sincerity, and through that, I gradually earned the trust of the local people. Later, because I stood up to protect my employees from harassment by malicious forces, those people burned my store to the ground. The loss of eight lives in that fire was heartbreaking. Just when I was about to give up, the encouragement and support from thousands of loyal customers helped me get back on my feet.”

“To repay that debt of kindness, I swore from that day forward to make Pang Dong Lai the absolute best it could be, to truly serve the common people. I don’t believe庞 Dong Lai’s success and scale today are my achievements alone; it was the thousands upon thousands of ordinary people who lifted it to where it is now.”

“Therefore, we gradually developed a strong sense of social responsibility and mission. In times of national crisis, we absolutely do not engage in disaster profiteering. I require my employees to be filial to their parents and to know how to live a good life, because happiness and joy are contagious.”

Holding the microphone, CEO Yu paced back and forth among the crowd in the hall. The employees listening to him were already filled with anticipation. Of course, they knew what it meant for Xiao Yu to invite CEO Yu. Anyone could see that Spiritual Mirror Tech’s retail supermarket division was about to adopt the Pang Dong Lai model.

Everyone present was an employee who worked at this supermarket.

Their current salaries and benefits were already higher than what their previous owner had provided. After the acquisition by Spiritual Mirror Tech, everyone had received a 35% raise in line with the company-wide salary adjustment, and this had happened twice. However, because their base pay had been so low—an average employee used to make just over 2,200 yuan a month—even after two raises, their current pay was only a little over 4,000 yuan. This was still nearly half of what employees at Pang Dong Lai made.

Now that their boss had brought in CEO Yu to implement the Pang Dong Lai model, they were naturally overjoyed and wholeheartedly supportive.

After a moment, CEO Yu looked up at the ceiling, as if reminiscing, and continued, “The lowest income for an employee at Pang Dong Lai right now… last month, the take-home pay for the lowest-paid department was over 7,000, nearly 8,000 yuan. To be precise, it was over 7,600 after all social security and personal contributions were deducted. Many earn over 8,000. We’re actually a bit hesitant to pay even more, but a salary of 10,000 would be perfectly normal.”

“And even while paying our employees such high wages, we still maintain a five percent net profit margin. It’s incredible, really. We had originally thought we’d be thrilled with a net profit of twenty million last year. Our plan was to shut down if we made less than that—anything below a one percent margin isn’t worth the effort.”

“Then, we actually earned one hundred million, which was just normal for us. Our sales were around two billion at the time, but who would have thought they’d reach over three billion by the year’s end? We were only aiming for twenty million in profit, and we ended up making one hundred and forty million. And throughout all this, our employees’ wages have continued to rise. Salaries at Pang Dong Lai have never stopped growing.”

As CEO Yu shared these stories about Pang Dong Lai, the employees of Spiritual Mirror Supermarket listened, their hearts filled with anticipation.

Working in the supermarket industry, they were of course familiar with the prestigious name of Pang Dong Lai and knew all about the excellent compensation its employees received.

Since their own boss, Xiao Yu, had decided to bring in CEO Yu to help their supermarket adopt the Pang Dong Lai model, it was highly likely that their salaries and benefits would soon match those of Pang Dong Lai.

…

Chapter 90: Not a Word About Himself, Yet Every Sentence Was About Him

In the supermarket’s main hall, as CEO Yu’s speech concluded, Xiao Yu took another microphone and walked to the center. As he walked, he said, “Yesterday, I had a chat with CEO Old Xu and asked him about his observations in Liancheng. He told me that while stores across the country are deserted, Pang Dong Lai’s supermarkets are always packed, and business is booming.”

“Old Xu told me he even happened to see a customer who, for a healthy meal, thought nothing of driving one or two hundred kilometers to a Pang Dong Lai supermarket, just to stock up on some household supplies.”

CEO Yu, standing to the side, couldn’t help but smile. He remained silent, letting Xiao Yu take the stage.

At that moment, Xiao Yu calmly and confidently continued, “Old Xu told me that when you shop at a Pang Dong Lai supermarket, you don’t need to check the ingredients list anymore. All manufacturers who play word games on their labels are turned away at the door, because Pang Dong Lai has its own professional food testing center.”

“If a product wants to be on Pang Dong Lai’s shelves, it first has to pass through their testing lab. If it fails inspection, it is immediately rejected. You don’t have to worry about the wording on the ingredients list. All you need to do is pick the products you like and confidently leave the rest to Pang Dong Lai. Although it’s just a supermarket doing what any business should, it has become the industry’s gold standard.”

At this point, Xiao Yu paused, paced back and forth for a moment, then stopped and looked out at the crowd. “There’s a question I’ve been trying to figure out: can a company truly be profitable and maintain a surplus while fully guaranteeing its workers’ vacation time and benefits? I believe Spiritual Mirror Tech can definitely do it, but that isn’t persuasive enough, because Spiritual Mirror Tech is a high-value-added, high-profit tech company.”

Xiao Yu’s tone shifted. “But as a traditional retail company with low profit margins, Pang Dong Lai has conducted a social experiment for all of us. It has proven that even in a low-margin industry, a business can remain highly profitable with a surplus while fully guaranteeing its workers’ vacation and benefits. This is far more persuasive than Spiritual Mirror Tech’s example. It also proves that the reason workers are poor is not laziness, but exploitation. The essence of the 996 work culture is not a lack of productivity, but the greed of capital.”

At this, CEO Yu couldn’t help but say with a smile, “For Brother Xiao, the nation’s new richest man, to say something like this is truly admirable.”

Xiao Yu smiled leisurely, then turned to the crowd and quipped, “I heard that a few months ago, CEO Yu ‘crossed the line.’ I looked it up, and I have to agree—CEO Yu has been ‘crossing the line’ for a long time.”

Looking dead serious, Xiao Yu continued speaking with irony, “For a boss with only a dozen or so stores to have such a huge influence, to be criticized so virulently, he must have done some things that were ‘too much.’ For instance, being too strict with product quality control, too thorough in protecting consumer rights, too dedicated to employee welfare… In some people’s eyes, he crossed the line long ago. In fact, he crossed a major line.”

As soon as he said this, the entire audience erupted in joyful laughter.

This was Xiao Yu’s signature style: not a single word about himself, yet every sentence alluded to him. Everyone knew that his own series of actions, starting with the “ten-billion subsidy” for retail investors, had “crossed the line” far more aggressively than anything CEO Yu had done.

After a moment, Xiao Yu continued in a measured tone, “Although CEO Yu is a famous entrepreneur, when someone criticizes him, it somehow doesn’t count as damaging the business environment. Yet, when other entrepreneurs are criticized, they immediately accuse you of damaging the business environment. How magical is that?”

“It’s fine to criticize CEO Yu. After all, it’s a real struggle for Pang Dong Lai to expand its business. What kind of environment could a little criticism possibly damage?” At this, the hall erupted in laughter again. Everyone suddenly felt their boss had a talent for stand-up comedy.

Being praised so highly to his face, CEO Yu felt a bit embarrassed. But he was also secretly pleased by the recognition and validation. He could have confidently said all these things himself, but hearing them from someone else made them far more persuasive.

Xiao Yu continued in his unhurried way, “CEO Yu’s greatest strength is that he’s actually practicing the principle of helping others get rich after becoming rich yourself. How many entrepreneurs make that same solemn vow when they start out? And what happens after they strike it rich? Poof! They run so fast you can’t even see their taillights!”

Xiao Yu gestured, his facial expressions animated. “And if you were to ask them, ‘So, uh, that whole thing about… helping others get rich. What are your plans?’ They’d say, ‘Oh, well, that’s… that’s very difficult. Helping others… help… leading… leading others is… lead… lead… can’t lead them…’”

“Hahaha—!”

The audience roared with laughter once more. They all understood that Xiao Yu wasn’t just lavishing praise on CEO Yu; he was also subtly bigging himself up.

Not a word about himself, yet every sentence was connected to him.

At this point, Xiao Yu said cheerfully, “But CEO Yu is different. He’s actually helping people. He never even wanted to be the richest man, and I reckon he couldn’t be anyway. The richest man is right here.”

As he spoke, he pointed to himself with a matter-of-fact expression, as if to say it was his rightful place, once again sending the audience into gales of laughter.

Xiao Yu immediately continued, “But even though CEO Yu isn’t the richest man, he makes it possible for his employees to afford a down payment on a home in their city, without having to ask their families for money.”

At these words, the crowd couldn’t help but cheer, breaking into enthusiastic applause.

CEO Yu, who was also on stage, felt increasingly certain that he’d made the right decision in agreeing to come out of seclusion to help in Linzhou. His confidence that the Pang Dong Lai model would take root, sprout, and flourish in Linzhou grew even stronger.

Xiao Yu spoke again. “Well then, as the richest man, I have to make it so my own employees can afford a down payment in Linzhou City on their salary alone, right?”

Hearing this, the crowd cheered once more, their applause unceasing.

Xiao Yu made a gesture to quiet the crowd, and everyone quickly settled down. He added, “Brother Donglai isn’t the richest man, yet he can help his employees afford a down payment on their salaries alone. Well, I’d like to be so bold as to cross a line in front of him.”

At this, Xiao Yu tilted his head to glance at CEO Yu, then looked back at the crowd with a smile. “I’m not just going to make it so my employees can afford a down payment without asking their families for money. I’m going to make it so they can buy a home in Linzhou outright with their salary alone—even if you’re just a janitor at the supermarket.”

The crowd erupted in cheers again, their applause thunderous.

Xiao Yu turned back to CEO Yu and said with a grin, “Brother, I’ve crossed that line. You don’t mind, do you?”

CEO Yu laughed heartily. “Haha, cross it all you want!”

The atmosphere in the room became exceptionally light and lively. After this brief interlude, Xiao Yu once again addressed the crowd. “Today, I am formally announcing that for the foreseeable future, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s retail and supermarket division will be fully handed over to the Pang Dong Lai team for training and guidance. We will be adopting the Pang Dong Lai model and following Pang Dong Lai’s standards.”

To conclude, Xiao Yu said with a smile, “I have invited Brother Donglai here this time, and I hope all of you will learn with humility from the Pang Dong Lai team’s advanced business philosophy.”

The employees present nodded in agreement as Xiao Yu continued, “The company’s core business is highly profitable. Even if the retail and supermarket division makes no profit, the company can provide a financial lifeline to maintain everyone’s high salaries without any pressure. But this is ultimately unsustainable and unnatural, and more importantly, it’s not the result I want to see. If this was the plan, why would I go through all this trouble? I might as well just send you all home to your families and pay you a regular salary. Wouldn’t that be simpler?”

“But that’s obviously not a viable solution. What would happen if the company’s core business wasn’t so profitable anymore? That’s why we must find a sustainable path toward self-reliance, and the Pang Dong Lai model has proven that such a path exists.”

“In the initial stages, I will have the company provide the retail and supermarket division with a sufficient financial lifeline to support it for a time. The goal is to give it a leg up and get it on its way. But this won’t be a bottomless, one-way cash injection. Whether you can continue on this path in the long run will ultimately depend on the efforts of all of you here.”

“I’m not expecting the retail and supermarket division to bring in massive profits for the company. As long as you can achieve self-sufficiency without relying on a continuous financial lifeline from the parent company, maintain a net profit margin of two or three percent, and ensure the business can operate sustainably, that will be enough.”

…

Chapter 91: Xiaomi Seeks Graphene Battery Supply Deal

Regarding the retail and supermarket business, Xiao Yu himself never expected it to bring significant profits to the company.

He had only two expectations. Internally, he wanted it to be self-sufficient while ensuring high incomes for employees, capable of sustaining itself and achieving a surplus without relying on continuous financial lifelines from the parent company. Externally, it had to fully protect consumer rights and not resort to cheating customers by passing off shoddy goods as quality ones just to maintain operations and high employee salaries.

As long as it could achieve these two things, it would be a success.

In a low-profit industry, to ensure that employees were not exploited and received high salaries, high incomes, and excellent benefits, while also guaranteeing that customers were not buying subpar products, and still ensuring the supermarket had a surplus for sustainable operation…

…the only way was for the boss not to take the vast majority of the profits and surplus labor value for himself.

In essence, the problem was still being solved through “distribution.”

And the word “distribution” was the key kernel of the Pang Dong Lai model. It was because the boss, CEO Yu, was willing to share the profits that the Pang Dong Lai model was hailed as a paragon of success.

If the boss was unwilling to share profits, three outcomes were possible: first, employees would be exploited with low incomes; second, consumer rights would be violated; or third, a combination of both—employees exploited and consumer rights violated.

The key to the Pang Dong Lai model’s success lay in distribution, in the fact that the company’s boss was willing to distribute the vast majority—90%—of the profits to all employees, keeping less than 10% for himself. This was also the fundamental reason why the Pang Dong Lai model was difficult to replicate and expand elsewhere.

Capitalists would love to take 99% of the profits. Touching someone’s financial interests is ten, even a hundred times harder than touching their soul. How many people in the world, like CEO Yu or Xiao Yu, could act so contrary to human nature? They could be counted on one hand.

But on the other hand, although Xiao Yu was a major capitalist boss on the surface, he was not a capitalist at heart, because a true capitalist would never do something like giving the lion’s share of the profits to all the employees.

About twenty minutes later, Xiao Yu went over a few matters with the retail supermarket’s management team and then left. This part of the business was more or less settled. After leaving the supermarket, he didn’t return to his villa but headed to the Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters instead.

Everything here had been arranged, and it no longer required Xiao Yu’s constant supervision. He just needed to wait for the Pang Dong Lai team to complete their training and guidance, bringing their model in, and then he would see the final results.

The employees working at this retail supermarket now cherished their jobs more than ever. Many secretly felt fortunate to have joined early, figuring it would likely be much harder to get a job offer in the future.

More vacation days and high benefits would not lead to employee laziness or slacking off. This point had already been proven by Pang Dong Lai’s immense success.

On the contrary, employees worried that if the supermarket was poorly managed and went bankrupt, they would never find another job as good as this one.

After all, they were not highly skilled talents. The same positions elsewhere would definitely not offer such待遇. Bosses like CEO Yu and Xiao Yu were a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. Naturally, they didn’t want the supermarket to fail and would work diligently, not slacking off or being lazy.

Xiao Yu had laid his cards on the table. He didn’t expect them to earn massive profits for the company. The boss wasn’t interested in the trivial sum from this sector; whatever profits were made would be divided among all the retail supermarket employees. He would give them a hand and a push in the early stages, but he wouldn’t provide a bottomless financial lifeline. To keep these high-paying, high-benefit jobs for the long term, they had to be self-sufficient.

In the Chairman’s office.

“Come in.”

Yun Shu knocked and entered.

Sitting at his desk, Xiao Yu glanced up at his beautiful assistant as she walked in gracefully. He then pulled a document from a folder on his desk and handed it to her. “I’ve decided to spin off the company’s food processing, grain trading, and retail supermarket businesses. They will be separated from Spiritual Mirror Tech to form an independent subsidiary, wholly owned by Spiritual Mirror Tech.”

These three businesses were, after all, traditional industries. Spinning them off into an independent entity was more rational and scientific.

By spinning them off, Xiao Yu wasn’t just casting them aside to fend for themselves. Instead, he intended to use these traditional industries to help a group of working-class comrades get rich. Therefore, he hoped these industries would grow bigger and stronger, not just be a passing fad that leaves nothing behind once the hype dies down.

Yun Shu took the document. “After the spin-off, will this subsidiary be financially independent, or will its financial results be consolidated with the parent company?”

As long as a parent company directly or indirectly holds more than 50% of a subsidiary’s shares, it can consolidate financial statements. A wholly-owned subsidiary was certainly no issue.

Xiao Yu pondered for a moment, thinking about the need for grain on Blue Star, and said immediately, “Consolidate them.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu nodded. “Alright. When should we hold the Board of Directors meeting?”

This was a major corporate adjustment and required a board resolution. The proper procedures had to be followed.

Xiao Yu replied, “Sometime in the next few days. You arrange a date. There’s another matter to be voted on at the same time to complete the process.”

At this, Xiao Yu looked at his computer on the desk. The screen displayed the company’s stock chart. The current closing price was 1007.00 yuan per share, with the market capitalization having fallen back to 874 billion. After the company’s stock hit the 20% limit-up a few days ago, it had corrected over the past two days, which was normal market volatility.

Xiao Yu looked away from the screen and turned to his beautiful assistant. “The second matter is that I’ve decided to implement a stock split for Spiritual Mirror Tech. Let’s do a one-for-one-hundred split.”

Many retail investors had been petitioning for a stock split. Xiao Yu was aware of this; he had received many such messages in his private Weibo inbox.

They wanted to get on board and invest in Spiritual Mirror Tech, but unfortunately, small retail investors didn’t have much money. The company’s stock price had now risen to over a thousand yuan per share, and the A-share market rules stipulated a minimum purchase of one lot, and one lot equals 100 shares.

This meant that buying one lot of Spiritual Mirror Tech stock now required 100,000 yuan. The total assets in the accounts of most small retail investors might not even reach 100,000 yuan.

The rules of the domestic A-share market do not allow for stock splits, but a similar effect can be achieved through a high-yield bonus issue.

The essence of a high-yield bonus issue is an internal restructuring of shareholder equity. It has no impact on the return on net assets, nor does it have any substantive effect on the company’s profitability.

It only increases the company’s total share capital, but the company’s shareholder equity does not increase as a result. The investor’s shareholding ratio remains unchanged, and the total value of the shares held does not change either.

In fact, it’s equivalent to holding 100 shares at 100 yuan each. After a bonus issue of 10 shares for every 10 shares held, the number of shares doubles, but the price per share is halved, resulting in holding 200 shares at 50 yuan each.

The total value of both is the same; only the number of shares held has increased.

Yun Shu nodded slightly, quickly taking notes, then looked at Xiao Yu and said, “Xiaomi sent a team of senior executives today to discuss the supply of graphene batteries. Also, several manufacturers in the new-energy vehicle sector have come to Spiritual Mirror Tech to conduct research and inquire about prices, including Xiaomi Auto, which also wants to use our graphene batteries.”

In the power bank sector, the advantages of graphene batteries over traditional lithium batteries were quite obvious.

In terms of energy density, graphene batteries are five times or even more potent than lithium batteries. This means that at the same weight, a graphene battery can store more electrical energy, which is very beneficial for scenarios requiring long endurance, such as new-energy vehicles.

In terms of charging speed, a lithium battery generally takes one to two hours to charge. Some fast-charging technologies can reduce this to about half an hour. In contrast, the high conductivity of graphene material allows for extremely fast charging, capable of reaching a full charge in just a few minutes. This is very practical for scenarios requiring rapid charging, like new-energy vehicles.

In terms of lifespan, a lithium battery’s life is generally between 500 and 1,000 charge-discharge cycles, depending on the model and quality. Thanks to the high strength and stability of graphene batteries, their lifespan can exceed 2,000 charge-discharge cycles, or even longer. This means graphene batteries offer higher reliability and economy in long-term use.

Thus, compared to traditional lithium batteries, the advantages of graphene batteries are enormous. However, their biggest drawback remains insufficient production and supply.

After all, there are just too many application scenarios for graphene material. Many high-end industries have a great demand for this new material, but currently, only Spiritual Mirror Tech can produce it cheaply and at scale.

Even so, in the face of such strong demand from so many different sectors, supply still could not meet demand.

At this, Xiao Yu contemplated for a moment before saying in a deep voice, “Let’s hold off on new-energy vehicles for a couple of years. The demand is too great. A single car requires such a large quantity. How can our current production capacity supply something as large as a car? Let’s prioritize supplying the smartphone terminal sector first. We can consider applications like new-energy vehicles after our production capacity increases in the future.”

Chapter 92: Charging 10% of the Launch Price

With so many mouths to feed, it wasn’t just the “peer companies” within the same industry scrambling for stock anymore; even different industries were now competing for it.

The current production capacity was limited, and no other graphene manufacturer was up to the task. If there were even a single other company that could compete with Spiritual Mirror Tech, they wouldn’t all be desperately begging Xiao Yu.

The situation now was that if one industry secured a large shipment, another industry would get less.

Those who received less were naturally unhappy, and some were even freaking out. In this era of rapid technological development, where competition was cutthroat, waiting a year or two was out of the question. Even a delay of a few months could put a company at a huge disadvantage, or even lead to its downfall.

Moreover, the trend of market-killers crossing over from other industries was popular. Some companies were hyper-focused on their direct rivals, taking all sorts of precautions, only to be crushed by a seemingly unrelated player from another sector.

This was an era of multi-dimensional competition. The one who defeats you is often not your direct competitor, but a challenger from another dimension.

For instance, the rival to instant noodles wasn’t another instant noodle brand, but the food delivery industry. What transformed the restaurant business wasn’t other restaurant owners, but food delivery platforms.

Previously, when Spiritual Mirror Tech was mired in a public opinion crisis, a “brick-pert beast-fessor” had even emerged, calling for the company to publicly license its technology to other manufacturers. Eighty to ninety media outlets had frantically reported on it, driving insane amounts of traffic to this “beast-fessor.” There was a reason for all this.

Many industries did not want to see Spiritual Mirror Tech hold a monopoly on the mass production technology for graphene material. Who knew how many people from various industries had a hand in pushing that narrative?

Fortunately, the state intervened in time to set the tone, classifying Spiritual Mirror Tech’s graphene mass production technology as both an export-controlled and a state-secret technology. Once they realized it was impossible to force Xiao Yu to license the tech, the crowd finally fell silent.

Spiritual Mirror Tech was now the ultimate supplier. Any manufacturer or industry that needed graphene material had to come to them with a request. They might be disgruntled or even try to cause trouble behind the scenes, but they would never dare to offend Xiao Yu openly.

There was no other choice. Spiritual Mirror Tech was the only supplier in the world capable of providing low-cost, high-volume graphene material. There were no alternatives.

At that moment, Xiao Yu looked at his beautiful assistant and said, “The company’s comprehensive production capacity for graphene material this year will increase from 2,000 tons to 5,000 tons. The overall price will be reduced by another 20% to 25% from the current level. The expected revenue will increase from last year’s over 78 billion to around 150 to 180 billion.”

A significant increase in production capacity would dilute costs, which was in line with industrial logic. It was only natural for Xiao Yu to want an orderly decrease in product prices. But a lower price didn’t mean lower profits, as production volume had increased by 1.5 times.

This move by Xiao Yu was also intended to appease the market to some extent. For those who didn’t get any stock, there was no need to lose their composure and freak out. The company’s production capacity was soaring year after year, and prices would continue to fall. Getting stock later might even be cheaper, so there was no need to panic.

Right now, every industry was incredibly anxious. Those who secured a shipment breathed a sigh of relief, while those who didn’t were frustrated and worried, fearing that one day they’d be enjoying hotpot and karaoke, only to wake up and find they’d been hit by a devastating market-killer.

Nowadays, people weren’t just keeping an eye on their direct rivals; they were paying more and more attention to developments in other industries as well.

They had to pay attention to other sectors. What if one day a competitor from another dimension launched a surprise attack? They wouldn’t even have time to react. There were already countless, too many to list, examples of companies being crushed by market-killers from other industries, and no one wanted to be next.

Xiao Yu asked, “How many batteries does Xiaomi want?”

Yun Shu replied, “Enough for about 30 million phones.”

After hearing this, Xiao Yu thought for a moment before making a decision. “Alright, we’ll allocate 600 tons of capacity to the smartphone battery sector. That should provide enough batteries for 45 to 50 million phones.”

The graphene material needed for batteries wasn’t the most expensive research-grade type; otherwise, there’s no way they could supply 600 tons. Even if they could, few phone manufacturers could afford it, and more importantly, it wasn’t necessary.

With the comprehensive production capacity of graphene material increasing to 5,000 tons, the proportion of military procurement would definitely decrease. It couldn’t possibly remain at sixty to seventy percent. The military’s demand would eventually be saturated, and besides, the military budget couldn’t all be allocated to purchasing graphene.

As production capacity continued to grow exponentially year after year, the amount supplied to the civilian market would gradually surpass that of the military market. This was inevitable.

This time, Xiao Yu did not personally receive the delegation sent by Xiaomi to discuss the graphene battery supply. After all, Rebs hadn’t come in person. It was sufficient to have other senior executives from the company handle the reception.

With so many manufacturers coming to investigate and discuss business, if Xiao Yu had to meet every single person, he wouldn’t get anything else done.

Only when a heavyweight figure or an influential magnate came would Xiao Yu take the time to meet them. It would seem inappropriate not to.

At this point, Yun Shu asked, “Are there any other matters to arrange?”

Xiao Yu thought for a moment and said, “Oh, there’s one more thing. Add another proposal for the next Board of Directors meeting. We already had a salary increase at the beginning of the year. Let’s give all company employees another raise in the second half of the year. The new salaries will be reflected in the paychecks starting from July.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu was no longer as surprised as she had been last year. She simply asked, “Is it a 35% raise again?”

Xiao Yu nodded. “Yes, 35%.”

Currently, not counting the employees in the food processing and retail supermarket departments, the base-level employees in Spiritual Mirror Tech’s main business were already earning a monthly salary of 13,600 RMB. With another 35% increase, their monthly salary would become 18,360 RMB. And this was the take-home amount after social security deductions.

The company’s workforce had already grown to over 6,700 people and was still expanding.

Xiao Yu added, “The employees in the retail supermarkets don’t need to follow this. They’re on the Pang Dong Lai model. Their salary adjustment will definitely be above 7,000.”

The base-level employees in the retail supermarkets were currently earning just over 4,000 RMB a month. A 35% raise would bring them to less than 5,500 RMB. The Pang Dong Lai team would adjust their salaries upwards anyway, and it would certainly be far more than 5,500 RMB, so there was no need for this redundant step.

After arranging these matters, Xiao Yu left Spiritual Mirror Tech and headed to Sino-Aviation Linfei Company to deal with the prototype aircraft and the room-temperature superconducting material.

With Xu Changming managing things at Spiritual Mirror Tech, Xiao Yu was very confident in the company’s operations.

Over the next two days, Xu Changming was in talks with the people from Xiaomi about the smartphone graphene battery supply cooperation.

The cost of a battery is a relatively small portion of a smartphone’s total cost, typically around 3% for domestically produced phones. However, the battery’s share of the overall cost varies depending on the brand and model.

The battery cost for an Apple iPhone is not low; replacing a battery out of warranty costs nearly 10% of the phone’s original price. Huawei’s phone brand isn’t cheap either, with the cost being around 10% as well.

This time, Xiaomi wanted a supply of graphene batteries for 30 million phones. Spiritual Mirror Tech naturally had no problem meeting this request. Xiao Yu had already allocated 600 tons of production capacity for smartphone graphene batteries, enough to supply 50 million phones.

The condition Spiritual Mirror Tech put forward was this: for smartphones equipped with their battery launching at a price below 5,000 RMB, each battery would cost 500 RMB. For smartphones using their battery with a launch price above 5,000 RMB, the battery would be charged at 10% of the launch price.

If a manufacturer wanted their stock, they had to abide by this agreement. Spiritual Mirror Tech refused to negotiate.

…

Chapter 93: The Founding Executives and Employees Who Left One After Another Now Drown in Regret

In a buyer’s market, you have no bargaining power. This was especially true for Xiaomi. What else could they do?

If they wanted the components, they had to accept the terms proposed by their “supplier daddy.” In the end, Xiaomi had no choice but to agree. The fact that they were supplied with components for thirty million phones was largely out of respect for Rebs.

It was no wonder Xiaomi’s profits were low. Spiritual Mirror Tech supplied their smartphones with screens and batteries, and these two businesses alone took 30% of a Xiaomi phone’s initial release price. The screen business also charged 20% of the initial price.

This meant that for a phone with an initial release price of 5000 RMB, regardless of whether its sales were good or bad, or whether it made a profit or a loss, Spiritual Mirror Tech would first pocket 1500 RMB. That money was guaranteed profit. As for whether Xiaomi was left with unsold inventory, that was Xiaomi’s problem and had absolutely nothing to do with their upstream supplier daddy.

And Spiritual Mirror Tech was far from Xiaomi’s only supplier daddy; there were many more. For chips, for instance, they had to rely on Qualcomm. With these supplier daddies each taking a slice of the cake, the profit margin left for Xiaomi was naturally not very high.

But there was nothing to be done. This is what happens when you lack sufficiently competitive core technology.

Still, say what you will, for Xiaomi to be able to beg its way along the supply chain and still manage to get a product out and have something to sell—that was a skill in itself.

…

Two days later, Xiao Yu went to Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters for a Board of Directors meeting, where he went through the motions of passing several pre-planned resolutions.

Xiao Yu already had absolute control over Spiritual Mirror Tech, so no one could oppose him. Moreover, the members of the reorganized Board of Directors were mostly his people; even Wen Suqing had the connection of being a former classmate and friend.

But the proper procedures still had to be followed. Spiritual Mirror Tech was now the top stock on the ChiNext board by market capitalization, no longer a small workshop.

The first resolution passed by the board was to spin off the traditional businesses of food processing, grain trading, and retail supermarkets into an independent subsidiary. This new entity would be wholly owned by the parent company, Spiritual Mirror Tech, and its financial statements would be consolidated.

The second resolution passed was the second salary increase of the year. All company employees would receive a 35% raise, and salaries issued from July onwards would reflect this increase.

The third resolution passed was the company’s plan for a bonus issue of 990 shares for every 10 shares held by all shareholders. After this plan’s implementation, the company’s total share capital was expected to increase from 868 million shares to 86.8 billion shares. The high-yield bonus issue plan would be implemented in July, and the company’s stock price would be adjusted ex-rights on the implementation date.

Xiao Yu currently held 451 million shares, representing 51.03% of the company’s total share capital. After the high-yield bonus issue, his holdings would increase to 45.1 billion shares, but his ownership percentage would remain at 51.03%. His shareholder equity, ownership percentage, and the total value of his shares would all remain unchanged.

A high-yield bonus issue an is essentially the equivalent of a stock split in other countries. It’s like exchanging a one hundred-dollar bill for one hundred one-dollar bills; the value doesn’t change.

Around 5:00 PM, Spiritual Mirror Tech publicly disclosed the results of the board meeting, immediately causing a sensation.

[Holy crap, this is insane! They’re getting another raise?!]

[All the big tech companies are laying people off and cutting salaries to save money, but Bro Xiao is over here massively hiring and giving huge raises. A raise every six months, and a whopping 35% at that.]

[I’m crying from jealousy. Bro Xiao, is your company still hiring security guards…]

[As a Linzhou City native, I’ve slapped my thigh raw with regret. Half a month ago, a friend asked me to apply for a job at Spiritual Mirror Supermarkets with him, but I didn’t go. He got the job, and now I’m kicking myself for not going along.]

[I only found out about this because an employee posted a video online of Bro Xiao speaking in the supermarket!]

[There’s no chance now. I’m also a Linzhou local. I heard the competition for jobs is insane now. There are hundreds of people competing for a single ordinary position at a supermarket. It’s too crazy.]

[Compared to the parent company, Spiritual Mirror Tech, which needs high-tech professionals, the barrier to entry for the retail supermarkets is much lower. But the pay blows their competitors out of the water, so it’s no wonder the competition is so fierce.]

[Bro Xiao really is willing to let everyone get rich together. I truly wish there were more entrepreneurs like him in society.]

[Other bosses: “Oh dear, this is very difficult. I can’t… I just can’t carry you all…”]

[Bro Xiao is finally splitting Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock! I didn’t expect it to be a 1-for-100 split! Now I have to buy in. Good company, good boss. Be a good person, buy good stock, get good returns.]

[Waiting for the split to be completed in July. Planning to go half-position for a long-term value investment.]

…

The next day, spurred by the news, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened high and continued to climb. Stock market apps like Tonghuashun also added the “high-yield bonus issue concept” tag to Spiritual Mirror Tech today.

In just about ten minutes, the trillion-RMB behemoth of a stock surged to hit the +20.00% limit up, easily breaking its previous peak to set a new all-time high.

The company’s stock price shot up to 1378.22 RMB, with a corresponding total market capitalization of 1.1962 trillion RMB.

The following day, it once again opened high and climbed higher, with both volume and price rising. It successfully hit the limit up for a second consecutive day. The stock price set a new high of 1653.86 RMB, and its market cap soared to 1.4355 trillion RMB.

Seeing this surge, many small retail investors who were waiting to get on board after the share price was adjusted for the bonus issue started to curse out loud. They berated the institutional investors for their ugly methods, suspecting they were trying to pump up the price in advance, only to let retail investors be the bagholders after the high-yield bonus issue and price adjustment in July. Their wishful thinking was almost audible.

Over the next two days, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price fell by -5.60% and -1.79% respectively.

At 10:00 AM the following morning, Spiritual Mirror Tech publicly announced that it had signed a massive contract worth over 15 billion RMB with Xiaomi Group to supply 30 million phone batteries for Xiaomi phones.

As soon as the news broke, the company’s stock price shot up like a rocket during trading. Outside capital scrambled for shares. Around 10:23 AM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price surged to 1839.92 RMB, sealing the +20.00% limit up. That made for three limit-ups in five days. Its market cap soared to a new high of 1.597 trillion RMB.

“King Spiritual Mirror is mighty! Awesome! Any stock that can withstand Zhongxin’s bullish curse is a super bull stock. Holy crap, could it really reach the 2000 RMB target price?”

A retail investor was thrilled to see Spiritual Mirror Tech hit the limit up again. His excitement was natural, as he held the stock—though he had only bought two lots, or two hundred shares, at a cost price of 1065 RMB. He now had unrealized gains of +72.76%.

At 10:39 AM the next morning, major stock market apps sent out a push notification:

[Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price breaks the 2000 RMB mark, up over +9%, continuing to set new all-time highs, market cap exceeds 1.7 trillion RMB]

“Zhongxin Securities actually called it right. King Spiritual Mirror really did withstand Zhongxin’s bullish curse…” A retail investor watching the market was stunned. No one had expected Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price to actually reach the 2000 RMB milestone.

Moreover, its current price had surpassed that of Kweichow Moutai, making it the most expensive individual stock per share in the A-share market. Buying one lot already cost over 200,000 RMB. The vast majority of small retail investors couldn’t even afford a single lot now and could only wait until after the high-yield bonus issue and price adjustment in July.

At that point, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price had pulled back slightly. Its intraday high was 2011.05 RMB, corresponding to a market cap of 1.7456 trillion RMB.

It had already surpassed the “Number One Bank in the Universe” with its 1.6 trillion RMB market cap, ranking second in the A-share market, second only to Kweichow Moutai’s 2.45 trillion RMB.

In the afternoon, the price continued to fluctuate and fall. During the late trading session, it even went into the red and accelerated its dive.

Hitting the target price that Zhongxin Securities had been bullish on was, in itself, a fulfillment of expectations. On top of that, the stock price was so high, the market cap so large, and with so few retail investors able to participate, there was no one left to buy in.

After the market closed, Spiritual Mirror Tech was down -3.57%, closing at 1774.26 RMB. Its after-hours market capitalization was 1.54 trillion RMB. It had been overtaken by the “Number One Bank in the Universe,” becoming the third-largest listed company by market capitalization in the A-share market.

Spiritual Mirror Tech was definitely a stock that investors in the A-share market couldn’t ignore over the past two years. No one could have predicted that the company’s stock price would fall to 0.42 RMB a year ago, and even fewer could have predicted it would soar from 0.42 RMB to the then-high of 2011.05 RMB in just about a year.

From its all-time low of 0.42 RMB, it rose to a new high of 2011.05 RMB, an accumulated gain of +478,721.45% in about a year. This was unprecedented in the entire history of the A-share market. Even on a global scale, it was an explosive rate of return that would put Bitcoin to shame.

If someone had casually bought 500 RMB worth at the 0.42 RMB price back then, they would have 2.4 million RMB now. Buying 10,000 RMB worth and holding it for a year would now be worth 48 million RMB—instant financial freedom.

…

“Sigh… If I hadn’t resigned from Spiritual Mirror Tech the year before last, and hadn’t sold my stock options last August, I wouldn’t have ended up like this. It breaks my heart!” In a car parked on the side of a city street, a middle-aged man in his thirties sighed regretfully while waiting for a ride-hailing order, looking at Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current stock price and market cap on his phone.

He had been one of the thirty-odd members of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s founding team, a bona fide founding employee. After the company went public, he became a senior executive, but he chose to resign a year and a half ago.

As an early member of Xiao Yu’s startup, he had been allocated shares. He received a quota of ten million stock options, of which 3.5 million were given to him directly. The other 6.5 million stock options had to be purchased, but the exercise price of 0.05 RMB was unimaginable in today’s secondary market.

Back then, he had only needed 325,000 RMB to exercise the options and buy 6.5 million shares.

In the company’s early startup phase, they were short on cash and hadn’t found any VC investors. Xiao Yu had raised money by selling stock options to employees internally, eventually scraping together over three million RMB to get through the difficult period.

But this man had chosen not to buy them at the time, so he only had the 3.5 million shares that were given to him.

As it turned out, the company developed better and better under Xiao Yu’s leadership and even succeeded in a backdoor listing. This made him deeply regret not subscribing to those 6.5 million shares. An exercise price of 0.05 RMB, obtainable for just 325,000 RMB. Even if he had sold them at the stock’s all-time low of 0.42 RMB, he would have gotten 2.73 million RMB, a return of 2.4 million.

But what he regretted most was selling his 3.5 million shares of Spiritual Mirror Tech stock for 1.12 RMB per share last August.

At that time, Xiao Yu was in a battle of wits with several financiers, and the stock price had suffered fifteen consecutive limit-downs in a row, at one point selling off to an all-time low of only 0.42 RMB per share.

In fact, back in June or July of last year when Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price rose to 50 RMB, he had been eager to cash out. At that time, his 3.5 million shares were worth 176 million RMB. But unfortunately, the lock-up period hadn’t ended yet; it was only lifted in August.

But as luck would have it, the stock price plummeted with consecutive limit-downs in August. By the time the lock-up period ended, the price had fallen to just over 1 RMB. At the time, the entire market believed Spiritual Mirror Tech was facing a forced delisting. Fearing this would happen, he sold everything.

After cashing out, he took the 3.9 million RMB and started his own business, thinking that if Xiao Yu could succeed, so could he. But his company went bankrupt in three months. He lost everything and ended up over a million RMB in debt. Now, he could only join the grueling world of the gig economy, working as a ride-hailing driver for Didi.

“My heart is bleeding. One wrong step, and it’s eternal damnation…” At this moment, looking at the astronomical figure of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s 1.54 trillion RMB market cap, his face was a mask of agony, filled with immense regret for ever leaving the company.

If he hadn’t resigned back then, he probably wouldn’t have sold his stock, and he would now be a super-rich tycoon worth 7 billion RMB.

Most importantly, if he were still at Spiritual Mirror Tech, he would now be a big shot in everyone’s eyes. Like Xu Changming and Fu Kang, he would be full of vigor and vitality, a major player shaping the industry, having reached the pinnacle of his life.

One resignation, and now he was saddled with debt, reduced to driving for a ride-hailing service.

Now, not only did he not dare to show off his former identity as a member of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s founding team, he even had to hide it.

Because having ended up like this, it wasn’t something to brag about; instead, it would make him a laughingstock.

If others found out—Good heavens, a founding member of Spiritual Mirror Tech! Even after leaving, he should at least be worth over a hundred million from his stock options. How could he end up driving a ride-share? He must be truly incompetent. His resignation was probably a blessing for Spiritual Mirror Tech.

“Sigh… It hurts. It hurts so much!!”

…

Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters, Chairman’s Office.

Yun Shu and Xiao Yu were sitting on the sofa in the office’s lounge area. The beautiful assistant said with a brilliant smile, “The youngest richest man in the country’s history. Your net worth has reached an incredible 785.8 billion RMB, which is about 117 billion US dollars. You’ve become the first domestic tycoon to enter the top ten on the world’s richest list, ranking sixth, just behind the stock god Warren Buffett, who is worth 118 billion US dollars. So? Any thoughts, Mr. Richest Man?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu said dismissively, “It’s just paper wealth. Unlike you, I can’t cash out whenever I want without a 15-day advance notice. And I won’t cash out, nor can I. If you squeeze out the inflated P/E ratio and calculate based on the company’s actual net assets, my stake is probably worth only 96.2 billion RMB.”

The company’s current market cap was 1.54 trillion RMB, but its period-end net assets were 188.5 billion RMB. Not only was the P/E ratio very high at 71, but the price-to-book ratio was also not low, exceeding 8.

Whether it was 785.8 billion or 96.2 billion, to Xiao Yu, it was all just a string of numbers.

The group of executives who had stuck with Xiao Yu and his ventures had all seen their net worths rise with the tide. This was especially true for the few remaining founding members still with the company, like Xu Changming and Fu Kang, who were now all worth tens of billions.

Even Yun Shu, his beautiful assistant, was now a female tycoon worth tens of billions. She held 8.5 million shares, which, at the current stock price, had a corresponding market value of 15.08 billion RMB.

Moreover, Yun Shu’s shareholding percentage was under 5%, and her lock-up period had passed. If she wanted to cash out, she could sell directly on the secondary market at any time without needing to issue a 15-day notice of reducing her holdings.

Of course, she was very obedient to Xiao Yu. No matter how the company’s stock price fluctuated, whether it rose or fell, she wouldn’t sell a single share.

She didn’t lack for cash now, either; she couldn’t even spend all the salary the company paid her.

After a moment, Yun Shu couldn’t help but say, “Those founding colleagues who left one after another over the past few years… after resigning, they basically all cashed out their stocks when the price was around 1 RMB. I imagine they must be filled with immense regret seeing the stock price now.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu neither confirmed nor denied it, just smiled without saying anything.

More than regret? Their guts were probably twisted with it!

Yun Shu clearly knew that the founding members who had left had all sold their original shares. Once the restricted shares were unlocked last August, their names vanished from the list of shareholders in the third quarter. They had obviously sold on the secondary market to cash out then, and fearing the company’s delisting, they all sold at rock-bottom prices.

It would have been strange if anyone had managed to hold on and not sell last August. After all, the entire market was convinced the company was going to be delisted. At the time, even Yun Shu thought the company was done for and wanted to sell her three million shares.

Fortunately, she had talked to Xiao Yu about it before she planned to sell. In the end, she listened to his advice. Not only did she not sell, but she also bought another 5.5 million shares at the rock-bottom price, which is why she now had a net worth of fifteen billion RMB.

…

Chapter 94: Acquiring 18,000 Mu of Land for a New Super Tech Park Headquarters

After the small interlude, Xiao Yu turned to Yun Shu and said, “Give Old Xu a call. Tell him to scout a location in Linzhou City and then discuss it with the relevant city officials. The company is acquiring 18,000 mu of land, which is an area of twelve million square meters.”

Xiao Yu added in a serious tone, “This land will be used to build the company’s new headquarters, production base, R&D base, and employee housing.”

Yun Shu was taken aback. “A plot of land this large definitely won’t be available in the city center. Even if it were, we couldn’t afford it. We’d have to look in the suburbs. Even Huawei’s Songshan Lake headquarters is only 1900 mu. Do we really need such a massive area?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “Just because we don’t need it now doesn’t mean we won’t need it in the future. It’s better to acquire more as a reserve. For now, we can plant some ornamental trees, gardens, and parks on the unused land. When we need to expand later, we can just level the ground.”

At this, Xiao Yu leaned back against the sofa. “We’re a major tech company now. Wherever we go, the surrounding land prices immediately soar. Even if we set up our new headquarters in a deserted suburb, the land prices there will skyrocket. If we don’t acquire more land for future use now, planning will become a much bigger headache later.”

Yun Shu nodded thoughtfully. “That’s true. But it’s still a huge area. I’m afraid the city won’t approve it.”

Xiao Yu chuckled. “Our company doesn’t rely on government subsidies, and last year we became the top taxpayer in Linzhou City overnight. Our total tax payment last year was 26.5 billion yuan. Where else can you find a high-tech company with a tax-to-revenue ratio of 34%? Even Huawei’s is only 14%. If they don’t approve it, aren’t they afraid I’ll move the company?”

The total tax-to-revenue ratio for high-tech companies is typically between 10% and 20%. The reason Spiritual Mirror Tech’s was so high was that Xiao Yu hadn’t applied for the various tax incentives available to tech companies. He needed to keep the company’s profit margins low, so not only did he forgo policy benefits, but he also didn’t seek out any tax avoidance methods.

Without a doubt, with such an astonishing tax contribution, Spiritual Mirror Tech would be regarded as a God of Wealth in any city. If it were to move to another province, the leaders of Linzhou City would likely be held accountable by the provincial government.

This was because Linzhou was a third-tier municipality in terms of public finance, meaning its revenue not only had to support local development but also contribute to the national and provincial treasuries.

If Spiritual Mirror Tech were to move to another province, it would be a huge loss of tax revenue for both Linzhou City and the province itself. The provincial leaders would certainly hold Linzhou’s officials responsible.

Seeing that Yun Shu had noted down his instructions, Xiao Yu added, “Include the new headquarters and R&D base for Sino-Aviation Linfei Company in the plans as well. Once Spiritual Mirror Tech acquires the land, we can section off an area and transfer it to Sino-Aviation Linfei.”

Yun Shu nodded and made another note. “No wonder you want such a large area,” she said. “If you start other new companies in the future, are you planning to do the same?”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Clever.”

He would most likely establish new companies in the future, and his plan was to group them all together. He intended to develop this 18,000-mu, twelve-million-square-meter plot into a massive, independent high-tech industrial park, populated entirely by his own companies.

This would facilitate management, especially regarding security and confidentiality.

After all, Xiao Yu knew he was dealing with black technology. Creating an independent high-tech park and preventing a mixed crowd of outsiders would reduce the potential risk of various spies infiltrating their operations.

Upon receiving Xiao Yu’s decision, Xu Changming immediately took action. He, too, was a man of great efficiency.

The very next day, he met with the relevant leaders of Linzhou City. When they learned that Spiritual Mirror Tech wanted to acquire a plot of land measuring 18,000 mu, the city officials were utterly shocked.

Understanding Spiritual Mirror Tech’s request, the city’s leadership team immediately formed a special task force to hold a meeting and conduct a focused study of the matter. The city placed extreme importance on this, as Spiritual Mirror Tech was currently Linzhou’s most prominent enterprise.

This company had produced a 29-year-old richest man. It had become Linzhou’s largest taxpayer. And as a publicly-traded company, it was one of the top three enterprises on the A-share market with a trillion-yuan market capitalization.

With such a string of titles, they had no choice but to take it seriously.

The city was extremely worried that failing to meet Spiritual Mirror Tech’s request might lead to the company being “lured away” by others. Even several first-tier metropolises were salivating over it. If the company was actually poached, they wouldn’t even have a place to cry.

Thus, just one day later, the city gave its response. The efficiency was practically light-speed.

The next morning.

“The city government got back to me yesterday. Not only were they fast, but they told us to pick any plot we want within Linzhou’s jurisdiction. Whichever one we choose will be approved immediately. And they’re only symbolically charging a land transfer fee of one hundred million yuan,” Xu Changming said with a smile. He was in Xiao Yu’s office discussing the matter.

After a moment, Xu Changming added, “Furthermore, the city has promised that even if the location we choose is rather remote, it’s not a problem. The necessary urban infrastructure will be extended there, including new schools, hospitals, and roads to be built in the surrounding area.”

For Spiritual Mirror Tech to acquire a plot as large as 18,000 mu, the center of Linzhou was certainly out of the question. If nothing else, the demolition costs would be absolutely unbearable.

However, Xiao Yu had no intention of acquiring land in the city center anyway. In a sense, from a long-term perspective, it wasn’t Spiritual Mirror Tech choosing the city center, but rather, wherever Spiritual Mirror Tech went, that place would become the new city center.

This wouldn’t be apparent in the short term, but over time, it was inevitable.

Once the location for the new headquarters was confirmed, the surrounding area would rapidly prosper. The company’s employees had high incomes, which naturally meant high consumption. Others would inevitably come to serve this demographic and earn their money.

All sorts of commercial establishments would certainly appear in the vicinity, with businesses for food, clothing, and entertainment gradually emerging.

Over time, these business owners would also need to settle in the area, so real estate companies would come to acquire land and build houses. Gradually, the area would become more and more prosperous, eventually developing into a new urban district.

At that moment, Xiao Yu crossed his legs and said, “Since the city is so supportive, let’s select a site as soon as possible.”

And why wouldn’t they be supportive? The company had paid 26.5 billion yuan in taxes last year alone and had vast future prospects.

The city leaders were also aware of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s powerful technological monopoly in the graphene field. Future tax revenues were bound to skyrocket.

Most crucially, not only did Xiao Yu not engage in so-called reasonable tax avoidance, but he didn’t even apply for some of the special tax incentives for tech companies. He paid every cent of tax that was due, in full.

They were one step short of worshiping a company like this as the God of Wealth, terrified that it might become dissatisfied with Linzhou and decide to move.

If Spiritual Mirror Tech were to express any intention of relocating, many large cities would probably send representatives to negotiate on the very same day, if not sooner.

In the following days, Xu Changming arranged for people to begin the site selection for the new headquarters. He even involved a Feng Shui master, which might have seemed out of place for a high-tech company choosing a location.

This wasn’t because Xu Changming was superstitious about Feng Shui, but rather an integration of traditional culture, a cultural aspect that Spiritual Mirror Tech valued.

Furthermore, Feng Shui wasn’t just superstition. It involved a comprehensive assessment of factors such as the geographical environment, natural climate, and architectural layout. Since the company was about to undertake a massive construction project, this was also a way to express their vision of achieving harmony between humanity and nature.

Chapter 95: The Tianfeng Fighter Jet

After ten days of surveying, the location issue was settled. It was confirmed to be in a remote suburban area in the eastern part of Linzhou City.

This location was basically uninhabited, meaning there would be almost no conflicts over demolition and relocation. There was currently no infrastructure to speak of, but once Spiritual Mirror Tech decided to build its headquarters there, all the necessary infrastructure would naturally follow.

“This is a good place. Construction will be efficient. It shouldn’t be a problem to move the company here within a year.” Xiao Yu was quite satisfied as he looked at the expansive suburban plot before him. A few people accompanied him, including Xu Changming.

Hearing that Xiao Yu wanted to move the company over within a year, Xu Changming felt he was being a bit unrealistic. “It’s most likely not doable in a year.”

Without taking his eyes off the land, Xiao Yu said, “Before the two emergency hospitals were built during the pandemic a couple of years ago, I also thought it was impossible. But they built those two hospitals from scratch in just ten and twelve days. If the new headquarters can’t be finished in a year, it must be because the money wasn’t paid on time.”

Xu Changming hesitated for a moment before saying, “Is there a need to be in such a hurry?”

He had to admit that if the money was there, getting it done in a year really wasn’t a problem. After all, the speed of the Great Eastern Country’s infrastructure development depended on the efficiency of its payments.

Moreover, this place was far from the city center, allowing for 24-hour, round-the-clock construction shifts without worrying about disturbing residents.

Xiao Yu turned his gaze to Xu Changming and smiled. “We are in a hurry. Every second counts. All industries are crying out for graphene materials. Expanding our production capacity is an urgent matter. How can we not be in a hurry?”

Seeing this, Xu Changming understood that Xiao Yu wasn’t joking. He immediately said, “The budget for the new headquarters will be a huge sum.”

Xiao Yu replied crisply, “I’ve already thought about the budget. I’ll give you one hundred billion.”

Hearing this figure, Xu Changming was stunned on the spot. This kind of budget was on par with a national-level project.

“Let’s go, time to head back.” After wandering around for a while, Xiao Yu was ready to leave. He gave Xu Changming his instructions: “I will provide the full funding. In one year, I want to see my new headquarters and a complete set of infrastructure here—including factory bases, R&D bases, employee residential buildings, and so on—all meeting high standards of quality and efficiency.”

The astronomical one-hundred-billion-yuan budget Xiao Yu had provided wasn’t just for a single office headquarters building. That would only cost one or two billion.

Hearing this, Xu Changming took a deep breath, nodded, and replied in a serious tone, “Understood.”

With the matter settled, it was handed over to Xu Changming to execute. Xiao Yu, on the other hand, shifted his focus back to the design of the prototype for Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

Currently, he had given his aircraft design team a task: to let their imaginations run wild and brainstorm some cutting-edge, conceptual aircraft designs.

Xiao Yu was doing this to lay the groundwork for when he would reveal his own true design. When the time came, he would slip his own design into the pool, and after a selection process, they would choose three proposals to build as prototypes, gradually eliminating the other two.

However, Xiao Yu also encountered some design bottlenecks and decided to return to the Blue Star world to look at more aircraft models for reference.

…

Blue Star world, Fengquan City.

Xiao Yu stepped through the teleportation Star Gate and arrived in the bedroom of his villa in Fengquan City. The villa now had a female bionic robot butler, so he couldn’t just appear in the living room and risk being discovered by her.

Xiao Yu couldn’t be absolutely sure whether the AI of this bionic robot had a backdoor installed by Vitas Industrial Group, so he naturally couldn’t let it see the teleportation Star Gate.

“Number 18…” Xiao Yu walked out of the bedroom and saw the female robot. This was the name he had given her, inspired by a famous anime he watched as a child.

A moment later, the female robot stood before him. Xiao Yu asked directly, “Are there any airshows happening anywhere in the world soon? What’s the earliest date?”

The female robot, Number 18, paused as she scanned the internet for relevant public information. After a moment, she replied, “The North Great Western Continent Comprehensive International Airshow will be held in three months. However, in three days, the domestic Anyuan City will host the five-day Anyuan Defense Expo, which will also include an airshow component.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu deliberated for a moment before saying, “Then buy me a ticket for the Anyuan Defense Expo, and organize an itinerary for me.”

“Yes, Master,” Number 18 replied immediately.

The Heavenly Kingdom of the Central Continent on this Blue Star was rather calm. They were in the middle of a war suppressing the rebel faction, yet they still had the energy to host a defense expo.

However, Xiao Yu wasn’t politically naive. This was clearly a way for the rulers of the Heavenly Kingdom to send a signal to the outside world: the rebel factions were nothing but a minor nuisance, not worth worrying about. The Heavenly Kingdom’s army could easily quell the rebellion without it affecting other matters.

After waiting for three Blue Star solar cycles, Xiao Yu took a flight to Anyuan City with Number 18. He didn’t bring Yan Lingjun this time; having Number 18 as a guide was enough.

He could confidently ask Number 18 certain things without worrying about slipping up and arousing Yan Lingjun’s suspicion. Besides, Number 18 was a product of the foreign Vitas Industrial Group, so she wasn’t necessarily completely loyal to the Heavenly Kingdom of the Central Continent.

…

Local time, in the morning.

Xiao Yu arrived at the Anyuan Defense Expo. Accompanied by Number 18, he smoothly entered the expo grounds with the other visitors. Anyuan City lacked the superior conditions of Heavenly Capital, so respiratory masks were still required outdoors, though they weren’t necessary inside the main exhibition halls.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was in an outdoor viewing area. Number 18 had told him there would be a flight demonstration here shortly.

After waiting for a few minutes, a roar filled the sky. Xiao Yu couldn’t help but look up and saw three fighter jets approaching from a distance at subsonic speed. As they neared the exhibition area, two of the jets rapidly climbed at a high angle of attack.

The middle fighter jet, however, suddenly dived toward the ground. When it was just about ten meters from the surface, the powerful thrust of its engines abruptly pulled the jet into a sharp ascent, forming a concave parabolic curve. After climbing a few dozen meters, it decelerated to a speed of zero and then began to fall toward the ground like it was in a freefall.

To Xiao Yu’s astonishment, the fighter jet suddenly and rapidly changed its form, transforming directly into a bipedal combat mech. The entire transformation was completed in the brief moment it took to freefall from a height of less than a hundred meters.

“This is the Tianfeng unmanned fighter jet. It was designed as a combat unit for both air and ground support. It can serve as a bipedal combat mech to support special battlefields, and it can also transform into a fighter jet with significant air-to-air advantages to meet different strategic needs.”

Number 18, standing beside him, provided an introduction, then added, “The Tianfeng fighter has been in service for over fifteen years. It possesses super-maneuverability and high-situational awareness, making it one of the main fighter jets of the Heavenly Kingdom’s Air Force.”

At this moment, Xiao Yu was utterly shaken. The image of that fighter jet transforming into a combat mech in mid-air replayed over and over in his mind.

This small demonstration from the Blue Star world had completely shocked him, an Earthling. If a scene like this were to happen on Earth, it would only be possible in a science fiction movie.

Xiao Yu immediately pulled up his interface and searched for the Tianfeng fighter jet. According to publicly available data, the fighter’s size and tonnage were similar to the J-20 fighter of the Great Eastern Country on Earth.

Just imagine a J-20 fighter flying in the sky, and then suddenly, like a Transformer, it morphs into a bipedal combat mech.

Witnessing such a scene for the first time with his own eyes was an incredibly震撼 experience for an Earthling like Xiao Yu.

According to its public data parameters, the Tianfeng fighter jet was capable of hypersonic cruising at Mach 25.

Xiao Yu was stunned by this cruising speed. This was undoubtedly an aerospace fighter, capable of leaving the atmosphere and entering outer space, as Blue Star’s first cosmic velocity was around Mach 23.

“Tsk, tsk… even if I could get my hands on one of these from Blue Star, I wouldn’t dare to just take it out on Earth…” Xiao Yu marveled to himself. For Earth, it was a product far too ahead of its time.

It was no wonder it was an unmanned fighter. Given the rapid transformation into a bipedal mech he had just witnessed, a human pilot inside would probably have been killed instantly by the sheer G-force.

However, even if there was a pilot inside, Xiao Yu wouldn’t have found it too outrageous.

Perhaps the pilots were enhanced with some sort of black technology, their physical constitution far surpassing that of ordinary people, allowing them to withstand such intense maneuvering and G-forces. It wasn’t impossible; after all, this was the Blue Star world, with a level of technology far beyond that of Earth.

…

Chapter 96: T300 Powered Combat Armor

The Tianfeng fighter jet, having switched to its ground combat mech mode, executed several tactical firing demonstration maneuvers on the ground. Then, with a powerful leap, the behemoth weighing twenty to thirty tons seemed unbound by the planet’s gravity, soaring into the air with ease.

This was because the Tianfeng fighter jet’s airframe was constructed with nano-superconductor materials. Relying solely on the planet’s magnetic field, the jet could achieve varying degrees of levitation. Coupled with the vector thrust from the engines on the mech’s back, the twenty-to-thirty-ton giant could leap up as if it were as light as a feather.

As the jet ascended, it rapidly transformed back into its fighter mode and then pulled into a steep, high-angle climb, shooting up like a rocket.

“I have to admit, that was seriously cool…” Xiao Yu remarked to himself, his heart filled with admiration as he watched the rapidly ascending Tianfeng fighter jet. Fighter jets and mechs were every man’s dream, and the Tianfeng offered the best of both worlds.

After watching the Tianfeng’s flight demonstration, Xiao Yu headed into the exhibition hall for a closer look. The Anyuan Defense Expo was a comprehensive international defense exhibition, showcasing not only the Heavenly Kingdom’s own weaponry but also arms and equipment from various foreign countries.

The displayed armaments covered the domains of sea, land, air, space, and electronic warfare. On the surface, Xiao Yu appeared calm, but inwardly, he felt like a country bumpkin in the big city, his mind blown by the spectacle.

As he wandered casually through the exhibition hall, Xiao Yu came to a realization. Forget a major power on Blue Star like the Heavenly Kingdom of the Central Continent; even the defense force of a mid-tier nation on Blue Star could probably steamroll the a a combined conventional armed forces of every country on Earth. Without resorting to ultimate weapons like nuclear bombs, Earth would be completely and utterly crushed.

It was worth noting that in terms of destructive power, nuclear weapons were still one of the pinnacles of power on Blue Star.

After all, the utilization of nuclear energy was standard for a Type II civilization. The only comparable weapon was the ultra-high energy level converged plasma cannon, which acted like a giant magnifying glass, focusing all its energy onto a single point to strike a target, yielding terrifying lethality and destructive force.

Xiao Yu inspected fighter jets exhibited by several different countries in the hall. Most of their parameters were publicly displayed. The ones brought out for exhibition were available for foreign sale, similar to export models, so it was impossible to keep everything under wraps.

Aircraft on Blue Star, whether they were fighter jets or private civilian planes, all used a nanostructure superconducting alloy in their airframes. This was an indispensable material to ensure the aircraft could levitate. In the world of Blue Star, this superconducting alloy was considered a conventional material.

Both military and civilian vehicles required this material, the only difference being their strength and magnetic resistance, which classified them into military-grade and civilian-grade. Naturally, the military-grade was superior.

However, the difference between the two grades was relative to Blue Star, where the standards for military-grade products were much higher.

If you were to take Blue Star’s civilian-grade superconducting alloy to Earth, it would be considered top-tier military-grade material. This was a testament to the technological gap between the two worlds.

After all, on Earth, a fighter jet capable of supersonic cruise at Mach 2.5 was already the pinnacle of performance. But on Blue Star, the Tianfeng fighter jet, which had been in service for over a decade, could reach a staggering Mach 25. It could catch up to many of Earth’s intercontinental ballistic missiles; in fact, very few ICBMs on Earth could even reach a terminal velocity of Mach 25.

If the Tianfeng fighter jet were to appear on Earth, it would fly through uncontested skies, perfectly illustrating the principle that in combat, nothing is indestructible—only speed is absolute.

As time passed, Xiao Yu finished viewing all the aircraft on display at the defense expo. Just as he was preparing to leave, he passed by an exhibit and was captivated by a suit of powered combat armor, so he decided to stop for a look before heading out.

“The Heavenly Kingdom’s rule may be oppressive, but I have to admit, their weapon designs combine both aesthetics and combat effectiveness…” Xiao Yu silently praised the design aesthetic of the powered combat armor suit before him.

The power armor was clearly designed to be worn by a person, and at a glance, it was not at all bulky. It even looked agile and nimble.

It was as if it were a military uniform designed by an art student, perfectly capturing the aesthetic standards of the youth. Xiao Yu noticed that this particular exhibit was crowded with visitors. Many young people stared with gleaming eyes, yearning to wear it, to own a suit of powered combat armor themselves.

In fact, many had enlisted in the army simply because of how cool and stylish this powered combat armor was.

Xiao Yu looked at the parameters and performance data displayed nearby. This power armor suit, codenamed T-300, could enhance human capabilities, increase mobility, and carry powerful weaponry, communication equipment, and defensive systems, boosting a soldier’s lethality and survivability on the battlefield.

The powered combat armor was powered by an ultra-high energy density battery. On its back was a ring-shaped reheat chamber for heat dissipation. It had a life support system that could keep a soldier alive for ten days without resupply, as well as a complete NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) defense and life-sustaining system.

The helmet’s heads-up display integrated an intelligence analysis system, an auditory compensation system, an auto-balancing system, an adaptive system, an auto-aiming system, and a motion enhancement system. It could render the wearer immune to direct fire from most light weapons.

“These defenses are kind of insane…” Xiao Yu was secretly astonished when he read the overview of its defensive coefficients. He did a rough mental conversion and estimated that a direct frontal hit from an armor-piercing round fired by one of his own Great Eastern Country’s main battle tanks on Earth would fail to effectively breach the power armor’s defenses.

Furthermore, with the suit’s powerful kinetic energy absorption and dispersion capability, even if it took a direct hit from an artillery shell, the person inside would not likely be killed instantly. Their internal organs would remain well-protected, preventing them from dying immediately from the concussive force.

However, taking a direct hit from a shell, while not instantly fatal, would almost certainly render the soldier combat-ineffective. Just because it wasn’t an instant kill didn’t mean there would be no injuries; the armor wasn’t invincible.

As long as it wasn’t a direct hit, an artillery shell detonating nearby would be practically harmless. The suit was almost completely immune to shockwaves and shrapnel.

If this power armor were on Earth, it could rampage across the battlefield with impunity against conventional ground forces. Rifle bullets hitting the armor would be like a tickle. Even a large-caliber heavy sniper rifle would do little more than push it back a step or two.

But here on Blue Star, the T-300 power armor’s defenses could be breached.

This was because the offensive weapons on Blue Star were also far more powerful. For starters, standard-issue light weapons were electromagnetic rifles, and their bullets’ material and kinetic lethality far surpassed the gunpowder-based ammunition of Earth’s firearms.

The power armor could withstand attacks from electromagnetic rifles, but it wouldn’t hold up against sustained, concentrated direct fire. Moreover, it couldn’t survive the much more powerful electromagnetic cannons. A direct hit from an electromagnetic cannon would be a guaranteed one-shot kill, resulting in instant death on the spot.

In the Heavenly Kingdom of the Central Continent, the T-300 power armor was standard-issue equipment for the Heavenly Kingdom Army. Anyone who enlisted would be equipped with this as their standard individual combat gear. And it wasn’t even considered top-of-the-line ground combat equipment.

…

Chapter 97: The Pinnacle of Heavenly Kingdom’s Technology: N-800 Nano Armament

While silently observing, Xiao Yu learned from some passersby about a piece of individual combat gear called the “N-800 Nano Armament.”

Hearing the locals’ description of the N-800, which made the T-300 seem completely insignificant, Xiao Yu’s interest was immediately piqued. However, the N-800 Nano Armament was not on display at the defense exhibition.

In Xiao Yu’s opinion, the T-300 power armor was already insanely advanced black technology. And yet, it was considered insignificant compared to the so-called N-800 Nano Armament?

After leaving the defense exhibition, Xiao Yu asked the beautiful female robot by his side, “Number 18, what do you know about the N-800 Nano Armament? Tell me everything.”

The female robot immediately replied, “The N-800 Nano Armament is the pinnacle of Heavenly Kingdom’s individual combat gear. It is one of the masterpieces representing the Heavenly Kingdom’s highest level of technology and also one of its top-secret weapons. The N-800 takes portability and rapid deployment capabilities to the extreme. It can operate without any logistical support, with its only resupply need being the replacement of its cold fusion core engine. A single core engine can support the energy consumption of dozens of battles.”

“The extreme portability of the N-800 Nano Armament lies in storing nanoparticles directly within the human body’s blood vessels, distributed evenly throughout the body via the circulatory system. In their dormant state, these nanoparticles flow with the bloodstream, and the body exhibits no immune rejection response to them.”

“They also cause no circulatory blockages. The smallest human cells, platelets, are about two micrometers in size, while the smallest nanostructures are only two nanometers, making them one thousand times smaller than the smallest human blood cells.”

“A portion of the nanoparticles is stored in a reservoir within the fusion core engine. When activated, they can form a full-body exoskeletal nano-armor in 0.2 seconds, achieving near-instantaneous external armament and providing powerful defensive capabilities to ensure the completion of the internal nano-armament.”

“The nanoparticles within the body are activated by energy from the core. Thanks to the powerful mimetic capabilities of nanotechnology, the internal nano-armament is completed within a single circulatory cycle, taking approximately twenty-five to fifty seconds, depending on the individual.”

“The internal nano-armament utilizes nano-mimetic capabilities on a microscopic scale, arming the body at the cellular and tissue level. It mimetically generates stronger nanostructures. For example, muscle fiber tissues are coated with a more powerful nano-mimetic structure, forming nano-mimetic muscles powered by the core engine. Under its protection, the body’s organs and tissues can withstand greater impacts and blows without being destroyed.”

“Once the internal nano-mimetic armament is complete, the fragile Organic Body becomes like a body of steel. Attributes such as strength, speed, endurance, and defense will skyrocket exponentially, even allowing the user to tear through alloy armor with their bare hands.”

Xiao Yu was stunned. Wasn’t this like becoming a superman? Blue Star’s technology had already applied nanotechnology to this extent?

Internal nano-mimetic armament on a microscopic scale… According to the female robot’s description, it was almost like sheathing the entire body in nanostructural armor at the cellular level. With such strength, one could naturally rampage without a care. To damage the body’s cellular structure, one would first have to destroy the internal nanostructures.

The mimetically generated nano-muscle fiber structures were powered by the cold fusion core engine, not by the organism’s bioenergy. No wonder one could tear through alloy armor with their bare hands.

And with a full-coverage external exoskeletal nano-armor on top of that, it truly became an incredibly durable body of steel, capable of withstanding cannon fire unscathed. It was practically like being a superman.

The beautiful female robot continued, “Its powerful nano-mimetic capabilities can generate various physical structures and weapons of different forms and styles, such as a mimetic nano-axe, a mimetic nano-blade, a mimetic nano-shield, and so on. These can also be mimetically generated and deployed within 0.2 seconds.”

Xiao Yu instantly realized that the absolute core of the N-800 Nano Armament was its powerful nano-mimetic technology. It could mimetically replicate and transform into any form of physical structure from the microscopic level.

As long as a super-strong physical structure existed, this nano-mimetic capability could swiftly replicate an identical one.

“This nano-mimetic technology is insane…” Xiao Yu was dumbfounded. This was a real eye-opener. No wonder the T-300 power armor couldn’t even hold a candle to the N-800 Nano Armament.

At this moment, the female robot Number 18 continued, “The N-800 Nano Armament possesses both melee combat and ranged attack capabilities. The melee methods primarily depend on the warrior’s own fighting skills. Its ranged attack is a high-energy plasma convergence beam. It also has numerous auxiliary functions, such as arc-laser cutting.”

“Furthermore, the N-800 is equipped with powerful nano-repair technology. When human cells, tissues, or even organs are damaged, it can rapidly generate corresponding mimetic tissues to temporarily replace the function of the damaged ones.”

Xiao Yu was utterly dumbfounded. He subconsciously asked, “Doesn’t that mean—let me give an example—if a person’s heart is completely destroyed, or let’s say it’s just gone, can it mimetically generate a nano-heart structure to replace the original?”

Robot Number 18 nodded in confirmation. “Yes. As long as the nano-armament state is maintained, the mimetically generated nano-heart can also be maintained, and it will possess the exact same functions as an organic heart.”

“It’s not just the heart. Any tissue or organ in the human body can be mimetically generated with identical functions. This includes the brain. However, it cannot repair the consciousness formed by the human brain. Severe brain damage is irreversible. Therefore, the N-800 armament prioritizes the protection of the brain over any other part of the body.”

Hearing the female robot Number 18’s description, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement again, thinking to himself that this was a huge eye-opener.

This meant that as long as the core engine’s energy supply was stable and the nano-armament state was maintained, even if all the tissues and organs in the body—aside from the brain—were removed, it could mimetically generate a nano-body that would still be able to move about freely.

Moreover, attributes like strength and speed would increase exponentially, reaching heights that organic life forms could never achieve.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was extremely tempted.

If he had something like this on him, his sense of security when going out would be maxed out.

In public, he could deactivate the external nano-armor and only maintain the internal nano-armament. There would be no change in his appearance, and outsiders wouldn’t notice a thing. But in reality, at the microscopic level, his flesh, blood, cells, and tissues would all be coated with a super-tough nanostructure.

There’s a saying, “armed to the teeth,” but this N-800 Nano Armament was “armed to the cells.”

With this thing, forget being assassinated by a sniper. He could take a direct cannon blast head-on without a scratch. Even if he was injured, or a hole was blown through his body, the powerful nano-repair technology could quickly generate mimetic cells, tissues, or even organs to temporarily replace the damaged parts.

As long as his brain was protected and wasn’t instantly blasted to bits, he would be virtually unkillable with the nano-armament’s protection.

After a moment, the beautiful female robot Number 18 opened a holographic floating display and pushed it in front of Xiao Yu. “The N-800 Nano Armament can mimetically generate nano-thrusters, giving it flight capabilities. The thrusters are powered by the cold fusion core engine.”

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but stop, his gaze fixed on the floating screen. The beautiful robot Number 18 had found a publicly available video about the N-800 Nano Armament online.

An N-800 Nano Armament warrior leaped dozens of meters into the air. The nano-armament on his body rapidly formed various hollow structures, completely encasing him, as if he had transformed into the warhead of a two-meter-long hypersonic missile.

This structure greatly reduced air resistance, while nano-thrusters formed at his legs. The nano-armored warrior in the video shot into the sky, becoming a streak of light that vanished into the heavens in an instant.

The beautiful female robot told Xiao Yu, “The total weight of an N-800 Nano Armament warrior generally does not exceed 100 kilograms. Supported by powerful nano-thrusters, they possess an unparalleled thrust-to-weight ratio. The human body is protected by the internal nano-armament and suffers no damage. The highest recorded speed has reached 20.67 kilometers per second, which is 60.79 times the speed of sound.”

Xiao Yu was once again deeply shocked, almost letting a “Holy crap!” slip out.

Earth’s third cosmic velocity is only 16.7 kilometers per second. The N-800 Nano Armament’s maximum speed directly hit over 20 kilometers per second, exceeding Mach 60. That was a full Mach 10 faster than Earth’s third cosmic velocity.

…

Chapter 98: Ways to Obtain the N-800 Nano Armament

At this moment, Xiao Yu had completely lost the mood to even tinker with the all-electric drive prototype for Sino-Aviation Linfei. The N-800 Nano Armament had become his new obsession, making his heart race. He desperately wanted to get his hands on it.

This was true super black technology. The N-800 Nano Armament could turn a physically weak ordinary person into a steel-bodied superman.

Especially that ridiculously overpowered nano-mimicry technology. In Xiao Yu’s eyes, it was an epic-level black technology capable of mimicking anything.

Theoretically, the wilder one’s imagination, the more incredible the physical forms and structures one could mimic, generated from the nano-scale, microscopic level.

Of course, one couldn’t just mimic and transform at will. There was a prerequisite: the information for the mimicked structure had to be recorded beforehand. It was like uploading a blueprint and saving it, which could then be used to deploy the nano-mimicry generation process.

Only by first perfecting and finalizing a mature physical structure could the desired effect be guaranteed.

Otherwise, even if nano-mimicry generated a combat blade that looked almost identical on a macroscopic level, if the fine structure at the microscopic scale was different, the result would be worlds apart. It could be powerful enough to slice through an aircraft carrier’s deck with ease, or it could shatter instantly with the slightest force.

For example, take objects made of carbon. The tetrahedral structure formed by each carbon atom creates extremely strong chemical bonds, making diamonds exceptionally stable and hard.

But biological organic structures also made of carbon are incredibly fragile compared to diamonds.

This showed that the nano-mimicry technology needed reliable “design blueprints” to mimic and generate reliable physical structures.

“N-800 Nano Armament…” Xiao Yu mentally filed the name away. He had to find a way to get it, no matter what. He also hadn’t forgotten about the “organic body,” which would also be incredibly useful to him.

What made Xiao Yu quite curious was how the Heavenly Kingdom, with such immense power—a single N-800 Nano Armament warrior was likely a force capable of taking on ten thousand men—had been trying to suppress a rebellion for so many years without success.

Moreover, among the several rebel factions, the Red Tide Army, which ranked near the bottom in both strength and scale, was still standing. The Heavenly Kingdom had hit the Red Tide Organization the hardest, yet after all these years, the organization still existed.

However, as an Earthling, Xiao Yu knew that weapons weren’t the sole determinant of victory. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for millet plus rifles to defeat America’s airplanes and artillery back in the day.

Xiao Yu believed there had to be reasons unknown to him for why the Heavenly Kingdom had not yet eliminated the Red Tide Organization, so he didn’t jump to any hasty conclusions.

After leaving the defense exhibition, Xiao Yu returned to his hotel. He had already instructed the beautiful Number 18 android to book tickets back to Fengquan City, departing in two and a half hours.

For now, Xiao Yu pushed aside all thoughts of the prototype and looked at Number 18. “Are there any ways to obtain the N-800 Nano Armament?”

He didn’t have high hopes that an android would know much; he was just asking casually.

A moment later, the beautiful android replied, “The N-800 Nano Armament is one of the crowning achievements of Heavenly Kingdom’s advanced technology and craftsmanship. It is also a top-secret weapon with low production output. To acquire one, you would likely need to gain the appreciation of Heavenly Kingdom’s highest Ruling Class.”

Xiao Yu was quite surprised to hear this. He hadn’t expected Number 18 to actually provide useful information. But after hearing what she said, he felt a headache coming on. This was no ordinary level of difficulty.

The beautiful android added, “Besides that, there is another way that offers a certain possibility of obtaining the N-800 Nano Armament.”

Xiao Yu’s eyes lit up. “Oh? What way is that?”

The beautiful android answered, “The Red Tide Organization has also mastered this technology.”

Xiao Yu was stunned by her words, which clearly touched upon a blind spot in his knowledge. When he collected himself, he asked doubtfully, “How is that possible? Isn’t the Red Tide Organization just a bunch of have-not rabble? How could they possibly possess Heavenly Kingdom’s top-secret armament?”

The beautiful Number 18 android began to explain, “Five years ago, a catastrophic technology leak occurred in the Heavenly Kingdom. Lin An, of Heavenly Capital’s Lin family, betrayed his family and the Heavenly Kingdom. He chose to join the Red Tide Organization, taking with him numerous top-secret technologies, including the N-800 Nano Armament. Lin An’s defection greatly enhanced the Red Tide Organization’s military strength.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu immediately summoned a floating display panel and searched the Blue Star’s internet for the keyword “Lin An.” He saw a wiki entry for “Lin An” and tapped it to browse the information.

The Central Continent’s Heavenly Kingdom was, in reality, ruled from behind the scenes by several great families, which constituted the true highest ruling clique and vested interest group.

The Lin family of Heavenly Capital was one of them. Lin An was born into this family and was the son of the current Lin family helmsman. Extraordinarily talented and of noble status, the entire family had high hopes for him and had designated him as the successor to the family’s leadership.

But Lin An rejected the Heavenly Kingdom’s existing system of governance. He opposed the rule of the few over the many, and he opposed the minority’s exploitation of the majority through the privileges of their rule to enjoy their special status. Lin An believed that all beings were human and should be equal; a select few should not stand high above while the masses could only kneel.

Someone within the Heavenly Kingdom’s ruling clique discovered Lin An’s “rebellious” thoughts and deemed them highly dangerous, a sign he would betray his own class. However, due to his status, most people in the inner circle didn’t believe it.

Six months after the suspicions arose, five years ago today, Lin An truly fled Heavenly Capital, taking with him numerous top-secret technologies to join the Red Tide Organization. Only then did the rulers of the Heavenly Kingdom have to accept the unbelievable truth.

The rulers of the Heavenly Kingdom were enraged, and the Lin family was furious beyond measure.

Lin An’s defection led to the Lin family being suppressed and marginalized to some extent within the ruling clique. Their chosen successor had abandoned the glory, wealth, and privilege he was born with to defect and join the Red Tide Organization, whom they regarded as mere rabble.

It was an incredible slap in the face.

Internally, the Lin family was put on the defensive. If the matter were blown up, they could even be accused of orchestrating it intentionally.

The rulers of the Heavenly Kingdom couldn’t understand it, the Lin family couldn’t understand it, and it was a bitter pill to swallow. The impact of Lin An’s betrayal within the Heavenly Kingdom was extremely severe.

To this day, Lin An remains one of Heavenly Kingdom’s most wanted criminals. The bounty issued by the Lin family has yet to be withdrawn: anyone who can kill Lin An will receive a reward of fifty billion Star Yuan and be given a memory clone and transplant, allowing them to be reborn in a new cloned organic body—equivalent to living a second life.

However, the information Xiao Yu found online was not like this. What he could find about Lin An mostly described him as a heinous traitor to the Heavenly Kingdom, with no positive portrayal whatsoever.

But Xiao Yu had a mind of his own. He didn’t believe this Lin An was as villainous as he was described.

A man willing to voluntarily give up his lofty privileges, to abandon the glory and wealth he was born with, to unhesitatingly throw himself into the rebel cause of the Red Tide Organization—in Xiao Yu’s worldview, this was unequivocally an enlightened progressive whose mind had been awakened.

Of course, to the ruling clique of the Heavenly Kingdom, he was indeed a heinous villain.

Xiao Yu’s initial assessment of Lin An was that he was a top-tier elite from within Heavenly Kingdom’s Ruling Class who had experienced an ideological awakening. He had likely abandoned the path of internal reform, concluding it was impossible, and thus chose to join the Red Tide Organization to completely overthrow the Heavenly Kingdom’s current system through armed rebellion.

“The Red Tide Organization, hmm…” Xiao Yu murmured to himself, lost in thought.

Compared to obtaining the N-800 Nano Armament black technology from the top rulers of the Heavenly Kingdom, Xiao Yu felt that getting it from the Red Tide Organization would be relatively much easier. This was because he had no bargaining chips to negotiate with the rulers of Heavenly Kingdom.

But with the Red Tide Organization, he did. Xiao Yu could provide them with large quantities of food and supplies, which were precisely the strategic resources the Red Tide Organization desperately needed to develop and strengthen its forces. This gave him the leverage to negotiate.

At this moment, an image of his beautiful assistant back on Blue Star, Yan Lingjun, floated into Xiao Yu’s mind.

Xiao Yu mused, “I wonder if Yan Lingjun is really a spy for the Red Tide Organization…”

In that instant, more than ever before, he hoped that she was. If she was, he could use her as a direct line of contact to the organization.

Chapter 99: For Reference and Inspiration

Having learned of the N-800 Nano Armament’s power, Xiao Yu was determined to obtain it. With something like this on hand, he wouldn’t have to worry about his personal safety, whether he was traveling abroad on Earth or venturing into dangerous places.

From now on, he would be completely immune to 7.62mm “peanuts.” In fact, even an in-your-face attack from an RPG rocket would leave him unscathed.

To completely kill someone equipped with the nano armament, one would probably need a superweapon like a nuclear bomb or a high-energy plasma cannon to vaporize them down to their molecular structure.

Alternatively, another nano armament user could defeat them and twist their head off.

Xiao Yu gathered his thoughts. This wasn’t something he could solve right away; dwelling on it further was useless.

However, a preliminary idea had formed. Xiao Yu decided to find a suitable opportunity to probe Yan Lingjun’s background further. If she really was a spy for the Red Tide Organization, that would be ideal, saving him a lot of trouble.

If she wasn’t, he would just have to find another way to try and contact the Red Tide Organization.

Xiao Yu was now certain that, given his circumstances, his only option for acquiring the N-800 Nano Armament was through the Red Tide Organization.

The Heavenly Kingdom was out of the question. He had no bargaining chips to negotiate with them. Xiao Yu was well aware that the only thing he could offer in the world of Blue Star was a large quantity of food supplies. Trying to negotiate with the Heavenly Kingdom using that would likely bring him nothing but trouble.

…

Two hours later, Xiao Yu boarded a flight and left Anyuan City.

The trip had been worthwhile. He had seen a multitude of Blue Star’s air force weaponry and equipment, which would be a great help in designing his prototype aircraft.

He had also unexpectedly learned about an incredible piece of black technology like the N-800 Nano Armament. If it weren’t for this trip, he wouldn’t have known when he would ever find out that such an amazing technology existed in the world of Blue Star.

Xiao Yu packed up most of the data and information, then left the world of Blue Star to return to Earth, where he could study and ponder it.

Back on Earth, Xiao Yu was alone in his private laboratory in the basement of his villa. Several holographic floating panels and 3D data models were displayed on his workbench. Among them was a 3D model that was unmistakably the Heavenly Kingdom’s Tianfeng fighter jet.

Xiao Yu idly picked up the virtual model to examine it. The Tianfeng fighter could flexibly switch between a bipedal combat mech mode and a fighter jet flight mode to adapt to different combat environments.

According to the information presented at the Anyuan Defense Expo, the Tianfeng fighter was positioned as a battlefield support combat unit and an unmanned, intelligent combat machine.

“The flexible switching between mech and fighter modes is likely a product of Blue Star’s battlefield environment and combat system. However, it might not be a good solution here on Earth…” Xiao Yu mused, looking at the virtual Tianfeng fighter model in his hand.

Mindlessly copying it was definitely not advisable. The situations on Earth and Blue Star were completely different and couldn’t be treated as the same.

Even if Xiao Yu wanted to replicate a Tianfeng fighter jet on Earth, he absolutely couldn’t build one in a short amount of time. It involved too many technologies. For instance, just the material needed to maintain the structural integrity of the airframe would be extraordinary.

If he were to use existing aircraft materials from Earth, the airframe’s strength would never withstand the rapid transformation into a bipedal combat mech mode during flight; it would disintegrate in minutes.

The Tianfeng fighter jet incorporated too many black technologies, such as its powerful engine, which could propel a behemoth of twenty to thirty tons to a hypersonic cruise speed of Mach 25. The J-20 fighter jet’s maximum speed was Mach 2.5, a mere one-tenth of the Tianfeng’s.

Then there was its power source. The Tianfeng fighter jet was equipped with a miniaturized controlled nuclear fusion core engine.

All these black technologies were indispensable; without any one of them, the flexible switching between bipedal combat mech and fighter modes would be impossible.

Moreover, the Tianfeng fighter jet had no weapon bays, as its attack methods didn’t rely on air-to-air or air-to-ground missiles like Earth’s fighter jets.

The Tianfeng’s attack method was an energy weapon—a high-energy plasma cannon.

The fighter’s cold fusion core engine provided the energy for it. The fusion core served as both the power source for flight and for its weapons.

The Tianfeng fighter’s plasma cannon could be flexibly adjusted by controlling the output energy level to suit different targets.

For smaller, easily destructible targets, the output energy could be lowered.

Conversely, for larger, more durable targets, the energy level could be increased, all the way up to its maximum peak.

This not only reduced redundant design in the aircraft but also avoided the embarrassing situation of using a cannon to shoot a mosquito. Compared to the missile-based attack methods of Earth’s fighter jets, the Tianfeng’s high-energy plasma weapon was overwhelmingly superior in both concept and technology.

Even on Earth, a similar development trend existed. Decades ago, aircraft carriers carried a wide variety of fighter models, but now they carry fewer and fewer, as more functions are integrated into a single model.

It was no exaggeration to say that a single sortie by a Tianfeng fighter, before its fusion core’s energy was depleted, could completely destroy the air force of a major country on Earth. With a hypersonic cruise speed of Mach 25, air-to-air missiles wouldn’t even be able to catch up.

It was simply a product of a different era. Bringing the Tianfeng fighter here would be like a J-20 fighter appearing in the skies of World War I—an absolute, crushing display of power.

With the advantages of the world of Blue Star, if Xiao Yu had enough ambition and drive, he could, with some effort and ten to twenty years of low-key development, potentially become the ruler of Earth.

“The aerodynamic layout, however, is worth referencing and drawing inspiration from…” Xiao Yu adjusted the parameter model. Using superconducting materials for the airframe could only make the plane leave the ground and hover in the air; flight and maneuverability still relied on engine thrust.

Although a brute-force strategy was possible, when flying within the atmosphere, a proper aerodynamic layout and aerodynamics still had to be considered.

After all, he didn’t have the Tianfeng fighter’s powerful engine thrust, nor the support of a cold fusion core. He was still using graphene batteries for power, so energy conservation was a must.

The prototype Xiao Yu was designing did not deviate from Earth’s technology tree, nor would it have a transforming bipedal combat mech mode. While that was undoubtedly cool and stylish, it was completely detached from Earth’s current technological capabilities.

In the days that followed, Xiao Yu continuously fine-tuned his design, running simulations of the prototype model on his supercomputer.

The development team at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company was divided into several small groups working on conceptual aircraft designs. In reality, Xiao Yu was just using them as a cover, but none of them knew their boss’s true intentions.

The core of the fighter was still the room-temperature superconducting material. This was the primary goal Xiao Yu had to achieve in the second half of the year.

Currently, Sino-Aviation Linfei was building a high-energy laser platform experimental base according to Xiao Yu’s requirements. Progress was excellent, and it wouldn’t be long before it was completed and operational.

The original plan was to use this experimental base to conduct experimental verification of the so-called theoretical derivation results, and ultimately find a true room-temperature superconducting material.

…

Chapter 100: The First Graphene Full-Screen Smartphone Hits the Market

It was now July.

While Xiao Yu was busy with his electric aircraft, the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra, equipped with the graphene full-screen display and graphene battery technology, was officially released today, July 4th. Rebs had secured the first launch for the full-screen display for his 12S-Ultra.

This was because Huawei’s M50Pro was scheduled for a September release, putting the 12S-Ultra two months ahead.

Aside from these two phone manufacturers, no other company had received their shipments yet.

Today, Xiao Yu also took some time to watch the livestream of the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra launch event, hosted by Rebs. The phone was powered by a Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 processor and featured technologies like the “Vein-like Cold Pump Cooling System.” It was also Xiaomi’s first flagship imaging phone launched in partnership with Leica.

In terms of imaging, according to Rebs, the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra was equipped with the world’s first Sony IMX989 sensor. It also boasted a 48MP ultra-wide-angle lens and a 48MP periscope telephoto lens, supporting Dolby Vision HDR video recording and 8K movie recording.

Originally, Rebs had planned to promote the Leica partnership as the core selling point, but now it could only be considered “one of” them and had to be pushed further down the list, as there were much bigger selling points to highlight.

Ever since establishing a partnership with Spiritual Mirror Tech and securing the supply of 100% full-screen displays and graphene batteries, Rebs had turned the graphene full-screen display and the long battery life of the graphene battery into the core selling points of the 12S-Ultra.

Moreover, the first launch of the 100% full-screen display had been hyped for a long time, and users were eagerly anticipating it.

It had to be said that even if the other aspects of the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra’s industrial design remained unchanged, simply removing the “punch-hole” for the front-facing camera from the screen immediately resulted in a quantum leap in its aesthetic appeal. The entire screen was perfectly clean, a sight that had perfectionists exclaiming in extreme satisfaction.

Furthermore, another feature of the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra that exceeded users’ expectations was its adoption of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s graphene battery, which could achieve 72 hours of normal use battery life. This was the duration achievable without any power management or power-saving modes enabled.

To put it plainly, you could play games on this phone non-stop for over 70 hours without any problem. This battery life instantly obliterated every single known smartphone brand on the market, bar none.

On top of that, the graphene battery’s charging speed was ridiculously fast. The current fast-charging technologies on the market all took at least twenty to thirty minutes to fully charge. They were completely outclassed, a victim of a market-killer. The graphene batteries supplied by Spiritual Mirror Tech only needed three to five minutes to be fully charged.

In comparison to the charging speed of the graphene battery, all the so-called “fast-charging” technologies on the market now seemed like slow charging.

Now, various figures both inside and outside the industry, including many netizens eating melon, believed that by securing the supply of full-screen displays and graphene batteries from Spiritual Mirror Tech and nabbing the first launch, Rebs had given the 12S-Ultra a better chance than ever to lead Xiaomi in its successful push into the high-end market.

This was because the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra was currently the one and only product on the market equipped with Spiritual Mirror Tech’s graphene full-screen display and graphene battery. Competitors hadn’t even received their parts, so their products lacked these two major technologies. And the Huawei M50Pro, which also supported these two technologies, wouldn’t be released until September.

In other words, for the next two months, the 12S-Ultra would be the only product featuring a 100% full-screen display and exceptional battery life.

The capital market’s reaction was the most direct indicator. Today was Monday, and the stock price of Xiaomi, listed in Hong Kong, surged to 16.8 Hong Kong dollars per share, a daily increase of +27.47%. It was a massive surge, marking Xiaomi’s largest single-day gain since its Hong Kong listing. The Hong Kong stock market does not have daily price fluctuation limits.

Xiaomi’s latest market capitalization had now broken the 400 billion Hong Kong dollar mark, specifically reaching 419.6 billion Hong Kong dollars, which translated to about 358.2 billion RMB.

The explosive rise in the company’s stock price was undoubtedly the most direct reflection of the capital market’s super-optimism.

At that moment, Xiao Yu had just clicked into the livestream of Xiaomi’s launch event. The conference had already been going on for quite some time, and Rebs, who was presenting the 12S-Ultra, happened to be heaping praise on his “supplier daddy,” Spiritual Mirror Tech.

His emotional intelligence was completely maxed out.

“Why can a company like Spiritual Mirror Tech succeed in a new business, while those Fortune 500 companies often fail when they try? Take Microsoft, for example. Such a powerful company tried to make phones. They couldn’t do it on their own, so they bought Nokia, and then they lost terribly. Or look at Intel making phone chips. How could such an incredible company from ten or twenty years ago fail so miserably? It’s unbelievable. Is the difference between PC and mobile processors really that big?”

Rebs spoke with eloquence, “The reason the world’s top companies tend to fail when they cross over into new businesses, I think the biggest problem is the burden of their prestige. Big companies think, ‘I have the brand, the talent, the technology, the money—I have everything. You startups have nothing.’ They forget that when entering a new industry, they are starting from zero. That is why we at Xiaomi maintain a sense of reverence.”

“We must realize how complex this industry is. No matter the company, or how much smaller their scale is compared to ours, they deserve our respect, and we must genuinely bow down and learn from them. Of course, I’m not saying Spiritual Mirror Tech is smaller than us. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current market cap is already four times that of Xiaomi’s. They are much bigger than us, and their innovation is simply outstanding.”

Laughter erupted from the live audience, and the many netizens eating melon while watching the livestream spammed laughing bullet comments.

It had to be said, Rebs gave plenty of face to his “supplier daddy” from Spiritual Mirror Tech. The eating melon netizens also commented that there was indeed a reason Xiaomi was able to snatch the first launch rights for the application of the two great technologies: the graphene full-screen display and the graphene battery.

As the launch event entered its final phase, Rebs said from the stage, “So, for a phone like the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra, what is its price? This phone truly brings together all of this year’s most advanced technologies. I won’t keep you in suspense. Let’s all take a look at the Ultra’s pricing.”

As his voice fell, the giant screen on the stage switched, and the pricing for the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra was officially announced.

The 8GB+256GB version was priced at 5,999 yuan; the 12GB+256GB version was priced at 6,499 yuan; the 12GB+512GB version was priced at 6,999 yuan.

After announcing the prices, Rebs said, “Starting at 5,999 yuan, I believe that in the 6,000 to 7,000 yuan price range, the Ultra will be a very competitive flagship model. I sincerely invite everyone to visit a Xiaomi Home store near you to experience the power of the Ultra for yourselves.”

The phone users watching the conference were genuinely tempted. Leaving everything else aside, the 12S-Ultra’s currently exclusive 100% full-screen display and the ultra-long battery life of its graphene battery made the 6,000 yuan starting price feel like a great deal.

Having seen this, Xiao Yu closed the livestream page. Regardless of how well Xiaomi’s phone sold, Spiritual Mirror Tech wouldn’t earn a single cent less than it was owed.

According to their contract, regardless of how many units were sold, Xiaomi had to pay for the amount of stock it ordered. Furthermore, no matter if the price was lowered later, Spiritual Mirror Tech would still collect 30% of the initial launch price.

That was 20% for the screens and 10% for the batteries.

The Xiaomi 12S-Ultra started at 5,999 yuan, meaning Spiritual Mirror Tech would take 1,799.7 yuan from each unit. For the 6,999 yuan model, they would take 2,099.7 yuan. For Xiaomi, this was a cost; for Spiritual Mirror Tech, it was cold, hard revenue.

Xiaomi had taken a supply of 28 million phone screens from Spiritual Mirror Tech, with a contract value amounting to a staggering 35.57 billion. They also took a supply of 30 million phone batteries, an order worth 18.93 billion.

In other words, regardless of how many phones were sold, Xiaomi had to pay Spiritual Mirror Tech a massive sum of 54.5 billion.

Chapter 101: Massive First-Day Online Sales

In a way, Xiaomi was working for its “supplier daddies,” helping them sell their products.

This was because the lion’s share of the product’s profits was taken by the various suppliers. Spiritual Mirror Tech, as a single supplier, sliced off 30% of the pie, making it undoubtedly one of the biggest winners.

In September, the Huawei M50 Pro would be released. Huawei had secured a production capacity of five million units from Spiritual Mirror Tech. The M50 Pro would start at 8,799 yuan, and Spiritual Mirror Tech knew its launch price in advance, having signed a non-disclosure agreement, of course.

The collaboration with Huawei was another massive contract, worth fourteen billion yuan.

Besides the mobile phone industry, buyers from other sectors also placed orders starting in the tens of billions of yuan. Orders worth less than one billion yuan couldn’t even get in line.

There was no helping it. The graphene material industry was now completely a seller’s market. Buyers from all walks of life were lining up, begging Spiritual Mirror Tech for supplies.

Other graphene manufacturers not only lagged behind Spiritual Mirror Tech in quality and production capacity, but they also couldn’t sell at such low prices.

Anyone who could secure a supply from Spiritual Mirror Tech was unwilling to buy from other graphene manufacturers.

It’s worth mentioning that other graphene manufacturers were still alive and hadn’t gone bankrupt yet. The market demand was simply too large, and Spiritual Mirror Tech couldn’t currently meet the total supply needs of the entire market. Buyers who couldn’t get their hands on Spiritual Mirror’s products had to settle for the next best thing from other manufacturers.

Although they were still alive, it wasn’t much different from being dead. In reality, the countdown to their bankruptcy had already begun.

The faster Spiritual Mirror Tech’s production capacity grew, the faster its graphene industry peers raced towards bankruptcy.

However, some manufacturers weren’t just waiting to die; they were looking for ways to pivot.

As for the graphene material industry sector, they had already given up the struggle. They had no intention of arm-wrestling with Spiritual Mirror Tech anymore.

Damn it, there was simply no way to compete. Spiritual Mirror Tech had already slashed prices by a factor of ten to twenty, and holy crap, their products still had a profit margin of five to eight times. This meant they still had an enormous amount of room for further price cuts if necessary.

How could anyone possibly compete with that?

Some manufacturers were seeking to pivot, while others had simply given up and were just living day by day.

Currently, as soon as the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra launch event ended, it became the hot topic of discussion in the tech and digital circles. Among the vast number of netizens and mobile phone users online, the most discussed aspects of the product weren’t the Leica cameras, but rather the graphene full-screen display and the ultra-long battery life of the graphene battery. Consequently, the buzz around Spiritual Mirror Tech also remained high.

Netizens now knew that these two major technologies in the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra didn’t come from foreign companies, but were provided by the domestic company, Spiritual Mirror Tech. Compared to these two technologies, things like Leica were marginalized.

Because the two technologies provided by Spiritual Mirror Tech were such strong selling points. For years, the mobile phone industry had rarely seen a product that made people go “Wow!” and catch their eye. The launch of a 100% full-screen display was exactly that kind of eye-catching feature.

It wasn’t that full-screen displays didn’t exist before, but they were either products of compromise or found on dedicated gaming phones that sacrificed the front-facing camera.

The Xiaomi 12S-Ultra, which had secured the first launch, was a proper mobile phone. Its 100% full-screen display was not a product of compromise. The front-facing camera was still there, hidden under the screen, and its imaging quality was unaffected by the display above it.

Besides the full-screen display, the ultra-long battery life was another huge, eye-catching selling point. Phone battery life has always been a pain point, and before this, no phone could last a full day of continuous heavy use.

But the lighter and thinner graphene battery provided by Spiritual Mirror Tech brought an epic improvement to battery life, with an ultra-strong endurance of over seventy hours, which could be extended to ninety hours by activating the power-saving mode.

This was something mobile phone users wouldn’t have even dared to dream of, yet it became a reality in 2022.

With these two major selling points, the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra was priced starting at 5,999 yuan. This time, the vast majority of users felt the price was quite fair.

Even if it had shortcomings in other areas, the two major advantages of the full-screen display and long battery life were enough to offset them. A price of 5,999 yuan was definitely worth it.

In reality, most domestic consumers are quite pragmatic. Despite the boisterous discussions online, the offline reality is often different. Many non-Xiaomi fans were also interested in getting a 12S-Ultra because of its full-screen display and long battery life, as there were no substitutes for it among other brands’ flagship phones.

The product launch event was on July 4th, with the official release date set for July 8th. After the event ended, online pre-orders were already open.

Various people from the outside world were closely watching the 12S-Ultra’s performance. Rebs’ marketing talent was exceptional, and he had hyped the phone to the moon during the launch event, but ultimately, sales figures would do the talking.

No matter how much you hyped it, if the sales flopped, it would just be embarrassing.

In fact, the total sales volume of Xiaomi’s phones wasn’t bad, it was just that the proportion of high-end models was very low.

In all of 2020, Xiaomi shipped 146 million phones, of which only 10 million were high-end models. In 2021, total phone sales reached 190 million units, with 24 million being high-end models, accounting for 12.63% of sales. Compared to 2020, high-end phone sales had doubled, which looked like a great achievement judging by the numbers alone.

In reality, the sales performance of their high-end phones in 2021 was quite mediocre. This was because Huawei had been suppressed that year and was forced to cede its high-end market share. Under such circumstances, selling only 24 million units was clearly subpar.

The lion’s share was devoured by Apple, while other domestic manufacturers could only be said to have had a sip of the soup. In the high-end market, they still fell short compared to Huawei.

The reason Xiaomi’s high-end phones didn’t sell well was mainly due to insufficient brand power. After all, they started out making the legendary 1,999 yuan phone. For high-end phones in the same price range, consumers would choose either Apple or Huawei.

Now that Huawei had no new phones to sell, its die-hard users either waited without upgrading or switched to Apple. No matter what, a Xiaomi phone was not their first choice, which was quite an awkward position for Xiaomi.

In addition, another important reason was that the prices of Xiaomi’s high-end phones dropped too quickly, often taking a nosedive.

For example, last year’s Xiaomi 11-Ultra saw its price plummet, dropping from 5,999 yuan to just over 3,000 yuan, nearly cut in half. The price kept falling right after its release, which greatly dissatisfied many users who had bought it on day one. They felt like they had been major suckers. As a result, many people became “wait-and-seers,” and after waiting and waiting, they ended up not buying at all.

Of course, the severe overheating issue was a hardware flaw, but Xiaomi’s poor price management was also a major contributing factor.

Fortunately, the catastrophic overheating problem wouldn’t happen this time. Moreover, the graphene battery provided by Spiritual Mirror Tech also further reduced heat generation.

In terms of pricing, Rebs was also determined to manage it well and not let it dive like last year’s 11-Ultra.

…

July 6th. Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters.

In the Chairman’s office, after reporting on her work, the beautiful assistant Yun Shu brought up their partner, Xiaomi: “CEO Rebs and Xiaomi are dominating the tech circle’s hot topics now. Early this morning, CEO Rebs eagerly posted on Weibo to announce the first-day online order volume for the Xiaomi 12-Ultra.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled with great interest and said, “Oh? Sounds like it’s a huge success. What’s the first-day online order volume?”

Yun Shu immediately replied, “It’s more than a huge success; it’s a blowout sale. Since CEO Rebs announced it himself, it should be true. The number he released was 3.27 million units in first-day online orders.”

After a brief pause, Yun Shu added, “I specifically looked it up. The Xiaomi 11, launched in 2020, took twenty-one days to break one million units in sales, and that was considered a good result at the time. Now, the 12S-Ultra has reached 3.27 million in first-day online orders. It’s guaranteed to be the hit product of the year.”

Yun Shu then smiled. “I bet the other phone manufacturers are kicking themselves raw after seeing CEO Rebs’ Weibo post. They must be regretting not having secured the first launch of the full-screen display and high-endurance graphene battery technologies. Without these two key features, the 12S-Ultra would never have sold so well.”

The phone manufacturers who didn’t get the first launch were indeed kicking themselves now. Especially seeing Rebs smugly and impatiently announcing the first-day online order numbers on Weibo, the competitors felt like slapping their thighs raw when they saw the astonishing order volume.

…

Chapter 102: Rebs Calls to Request More Orders

The reason the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra was selling so well was due to two key technologies provided by Spiritual Mirror Tech: the 100% graphene full-screen display and the graphene battery.

One drastically improved the phone’s aesthetics, while the other gave it an unprecedented, epic boost in battery life. It also charged to full in just a few minutes without getting hot.

User feedback from the market reflected this. The most discussed features were the 100% full-screen display and the powerful battery life. In comparison, the Leica camera system, another selling point, seemed somewhat overshadowed.

On online e-commerce platforms, the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra had accumulated over six hundred thousand reviews, while the 12S-Pro only had over fifty thousand. The cheaper 12S model had a mere twenty thousand-plus reviews.

Clearly, the more expensive Xiaomi 12S-Ultra was selling better and was more popular. It seemed everyone preferred the top-tier model.

For at least the next two months, until the release of Huawei’s M50 Pro, the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra would stand unrivaled among flagship models on the market. No other high-end phone could compete with it.

During this period, for consumers who wanted a full-screen display and long battery life, only the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra could meet their needs.

Even when the Huawei M50 Pro came out in September, it wouldn’t be a major issue, as Huawei’s stock would be limited, and other phone manufacturers had no stock of these components at all.

If the Huawei M50 Pro sold out, the 12S-Ultra would once again be the only phone on the market with a full-screen display and long battery life. For at least the rest of the year, the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra would have no substitute.

Just as Yun Shu was about to say something more, Xiao Yu’s phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID—it was a personal call from Rebs. Xiao Yu glanced at his beautiful assistant and smiled. “It’s Rebs. He wouldn’t call unless he wanted something. Let me guess, he probably wants to add to his order.”

Yun Shu sat quietly to the side and said no more. A moment later, Xiao Yu answered the call with a laugh. “CEO Rebs, congratulations! The 12S-Ultra is a huge hit—without a doubt, the hit product of the year.”

On the other end of the line, Rebs was also laughing heartily. “We owe its success to the supply support from Spiritual Mirror Tech. But honestly, it blew our expectations out of the water. Our internal forecast was that eight hundred thousand online orders on the first day would be a resounding success. We never, ever expected the actual number of orders to be four times that. It’s unbelievable, beyond our wildest dreams.”

At this moment, Rebs was grinning from ear to ear, a smile that couldn’t be wiped off his face.

Breaking into the high-end market was something Rebs had been dreaming of for a long time. All his previous attempts had been less than satisfactory, and he had often been the subject of ridicule from netizens. It was only because of Rebs’s good-natured attitude that he could still interact with them; another CEO would probably have been fuming.

But this time, he could finally hold his head high.

The Xiaomi 12S-Ultra surpassed three million online orders on its first day. Anyone in the industry knew what this meant: its annual sales could potentially reach fifty to eighty million units. Rebs hadn’t even dared to imagine such numbers.

With good marketing, it wasn’t even impossible to break one hundred million units.

After all, although Xiaomi’s total phone sales last year were one hundred and ninety million units, only twenty-four million of those were high-end models, accounting for just 12.63 percent of total sales. And that was with Huawei being suppressed and forced to cede market share; otherwise, they would have been hard-pressed to even ship twenty million units.

After a round of mutual business flattery over the phone, Rebs saw that Xiao Yu wasn’t asking why he had called, so he had to bring it up himself.

Rebs began, trying to sound chummy with a laugh, “So, Brother Xiao, seeing how well it’s selling, twenty-eight million units’ worth of components won’t be nearly enough. How about you add a little more to our order?”

He was really laying on the charm, calling him ‘Brother’ right off the bat.

A smile on his face, Xiao Yu glanced sideways at his beautiful assistant. The phone was on speaker, so she had heard Rebs’s words crystal clear.

Yun Shu couldn’t help but cover her mouth with a smile, careful not to make a sound.

A moment later, Xiao Yu feigned a troubled expression as he replied, “Ah, CEO Rebs, that’s going to be very difficult. It’s not that I don’t want to, but we’re really out of stock. If we had any more, your competitors would have snapped it up long ago.”

Hearing this, Rebs quickly retorted, “How is that possible? When we met last time, I’m sure I heard you say your company’s graphene material production was going to increase significantly this year. How could you only have this much?”

Xiao Yu replied with a serious tone, “It’s true that we’re increasing production, but the market situation right now is that demand far outstrips supply. All sorts of high-end industries have a strong demand for graphene material. The extra capacity was pre-booked by other industries long ago. Contracts have been signed, half the deposits have been paid. You can’t expect me to break those contracts, can you?”

Xiao Yu added, “And you didn’t give me a heads-up earlier. If you had, I would have had no problem setting some aside for you.”

On the other end, Rebs was momentarily speechless. No one could have predicted the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra would be such a massive hit. He had actually been quite nervous about taking a supply for twenty-eight million units, worried they wouldn’t sell and he’d be stuck with them. A large inventory pile-up would have been fatal.

After all, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s commercial contracts were extremely stringent. Regardless of how well Xiaomi’s final products sold, Spiritual Mirror Tech would get paid every last cent and walk away with its profit.

Now, hearing Xiao Yu say that the new production capacity had already been booked by buyers from other industries, Rebs grew a little anxious. With contracts signed and deposits paid, it would be difficult to get Spiritual Mirror Tech to free up some capacity.

Rebs thought for a moment, then laughed. “Brother Xiao, in that case, why don’t you just add a little more production capacity? Besides, phones don’t use that much graphene material. Look, the screens for nearly thirty million phones only use about ten tons.”

Xiao Yu replied, “The quantity may not be large, but what’s required is research-grade graphene material, and its yield isn’t high to begin with.”

Rebs said quickly, “I know that, but on the other hand, the total market demand for graphene material is so huge, you wouldn’t have to worry about recouping the cost of a few more production lines. You’ll have to expand production sooner or later anyway.”

At this point, Rebs was saying everything he could think of to get a bigger order.

It had to be said, for a big shot like Rebs, famous since the “ancient era” of tech, to be able to humble himself like this in front of a junior from the new generation like Xiao Yu was something not many people could do.

Many big shots had a “burden of prestige” and couldn’t bring themselves to swallow their pride and beg for a favor.

Rebs’s current attitude was making even Xiao Yu feel a little embarrassed. After all, in the tech circle, the man was a bona fide senior heavyweight.

Xiao Yu replied, feigning hesitation, “How many more units do you want to add to the order?”

Hearing Xiao Yu relent, Rebs’s spirits were instantly lifted. He replied directly, “I want a supply for eighty million units.”

The moment those words were spoken, Xiao Yu hung up the phone without a second thought. Yun Shu, who was standing by, was stunned. She couldn’t help but say, “Is it really okay to hang up on CEO Rebs like that? He’s a superstar in the tech circle, after all. Isn’t that a bit too disrespectful…?”

Xiao Yu smiled calmly. “Don’t worry, he’ll call back. He’s just starting with an outrageous demand so he can bargain down from there. He finally succeeded in breaking into the high-end market with the 12S-Ultra. He’ll definitely want to consolidate this hard-won victory. Twenty-eight million units won’t be enough, and he absolutely won’t be content if he can’t increase his supply.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu asked curiously, “So you’re planning to increase production for Xiaomi?”

Xiao Yu nodded. “Yeah, why not? It’s not a big deal. Besides, if I don’t agree over the phone, Rebs will probably show up in person tomorrow. Then I’d have to entertain him, and I’m busy with research on my electric fighter jet. I don’t have time for schmoozing.”

Just then, his phone rang again. Xiao Yu glanced at his beautiful assistant and grinned. “See? Told you he’d call back.”

Xiao Yu immediately gestured for Yun Shu to be quiet and answered the call. Rebs’s voice came through instantly. “Hey, brother, don’t hang up on me! But you hanging up did help me cool my head a bit. A supply for eighty million units was indeed a bit much, I got a little carried away. The 12S-Ultra probably won’t sell over one hundred million units.”

…

Chapter 103: Dissatisfied? Would I Care if They’re Dissatisfied?

In the Chairman’s office.

Sitting to the side, Yun Shu remained perfectly silent. Hearing that Xiao Yu’s prediction had indeed come true, the beautiful assistant couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

Xiao Yu answered the phone and replied, “CEO Rebs, you really gave me a scare with that opening. Right off the bat, you’re asking for a supply of eighty million units. Not to mention I don’t have them, but even if I did, the other competitors would definitely think I was hoarding them and deliberately refusing to supply them.”

The implication was clear: You’re making me offend people.

Rebs naturally understood the subtext in Xiao Yu’s words and immediately laughed it off. “Indeed, that was a bit thoughtless of me. How about this, then? I’ll just take a supply of fifty million units. That should be okay, right?”

Without a second thought, Xiao Yu denied him. “Fifty million is a no-go. At the absolute most, I can only squeeze out five million units. Our production capacity is just too limited, CEO Rebs.”

Hearing this, Rebs was stunned. Are all young people like this nowadays? When haggling, you usually cut the offer in half, but good heavens, this guy just went ahead and dropped a zero…

Rebs quickly said, “That can’t be right. With only five million units, how am I supposed to negotiate with Qualcomm and our other suppliers for additional orders?”

To increase the production of the 12S-Ultra, it wasn’t just about getting more screens and batteries from Spiritual Mirror Tech. It also meant securing more chips from Qualcomm and additional parts from their other ‘supplier daddies’. Rebs was simply talking to Xiao Yu first.

He didn’t have much of a personal connection with Xiao Yu; they had only met once, when Rebs had personally paid him a visit.

He had long-standing cooperative relationships with his other suppliers and was confident he could manage them. Xiao Yu was the only uncertainty. Rebs still didn’t have a good read on him, so he needed to sort out the supply issue with Spiritual Mirror Tech first. Handling Xiao Yu was half the battle won.

At this moment, both sides were bargaining. Xiao Yu put on an act, not of someone who didn’t want to sell, but of someone for whom it was extremely difficult.

And Rebs put on a pleading facade, as if to say, Come on, I’m begging you, just give me a bit more stock.

Xiaomi had finally succeeded in breaking into the high-end market; it couldn’t be a flash in the pan. The timing was perfect—all conditions were favorable. Such a golden opportunity might never come again. Just give me more stock. It’s not like I won’t pay you. What’s this about not wanting to make money when it’s right there for the taking…

Finally, Rebs gritted his teeth and said, “Alright, little brother, how about this? As long as you can supply Xiaomi, I’ll give you another 4.5 percentage points of the profit on this batch. Xiaomi will take just 0.3% profit. Basically, I’m giving up profit for market share.”

Xiaomi’s profit margin on its mobile phone business wasn’t high, not even reaching five percent—it was only around 4.8%. For a hardware company, this figure was far from stunning. Fortunately, Xiaomi had enormous shipment volumes and a massive user base in the global market, so even with slim margins, the final income was substantial.

But for Rebs to willingly give up 4.5% profit on this batch was a truly ruthless move.

Xiao Yu was slightly taken aback by the offer. Yun Shu, who had been sitting quietly to the side, was also astonished. Giving another 4.5 percentage points to Spiritual Mirror Tech meant Xiaomi would be working for free on this batch. If their operating costs weren’t well-controlled, they might even lose money.

Rebs knew this, of course, but his sights were set further down the road. With this batch of products, he could ramp up the volume of his high-end phones and solidify this core user base. Even if this batch didn’t make money, securing a firm foothold in the high-end market share would be a victory.

When the next generation of products was released, he would have this user base to build upon, and that’s when he would make his money.

Without securing a market share large enough to achieve scale, his position in the high-end market would be unstable, amounting to nothing more than a flash in the pan.

The 12S-Ultra had given Xiaomi such a fantastic, dream-like start in its assault on the high-end market. If it all fell apart later, CEO Rebs would be truly unwilling to accept it.

Compared to that, he was ready to part with the immediate profit. All he wanted was market share.

Xiao Yu had been thinking that the back-and-forth was about done and was ready to relent, but he didn’t expect Rebs to unleash an ultimate move at the last second, even giving up the meager profits on this batch to secure the stock.

With Rebs having laid his cards on the table like this, Xiao Yu felt it would be awkward to refuse any longer.

But if Rebs dared to offer this profit, Xiao Yu dared to take it without hesitation. After all, foreign capital held a significant portion of Xiaomi’s equity structure, with institutions like JP Morgan, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, and Standard Chartered all holding Xiaomi stock.

If it weren’t for Rebs’s broad-mindedness, his complete lack of a big shot’s arrogance, and his ability to humble himself without a second thought, Xiao Yu might not have engaged in such a major collaboration with Xiaomi. It could be said that Rebs’s personal appeal was more than half the reason.

And so, Rebs successfully secured an additional supply of 38.5 million screens and batteries from Xiao Yu. Combined with the previous 28 million units, the total capacity came to 66.5 million.

After Xiao Yu hung up, Yun Shu couldn’t help but ask, “Can we really squeeze out that much extra production capacity?”

Xiao Yu tossed his phone aside, stretched contentedly, and said slowly, “You can always find more if you squeeze. Our production capacity has increased, but the military’s procurement volume hasn’t risen significantly, which leaves more for the civilian market.”

Yun Shu lowered her gaze in thought, then looked up at Xiao Yu after a moment. “We told the other phone manufacturers we were out of stock, but now we’re giving Xiaomi an extra thirty-eight million-plus units. If word of this gets to the other manufacturers, they might feel like we’re toying with them and become dissatisfied with us.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu gave a half-smile. “Dissatisfied? Would I care if they’re dissatisfied? If they had shown Rebs’s sincerity, I wouldn’t have minded giving them stock. Of course, now we’re completely and utterly out. Even if their sincerity was ten times greater than Rebs’s, there’s nothing left. We can talk again after the next production increase.”

Xiao Yu’s confidence was backed by solid ground.

After all, apart from Spiritual Mirror Tech, there wasn’t a second company in the world that could supply cheap graphene material in large quantities.

If you can’t find a substitute, you have to play by someone else’s rules.

Countless high-end industries had a huge demand for graphene material; the mobile phone industry was just one of them. Spiritual Mirror Tech never had to look for buyers; instead, buyers came knocking in an endless stream, begging for a supply.

Rebs smoothly secured a huge additional supply order from Xiao Yu. While no formal contract had been signed yet, it was a gentleman’s agreement.

With the helmsmen having come to an understanding, there were unlikely to be any surprises.

However, to prevent any unexpected issues, Rebs immediately arranged for someone to fly to Linzhou and get the contract signed, lest delays bring trouble.

Rebs himself didn’t rest either. He immediately went to find his other suppliers.

Meanwhile, in the capital markets, after Rebs announced the first-day online order numbers for the 12S-Ultra, Xiaomi’s stock price surged again. Its market capitalization soared to 758 billion Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to about 647 billion RMB.

In less than five days, its market cap had skyrocketed by about one and a half times. The surge was insane.

The capital markets had long been optimistic that the sales of the 12S-Ultra wouldn’t be poor. After all, for the next two months, it would be the only phone in the world with both a full-screen display and long battery life.

But no one expected the order numbers to be this explosive. It was an epic, severe outperformance of expectations. This was on pace for annual sales starting at fifty million units, and even that might be a conservative estimate. More importantly, Xiaomi was finally on the verge of successfully breaking into the high-end market.

The other competitors were slapping their thighs raw in regret again and again. Some even felt a sense of, “In a time without heroes, a nobody makes his name.”

They felt Xiaomi had simply gotten lucky. It had snagged the first launch of the graphene full-screen display and battery, catching this rare opportunity, which was the only reason the 12S-Ultra was now a massive hit.

Conversely, the competitors believed that if they had secured the first launch, their product would have been just as good as the 12S-Ultra. But very few of them stopped to reflect on why Rebs was the one who got the stock and secured the first launch.

Many industry insiders were also completely stunned. They had never imagined that the application of these two new technologies could have such a colossal impact on a product’s sales.

…

Chapter 104: Explosive Semi-Annual Report Results

The time was late July. As the Xiaomi 12S-Ultra was flying off the shelves, Spiritual Mirror Tech completed its high-yield bonus issue at the end of the month and made the ex-rights adjustment on the registration date.

Following the bonus issue, which converted 990 shares for every 10, the company’s total share capital ballooned from the original 868 million shares to 86.8 billion—a hundredfold increase. Naturally, the price per share was reduced by a hundred times to match, with the latest stock price becoming 15.33 yuan/share on the ex-rights day.

After the adjustment, buying one lot cost just over 1,500 yuan, making it affordable for the small retail investors of the A-share market.

However, on the day of the ex-rights adjustment, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price plummeted for three consecutive days. This was partly due to a downturn in the broader market, but it was also interpreted by the market as a sign that the good news had been priced in. After all, the stock had risen dramatically, and the talk was that it was time for retail investors to be the bagholder.

In the three days following the ex-rights adjustment, the company’s stock closed down -7.28%, -6.96%, and -0.57% respectively. It hit a low of 12.78 yuan/share, and its market capitalization shrank to 1.1 trillion yuan. In just over a month, it had lost an amount nearly equivalent to the entire market cap of Xiaomi and was briefly surpassed by CATL, relinquishing its title as the most valuable stock on the ChiNext board.

Since its adjustment from an all-time high of 20.11 yuan, the cumulative decline had reached -36%. Many retail investors who bought in on the ex-rights day were dismayed to find themselves facing a -16% unrealized loss after just three days.

But after those three days, the company’s stock price began to stabilize and then embarked on a sustained rebound.

This was because retail investors kept buying the dip. As short-term profit-takers finished selling, countless retail investors were building new positions. The buying interest outweighed the selling pressure, and the stock price began a steady climb upward.

Entering August, the stock continued its rally, enjoying a seven-day winning streak that brought the price back up to 16.37 yuan. This represented a cumulative rebound of over +28%, and the company’s market capitalization returned to 1.42 trillion yuan.

For the retail investors who had bought on the ex-rights day, their unrealized losses had turned into unrealized gains.

After the seven-day winning streak, the stock price began to consolidate, fluctuating around the 16 yuan mark.

Another factor driving this rebound was the market’s speculation on the upcoming semi-annual report results.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s performance was undoubtedly one of the market’s most watched events. A trillion-yuan market capitalization couldn’t be sustained by storytelling and imagination alone; it needed solid financial results to back it up.

On Monday, August 15, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock fell below 16 yuan, closing down -4.98% at 15.82 yuan, with a market capitalization of 1.37 trillion yuan.

…

The next day, Tuesday, at 11:00 AM.

After a knock on the door, Yun Shu entered Xiao Yu’s office. She walked to his desk, placed a document on it, and said, “The company’s semi-annual report audit is complete. For the first half of this year, revenue reached 108.245 billion yuan, a year-over-year increase of +12413.87%. Net profit was 30.629 billion yuan, a year-over-year increase of +41633.49%.”

Yun Shu added with a smile, “The performance and profit from just the first half of this year have already far surpassed the results for the whole of last year. Oh, and the company’s AI business is also showing strong performance, with incredible momentum.”

Sitting in his office chair, Xiao Yu picked up the financial report. He skimmed through it, not particularly concerned about the other details. What satisfied him most was seeing that the net profit margin was 28.3%, contained within the 30% mark.

Such a profit margin was very much in line with the performance of a high-tech giant, making it look much more reasonable.

The reason for the夸张 year-over-year growth in revenue and profit for the first half of the year—a staggering 124.1 times and 416.3 times, respectively—was primarily due to the extremely low base from the previous period. In the first half of last year, revenue was just over 800 million yuan, and the company had actually posted a net loss of over 70 million yuan. This was what led to this year’s incredible growth rates.

Having said that, even looking at sequential growth instead of year-over-year figures, the performance was still astonishing. The first half of this year alone had already surpassed the entire previous year’s performance, where revenue was 78.3 billion yuan and net profit was 21.6 billion yuan.

Xiao Yu then looked at the performance of the AI division in the financial report. There were now 572 enterprise clients, most of which were large corporations. These 572 clients had contributed 13.95 billion yuan in revenue.

This was because though Mira AI’s Enterprise Edition was expensive, the cost was acceptable for large corporations.

Renowned major companies, in particular, saw no need to engage in dubious workarounds. A potential scandal could lead to public relations costs far exceeding the price of a legitimate license, not to mention the damage to their corporate reputation.

Besides that, some companies would rather let Spiritual Mirror Tech earn the money than give their employees a bigger slice of the pie.

Such companies and bosses exist; not every business “rationally” pursues maximum profit. For example, in one city, delivery riders for a food delivery platform went on a collective strike to protest the platform’s cancellation of several subsidies, changes to the payment system, and a 50 yuan daily penalty for riders who didn’t go online.

The platform’s response was to replace every rider in the city overnight, making it clear with their “if you won’t do it, get lost” stance. They would rather incur higher costs—hiring riders from neighboring cities at 200 yuan a day plus 10 yuan per delivery to fill the vacancies—than concede to the striking riders for a smaller cost.

This is the evil of capital, the tactics of capitalists.

Some company bosses are just like that—they would rather Spiritual Mirror Tech make a profit than give their employees a raise. In this day and age, people like Pang Dong Lai’s CEO Yu and Spiritual Mirror Tech’s Xiao Yu are the “rare exceptions.”

However, this situation inadvertently contributed to the impressive performance of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI business. The growth in the AI division was robust; fewer than six hundred enterprise clients had generated nearly fourteen billion yuan in revenue. A few thousand such clients could bring in revenue in the hundreds of billions.

In China alone, the number of industrial enterprises above a designated scale was as high as 500,000. In the A-share market, there were nearly 2,800 companies with an annual net profit exceeding 100 million yuan. With such a massive base, even if only one percent of the companies that needed Mira AI and could afford the enterprise version signed up, that would still be 5,000 companies—a baseline for a hundred billion in revenue.

And that was just the domestic market, without even factoring in the international market.

Even though it was on America’s blacklist, as long as your product’s competitiveness was unparalleled, foreign companies and users would always find ways to get around the restrictions and use Mira AI. They would certainly have to pay for it; even if they obtained an account through “intermediaries,” those intermediaries would still have to pay Spiritual Mirror Tech.

Moreover, this was just the Enterprise Edition. The current 13.95 billion yuan in revenue did not include the Personal Edition, which was still free for now.

The most profitable aspect of Mira AI wouldn’t be the expensive Enterprise Edition, but the affordable Personal Edition. Although the all-inclusive bundle for the Personal Edition cost 300 yuan a month, and individual productivity tools were as low as 30 yuan, the sheer size of the individual user base was something enterprise clients couldn’t compare to.

The number of internet users in China alone had reached a staggering 1.067 billion, which represented the theoretical ceiling for Mira AI’s user base. The domestic market alone could support a terrifying volume of one billion users.

Even if only fifty million paying individual users ultimately purchased the all-inclusive bundle, the expected annual revenue would be a colossal 180 billion yuan.

Xiao Yu closed the document and looked at Yun Shu. “After eleven-thirty, release this semi-annual report to the public. Also, have Old Xu host the earnings call at twelve o’clock, and end it by twelve-thirty.”

“Alright, I’ll go make the arrangements,” Yun Shu nodded lightly before turning and gracefully walking out of the Chairman’s office.

Half an hour later, at 11:32 AM, just two minutes after the morning trading session had closed, Spiritual Mirror Tech released its 2022 semi-annual report. Investors were stunned when they saw the results. The quickest to react were already frantically queuing up buy orders at the limit-up price.

…

Chapter 105: Beyond Expectations! Epically, Seriously Beyond Expectations!

Xiao Yu’s choice to disclose the company’s performance after the midday market close was also intended to minimize the information disadvantage for retail investors as much as possible, giving them at least an hour and a half to react.

This financial report represented an absolutely explosive achievement. Once it was announced, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price would undoubtedly soar.

Because it had simply exceeded expectations by too much.

Moreover, Xiao Yu had protected the company’s financial information with extreme diligence. Even the state-backed Ruilian Group was unable to learn of it in advance, let alone other investment firms.

Therefore, whether it was large funds or small retail investors, no one participating in the game got to see the cards ahead of time.

Although absolute fairness was impossible, and Xiao Yu wasn’t one to pursue it, he still sought the greatest common denominator.

Relatively speaking, this was far fairer than the vast majority of listed companies. At the very least, institutions and large funds hadn’t seen the playing field in advance, setting up early ambush positions while waiting for retail investors to drive up the price for them.

Around 11:35 AM, major stock market apps pushed a news flash from Cailian News Agency:

[Spiritual Mirror Tech has announced its semi-annual report results. The company’s revenue for the first half of the year was 108.245 billion, a year-over-year growth of 124.1 times. Net profit was 30.629 billion, a year-over-year growth of 416.3 times.]

This news flash, pushed out during the midday break, shocked everyone who saw the figures. Retail investors took screenshots and shared them across various chat groups and stock forums for discussion. They all pulled up Spiritual Mirror Tech’s intraday chart and frantically began queuing orders to scramble for shares.

Everyone was certain that when the market reopened in the afternoon, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price would, without a doubt, shoot straight up to its limit.

Before long, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s popularity surged, rushing all the way to the top of the day’s stock popularity rankings as investors searched for the stock and flooded its forum comment sections with discussion.

[Holy crap! This earnings growth is epically explosive!]

[Other companies are considered awesome if their performance doubles or grows a few times over. This is the first time I’ve ever seen revenue grow over a hundredfold and net profit over four hundredfold.]

[The growth is so ridiculous mainly because the previous numbers were low, right? Revenue for the same period last year was just over 800 million, and they even had a net loss of tens of millions.]

[The previous value was indeed too low, but the quarter-over-quarter growth is also insane. In just half a year, they’ve surpassed their performance for all of last year. I remember Spiritual Mirror Tech’s total revenue last year was 78.3 billion, and net profit was 21.6 billion.]

[A rough calculation—doesn’t that mean this year’s total revenue could hit over 200 billion, with net profit exceeding 60 billion?]

[It’ll shoot straight to the limit up when the market opens this afternoon. Tomorrow, it’s guaranteed to open with a limit-up from the bell. The results are just too explosive, epically and seriously beyond expectations.]

[I haven’t gotten on board yet! I wanted to wait for the results to come out. I’m slapping my thighs raw in regret.]

[Thank god I bought some this morning. Too bad I bought too little, way too little!]

[Cherish Spiritual Mirror Tech at 15 yuan. After today, you probably won’t be able to buy shares at this price ever again. This wave will definitely break through the 20.11 high in one go and set a new all-time high.]

[With such explosive earnings growth, I can kind of understand why a trillion-yuan market cap stock can move more crazily than a monster stock.]

[What the hell? Spiritual Mirror Tech’s earnings disclosure timing is completely random and impossible to predict. Last time, they released the annual report on the very last day, so I thought they’d wait until the end of the month this time too. But then they suddenly released it mid-month. I’ve only built a twenty percent position…]

[Random and unpredictable, isn’t that great? It’s still on the green board and falling, which means the institutional and big money players didn’t get the news in advance either. Otherwise, it might have already hit the board this morning.]

Indeed, many institutional and large funds had not received the news. At this moment, they had no choice but to join the army of retail investors in queuing orders and scrambling for shares.

During the midday earnings call, CEO Xu Changming stated that the production capacity for the company’s main business, graphene material, would be further expanded and was expected to more than double its current capacity.

This news was even more incredible.

At 1:00 PM, the market reopened on schedule. At that moment, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock was still underwater, down 2.91%. The instant the afternoon session began, its intraday line shot up like a rocket without any pullback, moving even more wildly than a monster stock.

Selling pressure? It didn’t exist. Any amount of selling pressure was instantly devoured by the overwhelmingly strong buy orders.

Moreover, there wasn’t much selling pressure at this time. Those with sell orders queued were frantically trying to cancel them. Because the price shot up so fast, some people’s sell orders were executed before they could be canceled, leaving them slapping their thighs in frustration.

At this moment, all kinds of capital were scrambling for shares—retail investors, speculative funds, large individual investors, and institutions were all fighting for a piece.

At 1:01:41 PM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price surged to 18.98 yuan, sealing the limit up at a +19.97% gain. The value of the buy orders at the limit price reached a staggering 87.9 billion.

Yesterday, the stock’s total trading volume for the day was 24.1 billion. Today, despite hitting the 20% limit-up, the volume shrank to 16.3 billion. Furthermore, only a little over 3 billion was traded in the afternoon; the vast majority of trading had occurred in the morning. This indicated that shareholders were treasuring their shares.

And most of this 3-billion-plus volume in the afternoon came from orders that couldn’t be canceled in time. The people who lost their shares this way were so furious they shut down completely.

On Wednesday, the following day, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened with a limit-up from the opening bell at 22.78 yuan, a +20.02% increase on reduced volume during the opening call auction. After opening, it remained solidly sealed at the limit for the entire day. An opening with a limit-up from the bell today was a foregone conclusion.

The company’s stock price effortlessly broke through its previous high of 20.11 yuan to set a new all-time high. Its market capitalization also climbed to 1.977304 trillion yuan, just a final kick away from the 2 trillion yuan milestone.

The financial performance was too explosive. Not only had the main business exceeded expectations, but the AI business segment had surpassed them by a massive margin.

Most retail investors only saw the explosion in total revenue and profit, but industry insiders and professional investment firms were paying more attention to Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI business segment. Although its share of revenue was still far less than the main business, the 13.95 billion in revenue also seriously blew past expectations.

Since Spiritual Mirror Tech’s Mira AI had launched its high-fee Enterprise Edition in the first half of the year, various market analysis firms had generally expected revenue of 2 billion to be a good result. In the end, it unexpectedly hit 13.95 billion, nearly seven times the forecast.

The crucial point was that this revenue was generated while the Personal Edition was still free. Everyone knew that the real money-maker for Mira AI wouldn’t be the Enterprise Edition, but the future paid Personal Edition.

Although the Enterprise Edition commanded a hefty fee, the number of clients was limited. All told, there were just over five hundred thousand industrial enterprises of a certain scale in the country. The number that truly needed AI and could afford the fees was certainly a minority. Some traditional manufacturing industries had no use for it; the primary users were IT, internet, and tech companies.

But the personal user base was a different story entirely. It was measured in the hundreds of millions. Even though the fee for the Personal Edition would be very low, it would be supported by the enormous user base.

Furthermore, various investors and analysis firms had taken note of the data in Spiritual Mirror Tech’s semi-annual report, which showed that Mira AI’s user registrations had already reached 91.9 million. This, again, greatly exceeded market expectations.

It was important to remember that Mira AI was currently operating under usage restrictions, supporting a maximum of only 50 million concurrent online users.

Through the new registration channel, accounts could be created but not used normally. Users needed to apply for a limited-time invitation code, and even with a code, they could only use the service for a limited three-month period before making way for the next batch of accounts.

Even so, people had registered over 60 million accounts in such a short period, a testament to Mira AI’s immense popularity.

If it weren’t for the lack of computing power, the number of registered users might have broken through 100 million a long time ago.

Many investors believed that the future earning potential of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI business segment would in no way be inferior to its main business of selling graphene material.

The biggest question now was whether the problem of insufficient computing power could be solved, and if so, when it would be completely resolved so that users could use Mira AI smoothly and without any restrictions.

Chapter 106: And Just Like That, the World’s Richest Man, Not Yet 30, Was Born

By Thursday, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price opened at 27.34 yuan, up +20.02%, hitting the limit-up from the opening bell once again. This marked its third consecutive limit-up. The stock continued to set a new all-time high, with its market capitalization rising to 2.373112 trillion yuan, putting it within a hair’s breadth of becoming the most valuable stock in the A-share market.

Currently, the top stock in the A-share market by market cap was Kweichow Moutai, valued at around 2.4 trillion yuan.

After the market opened at 9:30 AM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s limit-up from the opening bell broke. The price quickly dived by more than ten percentage points, but it didn’t fall any further. Around 10:00 AM, a weak trend turned strong, and the stock hit the limit-up again. The trading volume for the day surged to 47.1 billion yuan.

The next day, Friday, the last trading day of the week, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened low and quickly dropped further to -5.16%. However, it didn’t stay underwater for long. Just a minute later, it began to rally, and three minutes after that, it crossed the zero axis, turning positive.

It then began another powerful surge, with both price and volume rising in tandem.

Around 9:55 AM, all major stock tracking apps sent out a notification:

[Spiritual Mirror Tech hits its fourth consecutive limit-up in four days, with its stock price reaching a new all-time high of 32.81 yuan. Since rising from its interim bottom of 12.78 yuan, it has seen a cumulative increase of +156.73%. Its total market capitalization of 2.8479 trillion yuan has surpassed Kweichow Moutai, making it the most valuable stock in the A-share market. Current trading volume exceeds 51.3 billion yuan.]

At this moment, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s popularity index was, without a doubt, dominating the charts. Its hype was maxed out, and the entire market was buzzing.

[Number one on the ChiNext board? You’re looking down on my Spiritual Mirror, aren’t you?]

[Awesome! A 2.8 trillion market cap, enthroned at the top of the A-share market. Kweichow Moutai is finally down. A liquor company dominated the A-share market for so long. Look at America—their top stocks are all high-tech companies.]

[This is a historic day, one destined to be recorded in the annals of the A-share market.]

[Congratulations to King Spiritual Mirror on his ascension!]

[We can’t call him King Spiritual Mirror anymore. He’s been promoted to Emperor Spiritual Mirror!]

[An Emperor-level powerhouse, terrifyingly so. (Shiba Inu emoji)]

[This is truly absurd. A trillion-yuan large-cap stock hitting consecutive 20% daily limit-ups. It’s more of a monster stock than an actual monster stock.]

[What can you do? This is the credibility of the king of 21st-century materials. Spiritual Mirror Tech has a monopoly on graphene mass production technology. If it weren’t for the A-share market’s daily limits, it would definitely double in a single day.]

[It’s not just their main business that’s awesome; Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI is also light-years ahead. I don’t think a one trillion US dollar valuation for a company like this is too much. That works out to a seven trillion yuan market cap.]

[I just bought in on Monday, and I’ve already doubled my money. Should I sell?]

[Well, everyone who sold earlier, no matter at what price, sold too early and is regretting it big time.]

[Sell my ass. I’m holding on for the long term and not selling a single share. You do you.]

[Speaking of which, Bro Xiao’s net worth has skyrocketed along with it. He holds 51.03% of the shares, which corresponds to a market value of 1.45 trillion yuan.]

[The youngest richest man in the country’s history. He’s the first and only super-billionaire in the country with a net worth exceeding one trillion yuan. Awesome!]

[In US dollars, that’s 212.5 billion. He’s already surpassed the world’s second-richest man, Jeff Bezos, and is second only to Elon Musk’s 219 billion dollars. Holy crap! Doesn’t that mean if Spiritual Mirror Tech goes up by three percentage points next Monday, he’ll overtake Musk to become the new richest man in the world?]

[A 29-year-old world’s richest man… Damn!]

…

With the company’s stock price doubling in a monstrous rally, Xiao Yu was undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary. Although it was paper wealth, it was still truly astounding.

His nominal net worth had soared to a terrifying 1.45 trillion yuan in just one week, bringing him incredibly close to the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. They were now the only two super-billionaires in the world with a net worth exceeding 200 billion US dollars.

After the weekend, on Monday, August 22nd.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock surged to the daily limit again around 10:32 AM, marking its fifth consecutive limit-up. The stock price hit a new all-time high of 39.37 yuan, and its market capitalization soared to 3.417316 trillion yuan.

The last time a stock in the A-share market had broken the three trillion yuan mark was last year when Kweichow Moutai surged above the 2600 yuan price level.

Xiao Yu’s net worth shot up another 20%, soaring to 1.7438 trillion yuan, equivalent to 255 billion US dollars. This surpassed Elon Musk’s 219 billion dollars, making him the new richest man in the world at the age of 29, and also the youngest world’s richest man in history.

Right then, the news of the change in the world’s richest person shot up to the top of the trending topics.

Thousands upon thousands of netizens flocked to Xiao Yu’s Weibo to send congratulatory telegrams and all sorts of congratulations. It was clear that people were not resentful of his wealth, but rather quite happy for him.

At 11:29 AM, in the final minute before the midday break, Spiritual Mirror Tech, which had been firmly sealed at its limit-up, suddenly broke the limit.

During the midday recess, rumors spread that the exchange administrators had intervened with “window guidance.” The regulator believed that Spiritual Mirror Tech’s meteoric rise constituted a severe abnormal fluctuation and directly guided some institutions to sell.

This rumor wasn’t baseless; many institutions had indeed received window guidance. Even some retail investors received text messages from their brokerage firms.

The regulator’s “fear of rising prices” was a long-standing issue. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market capitalization had already swelled to a colossal 3.4 trillion yuan. It had single-handedly lifted the ChiNext Index to 3280 points. To put that in perspective, in April of this year, the ChiNext Index had once plummeted to 2122 points.

If Spiritual Mirror Tech’s weighting was removed, the ChiNext Index would currently be around 2790 points.

The regulator believed that risk is created by rising prices; if prices don’t rise, there’s no risk. They feared being held accountable if a crisis occurred, which could cost them their careers. To them, that was the real risk. In the regulator’s view, the broader market forever staying at 3000 points was ideal.

Whether retail investors made money or not was never a consideration for them.

Moreover, since bottoming out last year, Spiritual Mirror Tech had soared all the way to its current heights, yet it still had not been included as a constituent stock in the CSI 300 Index or the SZSE 100 Index.

The reason was that the stock was rising too fiercely, and its market cap was now astonishingly large. If it were added to the indices, its continued rise would make the indices impossible to control.

The ChiNext Index was a case in point, and the regulator was now even considering reducing Spiritual Mirror Tech’s weighting in it.

When the market reopened at 1:00 PM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price dived after breaking the limit, accompanied by an astronomical volume of trades. Large funds began a frantic sell-off, and many short-term profit-takers jumped on the bandwagon to flee, causing the price to trend steadily downward. Every attempt to rally was crushed by selling pressure.

At this moment, a retail investor saw a text message from his brokerage firm warning about the risks of Spiritual Mirror Tech. Regardless of whether they could see his reply, he furiously typed back a curse-laden message:

[Fuck you! Why don’t you warn me about stocks that are losing money? You only let them fall, not rise? You only want retail investors to lose money, not make it, right? What’s wrong with me buying Spiritual Mirror Tech, huh? Even if I lose money, I’m happy to. It’s my fucking choice! It’s my money, I’ll do whatever the hell I want with it! What fucking business is it of yours? Spiritual Mirror Tech is risky? It’s falling? I’m begging it to fall more! The more it drops, the more I’ll buy! Fuck off! Send me another message like this and I’m closing my account, dammit!]

“Damn my short fuse…” The retail investor cursed as he tossed his phone aside.

He had bought his shares of Spiritual Mirror Tech when it broke the limit on its third consecutive rise, at a cost of 25 yuan. At today’s limit-up, he had been up +57.48%, and even now, he still had a profit of 49 percentage points.

However, he had no intention of selling. Not only would he not sell, but he also planned to buy the dip, as he currently only had twenty percent of his capital in this position. This retail investor was in it for the long haul. He had immense faith in Xiao Yu and was utterly convinced that Spiritual Mirror Tech would one day surpass a one trillion US dollar valuation, which was a seven trillion yuan market cap.

The tech giants in the US stock market were all worth one or two trillion US dollars.

Spiritual Mirror Tech held a commanding lead in AI technology with one hand and a global monopoly on graphene mass production technology with the other. Why shouldn’t it be worth one trillion US dollars?

…

Chapter 107: A Grand Discussion at the Meeting

If Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price were to plummet, this particular retail investor planned to double down and aggressively add to his position.

The company possessed core technology that was far ahead of the competition. More importantly, Xiao Yu’s character was incredibly trustworthy. After all, Xiao Yu himself dared to serve as the company’s legal representative, a position often called the “scapegoat,” which demonstrated his genuine sense of responsibility and courage. This was why numerous retail investors, including himself, dared to bet heavily on Spiritual Mirror Tech.

After the market closed, Spiritual Mirror Tech, at its historical high, showed a candlestick with an exceptionally long upper shadow—a massive shooting star. It closed the day with a gain of +5.36%, at 34.57 yuan per share, bringing its market capitalization to 3.000676 trillion yuan. The daily trading volume was an unprecedented 118.2 billion yuan, accounting for 47% of the ChiNext Index’s total volume. Nearly half of the entire ChiNext board’s trading volume came from Spiritual Mirror Tech alone.

It also became the first stock in the history of the A-share market to surpass a daily trading volume of one hundred billion yuan. Its immense capital-siphoning effect was nearly draining the liquidity of all other stocks on the ChiNext board, many of which had suffered heavy losses.

Although the stock failed to achieve its fifth consecutive limit-up, Xiao Yu’s latest net worth of 1.53 trillion yuan, equivalent to 223.9 billion US dollars, still surpassed Elon Musk’s, making him the new richest man in the world. He was also the first super-billionaire in history to achieve this milestone before the age of thirty.

Discussions about Xiao Yu becoming the world’s richest man were now trending online, with everyone talking about the unprecedented financial legend he had created.

Xiao Yu hadn’t updated his Weibo account, but the comment section of his most recent post was exceptionally active. The latest comments were all variations of “congratulations.”

It was no exaggeration to say that Xiao Yu’s popularity and the discussion surrounding him were at their zenith, unmatched by any other topic for the time being.

Regardless of whether the public’s discussions about him were full of praise or criticism, Xiao Yu paid them no mind. Instead, he calmed himself and focused on a single problem.

This problem began with the AI Mira and included the more advanced technologies he would bring from Blue Star in the future. The issue was that advanced technological productivity increased efficiency but simultaneously caused unemployment.

Ideals are often beautiful, but reality can be harsh and doesn’t always unfold as one hopes.

In his heart, Xiao Yu knew that his strategy of dividing Mira into an expensive Enterprise Edition and a cheap Personal Edition had limited potential to solve the problem. After a thorough societal struggle, the costs and consequences would ultimately be passed on to the weaker groups.

Between corporations and employees, there was no doubt that the employees were the weaker party, while the corporations held the power.

Xiao Yu was aware of this, yet he still pushed forward with the strategy of high fees for the Enterprise Edition and low fees for the Personal Edition. His primary goal was to seize the moral high ground and win over public opinion first.

That afternoon, Xiao Yu arrived at Spiritual Mirror Tech’s headquarters and summoned the company’s core executives, including Yun Shu and Xu Changming. He also called Wen Suqing to join them.

Xiao Yu gathered these key figures in a small conference room and presented the problem he had been pondering for a long time, inviting them to discuss and analyze it.

“Actually, Marxist economics has already told us that advanced productivity boosts efficiency, and advanced productivity always leads to unemployment,” said Fu Kang, the first to speak, offering his perspective.

He stated this conclusion and then gave an example. “Take the textile industry. Over the past seventy-plus years, the production efficiency of the domestic textile industry has increased more than sixtyfold. But the number of textile workers hasn’t increased; it has decreased. Back then, the textile industry alone provided half of the country’s jobs, but today, it accounts for less than one percent.”

Fu Kang added, “It’s because productivity has massively improved. Everything is automated, so you don’t need as many people. This is an objective fact.”

Xiao Yu, who had raised the issue, sat silently, listening to the others’ discussion.

Just then, Wen Suqing countered, “I don’t quite agree with Director Fu’s view. It seems a bit too mechanically materialistic. Using the example of automation in the textile industry, of course the number of jobs directly in textile manufacturing has decreased, but new jobs have also been created in research and development, manufacturing, and maintenance of automated production equipment, as well as throughout the supply chains for these devices.”

“So, when truly advanced productivity emerges, it does eliminate some low-end jobs, but it also creates new ones. The emergence of advanced productivity can itself liberate workers from intense labor, allowing industrial workers to live more like human beings with more time for their own lives.”

Hearing her view, Fu Kang couldn’t help but smile. “I also agree with Ms. Wen’s point, but that’s the ideal scenario. My argument is based on reality. And the reality is that workers do not control this advanced productivity; it’s in the hands of capital and a select few.”

At this, Fu Kang glanced around the room and added, “When advanced productivity is in the hands of capitalists, it becomes a tool to exploit workers under the pretext of reducing jobs. I’m not denying that advanced productivity is wrong. Rejecting advanced productivity is rejecting scientific and civilizational progress, a path to self-destruction.”

Fu Kang continued, “So the point I’m trying to make is that the fault lies not with the emergence of advanced productivity, but with the people who control it, which is what leads to unemployment.”

After a short pause, Fu Kang spoke again. “I’m not trying to flatter the boss, but we have to admit that a boss like CEO Xiao, who is willing to share profits for the benefit of all, is incredibly rare—it’s almost counter to human nature, which is what makes it so precious.”

“Take Mira, for example. When advanced productivity is in the hands of a team like ours, then it’s just as Ms. Wen said: it can reduce the intensity of labor, giving workers more time for themselves. Working hours would decrease, and people would have more time to spend as they please, because we are not using the advanced productivity we control as a powerful new tool for exploitation.”

Then, Fu Kang’s tone shifted. “But if this advanced productivity were in the hands of capitalists, they would undoubtedly cut staff to maximize profits instead of reducing work hours. They would further siphon the scattered wealth from the bottom and concentrate it in the hands of a few. In that case, technological progress, increased production efficiency, and advanced productivity would become sharp weapons for exploitation.”

Fu Kang concluded, “The current situation is that the macro-mechanism for wealth distribution operates on the principle of ‘not supporting idlers.’ The advent of advanced productivity inevitably leads to the objective reality of increased unemployment and longer working hours. For example, to achieve the same output, it used to take three people working three shifts around the clock. Now, with advanced productivity, one person can do it in twelve hours. The total labor time has indeed decreased, but the individual’s labor time has increased, and so has unemployment.”

Wen Suqing said, “You can’t really put it that way. Having two people each work four hours versus one person working eight hours could double the cost in terms of social security and efficiency. If you have one person do the job, their salary will have to increase. Besides, because production efficiency has improved, the products become cheaper.”

Hearing this, Fu Kang spread his hands and shrugged. “The problem is, I’ve already become one of the people who was laid off. I have no income. Even if the products are cheaper, I can’t afford them unless they’re free.”

Fu Kang continued, “It’s like how many people now hope for a housing market crash, as if they could afford a house if prices fell. The truth is, if housing prices were cut in half, they’d be even less able to buy a house. A housing crash would trigger a macroeconomic downturn that would spread to other industries, causing their income to be cut in half as well, or they might lose their jobs entirely. Even if housing prices were cut in half again, they still wouldn’t be able to afford it.”

At this moment, Yun Shu suddenly chimed in, “Ultimately, the crux of the problem lies in the current distribution mechanism.”

Xu Changming, who had been silent until now, immediately said, “Assistant Yun hit the nail on the head. After all that discussion, the key to the problem lies in those two words: ‘distribution.’ But I’d like to extend that a bit further and summarize it in three points: fairness, fairness, and still, fairness.”

Pausing here, Xu Changming looked around at everyone. “But a topic this grand is not something a single private enterprise like ours can answer.”

Finally, everyone’s gaze turned to Xiao Yu, who had not said a word throughout the discussion. In truth, they were all trying to guess his intention in gathering them to discuss this issue.

Xiao Yu looked at Xu Changming and smiled. “The topic is grand, but we shouldn’t sell ourselves short. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s potential has yet to be truly unleashed. This is just the beginning. In the future, we will inevitably be called upon to answer a part of this question. Since we’ll need to answer it then, that tells us we should be preparing for the exam now. Otherwise, how can we possibly answer it well in the future?”

Everyone present couldn’t help but ponder Xiao Yu’s words.

Just then, Xu Changming looked at Xiao Yu and smiled. “I have a feeling you’re about to pull off something big again. Go on, tell us what you have in mind. The few of us will definitely support you wholeheartedly.”

Founding members like Xu Changming and Fu Kang, who had worked with Xiao Yu for so many years, knew him well. They knew that the Great Man’s ideas had a profound influence on Xiao Yu.

Moreover, the founding members who had stayed with the company did so because of the kind of person Xiao Yu was; they shared his values. Those who had left did so for the same reason—because they did not share his values.

At this moment, Xiao Yu lowered his head, lost in thought. He thought about the situation on Blue Star, where advanced technological productivity had become a tool to exploit the masses. This thought strengthened his resolve.

He didn’t want his home, Earth, to follow the same old path as Blue Star and end up in the same state after he brought over Blue Star’s many black technologies.

Finally, Xiao Yu looked up at everyone. “The crux of the problem is distribution, so let’s start with distribution. I’ve decided to establish a foundation. Let’s call it the ‘Universal Benefit Foundation.’ This foundation will have only one mission: to help those who are behind get rich, with the ultimate goal of achieving common prosperity. The target audience of this foundation will be the vast low-income population at the bottom.”

“Where will the money come from? We’ve siphoned an enormous amount of wealth through our advanced technological productivity, and this wealth has given us the power to distribute it. So, we will disperse the massive wealth we’ve gathered. Each year, we will transfer about one-third of the company’s profits to the Universal Benefit Foundation, free of charge. There will be accumulation and dispersion, a virtuous cycle.”

Hearing his words, a shocked Wen Suqing couldn’t help but look at Xiao Yu and say, “I feel I must remind you, and I’m not speaking for Rui Lian’s interests as a shareholder, but purely for myself. What you’re doing is very risky. An entrepreneur, a billionaire, who doesn’t love money and instead gives it away everywhere, especially to the poor—someone will inevitably use the historical parallel of ‘the Tian clan’s usurpation of Qi’ to accuse you of buying popular support.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled serenely and said slowly, “If you’re determined to condemn someone, you’ll never lack a pretext. If someone really wants to take me down, even if I don’t do this, they’ll eventually say I’ve amassed too much personal wealth. They’ll incite the world to resent the rich, focus the conflict on me, find some excuse to ruin my reputation, and then rightfully carve up my assets.”

Xiao Yu spread his hands. “Since it’s going to be like that, why don’t I just go all-in right now and distribute the wealth? This way, my enemies will have no angle of attack from the very beginning. No matter what, I won’t end up with my reputation in ruins. If I’m brought down for this, I’ll be a hero, immortalized in the hearts of the people and the glorious annals of history, instead of going down in infamy for eternity as a notorious capitalist.”

Fu Kang nodded and said, “I agree. Even from a practical standpoint, doing this allows us to forever occupy the moral high ground, an unassailable position. It’s so fundamentally correct that no one would dare to publicly oppose it and say what we’re doing is wrong. At most, they’ll just stir up trouble behind the scenes. And in the future, no matter how much money we make or how much of a technological monopoly we have, not only will the public not curse us, but they will staunchly support our endeavors to become even more prosperous.”

Xu Changming also agreed. “Indeed. No matter how others try to slander us, the public won’t be easily swayed. They may not be able to discern the deeper complexities immediately, but as long as they receive tangible benefits and advantages, that will trump everything else. It’s a very simple principle. Suppose I hear people badmouthing CEO Xiao every day, but when I fall on hard times, he’s the one who helps me without hesitation, while those who badmouth him don’t even spare me a glance, let alone help. How much of an idiot would I have to be to believe their nonsense?”

Fu Kang, Xiao Yu, and the others couldn’t help but chuckle at this. For a moment, Wen Suqing was left without a retort.

Fu Kang, Xu Changming, and the others all clearly expressed their support for Xiao Yu’s decision.

Xiao Yu was not surprised by their unhesitating support. They all shared a common philosophy and values; those with different views had already parted ways with Spiritual Mirror Tech over the years.

With the issue of redistributing the siphoned wealth settled, he could now bring the many advanced technological productivities from Blue Star to Earth with peace of mind.

Finally, Wen Suqing looked at Xiao Yu with great curiosity and asked, “I have a question. In that case, how do you ensure that the money is genuinely distributed to the poor, low-income individuals at the bottom, and not snatched away by others? There will definitely be people pretending to be poor to get a share of the money, and there will be a lot of them. The current social climate is such that people not only feel no shame for getting something for nothing, but even consider it their due.”

…

Chapter 108: The Greatest Significance is Setting a Precedent

Seeing that Spiritual Mirror Tech’s entire executive team supported Xiao Yu’s decision, Wen Suqing understood that the Benevolence Fund was now a certainty, so she said no more.

However, she was also very curious about how Xiao Yu would properly implement the distribution. Earning money was hard, distributing it was harder, and distributing it well was harder still.

At this moment, Xiao Yu nodded to himself and said in a deep voice, “The issue you raised is indeed one the Benevolence Fund cannot avoid in the future. But this problem isn’t unsolvable. There is a solution, and a very good one at that. We just need to get two key points right.”

Wen Suqing listened without speaking, her eyes filled with skepticism.

Xiao Yu held up one finger and said with a smile, “First, we use advanced AI technology to skip the middleman. The Benevolence Fund will directly interface with the target accounts and deposit the money without going through any third-party organizations or personnel. This process won’t be handled by people either; it will be uniformly distributed using AI, which is far more efficient. If we don’t use the advanced technology we’ve developed for a scenario like this, what did we develop it for?”

Then, Xiao Yu held up a second finger. “Second, we look to our ancestors for answers and learn from history. One is Emperor Wu, and the other is Shang Yang.”

Xiao Yu methodically broke it down. “In 113 BC, the fourth year of the Yuanding era of Emperor Wu of Han, the emperor issued the ‘reporting decree,’ encouraging commoners to report on each other. It stipulated that half of the confiscated assets from law-breaking merchants would be awarded to the informant. Of course, we can’t just copy this rigidly, but we can certainly learn from the approach.”

“The Benevolence Fund can also encourage the public to report on each other. If someone reports a person for fraudulently claiming subsidies by pretending to be poor, and the claim is verified, the informant can anonymously receive a cash reward.”

“But just borrowing from Emperor Wu isn’t enough. We also have to learn from Shang Yang’s methods. A specific measure in Shang Yang’s reforms for mutual supervision and reporting was the implementation of the ‘collective responsibility system.’ We’ll adopt this concept and combine it with Emperor Wu’s ‘reporting decree.’”

“For example, within a designated area—say, a village or a town—those who receive subsidies from the Benevolence Fund will supervise and report on one another. If someone in that area is found to be committing fraud, the other residents have an obligation to expose them. If they don’t, everyone in that area will face punitive subsidy reductions, or even a complete suspension of subsidies.”

If it were a public institution, it couldn’t borrow from Shang Yang’s methods. But the Benevolence Fund was essentially a private charity. To put it bluntly, as long as the Benevolence Fund’s money was clean, the Xiao Yu team’s internal rules on how to distribute it, who to give it to, who not to give it to, whether to give it this year but not the next, or to deny it to people who did certain things while giving it to those who did others—all of that was a private matter and perfectly legal and compliant.

Fu Kang was instantly impressed, praising, “That’s a brilliant method! It fully leverages mutual supervision among people and maximizes the public’s initiative. History has proven this mechanism to be very effective. After all, subsidy fraud is already despicable, but if your fraud could cause my rightful subsidy to be cut, I’d be furious and wouldn’t stand for it. I’d definitely report anyone I discover.”

Even Wen Suqing had to admit that Xiao Yu’s second strategy truly captured the essence of the phrase “people care most about what affects their own interests.”

Moreover, it would drastically reduce the Benevolence Fund’s supervision costs. If the Fund had to do all the monitoring itself, the expense would be astronomical, and it would never achieve the desired results.

But by implementing such a mutual reporting mechanism, the cost would be virtually zero. In modern terms, it was about mobilizing the public, fully leveraging the collective wisdom and power of the masses.

This system would prevent people from remaining apathetically aloof, since failing to report someone else’s fraud, if discovered, would lead to losses for everyone in the area.

Therefore, everyone would have sufficient motivation to protect their own interests. They could no longer adopt an “it’s none of my business” attitude; instead, they would be the ones hanging the fraudsters out to dry.

This mechanism also solves the problem of individuals being too afraid of retaliation to report someone. When the interests of a whole group are harmed, they’ll report it as a group.

There’s courage in numbers. Their fear would be greatly reduced, and their willingness to report would significantly increase.

By the same token, those committing fraud might not be afraid of offending one person, but offending a whole group and incurring public wrath would certainly make their hearts skip a beat.

Especially since they all live in the same place and see each other every day. Once you’ve angered the community, you might find someone throwing rocks at your windows in the middle of the night, your internet and power cables getting cut every other week, or the battery of your electric scooter suddenly disappearing.

These aren’t major incidents, but they’re enough to wreak havoc on a person’s life, leaving them mentally and physically exhausted and unable to live in peace. If they were to fly into a rage and yell about which son of a bitch did it, they’d find no one would pay them any mind. They’d be completely isolated. That’s the consequence of incurring public wrath.

In other words, it would also be an enormous deterrent for potential fraudsters. They would have to weigh the pros and cons, and once they realized it wasn’t worth the risk, their desire to commit fraud would naturally decrease.

Finally, Xu Changming asked, “How do we get started? Where do we begin?”

After a moment of thought, Xiao Yu said, “Something like this should naturally start in Linzhou City. Our company is based in Linzhou, and we’re the city’s god of wealth. The resistance to launching here will be minimal. We will support as many people as our earning power allows.”

Xiao Yu paused for a moment, looked around at everyone, and added, “We can’t spread ourselves too thin. We can’t blindly seek absolute fairness. Instead, we’ll start with Linzhou City and then expand outward in phases. Once Linzhou is stable, we’ll expand to the surrounding cities, and so on.”

Linzhou City has five districts, three counties, and one administered county under its jurisdiction, with a total population of 8.87 million. Low-income households account for about seventeen percent of the total population, which is approximately one point five million people. This shows that Linzhou is not particularly developed and has a significant low-income population.

Xiao Yu pondered for a moment before speaking. “Linzhou City has about one point five million people in low-income households, mostly workers and farmers. Their family income is less than twice the city’s minimum living standard for urban and rural residents. They face enormous hardship and financial pressure. These one point five million people are the group we need to help.”

Fu Kang considered this and couldn’t help but ask, “How will we help this group? Will we give them direct cash subsidies?”

Xiao Yu replied immediately, “This group has a low income because they haven’t been able to keep up with the changing times and technological development, nor have they benefited from the economic boom. To be blunt, they are a group left behind by social competition. We can only approach this from a place of compassion and not expect too much. A simple, direct cash subsidy will suffice. Treat it as a form of welfare.”

After a short pause, Xiao Yu added, “We’ll calculate it based on the number of people registered in the household. We will give each person a direct subsidy of 350 RMB per month. Most families in this group have five or six members, so that comes to 1,750 to 2,100 RMB a month. This amount is neither too much nor too little. It can significantly alleviate their financial pressure and markedly improve their current difficult living conditions, while not being so much that they’d feel no need to work to support their families.”

Xu Changming made a quick calculation. “A subsidy of 350 RMB per person per month for one point five million people… the annual budget would be around six point three billion. That’s not a lot. Our company’s net profit this year is projected to be between sixty-five and seventy billion. If we allocate a third of that to the Benevolence Fund, that’s over twenty billion. At 350 RMB per person per month, we could support more than five million people. The one point five million in Linzhou alone won’t even come close to using it all up.”

Yun Shu couldn’t help but point out, “That may be true, but on a national scale, five million people is just a drop in the ocean.”

Hearing this, Fu Kang laughed. “Assistant Yun, surely you don’t expect Spiritual Mirror Tech to single-handedly provide subsidies for every low-income person in the entire country, do you? That’s not realistic. We couldn’t afford it even if we sold the company. We can only help a portion of them.”

Xiao Yu also chimed in, “I said it before: we do what we can with the resources we have. The greatest significance of what we’re doing is to set a precedent for society. If every company could learn from us and support a group of their own, why would the path to common prosperity be out of reach? Of course, that’s just an idealistic, wishful thought. But regardless, if we can influence even one other company, it’s a start. That’s the meaning of setting a precedent.”

…

Chapter 109: People-First or Productivity-First?

Yun Shu said thoughtfully, “Giving out direct cash subsidies is like giving a man a fish. Won’t this encourage a culture of getting something for nothing? After all, it’s better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.”

Before Xiao Yu could speak, Xu Changming, who was also in the meeting, heard this and spoke first. “That viewpoint of yours is precisely the kind of thinking confined by the four words Fu Kang mentioned earlier: the principle of ‘not supporting idlers.’ If you choose to embrace advanced productive forces, you must accept the objective fact that a batch of low-end jobs will be eliminated. A trade-off is necessary. But we cannot follow the law of the jungle and let them fend for themselves, or else it would be a betrayal of our beliefs.”

“Why do these low-income individuals have low incomes? It’s because they lack the professional knowledge and technical skills to be competent in increasingly specialized jobs. They can’t repair high-precision machinery, they can’t program algorithms, they don’t understand high technology. They can only do simple, repetitive manual labor—tasks that machines can perform better and more efficiently.”

“Are we supposed to, for the sake of ‘teaching them to fish’ and ‘not supporting idlers,’ mechanically set up an extremely inefficient and outdated manual textile factory just to give this group something to do? Isn’t that the same in nature as the American dockworkers demanding that no automated equipment be installed for ten years? It’s a typical act of civilizational regression, a rejection of advanced productive forces.”

“Besides, how is that approach fundamentally different from giving direct cash subsidies? The actual cost might even be greater than just handing out money.”

Xu Changming paused for a moment before continuing, “Times have changed. In an era where advanced productive forces and production efficiency have greatly increased, we must also change the old-fashioned mindset of ‘not supporting idlers.’ More importantly, we must first be clear about the difference between being ‘people-first’ and ‘productivity-first’.”

“We certainly cannot reject advanced productive forces. And by embracing them, low-income earners will inevitably be sifted out and eliminated. We must also acknowledge this objective and irreconcilable conflict. Avoiding it won’t solve the problem.”

“So how do we resolve this conflict? By human means, we follow the way of heaven: taking from the excess to supplement the deficient. In other words, we take a portion of the wealth created by advanced productive forces and use it to compensate the low-income groups impacted by those same forces. How do we compensate them? Through direct cash subsidies, of course.”

At this point, Xu Changming glanced around at everyone and joked with a smile, “Isn’t there a saying popular online now? ‘The strong never complain about the environment, because they’re the ones who ruined it.’ From the perspective of the low-income group, we are the strong. It is the advanced productive forces we created that have made their environment for survival more difficult.”

“So, from this perspective, giving them cash subsidies isn’t about letting them get something for nothing. It’s a form of compensation.”

“Besides, 350 yuan a month really isn’t much. It’s not enough for them to just lie flat and sunbathe all day without doing anything. But having this extra money to supplement their household income is something that would make them very happy. At the very least, they could afford a few good meals.”

“Even if we take a massive step back, let’s say some god-tier person really can live a ‘lie-flat’ life on 350 yuan a month. Isn’t that a good thing? At least it’s not a bad thing, right? At least they’re not causing trouble, right? We don’t expect them to advance science, technology, and civilization. Not causing trouble and supporting our vigorous development of advanced productive forces is already a huge contribution.”

After Xu Changming finished, Xiao Yu looked around at everyone and said with a laugh, “Old Xu’s words make him my perfect spokesperson, haha. However, direct cash payments only solve part of the problem. That’s walking on one leg. We need to walk on two.”

“The other leg is spending a portion of the budget on basic public welfare projects, on essential but loss-making projects that require financial subsidies. This will allow the broader population to benefit indirectly. For example, public transportation is a public project that doesn’t make money and needs subsidies. The Benevolence Fund can step in to increase the number of buses, add a few new bus routes, and so on.”

Clearly, walking on two legs was the most stable approach. Xu Changming, Fu Kang, and the others couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Xiao Yu added, “Our company is expected to generate over 60 billion in net profit this year, and it will only be more next year. We’ll give one-third of our profits to the Benevolence Fund. Let’s just call it 20 billion for now. The cash subsidies for the 1.5 million people in Linzhou City will only use up a little over 6 billion, which is only about 30% of the funds. There’s still 70% left.”

“The money in the Benevolence Fund will also be split into three parts: one-third for an emergency reserve fund, one-third for public welfare project expenditures, and one-third for direct cash subsidies to low-income groups.”

Fu Kang immediately nodded and said, “This method of allocating funds is very reasonable. I agree.”

At this moment, Wen Suqing spoke up, “But all these things you want to do are the government’s responsibility. By doing this, where do you leave the government? Haven’t you considered this problem?”

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but smile. “If you put it that way, I’ll have to take the high road. Who says companies and entrepreneurs can’t do things that serve the people? The state has always been advocating for and encouraging companies to have a sense of purpose and social responsibility. We’re responding to the nation’s call. If someone opposes me doing these things, then I’d have to turn around and question what side they’re really on.”

Wen Suqing was speechless. “…”

After a moment of silence, Wen Suqing suddenly smiled. “I have a completely new understanding of your team today. You are a group of idealists. Idealists are often mocked and questioned, but the flame of idealism never goes out; it’s always burning. It’s an honor to be able to work alongside you.”

Xiao Yu looked at Wen Suqing and smiled. “There will certainly be resistance, but we are not fighting alone. We aren’t the only ones with ideals; there are many others. When the people above find out about this, some will surely support us. The key is to let the higher-ups know about this as soon as possible—to let them know that there is a group of people willing to do this, who dare to do it fearlessly. What you just mentioned was basically a concern about overstepping our authority, that we lack proper justification. But the support of the state is the greatest justification of all.”

A moment later, Xu Changming thoughtfully proposed, “I’ve suddenly thought of a half-baked idea. I’m not sure if it’s feasible.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu turned to look at him. “Let’s hear it.”

Xu Changming nodded and said, “Since we have a near-absolute technological monopoly in the field of graphene, and the market demand for graphene material is so strong that even doubling our production capacity year after year can’t meet it, why don’t we add an additional condition for our buyers?”

“That is, for any manufacturer who procures graphene from us, if they are willing to follow our example—we won’t ask for as much as one-third, even 3% would be fine—and use some of their profits to help the less fortunate prosper, we will give them priority in supply, and perhaps even a certain price discount.”

After laying out his suggestion, Xu Changming looked around at the others.

Upon hearing this, Fu Kang’s eyes lit up. “I think Old Xu’s idea is excellent. It doesn’t matter if they do it out of sincerity or just to secure a supply of the material. We only look at their actions. As long as they take practical steps to emulate us, it’s a huge victory. It’s like we’re making more and more friends.”

Fu Kang added, “If it’s just us doing this, not only will we seem eccentric, but it will also be difficult to start a trend. But if more companies follow our example, it will undoubtedly be easier to get this trend going. In time, it might even become the mainstream.”

The people present analyzed the idea and all felt that Xu Changming’s suggestion was highly feasible.

Because Spiritual Mirror Tech controlled and had an exclusive monopoly on the mass production of graphene material, and this new material happened to be needed by many high-end industries, it meant that buyers could not band together to resist. There was no chance of them all simultaneously refusing to buy Spiritual Mirror Tech’s products and causing its revenue to plummet.

Even if such an extreme situation occurred, Spiritual Mirror Tech still had military procurement orders to provide a safety net, so the company wouldn’t face the risk of total revenue loss and bankruptcy.

And it was precisely because of this military safety net that it was impossible for multiple industries in the civilian market to uniformly band together and refuse to buy from Spiritual Mirror Tech.

In other words, Spiritual Mirror Tech could propose some additional conditions without any worries.

Furthermore, they were even offering a price discount. For some manufacturers, just being able to get the material was the most important thing. As long as they could secure a supply, they might agree even without a discount.

There were definitely such companies, and quite a few of them.

Because there were too many industries with demand, the total number of companies was enormous. If one company didn’t accept the terms, there would always be others willing to.

Xiao Yu nodded and said, “Old Xu’s idea is indeed excellent. I agree as well. We can study it carefully and add some details. Existing agreements will remain unchanged, but when the company’s next batch of graphene material is produced, we’ll add this condition to the new procurement contracts.”

The proposal was thus finalized.

Yun Shu suddenly looked at Xiao Yu and asked, “Should the Benevolence Fund accept public donations?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “Of course. Why wouldn’t we? Whether it’s individuals or corporate institutions, we welcome them all to donate to the Benevolence Fund.”

For the next while, they discussed the matters of the Benevolence Fund for about half an hour before the meeting concluded.

The Universal Benefit Foundation was established and placed under the management of Spiritual Mirror Tech as a subsidiary institution. Xiao Yu would serve as the chairman of the foundation, though he would be more of a hands-off figurehead. The actual work would be handled by the foundation’s secretary-general, a position that was confirmed to be held concurrently by Fu Kang.

Starting this year, Spiritual Mirror Tech would contribute one-third of the company’s previous year’s profits to support the work of the Benevolence Fund.

…

Chapter 110: Causing a Huge Sensation

The next day.

In the president’s office of the Ruilian Group.

At this moment, besides Xiang Chongguang, the current head of Rui Lian, there was also a beautiful young woman in the office—it was none other than Wen Suqing.

She had left Linzhou City yesterday and flown to the capital, coming to the Ruilian Group headquarters to speak with Xiang Chongguang in person about Xiao Yu’s plan to establish the Universal Benefit Foundation. This was no ordinary charity fund; otherwise, Wen Suqing wouldn’t have found it necessary to come and discuss it face-to-face.

“This young man… I’m starting to find him a bit hard to read,” Xiang Chongguang mused, crossing his legs as he sank into thought. He then muttered to himself, “A super-rich man who doesn’t love money, but loves to throw it away—and on the poor, no less. What is he trying to do? Doesn’t he understand the historical lesson of the Tian clan’s usurpation of Qi, of buying the people’s hearts?”

Wen Suqing immediately replied, “He knows the exact year of Shang Yang’s ‘collective responsibility system’ and Emperor Wu of Han’s ‘reporting decree’ right off the top of his head. That shows he understands history, so it’s impossible for him not to know about the Tian clan’s usurpation of Qi. In fact, I raised this issue with him directly at the time, but his response to me was…”

With that, Wen Suqing roughly recounted what Xiao Yu had said to her.

Xiang Chongguang was stunned for a moment, then sighed with emotion. “This young man is no simple character. Anyone who can say such things is no ordinary person, and to have the audacity to actually do it makes him truly extraordinary. Truly, the younger generation is formidable!”

As he spoke, Xiang Chongguang suddenly stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the scenery outside in deep, silent thought.

Wen Suqing looked at him and asked, “Uncle Xiang, so do you plan to support him, or…”

Xiang Chongguang remained silent, not offering an immediate answer. He drew his gaze back, returned to the sofa, and once again fell into deep thought, his expression turning quite cautious.

He couldn’t be sure of Xiao Yu’s future destiny. Supporting him meant that the risks would also spread to them, and these risks were enormous.

Moreover, Xiao Yu was now not only the richest man in the country but also the richest man in the world.

But in recent years, those who had held the title of “richest man” had either ended up in disgrace, had their reputations tarnished in their later years, or even ended up pedaling a sewing machine in prison. It was as if the title itself was cursed.

However, in Xiang Chongguang’s view, these were all secondary. The most important thing, which he desperately wanted to know but didn’t, was whether the higher-ups supported Xiao Yu.

If he knew, things would be much simpler. If they supported him, Xiang Chongguang would go all-in without a second thought. If they didn’t, he would be caught in a difficult dilemma.

Clearly, Xiang Chongguang hoped the higher-ups would support Xiao Yu. That way, he wouldn’t have to make a difficult choice; he could just close his eyes, go all in, and it would be a sure win.

After a long while, Xiang Chongguang looked at his daughter-in-law and asked with a smile, “If it were you, would you be willing to support Xiao Yu?”

Hearing this, Wen Suqing thought for a moment before answering, “I would.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Xiang Chongguang’s face, and he pressed, “Your reason?”

Wen Suqing explained, “From the perspective of self-preservation, I warned him. But subjectively, I still feel he’s doing the right thing. I also saw his unwavering determination to see this through. So if it were me, I would choose to support him.”

Hearing this, Xiang Chongguang paused for a moment before saying, “What if you lose? The loss would be devastating.”

Wen Suqing’s reply was concise: “As Xiao Yu said, even in defeat, a hero’s legacy is immortal.”

Xiang Chongguang was taken aback and let out a laugh, sighing, “Your generation of young people has truly surpassed the old. I, on the other hand, am hesitating, lacking courage, being overly cautious.”

Wen Suqing smiled and said, “I wouldn’t say that. My words are just words; they don’t actually decide anything. But you, Uncle Xiang, are the one who has to make the real decision and bear the consequences. Our situations are different, so you can’t compare them.”

Xiang Chongguang was very pleased to hear this, extremely satisfied with his capable and graceful daughter-in-law.

“The situation is still unclear. Let’s wait and see for now,” Xiang Chongguang said in a low voice. This was no small matter, and he didn’t dare to place his bet rashly.

…

Three days later, around 4:00 PM on Friday.

Xiao Yu logged into his personal Weibo account, preparing to post a new update. It was, of course, about the Universal Benefit Foundation. After Xiao Yu had made the decision, the specific arrangements were being handled by Fu Kang.

At this moment, Xiao Yu quickly skimmed the draft of his post. Seeing no issues, he published it directly:

【Five or six years ago, my team and I never imagined we could bring Spiritual Mirror Tech to the heights it has reached today. We never dared to dream it. It’s truly incredible. Our company’s momentum is booming, our revenue and profits are climbing steadily, and our market value once exceeded 3.4 trillion.

It is precisely because of this that our entire team feels an increasingly strong sense of social responsibility and mission.

Within our capabilities, we hope to do as much as we can for society and take on more social responsibilities. Over the past two days, our team has been discussing a matter and has reached a consensus.

After discussion, we have decided to establish a non-profit organization, the “Universal Benefit Foundation.” This foundation aims to help low-income groups facing immense financial pressure and hardship, most of whom are our brothers and sisters, the workers and farmers.

We have decided to transfer one-third of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s annual corporate profits to the “Universal Benefit Foundation” free of charge to help those facing immense financial pressure and hardship.

We have also determined a plan for how to help. The specific scope and number of people we can cover will depend on our company’s capabilities and future development, adhering to the principle of doing as much as our capacity allows.

We have decided to start with Linzhou City and gradually expand to the surrounding areas. There are approximately 1.5 million people in the low-income group in Linzhou City. We will start by helping these one and a half million people. The Universal Benefit Foundation will provide them with a cash subsidy to support their households and alleviate the financial pressure and hardship they are currently facing.

The preliminary plan is to distribute 350 RMB per person each month as a household subsidy, starting next year. In addition, the Universal Benefit Foundation will also fund the construction of numerous public welfare projects within its means.

As long as Spiritual Mirror Tech does not go bankrupt, we will continue to contribute one-third of our corporate profits annually to support the foundation’s cause.

We will always hold firm to our beliefs and never forget our original intentions. On the path to common prosperity, we will join hands, forge ahead, ride the waves, seize every moment, and press forward with courage.】

…

The moment Xiao Yu’s Weibo post was published, it shook the entire internet, causing a massive sensation. It shot to the top of all trending topic lists, sparking unprecedented discussion and a huge public reaction.

Everyone, from the vast number of online onlookers to industry insiders and numerous business owners, was utterly astounded.

Zhou Baichuan, the head of Penghui Capital, who had been wiped out and forced out of Spiritual Mirror Tech, also saw the news.

Right now, he was staring at it, completely dumbfounded.

Looking at the news, Zhou Baichuan muttered to himself, “You’re actually going to give away hundreds of millions, billions, even tens of billions in cold, hard cash to those poor people? What a colossal waste! It’s a sin!”

He couldn’t understand it, nor did he want to. He even felt a pang of heartache for all that money being given away to the poor, even though none of it was his.

At this moment, tens of thousands of netizens were frantically sharing the post. Screenshots of the Weibo post went viral on all major forums and chat groups.

Many people initially thought it was a Photoshopped image, but after visiting Xiao Yu’s Weibo page, they had no choice but to believe it was real, and were just as shocked.

Xiao Yu’s latest post quickly garnered over a million comments, more than three million retweets, and over ten million likes. And these three metrics were still soaring at an astonishing rate.

…

Chapter 111: The Master Huangs Are Furious and Retaliate with a Massive Sell-Off

While this matter caused a huge sensation, the controversy surrounding it was also immense.

The vast majority of the proletariat and low-income individuals, of course, strongly and unhesitatingly supported it, but there were also many opponents.

Opponents argued that Xiao Yu was trying to create a utopia, that it was completely unrealistic. They believed that directly giving subsidies to low-income earners would only encourage a lazy attitude of getting something for nothing, raising generations of freeloaders. They cited the principle that “a cup of rice breeds gratitude, a bushel breeds resentment,” arguing that if the payments ever stopped, people would undoubtedly become resentful.

Supporters contended that receiving subsidies didn’t mean people would be unwilling to work. Even if such individuals existed, they would be a negligible minority. The amount of money wasn’t large to begin with—a monthly subsidy of 350 yuan was only enough for one meal at a restaurant given current prices. Even if someone didn’t want to work, that small amount of money wouldn’t be enough to live on, so they would still have to find a job. A hard-working person would remain hard-working after receiving 350 yuan, just as a lazy person would remain lazy without it.

Supporters also argued that under the current economic conditions, the country’s loose monetary policy was like opening the floodgates, but the water only flowed upward. By the time it reached the bottom, not a single drop was left. Since the upper class constituted only a small portion of the population, this created a stark contrast: inflation for the rich and deflation for the poor. To achieve internal circulation, the lower classes needed money. Once they had money, they would naturally consume, and consumption would in turn drive corporate revenue and employment.

Both sides had valid points, and their arguments were incessant.

However, another group of people believed that Xiao Yu had gotten arrogant. For a super-Billionaire to spend money like this to curry favor with the masses was courting death. Some even predicted that it wouldn’t be long before Xiao Yu was in serious trouble, and that the youngest richest man in history was about to fall.

The matter caused such a sensation that it reached the ears of the top leadership on the very same day, and a small, impromptu meeting was held to discuss it.

There were some disagreements during the meeting, but they fully affirmed Xiao Yu’s commitment to “Never forget one’s original intentions” and his faith as he practiced the path of common prosperity.

By the end of the discussion, the leadership summed up the matter in five words: True knowledge comes from practice.

Whether this path was viable could only be determined through practice, which was worth more than a thousand words. The leadership decided that since someone was willing to try, and it wouldn’t require any additional state resources, they would let Xiao Yu give it a go, treating it as a social experiment.

Two days later, on a weekend afternoon, Xiao Yu received a special visitor.

It was a representative sent by the leadership to convey their clear intentions and instructions. They supported his establishment of the Benevolence Fund and informed him that on the day of its official founding, CCTV News would provide follow-up coverage.

Furthermore, relevant state departments would be arranged to have an official affiliation with the Benevolence Fund. Once this affiliation was in place, it would be equivalent to a full endorsement by the state. Then, no one could, or would dare to, say he was overstepping his authority. Although there were no substantive subsidies or appropriations, this official status was what mattered most.

Xiao Yu was greatly encouraged. He had believed that someone in the leadership would support him, but he hadn’t expected the support to be so strong and to come so quickly.

With such powerful backing, Xiao Yu could proceed with his plans without reservation and face much less resistance.

Now that this issue was resolved, he could confidently bring the black technology and advanced productivity from the Blue Star to Earth. He could also confidently boost productivity and efficiency by promoting technological progress.

Xiao Yu firmly believed that if the level of technology and productivity could reach half of that on the Blue Star, it would usher in an era of great material abundance. With such an extremely rich material foundation, the ultimate ideal of “distribution according to need” would no longer be a fantasy.

However, Xiao Yu also didn’t ignore how the current state of Blue Star illustrated that advanced technology was a double-edged sword: it could either benefit all of humanity or bring about even greater disasters.

Xiao Yu was full of confidence in his home country. Because the Great Man had left behind an indelible and advanced ideology. The Great Man said that one’s stance determines whom one serves, a profound truth. Although the road to the ultimate ideal was a heavy responsibility and a long one, the future would ultimately be bright.

…

Xiao Yu’s Weibo post displeased the more than eight hundred institutions holding Spiritual Mirror Tech stock.

Not only were they unhappy with his decision to transfer one-third of the company’s profits to the Benevolence Fund for free, but due to an information gap, they were unaware that the leadership supported his endeavor. Instead, they believed Xiao Yu was courting death, and that the ranks of the richest men ending up in prison were about to grow by one.

Some institutions thus concluded that Spiritual Mirror Tech was bound to face a major black swan event.

After the weekend, when the stock market opened on Monday, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock, which had been trading at a high of 35 yuan, plummeted at the opening bell. Large institutional funds fled in droves.

The stock continued its volatile sell-off throughout the day, and in the late trading session, it plunged to 28.02 yuan, hitting the 20.01% limit down and sealing its fate. Although the daily trading volume didn’t set a new all-time record, it was the second-highest in history, with the total for the day reaching a staggering 100.2 billion yuan.

Large institutional funds were crazily dumping their shares to cash out, while retail investors were frantically buying them up.

Even the two major institutions brought in by the Ruilian Group began to pull out. However, Ruilian Group itself had not yet made a move. After all, Ruilian was a large enterprise controlled by a “national team” institution, not a private company, and Xiang Chongguang had not yet made a decision, choosing instead to wait and see.

Today’s limit-down was only the beginning. With more than eight hundred institutions running for the exits, they couldn’t possibly all get out on the first day.

Moreover, Xiao Yu’s plan for the Benevolence Fund had enraged a large group of “Master Huangs,” who were now retaliating with short-selling and a massive sell-off behind the scenes.

On Tuesday, Spiritual Mirror Tech was once again hammered to its limit down by fleeing institutional funds, dropping another 19.99% to a price of 22.42 yuan.

Retail investors had been able to absorb the first day’s limit-down, producing a stunning trading volume of over one hundred billion yuan. But after the second limit-down today, it was clear the army of retail investors could no longer hold the line. The stock’s market cap was simply too large, and the outflow of capital was too great. The trading volume for today’s limit-down dropped to 53.8 billion yuan; the buying power was clearly exhausted.

This was the first time Spiritual Mirror Tech had experienced consecutive limit downs since its reversal and takeoff from the 0.42 yuan price point.

As the stock with the largest market capitalization in the A-share market, its consecutive brutal 20% plunges also shattered the broader market index. The ChiNext Index, in particular, crashed violently, plummeting from over 3,200 points to 2,780 in just two days.

By Wednesday, Spiritual Mirror Tech was once again hammered by institutions, triggering a third consecutive limit-down. The stock price fell to 17.94 yuan, with trading volume shrinking to 31.1 billion yuan. Its market capitalization had shrunk to 1.55 trillion yuan, having been cut by more than half.

The ChiNext Index flash-crashed by 7.55%, getting hammered down to the 2,570-point level.

In just one full week, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price had fallen from its all-time high of 39.37 yuan to the current 17.94 yuan, a cumulative drop of 54.43%. It had lost 1.86 trillion yuan in market capitalization, and Xiao Yu had been the world’s richest man for less than a week.

These three consecutive limit-downs were definitely not just a retreat; they were clearly a malicious and retaliatory massive sell-off.

…

Two hours after the market closed, Yun Shu came into Xiao Yu’s office. “Here is the latest shareholder data you wanted. The company’s stock hit its limit down yesterday. The data shows that institutional investors sold off heavily and retreated, while the number of retail investors increased significantly.”

Xiao Yu took the documents from Yun Shu and looked them over. The latest data showed that the number of shareholders in Spiritual Mirror Tech had surpassed the three-million mark for the first time, reaching an exact figure of 3,272,200. It now had the largest number of retail investors of any stock in the A-share market, more than double that of the runner-up, Jingdongfang A.

A moment later, Xiao Yu said with a touch of sarcasm, “These institutions orchestrating the sell-off and fleeing must think I’m done for. And there are definitely enemies of ours taking malicious revenge. It seems they don’t know that the leadership supports my plan for the Benevolence Fund.”

It wasn’t difficult to reach such a conclusion. If they knew that the leadership was backing his Benevolence Fund, they would be madly increasing their positions and scrambling for shares, not dumping them. This was because it signified that Xiao Yu had received the leadership’s approval; far from falling, he would only become more powerful.

At this, Xiao Yu smiled. “Good riddance. If they don’t run, how can we let more small and medium-sized retail investors in to pick up the shares? Besides, their massive sell-off has given retail investors a chance to pick up cheap shares. Once most of them are gone and the number of retail investors has roughly doubled, I’ll release some super-positive news—something that will make most people want to hold long-term and stick to value investing.”

He had previously used a high-yield bonus issue to indirectly complete a stock split, turning one original share into one hundred, making it affordable for retail investors. Xiao Yu’s motive was not to lure them in as bagholders to be ‘cut like leeks,’ as other money-grabbing companies did.

The goal of the stock split was to let retail investors get on board so that the majority could hold Spiritual Mirror Tech long-term and share in the dividends of the company’s growth.

Seeing these large institutions and major funds ditching their shares and retail investors picking them up, Xiao Yu was actually happy to see it happen.

…

Chapter 112: A Grave Misjudgment of Xiao Yu

Yun Shu couldn’t help but look at him curiously. “What kind of positive news could make retail investors hold on and never sell?”

At her question, Xiao Yu looked at his beautiful assistant and smiled. “The profits the company makes each year from now on will be split into three parts. One-third will be used for the company’s cash reserves and technological research and development, one-third will go to the Benevolence Fund, and the remaining one-third will be distributed to all shareholders as cash dividends.”

A stable annual distribution of one-third of the profits as cash dividends—once this news was announced, the vast majority of retail shareholders wouldn’t sell. They would hold on steadily to collect the dividends. Most importantly, there would be dividends every year.

Moreover, even though one-third of the profits would be paid out annually, the absolute cash amount of the dividends would only grow higher each year. This was because Spiritual Mirror Tech’s future profitability was set to become increasingly formidable, with its earning power certain to surpass the previous year’s. Xiao Yu was absolutely confident about this.

After all, with the support of the black technology from the Blue Star world, making money was a sure thing.

For such a super blue-chip stock with dividends that increased year after year, retail investors holding the shares would inevitably treasure them more and be willing to hold them for the long term as a value investment. Those institutions that sold too early would find it very difficult to shake the shares out of the hands of the retail investors.

And it wouldn’t be long before they would bitterly regret dumping their shares today. The day the Benevolence Fund was established and reported on by the State Media, they would most likely understand that not only would Xiao Yu be fine, but he would also become more powerful and influential than ever.

This would be especially true if the relevant government departments officially associated themselves with the Benevolence Fund.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price had plummeted, but on the day the Benevolence Fund was established, it was bound to soar once again.

Yun Shu looked at Xiao Yu and couldn’t help but say with concern, “You’re at the center of a storm right now. It’s better to be safe than sorry. You should be more careful from now on.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled and said, “I know. I’ve got it under control.”

He knew just how many vested interests he was offending. The establishment of the Benevolence Fund had undoubtedly caused numerous “Master Huangs” to fly into a rage. Before he could get his hands on the N800 nano-armor, Xiao Yu certainly wouldn’t be reckless, lest he lose his life in the process.

But once he obtained the N800 nano-armor from the Blue Star side, things would be completely different.

With that device for protection, he would no longer have to worry about his personal safety as he did now, afraid to show his face in public. Even if he went out and had a “lucky run-in” with a heavy truck, the truck would be the one to crumble into pieces while Xiao Yu would be completely unscathed. The N800 nano-armor, a piece of black technology akin to a cheat code, offered protection comparable to the combined abilities of Iron Man, Deadpool, and the Hulk.

“Hmm? The few institutions Rui Lian brought in have also run off…?” At that moment, Xiao Yu was looking at the changes in the shareholder data in the file. A flicker of surprise crossed his face. He then glanced at Ruilian Group’s shareholding status, which showed no change.

Xiao Yu didn’t pay it too much mind. Whether Ruilian Group stayed or left was up to them.

It no longer mattered if Spiritual Mirror Tech had Rui Lian’s backing. Ever since the mass production technology for graphene material was classified as a state secret, it signified that the company was a high-tech enterprise designated for key national protection.

Not to mention, Xiao Yu already knew that the higher-ups strongly supported his Benevolence Fund. It was no longer a company that any Tom, Dick, or Harry could provoke.

In fact, it wouldn’t be long before Ruilian Group might be the one trying to latch onto him for support.

Just then, Xiao Yu thought for a moment and gave another instruction, “With the company’s stock price plummeting like this, it wouldn’t look good to ignore it. Issue a public announcement about the abnormal fluctuations.”

“Okay, I’ll go arrange it,” Yun Shu nodded lightly and soon left the office.

In truth, many people had a rough idea of the real reason for the company’s stock price collapse.

Even many retail investors were discussing it in private. They believed that Xiao Yu’s plan to create the Benevolence Fund had offended the “Master Huangs,” who were displeased with his actions. Rumors had long been circulating that Spiritual Mirror Tech was facing retaliatory short-selling and a massive sell-off from certain vested interests.

This time, despite being stuck with a losing stock bought at a high point, some retail investors didn’t blame the company, let alone Xiao Yu. Instead, they were united in cursing the “Master Huangs” hiding in the shadows. Many retail investors even went to Weibo to send private messages and leave comments in support of Xiao Yu.

The vast online community and retail investors were not foolish. They held immense respect for someone like Xiao Yu, who was willing to offend a whole host of “Master Huangs” to fight for the public’s welfare. He was one of their own. That was why so many of them were actively defending and supporting him, because in doing so, they were defending themselves.

Half an hour later, Spiritual Mirror Tech issued a public announcement.

There was no need to correct or supplement any previously disclosed information; the company’s current operations were normal, and there were no significant changes in the internal or external business environment. There were no undisclosed material matters concerning the company. The company’s controlling shareholder and actual controller did not trade company shares during the period of abnormal stock price fluctuations.

The company strictly adheres to the provisions and requirements of relevant laws and regulations, diligently fulfills its information disclosure obligations, and carries out timely information disclosure. We urge all investors to invest rationally and be aware of the risks.

In short, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s business was currently operating normally.

Shortly after the announcement was released, Xiao Yu also logged into his personal Weibo account and posted a status related to room-temperature superconductors.

[Ever since superconducting materials were discovered, humanity has never ceased to yearn for and explore room-temperature superconductivity. For scientists engaged in superconductor research, the ultimate dream is to find a practical room-temperature superconducting material.

Remember the planet Pandora depicted in the sci-fi movie Avatar? It was rich with room-temperature superconducting ore, enough to make entire mountains float in the sky. To obtain this material, humans from Earth would stop at nothing, even if it meant destroying the aliens’ home.

This goes to show that room-temperature superconducting material is truly priceless.

I share the same dream as those scientists in superconductor research: to find a practical room-temperature superconducting material. Counting from the time I first became interested in and began researching it, it has been almost ten years, but there have been few breakthroughs. Finding a room-temperature superconductor is by no means an easy task.

However, thanks to the development of AI technology, a large number of theoretical data models have been generated through AI-assisted scientific research. We are now planning to screen out the most promising options and then conduct experiments to verify them. If we’re lucky, we might find it. That’s how it is with developing new materials; luck plays a big part.

We’ve been at it for so many years, we’ll just take it slow.]

Xiao Yu’s decision to post this on Weibo at this particular moment was to lay the groundwork for the upcoming announcement from Sino-Aviation Linfei Company about their breakthrough in room-temperature superconductivity. At the same time, it was to guide the market, give retail investors the confidence to increase their positions and facilitate share turnover. The fleeing institutions would surely take advantage of the rebound from this “positive news” to make their escape.

This was because the Weibo post didn’t directly announce that they had already developed a room-temperature superconducting material; it only mentioned a possibility.

The institutions certainly wouldn’t believe it. How could a room-temperature superconductor be so easily developed?

Moreover, the research was under the name of Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, in which Spiritual Mirror Tech only held a 5% stake.

Most importantly, due to an information gap, most institutions had gravely misjudged Xiao Yu. They believed that his venture with the Benevolence Fund was him courting death and that he was done for. Not to mention the retaliatory massive sell-off from some of the “Master Huangs.”

But the retail investors were different. Their goodwill towards Bro Xiao was already maxed out, and they had faith in him.

And at this crucial moment, in order to exit more smoothly, the institutions would not only refrain from spreading panic but would also secretly hype it up as positive news. They would do this to attract a large number of retail investors to be the bagholders, allowing them to dump their shares.

What they didn’t know, however, was that this was precisely one of the purposes of Xiao Yu’s Weibo post.

This was a well-planned move to wash out the large institutional funds and let the smaller retail investors get their hands on the shares. For the longest time, small retail investors had always been the ones getting fleeced. But the retail investors who bought Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock were undoubtedly fortunate, for they had encountered someone who stood on their side and fought for their interests.

With this maneuver, Xiao Yu was helping the retail investors wash out the large institutional investors, allowing millions of retail investors to pick up cheap shares.

Chapter 113: Pushing for the Debut of Room-Temperature Superconducting Material

On Thursday, the following day, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened 8.18% lower, its stock price dipping to a new low of 16.47 yuan for the period. It had essentially erased all gains since its first limit-up surge two weeks prior, bringing it back to square one.

However, despite the significant drop at the open, the stock executed a weak-to-strong reversal right from the start, opening low and closing high.

Xiao Yu’s Weibo post from yesterday hinted that he was researching room-temperature superconducting material and might be on the verge of a major breakthrough. This gave many retail investors more confidence to jump in.

In addition to this, the stock price had fallen back to its rally’s starting point, having already been cut in half. Just two weeks ago, many retail investors believed they would never see shares below 20 yuan again.

Now that it had dropped below 17 yuan, the willingness of retail investors to engage in bottom fishing increased significantly.

At the close today, Spiritual Mirror Tech rebounded with a strong rally of +11.76%, closing at 20.05 yuan. Its market capitalization recovered to 1.74 trillion yuan, and the daily trading volume once again surged past the hundred-billion-yuan mark, reaching a staggering 105.6 billion yuan.

Investors of all stripes were shocked by today’s trading volume. They hadn’t expected Xiao Yu’s influence to be so powerful. It seemed as if the vast number of retail investors were fearless, plunging in headfirst and aggressively bottom fishing.

Of course, many less resolute retail investors chose to sell during the rebound.

However, the total number of Spiritual Mirror Tech shareholders increased significantly overall. After the market closed today, the net increase in shareholder accounts was over 390,000, and the total number soared to a record-breaking 3.66 million retail shareholders.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call Spiritual Mirror Tech a massive stronghold for concentrated retail investors now.

Over the next week and a half, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price continued its volatile rebound, climbing from 16.47 yuan to a high of 26.24 yuan, a cumulative increase of +59.32%. The company’s market capitalization also recovered to 2.27 trillion yuan.

But just after the market closed on Tuesday, September 13th, the exchange directly removed Spiritual Mirror Tech from the ChiNext Index. The reason given was that the stock’s weighting was too large and its volatility too high, which had severely disrupted the normal movement of the index.

Once this was announced, it sparked huge controversy and questions from retail investors.

According to the rules, the ChiNext Index is composed of the top one hundred stocks from the ChiNext board, selected by the exchange for their good liquidity and large market capitalization, not all stocks listed on the board.

The reason retail investors were questioning this was that Spiritual Mirror Tech met all the criteria for inclusion in the ChiNext Index.

Moreover, it also met the inclusion criteria for indices like the CSI 300 Index and the SZSE 100 Index. Yet, not only had these indices failed to include Spiritual Mirror Tech as a constituent stock, but now it was being directly removed from the ChiNext Index.

This led many retail investors to suspect there were ulterior motives. Some even outright claimed that someone was targeting Bro Xiao, targeting Spiritual Mirror Tech, and deliberately trying to suppress it.

But regardless of whether these suspicions were true, Spiritual Mirror Tech was indeed removed from the ChiNext Index.

In truth, the regulator couldn’t tolerate the performance of a trillion-yuan behemoth like Spiritual Mirror Tech, which was even more erratic than a monster stock. Recently, it had thrown the ChiNext Index into utter chaos, causing it to skyrocket and plummet along with the stock, making the index’s fluctuations even wilder than those of individual stocks.

However, given Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current size, its impact on the market was immense, regardless of whether it was included in any major index.

Putting other things aside, the stock’s daily trading volume alone was frighteningly large. Even on days with low volume, it was still twenty to thirty billion yuan. A slight surge would push it to fifty or sixty billion, not to mention the days when it reached the hundred-billion-yuan level.

With such a terrifying ability to siphon capital, when there was no new money flowing into the market, a slight siphon from Spiritual Mirror Tech would drain the liquidity from other stocks like crazy. During periods of massive trading volume, it could even suck up half the liquidity of the entire ChiNext board.

For other smaller stocks, a few tens of millions or one or two hundred million yuan could easily push them to limit up or smash them to limit down. But in Spiritual Mirror Tech’s case, forget one or two hundred million—even a billion yuan in liquidity might not make much of a splash.

In the following days, Xiao Yu stopped paying attention to the capital markets. He had gone to Sino-Aviation Linfei Company to prepare for the debut of the room-temperature superconducting material.

The research base had been built and was ready for use.

…

Thursday, September 15th. Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

Superconductor Research and Experimentation Base.

“CEO Xiao, all the equipment and instruments in the lab have completed testing and are ready for normal use at any time.” A young technician came over to report to Xiao Yu.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was in a large hall within the superconductor research lab. He looked around and said with a feigned sigh, “I’ve spent so much money and energy to build this research base. I hope we can achieve a breakthrough.”

He made it seem so real. His subordinates would never have guessed that their boss was channeling his inner Oscar-winning actor and putting on a performance.

“How many synthesis formulas were predicted by the AI-powered material analysis?” Xiao Yu asked the technician beside him. The technician, holding a tablet, looked at the screen and replied, “A total of one million, fifty-six thousand, seven hundred and forty-nine.”

Xiao Yu nodded. “One point zero five million formulas. Extract the top ten with the highest probability predicted by the AI. We’ll experiment with these ten first, and so on.”

The young technician immediately responded, “Understood.”

The facilities and equipment at this research base were very comprehensive. It could confirm diamagnetism. It’s not just superconductors that exhibit diamagnetism; many other materials have similar properties. However, a superconductor’s diamagnetism is extremely strong, capable of reaching -100% diamagnetic volume, which is the key factor distinguishing it from other materials.

On the surface, Xiao Yu’s plan was to pursue the path of material synthesis. Currently, there were no known specific materials that could achieve superconductivity at room temperature. If he weren’t creating a cover story for the natural superconducting material he was bringing from Blue Star, taking this path for real would be an immense challenge.

First, they would need to synthesize a new material. This step involved designing and experimentally preparing the material’s composition and structure. Then, they would measure its resistance at room temperature, a step requiring precise measurement methods to ensure accuracy. Ideally, a superconductor’s resistance should be zero.

Next, they would measure the material’s magnetic susceptibility to confirm if it exhibited perfect diamagnetism. A key characteristic of a superconductor is its ability to expel external magnetic fields—the Meissner effect—which is indicated by a negative magnetic susceptibility.

At this moment, Xiao Yu watched the numerous busy technicians in the research base, knowing that they were all engaged in futile work.

The real room-temperature superconducting material would be shuttled over from Blue Star. All these current procedures were just a cover for that purpose. However, it wasn’t entirely useless work; at the very least, the technicians present were gaining experience.

Xiao Yu’s plan was to follow the procedure of synthesizing the AI-predicted materials, letting multiple formulas fail. Then, after everyone else had gone home for the day, he would put on a show of being unwilling to give up and stay behind in the lab to continue working. Ultimately, he would ‘succeed’ in synthesizing the room-temperature superconducting material all by himself in the research base.

Once it was ‘created,’ he would logically classify it as a top-secret technology and not reveal the specific technical details to anyone.

At that point, he would only need to tell everyone that he had successfully synthesized the room-temperature superconducting material, without revealing the synthesis method. He would present a tangible piece of the material, and upon seeing the physical object, this ironclad evidence would force everyone to believe that Xiao Yu had genuinely succeeded.

In reality, this piece of room-temperature superconducting material would be from Blue Star.

As for the specific synthesis technology? Sorry, that’s top-secret. Xiao Yu could use the excuse that the matter was of great importance and must be kept confidential, which would perfectly conceal the fact that the material came from Blue Star.

As for future production, this research base would certainly be dismantled. Currently, a large plot of land had been acquired in Dongcheng District, where a new headquarters was being feverishly constructed. Sino-Aviation Linfei’s new headquarters was also being built simultaneously, on a piece of land that Spiritual Mirror Tech had transferred to them.

They would then build a smart factory. The production of the room-temperature superconducting material would take place in an unmanned, automated smart factory. Strict security protocols would be established; even company employees, if unauthorized, would not be allowed near it, and everyone involved would have to sign non-disclosure agreements.

This way, the production process would remain unknown to outsiders. As long as they could consistently produce tangible room-temperature superconducting material, the outside world, ignorant of how it was made, could only marvel at the company’s impeccable security measures. They would never suspect the material was an extraterrestrial product.

After all, as long as others didn’t have a God’s-eye view, any logical deduction, even after eliminating all other possibilities, would probably not lead to the conclusion that it was an extraterrestrial product. It was simply too absurd—and yet, that was precisely the truth.

…

Chapter 114: Superconductor, It’s a Success! It’s a Success!

A month passed in a flash.

Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, Basic and Applied Research Experimental Center.

Xiao Yu was there now, and a technician came before him to report, “Experiment results for Plan Number 23: synthesis failed.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu let out a deliberately long sigh. “I see. Everyone’s been working so hard. The National Day holiday is here. Let everyone have a good break.”

Seeing Xiao Yu looking so disappointed with the results, the technician didn’t know what to say. He simply nodded and left.

In the following days, the National Day holiday arrived as scheduled. Everyone went on break, leaving only a few people on duty. These people noticed that while the boss had given the employees a holiday, he himself was still working on the front lines, staying at the experimental center throughout the holiday.

“You don’t see many bosses like this,” one of the on-duty employees remarked with deep respect upon seeing Xiao Yu still in the lab, tinkering with the room-temperature superconductor research. A grand, noble image of his boss instantly bloomed in his mind.

It had to be said, Xiao Yu’s acting skills were becoming more and more superb. The Oscars definitely owed him an award.

The on-duty employees saw nothing amiss; they only felt that their boss was far too obsessed with room-temperature superconducting material.

Time passed day by day, and more than half of the National Day holiday was over.

On the evening of October 7th, an on-duty employee came to Xiao Yu’s lab. Seeing his boss’s figure still busy at the high-energy laser array, he couldn’t help but say, “CEO Xiao, it’s almost midnight.”

Without turning his head, Xiao Yu said, “Don’t worry about me. Go home when your shift is over. I have a good feeling about the plan I’ve just re-optimized and fine-tuned today.”

Hearing this, the employee couldn’t help but grumble to himself: You said the same thing the last few times. And what was the result? Still nothing.

Seeing his boss acting so possessed, the employee didn’t know what to say, so he just clocked out for the day.

“Finally gone…” Alone in the lab, Xiao Yu could finally stop acting. To be honest, it was exhausting. Acting for a day or two was nothing, but keeping up the charade for over a month was tiring.

But he had no choice. He had to put on a show for others to see, so they would believe the room-temperature superconducting material was genuinely synthesized here.

When the time came, these people would be his witnesses.

At this moment, Xiao Yu activated the equipment in the lab. The high-energy laser array began to operate, once again consuming an insane amount of electricity.

Xiao Yu casually sat down at the experimental data analysis station and took a small object out of his pocket. The moment he let go, it shot upward. This small object was, in fact, a piece of room-temperature superconducting material from the world of Blue Star.

It could levitate without any external force, relying solely on Earth’s magnetic field—a testament to the material’s power.

It was now ascending rapidly and would continue to rise until it reached its equilibrium point, where it would hover in the air.

This piece of superconductor wasn’t large; a person could easily grab it. If it were large enough or the planet’s magnetic field were strong enough, it could theoretically lift a person—of course, if the magnetic field were that strong, the person would levitate on their own anyway.

Xiao Yu quickly snatched the levitating room-temperature superconductor and placed it on a special pedestal that could slightly alter the magnetic field to restrain it.

The small, stone-like piece hovered motionlessly seven centimeters above the pedestal. This material had been processed on Blue Star; it wasn’t a natural superconducting ore, which would contain many other impurities.

This piece, however, had been refined; the entire material was free of any other substances.

Appearing here on Earth, it had to pass as a new material synthesized in a lab, so naturally, it couldn’t contain any extraneous substances.

Time ticked by, second by second, as Xiao Yu waited in silence.

By the next morning, Xiao Yu had pulled an all-nighter. Staring at the surveillance footage on his phone screen, he finally saw an on-duty employee arriving for work.

It was time to perform the final act.

Without a word, Xiao Yu instantly got into character, laughing with wild excitement, “Hahaha, I’ve found it! I’ve found it! The room-temperature superconductor, it’s a success!”

The on-duty employee happened to arrive just in time to hear his boss’s excited laughter. Puzzled, he hurried to the lab.

“Boss, what’s…” The first employee to arrive stared blankly at the sight of Xiao Yu laughing maniacally. Soon, a few more employees rushed over.

At this moment, there wasn’t the slightest trace of acting in Xiao Yu’s performance. Seeing the employees arrive, he casually snatched the room-temperature superconductor floating above the pedestal and, still bursting with excitement, exclaimed, “It’s a success! The room-temperature superconducting material, it’s a success! Hahaha!”

Xiao Yu then placed the superconductor he was holding on the floor and let go.

Everyone present witnessed with their own eyes how the material on the floor, the moment Xiao Yu released it, immediately and rapidly floated upward without any external force, ultra-high pressure, or ultra-low temperatures.

Just like that, it levitated rapidly, heading for the lab’s ceiling.

Just as the material floated to Xiao Yu’s shoulder height, he snatched it out of the air.

At that moment, the few people present were all stupefied, so shocked their jaws nearly hit the floor. The first to come to his senses cried out in disbelief, “Holy crap! A room-temperature superconductor… it was really synthesized? Am I dreaming???”

Another technician, unable to contain his shock, blurted out, “Holy crap—!”

Instantly, everyone erupted. They stared intently at the material in Xiao Yu’s hand, looking even more thrilled than Xiao Yu himself at that moment.

After a moment, Xiao Yu, showing no signs of acting, looked at the material in his hand and then at the others. “Do you know what the advent of room-temperature superconducting material means?”

“It means that the dream scientists have chased for over a century has been realized today! It means the journey to raise the critical temperature of superconductors has ended! It means humanity is now entering a brand new era of room-temperature superconductivity! It means the door to a new world of physics has been thrown wide open!”

Of course, they knew all this. The material their boss held was a new material capable of triggering the fourth scientific and technological revolution for human civilization.

The applications for superconductors were far too broad.

For example, in high-power applications, a superconductor in a state of zero resistance can carry extremely high current densities with no energy loss from heat. This has incredibly broad applications in power systems, including high-density, low-loss power transmission, superconducting motors, superconducting energy storage, as well as various power devices like superconducting transformers, fault current limiters, and transition joints.

The uses of superconductors weren’t limited to high-power and high-magnetic-field domains; they were also extremely widespread in low-power applications. Based on the superconductor’s zero-resistance effect, one can easily design a superconducting microbridge to act as a switch. Once the zero resistance is disrupted, it generates a voltage signal.

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors operate on this principle. The superconductor is etched into an array of extremely narrow nanowires. Even absorbing a single photon is enough to form a hotspot signal that propagates along the nanowire, creating a voltage across its ends.

Superconducting single-photon detectors are the most sensitive photoelectric detection devices, with a detection efficiency of over ninety-eight percent, far exceeding the roughly thirty percent efficiency of semiconductor photodetectors.

Laser ranging technology based on superconducting single-photon detectors is incredibly precise, capable of achieving centimeter-level resolution over the three hundred eighty thousand-kilometer distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Furthermore, they can also play a major role in the field of quantum computing. Feasible approaches to building quantum computers include optical quantum computing, ion trap quantum computing, nuclear magnetic resonance quantum computing, and superconducting quantum computing.

Among these, superconducting quantum computing is developing and iterating the fastest. The core of superconducting quantum computing is the superconducting quantum chip, which is composed of multiple superconducting qubits coupled with error-correction units. Crucially, its manufacturing process is largely compatible with current semiconductor technology.

Even the current technology for controlled nuclear fusion, which uses superconducting Tokamak devices, requires superconducting materials.

Finally, Xiao Yu looked around at everyone and said with a solemn expression, “This is a matter of great importance. Don’t let a word of this get out, you hear me? Keep your mouths shut. Without my permission, if anyone leaks this, I won’t hesitate to send them to prison for pedaling a sewing machine.”

Seeing Xiao Yu’s serious demeanor, the others snapped out of their joyous excitement and nodded repeatedly.

They knew, of course, what explosive news this would be if it were announced to the public and what a sensational effect it would have.

Next, Xiao Yu immediately sealed the laboratory, placing all material data under strict control. Furthermore, no one was allowed to enter the lab without his permission. In fact, no one could get in, as it was controlled by an AI that only accepted authorization from Xiao Yu.

The others understood Xiao Yu’s stringent measures. The more they understood what the emergence of a room-temperature superconductor meant, the more they felt that no level of strict control was too excessive. This was absolutely top-secret technology. Everyone present was keenly aware of the weight carried by the words “scientific and technological revolution.”

…

Chapter 115: Heaven Wants Them This Time, We Can’t Let Them Escape

Xiao Yu arranged the follow-up matters and mentally ran through his plan several times to ensure there were no loopholes. No one could enter the lab without his permission, and he had taken control of all related data under the pretext of confidentiality. Without his authorization, no one had the authority to access it.

After assigning some tasks to his subordinates, he left Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, satisfied.

To make the act convincing, Xiao Yu had been exhausted lately. He left the company and headed straight for his villa, wanting nothing more than a good night’s sleep.

Finally, all the groundwork had been laid. In the future, the emergence of more room-temperature superconducting materials would become logical and reasonable. Furthermore, he could now justifiably scrap all existing fighter jet designs and propose a brand-new plan for a levitating electric-drive fighter jet built with room-temperature superconducting materials.

Three days later, on Monday, October 10th.

The National Day holiday was over. It was the first workday after the break. Some members of the experimental superconductor material team at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company returned to find that the superconductor lab had been closed, and no one was allowed to enter.

Upon inquiring, they learned that this was Xiao Yu’s decision. The experiments were temporarily halted, and they were reassigned to conduct theoretical analysis and research on room-temperature superconducting materials.

…

The next day, around 10 a.m., Xiao Yu arrived at the Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters.

A short while later, Yun Shu knocked on the chairman’s office door and walked in, heading toward Xiao Yu, who was seated at his desk.

Handing him a document, Yun Shu said, “The company’s third-quarter financial report audit is complete. Q3 revenue was 72.325 billion yuan, a year-over-year growth of +15,223.09% from last year’s Q3 revenue of 472 million yuan. Net profit was 21.108 billion yuan, a year-over-year growth of +5,883.01%.”

Spiritual Mirror Tech had a net loss of over 300 million yuan in the third quarter of last year. The turnaround began in the fourth quarter. Since the Q3 baseline from last year was still extremely low, this year’s year-over-year growth figures showed a 152-fold increase in revenue and a 58-fold increase in net profit.

By next year, however, the company’s year-over-year growth figures would not be in the dozens or over a hundred times like this year, as the baseline figures had been raised significantly.

Xiao Yu glanced through the Q3 report and was quite pleased.

In the first three quarters of this year, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s total revenue reached 180.57 billion yuan, with a net profit of 51.737 billion yuan. This was undoubtedly a brilliant achievement. Among the more than five thousand listed companies in the A-share market, only thirty had a net profit exceeding fifty billion yuan in the first three quarters of the previous year, and they were almost exclusively state-owned enterprises from the “national team.”

This comparison highlighted just how formidable Spiritual Mirror Tech’s earning power was, and this was with Xiao Yu intentionally keeping the profit margin low to prevent the financial statements from looking too outrageous.

However, the fourth quarter’s performance was expected to be lower than the third, with revenue likely in the fifty to sixty billion yuan range. This was due to production capacity limits, and most of the year’s business deals had already been settled, unless Xiao Yu decided to further increase graphene material production.

But there was another variable for the fourth quarter’s performance: the company’s AI business segment. The growth of AI Mira was strong, and its most promising revenue stream, the Personal Edition, had not yet been monetized.

Once the Personal Edition entered its paid monetization phase, the company’s performance was bound to an experience an explosive boom.

Putting down the documents, Xiao Yu said, “Wait until the market closes at 11:30, then disclose the Q3 financial report during the midday break.”

Yun Shu nodded in agreement, then said, “After being removed from the ChiNext Index, the company’s stock price rebounded to around 26 yuan, but then it experienced another nosedive. It plummeted for four consecutive days last month, breaking the previous low and hitting a new low of 14.77 yuan. After that, it bounced for three days and started falling again.”

Xiao Yu turned his head to look at the computer on his desk and opened the stock market software to check his company’s share price.

Yesterday, Spiritual Mirror Tech had fallen by -5.75% to close at 15.25 yuan, with a shrunken trading volume of 26.7 billion yuan. The company’s market capitalization stood at 1.3237 trillion yuan.

The second wave of the sell-off had taken the price from 26.24 yuan down to 14.77 yuan, a cumulative drop of -43.71%, which was practically the same as being cut in half. Calculated from its historic high of 39.37 yuan, the maximum decline during this period had reached -62.48%. The company’s market cap had shrunk from a peak of 3.417316 trillion yuan to the current 1.3237 trillion yuan, erasing a staggering 2.09 trillion yuan in value—equivalent to the entire market cap of the Number One Bank in the Universe.

At this moment, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock was still falling in intraday trading, at one point even dropping below the 15 yuan mark.

Xiao Yu pulled his gaze away from the computer screen, pondered for a moment, then looked at his beautiful assistant and asked, “What are the changes in the company’s shareholder data?”

Yun Shu replied immediately, “The number of small and medium retail investors has increased to 6.5276 million, setting an unprecedented record. The market is now joking that Spiritual Mirror Tech has become the super headquarters for A-share retail investors.”

Xiao Yu was taken aback and chuckled without saying anything.

Over 6.5 million retail investors holding Spiritual Mirror Tech stock—this figure was a powerful testament to Xiao Yu’s reputation among them.

This was extremely rare in the capital markets, perhaps even a unique case with no precedent. Most stocks with a high concentration of retail investors were avoided by large funds, as no one wanted to be the one driving up the price for others.

Most retail investors would not enter a stock if they saw the number of fellow retail holders increasing dramatically while the price continued to hit new lows. Even those stuck with losing positions would likely cut their losses in despair, believing no major funds would be willing to drive up the price.

But Spiritual Mirror Tech was clearly an exception. Retail investors were adding to their positions with incredible ferocity, and the number of shareholders continued to soar.

Xiao Yu asked succinctly, “What about the institutions?”

Yun Shu answered, “Overall, institutional holdings have decreased sharply, falling from a peak of over eight hundred to a low of just one hundred and fifty-five. However, over the past week and a half, the number of institutional investors has increased to two hundred and nineteen, a net gain. Moreover, the Social Security Fund bought over thirty billion yuan worth.”

Hearing this, a flash of surprise crossed Xiao Yu’s face, but he quickly understood.

Someone must have gotten wind of the news. There were certainly people with powerful connections out there. On top of that, the Social Security Fund had made a significant move to buy at the bottom.

Still, the number of institutions entering the stock was far smaller than those who had left, and with the number of retail investors now exceeding 6.5 million, the majority of shares were in their hands, which was completely acceptable to Xiao Yu.

It had been over a month; it wasn’t surprising that someone had obtained some inside information.

Completely flushing out all institutional investors was unrealistic. Besides, if they were all gone, who would drive the price back up? Retail investors certainly couldn’t move a stock with a trillion-yuan market cap on their own.

At this point, Yun Shu added, “There’s also the margin trading data. The amount of capital used for securities lending for short-selling peaked at 326 billion yuan and has now dropped to 275.8 billion yuan.”

It was worth mentioning that Spiritual Mirror Tech stock had a quota for securities lending, meaning it could be shorted. However, the minimum threshold was 500,000 yuan, which barred the vast majority of small retail investors, leaving them able to only go long. Even if they met the threshold, they might not be able to secure shares to borrow. Moreover, the A-share market had a securities refinancing system that was practically designed for the short-selling market.

The short-sellers had made a fortune during Spiritual Mirror Tech’s recent plunge. Without this refinancing mechanism, the volume of short orders would never have reached such a horrifying figure.

Under these circumstances, the fact that retail investors were still crazily going long against them showed that these 6.5 million-plus people were Xiao Yu’s super die-hard fans. They must have truly believed in the “power of belief” to take long positions against such a massive short interest; otherwise, they would have been scared off long ago.

For this reason alone, Xiao Yu would not let his 6.5 million loyal investors, who had supported him with their hard-earned money, lose.

As he heard the data Yun Shu reported, a sharp glint flashed in Xiao Yu’s eyes, and he narrowed them slightly.

Seeing that look, his beautiful assistant immediately sensed that he was about to set a trap for someone.

Just as Yun Shu’s mind was racing, Xiao Yu made a decisive statement: “About fifty billion has already fled. It seems some people really sensed the tide was turning. The remaining two hundred and seventy-plus billion in short positions absolutely cannot be allowed to close their positions and walk away with a profit. We need to blow them up in one go and take all their profits along with their principal.”

He didn’t need to think to know that a significant portion of these short-sellers were the “Master Huangs” seeking revenge, in addition to speculators who had bet against Spiritual Mirror Tech, believing he was going to end up pedaling a sewing machine.

In any case, none of them were good people, and Xiao Yu felt no guilt whatsoever.

Yun Shu couldn’t help but say, “With a trillion-yuan market cap, how could you possibly blow up the short-sellers? The stock price would have to return to its previous high just for them to lose their profits. To blow them up, the price would have to double from there, and it would require consecutive limit-up days from the opening bell to achieve that.”

Xiao Yu smiled faintly. “You don’t think those short-sellers are using leverage, do you? And even if they aren’t, then we’ll just force it up with consecutive limit-up days. It can be done, even with a trillion-yuan market cap. Heh, this time, it’s as if heaven itself wants to claim them. I have too many positive catalyst cards up my sleeve, and they are all real, as ironclad as they come.”

The third-quarter results were another blockbuster report that wildly exceeded expectations—that was the first catalyst. Distributing one-third of the profits as cash dividends—that was the second. The Benevolence Fund was set to be officially established in a few days, with the State Media providing follow-up coverage—that was the third, and a heavyweight super-catalyst at that.

Crucially, right at this juncture, the groundwork for unveiling the room-temperature superconducting material was complete. All that remained was the official announcement, which was an ultimate, SSS-class catalyst of unparalleled magnitude.

…

Chapter 116: Give Them a Hell of a Surprise

Every single one of these catalysts was an epic piece of positive news, backed by logic as solid as it could get. And each one surpassed expectations more than the last.

With the valuation of Spiritual Mirror Tech reaching one trillion US dollars—a figure that was a severe underestimation in the long term—and now bolstered by these catalysts, they could release one every other day, each more shocking than the last. Could they possibly fail to blow up the short-sellers?

SpiritualMirror Tech could absolutely push its market cap to the one-trillion-dollar mark through consecutive limit-up days, which was equivalent to over seven trillion RMB.

The room-temperature superconducting material was under the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. Currently, Spiritual Mirror Tech, in its role as an investor, had provided the first round of financing and received a 5% stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. The original plan was to acquire another 5% in each of the subsequent two financing rounds, for a total of a 15% stake for Spiritual Mirror Tech.

Since Xiao Yu had founded and held absolute control over both companies, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei was essentially like moving money from his left pocket to his right.

To ensure he could blow up the short-sellers, Xiao Yu decided to add another 10% to the original plan, meaning Spiritual Mirror Tech would hold a 20% stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. While it was still moving money between pockets, on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s balance sheet, it would register as an increase in assets, which would inevitably raise the company’s overall valuation expectations.

Moreover, the room-temperature superconducting material was a product capable of driving the fourth scientific and technological revolution for humanity. It had virtually unlimited room for imagination. A 25% stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei Company held by Spiritual Mirror Tech could, in the long run, justify a trillion-dollar valuation on its own.

A ghost of a smile played on Xiao Yu’s lips. “Those enemies hiding in the shadows have made a killing shorting my company. The ones who got away were lucky, but the two hundred seventy billion plus that hasn’t been closed out? They don’t need to run now. They can leave it all behind. Next, we’re going to give them a great big surprise. Let them know what a real surprise is.”

Yun Shu looked thoughtful. After a moment, she turned to Xiao Yu and said, “I’m just worried they’ll resort to off-the-board tactics, like pulling the plug. It’s not without precedent. I saw some foreign news last year about a company called GameStop. I think it was back in January an institutional fund was shorting the stock, but retail investors went long and blew up the short positions. Unable to stomach the loss, they just pulled the plug…”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but nod. “The possibility you’ve raised is definitely something we can’t rule out.”

Last month, Spiritual Mirror Tech had been removed from the ChiNext Index to generate negative news, triggering a second round of slaughter. This showed that the opponents lurking in the dark possessed extraordinary power.

The possibility of them pulling the plug was not only present but also very high.

Xiao Yu fell silent, pondering how to break this predicament.

Seeing this, Yun Shu also remained quiet, not wanting to disturb him.

After a long while, Xiao Yu suddenly looked up. Seeing his expression, Yun Shu asked curiously, “You have a plan?”

Xiao Yu immediately replied, “Don’t release the third-quarter financial report today. Hold it back. Release it on the very last day, October 31st. And in a moment, go arrange for the company to apply for a trading halt. The company will be conducting a major asset acquisition. Set the resumption of trading for Monday, October 31st.”

Yun Shu was puzzled. “A trading halt for an acquisition? What asset are we acquiring?”

Xiao Yu recalled the few situations in the A-share market that didn’t have price movement limits. A new stock’s debut on its first day of listing no longer had limits. After a successful major asset restructuring or acquisition and a trading halt, the first trading day upon resumption could also be without price movement limits. In some special cases, such as a major event requiring a revaluation of the company’s stock, the first day of trading after resumption could also be exempt from limits.

Clearly, Xiao Yu had no intention of giving his opponents a chance to react and pull the plug. He would use a trading halt, resume trading on a day without price movement limits, and dump all the good news he had been holding back at once on October 31st, leaving the entire market dizzy.

This situation called for a blitzkrieg.

He could blow up the short-sellers on the very same day, catching them completely off guard. Even if those short-sellers wanted to save themselves by pulling the plug, they wouldn’t have enough time. Pulling the plug wasn’t something you could just do whenever you wanted.

Xiao Yu smiled. “A proposed 20 billion cash acquisition of a 20% stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. This constitutes a major asset acquisition, justifying a trading halt. On the first day of resumption, we’ll opt for no price movement limits. If our opponents want to play the ‘pull the plug’ card, we won’t give them the chance.”

If they went with consecutive limit-up days with low trading volume, even at a +20% limit up each day, it would take at least a week to wipe out the short-sellers’ floating profits and principal. This would give the other side plenty of time to prepare their off-the-board plug-pulling maneuvers.

But with no price movement limits on the first day of resumption, the opening call auction alone would be enough to send the price skyrocketing and instantly blow up the short-sellers’ positions. In such a short timeframe—measured in hours, or even minutes—his opponents wouldn’t have time to pull the plug even if they wanted to.

Xiao Yu deduced that his opponents, at most, knew about the high-level support for his Benevolence Fund. Their assessment of this news would likely be that the stock price would, at best, stop falling and begin to recover. With their floating profits being so large, they would probably see it as a mere drawdown and believe they had ample time to exit. They would never imagine the price could shoot straight to a new all-time high.

But that was all they could possibly know. The other positive catalysts, whether it was the profit distribution, the room-temperature superconductor, or other bombshells, were all being kept under wraps. When he finally resumed trading and threw down an unbeatable hand, going all-in at once, it would absolutely stun those short-sellers.

Yun Shu went to make the arrangements. Not long after she left, there was another knock on the office door.

“Come in.” Xiao Yu looked up as the door opened to reveal Wen Suqing.

“Regarding the Benevolence Fund, I mentioned it to Uncle Xiang before. He, on behalf of the Ruilian Group, fully supports this charitable cause you are promoting,” Wen Suqing said as she entered.

She then looked at Xiao Yu and added with a smile, “Uncle Xiang just called me. To show his support, he has decided to donate 1.736 billion shares of Spiritual Mirror Tech, approximately 2% of the company’s total share capital, to the Benevolence Fund, free of charge.”

Xiao Yu was quite surprised to hear this. That was a grand gesture from Xiang Chongguang. Even at the company’s current stock price, that 2% stake was still worth over twenty-six billion—an astronomical sum.

After a moment, Xiao Yu met Wen Suqing’s gaze and smiled. “That much? Are you serious? If President Xiang dares to give it, the Benevolence Fund really dares to take it.”

Wen Suqing covered her mouth with a light laugh, then nodded affirmatively. “Of course, it’s true. The plan is for the Ruilian Group to cash out from the secondary market and then donate the money anonymously through multiple shell accounts, disguised as wealthy individuals, corporations, institutions, and so on.”

On paper, Ruilian Group held a 5% stake in Spiritual Mirror Tech, but this 2% reduction in holdings would not be public, as a public sell-off would require a prior announcement.

Evidently, they would be selling off the shares held by their shadow shareholders, which could be done at any time without any announcement.

Was it compliant? Of course not, but that was the reality.

There were just too many shadow shareholders in the A-share market, which was already riddled with regulatory loopholes. Even if they were caught, the maximum penalty was 500,000 RMB, which wasn’t even a slap on the wrist. Besides, they wouldn’t get caught.

“Please convey my thanks to President Xiang for his strong support. The Benevolence Fund accepts this generous gift,” Xiao Yu said with a smile, his mind already racing.

For Xiang Chongguang to suddenly offer such substantial support at this particular moment, he must have already heard some news.

Xiao Yu’s deduction was correct. Xiang Chongguang had indeed learned that the higher-ups supported his Benevolence Fund. After confirming this, Xiang Chongguang knew that Xiao Yu’s star was likely to rise even higher in the future, so there was no reason to hesitate.

Offering up 2% of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s shares as a show of support was, in fact, quite painful for Xiang Chongguang. He knew just how valuable those shares were.

Once the Benevolence Fund was established, it wouldn’t be long before the stock price strengthened again and set a new all-time high. A market cap of around twenty-six billion now could easily double to fifty or sixty billion when it hit a new peak.

Despite the reluctance and the sting of the sacrifice, Xiang Chongguang felt that his support had come a bit late. He had to show greater sincerity to make up for it.

…

Chapter 117: Asking Rui Lian for a Favor

Xiang Chongguang no longer dared to underestimate the young Xiao Yu. He was certain that Xiao Yu had acted only after deducing that the Ruilian Group had already learned some information.

This was tantamount to sitting on the fence, waiting to see how things would play out. In other words, if the situation had been reversed, would they have chosen to sever ties instead of offering support?

Undoubtedly, in Xiao Yu’s eyes, the impression of Ruilian Group must be quite poor.

This time, Xiang Chongguang’s grand gesture of support—going beyond mere words—was an attempt to offset that very impression.

The Xiao Yu of today was no longer the young and naive newcomer he once was. He saw through these machinations clearly.

However, his attitude remained calm and composed. He wasn’t displeased by Xiang Chongguang’s delayed declaration of support, nor was he elated by the current strong backing. He knew deep down that when it truly mattered, he could only rely on himself.

Regardless, Rui Lian’s vigorous support was a good thing.

Since this two percent stake was a large sum of capital being sold off from the secondary market, it was best to do so while blowing up the short-sellers’ positions. Not only would the liquidated short positions absorb the shares, but the actual amount cashed out would far exceed twenty-six billion.

With no price movement limits on the first day of trading after the halt, the fight during the opening call auction would be incredibly fierce.

Since Xiang Chongguang had already placed his bet, Xiao Yu thought he might as well let the Ruilian Group join in on reaping the profits from the short-sellers, treating the earnings as a contribution to the Universal Benefit Foundation’s charitable work.

He made up his mind instantly. However, to be cautious, Xiao Yu didn’t reveal this information to Xiang Chongguang just yet, lest any unexpected issues arise. He would communicate with Wen Suqing about it in the last two or three days.

After all, the window of time was not short, and if news leaked out and the short-sellers caught wind of it, this entire harvesting plan could fall through.

An hour after the market closed that afternoon, Spiritual Mirror Tech issued an announcement. It intended to acquire a twenty percent stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei Company for twenty billion RMB in cash. Constituting a major asset acquisition, the company applied for a trading halt, which was expected to last no more than three months.

Investors holding Spiritual Mirror Tech stock, whether long or short, paid close attention to this development.

The short-sellers, in particular, were even more concerned. They all simultaneously recalled last year’s merger and restructuring between Spiritual Mirror Tech and Linghan New Materials.

That event had caused a sensation, and in the end, Xiao Yu had emerged as the victor.

The current crowd of short-sellers were not retail investors. They knew about last year’s merger, where financiers like Penghui Capital had suffered devastating losses and been forced to cut their losses and exit.

Now, a similar situation was unfolding, and the short-sellers instinctively raised their guard.

After all, Xiao Yu had a “track record,” and the lesson from Penghui Capital and other financiers was a stark reminder. They couldn’t afford to follow in their footsteps.

Thus, they began to secretly investigate Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. Many recalled a Weibo post Xiao Yu had made a while back mentioning room-temperature superconductors. Could it be that there had been a breakthrough in that area?

But on second thought, they dismissed it as impossible. Room-temperature superconductors had been researched for over a century; there was no way Xiao Yu could have achieved it.

With Spiritual Mirror Tech’s trading halted, no matter what, they could only take action after trading resumed.

Although they couldn’t guess Xiao Yu’s true motive for acquiring a twenty percent stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei, the short-sellers’ vigilance did not wane. They began to aggressively spread negative news, framing the acquisition as Xiao Yu squandering money and painting Sino-Aviation Linfei Company as a money pit where every penny invested would be lost.

Aircraft manufacturing wasn’t that easy, was it? Especially not some electric-powered aircraft.

They even churned out short exposés, explicitly or implicitly warning retail investors to be wary of a repeat of last year’s carnage, when the stock plummeted after fifteen consecutive limit-ups. They advised those with shares to sell and mitigate their risk.

In short, they worked to frame this acquisition as a negative event for Spiritual Mirror Tech.

The opposition’s relentless efforts to manufacture panic did indeed make some retail investors nervous. However, the stock was already halted. By the time it resumed trading on October 31st, any shareholder with a modicum of logical reasoning would not be bearish.

As time went on, around the middle of the month, the Universal Benefit Foundation officially announced its establishment.

The event once again shot to the top of the trending topics, because CCTV News Channel had dedicated over six minutes to it that morning, including a live connection to their on-site reporter for follow-up coverage. The top officials and main leaders of the Linzhou City Committee were all in attendance at the foundation’s launch ceremony.

Those who had been certain that Xiao Yu was going to get into trouble over the Universal Benefit Foundation were now completely dumbfounded. The actual developments had deviated enormously from their predictions.

They had never expected the state to not only support the Universal Benefit Foundation but to do so with such vigor. The extensive, high-profile coverage from CCTV and the direct affiliation of several state departments with the foundation were things they had never imagined.

Even those without inside information could understand the situation just by looking at this spectacle.

Far from being in trouble, Xiao Yu’s star was set to rise even higher. Those with better sources of information knew full well that this matter had the backing of a top leader from above. The more than fifty billion RMB that had been sold off earlier came from these well-informed individuals.

Some speculators who were bearish on Spiritual Mirror Tech and still held short positions—especially those opened recently with modest profits—were now starting to panic.

Without a sufficient profit cushion, one or two limit-up days after trading resumed could put them at a loss.

Those who had just shorted the stock at under sixteen RMB per share were especially terrified. Given the circumstances, a single limit-up day after resumption would put their accounts in the red.

Now that CCTV had prominently reported on the Universal Benefit Foundation, anyone could see that Spiritual Mirror Tech was bound for a limit-up from the opening bell when it resumed trading, and its stock price would continue to recover.

The short-sellers sitting on huge floating profits, however, remained relatively calm. They felt they could still exit with a profit without issue; it would just mean some profit retraction. They believed that a massive, trillion-RMB market cap stock like Spiritual Mirror Tech couldn’t possibly achieve consecutive limit-up days from the opening bell. At most, it would hit the limit up on its first day back.

Evidently, they were unaware that there would be no limit-up from the opening bell, because there would be no price movement limits at all on the first day. They were even less aware that Xiao Yu planned to launch his strongest attack in a single day—a blitz to blow up the short-sellers, giving them zero time to react.

As late October approached, the acquisition of the twenty percent stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei Company proceeded swiftly and smoothly. On Friday, October 28th, an announcement was released.

The company had completed the related-party transaction. Its application to resume trading on Monday, October 31st, had been approved, and there would be no price movement limits on the first day.

Spiritual Mirror Tech had already been removed from the ChiNext Index and had not been included in either the CSI 300 Index or the SZSE 100 Index. Therefore, no matter how much its price fluctuated, it wouldn’t directly impact the major indices, so the regulator didn’t mind.

In the afternoon, Wen Suqing arrived at the chairman’s office. Seeing Xiao Yu, she smiled and said, “What did you need me for?”

The two of them sat down on the sofa in the lounge area. Xiao Yu looked at Wen Suqing. “I’d like to ask the Ruilian Group for a favor, to add another layer of security to my upcoming plan.”

A glimmer of surprise flashed in Wen Suqing’s eyes, and she asked with curiosity, “A plan? What plan? What kind of favor do you need from Rui Lian?”

Hearing her barrage of three questions, Xiao Yu spoke directly and methodically, “There are currently over 270 billion RMB in short positions aggressively short-selling Spiritual Mirror Tech. I am going to make them lose everything, principal and interest included. At the same time, this will allow Rui Lian to cash out its two percent stake at a high point.”

At his words, Wen Suqing looked at him with even greater confusion.

Xiao Yu continued, “I’ve been planning this for a long time. The goal is to blow up these short funds this coming Monday. Choosing to have no price movement limits on the first day is to deny the short-sellers any chance to react. Even if they wanted to resort to off-the-board tactics, it would be too late.”

“Before the market opens on Monday, I will release a series of major positive catalysts. The only time the short-sellers can fight back is during the opening call auction. The bidding will be extremely fierce then. So, I hope Rui Lian can step in and forcefully defend the price during the opening call auction, drive a super high opening, and blow up the opposing positions in one fell swoop, pushing the company’s market cap to the height of one trillion US dollars that very day.”

Upon hearing “one trillion US dollars,” Wen Suqing’s almond-shaped eyes flew wide open. “How is that possible? One trillion US dollars is 7.2 trillion RMB in market cap. That’s impossible. No catalyst, no matter how big, could achieve that.”

Seeing her utter disbelief, Xiao Yu smiled confidently and said, “If it can’t be done, it just means the catalyst isn’t big enough. Spiritual Mirror Tech acquired a twenty percent stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, bringing our total to twenty-five percent including the original five. Do you know why I did this?”

After a brief pause, Xiao Yu told her, “Because during the National Day holiday, I actually developed a room-temperature superconducting material at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. You might not understand what this means, so let me put it plainly: this is a product that can truly push humanity into the Fourth Scientific and Technological Revolution. The intrinsic value of this alone is worth far, far more than one trillion US dollars.”

Chapter 118: President Xiang: We’ll Help! I’m Going All-In This Time!

Wen Suqing wasn’t entirely clear on the significance of room-temperature superconducting material. After all, it wasn’t her area of expertise, but she trusted that Xiao Yu wouldn’t deceive her.

Hearing his description, Wen Suqing couldn’t help but be taken aback. “Is it really that incredible?”

Xiao Yu smiled calmly. “What I’m saying is a conservative estimate. One trillion US dollars is just for the short term; in the long run, adding another zero wouldn’t be a problem. Besides, even without the boost from room-temperature superconducting material, Spiritual Mirror Tech could easily reach the trillion-dollar level in the near future. It wouldn’t even be impossible for it to surpass Apple and become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.”

Finally, Wen Suqing looked at Xiao Yu and asked seriously, “Are you sure?”

Xiao Yu nodded with calm certainty. “I’m sure. Of course, this is a request, not a demand. If President Xiang has difficulties, he doesn’t have to help. It’s not a big deal. I just want to be a bit more certain.”

In fact, Xiao Yu was one hundred percent certain that Xiang Chongguang would agree.

First, Xiang Chongguang had already placed his bet. Second, although Xiao Yu had never met him, he had a more or less accurate judgment of the man’s style from the way he had handled certain matters.

Since he had already bet on Xiao Yu, and his recent, delayed support had come with a generous gift, he was clearly hoping to mitigate the negative impression of sitting on the fence. At a time like this, when Xiao Yu proactively sought Rui Lian’s help, Xiang Chongguang would absolutely not refuse. The rational and correct choice would be to agree and offer strong support.

Xiao Yu’s proactive request for help was also a way to confirm whether Ruilian Group was worthy of long-term trust, a point he believed Xiang Chongguang would undoubtedly understand.

If he refused this time, the result would be that Ruilian Group would lose Xiao Yu’s trust, and from then on, would be regarded as nothing more than an ordinary strategic financial investor. The relationship would never deepen.

Conversely, if he agreed, it would show that Ruilian Group was completely on the same side as Xiao Yu, ready to advance and retreat together. In Xiao Yu’s eyes, they would surely gain a relationship far beyond that of a typical partner.

Xiao Yu had spoken lightly, saying it was a request, not a demand, and that it didn’t matter whether Rui Lian helped or not.

But if Xiang Chongguang took him at his word, he would definitely never enter Xiao Yu’s core circle of friends. However, given his caliber, he certainly wouldn’t take Xiao Yu’s words at face value. Otherwise, he never would have bested his competitors to ultimately be at the helm of Ruilian Group.

Just then, Wen Suqing said, “Alright, I’ll return to Beijing immediately and relay your words to Uncle Xiang in person.”

After a brief conversation, Wen Suqing left. Half an hour later, she was on a plane departing from Linzhou City. The aircraft she took was one of the private business jets belonging to Spiritual Mirror Tech.

The company had long since purchased three private business jets for its senior executives to use on business trips. For top executives of large corporations, time is the most valuable asset. This matter, for example, was extremely time-sensitive because Spiritual Mirror Tech was set to resume trading next Monday. At most, there were only three days left.

Within these three days, Xiang Chongguang had to make a swift decision. If he was going to help, he had to start preparing immediately.

…

That evening, at the Xiang family residence.

“I knew this young man was planning something. Why halt trading this time but not during the restructuring of Linghan New Materials? So, he wants all the short-sellers of Spiritual Mirror Tech to have their positions liquidated and wiped out,” Xiang Chongguang said, a look of astonishment on his face.

By now, Wen Suqing had explained the situation to him. Upon learning the details, Xiang Chongguang was utterly shocked.

He had never imagined that Xiao Yu’s appetite would be so huge, or that he would be so ruthless as to swallow over two hundred and seventy billion in short positions in one go.

Such audacity made even him sigh, admitting his own inferiority.

Behind that astronomical figure of over two hundred and seventy billion were the vested interests of many powerful forces. Wiping them all out in one fell swoop would mean creating an irreconcilable feud, a prospect that even Xiang Chongguang had to consider carefully.

There was one other person present who was not family—a senior investment research analyst from Ruilian Group. He had been there for the entire duration of Wen Suqing’s explanation.

After a moment, Xiang Chongguang suddenly asked the analyst, “Is this room-temperature superconducting material even more impressive than graphene material? Did Xiao Yu exaggerate its value?”

The analyst replied immediately, “If he’s not lying, if he has really developed a room-temperature superconducting material, then President Xiang, let me put it this way: not only did he not overestimate it, but he has greatly underestimated it. In a sense, the creation of this material is enough to affect the fate of a nation.”

He quickly added, “Xiao Yu wants to push Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market cap to over seven trillion on Monday. In fact, even the company’s existing business can fully support that. It would even be reasonable to expect a market cap of ten trillion. It’s just a matter of blowing up the bubble first, but the support from the company’s fundamentals and performance is solid enough.”

“Even if the bubble is inflated now, the value growth over about three years could probably fill it. And that’s not even mentioning that he has now developed a room-temperature superconducting material. Spiritual Mirror Tech holds a twenty-five percent stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei. All I can say is that Spiritual Mirror Tech’s future prospects have unparalleled room for imagination.”

After hearing the investment analyst’s assessment, Xiang Chongguang had a much clearer picture.

After some thought, Xiang Chongguang looked decisively at Wen Suqing and said, “Suqing, return to Linzhou tomorrow and tell Xiao Yu in person that Rui Lian will help him. And we will help him with everything we’ve got.”

Wen Suqing nodded. “Yes, okay.”

He already regretted not placing his bet and showing his stance in time during the Benevolence Fund matter. He wouldn’t hesitate again. Although this decision would offend the people behind the over two hundred and seventy billion in short funds.

But where in the world was there a risk-free deal?

Compared to the astonishing potential returns in the future, Xiang Chongguang was willing to take this risk. Besides, he had already bet on Xiao Yu. Being a fence-sitter at a time like this would only result in pleasing neither side. Xiang Chongguang was keenly aware of this.

Since he had already placed his bets on this young man who was now displaying such terrifying potential, any further hesitation would just make him seem short-sighted and timid.

Xiao Yu already had support from the higher-ups. Not only had he developed graphene, but he was also unrivaled globally in the field of AI. Now, he had created a room-temperature superconducting material. Any one of these was enough to change the world, and there was no telling what he might come up with next.

With all that, what more needed to be said? What was there to hesitate about?

It was time for a direct, decisive all-in. Time to go all in. If not now, when?

As Wen Suqing and the investment research analyst who had been specifically called in to help analyze the situation left, Xiang Chongguang couldn’t help but sigh to himself, “Over two hundred and seventy billion in short positions. I wonder how many people are going to bleed heavily this time, maybe even lose their entire fortunes and be wiped out overnight. This young man, Xiao Yu, I believe he has great fortune on his side.”

Xiang Chongguang didn’t understand the specific technology, but after learning about the significance of the room-temperature superconducting material from the analyst, he felt more and more that Xiao Yu was blessed with great destiny. Scientists all over the world had been searching for a room-temperature superconducting material for over a century without success, yet he was the one to achieve it.

And before this, he had cracked the mass production technology for graphene material. His achievements in artificial intelligence were also formidable. Others might see him as a peerless genius, but Xiang Chongguang had an additional layer of understanding: he felt that Xiao Yu was not only a genius but also possessed great fortune.

When dealing with such a person, befriending him would surely bring endless benefits. Making an enemy of him… well, the financiers from Penghui Capital were a lesson from the past.

The next wave of victims was about to appear: the holders of those two hundred and seventy billion in short positions.

At this moment, Xiang Chongguang couldn’t help but inwardly slap his thighs and lament his carelessness. If he had known, donating one percent of the equity to the Benevolence Fund would have been enough. Next Monday, when the market cap hit the target price, blowing up the short positions and cashing out… two percent was worth over one hundred billion in real cash.

Such an astronomical figure made even Xiang Chongguang feel the pinch.

But the words had been spoken, like spilled water. He could only accept it.

Xiang Chongguang only felt a moment of regret. He was the helmsman of Ruilian Group, but the company was not a private enterprise, let alone his family’s private property. This wouldn’t hinder his future promotions.

Ruilian Group had donated two percent of its Spiritual Mirror Tech shares, but it still held 12.5%. In the future, the market value corresponding to this equity stake could definitely reach the trillion RMB level. Even based on the company’s current total market cap of 1.3 trillion, this 12.5% stake was worth over one hundred and sixty billion.

Most importantly, Rui Lian’s cost basis was outrageously low.

They had initially acquired the shares from the financiers of Penghui Capital at a price of 0.5 yuan per share. The adjusted cost after accounting for dividends and splits was an incredible 0.005 yuan per share. Even at the current closing price of 15.05 yuan, the rate of return was +300,900.01%, a terrifying return of over three thousand times.

Just then, Xiang Chongguang suddenly chuckled to himself, “Those guys sold out too early. They must be regretting it badly now. When they see Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price next Monday, they’ll probably slap their thighs until they’re swollen, haha.”

…

Chapter 119: The Moment of Truth Has Arrived

The “guys” Xiang Chongguang mentioned were none other than the few institutions he had convinced to get on board with him in the beginning.

Last month, after seeing that Xiao Yu was going to establish the Benevolence Fund, those institutions had also believed he would follow in the footsteps of the previous richest men and chose to jump ship midway.

Of course, they still made a fortune when they sold, since they had gotten on board early.

But without a doubt, selling last month meant they sold far too early. They could have seen returns of a hundred, or even several hundred times their investment. Although their profits were substantial, missing out on returns a hundred or several hundred times larger was definitely cause to slap one’s thighs raw in regret.

However, these institutions that had misjudged and bailed midway were fortunate in one respect: they hadn’t gotten speculative and opened a short position. If they had, it wouldn’t have been a simple matter of selling too early. Instead, all their efforts would have been for nothing; they might have had to give back all their profits and even suffer devastating losses to their principal.

This was because the profit from short-selling is limited, but the potential loss is infinite. A stock price has no ceiling on how high it can rise, whereas profit is capped because, in the A-share market, a stock will never fall to zero.

Precisely because the profit from short-selling is limited, short-sellers often use high leverage to multiply their absolute returns.

But adding leverage also multiplies the risk by the same factor.

The next day, Wen Suqing returned to Linzhou City and informed Xiao Yu in person that Ruilian Group had decided to give him their full support.

With that, Xiao Yu had no more lingering worries. He had considered basically everything he could. If even with all this he couldn’t trap the more than 270 billion in short positions and they still managed to escape, then it could only be attributed to fate.

But Xiao Yu was certain their chances of escape were practically zero.

Over the weekend, thanks to Xiang Chongguang’s personal efforts, a massive sum of over thirty billion in liquid cash was raised in just two days. This was real money, not nominal market value, and it was gathered in an incredibly short time.

This showed that Xiang Chongguang’s promise to help was no perfunctory gesture; he was truly going all out. Such was the allure of going all in.

For Rui Lian, this thirty billion was not without risk. Xiao Yu had asked Rui Lian to help engineer an epic, high opening during Monday’s opening call auction. If the stock dived sharply after opening high, and the over six million retail investors in Spiritual Mirror Tech saw their massive profits and also chose to sell, then it would be a different story.

Faced with such an astronomical sell-off, Rui Lian’s thirty billion, despite being a super-celestial figure, would be a drop in the ocean compared to the potential trillion-level selling pressure from over six million retail investors. Throwing thirty billion in would barely make a ripple, and they might even see their investment cut in half that very day.

However, while such a possibility existed, in reality, if the price was successfully pushed up, there would be hundreds of billions in buying support. This was because the liquidation of the short-sellers’ positions would trigger forced covering, which meant they would be forced to buy high after selling low.

After the weekend, Monday, October 31st arrived.

It was not yet seven in the morning when Xiao Yu arrived at Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters. Today, a blitzkrieg would decide the victor.

He walked into his office, sat down at his desk, and picked up the landline to call Yun Shu’s office. As soon as she answered, he gave his instructions, “Release the third-quarter financial report.”

Today was the last day for disclosing third-quarter reports.

Yun Shu’s voice came through, “Alright, the Board of Directors has already made the arrangements. The meeting will be held in twenty minutes.”

Xiao Yu nodded. “Understood.”

Hanging up, Xiao Yu opened his company’s stock chart on his computer and glanced at it. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s latest closing price was 15.05 yuan. Trading would officially resume today, and as the first day back, there were no price fluctuation limits. The ±20% limit down/up mechanism would be reinstated the following day.

So today, in theory, there was no ceiling to the stock’s rise.

There were still over two hours until the opening call auction, but Spiritual Mirror Tech’s popularity had already soared to the number one spot among all stocks in both markets.

This was because trading was resuming today, the company had over six million retail shareholders, and the matter of the Benevolence Fund had greatly exceeded all outside expectations. A key reason for the previous crash was that many people thought Xiao Yu would stumble badly because of the fund.

To everyone’s surprise, the Benevolence Fund received such strong support from the state. The reality was the complete opposite of what had been expected. Therefore, the logic behind the previous crash was a mistaken sell-off due to market misjudgment.

Since it was a mistaken sell-off, everyone expected a strong recovery rally when trading resumed today. The entire market knew that Spiritual Mirror Tech was one hundred percent guaranteed to surge today and would surely have a very high opening; they just didn’t know how high it would open or how much it would rise.

With such intense market attention, it was only natural for it to top the intraday popularity chart.

Around eight in the morning, Spiritual Mirror Tech released its third-quarter financial report. The various investors paying attention to the company had all assumed it would be released after the market closed or during the midday break.

Unexpectedly, things were different this time—it was released in the morning, before the market opened.

News alerts popped up on major stock market apps:

[Spiritual Mirror Tech releases Q3 report: Revenue of 72.325 billion, a year-over-year growth of +15,223.09%; Net profit of 21.108 billion, a year-over-year growth of +5,883.01%]

The first wave of positive news was released, quickly drawing the attention of capital from all corners of the market. The long-awaited Q3 report had finally arrived on the last possible day.

The third-quarter results once again far exceeded expectations. The market had generally forecast Spiritual Mirror Tech’s Q3 revenue to be around sixty billion, but it had reached over seventy billion, surpassing expectations by more than ten billion.

Now, the over six million retail investors holding the stock were ecstatic. Another piece of great news. The dawn they had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Over the past month, many retail investors had been enduring heavy losses. Those who had been bottom fishing recently were better off; though they hadn’t made a profit, at least their principal was intact. But for those who had bought in at the recent highs, such as the retail investors who purchased the stock above 35 yuan, this period had been incredibly difficult.

Their unrealized losses were at a point where their investment had been cut in half. Those who bought at the absolute historical peak faced losses of over 61%. Besides being unwilling to part with their shares, the only reason they had held on was their faith in Xiao Yu and Spiritual Mirror Tech, hoping to one day break even.

That said, as the company’s stock price continued to hit new lows, it would be a lie to say that the trapped retail investors weren’t panicking. A number of them couldn’t hold on and had tearfully cut their losses.

Those who sold were surely slapping their thighs raw in regret now. But the over six million shareholders who had held on, and had even bought more against the market trend over the past month, were now grinning from ear to ear in front of their screens. They were immensely relieved that they had weathered the downturn without losing their shares.

Their reward was at hand. This was a feast for the shareholders. The entire market knew that anyone who hadn’t gotten in before the trading halt had absolutely no chance of buying cheap shares at 15 yuan today. They could either watch from the sidelines or chase the higher price.

Not long after the financial report was released, Sino-Aviation Linfei Company issued a blockbuster announcement.

The company would hold a press conference after 9 AM to announce a major technological breakthrough.

At the same time, a few minutes before attending the Spiritual Mirror Tech board meeting, Xiao Yu logged into his personal Weibo account, forwarded Sino-Aviation Linfei Company’s announcement, and added a line of text: After nine o’clock, let’s focus on Sino-Aviation Linfei and witness history!

A major technological breakthrough, but it didn’t specify what kind. Many people assumed it might be a breakthrough in electric aircraft technology.

After posting on Weibo, Xiao Yu attended the Spiritual Mirror Tech board meeting. The meeting’s agenda was a single item: the company’s dividend plan. The resolution was just a formality; the plan was one hundred percent certain to pass.

Once the procedural vote was over, Xiao Yu left Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters and headed to the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company headquarters, as he would be personally hosting the upcoming press conference.

At that moment, all eyes were on Spiritual Mirror Tech and Sino-Aviation Linfei. The connection between the two companies was significant, and various capital players in the market were watching extremely closely.

Not long ago, Spiritual Mirror Tech had acquired a 20% stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, bringing its total shareholding to 25%. A major technological breakthrough at Sino-Aviation Linfei would undoubtedly be a huge catalyst for Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price.

A major technological breakthrough, and Xiao Yu himself was proclaiming that they would “witness history.” This immediately drew immense attention from the public.

Also watching were the short-sellers holding over 270 billion in short positions. They weren’t fools, and they were sharp. In fact, they had already realized a few days ago that the situation was turning ugly, but even with that premonition, they had underestimated the severity of it all.

Now, with a continuous stream of positive news being released before the market opened, the intention to pump Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price was practically written on their faces.

The short-sellers were already starting to make their moves, but it was too late.

Chapter 120: A Rare and Extremely Fierce Game

The short-sellers were only just beginning to act, but it was already too late. Less than an hour and a half remained until the market opened.

The truly fatal mistake was that although they sensed something was wrong and were on alert, their arrogance and overconfidence led them to severely underestimate the gravity of the situation.

They assumed that Sino-Aviation Linfei’s so-called major technological breakthrough was related to electric aircraft. They believed that even if there was a breakthrough, the positive impact on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price would be limited, given its trillion-RMB market capitalization.

In fact, their assessment wasn’t entirely wrong.

The advent of room-temperature superconducting material would indeed accelerate the arrival of electric aircraft. They just never expected the breakthrough Sino-Aviation Linfei was about to announce was the room-temperature superconducting material itself.

The time came to 9:00 AM, with only fifteen minutes left before the opening call auction. Xiao Yu had already left Spiritual Mirror Tech and was heading to the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

At precisely 9:00 AM, Spiritual Mirror Tech released another announcement.

The company had convened a Board of Directors meeting and passed a dividend plan resolution. Starting next year, Spiritual Mirror Tech would distribute one-third of the previous year’s net profit as cash dividends annually.

Various stock market apps pushed this news flash a few minutes later. Several news flashes related to Spiritual Mirror Tech had already been sent out that morning, informing and capturing the attention of the entire market.

Any retail investor watching the market would not miss the news about Spiritual Mirror Tech. And those not watching the market wouldn’t be trading today anyway, meaning no selling pressure from them. So, it wasn’t a bad thing if some shareholders who were holding didn’t see the news.

The moment this announcement was released, investors all across the market were in an uproar.

“Holy crap! Distributing one-third of the profits as cash dividends every year? And they’re making it an official, ongoing policy?” a retail investor holding Spiritual Mirror Tech shares exclaimed, first in shock, then with immense excitement.

“Excluding the fourth quarter, and just based on the net profit of the first three quarters, next year’s dividend payout is already locked in at 17.2 billion RMB. It’s safe to say a 20 billion RMB dividend next year is no problem,” the retail investor said joyfully. “Why the hell would I sell my 30,000 shares? I’m definitely holding for the long term.”

The investor did some quick math and mused, “Assuming the company’s graphene material production capacity more than doubles next year, the expected dividend would be 40 billion. If it doubles again the third year, that’s 80 billion. Given the current market demand, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s graphene business alone can guarantee high growth for ten consecutive years, and the AI business hasn’t even properly launched yet…”

He immediately opened the calculator on his computer and did a rough calculation based on his own expectations. He felt that a cumulative dividend of 150 billion RMB over three years, by 2025, was a relatively conservative estimate.

Based on that 150 billion RMB figure, the cumulative dividend per share over three years would be 1.7281 RMB. The 30,000 Spiritual Mirror Tech shares he held would net him 51,800 RMB in dividends, a higher return than a three-year fixed deposit interest rate at the bank.

The crucial point was that bank deposit rates were falling, while Spiritual Mirror Tech’s dividends were expected to keep rising for at least the next ten years without any issue.

Following this growth curve, the dividend yield in the fourth year would far exceed the returns from a fixed bank deposit. For the fifth year, he calculated that the cumulative dividend from his 30,000 shares could reach an astonishing 217,700 RMB.

Just calculating the return on investment from cash dividends over five years reached 47.88%, an average annual return of +9.57%, completely blowing bank deposit rates out of the water.

Critically, a company with significant annual dividend growth meant its stock price could only rise even more aggressively. It was impossible for the stock to fall. Even if it traded sideways, as revenue and profits climbed, the company’s net asset value would also soar. If the stock price didn’t rise, its price-to-book ratio would fall below one.

For a high-tech company like this to have its price-to-book ratio fall below one, it would have to be a fraudulent company inflating its performance.

Otherwise, it was impossible for it to trade below book value. The stock price would definitely go up.

Less than ten minutes after the dividend resolution announcement, at around 9:10 AM, with only five minutes left before the opening call auction, Xiao Yu, who was already at the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, posted another message on Weibo.

In a short while, Sino-Aviation Linfei Company would also be holding its press conference.

But Xiao Yu posted an update on Weibo related to Spiritual Mirror Tech, giving the market another powerful positive catalyst. He stated that in the future, when the company’s cash reserves were ample, it would formulate a corresponding stock repurchase plan, and the repurchased shares would be directly canceled.

Xiao Yu even used Tencent as an example in his Weibo post, stating that Tencent continuously repurchases its own shares, buying back an average of 100 million every day. He said Spiritual Mirror Tech would strive to be like Tencent in the future, repurchasing its own stock daily, aiming for 100 million a day, or perhaps with an even greater scale of buybacks than Tencent.

“Holy crap! Stop posting, stop posting! I haven’t gotten on board yet, Bro Xiao! Why are you dropping so many massive positive catalysts all at once… aaahhh!” a retail investor wailed, slapping his thighs in regret upon seeing the news flash about Xiao Yu’s latest Weibo post. He didn’t own any Spiritual Mirror Tech shares.

High dividends, and now the prospect of stock buybacks—the entire market erupted into chaos.

At this moment, the hype surrounding Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock had exploded, making it the absolute focus of the entire market today.

The positive news came one after another, each one a bombshell. The news flashes from various platforms this morning were practically flooded with Spiritual Mirror Tech updates, leaving investors feeling dizzy.

Those holding shares were grinning from ear to ear seeing all the good news. Those who missed out had already slapped their thighs raw in regret.

As for those holding short positions, they were trembling. Some who had opened their positions not long ago felt like they needed a fast-acting heart-attack pill, already picturing their positions being liquidated and even ending up in debt. Because today was Spiritual Mirror Tech’s first day of resumed trading, there was no price limit.

By now, even the slowest short-sellers had finally figured it out: Xiao Yu was coming for their short positions.

The short-sellers all shuddered, their surprise turning into sheer terror. They scrambled for countermeasures, rapidly mobilizing funds. Those with connections were burning up the phone lines.

They quickly reached a consensus: they had to suppress the price during the opening call auction!

But they needed money, and they needed shares to sell.

To put it more bluntly, what the army of short-sellers needed most right now was time, and that was precisely what they didn’t have.

Meanwhile, Xiang Chongguang had personally gone to one of the company’s internal trading rooms to oversee the operation. He wouldn’t trade himself; the execution was left to the traders, to whom he had already given his instructions.

At this very moment, countless people across the market were fixated on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s intraday chart, watching the clock.

Finally, the clock ticked over to 9:15 AM.

The opening call auction officially began.

The trading team at Ruilian Group immediately threw in a 1.2 billion RMB bid. In the first five minutes of the auction, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s price was quoted at 85 RMB per share, a +465.91% increase, corresponding to a market capitalization of 7.378 trillion RMB. Disregarding exchange rate fluctuations, that was over one trillion US dollars.

“What? What? What is this? Am I seeing things?” A retail investor staring at the screen was utterly dumbfounded on the spot. Everyone in the market who saw that number was stunned, unable to believe their eyes.

If the market truly opened at that price today, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market cap would genuinely skyrocket to one trillion US dollars, exceeding seven trillion RMB in value.

The short-sellers who saw this number nearly passed out. They felt their hearts and lungs were about to stop.

If it opened at that price, every last short-seller would be blown up. Not just liquidated, they’d be left with massive debt.

“Quick, trigger a sell-off! Sell hard! Push it down for me!” In the trading room of one short-selling faction, the trader broke into a cold sweat. At the same time, almost every short-seller was desperately selling to suppress the price.

Consequently, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s auction price quickly plummeted to the 20 RMB level, a +33.15% gain. Many retail shareholders who had just been ecstatic suddenly felt like their excitement had been for nothing.

“As expected, the first five minutes of the auction aren’t much of an indicator since orders can still be canceled,” one investor commented while watching the screen.

The last five minutes of the auction were what really mattered, as any orders submitted then could not be canceled. At 9:25 AM, all orders would be matched to determine the day’s opening price.

But just a moment after the price was pushed down to 20 RMB, it was quickly pulled back up to 55 RMB, a +266.17% increase. Then it was further pushed to 70 RMB, expanding the gain to +366.04%, before being hammered back down to 30 RMB, a +99.33% gain.

Investors everywhere were utterly dumbfounded. The intensity of the battle between the bulls and bears over the next few minutes far exceeded the market’s expectations. The price fluctuated wildly up and down, as did the volume of shares on both sides.

It wasn’t until 9:20 AM that onlookers discovered, to their shock, that neither the bulls nor the bears had canceled their orders. By then, the funds committed by both sides in the auction had already surpassed three billion—and this was real money.

Tens of thousands of investors cried out that they were witnessing history. Even highly liquid, large-cap stocks only saw a few hundred million in their opening call auctions. This was the first time in the history of the stock market that a single stock had seen over 3.5 billion RMB thrown into its auction phase.

The key point was, 3.5 billion wasn’t the end. They were now entering the final five minutes of the auction, a period where every single cent committed could not be withdrawn.

And at this moment, the bulls and bears were still frantically battling for control of the opening price. The price jumped up and down, and both sides were throwing money around like it was play money.

“My eyes have been opened! This is incredible! This auction is completely awesome! I’ve never seen anything like it. Are the bulls and bears insane?” one retail investor exclaimed in shock. All the stock trading chat groups were buzzing. The market hadn’t even opened yet, and Spiritual Mirror Tech was already, without a doubt, the single biggest focus of the entire market.

Time ticked by, second by second. The moment the clock hand hit 9:25 AM, the result of the opening call auction was out.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s opening call auction closed with a staggering 7.6 billion RMB in volume. It gapped up massively to open at 45.00 RMB per share, a +199.00% increase. The stock had tripled in the auction alone, blowing past its previous all-time high of 39.37 RMB to set a new one. The company’s market capitalization leaped on the spot to 3.906 trillion RMB.

This auction result caused the entire market to explode into chaos!

…

Chapter 121: Press Conference, Announcing the Advent of Room-Temperature Superconducting Material!

As soon as the results of the opening call auction were announced, the entire market erupted into chaos.

The army of short-sellers had tried to manipulate the auction, and they had failed!

They couldn’t mobilize enough funds in time, and more importantly, they couldn’t secure enough securities to borrow for a massive sell-off. The brokerage firms were already in a panic, feeling like they were about to be dragged down by the short-sellers.

The moment the opening price was set, about 40% of the short positions, worth over 270 billion, were liquidated on the spot. Their accounts were frozen and entered the forced liquidation phase.

Some who had used leverage not only had their positions liquidated but also saw their unrealized losses hit -200%, meaning they not only lost their entire principal but owed twice that amount.

The other 60% were already trembling. The opening call auction was just the beginning. By now, even a fool could see that the bulls were coming for them, intending to blow up all the short positions in one fell swoop today.

At this very moment, the stock forum’s comment section, chat groups, and online forums all exploded into chaos.

[Oh my god, I’m witnessing history again and again!]

[A trillion-yuan super-cap stock doubling in the opening call auction, this is freaking ridiculous! It’s outrageously outrageous!]

[Am I dreaming? My cost basis was 35 yuan, and I was stuck with a devastating loss of 50 percent. Now, I’m suddenly up 50 percent?]

[A feast for shareholders. I didn’t get in before the trading halt, and I’m kicking myself raw.]

[I risked it all and followed in the opening auction. Hope I make it out alive.]

[Hahaha, my cost basis is 15 yuan, and it’s already doubled! Should I sell?]

[Sell my ass! This stock is definitely worth holding for the long term. My cost is even lower than yours, just over 6 yuan. A pity I bought so little, but I won’t sell. I get to enjoy the rising stock price and the cash dividends. It’s awesome.]

[Bro Xiao, YYDS!]

[Just a while ago, people were saying out of the 6.5 million retail investors, at least 6 million were trapped with losing positions. In one day, they all broke even. Even those who sold at the previous high are now up 14 percent.]

[I told you so! You should have cherished Spiritual Mirror Tech at 15 yuan. Now you really can’t buy cheap shares at that price anymore.]

[There’s a WeChat screenshot going viral, not sure if it’s real, but it says a huge number of short-sellers have suffered position liquidation and negative balances. This opening auction blew up countless short-sellers directly.]

[Yes, yes, yes! Blow up the shorting dogs! Smash their heads in!]

[Haha, I hope that rumor is true. And thanks to these short-sellers for hammering the price down, otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten my shares at 15 yuan.]

[This is just too insane. I just looked at the adjusted stock price and calculated the cumulative return from its historical low: +1,071,328.60%. Damn, the number is making my head spin. I’ve double-checked—that’s a historical cumulative gain of 10,700 times. It hit its historical low on August 31st of last year, and now it’s October 31st. In just over a year and two months, it’s achieved a 10,700-fold return. You think Bitcoin’s returns are high? Compared to Emperor Spiritual Mirror, it’s nothing!]

[Emperor Spiritual Mirror, terrifyingly so… (smirking emoji.jpg)]

[NONONO, this gap up directly skipped the Spiritual Sect Master and Spiritual Venerable realms. It’s now a Half-Step Spiritual Saint. If it can hold steady today, it’ll have successfully broken through to the Spiritual Saint realm… (manual smirk emoji)]

[The next level has to be the Spiritual Emperor realm… (The emoji for facepalming while crying with laughter.)]

[Half-Step Spiritual Saint, terrifyingly so, terrifyingly so.]

[As expected, anyone with the surname Xiao is awesome, haha!]

[Those who have shares, hold on and sit tight. The upcoming rally will make your head spin.]

…

Just as the opening call auction ended, the press conference at the neighboring Sino-Aviation Linfei Company officially began.

At this moment, the press conference venue was packed with hundreds of media organizations, and the entire capital market was watching. Many were surprised, as Xiao Yu himself was present to preside over the conference.

The reporters’ hands never stopped pressing their camera shutters, and the sound of “click, click, click” filled the entire event.

On the stage, Xiao Yu stood at the podium, his voice amplified by the microphone throughout the hall.

He didn’t waste any time, getting straight to the point: “Today, I officially announce that the room-temperature superconducting material that scientists all over the world have yearned for day and night for over a century—we have found it.”

What—?

Everyone was stunned into silence. They had all expected a major technological breakthrough related to electric aircraft!

But Xiao Yu was saying they had developed a room-temperature superconducting material?

Whoosh—!

The press conference instantly erupted as if a bomb had gone off. The reporters madly pressed their camera shutters. The news was simply too explosive. The various investors paying attention to the conference erupted into chaos once again.

On stage, without waiting for the audience to recover from their shock, Xiao Yu continued, “Using a unique and innovative proprietary technology, we have synthesized a ternary compound material. It has been confirmed to exhibit diamagnetism at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, its zero resistance has been precisely measured, its magnetic susceptibility has been measured, and it has passed…”

Xiao Yu added, “All measurement data shows that the material retains all the properties of a superconductor even in an environment of 333.15 Kelvin. 333.15 Kelvin is 60 degrees Celsius. Of course, its superconducting properties at normal room temperature and pressure go without saying.”

The reporters below the stage gradually recovered from their shock. Everyone realized this was an absolutely earth-shattering front-page headline.

Regardless of whether Xiao Yu was telling the truth, it was incredibly explosive.

If it were true, the implications were obvious. If it were false, for a man with Xiao Yu’s status as the richest man and current immense popularity to tell such a monstrous lie in such a public setting would also be incredibly explosive, blockbuster news.

In short, it was major news either way.

The armies of short-sellers who were also watching the press conference exploded at that moment, completely shattering on the spot!

Right at this moment, it was 9:30 AM, and the A-share market opened for trading on time.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price, having already gapped up by +199%, showed no signs of a pullback. It shot up like a rocket in an explosive rally right from the open. Even those who had boldly bought during the opening call auction made a 30 percent profit in seconds.

At that moment, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price surged to 58.50 yuan, a gain of +288.70%. The stock continued to set new intraday highs, and its market capitalization soared to a historic 5 trillion yuan mark, specifically 5.0778 trillion.

The short-sellers didn’t even have time to launch a massive sell-off. Even the traders from Ruilian Group hadn’t had time to place their buy orders to drive the price higher. The combined force of market capital instantly pushed the price to 58.50 yuan, triggering the first intraday trading halt mechanism. And it didn’t take much volume—only three billion yuan was needed to hit the circuit breaker.

The so-called intraday trading halt mechanism, on a trading day with no daily price fluctuation limits, meant that if the price rose or fell by 30% from the opening price, the first temporary trading halt would be triggered. After a 10-minute halt, trading would resume. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock had opened at 45 yuan today; rising to 58.50 yuan was exactly a +30% increase from the opening price, thus triggering the halt.

If the price were to rise or fall by 60% from the opening price, a second 10-minute temporary halt would be triggered. In other words, if Spiritual Mirror Tech rallied to 72.00 yuan after the 10-minute an halt, it would trigger a second halt.

Once the second intraday halt ended, there would be no more price fluctuation limits or temporary halts for the rest of the trading day.

The entire market was in an uproar yet again. Even veteran retail investors who had been in the A-share market for one or two decades exclaimed they had never seen anything like it.

This explosive rally from the market open to the trading halt meant the short-sellers were losing so badly they could cry their eyes out. They couldn’t close their positions; it was simply impossible.

The instantaneous rally to the halt only involved about 3 billion yuan in turnover. Compared to the more than 270 billion yuan in short positions, it wasn’t nearly enough.

Keep in mind, the current price was 58.5 yuan, a +288% increase from the previous trading day’s closing price. The 270 billion in short positions was based on the previous closing price of 15.05 yuan. To close those positions now, 270 billion yuan would no longer be enough.

They would have to buy back at a 2.88 times premium from the market to close out, which means they would need to spend over 770 billion yuan to cover their short positions.

The most fatal part was that they might not even be able to close their positions, unless the stock price stopped rising or even fell.

But looking at the situation, 58.50 yuan was definitely not the peak. After the first halt, the price would absolutely surge higher.

If the second halt was triggered and the price shot up to 72.00 yuan, the corresponding intraday gain would be +378.4%. The short-sellers would then need over 1 trillion yuan to cover their positions.

By now, there was no need for a second halt. The moment the first halt was triggered, those who hadn’t closed their short positions already had their accounts liquidated—their principal and any profits were wiped out, and they were now deeply in debt. And if the stock price continued to rise, the more it rose, the larger their debt would become.

At this very moment, every last one of the short-sellers had completely imploded.

Seeing Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current stock price, even a fast-acting heart-attack pill might not be able to save those big short-sellers. And who knew how many traders on the short side had fainted in their trading rooms at that very moment.

Some of the speculative traders who had shorted the stock were even heading to the rooftop to take a leap.

…

Chapter 122: A Live Demonstration of Superconducting Levitation Shocks the Audience

While Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock was triggering its first intraday trading halt, the press conference hosted by Xiao Yu at the neighboring Sino-Aviation Linfei Company was still underway.

As he spoke at the lectern, he was also looking at a phone in his hand, though the reporters’ camera angles couldn’t capture it.

Xiao Yu wasn’t looking at anything else; he was watching the stock chart for Spiritual Mirror Tech.

Seeing the price surge to a historic high of 58.50 yuan and trigger a ten-minute intraday trading halt, the corner of his mouth lifted in a faint, fleeting smile.

The people at the conference assumed Xiao Yu was looking at his speech notes, but in reality, he had come on stage without any.

A moment later, Xiao Yu turned off his phone screen, set it aside, and looked up at the audience. Hundreds of cameras flashed relentlessly, the clicks of their shutters a constant accompaniment.

Composed and confident, Xiao Yu spoke again. “The dream of superconductivity, pursued by scientists for over a century, has finally been realized today. We have unprecedentedly raised the transition temperature for superconducting materials, pushing it to the unheard-of height of 333 Kelvin. This year marks the dawn of the superconducting era; the great gates to a new world of physics have now swung open.”

Just as Xiao Yu’s voice fell, a reporter in the audience interjected, “Mr. Xiao, how can we believe that what you’re saying is true? I just messaged an expert who expressed doubts. How do you respond to that?”

At this, Xiao Yu broke into a faint smile. His gaze locked onto the reporter who had spoken. “An excellent question. I’ve been waiting for that one for a while now. I’m glad someone finally asked.”

His words took everyone by surprise. Seeing his confident and composed demeanor, it seemed as if what he claimed might actually be true.

After a moment, Xiao Yu suddenly pulled a ping-pong ball-sized, dark gray object from his pocket. He held it between his index finger, ring finger, and thumb, then raised his hand high to display it for all the cameras.

“Could that be…” a reporter in the crowd muttered, stunned for a second before frantically snapping pictures. Nearly every lens focused on the object in Xiao Yu’s hand as photo after photo was taken.

The object was, in fact, a piece of room-temperature superconducting material.

Finally, Xiao Yu looked down at the object in his hand and said slowly, “As you can all see, this is the first piece of room-temperature superconducting material I synthesized in my lab. Its power exceeded my expectations; the Earth’s magnetic field alone is enough to make it levitate. According to our measurements, this little gadget in my hand can float at an altitude of over a kilometer without any external force.”

As the crowd looked on with a mixture of wonder and suspicion, Xiao Yu smiled. “I’m sure some of you are skeptical. So, my friends in the press, watch closely. Get your cameras ready. Seeing is believing, and I will now give you a live demonstration.”

Every eye in the room widened, and every camera remained focused on the stone-like object in Xiao Yu’s hand. The entire audience was filled with anticipation.

If this was real, they were truly witnessing a historic moment.

Just then, a staff member walked onto the stage. The audience was surprised to see him holding something that looked like a large fisherman’s landing net. He was clearly part of a pre-arranged plan.

Xiao Yu stepped away from the lectern and took a few steps back. The staff member with the net mirrored him, backing a few paces until he was in the aisle of the press seating area.

Everyone watched, curious as to what Xiao Yu was about to do.

A moment later, under the watchful eyes and lenses of the entire room, Xiao Yu tossed the piece of room-temperature superconducting material toward his feet. Everyone saw the dark gray object fall rapidly toward the ground.

But then, they all saw its descent visibly slow, indicating that an upward repulsive force was counteracting gravity.

Before the very eyes of everyone present, the object’s fall ceased when it reached the height of Xiao Yu’s mid-calf. It hovered for a moment and then began to rise rapidly. Just as it reached a point below his shoulder, he reached out and snatched it with precision.

“Whoa—!”

“Holy crap?!”

The scene instantly electrified the entire room, which erupted in shocked and astonished cries.

Someone couldn’t help but let out a “Holy crap!” Everyone wore expressions of utter disbelief, completely stunned.

At that moment, while everyone was still gasping in shock, Xiao Yu suddenly threw the superconducting material in his hand forward horizontally, straight toward the audience. The staff member holding the landing net was standing in the aisle, directly in the path of the object.

Under normal circumstances, an object thrown horizontally would follow a downward parabolic arc due to gravity until it hit the ground. This was basic physics.

But at this moment, the object he threw traveled horizontally for a short distance before its trajectory began to curve upward in a parabola. As it moved forward, not only did it not fall, but its altitude continued to increase.

This sight once again sent waves of shocked gasps through the onlookers. Disbelief was written on every face, and jaws were about to hit the floor.

Just then, the staff member swiftly moved forward and caught the piece of superconducting material with the landing net as it flew toward the ceiling.

This act was undeniable proof that it wasn’t a magic trick; there were no hidden strings.

The superconducting material was caught in the landing net, but it pushed the mesh upward as if trying to break free.

A moment later, the staff member retrieved the room-temperature superconducting material from the net and handed it back to Xiao Yu before leaving the stage with the net.

Xiao Yu tossed the material down again. It fell, but before it could touch the ground, it rebounded upward. Xiao Yu caught it with perfect timing.

The material in his hand seemed to possess anti-gravity properties.

The exclamations of amazement continued unabated as reporters frantically snapped pictures.

They were witnessing history!

After such a simple and clear demonstration, everyone had no choice but to accept this ironclad fact.

One reporter said in a stunned voice, “So we’ve entered the superconducting era just like that? Unbelievable. We’ve witnessed a world-changing moment. The first year of the superconducting era is here!”

The photos and videos captured today were undoubtedly precious historical records. The images of Xiao Yu’s demonstration would surely be entered into the annals of history as a landmark moment.

…

Meanwhile, the A-share market was making its own history.

At around 9:40 AM, Spiritual Mirror Tech, which had been in a ten-minute intraday trading halt, resumed trading. Investors across the market were staring intently at their screens.

At that moment, many short-sellers facing liquidation switched sides. To close their short positions, they had no choice but to buy.

It was a mad dash for survival; every share they could buy back mattered. Any delay would magnify their losses tremendously. After all, a stock’s rise was theoretically limitless, and with this explosive market sentiment, no one knew to what absurd heights the price would be pushed.

The instant trading resumed, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s intraday line shot up at a vertical 90-degree angle, instantly surging to a new historic high of 72.00 yuan. This directly triggered the second intraday trading halt mechanism.

The trading volume during this halt shrank to a mere seven hundred million yuan.

In other words, no one was selling, but the amount of capital desperate to buy was terrifyingly large, triggering the second halt in a matter of seconds. The stock was halted again for another ten minutes.

After this second ten-minute halt, there would be no more price limits for the rest of the day’s trading session.

At that point, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock was up +378.40% for the day. The company’s total market capitalization broke the six trillion yuan barrier with ease, reaching a specific figure of six trillion, two hundred and forty-nine billion, six hundred million yuan, while the total transaction volume was just over eleven billion, five hundred million yuan.

The short positions trapped inside would need one trillion yuan just to close out at this price. But even one trillion yuan would be nowhere near enough, because with the current momentum and explosive market sentiment, the price was bound to surge even higher when trading resumed in ten minutes.

Now, no one knew where today’s high would be.

…

Chapter 123: Dumbfounded! I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This In My Life (Two Chapters Combined)

This wave had already bankrupted countless short-sellers. For some, even bankruptcy wasn’t enough to cover their losses. They were thrust back into poverty overnight. Some short-selling speculators, saddled with debts they couldn’t repay in ten lifetimes, chose to end their obligations by leaping from a rooftop—once the person is gone, the debt is gone.

Just as Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price triggered two consecutive intraday trading halts right at the market open, the brokerage firm sector suddenly took a nosedive.

Large funds were fleeing, selling off brokerage stocks at any cost. This, in turn, dragged down the broader market index, sending the Shanghai Composite Index plummeting.

Many brokerage firms, as well as some institutions that had lent out their securities, were indirectly hit by this unprecedented short squeeze.

The short-sellers were facing forced liquidation, but their positions couldn’t actually be closed. Meanwhile, the stock price continued to soar. They had not only lost all their principal and profits but were now accumulating massive debt, and it was still growing. If the short-sellers couldn’t repay their debts, the lenders of the securities would be forced to bear the losses. With brokerage firms unable to recall their shares and the short-sellers turning into deadbeats, the losses were forcibly transferred to the brokerages and institutions, becoming an astronomical sum of bad debt.

But how could the brokerage firms possibly foot the bill for the short-sellers? Faced with such an astronomical figure, even the strongest relationships would sour instantly.

The biggest problem now was that the short-sellers couldn’t afford to pay. And the most fatal part was that their positions were still open. If the stock price kept rising, their debt would only expand.

That was why the brokerage sector was plummeting now. Some funds had recognized the massive risk of a blow-up and were rushing to flee from their responsibilities.

The brokerage firms caught up in this mess were already in an uproar internally. The short-sellers were privately egging them on: why not just pull the plug on trading?

But none of the brokerage firms dared to be the first to do so. Instead, they made urgent calls to the regulator: “Help us!”

The regulator was at its wits’ end.

Help?

How?

Just pull the plug?

Or go after Xiao Yu?

But Xiao Yu was now a celebrated figure, watched over and supported by the highest authorities. He had created a room-temperature superconducting material, something capable of driving a new scientific and technological revolution. It was no exaggeration to say this was a technological breakthrough that could affect the nation’s destiny. As a result, Xiao Yu’s importance had skyrocketed.

To go after Xiao Yu at this crucial moment? That would be courting death.

The regulator didn’t dare make a move. They might just get themselves removed from their posts first.

Yet, calls from brokerage firms crying for help were flooding in one after another, a testament to the wide-reaching impact of this crisis. How could it be small with over 270 billion in short positions? This was an astronomical 270 billion, not 27 million.

And now, with the short squeeze in full effect, closing these short positions according to the rules of the game would cost over 1.3 trillion, not 270 billion. The scariest part was that this number was almost certain to increase after the trading halt ended. The bulls had the short-sellers by the throat and were squeezing them for all they were worth.

Keep in mind, the total market capitalization of all listed companies in the entire brokerage sector was only about 3 trillion. No wonder they were screaming for a lifeline!

The regulator genuinely wanted to help, but the question was, how?

From the looks of it, the most effective method would be to target Xiao Yu, but who would dare do that now?

While they were running around like ants on a hot pan, desperately seeking a way to save themselves, the press conference was still underway.

…

At the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company press conference.

Xiao Yu once again stepped up to the podium, his voice amplified by the microphone throughout the venue. “With the advent of room-temperature superconducting materials, the world will truly usher in the fourth scientific and technological revolution!”

Calm and composed, Xiao Yu explained, “In the energy sector, room-temperature superconductors can drastically reduce losses in power transmission and storage, enhancing energy efficiency and reliability. Furthermore, they can provide powerful magnetic field support for controlled nuclear fusion, enabling a clean, safe, and efficient net energy output. Perhaps the old joke about controlled fusion being ‘always 50 years away’ is about to become a thing of the past.”

“In the medical field, room-temperature superconductors can make medical equipment like MRI machines more convenient and precise for diagnosing and treating various diseases. They can also provide better performance and compatibility for medical technologies such as biosensors, artificial organs, and neural stimulation.”

“In computing, room-temperature superconductors can enable quantum computers to operate more stably, quickly, and scalably, solving complex problems that are impossible for classical computers. At the same time, they can provide traditional computers with higher processing speeds and storage capacities, reducing issues of heat dissipation and energy consumption.”

“In transportation, room-temperature superconductors can make magnetic levitation trains more economical, efficient, and safe, becoming an alternative to highways and railways. They can also provide lighter, stronger, and more durable batteries and motors for electric vehicles, extending their range and lifespan.”

At this point, Xiao Yu looked down at the material in his hand. “And this ternary compound superconducting material we’ve synthesized is far more powerful than any of us could have imagined. It can achieve powerful levitation relying solely on Earth’s own magnetic field. The flying cars of science fiction films will no longer be a distant concept, but a reality in the foreseeable future.”

As everyone listened to the future blueprint Xiao Yu was describing, they couldn’t help but fill in the blanks with their own imagination, picturing sci-fi scenes of levitating cars crisscrossing the sky, as if witnessing science fiction becoming reality.

Xiao Yu scanned the audience and added, “What does it mean once vehicles can travel by levitating off the ground? It means urban transportation will undergo an unprecedented revolution, upgrading from the current two-dimensional, ground-based road network to a three-dimensional, aerial transportation network.”

“The maximum scale of a city is determined by the upper limit of its commuting capacity. The current system of ground transport plus subways, even when pushed to its limits, can only sustain a metropolis of about thirty million people. Expanding beyond that either causes transportation costs to skyrocket or results in gridlock.”

“But if vehicles can leave the ground and travel through the air, a three-dimensional spatial layout for the urban transport network becomes possible. This will give rise to a brand new economic sector: the low-altitude economy. In the future, the low-altitude economy will have infinite room for imagination.”

“For instance, imagine a plan to double a two-way, four-lane road in the city to a two-way, eight-lane road. The traditional method means doubling the land area occupied by the road. In an urban center where land is expensive, this could also involve numerous issues with demolishing existing buildings. The combined cost would be unbearable.”

“But when urban transportation achieves a three-dimensional layout, we won’t need to acquire more land to expand roads. Instead, we can expand vertically from the original road surface, saving all the land costs.”

“Adding one elevated level above the original road provides the commuting capacity of an eight-lane road. Two levels make it sixteen lanes, and ten levels provide the capacity of a forty-lane road, all while the land footprint remains unchanged.”

“With this, let alone a metropolis of thirty million, even a mega-city with a population of one hundred million wouldn’t experience any traffic congestion. And transportation costs would be lower.”

As Xiao Yu spoke eloquently, everyone listened, their minds conjuring images of such a city—a sci-fi scene of superconducting levitating vehicles weaving through the metropolis at different altitudes.

The applications of room-temperature superconducting materials were so broad that Xiao Yu only briefly mentioned some of the more representative scenarios at the press conference. He deliberately avoided any mention of military applications. With sufficient production capacity, this material could turn an aircraft carrier into a sky-carrier. The Nantianmen Project could advance from a “new folder” to a practical stage.

This was a truly disruptive product. Graphene material had been hailed as the “king of new materials in the 21st century,” but with the emergence of room-temperature superconducting materials, even graphene would have to yield its throne.

The demonstration footage from Xiao Yu’s press conference quickly went viral online. It was even made into GIFs and spread through various chat groups.

When scholars in the field of superconducting materials saw the footage, they were so shocked they nearly jumped out of their seats. The material’s ability to achieve such powerful levitation using only Earth’s natural magnetic field was utterly unbelievable to them.

Onlookers on the internet exclaimed that physics no longer existed.

And when the short-sellers saw this scene, their hearts turned to ice.

How they wished Xiao Yu was lying and faking it. But when they saw the material he threw out levitate upwards on its own, as if it were some anti-gravity black technology, instead of falling to the ground, they had no choice but to accept the truth.

…

Meanwhile, in the capital market.

Around 9:50 AM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s second intraday trading halt of the day ended as scheduled, and trading resumed.

Thousands of eyes across the market were fixed on this stock. Everyone knew that at this very moment, they were witnessing history in the making.

The moment trading resumed, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s intraday line shot up vertically again at a ninety-degree angle, its price continuously setting new all-time highs.

It rocketed towards the 80 yuan mark, an intraday gain of +431.56%, pushing its market capitalization to 6.944 trillion.

It surged towards the 85 yuan mark, an intraday gain of +464.78%, with a market cap of 7.378 trillion, officially surpassing one trillion US dollars.

It continued to climb to 103.52 yuan, an intraday gain of +587.84%, with a market cap of 8.985536 trillion, approximately 1.25 trillion US dollars. This surpassed PetroChina’s peak market cap of 8.8 trillion from its 2010 listing, setting a new record for the highest market capitalization of a single stock in the history of the A-share market.

Everyone in the market was stunned, completely and utterly dumbfounded.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s trajectory was beyond anyone’s comprehension. Whether they were institutions, retail investors, speculative funds, or large individual investors, everyone was bewildered.

Even looking at global capital markets, no listed company of this size had ever experienced such an insane rally. This created an unprecedented miracle in the world’s capital markets, which also indirectly illustrated the incredible credibility of the newly unveiled room-temperature superconducting material.

It wasn’t that there were no trillion-dollar-plus listed companies; giants like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft had all achieved this milestone.

But for a company like Spiritual Mirror Tech, which was worth 1.3 trillion RMB, or about 180 billion US dollars, just over twenty minutes ago, to skyrocket to 1.247 trillion US dollars in less than half an hour—that was a first in the entire world.

Even the titans on America’s Wall Street were gobsmacked. They had never seen anything like this!

It sounds slow, but it happened in a flash.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price didn’t stop. It continued its explosive rally, creating history with every passing second, setting new all-time highs.

The price quickly broke past 117 yuan, an intraday gain of +677.41%. Trading software across the board sent out notifications:

[Spiritual Mirror Tech continues to set a new high at 117 yuan, intraday gains expand to +677.41%, market cap surpasses the 10 trillion mark. The A-share market welcomes its first listed company to break the 10 trillion market cap threshold. Current trading volume: 23.7 billion.]

Even with the price soaring like this, the trading volume was less than 30 billion. This indicated that the short-sellers with over 270 billion in positions had barely closed any of them. To close out at the current price, the cost for the short-sellers had ballooned to a staggering 1.86 trillion, meaning they were already 1.58 trillion in debt.

Besides the Ruilian Group’s efforts to force a short squeeze and a small portion of traders being too stunned to act, the primary reason for this insane rally was a severe stampede among the short-sellers themselves, all trying to escape.

On the surface, they were united, but behind the scenes, everyone was rushing to sell off, subscribing to the “better you die than me” mentality.

To close their positions, short-sellers had to buy shares, effectively turning them into bulls. When all the short-sellers tried to rush for the exit, they all became buyers.

This created a vicious cycle: the more desperate the shorts were to close their positions, the more shares they had to buy; the more shares they bought, the higher the price went; the higher the price went, the more desperate they became to buy shares.

Compounding the problem, there was no price limit on the stock today. This led to a reinforced feedback loop, pushing the stock price ever higher on less than 30 billion in actual trades.

The result of everyone rushing to get out was that no one could get out.

Furthermore, another crucial factor was that the brokerage firms were, at this moment, passively conducting forced liquidations according to regulations. No matter how high the price climbed, they liquidated as much as they could with the funds available in the frozen short-seller accounts, regardless of whether it could close the positions.

The people at the brokerage firms certainly knew this would only lead to a malicious stampede, so why didn’t they intervene? Why did they stand by and let it happen?

Two words: They’re scared!

Three words: Scared of responsibility!

The moment the losses reached the “trillion” level, the brokerage personnel were truly terrified.

At a time like this, if you deviate from the rules and procedures, making your own decisions, the best-case scenario if you stabilize the situation is that your merits and demerits cancel each other out. But if you fail, you’ll have to take full responsibility and carry the blame, with no way to shake it off.

Based on this, no one dared to intervene. That way, even if the situation wasn’t stabilized, they had followed procedure and hadn’t acted on their own authority.

When the time came to assign blame, they could argue that the disastrous outcome was mainly due to imperfections in the market mechanism. The main problem wasn’t the people, but the flawed system. Although people would still bear some responsibility, the nature of it would be different. The biggest share of the blame would definitely be offloaded.

Right now, their top priority was self-preservation. By remaining passive, they sought no merit, but avoiding fault was a merit in itself.

And so, they just watched with their hands tied as the bulls squeezed the shorts to death, doing nothing. They would rather let the brokerage firms, and even the entire financial system, be dragged down than have anyone step up and do something.

The brokerage personnel chose to follow the rules and procedures, thinking that even if they were dragged under, it would just be a pile of bad debt. At least they could still legally pursue the short-sellers for it. Whether the shorts could ever repay was no longer important. What mattered was that as long as the shorts were alive, they were the debtors, and the brokerages were the creditors. This was a bad debt, and theoretically, there was still a chance of recovery—even if that chance was zero. But could you deny it was a bad debt?

But if they rashly stepped forward to make a decision now, the division of responsibility would become murky later. The brokerage personnel clearly had no intention of taking the fall for the short-sellers.

And so, they just watched as the army of short-sellers trampled each other, creating the miracle of Spiritual Mirror Tech leveraging less than 30 billion in trades to achieve a terrifying market capitalization of over 10 trillion.

Just as the trading software was pushing out news flashes, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price continued to break upwards on low volume. About two and a half minutes later, the price hit 133.55 yuan.

Trading software once again pushed out notifications:

[Spiritual Mirror Tech sets another all-time high at 133.55 yuan, with intraday gains expanding to +787.37%. Total market capitalization is 11.59 trillion (approx. 1.61 trillion USD). Current trading volume exceeds 60 billion.]

The price hit 133.55 yuan, marking the day’s high.

At this very moment, an astronomical volume began to flood the market. An enormous share turnover occurred, and the transaction volume grew exponentially.

It was because the Ruilian Group had made its move, fulfilling its promise to Xiao Yu to cash out a 2% stake and donate it to the Benevolence Fund.

Suddenly, an immense volume of over 1.7 billion shares was released onto the market. Due to the inaction of the brokerage firms, the short-sellers were left to be the bagholders, closing their positions at the peak. The massive selling pressure was somehow absorbed and did not trigger a flash crash.

However, the short-sellers’ frozen funds only covered less than 13% of their positions. To close out at the current price, 270 billion was not enough; they needed an epic, astronomical sum of 2.16 trillion.

At this point, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s trading volume quickly surpassed one hundred billion. Seeing the massive volume, many retail investors also jumped on the bandwagon to sell. With the stock up 7.87 times in a single day, it was incredibly difficult to resist cashing out to secure one’s profits.

By 10:00 AM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s trading volume had set a new all-time single-day record, and for the first time, its intraday volume broke the 200 billion mark. At this time, the total trading volume of all other listed companies on the ChiNext board was only just over 50 billion. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s volume alone was more than three times that.

This super-behemoth was siphoning liquidity from almost the entire market, causing over 4,500 of the market’s 5,000-plus stocks to dive as their liquidity was drained away.

By 10:07 AM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s trading volume broke the historic 300 billion mark, directly surpassing the current total trading volume of the entire Shanghai Composite Index for the day.

The Ruilian Group had frantically cashed out 1.736 billion shares at the high, with an average transaction price of around 125.5 yuan. This 2% stake directly brought in 217.8 billion.

At this moment, Xiang Chongguang, who was personally overseeing the situation in the trading hall, felt his heart trembling. No one else noticed that his hands, shoved in his pockets, were shaking uncontrollably. His current composure was just an act; he couldn’t let his subordinates see him lose his cool.

Xiang Chongguang thought to himself, “Xiao Yu, you absolutely cannot fall…”

At this moment, President Xiang realized he had been forced into the biggest gamble of his life. He never wanted to play this big. If he had known things would turn out this way, he would have politely declined to help back then.

But now, the turn of events had completely cornered him. It was too late to sell out too early; he couldn’t stop. He was forced to grit his teeth and go all in, betting his entire future without reservation.

Because if Xiao Yu was taken down, Xiang Chongguang knew all too well that he would be completely screwed along with him. They would truly flourish together or perish together.

Xiang Chongguang was well aware that his 2% sell-off was non-compliant, and the shadow shareholding itself was also irregular. It was a minor issue if overlooked, but a huge one if scrutinized.

Today’s sell-off was like planting a super time bomb for himself. Cashing out an astronomical sum of over 200 billion—could there be anything more concrete than that when the scrutiny came? That bomb wasn’t just a bomb; it was a nuclear warhead.

If you cashed out 200 million or 2 billion, you’d be fine. Even if there were issues, they wouldn’t be major, most likely ending with a token punishment.

But when you cash out an astronomical sum of over 200 billion, it’s a different story. Either nothing happens at all and you keep advancing rapidly, or if something does go wrong, it’s a cataclysm. Xiang Chongguang would be one hundred percent certain to end up in prison, and for life at that.

No wonder his heart was pounding and his hands were shaking.

…

Chapter 124: The Short-Sellers’ Desperate Counterattack

Around 10:00 AM, the press conference at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company had concluded.

Upon leaving, Xiao Yu immediately took out his phone to check his company’s stock price. The sight left him stunned for a good while. This has gotten a little out of hand… he thought to himself.

“A little out of hand?” That was an understatement.

The battle of wits between bulls and bears over Spiritual Mirror Tech had turned the entire A-share market upside down.

On the trading screen, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market value had skyrocketed by ten trillion, shining as the undisputed center of attention. At the same time, however, major sectors were plummeting across the board, and the indices were also taking a heavy hit. Of the more than 5,300 stocks in the market, over 5,000 were in the red. More than 300 had hit their limit down, and over 800 had dropped by more than eight percentage points.

Spiritual Mirror Tech was currently seeing an epic, astronomical volume of trades. The trading volume of this single listed company had already surpassed that of the entire Shanghai Composite Index for the same period—and by a wide margin. It now accounted for 43% of the total market’s turnover, a situation unprecedented in history.

This meant that Spiritual Mirror Tech’s terrifying capital-siphoning effect had practically sucked the entire market’s liquidity dry. It wasn’t just siphoning from a couple of stocks or one or two industry sectors, but from the entire market.

This was reflected on the trading screens as a collective sell-off across 5,000 stocks.

At this moment, various funds in the market were either fleeing from their responsibilities in the brokerage sector, sensing an impending collapse, or selling off other stocks to free up capital to pour into Spiritual Mirror Tech, or preparing to do so at a moment’s notice.

Although Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market value had surged by over ten trillion, its fundamentals—graphene in its left hand, artificial intelligence in its right, and room-temperature superconductors in the middle—were built on a logic harder than diamond. Any one of these three trump cards, taken alone, possessed infinite room for imagination.

Furthermore, an announcement was made this morning that the Board of Directors had approved a dividend resolution. Starting next year, the company would consistently pay out one-third of its profits in annual dividends.

This prompted many funds that had missed out on the stock rally to jump in, even after the stock had already risen sevenfold.

When investors saw Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current market value of 11.59 trillion, they weren’t thinking, “How did this company reach 11.59 trillion?” but rather, “Why is it only 11.59 trillion?” Converted to US dollars, that was about 1.61 trillion.

Apple’s latest market cap was 2.43 trillion US dollars. On what grounds was Spiritual Mirror Tech, with three trump cards in hand, worth less than Apple?

Some investors even believed that even without the room-temperature superconducting material, Spiritual Mirror Tech, with its globally dominant AI and mass-produced graphene technologies, should be on par with Apple.

This sentiment was fully reflected in the market. Rui Lian had dumped a massive 1.736 billion shares, and millions of retail investors had made seven or eight times their investment in a single day. Seeing the astronomical volume of shares being offloaded, many had a strong urge to cash out and secure their profits. Even if they didn’t clear out their entire position, most made moves to reduce their holdings.

Such immense selling pressure couldn’t necessarily have been absorbed by the short-sellers’ 270-odd billion alone, but the reality was that the market had indeed soaked it all up.

This indicated that other funds that had missed out were also buying in. They strongly believed that this stock would definitely break the two trillion US dollar mark in the future, even surpassing Apple to become the world’s most valuable company.

Although the current price was no longer cheap, they still considered it a good value for the money and were willing to buy.

For the speculative funds engaged in ultra-short-term trading, they had two options today: either stay on the sidelines and do nothing, or trade only Spiritual Mirror Tech. There was no life left in other sectors, as Spiritual Mirror Tech had nearly drained all their liquidity. They feared they would get clobbered if they entered other trades.

In this situation, their only option was to go all-in on Spiritual Mirror Tech or stay on the sidelines and watch the show.

At that moment, a black business vehicle pulled into the headquarters of Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. The person who stepped out was Xu Changming, the current CEO of Spiritual Mirror Tech. When some reporters saw him, many rushed over, chattering and endlessly asking questions.

However, Xu Changming did not accept any interviews, nor did he stop walking. Fortunately, he had brought bodyguards this time, who cleared a path for him, so he wasn’t blocked by the journalists.

The media didn’t find Xu Changming’s appearance at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company unusual. After all, Xiao Yu was the founder of both companies, and Spiritual Mirror Tech had acquired a 20% stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei, bringing its total ownership to 25% with the previous 5%.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market value was also soaring due to the breakthrough in room-temperature superconducting materials, creating a series of unrepeatable miracles.

Yun Shu had also rushed over. She found Xiao Yu in the lounge. “Old Xu needs to see you about something urgent. He’s already here and wants to talk to you in person.”

Just as she finished speaking, Xu Changming entered the room. Seeing Xiao Yu, he closed the door and walked over quickly.

“Speak of the devil. What’s so urgent?” Xiao Yu said with a smile. There were only three people in the room. Xu Changming was relieved to see Yun Shu; as a core member of the team, she wasn’t an outsider, so there was no need for secrecy.

Xu Changming sat down and looked at Xiao Yu. “The capital market is in chaos, on the verge of spiraling out of control. We’ve overplayed our hand this time. I never expected the market to become this frenzied. If we don’t figure out how to wrap this up, things could get out of control. Once a chain reaction starts and spills over from the financial markets to cause systemic risk, we’ll be in big trouble.”

He had rushed over personally precisely because of this matter.

Xiao Yu gestured for Yun Shu to give him a laptop. He opened it and glanced at the state of the A-share market, also taking a look at Spiritual Mirror Tech’s trading screen.

After a moment, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but curse under his breath, “These fucking short-sellers are useless. It’s not that I pushed too hard; I overestimated them. I figured that after the second intraday trading halt, this bunch would at least be able to close 50% of their positions. But the price shot all the way up to 130, and they didn’t even manage to close 5%.”

Xiao Yu hadn’t expected this either. His initial plan was to wipe out the short-sellers’ 270-plus billion, aiming for a total haul of around 300 to 350 billion. He never imagined they would be so incompetent. Now, they were in debt to the tune of 2.16 trillion.

The main reason was that Xiao Yu hadn’t anticipated that the brokerage firms and other financial institutions would simply stand by and watch the short squeeze unfold, prioritizing a play-it-safe strategy of seeking no merits, just avoiding faults.

That in itself wouldn’t be a problem if the short-sellers had the money to cover the debt. The problem was, this bunch owed so much that they couldn’t possibly pay it back even if they sold everything they owned.

Xiao Yu set the laptop aside and looked at Xu Changming. “What moves are they making?”

Hearing this, Xu Changming immediately replied, “There’s a rumor spreading like wildfire in the inner circles right now. It says the short-sellers lost over two trillion on Spiritual Mirror Tech, dragging a large number of financial institutions down with them, and that the banks will also be hit, triggering a chain reaction.”

At that very moment, the brokerage sector was already experiencing a wave of limit-down stocks. The indices were plummeting across the board: the Guozheng 2000 Index was down 8%, the CSI 500 Index was down 6%, and the ChiNext Index was down 7%. More than 5,000 stocks in both markets were a sea of green, and the main board indices of Shanghai and Shenzhen were also taking hits of varying degrees.

The main force of the national team was forced to work “overtime,” rushing to pull up state-owned stocks to stabilize the broader Shanghai market. They couldn’t protect indices like the Guozheng 2000, CSI 1000, or CSI 500, and even propping up the Shanghai Composite was a struggle.

Right now, the state-owned stocks were being pumped so hard they were practically smoking. The two state oil giants were almost at their limit up, but it still wasn’t enough to turn the Shanghai Composite Index green.

But this only lasted for twenty minutes before the banking sector began to nosedive, dragging the broader market down again. If the state-owned stocks propping up the market also took a steep plunge in the afternoon, today would be a disaster-level violent crash for the A-share market.

At this moment, brokerage, banking, and insurance—the “three fools of finance”—were all in a collective dive, creating the impression that the A-share market was on the brink of a systemic financial crisis.

Xiao Yu fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “I think I get it. They’re staging a desperate, death-defying rescue mission. They’ve been squeezed, they can’t escape, and they can’t afford to pay, so they’re trying to blow this thing up.”

Xu Changming nodded repeatedly. “My thoughts exactly. That’s what I concluded as well.”

Pay back over two trillion?

Even if the short-sellers pooled the accumulated wealth of five generations and sold everything they owned, it wouldn’t be enough.

Xiao Yu and Xu Changming’s deduction was correct. The short-sellers, backed into a corner, had chosen to become desperate. Their final self-rescue strategy was this: since the current conflict couldn’t be resolved, and Xiao Yu was intent on squeezing them to death, then no one was going to have a good day.

So they chose to escalate the conflict further. Since the outcome was the same either way, they decided to go for broke, amplifying the systemic risk of the entire financial market—in Xiao Yu’s words, to make the situation bigger.

One had to admit, this move by the short-sellers was, in its own way, a solution. This desperate gambit might just offer them a sliver of a chance at survival. Though they might have to settle scores later, they wouldn’t survive today otherwise, so why worry about tomorrow?

Through this tactic, the short-sellers and the financial institutions they had dragged down were now pressuring the regulator.

Now, are you going to save us or not?

You don’t have to save me, but can you really not save the market?

If you don’t, then we’ll blow this situation up completely, all the way to the top, and we’ll all get slammed by the iron fist of the state, end up in prison, and be completely screwed.

To prevent a systemic risk in the entire financial market, a rescue was necessary. Saving us is saving the market, saving everyone. Once we are saved, the chain of risk contagion will be broken.

This move had left the regulator in a bind, completely cornered.

Chapter 125: Pulling the Plug? Successive Reversals Send the Entire Market into an Uproar

Seeing Xiao Yu remain silent, Xu Changming couldn’t help but ask, “How should we handle this? If the capital market collapses and it dominoes into the real economy, even if we aren’t primarily responsible, we can’t completely wash our hands of it.”

Xiao Yu spoke methodically, “I’ve been thinking about this ever since the press conference ended. Don’t worry, let’s wait a bit. I’m waiting for a call.”

Xu Changming was puzzled. “Waiting for a call?”

Xiao Yu nodded. “That’s right. I’m waiting for a call from the regulator. They could afford to sit still before, but with our opponent making such a desperate, all-or-nothing move, the regulator has been put on the spot. They can’t possibly sit still any longer.”

That was indeed true. The regulator would never tolerate the market spiraling out of control.

After a moment, Xiao Yu looked at Xu Changming and said calmly, “Don’t worry, I have it all under control. You don’t need to get involved; I’ll handle it. The sky isn’t falling. You should go back to your duties and ensure the company’s normal operations aren’t affected by this.”

Seeing Xiao Yu’s composure, Xu Changming felt much more at ease. He nodded without lingering and promptly got up to return to the Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters.

With Xu Changming gone, only two people remained in the break room. Xiao Yu said nothing, simply waiting for the regulator’s call.

Yun Shu couldn’t help but ask, “What happens if they really do call?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “What else can the regulator do? Most likely, they’ll try to smooth things over.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang. It was, indeed, the regulator.

They truly couldn’t hold out any longer. In this situation, it would be difficult to resolve things properly without “pulling the plug.” But there was a precondition: they had to confirm Xiao Yu’s stance first. He was the one person they couldn’t bypass. If they pulled the plug unilaterally and Xiao Yu refused to acknowledge it, he could escalate the matter, and the issue would remain unresolved.

Before calling Xiao Yu, the regulator had already confirmed that the short-sellers, especially the major players, were willing to compromise and take a massive loss to save their own skins. With that settled, they immediately called Xiao Yu to begin urgent discussions.

At that moment, Yun Shu sat quietly to the side, not saying a word, as Xiao Yu engaged in conversation with the regulator.

During the phone call, both sides turned into masters of ambiguity, tacitly speaking in riddles. This wasn’t them being deliberately profound; the situation was dire, and a phone call was the only option. But phone conversations leave a record. They had to speak in a way that was both flawless and devoid of substance, yet still effectively conveyed their true intentions. Naturally, speaking in riddles was the only way.

If they spoke too plainly, it could be used against them and put them in a very passive position. So, both sides had a tacit understanding, seeing through the pretense without exposing it.

Ostensibly, the regulator’s call was one of condolence and inquiry.

In reality, just as Xiao Yu had predicted, they were playing the part of the peacemaker, trying to smooth things over.

The battle of wits between you two today went a little too far. You’re about to break the A-share market. You need to rein it in. If this continues and things get out of control, it will reach the higher-ups, and no one will be able to clean up the mess. Everyone will be punished by the iron fist of the state.

The regulator hinted that both sides should take a step back. As long as Xiao Yu didn’t pursue them to the bitter end, the other side had already agreed to take a huge loss and admit defeat. On top of the two hundred seventy billion they had already lost, they would add another two hundred twenty billion, cutting their losses at a total of around five hundred billion. They just wanted him to call off his divine powers and end this matter quickly.

Losing five hundred billion would already severely wound them, but losing over two trillion would be a death sentence. If he refused to back down, they would rather take a risky gamble and blow the matter up until it was completely unmanageable.

In truth, Xiao Yu had never intended to make the short-sellers bleed over two trillion. He just hadn’t expected them to be so pathetic. His initial goal was to claim their two hundred seventy billion in short positions. He never imagined that the situation would evolve to this point.

The flurry of positive news released today, those bombshells, had proven far more potent than Xiao Yu himself had anticipated.

The entire market had gone completely insane, rocketing Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market capitalization to a staggering 11.59 trillion in a single day.

Xiao Yu wasn’t too surprised by the company’s valuation reaching 11.59 trillion. What he hadn’t expected was that the short-sellers would fail to close their positions during the explosive rise from the opening price of 45 yuan to 133.55 yuan. This failure caused their unrealized losses to balloon instantly to the astronomical figure of nearly 2.2 trillion.

At this moment, while on the phone with the regulator, Xiao Yu’s mind was racing, weighing the pros and cons.

It was now clear that he couldn’t completely crush his enemies. If this situation continued and he kept pushing them to their breaking point, a cornered animal will fight back. He couldn’t rule out the possibility of them retaliating unscrupulously, perhaps even hiring someone to take his life. His enemies certainly had the resources and channels to buy a life, and if pushed into a desperate corner, they might just do it.

Xiao Yu realized he didn’t have his N800 nano-armor for protection yet. He couldn’t survive a lucky run-in, nor could he withstand a 7.62 caliber peanut. Since he couldn’t annihilate them completely, relentlessly pushing them toward death would indeed put him in a precarious position. It wasn’t a wise choice.

Since his opponents were willing to compromise and bleed five hundred billion in exchange for their survival, and the regulator was playing peacemaker, he might as well go with the flow. He wouldn’t lose face, and he would have more than secured his gains.

If this really did escalate to the higher-ups, the situation would become unmanageable. Creating a systemic financial risk that could even spill over into the real economy was not something Xiao Yu wanted to see.

With the regulator stepping in to smooth things over at this juncture, Xiao Yu couldn’t really object. Otherwise, if things blew up, the regulator could simply turn around and report to their superiors that Xiao Yu had disregarded the bigger picture, that they had tried to persuade him but he refused to listen, leading to the current intractable mess.

If that happened, Xiao Yu wouldn’t be entirely defenseless, but he would have to shoulder at least half the blame, making the whole affair not worth the trouble.

Based on this series of considerations, Xiao Yu decided to go with the flow and accept.

However, he had an additional condition: when the price pulled back to let the short-sellers close their positions, the shares of small retail investors could not be shaken out. Retail accounts with a current holding value below three hundred thousand yuan were to be locked from trading. Even after a 7.8-fold surge, if an account’s value was still under three hundred thousand, it meant their initial position was only around thirty thousand yuan. These were undoubtedly small retail investors.

They didn’t have many shares to begin with, and if they were shaken out, they’d be left with even less small change. Therefore, not a single share from retail investors in this bracket could be touched.

As for accounts with holdings valued over three hundred thousand, if they panic-sold due to the sell-off, only a portion of their sell order would be executed. For example, if a retail investor held one million yuan worth of shares and tried to sell everything in a panic at a low price, only one hundred thousand yuan of the order would be filled. The remaining nine hundred thousand yuan worth of shares could not be moved.

This was a technical issue, but it was certainly achievable—a technical “pulling of the plug,” so to speak.

The condition Xiao Yu proposed was clearly to “protect the small while letting the big go.” Some retail investors had substantial capital. After a seven or eight-fold surge, their accounts could have swelled by several million, or even tens of millions, in unrealized gains. Letting these investors give back about ten percent of their floating profits was a minor inconvenience.

The above measure would only apply to those who actively placed sell orders to cash out. Accounts that did not place sell orders, even if they held a hundred million in shares, could not and would not be touched. Tampering with those would be akin to manipulating an investor’s account without permission, a matter of a completely different nature.

For those who actively placed sell orders, the brokerage firms or the regulator could later explain it away as a technical glitch. And when the stock price plunged, a large number of panic-sellers were certain to emerge.

The regulator readily agreed to Xiao Yu’s additional condition. Getting a clear stance from him was a great relief; it was the prerequisite. If he hadn’t agreed to de-escalate, the subsequent steps could not have proceeded smoothly.

After ending the call, Xiao Yu immediately contacted Wen Suqing to give her a series of quick instructions. Wen Suqing, in turn, established an encrypted connection with Xiang Chongguang at once and swiftly relayed Xiao Yu’s message.

Upon hearing the news, President Xiang was on the verge of tears. If the message hadn’t come any sooner, he felt he wouldn’t have been able to hold on much longer. Naturally, he agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

…

Around 10:22 AM, a mysterious force suddenly activated the skill: “Secret Technique: Pull the Plug.”

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price, which had been consolidating sideways with massive volume in a ten-yuan range around the 125 yuan mark, suddenly took a nosedive at this precise moment, plunging downward in a waterfall-like sell-off.

There was no buying support below, resulting in a precipitous drop on low volume.

“What’s going on? Damn it, why is it an invalid order? Why can’t I cancel it? What the hell is happening? This is insane, my pending order can’t be canceled or filled. What on earth is going on?” a retail investor trying to sell his position and cash out yelled, jumping up and down in frustration.

When the stock price broke below 120 yuan, he had wanted to take his profits and quickly liquidated his position.

But he discovered that his sell order was stuck in “pending submission” status. When he tried to cancel the order to resubmit at a different price, he found he couldn’t. It was just stuck there.

Then, he tried to buy one lot and found he couldn’t do that either. It also showed as “pending submission,” and he couldn’t cancel that order either. Essentially, the funds for that one lot were stuck, indirectly frozen.

At this very moment, he wasn’t the only one experiencing this. Countless retail investors were facing the same situation.

Those who wanted to sell as they watched the stock price plummet couldn’t, and they were on the verge of tears. Those who wanted to buy the dip couldn’t either; their orders were stuck as pending and couldn’t be canceled.

Meanwhile, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price was in a freefall. Retail investors who wanted to sell and secure their profits watched in horror as their account gains retraced by dozens of percentage points in one breath, and by twice that in the next. In half a minute, their seven to eight-fold unrealized gains had drawn down by two or three-fold. It was enough to make them cry.

“What the fck is happening? Why can’t I cancel my order? Why can’t I sell or buy? Damn it, my 7.8-fold gain just turned into a 2-fold gain. No, wait, it’s not even 2-fold anymore. Fcking hell!” one retail investor lamented. He could have walked away with a 7-fold profit, but now the price had fallen below today’s opening price of 45 yuan, meaning he’d missed out on four or five times his potential earnings.

And that wasn’t all. What was even more infuriating was that his order remained stuck in “pending submission” and couldn’t be canceled. It was just frozen there while the stock price continued to plummet.

Retail investors hoping to buy the dip were also cursing out loud. Their orders were stuck, and they didn’t even know if their buy-in had gone through. A huge number of sidelined funds had missed out on the rally, and now that they saw such cheap shares, this kind of situation drove them absolutely mad.

Just like that, while the entire market watched in a stunned daze, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price plummeted to its daily low of 25.00 yuan in just over a minute. The intraday gain shrank from a high of +787.37% to the current +66.11%, erasing seven times the day’s gains.

The company’s market capitalization fell from its peak of 11.59 trillion back down to 2.17 trillion. Half an hour ago, it had wildly surged, adding over 10 trillion in market cap; now, it had plummeted, evaporating nearly 10 trillion.

Retail investors holding shares who were caught in this order-locking situation felt their sanity instantly implode on the spot. They were all petrified.

Imagine this: a month ago, you invested one million. At the intraday peak, you could have made 7.8 million. If you had sold successfully, you would have secured a massive profit of 7 million.

But because your order was stuck as pending, unfilled and uncancelable, the price has now dropped to 25 yuan. An unrealized gain of 7.8 million has turned into a gain of 660,000 in just one minute. Over 7 million gone, just like that.

Such drastic ups and downs, fleeting wealth in the middle of the trading day—it was like a pipe dream. The key was that it wasn’t even their fault that seven times their profit had vanished.

To have never possessed is one thing, but to have possessed and then lost it in an instant, and for reasons beyond one’s control… how could anyone’s mind not explode?

At this time, news flashes pushed by major trading software platforms appeared:

[Spiritual Mirror Tech Suddenly Stages Terrifying Dive, Plummets to 25 Yuan in Just Over a Minute, Evaporating Nearly 10 Trillion in Market Cap. Current Trading Volume Exceeds 328 Billion]

The entire market had completely erupted into chaos. Stock forums and chat groups were filled with people complaining about their buy and sell orders being stuck in “pending submission.” Everyone who traded Spiritual Mirror Tech today, whether buying or selling, was cursing out loud.

Those who had chased the stock’s high price in the morning were completely stunned. If they had bought at the very peak of 133.55 yuan, the drop to 25 yuan meant a devastating loss of -81.28%. One million yuan invested would now be worth only 187,200 yuan. It was cut in half, then cut in half again, with another slice taken off for good measure.

Who could possibly endure that?

Many short-term traders had made a small bet; at such a high price, they didn’t dare to go in with a large position. But even with a small position, this blow hurt. Even trading with only five percent of one’s capital would result in a four-percentage-point daily loss for their entire portfolio, which was still incredibly painful.

Those who had bought during the opening call auction had been grinning from ear to ear. At the intraday peak, they were up +196.77%, nearly double their investment.

Now, with the sell-off to 25 yuan, they were facing a devastating loss of -44.44%, nearly cut in half. Their grins instantly turned into furious curses.

Even the retail investors who were just watching from the sidelines were exclaiming that their eyes had been opened.

Many old-timers who had been trading for ten or twenty years proclaimed they had never seen anything like it in their lives. Speculative funds, large individual investors, and institutions were all exclaiming that they had lived long enough to see everything.

Truly, no one had ever witnessed such a scene. Who could have imagined such a dramatic turn of events?

This kind of guillotine-like plunge, a zero-frame startup—who could withstand it?

One moment it skyrocketed, adding 10 trillion in market cap; the next, a single slash wiped out nearly 10 trillion. Even looking at global capital markets, such a violent trend was unheard of.

For a period after, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s intraday line was exceptionally smooth. Anyone could tell that this segment of the chart was clearly abnormal. Some retail investors on stock forums and in chat groups were already speculating that the plug had been pulled on this stock.

And they had guessed right. This “pulling the plug” operation was to prevent others from trading normally—no buying, no selling. Yet, trades were still continuously appearing on the tape. No one knew who was selling or who was buying.

The buyers were, of course, the short-sellers who had lost their shirts and were now tearfully buying shares to settle their debts. Having already lost over two hundred seventy billion, they now had to fork out another two hundred twenty billion to close their positions and clear their liabilities.

This “pull the plug” operation was a deliberate pullback to let them close their positions.

As time ticked by, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price hovered near the 25 yuan mark for nearly an hour. At 11:15 AM, it began to break out of its sideways range.

The short-sellers had finished closing their final positions, paying the additional price of over two hundred twenty billion. In total, they exited the game after vomiting up over five hundred billion in losses.

Next, Ruilian Group began to act, pushing the stock price back up. With all other accounts having had their “plugs pulled,” unable to buy or sell, there was no selling pressure as Ruilian Group drove the price upward. The stock could easily soar in a straight line to recover its losses.

It’s worth mentioning that when Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price pulled back to 25 yuan, the sidelined funds that had missed the rally watched with gleaming eyes. They all frantically tried to buy the dip, hoping to scoop up cheap shares. Whether they were institutions, speculative funds, large individual investors, or small retail investors, anyone who had missed out was now scrambling for shares, competitively placing buy orders.

But they couldn’t get a single trade to execute. Their orders were just stuck there.

It was obvious that these sidelined funds wouldn’t get such a good deal. The pullback from over 120 yuan wasn’t to let them on board.

At this moment, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s intraday trend showed a unilateral ascent without any pullbacks. With no selling pressure, it climbed on low volume. There were barely any trades; the volume per minute was only a few tens of millions or maybe a hundred or two hundred million, which was less than a drop in the ocean compared to the tens of billions per minute at the peak before 10:22 AM.

30 yuan… 40 yuan… 45 yuan… 55… 70 yuan… 88 yuan… 102 yuan… 115 yuan… 120 yuan…

By the time the morning session closed at 11:30 AM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s latest price was 123.85 yuan. Its market capitalization was 10.75018 trillion, once again crossing the 10 trillion mark.

Good heavens—!

Good heavens—!

Good heavens—!

Without exception, all the big shots in the market were, once again, completely dumbfounded.

After one extreme reversal, a a third reversal followed.

Who could have possibly predicted such a divine reversal?

Who could possibly withstand such a market trend?

Just over an hour ago, during that minute-long, straight-line plunge of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock, retail investors holding shares saw their invalid, uncancelable orders and prayed to Amitabha Buddha for their trades to go through. At the same time, those who had bought the dip only to find themselves catching a falling knife also prayed to Amitabha Buddha for their trades not to go through.

As the price rocketed back up, their mental states reversed. The shareholders now prayed that their sell orders wouldn’t execute, while the dip-buyers prayed that their buy orders absolutely would, especially those who had placed orders near the 25 yuan mark. If their trades had gone through, they would have already scored a massive win of over four times their investment.

Today, the millions of retail investors involved with Spiritual Mirror Tech experienced the most epic, unprecedented, SSS-grade rollercoaster ride in the history of the A-share market.

Retail investors suddenly felt that what other stocks called a “rollercoaster” was nothing compared to Spiritual Mirror Tech’s performance today. These millions of investors had personally experienced what it meant to be in heaven one moment, hell the next, and then back to heaven again.

Many onlookers couldn’t help but sigh in amazement. The birth of something as extraordinary as a room-temperature superconducting material was, indeed, accompanied by equally extraordinary events.

…

Chapter 126: Breakthrough in Room-Temperature Superconducting Material Causes Global Sensation

What happened to Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock today was destined to leave an indelible mark on the history of capital markets.

Never before in history had a listed company’s market value surged by ten trillion in a single day. Never before had a listed company’s market value evaporated by nearly ten trillion in about a minute. And never before had a listed company managed to recover nearly ten trillion in evaporated market value within ten-odd minutes.

For all three of these events to occur to the same listed company on the same day was unprecedented and likely never to be repeated.

For anyone with a weak heart, even a fast-acting heart-attack pill might not have saved them from such an extreme rollercoaster ride.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s wild antics today turned the entire A-share market upside down. Although not included in any major indices, its impact on the market was still terrifying—its sheer size was undeniable.

Such astronomical trading volume meant it had an incredibly powerful siphoning effect on the capital in other sectors, sucking the liquidity from all other stocks dry.

However, at this moment, everyone in the market was discussing the abnormal trend after 10:22 AM, and all sorts of rumors were running rampant.

Around 11:39 AM, the exchange issued a statement titled, “Regarding the Abnormal Bidding and Trading of Spiritual Mirror Tech”:

【The Exchange has noted the anomaly of delayed transaction confirmations for Spiritual Mirror Tech shares after the market opened today. The Exchange took note of the situation immediately and is currently investigating the cause.

We ask investors to pay close attention to relevant announcements from the Exchange. If you encounter any problems or have any questions, please contact your designated brokerage firm for assistance.

———End of Announcement】

At this very moment, stock forums and chat groups were buzzing with discussion.

[I asked my brokerage’s account manager, and he said the trading delay was likely due to a massive surge in order volume for the stock, and the system couldn’t handle it. Do you guys believe that?]

[Hahaha, I believe it. Believe you, my foot!]

[Last year I was laughing at GameStop for pulling the plug on trading. Looks like that move really works. So shameless.]

[My order was pending for half a day with no response. Couldn’t buy, couldn’t sell, couldn’t even cancel the order.]

[You can place orders and cancel them, but you can’t sell even if your price is below the current transaction price. It just becomes a pending, invalid order.]

[Same here. Mine is still ‘submitting.’ No idea what’s going on. This is such a scam!]

[At first, I thought it was because I was on a business trip and had a bad phone signal. I was clearly making money but couldn’t sell. I wanted to cancel and resubmit at a different price, but the cancellation was stuck in a pending state and wouldn’t go through. I really want to curse someone out.]

[I submitted a buy order for Spiritual Mirror Tech when it dropped to 25. The bid price I placed was lower than the market price, but by the time the market closed, I saw no transaction and the funds were still not deducted from my balance. The stock price went up to 103 yuan before closing. If my trade didn’t go through, I demand compensation for my losses.]

[Spiritual Mirror Tech’s performance today taught me a lesson: when a stock is about to make you rich, ordinary people can’t even buy into it!]

[There’s a mole, stop the trading.jpg]

…

Today, Spiritual Mirror Tech undoubtedly staged a bizarre trading outage worthy of being recorded in the annals of financial history.

The market was already flooded with rumors and conspiracy theories.

Some said that the frenzied influx of capital led to an astronomical number of orders for Spiritual Mirror Tech, causing the trading server to overload and crash.

Others claimed that short-sellers were liquidated, suffering devastating losses and ending up trillions in debt. A large number of brokerage firms were dragged down with them, causing the entire brokerage sector to inexplicably hit a limit-down wave around 10:00 AM. This was followed by a sell-off in the banking and insurance sectors. To prevent a systemic financial crisis, some kind of unspeakable, mysterious force had intervened.

Players across the market debated which reason was the true one.

Some were even more worried, questioning whether this incident revealed larger loopholes and hidden dangers in the trading system. Could it be the trigger for the next “Treasury Bond 327 incident”? The mere mention of the 327 incident left many investors who had lived through that period still shaken by the memory.

That was a notorious financial turmoil in the history of the mainland securities market. Due to illegal trading and other reasons, the treasury bond futures market experienced violent fluctuations and enormous losses. The event not only caused numerous investors to lose their entire investments but also severely damaged the reputation and stability of the securities market.

Now, with a similar cloud of trading anomalies hanging over the A-share market, investors couldn’t help but be reminded of that dark chapter in its history.

…

At 1:00 PM, the afternoon session began on time.

The highly anticipated stock price of Spiritual Mirror Tech continued its upward trend, once soaring to 116 yuan, with its gains expanding again to +670.76%. Simultaneously, the trading volume once again reached astronomical levels.

This time, the trading volume was normal, and retail investors found that they could place and manage orders in their accounts without issue.

After the thrilling rollercoaster ride of the morning session, many shareholders, seeing the price surge again, chose to sell a portion of their shares to cash out and secure their profits. This caused the stock’s trading volume to rapidly expand in the afternoon.

But the market capital managed to absorb this astronomical selling pressure, and there was no repeat of the morning’s ridiculous nosedive. This was because Spiritual Mirror Tech’s fundamentals, built on three trump cards, were simply too solid. When the price pulled back to around 85 yuan, funds bought in mindlessly. Below 100 yuan, there was a massive amount of capital ready to buy.

During the afternoon’s fluctuations, the price dipped to a low of 85 yuan but could not go any lower because the buying support was too strong. Seeing such powerful support, many funds became less anxious. As time went on, the willingness to sell decreased, and the selling pressure subsequently diminished. Following this, the stock price began to climb slowly.

In the last half hour of the late trading session, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s price fluctuations narrowed, and it continued to climb amidst the oscillations.

By the 3:00 PM close, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s after-market closing price was 127.27 yuan, a gain of +745.65%. Its daily trading range was 721.26%, with a daily trading volume of 698.635 billion yuan and a daily turnover rate of 13.72%. Its after-market market cap stood at 11.047 trillion yuan.

Today was destined to be a day recorded in financial history. Spiritual Mirror Tech set a series of records that were unprecedented and likely never to be repeated.

Its market value saw a net increase of nearly ten trillion in a single day, an unprecedented feat.

Its full-day trading volume of 698.6 billion yuan set a new record for the stock’s largest single-day volume since its listing. It was also the largest single-day trading volume for any individual stock in the history of the A-share market. This record would likely never be broken, not even by Spiritual Mirror Tech itself.

The total trading volume for the broader Shanghai market today was only 350 billion yuan, about half of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s volume. Thanks to Spiritual Mirror Tech, the total trading volume of both markets surged to 1.35 trillion yuan. However, this single listed company accounted for 51.75% of the entire market’s total trading volume.

Spiritual Mirror Tech created a series of unrepeatable miracles today, but it came at a cost. The astronomical volume of 698.6 billion yuan in a single day had a terrifying siphoning effect that nearly drained the entire market of its liquidity.

Everyone was frantically piling into Spiritual Mirror Tech, which caused a sharp drop in liquidity for other stocks. Not only did other stocks receive no liquidity infusion, but they also had even more liquidity drawn away from them.

This was because some retail investors, lacking extra funds, chose to sell their other stocks to free up capital to scramble for shares of Spiritual Mirror Tech.

While this stock soared by more than seven times today, over 4,850 other stocks in the market were all in the red. Because of the astronomical amount of liquidity siphoned away, a large number of stocks hit their limit down. More than 560 stocks across the market hit their lower limit, and over 1,670 stocks fell by more than seven percent.

After-market data showed that Spiritual Mirror Tech saw an explosion in the number of retail investors today, with a net increase of 1.83 million.

The number of retail investors in the stock reached a staggering 8.35 million, another unprecedented record.

Spiritual Mirror Tech had become an absolute super-stronghold for retail investors. At this rate, the number of shareholders might break the ten million mark before the end of the year.

The army of retail investors achieved a rare victory against institutional investors with this stock. Large funds had completely missed out on the rally, and some short-sellers were even begging to be let off the hook, willing to exit with devastating losses of over 500 billion yuan.

The reason retail investors were able to win and why large institutional funds missed out wasn’t that retail investors were more skillful. The fundamental reason was that Xiao Yu had sided with the millions of small and medium retail investors, which was why their army won such a resounding and satisfying victory.

If not for Xiao Yu, retail investors would have, as usual, ended up as the gullible investors who were left holding the bag at a high price, stuck with a losing stock, and ultimately harvested for their money.

With over eight million retail investors now holding Spiritual Mirror Tech, most of them would not be selling out too early. At least five million of these shareholders were planning to invest for value, hold for the long term, and collect dividends. This was because for long-term holdings, dividend income could be exempt from personal income tax.

According to A-share market regulations, for shares held for less than one month, dividend income is taxed at a rate of 20%. For shares held for more than one month but less than a year, the tax is halved to 10%. For shares held for more than one year, dividend income is exempt from personal income tax.

Any retail investor who wanted to steadily collect dividends for the long term would definitely hold their position. After one year, their dividend income would be tax-free.

As for the large institutional funds that missed out, they now had two choices: either watch from the sidelines and not participate in the stock anymore, or chase the rising price and drive it up for others.

…

Meanwhile, today’s news hotspots and headlines were completely flooded and dominated by room-temperature superconductors and Spiritual Mirror Tech.

【No more charging your phone? Breakthrough in “room-temperature superconductivity” upends physics! Are you ready to welcome the Superconducting Era?】

【A deep dive into the tech circle: What exactly is room-temperature superconducting technology?】

【The world’s first room-temperature superconductor is born! Xiao Yu has claimed the “Holy Grail” of materials science, potentially revolutionizing all technologies that use electricity!】

【A groundbreaking advance! How will room-temperature superconductivity change the world?】

【A “historic breakthrough” guaranteed to win a Nobel Prize! The room-temperature superconductor breakthrough has secured next year’s Nobel Prize for Xiao Yu in advance!】

【New breakthrough in room-temperature superconductivity: Will it truly disrupt nuclear fusion and ultra-high voltage technologies?】

【Room-temperature superconductivity explodes in popularity overnight! Is a disruptive breakthrough here? The capital market is already in a frenzy, with Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price soaring over six-fold and its market cap increasing by over eight trillion in a single day!】

【Room-temperature superconductor breakthrough helps Xiao Yu’s net worth surge to 4.78 trillion yuan, approximately 660 billion US dollars, more than three times the fortune of former world’s richest man Elon Musk!】

【Breaking through 333 Kelvin (approx. 60 degrees Celsius), how will room-temperature superconductivity change our lives?】

【Room-temperature superconductivity: The world may be on the brink of massive change—a future of both scientific breakthroughs and challenges.】

【Shocking! Breakthrough in room-temperature superconducting technology could reshape the global order!】

The headlines flooded the news feeds, and the topic’s popularity exploded across the internet, causing a massive sensation worldwide. Even European and American media outlets had no choice but to report on it.

Even people who didn’t normally follow such news were paying attention because the buzz was simply too immense. Their friends were all discussing it, and even their social media feeds were filled with related topics. If you didn’t learn about it, you couldn’t even join a conversation.

The surge in Xiao Yu’s net worth was also one of the hot topics of discussion. His nominal net worth of 5.63 trillion yuan was more than enough to be worth the combined fortunes of three Elon Musks.

Meanwhile, a video taken by a reporter at the press conference, showing Xiao Yu’s public demonstration, was going viral online. There were even some content creators analyzing and interpreting it frame by frame.

As the inventor of the world’s first room-temperature superconducting material, many believed that Xiao Yu had already locked in next year’s Nobel Prize in Physics with this achievement. If he didn’t win, whoever did would be in an awkward position.

Some netizens even began to joke, “The pressure is now on the Nobel Prize committee.”

If a European or American had developed a room-temperature superconducting material, they would be a hundred percent guaranteed to win the prize next year. But Xiao Yu was not European or American, which put the Nobel committee in a difficult position. Should they give him the award or not?

…

Chapter 127: The Nation’s High Regard for Room-Temperature Superconductors

Around 3:00 PM.

While the internet was buzzing with discussion, the media was providing wall-to-wall coverage, and the topic dominated trending lists, a low-profile delegation from the State Secrecy Bureau, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the military, and other relevant departments had already arrived in Linzhou to pay a visit. Xiao Yu wasn’t surprised. Creating such major news and causing such a stir, it was impossible for the national leadership not to notice, and even more impossible for them not to understand the significance of the advent of room-temperature superconducting material.

However, Xiao Yu was still quite surprised by how quickly they had acted and the sheer size of the delegation.

Half an hour later, Xiao Yu received them at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. The person in charge of the delegation this time was named Zhao Heyang, and Ying Weiping had also come along.

Among the team accompanying him were experts in superconductor research. Xiao Yu first provided them with a piece of the room-temperature superconducting material and allowed these experts to conduct tests on it using the equipment in the company’s Basic and Applied Research Department.

In the end, the experts confirmed that it was indeed a room-temperature superconducting material and that Xiao Yu’s descriptions at the press conference had not been exaggerated in the slightest.

Afterward, both parties sat down for a discussion in one of the company’s reception rooms.

Zhao Heyang looked at Xiao Yu and said, “Comrade Xiao Yu, the room-temperature superconducting material you’ve developed is of monumental significance and has a massive impact. It falls under the ‘Regulations on Secrecy in Science and Technology.’ The nation places a high degree of importance on this and needs to implement high-level protection and control over this material and its related technologies.”

Zhao Heyang added, “In short, your company cannot arbitrarily release this material into the commercial market or sell it to whomever you please. You will need to report to and get approval from the relevant state departments. Exports, in particular, will be strictly controlled.”

Xiao Yu nodded. “I understand.”

The impact of room-temperature superconducting material was too great, far exceeding that of the mass production technology for graphene material. Once announced, it was certain to be classified by the state as a top-secret technology for protection. Xiao Yu was naturally aware of this and not at all surprised.

After a moment, Ying Weiping, who was also present, inquired, “What is the production capacity for the room-temperature superconducting material? And what about the production cost?”

Xiao Yu had calculated the figures for this matter long ago. He pretended to think for a moment before answering, “The specific production cost can only be calculated after the factory is completed, but a rough estimate puts the cost of each gram of room-temperature superconducting material in the range of 800 to 1,000 yuan.”

Ying Weiping was greatly surprised. “So the cost isn’t that high. It’s roughly comparable to the selling price of the research-grade graphene material your company produces, only about seven or eight times the cost. That’s much lower than I expected.”

Xiao Yu shook his head and said, “You can’t generalize like that. The demand for various applications is enormous. If this cost were applied to long-distance power transmission cables, it would be absolutely unbearable. Take military use, for another example. If we were to use this new material to develop an improved version of the J-20 fighter jet with high-maneuverability VTOL capabilities, the airframe structure alone would require about three to four tons of room-temperature superconducting nanocomposite material to achieve.”

“Excluding other costs, the cost of the room-temperature superconducting material alone would be 3.2 to 4 billion yuan. Based on the currently public cost of a J-20 fighter jet at around 700 million yuan, that’s enough to build five or six J-20s.”

Xiao Yu added, “Synthesizing this room-temperature superconducting material not only consumes a colossal amount of electrical energy, but the synthesis time also can’t be rushed. This is the key factor restricting production capacity. If we were to expand production lines regardless of expense to boost the absolute output, the total cost would be astronomical.”

“The crucial point is, I believe there’s significant room for improvement in the synthesis technology. What if all those production lines have just been built, only to be rendered obsolete by an improved technology? Wouldn’t that mean an astronomical investment has gone down the drain?”

Ying Weiping nodded to himself upon hearing this. After a moment of thought, he looked at Xiao Yu again and asked, “What annual production capacity can be achieved in the short term?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu mulled it over for a moment and said, “Five to six hundred tons should be achievable.”

Upon hearing this number, Ying Weiping immediately said, “With such low production capacity, that’s not even enough for military use.”

Xiao Yu didn’t respond, but Zhao Heyang, who was beside them, smiled. “The fact that we managed to develop it before the Europeans and Americans is already a great stroke of national fortune. Besides, this material is so expensive, with one ton costing 800 million to 1 billion yuan. Just 500 tons would cost 500 billion. This year’s total military budget is 1.45 trillion yuan; that would take up over thirty percent of the total military expenditure. Even if 500 tons were produced, the military might not be able to afford it.”

It was certain that the military would not spend a sum as large as 500 billion yuan to procure 500 tons of room-temperature superconducting material. The amount was simply too large. Graphene material procurement was in the tens of billions, but this superconductor, despite the small quantity, had a budget with an extra zero. The military couldn’t handle it without making massive cuts to other budgets.

Zhao Heyang then turned to Xiao Yu and said, “However, Comrade Xiao Yu, even if the military can’t procure 500 tons, it will not be allowed to flow into the civilian market in the short term.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled and said, “Of course. We’ll produce as much as the military needs. With this breakthrough in room-temperature superconducting material, I’d like to use this technological leap to apply for projects to develop two types of military aircraft centered around it.”

Zhao Heyang couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Oh?”

Xiao Yu stated methodically, “An all-electric military fighter jet and a military transport aircraft, both with rapid vertical take-off and landing capabilities.”

At these words, Zhao Heyang, Ying Weiping, and the others exchanged surprised glances. Zhao Heyang looked at Xiao Yu and couldn’t help but smile. “That’s an ambitious idea. I’ll write up a report and submit it. Sino-Aviation Linfei’s approach might be a bit unorthodox, but who knows, you might just create another miracle, just like with the room-temperature superconducting material. I think there’s a very high probability that the higher-ups will approve.”

Xiao Yu smiled and nodded. “Then I’ll wait for the news.”

The project application would definitely be approved. Xiao Yu was very confident about this. His importance to the country had risen to a whole new level with the creation of the room-temperature superconducting material. Furthermore, Sino-Aviation Linfei didn’t need government subsidies to develop aircraft; Xiao Yu handled all the funding and R&D himself.

All the country needed to do was issue a document of approval. If nothing came of it, the state bore no burden. If it did succeed, it would be a massive, pleasant surprise. No matter how you looked at it, there was no reason to deny the approval.

Finally, Zhao Heyang looked at Xiao Yu and said solemnly, “Comrade Xiao Yu, you are a national treasure and a strategic-level talent. You must take your personal safety seriously. In particular, if you have any need to travel abroad in the future, you may need to report in advance and obtain special approval from the relevant authorities.”

Zhao Heyang added, “This is not a restriction on your personal freedom, but a measure to protect your safety. As for going abroad, it’s advisable to do so as little as possible unless absolutely necessary. Do not accept any so-called international academic invitations. We cannot rule out the possibility that the Europeans and Americans might detain you.”

Ying Weiping also chimed in, “As for that Nobel Prize the Westerners hand out, if they do decide to give it to you, just cite a busy schedule and have someone accept it on your behalf. You can just give an acceptance speech via video conference. You absolutely must not go there in person to receive the award. The risk is too great.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but laugh. “Given the Westerners’ nature, they most likely won’t give me the prize. I reckon they’ll either use the excuse that I haven’t published any related papers, or they’ll award it to some elderly scholars for their academic achievements first. The reason? They can say they’re worried those old scientists won’t last many more years, so they have to hurry up and give them the award, while a young man like you can just get in line and wait.”

At this remark, Zhao Heyang and the others couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

…

Chapter 128: Concerns Over Personal Safety

The Nobel Prize, created by the West, is a form of monopoly over the right to speak in science and technology. Every Nobel laureate is a superstar in their respective field, but the key is that there are many such superstars every year. Those who don’t win are by no means inferior to those who do.

Every year, many people are qualified to receive the prize, but the decision of who gets selected and who doesn’t is up to the West.

Historically, a Russian scientist, Mendeleev, the father of the periodic table and a giant in the world of chemistry, was widely recognized for his achievements that surpassed most Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners. He was nominated for nine consecutive years but never won in his lifetime, which speaks volumes.

Xiao Yu couldn’t care less about the prize a bunch of Westerners put together. Besides, even if the award were truly objective and fair, he would never go to accept it.

Furthermore, he was dealing in black technology. As the saying goes, a divine tool should not be shown to others. Otherwise, where would the concept of a secret ancestral recipe come from?

To possess black technology and still publish papers, accept foreign awards, or apply for patents—these were all acts of monumental foolishness.

Zhao Heyang and the others stayed for nearly two hours, finalizing various matters with Xiao Yu before taking their leave.

This time, multiple departments had come for the room-temperature superconducting material. The announcement had been made just that morning, and by the afternoon, representatives were already there. Such efficiency demonstrated the level of importance the state attached to this matter.

Xiao Yu was now undoubtedly the absolute center of attention. All parties, including the state, held him in extremely high regard.

All sorts of media outlets wanted to interview him, as any topic related to Xiao Yu now came with immense traffic. However, after a brief interview with the State Media that morning, he had refused all other requests and had not appeared in public since the press conference ended.

Faced with countless praises and gasps of amazement from the outside world, Xiao Yu was not conceited in the least. Instead, he was unusually calm and more cautious than ever before.

He knew his danger index was higher now than ever. The advent of room-temperature superconducting material signaled an impending major reshuffle, just as the previous two industrial revolutions had shown.

The industrial giants and capital groups in Europe and America would surely freak out, because no one in the West possessed this technology.

The emergence of room-temperature superconducting material was tremendously impactful, something that could truly reshape the global industrial landscape, especially in high-end sectors. The Great Eastern Country could leverage this breakthrough to empower its industries with superconductivity, upgrading its high-end sectors and leaving the West’s existing industrial system completely defenseless.

The immense impact and the profound interests involved were self-evident.

Now that the Great Eastern Country had suddenly mastered this technology, how could the Europeans and Americans not freak out? How could Uncle Sam not be anxious?

Over the years, many scientists who had made great contributions in their fields had suddenly and inexplicably met untimely deaths, either through a “lucky run-in” or “depression-induced suicide.” The reasons behind these incidents did not bear close examination.

With so many lessons from the past, Xiao Yu naturally did not dare to be careless.

Moreover, he had just fleeced the “Master Huangs” in the capital market. The grudge was now set in stone. Xiao Yu believed that there were quite a few people in the world who wanted him to disappear, and that number would surely grow over time.

“I still need to find a way to get my hands on the N-800 over in the Blue Star world as soon as possible…” Back in his office at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, Xiao Yu mused to himself and nodded inwardly.

Once he had the N-800 Nano Armament on him, his life and safety would be almost absolutely guaranteed. He could then make public appearances with confidence.

His achievements were growing, yet he had to hunker down out of fear for his safety, even being careful when just stepping outside. Xiao Yu was actually very unhappy with this state of life.

But for now, this was how it had to be. He couldn’t afford not to be cautious. Without the protection of the N-800 Nano Armament, a single 7.62 caliber peanut could easily take him out. He had to keep a low profile and not get too reckless, lest he slip up and lose his life.

“I also need to get my hands on the ‘organic body’ technology from the Blue Star world as soon as I can.” Xiao Yu suddenly realized he also had a great need for this.

During his conversation with Zhao Heyang and the others earlier, they had emphatically advised him not to go abroad unless absolutely necessary. They were clearly aware of his multiple trips to Africa since last year, something the state could easily find out, not that Xiao Yu had tried to hide it.

His multiple trips abroad to Africa were all for the so-called “gold mine,” but this mine was a “void gold mine” that Xiao Yu had fabricated as a cover. Therefore, he had to go to Africa periodically to “collect” the gold.

“If I had known it would be this much trouble, I would have saved myself the hassle and not brought gold over from Blue Star in the first place.” Xiao Yu shook his head helplessly. But what was done was done. To keep the story consistent, he had to see the process through according to his original plan.

But now there was a new problem. Even if Xiao Yu were to follow his established plan and regularly go to Africa to collect the gold, it was becoming unfeasible.

His net worth was what it was. The so-called gold mine in Africa was only valued at about ten billion. For a mine of that value, it was a bit strange for the founder of Spiritual Mirror Tech, the world’s richest man with a net worth in the trillions, to personally go and collect the gold.

Before, when his net worth wasn’t so high and his company was smaller, paying such close attention was completely understandable. But now, it seemed very out of place.

Xiao Yu mulled it over. The organic body could solve this problem.

He could use a remote-controlled substitute to do it, an avatar with a different appearance to handle matters. To the outside world, this substitute would simply be a company employee, a subordinate. Having a subordinate handle it would be perfectly reasonable.

Moreover, for many things that he couldn’t attend to in person but couldn’t trust others with either, having such a black-technology substitute would be incredibly convenient.

Xiao Yu thought for a while and came up with a rough idea. Once things on Earth were more or less settled, he would go to the Blue Star world and find a way to get a few organic bodies, as well as the N-800 Nano Armament, as soon as possible.

With these two black technologies, doing anything in the future would be extremely convenient.

Xiao Yu reined in his thoughts and immediately called Yun Shu at the Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters. “Go ahead and apply for a trading halt for the company,” he instructed. “Just state that due to significant short-term volatility in the company’s stock price, the company is halting trading to conduct a verification of its stock trading situation in order to protect investors’ interests.”

Hearing this, Yun Shu, on the other end of the line, was astonished. They had only resumed trading today, and now they were applying for another halt?

But she quickly asked, “How long is the halt expected to last?”

Xiao Yu thought for a moment and said, “It will most likely be around one or two months, but let’s apply for a period not exceeding three months.”

The decision to halt trading again was to prevent drastic fluctuations in the company’s stock price later on. At the press conference, Xiao Yu had not directly addressed the production capacity of the room-temperature superconducting material; in fact, he hadn’t mentioned it at all.

Right now, most people in the outside world believed that the material could be mass-produced very soon. If mass production could indeed be achieved quickly, the stock price would continue to rise tomorrow, easily setting a new all-time high.

However, to avoid over-provoking the West and causing them to fight back like a cornered animal, Xiao Yu planned to announce that the room-temperature superconducting material was not yet ready for mass production and could not be used for large-scale commercial applications. He had told Zhao Heyang and the others the same thing, reporting a production capacity of only around five hundred tons.

After all, even if they could produce large quantities of the material now, the industrial upgrading that would follow couldn’t be completed in just one or two years. This time window could potentially provoke the West into taking a desperate risk.

If the West became completely pessimistic, believing they had been completely cut off from the next scientific and technological revolution, the adventurist factions within it might take advantage of this critical window before the Great Eastern Country fully entered the Superconducting Era. They could flip the table and go all-in, gambling for a slim chance of survival.

The Great Eastern Country certainly had the foundation not to fear the West flipping the table, but the cost of winning against a cornered enemy’s final desperate struggle would be much greater. The most rational course of action was, of course, to achieve final victory at the lowest possible cost.

Even the ancients understood the principle that “an army fighting with desperation is bound to win.” Therefore, he had to give the other side some hope, to make them think they still had a chance without having to go all-in.

This would inevitably create huge divisions within the West, allowing opportunists to gain ground. As long as a desperate, all-in gamble wasn’t a one hundred percent guarantee of victory, and other chances to turn the tables still existed, they would surely be unwilling to go all-in.

However, once it was announced that the room-temperature superconducting material could not be mass-produced, the news would definitely cause drastic short-term fluctuations in the company’s stock price.

Xiao Yu chose to halt the company’s trading and release the news during the halt period. He would also use this time to boost the company’s two major businesses, graphene and AI, to offset the lowered expectations for the superconductor.

After all, even without the room-temperature superconducting material, the AI and graphene businesses alone were more than enough to support Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current market value.

The trading halt would also prevent retail investors from making emotional trades driven by panic. Over time, the panic would gradually dissipate. As long as the company’s graphene and AI businesses showed strong growth during the halt, a new set of expectations would form.

By the time trading resumed, not only would there be no panic sell-off, but Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price could gain strong support from the AI and graphene businesses, and it might even be possible for it to continue its upward trend and set a new high.

…

Chapter 129: Controlled Nuclear Fusion Researchers Come to Inquire

At the seven o’clock evening slot, the nation’s most prestigious news broadcast also reported on the room-temperature superconductor breakthrough, dedicating a full two minutes to the story.

It’s no exaggeration to say that anyone who appears on this program for even a few seconds has reached a height unattainable for the average person.

Xiao Yu appeared on the broadcast in an interview format. It was footage from his interview with the State Media reporter earlier in the day, where he touched upon matters related to the room-temperature superconductor, though without revealing any substantive information.

Specifically, regarding how the room-temperature superconducting material was synthesized, even if Xiao Yu had wanted to reveal some technical details during the interview, the state would not have allowed it to be broadcast, to prevent the risk of technology leaks.

If graphene material is the “king of new materials of the 21st century,” then room-temperature superconducting material is the “Holy Grail” of materials science. This material is truly capable of influencing the fate of a nation, and its technology secrecy level is even higher than that of graphene mass production technology.

An hour later, Spiritual Mirror Tech issued a trading halt announcement.

Following an application, the company’s stock will be halted from the market open on Tuesday, November 1st, and will resume trading after the synthesis announcement is disclosed. The estimated suspension period will not exceed three months. The company reminds investors to be aware of the risks of trading in the secondary market.

The regulator also approved it at light speed, as they were worried about drastic fluctuations in Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock the next day. Now that the company had voluntarily requested to enter the ‘little black room,’ of course, they gave it lightning-fast approval.

The short-term funds that came in today had planned to sell off at a high price tomorrow at the market open. They never expected to be locked in for three months, and they were quite frustrated.

However, for long-term value investors, it didn’t really matter. This was especially true for those who intended to hold for the long term and collect dividends. As long as the company paid stable dividends, the length of the trading halt wouldn’t affect their earnings.

Xiao Yu finished arranging matters for Spiritual Mirror Tech. For the short term, it wouldn’t require much of his attention, as Xu Changming was managing the company’s daily operations.

In the following days, Xiao Yu continued to focus his main efforts on laying the groundwork at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

With the advent of the room-temperature superconducting material, Xiao Yu had only announced a production capacity of just over five hundred tons. He had previously communicated with Zhao Heyang and others to confirm the initial allocation of this material and which fields would receive priority.

Given the currently limited production capacity and the extremely high price, the allocation of this material had to be meticulously planned.

Three directions have been confirmed so far.

First is military use. This is unquestionable; the priority of national defense and strategic security needs no further explanation.

Of the room-temperature superconducting material allocated to the military sector, Sino-Aviation Linfei Company will reserve half of its quota for developing all-electric drive aircraft. The rest will be supplied to other national defense and military-industrial enterprises. Any military enterprise in need of the material can purchase it from Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, which will supply them after receiving approval from the relevant authorities.

Second is the field of microelectronics, including niche areas that require superconducting materials. The quantities needed are not large, but the impact is significant. Moreover, upgraded products in this field will likely be prioritized for the military or special government agencies. Civilians will definitely not be able to get their hands on it in the short term.

Finally, there is the field of controlled nuclear fusion. Room-temperature superconducting material is a key material for controlled fusion technology. Furthermore, it is a crucial material for the energy revolution, so a portion must be squeezed out for research in this area.

On the very next day after the press conference, November 1st, several of the country’s main scientific research institutions involved in controlled nuclear fusion technology sent representatives flying to Linzhou to conduct an investigation at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

When they first heard the news of the room-temperature superconducting material breakthrough, they were skeptical. But after confirming it, they were immediately ecstatic.

The reason controlled nuclear fusion technology is so difficult, mockingly referred to as being “always fifty years away,” is largely because when the reactor is running, its internal temperature can reach hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius. No known existing materials can withstand such extreme heat, so the only way to contain it is with a magnetic field generated by electricity.

The problem, however, is that when electricity is used to generate a magnetic field, the presence of resistance causes the vast majority of the energy to be lost as heat.

The Tokamak fusion devices currently used in the country have always been unable to solve the critical problem of the energy input being greater than the energy output. They cannot achieve a net energy gain, which makes them impractical for real-world use.

Putting in ten units of electricity only to get one unit out—a net loss of nine units—is obviously not viable.

From this, it’s clear that one of the technological bottlenecks for controlled nuclear fusion is electrical resistance. And the most effective way to reduce resistance is, without a doubt, superconductivity.

Achieving superconductivity currently relies almost universally on ultra-low-temperature environments. Now that Sino-Aviation Linfei Company has developed a room-temperature superconducting material, it means there’s no need for all that extra cooling equipment to create such an environment. In other words, this major breakthrough in materials science has significantly reduced the difficulty of achieving controlled nuclear fusion.

In the afternoon, not long after Xiao Yu arrived at Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, the current CEO, Chen Zaiqing, heard he was there and came to his office.

“This morning, six or seven research institutions, including the Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Nuclear Industry Physics Research Institute, and the School of Technology at the University of Science and Technology of China, all came to inquire about and investigate the room-temperature superconducting material,” Chen Zaiqing reported to Xiao Yu.

The research units he mentioned all have ongoing projects in the field of controlled nuclear fusion. There are many institutions researching controlled fusion in the country, more than a dozen in fact, including some private organizations.

Chen Zaiqing looked at Xiao Yu and added, “These institutions are all asking when we can provide them with the room-temperature superconducting material. When I met with them, I could tell they were thrilled and extremely eager to get their hands on it.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu immediately replied, “We’ve developed the material, but we don’t have the final say on who gets it. Tell them to go to their own supervising authorities and apply to the higher-ups. We only recognize official, stamped approval documents from above. Without that approval, we won’t sell a single gram, no matter how much money they offer.”

Chen Zaiqing nodded. “Understood.”

The reported production capacity was just over five hundred tons. It had already been confirmed that the controlled nuclear fusion sector would receive a quota and be among the first to use this material.

However, the allocated amount wouldn’t be large. With more than a dozen institutions wanting this material to support their controlled fusion research, at most only two would actually receive any. There would definitely be a strict screening process. For a start, any institutions with joint research projects with foreign countries would certainly be excluded.

But that wasn’t Xiao Yu’s concern, nor did he have the energy for it. He would only act on the stamped approval documents from the relevant state departments. If there was approval and the money was there, he would supply the material. If not, he wouldn’t. It was simpler and less trouble that way.

After a moment, Xiao Yu moved on from that topic and said, “Don’t let the construction efficiency of the new headquarters in Dongcheng District fall behind. Also, the construction of the smart factory for producing the room-temperature superconducting material must be pushed forward immediately.”

Chen Zaiqing nodded again. “Everything is proceeding according to schedule. There will be no problem finishing on time.”

After talking for a while, Chen Zaiqing left. Xiao Yu had delegated these matters to him to handle; it was impossible for him to personally manage every single detail.

Chapter 130: The Problem of Insufficient Aircraft Battery Power

Xiao Yu estimated that even with the support of room-temperature superconducting material, the chances of a breakthrough within the next ten years for the domestic institutions researching controlled nuclear fusion were not high. But Xiao Yu wasn’t going to wait that long for them.

If they couldn’t figure it out, he would just have to light up the controlled nuclear fusion branch of the technology tree himself. After all, the Blue Star world had already achieved miniaturized applications and was even delving into antimatter energy.

Not long after Chen Zaiqing left, Xiao Yu also departed from his office and went to the company’s aircraft design and R&D department. At that moment, the R&D team was in the middle of a discussion about the many design challenges of an all-electric drive aircraft.

Seeing their boss arrive, everyone stopped speaking.

Everyone present was thoroughly convinced of Xiao Yu’s abilities.

They already knew that while so many people in the neighboring Basic and Applied Research Department had been working on room-temperature superconducting material, it was their boss who had single-handedly continued to toil on the front lines in the lab during the National Day holiday—and he had actually succeeded.

Mass production of graphene material, artificial intelligence, room-temperature superconducting material—any one of these achievements, taken alone, was world-shaking. It was impossible not to be impressed.

Clearly, the “once-in-a-century super genius” persona that Xiao Yu had crafted for himself had already taken firm root in the eyes of others. This persona was essential for him to introduce other black technologies from the Blue Star world in the future.

People had to admit that such formidable individuals truly existed in the world. Take the venerable Qian of the older generation of “Two Bombs, One Satellite” scientists, for example—a true titan who could found an entire academic discipline with a single page of notes.

Back then, the nation’s scientific research was in its infancy, and there was virtually no expertise in gyroscope technology. The researchers were at a complete loss.

They invited the venerable Qian to research the technology, but he simply didn’t have that much time. So, he wrote down the theoretical essence of laser gyroscope technology on a single page and handed it to the research institute.

Relying on that single page from the venerable Qian, others built and developed the entire theoretical and technical system, which practically became a complete field of study. That one page became the cornerstone of the country’s gyroscope technology, creating a starting point for a technological leap from nothing.

With the venerable Qian as such a fine precedent, outsiders found it easier to accept Xiao Yu’s astonishing achievements at such a young age.

“How’s the analysis coming along?” Xiao Yu asked, finding a seat.

The man sitting next to him, Jiang Heng, was the person in charge of the project. He looked at Xiao Yu and said, “We’ve re-evaluated everything with the introduction of room-temperature superconducting material, but insufficient energy remains the biggest technical pain point for an all-electric drive.”

Another researcher immediately chimed in, “The various commercial drones and experimental aircraft today are all small. Strictly speaking, a large, all-electric aircraft, like a commercial airliner, has never existed.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Right now, we’re mainly focused on military aircraft, but we’ll definitely enter the civil aviation sector in the future. The global fleet of commercial airliners is already over thirty thousand strong. That’s a market worth trillions. Sino-Aviation Linfei has to get a piece of that pie.”

Jiang Heng said, “When it comes to the all-electric drive for large aircraft, the biggest problem we face is still battery weight. As it stands, the energy output per unit of mass for aviation fuel is about fifty times that of a traditional battery. To power a large aircraft, say a passenger jet, you’d have to tear out all the seats and cargo holds just to fit the batteries.”

“According to our latest analysis and calculations, graphene batteries can narrow the energy gap to less than tenfold. Introducing room-temperature superconducting material can shrink it to about twofold, but that’s still not on par with the energy storage rate of traditional aviation fuel.”

As soon as he finished, the previous researcher added, “Assuming the thrust produced by the engines remains constant, the thrust-to-weight ratio of a fuel-powered aircraft increases as the remaining fuel decreases. In other words, it becomes more fuel-efficient while maintaining the same speed.”

“But the mass of the batteries on an all-electric aircraft is constant, so the thrust-to-weight ratio never changes. To close that final twofold gap, we’d have to divide the batteries into several sections and just jettison the depleted ones mid-air. But that kind of single-use consumption is definitely not sustainable.”

Xiao Yu’s directive was to develop an all-electric, hypersonic jet. The high-temperature gas from its tail would need to be heated by electrical output, using a method of high-energy electric arc heating, which was extremely power-intensive.

“The application of graphene batteries is still in its nascent stages. Their energy density may not have reached its theoretical peak yet. Let’s start by innovating on key processes and technologies. As long as we can further increase the battery’s energy density, this problem won’t be a problem,” Xiao Yu said, looking around at everyone.

Everyone: Uh…

What he said was true, of course, but it wasn’t that easy. Wasn’t that stating the obvious?

The current breakthrough in graphene batteries was already an astonishing leap. If they could double the energy density on top of the existing foundation, the ten-to-one energy storage gap with traditional aviation fuel would shrink to five-to-one. Then, with the introduction of room-temperature superconducting material, they would be on equal footing.

Meanwhile, as Xiao Yu was discussing and exchanging ideas with the project development team, he was also mulling things over in his mind. He certainly wasn’t worried. The graphene battery technology on the Blue Star side had long since reached its theoretical peak. If worst came to worst, he could just transfer the technology from there.

Besides, it was already obsolete there. The mainstream product in the Blue Star world was now the far more powerful ultra-high energy density battery, with over one hundred times the energy density of a graphene battery.

“Success depends on human effort. We’ve even managed to create room-temperature superconducting material, so nothing is impossible. Let’s just get to it. I’ll handle the batteries. The other modules should proceed as planned,” Xiao Yu said with a smile, looking at Jiang Heng and the others.

Seeing their boss’s confident demeanor, everyone felt a surge of encouragement. After all, their boss had played the crucial, core role in the existing breakthroughs with graphene battery technology.

Xiao Yu stayed for another half hour before leaving the company and heading straight back to his villa.

…

Basement laboratory.

Xiao Yu opened the teleportation Star Gate and once again arrived in the bedroom of his private villa in Fengquan City in the Blue Star world.

Walking out of the room and into the villa’s living room, Xiao Yu then gave an order to his butler, the android beauty Number 18, “Compile a complete, systematic set of technical data on graphene batteries for me. If you need to purchase any technical information, feel free. You have the funds.”

Obtaining graphene battery technology in the Blue Star world was incredibly easy, as it was already an obsolete product here.

It was like how smartphones on Earth had made brick phones obsolete.

In the Blue Star world, the confidentiality period for graphene battery technology had long since expired. It had been catalogued as part of the historical archives of the Blue Star human civilization’s technological development and was publicly accessible technical literature. The vast majority of it could be found on the Blue Star’s internet.

With the assistance of the android beauty Number 18, Xiao Yu didn’t even have to expend any effort searching for it himself. She could efficiently collect, package, and organize the data and literature in just a few seconds.

For any technical documents that required payment, the android beauty Number 18 could purchase them directly. Xiao Yu had an additional financial account that he had authorized her to manage.

For the people of Earth, solving the problem of the upper limit of graphene battery energy density might take years, or even decades, of research with no breakthrough. But for Xiao Yu, it was this simple and direct: just take it and be done.

A moment later, the android beauty Number 18 looked at Xiao Yu. “Master, the data and literature on graphene battery technology have been collected, compiled, and uploaded to your private server. you can access it at any time.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu was extremely satisfied. It was solved at the speed of light. When he returned to Earth, he would just download all the technical documents and take them with him.

…

Chapter 131: A Direct Showdown

Xiao Yu hadn’t come to the Blue Star world to acquire the graphene battery technology; that was merely incidental. His primary objectives this time were the N-800 Nano Armament and the organic body.

It was now certain that the Red Tide Organization also possessed the N-800 Nano Armament black technology.

Lin An had defected from the Heavenly Kingdom to join the Red Tide Organization, taking with him many of the Heavenly Kingdom’s top-secret advanced technologies. It was unknown, however, if the Red Tide Organization had also managed to master the “organic body” black technology as a result.

For the next few days, Xiao Yu remained in his private villa, going nowhere.

With the help of the android beauty, butler Number 18, who assisted in sorting through information, Xiao Yu began to delve deeper into the Red Tide Organization’s situation, especially their most recent developments.

He tried to understand the organization’s current state from every possible angle. The purpose of this was to figure out what the Red Tide Organization lacked or urgently needed. Only by understanding this, or at least having a general estimate, could he confirm whether he had the right bargaining chips to offer in an exchange.

While doing this, Xiao Yu also adjusted his internal clock, acclimating to a full solar cycle in the Blue Star world.

Before he knew it, ten Blue Star days had passed.

Based on the information available to him, Xiao Yu gained a more profound understanding of the Red Tide Organization. The process was quite exhausting, as the information he could access was limited, mostly gathered from the Blue Star’s internet. This required careful filtering and analysis, and demanded that Xiao Yu possess sufficient discernment and judgment, as much of the information was undoubtedly distorted by the Heavenly Kingdom.

But as the saying goes, battle reports may lie, but the front lines rarely do.

After sifting through and analyzing a vast amount of the latest information, Xiao Yu reached his own preliminary conclusion: the Heavenly Kingdom held a significant advantage over the Red Tide Organization. The latter was largely in a state of passive defense.

The Red Tide Organization’s current situation was indeed dire.

Moreover, Xiao Yu discovered a critical issue. He was almost certain that the current Red Tide Organization, though full of ideals and passion, was unable to form a cohesive, unified strategy. More importantly, they lacked a complete guiding ideology for this revolutionary war.

“It seems this Red Tide Organization is not only short on food, supplies, and weapons, but what they lack most is the guidance of the Five-Volume Dragon-Slaying Tomes.”

Xiao Yu mused to himself. After so many days of studying the Red Tide Organization, although his information was limited, he felt that if the organization didn’t undergo a transformation akin to the Sanwan Reorganization and failed to form a unified strategy, they would be running on pure passion and ideals. In that case, their revolutionary enterprise would most likely fail, and they would never achieve final victory.

With this thought, Xiao Yu’s resolve hardened, and his confidence in obtaining the N-800 Nano Armament from the Red Tide Organization grew immensely.

If the organization’s leadership had a discerning eye, they would undoubtedly understand what the Five-Volume Dragon-Slaying Tomes meant to them. If the Red Tide Organization failed to recognize its value, then they were likely doomed to fail anyway.

And if the Red Tide Organization couldn’t see the value of the Five-Volume Dragon-Slaying Tomes, Xiao Yu had another heavyweight bargaining chip: food crops, fruits, and vegetables that were not subject to reproductive isolation and were capable of propagation, along with a massive supply of ready-made provisions.

Having established a general strategy, Xiao Yu continued to stay secluded in his residence. He decided to first compile a portion of the Dragon-Slaying Tomes, then find the Red Tide Organization and propose a trade for the N-800 Nano Armament and other black technologies.

He chose to offer the Dragon-Slaying Tomes first because it was relatively easy for him. Arranging for so much food and supplies would require corresponding logistical setups back on Earth.

But the Dragon-Slaying Tomes were far less trouble. All Xiao Yu had to do was spend some time compiling and adapting them for the Blue Star world, removing certain elements specific to Earth and re-authoring them to fit the local context, while keeping the core ideology intact.

In the blink of an eye, nearly half a Blue Star month went by.

“Hmm, that should be enough. I’ll compile this much for now,” Xiao Yu said, looking at a new display panel. This was all he had been doing during this time: creating a Blue Star-localized version of the Five-Volume Dragon-Slaying Tomes, an electronic one, of course.

During this period, Xiao Yu also made a few token appearances at the Prism Company on Blue Star and had some starch transported from Earth to give the employees here something to do.

Xiao Yu had only compiled a portion of the Dragon-Slaying Tomes. This part could be shown directly to the people of the Red Tide Organization, but if they wanted the complete version, they would have to trade black technology like the N-800 Nano Armament for it.

Furthermore, Xiao Yu didn’t want the finished product; he wanted the complete technology.

He would never dare to accept a finished N-800 Nano Armament. The level of intelligence in that thing was surely quite high, and the nanoparticles would circulate directly within his bloodstream, on standby and ready for activation at any moment.

If there was some kind of backdoor mechanism that allowed for remote control, it would be equivalent to handing over complete control of his life and death to someone else.

Even if that wasn’t the case, Xiao Yu would never risk betting on the kindness of others. One could never be too careful. He would absolutely not accept a finished product, let alone inject it into his own body.

He had to obtain the complete technology and then manufacture it himself.

Only then could he use it with peace of mind, free of future worries.

Moreover, having the complete technology would also solve the problem of replenishing the nanoparticles. The substance would surely be consumed over time and require resupply. If he couldn’t produce it himself and had to rely on the Red Tide Organization for it, he would be at their mercy.

With all preparations in place, the next crucial step was to make first contact with the Red Tide Organization.

“CEO Xiao, what are your instructions?”

A holographic display panel appeared before Xiao Yu, showing the face of his beautiful assistant, Yan Lingjun. As soon as the video call connected, Xiao Yu said directly, “Put aside what you’re doing for now and come to my house.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun had no idea what he wanted, but she nodded and replied, “Alright, I’ll be right over.”

The brief conversation ended, and Xiao Yu closed the holographic panel, sitting in his villa’s living room to wait for her.

He had long suspected that Yan Lingjun’s identity was connected to the Red Tide Organization. Xiao Yu planned to have a direct showdown with her shortly. He couldn’t be bothered to waste effort probing or testing her; he needed a clear answer today.

If Yan Lingjun denied it, Xiao Yu wouldn’t waste any more time on her. He would simply assume that after their showdown, she would report him to the Heavenly Kingdom’s agencies. In that case, Xiao Yu would immediately leave Fengquan City and the Central Continent, which was under the Heavenly Kingdom’s sphere of influence, and start over on another continent.

He didn’t care about abandoning the Prism Company in Fengquan City; his money was safe in an anonymous financial account. He would then find another way to make contact with the Red Tide Organization.

This was the only course of action Xiao Yu could take right now. He had no foundation or roots in the Blue Star world. His only other option was to go directly to the territory occupied by the Red Tide Organization, but that would mean crossing a warzone, a risk far greater than having a direct showdown with Yan Lingjun.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Yan Lingjun arrived at Xiao Yu’s private villa from the company.

The android beauty, butler Number 18, opened the door and led Yan Lingjun into the living room. Xiao Yu, who was already sitting there, instructed the android to go into another room and wait on standby.

Now there were only the two of them in the living room. Xiao Yu glanced at his beautiful assistant and smiled. “Have a seat.”

Yan Lingjun sat down on the sofa opposite him, looked up at Xiao Yu, and asked, “What did you need to see me about?”

Hearing her question, Xiao Yu didn’t answer immediately. He brought up a holographic panel, pushed it in front of Yan Lingjun, and, meeting her gaze, smiled. “Take a look at this first.”

…

Chapter 132: Exposed? Or a Bluff?

Xiao Yu withdrew his gaze, got up to fetch two glasses, and added while pouring water, “I wrote the article, but the content came from a mentor of mine. He’s an elderly man and has difficulty getting around, so I wrote it on his behalf.”

Hearing this, a trace of confusion flashed in Yan Lingjun’s eyes. At the same time, her curiosity was piqued, so she looked away from him and focused on the article displayed on the holographic panel before her.

Evidently, the article Xiao Yu had given Yan Lingjun was something he had written after gaining a deeper understanding of Blue Star’s Red Tide Organization. It was a localized adaptation of selections from the Five Volumes, On Contradiction, and On Practice.

Although the Blue Star world was vastly different from Earth, the thinking of the Great Man was universal. The foundation of his thought was consistent, capable of helping a person upgrade and reconstruct their own palace of thought, to know what key points to grasp when doing something, and to be able to judge the laws of how things develop.

When undertaking a great cause, these processes were unavoidable.

The development of society is constantly changing, but the underlying logic of accomplishing something is stable, because things must be done by people, and human nature evolves far more slowly than society.

It was true that the Blue Star world’s technological and productive capabilities completely eclipsed Earth’s, but that progress was only on a technical level. The transformation and upgrading of human nature had not necessarily advanced any faster than on Earth—it might even be lagging behind. Otherwise, the Heavenly Kingdom of Blue Star’s Central Continent should not have survived to this day.

However, Xiao Yu hadn’t just rigidly copied everything. The situation facing the Blue Star world was different, after all.

Xiao Yu started by looking for common ground between the two. His old home, Earth, had once experienced things, and it just so happened that the Blue Star world was encountering similar problems for which they had not yet found the right solutions. Since those treasured books already held the answers, he could bring them out, which would be equivalent to letting the Blue Star world avoid many detours.

At this moment, Yan Lingjun had already begun to read. The display panel contained several selected excerpts, totaling around forty to fifty thousand words—not a lot, as Xiao Yu’s understanding of the Blue Star world and the Red tide Organization was limited.

Without personally conducting in-depth, on-site research and analyzing specific problems, Xiao Yu didn’t dare to write recklessly. Otherwise, it was highly likely that his attempt would be a poor imitation, and some of the content would be completely unsuitable for the actual situation on Blue Star.

Without investigation, there is no right to speak.

These tens of thousands of words he had written were the result of his current understanding of the Blue Star world and the Red Tide Organization. He could not add more, or it would exceed the limits of his knowledge and inevitably lead to misguided direction. A sufficient understanding was necessary to analyze specific problems.

The article began with the “Battle of Pingkang” as its entry point. This was a battle that took place five Blue Star years ago in a place called “Pingkang” between the Red Tide Revolutionary Army and the Heavenly Kingdom’s regular army. The Red Tide Revolutionary Army had attempted to capture the city.

In the end, they were soundly defeated by the Heavenly Kingdom’s forces. The Red Tide Revolutionary Army suffered heavy losses and their strength was greatly diminished.

Xiao Yu used this as his entry point because the information on the “Battle of Pingkang” was sufficiently complete and public. Moreover, he had collected, selected, and compared materials from multiple documentary sources to ensure the objectivity of the information he obtained.

The core reason for the Red Tide Revolutionary Army’s disastrous defeat in this battle was a severe strategic miscalculation.

Right now, Yan Lingjun was browsing the article’s content in silence.

【A commander’s correct deployments come from correct resolve. Correct resolve comes from correct judgment. Correct judgment comes from thorough and necessary reconnaissance, and from interconnected thought and analysis of all reconnaissance materials.】

【A commander uses all possible and necessary means of reconnaissance, taking the various materials gathered on the enemy’s situation and sifting the false from the true, the coarse from the fine. Through a process of thinking from one point to another, from the outside to the inside, he then adds in the situation on his own side, studies the comparison and relationship between the two sides, and thus forms his judgment, makes his decision, and formulates his plan. This is the normal process for a commander to understand a situation before making any strategic, operational, or tactical plan.】

【Always conduct on-site investigations. Analyze specific problems specifically.】

【War is always about calculation; it is not simply fighting for the sake of fighting. Always treat the overall situation as a single game of chess. During a phase of retreat, you must calculate for the phase of counter-offensive. During a phase of counter-offensive, you must calculate for the phase of offense. And during a phase of offense, you must again calculate for the phase of retreat. Without such calculation, to be bound by immediate advantages and disadvantages is the road to failure.】

【The guiding principle of all military action must be based on one fundamental principle: to preserve one’s own strength and destroy the enemy’s strength as much as possible.】

The opening of the article didn’t move Yan Lingjun too much; she simply felt it made sense. This was because she was not a commander who led troops in battle. However, as she read deeper and saw the other selected excerpts that followed, she became more and more engrossed, as if she had forgotten the passage of time.

Much of the content in the article was profoundly enlightening for her. For example, one excerpt on practice practically pointed out the fastest path to self-improvement; it was like a hands-on guide on how to become stronger.

【When many people are unable to bravely accept a work assignment, a phrase they often say is: “I’m not sure I can do it.” Why are they not sure? Because they have no systematic understanding of the content and circumstances of this work, or they have never encountered this type of work before, or have not had much contact with it, and thus cannot speak of its patterns. After the situation and circumstances of the work are analyzed in detail for them, they feel more confident and become willing to do it.

If this person then works at this task for a period of time, they will gain experience. And if they are someone willing to humbly observe the situation, not someone who looks at problems subjectively, one-sidedly, or superficially, they will be able to draw their own conclusions about how the work should be done, and their courage to work will be greatly enhanced.】

…

After a long while, Yan Lingjun finished reading the tens of thousands of words on the display panel. Although the total length was not great, much of the content, after being read, felt like it had opened the door to a new world. It frequently gave her a feeling of sudden enlightenment, greatly broadening the depth and scope of her thinking.

In a sense, Yan Lingjun truly had the door to a new world opened for her. And Xiao Yu had, in fact, exported these great ideas to the human civilization of the Blue Star world for the first time.

The content Yan Lingjun was seeing was a precious treasure from another world. The materials Xiao Yu had compiled—whether selected from the Five Volumes, On Contradiction, or On Practice—were all priceless spiritual treasures left by the Great Man to the descendants of Huaxia.

Finally, Yan Lingjun raised her eyes to look at Xiao Yu and couldn’t help but say, “I would really like to meet that mentor of yours. He must be a truly remarkable person.”

Xiao Yu gave a noncommittal response, meeting her gaze. He suddenly smiled and asked in return, “Shouldn’t you first be asking why I’m showing this to you?”

At these words, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but freeze for a moment. Seeing this, Xiao Yu, not caring whether she was feigning her shock or not, said directly, “I’m showing you this so you can copy it and give it to the Red Tide Organization. It might be helpful to your current cause.”

When she heard Xiao Yu say this, Yan Lingjun’s heart trembled violently. Fortunately, her already stunned state concealed the sudden, intense turmoil deep inside her.

But her mental fortitude was truly extraordinary. She quickly calmed herself down from the abrupt shock, thinking to herself, [Am I exposed? Or is he bluffing?]

The next moment, Yan Lingjun immediately put on an expression of shock and terror. “CEO Xiao, what do you mean by that?”

It was as if Xiao Yu had read her mind. He said with a calm and casual air, “Are you thinking that I’m trying to bluff you? That’s not important. Actually, I’ve suspected for a long time that you’re a spy for the Red Tide. Of course, I don’t have sufficient proof, but that’s not important either.”

Xiao Yu continued, “What’s important is that, whether you believe me or not, I can’t get along with the elites of the Heavenly Kingdom, and I’m certainly not some secret agent for them. I’ve already booked a flight out of the Heavenly Kingdom. If you’re not a Red Tide spy, or if I can’t be sure, it means it’s very dangerous for me to remain in Heavenly Kingdom territory. So, I hope that from now on, we can speak frankly.”

Clearly, Xiao Yu was prepared for the worst-case scenario.

If this direct showdown didn’t yield his expected outcome, he really planned to leave the Heavenly Kingdom today. He had indeed had the Number 18 robot book the ticket while he was waiting for Yan Lingjun to arrive.

If Xiao Yu wanted to leave, no one in the Heavenly Kingdom could stop him.

If he could leave smoothly by plane, he would take the normal flight. But if Yan Lingjun wasn’t a Red Tide spy, he had to anticipate that she might turn around and report him to the Heavenly Kingdom right after their talk. If the Heavenly Kingdom sent people to intercept him at the airport, Xiao Yu would just use the Transference Star Ring to escape. This was the source of his confidence to lay his cards on the table so directly.

…

Chapter 133: Speaking Frankly

One of the main reasons Xiao Yu had expended so much effort on these articles was to address the issue of trust when contacting the Red Tide Organization. Breaking the chain of suspicion between them was crucial. The reason Xiao Yu dared not use the N-800 Nano Armament they offered directly was a matter of trust. Likewise, why should the Red Tide Organization trust him?

A major function of these articles was to demonstrate that Xiao Yu’s values could never align with the Heavenly Kingdom’s. His values were inherently opposed to theirs; otherwise, these articles would never have existed. Confirming Xiao Yu’s stance was clearly of great importance to the Red Tide Organization.

Beyond that, Xiao Yu had another hidden motive: he wanted to conduct an experiment on Blue Star. By helping the Red Tide Organization succeed, he wanted to see if the Blue Star world, with its highly advanced productivity and material abundance, could upgrade from the initial stage of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his work” to the ultimate goal of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

Clearly, this was an excellent opportunity for an experiment. Having such a model to reference would undoubtedly help his own Earth avoid many detours. At the very least, Xiao Yu could gain insights into truths that had been tested through practice.

At this moment, Yan Lingjun’s expression turned solemn. “CEO Xiao, please don’t make such jokes. It’s not funny at all.”

Xiao Yu gazed at his beautiful assistant, meeting her eyes. “Do I look like I’m joking with you?”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun replied, “Then I regret to inform you that I am not a spy for the Red Tide Organization. I’m afraid you have the wrong person.”

If she were to expose her identity so easily, she would have been finished long ago. She couldn’t be foolish enough to lay her cards on the table based on Xiao Yu’s one-sided claims. Xiao Yu understood this and wasn’t the least bit surprised.

However, Yan Lingjun’s heart was in turmoil.

Seeing her denial and refusal to have a showdown, Xiao Yu continued as if talking to himself, “If I have the wrong person, then it’s a huge loss for Red Tide. I can provide them with a continuous supply of food. Not only can I provide enough synthetic starch, but I can also offer large quantities of various fruits, vegetables, and fresh meats that are capable of reproduction.”

After his observations during this period, Xiao Yu had confirmed that the vast amount of Heavenly Kingdom high-tech that Lin An had taken with him when he defected did not include anything related to food. This sector was controlled by another major family, not the Lin family.

Hearing Xiao Yu’s words, Yan Lingjun’s heart pounded violently once more. She rapidly weighed the pros and cons of risking a showdown with him.

But what if this man was truly a Heavenly Kingdom secret agent, dangling such immense bait to set a trap? If she laid her cards on the table and admitted her identity as a spy, the consequences would be self-evident.

Reason told her not to have a showdown, to deny it to the death.

But the problem was, what if everything Xiao Yu said was true?

He could provide the food supplies that the Red Tide Organization desperately needed, and even provide plants, fruits, vegetables, and fresh meats capable of reproduction.

If she denied it to the end, it would be, as he said, a huge loss for the Red Tide Organization.

Finally, Yan Lingjun let out a soft sigh. She had made her decision. She would put herself on the line and take the gamble, mentally prepared for the worst outcome. She would sacrifice herself to secure a certainty.

If she was wrong, she would be the only one sacrificed. But if she was right, the revolutionary cause of the Red Tide Organization would benefit immensely.

Yan Lingjun looked at Xiao Yu again and suddenly stated frankly, “Your guess is correct. I am indeed a member of Red Tide. My mission from my superiors was to get close to you and find a new channel for the organization to acquire food supplies.”

Her words actually took Xiao Yu by surprise. He met her gaze, a hint of astonishment in his voice. “I’m surprised. Why did you suddenly admit it so frankly? As a spy, you’ve just committed a cardinal sin. It’s even quite irrational.”

At his words, Yan Lingjun stared at Xiao Yu. “I considered many possibilities, but the bait you offered is simply too big. Denying it might save my own life, but if what you say is true, and my caution in saving my own skin causes the organization to miss such a massive strategic opportunity…”

After a moment of silence, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but break into a brilliant smile. “Between the two, I am willing to bet my life on this. If I’m wrong, I’ll only lose my own life. If I’m right, I will have secured a massive strategic opportunity for the organization. For the organization, this is risking a little to gain a lot—a small loss for a huge gain.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu was secretly moved. The woman’s spirit of self-sacrifice was truly remarkable. It was a decision that required immense courage.

Xiao Yu said succinctly, “Impressive.”

However, Xiao Yu didn’t fully believe everything Yan Lingjun said.

He couldn’t rule out the possibility that this was a delaying tactic. The moment she was free, she could turn around and report him to the Heavenly Kingdom. Although this probability was very, very low, Xiao Yu couldn’t be one hundred percent certain, so he remained on his guard. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

A moment later, Yan Lingjun looked at Xiao Yu again and took the initiative to question him, “I don’t understand why you are doing this. Since we’re speaking frankly, I want to know your motive.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “To cooperate with Red Tide, of course.”

Yan Lingjun looked at him, bewildered. “Cooperate?”

Xiao Yu took a sip from his cup and then said at an unhurried pace, “I want to acquire the complete technology for the N-800 Nano Armament and the organic body from the Red Tide Organization. In exchange, I can provide you with a continuous, large supply of the food you need.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun was once again astonished. She couldn’t help but say, “What I don’t understand is, since CEO Xiao possesses such incredible abilities, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to obtain the N-800 Nano Armament and the organic body, right? Why do you need to get them from the Red Tide Organization?”

She was truly perplexed by this. Since he could provide such a vast amount of food—crucially, even plants, fruits, and vegetables capable of reproduction—he was definitely no ordinary person. He must be someone with access to the very top of the Heavenly Kingdom’s pyramid.

At that moment, Xiao Yu was secretly delighted, for he had just extracted a key piece of information from Yan Lingjun’s words: the Red Tide Organization also possessed the technology for the organic body.

Yan Lingjun could not read any valuable information from Xiao Yu’s expression, because his control over it was superb.

Xiao Yu didn’t answer her question directly. Instead, he smiled and added, looking at his beautiful assistant, “You might not believe this, but I’d actually be happy to see you succeed in replacing the Heavenly Kingdom. I also want to see if, after you’ve won, you can create the ideal nation you envision, or if it will just be a new cycle—the dragonslayer becoming the new evil dragon.”

Yan Lingjun remained silent. She found the man before her too mysterious; she couldn’t see through him at all. She felt that Xiao Yu was indeed not fond of the Heavenly Kingdom, but she couldn’t be completely sure.

A moment later, Yan Lingjun said, “I need to report this to my superiors.”

Xiao Yu nodded. “Of course, that’s no problem. But I can’t confirm your identity either.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but laugh in response. “CEO Xiao, you really are cautious. Then tell me, how should we solve this mutual trust issue?”

Xiao Yu also smiled. “I’ll have to inconvenience you for a few hours. I’m going abroad. After a few hours, you’ll be free. If you are truly a Red Tide member, you can make your report and contact me afterward. We can talk again outside the Heavenly Kingdom’s sphere of control. How does that sound?”

…

Chapter 134: Progress

Upon hearing Xiao Yu’s proposal, Yan Lingjun immediately asked, “How can I believe you? What if you’re a secret agent for the Heavenly Kingdom, using this as a pretext to have me arrested?”

Xiao Yu instantly smiled and retorted, “Didn’t you say you were making a small bet for a big win, seizing a strategic opportunity for your organization? You’ve already gambled with your life by even being here. Why the need to ask?”

These words left Yan Lingjun momentarily speechless. It was true. From the moment she had confessed, there was no turning back.

In fact, when she heard Xiao Yu suggest they renegotiate outside the Heavenly Kingdom’s sphere of influence, Yan Lingjun knew the probability that she had bet correctly was already over ninety percent. Otherwise, Xiao Yu was unlikely to propose such a plan. His caution was the very thing that proved he was telling the truth.

A moment later, Yan Lingjun looked at Xiao Yu with a smile. “Since it has come to this, so be it. You can tie me up, then.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu chuckled. “That won’t be necessary. Come with me.”

After speaking, Xiao Yu immediately got up and walked toward a room in the villa. Yan Lingjun rose and followed him.

A short while later, Xiao Yu stood at the doorway and glanced at Yan Lingjun. “I’ll have to ask you to stay in this room for a few hours. When the time is up, I will unlock it for you, and you will be free to leave on your own.”

Yan Lingjun entered the room decisively. She took the holographic wristband off her wrist and handed it to Xiao Yu, watching him with a smile. “Are you going to search me?”

Xiao Yu said calmly, “Of course.”

Yan Lingjun said, “Go ahead.”

With that, she waited for him to come forward and search her. Xiao Yu said concisely, “Pardon me.”

Just as Xiao Yu took a few steps forward, he suddenly backed away. This left her looking at him in confusion. Xiao Yu summoned the android beauty, butler Number 18, and had her search Yan Lingjun instead.

While being searched by the android beauty, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but cover her mouth and chuckle. “What? Are you afraid I’ll launch a surprise attack on you?”

After confirming that the probability of her bet being correct was over ninety percent, Yan Lingjun was no longer as serious and tense as before. Instead, she started joking and teasing him, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed. In truth, she was also relieving her earlier anxiety.

But Yan Lingjun had guessed correctly. Xiao Yu was indeed worried that if he personally conducted a close-quarters search, she might suddenly counter him. Spies and agents were bound to have a few tricks up their sleeves. If this woman’s combat prowess was high, to fail so spectacularly would be a disaster beyond words.

Although she had guessed right, Xiao Yu certainly couldn’t admit it. He immediately said with a calm expression, “You’re overthinking it. I just don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of the situation. That’s all.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun smiled faintly and said no more.

After a while, the android beauty, butler Number 18, had searched Yan Lingjun’s entire body, finally confirming that apart from the holographic wristband, she carried no other wireless communication devices to contact the outside world.

Xiao Yu handed her a slip of paper and said, “This is my contact information. If you don’t contact me within five days, I will assume you are not a Red Tide spy, and you can find employment elsewhere. As for Prism Company, I will have it bankrupted.”

Yan Lingjun took the note, glanced at it, and immediately nodded. “Yes, I understand.”

With matters settled, Xiao Yu wasted no more time. After closing and locking the door, he left the villa with the android beauty Number 18, then took an international flight out of the Heavenly Kingdom, flying directly to the Flame Continent.

As Xiao Yu departed, Yan Lingjun remained alone in the room, her heart growing uneasy once more. The next few hours would be the moment that decided her fate.

Meanwhile, six hours later, Xiao Yu arrived in a country on the Flame Continent and checked into a city hotel.

For the next few days, Xiao Yu’s plan was to wait for news from Yan Lingjun while also traveling around the Blue Star world, conducting his own research into its local customs and culture. At the same time, he would also establish more coordinates to facilitate the future passage of the Transference Star Ring in the Blue Star world.

It was currently afternoon local time.

Xiao Yu entered the hotel suite, sat in the living area, and asked the android beauty, “What’s Yan Lingjun’s situation?”

The android beauty brought up a holographic screen and enlarged it. Xiao Yu looked at the panel, which showed the real-time surveillance feed from the room where Yan Lingjun was being held.

At this very moment, Yan Lingjun was sitting quietly in the room, doing nothing, as there was nothing she could do. She also knew she was being monitored by Xiao Yu the entire time.

A moment later, Xiao Yu said, “Open the door and let her out.”

The door locks in the villa could be controlled remotely, which was extremely convenient.

The android beauty immediately replied, “Yes, Master.”

…

Meanwhile, Yan Lingjun, who was still in the room, was meditating with her eyes closed in complete silence.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open as she heard the sound of the door unlocking. She turned her head toward the sound and saw a crack appear in the closed door.

The door was unlocked.

Seeing this, Yan Lingjun quickly got up, went to the door, and pulled it open, her heart filled with silent joy.

She walked out of the room, into the living room, and successfully left Xiao Yu’s private villa. The expected scene of agents from the Heavenly Kingdom’s secret service coming to arrest her never happened. Yan Lingjun could finally no longer contain her excitement.

She felt both the relief of having survived an ordeal and the confirmation that she had truly bet correctly this time. “He really isn’t a Heavenly Kingdom secret agent…”

After a long while, Yan Lingjun calmed her turbulent emotions and hurried off to deliver this intelligence.

She knew very well how much of a help it would be to the revolutionary cause if they could cooperate with Xiao Yu and obtain a continuous supply of food and materials.

…

Days passed. After only three days, Yan Lingjun contacted Xiao Yu using the information he had given her.

On the morning of the third day, the android butler approached Xiao Yu. “Master, Ms. Yan Lingjun is requesting an encrypted video call.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu, who was dining in the hotel, felt his spirits lift. He immediately said, “Put her through.”

A moment later, a holographic panel appeared before Xiao Yu, with Yan Lingjun on the screen. She broke into a charming smile and said, “Mr. Xiao, surely you have no more doubts now?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled and then asked, “How so?”

Yan Lingjun replied, “The organization takes this matter very seriously and has arranged for an important figure to meet with you to discuss the details of our cooperation.”

Xiao Yu said crisply, “Reply to your superiors that I won’t see anyone else they send. If we’re meeting to talk, I will only see you, and only within the next three days.”

Yan Lingjun was taken aback and confused. “My rank is probably not high enough,” she said.

Xiao Yu replied coolly, “Then there’s nothing to be done. This point is non-negotiable. I will only see you. This is a major prerequisite for any possible cooperation. If your organization is sincere enough to cooperate, your supposed lack of rank isn’t a problem at all.”

The reason Xiao Yu was so insistent on having Yan Lingjun represent the Red Tide Organization for the talks was that he couldn’t trust anyone else.

What if they sent someone else? What if that person had an organic body? What if that person was equipped with the N-800 Nano Armament?

Therefore, he could only meet Yan Lingjun, and it had to be soon. If too much time passed, he couldn’t rule out that the Yan Lingjun sent to negotiate would be an identical doppelganger, not the real person.

Meeting within a short period meant there wouldn’t be enough time to create a doppelganger, thus eliminating that possibility.

And even when meeting Yan Lingjun, Xiao Yu was still wary. Before the meeting, he would require a blood test to confirm she wasn’t carrying the N-800 Nano Armament.

Only then could Xiao Yu be completely at ease.

In his eyes, as an Earthling, the N-800 Nano Armament was simply too outrageous. Possessing this internal armament could instantly turn a complete weakling into a terrifying combat force comparable to The Hulk or Iron Man.

What if the Red Tide Organization secretly equipped Yan Lingjun with the N-800 Nano Armament? What if this black technology also possessed remote control capabilities?

If he were face-to-face with her, and her intentions were hostile, he would be crushed by such absolute power. Xiao Yu might be taken down at the speed of light before he even had time to open the teleportation Star Gate, leaving him no time to react.

Even if this possibility was extremely low, as long as the probability was not zero, Xiao Yu absolutely could not take the gamble. He could not afford any wishful thinking; he had to ensure the situation was absolutely foolproof before they could talk.

On the other end of the video call, Yan Lingjun saw Xiao Yu’s completely non-negotiable stance and could only reply, “Alright, I will report this.”

Xiao Yu nodded. “Remember, you only have three days. I won’t wait past the deadline.”

…

Chapter 135: The Supremely Cautious Xiao Yu

After ending the encrypted call, Xiao Yu considered for a moment, then turned to the beautiful android butler, Number 18, and asked, “Regarding the N-800 nanoparticles, can you detect them in a blood sample?”

Xiao Yu remembered that this model of bionic android was also capable of medical diagnostics.

The beautiful android immediately replied, “Master, my internal hardware is insufficient to support the detection of such a fine microstructure. However, specialized detection equipment can do it. It only requires a blood sample, and the results can be produced within five minutes.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu immediately asked, “Where can I buy this equipment?”

The beautiful android replied, “It’s sold in this country for approximately 5.5 billion Tul.”

Xiao Yu was startled by the number and quickly asked, “How much is that in Star Yuan?”

The beautiful android responded, “Approximately thirty million Star Yuan.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu breathed a huge sigh of relief. Thankfully, this country’s currency wasn’t worth much. He had less than one billion Star Yuan in disposable funds.

Xiao Yu immediately instructed Number 18, “Then buy it right away. Get me a full set of this equipment, and rent a venue. I need it expedited; it would be best if I can use it by tomorrow. It’s fine to pay extra, but the delivery must be fast.”

Number 18 noted down all of Xiao Yu’s requests and nodded in response, “Yes, Master.”

Even as she responded to Xiao Yu, she was already contacting the seller to place the order. Afterwards, Number 18 went to rent a venue as per Xiao Yu’s instructions.

It had to be said that having such a personal robotic butler was incredibly convenient, saving Xiao Yu a great deal of effort. Otherwise, just finding this kind of detection equipment would have taken a lot of time, and he would have had to do it all himself.

The next day, Xiao Yu was planning his next steps.

While Number 18 was carrying out his orders, Xiao Yu himself went to a Vitas Industrial Group flagship store in the city and purchased two new bionic android bodyguards. The beautiful android, Number 18, was not suited for bodyguard duties, so he had no choice but to buy two more.

With so many black technology products in the Blue Star world, not having the protection of the N-800 Nano Armament made Xiao Yu feel very insecure.

He could run into some unknown person on the street who, in reality, had a power level comparable to the Hulk. Furthermore, with black technology like the organic body in existence, it was difficult to tell if the person before him was their real self or a doppelganger.

If Xiao Yu didn’t plan to do anything significant, he wouldn’t need to worry so much about these things, and the major powers would likely never notice him.

But now that he was about to deal with the Red Tide Organization, and what he was doing was not something an ordinary Blue Star citizen could do, he had to consider these issues.

With two android bodyguards, Xiao Yu no longer had any worries about his next potential meeting with Yan Lingjun. He had eliminated every potential security risk he could think of.

Before he knew about the N-800 Nano Armament, Xiao Yu had been quite calm. He believed that with his cheat, the Transference Star Ring, he could just open a stargate and escape if some extreme situation occurred. Surviving would definitely not be a problem.

But ever since he learned of the existence of a powerful black technology product like the N-800 Nano Armament, Xiao Yu no longer dared to guarantee his absolute ability to survive.

Even with the Transference Star Ring to escape, if his opponent was secretly armed with the N-800, he wouldn’t even have time to react and open a teleportation Star Gate before being taken down instantly, completely powerless to resist.

It was an absolute power crush, comparable to a market-killer advantage.

Clearly, only by possessing the N-800 Nano Armament himself could Xiao Yu move through the Blue Star world with the same composure as before.

As for now, he had to be low-key, extremely cautious, and play it as safe as possible.

As long as he obtained either of these two black technology products—the N-800 Nano Armament or the organic body—he would basically be secure. Although the organic body wasn’t as powerful as the N-800 Nano Armament, its function was unique.

An organic body meant his real self wouldn’t have to appear. If Xiao Yu had this black technology right now, he wouldn’t need to be so cautious in his dealings with the Red Tide Organization.

He could just send a doppelganger. He wouldn’t have to insist on meeting only Yan Lingjun, and he could even go directly to the Red Tide Organization’s territory to negotiate without any issues. With his real body hidden in an unknown location, the worst that could happen would be the doppelganger getting destroyed. He could just create a new one.

…

Two days later, Yan Lingjun contacted Xiao Yu again, much faster than he had expected.

The Red Tide Organization had agreed to Xiao Yu’s request, appointing Yan Lingjun to meet with him alone. That same day, Xiao Yu gave her an address, and Yan Lingjun followed it, leaving the Central Continent and flying to the city in the Flame Continent where Xiao Yu was.

The next day, in the morning local time, Yan Lingjun arrived at the meeting point as scheduled.

“Ms. Yan.” A woman with a stunning figure and beautiful face approached her. Yan Lingjun recognized her at a glance—it was Xiao Yu’s beautiful android, Number 18.

A flash of surprise crossed her face, and Yan Lingjun immediately asked, “Where is Mr. Xiao?”

The beautiful android smiled and said, “Please follow me.”

Yan Lingjun had no choice but to follow the beautiful android, though she didn’t know where they were going and didn’t ask.

After some time, Number 18 led her into the rented venue. Just as Yan Lingjun was feeling confused, the beautiful android spoke again, “Ms. Yan, I need a sample of your blood.”

Yan Lingjun asked, puzzled, “What do you need my blood sample for?”

The beautiful android said, “This is a necessary step before you can see my master.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun was perplexed, but she had a strong suspicion as to why. She couldn’t help but mutter to herself, This guy is really overly cautious. He’s probably worried I’m carrying the N-800 Nano Armament. The N-800 isn’t some cheap junk you find everywhere…

From the looks of it, if she didn’t provide a blood sample for testing, she most likely wouldn’t be seeing him today.

Yan Lingjun was decisive and agreed with a nod. A blood sample was quickly drawn, and Number 18 took it for analysis. About five minutes later, the test results were sent to Xiao Yu.

Meanwhile, in a guest room of a commercial hotel in the city, Xiao Yu opened a holographic panel and browsed through it. Displayed on it was the report on the composition analysis of Yan Lingjun’s blood sample. The results showed that no nanoparticles were detected.

With that, Xiao Yu was completely at ease. He immediately contacted Number 18. “Bring her to see me.”

After waiting for about ten minutes, Number 18 arrived at the hotel with Yan Lingjun and entered Xiao Yu’s guest room.

Seeing him sitting in the living room, Yan Lingjun walked over gracefully and looked at him with a smile. “Mr. Xiao, it’s not easy to get a meeting with you.”

Xiao Yu gave a noncommittal smile and gestured, “Have a seat.”

Yan Lingjun didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down in a nearby seat, her eyes scanning the room. Seeing this, Xiao Yu said with a smile, “Don’t worry, there are no listening devices here. I’ve already checked.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun relaxed. In this meeting, she was no longer Xiao Yu’s employee, but a representative of the Red Tide Organization.

Now that she was here, Xiao Yu didn’t beat around the bush and said directly, “So? Is your organization interested in cooperating?”

Yan Lingjun met his gaze with a smile. “Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here in front of you now. But, Mr. Xiao, how can we believe your words and promises?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu snapped his fingers and stood up, leaving for a moment.

A moment later, he returned with a potted plant, which he placed on the table, along with a bag of vegetable seeds. These were things Xiao Yu had brought back from Earth three days ago.

“I planted this three days ago using these vegetable seeds. It just so happened to sprout today.” Xiao Yu explained briefly, then turned to Yan Lingjun with a smile. “I told you I could provide fruits and vegetables capable of reproduction. I wasn’t bluffing.”

At that moment, Yan Lingjun was stunned. She stared intently at the young plant shoot that had taken root and sprouted in the pot, a wave of delight rising in her heart.

…

Chapter 136: Yan Lingjun’s Shock

Xiao Yu looked at the astonished Yan Lingjun and smiled. “Consider these seeds a welcoming gift.”

Yan Lingjun’s surprised expression returned to normal. By now, she mostly believed him. Moreover, Xiao Yu’s cautiousness before this meeting was an indirect sign of his sincerity in cooperating.

After a moment, Yan Lingjun looked at Xiao Yu and said, “Mr. Xiao, since you saw the Heavenly Kingdom’s failings long ago, haven’t you ever considered dedicating yourself to the revolutionary cause? If you were to join the Red Tide Organization, our revolutionary cause would surely reach unprecedented new heights.”

Xiao Yu wasn’t surprised by her direct attempt at recruitment. He immediately smiled and said, “If this cooperation comes to fruition, won’t that be supporting your cause in effect?”

Yan Lingjun was momentarily at a loss for words. Her superiors had instructed her to do her best to recruit Xiao Yu, as getting him to join the Red Tide Organization would be the ideal outcome. However, his words made it clear he had no intention of joining.

She didn’t press the matter, having merely put out a feeler. The priority was to first build sufficient trust and friendship; there would be opportunities to win him over later. The core purpose of this meeting was to establish cooperation, as what Xiao Yu could provide was something the Red Tide Organization desperately needed.

The negotiations went very smoothly. After confirming Xiao Yu’s values and stance—especially after reading the articles he had provided—Yan Lingjun’s favorable impression of him had grown significantly. The Red Tide Organization, eager to win him over, made no harsh demands and even proactively offered concessions, showing great sincerity.

In truth, Xiao Yu was happy to see the Red Tide Organization succeed in their venture on Blue Star’s Central Continent. He wanted to export the Great Man’s advanced ideology, influence them, and even help them upgrade and transform their way of thinking.

He was also very curious to see whether the Blue Star world, with its advanced technological productivity and abundant material resources, could actually achieve the ultimate goal of “distribution according to need.”

Therefore, Xiao Yu also showed the utmost sincerity. The smoothness of their negotiations exceeded both their expectations. Xiao Yu hadn’t anticipated that the Red Tide Organization would be willing to offer the “organic body” technology upfront as a gesture of goodwill.

At that moment, Xiao Yu took a moment to think, then looked at Yan Lingjun and said, “How about this: once I’ve verified the organic body technology and confirmed there are no issues, I will not only provide you with grain crop seeds but also supply you with two million tons of food annually. And I’m not talking about that unpalatable synthetic starch, but genuine grain.”

The crop seeds had a growing cycle, and with the drastic changes in Blue Star’s atmosphere, they would need to build industrial-scale greenhouses to isolate the crops from the outside air. All of this had to be set up from scratch, which would take even more time and wouldn’t solve their immediate crisis. The additional two million tons of grain, however, would be ready to eat as soon as it arrived.

When Yan Lingjun heard this, she was utterly dumbfounded, all composure lost. She stared at Xiao Yu in complete astonishment. “In addition to the crop seeds, you’re offering two million tons of grain? And you’ll supply that much every year?”

Xiao Yu smiled and nodded in confirmation. To put it simply, grain was just carbohydrates, but in the Blue Star world, it was an incredibly expensive and scarce food compared to synthetic starch—a luxury in the eyes of the lower classes.

It was no wonder Yan Lingjun was so shocked. A supply of two million tons annually was a massive amount. Converted to money, it would be an astronomical sum.

In truth, two million tons of grain was nothing in Xiao Yu’s eyes. Back on Earth, his own great eastern nation’s grain output last year had reached over 682.8 million tons. Two million tons was but a tiny fraction of that.

It was worth noting that Xiao Yu had his reasons for making the verification of the “organic body” technology a prerequisite. Only by obtaining this black technology and creating a body double with a different appearance could he better manage the transport of millions, or even tens of millions, of tons of grain back on Earth.

Having a body double meant Xiao Yu would no longer need to appear in person. Even Spiritual Mirror Tech wouldn’t have to be involved. Any organization connected to his true self could be kept out of it. He could simply use the double to form a new team and open a trading company.

In this way, Xiao Yu’s operations shuttling food supplies on Earth would be free of any future worries or hidden risks. Even Sherlock Holmes couldn’t trace it back to him. A black technology like the organic body was a product far beyond the comprehension of anyone on Earth.

Even in the worst-case scenario, if the massive disappearance of grain was discovered, he could just have the body double take the fall. Xiao Yu could physically destroy the double to sever all information trails. No investigator, no matter how skilled, would ever be able to trace it, and it would simply become another unsolved mystery for the ages.

Once he obtained the organic body black technology, Xiao Yu would no longer use Spiritual Mirror Tech for the grain transportation. No company or organization directly or indirectly associated with him would be involved.

Instead, he would create an organic body double with a foreign face. Xiao Yu would use this double as a second, hidden identity to establish a multinational trading company abroad. From then on, this double and its company would be solely responsible for liaising with the Blue Star world and handling the transport of fresh produce, poultry, eggs, meat, and other food products.

Meanwhile, Yan Lingjun, still unable to regain her composure, muttered to herself in amazement, “Two million tons of grain… That’s enough to feed ten million people for a year, or the entire revolutionary army for nearly forty years…”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu’s eyes flickered for a brief, imperceptible moment. He had just gleaned a vital piece of information from her involuntary utterance. Based on the numbers she had just recited, he could deduce that the Red Tide Organization’s revolutionary army numbered around 250,000.

That was by no means a small army. Xiao Yu recalled that the Great Man had only commanded a few tens of thousands in the beginning.

After a moment, Xiao Yu glanced at Yan Lingjun and said in a measured tone, “My offer to supply enough food for ten million people is not just for your organization. I hope you will adjust your strategy, firmly follow the mass line, and unite the millions who make up the majority.”

Yan Lingjun snapped back to reality at his words.

Xiao Yu continued slowly, “The reason your cause has struggled to advance is due to a major problem with your strategy. You haven’t united the lower-class masses, the overwhelming majority. This is the fundamental reason your organization has been unable to grow all these years.”

“Of course, it’s not entirely your fault. The objective conditions have constrained you, making it impossible to grow your ranks or follow this path. People won’t follow you to fight the Heavenly Kingdom if you can’t even guarantee their basic survival—they’d have nothing to eat. Naturally, that approach is doomed to fail.”

“But things are different now. I will provide you with continuous material support in the form of food, creating the necessary conditions for you.”

After gaining a deeper understanding, Xiao Yu had come to realize the unique circumstances of the Blue Star world. He couldn’t just blindly apply the lessons from Earth. The greatest objective constraint preventing the Red Tide Organization from following the mass line was that on Blue Star, it was impossible to farm the land and produce grain, greatly diminishing the value of territory.

It was a simple, practical problem: if you couldn’t even guarantee people’s basic sustenance, they certainly wouldn’t join your revolution. They would rather become refugees and flee to the Heavenly Kingdom’s core territories, where they could at least get a mouthful of relief aid.

Clearly, without the support of the lower-class majority, the movement lacked a foundation, becoming a castle in the air. Such a revolution was doomed to fail. Unable to unite the masses and create a movement that could spread like wildfire, they could never hope to overthrow the powerful Heavenly Kingdom.

…

Chapter 137: Acquiring the Complete Technical Data for the “Organic Body”

Xiao Yu foresaw these problems, which was why he offered a massive supply of food. This would provide the Red Tide Organization’s appeal with a basic material foundation.

At the same time, Xiao Yu was providing them with crop seeds capable of reproduction. This was another epic-level buff that would immediately cause the value of land in the Blue Star world to soar. For every territory the Red Tide Organization captured, they would distribute land and plant crops for the suffering people.

The fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, and poultry that the common people couldn’t bear to eat more than a few times a year could now be grown on the land they were given. In the future, they would have it every day. Not only would they have enough to eat, but they would eat well.

They had never dared to dream of such a life before. If the Red Tide Organization could bring them this kind of change, how could they not embrace and support it?

To avoid returning to their past lives of suffering, they would surely offer their resolute support, enthusiastically joining the army and rushing to the front lines without hesitation.

Currently, the Red Tide Organization couldn’t take this path because the objective conditions weren’t in place. But Xiao Yu could create these conditions, making this path viable.

This was the strategy of surrounding the cities from the countryside. Although the technology of the Blue Star world was far more advanced than Earth’s, advanced weaponry could never replace the role of people.

If it were all about the weapons, then in the founding war of the Great Eastern Country, his home on Earth, they never could have used millet plus rifles to topple America’s planes, tanks, and artillery. The gap in military equipment at the time was akin to a dimension-reduction strike by one side against the other.

Moreover, Xiao Yu knew that Lin An had defected from the Heavenly Kingdom, bringing a great deal of its advanced technology to the Red Tide Organization. As long as they mobilized the power of the masses and united them, they could ramp up their military production capacity. The Red Tide Organization could also possess a vast army of armed mechs, narrowing the equipment gap with the Heavenly Kingdom’s military.

Therefore, Xiao Yu was utterly convinced that this path was equally applicable in the Blue Star world—in fact, it was the only solution.

Not to mention, the Red Tide Organization also possessed top-tier armaments like the N-800 Nano Armament.

“Whenever you conquer a new place, just distribute crop seeds, divide the land, build greenhouses, and plant grain. Mobilize everyone. Before the crops are harvested, use the grain I provide to get through this window of time, ensuring everyone has food and no one starves to death.”

Xiao Yu added, “If the population of the territory you control reaches twenty million, I will provide you with four million tons of grain. If the population expands to fifty million, I will provide you with ten million tons of grain annually, and so on, until you achieve a self-sufficient cycle of food production.”

At this moment, Yan Lingjun was listening attentively to the theoretical basis of the strategy Xiao Yu was outlining, even making an audio recording to remember it all.

While explaining the theory behind his strategy, Xiao Yu was also subtly instilling advanced ideas in Yan Lingjun. These ideas would inevitably be carried by her back to the Red Tide Organization, where they would become a single spark that would eventually spread like wildfire.

Yan Lingjun listened with rapt attention, growing more and more engrossed. As she looked at Xiao Yu, her eyes sparkled with an unusual light, and the way she looked at him gradually began to change.

At that moment, Xiao Yu himself hadn’t anticipated that he would unexpectedly capture her heart in the process.

Finally, Yan Lingjun said with a hint of worry, “But the organization simply can’t afford the budget for such a massive amount of food supplies.”

After speaking, she couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. However, Xiao Yu’s next words made her composure break once again.

Xiao Yu smiled and said, “Just consider it an exchange for the two technologies—the N-800 Nano Armament and the organic body—as part of our cooperation. As I said, I’m actually looking forward to your success. To you starting a revolution against the Heavenly Kingdom and remaking this world.”

Evidently, Xiao Yu planned to be their biggest angel investor. With such staunch support, any black technology they acquired in the future would be shared with him without reservation if he just asked. Although Xiao Yu was currently part of the vested interest class in the Blue Star world—the very target the Red Tide Organization sought to overthrow—that wasn’t a major issue. He could just move his headquarters out of the Central Continent’s Heavenly Kingdom when the time came.

Yan Lingjun’s eyes were wide with shock. She stared blankly at Xiao Yu, and after a moment, she couldn’t help but ask, “Really?”

Xiao Yu looked at her and nodded with absolute certainty. This filled Yan Lingjun with immense joy, and for a rare moment, she let her true emotions show on her face without any attempt to hide them. At this point, she had let her guard down around Xiao Yu almost completely.

Over the next few days, Yan Lingjun didn’t leave. She stayed with Xiao Yu, absorbing his many advanced theories that would aid the revolutionary cause, which elevated her own thinking to an unprecedented level.

At the same time, her admiration for Xiao Yu unknowingly grew stronger.

What Xiao Yu didn’t know was that in just these few short days, he had completely captured the heart of the woman beside him.

…

The days passed one by one, and on the eighth day, it was time for them to part ways.

In the morning, inside the hotel room.

Yan Lingjun finished packing her belongings and handed a small object to Xiao Yu. “This contains the complete technical data for the organic body technology.”

Xiao Yu’s heart leaped with excitement, but he managed his expression well, taking the object from her hand with a calm demeanor.

Just then, Yan Lingjun fixed her gaze on him and said softly, “When are you returning to the Central Continent?”

At that moment, Xiao Yu was too thrilled by the long-awaited black technology in his hand to notice that the woman’s voice was distinctly gentler than usual.

Xiao Yu smiled and said, “It depends on the progress. I’ll contact you when the time comes. For now, it seems Prism Company can continue to operate in the Heavenly Kingdom without any issues. I just don’t know if your superiors will transfer you away. Speaking of which, I’m quite satisfied with you as my assistant, haha.”

Yan Lingjun immediately replied, “I will apply to my superiors to stay. After all, you need a stable liaison by your side.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu’s smile remained. “Then while I’m away, I’ll count on you to manage the company for me.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the beautiful robot housekeeper, Number 18, suddenly approached and said, “Ms. Yan’s booked flight is about to take off. It is recommended to depart soon to avoid delays.”

Xiao Yu put away the small object Yan Lingjun had given him. “Let’s go, I’ll see you to the airport.”

Yan Lingjun nodded. “Mhm.”

About twenty minutes later, Xiao Yu had brought her to the airport and was watching from the sidelines as she walked inside.

But just then, Yan Lingjun suddenly stopped, turned around gracefully, and walked back towards a surprised Xiao Yu. He was about to ask if something was wrong, but before he could get the words out, she moved close, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gave him a deep kiss before he could react.

Her sudden action left Xiao Yu stunned, completely caught off guard by this turn of events.

A long moment passed.

When they separated again, Yan Lingjun’s bright eyes were soft and enchanting. With her head slightly bowed and her cheeks faintly flushed, she was momentarily speechless.

Xiao Yu snapped out of his astonishment. This was the first time he had seen her display such a delicate and dependent side, a stark contrast to her usual self.

After a moment, Xiao Yu chuckled teasingly, “Is a honey trap part of the plan?”

Her beautiful face blushing, Yan Lingjun lowered her gaze and murmured, “I… I’m going back to the Central Continent…”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and hurried towards the airport terminal without a backward glance, giving off the distinct impression of fleeing in a panic. Watching her retreating figure, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but chuckle in amusement.

“Now that’s an unexpected gain,” Xiao Yu murmured to himself. From the beginning, he had planned to establish his own foundation on Blue Star through blood ties, and he had considered Yan Lingjun for this role when he first chose her as an assistant.

As it stood now, she was indeed a very suitable candidate.

According to his original plan, after confirming she was the right person, he would have had to put in some effort to win her over. But now, it seemed she was the one pursuing him.

That kiss from Yan Lingjun had basically sealed the deal.

This little interlude passed quickly. Xiao Yu immediately put it aside and left, heading back. The most important thing on his mind right now, the thing he was most eager to do, was to verify the complete technical data for the “organic body” provided by the Red Tide Organization.

By unlocking this technology tree as soon as possible, he would have the support of this black technology, allowing him to navigate freely, whether on Earth or Blue Star.

…

Chapter 138: Verifying and Creating a Doppelganger

Hotel room.

After returning from the airport, Xiao Yu opened the technical documents Yan Lingjun had given him and began to look them over.

“A Neural Potentiator?” In the room, numerous holographic screens were currently projected. Xiao Yu quietly studied the vast amount of technical information. According to the documents, this specific substance was required to assist in linking his true self to an organic body.

The documents also provided a brief introduction. The original Neural Potentiator was a byproduct of a technological breakthrough in the field of DNA recombination, achieved by Blue Star scientists over a century ago. This technology had been discovered three centuries prior and was already widely used in the treatment of diabetes.

In subsequent research projects, scientists in the Blue Star world elevated this technology to a higher level during a groundbreaking experiment, enabling both the true self and the organic doppelganger to be active simultaneously without any apparent side effects.

Simply put, it achieved real-time split consciousness, allowing one mind to do two things at once, or even many things at once.

Furthermore, with the aid of the Neural Potentiator, the true self could perfectly control the organic body’s normal activities even while asleep.

“This is brilliant. This technology is truly awesome,” Xiao Yu said, his spirits soaring.

He had initially thought the organic body technology of the Blue Star world might be like the one in the movie Avatar, where the true self had to lie dormant in a special enclosed chamber to link with an “Avatar” and control a doppelganger. During that time, the true self would be asleep, and if they woke up, they would lose effective control of the “Avatar”.

But the Blue Star world’s organic body technology had no such limitations. The true self didn’t need to be dormant at all, and the doppelganger could function normally, meaning one consciousness was controlling two bodies.

Moreover, the two bodies could perform non-mirrored actions in different settings. For instance, while the true self was walking, the doppelganger wouldn’t follow suit; it could be sitting indoors, drinking tea and reading the paper, or doing something else entirely.

This was the so-called “one mind, two uses,” but it required the assistance of a Neural Potentiator. It could even achieve “one mind, many uses,” meaning one could control multiple doppelgangers.

Theoretically, as long as the true self’s brain could handle it, there was no problem controlling any number of doppelgangers.

However, this was only theoretical. In reality, the brain had its limits, which varied from person to person. Some individuals could bear the load of controlling more doppelgangers, while others could handle fewer, but almost all humans could control at least one.

In the days that followed, Xiao Yu decisively began the verification process for the organic body technology.

He secretly established a temporary private laboratory in the country. After all, once he confirmed the technology was sound, the lab could be abandoned, so there was no need for extensive, meticulous planning.

Following the technical documents, Xiao Yu procured the necessary equipment and instruments in the Blue Star world. It took him two Blue Star months to set up the laboratory, after which he entered the practical verification phase.

Then, Xiao Yu recruited several volunteers locally at a high price, without, of course, telling them what the experiment was about.

Recruiting such people was quickly accomplished in the Blue Star world. For many living on the poverty line, this was a chance to change their fate, and some were willing to take the gamble.

As the saying goes, a handsome reward makes a brave man.

The cultivation of an organic body was extremely fast; it could develop into an adult form in just one Blue Star month. During this month, its metabolism would skyrocket until it reached adulthood, at which point it would stabilize again, reaching the metabolic level of a normal living being.

Xiao Yu recruited multiple volunteers to participate in the experiment, forming several control groups.

Some volunteers cultivated one doppelganger, others cultivated two or more simultaneously. Some used their own somatic cells for cloning, while others, like Volunteer A, used cells provided by Volunteer B, and Volunteer B used Volunteer A’s cells to cultivate and link with their doppelgangers.

Just like that, three months passed in the blink of an eye. The experiment proceeded incredibly smoothly, and the data perfectly matched the technical information provided by Yan Lingjun.

At this point, Xiao Yu was mostly convinced that there were no major issues with the technology Yan Lingjun had given him.

The affectionate kiss that Miss Yan Lingjun had given him when they parted at the airport also spoke volumes. Xiao Yu felt it was highly unlikely she would set a trap for him.

But out of an abundance of caution, Xiao Yu still decided not to participate personally. Instead, he continued to observe the volunteers for a full Blue Star year.

During this time, Xiao Yu would periodically return to Earth to check in. Fortunately, with a 500-to-1 time dilation between the two worlds, a year on Blue Star was just over a day on Earth, giving him ample time for experimental verification.

After observing the subjects for a full year, Xiao Yu’s last worries were finally put to rest. He was certain that the technology provided by Yan Lingjun was flawless.

Xiao Yu decisively concluded the experiment, paid the volunteers, and destroyed the numerous doppelgangers cultivated for the tests.

But the volunteers couldn’t leave yet. Xiao Yu kept them confined, forbidding them from making any contact with the outside world.

This operation was conducted in secret, and Xiao Yu himself had to enter a dormant state to form the resonant link with his doppelganger. At that moment, he would be completely defenseless. If, at this crucial moment, the volunteers inadvertently leaked information and local law enforcement came to investigate, it would be a huge problem.

Therefore, Xiao Yu had no choice but to lock them up for a while and cut off all outside contact. Once his own business was settled, he would release them. By then, it wouldn’t matter even if the information got out. The laboratory would have long been reduced to ashes by Xiao Yu, and he would have already left the Flame Continent before the country’s law enforcement could arrive.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

Inside the laboratory, within a massive cylindrical incubation chamber, a young Caucasian man floated motionlessly in the nutrient fluid.

It was an organic body, and the true self linked to it was none other than Xiao Yu.

However, Xiao Yu had not used his own cells to clone and cultivate the doppelganger. Instead, he had taken them from a previous Caucasian test subject. This was because Xiao Yu wanted a body double with a completely different appearance to handle matters he couldn’t attend to himself.

Xiao Yu’s choice of a Caucasian face was clearly intentional; he wanted his body double to go to Europe and America, and even integrate into their circles.

A short while later, the beautiful android housekeeper, Number 18, woke Xiao Yu up as planned.

“Is the link complete?” Xiao Yu, who had also been asleep for a month, asked Number 18 upon waking. She immediately replied, “Master, it was a complete success.”

Xiao Yu promptly said, “Then let’s go take a look.”

At the same time, the nutrient fluid in the other cylindrical incubation chamber began to slowly drain, and the Caucasian man inside was awakened.

He opened his eyes and took his first breath of air.

Once the nutrient fluid had been completely drained, a tube that reached deep into his throat was removed, and he stepped out of the chamber.

Just then, the laboratory door opened, and two people walked in: the newly awakened Xiao Yu and the beautiful android housekeeper, Number 18.

Xiao Yu stared at the Caucasian man before him, their eyes meeting.

After a moment, a thought flashed through Xiao Yu’s mind. Both of them turned their backs to each other simultaneously. To his astonishment, Xiao Yu found that the visual signals his brain was receiving allowed him to see clearly what was behind him.

This was seen through the body double’s eyes, and a visual was generated in Xiao Yu’s brain, effectively giving him a 360-degree field of vision.

The brain already possesses an “auto-completion effect,” automatically filling in missing or ambiguous information to achieve a logically coherent result.

The fact that Xiao Yu could see behind him wasn’t because his own eyes were feeding that information to his brain. Rather, it was what the doppelganger saw, which, through the resonant link, caused his brain to auto-complete and replicate the full information.

It wasn’t just sight; under the resonant link, Xiao Yu could empathically experience all five senses of the organic body.

Xiao Yu was utterly thrilled. The Blue Star world’s organic body technology was truly awesome, a genuine piece of black technology. It was just like how cultivators in fantasy novels cultivate a second self, a masterpiece of similar ingenuity.

After a short while, Xiao Yu and the doppelganger turned to face each other again. He looked at the doppelganger and said with a smile, “Let’s call you Vitas.”

The doppelganger also spoke, “Understood.”

The conversation between the two was actually Xiao Yu talking to himself. The first sentence was spoken by his true self, the second by the doppelganger.

Finally, Xiao Yu turned and left, simultaneously controlling his body double, Vitas, to go wash up and change into some clothes.

With this, Xiao Yu had officially and completely mastered the organic body technology. He could finally return to his home on Earth.

Chapter 139: Xiao Yu’s Plan

The next day, Xiao Yu released all the test volunteers. At the same time, he set the entire laboratory ablaze, leaving the aftermath for the local fire department to handle. Then, Xiao Yu, along with his doppelganger Vitas and the beautiful robot Number 18, left the country.

Several hours later, Xiao Yu was back in the Central Continent. He didn’t enter the Heavenly Kingdom’s territory, however, opting instead to temporarily settle in a city in a neighboring country.

At that moment, Xiao Yu and his doppelganger were in a room. He opened the teleportation Star Gate and was the first to step through, returning to the bedroom of his villa in his hometown of Linzhou City on Earth.

Xiao Yu looked at his doppelganger on the other side of the teleportation Star Gate, a sudden thought occurring to him: If I close the stargate, will my link to the doppelganger be severed?

He suddenly realized this was a question he had to answer. Otherwise, in the future, if he stationed his doppelganger in Europe and America and it happened to be interacting with someone when his true self went to the Blue Star world, the link might break the moment the stargate closed. If the doppelganger on Earth suddenly lost consciousness, it would be extremely troublesome.

With this in mind, Xiao Yu made his decision. He immediately had the doppelganger go to the living room and instructed the beautiful robot Number 18 to start a live video recording.

Xiao Yu went back into the room, opened the teleportation Star Gate again, and decisively returned to the bedroom of his villa in Linzhou City on Earth. After a moment, he chose to close the teleportation Star Gate.

The instant it closed, Xiao Yu was stunned, for he discovered that his connection to the doppelganger had truly been severed.

“I thought quantum entanglement was supposed to have action at a distance,” Xiao Yu muttered to himself after a moment of astonishment. The Blue Star world’s location was far beyond the 46.5-billion-light-year radius of Earth’s observable universe; the two might be separated by tens of trillions of light-years.

It now seemed that the so-called action at a distance of quantum entanglement had its limits.

A moment later, Xiao Yu opened the teleportation Star Gate again. He instantly felt the connection with his doppelganger re-establish successfully, and he could sense it was lying on the floor.

Xiao Yu immediately crossed over into the living room and watched the video footage recorded by the beautiful robot Number 18. The video showed the doppelganger standing perfectly fine one moment, then suddenly losing consciousness and collapsing to the ground. The timing matched the exact moment Xiao Yu had closed the stargate.

“It seems that in the future, whenever I come to the Blue Star world, I’ll have to make the doppelganger lie down in advance and avoid seeing anyone. Otherwise, collapsing unconscious without any warning in front of others would scare them to death…” As Xiao Yu considered this, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. At least the connection could be re-established instantly.

It would have been a disaster if it couldn’t reconnect. Otherwise, to travel between the two worlds, he would either have to bring the doppelganger along with him every time or create a new one for each trip. Either option would be incredibly troublesome.

Fortunately, since it could reconnect immediately, the problem wasn’t too severe. In the future, when his true self needed to come to the Blue Star world, he would just have to make the doppelganger rest and lie down in advance.

After confirming that all matters had been considered and there were no issues, Xiao Yu selected new teleportation coordinates, setting them to Africa. He then sent the doppelganger directly to Africa on Earth. Xiao Yu closed that stargate, re-selected the coordinates for the bedroom of his villa in Linzhou City, and opened the gate once more.

Back on Earth, Xiao Yu reconnected with his doppelganger, Vitas. The two were now thousands of miles apart, yet Xiao Yu could indirectly “see” the landscapes of Africa through Vitas and experience everything as if his true self were there in person. This made Xiao Yu marvel once again at what a true piece of black technology the organic body technique from the Blue Star world was.

The next step was to get Vitas an identity so he could integrate into society on Earth.

Xiao Yu had already figured out a path: the refugee route. Since the Biden administration in America was currently loosening border immigration policies, the plan was to have his doppelganger make its way to Mexico, then enter North America and become an American citizen.

In truth, Xiao Yu would have preferred to send the doppelganger directly to Mexico, which would have saved a lot of trouble. But unfortunately, while he had been to many countries, he had never been to the Americas, so he had no coordinates there to use the teleportation Star Gate. Nowadays, he even had to report any international travel, making it impossible for him to go and unlock the coordinates himself.

He also couldn’t have the doppelganger show up at his own house, because Xiao Yu needed to ensure there was no public connection or overlap between them. That was why he had to send it to Africa.

However, this wasn’t a major issue; it would just require a bit more effort.

When Xiao Yu sent the doppelganger to Africa, he also made sure to include some “local specialties” from the Blue Star world. Specifically, gold—which was relegated to being a mere industrial metal on Blue Star but was a hard currency with monetary properties on Earth. Without money, it would be impossible to get anywhere.

But he didn’t have the doppelganger carry too much gold, as that would be dangerous. An amount sufficient to cover the costs of entering North America would be enough.

…

A week later, after a number of twists and turns, the doppelganger Vitas finally left Africa and successfully entered American territory from Mexico.

Then, it took nearly another ten days. By mid-to-late November, Xiao Yu, controlling the doppelganger, used money to pave the way. An American “Commissioner Smith,” having accepted the bribe, smoothly helped Xiao Yu’s doppelganger obtain American citizenship. The fact that the doppelganger had the appearance of a white man also provided considerable convenience.

Fortunately, Xiao Yu also spoke fluent English, so there were no language barriers in communication.

And just like that, the doppelganger controlled by Xiao Yu underwent a transformation, becoming an American citizen under the name Vitas. His official identity was an American of South African descent, with Anglo-Saxon ancestry.

Although it took a great deal of effort, the identity issue for the doppelganger was now smoothly resolved. Xiao Yu then had the doppelganger cash in all its remaining gold, which amounted to around one million US dollars.

Then, Xiao Yu had his doppelganger, Vitas, travel to Silicon Valley in California, North America, where he bought a house to settle in.

…

“Finally settled…” Vitas said as he entered the newly purchased house and plopped down on the living room sofa, letting out a long sigh of relief. He had just been muttering to himself not in English, but in perfect, idiomatic Chinese. If any local Americans had been nearby, they would have been utterly astonished, but Vitas was currently alone.

It is worth mentioning that the local time in Silicon Valley was around 11:00 AM. At the same moment in Linzhou City, it was around 3:00 AM.

Xiao Yu’s true self was already asleep and resting, but even while his main body rested, he could still control the organic body’s normal activities thanks to the Neural Potentiator. During this time, his true self was in a dream-like state.

The organic body also needed to sleep, as it was a carbon-based life form and had to adhere to basic metabolic processes.

The body double was now in place. From now on, the doppelganger Vitas would be responsible for the large-scale transport of food and supplies from Earth to the Blue Star world. This would allow Xiao Yu’s true self to be completely disassociated from the operation. Moreover, using an American identity to do this sort of thing couldn’t be more suitable.

The next priority was to make money. He had already promised Yan Lingjun to provide two million tons of grain, and the supply volume would only increase in the future. This required a lot of money, and the funds Vitas currently had were nowhere near enough.

Xiao Yu himself was certainly not short of money, but he couldn’t directly provide funds to his doppelganger, as there could be no public overlap between him and Vitas.

Therefore, the problem of money had to be solved by Vitas himself.

Shuttling gold from the Blue Star world was an idea Xiao Yu immediately dismissed without hesitation. The cleanup would be incredibly troublesome. Although the body double could be discarded at any time, creating a new one and integrating it into human civilization on Earth would also take a great deal of time and energy.

Xiao Yu had placed his doppelganger Vitas in Silicon Valley, California, for an obvious reason: to get into high-tech.

He planned to build Vitas into a North American tech superstar, one whose fame would even eclipse that of Elon Musk.

Xiao Yu already had a concrete plan: he would have Vitas start in the field of AI and utterly dominate the multitude of North American AI companies.

It was foreseeable that once he did this, the Judeo-Anglo Consortium within America would be certain to give Vitas its full support.

From their perspective, someone would have finally emerged who could compete with Xiao Yu, the founder of Spiritual Mirror Tech from across the ocean. Wouldn’t they be falling over themselves to provide funding?

The Great Eastern Country had produced a Xiao Yu, whose series of major breakthroughs in graphene, AI, and room-temperature superconductors had left America both anxious and utterly frustrated. Yet, their own people couldn’t achieve the same, and there was nothing they could do.

Therefore, if Vitas were to burst onto the scene at this crucial moment—a tech genius of this caliber, and a white man to boot—in the eyes of those Anglo-Saxons, it would be as if their ancestors themselves had blessed them!

They would undoubtedly and actively promote Vitas into a supernova of the Silicon Valley tech circle, all in the hope of creating someone who could stand as an equal to Xiao Yu from the Great Eastern Country.

…

Chapter 140: Project Approved, Codename “Divine Dragon” Fighter

December arrived.

The initial phase of the plan involving his doppelganger, Peter Vitas, was complete. The next step was to let his doppelganger develop according to schedule in North America’s Silicon Valley, following the classic rise-of-an-American-tech-giant trope, like Apple being born in a garage or Facebook in a college dorm.

Xiao Yu wanted his doppelganger, Peter Vitas, to follow a similar entrepreneurial path and get the company started first.

On December 7th, at the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company headquarters.

Xiao Yu had just arrived at the company that morning when he received some good news. Chen Zaiqing, the CEO of Sino-Aviation Linfei, was in his office reporting, “The project we applied for has been approved by the higher-ups.”

As he spoke, Chen Zaiqing handed the approval documents to Xiao Yu. The latter opened them, browsed through the contents, and nodded. “Good. Now we can finally go all out.”

Chen Zaiqing said, “I hear that both Chengfei and Shenfei are working on developing sixth-generation fighter jets, and their progress is said to be quite impressive.”

Receiving the approval meant that certain classified information would be declassified for Sino-Aviation Linfei. As the company’s helmsman, Chen Zaiqing was naturally privy to some of this information, which of course meant he had passed a political background check and was bound by confidentiality agreements.

However, not everyone in the company would be informed; much of the classified information was restricted to the company’s core leadership.

Hearing about Chengfei and Shenfei’s progress on their sixth-generation fighters, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but smile. “Starting an arms race with ourselves… Our country has really set a precedent. In the future, military enthusiasts won’t be debating whether our fighters are better than other countries’ but whether Chengfei’s or Shenfei’s planes are superior. And, of course, they’ll have to include Linfei in that discussion.”

This was no exaggeration. Only the top three global powers were in the fifth-generation fighter game. Other countries hadn’t even figured that out, let alone the fourth generation. In fact, you could count the number of industrial nations capable of building their own aircraft on one hand.

As for sixth-generation fighters, only the Great Eastern Country was seriously playing the game now. Russia and America had both fallen behind, not to mention the others.

America was toying with a sixth-gen fighter, but it was a PowerPoint fighter. A “new folder” was the sum of America’s sixth-gen fighter成果 for the past two decades.

In contrast, the Great Eastern Country’s sixth-generation fighters were close to being real, physical aircraft ready to take to the skies. For Chengfei and Shenfei, it was only a matter of the next year or two.

With no one else out there to compete with, they could only learn from Zhou Botong and have the left hand fight the right, competing against themselves.

In fact, three or four years ago, the chief designer of the J-20 had already stated that the Great Eastern Country’s fighter jet development had moved from the “Realm of Necessity” to the “Realm of Freedom.”

The so-called “Realm of Necessity” meant that in the early stages of building a fighter jet, you followed what others were doing. In other words, the overall design, framework, and performance specifications were all set by foreigners; you only needed to reference and imitate them.

Entering the “Realm of Freedom,” however, meant that you no longer jumped on anyone else’s bandwagon, because even if you wanted to, there was no one to follow. There was no one ahead of you; you were already leading the pack. Who’s bandwagon could they possibly jump on for a sixth-generation fighter?

Therefore, everything from the overall design and framework to the performance specifications had to be defined by themselves. Research and development were now completely free. From now on, it would be others jumping on their bandwagon.

Titanium alloys, carbon fiber, aero-engines, flight control systems, sensors, 3D printing, machine tools, phased-array radar, semiconductors, wind tunnel testing… they could handle almost every aspect with ease. And now, they had even made a breakthrough in room-temperature superconducting materials.

Xiao Yu put down the documents and made a swift decision. “Since the approval is here, let’s officially launch the project. Let’s try to get our sixth-generation fighter in the air before Chengfei and Shenfei do.”

Chen Zaiqing was stunned by his words. “How is that possible? The development cycle for a new fighter jet is typically ten or even twenty years, and that’s for established aircraft design bureaus with strong foundations. We have no foundation and are taking a rather unconventional path…”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled calmly. “Nothing is impossible. Others couldn’t create a room-temperature superconducting material for over a century, but didn’t we succeed? An unconventional path is just another way of saying a new path. If we stick to the old rules, we won’t catch up to established design bureaus like Chengfei and Shenfei in ten lifetimes.”

…

Half an hour later, Xiao Yu gathered the company’s design team.

“The approval from above has come through. Today marks the official launch of our new all-electric drive fighter jet project, codenamed ‘Divine Dragon’.” Xiao Yu scanned the hundred-plus people in the room, paused for a moment, and continued, “All previous plans are scrapped. We will redesign everything around the breakthrough in superconducting materials.”

Looking at the materials on the conference screen, Jiang Heng couldn’t help but express his surprise. “We’re building a sixth-generation fighter?”

Xiao Yu nodded with a smile. “That’s right. The general idea is already clear. It will use a delta-wing layout with no vertical tail and must have superior stealth capabilities, so the engines will be dorsally mounted.”

The design, featuring a blended wing body like a triangle and the removal of the vertical tail, eliminated the largest source of radar reflection on the aircraft, significantly enhancing its stealth performance.

Xiao Yu continued, “The fuselage will be made from a ceramic-metal matrix composite and a nanostructure-synthesized room-temperature superconducting composite material, giving it superconducting levitation and VTOL capabilities. We will aim for its maiden flight in 2023.”

Maiden flight next year?

Everyone present was speechless.

Jiang Heng, regaining his composure, stated his conclusion immediately. “That’s impossible. Going from project launch to maiden flight in about a year is absolutely impossible. No aircraft design bureau in the world can do it, let alone Sino-Aviation Linfei, which was established less than a year ago.”

His conclusion was almost identical to Chen Zaiqing’s. Everyone felt that their boss’s words were a bit too fantastic. The key issue was that the boss was setting such an outlandish KPI for them, and they simply couldn’t do it…

Xiao Yu smiled. “How do you know we can’t do it if we don’t try? It’s true that we lack the foundation of the established design bureaus, but on the other hand, we don’t have the burden of prestige. We fit Chief Designer Yang’s description of being in the ‘Realm of Freedom’ more than any of our peers. And what does the ‘Realm of Freedom’ mean? It means not being bound by existing rules and frameworks. In R&D and design, we can fully unleash our creativity and brainstorm.”

“So, don’t be afraid to go big; be afraid that you have no big ideas to contribute. Besides, our fighter is an unmanned aircraft. We won’t need test pilots, so there’s no risk of casualties. What the hell is there to be afraid of? As long as we think it can fly, let’s just get it in the air and see.”

Xiao Yu looked around at the crowd. “The worst that can happen is the plane crashes and explodes. We’ll just get to see a few more fireworks shows. It’s an expensive way to play, but you don’t need to worry about money or funding. If ten billion isn’t enough, we’ll use twenty, thirty, or fifty billion. Money is no object for us.”

The people present were all dumbfounded. Good heavens, their boss’s approach was simply too wild.

Just then, Xiao Yu shared a piece of news that both shocked and electrified everyone in the room. “Let me share some good news with you all. Another R&D team of mine has made a huge breakthrough in battery technology. Jiang Heng, didn’t you say that if the energy density of graphene batteries could be doubled, it would be on par with the energy storage of conventional fuel?”

Xiao Yu smiled faintly. “Well, I can tell you all now, our latest breakthrough isn’t just double. It’s been super-boosted.”

His words stunned the entire room. Jiang Heng was shocked. “What? Super-boosted? You mean quadrupled? But… wouldn’t that already reach the theoretical limit for the energy storage capacity of a graphene battery?”

…

Chapter 141: The Integration of a Fighter and a Bomber, the Fighter-Bomber!

Everyone present was utterly astonished by Xiao Yu’s revelation. Not only had they never expected such a rapid breakthrough in graphene battery technology, but the results were also staggering.

If the boss wasn’t exaggerating, this breakthrough had practically exhausted the full potential of graphene batteries. Further improvement seemed impossible; otherwise, it felt like the laws of physics would cease to exist.

After his initial amazement, Jiang Heng murmured, as if to himself, “If that’s truly the case, then the engine can indeed directly generate thrust by using an electric arc to ablate the propellant. That’s no longer an issue.”

Previously, everyone had thought it was unreliable because using a jet-style engine for an all-electric drive seemed unrealistic. But without a jet engine, you couldn’t achieve supersonic speeds, let alone hypersonic ones. This was because it seemed inseparable from chemical fuel, which was needed to burn and produce plasma. Using an electric arc to ablate propellant was also an option, of course, but the problem was having a power supply awesome enough to support it.

But with a super-boosted energy storage capacity in the batteries, the electric arc ablation method became truly viable. The energy would be more than sufficient, and even doubling the range of a conventional aviation fuel aircraft wouldn’t be a problem.

Xiao Yu looked around at everyone and said, “In short, the aircraft’s battery power is no longer an issue.”

The speed of this technological breakthrough was frightening even to those present. If outsiders were to learn of it, they would be shocked beyond belief. At this alarming rate of progress, it was just possible that they could actually achieve the maiden flight in 2023, accomplishing an impossible, dreamlike miracle.

Learning of such a major technological breakthrough greatly boosted everyone’s confidence. They all felt they had been too conservative. In the following discussion and exchange, everyone was bolder than before. Ideas they once considered radical now seemed overly cautious.

The design of the all-electric engine primarily consisted of four main components: the intake system, the turbofan engine, the cyclical-arc pulse detonation engine, and the exhaust system.

The engine has four bypass ducts. Under different operating conditions, the centerbody cone moves back and forth to regulate airflow through the ducts, changing cycle parameters to optimize overall efficiency and generate appropriate thrust and power.

In operation, when power is supplied, an induction motor starts up, enabling the engine to ignite without needing an external ground power source.

Finally, Jiang Heng exclaimed in awe and excitement, “These specs are just too wild! Only we would dare to dream of this, and dare to do it. If we really pull this off, this isn’t just a fighter jet—it’s a full-fledged fighter-bomber. No wonder CEO Xiao decided to use ‘Divine Dragon’ as the codename for this aircraft.”

Domestic aircraft have their own set of naming conventions. For example, the “Dragon” series represents land-based fighter jets, like the “Fierce Dragon” for the J-10 and the “Mighty Dragon” for the J-20. The “Shark” series represents carrier-based fighters, like the “Flying Shark” for the J-15. And the “God” series is used for bombers, such as the “God of War” H-6K and the “God of Thunder” H-6N.

Clearly, Sino-Aviation Linfei’s use of “Divine Dragon” as the codename for this aircraft indicates its positioning as a bomber among fighters, or a fighter among bombers.

Xiao Yu stated, “Bombers are essentially a product of World War II and are becoming increasingly obsolete in the current hypersonic era. The trend is toward integrating aircraft capabilities. In the past, an aircraft carrier’s deck held various types of planes. Now, there are fewer models of carrier-based aircraft, but their capabilities are more integrated. Functions that once required multiple types of aircraft working together are now integrated into a single fighter.”

Xiao Yu added, “The J-20 fighter and Y-20 transport aircraft have been out for a long time, but the H-20 bomber still hasn’t been unveiled. There’s likely a reason for that. In the current era of hypersonic speeds and drones, the role of the bomber is indeed quite awkward.”

The benefits of integration are numerous. First, it saves money. More aircraft models mean more production lines and higher production costs, not to mention higher maintenance costs.

One aircraft carrier might have seven or eight different types of planes, while another, with integrated capabilities, might only have three. The latter is obviously easier to maintain, with higher efficiency and lower costs. This is why modern aircraft carriers only have a few models of carrier-based aircraft.

Xiao Yu’s line of thinking was simple: If that’s the case, why can’t the capabilities of a fighter and a bomber be integrated into a single aircraft?

The path was indeed unconventional, thinking what others wouldn’t dare. But when an unconventional path succeeds, it becomes a new path.

Sino-Aviation Linfei happened to have no baggage. They dared to throw in any bold idea they had and worry about it later.

And so, the first all-electric drive aircraft was officially designated a fighter-bomber, and the project was established under the codename “Divine Dragon.”

The reason it was called a fighter-bomber was because its performance specifications were simply too formidable.

This fighter needed to have a hypersonic cruise capability of Mach 5, with a top speed of Mach 8.33. At that speed, no existing air-to-air missile in the world could catch it. The missiles wouldn’t even be able to catch its exhaust.

The fifth-generation J-20 fighter jet already has an astonishing maximum payload of 15 tons. America’s “Fat Lightning” F-35 has 7 tons, and Russia’s Su-57 has 6 tons. This shows that the J-20 is absolutely the number one heavy fighter among fifth-generation jets. Our own H-6K bomber’s maximum payload is only 12 tons.

As for the “Divine Dragon” fighter, its maximum payload directly hits 28.8 tons. The J-20’s payload is already impressive, but a single “Divine Dragon” can carry almost as much as two J-20s at their maximum capacity.

This is well and truly the payload of a strategic bomber. The comparison is even starker: America’s B-2 stealth strategic bomber has a payload of 23 tons—or 22.6 tons, to be precise.

Its payload exceeds that of America’s B-2 bomber by a full 5 tons. If this isn’t a fighter-bomber, what is?

In terms of range, thanks to the quantum leap from the super-boosted breakthrough in battery technology, the “Divine Dragon” fighter can reach a range of 12,700 kilometers, with a maximum combat radius of 4,550 kilometers. The J-20’s range is 5,500 kilometers, with a maximum combat radius of 2,000 kilometers, while America’s B-2 stealth bomber has a range of 11,000 kilometers.

This is no longer just a fighter-bomber; this is a strategic-level, long-range fighter-bomber.

It’s no exaggeration to say that once the “Divine Dragon” fighter is released, the H-20 bomber project might be retired before it’s even unveiled. The “Divine Dragon” can do every job the H-20 could do, and do it better. No matter how awesome the H-20 is, it can’t take down America’s F-22 fighter. But the “Divine Dragon” can—and it can absolutely dominate it.

Even the current J-20 would be reduced to flying escort for the “Divine Dragon” in the future. It’s a move from the main table to the kids’ table. With the “Divine Dragon,” who needs a bicycle? Even if the H-20 were built, it would become a mascot. The project would most likely be shelved.

In the days that followed, after the “Divine Dragon” fighter project was officially established, the development of the prototype immediately entered the fast lane.

After all, Xiao Yu demanded that the aircraft make its first flight next year. With such a short deadline, the pressure of everyone’s KPIs was immense, and the tasks were daunting.

But every participant in the project felt invigorated. They knew they were chasing a nearly impossible, dreamlike miracle. It was a project that would either remain unknown or stun the world, either stay grounded or soar to the heavens.

The moment the “Divine Dragon” fighter bursts onto the scene, it is bound to deliver an unparalleled shock to the world. They couldn’t even imagine how explosive the reaction would be online and across the globe on that day.

Xiao Yu was very confident. With technological support from the Blue Star world, he was essentially just a transporter and radical modifier. The progress was completely controllable and predictable. A maiden flight in one year didn’t mean it would be in service and combat-ready in one year. Even at the fastest possible pace, it would take at least three years before it could be delivered to the Air Force and achieve operational capability.

Then again, going from project establishment to delivery to the Air Force with operational capability in just three years was itself an astonishingly explosive and unheard-of speed.

…

Chapter 142: Absolute Dominance Over All Existing Fighter Jets

Under normal circumstances, it would be nearly impossible for Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, a recently established firm with virtually no experience, to achieve the maiden flight of the “Divine Dragon” fighter jet in about a year.

But if one were to utilize the relative difference in the flow of time between Earth and the Blue Star world, that would be another matter entirely.

Clearly, Xiao Yu intended to complete some of the time-consuming design and testing phases in the Blue Star world, such as the necessary wind tunnel tests and engine tests following the radical redesign. He would complete them in the Blue Star world and obtain the final experimental data there.

Even if Xiao Yu were to stay in the Blue Star world for five Blue Star years, only about five days would pass on Earth.

First, he would handle things on Blue Star, then bring the data back to Earth. On the surface, it would seem as though he were completely ignoring the design experience and processes of his peers, but in reality, everything was being sorted out in the Blue Star world.

But in the eyes of his peers, this was a thoroughly unconventional path. Sino-Aviation Linfei, seen by outsiders and competitors as having no design experience, could allow Xiao Yu to play by his own rules, taking a wild and aggressive approach.

This kind of audacious approach was something others couldn’t possibly imitate, nor would they dare to.

If someone saw that Xiao Yu could get away with this and thought they could too, daring to imitate Sino-Aviation Linfei’s path, they would surely suffer a massive fall.

Xiao Yu could play this game because he could travel to the Blue Star world and use the time flow difference between the two realms to complete many time-consuming development processes there, effectively saving development time on Earth.

Others lacked Xiao Yu’s conditions and were destined to fail if they tried to imitate him. Whoever tried would be done for.

It’s worth mentioning that Xiao Yu wouldn’t have pushed for such rapid efficiency before. After all, it was simply too outrageous—creating such a powerful, epoch-making fighter jet from scratch in about a year was simply incredible.

But ever since obtaining the super black technology of the “organic body” from the Blue Star world, Xiao Yu clearly had fewer worries and reservations. He quickly adjusted his plans, daring to be more unrestrained.

The main reason, however, was the existence of the N-800 Nano Armament, which gave Xiao Yu unparalleled confidence. This thing not only skyrocketed his sense of security in the Blue Star world but, even more so on Earth, it could grant a mortal body power comparable to that of a god.

On Earth, the N-800 Nano Armament represented an absolutely overwhelming advantage. A single squad equipped with it could easily destroy the entire national defense of a medium-sized country within a day in a completely one-sided steamrolling. This was no exaggeration.

Although the N-800 Nano Armament could not withstand a direct hit from a superweapon like a nuclear bomb, its terrifying flight speed, capable of reaching Mach 60—which exceeds the third cosmic velocity—meant that as long as one wasn’t foolish enough to face a nuke head-on, it would be impossible to hit.

In other words, the nuclear deterrent of nuclear-armed states was rendered ineffective against the N-800 Nano Armament.

With the support of the N-800 Nano Armament, Xiao Yu could, in fact, hold an incomparably transcendent status on Earth. The powerful deterrence of the N-800 Nano Armament was in no way inferior to that of nuclear weapons.

When that day truly came, even if the whole world knew he possessed alien technology, he wouldn’t be scared in the slightest. Faced with the mighty deterrence of the N-800 Nano Armament, who would dare demand he hand it over?

On the contrary, they would probably have to worry every day about whether Xiao Yu had ambitions to dominate the world and become the supreme ruler of Earth.

The saying, “The world is not about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and social grace,” only holds true when you are truly capable of fighting and killing. Only then will others sit down to discuss matters of grace and relationships with you.

…

Two days later, at the headquarters of Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

At this moment, Xiao Yu had gathered the core development team of the “Divine Dragon” fighter project to continue their discussions.

“Today, we won’t be discussing specific technical issues. Instead, we’ll focus on the specific application scenarios for this new generation of aerial combat platform, even extending from the tactical to the strategic level to discuss some combat scenarios. Only by confirming the specific application scenarios can we clarify our development direction and understand where to focus our efforts,” Xiao Yu said, looking around at Jiang Heng and the other attendees.

There were some new faces today; after the state approved the project, it had also provided some talented personnel.

Xiao Yu spoke with clarity and precision: “For a completely new aerial combat platform like the ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter, integrated fighter-bomber capabilities are a basic requirement. It wouldn’t be wrong to call it either a super-heavy air superiority fighter or a fighter-bomber with strategic long-range strike capabilities.”

“From a tactical perspective, the ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter has two main advantages: first, it holds an absolute generational advantage over all currently active fourth- and fifth-generation fighters; second, it possesses a level of deterrence comparable to that of strategic intercontinental missiles.”

“In aerial combat, the ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter will inevitably possess several key technical features: first, all-aspect, wide-band stealth. Previous methods of detecting stealth fighters using multiple early warning aircraft or integrated air-ground networks will have extremely limited, if not completely ineffective, results against the ‘Divine Dragon’. Second, it will have ultra-high-altitude, hypersonic cruise capabilities, a quantum leap compared to fifth-generation fighters. Third, it will have a large payload capacity, enabling it to carry long-range and even ultra-long-range missiles.”

Jiang Heng, also in attendance, immediately spoke up: “With these advantages, the ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter will be able to absolutely dominate all existing fighter jets. Its stealth performance is excellent; it might only be detectable by long-wave infrared electro-optical equipment, while radars in the S-band, X-band, and L-band will be unable to detect it. Moreover, the ‘Divine Dragon’ can fly at altitudes reaching near space, making both its altitude and speed far beyond the reach of any other aircraft.”

“You could say that the ‘Divine Dragon’ can engage whenever it wants, and the enemy cannot refuse. If it doesn’t want to fight, it can swiftly disengage, and the enemy cannot stop it. The initiative to fight or not is entirely in the hands of the ‘Divine Dragon’.”

It’s worth mentioning that the concept of “near space” was first proposed by the venerable Qian. It refers to the altitude range from about 20 to 80 kilometers. The “Divine Dragon” fighter can operate within near space, making it its home turf airspace.

Below near space is the domain of traditional aircraft, and above it is outer space, commonly known as space, which is the operational domain of spacecraft.

As a “third pole” independent of air and space, near space “can reach up to command the heavens and reach down to command the air and ground.” It has immense application value in fields like remote sensing, communications, and meteorological detection. Moreover, near space has fewer thunderstorms and lightning, and no clouds, rain, or atmospheric turbulence, making it a free and safe environment for aircraft to operate in.

Once the “Divine Dragon’s” terrifying performance specifications are realized, the maneuverability of all other aircraft will seem like slow motion in comparison. Anti-aircraft missiles will be powerless against such a high-altitude target, not to mention that enemy aircraft can’t even reach near space.

In contrast, the “Divine Dragon” can use its large phased-array radar, large-aperture electro-optical system, and its air-space cooperative combat system to lock onto targets from hundreds of kilometers away. It can even conduct cooperative engagements where “A” shoots and “B” guides. After launching an ultra-long-range missile, it can withdraw swiftly, giving the enemy no chance to evade. Even if a target is shot down, it would never know where its opponent was.

…

Chapter 143: No one on this Earth can withstand it

At that moment, an aircraft designer who had recently been sent by the state to support the project and join the “Divine Dragon” team couldn’t help but speak. “If we really succeed in building the ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter jet, its advantage over current fifth-generation fighters will be an absolute, generational crushing superiority. It might even be more exaggerated than the generational advantage fifth-gen fighters have over fourth-gen fighters.”

After a brief pause, the designer suddenly joked, “Perhaps in the future, we’ll see a world-turned-upside-down scenario, where the Americans decide to first sacrifice twenty-seven F-22 fighter jets to exhaust the ‘Divine Dragon’s’ missiles, then gamble on our pilot being complacent and careless to create a full-power climbing attack opportunity for the twenty-eighth F-22.”

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room burst into laughter.

In the past, a helpless and tragic saying used to circulate online: first, sacrifice eight J-8s to exhaust an F-22’s missiles, then gamble on the F-22 pilot being complacent and careless to create an attack opportunity for the ninth.

Ten or twenty years later, the roles had completely reversed.

Just then, Jiang Heng said with a smile, “No, no, the ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter can’t have a complacent or careless pilot, because this plane doesn’t have a pilot at all.”

Hearing this, another round of laughter erupted. The “Divine Dragon” was an unmanned aircraft. If it were designed to be manned, its performance would have to be drastically reduced to ensure the pilot’s safety—and it would have to be cut down severely.

It was for this very reason that the “Divine Dragon” was designed as an unmanned fighter jet.

Putting other things aside, just flying at a speed of Mach 8.33 alone would generate G-forces that no human body could withstand.

Unless, of course, the pilot had the support of the N-800 Nano Armament. But if they were equipped with that thing, who the hell would need a plane?

The N-800 Nano Armament’s flight speed of over sixty times the speed of sound was even more outrageous. Even the “Divine Dragon” fighter would be a helpless nobody in front of it. It would be pure bullying.

Jiang Heng continued, “Faced with the new-generation ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter, America’s air superiority fighters like the F-22A and F-15EX would be utterly powerless. This is even more true for the F-35A. Due to its lack of supersonic cruise capability, it would appear extremely slow in front of our ‘Divine Dragon’. Its fate might be even more tragic than when Saddam’s MiG-29s encountered F-15Cs back in the day.”

“Mr. Sun, based on the ‘Divine Dragon’s’ performance and capability positioning, what are your thoughts?” Xiao Yu asked, looking at a man at the meeting. The man, Sun Boda, was another talent sent by the state, but he was a military and geostrategic consultant.

Sino-Aviation Linfei’s first official project was a military fighter jet. Anything related to the military, especially a product designed to solve military problems, is inevitably intertwined with geostrategy and military issues.

After a moment, Sun Boda began his analysis based on the “Divine Dragon’s” performance data. “In terms of air combat, with the ‘Divine Dragon’s’ performance configuration, its combat radius can directly threaten and cover all US military targets in the entire Second Island Chain. Currently, the main US military targets within this island chain include bases on Saipan, Guam, Tinian, and Palau. If we add one more, it would be Diego Garcia.”

“Furthermore, the US military might also use simple airfield facilities to temporarily set up makeshift airfields on smaller islands in the chain. However, these airfields have limited support capabilities, can only support a small number of aircraft, and would struggle to sustain prolonged combat operations. They would even need C-17A transport aircraft shuttling between islands to provide rapid support.”

“In the US military’s plans, the bases on this island chain are a crucial pillar for their sea-to-land attacks against us. They now place greater importance on the Second Island Chain, especially since the First Island Chain has become extremely insecure and is vulnerable to strikes from our tactical missiles and multirole fighters at any moment.”

“From the current geopolitical situation, the US Air Force plans to use the Second Island Chain as a forward base, and the Navy will also withdraw its aircraft carriers to this area, adopting a distributed combat strategy and using MQ-25A drones to support frontline fighter groups in preparation for an integrated sea-air battle with us.”

“To this end, the US military is constantly strengthening Guam’s ballistic missile defense capabilities, and the strategic intent behind this is clear. The US military believes that our use of medium-range missiles to suppress such island targets may be relatively inefficient, and the cost of sustained suppression over a long period is too high.”

“Therefore, they believe they can consider deploying anti-missile systems to weaken the effect of our medium-range missile strikes, while rapidly repairing airfields, to maintain the long-term, continuous operation of the several combat bases on the Second Island Chain as much as possible, ensuring sustained combat capability.”

At this point, Sun Boda’s tone shifted. “But if we really manage to create the ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter, the emergence of this brand-new combat platform will render the Second Island Chain, which America is pinning its hopes on, practically useless.”

“Let’s not even discuss whether America is correct in thinking our medium-range missile suppression is unsustainable. Even if our medium-range missiles can’t maintain suppression, if we use the ‘Divine Dragon’ to launch dozens or even hundreds of hypersonic vehicles at their airfields every day, let’s see if they can handle that.”

Sun Boda immediately added his conclusion, “Therefore, just by relying on the ‘Divine Dragon’ platform’s ground-attack capabilities, we can fundamentally dismantle America’s operational concept of using the Second Island Chain for campaign deployment.”

The game between the Great Eastern Country and America in the Western Pacific was undergoing a shift in offense and defense.

In recent years, America has actually been continuously pulling back in the Western Pacific. On the surface, they have an offensive posture, but in reality, it’s a defensive one. Meanwhile, the Great Eastern Country appears to be in a defensive posture, but it is actually on the offensive.

Does anyone even talk about the First Island Chain anymore? No one has mentioned that term for a long time. Before long, no one will talk about the Second Island Chain either.

It’s true that the so-called First and Second Island Chains are currently held by America, but in reality, they are just sitting ducks. They wouldn’t survive a few rounds of fire coverage from the Great Eastern Country. This point is clear to both America and the Great Eastern Country.

It’s just that things haven’t completely broken down to the point of flipping the table. If the table were truly flipped, these two island chains would undoubtedly fall into the hands of the Great Eastern Country and would instantly become its first and second lines of defense facing the Pacific Ocean.

At this point, Sun Boda said with a smile, “If we really had the ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter, we wouldn’t just be deterring the entire Western Pacific region. The entire Pacific Ocean would be within the ‘Divine Dragon’s’ coverage area. It would be a direct deterrent to America’s homeland on the West Coast of North America, and even a strategic-level deterrent on a global scale.”

Sun Boda continued, “Taking off from the Northeast, it’s four thousand five hundred kilometers to Alaska, which is just enough to cover the entire state. It’s over seven thousand kilometers to California on the West Coast of North America, and over nine thousand kilometers to the central region of the US.”

“Our ‘Divine Dragon’s’ full payload capacity of 28.8 tons is terrifying. With such a large weapons bay, there’s no need for external auxiliary fuel tanks that would compromise its stealth performance. Of course, since it doesn’t burn fuel, it should be called an auxiliary battery pack.”

Sun Boda smiled and added, “We just need to make space in the weapons bay for a ten-ton auxiliary battery pack. We’d still have an astounding eighteen-ton payload capacity. And by adding that battery pack, the range doubles directly. The combat radius increases from the original four thousand five hundred kilometers to nine thousand kilometers. With that combat radius, taking off from an airfield in the Northeast, it could strike as far as America’s Mississippi River.”

Speaking of this, Sun Boda couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement. With the “Divine Dragon’s” terrifying capabilities, it wouldn’t even need an aircraft carrier. It could form a powerful strategic deterrent against the American homeland just by taking off from our own territory.

Sun Boda even felt that the “Divine Dragon’s” long-range strategic strike capability with its integrated fighter-bomber capabilities was a bit like bullying. It would be more appropriate for fighting aliens. America could absolutely not handle it, and no country on this Earth could withstand it.

Chapter 144: Massive Deterrent Returns

If the “Divine Dragon” fighter were deployed at the westernmost point of the country, it could take off from home soil without an auxiliary battery pack and its combat radius would directly cover the Red Sea, the central Indian Ocean, the entire Middle East, and all of Eastern Europe.

With an auxiliary battery pack, a takeoff from a land-based airport in the country’s far west could carry it directly to the central North Atlantic, completely covering the entire European continent. It could also reach Southern Africa, meaning the entire African continent would also be essentially covered.

If deployed from an island reef airport in the southern seas, the “Divine Dragon’s” combat radius could cover the entire Australian region and, flying south, could reach land within one thousand kilometers of the Antarctic mainland itself.

In other words, if “Divine Dragon” fighters were deployed from the southeastern, northwestern, and other corners of the homeland, their strike range would basically cover more than two-thirds of the Earth’s surface.

Only South America, over sixteen thousand kilometers away, would be out of reach.

But South America has no major powers. It has large countries, to be sure—Brazil’s area is a given—but Brazil is only a large country in terms of size, not a powerful one.

In short, the capabilities of the “Divine Dragon” fighter were something only a strategic-level superweapon like an intercontinental ballistic missile could achieve. It was equivalent to a fighter jet possessing the strike capability of a strategic ICBM, placing the “Divine Dragon” at the same table as the “Three Great Truths.”

Once this plane took off and casually cruised around, it would be absolutely terrifying in the eyes of foreigners.

Because this was a deterrent force on the same level as an intercontinental ballistic missile. Since it could do what only an ICBM could, it naturally possessed an equivalent level of deterrence. The moment this plane took off, it would be like launching an ICBM in the eyes of other countries. How could it not be terrifying?

The key was that an ICBM was a one-way ticket, a one-time consumable. The “Divine Dragon” fighter, however, could cruise around outside and still return.

This was the most impressive part, and it meant the deterrent returns of the “Divine Dragon” were extremely high.

It’s true that ICBMs have great deterrent power, but those things are expensive, with costs measured in the hundreds of millions. You can’t just launch one for no reason.

But the “Divine Dragon” fighter was different.

For a single mission, the electricity cost for an hour of flight was just a few tens of thousands of RMB. Even if it depleted a full charge, the electricity cost would not exceed one million RMB.

It possessed the same level of strategic deterrence as an intercontinental ballistic missile, but the cost-effectiveness of a single “Divine Dragon” flight was completely maxed out.

It was said that a single DF-41 missile costs 2.5 billion RMB to build, with a launch cost reaching 3.5 billion RMB. Based on the 3.5 billion figure, the money to launch one DF-41 would be enough for three thousand five hundred “Divine Dragon” sorties.

Comparing the two, the cost-effectiveness of the “Divine Dragon” needed no further explanation.

In a sense, the “Divine Dragon” fighter was a reusable intercontinental ballistic missile, so naturally its deterrent returns were massive.

At this moment, Consultant Sun Boda looked at Xiao Yu and the others and said, “Since we’ve created similar tactical scenarios, let’s be bold and imagine a hypothetical situation. After the ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter joins our military’s order of battle, how would an air-sea battle in the Western Pacific unfold?”

“On a certain day, at a certain time, our side and America have a flashpoint conflict in the Western Pacific. At N-hour at night, our side first uses multiple types of medium-range missiles as a vanguard. Several medium-range missile brigades launch a simultaneous salvo, carrying out a conventional missile strike against the enemy’s key operational facilities on the Second Island Chain.”

“At the same time, we also use hypersonic missiles and supersonic cruise missiles in a coordinated effort to break through their defenses. Hundreds of medium-range missiles streak across the night sky, their rocket trails illuminating half of Asia’s sky.”

“After the first wave of strikes, the enemy’s anti-missile systems, airport facilities, ammunition depots, hardened aircraft shelters, and facilities at Apra Naval Base on the Second Island Chain—such as docks, loading zones, and fuel depots—are either severely damaged or completely destroyed.”

“The enemy immediately initiates emergency airport repairs, mobilizing troops to urgently fix the runways. At the same time, they establish field airfields on the Second Island Chain. Aircraft carriers are deployed with the support of the Second Island Chain, and various transport aircraft, early warning aircraft, and others shuttle frequently between the second and third island chains, transporting large numbers of troops forward to prepare for a campaign and to launch a counterattack on our homeland.”

“At this point, our ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter-bombers begin to deploy en masse towards the Second Island Chain, flying at a hypersonic speed of Mach 8 straight for the military bases on the chain, quickly launching airborne hypersonic missiles for a follow-up strike.”

“The enemy attempts to establish field airfields on the smaller islands. This action is quickly detected by our side, and ‘Divine Dragon’ fighters carrying long-range cruise missiles are immediately deployed to strike them. These new airfields have weak defenses, preventing the enemy from gaining a foothold on the islands and advancing their forces.”

“Our ‘Divine Dragon’ fighters not only have offensive capabilities, but their powerful situational awareness and electronic support capabilities also make them forward sensor nodes beyond the Second Island Chain. The enemy carriers’ attempt to retreat into the deep ocean is quickly discovered. Our Rocket Force’s long-range anti-ship ballistic missiles and the hypersonic anti-ship missiles on our ten-thousand-ton heavy destroyers immediately arrive and begin an orderly hunt for these carriers hiding beyond the chain.”

“The MQ-25A unmanned tankers and some counter-attacking F-35C fighters released by the enemy are powerless against our new-generation combat platform, the ‘Divine Dragon’. Under beyond-visual-range strikes, they are destroyed without ever catching a glimpse of the ‘Divine Dragon’.”

“Even a small number of B-21 Raider bombers taking off from the Third Island Chain cannot change the situation. The closer they fly to our mainland, the higher the probability of encountering a ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter. Once spotted, destruction is immediate, with zero chance of survival. The ‘Divine Dragon’ can fire long-range air-to-air missiles from over four hundred kilometers away.”

“Meanwhile, several other ‘Divine Dragon’ fighter squadrons, equipped with auxiliary battery packs, have already taken off from the Northeast. They are launching a counterattack, flying at a full hypersonic speed of Mach 8.33 in near space at an altitude of twenty to eighty kilometers. They approach the Alaska region, and one flight squadron strikes the area.”

“The remaining flight squadrons continue their hypersonic flight through near space, crossing Canada to strike the enemy’s homeland. The integrated fighter-bomber ‘Divine Dragons’ simultaneously destroy their air superiority forces along the way and strategically bomb their important ground-based strategic military facilities.”

“With the war at this stage, the enemy is unable to fight on. Their valuable combat resources have been largely destroyed by the ‘Divine Dragon’ and cannot be replenished in the short term. Their homeland has been struck, and their counterattacks from the forward island chains have come to nothing. Their strongholds in the region are under continuous pressure until all their unmanned and manned aircraft are destroyed. Apart from surrender, America has no other choice.”

Finally, Sun Boda’s hypothetical war game concluded.

He looked at Xiao Yu and the others and added, “With such terrifying performance specifications, the ‘Divine Dragon’ is a true strategic-level superweapon, an existence that can fundamentally change and reshape the current strategic landscape.”

Sun Boda continued, “You could say—and I’m not belittling America—but if we really use this superweapon, it would be a one-sided steamrolling of all their conventional forces. Apart from a nuclear counter-strike, their conventional forces would have no ability to fight back. And as long as the ‘Divine Dragon’ can appear over North America, it could also destroy the vast majority of their nuclear counter-strike forces before they could even launch.”

The whole world knows that the easiest phase to intercept an intercontinental missile is during its initial launch phase. But this is impossible because the opponent is unlikely to be present in the launching country’s territory. By the terminal phase, at over thirty times the speed of sound, interception is also impossible.

But if the “Divine Dragon” fighter can reach the opponent’s homeland directly, that’s a completely different story.

The enemy’s nuclear missiles would still be in their launch vehicles or silos. They could be bombed by the “Divine Dragon” before they even took to the sky. While it might not destroy all of them, it would greatly weaken the enemy’s land-based nuclear counter-strike capability.

Furthermore, the enemy’s air-based nuclear counter-strike options would cease to exist, because in the face of the “Divine Dragon,” they could not possibly maintain air superiority. That would only leave the sea-based nuclear counter-strike from their submarines.

The sea-based nuclear strike force would have to be handled by our own anti-submarine forces. As impressive as the “Divine Dragon” fighter is, it can’t do everything.

But there was no doubt that it had reached a level that no other active-duty fighter could achieve. On Earth, it was essentially an invincible and unique air power, in a league of its own.

…

Chapter 145: The World’s Most Expensive Fighter Jet

As soon as the seminar ended, Xiao Yu went to the company’s research and development center.

It was now December, and 2022 was drawing to a close. According to the original plan, the prototype’s superconducting levitation test was scheduled to be conducted before the end of the year. This test had only one objective: to experiment with the use of room-temperature superconducting composite material for the aircraft’s fuselage.

In simple terms, they would build a basic airframe, using off-the-shelf components for everything else. The sole purpose was to test its ability to float and land vertically, relying solely on the room-temperature superconducting material of the fuselage, without depending on its aerodynamic layout or lift.

During this period, Xiao Yu had also “produced” about thirty tons of room-temperature superconducting material for experimental purposes. He didn’t make too much, as the nominal production line for synthesizing the material had not yet been established.

The official story for these thirty-odd tons was that they were produced in the lab at any cost, prioritized for the experimental needs of the Divine Dragon fighter.

The manufactured nano-structured room-temperature superconducting composite material would account for about 22% of the aircraft’s empty weight. For example, a plane with an empty weight of 15 tons would require approximately 3.3 tons of this material.

As a super-heavy fighter with integrated fighter-bomber capabilities, the Divine Dragon had a staggering maximum payload of 87 tons, and its empty weight was 58.2 tons.

Based on this percentage, a single Divine Dragon fighter would require 12.8 tons of the room-temperature superconducting composite material.

Xiao Yu had previously reported the estimated cost of the room-temperature superconducting material to Zhao Heyang as eight hundred million to one billion per ton. Calculating at the eight hundred million price point, the 12.8 tons of material for a single Divine Dragon fighter would cost 10.2 billion alone.

The estimated total cost of the entire aircraft would reach 11.8 billion, with the room-temperature superconducting material accounting for about 86% of that total, undoubtedly the biggest expense by far.

This price could build seventeen J-20 fifth-generation fighters; it was absolutely the most expensive fighter jet in the world.

But as long as it could be built and achieve its designed performance, the military wouldn’t hesitate even if the cost of 11.8 billion doubled to 23.6 billion per unit. A strategic superweapon this powerful could serve the role of one hundred or even more J-20 fifth-generation fighters.

The accompanying Jiang Heng said to Xiao Yu, “The test flight application has been approved. The superconducting levitation and VTOL test is scheduled for the end of the month.”

In the R&D center, Xiao Yu looked at the prototype before him and nodded. “Without the project approval, we wouldn’t have been able to buy many of the key equipment and components even if we had the money. It’s unlikely we could have tested the superconducting levitation this month as planned.”

The prototype before them was actually a conventional aircraft, not an all-electric drive. It had no combat or electronic warfare systems; you could say it was half an empty shell.

But its test mission this time didn’t require those modules. It was only to test the fuselage’s superconducting levitation capability.

There wasn’t much focus on the aerodynamic layout either. After all, in theory, even a brick could be made to levitate.

However, the prototype’s appearance was incredibly cool. It also had a delta-wing layout and no vertical tail, making it look extremely futuristic.

Finally, Xiao Yu said with satisfaction, “Then let’s fly it according to schedule. And do it openly. No need to be secretive about it.”

Xiao Yu added, “Of course, it’s fine for the public to see or even film it flying. The military has no special requirements about that. But the performance parameters, especially those of the Divine Dragon fighter, are top-secret information. There can be no leaks whatsoever. This has been made clear by the country and the military.”

Jiang Heng immediately nodded in acknowledgment. “Understood.”

Ten or twenty years ago, the outside world wouldn’t have even been able to see a glimpse of it flying.

But times have changed. There’s no longer a need to be overly secretive. When necessary, they even proactively reveal things to boost morale.

Right now, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was raging, and undercurrents were stirring in the Middle East as well. The Great Eastern Country needed to encourage its smaller allies who were confronting America and the West, boost their confidence, and simultaneously deal a blow to the confidence of America and the West.

Proactively unveiling high-tech equipment that even America doesn’t possess is one way to display strength and project deterrence to the outside world.

It’s worth mentioning that, at this point, neither the country nor the military actually expected Sino-Aviation Linfei to achieve much. Granting project approval was more a sign of their high regard for Xiao Yu. They approved the “Divine Dragon” project with the mindset that failure was expected, but success would be a pleasant surprise.

Moreover, the sixth-generation fighter jet projects at Chengfei and Shenfei were progressing quite smoothly. They were just being kept under wraps, so few outsiders knew the actual situation.

To put it bluntly, they didn’t have high expectations for Sino-Aviation Linfei. Their attitude was more like, “If you want to give it a try, go ahead.”

…

Xiao Yu left the R&D center, returned to his office, and called for Chen Zaiqing.

After a short wait, Chen Zaiqing arrived at the office. Seeing Xiao Yu, he asked directly, “CEO Xiao, what’s up?”

Xiao Yu gave his instructions directly, “Go write up a document and apply to the higher-ups for flight data from fighter pilots. Our AI agent needs this valuable data to feed into its large model.”

The Divine Dragon fighter developed by the company is an unmanned aircraft controlled by an AI. This requires a vast amount of pilot data to train the AI model, and this precious data can only be obtained by applying to the relevant state and military departments.

Xiao Yu’s ultimate vision was for human pilots to control the Divine Dragon from simulated cockpits on the ground. Inside the simulated cockpit, pilots would use VR headsets to see a real-time feed, achieving an experience indistinguishable from being in a real aircraft.

But this was not easy to achieve. First, limited by Earth’s current communication technology, the “latency” issue in transmitting video and commands was difficult to solve in the short term. On a rapidly changing battlefield, this was undoubtedly a fatal flaw.

With a human pilot in a simulated cockpit on the ground and the aircraft thousands of kilometers away, traveling at such high speeds, they would inevitably face the physical problem of the Doppler frequency shift effect.

Poor cell phone signal on high-speed trains today is partly due to the Doppler shift.

A cell phone signal is essentially an electromagnetic wave, and thus subject to the Doppler effect. When a high-speed train rapidly passes a communication base station, the frequency of the electromagnetic waves received by the station from the phone increases. Conversely, as it moves away, the frequency decreases.

This frequency shift causes a mismatch between the electromagnetic wave frequencies of the transmitter and receiver when sending pictures or videos, leading to problems like reduced transmission speeds, stuttering, and lag.

If the Divine Dragon were remotely controlled by a human pilot in a simulated cockpit on the ground, it would face the same problem, but even more pronounced. If high-speed trains are already affected, the Doppler effect would be far more significant for the Divine Dragon, with its supersonic cruise speed of Mach 5 and a top speed exceeding Mach 8.

Besides this, the onboard computer’s processing power was also a limitation. In the Blue Star world, intelligent mechanical combat units, such as unmanned fighter jets, integrated quantum processing technology and were equipped with a quantum computer.

With such powerful computing capabilities, analyzing and processing real-time battlefield imagery was a piece of cake.

Clearly, in its current state, the Divine Dragon was not yet capable of being controlled in real-time by a human pilot in a simulated cockpit on the ground.

They would have to wait for future upgrades in communication technology and the successful development of a quantum computer. A later, improved model could then realize the goal of having human pilots control the aircraft in real-time from a simulated cockpit on the ground to carry out combat missions.

Forcing it with Earth’s current technological framework would be less reliable than simply entrusting the mission entirely to an AI agent. Humans would only need to make the decision and issue the mission command to the AI, which would then autonomously execute and complete the task.

…

Chapter 146: Chu Jinmeng

Even without the support of quantum computers right now, the “Divine Dragon” fighter’s processing power isn’t weak. Without a pilot, the freed-up cockpit space can accommodate more processors, ensuring sufficient computing power.

Moreover, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI agent possesses a complex neural network capable of deep learning and evolution.

With enough data fed into it for training, the “Divine Dragon” fighter’s AI agent will one day be no less capable than a human pilot, and may even surpass them.

The drawback is that AI, when faced with unprecedented scenarios, enters uncharted territory and becomes unsure how to proceed. The battlefield, however, is constantly changing, making human pilots’ adaptability superior in such situations.

Xiao Yu’s pursuit of human pilots controlling the aircraft in the simulated cockpit is precisely to compensate for this weakness in AI.

But for now, he can only provide vast amounts of data to train the AI model and continuously iterate its self-learning to minimize its encounters with the unknown.

Besides applying for data support from the military, Xiao Yu also feeds the AI agent publicly available flight data from the Blue Star world to train it, aiming to reduce the AI agent’s encounters with the unknown as much as possible.

He doesn’t seek absolute perfection, only the best possible outcome.

After arranging the various matters, Xiao Yu left Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, where they would await the superconductor levitation test of the prototype aircraft at the end of the month.

…

At the villa residence.

Xiao Yu returned home and immediately noticed a woman in the living room on the first floor.

However, upon seeing her, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but be slightly taken aback.

The woman in the living room was estimated to be one meter seventy tall, with a slender figure, delicate and slender eyebrows, a nose as smooth as jade, fair skin like snow, and a pair of lovely eyes, brimming with a clear and radiant beauty.

The woman also noticed him. After a moment of eye contact, she suddenly walked slowly towards Xiao Yu and said, “Yu-gege, let’s get remarried?”

Xiao Yu snapped out of his slight daze, ignored her completely, and walked straight to the sofa, sitting down and saying, without any politeness, “Just drop the clumsy act. It’s so obviously fake. Besides, my sister-in-law would never use cutesy reduplication like that.”

The woman turned to look at Xiao Yu, stunned, and said, “Really? I specifically dressed up in my sister’s usual makeup and imitated her tone. Did I really fail on the opening line? I was too careless…”

With that, she walked with light steps to Xiao Yu’s side and sat down.

This woman was Chu Jinmeng, the twin sister of Xiao Yu’s ex-wife, Chu Jintang. The sisters looked exactly alike, were the same height, and even had similar speaking tones. Even with careful observation, it was difficult to distinguish them without spending a lot of time together.

However, the two women had different personalities. Chu Jinmeng was more lively and animated. After spending enough time together, it was easy to tell them apart. However, in the early years, when he wasn’t familiar with them, Xiao Yu had difficulty distinguishing them and had made many embarrassing mistakes.

“You’re here again to freeload and mooch off me, addicted to this are you?” Xiao Yu glanced at Chu Jinmeng sideways.

“Hehe” Chu Jinmeng grinned, her beautiful eyes sparkling and exceptionally delicate. She casually grabbed a piece of fruit from the fruit plate on the table and began eating, complaining without looking up, “I don’t know what my sister was thinking, divorcing you. She regrets it now. Dad was furious when he found out.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu remained silent, not responding to her words.

Although Chu Jinmeng knew that Xiao Yu and her sister had divorced, she still called him “brother-in-law” and continued to freeload, mooch, and cadge pocket money from him from time to time.

Her lively and animated personality was indeed likable, and over the years, Xiao Yu had treated her like a spoiled younger sister.

Xiao Yu picked up his cup and took a sip of water. Just then, Chu Jinmeng suddenly leaned in, hugged his arm, and playfully said, “Brother-in-law~, since my sister doesn’t want you, how about I try taking her place? Anyway, my sister and I look exactly alike, there’s no difference.”

“Cough cough cough—”

These words reached Xiao Yu’s ears as he was drinking water, causing him to choke badly. Chu Jinmeng tilted her head and looked at him, her eyes sparkling with liveliness.

“Are you role-playing now? And ‘try’? Seriously?” Xiao Yu’s face instantly darkened, and he pulled her small hand off his arm. She never failed to surprise with her words. Chu Jinmeng wore a serious expression and harrumphed, “Who’s joking with you? I’m being serious, okay!”

“I’m warning you, if you keep messing around like this, not only will you not be able to freeload or mooch pocket money from me, but I’ll also tell Uncle Qin not to let you in here anymore,” Xiao Yu warned her sternly.

Seeing Chu Jinmeng looking fearless, Xiao Yu helplessly shook his head. He then took out his phone, opened a banking app, and casually transferred a sum of pocket money to Chu Jinmeng. This girl always asked for pocket money whenever she came to freeload, and if he didn’t give it to her, she would pester and badger him. Xiao Yu didn’t have any good way to deal with her.

Tossing his phone aside, Xiao Yu glanced at Chu Jinmeng sideways, pretending to be impatient, “Alright, go play by yourself.”

At this moment, Chu Jinmeng suddenly lunged at the unsuspecting Xiao Yu, wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him on the cheek, and playfully giggled, “Thank you, brother-in-law~, you’re still the best to me”

Xiao Yu immediately pulled her off him, “Get off me, you have no sense of personal space.”

Chu Jinmeng pouted and muttered, “I know you’re a busy man, you go ahead and be busy.”

After saying that, Chu Jinmeng took a few steps, then turned her head, fluttered her eyes at Xiao Yu, made a heart shape with her fingers, and smiled brightly, “Going shopping now, oh right, you’re in charge of dinner tonight, bye bye, brother-in-law”

Without even looking up, Xiao Yu waved his hand.

Watching Chu Jinmeng’s departing figure, Xiao Yu sighed softly, amused and speechless by her nonsensical words just now. But soon, he dismissed these trivialities, remembering that he still had important matters to arrange.

After a moment, Xiao Yu called Qin Yue, the butler, and instructed, “Uncle Qin, I need you to handle something. Buy up all the villas in this residential area as soon as possible and demolish them all in six months.”

Hearing this, Qin Yue couldn’t help but be slightly stunned, but he didn’t ask anything and simply nodded, “Alright.”

Xiao Yu was making arrangements for the N-800 Nano Armament. He was going to build a massive underground base laboratory beneath this villa area. The production and manufacturing of organic bodies, the production and manufacturing of N-800 Nano Armament, including other Blue Star black technology that couldn’t be shown to the public, would all be located there.

Moreover, he wouldn’t be using Earth’s construction teams. Xiao Yu chose to use the robot engineering teams from the Blue Star world to carry out the work secretly, directly hollowing out the ground. Construction materials and other things would be obtained from the Blue Star world, and the excavated soil would be transported to the Blue Star world through the teleportation Star Gate.

No one but Xiao Yu would know about this underground laboratory, and he would also ensure that this area was shielded from the detection of certain technological devices.

…

Chapter 147: Single-Organ Cloning Technology

The villa complex where Xiao Yu currently resided was vast, comprising a total of thirty-six villas far from the city center.

It was only natural that a development with such a large footprint wouldn’t be in the city center. Standalone villas are typically built for those seeking tranquility and a comfortable living environment, usually on the city’s edge or in the suburbs, far from the hustle and bustle of downtown.

This choice of location was primarily to provide better privacy and environmental quality, as city centers are often accompanied by higher noise levels and population density.

The downside was the distance from the city center, which made commuting difficult and daily life inconvenient. Even running errands like grocery shopping meant a long trip.

But then again, people who could afford standalone villas were wealthy; for them, problems like inconvenient commutes or daily life were non-existent. Any shopping needs would be handled by hired household staff.

Linzhou City was not a first-tier metropolis, so a villa with comparable hardware and amenities was relatively inexpensive.

The thirty-six villas in Xiao Yu’s complex had a total value of over one point three billion, with each averaging less than forty million. However, if these same villas were located in a first-tier city like Shanghai, each one would cost at least two hundred million.

Qin Yue was incredibly efficient. As soon as Xiao Yu gave the order, he immediately contacted the developer of the villa complex to get the contact information for the other homeowners. The developer even personally assisted in reaching out to them.

Originally, only twelve villas in the complex had been sold. But in the past six months, all the remaining ones were snapped up, and their prices had even increased by several million.

The most direct reason for this sudden sales boom was that the world’s richest man lived there, turning the complex into a hot commodity.

The task was completed smoothly, with almost no resistance, just today. When all the villa owners learned that Xiao Yu wanted to buy their homes, they readily agreed after some brief negotiation.

On one hand, Xiao Yu offered double the market price, a premium that would allow them to make a substantial profit. On the other hand, they didn’t want to offend Xiao Yu, who was at the peak of his power.

The plan was to buy out the entire villa complex, and then demolish all the other houses. The official reason was simple and compelling: security.

After all, Xiao Yu’s personal safety was now a matter of great importance, something even the country took very seriously.

The other thirty-five villas in the complex would be purchased, demolished, and the land leveled, leaving only Xiao Yu’s current residence. The entire area would then be converted into a large private estate to prevent unauthorized individuals from entering.

At the same time, a no-fly zone would be established over the area. Any civilian drones, like those from DJI, flying nearby would be brought down immediately with electromagnetic interference.

…

During dinner, there was an extra person at the table—it was Chu Jinmeng.

Xiao Yu glanced at her and casually asked while picking up some food, “It’s been almost half a year since you graduated. Haven’t you found a job yet?”

Hearing this, Chu Jinmeng replied nonchalantly, “The research institutions in this country are heavily based on seniority, so it’s hard to get many project resources. I don’t want to go there. A few foreign research institutions have invited me, but I don’t want to go abroad…”

Xiao Yu shook his head. “So picky.”

Chu Jinmeng and her sister, Chu Jintang, were twins of the same age. However, her sister had graduated with a bachelor’s degree, while Chu Jinmeng had gone on to pursue postgraduate studies, earning her Ph.D. in the first half of this year.

Just then, Chu Jinmeng bit the end of her chopsticks and looked at Xiao Yu with a grin. “Brother-in-law~, why don’t you pull some strings and get me a job here?”

Without looking up, Xiao Yu said, “Your field is bio-engineering, which has absolutely nothing to do with either of my companies. What would you even do if I hired you?”

After dinner, Xiao Yu sat down on the living room sofa. A moment later, Chu Jinmeng came and sat next to him. Xiao Yu turned his head and asked her, “I remember you mentioning it before. You’re researching the clinical application of single-organ cloning technology, right?”

At his words, Chu Jinmeng nodded slightly. “Why do you ask?”

“Any results?” Xiao Yu asked succinctly.

Chu Jinmeng’s face instantly fell into a pout. “All I can say is, the prospects are bright, the challenges are immense, and the difficulties are endless.”

Sitting beside her, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but think of the Blue Star world. Their cloning technology was incredibly advanced. Single-organ cloning was a mature technology long ago, and they could even achieve a literal “consciousness and memory transfer” into a cloned body.

A successful transfer was equivalent to a person living a second life, achieving a different kind of immortality.

Chu Jinmeng began to vent her frustrations. “There are too many tricky issues with single-organ cloning technology. Vascularization is the first and foremost problem. A newly cloned organ needs to build a complete and functional vascular network to ensure adequate blood perfusion. But current technology lacks precise and effective methods to regulate key processes like the proliferation and migration of vascular endothelial cells and the formation of vascular branches.”

“Organ primordia cultured in vitro often suffer from insufficient angiogenesis. After implantation, they can’t seamlessly connect with the host’s vascular system in time, leading to ischemia and hypoxia. This prevents the organ from functioning
normally and can even lead to necrosis.”

It was worth noting that on Earth, the current level of cloning technology could produce a complete individual organism, but not a single organ.

Furthermore, even cloning a whole individual couldn’t be done entirely in vitro. It required cultivating a single cell into an embryo and then implanting that embryo into a female animal’s uterus for development.

Single-organ cloning technology did indeed have a bright future, as it would face far less resistance on moral and ethical grounds, and the market demand was, needless to say, enormous.

Once on the topic of her specialization, Chu Jinmeng became a torrent of words. “Neural innervation reconstruction is also incredibly difficult. Nerve fibers are like intricate ‘wires’ that transmit electrical signals to regulate an organ’s physiological activities. Connecting a cloned organ to the nervous system is extremely complex, involving processes like the directed growth of axons and the precise matching of neurotransmitter receptors, among many other microscopic steps.”

“At this stage, the industry still doesn’t fully understand the mechanisms of nerve guidance factors, making it difficult to simulate the in-vivo neural development environment in vitro. This means the organ can’t respond accurately to the body’s commands. For example, a transplanted heart might not be able to coordinate with the autonomic nervous system to maintain a stable heart rate, or a transplanted liver might not be able to accurately sense the body’s metabolic needs to regulate bile secretion.”

“Functional maturation is another major technical hurdle. Even if a cloned organ’s structure is initially formed, its cellular functions still lag behind those of a natural organ. In an experiment I conducted last year on a cloned kidney, the reabsorption and secretion functions of the cloned renal tubular epithelial cells, as well as their fine-tuned regulation of water and electrolyte balance, were far less efficient and precise than those of normal kidney cells.”

“My preliminary conclusion is that this is because the complex intracellular signaling pathways, transporter protein expression, and synergistic effects have not yet reached their physiological optimum. This severely compromises the organ’s overall function, making it difficult to maintain the body’s metabolic homeostasis in the long term.”

Listening beside her, Xiao Yu glanced at Chu Jinmeng in silent surprise. This girl’s doctorate was clearly the real deal. It carried a lot of weight; she really knew her stuff.

Xiao Yu had never meddled with the advanced bio-engineering technology from the Blue Star world, mainly because it was too far removed from his own area of expertise.

His original plan was to create another organic body, giving his second doppelganger the identity of a biologist. Then, Spiritual Mirror Tech would invest, Xiao Yu would “have a keen eye for talent,” and through this, he would bring the bio-engineering technology from the Blue Star world to Earth, lighting up the biotechnology tree a branch at a time.

However, creating a second doppelganger and forging an identity for it would be a lot of trouble.

Now, it seemed he wouldn’t need a second doppelganger. Chu Jinmeng was an excellent candidate.

…

Chapter 148: Of Inestimable Significance to the Progress of Human Society

Organ transplantation is currently an effective treatment for many end-stage organ diseases in the medical field. However, in this area, Earth’s current technological level lags far behind that of the Blue Star world, facing enormous difficulties.

Globally, organ damage and death resulting from traffic accidents, diseases, and other causes lead to a large number of patients requiring organ transplants. Yet, the number of available organs is extremely limited, falling far short of meeting the demand.

Data shows that in North America, an average of twenty patients die each day while waiting for an organ transplant. In China, the supply-to-demand ratio for organ transplants is approximately one to thirty. A vast number of patients suffer from their illnesses during the long wait, their hope dwindling until they pass away in despair.

Traditional organ transplantation suffers not only from a scarcity of donors but also from the thorny issue of immune rejection. After a transplant, the patient’s immune system identifies the new organ as a foreign body, triggering an immune rejection response. This not only affects the organ’s function and survival rate but also requires the patient to take immunosuppressants long-term, bearing high medication costs and the risk of numerous side effects, such as infections.

If single-organ cloning technology could be realized—cultivating specific organs in vitro using the patient’s own cells to replace damaged or failing ones—it would resolve this series of predicaments.

The Blue Star world’s single-organ cloning technology relies on a unique growth hormone that causes a rapid, short-term spike in the metabolism of cellular tissue.

This was the case when Xiao Yu created his organic body. He cloned and cultivated his doppelganger in an external incubation chamber in just one month. After developing into a mature form, its metabolism stabilized, returning to the normal level of a living individual.

The cultivation time for a single organ would be even shorter, taking only about two weeks.

In other words, a patient diagnosed with the need for an organ replacement would not have to endure a long, uncertain wait. The cloning of the single organ and the subsequent transplant surgery could generally be completed within a month. Such efficiency is something the current medical field on Earth couldn’t even dream of.

If single-organ cloning technology can be successfully realized and widely applied, it will dramatically change the existing medical landscape.

From the patient’s perspective, it would provide an organ that is a perfect match, effectively solving the problem of immune rejection. This would greatly increase transplant success rates, extend patients’ lives, and improve their quality of life.

From the perspective of medical development, single-organ cloning technology would spur the vigorous growth of multiple disciplines, such as regenerative medicine and cell biology, pushing medical treatments toward greater personalization and precision.

From a societal perspective, it would alleviate the pressure on the distribution of medical resources. While reigniting hope for more patients, it would also help resolve a series of conflicts arising from organ shortages, especially the dark incidents stemming from the underground organ trade.

If single-organ cloning technology is realized, widely applied, and costs less than current organ transplants, the ongoing underground trade would essentially lose its market. Organs from other people carry the risk of immune rejection, and with a better alternative available, buyers would most likely be unwilling to use them, not to mention the illicit nature of the trade itself.

This black market would naturally wither away with the advent of single-organ cloning technology. To a certain extent, it would indirectly save a large number of innocent “donors” from unnatural deaths. This is of inestimable significance to the progress of human society.

…

At that moment, Xiao Yu had already made his decision. He turned his head to look at Chu Jinmeng, who was sitting beside him, and said, “To overcome the challenges of single-organ cloning technology, relying on your single field of study won’t be enough. It requires gathering the wisdom of multiple disciplines to work in synergy.”

Pondering the cloning technology he had learned about on Blue Star, Xiao Yu added, “The field of biology will need to delve deep into the molecular mechanisms of cell differentiation and development, precisely analyzing the gene regulatory networks of neurotrophic and angiogenic factors to provide a theoretical blueprint for organ construction. Medical experts, with their clinical experience, will optimize surgical transplant procedures, accurately assess the risk of immune rejection, and formulate personalized treatment strategies.”

After a pause, Xiao Yu concluded, “Furthermore, those of us in materials science will develop new biocompatible materials to create the ideal ‘scaffolding’ for cell growth and organ formation, such as constructing scaffolds with biomimetic vascular structures to guide the orderly growth of vascular endothelial cells and promote the process of vascularization.”

Hearing this, Chu Jinmeng looked up in surprise and met Xiao Yu’s gaze. “Brother-in-law, are you studying biotechnology too?”

Xiao Yu said nonchalantly, “You could say that, more or less. But I’m certainly no match for a professional cell biologist with a doctorate like you.”

Indeed, Chu Jinmeng had already achieved remarkable results in fields like cell biology and regenerative medicine even before graduating. Crucially, she was still so young, more than two years younger than Xiao Yu. Many people in their thirties had yet to even finish their doctorates, yet she had already accomplished so much at her age. It was safe to say she had a boundless future.

Then, Xiao Yu looked at Chu Jinmeng again and said, “Didn’t you say you wanted to work for me? I’ll have Spiritual Mirror Tech set up a new bio-engineering business unit. You can come work in that department.”

At his words, Chu Jinmeng’s beautiful eyes lit up. She looked at Xiao Yu with delight. “Really? Are you establishing a new business unit just for my work and career? Brother-in-law, you don’t have to spoil me this much…”

Xiao Yu rolled his eyes at her. “You’re overthinking it. I was going to get into this business sooner or later, with or without you. I already had plans to develop in this direction. You just happened to come along at the right time.”

Not only did single-organ cloning technology have vast prospects, but it could also deal a major blow to the illegal underground organ trade. Some powerful individuals, desperate for a transplant to extend their own lives by a few years, would unscrupulously scheme to have a matching person killed. This was another important reason why Xiao Yu decided to develop single-organ cloning technology.

The most crucial point was that Xiao Yu knew he could succeed one hundred percent. The Blue Star world already possessed highly advanced and mature cloning technology. In the eyes of others, the prospects were indeed vast, but realizing the technology was fraught with difficulties. For Xiao Yu, however, there were no technical obstacles.

Chu Jinmeng gazed at Xiao Yu with a smile. “How could there be such a coincidence in the world? You didn’t establish it before, you didn’t establish it later, but you just happen to establish it when I’m out of a job. My influence must have something to do with it. I knew I held a very important place in my brother-in-law’s heart, right?”

She was right about that. It was indeed because of Chu Jinmeng that Xiao Yu had put the bio-engineering project on the agenda at this particular time.

After a moment, Xiao Yu glanced at her before looking away and said coolly, “Don’t try to be clever with me. I don’t care about seniority here. I can even let you lead the project’s research, that’s not a problem. But if you don’t do a good job, I’ll still fire you.”

Xiao Yu had no connections in the bio-engineering field. He was clearly also eyeing the network of contacts Chu Jinmeng had in her professional circle.

Then, Xiao Yu immediately added, “Before you officially join, I have a task for you. Find a way to poach some of your talented seniors, juniors, and classmates—even your mentors and professors.”

Without a second thought, Chu Jinmeng readily agreed, “No problem, you can count on me. But brother-in-law, you have to promise that the research funding will be more than enough and the compensation packages are competitive. They can’t be lower than what their previous employers offered. If you do that, I guarantee I can bring you a top-tier, all-star team from the industry.”

“It seems you’re quite popular in your circle,” Xiao Yu said with a slight smile. It was true. Chu Jinmeng had the looks and the talent, and her personality was lively and spirited. Someone like her would be well-liked anywhere.

A moment later, Xiao Yu nodded decisively. “You just paint them a pretty picture. I’ll be behind you to back it all up. Funding and compensation have never been an issue for me.”

…

Chapter 149: The Americans Want to Buy Graphene Material

With the matter largely settled, he would officially launch Spiritual Mirror Tech’s new bio-engineering division once he arranged the urgent matters at hand.

Xiao Yu collected his thoughts and glanced sideways at Chu Jinmeng. “Since you’ll be developing your career in Linzhou, I’ll have Uncle Qin arrange a place for you to live later. Just let him know what kind of house you’d like.”

Hearing this, Chu Jinmeng replied without hesitation, “No need to go to all that trouble. I’ll just stay here.”

At her words, Xiao Yu was initially going to refuse. But on second thought, since he had already decided to build Chu Jinmeng up as a genius in life sciences and use her bio-engineering work as a cover to bring cloning technology from the Blue Star world to Earth, he would need to communicate with her frequently. Teaching her the technology privately would be most convenient at home.

A moment later, Xiao Yu said casually, “Fine, then. It’s not like we’re short one room or a pair of chopsticks. Stay here if you want.”

Chu Jinmeng looked at Xiao Yu in surprise. “Uh, I thought you were going to say no.”

Xiao Yu shot her a glance. “If I’d said no, you would have just pestered me and acted all cute and pouty. In the end, I’d have no choice but to give in anyway. So I might as well skip the whole process and save myself the trouble.”

Hearing this, Chu Jinmeng covered her mouth with a delightful giggle and cooed, “This trick works on you every single time, brother-in-law. It’s your fault for falling for it, hehe…”

Xiao Yu shook his head helplessly, pretending he couldn’t be bothered with her.

Just then, Qin Yue, the butler, came to the living room with a document for Xiao Yu to sign. Seeing him with Chu Jinmeng, Qin Yue thought for a moment and quietly began to withdraw, choosing not to disturb them.

However, Xiao Yu had already noticed him and said at once, “Uncle Qin, what is it?”

Qin Yue, who was about to leave, walked over. Chu Jinmeng suddenly stood up. “I’m going to take a shower.”

With that, she gracefully sauntered out of the living room. Xiao Yu glanced at her retreating back, then turned his attention to the document Qin Yue had brought. The butler said, “All thirty-five villas in the residential area have been purchased. The resident owners will move out within a week. The total expenditure was 3.195 billion RMB.”

Xiao Yu nodded and immediately signed the document.

The total value of the thirty-six villas in the entire area, according to the current market price, was just over 1.35 billion. But since Xiao Yu was essentially forcing a buyout to make people leave, he offered a generous premium as compensation—a show of good faith to make things convenient for everyone. Roughly 3.2 billion was small change for Xiao Yu.

Naturally, none of the owners could bring themselves to refuse, nor did anyone try to take advantage of the situation by jacking up the price. These were all wealthy individuals with net worths over one hundred million. To have amassed such fortunes, they were certainly sharp, with no lack of intelligence or emotional intelligence.

The world’s richest man was showing sincere goodwill and wasn’t using his power to bully them. If they didn’t even have this much perception and tried to jack up the price, they never would have reached such a level of wealth.

Even if Xiao Yu had negotiated with them at market price, they would have likely agreed. After all, Xiao Yu was at the peak of his power; he was someone they couldn’t afford to offend. How could they dare to refuse or haggle with him?

But Xiao Yu didn’t do that. He wouldn’t resort to such crude methods. Instead, he fulfilled his own needs while also making the others happy and willing to move out.

After signing the paper, Xiao Yu looked at Qin Yue and said, “Find a designer to re-plan this entire area. We’ll demolish those houses in the second half of next year.”

Qin Yue nodded. “Understood.”

The reason for scheduling the demolition for six months later was, of course, for the underground work. With the advanced technology and high efficiency of the Blue Star world, the underground laboratory base could be completed in about half a year, after which they could simply continue expanding downward as needed.

Furthermore, the initial construction phase certainly couldn’t start under the villa he was currently living in. After all, no matter how good the soundproofing was, there would still be some noise. Qin Yue and the other household staff would notice the construction in the basement, and Xiao Yu didn’t want anyone else to know.

But this problem was easy to solve. He could just pick one of the other thirty-five villas and start digging from its underground garage. Then, he could simply extend a tunnel from underground to his villa, or he could even move into that other villa.

This way, no one would notice.

When the time came, Xiao Yu would only need to open the teleportation Star Gate and keep it open. A team of construction robots would travel between the villa’s underground garage and the Blue Star world, transporting materials from the Blue Star world and dumping the excavated soil back there. No one would ever discover that a large, advanced underground laboratory was materializing beneath this place.

…

The next day.

After spending the night at the villa, Chu Jinmeng had breakfast with Xiao Yu and then left Linzhou.

Xiao Yu had given her a mission: to poach talent. That was precisely what she was setting out to do.

Half an hour later, Xiao Yu arrived at the Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters. As soon as he got to his office, he called for Yun Shu.

“What is it?” Yun Shu asked as she entered the office. Xiao Yu watched his beautiful, gracefully walking assistant and smiled. “I’ve found a new line of business for the company. I’ve decided to enter the bio-engineering field.”

Yun Shu stared at him in surprise. “The bio-engineering field? Isn’t that too big of a leap into another industry?”

Xiao Yu nodded. “To be precise, the field of single-organ cloning technology. Its future prospects are vast, and most importantly, I’ve discovered some talent that makes it very promising.”

The so-called talent naturally referred to Chu Jinmeng. Xiao Yu’s plan was to promote her as a genius in this field. She already had a solid foundation of talent in this area, making her the perfect fit; otherwise, Xiao Yu wouldn’t have chosen her.

After a moment of thought, Xiao Yu continued, “Let’s do some preliminary preparations first and make the announcement next year.”

Yun Shu nodded slightly. “Okay. The company’s trading has been halted for a while now. When do you plan to apply to resume it?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu said, “Let’s wait a bit longer. We’ll resume trading at the end of this month. The prototype aircraft for the ‘Divine Dragon’ project at Sino-Aviation Linfei will undergo its superconducting levitation test at the end of the month. We’ll coordinate with the buzz from that news and then resume trading.”

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock had been halted at a price of 127.27 yuan, corresponding to a market capitalization of 11.047 trillion yuan.

A little while later, as Xiao Yu was talking with Yun Shu, a knock came from the door.

“Come in.”

They both looked toward the sound. The person who entered was the company’s CEO, Xu Changming.

He walked to the sofa in the office’s rest area and sat down, then looked at Xiao Yu. “CEO Xiao, the Americans have approached us multiple times to discuss purchasing graphene material. They’ve sent someone to talk again.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu said without a second thought, “Graphene material has already been classified by the state as an export-controlled technology product. What’s the use of the Americans talking to me? Tell them to go to the relevant government departments.”

“I received the latest approval document from the higher-ups today,” Xu Changming said, handing over the document he had brought with him. Xiao Yu took it and scanned through it.

“Heh, so America has been doing a lot of begging behind the scenes,” Xiao Yu chuckled as he read the document.

America had been in constant communication with the higher-ups recently, wanting to buy graphene material from Spiritual Mirror Tech. The latest notice stated that they could use the graphene material to negotiate with the Americans about computing chips. If the Americans agreed to stop putting a stranglehold on computing resources, a discussion could be held.

However, Xiao Yu felt this was probably a secondary reason. The stranglehold on computing chips wasn’t an unsolvable problem; the country was catching up quickly in this area.

It was likely related to the sudden emergence of the room-temperature superconducting material. The move was meant to appease the Americans and prevent them from taking a desperate risk or fighting back like a cornered animal during this interim vacuum period. After all, although the room-temperature superconducting material was out, the industrial upgrade wouldn’t be completed in just a year or two, which created a window, a sort of vacuum period.

“Since the country has agreed to sell some to America, then let’s sell,” Xiao Yu said, putting the document down. He added, “Two points. If America wants to buy, first, the price goes up. Second, they have to resume my supply of computing resources.”

Now wasn’t the time to bring out the quantum computer, and domestic replacements wouldn’t be ready so soon. If the supply of computing resources was resumed, he could have the AI, Mira, lift its user restrictions.

…

Chapter 150: You Called Low Prices Dumping, But You’re Not Happy When I Double Them Either

On the sofa in the office’s rest area.

After a moment of thought, Xu Changming looked at Xiao Yu and asked, “How much should we raise the price of the graphene material for the Americans?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu answered directly without a second thought, “Let’s double the domestic price.”

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s graphene material had already slashed the original market price by more than ten to twenty times. Even after doubling the price for the Americans, it would still be about seven to ten times cheaper than the previous market price or the prices offered by other graphene suppliers.

As long as the demand was there, the Americans would buy it even at double the price. Besides, they couldn’t buy as much as they wanted anyway, because their quotas were limited. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current production capacity was already struggling to meet the total global market demand.

Leaning back comfortably on the sofa, Xiao Yu said, “When you talk to them, there’s no need to back down. They can take it or leave it. The bottleneck with computing resources is only temporary; a breakthrough is just a matter of time. I don’t mind waiting. Earning the Americans’ money would be the icing on the cake. If we don’t, the company will still be thriving.”

Hearing this, Xu Changming nodded. “Understood.”

Spiritual Mirror Tech possessed an incredibly strong technological monopoly. Others couldn’t produce it, or their costs were so high that they had no market competitiveness. The key was that others couldn’t do without their product.

…

Two days later.

Xu Changming met with America’s business delegation once again.

“What? The price is double what other manufacturers are paying? You’re fleecing us like lambs, and so blatantly too!” The person in charge of the American business delegation was flabbergasted on the spot upon hearing Xu Changming’s offer.

In the negotiation room, Xu Changming sat with his legs crossed and said calmly, “You Americans are really hard to please. Didn’t you used to complain that our country’s companies were engaging in low-price dumping? Now I’ve doubled the price for you, so it’s not dumping anymore, is it? And look, you’re still not happy about it.”

Upon hearing the translation, the Americans in the room felt their eyelids twitch. They were red-hot with rage.

Old Xu was feeling incredibly satisfied at that moment. Few people in the world dared to show such disrespect to the Americans, but Spiritual Mirror Tech had the confidence to do so.

His words were an undisguised, in-your-face taunt, outrageously arrogant. He clearly didn’t care about the Americans’ feelings, or even whether the deal would go through.

But the Americans cared.

They couldn’t produce such low-cost graphene material themselves, yet this material was crucial for high-end industries. They couldn’t do without it.

They were especially eager to get their hands on the room-temperature superconducting material from Xiao Yu.

Once room-temperature superconductors entered the application stage and began to be used in existing devices—phones, computers, cars, and so on—the power of all human electrical equipment would become absurdly large, while their energy consumption would become frighteningly small.

With no electrical resistance, there would be virtually no need for heat dissipation, meaning very little wasted energy. Not only would all electrical devices no longer require large batteries, but they would also achieve ultra-long battery life and ultra-high power.

Take modern smartphones, for example. The battery takes up a huge amount of the phone’s internal space, which is incredibly valuable.

With the application of room-temperature superconducting materials, a phone’s battery life could be extended, and the battery itself could be made much smaller. The space saved could be used for more electronic components, or the phone could be designed to be even thinner and lighter. All of these would be massive improvements to the product.

For this meeting, Xiao Yu’s instructions to Xu Changming had been very clear: they could take it or leave it.

The massive domestic market’s demand was still unmet. If the Americans didn’t buy, their quotas would quickly be snatched up by other domestic manufacturers. The sheer scale of the domestic market was the source of their confidence to be so assertive with the Americans.

“We cannot accept these two conditions you’ve proposed,” the representative of the American business delegation said coldly.

Hearing this, Xu Changming spread his hands and said nonchalantly, “Then there’s no need to talk any further. These two conditions are completely non-negotiable.”

At this, the Americans didn’t waste any more words and stormed out of the room in anger. The negotiations thus ended on a sour note. America had never been treated this way before. They couldn’t accept it, and their pride was hurt. Naturally, the talks went nowhere.

News of this quickly reached Xiao Yu’s ears. He was very calm about it and said to Xu Changming over the phone, “We just need to play the waiting game and watch their performance. I believe they’ll request another meeting in a few days. Just be ready for the next round of negotiations.”

Xu Changming’s voice came from the other end of the line: “I’m already preparing. I never expected today’s meeting to yield any results.”

The truth was, Xu Changming had been too aggressive, even contemptuous, while representing Spiritual Mirror Tech in the negotiations.

Even if the Americans had wanted to agree, they would have had to put on a show and walk out in a huff first. To be taunted to their faces and not show any temper would be too humiliating, too servile.

Xu Changming knew this, and of course, so did Xiao Yu. That was why he said they would just watch the Americans’ performance.

Besides, whether this deal went through or not, it had no major impact on Spiritual Mirror Tech. They were negotiating with the Americans with an attitude of indifference. After all, the market was completely skewed toward the seller, with a long line of buyers waiting.

Spiritual Mirror Tech could be indifferent, but the Americans could not.

The high-tech companies in North America were all getting anxious. For example, Apple, which had once been incredibly arrogant, now lacked the things that greatly improved smartphones: AI, graphene full-screen displays, and graphene batteries.

The Xiaomi 12S-Ultra, released in July, was a huge seller. Then in September, the Huawei M50 Pro was released and sold out on the first day.

The phone manufacturers in the neighboring Great Eastern Country had already begun to significantly upgrade their smartphones around graphene material. The application of this material provided a visible, holistic improvement to a phone’s performance.

In contrast, the iPhone was starting to look outdated. On the surface, Apple appeared calm, acting confident and unconcerned, but behind the scenes, they were in a panic.

But panicking was useless; they couldn’t get the materials.

Other graphene suppliers were completely useless. Not only were they ridiculously expensive—ten to twenty times more—but the quality of their products was also inferior to Spiritual Mirror Tech’s.

Furthermore, graphene battery technology was also Spiritual Mirror Tech’s exclusive domain. Other manufacturers had not solved some of the key technical pain points of graphene batteries; only Spiritual Mirror Tech had.

For example, in practical applications, graphene batteries could generate a large amount of heat due to internal short circuits, overcharging, or over-discharging. Under impact or collision, they could even pose safety risks like fire or explosion.

Spiritual Mirror Tech had solved all these problems, while other manufacturers were stumped.

In short, for any phone manufacturer, the choice was either to abandon the path of using graphene material or, if they chose to use it, they were destined to be unable to bypass Spiritual Mirror Tech for the foreseeable future. This applied to all high-end industrial enterprises that needed the material as well.

…

Chapter 151: Forget Subways, Build a Superconducting Sky-Train

After ending the call with Xu Changming, Xiao Yu looked around. He was currently inside villa number nine of the villa complex.

The previous owner of this villa had already moved out completely. Xiao Yu had purchased all the other thirty-five villas in the complex, and every owner had already vacated the premises.

A little while later, Xiao Yu went down to the basement alone. He surveyed the space and nodded in satisfaction. “This owner did a good job, making such a large basement.”

He had chosen villa number nine not only for its prime location but also because he was impressed that the owner had extensively modified the basement, creating a very large space.

Finally, Xiao Yu opened the teleportation Star Gate and adjusted it to the largest size the basement could accommodate.

A fully automated piece of engineering equipment from the Blue Star world passed through the stargate and entered the basement. It then began to excavate. The machine wasn’t large, as the current workspace was too small for bigger equipment.

Once the excavated space grew larger, Xiao Yu would open the teleportation Star Gate in the newly cleared area to bring in bigger machinery and continue digging deeper, which would increase the efficiency exponentially.

After tinkering for over half an hour, everything was properly arranged. Radio signal jammers had been placed around the villa.

Signals from outside could not be detected, and during the excavation and construction, all signals would be blocked, preventing any communication.

Because the teleportation Star Gate needed to remain open continuously, the time-flow difference between the two worlds would be equalized as long as the gate was active; the five hundred times differential would not exist during this period.

If left open for a long time, some radio waves from the Blue Star world would pass through the teleportation Star Gate to Earth, and vice versa. Earth’s radio waves could also travel to the Blue Star world.

Clearly, Xiao Yu did not want the humans of the two worlds to know of each other’s existence, so the signals had to be jammed. Earth’s radio signals must not be transmitted over, and Blue Star’s radio signals must not come through.

Once that was taken care of, Xiao Yu left the villa. In the basement, the excavation was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

According to the computer’s simulation results, the underground laboratory base could be built and put into use in about six months. However, it wouldn’t be fully completed according to Xiao Yu’s entire design within that time frame.

This wouldn’t affect the use of the already constructed modules. The entire underground laboratory was being built in a partitioned, modular fashion, and it could be expanded by digging deeper in the future if needed.

The villa was now filled with surveillance equipment. If anyone approached, an alarm would immediately be sent to Xiao Yu. He could remotely close the teleportation Star Gate at any time using the Transference Star Ring on his wrist, so he didn’t need to stay and watch over it himself.

Moreover, the entire villa complex had been cleared out in advance, so there were no outsiders. The probability of an intrusion was practically zero.

…

About twenty minutes after Xiao Yu left the villa, he received a call from a city leader, inviting him to a symposium to discuss the future development of Linzhou City.

Xiao Yu was now the richest man in the country. Furthermore, Spiritual Mirror Tech, the largest taxpayer in Linzhou City, was located here, as was the other company with limitless potential, Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. Since both were founded by Xiao Yu, it would be unthinkable not to invite him to the meeting.

At that moment, several city leaders and people from the municipal planning bureau were discussing Linzhou City’s plan to build a subway system. Xiao Yu was also in attendance.

Currently, Linzhou City had no subway system. The reason was simple: no money.

Before the rise of Spiritual Mirror Tech, Linzhou City was just an ordinary second-tier city that didn’t even rank very high, let alone compare to first-tier cities. A massive infrastructure project like a subway system was something they had never even considered.

But now things were different. Thanks to the rise of Spiritual Mirror Tech, tax revenues had skyrocketed, growing exponentially. With their coffers full, they were now thinking about building a subway.

The top official of the city looked at Xiao Yu and said, “Comrade Xiao Yu, do you have any opinions or suggestions regarding this development plan for Linzhou City? Please, feel free to share them with us.”

Xiao Yu had already finished reading the overall plan. He thought for a moment and said, “I think the other plans are quite good, but we should probably scrap the subway. My reason is very simple. The Superconducting Era is coming in the foreseeable future, and in that era, subways will become rather impractical transportation facilities.”

Pausing for a moment, Xiao Yu glanced at the leaders present and continued, “The cost-effectiveness is particularly low, and the operating costs are very high. Since our Linzhou doesn’t have a subway, there’s no need to build one now. The Superconducting Era is the major trend of the future. I personally believe we should vigorously develop the low-altitude economy.”

There was an important underlying reason for his suggestion to scrap the subway project: Xiao Yu didn’t want the city’s subway lines to be planned to extend to his villa complex, lest the drilling expose the secret laboratory base he was building underground.

But Xiao Yu’s advice was sound. With the Superconducting Era on the horizon, future transportation systems shouldn’t extend underground, but rather up into the sky.

Xiao Yu thought for a moment and added, “With the advent of room-temperature superconducting materials, the low-altitude economy is bound to become the next big trend. Why doesn’t Linzhou City prepare and lay the groundwork for a three-dimensional transportation network in advance? I imagine it won’t be long before superconducting levitating cars are invented and popularized. The low-altitude economy holds great promise.”

The city officials placed great importance on Xiao Yu’s suggestions and views; otherwise, they wouldn’t have specifically invited him to the meeting.

After all, Xiao Yu was at the peak of his power and highly regarded by the top echelons of the country. With his strong support, their achievements in economic construction would surely be impressive. The top official of Linzhou City naturally paid close attention.

One of the attending leaders spoke up, “I agree that the arrival of the Superconducting Era is a major trend, but achieving it in the short term will likely be difficult. As you said, Comrade Xiao Yu, room-temperature superconducting material is still a ways from mass production, which won’t be realized anytime soon, and the current cost is extremely high.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “That’s not a big problem. We can start with a pilot project. The military probably won’t use up all the room-temperature superconducting material, mainly because it’s too expensive. They can’t possibly spend their entire budget on it.”

“Privately-owned cars certainly won’t be widespread in the short term, but we can work on public transportation projects. I can fund some non-profit public transport projects through the Benevolence Fund. If we’re going to build something, let’s make it a bit more sci-fi, something that will make Linzhou City unique in this day and age.”

The top city official immediately asked, “Oh? What do you mean by that?”

Xiao Yu stated bluntly, “Forget subways. If we’re going to build something, let’s move the subway from underground into the sky. Let’s build a sky-train directly. A subway is difficult to expand once it’s built, but with a sky-train, you can simply add layers vertically. Not only is it convenient, but the costs are also lower.”

A sky-train?

The leaders present at the meeting were all stunned.

Xiao Yu continued, “If we were to rely solely on Earth’s magnetic field to levitate the train, it would require a massive amount of room-temperature superconducting material. The superconductor we’ve synthesized so far can carry an object about four times its own mass using only Earth’s magnetic field. That means for a hundred-gram object to levitate, the room-temperature superconducting material would need to constitute about twenty percent of its total mass.”

“At that ratio, with the current production cost of room-temperature superconducting material at eight hundred million per ton, the cost would be unbearable.” At this point, Xiao Yu’s tone shifted. “But it’s not without a solution. There is a compromise that can reduce the required proportion of superconducting material.”

One of the leaders couldn’t help but ask, “What is the solution?”

Xiao Yu said in a deep voice, “We can lay magnetic tracks. For example, we can lay them under the green belts in the middle of roads. An artificially enhanced magnetic field is far stronger than Earth’s. We can have the train operate at a fixed altitude above the magnetic track in the green belt, following a set route. This way, we can reduce the proportion of room-temperature superconducting material needed for the train cars, which brings the cost down.”

A levitating train as a public transport project is different from a flying car that needs to go everywhere. The train only needs to run on a fixed route, just like existing trains run on rails. The difference is that a sky-train runs on a magnetic track, which can be used to create an artificially enhanced magnetic field within its range.

Less room-temperature superconducting material would be needed, but as long as the magnetic field’s strength was increased, a balance could still be achieved to levitate the train cars above the magnetic track. Comparatively, the cost of laying magnetic tracks would be much, much lower.

…

Chapter 152: If It’s Done Well, Everyone Can Get Ahead

A current subway car costs between five million and eight million RMB and weighs about thirty-five tons. If a subway train has ten cars, that’s a total weight of 350 tons.

If we calculate based on a 20% composition of room-temperature superconducting composite material, a ten-car sky-train would require seventy tons of it. At the price Xiao Yu is currently quoting—800 million per ton—the cost of the room-temperature superconducting material alone for a single ten-car sky-train would be an astronomical fifty-six billion RMB.

Such an exaggerated cost would undoubtedly be unaffordable. In comparison, laying the magnetic tracks would be incredibly cheap, even factoring in the electricity costs for the tracks.

Of course, if the sky-train cars are designed for superconducting levitation, the overall weight will surely be significantly reduced. More lightweight materials would be used to lessen the cars’ total mass, which is another crucial method for lowering costs. In this scenario, even using aerospace-grade materials would seem cost-effective.

The cost of laying the magnetic tracks is roughly comparable to current maglev train tracks, at about 300 million RMB per kilometer, while subways are even more expensive, costing between 500 million and one billion RMB per kilometer.

But if commuter efficiency is increased, the cost can be even lower than that of current maglev trains. For instance, to add another sky-train line on the same route, you wouldn’t need to lay additional magnetic tracks. Instead, you could simply add another altitude level above the existing track, or increase the magnetic field strength at the cost of slightly higher electricity consumption.

For example, say a sky-train is currently operating at an altitude of ten meters. If commuter pressure is still high, another sky-train route could be opened in the low-altitude airspace between ten and twenty meters, without changing the ground-based magnetic tracks.

In other words, you double the commuter efficiency without changing the track-laying cost, which, in simple terms, is equivalent to reducing the cost from 300 million to 150 million RMB per kilometer. If a third sky-train route were opened in the low-altitude airspace between twenty and thirty meters, the cost would drop further to 100 million RMB per kilometer.

Clearly, this “one track, multiple uses” model offers an advantage in cost reduction and efficiency that traditional maglev trains cannot match, and it’s something subways are even less capable of. If you want to add tracks to a subway, you have no choice but to dig more tunnels.

Moreover, the ground-based magnetic tracks don’t require any additional land. Some of Linzhou City’s core thoroughfares are already wide enough. There would be no need for major demolitions to widen the roads; we would only need to make minor adjustments to the existing main roads and utilize the median strips in the middle.

At that moment, Xiao Yu scanned the group of leaders present and said in a methodical tone, “My idea is to dig up the existing median strips on Linzhou City’s main thoroughfares, lay a layer of ground-based magnetic tracks, and then restore the median strips. The sky-train would then operate above the median strips, not affecting the vehicle traffic on either side of the road at all, nor the city’s appearance. And there would be no need for major demolitions or additional land.”

The leaders present found the idea refreshing, but not being technical experts, they listened with a mix of belief and doubt.

One of the attending leaders pondered this for a moment before looking at Xiao Yu and asking, “My biggest concern is safety. If there’s a car accident on the roads next to the median strip—say, a vehicle crashes into it—and a levitating train happens to be passing through that section, will it be affected, causing it to fall? That would be a major accident.”

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. A falling sky-train would be an extremely serious catastrophe.

In response, Xiao Yu smiled and said, “There’s no need to worry about that at all. The magnetic tracks will be laid beneath the median strip, and the strip itself will act as a protective buffer for the tracks. Even if a vehicle from either side of the road crashes into the median strip, it won’t affect the operation of the levitating train in the air.”

Xiao Yu continued, “In fact, even if the magnetic tracks were laid under the main road itself, with a normal concrete road surface paved over them for vehicles to drive on, it would be fine. However, since we are reducing the amount of room-temperature superconducting material to save costs, the levitating train’s suspension height can’t be too great. The intensity of the artificial magnetic field must also be controlled so that it doesn’t have any effect on the human body.”

“If the altitude isn’t high enough and the sky-train runs above the main traffic lanes, it would create immense psychological pressure for drivers on the ground during a head-on approach, as if they are on a collision course. Drivers might even instinctively change lanes to avoid the perceived risk, which would, in turn, increase the rate of traffic accidents. Choosing to run it above the central median strip is precisely to avoid this from happening.”

To achieve stable levitation with a constant total vehicle load, one must either increase the proportion of room-temperature superconducting composite material or increase the strength of the electromagnetic field via the magnetic tracks.

The purpose of laying ground-based magnetic tracks is to reduce the amount of room-temperature superconducting material needed, compensating by strengthening the magnetic field to allow the cars to levitate.

But there is an upper limit to how much the magnetic field’s intensity can be increased. That limit is determined by the threshold for affecting the human body; it cannot pose a risk to human health.

To satisfy both these requirements, the sky-train’s levitation height is limited. It cannot achieve the exaggerated altitudes of thousands of meters seen in the Blue Star world.

This involves certain laws of physics. Magnetic field strength is inversely related to distance; specifically, it decays with the cube of the distance.

In other words, the higher the sky-train, the farther it is from the ground-based magnetic tracks, and the more rapidly the magnetic field strength will decay with distance, making it difficult to support the levitating cars. The sky-train’s levitation height will not exceed thirty meters above the ground.

To exceed this height and maintain a stable levitating state without increasing the magnetic field strength, the only option is to increase the proportion of room-temperature superconducting material.

However, a vertical height of thirty meters is more than enough to meet current demands. We can easily open up three vertical levitation lanes.

But if tracks at such a vertical height were laid over the traffic lanes, it would definitely create a huge sense of oppression and psychological stress for drivers on the ground. Therefore, they shouldn’t be placed above the main roads but should be offset from the lanes to reduce the psychological burden on drivers.

Laying the magnetic tracks within the median strips is currently the most economical and suitable option.

At this point, one of the leaders couldn’t help but ask, “How do people get on and off the train?”

Hearing the question, Xiao Yu smiled and explained, “That’s even simpler. We can use pedestrian overpasses that cross the road. At each stop, we can set up an entrance and exit that spans the road. People can enter and exit the station from the sidewalks on either side of the road, essentially turning the pedestrian overpasses into sky-train substations. The vehicles below can continue to travel normally on the road without interference, while the sky-trains enter the station in the middle to pick up and drop off passengers.”

As they listened, everyone nodded in sudden understanding.

Xiao Yu added, “As for these entrances and substations distributed along the city’s main roads, we can just hand them over to professional architects to design structures that fit the city’s aesthetic.”

The city’s top official looked at Xiao Yu and remarked, “No matter how much you lower the cost, I’m afraid it will still be higher than the subway, right?”

Xiao Yu nodded and admitted frankly, “That’s right. It will most likely be around 1.5 to 2 times the cost of a subway.”

The leaders at the meeting were slightly taken aback. Someone couldn’t help but say, “That’s still a bit expensive.”

Xiao Yu smiled at the comment. “It is indeed a little pricey, but Linzhou City’s current financial foundation can support it. The key is that we would be daring to be the first in the world. This will become a new postcard for Linzhou City, greatly boosting its name recognition.”

After a brief pause, Xiao Yu said, “Looking at the big picture, this can drive the vigorous development of the low-altitude economy, putting Linzhou City ahead of everyone else and making it the world’s only sci-fi-level metropolis.”

The crowd nodded secretly. If this project was handled well, it would certainly be a very impressive political achievement, and everyone could advance in their careers.

Chapter 153: If the Budget Isn’t Enough, Just Issue Bonds

Xiao Yu clearly wanted to transform Linzhou City into a hyper-modern metropolis with a futuristic feel. Technology wasn’t an issue at all. He didn’t want to just mess around with a few sky-train lines; if he was going to do it, he was going to go big.

However, this approach meant the current city administration might not be very motivated.

A project of such a massive scale would inevitably take a long time to complete. Their term would be over before the project was finished, meaning they wouldn’t get to enjoy the political achievement it would bring, thus lacking the motivation to push it forward.

The reason why certain large commercial plazas are so popular with local leaders is that they are practically “political achievement incubators.” They demand construction from groundbreaking to grand opening be completed within eighteen months. This number is meticulously calculated, as the term for a prefectural-level city leader is generally around three years. Eighteen months basically guarantees the project can be completed within a leader’s normal term, allowing them to reap the political rewards.

A massive sky-train project, no matter how fast it was built, could not possibly be completed in a mere eighteen months. For this very reason, it was even more crucial to get the project started quickly, so that the current Linzhou City administration could claim at least a portion of the political achievement, giving them the motivation to commit to it.

Xiao Yu pondered this. After a moment, he looked around at the leaders present at the meeting and said, “If we’re going to do this, I suggest we get the project started as soon as possible. And not on a small scale with just one or two lines. We should look at the entire city, planning and laying it out for Linzhou City’s future as a new first-tier, hyper-modern metropolis.”

Everyone present understood the implication of Xiao Yu’s words: the project was huge, and if they didn’t get it started quickly, it would be difficult for them to enjoy this political achievement during their term.

Furthermore, everyone was quite surprised by the scale of Xiao Yu’s ambition. One of the attending leaders looked at Xiao Yu and said, “Going this big… the city’s finances likely can’t handle it. The cost is 1.5 to 2 times more expensive than a subway. We’re talking at least six or seven hundred billion, and that’s the floor, not the ceiling.”

Xiao Yu’s next words further dispelled their concerns. “Linzhou City’s financial situation is much better now, but it’s true we can’t come up with this much money. I suggest issuing more local government bonds. If no one buys them, I will. Spiritual Mirror Tech will buy them. The Benevolence Fund will also provide some grants for public projects.”

Xiao Yu added with a smile, “Others might worry that Linzhou won’t be able to repay its debts, but I’m not worried. I believe Linzhou’s future financial situation will only get better and better.”

This was not an exaggeration in the slightest. The company Xiao Yu founded, Spiritual Mirror Tech, was registered in Linzhou City and was already the local number one super-taxpayer. Then there was Sino-Aviation Linfei. Though it was currently burning through money, it held a monopoly on room-temperature superconducting material, giving it infinite room for imagination in the future.

In the future, Linzhou City’s tax revenue would only soar. With such strong logic supporting these future expectations, taking on a bit more debt now was not a problem; it could definitely be repaid later.

And when it came to spending money, the leaders became visibly more enthusiastic. The money would be borrowed and spent by the current administration, while the accounted debt would be a headache for the next administration to solve after they left office. Of course they were enthusiastic.

Moreover, Xiao Yu had explicitly promised to provide a safety net. If the budget wasn’t enough, they just had to issue bonds. If no one bought them, he would. Spiritual Mirror Tech would.

Frankly, the leaders were truly swayed. This was a political achievement within easy reach.

Finally, the city’s current top official looked at Xiao Yu and asked, “Comrade Xiao Yu, how high is the feasibility of this superconducting sky-train? Is it reliable or not?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu knew the city was serious about doing it. He replied with great confidence, “To be rigorous, I won’t say one hundred percent feasible. Let’s say over ninety-five percent.”

This was as good as telling everyone that it was a done deal. Xiao Yu’s confidence was naturally backed by a solid foundation. The sky-trains shuttling through the major cities of the Blue Star world were replaying vividly in his mind at that very moment. There was absolutely no problem with the technology.

His words immediately gave the leaders present immense confidence. The current top official of Linzhou City was also a man of courage and decisiveness. After about ten more minutes of discussion, everyone supported fast-tracking the project. The top official made the final decision on the spot to move forward with the project quickly, promising strong policy support for the sky-train project.

However, for now, this was merely an internal consensus. Whether it could actually move forward depended on a prerequisite: the application for the use of the room-temperature superconducting material. This was because the state now strictly controlled the circulation—or rather, the application—of this material.

Even though this was a product Xiao Yu had “invented,” its specific applications now required review and approval.

After the meeting, Xiao Yu went back and immediately began writing up the report for submission, recommending that the state approve Linzhou City’s sky-train project. In the report, he also provided a deep analysis of the low-altitude economy. This report would play a very important role a year or two later when the state began to vigorously support the development of the low-altitude economy, but that’s a story for another time.

…

As the days passed, the end of the year was fast approaching.

The various matters Xiao Yu had arranged were all progressing smoothly and orderly. After submitting the report, all he had to do was wait patiently for the notification. The higher-ups would most likely approve the allocation of some room-temperature superconducting material for Linzhou City to launch the sky-train project.

This was because the military couldn’t buy it all—not because there wasn’t enough demand for the total production, but because their budget was insufficient.

With an annual total military budget of 1.45 trillion, it was impossible to allocate a third of it to purchasing room-temperature superconducting material. Under these circumstances, they couldn’t just forbid Sino-Aviation Linfei from using its excess production capacity elsewhere. After all, the company needed to grow.

Moreover, the first non-military application was a public infrastructure project. The sky-train cars using the room-temperature superconducting material would not be private property and would also be monitored and controlled.

Coupled with the fact that this was a major push for the application of technological innovation, the project had a very high chance of being approved and a very low chance of being rejected.

Meanwhile, the startup tech company Cyera-AI, founded by Xiao Yu’s doppelganger Vitas in North America’s Silicon Valley, was getting on track. Its AI product was already online, and its powerful natural language processing capabilities were far ahead of other North American AI tech companies. Some North American venture capital firms had already started paying attention to this startup.

On Spiritual Mirror Tech’s side, Xu Changming was in the middle of drawn-out negotiations with the Americans. Vitas’s company, Cyera-AI, would certainly influence these negotiations to some extent.

One of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s demands was that the Americans lift the restrictions on computing resources. The Americans had imposed these restrictions precisely because they were afraid that Xiao Yu or Spiritual Mirror Tech would snatch away their prize in the field of AI.

Vitas’s rapid rise in Silicon Valley with his AI would surely give the Americans and their capital groups immense confidence. Combined with their need for graphene material, their willingness to lift restrictions on computing resources would clearly increase.

From the Americans’ perspective, since they couldn’t prop up OpenAI, and Cyera-AI had just burst onto the scene, they would naturally back Vitas’s Cyera-AI. This was precisely one of Xiao Yu’s motivations for having his doppelganger start a company in Silicon Valley: to infiltrate the enemy from within.

The West had no idea that Vitas, the founder of Cyera-AI, was Xiao Yu’s doppelganger. For them, this was a classic market-killer move, something they would never have imagined even in their wildest dreams.

On another level, by using his doppelganger to create a genius for the Western world, Xiao Yu was also stabilizing the West, preventing them from acting like a cornered animal and flipping the table during the transitional period while the Great Eastern Country was upgrading its industries with room-temperature superconducting material.

This would make the West feel that they also had a super-genius on their side, one who was no worse than the Great Eastern Country’s Xiao Yu across the ocean. This would give them something to look forward to, a sense of hope.

And as long as they had hope and something to look forward to, they certainly wouldn’t be so quick to go all in, leaving themselves no way out.

…

Chapter 154: Prototype Flight Test

Two days later, on December 25th, Cyera-AI secured a massive round of financing, becoming another unicorn-level startup favored by venture capital firms.

Not only did it skip the angel round and go straight to a Series A, but the scale of the financing also caused a sensation in the industry. The Series A round directly secured five hundred million US dollars. Securing five hundred million in the first investment round was extremely rare in the circle.

Even rarer, its valuation reached 3.5 billion US dollars, meaning that by raising five hundred million in its Series A, Cyera-AI gave up less than fifteen percent of its equity, which was exceptionally rare in the industry.

This was all because Xiao Yu’s doppelganger, Peter Vitas, as the company’s founder, had painted a grand picture for several major venture capital firms.

The AI that Cyera-AI had just recently launched was already clearly ahead of its North American peers. This kind of strength made the venture capital firms incredibly tempted by the future blueprint “Peter Vitas” described.

Another important reason was that the various capital groups in North America desperately needed a genius to compete with Xiao Yu from across the ocean. The sudden appearance of “Peter Vitas” left them feeling greatly invigorated.

The lineup of venture capital firms participating in this Series A round was also very prestigious. The lead investor was Thrive-Capital, a VC firm specializing in investments in internet, software development, technology, and media, famous for its early investment in Instagram.

Moreover, Thrive-Capital had already invested in Open-AI during its early stages and continued to increase its stake in subsequent funding rounds.

This time, they chose to bet on Cyera-AI, founded by Xiao Yu’s doppelganger Peter Vitas. Out of the total five hundred million US dollar Series A round, Thrive-Capital led with an investment of 265 million, accounting for more than half of the round.

In addition, Microsoft followed with a one hundred million dollar investment, and Nvidia also invested sixty million dollars. Several other firms, including Fidelity Investments, Sequoia Capital, MGX, Accel, and Redpoint, also participated.

Meanwhile, in Linzhou City.

Sino-Aviation Linfei’s prototype aircraft was about to begin its superconducting levitation test. All preparations were complete, and the first superconducting levitation flight test was officially scheduled for tomorrow, December 26th.

In fact, the test could have been conducted the day before yesterday, but Xiao Yu postponed it by two days, setting it for the special date of December 26th.

Speaking of which, it wasn’t that Jiang Heng and the other members of the “Divine Dragon” project team didn’t want to set it for this date, but they were worried that it would be disastrous if it failed spectacularly. Although they were confident, they weren’t one hundred percent certain it wouldn’t fail.

But Xiao Yu was clearly full of confidence and decisively made the final decision to set it for December 26th.

Others might not have been absolutely certain, but he was. Because he was personally overseeing this project.

The next day, on the morning of December 26th.

At the Sino-Aviation Linfei R&D base, an aircraft a full size larger than a J-20 fighter jet slowly taxied out of its hardened aircraft shelter. It was worth noting that the J-20 itself is a heavy fighter.

Visually, the most prominent features of this integrated fighter-bomber were its delta wing, the lack of a vertical tail, engines mounted on its back, and the canards characteristic of the great Eastern nation’s fighter jets. There was still a cockpit at the nose, but the interior couldn’t be seen.

The so-called cockpit was actually a form of camouflage, a deception. It was to make others, especially foreign intelligence organizations, see it and assume it was a manned fighter jet, thereby concealing the aircraft’s crucial true information.

The difference between manned and unmanned piloting is huge. If an opponent misjudged this point, they would make even bigger miscalculations about the fighter and develop flawed countermeasures.

This aircraft was none other than the precursor to the “Divine Dragon” fighter jet, the initial prototype test aircraft.

Although it wasn’t all-electric, and its interior was filled with a pile of old-fashioned technology, this test was only to trial the aircraft’s superconducting levitation VTOL. Other aspects were not part of this test’s mission profile; otherwise, it would have been impossible to be ready so quickly.

However, the aerodynamic layout and appearance would likely remain unchanged. The finalized “Divine Dragon” fighter jet would most probably look like this.

This was because it was the result of Xiao Yu taking the aircraft and its technology from the Blue Star world and running multiple simulated corrections using a quantum computer. It was as if Xiao Yu had already more or less completed the design in the Blue Star world and was now just going through the motions on Earth.

When the time came for wind tunnel tests and the like, they would just run through the necessary tests again. For Xiao Yu, the results were already a foregone conclusion.

The aircraft’s appearance was incredibly cool and full of sci-fi flavor. Just by looking at the exterior, one would never guess that its interior was composed of a pile of old-fashioned Earth technology.

At that moment, in the R&D base’s air control center, the test aircraft, under manual remote control, slowly taxied out of its hardened shelter and onto an outdoor take-off and landing platform.

Bringing it outdoors was, in fact, for others to see. Although Sino-Aviation Linfei’s R&D base was far from the center of Linzhou City, located in a suburban area, there were still many pairs of eyes watching nearby, including some intelligence agents.

Just then, in a distant residential building, on the 15th floor, a young man was standing on his balcony.

The man had just gotten his hands on a new Huawei M50Pro phone today and was testing out its camera functions. The M50Pro had a hundred-times hybrid zoom capability, allowing it to take pictures from a very long distance.

Right now, the young man was using this feature. His balcony happened to face the Sino-Aviation Linfei R&D Center.

On a whim, driven by curiosity, he zoomed in on the Sino-Aviation Linfei R&D base. As luck would have it, he happened to capture the prototype that had just moved outdoors.

“Holy crap—?”

Seeing the prototype on his phone screen, the young man let out a sudden gasp. His hand trembled, and the image vanished. Because the distance was so great, the slightest shake of his hand moved the prototype out of the frame.

He quickly refocused, found the prototype again, and confirmed that he hadn’t been mistaken, exclaiming once more, “Holy crap! What the hell is that? What kind of plane is that? Sino-Aviation Linfei built a plane so quickly? Are they going to test-fly it?”

The young man exclaimed, “Good heavens!” Realizing he had captured something incredible.

“Damn! This plane is so fucking cool!” the young man exclaimed as he snapped pictures.

The better a fighter jet looks, the better its combat capability tends to be, because extremely ugly designs often get eliminated right away. The most classic example is America’s Boeing X-32, which lost to the F-35 “Fat Lightning” mainly because it was ugly beyond belief.

“There’s no runway. How is it going to take off? Are they going to move it out of the R&D base and transport it somewhere else to fly?” At this moment, the young man was curious and confused.

This R&D base of Sino-Aviation Linfei Company didn’t have a runway, because with superconducting levitation VTOL, it didn’t need one at all. All it required was a take-off and landing platform.

After the young man had been puzzling over it for a while, a few moments later, he was once again utterly dumbfounded.

“What? It just lifted off vertically like that?”

He was so shocked by the sight that his eyes went wide. In the scene captured by his camera, the prototype aircraft seemed to defy the laws of physics, as if equipped with anti-gravity technology. It simply rose vertically from a standstill, and with incredible smoothness.

Unlike America’s F-35 fighter jet, which diverts some of its main engine’s power to a lift fan that rotates and pushes air downward to help the aircraft overcome gravity for vertical take-off.

This prototype didn’t rely on its engines at all to overcome gravity. Visually, it just floated upward, clean and simple.

As the prototype levitated upwards from the landing platform, its landing gear slowly retracted into the fuselage. It just hovered there quietly, dozens of meters above the ground, its levitating state incredibly stable.

Moreover, there was no howling wind on the ground like you’d get from a helicopter taking off or landing. This could be judged from the staff near the platform, whose clothes clearly weren’t being blown about by strong winds.

“Holy crap, that’s so fucking awesome! This is science fiction come to life.”

At this very moment, it wasn’t just the young man who was dumbfounded. All the other eyewitnesses were completely stunned by the scene.

…

Chapter 155: A Sensation Across the Internet, Chaos Erupts

The prototype aircraft levitated, stationary in the air, for a full ten minutes. In the base’s flight control center, the relevant staff were busy collecting data.

After another two minutes or so, the hovering prototype finally began to maneuver. It ascended further and flew forward, executing a steep, high-angle climb under the thrust of its engines as its speed rapidly increased.

“That’s so damn cool, holy crap!” the young man exclaimed repeatedly as he watched. By now, he could hear the roar of the aircraft’s engines as the prototype flew through the sky.

More and more people heard the roar of the engines and couldn’t help but look up at the sky.

The aircraft was flying at an altitude of about one thousand meters and wasn’t moving too fast. Combined with its size—a whole size larger than a J-20—people on the ground could clearly see its outline with the naked eye.

Among the onlookers were quite a few military enthusiasts. Seeing the aircraft in the sky, some were dumbfounded on the spot, but for most, their shock quickly turned into immense delight.

The delta-wing layout, the lack of a vertical tail, the flat underbelly—all these features indicated that the aircraft flying above was a stealth aircraft.

Its overall appearance was maxed out with sci-fi aesthetics. A single glance subconsciously linked it with the word “advanced.”

But what truly shocked and delighted the military enthusiast eyewitnesses was that such an aircraft had just suddenly appeared—real, tangible, and without any warning—flying in the sky for all to see.

At this very moment, many eyewitnesses in Linzhou City couldn’t resist pulling out their phones, aiming them at the prototype in the sky, and frantically taking pictures and videos.

Soon enough, photos and even short videos began appearing on military forums online, quickly going viral.

In an instant, major forums, online communities, and numerous chat groups erupted into chaos. Everyone was stunned and ecstatic, because it was all so sudden.

The prototype flew for nearly twenty minutes, completing its scheduled test mission before returning to the Sino-Aviation Linfei R&D Base. As the aircraft arrived over the landing platform, its speed dropped to zero. It then began a steady vertical descent as its landing gear slowly extended.

Finally, the aircraft landed successfully.

Inside the R&D base’s flight control center, the project team members burst into cheers, their applause thundering through the room.

“CEO Xiao, the prototype’s superconducting levitation test was a complete success! The subsequent procedures are moving forward as planned,” Jiang Heng said, approaching Xiao Yu, his voice filled with excitement.

Xiao Yu, however, was quite calm. Success was within his expectations. If he hadn’t been this confident, he wouldn’t have chosen a date like December 26th for the test.

A moment later, Xiao Yu said with a smile, “I imagine the outside world is in an uproar by now. Our test flight this time was quite a high-profile public display. We’ll probably be dominating the trending topics for the next few days.”

The success of this superconducting levitation test was undoubtedly a huge confidence booster for the entire project team.

The main event is next year’s maiden flight of the all-electric Divine Dragon fighter. In comparison, today’s superconducting levitation test was just a small appetizer.

About an hour later, after handling a few matters, Xiao Yu left the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company and returned to his villa. He then gave Yun Shu a call.

“What’s up?”

As soon as the call connected, Yun Shu’s voice came through. Sitting on his sofa, Xiao Yu immediately said, “About the company resuming trading—let’s do it on the first trading day of the new year, which is Tuesday, January 3rd.”

This was already part of the original plan, and there would be more positive news released later on that would exceed expectations.

Yun Shu’s voice came back: “Okay, I’ll arrange it right away.”

After hanging up, Xiao Yu went online for a bit. Just as he expected, the topic of “Sino-Aviation Linfei’s sudden test flight of a mysterious, unknown fighter jet” had shot to the top of the trending topics, sparking a sensational, heated discussion across the entire internet.

[What? I wake up from a nap, and you’re telling me a sixth-generation fighter is already in the sky?]

[I’m no expert, all I can say is holy crap, awesome! Is that anti-gravity?!]

[That silky smooth VTOL, am I watching a sci-fi movie? Earth’s gravity has no hold on this thing, does it? Sir Newton’s about to burst out of his coffin!]

[This has to be superconducting levitation VTOL. Even now, I still see people calling Sino-Aviation Linfei’s room-temperature superconducting material a scam. LOL. If it’s a scam, then what’s this fighter jet’s incredibly smooth vertical levitation and landing?]

[Wouldn’t it be even scarier if it wasn’t superconducting levitation? I’d almost hope this plane isn’t using room-temperature superconductors, because that would mean it’s the legendary anti-gravity black technology. The more you think about it, the scarier it gets.]

[Haha, good point.]

[Say what you will, but setting everything else aside, this plane’s looks are cool as hell. I’m afraid the J-20 is about to become old news…]

[The Bureau Chief once said, the better-looking the fighter jet, the more powerful it is… (husky.jpg)]

[Based on comparisons with the staff and other objects on the landing platform, this unknown fighter is even bigger than the J-20. It’s probably about 35 meters long. Holy crap, that’s insane! It’s 15 meters longer than the J-20. This is definitely a super heavy fighter.]

[Flying it on this day of all days… they chose a very commemorative date.]

[It’s a gift for the Great Man’s birthday, and also a Christmas present for America. America is probably baffled right now, haha!]

[I don’t know if America is baffled, but I sure as hell am. A sixth-generation fighter just shows up without so much as a hello.]

[If this plane belonged to America, the internet would have exploded even more. Their online cheerleaders would be spamming ‘light of humanity’ and ‘technology in the hands of civilization’ all over the place.]

[Just look at the videos about Musk. They already worship him like that. If this was their beloved America’s sixth-gen fighter, they’d be on their knees praising it.]

[Oh no, now America has the latecomer’s advantage of getting to cross the river by feeling our stones… (manual smirk emoji)]

[So, is this a fifth-gen or a sixth-gen fighter?]

[Definitely sixth-gen. At a minimum, it’s better than fifth-gen and looking towards sixth. Plus, we already have the J-20, so it’s unlikely we’d be developing another fifth-gen. The probability of it being a sixth-gen is extremely high.]

…

The vast community of military-enthusiast netizens were all in a state of stunned ecstasy. Even their peers at Chengfei and Shenfei were astonished, as they had never expected Sino-Aviation Linfei’s progress to be so rapid.

As time went on, by the afternoon, the hype reached a new level. Military enthusiasts across the internet were in an absolute uproar.

Xiao Yu’s personal Weibo account was also extremely lively. Tens of thousands of military-enthusiast netizens flocked to his page to leave comments and send a flood of private messages, all asking about the mysterious fighter jet that had suddenly been revealed, regardless of whether Xiao Yu would see them or not.

The most hotly debated topic among them was the speculation over whether this mysterious aircraft was a sixth-generation fighter.

In truth, what shocked the outside world the most was that this mysterious fighter was the work of Sino-Aviation Linfei. The company had been established for less than a year, and they had already gotten an aircraft into the sky. And judging by its aesthetic design and sci-fi appearance, it was clearly a highly advanced product.

If it had come from Chengfei or Shenfei, people would have been shocked, but not nearly to this extent. The fact that it was Sino-Aviation Linfei that pulled it off was what stunned everyone.

This left many people in disbelief. Since when had designing and manufacturing an aircraft become so easy?

It was worth noting that their peers at Chengfei and Shenfei were rather vexed at the moment. Could it be that the title of “first sixth-generation fighter” was about to be snatched away by Sino-Aviation Linfei?

In fact, both Chengfei and Shenfei had their own sixth-generation fighter projects and had even unveiled scale models at the Zhuhai Airshow just this past November. However, those models hadn’t generated much discussion or hype.

The reason was that everyone had dismissed them as mere display models—a kind of conceptual preview. No one took them seriously or believed that the Great Eastern Nation had actually developed a sixth-generation fighter. Thus, there was little hype, and people just gave them a casual glance before moving on.

But today was different. Sino-Aviation Linfei had put a real, honest-to-god aircraft in the sky and let everyone watch it fly. That was the real reason the hype had exploded so rapidly.

…

Chapter 156: Chengfei and Shenfei Join the Fray; Three Sixth-Generation Fighter Jets Take Flight in Two Days

Some eagle-eyed netizens on the internet, using the widely circulated pictures and videos, estimated the mysterious fighter jet’s dimensions by comparing it to nearby reference objects. They calculated its total length to be about thirty-five meters, its wingspan about twenty-two meters, and its total height about five and a half meters.

This estimate was remarkably accurate, with almost no significant error from the actual data.

The prototype’s actual length is 35.67 meters, its wingspan is 22.19 meters, and its height is 5.75 meters.

As time went on, the topic’s popularity soared. About an hour later, Xiao Yu suddenly posted an update on his Weibo account:

[The photos you guys took are a bit blurry. Here’s some HD footage from the inside with a brand-new perspective.]

The moment Xiao Yu published this post, it pushed the hype to a new peak. His message was rapidly forwarded by countless netizens, sparking frenzied discussions across various chat groups and forums.

In this Weibo post, Xiao Yu directly uploaded high-definition video footage shot from within the R&D center. It included clips of the prototype aircraft rolling out of its hardened aircraft shelter and close-up shots of its superconducting levitation VTOL. Except for the interior of the aircraft and other classified information, there were more than enough high-definition close-ups for everyone.

These were camera angles that could only be captured from inside the R&D base. The video was a full one hundred fifty seconds long, generously displaying numerous detailed shots. The vast community of military-enthusiast netizens watched it, exclaiming that it was incredibly satisfying.

Today was undoubtedly a day of widespread celebration and jubilation for the country’s military fans. Everyone was excitedly discussing Sino-Aviation Linfei’s mysterious sixth-generation fighter jet.

However, a few hours later, some trolls and shills started to get busy. Their scripts were nearly identical, spreading the claim that this was not a sixth-generation jet at all, and that the standards for sixth-generation fighters had not even been set yet. The subtext was that only their master could set the standards for sixth-generation jets.

[Hilarious. A company that’s been around for less than a year can build a sixth-generation fighter? And people actually believe this stuff? Can some “know-it-all” please explain what the standard for a sixth-gen jet is? Why is this plane considered sixth-gen? What’s the basis? It’s only been a dozen hours, and netizens are already fantasizing that the Pentagon is losing sleep. Really amusing.]

[The Bureau Chief: Yes, you’re all correct. This is just a modified J-20. Everyone disperse now… (Shiba Inu emoji)]

[Definitely a shill. Who says there’s no standard for sixth-gen jets? Whatever we make is the standard.]

[It’s not just your master who can define the standard. We set the standard for our sixth-generation fighters ourselves. Chief Designer Yang has a paper that basically laid the foundation for our understanding of them. This standard doesn’t need anyone else’s approval. Besides the Great Eastern Country, other nations haven’t even finished the PowerPoint presentations for their sixth-gen jets.]

[I thought the shills wouldn’t fight a losing battle. I was wrong, I was too naive. The way these people think is just… I’m speechless, haha!]

[It’s all just CGI animation. No need to panic.]

[That “no need to panic” just exposed you as a strategic deceiver… (Shiba Inu emoji)]

[They used to say the same thing about the J-20. Just ignore this type of species, let them be.]

[Standard? I, your father, am the standard!]

…

While the domestic military-fan netizens were fiercely debating the shills, the news had already spread overseas. The buzz on the international internet was even greater than at home. This test flight by Sino-Aviation Linfei caused an uproar among foreign netizens; it could be said that it shocked the entire world.

By this evening, as day broke in the Western Hemisphere, Sino-Aviation Linfei’s aircraft had shot to the top of the trending topics on American social media.

As it turned out, the Americans weren’t as magnanimous as one might imagine. After leading for more than a century, seeing the Great Eastern Country so forcefully surpass them in the military domain—a field they prided themselves on—their reaction wasn’t much different from people in India or Korea.

When the news reached the international web, it maxed out in popularity on major American media outlets and social networking platforms. While there were some rational comments, most were angry rants. A strong sour tang of jealousy permeated social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Netizens in North America commented as such:

[Good to see the Great Eastern Nation making progress, though it’s still forty years behind.]

[Its design is terrible. It would be hard to handle in a dogfight.]

[Things made in the East don’t last long. Just calling it sixth-gen doesn’t make it sixth-gen. Believe me, nobody will want it, except maybe Pakistan.]

[The East shows off a plane with tech that was standard in America fifty years ago. Okay, I’m not impressed.]

[Is the plane big? So weak.]

[Yeah, well, they stole it from us.]

[This looks like a shared fighter jet design, as crap as their shared bikes. Innovation will never appear in their brains.]

…

The next day, on the morning of December 27th, an even more shocking and explosive piece of news broke.

In a move no one saw coming, Chengfei and Shenfei suddenly dropped a bombshell. The two aircraft design bureaus conducted test flights for two brand-new models in the morning and afternoon, respectively. These aircraft also featured a delta-wing layout and no vertical tail, conforming to Chief Designer Yang’s understanding of a sixth-generation fighter. Crucially, they were escorted by a J-20 fighter jet.

Good heavens, this left the entire community of military-fan netizens completely stunned. They hadn’t even finished analyzing Sino-Aviation Linfei’s mysterious fighter, and now two more new models had appeared. And with the J-20 acting as an escort, almost everyone unanimously agreed that these had to be sixth-generation fighter jets.

This was a huge deal. The entire internet once again erupted into chaos.

[Are the Trisolarans about to attack Earth? Three sixth-generation fighter jets unveiled in just two days? What’s going on? I’m beyond baffled.]

[Chengfei: We can’t let Linfei steal all the spotlight.]

[Shenfei: We can’t let those two steal all the spotlight.]

[The last time three planes caused this much of a stir at the Pentagon was in 2001.]

[Haha, what kind of dark humor is this?]

[If you went back to the nineties, or even the 2000s, or 2010, and told your past self that three sixth-generation fighter jets would take flight in two days, would your past self have believed you? The answer for most people would be that their past self would have thought their future self was daydreaming.]

[This is absolutely mind-blowing, truly insane. Live long enough and you’ll see everything. I’ve seen countries in an arms race with each other, but I’ve never seen a country in an arms race with itself… (The emoji for facepalming while crying with laughter)]

[Great Eastern Country: I didn’t know what a sixth-gen fighter should be like, so I just tried making three versions…]

[In the blink of an eye, the J-20 has become Mrs. Bull… That was fast!]

[The pros and cons are both obvious. Pro: It’s one generation ahead of the 5th-gen, and even two ahead of the 4th-gen. But the con is also obvious: It’s one generation behind the 7th-gen… (Shiba Inu emoji)]

[There isn’t a universally accepted set of features or a definition for sixth-generation fighters, right? I personally think it’s a new model, but calling it sixth-gen is debatable.]

[If it weren’t sixth-gen, the J-20 wouldn’t be escorting it. The military has a tradition where the new generation of fighters is escorted by the previous one. The J-6 escorted the J-10, and the J-10 escorted the J-20. This tradition has always been upheld. For something to make the J-20 look like a sidekick, what do you think it is? The J-20’s wingman?]

[Then why wasn’t Sino-Aviation Linfei’s plane escorted by a J-20?]

[Maybe it’s because Sino-Aviation Linfei is a private company, or perhaps there wasn’t enough time. After all, no one expected a company established less than a year ago to get an aircraft into the sky. That, to me, is what’s truly mind-blowing and unbelievable. Even if we concede that Sino-Aviation Linfei’s plane isn’t a sixth-gen, the ones from Chengfei and Shenfei definitely are.]

[I think the plane from Sino-Aviation Linfei is more advanced. Aesthetics aside, its design is the most stunning of the three models. And as we all know, looks are combat power. Don’t take it from me, that’s what the Bureau Chief said.]

…

Chapter 157: America’s Meltdown and a Brilliantly Stupid Move

News about the three sixth-generation fighter jets was now all over the internet, completely dominating the trending topics.

It was worth noting that the reason Sino-Aviation Linfei’s test flight wasn’t accompanied by a J-20 escort was primarily because this was just a superconducting levitation test. The aircraft wasn’t a sixth-generation fighter in the strictest sense.

The state and the military were aware of this; after all, an application had to be submitted before the test flight, so of course they knew.

However, the outside world didn’t know this. The internal structure of the aircraft was a complete mystery; the public only saw its exterior. Its appearance alone would instinctively lead anyone to believe it was a sixth-generation fighter.

In truth, that assumption wasn’t wrong. The external layout of the prototype Sino-Aviation Linfei tested was indeed designed to sixth-generation fighter standards. Xiao Yu’s goal was to secure the “J-26” designation for the “Divine Dragon” fighter project, a designation for an “integrated fighter-bomber.”

The design was intended to look like a sixth-generation fighter from the outset, and the final “Divine Dragon” fighter would essentially have the same appearance. So, it was no surprise that outsiders couldn’t tell the difference.

As for Chengfei and Shenfei, who also unveiled their own sixth-generation fighters today, this was actually the result of a last-minute change in plans.

The original plan was to simply display a model at this year’s Zhuhai Airshow, with no intention of flying an actual prototype. The real deal was slated for a 2023 or 2024 debut.

But as the saying goes, plans can’t keep up with changes.

When Sino-Aviation Linfei’s test aircraft took flight, the sensation it created was enormous, and the hype was far beyond anyone’s expectations.

The authorities were actually uncertain whether Xiao Yu could successfully pull off the “Divine Dragon” project. However, it had already created such a massive sensation and public attention had exploded. If the project were to fail down the line, it would be quite embarrassing. Therefore, the higher-ups decided to have Shenfei and Chengfei conduct their own flights and unveilings. That way, even if Sino-Aviation Linfei’s project didn’t pan out, the country wouldn’t lose face.

Besides, with Sino-Aviation Linfei hogging the spotlight, the folks at Chengfei and Shenfei were already chomping at the bit. The moment the order came from the top, they scrambled to get their planes in the air.

Three sixth-generation fighters taking to the skies in two days—this created an even greater sensation. People from all walks of life around the world were utterly dumbfounded.

The entire world was in shock. While other nations had yet to produce a single sixth-generation fighter, the Great Eastern Country had flown three different models in just two days. Everyone was completely stunned.

Forget sixth-generation fighters—even for fifth-generation ones, only the top three global powers were capable of developing them. The number of countries in the world that could independently research, design, and manufacture their own aircraft could be counted on one hand, let alone fighters this advanced.

Interestingly, the news that the Great Eastern Country had suddenly flown two more brand-new aircraft models spread rapidly across the globe, once again topping the trending topics in America.

Netizens in America woke up feeling like the sky was falling. The Americans themselves hadn’t even test-flown a sixth-generation fighter, yet the incredible debut of the Great Eastern Country’s new fighter was already a shock. Before they could even process it, they woke up to find that the Great Eastern Country had flown two more.

By tonight, the comment sections of American military forums had undergone a complete reversal. Yesterday, American netizens had reacted with shock, frenzy, and ridicule. Today, they had simply given up and were resigned to their fate…

The American “War Zone” website published two back-to-back headlines, both about the maiden flights of the Great Eastern Country’s sixth-generation fighters—three different models, no less. What was more interesting was that the tone of the comment sections for the two articles was completely different.

The first article was a commentary on Sino-Aviation Linfei’s plane. The comment section spanned more than a dozen pages, mostly filled with technical discussions covering everything from the fighter’s airframe and engines to various other details. The level of technical expertise in the comments was impressive, and the fervent atmosphere of discussion was a rare sight on the “War Zone” website.

But after the second article, which covered the reveal of Chengfei’s and Shenfei’s sixth-generation fighters, the comment section quickly lost its enthusiastic atmosphere. It devolved into a stream of memes. It seemed these American netizens felt a sense of helplessness and simply decided to give up and have a meme war instead…

“Shocking foreigners” was a common trope, but this was completely different. This time, many foreigners genuinely had their mental defenses shattered.

This was especially true for Westerners, and Americans in particular. The Great Eastern Country flying three brand-new sixth-generation fighters in two days sent them into shock and disbelief, causing them to suffer one mental breakdown after another.

One American blogger, who used to review aircraft from around the world with an air of arrogance, sounded noticeably less confident in his latest video critiquing the Great Eastern Country’s three new planes. It was because America currently had no sixth-generation fighters of its own.

What surprised many people back home was that the debut of the Great Eastern Country’s three sixth-generation fighters caused a greater sensation abroad than any previous event. It truly set off an explosion of chaos. This was because it concerned “hard power”—the Americans realized they had been surpassed in the military domain they took so much pride in, and that triggered a complete meltdown.

And just in the past two days, a major reversal of roles occurred. Faced with the Great Eastern Country’s three new aircraft models, the Americans, instead of deciding whether to acknowledge them as sixth-generation fighters or not, chose to redefine the very standards of a sixth-generation fighter.

They even worked through the night to change the definition of a sixth-generation fighter on Wikipedia. In just two days, the entry was edited more than two hundred times by various opposing parties. The edit war was quite a spectacle.

Then, they began claiming on social media that America already had its own sixth-generation fighter—the B-21 bomber.

This, of course, caused an even bigger stir. America’s ridiculous move immediately drew scorn from netizens across the globe. The whole situation was ludicrous.

The news quickly reached domestic audiences. The onlooking netizens thought it was fake at first, but it turned out to be true. A quick look at the Wikipedia entry confirmed it: the B-21 was indeed listed under the sixth-generation fighter article, which had been edited over two hundred times in the past two days.

[I guess “plugging your ears while stealing a bell” isn’t just a fable after all.]

[Reminds me of a funny comment I saw: “Between the options of putting in the work and just changing the rules, they chose to just change the rules.”]

[Planes flying, dogs jumping.]

[Four simple words. So vivid. It was a dark day for literature when you retired from writing, my friend.]

[Give it a rest. Most entries can be edited by anyone, including anonymous users. This is getting ridiculous.]

[Oh? Didn’t a bunch of people used to say Wikipedia’s moderation and management were authoritative? Now you’re saying anyone can edit it freely, so Wikipedia is worthless now, is that it?]

[Whatever. Either Wikipedia’s so-called authority is a pile of crap, or this idiotic B-21 move is a case of burying their heads in the sand. It’s gotta be one of the two.]

[Actually, it’s both. Forcibly shoving the B-21 into the sixth-gen entry… I never would have dreamed of such a low-IQ move.]

[Usually, when you classify fighter generations, you’re talking about air superiority fighters. Why is the B-21, a bomber, even joining the party?]

[If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Right now it’s just a PowerPoint plane. Feels like that vaporware all over again.]

[Eagle: Good news, we got through the night safely. Bad news, the night of safety is over.]

[Good news, there’s nothing on the radar. Bad news, we can see it with the naked eye.]

[I just want to say one thing. In the past, they had planes and cannons, and we had an iron will. Now that we have planes and cannons, they’d better have an iron will too. After all, if this keeps up, even our steel is about to develop a will of its own… (manual smirk emoji)]

…

Chapter 158: Announcement of a Major Breakthrough in Graphene Battery Technology

The “battle” on Wikipedia was raging. Regardless of whether it was the Americans secretly making edits or their sycophants, the slick move of listing the B-21 as a sixth-generation fighter jet had become a global embarrassment, sparking ridicule and sarcasm from netizens worldwide.

Just one day later, faced with a powerful global tide of public mockery, they realized something was wrong. They had completely failed to achieve their desired effect, and they couldn’t even pretend to be oblivious anymore. And so, another dramatic scene unfolded.

In the Wikipedia entry for sixth-generation fighter jets, the B-21 bomber, once defined as such, was quietly removed. Furthermore, the entry was locked, preventing any edits or modifications in the short term.

Now, the Wikipedia entry for sixth-generation fighter jets listed only three aircraft: the Sino-Aviation Linfei sixth-gen, the Chengfei sixth-gen, and the Shenfei sixth-gen, all defined as prototypes undergoing test flights.

It was truly mortifying. This little trick was tantamount to dragging themselves off their pedestal, leaving their adoring sycophants in a state of bewildered collapse with no god to worship.

The sudden, stealthy removal of the B-21 from the entry was because this clever ploy had backfired spectacularly, leaving everyone in America, along with a host of its sycophants, too ashamed to show their faces.

If the B-21 counted as a sixth-generation fighter, then the J-20S was even more deserving of the title, perhaps even a 6.5-generation jet. The J-20S’s specs were superior to the B-21’s. If the B-21 was considered sixth-gen, then several of the Great Eastern Country’s aircraft, and even some from Russia, would also qualify.

America’s self-defined standards had become a joke. By that logic, the three aircraft that had just flown could be considered seventh-generation fighters.

But these were secondary concerns. For the Eagle, there was now a more troublesome and thorny issue: should they believe in the “Nantianmen Project” proposed by the Great Eastern Country in 2019, or not?

This was a major problem.

To believe it was to risk falling into a huge trap. To not believe it was to risk it being true.

After seeing three sixth-generation fighters take to the skies in two days, the “Nantianmen Project” suddenly felt frighteningly real. The Eagle was now going mad, scratching its head over the matter.

…

While the outside world was abuzz with discussions about the three new sixth-generation fighter jets, Spiritual Mirror Tech issued an announcement on Thursday, December 29th, to resume trading. The company would resume trading on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023.

This effectively locked in the company’s 2022 closing price at 127.27 yuan, corresponding to a market capitalization of 11.047 trillion yuan. For the full year, it posted a gain of +3027.03%, an increase of more than thirty-fold, making it the undisputed number one bull stock of 2022.

Calculated from its all-time low of 0.42 yuan on August 31st, 2021, the stock’s adjusted cumulative gain was an astonishing +3030138.12%, an increase of over 30,300 times.

No one could have imagined that Spiritual Mirror Tech, with a market cap of only 365 million yuan just one year and four months ago and once thought to be on the verge of delisting, would see its market value soar to the current height of 11.047 trillion yuan in such a short time.

As time went on, the new year arrived as scheduled.

After the New Year’s Day holiday, on Tuesday, January 3rd, the A-share market ushered in its first trading day of the new year.

Spiritual Mirror Tech officially resumed trading today. Xiao Yu, who usually paid little attention to the capital markets, was also watching his company’s performance upon its return.

During the morning’s opening call auction, the stock opened lower at 120.00 yuan, a drop of 5.71%. After the market opened at 9:30 AM, profit-takers and short-term traders unsurprisingly began to sell off their shares and exit, causing the stock price to open low and trend lower.

In the first half-hour of trading, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price dived all the way to 110.05 yuan, widening its losses to -13.53%. Upon hitting this point, the decline halted, and the price saw a slight rebound before stabilizing around the 115 yuan mark.

Many had predicted that the stock would be slammed straight to its limit down at the open, given the massive profits held by existing shareholders. Moreover, the stock was known as a super-stronghold for retail investors, with over eight million accounts holding its shares. Logically, this should have triggered a collective stampede. To everyone’s surprise, it didn’t hit the limit down upon resuming trading, which was quite unexpected.

On one hand, the recent spectacular display by Sino-Aviation Linfei Company’s test aircraft buoyed sentiment, as Spiritual Mirror Tech held a 25% stake in the company, making many people optimistic.

On the other hand, and perhaps more importantly, while Spiritual Mirror Tech was on a trading halt, the A-share market had repeatedly engaged in a battle to defend the 3000-point level. Gullible investors were being fleeced everywhere, and the nearly two hundred million retail investors were extremely disappointed with the market.

Retail investors would rather band together in Spiritual Mirror Tech than go elsewhere. The company’s current price was frothy, but its fundamentals were solid, and its future prospects had infinite room for imagination. Even if it was a bubble now, it could be filled in by future growth.

Most importantly, everyone trusted the character of the founder, Xiao Yu.

He didn’t fleece retail investors. In Spiritual Mirror Tech, at least, they didn’t have to worry about him colluding with institutions to prey on small retail investors. The game within this stock was far fairer than in others.

Even if they were stuck with a losing stock, the company distributed one-third of its annual profits as dividends, allowing them to continuously lower their cost basis. With such strong fundamental support and future prospects, they would dare to buy the dip if the price fell too much.

So everyone preferred to band together in Spiritual Mirror Tech rather than go elsewhere.

At this moment, retail investors who had already made a profit were cashing out, while those without shares were willing to enter with small positions to build a starter position. Although individual small retail investors didn’t buy large positions, the sheer number of buyers created immense liquidity.

Xiao Yu was also watching his company’s performance on its first day back. He sat in his office, chin in hand, pondering for a moment before picking up his desk phone to call Yun Shu.

As soon as the call connected, Xiao Yu gave his instructions, “Arrange for an announcement to be released at noon. Disclose the company’s major breakthrough in graphene battery technology.”

Yun Shu’s voice came from the other end, “Okay, got it.”

After hanging up, Xiao Yu stopped paying attention to the stock price. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s price had hit an intraday low of 110.05 yuan, a drop of 13.53%, with its market cap falling to 9.55 trillion yuan. It had shed 1.49 trillion yuan in market value, equivalent to wiping out the entire market cap of the Number One Bank in the Universe.

It couldn’t be helped. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market cap was so enormous that a mere one percent fluctuation meant a rise or fall of one hundred billion yuan in value.

About an hour later, at 12:23 PM, during the midday trading break, Spiritual Mirror Tech released a blockbuster announcement. It officially declared that its graphene battery technology had achieved a major breakthrough, tripling its energy density from the original baseline.

The moment this news broke, it caused a massive sensation in both the capital markets and the tech circle.

This was undoubtedly another major breakthrough in battery technology. What was even more surprising was the speed of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s technological advancement. This super-boosted increase in energy density was of immense significance to various new-energy industries.

Whether for new-energy vehicles, smartphones, tablets, or other mobile applications, this would represent an epic upgrade.

In other words, these industries would become even more inseparable from the word “graphene” in the future, which further meant they would become more inseparable from Spiritual Mirror Tech, as the company held a monopoly on the technology.

The sheer scale of its market potential was simply unimaginable.

Investors also realized the terrifying innovative power of this tech company, which far exceeded market expectations.

When the market reopened for the afternoon session at 1:00 PM, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price immediately stopped falling and began to rebound. The 110.05 yuan mark became the day’s low. Funds that had been hesitant to buy in finally dared to make a move, while shareholders who had been considering selling became less willing to do so.

Buying interest grew stronger while selling interest waned, inevitably leading to a stronger stock price.

The market formed a consensus to go long. In just half an hour, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price rallied powerfully from 13.5 percentage points in negative territory to turn positive, and it continued to climb.

The institutions that had missed out on a stock rally were in an awkward position. At Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current price, it was too expensive to get in. They were also afraid of getting crushed by the eight million retail investors, whose shares had already profited six to seven-fold. Even if the stock price were cut in half, they would still have a cushion of several hundred percent profit.

But not getting in meant missing out on such a super bull stock.

Institutions couldn’t even create negative news to engineer a big dip to get on board, because Xiao Yu didn’t play their game. Their options were either to join in and drive up the price for others or to watch from the sidelines. And now, he had just released another blockbuster catalyst that exceeded all expectations.

Normally, releasing positive news at a high price is a trap, a way to lure people into being the bagholder.

But this logic didn’t seem to apply to Spiritual Mirror Tech. When positive news came out, it soared even higher, because the news was a blockbuster catalyst that blew past expectations, and the underlying logic was rock-solid.

At 1:39 PM, various trading apps sent out a notification:

[Spiritual Mirror Tech continues to strengthen in the afternoon session, rising over +6% to 135 yuan, setting a new all-time high. Market cap reaches 11.71 trillion, with current trading volume exceeding 200 billion.]

Even as the news flash was being sent, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price was still climbing, setting new highs one after another.

After breaking through its previous high, the price consolidated at that level for about ten minutes. The selling pressure dwindled, and around 2:00 PM, the stock resumed its ascent.

At 2:37 PM, the trading apps sent another notification:

[Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price hits +20.00% daily limit-up in the late trading session, reaching a new all-time high of 152.72 yuan. Market cap reaches 13.256 trillion yuan, with current trading volume exceeding 300 billion yuan.]

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price remained firmly sealed at the limit up right through to the market close.

People from all corners of the market were dumbfounded. After skyrocketing by more than seven-fold on the previous trading day, it had managed to pull off a strong 20% daily limit-up upon resuming trading today.

Spiritual Mirror Tech was now a ten-trillion-yuan behemoth, yet it could still hit the limit up.

With this limit-up, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market capitalization saw a net increase of 2.2 trillion yuan, equivalent to the entire market cap of Kweichow Moutai.

Calculated from the day’s low, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s market cap had increased by 3.7 trillion yuan in the afternoon session alone, equivalent to the combined market caps of Kweichow Moutai and the Number One Bank in the Universe.

A total market cap of 13.256 trillion yuan—what did that even mean?

It was equivalent to the combined market capitalization of the 2nd to 14th ranked companies in the A-share market. Alternatively, it was equal to the sum of the market caps of all currently listed companies in the banking, brokerage, and insurance sectors—the so-called “three fools of finance” of the A-share market.

…

Chapter 159: The Burden of Vast Wealth

3:30 p.m., Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters.

“The company hit its limit up on the first day of resumed trading, and our market cap set a new all-time high. A lot of after-hours news is reporting on your skyrocketing net worth. You’re already a trending topic,” Yun Shu said with a smile, looking at Xiao Yu. She was in his office.

Today, the company’s stock hit its limit up, with the market cap soaring to a new height of 13.256 trillion. Xiao Yu’s personal net worth also set a new all-time high, reaching an incredible 6.76 trillion, which was over 920 billion US dollars.

This was because Xiao Yu held over half of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s shares, at 51.03%.

Moreover, some media reports had already dubbed him the first person in human history with a fortune exceeding one trillion US dollars, because besides Spiritual Mirror Tech, Sino-Aviation Linfei Company was also founded by Xiao Yu.

Some claimed that if this company went public, with its monopoly on room-temperature superconducting materials, it would undoubtedly be another trillion-dollar-level super-giant.

Its potential was in no way inferior to Spiritual Mirror Tech’s. Room-temperature superconducting material was hailed as the “Holy Grail” of the new materials world, a product capable of ushering in humanity’s fourth industrial revolution or a new scientific and technological revolution.

And public information showed that Xiao Yu currently held a 65% stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

“Heh, these media outlets sensationalizing my personal net worth… it seems like they’re just chasing clicks, and they are, but their intentions are malicious,” Xiao Yu said, standing by his office window. After a moment, he walked over to the lounge area sofa and sat down next to Yun Shu.

Hearing this, Yun Shu glanced at Xiao Yu curiously and asked, “Malicious intentions?”

Xiao Yu leaned back against the sofa and said calmly, “Think about it. What is my reputation built on? How does the public see me? ‘Aren’t you supposed to be leading the less fortunate to prosperity? Aren’t you supposed to be promoting common prosperity? So why is more and more wealth being concentrated in your hands?’ Faced with that, how am I supposed to respond?”

He then added, “When I say their intentions are malicious, I mean they’ll first build you up, put you on a pedestal, and then they’ll inevitably make a huge issue out of the wealth gap. They’ll target me, the super-rich man with a net worth in the trillions, and use that as ‘evidence’ to orchestrate a major reversal, claiming I’ve betrayed my beliefs. They’ll incite public dissatisfaction and paint me as the number one creator of wealth polarization and the biggest vested interest.”

Yun Shu had a sudden realization. She looked at Xiao Yu and said, “Then how should we respond?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled calmly. “I was never fond of this ‘world’s richest man’ title anyway. It really is a huge burden. Possessing such a vast amount of personal wealth goes against my core beliefs. I think it’s time to toss this hat over to the capitalist world across the Pacific.”

People wanting to make a big deal out of his nation-rivaling wealth, to launch a psychological attack and turn the public against him, was indeed quite troublesome.

Xiao Yu had long been contemplating how to handle the inevitable problem of possessing such immense wealth. Even without the media’s malicious intentions, he knew he had to solve this issue, or sooner or later he would be corrupted by money and capital.

Xiao Yu genuinely disliked and resisted the title of “world’s richest man.” It was a title that belonged to the capitalist world. For it to land on his own head was, in his eyes, a kind of irony—in a sense, it was tantamount to a repudiation of his own beliefs.

Yun Shu looked at him and said, “The question is, how do you get rid of it?”

At her words, Xiao Yu spoke decisively, “I currently hold a 51.03% stake in Spiritual Mirror Tech under my name. I’ve decided to transfer 50.03% of those shares to the Benevolence Fund, free of charge. However, to ensure I retain control and prevent others from hijacking the company and changing its nature and original purpose, this 50.03% stake must be bound to me by a permanent concerted action agreement. From now on, I will only symbolically hold 1% of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s shares.”

As long as he held the control, Xiao Yu could at least guarantee that it wouldn’t be corrupted within his lifetime—unless he himself betrayed his original intentions and his beliefs.

This way, not only would Xiao Yu shed this burden, but his enemies would also be unable to use this issue to turn his own words against him in a psychological attack. Before they could even make their opening move, Xiao Yu had already transferred 50.03% of his shares to the Benevolence Fund, leaving only a symbolic 1% for himself. How could they attack his character now? Moreover, it would close any opening for them to sow discord between him and the masses.

And what was the Benevolence Fund for? It was a charitable organization dedicated to fulfilling the promise of leading the less fortunate to prosperity, seeking the well-being of the masses at the bottom, and guiding everyone toward common prosperity.

His enemies wanted to put him on a pedestal to attack his character, but with this move, Xiao Yu could turn the tables and do the same to the hypocrites.

Previously, Xiao Yu might have had some reservations, but now that he had mastered the organic body technology, the situation was completely different. He could ensure he was in an invincible position, so he no longer needed to be overly cautious or hold back for fear of causing collateral damage.

And if he had the N-800 Nano Armament, that would be another story entirely. The N-800 Nano Armament would give Xiao Yu a power over this world so absolute it would be like a dimension reduction strike. In the face of such nearly absolute military might, what could the world do even if they knew he possessed alien technology? Who would dare say anything? Who would dare to covet it?

At that point, the entire world would probably be secretly praying that the Xiao Yu who wielded such terrifying and immense power was a Clark Kent from Superman, and not the arch-villain Homelander from The Boys.

At that moment, Yun Shu couldn’t help but look at Xiao Yu and say, “You’ve certainly shed the burden, but are you really willing to voluntarily give up such a massive fortune?”

Evidently, the assistant didn’t know Xiao Yu’s greatest secret, which was why she asked.

When one could possess something like the N-800 Nano Armament and use it to achieve a truly transcendent status, things like money and wealth were, by comparison, no different from dirt.

What Xiao Yu was pursuing now was the goal of transforming the world into the image he desired, and he was striving for this as his life’s work. This clearly belonged to the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: self-actualization.

Hearing Yun Shu’s words, Xiao Yu smiled. “I am. You have to give in order to receive. The real danger is being unable to let go. Over time, I would most likely be corrupted by money and capital. We are meant to control money and capital for our own use, not be corrupted by it until it becomes the master.”

For Xiao Yu, money had indeed become a burden. Even after transferring 50.03%, the remaining 1%, based on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current market cap, was still worth over 130 billion. He would still be a tycoon worth hundreds of billions, with more money than he could spend in ten lifetimes.

As the company’s market cap continued to rise in the future, it would be worth far more than 130 billion.

Furthermore, Xiao Yu still had Sino-Aviation Linfei under his name, with a 65% stake. In the future, he could still become the world’s richest man, a trillionaire, through this company alone—not to mention the wealth he could generate by bringing other black technologies from the Blue Star world to Earth.

“Then I’ll donate some as well. I’ll transfer the shares you had me buy at the lowest point to a trust, free of charge,” Yun Shu said after some thought. She looked at Xiao Yu and added with a smile, “You’re leading by example, and transferring a whole 50.03%. I bet Old Xu, Fu Kang, and the others will definitely follow suit.”

Xiao Yu wasn’t surprised by her words. The founding members who had stayed with him this long were all people who shared his values and beliefs. He was one hundred percent certain that Xu Changming, Fu Kang, and the others would follow suit once they found out.

Xiao Yu said in a serious tone, “Following suit is fine. I can’t and shouldn’t stop them from pursuing a higher state of mind. However, you guys don’t hold that many shares to begin with, so you can’t follow my ratio. About a third should be enough. And this is limited to our company’s founding members. No one else is allowed to follow our example.”

Clearly, Xiao Yu was being lenient with others while being strict with himself. This was both to command greater respect and also in consideration of the objective reality that not everyone could reach his level of ideological awareness.

Everyone’s situation was different. Even Xiao Yu himself still had his 65% stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei, but others might only have their stock options and allocations from Spiritual Mirror Tech.

To prevent a situation where some people, who didn’t really want to donate but felt pressured by the circumstances and the need to save face, would be forced to follow suit and end up resentful—which would hurt the team’s unity—Xiao Yu made this special rule. It was to give those people an out, so they wouldn’t be put in an awkward position and the internal unity wouldn’t be damaged.

When their level of awareness reached a certain point in the future, they would naturally do so voluntarily and spontaneously. If they never reached that level, it was fine too. It was only human nature.

Chapter 160: Setting the Entire Internet Ablaze Once Again

Hearing Xiao Yu’s decision, Yun Shu said with a broad smile, “Alright then, I’ll keep five hundred million shares for myself and transfer the remaining three hundred and fifty million to the Benevolence Fund for free.”

Yun Shu was initially allocated three million of the company’s original shares. Later, on Xiao Yu’s advice, she bought another five point five million shares near the stock’s lowest point, bringing her total to eight point five million. After the high-yield bonus issue and stock split, this became eight hundred and fifty million shares.

Based on the company’s latest closing price, these eight hundred and fifty million shares were worth one hundred and twenty-nine point eight billion, making her a female tycoon with a nominal net worth in the hundreds of billions.

Transferring three hundred and fifty million shares to the Benevolence Fund, she would still have five hundred million shares worth seventy-six point three billion. In the future, these five hundred million shares were certain to appreciate to a value of over one hundred billion, as in the long run, the company’s market capitalization was bound to keep rising. It was only a matter of time before it surpassed fifty trillion.

Finally, Xiao Yu said, “Alright, let’s do that. I’ll leave the arrangements to you. Report back to me when it’s done. Also, inform Old Xu and the others about this.”

Yun Shu nodded. “Okay, I’ll go make the arrangements now.”

With that, she left Xiao Yu’s office.

After Xu Changming, Fu Kang, and the others learned of the decision, they reacted just as Xiao Yu had expected. They all supported it and decisively chose to follow suit. These founding members were genuinely willing to participate. If not for Xiao Yu’s stipulation that they could not exceed one-third, they would have even considered giving up two-thirds.

However, they all committed only about one-third of their current shareholdings, no more. To do otherwise might put others in an awkward position. After all, only they knew their own true feelings, and they understood this was precisely the intent behind Xiao Yu’s rule—to find a common ground acceptable to all.

…

The next day, following its limit up from the day before, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price surged again. It rose by more than seven percent at one point during trading, hitting a price of 163.82 yuan. Its total market capitalization soared to a high of fourteen point two two trillion.

During the midday break, the company released an announcement that not only caused an uproar in the capital markets but also broke through its niche that very day, becoming a sensation that rocked the entire internet.

The announcement was none other than Xiao Yu and the founding team of Spiritual Mirror Tech officially declaring that, in support of the Benevolence Fund’s mission, the company’s founding members would be transferring their Spiritual Mirror Tech shares to the fund at no cost.

Among them, founder Xiao Yu would transfer his personal holding of 50.03% of the company’s equity, a total of forty-three point four two six billion shares, to the Benevolence Fund for free. He would personally retain only a one percent stake in Spiritual Mirror Tech, equivalent to eight hundred and sixty-eight million shares.

The other founding team members would transfer one-third of their respective shareholdings to the Benevolence Fund at no cost.

The moment this news was announced, it instantly blew up, sending the entire internet into chaos.

Everyone who saw the news was stunned, their faces a mask of utter astonishment and disbelief.

“What? Has Xiao Yu lost his mind? To just give up a fifty percent stake in Spiritual Mirror Tech like that? That’s wealth worth seven trillion…!” A big shot in the investment circle stared dumbfounded at the news report. The story was already spreading like wildfire across the internet, blowing past all other trending topics.

Countless people couldn’t wrap their heads around it, especially the ‘Master Huangs’ of the world like Zhou Baichuan from Penghui Capital. When they saw the news, they found it utterly inconceivable, unbelievable, and they were infuriated.

As for those who had been planning a psychological attack on Xiao Yu, they were now truly dumbfounded.

They had never dreamed Xiao Yu would make such a move. How could they possibly launch a psychological attack now? Not only had their plan become impossible, but they were the ones being held over the fire. Xiao Yu had truly gone all-in to fulfill his promise of ‘leading the less fortunate to prosperity.’ And what about them? If they didn’t follow suit, their hypocritical masks would be ruthlessly torn away.

After their initial shock, the ‘Master Huangs’ were red-hot with rage, absolutely furious.

At this moment, Xiang Chongguang also learned of the news. He was equally stunned by such a magnificent feat from Spiritual Mirror Tech’s founding team. In this day and age, such an act seemed completely out of place.

What Xiang Chongguang found even more incomprehensible was, wasn’t Xiao Yu worried that this would offend countless ‘Master Huangs,’ both in the open and in the shadows? He didn’t believe Xiao Yu couldn’t see this. If that was the case, why would he still do it?

Xiang Chongguang found Xiao Yu to be more inscrutable than ever.

He wasn’t the only one who couldn’t see through or understand it; very few in the outside world could. After all, outsiders didn’t know that Xiao Yu possessed the Transference Star Ring, let alone the existence of things like the organic body or the N-800 Nano Armament.

Xiao Yu was no fool. Without a sufficiently powerful safety net, he would not have rashly made an enemy of the masses and put himself in such a perilous situation.

Now that he had mastered the organic body technology, he could, of course, afford to be bold.

At this very moment, Xiao Yu’s Weibo account was being flooded by millions of netizens. The screen was filled with their effusive praise. This astonishing feat had earned him an unprecedented level of public acclaim and prestige.

In truth, actions spoke louder than any words. Now, almost everyone in the general public was utterly convinced that Xiao Yu was fulfilling his promise of ‘leading the less fortunate to prosperity.’ Even those who had previously harbored doubts were now firm believers.

Moreover, if anyone tried to slander Xiao Yu, countless netizens would spontaneously take on the detractors without him needing to lift a finger.

In the capital markets, however, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price took a dive because of this news. After hitting a new high during the day, it reversed to close down 7.93% at 140.61 yuan. The reason was this sudden, major change in the company’s equity structure; clearly, some were worried that with only a one percent stake, Xiao Yu might lose control of Spiritual Mirror Tech.

Over the next two trading days, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price pulled back to the one hundred and thirty yuan level, at one point dipping to a low of 122.63 yuan.

But after pulling back for only three days, the price stabilized again, as investors’ concerns were quickly alleviated.

The Benevolence Fund accepted the transferred 50.03% stake, but it signed a permanent concerted action agreement with Xiao Yu. This meant that the voting rights for this 50.03% stake remained in Xiao Yu’s hands. Besides, the Benevolence Fund was an organization where Xiao Yu served as Chairman, and all its personnel were appointed by him.

Xiao Yu’s control over Spiritual Mirror Tech remained unchanged. Unless he chose to relinquish it himself, no one could challenge his authority. Once this concern was put to rest, investors were reassured, which was reflected in the company’s stock price.

After pulling back for three trading days, the stock stabilized and began to rebound. On Wednesday, January 11, the price bounced back to 146.78 yuan, bringing the market cap to twelve point seven four trillion.

At the same time, the stock’s daily trading volume was gradually shrinking. This was quite normal, as those who intended to sell had mostly done so over the past few days, and short-term capital had been exiting the market. The majority of newly entering funds were inclined toward value investing, intending to hold for the long term and steadily collect the company’s dividends. A decrease in volume was therefore to be expected.

The daily turnover of six hundred ninety-eight point six billion on the day the stock had skyrocketed more than sevenfold was a colossal volume that was unlikely to be surpassed for a very long time.

However, this shrinking volume was only relative. In reality, the current daily turnover was still over one hundred billion. After all, with a market cap in the tens of trillions, that was to be expected.

…

Chapter 161: Substantive Progress in Negotiations with the Americans

Around 4:00 PM, in the Chairman’s office at Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters.

“CEO Xiao, the tug-of-war negotiations with the Americans have finally reached a substantive agreement today. The Americans ultimately gave in.” Xu Changming entered the office to report the progress on the matter to Xiao Yu.

Just this morning, Xu Changming held the fifth round of negotiations with the Americans regarding the graphene material deal, and they finally reached a consensus.

Faced with Spiritual Mirror Tech’s refusal to back down, the Americans compromised this time, accepting Xu Changming’s two core conditions: doubling the purchase price of graphene and restoring the supply of computing resources to Spiritual Mirror Tech.

They had no choice. If the Americans wanted to secure a supply of graphene, they had to compromise. After all, there was no other manufacturer in the world that could replace them.

Xiao Yu nodded, quite satisfied, and said, “With the computing resources supply restored, we can lift the user limit on Mira AI in the second half of this year.”

Currently, Mira AI still maintains a maximum concurrent user count of fifty million. This wasn’t Mira AI’s limit, but rather a restriction due to insufficient computing resources. To avoid affecting the user experience, they had actively limited it to support a maximum of fifty million concurrent users.

If the restriction were lifted, it could easily surpass one hundred million, because Mira AI’s total registered users had already reached 275 million. It was already a super-app. To achieve such a terrifying number of registrations in just one short year, it was definitely on track to become a super-platform with a billion-user capacity.

After a moment, Xiao Yu added, “Of course, our collaboration on domestic replacements must continue. We’re only using America’s computing chips for now; the ultimate goal is still to achieve independent substitution. Communicate this clearly to our partners. We’re pursuing both avenues, so tell them not to worry.”

Hearing this, Xu Changming nodded. “Understood.”

Computing resources were one of those things you could never have enough of. It was safe to say that until quantum computers were developed, there would never be enough.

The result of these negotiations with America was that starting in 2023, a 20% quota of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s graphene production capacity would be supplied to North American companies, with Apple prominently on that list.

Spiritual Mirror Tech would continue its trend of doubling its graphene production capacity annually. In 2023, the total capacity would increase to ten thousand tons. The Americans had secured a 20% quota, which amounted to two thousand tons.

Moreover, the price was doubled, meaning the profit from selling two thousand tons to the Americans was equivalent to the profit from selling four thousand tons domestically.

This year, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s performance would undoubtedly exceed expectations once again.

However, it was worth mentioning that the Europeans were getting antsy, because European companies didn’t get a quota.

Xiao Yu had no intention of releasing more production capacity to foreigners. The two thousand tons went to the Americans, and the remaining eight thousand tons would be consumed by major domestic industrial manufacturers—and even that wasn’t enough.

They couldn’t help it; the total market demand was just too massive. Even with production capacity increasing to ten thousand tons this year, it was still not enough to meet the demand in the Greater China market alone.

The current situation was that everyone had to place orders and sign contracts in advance, with payment required before delivery. There was no chance for payment arrears. Too many companies and industries were scrambling for it. The smartphone sector alone could easily consume several thousand tons. This situation of “too many wolves, not enough meat” was expected to last for several more years.

European companies were dying to get their hands on it, but they simply couldn’t get any.

In truth, the Americans had screwed over the Europeans in this deal. The previous rounds of negotiations had all been conducted in secret, so the outside world still knew nothing about it.

During the negotiations, while making concessions, the Americans added an extra demand: Spiritual Mirror Tech must agree to prioritize North America for any additional export production quotas. Only after North America’s demand was met could they sell to other countries.

Xiao Yu and Xu Changming naturally knew what kind of scheme America was plotting. America wanted to act as the “sole distributor” for Spiritual Mirror Tech’s overseas graphene exports. After North America, the largest market in the world was Europe.

America was looking to rip off the big European suckers. They wanted to buy from Spiritual Mirror Tech and then resell it to the European suckers at a high price, earning a middleman’s margin to hedge their costs.

Spiritual Mirror Tech had simply driven the price down too much, slashing it by a factor of ten or twenty. Even if America bought it at a 100% premium and then marked it up by another 50% to sell to the European suckers, the price would still be far lower than that of other graphene manufacturers.

Xiao Yu agreed to America’s condition, but with a validity period of two years. After two years, they would decide whether to renew based on the situation.

Xiao Yu obviously wasn’t going to sign a long-term contract that would allow America to monopolize overseas graphene sales. America could be the “sole distributor” for two or three years at most, because Xiao Yu estimated that the domestic replacement of computing resources would be more or less complete in about three years.

As for the Europeans, it wasn’t the first or second day they’d been played for suckers. Ever since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began, the Europeans had been nothing but quintessential suckers.

At this point, Xu Changming changed the subject. “There’s one more thing worth noting. A new AI company has emerged in Silicon Valley recently called Cyera-AI. Its founder is Peter Vitas. It secured five hundred million dollars in its Series A funding round, and many overseas venture capital firms are very optimistic about it.”

Xu Changming paused for a moment, then looked at Xiao Yu and added, “We’ve also been watching this startup. We’ve tried out their AI product, and it’s not to be underestimated. It completely dominates major players in America like Open-AI. According to our AI department’s evaluation, the sophistication of Cyera-AI’s agent is second only to our Mira AI.”

“Cyera-AI will very likely become a major potential competitor to our Mira AI. Its rise has been incredibly fast, one might even say astonishing. Peter Vitas has also become quite famous in the Silicon Valley tech circle. It’s said that many North American institutional investors are pinning their hopes on Cyera-AI to compete against Mira AI. I think this company played a significant role in America’s quick compromise.”

Xu Changming obviously had no idea that the so-called Peter Vitas was just a body double for his own immediate superior. It was normal that he didn’t know or even suspect it. If he did find out, it would be Xiao Yu’s turn to lose his composure.

At this moment, upon hearing the mention of Peter Vitas and Cyera-AI, Xiao Yu remained expressionless. Feigning seriousness, he nodded and said, “Cyera-AI is indeed a force that has emerged suddenly. It’s a potential formidable rival. We’re currently in the lead in the AI field, but it seems we can’t afford to be too careless. Let’s keep a close watch on Cyera-AI. In my opinion, it will most likely become our biggest competitor in the AI space.”

He said this with such conviction that Xu Changming, standing beside him, nodded very seriously, showing no sign of suspicion.

This was actually quite good. Xiao Yu couldn’t possibly handle everything himself. In the future, as he continued to bring more new technologies from the Blue Star world, he wouldn’t be able to manage if he had to personally oversee every front. It was clear he needed to delegate authority and let his subordinates stand on their own.

And at a time like this, having a powerful external competitor would be an excellent way to prevent his people from becoming arrogant and complacent.

If the external competitors weren’t strong enough, then he would just create a strong external competitor himself. The external pressure from Cyera-AI would create a sense of urgency, preventing them from becoming too arrogant. It was an excellent way to motivate his subordinates.

Chapter 162: They are not important; what’s most important is being without them

After discussing the Americans’ procurement of graphene, Xu Changming remained in the office. He then turned to the public reaction that was still brewing over the recent transfer of stock by the company’s executive team.

Sitting in the sofa area, Xu Changming said, “These past few days, the counterattacks from the enemies hiding in the shadows have been quite fierce.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu replied nonchalantly, “The fact that they can only stir up trouble from the shadows shows how passive they are. It means we did the right thing; we hit them where it hurts.”

The joint stock transfer by Xiao Yu, Xu Changming, and the other executives a few days ago had caused a huge uproar online, sparking a massive reaction. The commotion was in no way less than that caused by the announcement of the Benevolence Fund last year; it might have even surpassed it.

Last year, when the Benevolence Fund was announced, some people with ulterior motives had claimed Xiao Yu was just trying to build his own fame and reputation at others’ expense. But this time, Xiao Yu had directly put up his 50.03% stake—a fortune worth seven trillion—without so much as blinking an eye.

Not only did this move shock the world, but his preemptive strike also caught his enemies completely off guard. Not only could they no longer attack his motives, but they also didn’t dare to openly slander him.

This was because Xiao Yu’s action was morally unimpeachable, placing righteousness naturally on his side. His opponents, on the other hand, naturally couldn’t stand the light of day. So they could only hide in the shadows, making indirect, veiled trouble, all while terrified of being exposed.

Xu Changming said in a low voice, “A new narrative has emerged recently, implicitly and explicitly accusing us of forcing people to leave the country and immigrate, leading to an outflow of wealth and capital. The subtext is that we’re damaging the overall economic environment and exacerbating the pressure on an already declining economy. They’re trying to pin this serious charge on us and make us the scapegoats.”

At this, a look of disdain crossed Xiao Yu’s face. He said with a cynical smile, “That’s a great thing. I wish they’d hurry up and leave. Isn’t clearing out the trash a good thing? Our country has over a billion people, with no shortage of capable and brilliant minds. It’s already full of cutthroat competitors. Once these characters get out of the way, they’ll be vacating the ecological niches and resources they’ve been squatting on, which our cutthroat competitors will fill at lightspeed.”

So many people immigrate every year. If it really had such a massive impact, the economy would have been done for long ago, and the Great Eastern Country would never have grown to its current size.

Xiao Yu added leisurely, “As for the so-called capital outflow, you first have to see what kind of capital is flowing out. It’s a bunch of people who were utterly beaten by the rise of our domestic enterprises. That’s not an outflow, that’s a defeated retreat. With a market of one point four billion people, as long as a capitalist can compete and maintain a foothold here, you couldn’t drive them away with a whip.”

Xu Changming couldn’t help but smile at this. “That’s true. No capitalist would abandon such a massive market. Where else in the world could you find another one like it?”

The most typical example was the rise of domestic enterprises like BYD in the new energy sector. The Japanese and Korean car companies, once so glorious, had seen their sales in the Greater China market plummet year after year. They were forced to leave because they couldn’t survive, but to save face, they claimed it was a voluntary withdrawal.

In reality, they were beaten in the competition. If they could have survived in this market, you couldn’t have chased them away. They would have shamelessly clung on, because capitalists don’t turn down money.

Now, with the rise of Spiritual Mirror Tech, the price of graphene material had been brought down. For now, it was only sold to domestic manufacturers; foreign companies couldn’t buy it. This spurred the rise of local enterprises in many high-tech industries, further boosting their competitiveness.

Even with the agreement signed today with the Americans, Xiao Yu still controlled the supply ratio of graphene material. He would only give them twenty percent of the production capacity and at double the domestic price. The lion’s share, eighty percent of the capacity, would still be prioritized for domestic industrial enterprises.

At this point, Xu Changming pondered for a moment before saying gravely, “It’s just that when these people immigrate, they objectively take a large amount of wealth with them. It’s quite a pity.”

Xiao Yu smiled serenely. “Do those characters think they can rest easy just by moving their money out? It’s fine. The Westerners will fleece them, and then I’ll fleece the Westerners. After a full circle, won’t the wealth have come back?”

“Why do you think I’m doubling the price of graphene sold to the Americans? The logic is right there. We use our high-tech monopoly to reclaim pricing power. In the future, our monopolistic products will be sold to foreigners at a very, very high price.”

Speaking of this, Xiao Yu looked at Xu Changming and added, “Look at it from another angle. These characters are parasites in our own house. If they stay here, it’s actually not that easy to deal with them directly. They occupy ecological niches and resources and refuse to share the benefits, and for a time, there’s not much you can do about them.”

“We use our monopolistic high-tech products, which the Westerners have to buy, and set high prices to make a fortune off them. The Westerners will be furious, but helpless. But to afford our expensive products, they’ll have to get money from somewhere else, won’t they? They’ll turn around and see those characters who immigrated to their countries. Already seething, they’ll surely fleece them for all they’re worth.”

“Uncle Sam’s scythes out there are much more ruthless, and they don’t even pretend when they do their cutting. Back in their homeland, these people could still throw tantrums and stir up some trouble. But out there, those Anglo-Saxons, descended from pirates, won’t even blink when they strike. When they devour something, they don’t even spit out the bones. After those characters get fleeced, they wouldn’t dare to even let out a squeak.”

Xiao Yu concluded with a hint of satisfaction, “After this whole closed loop, the wealth flows back into the country. The key is that it ends up in our hands. By taking this roundabout path, we effectively gain control over the wealth those characters took with them.”

Hearing this, Xu Changming was stunned for a moment, then muttered to himself, “I never really thought about it from this angle. Looking at it this way, it’s like using an external force to eliminate our enemies and recovering their wealth to better support our own cause. Haha.”

In a sense, if those people didn’t leave, Xiao Yu really couldn’t control the wealth in their hands. After all, if he moved against them within the country, they could still make a big fuss and possessed a not-insignificant ability to fight back, making them quite troublesome.

Those people thought that if they left, things would fall apart without them, that the economy would collapse. Little did they know, what’s most important is being without them.

Xiao Yu said with clear logic, “The grand strategic direction for these matters is already clear. Once we have de facto control over the distribution of this wealth, we can use the Benevolence Fund to lead the less fortunate to prosperity, stimulate domestic demand, and promote numerous public welfare projects, such as funding healthcare, education, and public infrastructure, thereby boosting the economy and employment.”

Xu Changming nodded in agreement. If the wealth remained concentrated in the hands of those people, they would never genuinely invest in public welfare projects. Instead, they would use various pretexts to siphon off the scattered wealth of the populace, creating an even larger wealth gap where over eighty percent of the wealth is held by two percent of the population.

It was worth mentioning that the Benevolence Fund did not simply give cash subsidies to the lowest-income individuals. Direct cash subsidies were just one of the fund’s many social projects, and it was the one with the smallest share of expenditures.

Currently, the first phase had confirmed a program for the one point five million low-income residents of Linzhou City. Each person would receive a direct cash subsidy of 350 yuan per month. The total annual budget was only 6.3 billion, which was essentially a minimum living guarantee provided to them by the Benevolence Fund.

In fact, after the pandemic, the country had already indirectly provided subsidies in the form of “consumption vouchers.” However, many people exploited policy loopholes to “cash out” like crazy, causing the money to flow back into the hands of those who didn’t lack it. As a result, the subsidy efforts were not increased.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu had the Benevolence Fund directly target household registrations, specifically anchored to the low-income group. Combined with innovative AI technology and mechanisms like regional, community-based mutual supervision, he could ensure that at least ninety-five percent of the money would flow into the hands of those who truly needed it.

…

Chapter 163: The Better-than-Expected 2022 Annual Report is Released

According to official statistics, there are currently over forty million people receiving the minimum living guarantee nationwide.

It is no exaggeration to say that even if the Benevolence Fund were to cover all the minimum living guarantee recipients in the country, it could afford it. With a subsidy of 350 yuan per person per month, the annual budget would be around 170 billion yuan, which the Benevolence Fund can afford right now.

Not to mention the future, where it will only become easier, as the Benevolence Fund’s income sources will continue to grow.

Right now, the Benevolence Fund’s cash reserves are already quite substantial. Ruilian Group’s unconditional donation alone, from cashing out 2% of its Spiritual Mirror Tech shares, amounted to over 210 billion yuan. The total cash on hand is now over 260 billion, all of it hard cash.

The first public welfare project confirmed by the Benevolence Fund is the financial subsidy for 1.5 million low-income residents in Linzhou City. The total annual expenditure for this is only 6.3 billion yuan. It has not yet been decided how to spend the remaining over 250 billion yuan.

Furthermore, Xiao Yu transferred about 50% of his own Spiritual Mirror Tech shares to the Benevolence Fund. Combined with the shares transferred by Xu Changming and others, the market value of these holdings reached over seven trillion yuan. Sooner or later, this figure would surpass ten trillion, giving the Benevolence Fund a powerful ability to provide a safety net.

Of course, the Benevolence Fund would certainly not cash out the roughly 50% of shares transferred by Xiao Yu; that was impossible. Instead, it would hold onto them and collect dividends in the future.

Xiao Yu had Spiritual Mirror Tech pay out one-third of its annual profits as dividends, which was, in fact, paving the way for the transfer of 50% of the shares to the Benevolence Fund. This ensured that more than half of the dividends would flow into the Fund, while the rest would be shared with investors and management who held shares.

In the future, if Spiritual Mirror Tech paid out 100 billion yuan in dividends a year, the Benevolence Fund would receive over 50 billion. If the dividends were 200 billion yuan, it would get 100 billion. This provided the Benevolence Fund with a highly stable source of income.

Just then, the two people in the office heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.” Xiao Yu glanced towards the office door. A moment later, Yun Shu walked in with a financial report. Xu Changming, who was beside Xiao Yu, exchanged a few more words with him before leaving the office to attend to his own matters.

“The company’s 2022 annual financial audit is complete.” Yun Shu came and sat down next to Xiao Yu, handing him the documents she had brought.

Xiao Yu took the documents, looking quite surprised. “You were so efficient this time?”

Glancing at his beautiful assistant, Xiao Yu looked back down and began to browse the financial report. Yun Shu smiled. “Our efficiency has improved. Isn’t that a good thing?”

Xiao Yu chuckled without looking up. “Good, of course it’s good.”

Yun Shu had been personally promoted by Xiao Yu to the position of head of finance. A year had passed, and although she didn’t have a background in finance, she was now handling her duties with increasing ease and proficiency.

After a moment, Yun Shu stated simply, “In 2022, the company’s full-year revenue was 235.653 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 200.71%. Net profit attributable to parent company shareholders was 72.816 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 236.59%. The growth in the fourth quarter exceeded our internal expectations, and this unexpected growth came from increased revenue in the AI business division.”

In Spiritual Mirror Tech’s AI business division, the current source of profit was the Mira AI Enterprise Edition. The real cash cow for this division, the Personal Edition, was not yet profitable. In other words, the AI business had yet to truly take off.

Xiao Yu looked through the documents and set them down, nodding with great satisfaction. “Very good. This year’s performance will see another massive surge. Reaching 800 billion in annual revenue shouldn’t be a problem.”

There were two potential highlights for Spiritual Mirror Tech’s profit forecast this year that could exceed expectations. One was the Americans’ purchase of graphene material; selling to America at double the price meant the entire price increase was pure profit. The other was Xiao Yu’s decision to monetize the Mira AI Personal Edition by charging for its productivity tools, starting in the second half of the year when it is fully released to the public.

As for future new business ventures, holographic projection, VR headsets, and in the longer term, smart holographic wristbands and bionic android butlers had been confirmed.

Beyond that, the biotechnology division’s single-organ cloning technology has also been finalized. This represented another trillion-yuan market. However, Xiao Yu had no intention of pricing the technology so high that it would become a luxury only the wealthy could afford.

Currently, an organ transplant surgery requires not only waiting for a donor but also costs hundreds of thousands, or even over a million yuan—a price far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Xiao Yu’s goal was to make single-organ transplant surgery affordable for the vast majority of ordinary people, allowing the entire population to enjoy longer lives. Only when the cost could be brought down to around 30,000 to 50,000 yuan would he proceed with widespread implementation.

At such a price, even the lower-class public earning three thousand yuan a month could afford the transplant. While it would still be a significant amount for them, it would be manageable. Even with an income of three thousand a month, they could save up for the surgery by being frugal for two or three years. At the very least, such an operation wouldn’t shatter a family financially.

After a moment, Xiao Yu turned to Yun Shu and asked, “How much did our company pay in taxes last year in total?”

Yun Shu immediately replied, “82.562 billion yuan.”

Hearing this number, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but smile. “The Linzhou City authorities should have no more reservations about promoting the low-altitude economy and the sky-train project now. They’re just waiting for the notice from the higher-ups.”

If Spiritual Mirror Tech had wanted to engage in legal tax avoidance, it could have easily paid 50 billion yuan less, all completely legally and by the book. But Xiao Yu didn’t do that. He didn’t even have Spiritual Mirror Tech apply for some of the preferential tax relief policies designed to support technology companies.

It had to be said, the scale of this tax payment was staggering. It was 15.3 billion yuan more than Huawei’s 67.2 billion. Keep in mind, Huawei’s revenue in 2022 was over 640 billion yuan, while Spiritual Mirror Tech’s was 235.6 billion. Although its revenue was over 400 billion less than Huawei’s, its tax contribution was over 15 billion more.

Linzhou City’s total tax revenue for 2022, excluding Spiritual Mirror Tech, was 162 billion yuan. Including it, the total tax revenue was 244.5 billion yuan. This meant Spiritual Mirror Tech alone contributed more than half of the city’s remaining total tax income.

Next year, if Spiritual Mirror Tech’s revenue reaches 800 billion yuan, a rough calculation based on the current ratio of tax payments being about one-third of revenue suggests it will contribute over 270 billion in taxes. This would not only cover Linzhou City’s entire tax revenue for the current year but also exceed it by more than 27 billion yuan.

Without a doubt, the company was Linzhou City’s super cash cow. Even several tier-one cities would be drooling with envy.

Finally, Xiao Yu instructed, “Release the annual report today. And announce the cooperation agreement with the Americans today as well.”

Yun Shu nodded lightly. “Okay.”

They exchanged a few more words, and then Yun Shu left to handle the public announcements.

Around 6 PM, Spiritual Mirror Tech issued a public announcement, officially disclosing its annual report. This caught the outside world completely off guard, as no one had expected Spiritual Mirror Tech to release its financial report so early. It was simply unpredictable.

The last time, they had delayed until the very last day. This time, it was unexpectedly early. The deadline for disclosing annual reports was the end of April, yet it was only mid-January. As a result, Spiritual Mirror Tech became the first listed company in the A-share market to release its annual report.

Investors from all quarters were astounded when they saw the financial report, realizing they had once again underestimated the company’s performance. It had significantly surpassed market analysts’ expectations. The market had predicted Spiritual Mirror Tech’s 2022 performance growth to be around +157%, but the actual result was over 43 percentage points higher—a truly massive outperformance.

The other announcement, regarding the cooperation agreement signed with the Americans, caused an even greater sensation in the capital markets.

This was because the news was sudden, and the market had not anticipated it at all. It was a sudden and significant piece of positive news. The agreement clearly stated that the Americans would be purchasing Spiritual Mirror Tech’s graphene material at double the domestic price.

A price hike is one of the strongest catalysts, as every penny of the increase is pure profit.

Now, almost the entire market was convinced that when the stock market opened tomorrow, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price was certain to hit a new all-time high. With such a significant and unexpectedly positive catalyst, a new high was practically guaranteed.

…

Chapter 164: Surpassing Apple to Become the World’s Most Valuable Public Company for the First Time

At present, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock closed at 146.78 yuan, with a market cap of 12.74 trillion yuan and a terrifyingly high P/E ratio of 588. After the annual report was released today, the growth in its value caused the P/E ratio to plummet to 175.

Although a P/E ratio of 175 was still indicative of a massive bubble, the company’s rocket-like growth rate was unstoppable.

As long as the momentum of its value growth continued, the inflated bubble could be filled in with real substance.

Another important reason was that Spiritual Mirror Tech was considered an extremely rare, high-quality core asset in the A-share market. It was even arguably a one-of-a-kind stock, and thus it enjoyed a higher market valuation premium.

The A-share market currently had two hundred million retail investors, but the market itself was an absolute cesspool, littered with all kinds of traps and scythes waiting to fleece investors. Spiritual Mirror Tech had simply refrained from raising money by fleecing gullible investors, yet this basic level of integrity made it seem like an “anomaly” that didn’t belong in this market.

It was just like the Pang Dong Lai supermarket chain. They merely adhered to a basic moral bottom line, something that should be perfectly normal, yet they became an “anomaly” that stood out. Similarly, Xiao Yu’s promotion of the Benevolence Fund and his earlier transfer of 50.03% of his equity to it were also seen as “anomalous” in some people’s eyes.

And it was precisely because it was such an “anomaly” that millions of retail investors were frantically buying it up, preferring to accept the higher premium and bubble here rather than speculate on other stocks.

The next day, Thursday, January 12th.

When the A-share market opened today, Spiritual Mirror Tech gapped up significantly by +7.49% with an opening price of 157.78 yuan. After the market opened at 9:30 AM, this massive super-cap stock, without any pullback, continued to surge higher in an aggressive rally.

Around 10:24 AM, the stock price shot up to 176.14 yuan, hitting the +20.00% limit-up. The stock set a new all-time high, and its market cap skyrocketed to 15.288952 trillion yuan. In a single day, its market value increased by 2.54 trillion yuan—more than the entire market cap of Kweichow Moutai, with another 240 billion yuan to spare.

It was worth noting that as the largest listed company in this market, Spiritual Mirror Tech had yet to be included in the CSI 300 Index or the SZSE 100 Index. Furthermore, it had been removed from the ChiNext Index last year and had not been re-added since.

This infuriated many retail investors who specifically invested in index ETFs and had become a topic of heated discussion among countless investors.

But the regulators simply would not add it to the indices, offering a slew of excuses, such as claiming that including Spiritual Mirror Tech as a constituent stock would distort the broader market index. In reality, they were just afraid the index would surge too high.

Someone had calculated that Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current total market cap had already surpassed the combined market cap of all other listed companies on the ChiNext board, and by more than three trillion yuan. If Spiritual Mirror Tech hadn’t been removed from the ChiNext Index last year, the index would not only have broken its 2015 all-time high of 4037 points, but it would have soared past 5500 points.

As it stood, the ChiNext Index remained at 2450 points, which left countless retail investors deeply disappointed and, in turn, even more determined to pile into Spiritual Mirror Tech.

The following day, Friday, January 13th, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened flat, dipped to a -3.91% level in the morning, but then found its footing and began to rally again on a surge in trading volume, setting yet another new high. At 2:36 PM, the company’s stock price was pushed to its second consecutive limit-up, closing at a record high of 211.37 yuan. Its market cap soared to 18.346916 trillion yuan, with daily trading volume once again exceeding 300 billion yuan.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s popularity index was unrivaled, topping the charts across the entire market as retail investors aggressively piled into the stock.

Today, Spiritual Mirror Tech made history in the capital markets, surpassing Apple for the first time to become the world’s most valuable public company, with its 18.34 trillion RMB market cap equivalent to about 2.73 trillion US dollars.

At this moment, the comment sections of stock forums were exploding.

[Congratulations to Emperor Spiritual Mirror for taking the throne as the world’s number one listed company. This feels absolutely surreal.]

[A net increase of 5.6 trillion in market cap in two days. F*cking awesome!]

[The retail investors in the A-share market are savage! They can push a stock with a ten-trillion-yuan market cap to two consecutive 20% limit-ups.]

[I thought it would have to correct for at least half a year after resuming trading. Who could have imagined it would hit 211.37 yuan? Not only did it not correct, it immediately soared another +66.08%. Who saw that coming?]

[The P/E ratio just dropped to 175, and now it’s shot back up to 252. This is insane!]

[If Bro Xiao hadn’t transferred his 50.03% stake to the Benevolence Fund, his net worth would be over nine trillion yuan by now…]

[Even with a symbolic 1%, Bro Xiao’s nominal net worth has just surged to over 180 billion yuan again.]

[Bro Xiao is absolutely beyond reproach. I’m not the least bit envious of his earnings. I’d be happy to see his net worth hit ten trillion!]

[Anyone who badmouths Bro Xiao these days… you don’t even have to think hard about what their deal is. They’re 100% traitors. If you see someone like that, just go after them. You can’t go wrong, and they won’t be wronged.]

Meanwhile, in a small third-tier city in China.

“I remember now. I think I used to trade stocks,” a young man suddenly muttered, a flood of memories returning to him. He had lost his job two years ago and had chosen to become a food delivery driver, picking from the “Ironman triathlon” of gig work that also included being a courier and a ride-hailing driver.

To make matters worse, last September, he was in a car accident while on a delivery run. The crash caused a brain injury that left him in a coma for nearly three months and resulted in partial amnesia.

Just now, he had suddenly remembered that he was a retail investor. His luck had been abysmal; three times he had gone all-in on stocks, and three times he had stepped on landmines, suffering devastating losses from *ST stocks. His initial capital of over three hundred thousand yuan had dwindled to just over ten thousand.

On Tuesday, August 31st of last year, this guy had accidentally bought shares of Spiritual Mirror Tech—on the very day it hit its all-time low of 0.42 yuan.

But his managing to buy at the absolute bottom was purely an accident. He was using his phone at the time and had intended to buy a different stock, but he mistyped the ticker and ended up selecting Spiritual Mirror Tech, buying 1,500 shares at 0.42 yuan per share. He had been in a hurry, busy with a delivery.

Only after the purchase went through did he realize he had bought the wrong stock, and an ST stock at that. Back then, Spiritual Mirror Tech had just been given the ST designation and was widely expected to face forced delisting. The guy was stunned on the spot.

However, when he saw that the 1,500 shares had only cost him 630 yuan, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. Even if he lost it all, it was an acceptable loss.

As it happened, that very evening, he got into a car accident during peak traffic hours while delivering food. Not only was he in a coma for three months, but he also suffered from amnesia. It was a tragic turn of events. Today, he was still working as a delivery driver.

At this moment, he finally remembered.

It was around 2:00 PM, and there were no delivery orders, so he took out his phone and logged into his stock trading app.

“Hiss—”

When he logged in and saw his account information, the guy froze, sucking in a sharp breath. He stared at his stock account, unable to believe his eyes. The total asset value displayed was an eight-figure number.

Was it a display bug?

He was completely dumbfounded, reflexively assuming it had to be a glitch. How could he possibly have assets in the tens of millions?

He refreshed the app several times, but the number didn’t change. Still convinced it was a display bug, he logged out of the third-party Tonghuashun platform and logged into his brokerage firm’s official app to check again.

When he saw the eight-figure asset value there as well, he was stunned once more. His heart began to pound, and his breathing quickened.

Could it be?

After fiddling with it for over ten minutes, he finally confirmed that it wasn’t a display bug. On that day at the end of August last year, he had accidentally spent 630 yuan to buy 1,500 shares of Spiritual Mirror Tech at 0.42 yuan per share.

His account now showed that he held 150,000 shares. This was because of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s earlier high-yield bonus issue, which was equivalent to a 1-for-100 stock split. His initial 1,500 shares had become 150,000.

Today, Spiritual Mirror Tech had hit its second consecutive limit-up and set a new all-time high. The stock price had risen to 221.37 yuan. The value of his 150,000 shares had reached 33,205,500 RMB, and his cumulative return was an unbelievable +5,270,614.35%.

The 630 yuan he had accidentally invested at the end of August last year had, on an adjusted basis, multiplied by over fifty-two thousand seven hundred times. 630 yuan had turned into 33.2 million yuan.

At this moment, the guy’s heart was pounding, and his hands were trembling, terrified that this might all be a hallucination.

He suddenly slapped himself hard across the face, confirming it was real. He didn’t care about the strange looks people around him were giving him.

“Is this… a reversal of fortune after my luck hit rock bottom?” he murmured, staring at his account. He had stumbled his way into buying Spiritual Mirror Tech at its absolute lowest price. He was certain that if it hadn’t been for the car accident and the resulting amnesia, he would have never held onto the stock long enough to see it multiply fifty-two thousand seven hundred times, even if he had accidentally bought it at the bottom. This wasn’t because he was some kind of genius; this was purely a gift from the heavens.

Chapter 165: The Sky-Train Project is Approved

After confirming multiple times, the young man sold all 150,000 of his Spiritual Mirror Tech shares at the limit-up price before the market closed that day. The money would be transferred to his bank account tomorrow.

He returned home immediately to properly digest the enormous and sudden surprise of the day.

After some deep thought, he made a major decision: he would donate ten million RMB. Having experienced the great ups and downs of life, he was now suddenly blessed with a massive windfall. Whether out of superstition or kindness, he felt he couldn’t accept such a heaven-sent fortune with a clear conscience, fearing that disaster might otherwise follow.

Regardless, he had decided to donate ten million. He would do a good deed for his own peace of mind.

However, how to donate the ten million gave him quite a headache. He certainly wouldn’t donate to a certain ‘Cross’ society; he simply couldn’t trust them.

“Oh, right! I can just donate directly to the Benevolence Fund, can’t I?” The guy suddenly thought of the Benevolence Fund. Speaking of which, this heaven-sent fortune was somewhat related to Bro Xiao. If he hadn’t bought shares in Spiritual Mirror Tech, this incredible windfall would never have come his way.

He then did some more research into Xiao Yu’s deeds and the Benevolence Fund, which erased any lingering hesitation. He decided to donate the ten million to the Benevolence Fund.

“As the saying goes, ‘The way of heaven is to take from the excess to supplement the deficient.’ Since heaven has blessed me so generously, I must also do my part. This ten million will surely help many people. I’ll contribute my share to the effort of leading the less fortunate to prosperity,” he said to himself, his resolve to donate the ten million to the Benevolence Fund strengthening.

After donating ten million, he would still have over 23 million left. He was already incredibly content. Not only could he settle the hundreds of thousands in debt he carried, but in this small third-tier city, having over 20 million was more than enough to achieve financial freedom. What more could he ask for?

Moreover, he was completely at ease knowing that the ten million he donated would not be embezzled and would certainly reach those who truly needed help. After all, Xiao Yu had even transferred his own 50.03 percent stake in Spiritual Mirror Tech to the Benevolence Fund.

The next day, he transferred the money from his securities account to his bank card and then called the Benevolence Fund to express his intention to donate 10 million RMB and inquire about the donation process.

Ever since Xiao Yu announced he was transferring his 50.03 percent stake in Spiritual Mirror Tech to the Benevolence Fund, his action had not only earned the admiration of many but had also set a powerful example, inspiring numerous kind-hearted people to donate to the fund.

The Benevolence Fund now had 260 billion RMB on its books. Apart from the over 210 billion from cashing out the 2 percent stake in Spiritual Mirror Tech donated by Ruilian Group, the remaining tens of billions came from donations from all sectors of society. Most of these were anonymous, and among them were many wealthy individuals and supporters who shared the same values as Xiao Yu.

It turned out that not everyone was a sophisticated egoist, nor was everyone cold and cynical.

It was just that the cost of trust in today’s society was simply too high. Even when someone wanted to do good, they worried about being deceived and becoming a big sucker, and they also worried about attracting trouble. Thus, they had no choice but to play it safe and protect themselves.

Now, Xiao Yu had stepped forward and, through his own example, had won everyone’s trust. People could confidently entrust their money to him for distribution, to practice the principle of leading the less fortunate to prosperity, without worrying that their donations would end up in private pockets.

After all, the shares Xiao Yu himself had transferred to the Benevolence Fund were worth 7 trillion RMB, and based on the latest market value, they had surpassed 9 trillion. If he were a greedy man intent on amassing wealth, he would never have done such a thing.

Furthermore, by giving the money to the Benevolence Fund, which he led, people didn’t have to worry about attracting any unwanted trouble.

Based on these two points, many people who wished to do good donated to the Benevolence Fund. Most of them were anonymous, donating both online and offline. The amounts varied, from as little as a few RMB to as large as hundreds of millions.

Accepting unsolicited donations from the public would become another major source of funding for the Benevolence Fund.

…

Driven by the positive news, the company’s stock price saw two consecutive limit-ups. The following day, it hit a new high, with its market capitalization reaching a peak of 19.28 trillion RMB. For a moment, investors from all corners of the market believed it would break the unprecedented 20 trillion RMB mark that day, but the stock price rallied to a leopard number of 222.22 RMB before pulling back.

Following this, the stock naturally entered a period of adjustment. No matter how good or high-quality a stock is, it cannot rise forever. Where there is a rise, there will inevitably be a pullback.

Two days later, on Wednesday, January 18th.

In the morning, Xiao Yu received a notice. The higher-ups had approved the application of room-temperature superconducting material in the sky-train project and had approved Linzhou City to serve as a pilot model for promoting and developing the low-altitude economy with the levitating train project.

The leadership of Linzhou City also received the same notice.

For some time, the top official of Linzhou had been waiting for this notification. This was not something the local government could make the final decision on. The application of room-temperature superconducting material had been elevated to a matter of national strategic importance, and it was the core, indispensable material for the sky-train project.

In the afternoon, Xiao Yu received a call. The Linzhou City authorities had once again invited him to a meeting to study the specific plans for the sky-train project.

Inside a conference room in the municipal building, Xiao Yu was meeting with the top official of Linzhou City and five or six other leaders. They were all gathered around a large map of the city.

“Comrade Xiao Yu, regarding the overall plan for the sky-train project, do you have any opinions or suggestions?” the top official of Linzhou asked, looking at Xiao Yu.

At his words, Xiao Yu gazed at the city map before him. “It should be anchored to the future development of a metropolis with a population of twenty million. I believe Linzhou City will become one of the country’s new tier-one metropolises.”

As soon as he said this, the leaders present were utterly astonished. They wouldn’t even dare to think what Xiao Yu had just dared to say.

The head of the Planning Bureau immediately remarked, “That’s a bit too aggressive.”

Xiao Yu responded, “It’s not aggressive at all. It might even be conservative. Esteemed leaders, I won’t feign modesty. Linzhou City already has a high-tech company with a market cap of nearly 20 trillion. It can fully support the city’s future development, not to mention that Sino-Aviation Linfei also holds the key to room-temperature superconducting material.”

The group was taken aback for a moment, then they looked at each other and smiled. It had to be said that Linzhou City’s current situation was all thanks to the rise of Spiritual Mirror Tech. This single company had paid over 80 billion RMB in taxes last year. If it continued to grow at this pace, its future contributions were unimaginable.

After a moment, Xiao Yu gestured on the map and said, “My vision is to expand from Linzhou’s current three-ring-road layout to five ring roads, increasing the urban area by about 1.5 times. The land for the fourth and fifth ring roads can be reserved for now.”

The leaders listened in amazement as Xiao Yu added, “The plan for the entire city of Linzhou is 22 sky-train lines with about 470 stations, and a total operating mileage of approximately 665 kilometers. Calculating the comprehensive cost at 1.5 billion RMB per kilometer, the total budget would be around 1 trillion RMB.”

The crowd was stunned. One of the leaders couldn’t help but exclaim, “That’s an incredibly grand undertaking! Such a staggering budget… even the tier-one cities couldn’t afford it.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “As long as our Linzhou City can handle it, it’s fine. One trillion is indeed an astronomical figure, but we don’t need to shell out that much money at once. If we complete the plan for all 22 lines over ten years, that averages out to an investment of one hundred billion a year. Linzhou City can absolutely afford that.”

The city’s development and population growth wouldn’t balloon from the current seven or eight million to over 20 million overnight. But as the years went by, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s growth momentum would only become more ferocious. Others might not be able to foresee this, but Xiao Yu had both the confidence and the conviction.

…

Chapter 166: Reaching a Consensus, Greenlighting the Project

Inside the conference room, after hearing Xiao Yu’s idea, the city’s top official stared at the urban map and said in a deep voice, “A truly magnificent plan. Even Shenzhen only has eighteen lines, with a total length of less than six hundred kilometers.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “We’re making a long-term master plan for a metropolis with a population of twenty million. Shenzhen currently only has a little over seventeen million people.”

Everyone couldn’t help but smile. Xiao Yu’s ambition was so vast that even the leaders present didn’t dare to have such grand aspirations, or even think about them.

But that was normal. They were operating with an information gap; they didn’t know about Xiao Yu’s situation, much less the existence of the Blue Star world. As long as Xiao Yu didn’t move his development to another city, it was only a matter of time before Linzhou City became the largest super-metropolis in the country.

At this moment, the leader from the Planning Bureau spoke up. “Can a total of twenty-two lines really be completed within ten years? Shanghai’s twenty subway lines took nearly thirty years to complete, and Shenzhen’s eighteen lines also took about twenty years.”

Without a doubt, the current administration of Linzhou City hoped for the project to be completed as quickly as possible, so they could enjoy more of the political achievements during their term in office.

Hearing this, Xiao Yu immediately offered a simple analysis for everyone. “We can’t make a blanket comparison. Subway construction is more difficult. Tunneling underground involves complex geological conditions, limited construction space, a complicated surrounding environment, high technical requirements, and great difficulty in organization and coordination.”

Pausing for a moment, Xiao Yu added, “The sky-train’s magnetic track, however, is laid on the ground, where the impact of geological conditions is relatively small. The construction process is also simpler, with open construction space, allowing work to proceed from multiple sections towards each other. Furthermore, the land occupied by the magnetic tracks will be shared with the median strips of existing main roads. Aside from a few specific locations, there is basically no need for land acquisition and demolition.”

“The plans for areas beyond the third ring road, like the fourth and fifth ring roads which are now absolute suburbs, are actually more conducive to overall planning. Coupled with our ample budget, we can afford higher costs. The efficiency can’t possibly be slower than the subway. I estimate it won’t be a problem to complete an average of three lines per year.”

Upon hearing this, the leaders present all nodded in sudden understanding. This was for the best. It would be no problem to open two or three lines during their term, allowing them to reap the political achievements. Their motivation to push for this project grew immensely.

At that moment, Xiao Yu looked at the city’s top official and the other leaders and said, “Of course, surface construction has its disadvantages too. For example, it’s more susceptible to weather conditions. Rain, snow, strong winds, high temperatures, and other adverse weather can affect the quality and progress of construction. In addition, traffic disruption is another factor. Surface construction needs to occupy a certain amount of ground space, which will have some impact on surrounding traffic. However, compared to the subway, the impact of these issues on construction efficiency is much smaller.”

A leader beside him chuckled. “The traffic issue is manageable. We can just implement traffic diversions. The weather can also be controlled artificially. We can have the meteorological bureau monitor the weather during construction and use artificial rain to make the clouds precipitate elsewhere before they drift over the construction site, thus avoiding any impact on the magnetic track installation.”

Xiao Yu nodded with a smile. “Indeed.”

It was also worth noting that there were some things the leaders didn’t say aloud, but Xiao Yu understood. For Linzhou City to undertake such a massive sky-train project, the beginning was always the hardest part. No matter what, the current administration needed to be able to claim a portion of the project’s political achievements during their term to have the motivation to push it forward.

After all, things could go wrong, and they might have to take the fall. If the project succeeded but they received no political credit, with all of it going to their successors, then it would all depend on the vision and magnanimity of the current administration.

Not everyone possessed the conviction to accept blame in the present for a benefit that would last a thousand years. This was an objective reality. Most of the time, officials aimed for a smooth transition based on the principle of “avoiding mistakes is a success in itself,” and Xiao Yu didn’t expect everyone to be the former.

After a moment, Xiao Yu said, “With our country’s infrastructure efficiency, getting two lines operational by next year won’t be a problem.”

This statement instantly astonished the leaders present and lifted their spirits. One of them quickly asked, “Two lines can be opened next year? Can it really be that efficient? The research and development for the sky-train can’t be that fast, can it?”

Everyone looked at Xiao Yu with a mixture of belief and doubt. If two lines could be operational by next year, they would definitely be able to cash in on the political dividends of this massive project during their term. It was no wonder the leaders suddenly became even more invested.

Xiao Yu smiled and stated with great certainty, “The sky-train is essentially a super-enhanced version of a maglev train. It still relies on electromagnetic force for propulsion. Our country has long had mature maglev train technology. In layman’s terms, it’s just a matter of integrating the room-temperature superconducting material. The technology integration cycle can be completed within a year, no problem. Another six months to get the production lines ready, and the first batch of sky-trains can definitely be delivered by the end of next year.”

Xiao Yu had absolute confidence in the technical aspect, he just couldn’t state it so bluntly to the people present.

And there was no need to elaborate on how fast the country’s infrastructure efficiency could be. The speed of the work was directly proportional to the speed of the client’s payments.

The fact that Elon Musk’s super factory in Shanghai was completed in a year had already stunned him, but that wasn’t even the Great Eastern Country’s top speed. One only needed to look at the speed at which two hospitals were built during the “mask” period two years ago to get the full picture. This was a skill that the world of Capitalism would never be able to master.

The total budget of one trillion for the sky-train project was actually quite extravagant. At least two hundred billion of that was to pay for sheer efficiency. After all, if you want a horse to run, you have to feed it, and you have to feed it the best fodder to truly boost its performance.

After some discussion, the Linzhou City officials quickly reached a consensus, and the city’s top official made the final decision with great resolve.

They would go with the twenty-two lines, totaling six hundred and sixty-five kilometers, and the budget was increased from the initial proposal of six hundred billion to one trillion RMB. With Xiao Yu having said so much, all but explicitly guaranteeing the project’s success, they would truly have to be politically unambitious not to greenlight it.

The total budget for the sky-train project reached a staggering one trillion RMB. Xiao Yu had clearly promised that if Linzhou’s fiscal budget was insufficient, they could issue local government bonds, and if no one bought them, he would have Spiritual Mirror Tech buy them, essentially promising a backstop.

In truth, Xiao Yu dared to make such a guarantee because he knew Linzhou City wouldn’t need to issue bonds at all. The budget was definitely sufficient.

This was because Linzhou City now had Spiritual Mirror Tech, a super major taxpayer. Last year alone, it had paid over eighty-two billion in taxes, pushing the city’s total annual fiscal revenue past the two hundred billion mark to over two hundred and forty billion.

This year, the growth rate would only be more astonishing. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s projected revenue for 2023 was eight hundred billion. Since Xiao Yu didn’t have the company deliberately engage in tax avoidance or apply for special tax incentives for tech companies, the taxes paid amounted to about one-third of its revenue.

If its revenue this year reached eight hundred billion, the taxes paid would be over two hundred and seventy billion. The tax contribution from Spiritual Mirror Tech alone would completely cover Linzhou City’s entire tax revenue for 2022. With such terrifying growth in fiscal revenue, Linzhou City had no need to issue local government bonds for the sky-train project.

The project didn’t require an immediate one-trillion-RMB appropriation either. It was a ten-year plan, averaging about one hundred billion per year, which Linzhou’s financial situation could completely handle.

Moreover, as time went on, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s revenue would only grow larger; its high-growth trend was far from over.

In a few years, Sino-Aviation Linfei Company would also become profitable. Linzhou City’s fiscal and tax situation would inevitably continue its high-growth trajectory alongside these two high-tech companies. With financial worries out of the picture, the problem was already more than halfway solved.

…

Chapter 167: Construction of the New Headquarters in Full Swing

The next day, Xiao Yu appeared at the construction site of the new headquarters in Linzhou City’s Dongcheng District.

A massive construction project was in full swing here. Various large-scale engineering vehicles on the site were running at full throttle, with over ten thousand workers working tirelessly in twenty-four-hour shifts. The schedule was tight—completion was due within the year, meaning a small city had to be built from scratch on a desolate, barren piece of land in about a year and a half.

Under such demanding conditions, no construction company in the world could pull it off, except for those benefiting from the efficiency of the Great Eastern Nation.

However, the client was simply incredible. Not only did they not delay payments on accounts receivable or demand the construction company to advance funds, but they even made advance payments.

Moreover, the profit margin the client offered was extremely high. The entire new headquarters campus in Dongcheng District was equivalent to building a small city from scratch, not just one or two office buildings. For this, Xiao Yu had waved his hand and allocated a massive budget of one hundred billion.

The construction industry already had excess production capacity with no outlet. Sometimes, companies would even take on unprofitable projects because the losses from being idle were even greater. During the bidding process for this project, competitors had fought tooth and nail, red in the face, to secure the contract. Nowadays, it was impossible to find another project like this one.

At this moment, a group of people accompanied Xiao Yu on an inspection of the construction site.

Xiao Yu stopped walking, reached up to adjust his hard hat, and paused to read a few slogans posted at the site.

“Seize the overcast days, race on the sunny days, and treat a drizzle like a fine day.”

“Work under the lights as if it’s day, one sunny day is worth two.”

“Work hard in light rain, push through in heavy rain. Find a window during downpours, and work desperately when there’s no rain.”

“WORK! WORK! WORK!”

Xiao Yu chuckled in amusement as he read them. He then asked, “With everyone working so desperately, have there been any injuries or casualties on site? Any work-related fatalities?”

A person accompanying him immediately stepped forward and answered truthfully, “There have indeed been five injuries during construction, three of which were due to overexertion. The project schedule is tight, but thankfully, there have been no work-related deaths.”

Hearing there were no fatalities, Xiao Yu felt much more relieved. As he walked, he said, “We must absolutely avoid any deaths. We’ve provided a generous budget and profit margin for the contractor precisely so they can hire more people, reduce individual workloads, and maintain the overall project schedule and efficiency.”

Faced with these words from the big boss of their generous client, the accompanying staff nodded in agreement repeatedly.

However, Xiao Yu didn’t interfere too much as a layman in professional matters. For such a massive project with such a tight schedule, it was unrealistic to expect zero injuries. As long as no lives were lost, it was acceptable.

The construction site was staffed by a team of over ten thousand people. Simply coordinating, scheduling, and allocating tasks for so many individuals was no easy feat. An ordinary person could get exhausted just trying to organize a company team-building event for ten or twenty people without any mishaps, let alone a scene of this magnitude.

The various project teams and workers were all highly motivated because the client had truly paid up.

They didn’t delay payments. Regarding the project funds, the wages for the frontline workers were prioritized and paid out on time every month, unlike the usual practice of settling wages only after the entire project payment was received, during which workers would get no money.

This was actually a special requirement from Xiao Yu. It wasn’t standard industry practice, but without agreeing to it, they wouldn’t have won the bid.

The construction teams were happy to comply. After all, Xiao Yu didn’t require them to advance their own funds, meaning there were no holdups in the project’s entire financial chain. The workers also didn’t have to worry about chasing after their wages later on.

With ample and timely pay, everyone worked with vigor.

After a while, Xiao Yu arrived at the site for Sino-Aviation Linfei’s headquarters and went to inspect the construction of the smart factory.

This was the construction unit he was most concerned about. The progress of the smart factory was directly related to the output of the room-temperature superconducting material. If this wasn’t done right, it would be difficult for Xiao Yu to transfer the material over from the Blue Star world.

“I’m not an engineering professional, so I won’t pretend to be an expert telling you what to do,” Xiao Yu said to a person in charge accompanying him. “Our requirements are simple: on-time delivery with guaranteed quality, and with everyone working this hard, we absolutely must not have any fatalities.”

“Rest assured, CEO Xiao,” the person in charge immediately replied. “Delivering the project on time and with high quality is absolutely not a problem. As for construction safety, we have adopted the strictest standards.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded slightly without saying much more. He inspected the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company headquarters base for a while before going to visit the site for the Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters area.

“This area is the residential district building, and it’s about to be topped off,” the accompanying staff member explained to Xiao Yu.

“Mm, not bad.” Xiao Yu nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the residential buildings. A large plot of land within the Spiritual Mirror Tech headquarters base had been designated for a residential area. Once completed, it would be where the company provided housing for its employees.

Xiao Yu continued to walk around, and after getting an update on the current progress of the project, he left, satisfied.

It was worth mentioning that Spiritual Mirror Tech had an employee benefit: free housing allocated to all permanent employees.

Once the new headquarters was built and operational, an employee could receive a move-in ready apartment. Those with families could bring them along to live there. After an employee had worked for the company for fifteen years, the apartment they lived in would become their property.

Even if they resigned, they could continue to live there. The residential area was within the headquarters campus but separate from the office area, so former employees continuing to live there would not affect the company.

However, there was a small restriction on these homes: even after they became the employee’s personal property, they could not be sold freely. If an employee wanted to move and sell the property, the company would buy it back at a fair market price.

After the buyback, the vacant home would be allocated to a new employee.

It wasn’t just Spiritual Mirror Tech; Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, also on the campus, had a similar residential area and the same benefits. This was no surprise, as Xiao Yu was the founder of both companies.

In other words, employees of Spiritual Mirror Tech and Sino-Aviation Linfei Company didn’t need to take out a mortgage to buy a house, saving them a huge expense.

With high salaries and great benefits, it was no wonder countless workers hoped to land a job at Spiritual Mirror Tech or Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

Another purpose of Xiao Yu’s move was actually to suppress surrounding land prices and prevent the area near the company headquarters from producing record-breaking land sales. As the group with the most purchasing power in the vicinity, the company’s employees wouldn’t need to buy commercial housing, which would remove a major pillar of support for high housing prices.

Furthermore, with a “God of Wealth” like Spiritual Mirror Tech in Linzhou City, the city’s reliance on land-based revenue was sharply decreasing. Cheaper land prices would naturally lead to much cheaper housing prices.

The plots of land surrounding the new headquarters were already being eyed by many real estate developers. The Linzhou City government had long promised that all necessary infrastructure and amenities would follow.

Since the company’s employees didn’t need to spend their own money on housing, they would unleash enormous consumer potential. They definitely wouldn’t be stingy when it came to food, drinks, and entertainment. This would inevitably attract countless businesses to open shops nearby to serve this group with immense spending power.

Although it was currently the suburbs of the suburbs with very few people, as soon as the new headquarters was completed and the companies moved in, the surrounding area would rapidly become prosperous within one or two years, complete with commercial streets, cinemas, and entertainment venues. The boost to the economy and consumption was self-evident.

Even now, many businesses from various industries were already planning to come here to provide supporting services. If it weren’t for the need to make way for and not interfere with the new headquarters’ construction team, the surrounding plots of land would have already been broken for development.

…

Chapter 168: Efficient Implementation

The next day, at Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters.

Around 11 a.m., Yun Shu arrived at Xiao Yu’s office.

“The Benevolence Fund’s first public welfare project has begun. We’ve completed the household registration for 1.5 million low-income individuals in Linzhou City, covering approximately 332,000 families on minimum living guarantee. The first month’s subsidies, totaling about 562 million RMB, have been disbursed,” Yun Shu reported methodically.

The subsidy disbursement process was highly efficient and direct. After approval from the Benevolence Fund’s management, the funds were automatically distributed to each household with the support of AI technology, minimizing manual intervention.

Data shows that the recipient families on minimum living guarantee are mostly households of four or five.

The monthly subsidy is 350 RMB per person, and it is distributed per household. This combined approach effectively prevents the funds from going to the indolent and discourages laziness and a ‘lie-flat’ attitude.

If a household has only one person, they receive just 350 RMB. Given the current purchasing power of money, it’s impossible to survive on that amount alone without seeking other sources of income, especially with continuous currency depreciation.

A household of five, however, would receive 1,750 RMB a month, which is quite substantial for a low-income family—possibly about half of the couple’s combined monthly income. But a family of five means they have two or three children to raise, so the financial pressure is still significant. An extra 1,750 RMB wouldn’t be enough capital for them to adopt a ‘lie-flat’ lifestyle.

This ensures that the vast majority of the money disbursed by the Benevolence Fund serves a positive and constructive purpose. While some extreme cases are inevitable, they are bound to be a minority, and their negligible proportion in the overall data is inconsequential.

Furthermore, the assistance for these low-income groups is not permanent. Families that rise out of poverty will no longer receive the subsidy.

In practice, some families who have escaped poverty might conceal their true income to continue receiving the funds. This isn’t a major issue. Technology is advancing, especially with the advent of the AI era, and information will become increasingly transparent in the future.

During this period of technological development, it’s acceptable for this group to receive the subsidy for a while longer. After all, they are an absolutely disadvantaged group in the distribution of social resources and wealth, so this can be seen as a form of compassionate consideration.

At this, Xiao Yu nodded in satisfaction. “Well done. Let’s first focus on providing the subsidies to this group of 1.5 million people in Linzhou City. Continue for about half a year and conduct follow-up surveys. A group of 1.5 million provides a large enough sample size for support.”

Xiao Yu added, “In these six months, the Benevolence Fund needs to identify any potential loopholes in the subsidy mechanism. Then, we can patch them up and further refine the entire system, laying the groundwork for the second phase of implementation.”

The Benevolence Fund’s public welfare project is not limited to just the 1.5 million low-income individuals in Linzhou City. This is only the first phase; it will be expanded to cover more low-income populations later on.

Another major task of the first phase is to use this period as a trial run to find potential systemic flaws, perfect the mechanism, and better prepare for the subsequent work of expanding the aid to a larger group.

After a moment, having finished her report, Yun Shu handed a document to Xiao Yu and said, “This is the notice issued by the city today: ‘Several Policy Measures to Support the High-Quality Development of the City-wide Low-Altitude Economy.’ The municipal government faxed us a copy.”

Xiao Yu was slightly surprised. He took the document, glanced at it, and couldn’t help but smile. “They’re certainly efficient. The sky-train project will probably be disclosed in the next few days.”

He was surprised, but it was also within his expectations.

This was clearly groundwork for the announcement of the sky-train project, positioning it as the primary project for the low-altitude economy.

According to the notice, the general requirement is to accelerate the development of the new low-altitude economy industry sector, promote the integrated development of the entire industry chain—including low-altitude consumption, low-altitude aircraft manufacturing, and low-altitude operational services—to form new quality productive forces, build a strategic emerging industry cluster, and support the modernization of Linzhou.

Driven by the expansion of low-altitude consumer demand, the focus will be on improving infrastructure and flight service support systems, enhancing aviation R&D and manufacturing capabilities, promoting the integration of practical applications and industry, accelerating the concentration of high-end resources, building a low-altitude economy industrial ecosystem, actively creating a pioneer demonstration zone for low-altitude economic development, and establishing a nationally influential hub for the low-altitude economy.

For the development of the low-altitude economy, Linzhou City has established four principles: market-led, government-guided; demand-led, innovation-driven; focused breakthroughs, synergistic efficiency; and green development, open cooperation.

In addition, the notice laid out clear and detailed plans.

Fostering and expanding the low-altitude consumer market: Fully leverage Linzhou City’s own advantages to promote the integrated development of low-altitude industries and expand the scale of low-altitude consumption, public services, low-altitude logistics, and short-haul transport.

This part of the plan was essentially aimed directly at the sky-train project.

As for Linzhou City’s so-called inherent advantages, to put it bluntly, its greatest advantage is having companies like Spiritual Mirror Tech and Sino-Aviation Linfei.

Accelerating the development of low-altitude industries: Focusing on the low-altitude economy’s industrial chain map, concentrate on complete aircraft manufacturing and key component production, strengthen scientific and technological innovation, and raise the level of R&D and manufacturing in the low-altitude industry.

Improving the infrastructure network: Balance current needs with long-term goals by scientifically planning ground-based takeoff and landing facilities, low-altitude communication facilities, and service support measures.

Establishing and perfecting the low-altitude airspace management mechanism: Strengthen coordination and information exchange between the military, civil aviation, and local authorities; establish a sound, unified management mechanism for the city’s low-altitude airspace; actively carry out the classification and designation of low-altitude airspace; and comprehensively enhance service and support capabilities for low-altitude airspace.

Strengthening talent cultivation and exchange and cooperation: Improve methods for attracting and cultivating professional talent for the low-altitude economy, intensify talent training efforts, build platforms for exchange and cooperation in the low-altitude economy, and provide intellectual support for its development.

Xiao Yu quickly read through the notice and nodded to himself.

He had to admit, the current administration in Linzhou City was truly swift. Judging by the content of the notice, it was clear they had studied the matter seriously. This was not surprising, as the top echelons of Linzhou City were also paying close attention. They couldn’t afford to be careless, nor did they dare to be.

The city’s top official knew the higher-ups were watching, so of course, he didn’t dare to be negligent. It’s not that he feared attention, but rather the lack of it. Being noticed by the higher-ups was an opportunity; if he did well, his career would advance quickly.

An hour later, Xiao Yu left Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters and went to the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

The city had already issued the notice, and the sky-train project was the top priority for developing the low-altitude economy. Efficiency was crucial. Xiao Yu went to Sino-Aviation Linfei precisely to finalize the cooperation plan for the sky-train.

Sino-Aviation Linfei didn’t have a production line for sky-trains. They could, of course, build one themselves, but there wasn’t enough time. It would be impossible to achieve the goal of opening two lines by next year, 2024.

Currently, Xiao Yu was in CEO Chen Zaiqing’s office discussing the matter.

Sitting on the office sofa, Chen Zaiqing looked at Xiao Yu and said, “Over the past few days, I’ve compiled a list of suitable partners. They are Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., CRRC Corporation, Xinan Jiaotong University, and the National University of Defense Technology. These organizations are the current domestic leaders in maglev train technology.”

To open two sky-train lines by 2024, Sino-Aviation Linfei couldn’t build the trains themselves. Their only option was to partner with other manufacturers who had good technology and, crucially, existing production lines. By collaborating with them to quickly and efficiently integrate the room-temperature superconducting material technology into the manufacturing of sky-trains, they could ensure the trains would be ready for delivery and use in 2024.

Chapter 169: Since It’s a Tough Choice, I’ll Take Them All

In the office, Xiao Yu asked succinctly, “What’s the situation with these organizations?”

Chen Zaiqing answered methodically, “Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co. is one of the earliest domestic enterprises to engage in the research, development, and production of low-to-medium-speed maglev trains. Their trains are stable, reliable, and the technology is highly mature. They are a domestic leader in key technologies for low-to-medium-speed maglev trains, such as levitation control and traction transmission.”

“CRRC Corporation has formidable technological strength. It’s one of the world’s largest manufacturers of rail transit equipment and has invested heavily in maglev train technology research and development, boasting a powerful research team and advanced experimental facilities. Its subsidiary, CRRC Sifang Co., Ltd., undertook the development of a 600 km/h high-speed maglev test vehicle, which successfully completed its trial run two years ago.”

Chen Zaiqing added, “Furthermore, as a state-owned enterprise, CRRC Corporation has a complete industrial chain. They have established a full supply chain for the manufacturing of entire maglev trains and the R&D and production of key components. From suspension controllers and traction motors to car body manufacturing, they possess independent design and production capabilities in every segment, allowing them to provide a one-stop solution for maglev train projects.”

“The company has participated in the construction and operation of multiple domestic maglev lines, accumulating rich project implementation experience. They can effectively handle various complex technical and engineering problems, ensuring the smooth progress and stable operation of projects.”

After a brief pause, Chen Zaiqing continued, “Xi’an Jiaotong University has a wealth of scientific research achievements. It is one of the first universities in the country to conduct research on maglev train technology and has achieved numerous internationally leading scientific results in the field of high-temperature superconducting maglev technology. In 2021, the world’s first high-temperature superconducting maglev engineering prototype vehicle, designed and developed by the university, rolled off the production line, marking a breakthrough for our country in this field, from nothing to something.”

Xiao Yu nodded to himself and asked casually, “And the National University of Defense Technology?”

Chen Zaiqing replied, “The National University of Defense Technology has strong technological innovation capabilities. It has a deep technical foundation and innovative capacity in maglev train R&D, especially in the field of normal-conducting electromagnetic levitation. Key components they’ve developed, such as the electro-permanent magnet hybrid suspension magnet device, have reached advanced international levels. Moreover, the university holds the largest number of patents related to maglev trains, covering multiple key technological areas.”

After hearing about these organizations, Xiao Yu fell into thought.

Chen Zaiqing looked at him and said, “These four are all excellent, each with its own strengths and advantages. Frankly, it’s quite difficult to choose one over the others.”

A moment later, Xiao Yu looked at Chen Zaiqing and asked, “What’s your take?”

After some thought, Chen Zaiqing said, “Since it’s a tough choice, I say we don’t choose. Let’s just take them all. We can cooperate with all of them, integrating their respective strengths.”

A smile appeared on Xiao Yu’s face when he heard this. “We see eye to eye. But I have one point to add: CRRC Corporation comes first. After all, they have a complete industrial chain in the maglev train sector. The company is also a state-owned enterprise. We need to achieve our goal of opening two lines by 2024. There’s no more suitable choice for manufacturing the trains than CRRC. Otherwise, we might not be able to meet the delivery deadline.”

Chen Zaiqing nodded and said in a serious tone, “The only question is whether we can negotiate a deal for all four organizations to integrate their technologies together. That’s hard to say.”

Xiao Yu immediately laughed. “You’re overthinking it. Linzhou City’s budget for this sky-train project is a massive one trillion yuan. Putting the two universities aside for a moment, even if we don’t approach the other two companies, they will come looking for us.”

“That’s true,” Chen Zaiqing agreed.

After their discussion, they finalized the plan: they would primarily lead the cooperation with CRRC Corporation, entrusting them with the manufacturing of the trains, while the other three enterprises and universities would collaborate on technological integration.

…

Time flew by to Friday, January 20th.

Around noon today, Linzhou City released a notice on the “Urban Low-Altitude Superconducting Levitating Rail Transit Engineering Project,” announcing a comprehensive plan.

The announcement immediately caused a massive sensation, stunning the public.

According to the notice, Linzhou City plans to invest one trillion yuan to build twenty-two dedicated low-altitude sky-train lines across the city, with a total combined length of 665 kilometers.

This was a huge deal. An astronomical sum of one trillion yuan was being thrown at building levitating train lines. The total mileage was even dozens of kilometers longer than Shenzhen’s current subway system. Crucially, the public saw this as the first non-military application to emerge so quickly after the advent of room-temperature superconducting materials.

Only a few months had passed, and the layout for the first commercial application was already underway—and on such a massive scale.

Stimulated by this news, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price strengthened after the market opened in the afternoon. It surged by +10.18% to close at 223.62 yuan, breaking its previous high and the leopard number of 222.22 yuan to set a new all-time high. Its market capitalization climbed to 19.41 trillion yuan, just a step away from the twenty trillion mark.

However, today was the last trading day before the Spring Festival. The next trading day would not be until after the new year, on January 30th. Whether this behemoth could make a historic breakthrough to the 20 trillion yuan mark was a question that would have to wait.

In addition, around 2:40 PM during the late trading session, another stock took off.

It was none other than CRRC Corporation. In the late session, its price soared to 5.76 yuan, hitting its daily limit up with a +9.92% increase. Its market capitalization rose to 165.3 billion yuan.

CRRC Corporation was once hailed as “the trillion-yuan ‘Divine Vehicle’” in the A-share market. Anyone talking about the epic bull market of 2015 couldn’t avoid mentioning it. At that time, the merger of the two former rail giants, CNR and CSR, created this mega bull stock that skyrocketed to a trillion-yuan valuation.

Now, after plummeting for seven or eight years and even hitting a new all-time low last year, its market cap had shrunk to just over one hundred billion yuan, a truly lamentable situation.

However, the capital market’s disapproval did not mean the company lacked substance.

Last year, the company’s revenue exceeded 220 billion yuan, with a net profit of over 11.6 billion yuan. In the field of rail transit equipment, it was a world-class technology giant and an absolute core asset.

Its low stock price wasn’t due to a lack of strength, but rather the irrational valuation and pricing of the A-share market itself. There was also an element of deliberate suppression of state-owned enterprise assets. The motives of certain people were questionable, and the reasons were extremely complex.

Another interpretation from the market was that the rail transit sector had reached saturation, leaving little room for imagination in the industry.

But this time was different. With the advent of room-temperature superconducting materials and Linzhou City’s major announcement of a one-trillion-yuan investment to build levitating rail transit and vigorously promote the low-altitude economy, how could CRRC Corporation, a top-tier global player in the rail transit field with a complete industrial chain, possibly be absent?

Most importantly, there was now enormous room for imagination.

If one city like Linzhou could do this, what was the potential if you looked at all major cities across the country, or even globally?

Although there was no official news, some quick-reacting funds in the market had already started to scramble for shares in advance, pushing CRRC Corporation’s stock straight to its limit up in the late trading session.

The logic behind Spiritual Mirror Tech’s new high today was similar. The company held a 25% stake in Sino-Aviation Linfei, which was currently the only enterprise in the world that had mastered room-temperature superconducting materials.

The concept of the low-altitude economy became a major hot topic today. Many people exclaimed that it was no wonder Linzhou City had released a notice yesterday about measures to support the high-quality development of the low-altitude economy. It turned out they had been holding back such a major move.

The news quickly shot up to the trending topics, sparking heated discussions among netizens.

[Good heavens, so Linzhou City is skipping the subway and going straight for sky-trains, huh?]

[Science fiction is becoming reality.]

[Wait, isn’t it said that room-temperature superconducting materials can’t be mass-produced yet? A project this big would surely need a massive amount of superconducting material, right?]

[I read the announcement. It’s precisely because mass production isn’t possible in the short term that they’re doing levitating rail transit. They can reduce the amount of room-temperature superconducting material needed by strengthening the magnetic field, which requires the support of rail tracks to keep the vehicles on a fixed path. If it were mass-produced, we might have levitating cars zipping around everywhere.]

[If we have superconducting levitating cars, here’s a question: how would they move forward without friction from the ground? Would they have jet engines or propellers like airplanes? Wouldn’t all those vehicles cause crazy winds in the city?]

[How could they use jet engines or rotors? Levitating cars would definitely work on a principle similar to maglev trains, driven by electromagnetic forces. Of course, all the forces we’re familiar with—elasticity, friction, tension, pressure, etc.—are just intermolecular forces, which are fundamentally electromagnetic in nature.]

[No matter what, if we have levitating cars in the future, we can rule out gasoline cars first. They’ll definitely run on electricity, not oil. Levitating cars will be an upgraded version of new energy electric vehicles for sure.]

[Sky-trains are already here. Can levitating cars be far behind? I can’t even imagine what things will be like in ten or twenty years.]

[After all, room-temperature superconducting material is something that can truly trigger the fourth scientific and technological revolution. Many industries will be turned upside down by its appearance. It truly deserves its title as the “Holy Grail” of materials science.]

[If it can be mass-produced, I strongly suggest building a sky carrier.]

[Good heavens!]

[If subways can levitate into the sky and become sky-trains, it seems perfectly reasonable for an aircraft carrier on the water to levitate into the sky too… (manual smirk emoji)]

…

Chapter 170: Sino-Aviation Linfei Becomes the Biggest Beneficiary

As Linzhou City officially announced its plan to invest one trillion RMB in a 665-kilometer levitating train project and opened it for public bidding, the news caused a sensation not only within the industry but also sparked widespread discussion among the public.

During the subsequent week-long Spring Festival holiday, companies like Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co. and CRRC Corporation didn’t stay idle; they immediately dispatched representatives to Linzhou City.

Just as Xiao Yu had predicted, he didn’t have to go knocking on doors; these companies took the initiative and sent their people over first.

How could they possibly sit still with such a massive project on the table?

The project was initiated and put out to tender by Linzhou City, but it was inseparable from Xiao Yu—or rather, from Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. Everything from the project’s key room-temperature superconductor to the enormous budget backstop was connected to Xiao Yu.

However, during the holiday, Xiao Yu became a hands-off manager, delegating all the specific work to Chen Zaiqing.

On Wednesday, January 25, CRRC Corporation made a blockbuster announcement: it had successfully won the bid for the joint development and manufacturing of 702 sky-train cars for Linzhou City, with the contract valued at a staggering 379.8 billion RMB.

The project planned for each sky-train to be a six-car trainset, meaning the 702 cars would form a total of 117 sky-trains.

This meant the average cost per car reached 541 million RMB, and a six-car trainset would cost 3.246 billion RMB—undoubtedly an astronomical figure.

For comparison, a standard six-car Type A subway train costs around 55 million RMB on average. The cost of Linzhou’s sky-train was a staggering 59 times higher.

The public was left stunned and speechless; to call it a sky-high price would be an understatement.

As a public infrastructure project, ticket prices couldn’t be too high. Linzhou City was planning to charge fares comparable to the subway, which meant recouping the investment through ticket sales was a distant dream.

In fact, Linzhou City had no intention of ever recouping the one trillion RMB budget—not a single cent. They weren’t aiming for profit, only to cover daily operational costs.

The only reason they dared to make such a move was the backing of an incredibly strong forecast for future fiscal revenue growth. Otherwise, not even the four tier-one cities could handle such a venture.

Obviously, the public immediately and correctly attributed the exorbitant cost to the room-temperature superconducting material. Of the 541 million RMB price tag for a single sky-train car, the superconductor accounted for roughly 82 percent, or 443 million RMB.

The total cost for the 702 sky-train cars was 379.8 billion RMB. While CRRC Corporation won the contract, the one to rake in the vast majority of the profits was actually Sino-Aviation Linfei Company, which was projected to earn 311 billion RMB from the core room-temperature superconducting material alone.

Having secured the project, CRRC Corporation would, by procedure, need to purchase 311 billion RMB worth of room-temperature superconductor from Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. This was the indispensable core material for manufacturing the sky-trains. Technology integration fees were calculated separately, and Sino-Aviation Linfei would also participate and contribute financially in this area.

Overall, CRRC’s net profit margin on this project was only around 7 percent. This meant that from the 379.8 billion RMB contract, they were expected to earn a net profit of about 26.5 billion RMB. Moreover, delivery would be staggered over several years; it was impossible to manufacture and deliver all 702 sky-train cars within a single year.

These 702 sky-train cars, making up 117 trains, were intended for 22 different lines. Never mind whether CRRC’s production capacity could keep up; even if it could, Linzhou City couldn’t possibly get all 22 lines operational in such a short time.

When the exorbitant cost was made public, it caused a massive stir both within and outside the industry, but it also generated considerable controversy.

Some objected, arguing that Linzhou City was being completely unnecessarily hasty. They believed the city could have waited a few years for the cost of room-temperature superconducting materials to decrease after mass production was achieved. Rushing to launch the project now was seen as a wasteful expenditure.

On the other hand, there were many supporters who believed Linzhou City was making the right move. They argued that being willing to bear enormous sunk costs in the early stages was necessary. Without a major project like this, how would the price of room-temperature superconducting materials ever come down? Someone had to take the first step, and Linzhou’s action would undoubtedly accelerate the adoption and popularization of these materials.

But regardless of how loud the opposition was, the project was already being implemented. CRRC had signed the epic contract, and there was no longer any doubt that the sky-train project would move forward.

In the following two days, more news continued to emerge, such as announcements about other enterprises like China Railway Group and China Railway Construction Corporation participating in the bidding.

Aside from Sino-Aviation Linfei, the companies involved in this megaproject were almost exclusively state-owned enterprises, all bearing the “China” prefix in their names; it was just a matter of which one would be chosen.

Other private companies were participating in the bidding, and quite a few at that, but only for peripheral components like the seats in the train cars. They were essentially just getting a small taste of the pie.

The main roles in this grand project were reserved for the state-owned giants.

…

The Spring Festival holiday came to an end, and on Monday, January 30, the market reopened for its first trading day.

Driven by the positive news from the holiday, Spiritual Mirror Tech opened significantly higher at 239.03 RMB, a jump of +6.89 percent. The reason was clear: Sino-Aviation Linfei Company had emerged as the biggest beneficiary of Linzhou City’s trillion-RMB sky-train project.

Sino-Aviation Linfei was set to take home over 310 billion RMB from this massive cake, and since Spiritual Mirror Tech held a 25 percent stake in the company, it was an indirect catalyst for its stock as well.

With that opening price, Spiritual Mirror Tech once again made history, becoming the first listed company in the A-share market to break the 20 trillion RMB market cap barrier. It was truly at the peak of its power.

Furthermore, the state-owned “China” stocks all opened significantly higher. Spurred by rumors from the holiday, both China Railway Construction Corporation and China Railway Group opened directly at their limit up. CRRC Corporation also hit its limit up, marking its second consecutive limit-up day.

After the market opened, Spiritual Mirror Tech quickly hit a new all-time high of 239.89 RMB, with its peak market cap reaching a terrifying 20.82 trillion RMB.

However, the stock opened high and then trended lower for the rest of the day. Its market cap was simply too massive, making further rallies a struggle. Moreover, with expectations continually being met, some investors were selling the news. The “China” stocks were also sucking up a significant amount of liquidity, and the broader market sentiment was not particularly strong.

By the end of the day, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock closed at 229.86 RMB, with its gains narrowing. Its market cap fell to 19.95 trillion RMB, failing to hold the 20 trillion mark at closing.

Notably, the high of 239.89 RMB reached that day would become its historical peak for the next year. The tech giant, after its relentless sprint, was finally entering a genuine medium-to-long-term correction.

This was because, over the following year, the A-share market’s performance was abysmal. Both good companies and trash stocks were in a state of perpetual decline. Spiritual Mirror Tech was dragged down by this environment. If not for the company’s incredibly solid fundamentals and immense room for imagination, a stock of its size might have triggered a market crash.

The next day, Spiritual Mirror Tech pulled back another -5.60 percent, with its market cap falling further to 18.83 trillion RMB. The stock had officially entered a correction phase.

However, CRRC Corporation continued its strong run, hitting the limit-up board again for its third consecutive day. Its market cap surpassed the 200 billion RMB mark, and its popularity index even surged to the top of the daily rankings.

Many veteran retail investors exclaimed that the “iron tree was finally blooming,” as CRRC had achieved a rare third consecutive limit-up. Some old-timers recalled that the last time the company had such a streak was eight years prior, in 2015, during the A-share market’s epic leveraged bull run.

Now, it was showing signs of becoming a “demon stock,” having established strong market recognition. A stock that previously “even a dog wouldn’t buy” had suddenly become the darling of the market.

The circumstances had changed. By securing the massive contract for Linzhou’s sky-train project, CRRC had hitched its wagon to the enormous trend of room-temperature superconductors, making it difficult for it not to take off.

In the foreseeable Superconducting Era, the company was now imbued with immense room for imagination, and capital markets always trade on expectations.

With this room for imagination unlocked, the valuation logic had to shift. Previously, a 150 billion RMB market cap seemed expensive; now, 200 billion still felt cheap. Faced with the power of this trend reversal, any short-sellers attempting to suppress the price would risk triggering a short squeeze.

…

Chapter 171: New Technology: Intelligent Medical Operating Table

After the Spring Festival, Xiao Yu paid no attention to the trends in the capital market. The groundwork for the Linzhou City sky-train project had been laid, and the specific details were handed over to Chen Zaiqing. This freed him up to work on another piece of black technology.

Wednesday, February 1st, in the basement of his villa.

Several holographic floating display panels materialized around Xiao Yu. During this time, he had been working on one thing—an intelligent medical operating table.

“Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to radically redesign and integrate the Blue Star world’s medical device technology.” Xiao Yu looked at the holographic model of the medical operating table he had constructed, quite satisfied with it.

While making adjustments, Xiao Yu muttered to himself to pass the time, “To bring the price of a single-organ cloning transplant down to thirty to fifty thousand, this thing is indispensable…”

The in-vitro cultivation for single-organ cloning technology didn’t actually cost much. The main expense was the cultivation equipment.

But once the cultivation equipment was sorted out, the cultivation of a single organ itself mainly consumed nutrients for metabolism, and this cost was only a few hundred yuan.

However, if the price of transplant surgery dropped to the target of just thirty to fifty thousand yuan, it would mean that the number of patients undergoing transplants in the future would increase exponentially.

This would create a huge problem: there would be a severe shortage of surgeons.

Moreover, transplant surgeries are extremely physically demanding for doctors. For example, it’s common for a liver transplant to last for over ten hours.

In other words, even if the cost of single-organ cloning was extremely low, if the supply of surgeons couldn’t meet the demand, the surgery fees would still be sky-high. This would make it impossible to achieve Xiao Yu’s goal of reducing the total cost of an organ transplant to thirty to fifty thousand yuan, a price affordable for ordinary people.

But there was a solution to this problem. The Blue Star world’s advanced medical device technology had long since achieved intelligent automation.

And the solution was the “Intelligent Medical Operating Table” that Xiao Yu was currently integrating and radically redesigning. It could replace surgeons and perform surgery on patients, with the entire procedure completed by surgical robots without any human involvement.

The surgical robots, based on the operating table, consisted of several mechanical arms with different functions. Their greatest advantage was that the flexible arms could turn at any angle and could magnify images by tens or even hundreds of times through a camera, clearly capturing the state of the affected area and the neurovascular bundles.

In terms of field of view, arm flexibility, and range of motion, surgical robots represented a quantum leap over traditional manual surgery.

They also had an automatic filtering function that far surpassed the limits of human hand tremors, making it much easier to handle “blind spots” inside the body.

Training an excellent surgeon might take over a decade, but once the technology for the intelligent medical operating table was finalized and confirmed, it could be mass-produced on an industrial assembly line. You could make as many as you wanted.

This way, the problem of surgeon shortages caused by the exponential increase in demand for surgeries could be effectively solved. The goal of reducing the overall surgery cost to thirty thousand yuan would no longer be an unattainable dream but something that could actually be implemented, achieving a price that the vast majority of people could afford.

At this moment, the holographic model of the intelligent operating table Xiao Yu had constructed had a sleek and futuristic overall appearance, with smooth lines. The main structure was made of a sturdy composite material, and its specially treated surface had a glossy texture with a subtle sheen.

The operating table was shaped like a large, horizontal capsule, slightly raised in the middle and tapering at both ends, giving it a very futuristic, sci-fi look.

In addition, the operating table was surrounded by various precision instruments and display screens. Since holographic technology hadn’t been developed on Earth yet, it was naturally equipped with display screens.

These instruments and devices varied in shape. Some were surgical robot arms of different sizes and functions, while others were complex sensor arrays.

The display screens had simple geometric shapes, either rectangular or circular, and would show various data and images, providing comprehensive informational support for the surgery.

Furthermore, the edges of the operating table were fitted with transparent protective shields to prevent splashing of blood, bodily fluids, and the like during the procedure, while also providing a degree of isolation.

As an intelligent operating table, it undoubtedly possessed a high degree of intelligent automation, capable of independently completing a series of complex surgical procedures from anesthesia, incision, extraction, transplantation, to suturing.

However, the involvement of one medical staff member was still required. In certain scenarios, the surgical robot couldn’t make real-time judgments based on the patient’s physiological changes during surgery. A medical professional was needed to make judgments and adjustments based on the actual situation.

But only one person was needed, unlike current surgeries which require a whole team. Moreover, it only required a medical professional with medical knowledge, who didn’t even need to perform the surgery themselves. The difficulty of training such personnel was greatly reduced; even a nurse could perform this function.

The main task of the medical staff was to use simple voice commands or touch operations to have the operating table automatically execute the corresponding surgical procedures, precisely operating on the patient’s body without the need for manual intervention.

The operating table was equipped with an advanced positioning system and high-precision cutting tools. The positioning system could accurately lock onto the location of the affected area with an extremely small margin of error, ensuring surgical precision. The cutting tools could quickly and accurately cut through skin, muscle, and other tissues without damaging surrounding healthy tissue.

During the surgical process, various instruments on the operating table would monitor the patient’s vital signs in real-time, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen saturation, and transmit the data to the display screens.

At the same time, the operating table also had powerful data analysis capabilities, allowing it to automatically adjust surgical parameters like anesthesia depth and cutting force based on the monitored data. This would assist the monitoring medical staff member in making better judgments and decisions, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of the surgery.

After completing the surgery, the operating table also had certain post-operative recovery assistance functions. It would automatically disinfect the wound to prevent infection and, based on the wound’s condition, adjust the appropriate suturing method and force to promote healing.

Intelligent interaction was also a core technological highlight of this operating table. It supported voice control, allowing patients or medical staff to operate its various functions through simple voice commands.

For example, starting surgical programs or adjusting parameters. This method of interaction was not only convenient, fast, and efficient, but it also reduced the interference from manual operations during the procedure, thereby increasing surgical safety.

In addition to voice interaction, the operating table Xiao Yu was developing was also equipped with a touchscreen interface. It displayed various function options and parameter settings, allowing users to select surgical modes, input patient information, and adjust surgical parameters via the touchscreen.

The UI design was simple, intuitive, and easy to operate, to the point where even non-professional medical personnel could quickly learn how to use it.

Clearly, Xiao Yu’s main purpose in developing this intelligent operating table was to reduce the reliance on professional medical personnel, because the cost of training such talent, especially the time cost, was too high.

Therefore, the intelligent operating table had to be made simple and easy to master, so that even an ordinary nurse could quickly learn how to use it to initiate a surgical procedure on a patient.

Only in this way could they address the massive scale of surgical demand that would come with the exponential increase when single-organ cloning technology was launched and transplant prices dropped to thirty to fifty thousand yuan.

Chapter 172: Freeing Surgeons From the Operating Table

This intelligent operating table could also connect with external medical equipment and information systems. For instance, it could transmit data from the surgery in real-time to the hospital’s medical information system, allowing doctors to view and analyze it at any time.

It could also connect to remote medical equipment to facilitate remote surgical guidance and consultations, enabling experts to provide surgical support to patients from thousands of kilometers away.

As a piece of medical equipment capable of completely replacing a human lead surgeon, its safety features were naturally a top priority.

The intelligent operating table was equipped with an emergency stop mechanism. Xiao Yu had installed an emergency stop button; if any anomaly occurred, such as a severe abnormality in the patient’s vital signs or a malfunction of the surgical instruments, medical staff or the patient could immediately press the button. The operating table would instantly cease all operations to ensure the patient’s safety.

In addition, it had multiple safety check functions. Before starting a procedure, the table would conduct numerous safety checks, including inspecting the integrity, sterilization, and functional status of the surgical instruments, as well as a comprehensive assessment of the patient’s physiological state to ensure the surgery was performed under safe conditions.

If any condition that did not meet safety standards was detected, the intelligent operating table would automatically prohibit the initiation of the surgical program.

The operating table also possessed protective measures. For example, during a procedure, it could automatically raise a protective shield to isolate the surgical area from the external environment, preventing contamination and interference.

At the same time, the table could automatically adjust environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity in the surgical area according to the needs of the operation, creating the optimal conditions for the surgery.

At that moment, Xiao Yu looked at the holographic virtual model of the operating table before him with great satisfaction. He couldn’t help but sigh, “This is the advanced technology of Blue Star, hundreds of years ahead of Earth. Just by dabbling a little and making a few radical redesigns, I can spark a revolutionary breakthrough in an entire industry here on Earth.”

With surgery being a crucial branch of clinical medicine, the advent of this Intelligent Medical Operating Table was set to bring about a sensational change to the field on Earth.

Xiao Yu crossed his arms, propping his chin with one hand as he mused in a low voice, “If this operating table is mass-produced, future surgeons won’t have to be on the front lines as lead surgeons anymore. They’ll be more involved in providing guidance and conducting theoretical research in clinical medicine…”

It wouldn’t go so far as to make current lead surgeons unemployed, but they would no longer be as irreplaceable.

Moreover, with the emergence of single-organ cloning technology, once it achieved clinical application and the comprehensive cost of surgery was reduced to the level of thirty to fifty thousand yuan, the number of surgeries needed would increase exponentially.

With the costs becoming affordable for ordinary people, market demand for surgery would skyrocket.

Bolstered by single-organ cloning technology, donor organs would no longer be scarce, and organ transplants would become a common solution. Some people who cherished their lives might even opt for a replacement for a minor organ injury, further increasing the demand for surgery.

Furthermore, this would undoubtedly lead people to be less “precious” with their bodies, daring to indulge more. After all, the worst-case scenario was just getting surgery to replace an organ with a cloned one, a cost they could afford. This would inevitably increase the demand for surgery even more.

This was precisely why Xiao Yu was developing this Intelligent Medical Operating Table. Without such a table, relying solely on human lead surgeons would be completely inadequate.

However, for surgeons with average abilities, while they wouldn’t lose their jobs, their social status and their say in matters would certainly be significantly diminished because they could now be replaced. It would be impossible to say it wouldn’t affect them at all.

But the few truly outstanding lead surgeons would remain invaluable talents in clinical medicine, as some surgical procedures needed to be invented by humans, including many innovative theories—something an AI was incapable of.

The future trend would be for top-tier doctors to lean more towards the academic side, conducting scientific and theoretical research. To put it in more down-to-earth, simple terms, it’s about creating new knowledge and then providing it to the AI to learn and apply.

In the current Blue Star world, the field of clinical medicine already operated on this model. Performing surgery on patients required no human participation at all.

The next day, at the Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters.

Inside the chairman’s office, Yun Shu entered and, upon seeing Xiao Yu, asked, “What did you need me for?”

Seated at his desk, Xiao Yu had just finished organizing a document. He looked up, and his eyes met with his beautiful assistant’s. He then asked, “How many people are in the company’s Robotics and Automation Equipment department right now?”

Spiritual Mirror Tech had started out as a supplier of precision components. Long before its reverse merger, its business scope had gradually expanded into fields like semiconductor displays, new materials, micro- and nano-optical devices, and robotics and automation equipment. It was a legitimate brick-and-mortar manufacturing company, and in the mid-to-high-end sector at that.

The company had already ventured into robotics and automation equipment, which was one of the reasons Xiao Yu was pushing for the Intelligent Medical Operating Table. He could move forward with it now, unlike the single-organ cloning technology, which had to wait for Chu Jinmeng and the team of biology experts she was recruiting.

Developing single-organ cloning technology was a major crossover into a new industry for Spiritual Mirror Tech, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for Xiao Yu to spearhead it directly. That was why he needed Chu Jinmeng and her professional bio-engineering technical team.

But developing the Intelligent Medical Operating Table wasn’t so complicated. It was a medical device, which fell under the category of mechanical equipment. The operating table could also be called an intelligent surgical robot, and Spiritual Mirror Tech was already involved in robotics and automation equipment.

Now that the company was also making a brilliant showing in the AI field, miles ahead of the competition on a global scale, developing the Intelligent Medical Operating Table was essentially a technical integration of “AI + Medical Devices.”

Hearing Xiao Yu’s question, Chu Jinmeng estimated, “That department doesn’t have many employees, probably only around three hundred people.”

The Robotics and Automation Equipment department had long been a marginal part of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s business. It had yet to make any significant profit and was, in fact, still being subsidized. It had never been one of the company’s core business departments.

Currently, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s employee count had expanded to over twelve thousand and was still growing. In comparison, a department with just over three hundred people was indeed small.

Xiao Yu nodded and said in a firm voice, “That is a bit small. In a moment, go notify the Human Resources department to expand its headcount to about a thousand people. Prioritize recruiting talent with a background in the medical device field. Carry out the recruitment according to the requirements on this document.”

As he spoke, Xiao Yu handed a document from his desk to Yun Shu.

“A background in the medical device field?” Yun Shu took the document but didn’t look at it, instead gazing at Xiao Yu with a hint of surprise. “Are we crossing over into a new industry again?”

Xiao Yu replied, “Strictly speaking, it’s not really a crossover. One of our company’s core competencies is artificial intelligence. You could say we’re leveraging the advantages of our AI technology to empower the field of clinical medicine and open up new application scenarios.”

Seeing Yun Shu looking thoughtful, Xiao Yu added with a smile, “Let me put it simply. I want to try my hand at making surgical robots. By combining artificial intelligence with medical devices, we can achieve intelligent, automated surgery. The goal is to free surgeons from the operating table.”

Chapter 173: Guaranteed to Become a New and Powerful Driver of Growth for the Company

Xiao Yu got up from his desk, walked over to the lounge area, and sat on the sofa. Yun Shu, holding the file he had just given her, followed and sat down beside him.

At that moment, Xiao Yu turned his head to glance at Yun Shu and said, “Surgical robots are hardly a new concept. Back in the 1980s, the advent of the laparoscope ushered in the era of minimally invasive surgery, which has been hailed as one of the hundred greatest inventions to change human life.”

“Now in the 21st century, surgical robots have emerged to overcome the shortcomings of laparoscopic technology and have gradually become the mainstream in the field of minimally invasive techniques. Their development and clinical application are considered a revolution in the history of surgery, heralding the arrival of the third generation of surgery.”

“And now, with the application and development of 5G technology, surgical robots have evolved abilities comparable to long-distance vision and remote manipulation. The surgeon’s console and the patient’s surgical platform are completely separate, allowing the surgeon to operate remotely from the console, controlling the entire surgical process to completion.”

At this point, Xiao Yu paused for a moment before continuing, “Although significant progress has been made, I’m still not satisfied with the third generation of surgery. If the surgical robot I envision is developed, it would fast-forward us directly to the fifth generation of surgery.”

“From then on, surgeons wouldn’t need to operate remotely or even perform the surgery themselves. The surgical robot could complete the entire procedure on its own, and do it even better than an experienced lead surgeon.”

No matter how experienced or skilled a lead surgeon was, no matter how well they controlled the natural tremors of their hands, they could never match the precision of mechanical equipment. Moreover, there were certain “blind spots” in the affected areas that were simply inaccessible to human hands.

But a surgical robot could handle this; it was merely a matter of installing specialized, delicate mechanical arm components.

Furthermore, in terms of experience, a human surgeon simply couldn’t compare to artificial intelligence. As long as the surgical robot’s AI agent was fed enough surgical data to learn from, it could theoretically possess the collective surgical experience of all surgeons.

Within an existing, established knowledge base, human surgeons could not compete with surgical robots. The human advantage lies in creating new surgical knowledge, while the AI’s advantage is in learning and mastering what already exists.

Yun Shu lowered her gaze in thought for a moment, then looked at Xiao Yu curiously. “Is this related to your previous decision to enter the field of bio-engineering and single-organ cloning technology?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded. “That’s right. If we succeed with single-organ cloning technology, the demand for surgery will skyrocket. The current supply of lead surgeons will be completely inadequate. My goal is that once single-organ cloning technology is established, we can reduce the cost of transplant surgeries to a level that ordinary people can afford. If that happens, the demand for surgery will increase exponentially.”

“To cope with this situation, we must have surgical robots. Otherwise, we won’t be able to meet market demand. It’s not easy to train a lead surgeon, but once the technical problems with the surgical robot are solved, we can just ramp up production capacity and mass-produce them in batches.”

It could take over a decade to train an excellent lead surgeon, but a surgical robot could be fully manufactured on an industrial assembly line in an average of just a few dozen minutes, or even less with economies of scale. This meant that an excellent lead surgeon could be brought into the field of clinical medicine in a matter of minutes—an efficiency that was hard to imagine.

Xiao Yu looked at Yun Shu and smiled. “Even if the breakthrough in single-organ cloning technology is difficult, or doesn’t happen at all, the surgical robot I want to develop still has vast application prospects. Medical resources like lead surgeons are still extremely scarce. Once developed, the surgical robot can greatly liberate medical resources for surgery and further reduce the current cost of surgical procedures.”

Simply freeing lead surgeons from the operating table would be a revolutionary breakthrough for the field of clinical medicine. Claiming it would fast-forward to the fifth generation of surgery was no exaggeration.

Finally, Yun Shu opened the document, looked it over, and said, “I’ll talk to the Human Resources department this afternoon. Are there any other arrangements?”

She closed the document and looked at Xiao Yu, who thought for a moment and said, “Also, arrange for people to go and meet with major hospitals. Their task is to purchase various surgical data resources. My requirement is simple: the more, the better. In short, the more data, the better.”

Clearly, this data was to be fed to the AI agent for learning. The richer the data and the larger the sample size, the better.

Theoretically, if they acquired the surgical data resources from every hospital on Earth and fed it to the AI agent for learning, after just a few generations of technological iteration, that AI agent could become the world’s most versatile surgeon, possessing the most extensive surgical experience.

Xiao Yu had no intention of collecting data from the Blue Star world because the circumstances were different. Unless the entire contemporary medical technology system of the Blue Star world could be “transported” over, much of the data would be useless.

“Transporting” the entire contemporary medical system of the Blue Star world was certainly unrealistic. Xiao Yu had only chosen its Intelligent Medical Operating Table for a radical redesign, adapting it to Earth’s technological system. This was less trouble, saved effort, and solved a key need. The rest could be supplemented by Earth’s existing medical technology, which in itself was already a cross-generational leap.

Yun Shu nodded. “Okay, I understand.”

After a moment, she added uncertainly, “I just don’t know if the hospitals will be willing to provide us with this data.”

Xiao Yu smiled dismissively. “Don’t worry. Some lead surgeons might be unwilling, but they don’t have the final say. The hospitals themselves couldn’t possibly refuse. If they do, it just means we haven’t offered enough money. Besides, even if this hospital says no, could all of them really band together and refuse?”

Yun Shu nodded slightly. “That’s true.”

For Spiritual Mirror Tech now, any problem that could be solved with money was a minor, insignificant one.

With her instructions received, Yun Shu went to make the arrangements.

Over the next few days, Xiao Yu began to push the matter forward. Spiritual Mirror Tech’s Robotics and Automation department was given new importance, and its status among the company’s various business divisions rose rapidly.

Without a doubt, once the surgical robot, or Intelligent Medical Operating Table, was launched, it would inevitably become another powerful new driver of growth for Spiritual Mirror Tech.

The company moved with great efficiency, especially since Xiao Yu was personally overseeing the project.

A few days later, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s new external job postings caught the industry’s attention. It was discovered that the company’s latest listings were for a large number of professionals with backgrounds in medical devices.

This led to a great deal of speculation from the outside world that Spiritual Mirror Tech might be planning to enter the medical field.

Subsequently, some applicants revealed that it was the company’s Robotics and Automation Equipment division that was hiring talent with medical device backgrounds. Outsiders immediately began to guess: could Xiao Yu be planning to make something like medical robots?

Since the company had not made any official announcements, the public could only speculate based on scattered pieces of information.

However, given Xiao Yu’s penchant for crossing over into new industries—he was even involved in food processing and the grain trade—few would be surprised if he really did get into medical devices or robots. In fact, many were quite eager to see if Xiao Yu could pull off something new and groundbreaking.

After all, the innovative capabilities of this company, or rather, of Xiao Yu himself, were now plain for all to see.

{“characters”:{},“locations”:{},“organizations”:{“人力资源部门”:“Human Resources department”,“机器人与自动化部门”:“Robotics and Automation department”},“terms_and_jargon”:{“微创手术”:“minimally invasive surgery”,“千里眼”:“Clairvoyance (idiom for seeing great distances)”,“隔空取物”:“Telekinesis (idiom for moving objects from afar)”,“死角”:“blind spot”,“多多益善”:“the more, the better (idiom)”,“无伤大雅”:“harmless/not a major issue (idiom)”,“有目共睹”:“obvious to all (idiom)”,“食品加工”:“food processing”,“粮食贸易”:“grain trade”}}

Chapter 174: The All-Star Team

The weekend of February 5th.

Xiao Yu was currently in the underground area of his private villa complex, specifically beneath the ninth villa. Having some free time today, he had come to check on the situation.

The excavation beneath this villa was ongoing and had now reached a depth of 800 meters. Apart from Xiao Yu, no one knew that a high-efficiency operation was underway here.

Throughout the process, not a single bit of underground soil or rock was brought to the surface. Instead, it was all directly transported to a deserted area in the Blue Star world via the teleportation Star Gate.

Xiao Yu had set the depth of this secret underground laboratory base at around 800 meters, and the main space had already been excavated.

The efficiency was so high that it was something Earth’s major engineering and construction teams could only dream of matching. The key was that the entire operation was carried out by intelligent robots, without a single human participant.

In a few months’ time, this underground base would be completed. It was originally estimated to be finished in about six months.

Such a massive project, and one being constructed at a depth of 800 meters underground, could only achieve this level of efficiency with the support of Blue Star’s technology. If it were a construction team from Earth, a project of this difficulty couldn’t be done even in six years.

The teleportation Star Gate had initially been in the basement of Villa Nine, but Xiao Yu had since moved it to a spacious area 800 meters underground.

Xiao Yu stayed for half an hour to get an update on the project’s progress, then returned to the surface, satisfied.

Deep beneath the ground, 800 meters down, construction continued in full swing. The teleportation Star Gate also remained active. In the coming days, all that was needed was a few months of patient waiting to see a complete underground experimental base.

Returning to the villa where he lived, Xiao Yu entered and saw Chu Jinmeng in the living room. He walked over with a smile. “You’re back? How did the mission I gave you go?”

Chu Jinmeng turned her head at the sound of his voice, and her face lit up with a smile when she saw Xiao Yu. “Brother-in-law.”

Xiao Yu came over and sat down beside her, smiling. “Why are you all alone? Don’t tell me you didn’t manage to poach a single person?”

At his words, Chu Jinmeng immediately picked up a document from the table and tossed it to Xiao Yu, saying quite proudly, “Brother-in-law, you’re underestimating me. It was a piece of cake. If I had only poached a few people, I would have been back long ago.”

The two looked at each other, Xiao Yu still smiling. “From the sound of it, you’ve brought in quite a few people.”

Chu Jinmeng said with a grin, “Brother-in-law, guess how many?”

Xiao Yu replied, “More than ten?”

Seeing Chu Jinmeng shake her head, Xiao Yu tried again, “It couldn’t be twenty or thirty, could it?”

Chu Jinmeng immediately said, “You need to have more vision, Brother-in-law. Forget it, you’ll probably never guess. In total, 236 people, and 39 of them are top-tier experts in the industry. How’s that? Impressive, right?”

Hearing this number, Xiao Yu was completely stunned. “You actually got that many?”

Chu Jinmeng glanced at the thick document. “I’ve brought all their profiles and resumes. You’ll know once you take a look.”

Xiao Yu was genuinely shocked. He had never imagined that this young woman could have such a powerful network. He immediately picked up the document and began to skim through it.

Cloning technology was an important branch of modern bio-engineering, specifically, cell engineering.

The talent Chu Jinmeng had poached this time primarily covered six main fields: fermentation engineering, enzyme engineering, gene engineering, cell engineering, biochemical engineering, and protein engineering. It also included areas like cell biology and molecular biology.

Finally, Xiao Yu looked at Chu Jinmeng and asked in amazement, “I’m quite curious, how did you manage it? Your network is ridiculously large.”

Chu Jinmeng replied with a smile, “It’s not as exaggerated as you say. I actually only sealed the deal with a dozen or so people. I’m not very familiar with the others. Then, those dozen people used their own networks, and that’s how we pulled in over two hundred people.”

Xiao Yu suddenly understood. So that’s how it was.

Just then, Chu Jinmeng added, “But Brother-in-law, I painted a very pretty picture for them. If you can’t deliver, they won’t come.”

The key to recruiting so much top talent wasn’t Chu Jinmeng, but the extremely generous compensation packages offered by Xiao Yu, especially the freedom with research funding and the promise of long-term, stable, and excellent research support measures.

Hearing her words, Xiao Yu said happily, “I told you, your only job was to paint them a pretty picture. Leave the delivering to me. Tell them to jump ship with confidence. The funding is more than enough. Once the people are here, the research projects can proceed immediately.”

Chu Jinmeng nodded. “Then I’ll contact them again and have them come to Linzhou as soon as possible.”

…

Two days later, Spiritual Mirror Tech released a blockbuster announcement: the company was launching a new business division and officially entering the field of modern bio-engineering.

Xiao Yu had already tasked Yun Shu with planning for this. Now that Chu Jinmeng had exceeded all expectations by bringing in such an all-star team, they could formally announce their expansion into bio-engineering.

The announcement once again caught the public by surprise. No one had expected Spiritual Mirror Tech to make such a huge crossover, from materials engineering to bio-engineering.

Based on the company’s previous job postings, the public had thought Spiritual Mirror Tech was going to make medical robots.

However, that very afternoon, Xiao Yu posted an update on his personal Weibo, clarifying to the public that the company was indeed also researching medical devices and using AI applications to empower the medical device sector.

But what truly captured public attention was his reveal that the company would soon welcome an all-star team in the field of modern bio-engineering, and that the focus of this new business venture would be single-organ cloning technology.

The public had never guessed that Xiao Yu’s plan for Spiritual Mirror Tech’s entry into bio-engineering was to pursue single-organ cloning technology. His Weibo post quickly sparked a massive public discussion.

However, this news didn’t have much of a boosting effect on the company’s stock price, which was currently in a correction phase.

Instead, it was CRRC Corporation’s stock that had been shining brilliantly recently, becoming the market’s leading stock since the beginning of February. During this time, Linzhou City had also been rapidly advancing the sky-train project, with policies being implemented with high efficiency.

The next day, Tuesday, February 8th.

CRRC Corporation achieved an epic nine-day streak of consecutive limit-ups, with its stock price surging to 12.35 yuan. Its market capitalization soared to 354.4 billion, hitting a new seven-year high.

Old retail investors exclaimed that the “God Train of China” from eight years ago had returned. During the major bull market of 2015, CRRC’s stock had skyrocketed, earning it the nickname “God Train of China” from retail investors. Later, when the A-share market crashed, CRRC also began an endless bear market. Its new lows knew no bottom, and just last year it had hit a new eight-year low.

No one had expected it to stage an epic reversal this year, setting a record with nine consecutive limit-ups. Even during the 2015 bull market, CRRC had only managed a streak of six. Its current trend was even more ferocious and wild than in 2015.

The stock price was simply unstoppable. Short-sellers didn’t dare to try a massive sell-off, and it was a good thing they didn’t, or they would have certainly been caught in a short squeeze and had their positions blown up.

Some optimistic investors believed that, in the long run, the “God Train” was bound to regain its glory of a trillion-yuan market cap.

Clearly, this was all because CRRC had hopped on the massive trend of the “Room-Temperature Superconducting Era.” CRRC was on board for its very first commercial application, and the room for imagination here was simply immense.

…

Chapter 175: Special Interview

CRRC Corporation had been basking in the capital market spotlight recently, but the buzz had now been snatched away by Spiritual Mirror Tech’s foray into modern bio-engineering and medical devices.

The discussion around single-organ cloning technology, in particular, had entered the public consciousness thanks to a Weibo post by Xiao Yu.

On Friday, February 10th, Xiao Yu did something rare and accepted a special interview with a mainstream media outlet regarding organ cloning technology.

Around 4 p.m., the two journalists interviewing Xiao Yu arrived at Spiritual Mirror Tech’s office and sat down with him in one of the company’s reception rooms to record the video interview.

The face-to-face interview was now underway.

“…Spiritual Mirror Tech’s entry into the field of modern bio-engineering and its heavy investment in the development and application of single-organ cloning technology has sparked widespread discussion in society since its announcement. It has also raised concerns about the potential impact on our current healthcare system and societal values.”

The interviewer looked at Xiao Yu and spoke with clear articulation: “If single-organ cloning technology sees large-scale application, some senior experts believe it will cause a profound upheaval in the current healthcare system. Industry insiders think that in terms of resource allocation, the initially high R&D costs and complex cultivation processes will inevitably make cloned organs expensive. This could lead to a further tilting of medical resources toward patients with financial means.”

“For example, high-end private hospitals might be the first to introduce the technology, providing services to a select few paying patients. Meanwhile, the public healthcare system, constrained by funding, would lag in terms of equipment and personnel training. This would exacerbate the ‘organ acquisition gap’ between the rich and the poor, sparking debates about social fairness and shifting organ transplantation from a matter of ‘equal opportunity for life’ to a predicament of ‘distribution dominated by wealth’.”

“Medical insurance policies could also face immense pressure for adjustment. Whether to include cloned organ transplants in the scope of reimbursement will become a difficult question. If it’s fully covered, the medical insurance fund would risk enormous expenditures, affecting other basic healthcare guarantees. But if it’s excluded, most patients would be shut out, violating the original intention of medical insurance to provide ‘broad coverage and basic protection’.”

The journalist had led with a very profound and pointed question.

After the journalist finished, Xiao Yu said, “These are indeed unavoidable issues. This technology will certainly have a huge impact on the existing healthcare system and our societal values.”

“From a societal perspective, single-organ cloning technology challenges the foundations of our traditional view of life. It blurs the line between natural organs and artificially cloned ones, forcing people to rethink philosophical questions about the beginning of life and bodily integrity. It could weaken some people’s inherent belief that life is a ‘unique, natural gift,’ potentially leading to a sense of confusion on a spiritual or faith-based level.”

“This requires society to build entirely new ethical adjustment mechanisms and reshape our values to match technological development, so we can peacefully accept the changes from this disruptive technology. How to weigh the trade-offs will be a test of our policymakers’ wisdom, as it involves a complex game of interests and considerations for social welfare.”

At this point, Xiao Yu paused for a moment before the camera, then looked at the interviewer and said methodically, “But one thing is certain, a principle that must be upheld: if we succeed with single-organ cloning technology one day, organ transplants must adhere to the principle of ‘equality of opportunity for life,’ not a situation of ‘distribution dominated by wealth’.”

Xiao Yu added confidently, “You can keep this interview footage. If a day ever comes where ‘distribution by wealth’ becomes the reality, pull this video out and publicly shame me. As far as I’m concerned, upholding ‘equality of opportunity for life’ is non-negotiable.”

This statement rather surprised the journalist, who immediately asked, “Can that be done? Especially in the early stages, the price will inevitably be high.”

Xiao Yu answered succinctly, “If the price is too high, we simply won’t roll it out. We’ll bring the price down first before making it widely available. We are willing to bear the initial R&D costs ourselves.”

Uh…

The journalist interviewing him was stunned, not expecting such a simple, direct, and clear answer. Xiao Yu’s intention was to be this direct, without any beating around the bush. Only by being this clear and down-to-earth could he win the support of the majority of ordinary people.

After a moment, Xiao Yu elaborated, “Our target for this is to lower the total cost of an organ transplant to around thirty to fifty thousand yuan, making it affordable for the vast majority of people. We will absolutely not commercialize it until we reach this goal.”

The journalist was astounded to hear this. An organ transplant for just thirty to fifty thousand yuan was an unimaginable figure compared to the current costs, which often run into the hundreds of thousands or even millions.

The journalist couldn’t help but say, “If you can really bring the price down to that level, then it would indeed be affordable for ordinary people. But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled. “Someone has to do it, right? The potential applications for single-organ cloning technology go far beyond the boundaries of our current imagination.”

“Take the field of rare diseases, for example. For monogenic hereditary rare diseases like cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease, single-organ cloning technology can be used to create precisely tailored healthy organs to replace damaged tissue. This would break the current deadlock where traditional treatments are unavailable and prognoses are grim, lighting a beacon of hope for patients and rewriting the rules for treating rare diseases. It could turn such conditions from ‘terminal illnesses’ into manageable chronic diseases.”

“In battlefield emergency scenarios, portable cloning equipment combined with bioprinting technology could rapidly ‘manufacture’ skin, muscle, blood vessels, and other trauma-repair organs on the front lines. This would allow for the timely treatment of the wounded, drastically reducing casualty rates, shortening recovery periods, and transforming the current model of combat trauma care, thereby enhancing the military’s medical support capabilities in wartime.”

“In the future of space exploration, a space station equipped with an organ cloning lab could provide organ damage repair for astronauts on long-duration spaceflights. It could overcome the risk of organ pathologies caused by space radiation, helping humanity journey deeper into space and expand the frontiers of interstellar survival.”

Xiao Yu paused for a moment before continuing, “Once single-organ cloning technology achieves large-scale clinical application, human society will inevitably enter a new era. The average life expectancy is expected to increase significantly, perhaps even double. Centenarians, or even bicentenarians, could become commonplace, and the structure of our aging population will be reshaped.”

“The social model for elderly care could also transition from disease management to promoting vitality in old age. This would spur the vigorous development of a health industry for the elderly, covering diverse areas like high-end rehabilitation and recreation for seniors.”

“Furthermore, the landscape of medical resource allocation will be profoundly reshaped. The preemptive cloning and storage of organs will become standard practice, and early disease intervention will be widespread, significantly reducing the burden of end-stage diseases. Medical insurance funds will be re-optimized, shifting from disease treatment toward health maintenance. This will free up more resources to be invested in public health and disease prevention, propelling human society into a new era of health, longevity, and vitality.”

As the journalist listened to these words, they found it incredible, especially Xiao Yu’s claim that people living to be two hundred might become commonplace.

The future blueprint Xiao Yu painted was truly captivating. Who wouldn’t want to live longer?

If this technology were truly realized, it would undoubtedly and profoundly change the entire social structure of humanity. It would be a truly disruptive revolution.

However, the journalist couldn’t help but mutter to themself that if this technology was actually achieved and became widespread, they could forget about retirement at the current age. It would surely be delayed.

The retirement age might be pushed back to over one hundred. Living to over a hundred and still being in your prime… the implementation of this technology would cause a truly disruptive and all-encompassing change to human society.

…

Chapter 176: Achieving the Effect of a “United Front”

After the special interview concluded, the media outlet released it the very next day. It was a video of the interview, about twenty-something minutes long.

Upon its release, it instantly became the hottest topic of the new year, sparking a clash of opinions and discussions on all fronts among people from all walks of life.

In a sense, its impact on human society on Earth was even more profound than that of the room-temperature superconducting material.

What was particularly noteworthy, however, was that everyone who watched the interview—be it the vast majority of the general public, the wealthy, or the elite—people from upper, middle, and lower classes alike, showed a rare and surprising unanimity. They were all filled with anticipation and support for Xiao Yu’s push for single-organ cloning technology.

Support became the mainstream voice.

There was no other reason. Who wouldn’t want to double their “health bar”?

The vision of the future that Xiao Yu painted in the interview held an irresistible attraction for humanity.

A breakthrough in single-organ cloning technology could extend the average human lifespan to over two hundred years, perhaps even three hundred—as long as an entire dynasty. According to Xiao Yu’s depiction, living to be over two hundred would become the norm. Who could possibly refuse that?

Big data showed that the global average human life expectancy in 2022 was around 72 years. This was equivalent to increasing one’s “health bar” by a full two or even three times.

Even if Xiao Yu was just selling a pie-in-the-sky dream, everyone was eager for a taste.

They couldn’t help it. The temptation of doubling or even multiplying one’s health bar was truly hard to resist—a temptation greater than wealth or power, because one needed to be alive to enjoy either.

This time, the public was also on board and supportive because Xiao Yu had minced no words in the interview, setting a clear goal: to lower the comprehensive cost of a single-organ clone transplant surgery to around thirty to fifty thousand yuan.

He dared to say what most people didn’t even dare to imagine.

But they certainly loved to hear it, because at a cost of thirty to fifty thousand yuan, even ordinary people could afford organ transplant surgery.

This was especially true because Xiao Yu had left no room for retreat in the interview, stating unequivocally that “distribution dominated by wealth” would never be allowed. He insisted on the principle of “equality of opportunity for life” and sealed his statement with the words “non-negotiable.”

This made it almost impossible for the middle and lower classes not to support him.

As for the middle and upper-class elites and the wealthy, these groups were, without a doubt, even more supportive than the general public, as their desire for a longer life was even stronger.

To the elites and the wealthy, the question of whether it would be “distribution dominated by wealth” or “equality of opportunity for life” was secondary. The primary concern—the absolute prerequisite for everything—was to achieve the technological breakthrough first.

If the technology wasn’t developed, all other discussions were pointless.

Based on this prerequisite, the upper class naturally supported developing the technology first and foremost. Matters like “distribution dominated by wealth” or “equality of opportunity for life” were issues to be dealt with only after the single-organ cloning technology was a reality.

By the same logic, any derivative issues, such as the potential impact on the existing social structure, would be temporarily set aside, even if they were known and anticipated. Everything would wait until the technology was successfully developed.

…

After Xiao Yu’s interview was released, the top bio-engineering experts who had promised Chu Jinmeng they would jump ship to Spiritual Mirror Tech also watched it. Instead of creating doubt, it dispelled their concerns. In particular, Xiao Yu’s clear declaration of the “equality of opportunity for life” principle was enough to make them cast aside any remaining hesitation.

For them, this philosophy of Xiao Yu’s was perhaps more important than salary, promised funding, or other benefits. Working in this field inevitably meant facing numerous unavoidable moral and ethical dilemmas, and Xiao Yu’s stance offered them a great deal of moral comfort.

Three days later, the first group of them arrived in Linzhou City and officially joined Spiritual Mirror Tech.

They were all true scientific experts in the field of modern bio-engineering. The others were also coming, just a bit later, as they needed to handle the transition and handover of their previous work.

On Monday, February 13, Xiao Yu took some time out in the afternoon to receive a guest over sixty years of age at his home.

In the villa’s living room, Xiao Yu, Chu Jinmeng, and their guest were seated. Chu Jinmeng turned to Xiao Yu with a smile and said, “This is my doctoral advisor, Professor Chen Shuding. He’s a premier expert in cell engineering and a top-tier figure in gene engineering and biochemical engineering as well.”

Chu Jinmeng then turned to her advisor, Chen Shuding, to introduce him: “And this is Xiao Yu, the founder of Spiritual Mirror Tech, Sino-Aviation Linfei, and the Benevolence Fund.”

After the brief introductions, Xiao Yu looked at Chen Shuding, who was in his sixties, and smiled politely. “I’ve often heard Jinmeng speak of you. I’ve long admired your achievements in the field of single-organ cloning technology and have wanted to speak with you in person for some time. With you on board, I feel much more confident in pouring money into this field.”

It was only natural to show the utmost respect for such talent. After all, Xiao Yu was the founder of Spiritual Mirror Tech, and the other man was coming to join his cause.

However, Chu Jinmeng, sitting beside him, couldn’t help but feel a flicker of doubt. Have I really mentioned Professor Chen to him that often? she wondered.

At this, Chen Shuding replied graciously, “Mr. Xiao, you are young and remarkably accomplished. You conquered the room-temperature superconducting material that humanity had pursued for over a century, capturing the ‘Holy Grail’ of materials science. You also achieved the mass production of graphene and are leading the world in artificial intelligence. All of these are profoundly changing the world. Compared to that, my own small achievements in my field are hardly worth mentioning.”

As it was their first meeting, a round of pleasantries was unavoidable.

But the obligatory compliments didn’t last long. After a brief exchange of mutual flattery, the conversation shifted to the topic of single-organ cloning technology.

Chen Shuding then remarked with considerable amazement, “Speaking of which, I truly did not expect your interview to have such a massive effect, Mr. Xiao. It’s rare to see people from all social strata form a united front on an issue like this, making a supportive stance the almost absolute mainstream opinion.”

The three people present all understood why.

A longer life, a doubled health bar—these were things very few people could resist.

Still, Chen Shuding was genuinely surprised. The application of cloning technology to combat disease and slow aging was hardly a new concept. Yet, when Xiao Yu said it, people bought it, managing to create a rare “united front” on the matter between the rich and the common people.

He and his colleagues, who had been researching in the field for decades, were no strangers to painting grand pictures of the future themselves, but very few people ever bought into them.

…

Chapter 177: Exchange

Chen Shuding’s use of the term “united front” was spot on. Xiao Yu’s previous special interview with the media was precisely to achieve the effect of a “united front.” Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the leisure to be interviewed by the media.

He was terribly busy with many things.

The issue of single-organ cloning technology was no small matter. To be precise, this technology could greatly extend the human lifespan, and the subversive changes it would bring to the structure of human society would be extremely profound.

The moment this variable of a greatly extended lifespan appeared, it would absolutely have a ripple effect on the existing structure of human society. This was no exaggeration.

Gaining a longer life—this benefit also came at a price. There were many, many problems involved, and all of them were tricky.

Putting other things aside for a moment, the impact on the social security system alone would be enormous. The current system was that people received their pensions in their sixties. But if the retired population could live to be over two hundred, good heavens, the current amount of social security funds would definitely not be able to support it. The system would absolutely be blown up.

This was because when it was originally designed, no one ever thought that retirees would be able to collect for such a long time. If the social security system wasn’t adjusted and continued to operate under the current regulations, its collapse was inevitable, without a doubt.

From this, one could see that many, many derivative problems would arise, and they were foreseeable.

But Xiao Yu was determined to push forward with single-organ cloning technology, because it was related to the immense matter of expanding humanity’s survival frontiers into space in the long-term future. And humanity’s short lifespan was a core pain point restricting development into space.

At this time, the “united front” became extremely important. Otherwise, the resistance would be unimaginably great, and Xiao Yu’s plan to introduce single-organ cloning technology might not be able to proceed, or would become extremely difficult.

Once support was achieved among the upper, middle, and lower classes, with both the rich and ordinary people on board, and a “united front” was reached on this level, the resistance would be much, much smaller. Because everyone wanted it to succeed. This was what the people wanted, what everyone hoped for. This was called the undeniable will of the people.

The policymakers would certainly be happy to see it happen. Because the policymakers might not do it openly, but they would secretly and confidentially do it anyway. The temptation of doubling one’s lifespan was just too great.

After the voices of support from all classes became mainstream, there would be no need to do it sneakily. It could be pushed forward openly and legitimately, which the policymakers would, of course, be happy to see.

At this moment, upon hearing Chen Shuding’s words, Xiao Yu immediately said, “The mainstream voice is supportive, but the existence of a mainstream implies there are also non-mainstream voices. Widespread support from all sectors of society is certainly a good start, but we can’t ignore objective reality. We still need to be cautiously optimistic. The road ahead is still fraught with difficulties.”

Xiao Yu added, “For example, on the ethical level, there are intense discussions about the nature of life, identity, interference with evolution, and so on. On the legal level, current definitions are unclear, regulations are ill-defined, and shortcomings in rights protection are prominent, all of which urgently need to be improved.”

He went on, “Especially in terms of social acceptance, public understanding is uneven and attitudes are divided. We face shocks to medical resource allocation, health insurance policies, and social concepts. These issues can be set aside for now, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

At this point, Chu Jinmeng, who was sitting next to Xiao Yu, couldn’t help but say, “Speaking of social acceptance and public awareness, the year before last, our industry, together with international academia, conducted a comprehensive survey covering multiple countries and regions worldwide with a sample size of tens of thousands. I also participated in the survey as a volunteer.”

Chu Jinmeng recalled, “The survey report showed that public awareness of single-organ cloning technology was very uneven. In developed countries and our own, about forty percent of respondents said they had only heard of the technology’s name but knew very little about its specific principles, operating procedures, and potential impact. In developing countries, this proportion was even higher, with about sixty percent of the public saying they had never looked into it deeply.”

“On a professional knowledge level, even among highly educated groups, only about ten percent could accurately explain core technical aspects like somatic cell cloning and gene editing. This reflects a serious lack of public knowledge dissemination.”

After a brief pause, Chu Jinmeng continued, “In terms of attitude, the survey data shows a clear polarization among the public. About thirty percent of respondents were optimistic about single-organ cloning technology, viewing it as a revolutionary breakthrough in medical development that could save countless lives and should be accelerated in its development and application. They often had relatives or friends suffering from organ diseases and had personally experienced the helplessness of organ shortages, thus placing high hopes on it.”

“Another thirty-five percent of the public held a cautious or worried attitude. They were concerned about the technical risks, such as the safety and long-term stability of single-organ clones, as well as the potential for ethical chaos, fearing the emergence of derivative problems that violate human nature, such as ‘cloned humans’.”

Obviously, the group Chu Jinmeng was talking about was deeply influenced by traditional ethical concepts and harbored doubts about a new technology that breaks the natural laws of birth and reproduction. However, Xiao Yu wasn’t worried about this. If the opportunity to double their lifespan was truly placed before them, he was sure that despite any verbal protests, their actions would tell a different story.

Chu Jinmeng continued, “The final thirty-five percent or so of the public were in a state of indecision, waiting for more scientific evidence and the formation of a social consensus. Their attitudes were easily swayed by external factors like media reports and expert interpretations, which also highlights the urgency of strengthening public science education and guiding rational understanding.”

At this moment, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but turn his head in slight surprise to glance at Chu Jinmeng. He suddenly realized this girl was quite a contrast. She was usually so quirky, yet now she was displaying such a serious and intellectual side. Was it because her mentor was present, so she was toning it down?

However, Xiao Yu also discovered that when Chu Jinmeng discussed professional matters, she was indeed very professional.

After a moment, Chen Shuding nodded and said, “Indeed. And that’s precisely why it’s all the more remarkable that Mr. Xiao was able to achieve such a broad ‘united front’ effect across all sectors of society with just a twenty-something-minute special interview video. To be honest, I was discussing this with a few colleagues the day before yesterday, and we were very surprised by the public’s reaction.”

Chen Shuding then elaborated, “Single-organ cloning technology has long been mired in a vortex of numerous complex and sharp ethical controversies. The first and foremost is the issue of bioethics. Although cloned organs are intended to cure diseases and save lives, when examined from a philosophical perspective, their very nature provokes deep thought. It breaks the traditional model of natural birth and organ generation, challenging humanity’s understanding of ‘life’ and ‘humanity’.”

“Whether a cloned organ possesses independent consciousness or potential human-like traits has always been a focal point of heated debate in academia and among the public. If future technological developments allow cloned organs to have partial consciousness or perception, it would completely subvert the existing bioethical order and trigger a redefinition and reconstruction of what it means to be ‘human’.”

…

Chapter 178: Everything That Happens Is to My Advantage

Having opened up, Chen Shuding began to speak his mind freely. “Furthermore, the identity crisis is an issue that cannot be ignored. For patients who receive cloned organ transplants, the genes of the new organ are identical to their own, which may trigger a sense of identity confusion on a psychological level.”

“Especially in some cultures, bodily integrity and uniqueness are seen as the cornerstones of personal dignity. After a cloned organ is implanted, the patient may fall into self-doubt, becoming confused about ‘who I really am,’ which can then lead to psychological disorders, affecting their post-operative recovery and quality of life.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu calmly replied with an air of indifference, “Post-operative health is a technical problem. As for psychological disorders, in my opinion, anyone with that kind of problem is just looking for trouble because they’re too comfortable. If you actually gave them the chance to live another two hundred years, their biggest obstacle would only be that two hundred years isn’t enough, and they’d want to live for another two hundred.”

At these words, Chen Shuding was left speechless, and Chu Jinmeng couldn’t help but cover her mouth with a smile.

After this brief interlude, Chen Shuding paused for a moment before continuing, “Comparatively, another problem is even more prominent. When considered from the long river of human evolution, it’s highly controversial whether single-organ cloning technology, if realized and widely applied in the future, will interfere with the natural evolutionary process.”

“It allows individuals with genetic defects to survive long-term, potentially hindering the natural selection that would eliminate unfavorable genes and affecting the optimization of genetic diversity within the human population. Over-reliance on cloned organ replacement might cause the evolutionary adaptability of our own organs to gradually degenerate, thereby weakening humanity’s natural resilience to unknown future diseases and environmental changes. It could lead humanity down a path of unnatural deviation in its evolution, trapping us in an ethical dilemma.”

As he spoke, Chen Shuding couldn’t help but let out a sigh. This was an unavoidable and cruel problem.

When viewed from the perspective of the entire human species, it meant that flawed genes that should have been eliminated were preserved, evading natural selection. Objectively, this would indeed affect the optimization of the population’s genetic diversity.

But to let natural selection take its course was undoubtedly extremely cruel to the individual.

Moreover, once cloned organ replacement became mainstream, it would objectively lead to the degeneration of humanity’s natural evolutionary adaptability.

Hearing this, Xiao Yu said with a smile, “The continuous development of modern medicine can also be said to have led to the decline of the human body’s evolutionary adaptability. Individuals with genetic defects live longer and can even have offspring. According to natural selection, these individuals should have been eliminated long ago, let alone have descendants. It’s the same problem, so why is it suddenly unacceptable when it comes to organ cloning and transplantation?”

“There’s a saying in the I Ching: ‘What follows is good.’ Everything that happens is to my advantage. Good things can turn bad, and bad things can turn good, but no matter if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, something can be gained from it.”

“In other words, everything that happens has two sides; it all depends on how you transform it into a continuous stream of positive outcomes. As the saying goes, ‘It is man who can broaden the Way, not the Way that broadens man.’ When something happens in a certain situation, it is inevitably constrained by the larger environment. Before it occurs, no one knows whether it will be good or bad.”

“Everything under the sun, especially things that happen to you, is a good thing once it has occurred. There are no bad things. But that’s not enough. If you treat anything as a good thing, it will genuinely move in a good direction; if you treat it as a bad thing, it will also move in a bad direction. It’s all of your own making.”

“We often say ‘wishes come true’ precisely because everything has two sides. If you see the good side and proactively respond to it, the matter will naturally and slowly turn for the better. Isn’t that why they say you should think on the bright side and work toward a positive outcome?”

Chen Shuding had never been able to conclude whether single-organ cloning technology was good or bad. He was also deeply troubled by the trade-offs between the individual and the species, which had caused him a fair amount of internal conflict.

However, Xiao Yu’s understanding was free of any so-called internal conflict. He examined the issue from the detached perspective of a “selfless” observer.

From this angle, all things in the world are part of nature. What is called self-selection can also be seen as a form of natural selection, merely one that is realized through the method of human “self-selection.”

“‘What follows is good… everything that happens is to my advantage…’” Chen Shuding muttered these words to himself. A moment later, he suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.

He never thought that a single conversation with Xiao Yu could resolve the internal conflict that had plagued him for years. He instantly felt that this trip had been more than worthwhile.

Chen Shuding also hadn’t expected a junior like Xiao Yu to possess such a high level of vision and perspective. This only made him more certain that his decision to join Spiritual Mirror Tech was not a mistake.

Afterward, they began to discuss the technical aspects of single-organ cloning.

Xiao Yu said with a smile, “My main focus is on new materials, but my interests are quite broad. In recent years, I’ve also been catching up on modern bio-engineering. I believe that in terms of current technical principles and processes, single-organ cloning technology already has a solid foundation. Through the combined efforts of somatic cell cloning, gene editing, and induced stem cell differentiation, custom-made organs are moving from theory to practice.”

Hearing this, Chen Shuding couldn’t help but nod. “I happen to agree with that view. Looking at its development history, iconic achievements like Dolly the sheep were key milestones. In recent years, there have been breakthroughs in multiple areas, such as cloning livers, hearts, and lungs, which have injected new momentum into clinical applications. It has shown potential in both delaying aging and conquering diseases, with the promise of renewing cells, repairing the body, and breaking the limits of lifespan.”

Xiao Yu immediately added, “I’ve always believed that solving this problem requires synergy across multiple fields. Biology, medicine, and materials science must work hand in hand to delve into mechanisms, optimize methods, and develop materials. We need innovative research methods, leveraging organoids, single-cell sequencing, and artificial intelligence for precise empowerment. We should also learn from nature’s wisdom in regeneration, domesticate the immune system, and unlock cellular potential.”

Chen Shuding nodded in agreement at once. “Only with the concerted efforts of all sectors can we hope to overcome the many obstacles.”

After this exchange, Chen Shuding suddenly looked at Xiao Yu and smiled. “The media describes Mr. Xiao as a once-in-a-century genius. It seems they were not exaggerating. In fact, they may have even been conservative. For someone who majors in new materials to have such impressive insights in a non-specialized field like modern bio-engineering is truly remarkable.”

At this, Chen Shuding added, “If Mr. Xiao had chosen to specialize in single-organ cloning technology in modern bio-engineering back then, perhaps the field would have already achieved enormous breakthroughs.”

Then, Chen Shuding continued, “While it’s a pity that the field of modern bio-engineering lost a genius, the field of materials science gained one, bringing about the advent of room-temperature superconductivity. Perhaps this is exactly what you meant, Mr. Xiao: ‘What follows is good, and everything that happens is to my advantage.’”

…

Chapter 179: Investment Budget and Planning for the Field

Who says scientists don’t understand the ways of the world? Who says scientists are high-IQ but low-EQ?

Professor Chen’s words were a masterclass in emotional intelligence, wouldn’t you say?

In truth, it’s impossible for someone with a high IQ to have low emotional intelligence. They just can’t be bothered to waste their expressions or deploy their EQ for ordinary people or ordinary matters. In the end, it all comes down to whether you hold enough weight in their eyes.

Evidently, Xiao Yu now held significant weight in Chen Shuding’s heart. If nothing else, this young man was, after all, his new employer, his new boss.

But then again, Chen Shuding’s words weren’t entirely just a display of mutual flattery. He was genuinely astounded by some of Xiao Yu’s insights and truly believed that if Xiao Yu were to focus his talents solely on the research of single-organ technology, he might very well have already achieved a breakthrough on par with the discovery of room-temperature superconductors in materials science.

Of course, what Professor Chen would never have guessed was that the young man before him was, at his core, a player with cheats enabled. While others were exploring the unknown in search of answers, Xiao Yu already had the reference key.

The Blue Star world was a veritable preview of the meta solution.

Of course, Xiao Yu himself was exceptionally gifted. If an ordinary person were given the meta solution, they wouldn’t even be able to understand it.

In the Blue Star world, single-organ cloning technology was just a mundane branch of the cloning field. The real marvels of cloning technology there were things like the organic body technology.

In particular, there was consciousness transfer, which allowed a person to truly “live a new life” in a different sense. It meant that after living for over two hundred years, one could switch to a more vibrant organic clone and live for another two hundred-odd years. In theory, as long as the consciousness transfer surgery was successful, one could live forever.

Compared to these technologies, single-organ cloning did indeed seem rather “backward.” This was also why Xiao Yu was able to so easily obtain the “reference answer” for single-organ cloning technology from the Blue Star world.

Obtaining the real technological marvels, however, was far more difficult. For instance, a technology like the organic body would have been nearly impossible to acquire if not for the fact that the Red Tide Organization in the Blue Star world possessed it and that Xiao Yu could provide something they needed.

As for the technology that allowed for consciousness transfer to a new clone, enabling one to “live a new life,” Xiao Yu had yet to find a single shred of valuable information about it in the Blue Star world. This showed just how strictly it was monopolized and kept secret. That was the true pinnacle of the art.

Finally, Chen Shuding looked at Xiao Yu and couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Xiao, what is your total projected investment for the field of modern bio-engineering?”

After such a long discussion, this was the most practical question.

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled and said, “Professor Chen, you can rest assured on that front. The investment will certainly be far beyond the industry’s imagination. A starting budget of ten billion is without question. As for the total projected investment, I don’t know how much will be needed. In short, until the technology breaks through, I will not cut back on funding; I will only increase it.”

When Chen Shuding heard Xiao Yu’s firm words, he felt a great sense of relief. His biggest fear had been that this was a decision made on a whim, that Xiao Yu would try it for a while and give up when he didn’t see short-term results.

Now, it seemed Xiao Yu was psychologically prepared for a long-term commitment, which completely set his mind at ease. The research would definitely not be abandoned halfway.

In reality, Xiao Yu had no intention of a long-term struggle. He merely projected that attitude to reassure Chen Shuding and the others who were joining Spiritual Mirror Tech. With the meta solution in hand, what kind of long-term struggle was there to fight?

He just needed to put all the necessary groundwork in place. When the time was ripe, he would stage a major breakthrough, and that would be that.

Xiao Yu already had a clear plan in mind. He intended to use Chu Jinmeng’s name to achieve a major technological breakthrough in one to two years, then enter the clinical trial phase. By around the third year, they would achieve preliminary clinical application.

By the fifth year at most, they would begin full-scale application for all patients who needed an organ transplant to survive.

Even if the safety and long-term stability of single-organ cloning had not yet been verified, it wouldn’t matter to them, because such patients would certainly die without a transplant.

In this situation, the patients themselves would be willing to take the gamble for a chance at life, as they had no other choice.

However, it could not be made universally available. For instance, for patients with general organ damage or disease that hadn’t reached a critical, must-replace stage, the technology couldn’t be freely used. If it were, the size of that group would rapidly grow exponentially.

To put it plainly, even after five years, people wouldn’t be able to get a cloned organ for any minor or moderate illness, nor could patients get one just by asking for it.

With an exponentially larger user base, the safety and long-term stability of single-organ cloning would have to be taken into account. Otherwise, any problem could involve tens or even hundreds of millions of people.

If all went well, fine. But if a problem did arise, the consequences would be absolutely unthinkable.

And to verify whether the safety and stability of single-organ cloning were reliable enough, there were no shortcuts. It had to be verified with real, hard-earned time.

It simply couldn’t be rushed. There was only one path, which could be summarized in a single word: “wait.” Waiting day after day, year after year, until decades had passed. During this time, scientists would track and observe the patients who had received single-organ transplants to draw their final conclusions.

Xiao Yu’s plan was to achieve the goal of universal popularization in at least thirty years.

By then, the restrictions would be gone. As long as patients wanted to replace an organ and were willing to pay for it, they could undergo a clone-organ transplant for even a minor ailment, provided the production capacity allowed for it.

Without decades of verification, claims of its safety and long-term stability would be untenable.

Thirty years was about right. By then, they would also have a sufficient sample size to be statistically significant, because over thirty years, a large number of patients who needed life-saving organ replacements would have emerged, forming a massive pool of sample data.

In a way, they would be the ones to bear the potential risks for everyone else. In doing so, they would provide research support for the scientists, and in return for taking that risk, they would gain the opportunity to extend their lives. After all, without the single-organ clone transplant, they would likely have died long ago.

Over a period of thirty years, the sample size would certainly be extremely rich.

Only then, with reliable safety and stability data, would the technology be on solid ground.

Xiao Yu planned to achieve universal popularization of single-organ cloning and transplant technology in thirty years. By that time, it would be the middle of the twenty-first century. The world of Earth then would surely have undergone world-changing transformations compared to today. Who knows, humans might even have established permanent research bases on Mars.

Chapter 180: A Firm Commitment Without Reservation

Finally, Xiao Yu looked at Chen Shuding and said with a candid smile, “As for R&D funding, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s newly established modern bio-engineering department will definitely have more than enough. And it will be a long-term, continuous investment; there’s absolutely no chance we’ll give up halfway. As long as Spiritual Mirror Tech doesn’t go bankrupt, this department will never be shut down.”

“On a personal level, I also hope that I, along with my friends and family, can live longer. It would be a lie to say I don’t care about that.”

“On a grander scale, this is crucial for the future of human civilization as it expands its boundaries into the depths of space. The current human lifespan isn’t short, but it’s not particularly long either. It’s sufficient for a planetary civilization, but if we advance to a stellar civilization, operating just within the solar system, a round trip from Earth to Saturn would take over a decade. That’s about one-fifth of a person’s life. A lifespan of less than a hundred years simply isn’t enough.”

Clearly, Xiao Yu had no intention of following the Blue Star world’s example—cowering on their home planet and refusing to expand their boundaries of survival, even when they possessed all the foundational core conditions necessary to venture into the cosmos.

This was because the vested interests of the Blue Star world feared that expanding into the universe would inevitably foster the rise of new powers. They worried they would be unable to control these new powers, and their own status would be shaken or even subverted.

So, to prevent new powers from rising and shaking their dominion, they chose a strategy of maintaining the status quo. That way, no such variables would emerge, and even if they did, they could be more easily crushed within their own fields of advantage.

In a sense, the Blue Star world had fallen into the trap of the “resource curse theory.” Just like some countries or regions on Earth, they possessed abundant natural resources, but these resources had instead hindered their development, leading to slow growth, stagnation, or even regression.

For example, Africa and Brazil in South America have not developed particularly well, precisely because of their abundant natural resources.

After all, when you can just reach out and pick endless wild fruits, when nature’s gifts are so plentiful, there is little motivation to research techniques for improving rice cultivation. In other words, there is insufficient drive to advance technology and productivity, so development slows or even halts.

In contrast, the Great Eastern Nation, with its insufficient resources and enormous population, faced the urgent problem of simply feeding its people. Failure to solve this would lead to chaos. Under this immense pressure, it was forced to seek technological breakthroughs.

Even in ancient times, the Yellow River frequently burst its banks and flooded, forcing the ancient ancestors of Huaxia to seek technological breakthroughs to manage the floods and optimize irrigation for their farmland, which simultaneously promoted the progress of technology and civilization.

The humans of the Blue Star world possessed abundant natural resources that even Xiao Yu, an Earthling, envied. Natural gold was so common that it was treated like a standard industrial metal, and they had vast, rich veins of natural room-temperature superconducting ore.

When you have everything you need at home, you have no desire to go out.

Moreover, the rigid social structure of the Blue Star world and the stubborn conservatism of its vested interests were significantly influenced by the “resource curse.” It made the old guard exceptionally powerful, making it extremely difficult for new powers to rise.

If Earth were in a similar situation, it might not fare much better. Certain resource-rich countries and regions are currently suffering from the “resource curse,” and Brazil is undoubtedly a prime example.

But overall, Earth clearly lacked the優渥 conditions of Blue Star.

Imagine if humanity on Earth discovered that Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, or some other satellite, contained natural room-temperature superconducting ore. They would absolutely pour everything they had into advancing aerospace technology for the sake of getting to Titan to mine it, just to obtain that natural superconducting material.

Earth’s aerospace technology would have achieved routine interplanetary travel decades earlier, the interstellar mining industry would be booming, and they might have even made a breakthrough in controlled nuclear fusion long ago.

At this moment, hearing Xiao Yu’s candid words, his admission that he too yearned to extend the “health bar” of his lifespan, Chen Shuding’s last worries vanished. This motivation was more than enough to justify the continuous investment.

After all, wealth was just a number to Xiao Yu. He had so much that even after transferring fifty percent of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s shares to the Benevolence Fund for free, he would still become the world’s richest man again in the foreseeable future through the Sino-Aviation Linfei Company. Who could compete when Sino-Aviation Linfei controlled room-temperature superconducting material technology?

Under these circumstances, Chen Shuding believed that the allure of a longer life was far greater for Xiao Yu than any amount of money.

In fact, Xiao Yu did have a much greater need to extend his “health bar.” He had to operate between two worlds, Earth and Blue Star, and the difference in the flow of time meant that if he stayed in one world for too long, he would age faster relative to the other world, even though time passed normally for him personally.

To put it simply, it was as if Xiao Yu’s lifetime “health bar” was being depleted at double the rate of others.

The most direct and effective solution to this problem was to increase the length of his “health bar.” For now, it was the only solution. As long as his health bar was long enough, the faster depletion rate would not be a major issue and could be overlooked.

This was another crucial reason why Xiao Yu wanted to accelerate the development of single-organ cloning technology—time was, in fact, very tight for him.

Unless he could quickly obtain the Blue Star world’s true ultimate black technology—the consciousness transfer that allowed one to “live a new life” in a different, fully cloned body—then he would be completely free of worry.

But that was obviously extremely difficult. It required Xiao Yu to establish a massive power base in the Blue Star world. He wouldn’t dare use something given by others, as the issue of trust couldn’t be resolved. He had to master it himself to feel safe using it, the same principle as with his organic body.

This meant he needed his own power base in the Blue Star world, with enough strength to fight for and obtain that technology.

And that, in turn, would take time to build. Coupled with the fact that he was active in two worlds, the time—or rather, his lifespan—was being consumed faster relative to anyone in a single world, making time seem even more scarce.

He might die before that day ever came. Therefore, using single-organ cloning technology to extend his “health bar” by about two hundred years would serve as a temporary stopgap solution, preventing his own “health bar” from running out before he could master the consciousness transfer black technology.

As time went on, Xiao Yu and Chen Shuding discussed many things face-to-face. After about two hours, the meeting concluded.

Chen Shuding left, completely satisfied, feeling the trip was well worth it. With his worries gone, his main concern now was when the research project could advance to a substantive stage.

This meeting with Chen Shuding was also very important because he represented the more than two hundred scientists and senior experts in the field who had come to join them. Xiao Yu’s attitude and promises to him were an attitude and promise to the other two hundred-plus people.

In the following days, Chen Shuding shared the details of his conversation with Xiao Yu with a few of his colleagues. These people then communicated with others, and soon, the news reached the ears of all two hundred-plus individuals who planned to join Spiritual Mirror Tech.

Like Chen Shuding, they no longer had any worries and became even more resolute in their decision to join Spiritual Mirror Tech.

Chapter 181: A Pie-in-the-Sky Dream Everyone Loves

The time was now mid-to-late February.

Chen Shuding and over two hundred others began arriving in Linzhou City, joining Spiritual Mirror Tech. The company hired these talented individuals with generous salaries, allowing the newly formed bio-engineering business unit to be rapidly established and begin operations.

This saved a significant amount of time, which to Xiao Yu was the most precious commodity of all. In his eyes, any reduction in time was the greatest saving imaginable. The financial investment, by comparison, was a minor issue.

On Friday, February 17, Spiritual Mirror Tech officially announced that its Board of Directors had passed a resolution.

The company established a “Three Ten-Year” ultra-long-term plan for its newly formed bio-engineering business unit, focused on single-organ cloning technology. Each decade was designated a medium-term plan, which was further subdivided into three short-term plans of approximately three years each.

This made it clear to everyone that Xiao Yu was serious about this endeavor—it wasn’t just a publicity stunt, a conceptual game, or another case of making grandiose but unrealistic promises.

Furthermore, the company proposed a budget of 22.5 billion RMB in R&D funding for the first three-year short-term plan, all dedicated to single-organ cloning technology.

Chen Shuding and the more than two hundred experts who had come to join the company were stunned by this plan. It far surpassed their wildest expectations. They never imagined Xiao Yu’s commitment and support for the field would be so immense—a full thirty-year, ultra-long-term plan.

This was essentially telling them they could work at Spiritual Mirror Tech until they retired.

The scale of the investment was also beyond anything they had anticipated. A single three-year short-term plan was allocated 22.5 billion in R&D funds. Extrapolating from this figure, the total investment over thirty years would reach a staggering 225 billion—an undeniably astronomical sum.

Chen Shuding and his colleagues were all invigorated. They would never have to worry about research funding again.

It was more money than they could possibly spend.

This was because research in bio-engineering was, relatively speaking, not that expensive. The “gene-edited baby” incident exposed five years prior in 2018 caused a major uproar both inside and outside the industry, yet the leader of that incident didn’t spend much money and managed to do it secretly on his own.

Bio-engineering research can sometimes be done at a very low cost, as it doesn’t require overly expensive equipment. While the upper limit for costs can be very high, the lower limit is remarkably low—so low that one could start research with just a few petri dishes, test tubes, and some biological samples. One could even use their own somatic cells as research samples.

This was unlike other fields, such as chip manufacturing, where the lower cost limit is still quite high. Without a certain scale of equipment and personnel, it’s simply impossible to operate, let alone for an individual to do so.

In contrast, for biological research, a single person could set up a makeshift lab in a room and begin their work.

Thus, when Xiao Yu allocated a massive 22.5 billion RMB budget to the bio-engineering unit for a single three-year plan, it left Chen Shuding and his team bewildered.

To suddenly have it this good left them dazed. Where in their past careers had they ever seen such abundant funding?

However, this news didn’t have much of a positive effect on Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price in the capital market. On the day of the announcement, the company’s stock actually closed down 3.59%, falling to 191.43 yuan per share, with its market cap dropping to 16.62 trillion yuan.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current stock price was now down a cumulative 20.20% from its all-time high of 239.89 yuan, and there were still no signs of it stabilizing.

There was no negative news about the company during this period. The main factors for this correction were normal profit-taking by investors and a poor overall stock market environment. The broader market index was now in a downward trend.

In this situation, it was unrealistic for a mega-cap stock like Spiritual Mirror Tech to rally again, unless there was some extremely unexpected, epic-level positive news to stimulate it.

The company’s announcement to enter the modern bio-engineering field and pursue single-organ cloning technology received support from people of all social strata—upper, middle, and lower. However, its effect on the stock price was neither negative nor positive.

Investors saw it as a positive catalyst in the medium to long term, acknowledging the company’s strong innovation capabilities, and were willing to wait patiently.

The real reaction of the stock price would depend on future research progress. If the research on single-organ cloning technology was hindered or the outlook was very pessimistic, this huge investment could go down the drain. Once such an expectation formed, the stock price would definitely react negatively and fall.

On the other hand, if the progress was promising or even exceeded expectations, the company would have a new pillar of support, which would inevitably be reflected in a rising stock price. This is because once single-organ cloning technology achieves clinical application, it has unbelievably vast prospects.

…

Later that afternoon, Xiao Yu logged into his personal Weibo account and published a post to further boost the outside world’s anticipation for single-organ cloning technology.

[We know that one of the core processes of aging is cellular senescence. As we age, our cells undergo multiple divisions, and their telomeres gradually shorten. Telomeres are like the “safety hats” at the ends of our chromosomes, playing a crucial role in protecting the integrity of our genes.

When telomeres wear down to a certain point, the cells initiate a senescence program, stop dividing, and consequently trigger the decline of organ function.

Single-organ cloning technology offers hope to break this shackle of aging. By cloning young, healthy organs to replace old, diseased ones, we can fundamentally renew cell populations and reset the cellular aging clock.

Take the liver, for example. When an aging liver is replaced by a new, cloned one, its cells are “rejuvenated,” once again efficiently performing complex physiological functions like metabolism and detoxification, continuously injecting vitality into the body.

From a molecular perspective, the activation of telomerase is a key factor. It replenishes telomere length during cell division, maintaining the youthful state of the cells.

In normal somatic cells, telomerase activity is strictly regulated and kept at a low level. However, during the process of cultivating cloned organs, it may be possible to precisely regulate the telomerase gene, allowing it to be moderately activated in the transplanted organ. This would ensure the cells’ sustained ability to proliferate, thereby slowing the overall aging process and allowing the body’s organs to work in synergy, maintaining vigorous metabolic function.

Many fatal diseases are “roadblocks” on humanity’s path to longevity, and single-organ cloning technology shows unparalleled potential in conquering them.

Take diabetes, for instance. This global chronic disease originates from damaged pancreatic β-cells, leading to dysregulated insulin secretion and persistently high blood sugar, which over time damages multiple organs like the heart, kidneys, and eyes.

Traditional treatments, such as insulin injections, can only alleviate symptoms and cannot provide a cure.

Single-organ cloning technology, however, blazes a new trail. By collecting a patient’s own cells, we can clone a fully functional pancreas or islet tissue. This would enable autonomous and precise regulation of insulin secretion, correcting the metabolic disorder at its root, breaking the chain of disease progression, and preventing the series of fatal complications caused by diabetes.

Then there is heart disease, the world’s number one killer. Conditions like myocardial infarction and heart failure are often caused by irreversible damage to cardiac muscle cells, impairing the heart’s pumping function and leading to insufficient blood supply throughout the body.

Single-organ cloning technology can cultivate cardiomyocytes or myocardial tissue patches in-vitro. Using a biological scaffold, these can be precisely transplanted to the damaged area of the heart. These new heart muscle cells integrate into the cardiac tissue, enhancing the heart’s systolic and diastolic functions, restoring its vitality, and lighting a beacon of hope for patients with heart disease.

In short, on the road to achieving human longevity, single-organ cloning technology holds unparalleled potential in both slowing aging and conquering disease. The room for imagination is vast.]

Putting aside whether it could actually be achieved for a moment…

Xiao Yu kept painting these grand pictures, one after another, and even knowing that’s what they were, everyone loved to eat them up. From the common people of the lower and middle classes to the wealthy and powerful elites of the upper class, every group ate it up with relish, enjoying it immensely.

After all, very few people could resist the temptation of living for more than two hundred years. The allure was simply deadly.

…

Chapter 182: Yun Shu’s Astonishment

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s newly established modern bio-engineering department officially began operations half a month later. However, the department was not located at the company’s current headquarters. Instead, a separate, standalone building was set up to serve as its office space and R&D center.

This was only a temporary arrangement. Once the new headquarters campus in Dongcheng District was completed, everyone would move there together.

The construction of the new headquarters campus was progressing with remarkable efficiency. According to the plan, the move could take place in the second half of this year, which would include not only Spiritual Mirror Tech but also Sino-Aviation Linfei Company.

In the days that followed, Xiao Yu began to systematically discuss single-organ cloning technology with Chu Jinmeng. In reality, he was embedding the “established best strategy” into their conversations, using it to influence and guide her research direction and ideas.

Chu Jinmeng was unaware of Xiao Yu’s intentions. On the contrary, she found his insights exceptionally unique, opening up many new avenues of thought for her. As a result, she often took the initiative to discuss issues related to single-organ cloning technology with him.

…

Time flew by to mid-to-late March.

At Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters, Chu Jinmeng was in Xiao Yu’s office. Half an hour ago, she had come from the bio-engineering department’s R&D center to the main headquarters to find him. This was her first time here; she had never visited Xiao Yu’s company before.

“Brother-in-law, I’ve had some new research ideas recently. Could you help me look them over? I’m still a bit undecided,” Chu Jinmeng said, looking at Xiao Yu.

“What new ideas?” Xiao Yu smiled and met her gaze, feeling a sense of satisfaction. It seemed their recent discussions had paid off; she was having a breakthrough. Chu Jinmeng immediately continued, “My idea is that single-organ cloning technology relies on several cutting-edge biotechnologies, including somatic cell cloning and induced stem cell differentiation.”

She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts before continuing, “Somatic cell cloning is the foundation. It’s based on the theory of cellular totipotency, which states that under specific conditions, the nucleus of a differentiated somatic cell still contains all the genetic information needed to develop into a complete organism.”

“Take cloning a kidney, for example. First, we need to obtain a small amount of kidney tissue or other somatic cells from the patient—skin fibroblasts would also work. These somatic cells serve as donor cells, their nuclei carrying the patient’s unique genetic code.”

“At the same time, we’d acquire a mature, enucleated oocyte to act as the recipient cell. Using micromanipulation techniques, the nucleus from the donor cell is precisely transplanted into the enucleated oocyte. The reprogramming factors in the oocyte’s cytoplasm would then cause the donor nucleus to de-differentiate and restart the embryonic development program, forming a reconstructed embryo.”

“This process is like resetting the cell’s developmental clock, returning the nucleus of a once-specialized somatic cell to its initial totipotent state, initiating a new life-creation process.”

After Chu Jinmeng finished, Xiao Yu immediately added, “You should also incorporate gene editing. This technology can play a crucial role. During the reconstructed embryo stage or in the subsequent cell culture process, you can use gene editing tools to precisely modify the genes of the embryonic cells.”

Xiao Yu elaborated, “For certain hereditary kidney diseases, if the pathogenic gene has been identified, we can perform targeted repairs on the mutated gene. This ensures the cloned kidney cells have a normal genetic sequence, preventing the disease from recurring at its source and providing the patient with a healthy ‘organ seed’.”

His words brought a look of sudden realization to Chu Jinmeng’s face. “Oh, right! That’s a problem we definitely can’t overlook. I was right to come and discuss this with you.”

Chu Jinmeng smiled faintly and then said, “Also, I think induced stem cell differentiation is another key part of organ construction. We would develop the reconstructed embryo to the blastocyst stage, isolate the inner cell mass, and then further induce it to differentiate into kidney-specific stem cells.”

“Then, in a bioreactor or a 3D culture system that mimics the body’s physiological environment, we would guide these stem cells to follow specific signaling pathways and growth factor gradients, gradually differentiating them into the various cell types of a kidney, such as glomerular podocytes and renal tubular epithelial cells.”

“Finally, following the natural tissue structure of a kidney, these cells would be arranged and assembled in an orderly fashion, ultimately developing into a fully functional kidney organ. The entire procedure is like an exquisite symphony, requiring the tight coordination of each technical step. Only then can we compose this magnificent ode to the reconstruction of life.”

At this point, Chu Jinmeng looked at Xiao Yu and asked, “Brother-in-law, I want to take this on as my research project. What do you think?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Xiao Yu nodded and smiled. “Of course, that’s no problem. I promised you before that I’d let you lead a project independently. Just go for it. You can call on any resources in the department you need.”

Hearing this, Chu Jinmeng’s face lit up with joy. “That’s wonderful! Thank you, brother-in-law!”

Xiao Yu simply smiled without saying anything. This was all part of his plan, but there was no need to tell her that. From the looks of it, his guidance had been a complete success.

Just then, they heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Xiao Yu called out, glancing toward the office door. The person who entered was Yun Shu.

She closed the door behind her and walked in gracefully. Yun Shu quickly noticed another slender figure sitting with her back to the door. Just as her gaze focused on the person, Chu Jinmeng also turned her head to look.

When Yun Shu saw Chu Jinmeng’s face, she froze on the spot, her eyes wide with astonishment.

Seeing her reaction, Chu Jinmeng looked back at her in confusion. Xiao Yu, noticing Yun Shu’s stunned expression, immediately understood that she had mistaken Chu Jinmeng for Chu Jintang.

“Oh, let me introduce you,” Xiao Yu said with a smile. “This is Chu Jinmeng, Jintang’s younger sister. They’re twins. She just finished her doctorate and is now working for me in the bio-engineering department.”

Although Yun Shu had been with Xiao Yu since the early days of his startup, she didn’t know much about his family life. She knew Chu Jintang had a sister, but she had no idea they were twins, let alone that they looked so strikingly similar.

This was the first time the two of them had met, so it was no wonder Yun Shu had mistaken her for Chu Jintang.

“So I had the wrong person…” Yun Shu’s astonished expression gave way to understanding after Xiao Yu’s explanation. She couldn’t help but look at Chu Jinmeng again, studying her for a moment before remarking, “The resemblance… it’s just uncanny. If you hadn’t said anything, I really would have thought she was Jintang.”

Xiao Yu then glanced at Chu Jinmeng and said, “This is Spiritual Mirror Tech’s Chief Financial Officer, Yun Shu.”

The two women looked at each other, and Chu Jinmeng said with a smile, “Hello.”

Yun Shu smiled back. “Hello.”

Chu Jinmeng then turned to Xiao Yu with a smile. “I’ll let you two talk. I’m going to head to the lab to start preparing for the research project.”

Xiao Yu nodded. “Go ahead.”

As she watched Chu Jinmeng leave the office, Yun Shu silently breathed a sigh of relief. Her earlier shock came from mistaking Chu Jinmeng for Chu Jintang, which made her think for a moment that Xiao Yu and Chu Jintang had gotten back together. If that were the case, wouldn’t the growing warmth in her own relationship with Xiao Yu become incredibly awkward?

Realizing it wasn’t Chu Jintang, Yun Shu let out another a huge, secret sigh of relief. Thank goodness it was just a false alarm.

Chapter 183: Cyera-AI’s Rapid Growth Momentum

In the office.

The small interruption quickly passed. Yun Shu looked away and turned to Xiao Yu to discuss company matters. “The resolution for the company’s first dividend has been settled. As planned, we’ll be distributing one-third of last year’s net profit. This cash dividend will amount to 24.304 billion RMB.”

Yun Shu handed the documents she brought to Xiao Yu, who signed them decisively without even looking.

Xiao Yu said, “Go ahead and announce it in a little while.”

Starting this year, Spiritual Mirror Tech officially began issuing cash dividends. According to the original plan and the promise made to the market, the company would distribute one-third of its net profit to all shareholders every year.

Compared to the company’s current market capitalization of over ten trillion, a dividend of 24.3 billion was practically nothing—not even a fraction of the market cap.

The dividend yield was barely around 0.2%. However, what the market truly valued wasn’t the present, but the next three to five years.

Given Spiritual Mirror Tech’s current high-growth momentum, the room for imagination regarding future revenue was immense. In the future, the annual cash dividend could easily be an astronomical figure in the hundreds of billions, or even several hundreds of billions.

The dividend yield would be high by then.

Two hours later, the company released its announcement on the 2022 equity distribution plan.

Based on the company’s existing 86.8 billion shares, a cash dividend of 2.80 RMB (tax included) would be distributed per 10 shares to all shareholders. There would be no bonus shares and no conversion of capital reserves into share capital. The total cash dividend to be distributed amounted to 24.304 billion RMB.

After the announcement of Spiritual Mirror Tech’s first dividend resolution was disclosed, the company’s stock price paradoxically opened high and then trended lower the next day.

This was mainly due to the unfavorable broader market environment. By Monday, March 20th, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price had dipped to 163.18 yuan, with its market capitalization falling to 14.16 trillion. This represented a cumulative decline of 31.97% from its historical high. Compared to its peak market cap of 20.82 trillion, it had lost a staggering 6.66 trillion.

However, on Tuesday, March 21st, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s stock price began to stop falling and rebound, entering a month-long rally. The stock price rebounded to a high of 198.32 yuan, a cumulative rally of about twenty-one percent, and the company’s market capitalization recovered to 17.21 trillion.

But by mid-April, the A-share market turned bearish again, and the broader market experienced a sustained sell-off. Spiritual Mirror Tech also adjusted downwards along with the market.

The company’s daily trading volume also saw a shrinking volume, down to just over 20 billion. For any other A-share listed company, this figure would be an astronomical volume, but for Spiritual Mirror Tech, with its market cap of over ten trillion, it was rock-bottom.

After all, when Spiritual Mirror Tech resumed trading at the beginning of the year, its daily trading volume was often over two or three hundred billion. That’s not to mention the day it recorded an epic trading volume of 698.6 billion.

In the current bearish state of the A-share market, Spiritual Mirror Tech’s performance was considered resilient. Many other blue-chip stocks were already on track to be cut in half.

During this period, Xiao Yu didn’t pay much attention to the stock price movements of Spiritual Mirror Tech in the secondary market. After completing the layout of the bio-engineering business department, he shifted his focus to operating Cyera-AI, the company founded by his body double, Peter Vitas.

Xiao Yu had not forgotten about the Blue Star world. He had promised the Red Tide Organization that he would provide them with a large amount of food supplies in the future, and he had yet to obtain the N-800 Nano Armament black technology.

His true self could not be associated with his body double, Peter Vitas. This required the body double’s net worth to skyrocket, turning him into a super-rich tycoon. Only then could he procure and transport food on a large scale to the Blue Star world.

Xiao Yu was now trying his best not to use his own name or Spiritual Mirror Tech’s name to shuttle food supplies to Blue Star, in order to minimize the risks.

Therefore, if his body double didn’t rise quickly, it would be difficult to fulfill his promise to the Blue Star world.

The fastest way to make money was to quickly list Cyera-AI on the US stock market. Although the company had only been established in Silicon Valley for a few months, a rapid public listing was not impossible.

Luckin Coffee had created the miracle of going public in just eighteen months. Xiao Yu felt that Cyera-AI could cut that time in half, and achieving a listing in eight or nine months was not necessarily undoable.

Cyera-AI’s current growth momentum was incredibly fierce. By April 15th, its registered AI users had skyrocketed to a staggering sixty-five million.

In Europe and America, Cyera-AI’s popularity was already faintly beginning to overshadow OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Its growth momentum was not far behind that of Mira AI last year. After all, Cyera-AI was targeting the global market, while Mira AI was only within the Greater China market.

Western capital in America now held high hopes for Peter Vitas. The mainstream media in Europe and America gave him extensive coverage, portraying him as a supernova in the tech circle of the white world.

Cyera-AI had already been valued by European and American capital as a super unicorn worth ten billion dollars.

In short, they were giving Peter Vitas maximum exposure.

Evidently, circles in Europe and America were desperate to create a “supernova” in the tech world to counter the rise of Xiao Yu from the Great Eastern Nation. This was crucial for them, as it was the only way to demonstrate that the “beacon” of technology still shone in the Western world.

OpenAI was useless at this point; it couldn’t compete with Spiritual Mirror Tech. Furthermore, Elon Musk was associated with OpenAI, and the big shots behind the scenes in the Judeo-Anglo Consortium in America didn’t particularly like Elon Musk, even looking down on him.

To spite Elon Musk, they even induced his eldest son to become a daughter. Talk about a “family affair.”

At this moment, the sudden emergence of Peter Vitas was a sight for sore eyes for Western capital. The key was that he was living up to expectations. The rise and potential of Cyera-AI showed Western capital that it could compete with Xiao Yu, demonstrating enormous potential.

The Western capital circles had now decided to push Peter Vitas to the forefront and have Cyera-AI replace the useless OpenAI.

And they were simply too impatient. Otherwise, after investing so much in the AI field for so long, Xiao Yu’s Spiritual Mirror Tech would be the one to reap all the rewards.

…

North America, Silicon Valley, Cyera-AI headquarters.

“What did you say? You want Cyera-AI to ring the bell at Nasdaq in two months?” A middle-aged white man stared at Peter Vitas in shock. This man was the person in charge of one of the venture capital firms invested in Cyera-AI.

Through his body double Peter Vitas, Xiao Yu had gathered some of Cyera-AI’s major capital investors to discuss a plan for a light-speed IPO.

At that moment, the body double Peter Vitas smiled, glanced around at everyone, and said calmly, “All of you here should be well aware of Cyera-AI’s potential. Besides, since you intend to package and promote me as a supernova in the tech circle, wouldn’t it be a legendary feat for the company to go public in just over half a year since its founding? This is also a part of the marketing strategy.”

Everyone looked at each other, and for a moment, no one responded.

Just then, Peter Vitas made an offer that made the hearts of all the investors present pound: “If we can achieve a public listing in two months, I am willing to reduce my shareholding to fifteen percent. As long as I retain control of the company and am allowed to cash out five billion dollars during the listing, the other eighty-five percent of the shares will be yours. As for how you divide it, you can discuss it among yourselves. How about it?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the investors in the room could no longer sit still.

In fact, their biggest concern was that after building up Peter Vitas, he would hold too much equity and take too much profit. But they still had to rely on him for the technology, which meant they couldn’t touch him, much less let him “have an unfortunate accident” and die. If he was gone, it would be a real problem.

But now, hearing that Peter Vitas was willing to take only a fifteen percent stake, the situation was completely different. They could even say that they could support him without any reservations.

Such a deal was instantly, profoundly appealing to them.

…

Chapter 184: Reaching a Consensus

For tech giants around the world, especially those with trillion-dollar valuations, the founders’ final shareholding ratio is typically around ten to twenty percent. This is because they need to share the profits with various parties to collectively grow the company to such a massive scale.

Unless, of course, they were practically cheating…

And under normal circumstances, it was rare for a founder to hold over half the shares and still grow a company to a trillion-dollar valuation. This was especially true in the Western capitalist world.

The main reason a company couldn’t grow that large if the founder held too much equity was that they easily became a target for concentrated attacks. When you expanded your company’s size, you inevitably squeezed the market share of your competitors, and investors often had stakes in those rival companies.

If your company squeezed out the competition, and those same investors didn’t have a large enough stake in your company to hedge their losses, they would inevitably move to suppress you.

At this moment, upon hearing Peter Vitas’s straightforward terms, the investors present exchanged a few brief words and immediately reached a consensus, agreeing to his three conditions.

Namely, he would retain control of the company, he would be allowed to cash out five billion dollars, and Cyera-AI would undergo a light-speed IPO within the next two months.

In exchange, Peter Vitas’s stake in Cyera-AI would drop directly to fifteen percent. As for the remaining eighty-five percent, the major investors would negotiate among themselves how to divide it.

Luckin Coffee managed a light-speed IPO in eighteen months, but Cyera-AI was aiming to be twice as fast, going public in just half a year.

Other companies might find this difficult, but Cyera-AI was born at the right time. The company’s fundamentals were solid enough, and crucially, it had the backing of all its investing capital partners. With them working together to push for the IPO, there would be no significant obstacles.

Once Cyera-AI was listed and he had cashed out the five billion dollars, Xiao Yu’s next plan was to use his body double to fulfill his promise of supplying two million tons of food and supplies annually to the Red Tide Organization in the Blue Star world.

At current market prices, two million tons of food and supplies were worth about eight hundred million dollars.

With five billion dollars cashed out, he would have more than enough to last for several years.

However, having his body double, Peter Vitas, spend so much money purchasing such a large quantity of food and supplies required a reasonable explanation for his motives. Otherwise, it would certainly arouse suspicion from the outside world, especially from the various institutional investors.

Xiao Yu had already devised a solution for this, and the answer was a single word: charity.

This would serve as a cover for his true motives. He could explain to the institutional investors that it was to better craft his public persona, adding “philanthropist” to his identity. Spending some money to purchase food and supplies for charity and providing some humanitarian aid around the world would forge a positive public image for both himself and Cyera-AI.

When the investors heard this reason, they would certainly be happy to see it succeed.

In the days that followed, Xiao Yu controlled his body double, Peter Vitas, to actively prepare for Cyera-AI’s IPO, while his other ventures also progressed as planned.

Sino-Aviation Linfei Company’s “Divine Dragon” fighter jet project was proceeding in an orderly fashion, and Linzhou City’s trillion-yuan sky-train project was also in full swing.

Spiritual Mirror Tech’s core businesses were developing as Xiao Yu had anticipated. The company’s absolute cash cow, graphene material, had expanded its production capacity to the ten-thousand-ton level this year, and it was still selling out.

In the AI business sector, Mira AI was expected to be fully available in the second half of the year, at which point all users could use it normally. At the same time, the paid subscription service for the Personal Edition productivity tools would also be launched in the latter half of the year.

The newly established bio-engineering department was now in preliminary operation. All that was left was to wait for the opportune moment, and a major breakthrough in the research of single-organ cloning technology was inevitable.

In addition, Spiritual Mirror Tech had two other important businesses: holographic imaging and VR headsets. These projects had been initiated last year, but there hadn’t been much progress, as Xiao Yu had not yet focused his primary efforts on them.

His energy was simply too limited, so he could only let them develop on their own for a while.

Holographic imaging was a definite must. Not only did the technology itself have immense commercial potential, but it was also a key prerequisite for the smart holographic wristband. Without it, the holographic wristband could not be developed.

But there was no rush on this front. After all, the holographic wristband still required many other precursor technologies to be unlocked. He could only take it one step at a time.

Time flew by, and soon it was the end of April.

At his villa, Xiao Yu went down to the basement. At the same time, he had his body double, Peter Vitas, go to rest. This was because he was about to travel to the Blue Star world, and the connection to his organic body would be severed once the teleportation Star Gate closed.

From now on, whenever Xiao Yu wanted to go to the Blue Star, he would have to make sure Peter Vitas was lying down beforehand. Fortunately, it was nighttime in the Western Hemisphere, the perfect time for sleep, so all he had to do was have his body double lie down and “sleep.”

At that moment, Xiao Yu opened the teleportation Star Gate. He first arrived in the Blue Star world, then reopened the teleportation Star Gate and returned to Earth.

When he returned to Earth this time, he was not in the basement of his residential villa but in a secret base built eight hundred meters underground beneath his ninth villa.

Xiao Yu glanced around, thoroughly satisfied, and remarked, “Hmm, having a Star Gate is so convenient. And it’s exceptionally secure. There’s no way it can be exposed.”

In the future, entering and exiting this underground secret base would require the same procedure: first, use the teleportation Star Gate to go to the Blue Star world, and then open the Star Gate again to return from the Blue Star world to the secret underground base on Earth.

This wasn’t Xiao Yu being overly cautious. It was because he had already completely and permanently sealed the tunnel dug from the basement of the ninth villa from the inside. At the same time, there was no second tunnel extending from the underground base to the basement of his own residential villa.

In other words, this underground base no longer had any passage leading to the surface; the tunnel from the ninth villa had also been completely sealed up.

Initially, Xiao Yu had considered digging a tunnel from underground to his own villa, but fortunately, he hadn’t done so.

He realized it was completely unnecessary, and to have actually done it would have been incredibly foolish.

With a cheat like the teleportation Star Gate, who the hell needed a tunnel?

He could just seal everything off completely, leaving no tunnels leading to the surface. This would make the underground base utterly independent, completely isolated eight hundred meters deep, and totally cut off from the surface.

As a result, the risk of this underground base being exposed was now almost purely theoretical. No one, apart from Xiao Yu, could ever discover it, let alone enter it. Only Xiao Yu himself could.

And there was only one way in or out: through the teleportation Star Gate, using the Blue Star world as a transit point. This way, the security and confidentiality levels were directly maxed out.

Chapter 185: Let’s Just Call It Little Blue

Underground base.

Xiao Yu wandered around the underground base for a while. Everything here, aside from Xiao Yu himself who was from Earth, had no connection to Earth. All the equipment was a product of the Blue Star world.

Here, Xiao Yu could completely relax, free of any worries, without any concern about the risk of the Blue Star world’s black technology leaking out.

If another person from Earth were to appear here, their eyes would surely pop out in shock at the sight before them, because the various high-tech elements in this underground base were far too advanced.

“The technological productivity of the Blue Star world is truly a few hundred years ahead of Earth’s. To build such a large underground laboratory from scratch in less than half a year.” Xiao Yu couldn’t help but marvel. He then arrived at the base’s control room.

Xiao Yu walked to the center of the control console, and a dozen or so holographic floating display panels immediately projected out.

The basic information of this underground base was laid out before Xiao Yu, clear at a glance. He held the highest level of clearance. The base’s central system was managed by an artificial intelligence.

Right now, Xiao Yu was looking at one of the holographic panels which displayed a message that the central system’s AI agent was initializing. After waiting for a few minutes, a synthesized electronic voice sounded in the control room:

[System initialization complete. Now starting…]

[Startup complete.]

Xiao Yu folded his arms and fell into thought. “Let’s see, I should give you a name…”

After a moment, he made the final decision and said, “Let’s just call you Little Blue!”

Xiao Yu didn’t agonize too much over what to call the underground base’s AI agent. Since it was a product of the Blue Star world, he simply named it “Little Blue.”

A moment later, the system AI quickly responded to Xiao Yu’s command, renaming itself “Little Blue” as the system name.

This underground base currently had a total of six floors, and could be expanded further in the future if needed.

Xiao Yu looked at the base’s basic information. The data showed that each floor had an area of twenty thousand square meters. The deck area of America’s Ford-class aircraft carriers was only nineteen thousand five hundred square meters, meaning each floor of the base was five hundred square meters larger.

With a six-floor structure, and each floor having an area of around twenty thousand square meters, the total current area of the entire underground base reached one hundred twenty thousand square meters.

The control center where Xiao Yu was currently located was on the third floor of the base, in a central position.

“Oh, right. Little Blue, activate the virtual reality background simulation. I want a beach and sea view style scene,” Xiao Yu said immediately as he suddenly remembered. He had almost forgotten that this underground base was equipped with holographic simulation projection capabilities.

As soon as he finished speaking, the system, Little Blue, immediately activated the holographic projection simulation function according to his request.

A moment later, Xiao Yu saw the scene before him begin to change, revealing a beach and a sea view. Outside the simulated floor-to-ceiling windows was a beautiful ocean. The visual impact was not only strong, making it impossible to distinguish between real and fake, but the sounds of the beach were also simulated.

It was impossible for the naked eye to tell whether it was reality or a simulation. Xiao Yu was very satisfied. “Not bad. I’ll stick with this scene for a while.”

When he got tired of it, he could switch to a different style of background at any time.

The base was eight hundred meters deep underground, completely cut off from the outside world. Xiao Yu wasn’t fond of such confined spaces, but the advanced holographic projection technology of the Blue Star world could create visuals indistinguishable from being above ground.

Moreover, the panoramic simulation was hyper-realistic. After activating the holographic scene simulation, one could even feel the breeze from some of the “windows.” This was thanks to the base’s internal ventilation system, which would enhance the reality simulation interaction based on the simulated environment.

It had to be said that the Blue Star world’s virtual reality technology was extremely advanced. Through virtual worlds constructed with holographic and virtual reality technologies, users could wear a special headset to enter a completely different virtual network space.

This was the Blue Star world’s virtual internet, a more immersive interactive experience that Xiao Yu had also tried.

For example, within the virtual internet, the Blue Star world also had e-commerce platforms similar to Earth’s Taobao and JD.com. Through holographic projection and virtual reality technology, these e-commerce platforms were constructed into virtual mega-marts.

In these virtual mega-mart spaces, users could see a dazzling array of goods and even interact with virtual stall owners.

The stall owners in the virtual marts were actually the sellers on the e-commerce platforms. A stall owner could be a real person with a virtual identity in the virtual internet world, or it could be a bot generated and managed by an AI.

In these virtual e-commerce marts, although the dazzling array of goods were simulated—essentially just a pile of data—they corresponded one-to-one with real physical items. Whatever a product looked like when a buyer ordered it in the virtual mart was exactly what the item delivered to their door would look like.

This kind of interactive experience in a virtual internet space was too sci-fi for people from Earth. The Blue Star world’s holographic projection and virtual reality technologies had long been widely applied in various scenarios, and this was just one of them.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was tapping on the numerous floating holographic projection screens on the control console.

This base was completely isolated from the outside world, with no passages directly connecting to the surface. The air inside the base could not circulate with the atmosphere of the Earth’s surface.

Therefore, it required an air purification system, which was integrated with the base’s ventilation system. The air for breathing, especially oxygen, needed to be replenished from the outside.

This wasn’t a major issue. A single full supply of oxygen could last the entire base for twenty to thirty years.

This was because Xiao Yu would most likely be the only one consuming oxygen inside this base. There wouldn’t be many oxygen-consuming life forms, so the oxygen would be more than enough.

As for the power system, the energy to run the underground base was supplied by controlled nuclear fusion from the Blue Star world. Fusion power provided the electrical support for the entire base, and the controlled nuclear fusion core in the base could support a century’s worth of energy consumption.

Using nuclear fusion energy, it was perfectly normal for it to run for a century at a time.

In addition, there was also an emergency backup power source: high energy density batteries served as the emergency reserve.

This base was eight hundred meters deep underground and completely isolated from the outside world. The possibility of exposure was virtually zero, so Xiao Yu had nothing to worry about. He could bring all sorts of black technology from the Blue Star world into the base without any concerns.

“The venue is all set. Next, I need to bring over a set of manufacturing equipment for the organic bodies. I should also get a super quantum computer here to make things convenient for the future…” Xiao Yu nodded to himself as he muttered.

Currently, this underground base was like a constructed “empty house,” and the “furniture” hadn’t been moved in yet. Xiao Yu’s next step was to fully furnish it. The first thing to arrange was a production and manufacturing room for the organic bodies for future convenience.

The technology was already in his grasp. He just needed to purchase the equipment all over again, set it up in this base, and then he could use it directly whenever he needed it in the future.

…

Chapter 186: The Second Body Double

Inside the underground base.

Xiao Yu opened the teleportation Star Gate and arrived once more in the Blue Star world. However, he did not appear in Fengquan City in the Heavenly Kingdom of the Central Continent.

Instead, he went to a country on the Flame Continent. Xiao Yu had been operating here for a while, and in about three months, he had re-purchased all the necessary equipment and materials for creating an organic body.

He then packed everything up and brought it back to the underground base, converting the fifth floor into a biotechnology laboratory.

In addition, Xiao Yu also purchased a batch of various robot models from the Vitas Industrial Group in the Blue Star world to be used for assembly and work in the underground base.

Xiao Yu also debugged the AI agents of these robots. He felt at ease using them in his underground base on Earth because once this batch of robots was brought over, he had no intention of ever letting them set foot in the Blue Star world again. They would remain permanently in the Earth-side base.

Even if there were still backdoors, if the data couldn’t be transmitted to the Blue Star world, he could naturally use them without worry.

Ten days later, the manufacturing chamber for the organic body was successfully set up in the underground base.

Now, besides Xiao Yu, the underground base was populated with numerous robots of 22 different models. Each model had a different function; some were responsible for equipment assembly, while others handled base maintenance.

Most of the robots floated through the corridors and hallways of the base. The entire facility was incredibly futuristic. The robots’ bodies were clearly made with a large amount of room-temperature superconducting material. Here in the underground base, Xiao Yu had no such concerns.

When working on the sky-train project, he had to be frugal with the room-temperature superconducting material, but here, any given robot was made of over thirty percent of the stuff.

“I only have tens of millions of Star Yuan left…” Xiao Yu looked at the account balance displayed on the floating panel and felt a financial pinch. Over the past few months, purchasing the equipment for the organic body, the robots, the hibernation pods, the Intelligent Operating Table, and more had cost him over a billion Star Yuan in total.

Xiao Yu had even thought about buying a quantum supercomputer to install in the underground base along the way, but that thing wasn’t cheap either. He had inquired about the price; a quantum supercomputer would cost several hundred million Star Yuan.

“I need to keep making money on Blue Star,” Xiao Yu said to himself. After a moment, he thought of PrismTech, the company he founded in the Heavenly Kingdom of the Central Continent, and of the beautiful Yan Lingjun from the Blue Star world.

Xiao Yu roughly calculated the time. It had been about four years since he had last seen and bid farewell to her on the Flame Continent.

However, these four years were relative to Xiao Yu. From Yan Lingjun’s perspective, only about three and a half years had passed on Blue Star’s timeline. The extra six months or so for Xiao Yu had been spent on Earth.

So, Xiao Yu had truly lived through four years—about three and a half in the Blue Star world and the other half-year on Earth’s timeline, with a 500-fold time dilation between the two worlds.

“It’s time to go back to Fengquan City in the Central Continent and see how things are. I wonder if Yan Lingjun is still at Prism Company…” Xiao Yu mused. The Red Tide Organization probably thought he had obtained the organic body technology and simply disappeared.

Ever since he parted ways with Yan Lingjun, he had been out of contact, neither reaching out to her nor to Luo Guanqi at Prism Company.

After a while, Xiao Yu reopened the teleportation Star Gate. Transiting through the Blue Star world, he returned from the underground base to the private lab in the basement of his villa. Arriving in the first-floor living room, Xiao Yu summoned the butler.

“Uncle Qin, please purchase the items on this list. Also, prepare a month’s worth of food for me and have it all sent to my lab. I’ll be staying in there for the next month and won’t be seeing anyone. I need to go into seclusion to do some research for a while.”

Xiao Yu gave his instructions as he handed a prepared list to Qin Yue. Besides a month’s worth of food, the list also included about ten tons of grain, fruit, and vegetable seeds.

Hearing this, Qin Yue said nothing. He took the list, nodded, and replied, “Alright, I’ll get right on it.”

Two days later, Qin Yue had the month’s worth of food prepared and delivered to the lab in the villa’s basement. The reason Xiao Yu needed a month of food and claimed to be going into seclusion was that he was going to create a second body double for himself—or more accurately, several new body doubles.

During this period, Xiao Yu would also have to sleep for a month. Since he was creating the new organic body and establishing a resonant connection with his true self on Earth this time, he absolutely could not see anyone.

Naturally, he needed a reason for his absence, and dedicating himself to research in seclusion was the perfect one.

That morning, Xiao Yu went to the Spiritual Mirror Tech Headquarters to give some instructions. Then he made a trip to Sino-Aviation Linfei Company to do the same, including arrangements for his body double in North America’s Silicon Valley, Peter Vitas.

With all these matters settled, he brought the one-month food supply to the Blue Star world in the afternoon and then teleported to the underground laboratory.

…

In the fifth-floor biotechnology laboratory of the underground base.

Xiao Yu took a somatic cell sample from his own body. The new body double he was creating this time would be a perfect replica of his true self.

A nearby robot took the sample. Half an hour later, Xiao Yu took a Neural Potentiator and entered a chamber.

For the next month or so, as the second organic body was cultivated and created, Xiao Yu would be in a deep sleep.

The robots in the underground base worked in an orderly fashion. While the organic body was being cultivated, the biotech lab was also engaged in the in-vitro cultivation of numerous individual cloned organs.

This was another command Xiao Yu had given the robots before entering his sleep.

Clearly, he was cultivating backup organs for his true self, just in case. If Xiao Yu’s main body were to suffer some unforeseen injury in the future, he would have an immediate solution, without having to wait another month for an organ to be cultivated for transplant.

Once these backup cloned organs reached maturity through in-vitro cultivation, they would be cryogenically preserved.

The Blue Star world had long since achieved cryogenic sleep technology. This technology was relatively easy to acquire; as long as one had money, it could be purchased there.

Xiao Yu had previously bought several sets of cryogenic equipment. Not only could individual cloned organs be preserved in cryogenic sleep, but entire organic bodies could be as well.

This time, Xiao Yu was not only arranging for a complete set of cloned organ backups for himself but also planned to create several extra body doubles at the same time. These would be placed in cryogenic sleep pods and stored as backups.

In the future, if he needed an additional body double, he would no longer have to go through the trouble of sleeping for a month to create one. When needed, he could simply awaken one from a cryogenic sleep pod and use it immediately. When not needed, it could remain in cryogenic sleep.

…

Chapter 187: Reunion

Blue Star world.

Fengquan City, Heavenly Kingdom, Central Continent. Local time, afternoon.

In a small room within a building in the city, Yan Lingjun was meeting with another informant from the Red Tide Organization.

“It’s been over three years. Is Xiao Yu still out of contact? Has he not contacted you at all?” the informant asked. Yan Lingjun shook her head. “No.”

She couldn’t help but sigh sorrowfully as she replied. Ever since they had parted ways in the Flame Continent, she had been waiting for Xiao Yu to contact her again. But so many years had passed, and there had been no word from him.

“Looks like it’s hopeless. The superiors who decided to give him the organic body technology have been criticized. You might get implicated to some extent as well,” the informant beside her said.

The matter had recently sparked considerable controversy within the Red Tide Organization. When the deal was made, some had opposed it, feeling there were too few guarantees and expressing reservations about giving a gift first.

But in the end, the decision was made to provide the technology first. Now, after so many years, all they had to show for it was a small bag of seeds that could be cultivated, while Xiao Yu had vanished without a trace.

His prolonged silence was now seen as a major misjudgment within the Red Tide Organization, and those who had made the initial decision were in an awkward position.

At this, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but say, “I believe he’s not that kind of person. It makes no sense. Besides, he still hasn’t received the N-800 Nano Armament. Maybe he’s run into some problems or resistance. After all, what he’s doing can’t be easy.”

The informant immediately retorted, “No matter how great the resistance, could it really make him completely unreachable for over three years?”

This left Yan Lingjun at a loss for words.

She couldn’t help but recall the farewell kiss from over three years ago. Deep in her heart, she still couldn’t accept that Xiao Yu would just disappear like this.

Yan Lingjun thought back to their brief time together in the Flame Continent and their various conversations. The wisdom and depth of thought Xiao Yu had displayed convinced her again that such a person could never be a fraud.

Finally, Yan Lingjun murmured, “In any case, I personally still believe he’s not that kind of person.”

The informant suddenly looked at Yan Lingjun with a strange glint in his eyes. “You haven’t developed feelings for him, have you?”

Yan Lingjun remained silent. With the man missing for so many years, more words were useless, and she didn’t feel like explaining anything.

Seeing this, the informant didn’t press the matter.

However, just as the informant was about to end the meeting, a message suddenly came through on Yan Lingjun’s holographic wristband. She casually pulled up the display panel to take a look.

The next moment, her eyes went wide with shock, her face a mask of disbelief. For a second, she thought she had misread it.

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing Yan Lingjun’s sudden loss of composure, the informant looked surprised.

Suppressing her excitement, Yan Lingjun looked at the informant and said, “It’s Xiao Yu. He’s finally contacted me.”

Her words stunned the informant as well. “Is it really him?” he asked hurriedly.

Both of them were utterly surprised.

It was so sudden. Yan Lingjun nodded repeatedly, her face beaming with joy. “It’s him, alright. He sent me a message asking me to go to his residence right now. That means he’s in Fengquan City.”

With that, Yan Lingjun pushed the holographic screen toward the informant so he could see for himself.

It was indeed a text message from Xiao Yu, asking her to come to his villa residence to meet him immediately.

“Good, good, this is fantastic! He’s finally made contact,” the informant’s spirits soared. He immediately turned to Yan Lingjun. “You should go see him right away. I need to report this news as quickly as possible. Let’s split up.”

“Okay,” Yan Lingjun nodded.

A short while later, she set off for Xiao Yu’s villa residence in Fengquan City. The thought of seeing him again after so many years apart filled her with an uncontrollable emotion. The worried frown on her face melted away, replaced by a radiant smile and immense anticipation.

What made Yan Lingjun particularly curious was how Xiao Yu had suddenly appeared in Fengquan City without any warning.

But that didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was that she had finally heard from him.

About twenty minutes later, Yan Lingjun arrived at Xiao Yu’s villa residence and entered the house. The beautiful robot butler, Number 18, led her to the large living room on the first floor.

Yan Lingjun immediately saw a figure standing by the window, his back to her, and was overcome with emotion.

“Master, Ms. Yan has arrived,” the beautiful robot butler announced.

At that moment, Yan Lingjun was staring intently at the figure’s back. A moment later, he turned around, and she finally saw his face. Who else could it be but Xiao Yu?

Xiao Yu walked over slowly until he was in front of Yan Lingjun. Looking into her eyes, he smiled and said, “Long time no see. I didn’t expect us to be apart for over three years…”

Yan Lingjun gazed at Xiao Yu, her bright eyes shimmering, and said nothing for a long time.

Finally, her almond-shaped lips parted slightly. “I want to know if the person standing before me is you, your true self, or your body double?”

Xiao Yu was slightly taken aback by her question, but then he smiled again. “Whether it’s the true self or a body double, they both carry the same will, the same consciousness, the same soul. Why get caught up on the distinction?”

As soon as Xiao Yu finished speaking, Yan Lingjun wordlessly threw herself into his arms, wrapping her hands around his neck.

After that farewell kiss and this reunion after years apart, Yan Lingjun didn’t want to suppress her feelings. She became incredibly proactive, and Xiao Yu, in turn, wrapped his arms around her waist, a clear sign that he had made his decision and chosen her.

His action filled Yan Lingjun’s heart with immense joy, as it sent her a clear signal that Xiao Yu was interested too.

Yan Lingjun decisively pressed her advantage, determined to make their relationship physical today and solidify their bond.

However, Xiao Yu was instantly flabbergasted. He quickly stopped her and said, “Not today.”

Yan Lingjun looked at him. “Why?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu explained, “Uh, well… this is my body double. My true self is managing the food supply situation and can’t get away right now.”

After saying this, Xiao Yu thought to himself that if he had known this would happen, he should have sent his true self.

But Yan Lingjun was unfazed. “It doesn’t matter, I don’t mind. Didn’t you just say that whether it’s the true self or a body double, they share the same will, consciousness, and soul? If that’s the case, why get hung up on it? Besides, if I do it with the body double, the true self will experience it all the same.”

With that, Yan Lingjun moved to press her advance again.

Xiao Yu quickly stopped her again, saying seriously, “I mind. Because I value you. In any case, we can’t do something like this so casually. Especially since it’s our first time. The first time should have some sense of occasion…”

Although it was true that his true self would experience the same thing through the body double, with little difference, Xiao Yu still felt it was a bit strange. It was like he was cheating on himself with himself. This whole scenario was just too bizarre.

Xiao Yu, who was usually very open to new things, found himself being conservative on this particular matter.

…

Chapter 188: The Truth

When Yan Lingjun heard Xiao Yu’s explanation, she was a little surprised. But knowing how much he cared, the feeling of being so valued by someone she herself cared for filled her with joy.

“Alright then, we’ll just have to wait for your true self to arrive before we can…” Yan Lingjun gazed at Xiao Yu, her lovely face blooming into a smile. Her eyes shimmered like autumn waters, radiating a captivating charm. This encounter, and this moment, had served to define their relationship.

Xiao Yu’s decision to establish this relationship with Yan Lingjun wasn’t entirely pure from the start; it was also a way to gain a better foothold in the Blue Star world. However, the two objectives were not in conflict.

After a short while, they both tacitly and quickly moved past the topic of their personal feelings. Their ambiguous relationship was now clear, and that was enough. Both of them had more important matters to attend to.

After all, Yan Lingjun was a member of the Red Tide Organization, fighting for her revolutionary cause. Xiao Yu, on the other hand, was not native to the Blue Star world, and his own endeavors on Earth depended on his arrangements here.

Finally, Xiao Yu looked at Yan Lingjun and said apologetically, “I’m sorry for being completely out of contact these past few years.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun smiled brightly, shaking her head as she met his gaze. Her voice was gentle and understanding. “It’s alright. I’m sure you didn’t do it on purpose. You must have been constrained by the situation.”

Xiao Yu spoke slowly, “It certainly wasn’t easy. Fulfilling the promise I made back then took a great deal of thought and effort. Many arrangements were needed to ensure everything went smoothly.”

Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but say, “You must be careful. Don’t ever let Heavenly Kingdom’s secret service agency find you. By choosing to stand with the Red Tide Organization, you have made an enemy of Heavenly Kingdom. There is no longer any room to mediate.”

Clearly, Yan Lingjun thought that Xiao Yu had spent all these years planning and preparing to secure food supplies for the Red Tide Organization. She believed it to be an extremely dangerous task and was worried for him.

However, she was both wrong and right.

Xiao Yu was perfectly safe because he had not been operating within Heavenly Kingdom at all. But he was indeed orchestrating a plan to secure large quantities of food supplies for the Red Tide Organization. A major reason for creating his first body double, Peter Vitas, and establishing Cyera-AI in North America’s Silicon Valley was to arrange for food to be transported to the Blue Star world.

Xiao Yu smiled. “Don’t worry about me. It’s not a big problem. With the doppelganger technology provided by the Red Tide Organization, I won’t be in any danger.”

Yan Lingjun was relieved to hear this. Possessing a doppelganger did indeed guarantee one’s safety; there was little need to worry.

As long as the true self was not in danger, losing a doppelganger was no great loss. It posed no threat to the original body. Even if a doppelganger were destroyed, one could simply be created anew.

At that moment, Xiao Yu asked with some curiosity, “By the way, how has the Red Tide Organization been faring these past few years?”

At his words, Yan Lingjun let out a soft sigh. “It’s still very difficult. Heavenly Kingdom is far too powerful. The dynamic of ‘the enemy is strong while we are weak’ remains fundamentally unchanged. The organization’s current strategy is still focused on preserving our effective strength and developing our forces. This revolution is destined to be a long one.”

Xiao Yu nodded silently without comment. The situation in the Blue Star world was different from Earth, after all. The technology and productive forces here were incredibly advanced.

Although a revolution was brewing within Heavenly Kingdom, outside of the conflict zones, most of the regions under its control—especially the core areas—remained largely unaffected. The entire state apparatus had not even fully converted to a war economy to mass-produce units to deal with the war.

This showed that Heavenly Kingdom’s war potential had yet to be fully unleashed, which meant its rulers had not yet been pushed to the point where they would completely snap and freak out.

Conversely, the Red Tide Organization was in an extremely difficult, even precarious, situation.

In a world as technologically advanced as Blue Star, human wave tactics were useless. Even if human soldiers possessed wills of steel, it meant little when the enemy deployed literal armies of steel. The mainstay of their combat forces was the Mechanoid Legion, composed of various unmanned, intelligent war machines.

A human’s will of steel was no match for steel that had gained a “will” of its own, because the attrition exchange was unsustainable. As long as Heavenly Kingdom’s industrial production capacity and logistics remained intact, intelligent combat machines could be mass-produced in a continuous stream from industrial assembly lines.

A new intelligent combat unit could even roll off the production line in a matter of minutes and be immediately deployed to the battlefield.

But a new human soldier could not be created in minutes. Pitting humans against robots in a war of attrition, even exchanging one human soldier for a hundred mechanical units, was a losing battle. The losses were simply unbearable.

For every human lost, there was one less. The mechanoid combat units, on the other hand, were practically endless.

Fortunately, Lin An’s defection and subsequent joining of the Red Tide Organization brought with him a series of military technologies, including cutting-edge tech like the N-800 Nano Armament, which created a contingent of elite fighting forces for the organization.

These N-800 nano-armor soldiers were each a warrior capable of fighting ten thousand men. When they charged into the enemy’s mechanoid legions, it was a one-sided slaughter, as if they were unstoppable gods of war. The only thing that could counter these super-soldiers was another N-800 nano-armor super-soldier.

Lin An’s arrival and the aid he brought were what gave the Red Tide Organization the capital to survive Heavenly Kingdom’s encirclement and suppression campaigns. Otherwise, they would have been annihilated long ago.

At this moment, Yan Lingjun looked at Xiao Yu and smiled. “But the crop seeds you provided back then were a huge morale booster for all of us. Although the quantity was small and we can’t plant them on a large scale in the short term, the most important thing was the lift it gave to our spirits. It gave everyone hope, and having something to look forward to is more important than anything.”

In a sense, what the Red Tide Organization needed most right now was hope.

Xiao Yu pondered this for a moment, then couldn’t help but ask, “Your organization must have scientists and researchers, right? Have they still not been able to break the reproductive genetic shackles that Heavenly Kingdom has locked onto the plants?”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun sighed softly and said slowly, “The nature of bio-genetics makes it easy to cause a genetic disaster. The painful lessons from several biochemical disasters in history have made our scientists very cautious. Moreover, our research capabilities are severely lacking, which is why we haven’t been able to crack it.”

“Furthermore, the great ecological collapse over a century ago was manufactured by the same ruling interest groups of today. That extreme pathogen that specialized in attacking plant chloroplasts was not a natural disaster, but a man-made catastrophe through and through.”

“They discovered this extreme pathogen in nature, then secretly researched it, artificially amplifying its abilities. They created something with even more terrifying diffusive and destructive power, released it into the environment where it quickly swept across the globe. They created this disaster with their own hands, then did everything they could to cover up the truth, only to undergo a sudden transformation and emerge as saviors, proclaiming to rebuild a Kingdom of Heaven.”

“And it wasn’t just the rulers of Heavenly Kingdom who were involved. The rulers behind the scenes of the other major powers on the other continents were also complicit.”

As Yan Lingjun revealed these truths, she couldn’t help but grit her teeth. It was precisely after learning this truth, and realizing that her own family had died indirectly because of Heavenly Kingdom’s actions, that she had resolutely joined the Red Tide Organization and dedicated herself to the revolutionary cause.

Xiao Yu remained silent, his expression unchanged, but inside, he was utterly shocked.

He had never imagined that the catastrophic ecological collapse on the Blue Star world was man-made. Thinking back, he experienced a moment of sudden clarity, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun.

No wonder that extreme pathogen had mysteriously vanished now. No wonder the rulers of the Blue Star world, be it Heavenly Kingdom’s ruling clique or those on other continents, could all reach a consensus to oppress the masses, so securely manufacturing food scarcity on a global scale.

It turned out that behind the scenes, they had long ago carved up the Blue Star world among themselves, and their shares were all soaked in blood.

…

Chapter 189: The Surprise

Xiao Yu sighed inwardly, unable to stop himself from thinking with a heavy heart, “Such a grievous sin, so utterly inhumane. For billions of people to die from such a horrifying man-made disaster…”

Learning this truth, Xiao Yu felt that if he were a native of the Blue Star world, he too would have risen up in rebellion without a moment’s hesitation.

After a moment, Yan Lingjun changed the subject. She turned her head to look at Xiao Yu and said, “By the way, you contacted me this time. What’s it about?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu put his thoughts aside, met her gaze, and smiled. “Something wonderful, of course.”

Yan Lingjun was overjoyed. “You’ve sorted out the food supply? That’s a full two million tons a year!”

Xiao Yu gave a mysterious smile and said, “Come on, I’ll take you to see something.”

With that, Xiao Yu stood up and gestured for Yan Lingjun to follow him. Seeing him act this way, Yan Lingjun was filled with anticipation.

Half an hour later, Xiao Yu brought Yan Lingjun to a warehouse center in the southwest corner of Fengquan City. He had set this up before contacting her, and it was outside the purview of Prism Company; even its General Manager, Luo Guanqi, was unaware of it.

“This grain…” Yan Lingjun followed Xiao Yu into the warehouse. She glanced around before turning her eyes to him.

“I brought about ten tons this time,” Xiao Yu said with a smile.

Yan Lingjun looked at the grain before her again. Hearing it was only about ten tons, she felt a pang of disappointment. She had come full of hope, but the reality fell far short of her expectations.

How could such a small amount be enough? Compared to two million tons, it was just a tiny fraction.

Xiao Yu glanced at Yan Lingjun. Seeing her silent, he seemed to guess what she was thinking. He smiled and said, “A little disappointed? Don’t be hasty. This isn’t for you to eat.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

But as soon as the words left her mouth, she seemed to realize something. Her eyes fixed on Xiao Yu, wide with excitement. “Are you saying… this grain is seed?”

Still smiling, Xiao Yu nodded. “That’s right. These ten tons are all crop seeds, and they’re all capable of reproducing.”

Evidently, these ten tons of grain seeds were the ones Xiao Yu had instructed his butler, Qin Yue, to procure earlier. He had now transported them directly to the Blue Star world.

Upon hearing this confirmation from Xiao Yu, Yan Lingjun was ecstatic. But then, she shot him an exasperated glare and pouted with feigned annoyance. “You… you deliberately said only half of it just to mess with my emotions, didn’t you…”

Xiao Yu grinned. “Whether I was messing with you or not, just tell me—is it a surprise?”

Looking again at the seeds stored in the warehouse, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but beam, her joy unconcealed. It was more than a surprise.

Xiao Yu added, “These are mainly grain seeds. If you plant all of them, consider it a preliminary fulfillment of my promise. Besides the staple grains, there are also quite a few fruit and vegetable seeds.”

Overjoyed, Yan Lingjun stepped forward, scooped up a handful of grain seeds, and said to herself, “This is wonderful!”

Xiao Yu smiled and said, “Two million tons of grain is too large a quantity. It’s difficult to sort out the transportation in a short time, mainly due to security issues. It will take more time to plan and prepare to ensure a safe transfer. So this time, I managed to get ten tons of grain seeds first.”

The main reason was that Cyera-AI, the company Xiao Yu had established through his body double, Peter Vitas, had not yet grown rapidly enough. They were currently in the process of preparing for Cyera-AI’s IPO on the U.S. stock market, which would quickly turn his body double, Peter Vitas, into a multi-billionaire.

This wasn’t something that could be done in a day or two. And preparing the food supplies afterward would also take time. Two million tons of grain was no small amount.

Having Peter Vitas act under the guise of charity and humanitarianism, he couldn’t just arrange for two million tons of grain. Not to mention, Xiao Yu had promised to provide the Red Tide Organization with a long-term food supply.

But in comparison, getting ten tons of grain seeds was much easier. The quantity was small, and it was convenient to transport them to the Blue Star world.

At this point, Yan Lingjun, her face alight with joy, turned to Xiao Yu and said, “In the long run, these ten tons of grain seeds have far more strategic value than two million tons of food. They aren’t just seeds for crops, but also seeds for our revolutionary cause. The organization will be greatly encouraged when they hear this news.”

“With these ten tons of fertile crop seeds, I believe it won’t be long before the Red Tide Organization can solve its long-standing food shortage and achieve self-sufficiency.”

Xiao Yu immediately replied in a measured tone, “Don’t worry. Once I overcome a few more obstacles on my end, there will be even more seeds.”

Hearing that there would be an even greater supply of seeds in the future, Yan Lingjun’s surprise and delight grew even stronger.

She gazed at the grain seeds in the warehouse again and said thoughtfully, “With these crop seeds, we can distribute them to the civilians in our controlled territories for them to plant. We’ll be able to realize your earlier vision. This is crucial for winning the hearts of the people. Our revolutionary cause might reach an unprecedented historical turning point because of this.”

Clearly, Yan Lingjun had made great progress since accepting Xiao Yu’s ideas, having learned many valuable lessons about the struggle.

She also understood the immense strategic significance these fertile crop seeds held for the Red Tide Organization’s revolutionary cause.

For so many years, their ranks had struggled to grow quickly because they couldn’t win the support of the majority of civilians. The biggest reason was that if you followed them, even getting a mouthful of synthetic starch was a luxury, let alone eating your fill and achieving food freedom.

Gaining support was naturally extremely difficult. After all, not everyone possessed a noble consciousness and ideals, yet the realization of those ideals required the support of the majority.

But once they had fertile crop seeds, everything would be different.

By distributing crop seeds to the civilians to plant, they would not only be able to eat their fill in the future, but also eat well. Compared to the hard-to-swallow artificial synthetic starch, even a bowl of white rice would be a delicacy.

Crucially, they could achieve food freedom. This would undoubtedly give them a massive foundation of appeal among the civilians of the Blue Star world.

Finally, Xiao Yu said slowly, “There’s something you need to be aware of with these seeds, specifically the rice seeds. You can plant them, but the crops they produce cannot be saved as seeds for the next round of planting.”

Yan Lingjun, who had been overjoyed, froze for a moment. When she registered his words, she quickly asked, “They can only be planted for one generation?”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Don’t be so anxious. Let me finish. These rice seeds have been selectively bred as hybrids to maximize yield. Of course, the next generation of seeds saved from the harvest can still be planted, but the yield won’t be as high as the first generation’s. It might drop by a third, maybe more, or maybe less. In short, there’s an element of uncertainty.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun breathed a sigh of relief. A smile bloomed on her face as she said, “That’s not a big problem then. As long as their ability to reproduce isn’t genetically locked, even if the yield of the second-generation saved seeds is halved, it’s still acceptable. This is a situation we never dared to imagine before.”

Xiao Yu said, “Your scientists can conduct their own selective breeding from them. And I will continue to provide you with selectively bred crop seeds from my side.”

“Mm…” Yan Lingjun nodded lightly, a smile on her face as she looked at Xiao Yu. “Thank you, for being willing to take such a great risk to support this revolutionary cause. I believe this very moment is the beginning of a historic turning point.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but smile too. “It’s mutual, and that’s great. I’m not losing out, am I? Not only did I get what I needed, but I also unexpectedly won the heart of a beautiful woman. I’d say I’ve made a huge profit.”

…

Chapter 190: The Boss Was Out of Contact for Three Years, but the Company Didn’t Go Bankrupt and Even Thrived

After speaking, Xiao Yu reached out, placed his hand on Yan Lingjun’s slender waist, and pulled her into his embrace. Hearing his words, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but cover her mouth and chuckle in his arms.

Their relationship was now clearly defined, and this new layer of intimacy built a much deeper trust. She was no longer as guarded about sharing more information about the Red Tide Organization. As long as it didn’t involve matters of principle, she could open up to Xiao Yu.

However, when it came to the organization’s most critical core secrets, she still held back if she didn’t have authorization.

She didn’t conflate personal and professional matters. This proved that Yan Lingjun wasn’t just someone ruled by her heart; she didn’t lose her head just because she was in a relationship.

After all, Xiao Yu had politely declined the Red Tide Organization’s sincere invitation to join, and their current relationship was merely a partnership.

After a while, Yan Lingjun said, “I need to report this good news to the organization as soon as possible. It’s a good thing you came back when you did. Any later, and I might have received a major demerit. This whole affair started with me, after all…”

Previously, after Xiao Yu obtained the organic body technology, he had been out of contact for over three years. This had caused the Red Tide Organization to gradually lose faith in him, even assuming they had been duped, marking it as a major internal strategic failure.

Yan Lingjun then smiled, looked up at Xiao Yu, and said, “But now you’re back, and you’ve brought so many crop seeds with reproductive capability. I think instead of a demerit, I’m about to earn a great deal of credit.”

Xiao Yu smiled. “In my opinion, it’s not just credit, it’s top credit. It wouldn’t have gone so smoothly with anyone else.”

At this, Xiao Yu met Yan Lingjun’s gaze and added teasingly, “To be honest, I suppose I fell for your honey trap. Though it wasn’t an intentional scheme on your or your organization’s part, things definitely wouldn’t have been this smooth without our connection. At the very least, I might have asked for more.”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun shot him an annoyed glance, but she couldn’t stop a blush from gracing her features, making her look particularly charming and lovely.

It was certain that Yan Lingjun would earn first-class merit within the Red Tide Organization for this. Xiao Yu was happy to see it happen. Now that he had chosen Yan Lingjun and confirmed their relationship, it would be a good thing for her to gain importance and be promoted within the organization. If the organization succeeded in its endeavors in the future, it would also help Xiao Yu establish a foothold in the Blue Star world.

The two spent a little more time together before parting ways for now. Yan Lingjun had to report the tremendous good news to her organization, and Xiao Yu didn’t stay at his residence either, heading straight to Prism Company.

General Manager Luo Guanqi was quite surprised to receive a message from his boss. Naturally, he dropped everything to meet with Xiao Yu at once and report on the company’s situation over the past three-plus years.

“…That’s the general situation with the company. Our core business is still trade and commerce. We currently have over three thousand employees, with about seven billion in cash on hand,” Luo Guanqi reported from inside Xiao Yu’s office.

Xiao Yu was extremely surprised. He had been out of contact for over three years, and without him, the boss, personally overseeing things, Prism Company—the business he had founded in the Blue Star world—had not only avoided collapse but had actually developed quite well. The seven billion in cash on its books showed it was clearly in a state of prosperous growth.

It was worth mentioning that besides Luo Guanqi’s skilled management, Yan Lingjun had played a key role in Prism Company’s current success.

She had vouched for the boss’s absence, taking it upon herself to tell the company’s senior management that she was Xiao Yu’s lover, which stabilized the situation.

Another important reason was that Luo Guanqi had long suspected Xiao Yu was no ordinary person. After all, being able to casually produce such large quantities of food products was not something an ordinary person could do.

Furthermore, the salaries and benefits Xiao Yu had set for Prism Company were very high, and the employees themselves did not want the company to go bankrupt.

Under the influence of all these factors, even without Xiao Yu providing food products to sell, Prism Company had not only survived but was now thriving with impressive momentum, with over seven billion Star Yuan in cash on hand.

This reminded Xiao Yu of a company back on Earth, the one run by the boss who was perpetually “returning next week.” The boss was abroad, always promising to come back next week, and the company’s senior executives had all fled. But the company somehow hadn’t gone bankrupt. The remaining employees were still working there, and they didn’t even have to work 996. Their salaries weren’t low either. For the employees, it was an incredibly sweet deal.

Finally, Xiao Yu said with satisfaction, “Excellent work. This has far exceeded my expectations. Even giving you a tenfold raise wouldn’t be excessive, Old Luo.”

Hearing this, Luo Guanqi quickly smiled and said, “I wouldn’t dare take all the credit. Without Assistant Yan, the company wouldn’t have survived. It probably would have collapsed long ago.”

Xiao Yu nodded noncommittally. He already knew that everyone in the company now regarded Yan Lingjun as the boss’s wife, and he tacitly approved, as he had already made their relationship official.

“Alright then…” Xiao Yu thought for a moment before making the final decision. “Starting this month, all company employees will receive a twofold salary increase. You will get a tenfold increase and a three percent stock allocation. The other core executives will get a threefold increase and a one percent stock allocation.”

Seeing Xiao Yu make such a decisive call, Luo Guanqi didn’t argue or refuse. He simply nodded and said, “Understood. Thank you for your recognition, CEO Xiao.”

Normally, if a boss were out of contact for so long, he would likely have been sidelined upon his return, his words carrying little weight. But when Xiao Yu returned to Prism Company after more than three years, it was clear he hadn’t been sidelined at all. His word was still law.

Besides Yan Lingjun helping Xiao Yu manage the company, Luo Guanqi, as the General Manager, had neither the desire nor the courage to overstep his authority. He was firmly convinced of one thing: Xiao Yu was no ordinary man. Anyone who could so easily procure massive quantities of food supplies had to be an existence with connections that reached the heavens.

Moreover, he still had no clue about Xiao Yu’s background, which made him even more hesitant to act rashly, fearing he might bring disaster upon himself. Not to mention, the boss’s wife, Yan Lingjun, was always around.

So, for the past few years, Luo Guanqi had diligently managed the company, doing his job properly, taking the salary he was due, and not having any other grand ideas.

Xiao Yu wasn’t stingy about sharing the fruits of success with his subordinates. His first decision upon returning was to give everyone a raise. This was a necessary move, as it would make everyone more willing to work hard for him.

Soon after, news of the boss’s return spread throughout the company. The employees were very surprised, especially those at the lower levels.

The boss is back?

What boss is back?

Isn’t CEO Luo Guanqi the boss?

Many of the junior employees didn’t even know who Xiao Yu was. They had always assumed Luo Guanqi was the owner of Prism Company. Before Xiao Yu went off the grid, the company only had about six hundred employees; the rest had all joined after he became unreachable.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered was the notice released internally: as soon as the boss returned, he decided that starting this month, all employees would have their salaries doubled, at a minimum.

This served as a welcome gift from Xiao Yu to those who didn’t know him. This single act immediately left a deep impression on the entire staff. A company-wide salary doubling, at a minimum, that even included junior staff, was a rare occurrence.

Prism Company’s salaries were already quite high. To double them on top of that was something rarely seen not just in Fengquan City, but in the entire Heavenly Kingdom.

The employees who heard the news were naturally all beaming with excitement and joy. Who wouldn’t be happy about having their salary doubled?

When they first heard that a new boss had suddenly appeared, many had worried about negative changes or disruptions to the status quo. They never expected the change to be such an unbelievably good thing. Instantly, all resistance toward the suddenly-appeared boss vanished.

…

Chapter 191: Promoted Eight Ranks in a Row

Two days later, Yan Lingjun sent out the message, reporting to her organization about Xiao Yu’s return and the intelligence that he had brought ten tons of crop seeds with reproductive capability, which could produce over two million tons of food.

The news spread within the organization, causing a huge stir among its upper echelons, but it was met with even greater excitement.

The few people who originally supported cooperating with Xiao Yu could finally feel proud and elated after being vindicated. During the more than three years he was out of contact, especially in the last half-year or so, those who had pushed for the cooperation had been under considerable pressure, some even starting to regret it.

After all, organic doppelganger technology was a secret technology of immense strategic value in the Blue Star world, not something commonplace. This technology was possessed only by the Heavenly Kingdom and her organization, and it was kept under extremely strict secrecy.

If it weren’t for Lin An defecting from the Heavenly Kingdom and joining their organization, they wouldn’t have possessed this technology either.

Xiao Yu’s sudden return this time, bringing with him ten tons of crop seeds with reproductive capability, greatly exceeded the organization’s expectations. They had already lost faith in him and were even mentally prepared to write off the entire venture as a bad investment.

Not only did Xiao Yu bring back ten tons of crop seeds, but most importantly, his return signified that their prior cooperation had not been a mistake.

In her report, Yan Lingjun stated that Xiao Yu was secretly arranging for a large-scale food supply. This made the organization extremely excited. It could be said that the news of Xiao Yu’s return was the most uplifting thing to happen to them in years, as the past three years had been incredibly difficult.

In Fengquan City, inside Xiao Yu’s private villa.

At this moment, Yan Lingjun was once again at Xiao Yu’s home. The two were sitting together. Yan Lingjun gazed at him, her face wreathed in smiles, and said, “I received a reply from headquarters. I’ve been given a major commendation, and they really gave me top credit! What I never expected was that I was promoted eight ranks in a row. A promotion like this is unprecedented in my organization’s history—the same treatment Lin An received when he joined. Before this, he was the only case.”

Yan Lingjun’s excitement and joy were undisguised, written all over her face for Xiao Yu to see.

Xiao Yu wasn’t very familiar with the organization’s promotion system, but even he knew that being promoted eight ranks at once had to be a massive advancement.

It had to be said that the merit Yan Lingjun had earned for the Red Tide Organization this time was immense. The organization’s upper echelons clearly understood the weight of this contribution, as it was very likely a crucial historical turning point for them, one no less important than when Lin An had joined.

If Lin An’s joining had been an epic strengthening of the organization’s military power, then Yan Lingjun’s contribution was an epic strengthening of its cohesiveness. Both were significant enough to be historical turning points.

Previously, they had been unable to rally people and gain the support of the majority of civilians. The biggest reason was their inability to solve the common people’s basic need for food.

But with Xiao Yu bringing back a large quantity of crop seeds with reproductive capability, the situation was completely different. They could distribute the seeds to the civilians and would have the confidence to tell everyone that they could lead them to a future where they would have enough to eat. Not only would they have full bellies, but in the future, they would eat well and achieve food freedom.

This gave them the foundation to rally support, allowing them to win over thousands upon thousands of civilians. The development of their cause would thus enter a new historical stage.

Xiao Yu looked at Yan Lingjun and smiled. “Promoted eight ranks, a merit comparable to Lin An’s. I heard you say before that he’s already part of the Red Tide Organization’s core leadership, a key official. Does this mean you’re about to enter the central leadership too? So, how do you plan to reward me?”

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun covered her mouth with a delicate laugh. She then looked at Xiao Yu with a beaming smile and said, “I’ll reward you by giving myself to you, of course. But your true self isn’t here, so we’ll have to put that on hold for now.”

Xiao Yu laughed. “That doesn’t count. You already promised. You’re just exploiting a loophole.”

They were just flirting, a brief interlude. After a moment, Xiao Yu asked, “So, does this mean you might be leaving the front lines and getting transferred to headquarters?”

At his words, Yan Lingjun replied, “The reply from headquarters also asked for my opinion on the matter. I can go work at headquarters, or I can continue working on the front lines for a while before going. In short, they’re letting me decide.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. He then asked her again, “Did you report our personal relationship to headquarters?”

Yan Lingjun shook her head. “No, I haven’t revealed our relationship to anyone. Of course, with Prism Company, I posed as your lover, and I reported it to the organization as a work requirement. I just never expected the act to become real.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu thought for a moment and said slowly, “I think your organization’s headquarters probably already knows about our actual relationship and has confirmed that it’s real.”

Yan Lingjun faltered. “No way?”

Xiao Yu said at once, “Why not? If that weren’t the case, they logically would have transferred you directly to headquarters and assigned you a new job, instead of letting you choose whether to stay on the front lines for a while longer.”

As soon as he said this, a belated realization seemed to dawn on Yan Lingjun. She couldn’t help but recall her meeting with her contact a few days ago, when he had casually asked if she had fallen for Xiao Yu.

Recalling this again, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but say, “Headquarters might really know…”

Xiao Yu was also deducing in his mind that besides the objective factor of her truly immense contribution, another likely reason for Yan Lingjun’s massive promotion was that the organization had learned of his romantic relationship with her. This fact had caused the organization to place even greater importance on her.

After all, from the organization’s standpoint, this was certainly a welcome development. Xiao Yu had previously declined to join, but if he were in a relationship with one of their high-ranking members, his allegiance was basically secured even if he didn’t formally join. They certainly wouldn’t have to worry too much about any unexpected changes.

Xiao Yu’s guess was correct. Although the leadership of the Red Tide Organization had no definite confirmation, they had already concluded that he and Yan Lingjun were in a romantic relationship.

Furthermore, this relationship had influenced the final decision of the organization’s leadership. The fact that Yan Lingjun was able to shoot up eight ranks like a rocket was, in truth, a factor that carried a great deal of weight.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu looked at Yan Lingjun again and asked with a smile, “So, what are you thinking of doing?”

Yan Lingjun met his gaze and said, “I haven’t replied to headquarters yet. On one hand, I want to let them make the arrangements, since making my own request might seem like I’m being arrogant about my achievements. But on the other hand, I want to stay on the front lines so I can continue to be with you, balancing my personal life and work. Yet, I’m worried that if I let them decide, they might transfer me to a new post, and then I wouldn’t be able to be with you anymore…”

As she spoke, a troubled look appeared on Yan Lingjun’s face. She was quite conflicted, and the matter was causing her a headache.

Chapter 192: This Bet Will Definitely Pay Off

Yan Lingjun immediately looked at Xiao Yu and asked, “What do you think?”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu answered without hesitation, “Then you should stay. I also want you here with me. It’s just that staying on the front lines means being far from the central leadership, which might have an impact on your career prospects.”

Seeing that Xiao Yu also wanted her to stay, which was the answer she had hoped for, Yan Lingjun was overjoyed. She then said casually, “I don’t care about that stuff. It’s not why I joined the revolution in the first place. What I care about more is not having to suffer the pain of being apart.”

Xiao Yu thought for a moment, then met her gaze with a smile. “Since your superiors said you can stay and work on the front lines for a while, it might not be a bad thing. In fact, it could be a good thing. You’ve been promoted so quickly, going straight into your organization’s central leadership. You lack sufficient experience. A record of more training on the front lines will be more beneficial when you do enter the central leadership later.”

Listening to Xiao Yu’s analysis, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but nod. No longer conflicted, she immediately made a decision. “Okay, I’ll listen to you. I’ll report back to headquarters and request to continue working on the front lines.”

At this, Xiao Yu immediately offered her an idea: “Headquarters most likely knows about our relationship. You might as well just report it directly. As for your work assignment, just say that whether you’re transferred or continue to stay here, you’ll abide by the arrangements of the central headquarters. Leave the decision to your superiors. That way, you won’t seem arrogant about your achievements, and you’ll appear more composed.”

Xiao Yu added with a smile, “Since they already know about our relationship, they’ll most likely arrange for you to stay here for a while. It allows you to get enough training and experience on the front lines, and it lets the two of us stay together without suffering the pain of separation and longing. For your superiors, this arrangement for you takes care of both your professional development and your personal well-being.”

Hearing Xiao Yu’s analysis, Yan Lingjun lowered her gaze, nodding thoughtfully. “That makes sense. That approach is indeed the most appropriate.”

Yan Lingjun then looked at Xiao Yu with a beaming smile and added, “I was right to discuss this with you first. You’re much more thoughtful than I am. It seems that from now on, when I run into these kinds of headaches, I should ask you before making a decision.”

At that moment, Xiao Yu fell into silent thought. Seeing this, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but ask curiously, “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Yu glanced at Yan Lingjun, then said in a deep voice, “I actually think this might be a kind of test from your superior organization. That possibility exists. After all, promoting you to such a high position is no small matter.”

At his words, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but look at him with slight surprise. “A test for me?”

Xiao Yu nodded and said, “That’s right. Because of the powerful technology of organic bodies, it’s entirely possible to do both. At worst, they could arrange for a doppelganger of you to work at the central headquarters while you yourself stay on the front lines. Wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds?”

In truth, Xiao Yu had only just thought of this. This technology was a top-secret, cutting-edge technology in the Blue Star world. In Xiao Yu’s opinion, given Yan Lingjun’s current importance and rank, she was definitely qualified to use it.

However, there were still some things about the Red Tide Organization he didn’t quite understand. Yan Lingjun suddenly said, “I don’t think the organization would arrange a doppelganger for me. Even if they did, I absolutely could not accept it.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu looked at her, surprised. “Why is that?”

Yan Lingjun said slowly, “You’re not a member of the organization, so it’s normal that you don’t understand the reason. Although the organization has mastered this technology, it’s not possible for everyone to use it. Therefore, the key members of the central leadership have all refused to use doppelgangers. While this technology can objectively protect important individuals, it has also become a form of privilege for a select few.”

She turned to Xiao Yu and continued, “Using it would greatly damage our internal cohesion. That’s why the key members of the central leadership don’t actually have doppelgangers. To uphold this principle, five years ago, two very important high-level core members were sacrificed. They were both among the organization’s co-founders.”

When Xiao Yu heard this, he was quite surprised and astonished. He had always assumed that the high-ranking members of the Red Tide Organization surely had doppelgangers. He never expected them to refuse to use this technology to protect themselves.

Yan Lingjun added, “If only a few people, like the high-level central leadership, are allowed to use this technology, it would deal an extremely fatal blow to the organization. It would be tantamount to fundamentally negating the core ideology we’ve had since our founding.”

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but nod in sudden understanding. His respect for the organization grew even more.

This doppelganger business really does have significant negative effects for a revolutionary organization like this. Its high-level leadership is very clear-headed and far-sighted. They knew that using this technology would inevitably backfire.

The greatest source of motivation supporting the organization is its ideals and beliefs. If the key members of the central leadership all used this technology, it would inevitably shake the faith of the rank-and-file members. They would subconsciously ask themselves: why should we be the ones fighting and dying on the front lines while the leadership enjoys the privilege of being safe from harm?

Just as Yan Lingjun had said, if the few core high-level leaders of the Red Tide Organization used this technology, it would be the same as negating the core ideology established since the organization’s founding: “no distinction between high and low, no suffering and exploitation, all are born equal.”

If only a few could use it, wouldn’t that mean there is still a distinction between high and low? That people are still not equal?

In that case, the core ideology of their establishment would become a ridiculous lie. No one would believe it, and the organization would never amount to anything. The key members of the central leadership clearly saw this.

This was the first time Xiao Yu had heard of this. After listening to Yan Lingjun’s explanation, he couldn’t help but say, “Alright, then it definitely can’t be used. I take back what I said just now. Since organic bodies can’t be used, it’s impossible to be in the central leadership and on the front lines at the same time.”

At this point, Xiao Yu’s expression changed to a smile. “Hearing you say this gives me even more confidence in the Red Tide Organization. Given time, it will definitely become a major force. No wonder you’re a relatively weak faction, yet the Heavenly Kingdom’s army hits you the hardest. If I were the ruler of the Heavenly Kingdom, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night either.”

Hearing his high praise, Yan Lingjun also smiled and said slowly, “Actually, the ones who most hope our key members of the central leadership use organic body technology are not within our ranks, but our great enemy, the Heavenly Kingdom. The news the rulers of the Heavenly Kingdom want to hear most is that our organization’s top leaders have used organic bodies.”

Xiao Yu nodded as he listened. It would seem to strengthen the protection of the Red Tide Organization’s key members, but in reality, it would be destroying the organization’s very foundation.

Using it would surely crush their beliefs. From then on, morale would crumble, and there would be no cohesion to speak of. Their strength was already limited; if the people’s hearts were scattered, they would be routed in a single blow and could never have survived so tenaciously to this day.

Yan Lingjun let out a soft sigh and said, “Those two high-level core members who were sacrificed five years ago died heroic deaths to protect the organization’s morale and cohesion. At the time, the Heavenly Kingdom launched a propaganda war, spreading rumors that our leaders were using doppelgangers to shake our people’s spirits. It caused an extremely severe ideological crisis back then.”

“Through their heroic sacrifices, those two high-level core members dispelled the rumors and re-established unity and morale internally. The Heavenly Kingdom didn’t expect that. They were furious, and their attacks on our organization became even more vicious, increasing severalfold, you could say. But we have still survived to this day.”

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but say, “It might seem like they were furious, and their attacks intensified, but that also indicates that the Heavenly Kingdom is even more afraid of you.”

Yan Lingjun nodded. “That’s right. The sacrifices of those two founding high-level members were not in vain. Their deaths made the organization, from top to bottom, even more united.”

Through his conversation with Yan Lingjun, Xiao Yu learned more information about the Red Tide Organization. It also strengthened his conviction that the organization was destined for great things. With such an ethos, it would be difficult not to succeed.

To use an old saying from his hometown, this was the Mandate of Heaven; destiny was on their side. The one that could overthrow the Heavenly Kingdom had to be this organization.

Backing this organization in the Blue Star world… Xiao Yu was even more certain that he couldn’t be wrong.

…

Chapter 193: Returning to Qingyang Town

Xiao Yu changed the subject, asking Yan Lingjun, “By the way, when will you send people to pick up the crop seeds?”

Yan Lingjun, who was beside him, immediately replied, “Three days from now.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded. “I’ll leave this matter entirely in your hands, then. I won’t be involved.”

Yan Lingjun nodded with a slight smile. “Mm, just leave the rest to me.”

After a moment, she looked at Xiao Yu again and added, “There’s one more thing. The higher-ups are inviting you to visit our base. You won’t refuse this time, will you?”

Xiao Yu thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. “Alright, no problem.”

With the support of his doppelgangers, Xiao Yu no longer worried about his safety, even if it meant going to the Heavenly Kingdom’s capital, Heavenly Capital, to meet its ruler.

Yan Lingjun quickly added, “Your identity is crucial. Although this body of yours is a doppelganger, it looks exactly like you. To avoid the risk of exposure, it would be better for you to use a body double with a different appearance for your visit to our base.”

It was worth noting that the central high-ranking members of the Red Tide Organization refused to use organic bodies themselves. However, they didn’t simply seal away this powerful technology. In fact, it played a vital role in some extremely dangerous espionage operations.

Yan Lingjun was also involved in intelligence work. The fact that she didn’t use an organic body for her assignments indicated, to some extent, that the danger level of her work was relatively low.

At this moment, Xiao Yu nodded and said, “No problem. I’ll arrange for another doppelganger to come over later.”

Fortunately, he had created several backup doppelgangers before coming to the Blue Star world this time, including ones with different appearances. They were all currently stored in cryosleep pods in the secret underground base on Earth. He just needed to awaken one of the body doubles with a different face.

Then, Xiao Yu asked with considerable curiosity, “Where is your base?”

Yan Lingjun gave a mysterious smile. “You’ve been there before.”

Xiao Yu smiled back. “I’ve been to many places.”

When he first arrived in the Blue Star world, before he founded Prism Company, Xiao Yu’s doppelganger had worked as a front-line salesman, traveling through many cities within the Heavenly Kingdom. He had been to a lot of places.

Yan Lingjun said, “It’s Qingyang Town.”

Hearing her mention this place, Xiao Yu’s memory was quickly jogged. Wasn’t that his “spawn point” in the Blue Star world? His very first stop in the Blue Star world had been Qingyang Town.

Xiao Yu looked at Yan Lingjun in surprise. “Qingyang Town? I remember that town was under Heavenly Kingdom control, right?”

Yan Lingjun met his gaze with a smile. “Just three years ago, not long after you went out of contact, we took control of that place. Although it’s just a town, its geostrategic importance is significant. Qingyang Town has now become a new base for us.”

Yan Lingjun paused for a moment before adding, “Speaking of which, the writings you provided back then were a great help to our organization. They’ve been tested in practice and are now being promoted internally.”

…

Three days later.

Under Yan Lingjun’s arrangements, the ten tons of crop seeds Xiao Yu had brought from Earth were secretly transported out of Fengquan City. As for exactly how they were transported, Xiao Yu had no idea.

However, this gave him a glimpse into the extraordinary espionage capabilities of the Red Tide Organization. Fengquan City was a major core city of the Heavenly Kingdom. It was far from the warzone, deep within the Heavenly Kingdom’s heartland. Not only was there no war, but there were no refugees, and normal production and work were unaffected.

During these few days, Xiao Yu also took the time to privately check on the other company he had set up in Heavenly Capital. He found out that company hadn’t been so lucky; it had gone bankrupt two years ago.

Xiao Yu didn’t mind. If it went bankrupt, so be it. It was originally just a cover to create a background for himself.

Now that he was in contact with the Red Tide Organization, it was no longer needed. The organization certainly wouldn’t investigate his background, and even if they did, there was no way they could discover that Xiao Yu was an alien.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu wasn’t idle either. He had Luo Guanqi handle a few things for him, mainly purchasing some “local specialties” from the Blue Star world to take back to Earth with him.

The purchased “local specialties” included things like quantum supercomputers. These “specialties” would naturally be installed in the secret underground base for future use.

As time passed, another five days went by.

Xiao Yu brought another doppelganger over from Earth, an average Joe with a face completely different from his true self. Xiao Yu had to admit, the organic body technology was truly useful. With such black technology at his disposal, he could handle matters he couldn’t personally attend to with ease.

That afternoon, Xiao Yu secretly left Fengquan City with arrangements made by Yan Lingjun.

Before reaching the town, the aircraft carrying Xiao Yu landed in the wilderness more than one hundred kilometers away from Qingyang Town. A team was already there to meet them. After getting off the aircraft, Xiao Yu was surprised to see the person who had come to greet him.

“Mr. Liu?” Xiao Yu looked in astonishment at the man before him. It was none other than Mr. Liu Shijie, the shop owner from his time in Qingyang Town.

Liu Shijie was also taken aback for a moment, as he didn’t recognize Xiao Yu. He knew his mission was to escort Xiao Yu to the base, but he didn’t know he was using a doppelganger with a different appearance.

“He’s Xiao Yu. This is his doppelganger, to avoid revealing his true identity.” Yan Lingjun had come along on this trip and stepped forward to briefly explain.

Understanding dawned on Liu Shijie. He immediately turned to Xiao Yu with a smile. “So it’s Mr. Xiao’s doppelganger. I never expected we’d meet again after all these years.”

Xiao Yu smiled back. “And I never expected we’d meet this way.”

At that moment, Yan Lingjun urged them, “This is no place to talk. Let’s get in the vehicle and chat once we’re at the base.”

Hearing this, Liu Shijie quickly apologized, stopped the pleasantries, and immediately arranged for everyone to board a flying car. They then sped off, heading straight for the Qingyang Town base.

On the way to Qingyang Town, Xiao Yu looked at Liu Shijie inside the car and said, “Speaking of which, I should thank you, Mr. Liu.”

Liu Shijie was surprised. “Thank me? What do you mean?”

Xiao Yu smiled. “Of course, for indirectly setting me up. If it weren’t for you, Lingjun and I would never have met, gotten to know each other, and fallen in love.”

As he said this, Xiao Yu glanced at Yan Lingjun, and the two couldn’t help but exchange a smile. Yan Lingjun had already reported their relationship to her superiors, so there was no need to be secretive.

However, Liu Shijie didn’t know about this yet. A flicker of surprise crossed his face upon hearing Xiao Yu’s words, but he quickly recovered and laughed heartily. “Fate works in mysterious ways, truly.”

Along the way, Xiao Yu chatted with Mr. Liu as they drew closer and closer to Qingyang Town.

But when they were about thirty kilometers away, something unexpected happened. Liu Shijie received a communication. After answering it, his expression changed drastically. “What? The enemy has launched an attack?”

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but be taken aback by this. It seemed their base was on the front lines after all. However, Xiao Yu remained quite calm, as he was in a doppelganger.

Liu Shijie immediately said to the driver, “Quick! Full speed to the base! The enemy is attacking.”

Just as he finished speaking, everyone heard the roar of fighter jets in the sky. The sound was somehow familiar to Xiao Yu.

“It’s the enemy’s Tianfeng fighter jets!” someone shouted. No wonder it sounds familiar, Xiao Yu thought. He had just turned his gaze to the sky outside the car when he saw a dozen fighter jets roar past overhead.

A deafening sonic boom followed. In an instant, the jets vanished over the horizon, heading straight for Qingyang Town.

…

Chapter 194: Dammit, They’re Coming for Us

Xiao Yu realized the situation was dire. He immediately pulled Yan Lingjun into his arms, shielding her with his body. The one he had sent was a doppelganger, so he wasn’t worried; if he died, he died. His true self wouldn’t suffer any fatal effects from it. But he hadn’t forgotten that Yan Lingjun, who was right beside him, did not have a body double.

At this moment, Yan Lingjun appeared calm, showing no signs of panic despite the sudden turn of events. However, when Xiao Yu swiftly pulled her into his embrace, a wave of warmth couldn’t help but surface in her heart, and she let him shield her.

With such an abrupt crisis, no one was in the mood for pleasantries. Liu Shijie constantly urged the driver, “Faster! Go faster!”

On the ground, several flying cars sped forward at full throttle, their speed already soaring to five hundred kilometers per hour.

They could go faster, pushing past eight hundred kilometers per hour, but the cars were currently flying so low they were practically scraping the ground.

Their current speed was already incredibly dangerous. The slightest miscalculation could send them crashing into the ground or some other obstacle. At this velocity, any impact meant the people inside would be blown to bits and pieces, a grizzly end beyond any doubt.

But they couldn’t risk gaining altitude either. Enemy Tianfeng fighter jets were in the sky, and the higher they climbed, the easier they would be to spot, making them sitting ducks for the fighters.

Just as the first wave of Tianfeng fighter jets roared overhead, a second wave streaked past, immediately followed by a third.

Inside the car, Xiao Yu was astonished. The enemy had actually deployed such a large-scale air force.

Back on Earth, a few sorties would have been considered a major airstrike. But here, the Heavenly Kingdom’s aerial forces were deployed in waves of over a dozen sorties at a time, and there was more than one wave. For someone from Earth like Xiao Yu, it was quite a shock.

Just then, Xiao Yu’s expression changed as he looked out the window at the third wave of Tianfeng fighter jets screaming past. He saw one of the jets suddenly slow down, break away from the flight formation, land directly ahead, and rapidly switch to its bipedal combat mech mode.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu immediately said, “Dammit, they’re coming for us.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, two dense, matrix-style missile launchers opened on the “shoulders” of the Tianfeng mech. The next moment, over a dozen high-explosive missiles spewed out from the launch ports, hurtling toward the convoy with irregular flight trajectories.

A moment later, Xiao Yu heard a series of deafening booms from inside the car. The destructive power of these missiles was astonishing.

The two flying cars in front didn’t have time to evade and were destroyed. One of them was instantly blown to smithereens, erupting in a towering fireball. The violent shockwave shattered the windows of the car Xiao Yu was in.

“Quick, put on your breathing mask,” Xiao Yu said, holding his breath as he first put a breathing mask on Yan Lingjun, who was still in his arms. He himself was a doppelganger, so it didn’t matter, but his first priority right now was unhesitatingly protecting Yan Lingjun’s safety.

Although the outdoor atmosphere of the Blue Star world contained no lethal gases, and breathing it directly for a few minutes wasn’t a major issue, prolonged direct exposure was dangerous. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the air was too high, and excessive inhalation would lead to carbon dioxide poisoning.

Mild cases caused dizziness, stuffiness, and palpitations, while severe cases could lead to confusion, loss of consciousness, shock, and even death.

“Calling for support! We are under attack! Calling for support! We are under enemy attack!” Liu Shijie yelled into the radio communicator. His mission this time was to escort two very important people.

It was one thing for Xiao Yu to be a doppelganger, but Yan Lingjun was her one and only true self, and her importance now was on a completely different level than before.

Meanwhile, after putting the mask on Yan Lingjun, Xiao Yu put one on himself, all the while using his body to shield her, doing everything he could to reduce her chances of getting injured.

Just then, the Tianfeng fighter, now in its bipedal combat mech mode, launched another volley of missiles. The driver of Xiao Yu’s vehicle slammed on the brakes and swerved to evade. A dozen incredibly destructive high-explosive missiles detonated around the vehicle.

The violent explosions sent shockwaves that made Xiao Yu feel like his eardrums were about to burst. A severe ringing filled his ears, and he could barely hear anything from the outside world.

Even though it was a doppelganger, the sensations from all five senses were shared with his true self.

At that moment, one of the high-explosive missiles caught up to the rear of the car Xiao Yu was in and detonated on the ground below. Fortunately, the car had moved forward a bit, so the explosion didn’t occur directly under its most vulnerable midsection, but it was still enough to flip the vehicle over.

The car lost its ability to fly. Carried by its inertia, it tumbled across the ground for sixty or seventy meters. If they hadn’t slowed down earlier, the car and everyone inside would have been torn to shreds.

Xiao Yu knew he was a doppelganger, but he still felt a potent threat of death. Nevertheless, the only thought in his mind was to protect Yan Lingjun. Because he knew he was a doppelganger and his death didn’t matter, he used his body to shield her with all his might.

The violent tossing and tumbling of the flying car nearly knocked Xiao Yu unconscious. In fact, everyone inside the vehicle was on the verge of blacking out.

A few seconds later, the vehicle finally came to a stop. Apart from its basic structural outline, it was battered beyond recognition.

“Xiao Yu? Xiao Yu!”

Hearing someone call his name, Xiao Yu’s hazy consciousness was gradually pulled back. The voice grew clearer—it was Yan Lingjun’s urgent call. Hearing her voice meant she hadn’t sustained any fatal injuries, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief.

But just then, Xiao Yu felt a piercing pain in his side. A broken steel rod from the car had pierced his flank. As he regained feeling in his body, the pain assaulted him.

“Got me in the kidney. Good thing it’s a doppelganger, but this pain feels a little too real…” Gritting his teeth against the pain, he forced a smile and quickly turned to Yan Lingjun. “How are you? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. If you hadn’t protected me, I would’ve been the one who was hurt,” said Yan Lingjun. “Let’s not talk about this now. We need to get out of the car, quickly.”

Except for Yan Lingjun, everyone in the car was injured. The driver had a gaping hole in his abdomen and was on the brink of death. Liu Shijie and another team member dragged him out of the vehicle. The other member forcefully shoved some of his intestines back into his belly, wrapped it with a bandage, and gave him an injection.

Back on Earth, the driver would have undoubtedly died.

But as long as one wasn’t killed instantly or blown to pieces, the medical technology of the Blue Star world could save them. If he could get back to the town, he could be saved.

Liu Shijie was worried about his men, but he hadn’t forgotten the mission’s priority: Xiao Yu and Yan Lingjun. If they died here, the sacrifices of his comrades would be in vain. So, he ignored his wounded subordinate and rushed straight toward Xiao Yu and Yan Lingjun.

“Good, the wound isn’t too severe. This is a stimulant. A shot will reduce the pain and boost your adrenaline. Once we’re back in town, your injury can be treated immediately.” Liu Shijie reached Xiao Yu and Yan Lingjun, quickly led them to nearby cover, and gave Xiao Yu an injection.

He then gave himself one. Liu Shijie was also hurt, and his injuries were even more severe than Xiao Yu’s.

Just then, the Tianfeng mech launched another attack. This time, over twenty missiles streaked toward their position.

Xiao Yu’s heart sank at the sight, but he reacted instantly, once again shielding Yan Lingjun by turning his back to the incoming missiles. At that moment, a voice reached his ears.

“Activate joint barrier!”

Three soldiers in powered exoskeleton armor swiftly charged forward, positioning themselves in front of Xiao Yu, Yan Lingjun, and Liu Shijie’s group.

The next moment, a shield barrier emanating a blue glow formed before them. The high-explosive missiles rained down, detonating with deafening booms all around them. Five or six of the missiles slammed directly into the shield barrier and exploded on impact.

…

Chapter 195: The N800 Nano-Armored Warrior Appears

The intense shockwave and sea of fire from the explosion were completely blocked by the shield barrier. The force spread out around the shield but did not penetrate it, protecting Xiao Yu and the others inside from the lethal attack.

But just then, another round of attacks from the Tianfeng fighter came.

This time, the weapon was a fully charged high-energy plasma cannon. A single blast shot toward them, its power far exceeding the previous high-explosive missiles.

“The shield can’t hold!”

The words had barely left his mouth when, a mere second later, the combined shield barrier shattered. The shields generated by the individuals’ power armor had limited defensive capabilities and could not recharge quickly enough to erect a new barrier against the enemy’s next wave of attacks.

“Why haven’t reinforcements arrived?” Liu Shijie was getting anxious. Their small escort team couldn’t withstand the firepower of a single Tianfeng fighter jet.

The three soldiers in power armor stood firm in front of Xiao Yu and the others. None of them flinched, all mentally prepared to die, ready to face the Tianfeng fighter jet’s next attack head-on.

It sounds slow in the telling, but it all happened in just two or three seconds. The Tianfeng fighter was about to finish charging its second high-energy plasma cannon and launch its attack.

Just then, Xiao Yu, Liu Shijie, and the others noticed something in the sky at their ten o’clock position. A straight, brilliant blue line of light suddenly streaked across the sky, diving toward the ground at a forty-five-degree angle.

Its speed was incredible, reaching a terrifying velocity of over Mach 50. It arrived in the blink of an eye.

In an instant, the blue streak of light slammed into the Tianfeng fighter. At almost the exact same moment, the Tianfeng fired its second plasma cannon blast. However, because it was struck at that precise instant, its aim was thrown off. The blast hit the ground to the side of Xiao Yu’s group, and they narrowly escaped the fatal attack.

At the same time, Xiao Yu and the others saw the blue light pierce through the Tianfeng fighter, which then instantly exploded.

Xiao Yu was stunned. He had no idea what kind of attack that was. The Tianfeng fighter had been destroyed so effortlessly.

Amidst the towering flames of the explosion, a silhouette roughly the size of a human shot out of the fireball. It flew straight toward Xiao Yu’s group and, in a matter of moments, landed before them.

The figure was clearly a person wearing some kind of combat exoskeleton. Its texture and quality were obviously on a completely different level—at least ten tiers above the power armor worn by the other soldiers.

Xiao Yu stared, thinking to himself, “Could this be…”

Just then, Liu Shijie’s spirits soared at the sight. “Excellent! It’s one of our nano-supersoldiers! We’re safe now.”

Liu Shijie and the other men were ecstatic, their morale soaring. Liu Shijie immediately turned to Xiao Yu and said, “Mr. Xiao, we’re safe! An N-800 Nano-Supersoldier has come to support us. Even a few hundred Tianfeng fighter jets would be no match for one. It’d be as easy as chopping vegetables.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu thought to himself that it was indeed the N-800 Nano Armament, just as he had suspected.

At that moment, the nano-armored warrior’s full-coverage exoskeleton helmet swiftly retracted, as if it were being disassembled at a microscopic level.

It was a valiant-looking woman. In truth, Xiao Yu had already guessed she was female from her slender figure. The N-800 Nano Armament’s exoskeleton was almost like a form-fitting battle suit, making the power armor seem incredibly bulky by comparison.

“Is everyone alright?” the female soldier asked as she stepped forward.

“We’ve lost three comrades, and another is in critical condition and needs immediate medical attention. But thankfully, the mission objective is currently unharmed,” Liu Shijie reported to her. Every N-800 nano-warrior held a high rank; they started at the rank of Colonel, equivalent to a brigade commander.

This was because a single N-800 nano-armored warrior could achieve the combat results of an entire brigade. It was a similar principle to why Air Force pilots held high ranks. Besides their scarcity, a key reason was that the results a pilot could achieve in a single combat mission were no less than those of a ground-based regimental combat unit, so their ranks often reflected that.

And here in the Blue Star world, the addition of a single N-800 nano-warrior could often change the course of a battle.

Just then, several more Tianfeng fighter squadrons appeared in the sky nearby. They were originally headed to reinforce the front lines, but now they suddenly changed course and flew directly toward Xiao Yu’s position.

The Tianfeng fighter jet was an active-duty intelligent unmanned combat drone of the Heavenly Kingdom. If a human pilot were flying it and saw an N-800 nano-warrior ahead, they would absolutely turn and flee, not charge straight into a confrontation.

In the Blue Star world, the only thing that could fight an N-800 nano-armored warrior was another N-800 nano-armored warrior.

“You all get back to base as quickly as possible. I’ll handle things here,” the female soldier said. Without waiting for Liu Shijie’s reply, her exoskeleton helmet once again enveloped her head. Before her words had even faded, she shot into the sky.

She then accelerated sharply in mid-air, a sonic boom instantly erupting as she transformed into a streak of blue light and shot toward the incoming Tianfeng fighter jets.

It sounds slow in the telling, but it happened incredibly fast. Before Xiao Yu and his group had even started to move, the blue streak was already crisscrossing the sky. One after another, the Tianfeng fighter jets exploded in the air like brilliant, magnificent fireworks, their shattered remains raining down from above.

The Tianfeng fighter jets were actually very fast, with a maximum flight speed of Mach 25. To someone like Xiao Yu from Earth, such a speed was already terrifying.

But they were no match for the N-800 Nano Armament’s even more terrifying flight speed, which reached an incredible Mach 60. That was about Mach 10 faster than the third cosmic velocity of the solar system. The most outrageous part was that the person inside could remain completely unharmed during such high-speed maneuvers.

Never mind anything else, the G-forces from high-speed maneuvers alone would be instantly fatal. But the N-800 Nano Armament reinforced the body from within, providing comprehensive protection down to the cellular level, allowing the user to remain unharmed, like a superman.

Moreover, its mimetic capabilities included powerful regenerative abilities. As long as the user wasn’t instantly killed and vaporized into molecules, the mimetic abilities could even quickly generate temporary nano-organs to replace damaged tissues and organs, allowing them to maintain combat effectiveness.

In Xiao Yu’s eyes, this was like a combination of the Hulk, Iron Man, and Deadpool or Wolverine. It was ridiculously overpowered.

At this moment, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement as he watched. This was the first time he had personally witnessed the terrifying power of the N-800 Nano Armament. It was just as Liu Shijie had said: in front of an N-800 nano-armored warrior, the Tianfeng fighter jets were like they were made of paper. Shooting them down was as easy as chopping vegetables.

It was a complete, one-sided domination by absolute power. Just a moment ago, a single Tianfeng fighter jet had nearly wiped out their entire group. Now, twenty to thirty of them were facing a single N-800 nano-armored warrior and were utterly powerless to fight back.

The sheer visual impact of the scene drove the point home for Xiao Yu. No wonder Liu Shijie and the others had their morale instantly boosted the moment the N-800 nano-armored warrior appeared, firmly believing they were safe.

…

Chapter 196: A Battle of Gods

“This is no place to linger. We have to go, now! We’re only temporarily safe. We’re not out of danger until we’re back at the base,” Liu Shijie said, glancing up at the N-800 Nano-Supersoldier wreaking havoc in the sky.

He quickly looked away and back toward Xiao Yu’s group. “Our Nano-Supersoldier has appeared, which means it won’t be long before a Heavenly Kingdom Nano-Supersoldier arrives to intercept. If our supersoldier gets tied down, the Heavenly Kingdom could send a single Tianfeng fighter jet after us and wipe us out easily.”

Liu Shijie didn’t dare to delay. He knew that the appearance of their N-800 Nano-Supersoldier usually meant the enemy’s N-800 supersoldier wouldn’t be far behind, and vice versa.

This was because the only thing that could effectively counter an N-800 Nano-Supersoldier was another N-800 Nano-Supersoldier. It was also the most cost-effective response.

Although a superweapon like a nuclear bomb could kill an N-800 Nano-Supersoldier, you couldn’t just drop nukes on your own territory. More importantly, the N-800 Nano-Supersoldier’s mobility was too great. A nuke would never catch one before detonation. An N-800 Nano-Supersoldier wasn’t an idiot; it would definitely stay clear of the blast radius, making it an ineffective way to kill one.

But unless it was a last resort, neither side would tolerate such a supersoldier unilaterally crushing their combat units on the battlefield and simply stand by and watch. The cost would be too great.

The destructive power of an N-800 Nano-Supersoldier was simply too astonishing. If left unchecked and unopposed, it could genuinely change the course of a battle.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the support from their N-800 Nano-Supersoldier, Xiao Yu and his group were rapidly moving toward the town.

Liu Shijie was very surprised. Qingyang Town didn’t have any N-800 Nano-Supersoldiers stationed there permanently. Such top-tier combat assets were scarce even within the Red Tide Organization, so this one had clearly come from elsewhere to provide support.

This made Liu Shijie realize that central headquarters valued Xiao Yu and Yan Lingjun even more than he had expected. He breathed a huge sigh of relief that they were both safe. Although Xiao Yu was injured, it wasn’t life-threatening, and besides, it was only his doppelganger.

Not long after their team had started to pull back, a streak of light shot across the other side of the sky, moving at over fifty-five times the speed of sound.

It was, of course, the Heavenly Kingdom’s N-800 Nano-Supersoldier, arriving to intercept. It instantly engaged the female soldier from the Red Tide Organization, putting an end to her one-sided slaughter of the Tianfeng fighter jets.

Xiao Yu glanced back at the battle in the sky from time to time. The details of the two N-800 Nano-Supersoldiers’ fight were impossible to make out with the naked eye. All he could see were two streaks of light clashing violently, accompanied by the roar of sonic booms.

The two supersoldiers were engaged in the most primal form of close-quarters combat high in the sky.

“It’s like a battle of gods…” Xiao Yu looked away, clicking his tongue in amazement. The N-800 Nano Armament truly was a product of the Blue Star world’s peak technology. If he had one of those, Xiao Yu felt he could do whatever he wanted back on Earth.

This kind of super black technology could truly allow a mortal to stand shoulder to shoulder with gods.

Just then, the two remaining Tianfeng fighter jets in the sky did not join the Heavenly Kingdom’s N-800 Nano-Supersoldier in intercepting the female soldier from the Red Tide Organization. A battle like this was one they couldn’t effectively intervene in; joining would just be getting themselves wiped out for nothing.

If the Heavenly Kingdom’s N-800 Nano-Supersoldier had arrived a few seconds later, these two Tianfeng fighter jets would have been destroyed by the female soldier. But now she was tied down by her opponent and couldn’t spare them a thought.

The two Tianfeng fighter jets were ordered by the Heavenly Kingdom’s N-800 Nano-Supersoldier to attack Xiao Yu’s group. They immediately changed course and dived toward them. Liu Shijie and the others turned pale with fright.

“Dammit!” Liu Shijie roared. “Protect the target!”

The three power armor soldiers in the team immediately generated their shield barriers to cover Xiao Yu and Yan Lingjun’s retreat. Just as one of the Tianfeng fighter jets was about to fire its plasma cannon, a high-energy plasma beam shot out from the distance, striking it with pinpoint accuracy and instantly destabilizing it.

The fuselage, billowing smoke, veered left and rolled, crashing into the other Tianfeng fighter jet. Both jets were destroyed just like that.

Seeing this, Liu Shijie let out a great sigh of relief.

The one who had fired was none other than the female soldier fighting her enemy. She had seized a split-second opening to destroy the last two remaining Tianfeng fighter jets, but this also left her wide open to her opponent.

Her opponent instantly landed a heavy blow on her abdomen. With a deafening crack, the female soldier plummeted to the ground like a meteor, slamming into the earth and creating a large crater. The sheer force of the impact was terrifying to behold.

“You dare get distracted while fighting me?” the Heavenly Kingdom’s supersoldier said, hovering in the air and looking down coldly at the female soldier in the crater. He then glanced in the direction of Xiao Yu’s group and added with a smirk, “It seems you’re protecting someone very important.”

Before his words had even faded, his speed suddenly surged. Accompanied by the crack of a sonic boom, he shot straight toward Xiao Yu and his group.

At the same time, the female soldier instantly shot out of the crater at a forty-five-degree angle, generating a powerful shockwave across the ground that widened the crater. This too was accompanied by the roar of a sonic boom, demonstrating the terrifying instantaneous acceleration of the N-800 Nano Armament and its ability to protect the human body from the G-forces of such acceleration.

Seeing his opponent roaring toward him, the Heavenly Kingdom soldier knew he wouldn’t be able to get close to Xiao Yu’s group without leaving himself open to a heavy counterattack. But unwilling to give up, he fired a high-energy plasma beam as a long-range attack.

However, the attack was blocked by the combined shield barrier created by the three escorting power armor soldiers. The firepower of an N-800 Nano-Supersoldier was far fiercer than that of a Tianfeng fighter jet; the combined shield barrier only held for a second before it was broken.

But that one-second delay was enough. The female soldier had locked onto the Heavenly Kingdom supersoldier and launched her own high-energy plasma beam attack. Her opponent was forced to halt his attack at the same time and turn to raise his shield in defense.

The high-energy plasma beam traveled at sub-light speed. Once locked on and fired, it was impossible to dodge; the only option was to take it head-on.

Back on the ground, the high-energy plasma beam instantly pierced through the left shoulder of one of the power armor soldiers, shearing off his entire left arm.

If the beam had been even slightly to the right, his head would have been blown off instantly.

The power armor soldier couldn’t help but let out a howl of pain, but he immediately took off his helmet, grabbed a syringe with a sedative in his right hand, and plunged it into his neck to dull the pain from his severed arm.

He hastily slapped some bandages on the stump, but it did little to stop the massive bleeding.

“Stop the bleeding!”

He yelled to his comrade next to him as he ran. Without hesitation, the comrade raised one of his power armor’s arms, aimed a nozzle at the wound, and sprayed out a thick jet of flame.

Xiao Yu caught this out of the corner of his eye and was deeply struck by the sight. It was such a hardcore way to stop the bleeding—cauterizing the wound by cooking it shut and fusing it with the bandage to achieve a quick, temporary hemostasis.

As for the severed arm, it was a lost cause. But as long as he made it back to the base, a new one could be cloned and reattached.

These scenes made Xiao Yu realize that with the support of the Blue Star world’s advanced medical and cloning technology, as long as someone wasn’t killed instantly on the spot, they could almost always be saved. Even if they lost limbs, they could be restored and reattached through cloning.

Its advanced medical technology greatly increased the soldiers’ survivability.

…

Chapter 197: Two Thousand Meters Underground

At that same moment, the Heavenly Kingdom super-soldier in the air raised his shield and took the high-energy plasma beam’s bombardment head-on. He didn’t just stand there and foolishly endure it, because the high-energy plasma beam could maintain a continuous high-power output; taking it head-on would break his shield sooner or later.

He could either find cover and evade or stop his opponent from maintaining the high-energy output.

So, he endured the beam’s bombardment directly while flying quickly toward the female soldier. He wasn’t afraid of being “kited” by his opponent because she had to protect important personnel and definitely wouldn’t run.

It sounds slow in the telling, but it all happened in a flash.

The Heavenly Kingdom super-soldier’s judgment was correct. The Red Tide Organization’s female soldier didn’t kite him. After he closed in, she also stopped her high-energy beam output.

The two were once again locked in fierce close-quarters combat. In just a moment, both of them plummeted from the sky at high speed. Accompanied by a sonic boom, they smashed violently into the ground together, landing right near Xiao Yu and the others.

The two super-soldiers immediately engaged in a fierce battle on the ground. The impact of every blow sent violent shockwaves through the surrounding air.

As someone from Earth, how could he have ever witnessed such a scene? No matter how composed Xiao Yu was, he couldn’t help but be stunned.

Liu Shijie and the others, however, were much calmer. This was Xiao Yu’s first time seeing such a scene, but they had seen it many times before; they were already used to it.

After a while, the two super-soldiers’ battle carried them several kilometers away from Xiao Yu’s group. By this time, they were getting closer and closer to the base. The Heavenly Kingdom super-soldier didn’t dare to venture too deep; he was already being tied down, and it was highly likely that the Red Tide Organization’s defensive high-energy cannons inside the base would work in concert with the female soldier to intercept him.

In the Blue Star world, it was true that N-800 Nano Armament soldiers were powerful, but they weren’t absolutely invincible.

Besides nuclear bombs, which could kill them, there were also ultra-high-energy plasma beams or high-energy laser weapons. As long as the power level reached a certain value, they could blast an N-800 Nano Armament soldier into a molecular state. If they couldn’t be killed, it was only because the output power wasn’t high enough.

This was tantamount to being turned to dust; naturally, they couldn’t survive.

The strength of the N-800 Nano Armament soldier lay in the fact that they couldn’t be ignored. If such a combat unit was left unchecked, they could truly wreak havoc on the battlefield and would completely crush other conventional armed forces.

At this moment, Xiao Yu and the others were within one kilometer of the base.

Everyone saw a squad of people rapidly approaching them. Liu Shijie was overjoyed at the sight. “The people here to receive us have arrived!”

A short while later, a dozen or so people on hoverbikes met up with Xiao Yu’s group. Everyone immediately got on the hoverbikes, which turned and headed toward the base while six or seven soldiers in power armor activated their shields to provide cover.

The last kilometer was, paradoxically, the most dangerous. At that very moment, the Heavenly Kingdom army and the Red Tide forces were engaged in a fierce battle there. The main force of the Heavenly Kingdom was attacking Qingyang Town with nonstop aerial bombardment, while a massive mixed corps of intelligent machinery advanced on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Red Tide Organization’s forces were repelling the enemy’s attack. They also had mechanical units and human soldiers clad in armed power armor.

“This is Qingyang Town?” Xiao Yu asked in astonishment as he looked around. The words had barely left his mouth when a high-explosive shell landed and detonated nearby. However, the shrapnel was blocked by the shield barrier and posed no threat to Xiao Yu and the others.

“That’s right!” Liu Shijie said.

At this point, they were surrounded by the sounds of intense bombing, the roar of fighter jets in the sky, and the thunder of various artillery strikes. You couldn’t hear anything if you spoke too softly.

Xiao Yu looked around, stunned, and said subconsciously, “How is this Qingyang Town? How is this a base? This is clearly a battlefield!”

He was traveling right through a warzone. Qingyang Town had been reduced to ruins. The ground was covered in dilapidated walls and rubble, billowing smoke from explosions filled the air, and craters were everywhere.

The scene before him constantly reminded Xiao Yu that he was now in the middle of a battlefield. This was also the first time he had witnessed and personally experienced a war in the Blue Star world. Xiao Yu subconsciously compared it to his home, Earth. Earth wasn’t exactly peaceful either; the war in Ukraine was underway, with Russia and Ukraine fighting, and it even had the potential to escalate toward a third world war.

But compared to the offensive and defensive battle raging in Qingyang Town at this moment, that conflict was like child’s play. The fighting here was extremely brutal. The amount of ammunition used in a single day here could equal what was consumed in that skirmish over one or two years.

The Qingyang Town that Xiao Yu was familiar with was now completely unrecognizable, ravaged beyond recognition by war.

“Where’s the base?” Xiao Yu shouted.

“We’re here. This is it,” Liu Shijie replied.

Hearing this, Xiao Yu was stunned. “What? This…”

Liu Shijie couldn’t help but laugh and reply loudly, “Don’t worry, Mr. Xiao. We’ll be safe soon.”

A short while later, the group traveled into the town, arriving near an area of ruins, and then passed through a large trench.

Xiao Yu saw a massive gate made of steel, which was currently open. Combat machinery was constantly moving in and out. There were also many human soldiers in power armor, and many wounded soldiers carried from the front lines were being moved inside the gate.

At this point, Xiao Yu followed Liu Shijie and the others inside. Yan Lingjun then looked at Xiao Yu and said, “The base is in Qingyang Town, but not on the surface. It’s deep beneath our feet, between 1,700 and 2,000 meters underground.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu had a sudden realization. “I see.”

The group entered an inner hall where the atmosphere was incredibly tense and busy. Xiao Yu’s group went to one of the elevators. Once the doors closed, it began to descend rapidly into the earth.

At this point, Liu Shijie and the others finally relaxed completely. He said with a smile, “We have successfully completed our mission. We’re completely safe now.”

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but say, “So the base is 2,000 meters underground beneath Qingyang Town. But why did you choose to build the base in this location? From the looks of it, this place is a strategic point that all sides must contest. Wouldn’t building it in a combat zone put you in a passive situation where you’re forced to defend it whenever the enemy attacks?”

Yan Lingjun said, “On one hand, Qingyang Town’s geopolitical location is important; it’s precisely because it’s a strategic point that we chose it. On the other hand, and more importantly, the geological structure beneath Qingyang Town is stable. Such geological conditions are rare. Our bases are all built underground. Only by doing this can we use the planet’s layers as cover and avoid the Heavenly Kingdom’s saturation bombardment.”

Liu Shijie added, “The enemy’s firepower is too strong. Building a base on the surface is not feasible. There’s no safety to speak of; we simply can’t defend it. The speed of construction can’t keep up with the speed of destruction, so we can only move underground.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded in understanding. No wonder the seemingly weak Red Tide Organization had managed to survive so tenaciously until now.

Previously, in the eyes of an Earthling like Xiao Yu, with the technology and military power of the Blue Star world being so advanced and the Heavenly Kingdom’s military being so powerful, it seemed that this organization should have no room to survive and develop.

Now, it seemed Xiao Yu realized his own understanding was insufficient. Even an advanced technological civilization had its own ways of fighting.

Similarly, based on their advanced technological level, this organization could literally move underground, building bases one or two thousand meters deep. The advanced technology and productivity of the Blue Star world made it possible to drill that deep into the earth and excavate a massive living space.

Xiao Yu had a deep appreciation for this, having used the Blue Star world’s technology to build his own secret base 800 meters beneath his villa complex. His underground base wasn’t small, yet it had only taken about half a year to build.

Presently, the elevator descended to a depth of about 2,000 meters and came to a steady stop. As the doors opened, Xiao Yu followed everyone out of the elevator.

The sight before him greatly amazed Xiao Yu, and he was deeply shocked inwardly. It was an immensely vast underground space.

Xiao Yu looked around and couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement, “This is truly a whole other world. It’s hard to imagine that the surface is ravaged by ceaseless war, while it’s so peaceful and unaffected by the conflict down here…”

Chapter 198: Powerful Medical Technology

Even though they were two thousand meters underground, Xiao Yu found himself looking at a massive town. If he hadn’t known he was two thousand meters beneath the surface, he never would have been able to tell.

There were streets, buildings, and a sky—everything was almost identical to the surface.

Just then, Yan Lingjun removed her breathing mask. Supporting the injured Xiao Yu, she said, “I’ll take you to the medical bay to treat your wounds first. We can talk about everything else after you’ve recovered.”

Xiao Yu nodded and also took off his breathing mask. The “outdoors” here was still deep underground, and since no one needed a breathing mask, it meant the base had an internal air circulation system that covered the entire area.

As Yan Lingjun led Xiao Yu to the medical bay, she explained, “This is all a holographic projection simulating the surface. It ensures that people living two thousand meters underground don’t feel like they’re underground at all. With the support of the holograms, it’s no different from the surface. The blue sky and white clouds alternate with the moonlit, starry night, completely mimicking the day-night cycle of the surface.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu nodded. After the initial amazement, he had already realized it must be holographic projection technology. The base he had built eight hundred meters underground on Earth also had a holographic simulation feature, but compared to this, it was like a mini version, while this underground base was more like a Super Plus model.

A few minutes later, Yan Lingjun brought Xiao Yu into a large medical hall. The place was a scene of frantic activity, with a large number of wounded being brought down from the front lines for emergency treatment.

Liu Shijie was also there, carrying his critically wounded, dying subordinate. He shouted, “Medic! Hurry, he’s not going to make it!”

Two medical personnel immediately came over to help, carrying the wounded man to an operating table. Liu Shijie quickly said to one of them, “Clear another operating table immediately. We have an important foreign guest who is injured and needs urgent care.”

The medic nodded immediately. “Understood.”

Xiao Yu glanced around and said to Liu Shijie, “My injuries aren’t serious. I can wait. Treat the heavily wounded first.”

A quick look around told him that medical resources were extremely strained. It was wartime, after all. With the battle raging on the surface, a constant stream of seriously injured personnel was being brought down from the front, putting a heavy burden on their medical capacity.

Xiao Yu’s injuries were not light, but they weren’t life-threatening. Besides, this wasn’t his true self, but a doppelganger, so he wasn’t particularly worried.

But Liu Shijie immediately shook his head. “That won’t do. You’re our distinguished guest. We can’t afford any mishaps, or I won’t be able to answer to my superiors.”

After a short wait, Xiao Yu was escorted to an operating table for treatment. He didn’t refuse any further and went along with their arrangements.

Xiao Yu quickly focused his attention on the operating table. It wasn’t an unfamiliar sight; it was an Intelligent Medical Operating Table, quite common in the Blue Star world. A medic operated a holographic panel next to the table for a moment, and the Surgery began immediately.

The table was equipped with a laser scalpel, AI-controlled robotic surgical arms, and 3D anatomical scanning technology, allowing for ultra-precise laser incisions.

As the surgery started, a transparent glass canopy enclosed the table, sealing it off from the outside.

After sterilization and isolation were complete, a local anesthetic was administered. The robotic surgical arms began to treat Xiao Yu’s wounds. The entire process required no human intervention.

Xiao Yu’s injuries weren’t fatal, and his surgery was completed in just about half an hour.

What astonished him the most was the healing speed of his wounds—it was fast enough to be visible to the naked eye. By the time the surgery was over, his wounds had already mostly healed.

It turned out they had used a potent growth hormone that accelerated metabolism, causing new cell tissue to generate rapidly at the wound site and achieve swift healing. Once the growth hormone was depleted, the metabolic rate would return to normal.

Such an efficient method of treatment was a real eye-opener for Xiao Yu, an Earthling.

Many of the wounded brought from the front lines, as long as their injuries weren’t fatal like that of the dying soldier who had escorted Xiao Yu and the others back to the base, could return to the front and rejoin the fight within an hour with injuries similar to Xiao Yu’s.

To a large extent, the powerful medical technology of the Blue Star world allowed human soldiers, though made of flesh and blood, to hold their own against the intelligent mechanical legions, ensuring the overall combat effectiveness of their forces was not weak.

At that moment, Xiao Yu stepped down from the operating table, having made a full recovery.

The operating table was quickly sterilized, ready for the next wounded soldier.

Yan Lingjun immediately came forward to lead Xiao Yu out of the medical hall. Just then, a middle-aged man walked over, and many people saluted him.

The man walked straight toward Xiao Yu. Seeing this, Yan Lingjun quickly introduced him, “This is our organization’s Number Three Leader, Zhang Xingyan. He came here from headquarters specifically to meet with you.”

After a brief introduction, Zhang Xingyan looked at Xiao Yu and said apologetically, “My deepest apologies, Mr. Xiao. We have been very poor hosts, to have such a distinguished guest as yourself be injured the moment you arrived.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu smiled politely. “It’s nothing, I’m perfectly fine now. Besides, it’s just a doppelganger.”

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhang Xingyan invited Xiao Yu to a VIP reception room to talk. The Red Tide Organization had sent their number three to meet with Xiao Yu, which showed the level of importance they placed on him.

Their conversation in the reception room didn’t last long. Zhang Xingyan soon took his leave, firstly to allow Xiao Yu to rest and recuperate after his recovery, and secondly because they were currently in a state of war.

Xiao Yu took it all in stride. Since it was just a doppelganger, he remained quite calm.

Yan Lingjun wasn’t assigned any other tasks; she was responsible for taking care of and accompanying Xiao Yu. As a key member of the central leadership of the organization, Zhang Xingyan already knew about the relationship between Xiao Yu and Yan Lingjun, as she had reported it a while ago.

“Let’s go for a walk outside.”

Xiao Yu said to Yan Lingjun. He also wanted to see what this base, two thousand meters underground, was like.

Hearing this, Yan Lingjun nodded with a smile. “No problem. I’ll be your guide for today.”

A few minutes later, Xiao Yu was strolling down one of the ‘outdoor’ streets when he was drawn to the slogans written on the walls of some of the buildings.

These slogans were all too familiar to Xiao Yu; they were the very ones he had brought to the Blue Star world. Seeing his reaction, Yan Lingjun couldn’t help but smile. “The works you provided back then are now being studied by all our members at the directive of headquarters. They’ve been a tremendous help to us.”

…

Chapter 199: Achieving Food Self-Sufficiency

Xiao Yu was quite pleased to see that they had already begun putting this into practice. According to Yan Lingjun, the results were excellent, and they were now ramping up the implementation.

After strolling along the street for a while, Xiao Yu asked with great curiosity, “What’s the population of this underground town?”

Hearing his question, Yan Lingjun replied, “In total, there are about four hundred and ten thousand people.”

Xiao Yu was stunned by the number and couldn’t help but glance at Yan Lingjun. “That many? That’s about ten times the population of Qingyang Town.”

Qingyang Town had only been a town of about forty to fifty thousand people. Xiao Yu had never imagined that four hundred and ten thousand people lived in this underground town—a population size comparable to the average resident population of a county back in his hometown on Earth.

The most crucial part was that this was two thousand meters underground, not on the surface, and it had been built from scratch in just over three years.

What truly shocked Xiao Yu was the terrifying technological productivity it showcased, far surpassing that of Earth.

To build an underground town capable of housing four hundred and ten thousand people at a depth of two thousand meters in such a short time would be nothing short of a fairy tale back on Earth.

This fact was an indirect testament to the Blue Star world’s vastly superior technological productivity, and it had certainly been achieved under significant constraints.

The Heavenly Kingdom would never have allowed the organization to build this underground town so easily; they must have faced numerous restrictions and limitations during its construction.

Even so, they had managed to build a town for four hundred and ten thousand people in such a short period. How could Xiao Yu, a native of Earth, not be astonished?

According to Yan Lingjun’s brief explanation, most of the original residents of Qingyang Town had stayed. The others had been transferred from elsewhere and were generally the families of the soldiers. Another important reason the soldiers fought so fearlessly was that their friends and family were right behind them. With no room for retreat, their only option was to fight to the death.

Xiao Yu wandered around the underground town for over half an hour before being shown to a residence to rest.

The next day, Zhang Xingyan came to visit him again.

“Mr. Xiao, the fighting is intense. I sincerely apologize for our inadequate hospitality,” Zhang Xingyan said apologetically as soon as he saw Xiao Yu. The latter, of course, responded with polite courtesies.

It was worth noting that Zhang Xingyan had been one of the key figures who had supported cooperating with Xiao Yu. In fact, it was he who had proposed making a gesture of goodwill first, suggesting they provide Xiao Yu with the organic body technology before he had supplied them with sufficient materials and guarantees.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two began their conversation. Xiao Yu spoke slowly, “I never imagined your organization could build such a massive town two thousand meters underground. What’s even more surprising is that the people here have no complaints. I walked around yesterday and saw everyone united, from the leadership down, all working with one heart and one mind. They are able to live and work in peace and contentment. Such an atmosphere is truly rare and astonishing.”

Xiao Yu was, in a way, giving him a compliment, and Zhang Xingyan was naturally pleased to hear it. However, Xiao Yu wasn’t merely showering him with flattery; his description was indeed an objective fact.

Zhang Xingyan then sighed, “But it is still a struggle, especially the major issue of food. We have to feed several hundred thousand mouths. These four hundred and ten thousand people consume thirteen point five tons of starch and other nutrients every day. All food and supplies must be transported from the surface, and the enemy’s attempts to intercept them are incredibly fierce. They are constantly trying to sever our supply lines.”

Establishing the base two thousand meters deep underground had its obvious advantages, but the disadvantages were also glaring. Logistics was a major problem.

At this point, Zhang Xingyan changed the subject. He looked at Xiao Yu with a smile and said, “However, thanks to the crop seeds with reproductive capability that you provided, Mr. Xiao, the situation has undergone a fundamental transformation. It’s no exaggeration to say that your assistance has propelled our cause into an unprecedented new historical stage. We are all deeply grateful for your righteous contribution, Mr. Xiao.”

Xiao Yu immediately smiled. “You flatter me. I can’t take credit for such a righteous act.”

Suddenly, Zhang Xingyan said, “Mr. Xiao, let me take you to see a place.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu readily nodded. A short while later, accompanied by several people, Zhang Xingyan led him to the northwestern edge of the underground town.

Excavation work was in full swing here. Numerous giant machines were constantly digging into the earth. The excavated soil was not transported to the surface but was instead used to further compact and reinforce the walls.

Zhang Xingyan turned to Xiao Yu and explained, “Thanks to the crop seeds you provided, this base has been allocated a portion. We are excavating this area to create a planting zone, with a planned total area of three point five square kilometers.”

Xiao Yu was secretly astonished by this figure. It was truly an ambitious project. That was equivalent to over five thousand mu, and this was two thousand meters underground.

Still, considering this was the Blue Star world, it wasn’t quite so outrageous.

At the same time, Zhang Xingyan added with a smile, “Once this planting zone is completed and operational, it is expected to produce eighty thousand tons of grain per year, enough for the four hundred and ten thousand people in the base to achieve self-sufficiency.”

Xiao Yu was taken aback by this. A three-point-five-square-kilometer area producing eighty thousand tons of grain was absolutely impossible by Earth’s standards. Xiao Yu knew the approximate yield of the crop seeds he had provided; grown in open fields on Earth, it would take well over a hundred thousand mu to produce that much.

Just then, however, an aide next to Zhang Xingyan brought up a holographic projection model, which displayed what the planting zone would look like upon completion.

While still puzzled, Xiao Yu saw the data model and instantly understood.

It turned out they were using soilless cultivation and maximizing spatial efficiency. The planting was not limited to a single flat plane but was three-dimensional and multi-layered. Two layers meant the actual planting area of three point five square kilometers became seven square kilometers; three layers made it ten point five square kilometers, and so on.

Moreover, grain was especially precious in the current Blue Star world, so a great deal of effort and advanced technology would be invested in its cultivation. Achieving five or even six harvests a year would not be a problem. Combined with the use of multi-layered space, producing eighty thousand tons of grain annually from a three-point-five-square-kilometer area was not a fantasy at all.

The Blue Star world did not lack modern agricultural technology; what it lacked were crop seeds with reproductive capability, which had been artificially suppressed at the genetic level. Once this monopoly was broken, with the aid of the Blue Star world’s existing advanced technology, production capacity could easily skyrocket.

At this, Xiao Yu nodded and said to himself, “An annual output of eighty thousand tons of grain, divided among four hundred and ten thousand people, comes out to an average of three hundred and ninety jin of grain per person per year. Getting enough to eat will no longer be a problem.”

Zhang Xingyan laughed heartily. “More than enough, more than enough! Not only will they be able to eat their fill, but they’ll eat well. The days of having one meal and worrying about the next will be gone forever! Even if the enemy cuts off this location’s supply lines, we’ll be able to achieve self-sufficiency through an internal cycle.”

Xiao Yu thought back to his home on Earth, where the per capita consumption of raw grain in his home country was around one hundred and ninety-three kilograms, or about four hundred jin. And that figure even accounted for various forms of waste.

Once this base’s planting zone was completed with an annual production capacity of eighty thousand tons, achieving a per capita grain supply of three hundred and ninety jin would be more than sufficient, because in the Blue Star world, precious food would never be wasted.

Zhang Xingyan looked at Xiao Yu again and said, “Mr. Xiao, you may be underestimating just how much your assistance has helped our cause. It is no exaggeration to say that it has brought our cause to a historic turning point.”

…

Chapter 200: Return to Fengquan City

Everyone present was extremely respectful toward Xiao Yu. Zhang Xingyan was right; his assistance represented a historic turning point for the organization, a fact unanimously recognized within its ranks.

Seeing the big picture reflected in the small details, Xiao Yu could sense it too.

Yesterday, he and Yan Lingjun had wandered around this underground town. Although battles were raging fiercely on the surface, the spirit displayed by every citizen here was a world-changing departure from the people he had seen back in Qingyang Town.

The people in this underground town now had, one could say, a light in their eyes.

To put it in more down-to-earth terms, they had something to look forward to.

This was because after the distributed crop seeds arrived, the Red Tide Organization’s department announced to the entire town that from now on, not only would everyone’s food problems be solved, but they would also no longer have to eat the unpalatable synthetic starch.

Fragrant rice, fresh fruits, and vegetables—they could enjoy them with every meal.

The crucial part was that this was no longer a pie-in-the-sky dream; it was a foreseeable future that would soon be realized. This was truly remarkable. The common people of the Blue Star world would never have dared to imagine such a scene, not even in their wildest dreams.

Everyone eagerly awaited the future blueprint the organization had laid out. Once they fought their way back to the surface, everyone would be allocated crop seeds to plant on their own. A better life wasn’t two thousand meters underground, but on the surface.

Without a doubt, this kind of rallying power was immense, and the support they received was unprecedented.

The current situation was one of unity, from top to bottom. The soldiers’ fighting capabilities had skyrocketed. There was no need for forced conscription; the young people of every household voluntarily signed up to join the army, willing to go to the front lines.

At the same time, thanks to the organization’s effective propaganda, everyone firmly believed they couldn’t just shelter underground indefinitely. It was not a long-term solution. Only by completely overthrowing the Heavenly Kingdom could this wonderful life be sustained.

The hearts of the people were with them like never before. This was a historic turning point.

Because of Xiao Yu’s appearance and assistance, the organization’s confidence in the future was now stronger than ever.

With crop seeds that had reproductive capability, the remaining problems were no longer problems. This underground town could become completely self-sufficient and self-sustaining, no longer needing to rely on external food supplies.

In essence, it was just a matter of energy consumption. The sunlight needed for growing crops could be simulated with artificial light sources, which could even be finely tuned through manual intervention to create the optimal growing environment for the crops.

As for energy consumption, the underground town’s core power source was a large-scale controlled nuclear fusion reactor. The Blue Star world had mastered fusion energy technology long ago.

The energy consumed by growing crops was a drop in the ocean compared to the consumption of war.

After touring the cultivation area for a while, Xiao Yu and the others departed. Accompanied by a few people, they walked and chatted with Zhang Xingyan.

Xiao Yu suddenly said, “You have a preliminary supply of grains, fruits, and vegetables, but you’re still lacking fresh meat. I’ll figure something out for that later.”

Hearing this, everyone was overjoyed. Zhang Xingyan immediately laughed, “There’s no rush, and we can’t rush it. To have achieved what we have now is something we never dared to imagine before. We need to consolidate this excellent situation properly. You can’t get fat in one bite.”

The main purpose of fresh meat was to get protein. People in the Blue Star world now mostly took protein supplements directly. However, it was certain that the appeal of fresh meat was enormous because people, after all, were not machines. Eating and satisfying one’s taste buds provided immense emotional satisfaction.

Xiao Yu wasn’t just being gratuitously attentive. The other party had already shown courtesy first, taking the risk of him running off and becoming unreachable by giving him the organic body technology in advance. Xiao Yu’s gesture was a case of courtesy demands reciprocity. Besides, he still hadn’t obtained the N-800 Nano Armament, that piece of super black technology.

He had personally witnessed just how powerful that thing was yesterday, and he liked it even more, wishing he could get his hands on that black technology right now.

However, Xiao Yu remained composed. Despite his deep-seated eagerness to obtain the technology, he appeared very calm at the moment. He didn’t even mention the matter, instead focusing on considering the organization’s needs. He believed they certainly wouldn’t forget about it. After all, their relationship was one of equal partnership, not subordination.

A moment later, Xiao Yu smiled. “Raising poultry for the necessary meat supply would require even more space. It would be best to fight our way back to the surface.”

Zhang Xingyan immediately said, “Of course. The goal of returning to the surface will never change.”

Xiao Yu then said, “But if you give me some time, providing your organization with a large quantity of finished meat products won’t be a problem. It will be difficult, but not impossible.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xingyan glanced at the accompanying personnel before turning back to Xiao Yu with a smile. “Then on behalf of all the members of my organization, I thank you for your tremendous assistance, Mr. Xiao. If you need any help from us, please don’t hesitate to ask. After all, this is our business too.”

Xiao Yu nodded and smiled. “If the need arises, I will naturally seek your assistance.”

Although he said that, he certainly wouldn’t need it. After all, he was transporting food from Earth; Xiao Yu couldn’t possibly let the natives of the Blue Star world get involved.

This meeting and conversation between the two parties was a joyous occasion for both host and guest. Through this meeting, they established an even deeper foundation of trust, which was clearly very important and of great positive significance for their future cooperation.

In the following days, Xiao Yu remained there. The original plan was to stay for only half a day after accepting the invitation.

But as luck would have it, the Heavenly Kingdom launched a new round of attacks on this location, so Xiao Yu had no choice but to extend his stay. Of course, he could leave whenever he wanted, thanks to a cheat-like device like the Transference Star Ring, but he certainly couldn’t do that.

Given the time dilation between the two worlds, Xiao Yu didn’t mind the wait.

As time went on, about a week passed, and the Heavenly Kingdom’s latest offensive was once again repelled.

Two days later, just before the Heavenly Kingdom could regroup its forces for a new attack, Xiao Yu was secretly transferred out and returned to Fengquan City, a core area under Heavenly Kingdom control.

Yan Lingjun also returned with him. She would continue her frontline work, maintaining the status quo by playing the role of Xiao Yu’s assistant at Prism Company. Of course, in the eyes of the company’s employees, she was already the Boss’s wife.

With this trip concluded, Xiao Yu waited for Luo Guanqi to finish procuring the list of Blue Star “local specialties” so he could take them all back to Earth.

The next day, in Xiao Yu’s villa residence.

Yan Lingjun came over today. After returning to Fengquan City, she had moved in directly. Now that their relationship was official and had been made public at the company, living together was a natural progression.

“I heard from headquarters. They’re already making plans for the N-800 Nano Armament technology and its equipment. It will be delivered to you as a complete package deal,” Yan Lingjun said with a smile.

Xiao Yu was overjoyed to hear this. The acquisition of this long-awaited black technology was finally making substantial progress.

…

Chapter 201: Outrageously Powerful

During his time in Qingyang Town, Xiao Yu gained a deeper understanding of the Crimson Tide. Its main conventional forces consisted of human soldiers equipped with power armor similar to the T-300. Another major force was naturally the intelligent mechanical combat units—in other words, a robot army.

In addition, there was a core force: the N-800 Nano Armament supersoldiers. Xiao Yu didn’t know exactly how many N-800 Nano Armament supersoldiers the organization had, but it certainly wasn’t many. During his days in Qingyang Town, he had seen no more than ten Nano-Supersoldiers.

Although these supersoldiers were few in number, their combat prowess was outrageous. Xiao Yu learned that after mastering the N-800 Nano Armament, the organization had developed a unique martial art based on it, forming a rich and comprehensive system of tactics and techniques.

Because in most situations, the opponent of an N-800 Nano Armament soldier was often another N-800 Nano Armament soldier. Most of the time, they fought in close-quarters combat, a return to the fundamentals of primal combat. This made them heavily reliant on the individual soldier’s fighting skills, experience, and tactical proficiency.

Different Nano-Supersoldiers had vastly different fighting styles, but they all shared a set of fundamental martial arts that every Nano-Supersoldier had to learn, master, and perfect.

When an N-800 Nano-Supersoldier faced other conventional forces, whether it was human power armor soldiers or intelligent mechanical combat units, the engagement was asymmetrical.

In short, an N-800 Nano Armament soldier could crush these armed forces with almost absolute power. Xiao Yu had witnessed this firsthand before and was deeply shaken by it.

To counter a single N-800 Nano-Supersoldier with conventional forces, such as intelligent mechanical combat units, it would often require deploying a legion of three to five thousand mechs just to achieve effective suppression.

And that was only effective suppression, not an effective kill.

This was because the N-800 Nano Armament soldier’s mobility and survivability were absurd. They could exceed Mach 60, giving them unparalleled mobility. Moreover, they were extremely small targets. Even with the external nano-exoskeleton, the armament was quite form-fitting. With their small size and incredible mobility, it was extremely difficult to lock on and hit them.

Thanks to the nano-mimicry technology, even if they were hit, it was hard to land a fatal blow. As long as they weren’t instantly killed and turned to ash, they were practically unkillable.

Even more outrageously, if their head was cut off, they could still be saved as long as it was reattached in time.

The powerful mimetic capabilities could reattach the head at the wound’s cross-section on a nanoscopic level. It could rapidly form a nanostructure over the damaged area, achieving an almost seamless closure of the wound.

This is because a person does not die immediately after decapitation. The brain remains active for a period. The separation of the brain from the body first causes massive blood loss, leading to rapid oxygen deprivation, which causes brain cells to die gradually. It’s not an instant death upon decapitation, and the exact time of brain death varies between individuals.

At this point, if the brain could be seamlessly reconnected to the body—with the spinal cord, bones, and blood vessels all reattached—and the oxygen supply and blood circulation to the brain restored, the person could be saved.

And this was where the power of the N-800 Nano Armament’s nano-mimicry technology lay. It could reattach a severed head to the body in a very short time, and at a microscopic level finer than a cell. Before the wound fully healed, the nano-mimicry structure would act as a “scaffold” to hold everything in place until healing was complete.

Therefore, after being decapitated, as long as the head was reattached to the body within the golden window of about three to five minutes, their life could usually be saved.

However, after decapitation, even though the head could be reattached and their life saved, they would lose all combat capability and be in their weakest state, completely unable to resist during that time.

During his stay and tour in Qingyang Town, Xiao Yu had seen some combat footage. Learning that an N-800 Nano Armament soldier could be saved even after being decapitated, he found it completely outrageous and was utterly shocked.

At this moment, Xiao Yu was discussing the N-800 Nano Armament with Yan Lingjun. Xiao Yu said in amazement, “This equipment is too overpowered. Its combat power is off the charts, and they’re unkillable. As long as they don’t take a nuke or a super-high-energy laser weapon to the face, they basically can’t die. It truly is the pinnacle of individual combat gear, absolutely deserving of its reputation.”

Yan Lingjun immediately replied, “N-800 Nano Armament soldiers aren’t unkillable. There are three ways to effectively kill them.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu looked at her with a hint of curiosity. Yan Lingjun continued systematically, “The first is decapitation, but after beheading them, you must keep the head and body separated for longer than the golden window for reattachment.”

Yan Lingjun went on, “The second is to obliterate them into ash. A nuclear blast or a strike from a super-high-energy laser weapon, using absolute firepower to exceed their stress threshold, would vaporize the N-800 Nano Armament soldier into a molecular state on the spot. Then, of course, they’d be deader than dead. No matter how powerful their mimetic capabilities are, they wouldn’t be able to recover from that.”

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but nod. These two methods of killing were easy enough to understand. He then asked, “What about the third one?”

Yan Lingjun answered, “The third is to extract the nanoparticles armed within their body. Without the protection of the N-800 internal nano-armament, the human body reverts to being a fragile organic life-form. At that point, even an ordinary bullet could easily kill them.”

At this point, Yan Lingjun looked at Xiao Yu and added, “This is also the core method for controlling the N-800 Nano Armament soldiers. With such powerful individual combat gear, the potential risks would be enormous without a means of control. We can’t completely rule out the possibility that someone, upon obtaining this equipment, might think themselves invincible and start causing trouble.”

“The reason why N-800 Nano-Supersoldiers, whether ours or the enemy’s, can absolutely obey superiors who are far ‘weaker’ than they are, is because their superiors can remotely restrict their abilities in real-time. They can forcibly extract the nanoparticles from their bodies at any moment, or even turn the armament against them and kill them directly. The nano-armament that protects them can also be used to destroy all their cells at a microscopic level.”

Clearly, the N-800 Nano Armament was fundamentally a high-tech product. And what kind of high-tech product wouldn’t have remote communication capabilities? It was bound to be controlled by a set of programs.

It was precisely because of this control mechanism that even N-800 Nano Armament soldiers with off-the-charts combat power had to obey their superiors’ orders, because their superiors could decide their life or death at any moment.

Hearing this, Xiao Yu had a sudden realization. “I see.”

Yan Lingjun smiled. “Although our supersoldiers have a high level of ideological commitment, we can’t ignore objective factors. This control method is effective at preventing mutinies.”

Xiao Yu nodded in agreement.

This was like Sun Wukong being fitted with a golden fillet. Tang Sanzang might be a complete weakling, but he could chant the fillet-tightening spell. The N-800 Nano Armament soldiers clearly worked on a similar principle.

Xiao Yu thought to himself that he definitely couldn’t use equipment provided by others directly. He had to master the technology and build it himself before he would dare to use it. Otherwise, it would be like wearing a golden fillet given to him by someone else.

If that were the case, Xiao Yu would rather not have this black technology than have his life and death completely controlled by others.

…

Chapter 202: Long-Term Considerations

Finally, Xiao Yu looked at Yan Lingjun with curiosity and asked, “Since both you and the Heavenly Kingdom possess these N-800 Nano-Supersoldiers, I’m rather curious—whose supersoldiers are superior? Or are they evenly matched?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Yan Lingjun replied, “In the grand scheme of things, the Heavenly Kingdom has the upper hand. They have greater numbers because the resources they control far exceed ours, which allows them to field more supersoldiers.”

Xiao Yu nodded. That was easy to understand and made perfect sense.

Then, Yan Lingjun’s tone shifted. “However, in actual combat, our supersoldiers have won more often than they’ve lost. The instances of failure are usually when the Heavenly Kingdom overwhelms us with sheer numbers. In one-on-one engagements, according to statistical case studies, their supersoldiers only have a 21% win rate.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but show a hint of surprise. “Such a high win rate?”

Yan Lingjun smiled. “Equipment is certainly an important factor, but the human element is ultimately what dominates. Our supersoldiers possess a richer depth of tactical skill, and the combat techniques derived for them are also superior. From another perspective, our supersoldiers have stronger ideals and firmer beliefs, and their will to fight is more potent than that of the Heavenly Kingdom’s.”

Xiao Yu nodded silently. Since both sides were armed with N-800 Nano Armaments, that factor was neutralized. The variables that determined victory or defeat then came down to other factors. The soldier’s own fighting skills, tactical proficiency, combat will, and beliefs became the keys to success.

Yan Lingjun continued, “In actual combat, for both our supersoldiers and the Heavenly Kingdom’s, the most effective method of killing is essentially decapitation, and it’s always carried out by an opposing supersoldier. Decapitation accounts for over ninety-five percent of all supersoldier fatalities.”

Of the three methods capable of effectively killing an N-800 Nano-Supersoldier, nuclear strikes or high-energy laser attacks were constrained by many conditions. An N-800 Nano-Supersoldier wasn’t an idiot; they weren’t going to face a nuke head-on. With any warning, they could be gone in a flash,遁走 traveling at over Mach sixty, long before the missile even reached its target.

Although a high-energy laser weapon struck at the speed of light, it required time to charge, resulting in a long “wind-up time.” Given the N-800 Nano-Supersoldier’s extreme mobility and small target size, locking on for an effective strike was incredibly difficult.

As for extracting the nanoparticles from a supersoldier’s body, that was the most effective method, one to which the N-800 Nano-Supersoldier had almost no defense. However, this method was rarely used by an enemy. It was typically reserved for purging internal rebellions—a tool for dealing with civil strife.

Evidently, the only remaining effective method of being killed by an enemy was decapitation. By beheading an opponent and ensuring their head remained separated from their body past the golden time window, one could secure a kill.

That was why decapitation accounted for over ninety-five percent of supersoldier fatalities, with the other two methods being extremely rare cases.

After a moment, Yan Lingjun tilted her head slightly to look at Xiao Yu and couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you want the N-800 nano-technology?”

Xiao Yu naturally wouldn’t reveal his true purpose. Although their relationship was extraordinary, he wouldn’t bare his soul completely. However, he didn’t lie either, instead answering with another objective truth. “Because what I do is very dangerous. I need this technology, but that’s a secondary reason.”

Yan Lingjun seemed to understand. From her perspective, what Xiao Yu was doing was indeed extremely dangerous; after all, he was in direct opposition to the Heavenly Kingdom. But she asked curiously, “Then what’s the primary reason?”

Xiao Yu’s voice grew somber. “The primary factor is the delicate position of the class my identity represents. Especially now that I’ve established a relationship with you, I have to consider the future. Your organization and I are in a harmonious honeymoon period of cooperation right now. But think about it—once your endeavor succeeds in the future, what will your organization’s stance be toward me? After all, I am one of the vested interests you are trying to overthrow.”

Yan Lingjun fell silent at his words. Xiao Yu continued slowly, “Right now, you need my assistance, and because of me, you’ve gained considerable importance within your organization. Weren’t you just promoted eight ranks in a row?”

He then shifted his tone. “But what about the future? If your endeavor succeeds, the relationship between us will become a massive liability for you. It’s entirely possible that people or factions with different political views will use this issue to make things difficult for you. You could even face political persecution.”

After a long silence, Yan Lingjun lowered her gaze and murmured softly, “I haven’t thought that far ahead. Besides, it’s still too early to talk about this. The Heavenly Kingdom remains powerful and difficult to shake. Whether we’ll even live to see that day is still uncertain…”

“It may be early, but that doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist,” Xiao Yu said. “And that is why I must obtain the N-800 technology.”

He wasn’t lying. This was indeed one of his reasons, as he needed a true foothold in the Blue Star world, and the N-800 Nano Armament technology was a crucial card to hold.

A moment later, Xiao Yu’s expression softened into a smile. “I don’t really care what happens to me. Once your endeavor succeeds and you replace the Heavenly Kingdom, I can simply move my headquarters out of its territory to avoid any so-called class conflict. Trees die when they’re moved, but people are adaptable. It’s not like there isn’t a way out of a predicament.”

He turned to Yan Lingjun, holding her gaze for a moment before continuing, “The one I’m truly worried about is you.”

She looked back at him. “Me?”

Xiao Yu nodded.

Yan Lingjun said in confusion, “What’s the direct or inevitable connection?”

“You have pure ideals, which is a good thing,” Xiao Yu replied. “But your political awareness could use some improvement.”

After some thought, Xiao Yu looked at Yan Lingjun and said, “For the sake of your future safety, my plan is to establish a power base under my control outside the Heavenly Kingdom’s territory. I will develop it and make it grow, not just in size, but in strength. It must become strong enough that when your organization eventually succeeds and takes over the Heavenly Kingdom, it will have to treat my power as an equal.”

“Only then will you be safe from internal political persecution. If they ever think of doing anything against you, they will have to consider my existence. It’s a deterrent. In other words, your personal safety will be guaranteed, and you’ll avoid becoming a sacrificial pawn in any future internal conflicts and power struggles.”

Xiao Yu told her all this directly, partly as a cover for his future activities of gathering various technologies from the Blue Star world to bring back to Earth. Since he was going to build a massive power base outside the Heavenly Kingdom, he would naturally need a great deal of resources, which made collecting technology seem perfectly logical.

At that moment, hearing his words and realizing that these plans were all for her sake, a wave of warmth washed over Yan Lingjun’s heart. Her gaze toward Xiao Yu was filled with endless affection, her face a portrait of happiness.

However, she said, “You don’t have to do all this for me. If that day really comes, if we really succeed in replacing the Heavenly Kingdom, I can choose to retire after accomplishing my mission and leave the Central Continent with you.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu shook his head and sighed. “It’s not as easy as you think. Once you reach such a high position, it’s no longer just about you; it’s about a whole group of people. What if you want to step down, but they don’t? It won’t be something you can decide on your own. The momentum of the situation will force you to grit your teeth and press forward.”

He turned back to her. “Besides, if you really did retire, what if someone usurped the fruits of your labor? What if the former Heavenly Kingdom was resurrected in a vile new form? Wouldn’t the lifelong efforts and struggles of you and your comrades, and the sacrifices of countless people, all have been in vain? Wouldn’t all that blood have been spilled for nothing?”

UNTITLED

Chapter 1: The Setting of Expensive and Scarce Food in the Blue Star World

Chapter 2: First Arrival in the Blue Star World

Chapter 3: Excellent, This Melon is of Superb Quality

Chapter 4: The First Transaction

Chapter 5: Even Breathing Air Costs Money

Chapter 6: New Materials are the Perfect Starting Point

Chapter 7: A Two-Way Trade is a Guaranteed “Win-Win”—You Win Twice

Chapter 8: A Web of Interlocking Traps

Chapter 9: The Solution and a Return to Blue Star

Chapter 10: The Greatly Shocked Xiao Yu

Chapter 11: Why Risk Your Life for Such a Measly Salary?

Chapter 12: The Price is Ridiculously Cheap

Chapter 13: The Profit Margin Is Shocking Once You Do the Math

Chapter 14: You Dare to Say It, But I Don’t Dare to Believe It

Chapter 15: Penghui Capital is Watching from the Shadows

Chapter 16: The Initial Buzz and Heated Discussions

Chapter 17: What Game Is This Xiao Yu Playing?

Chapter 18: Keep the Good News Coming, Let the Music Play

Chapter 19: This Wasn’t a Board Meeting Vote, It Was a Notification!

Chapter 20: A Blockbuster Announcement That Exceeded All Expectations

Chapter 21: Bring Some Gold Over from Blue Star as a Contingency

Chapter 22: A Time Flow Discrepancy Between the Two Worlds

Chapter 23: Gold Secured, Back to Earth and Off to Africa

Chapter 24: News of the Gold Mine Discovery Spreads Like Wildfire

Chapter 25: The Opponent Panics

Chapter 26: Turning the Tables

Chapter 27: A World Where Only Penghui Capital and Its Investors Suffer Is Achieved

Chapter 28: Hook, Line, and Sinker

Chapter 29: Return to the World of Blue Star

Chapter 30: A Belated Realization and a Cold Sweat

Chapter 31: Definitely an Artificially Created Scarcity

Chapter 32: The Capital of Heaven: Heavenly Capital

Chapter 33: This City is Great in Every Way, But It’s Not Down-to-Earth

Chapter 34: This Isn’t a Natural Disaster, It’s a Man-Made Calamity

Chapter 35: Return to Earth, A Military Procurement Team Comes to Investigate

Chapter 36: With Costs Near Zero, It’s a Killing No Matter What

Chapter 37: Zhou Baichuan’s Catastrophic Misjudgment

Chapter 38: Dropping the Act and Showing My Cards

Chapter 39: The Announcement Drops, Petrifying Investors

Chapter 40: Fearlessly Bottom Fish and Go All In When the Price Drops Below 1 Yuan

Chapter 41: A Wave of Bearish News Leaves Investors Reeling

Chapter 42: Ruilian Doesn’t Take for Free; They Step Up When It Counts

Chapter 43: The Major Investors Cut Their Losses and Exit

Chapter 44: Compensation for the Innocent Retail Investors Who Were Collateral Damage

Chapter 45: Blockbuster: Another Restructuring Announcement, The Market Erupts

Chapter 46: Downstream Manufacturers Flock to Inquire and Investigate

Chapter 47: All the Major Phone Manufacturers Want to Be the First to Launch a 100% Full-Screen Display

Chapter 48: If They Won’t Sign the Supplementary Agreement, We Won’t Sell

Chapter 49: Programming an AI Agent
Chapter 50: Vitas Industrial Group
Chapter 51: Organic Body

Chapter 52: Gene Sequencing Report on Blue Star’s Native Fruits and Vegetables

Chapter 53: A New Substitute Plan

Chapter 54: Restructuring the Board of Directors

Chapter 55: A High Chance of Winning Her Over

Chapter 56: An Unbelievable Myth of Wealth

Chapter 57: They Won’t Sign the Supplementary Agreement? What Right Do They Have to Negotiate Terms With Me?

Chapter 58: He Did Something Unprecedented in the Industry

Chapter 59: Reputation Reversal, Riding the Wave of Popularity, and Winning Hearts

Chapter 60: The Military’s Purchase Order is Issued

Chapter 61: Learning Huawei Placed an Order, Competitors Are Getting Anxious

Chapter 62: Rebs: Damn, this tech is freaking awesome!

Chapter 63: The Hottest New Star in the Tech Circle This Year

Chapter 64: Both Were Incredibly Cunning

Chapter 65: Xiao Yu’s Personal Hands-On Review

Chapter 66: General-purpose Artificial Intelligence

Chapter 67: Promoting the First Application of the AI Agent

Chapter 68: Restructuring Complete, Shareholding Ratio Soars

Chapter 69: The Public’s Curiosity and Anticipation for Mira

Chapter 70: Official Launch, Users Amazed by Their First Experience

Chapter 71: A Viral Sensation
Chapter 72: A Few Words on Going Premium
Chapter 72: A Few Words on Going Premium

Chapter 73: Explosive Annual Report Results Catapult Xiao Yu to Richest Man

Chapter 74: AI Mira Completely Delisted from iOS, Someone’s Panicking

Chapter 75: A Head-to-Head Confrontation and Its Powerful Deterrent Effect

Chapter 76: Point-Blank Assault, Taunt Level Maxed

Chapter 77: Listed as Export-Controlled and State-Secret Technology

Chapter 78: Planning for Room-Temperature Superconducting Materials

Chapter 79: A Market-Killer Advantage Over Conventional Aircraft

Chapter 80: New Players Go All-In
Chapter 81: Zhonghang Linfei
Chapter 82: The AI Mira 2.0 Version Goes Live

Chapter 83: Another ‘Small’ Shock for Industry Peers

Chapter 84: Advancing on Three Fronts

Chapter 85: A Radical Redesign for an All-Electric Engine

Chapter 86: AI Mira Sparks a Wave of Corporate Layoffs

Chapter 87: The Pricing Strategy
Chapter 88: Massive Reaction
Chapter 89: Full of Anticipation

Chapter 90: Not a Word About Himself, Yet Every Sentence Was About Him

Chapter 91: Xiaomi Seeks Graphene Battery Supply Deal

Chapter 92: Charging 10% of the Launch Price

Chapter 93: The Founding Executives and Employees Who Left One After Another Now Drown in Regret

Chapter 94: Acquiring 18,000 Mu of Land for a New Super Tech Park Headquarters

Chapter 95: The Tianfeng Fighter Jet

Chapter 96: T300 Powered Combat Armor

Chapter 97: The Pinnacle of Heavenly Kingdom’s Technology: N-800 Nano Armament

Chapter 98: Ways to Obtain the N-800 Nano Armament

Chapter 99: For Reference and Inspiration

Chapter 100: The First Graphene Full-Screen Smartphone Hits the Market

Chapter 101: Massive First-Day Online Sales

Chapter 102: Rebs Calls to Request More Orders

Chapter 103: Dissatisfied? Would I Care if They’re Dissatisfied?

Chapter 104: Explosive Semi-Annual Report Results

Chapter 105: Beyond Expectations! Epically, Seriously Beyond Expectations!

Chapter 106: And Just Like That, the World’s Richest Man, Not Yet 30, Was Born

Chapter 107: A Grand Discussion at the Meeting

Chapter 108: The Greatest Significance is Setting a Precedent

Chapter 109: People-First or Productivity-First?

Chapter 110: Causing a Huge Sensation

Chapter 111: The Master Huangs Are Furious and Retaliate with a Massive Sell-Off

Chapter 112: A Grave Misjudgment of Xiao Yu

Chapter 113: Pushing for the Debut of Room-Temperature Superconducting Material

Chapter 114: Superconductor, It’s a Success! It’s a Success!

Chapter 115: Heaven Wants Them This Time, We Can’t Let Them Escape

Chapter 116: Give Them a Hell of a Surprise

Chapter 117: Asking Rui Lian for a Favor

Chapter 118: President Xiang: We’ll Help! I’m Going All-In This Time!

Chapter 119: The Moment of Truth Has Arrived

Chapter 120: A Rare and Extremely Fierce Game

Chapter 121: Press Conference, Announcing the Advent of Room-Temperature Superconducting Material!

Chapter 122: A Live Demonstration of Superconducting Levitation Shocks the Audience

Chapter 123: Dumbfounded! I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This In My Life (Two Chapters Combined)

Chapter 124: The Short-Sellers’ Desperate Counterattack

Chapter 125: Pulling the Plug? Successive Reversals Send the Entire Market into an Uproar

Chapter 126: Breakthrough in Room-Temperature Superconducting Material Causes Global Sensation

Chapter 127: The Nation’s High Regard for Room-Temperature Superconductors

Chapter 128: Concerns Over Personal Safety

Chapter 129: Controlled Nuclear Fusion Researchers Come to Inquire

Chapter 130: The Problem of Insufficient Aircraft Battery Power

Chapter 131: A Direct Showdown
Chapter 132: Exposed? Or a Bluff?
Chapter 133: Speaking Frankly
Chapter 134: Progress
Chapter 135: The Supremely Cautious Xiao Yu
Chapter 136: Yan Lingjun’s Shock

Chapter 137: Acquiring the Complete Technical Data for the “Organic Body”

Chapter 138: Verifying and Creating a Doppelganger

Chapter 139: Xiao Yu’s Plan

Chapter 140: Project Approved, Codename “Divine Dragon” Fighter

Chapter 141: The Integration of a Fighter and a Bomber, the Fighter-Bomber!

Chapter 142: Absolute Dominance Over All Existing Fighter Jets

Chapter 143: No one on this Earth can withstand it

Chapter 144: Massive Deterrent Returns

Chapter 145: The World’s Most Expensive Fighter Jet

Chapter 146: Chu Jinmeng

Chapter 147: Single-Organ Cloning Technology

Chapter 148: Of Inestimable Significance to the Progress of Human Society

Chapter 149: The Americans Want to Buy Graphene Material

Chapter 150: You Called Low Prices Dumping, But You’re Not Happy When I Double Them Either

Chapter 151: Forget Subways, Build a Superconducting Sky-Train

Chapter 152: If It’s Done Well, Everyone Can Get Ahead

Chapter 153: If the Budget Isn’t Enough, Just Issue Bonds

Chapter 154: Prototype Flight Test

Chapter 155: A Sensation Across the Internet, Chaos Erupts

Chapter 156: Chengfei and Shenfei Join the Fray; Three Sixth-Generation Fighter Jets Take Flight in Two Days

Chapter 157: America’s Meltdown and a Brilliantly Stupid Move

Chapter 158: Announcement of a Major Breakthrough in Graphene Battery Technology

Chapter 159: The Burden of Vast Wealth

Chapter 160: Setting the Entire Internet Ablaze Once Again

Chapter 161: Substantive Progress in Negotiations with the Americans

Chapter 162: They are not important; what’s most important is being without them

Chapter 163: The Better-than-Expected 2022 Annual Report is Released

Chapter 164: Surpassing Apple to Become the World’s Most Valuable Public Company for the First Time

Chapter 165: The Sky-Train Project is Approved

Chapter 166: Reaching a Consensus, Greenlighting the Project

Chapter 167: Construction of the New Headquarters in Full Swing

Chapter 168: Efficient Implementation

Chapter 169: Since It’s a Tough Choice, I’ll Take Them All

Chapter 170: Sino-Aviation Linfei Becomes the Biggest Beneficiary

Chapter 171: New Technology: Intelligent Medical Operating Table

Chapter 172: Freeing Surgeons From the Operating Table

Chapter 173: Guaranteed to Become a New and Powerful Driver of Growth for the Company

Chapter 174: The All-Star Team

Chapter 175: Special Interview

Chapter 176: Achieving the Effect of a “United Front”

Chapter 177: Exchange

Chapter 178: Everything That Happens Is to My Advantage

Chapter 179: Investment Budget and Planning for the Field

Chapter 180: A Firm Commitment Without Reservation

Chapter 181: A Pie-in-the-Sky Dream Everyone Loves

Chapter 182: Yun Shu’s Astonishment
Chapter 183: Cyera-AI’s Rapid Growth Momentum
Chapter 184: Reaching a Consensus
Chapter 185: Let’s Just Call It Little Blue
Chapter 186: The Second Body Double
Chapter 187: Reunion
Chapter 188: The Truth
Chapter 189: The Surprise

Chapter 190: The Boss Was Out of Contact for Three Years, but the Company Didn’t Go Bankrupt and Even Thrived

Chapter 191: Promoted Eight Ranks in a Row
Chapter 192: This Bet Will Definitely Pay Off
Chapter 193: Returning to Qingyang Town
Chapter 194: Dammit, They’re Coming for Us

Chapter 195: The N800 Nano-Armored Warrior Appears

Chapter 196: A Battle of Gods
Chapter 197: Two Thousand Meters Underground
Chapter 198: Powerful Medical Technology
Chapter 199: Achieving Food Self-Sufficiency
Chapter 200: Return to Fengquan City
Chapter 201: Outrageously Powerful
Chapter 202: Long-Term Considerations