Super Rich: Starting the game by going back ten years to buy Bitcoin

The moment the laser cutting head struck, a burst of orange-red arc light erupted across the entire surface of the carbon fiber titanium alloy sheet. The cut was perfectly straight, with edges so smooth they reflected the overhead light tubes.

The ring assembly arm rotated half a circle, the mechanical claw precisely gripped the cut sheet metal, moved it three meters, and sent it into the stamping mold.

The piston of the hydraulic press fell.

boom.

Tens of tons of pressure squeezed the sheet metal into a perfectly curved chest armor shell. When the mold was released, the metal surface was still slightly warm.

Ten robots from Zhongqing are positioned at various workstations. Welding, grinding, assembly, calibration—their movements are almost unbelievably fluid. There is not a moment's hesitation, not a single deviation. The amplitude of each joint's movement has been precisely calculated.

Li Yichen moved a swivel chair and sat in front of the central control console. The screen displayed a dense array of real-time parameters: temperature, pressure, tolerances, welding current… hundreds of data points refreshed simultaneously.

Ling'er's chibi-style figure crouches in the bottom right corner of the screen, hugging her knees, staring at the data stream. Occasionally, she'll chime in with a comment: "The welding temperature at station number three was 0.3 degrees Celsius too high; this has been corrected."

"The load rate of the servo motor on the left arm of Robot No. 5 is 87%, which is within the normal range."

Li Yichen leaned back in his chair, his legs stretched out and crossed over the edge of the control panel.

The military version is different from his own.

The biggest difference is the absence of a direct brain-computer interface. That device is exclusive to Ling'er. It wouldn't work on others; Ling'er doesn't recognize their brainwaves. The military version uses a standardized neural electrode array, which collects electromyographic signals by attaching to the skin. These signals are then processed by Ling'er's operating system to power the armor.

In other words, AI is the key.

Without Ling'er's authorization, the armor is just a few hundred kilograms of scrap metal.

No one can get around him.

The eighteenth hour.

The breastplate is being formed. The deep black matte coating hasn't been applied yet, and the exposed alloy surface gleams with a dark silver hue under the light.

Li Yichen rubbed his neck, stood up from the chair, and walked around the breastplate. He tapped his fingers together, the sound deep and resonant.

"It's 0.5 millimeters thicker than mine."

Ling'er jumped in: "It's a military requirement. We added an extra layer of fracturing protection. It increased the weight by 1.2 kilograms, but the impact on flight is negligible."

"OK."

He stopped watching. He went downstairs to the restaurant for a meal, then came back to continue overseeing things.

The twenty-sixth hour.

The limb skeleton components were welded in place. The endoskeleton of the two legs and two arms was hung on the frame, with the miniature hydraulic cylinders at the joints exposed. Ling'er remotely controlled one of the legs to perform a flexion-extension test.

The hydraulic cylinder emits a slight hissing sound when extending or retracting. The stroke accuracy error is within 0.01 mm.

The fortieth hour.

The main event is coming.

The miniature hydrogen fuel cell is loaded into the back chamber. The silvery-white cylinder is carefully inserted into the pre-drilled groove by a robotic arm. The clips engage. The energy circuits are connected. Carbon nanotube wires connect the two cells to various nodes throughout the body.

Ling'er ran a power supply self-check.

"Both batteries are connected and the circuit is normal. The main battery output is stable, and the backup battery is in standby mode. There are no abnormalities in energy distribution."

Li Yichen stared at the steady output curve on the screen. A slight twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth.

One of these things is worth hundreds of millions. Ten suits of armor, twenty batteries. The cost of the batteries alone is astronomical.

However, since the materials were provided by the military, he didn't care about the cost.

The fifty-fourth hour.

Vector nozzle installation and calibration.

The four nozzles were located on the bottom of the feet and on both sides of the back. After the robotic arm fixed the nozzles in place, Ling'er started the thrust test program.

The sixty-sixth floor was instantly filled with a low-frequency hum. The floor trembled slightly. The legs of the armored vehicle on the test rack were secured, but the airflow from the nozzles still overturned a toolbox three meters away.

"Thrust calibration complete. The thrust difference between the four nozzles is less than 0.1%."

The seventieth hour.

The paint bay door closed. Nozzles sprayed evenly onto the armor surface within the sealed space, layer upon layer of a deep black matte coating.

It's not his usual silver-gray.

Military version, needs to be discreet. Black. Non-reflective for nighttime operations.

The seventy-second hour.

At the end of the production line, on a display shelf, a suit of armor, entirely in deep black with sharper lines, stands silently.

It lacks the rounded, streamlined feel of his original design. The military version has sharper edges, wider shoulder armor, and an overall proportion that leans more towards a powerful look. The V-shaped visor also has a sharper cut.

Ling'er jumped out, stood on the shoulder of the armor, and put her hands on her hips.

"Brother, the first set of military armor, numbered Tianbing-02, is complete. It has passed all self-inspections and is awaiting acceptance."

Li Yichen got up from the chair and walked over.

His palm pressed against the cold, black breastplate.

Seventy-two hours. Exactly three days. Exactly one second as he predicted.

"Continue. Put the second unit into production immediately. As long as there are enough materials, don't stop."

He patted his nails and turned to walk towards the elevator.

One month. All ten sets were delivered.

If Gu Shounian knew about this speed...

Oh well, let him be surprised.

The elevator descended from the 66th floor to the 60th floor. The doors opened, and at the end of the corridor was the CEO's office area.

Li Yichen pushed open the door to Ji Yanran's office.

Besides Ji Yanran, there were eight other people inside.

All were dressed in identical black training uniforms. Their ponytails were tied meticulously. They stood ramrod straight, with even spacing, as if measured with a ruler.

Ji Yanran sat behind her desk, the floor-to-ceiling glass behind her framing the Shanghai skyline like a painting. Her hands were folded on the desk, her expression a little subtle—three parts relief and seven parts helplessness.

All eight pairs of eyes turned around at the same time.

The one in the lead was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with short hair, high cheekbones, and sharply defined features. Her name tag read: Lin Muqing.

Upon seeing Li Yichen enter, all eight men stood at attention simultaneously. The sound of their clothes rustling was perfectly synchronized.

"Hello, Mr. Li."

Loud and clear. Full of energy.

Li Yichen scanned the area.

Each person standing there carried a heavy weight. It wasn't a matter of weight—it was the kind of weight that comes from someone who had been on the battlefield and seen blood. Standing still, the air around them seemed to tense slightly.

He nodded.

"From today onwards, President Ji's safety is in your hands. You'll work in shifts, 24 hours a day. If anything seems amiss, call me directly. Don't bother consulting President Ji; she might not have the judgment."

Ji Yanran: "..."

She wanted to argue, but after thinking about it, she kept quiet.

Lin Muqing raised her hand. A military salute, so perfect it could be in a textbook.

"We guarantee the mission will be completed."

Li Yichen turned to look at Ji Yanran.

Ji Yanran sat there, her lips pursed. Finally, she only said, "Okay."

She didn't say much. When she woke up that day in the lower deck, ropes were tightening around her wrists, and the metal walls were icy cold. She would never forget that feeling of helplessness.

There are eight bodyguards.

At least I won't have to go through this a second time.

After arranging the bodyguards, Li Yichen returned to his office.

I had just sat down and hadn't even had a sip of water when Ling'er's message popped up.

"Brother, the feasibility analysis report for brain-computer interface technology has been generated. Preliminary assessment: with existing equipment and materials, it is entirely possible to complete the assembly of the first production line within a month."

Li Yichen opened the report. It was dozens of pages long and densely packed.

Brain-computer interface.

The blind regain their sight. The deaf and mute speak again. The paralyzed stand up again.

This is not a business.

It is something that can change the fate of tens of millions of people.

He stared at the report for three minutes. Then he marked it as "Priority: High," archived it, and closed the file.

Not now.

Too much to do. The armor is in mass production. The rocket launch is in five days. The brain-computer interface will have to wait.

He opened his email. The Lingxi system's weekly user data report was at the top. Registered users—fifty million.

Ji Yanran added a note at the bottom of the email:

"There's still one month left in the free period. The paid conversion rate is conservatively estimated to be over 30% by then. Get ready to start collecting payments."

Li Yichen closed the email, crossed his legs, and leaned back in his chair.

Fifty million users. Thirty percent of them are paying customers. After one month, the Light Inspiration alone will generate a terrifying cash flow.

After reviewing all the documents, having nothing else to do, he stood up, went out, took the elevator, and returned to the 66th floor.

The chest armor module for the second suit of armor has begun stamping. The hydraulic press rises and falls rhythmically, each movement accompanied by a dull tremor. The robot's welding arm, emitting bluish-white arcs of light, works silently.

No human involvement is required.

He stood by the production line for ten minutes to make sure everything was normal, then took the elevator downstairs to go home.

Tomson Riviera villas.

In the living room, Miaomiao was drawing on the coffee table. Hearing the door open, she looked up, dropped her crayons, and rushed to the door.

"Brother Li!"

Li Yichen scooped the little girl up and tucked her under his arm. Miao Miao giggled and kicked her legs wildly.

"Do you remember what your brother promised you?"

Miao Miao's laughter sound effect was off by half a beat. Then her eyes instantly lit up, frighteningly bright.

"Look at the rocket!!!"

The volume was turned up to the maximum, echoing throughout the entire villa.

Li Niannian poked her head out from the kitchen: "Miaomiao, keep your voice down!"

Miao Miao didn't hear him at all. She grabbed Li Yichen's collar with both little hands and brought her face close, asking, "Really? Really? Really?"

"Really. I'll take you there in a few days."

"yeah!!!"

The little girl was so excited she almost wanted to take off.

Li Yichen put her down and watched her skip and hop back to the living room, where she grabbed some colored pencils and started drawing a rocket. It was a mess, but her enthusiasm was commendable.

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

The lights of the Huangpu River outside the window are reflected on the water, breaking into golden threads.

There are five days left.

Lingxiao-1. Twelve Aurora engines. The most powerful privately-made rocket in human history is about to conduct its first test launch.

At the future space base, dozens of kilometers away, the rocket is undergoing final pipeline sealing tests.

Miao Miao held up her drawing paper in the living room and shouted to him, "Brother Li, look! I drew a rocket!"

On the drawing paper, a crooked cylinder topped with a ball of red flame is flying into the sky. Next to it is a little person with two pigtails.

"Not bad." Li Yichen smiled as he looked at the rocket Miao Miao had drawn.

"In a few days, your brother will take you to see a real rocket."