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

three days later.

In the command center of the Future Aerospace Group, the lights are turned up to their brightest setting. All twelve core positions are staffed online, and remote sensing images of the lunar surface are being updated in real time on the large screen.

The rocket cargo bay was fully loaded. Over 800 tons of refined rare earth mineral crystals were packaged by the Terminator into standard container modules, stacked neatly layer by layer, fitting together perfectly like Tetris blocks.

Li Yichen sat in front of the control panel, his legs crossed, his right hand unconsciously twirling a pen.

Ling'er's voice came through the earpiece: "Ten minutes countdown, all system statuses are green."

At the deputy commander's seat next to her, Liu Ruyan stared at the dense parameter curves on the screen, her brows furrowed for a long time. She turned her head and lowered her voice.

"Mr. Li, what exactly are these mineral crystals?"

Li Yichen paused for a moment while twirling his pen.

"I've searched through every known mineral database on Earth," Liu Ruyan said, her voice tinged with stubbornness, "and there's not a single one that matches."

Li Yichen glanced at her.

"The special crystal minerals in the permanently shadowed region of the lunar south pole have properties that you can't even imagine."

"What's it for?"

"We'll talk about it when the goods arrive."

Liu Ruyan pursed her lips and didn't press the matter. After working with Li Yichen for the past few months, she had long since figured out the rules—if he didn't want to talk about it, asking was pointless.

The countdown has reached zero.

"Light the fire," Ling'er commanded.

On the lunar surface, rocket exhaust billowed. The massive rocket body practically "floated" under one-sixth gravity, so light it didn't seem like a behemoth carrying over 800 tons of cargo.

The telemetry data was normal throughout.

The rocket gradually accelerated, escaping the moon's gravitational pull and entering the Earth-Moon transfer orbit. Ling'er made real-time adjustments to the trajectory parameters, and the estimated landing time—eleven hours later—appeared in the lower right corner of the large screen.

The tense atmosphere in the command center eased considerably. Several engineers secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and the sound of keyboard typing returned to its rhythm.

Li Yichen stood up and patted off non-existent dust from his knees.

"You can keep watch for eleven hours in shifts." He gestured with his chin towards Liu Ruyan. "Call me immediately if anything seems amiss."

Where are you going?

"Go do some work in the lab building next door."

Liu Ruyan opened her mouth as if to ask what kind of work to do, but then swallowed her words back.

Li Yichen turned and left the command center, disappearing at the end of the corridor at a leisurely pace. The eleven-hour window was perfect for working on the superconducting coil of the third cold fusion reactor—the experience from last time was there, the procedure was thoroughly familiar, and the speed would naturally be much faster.

-

4:17 a.m.

The launch pad at sea was brightly lit, illuminating the surrounding sea as if it were daytime.

When Li Yichen returned to the command center, his sleeves still smelled faintly of metal cutting fluid. Liu Ruyan gave him a look—everything was normal.

On the big screen, the rocket had already entered the corridor.

The surface temperature of the rocket body soared to 1,600 degrees Celsius, and the outer layer of the heat insulation tile burned bright red. The visible heat radiation formed a distorted halo in the high-definition lens.

Ling'er took over the entire deceleration process. The retro-rockets ignited, and the massive rocket hovered for three seconds in the final two hundred meters.

Then, it fell vertically towards the center of the platform at a speed of less than one meter per second.

The landing gear touched the deck.

The shockwave created a ring of white mist, which dispersed into a thin veil under the searchlight.

Ling'er's voice rang out: "Landing complete. Accuracy deviation—2.7 centimeters."

A round of applause erupted in the command center. It wasn't crazy, but everyone had an irrepressible smile on their face.

Liu Ruyan let out a long breath, turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling.

Li Yichen nodded to her.

"Thank you for your hard work. Let's arrange for unloading."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Top secret throughout. Only Terminators are allowed to enter the cargo hold to operate; no living person is permitted to approach."

"clear."

Liu Ruyan didn't ask why, and simply turned around to give the order.

On the platform, twenty Terminator robots lined up and boarded the cargo hold. One after another, dark green sealed container modules were unloaded, two robots working together to lift them, as steady as robotic arms on an assembly line.

Each module weighs two tons, making it no different from moving a cardboard box in the hands of the Terminator.

Two hours later, all 800 tons of mineral crystals were transferred to the deep warehouse of the precision laboratory building.

Ling'er monitored the entire process with encrypted surveillance; even a fly flying past the warehouse entrance would be recorded.

-

The temperature inside the warehouse was constant, and there was a dry, metallic smell in the air.

Li Yichen walked to the nearest container module and tapped the sealing cover twice.

"open."

The pressure valve hissed, and the cover popped open.

A faint, cold light emanated from within, not dazzling, but with a very strong presence.

He looked down and went inside.

Hundreds of irregular, dark silver crystals lay still inside the shock-absorbing chamber. Their surfaces shimmered with a fine metallic sheen, like the final frame of liquid mercury before it solidified.

Live.

This was the first adjective that popped into his head.

Li Yichen reached out and picked one up. It was the size of a fist, and surprisingly heavy—seven or eight kilograms. Its density was ridiculously high.

Ling'er's voice was close to my ear: "The quality is even higher than expected. 97% purity. According to the formula, these 800 tons are enough to synthesize three tons of vibranium."

Three tons.

Li Yichen put the crystal back, rubbed his fingertip on the surface, leaving a layer of cool, silvery-gray powder on his fingerprint.

Three tons of vibranium. More than enough for the entire Titan armor shell, with more than half left over.

He closed the sealed lid and clapped his hands.

"Lock it up for now. We'll deal with vibranium smelting once the shipyard is finished."

"Received." Ling'er replied, then tentatively leaned closer, "By the way, brother, the second batch of lunar landing supplies from Chen Jianjun in the Equipment Development Department was all delivered to the base warehouse last night."

"arrive?"

"arrive."

Li Yichen twisted his neck, and his cervical spine cracked.

"Alright. Run all twenty ten-axis machine tools and begin building the second batch of lunar landing equipment."

He counted on his fingers: "One thousand lunar-type Terminators, double the amount of lunar mining equipment, and the complete set of prefabricated modules for the second base—foundation, dome, and airtight compartments."

Ling'er quickly took notes, her little hands tracing lines that sparked like fire in the air.

"Also," Li Yichen added, "let's build five cold fusion reactors first. It's never a bad thing to have a few extra as backups."

"Brother, this workload is enough for me to calculate in three seconds." Ling'er exaggeratedly wiped away her virtual sweat. "I'll send you the production schedule in ten minutes."

"No need to push, you can arrange it yourself."

"Hey."

Li Yichen turned and walked out of the warehouse.

The moment I pushed open the door, the morning light poured down on me.

It was already daylight.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty, damp scent, rushed in, making his coat flutter. He stood on the concrete embankment of the breakwater, looking into the distance.

Hundreds of meters away, the steel structure of the dock base had already reached one-third of its height. In the morning light, the Terminator formation moved between the beams, the welding arcs flashing on and off like a silent firework display on the ground.

Further away, the tips of three white Lingxiao-3 rockets peeked out from the workshop's skylight. The colossal object, 150 meters tall, stood there quietly, like three spears piercing the clouds.

Ling'er floated on his shoulder and took out the miniature holographic panel.

"The dock is 38% complete and is expected to be topped out in 22 days. The second batch of lunar mineral crystals, about 8,000 tons, is expected to be loaded in 45 days—then we will arrange for the Lingxiao-3 rocket to make its maiden flight to pick them up."

She tilted her head to look at him.

"Brother, once the second batch arrives, you'll have plenty of vibranium raw materials."

"Um."

Li Yichen took out his phone and sent a message to Liu Ruyan.

"The maiden flight of Lingxiao-3 is on the agenda. It will depart in 45 days to pick up the second batch of cargo."

Replies are almost instantaneous.

Liu Ruyan: "Received. Guaranteed to be completed."

The last character is a fist emoji.

He put away his phone and took one last look at the panoramic view behind him. Two thousand Terminator's dark red sensors flickered rhythmically in the morning light, like a silent and precise pulse of steel.

He turned and walked towards the parking lot.

Ling'er floated behind and suddenly spoke.

"Brother, about the space carrier... when do you plan to inform the military?"

Li Yichen opened the car door, sat in the driver's seat, and kept his hands on the steering wheel without moving.

"Let's talk about it after it's built."

The engine started, and the car smoothly glided out of the base gate.

In the rearview mirror, the bustling steel forest grew smaller and smaller until it shrank into a single point of light.

Li Yichen stared at the road ahead, a small smile playing on his lips.

He was thinking, what would those people up there see when a 420-meter-long airborne aircraft carrier hovered overhead?

What expressions would they have on their faces?