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

The morning after the atomic forging platform was installed, Li Yichen drove along the coastal highway toward Future Aerospace Group.

In less than ten minutes, the outline of that colossal structure emerged from the horizon.

Five hundred meters long, one hundred meters wide, and thirty meters high. The fully enclosed dock, painted entirely in silver-gray, stands deep within the park, resembling an aircraft hangar magnified dozens of times. The gantry crane tracks at the top gleam with a cold, white metallic sheen in the morning light, while the heavy-duty roller shutter doors on both sides remain tightly closed.

Ling'er peeked half her body out from her watch, her two short legs dangling, her tone revealing her smugness.

"Twenty-three days and three hours, the project was completed two days ahead of schedule. The efficiency of two thousand Terminators working 24 hours a day—no human construction team could ever dream of achieving that."

Li Yichen didn't reply. He parked the car in front of the small gate on the side of the dock and entered by scanning his face.

The interior space feels more oppressive than it appears from the outside.

Beneath a 30-meter-high dome, twelve sets of LED matrix lights illuminate the entire dock as bright as day. The floor is paved with 20-centimeter-thick special alloy steel plates, with a load-bearing anchor point every five meters, arranged neatly like a chessboard. The two side walls are embedded with three-tiered circular work platforms, complete with elevators and material conveyor tracks.

The most striking feature is right in the center.

A giant keel positioning pit, 420 meters long and 160 meters wide, was dug five meters underground, with its inner walls covered with a damping buffer layer.

The cradle of space carriers.

Liu Ruyan was already waiting inside. Wearing blue overalls and a hard hat tucked under her arm, she stood at the edge of the pit, peering into the depths. She turned around when she heard footsteps.

"Mr. Li."

She nodded, her eyes brimming with barely suppressed curiosity.

"What exactly is this thing made for?"

Li Yichen walked to her side and glanced down at the five-meter-deep keel pit. The dark gray coating of the damping layer at the bottom of the pit had a matte finish under the light.

"What if I said it was a flying aircraft carrier?"

Liu Ruyan's expression froze.

It wasn't shock—it was the kind of blankness that comes with information overload, a brief mental freeze. My lips were slightly parted, and my pupils were unfocused for about three seconds.

Then she came to her senses, took a breath, and her voice was a little unsteady.

"Are you serious?"

"When have I ever joked with you?"

Liu Ruyan remained silent for a few more seconds.

Then she did something that Li Yichen hadn't expected—she smiled. It wasn't a bitter smile, nor an awkward smile, but a relieved "I knew it" kind of smile.

"Actually, I guessed it a long time ago."

She tilted her head to look at the huge dragon bone pit, and vaguely traced its outline with her finger.

"The 500-meter-long dry dock, the keel pit's shape is unlike any known ship. I thought you were going to build an aircraft carrier—I didn't expect it to be able to fly. This really exceeded my expectations."

She raised her head, her gaze intense.

"When will the keel be laid?"

Li Yichen looked at her, a slight smile playing on his lips. This woman's adaptability was terrifying—anyone who heard the words "flying aircraft carrier" would either think he was crazy or would interrogate him for half an hour.

Liu Ruyan processed the information in three seconds and immediately asked about the construction period.

"It'll be soon. The raw materials are being forged in the factory next door, and the first batch of components will be off the production line in about ten days. At that time, all two thousand Terminators will be transferred to this shipyard to begin final assembly."

Liu Ruyan nodded, took out her notebook, turned to a blank page, and began to take notes.

The two walked around the circular work platform. As they walked, Li Yichen explained: the space reserved on the east side is the carrier-based aircraft assembly area, where the production line for the Xuan Bird fighter jet will be moved in later; the west side is the assembly station for the energy shield assembly and the electromagnetic railgun; the row of areas marked in red at the bottom is the core installation area for the anti-gravity levitation propulsion system.

Liu Ruyan followed along, listening at the same time.

There were only three lines of text written in the notebook from beginning to end.

It wasn't that she wasn't paying attention—she genuinely couldn't understand. She recognized each word individually—"electromagnetic railgun," "plasma shield assembly"—but put them together, it sounded like an alien language.

But she didn't ask.

Having worked with Li Yichen for more than half a year, she had long since gotten used to this feeling—many of the things he said sounded like fantasy at the time, but in the end, they all became reality.

When she reached the exit, Liu Ruyan stopped.

"Mr. Li, there's something I need to tell you beforehand."

Li Yichen turned his head.

"During the dock construction, several long-time employees at the base were talking amongst themselves—saying that the building's purpose was unusual, with some speculating it was a military facility. Although a confidentiality agreement was signed, human nature is such a thing..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but she conveyed the meaning.

Li Yichen nodded.

"I know. I can't suppress my curiosity."

He thought for two seconds.

"Alright—starting today, the dock's internal access is upgraded to the highest level. No one except you and me is allowed in. Replace the perimeter security with Terminator-grade equipment."

"clear."

Liu Ruyan readily agreed, closing the notebook and tucking it back under her arm.

Li Yichen emerged from the dock and lit a cigarette while standing on the breakwater. The sea breeze tore the first puff of smoke into fragments, and in the distance, the launch platform of Lingxiao-3 floated silently on the sea like a gray postage stamp.

Ling'er floated on his shoulder, her two short legs dangling in the air.

"Bro, can you help me outline the timeline for all the current projects?"

"explain."

"The atomic forging stand is in place, the trial production of superconducting tungsten-gold fusion alloy has been successful, and the first batch of mothership hull components will roll off the production line in ten days. The dock is completed, and two thousand Terminators can be transferred to the final assembly line at any time."

She counted on her fingers.

"Lingxiao-3 will go to the moon in about 20 days to pick up the second batch of 8,000 tons of mineral crystals. The second batch of Terminators and equipment at the lunar base are running on the production line and will be loaded onto the ship in 20 days. The simplified version of the security robot subsidiary 'Future Guardian' is producing 100 units per month and shipping them steadily. The four war zones are rushing to complete the additional 200 Heavenly Soldier Armor."

Li Yichen hummed in agreement, the cigarette still between his fingers.

"There's one more thing." Ling'er's tone suddenly became subtle.

"What?"

"Liu Guoliang sent you three WeChat messages this morning, but you didn't see them."

Li Yichen took out his phone.

Sure enough, there was a red dot on Liu Guoliang's profile picture. Clicking on it...

First: "Xiao Li, when will those two thousand Terminator units arrive? I've already arranged the training schedule."

Second: "Give me a heads-up, bro."

The third one: an emoji with a head full of sweat.

Li Yichen chuckled and typed with one hand.

"Brother Liu, don't worry. I have a project here that I'll use for a while. I'll send it over to you as soon as I'm done. It'll take at most five or six months."

Replies are instant.

Liu Guoliang: "Five or six months?? What the hell are you up to? Don't try to fool me!"

Li Yichen locked the phone, put it back in his pocket, and didn't answer.

Let the old man worry.

He finished his cigarette, stubbed it out, and threw it in the trash can. He got into his car, and the giant silver-gray shipyard in the rearview mirror receded into the distance, eventually shrinking into a silent silver silhouette.

It was almost noon when I got back to the company.

Li Yichen was processing a stack of documents that needed to be signed in his office, mostly supplier contracts and internal approval forms. He mechanically flipped through the pages, signed, flipped through the pages, and signed.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Ji Yanran pushed open the door and came in.

Holding a tablet between her fingers, the tapping of her high heels on the floor was half a beat faster than usual—a sign that she was in a good mood.

"Let me give you a briefing on the company's situation over the past few months."

She sat down on the sofa opposite her and placed her tablet on the coffee table.

"The third batch of thirty Future Guardian units has been delivered, with excellent customer satisfaction and minimal post-sales complaints. The waiting list has grown by more than forty people."

Li Yichen hummed in agreement.

Ji Yanran swiped the screen and continued.

"The first phase of the Raytheon battery factory generated a net profit of 34.7 billion last month. The second phase of the photonics current-carrying wafer factory generated a net profit of 42.1 billion. These two combined will bring in a stable annual income of at least 700 to 800 billion—and if nothing unexpected happens, the total profit for the year could exceed one trillion."

Li Yichen leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the armrest.

A trillion-dollar profit. A year ago, he wouldn't have dared to even dream of such a figure. Now, it sounds as mundane as listening to a weather forecast.

"What about brain-computer interfaces?"

"The profit margin isn't high, only a few hundred million per month. But the social benefits are significant, so I didn't cut the budget for that part."

"Hmm, don't cut it."

Ji Yanran swiped twice more. "Holographic projection technology generates billions every month, and Lingxi office software is about the same—these two are stable cash cows, no need to worry about them."

She closed the tablet and looked up at him.

"In short, the company is now a money-printing machine. Every day I wake up to billions of dollars coming in; I'm almost numb to it."

Li Yichen chuckled: "You're numb? Your eyes light up more than anyone else's when you see account numbers fluctuating."

Ji Yanran glared at him but didn't refute him.

After signing several documents that required his confirmation, she stood up and walked towards the door. As her hand touched the doorknob, she suddenly turned back.

"By the way—you've been going to the space center a lot lately, are you up to something you can't talk about again?"

Li Yichen looked up, his expression impeccably sincere.

"No. I'm just going to check out the rockets."

Ji Yanran stared at his face for a full three seconds.

"Every time you say 'no,' it means 'yes.'"

After saying that, she opened the door and left. The sound of her high heels echoed down the corridor, gradually fading into the distance.

Li Yichen picked up the now-cold cup of coffee on the table and took the last sip. He frowned, visibly annoyed by the bitterness.

Ling'er peeked out a small hand from the edge of her watch and gave him a thumbs up.

"Brother, your acting skills need improvement."

"roll."

Ling'er chuckled and shrank back. The watch face dimmed for a moment, then lit up again.

"By the way, bro, news came from the forging station—the yield data for the first batch of superconducting tungsten-gold fusion alloy components is out."

Li Yichen put down his coffee cup.

"How many?"

"Ninety-nine point seven percent." Ling'er's voice carried a hint of excitement. "Two percentage points higher than expected. At this rate, the first batch of mothership keel components will be transported into the dock in ten days."

Li Yichen didn't speak, but tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice.

Ten days.

Ten days later, the 420-meter-long steel behemoth will begin to grow its skeleton inch by inch in the dock.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Liu Ruyan.

"Ten days later, arrange for all two thousand Terminators to be transferred to the shipyard."

Replies still arrive instantly.

Liu Ruyan: "Received. Also—the final assembly of Lingxiao-3 is nearing completion, and we can conduct pre-flight testing next week."

Li Yichen stared at the message for two seconds, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Lunar mineral crystals, space carrier, and Lingxiao-3—three projects are running simultaneously.