Money Likes Me Too - Chapter 237



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Episode 237.

There was a lot to do.

– EnergyX and PowerNewScale? They’re coming soon······.

Elon Musk’s voice is trembling as he is connected via Starlink. It can’t be helped since I’m taking over the company he had his eye on.

But it was already too late.

“Yes, I will take over.”

But Musk took it a step further.

– Mr. Kang, I didn’t realize you were interested in small modular reactors (SMRs). You didn’t talk about them at all at the conference. But there are better technologies out there.

Better technology?

– It’s nuclear fusion.

He said that although he couldn’t promise anything as it was still in its initial stages, if it were possible, it would be an infinite energy source that would be incomparable to things like SMRs. He excitedly talked about the currently popular tokamak and stellarator, and encouraged me by saying that if it were Mr. Kang, he would definitely be up for the challenge.

Simply put, it is an artificial sun.

Because nuclear fusion is based on the very same principle that the sun uses to create energy. It is in line with our vision of creating artificial ecosystems and artificial celestial bodies.

He is right.

I reflected on my thoughts of thinking of him as a bit of a jerk for a moment. The only person who gives me such good material is Elon Musk.

– I heard that there is a Tokamak in Korea too. So it must be efficient.

That last sentence made me a little nervous, though.

“Eureka.”

Eventually, the words came out.

– I’ve been hearing that ‘Eureka’ sound a lot lately.

“Haha, did I do that?”

– Yes, that was it.

At this point, it seemed like he had a lot to say.

– If Mr. Kang has the drive, he will definitely be able to turn his ideas into reality. In addition to SMR and tokamak (nuclear fusion), there are countless technologies needed to open the space age. The same goes for ion engines for space navigation, and supersonic electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that I tried to challenge once before.”

Anyway, a person with endless ideas is one.

I’m sure Han Jang-soo would hate it if he heard it.

— Chairman Kang, your expression has improved for the first time in a while. The results of your medical checkup yesterday were also good. It is clear that your call with Mr. Musk had a positive effect.

The only person in Korea who understands my feelings is Vice Chairman In.

“What’s on the schedule today?”

— I have an appointment with Chairman Ki Hyung-moon regarding the 2034 World Cup. I also have lunch with the French President who is visiting Korea.

“Cancel everything. Something came up.”

In 2024, there were a lot of new cocoa flavors. It took time to think about them.

French President Dominique Hubert was left stunned by the news of the cancellation.

‘Why on earth?’

I couldn’t say anything for a while because of the story about the business plan. But there was nothing I could do.

If I keep talking nonsense and France doesn’t get included in Cocoa’s next plan, it’ll be a big problem.

“What should we do, Your Majesty?”

“How can I do that?”

He shook his head.

Not only the French President, but any other president had no choice but to follow Kang Si-Hyeon’s words.

* * *

Zhongnanhai, the official residence of the Chinese President.

“Is the ISS conference that great?”

The voice of the commentator rang out.

I was so dizzy and my nose was blocked.

Following the launch of Tiangong-2, the ambitious lunar manned base project, Yuegong, was launched, but the international community did not pay any attention to it.

Wherever I went, there was only talk of cocoa and Korea.

The United States, the third major power after the former Soviet Union to build the International Space Station, was losing its luster.

“······annotation.”

“We do it too.”

“What are you talking about, Comment?”

“I’m talking about conferences. If we were businessmen, we’d have as many as the US and Korea. Send them all to Tiangong. Let’s hold an international conference, too.”

If only one country’s businessmen go up, it’s not international. It’s domestic. Even if they leave China.

But there was no executive with the courage to make such a frank statement. It was a shame to be called an executive.

So I waited for the heat of the commentary to cool down a bit.

“Your Excellency the Chairman.”

Finally, one of the executives opened his mouth.

“I will check with the Russian side. However, compared to our company, Russia is a half-resource company, so I am not sure if the status will match.”

The commentator bit his lip. That’s right.

Russia has no companies to boast about, except for oil and energy companies like Gazprom. (However) it is far behind China, which has Alibaba, Maidu, etc. Since aerospace companies have all been integrated into the Russian Federal Space Agency, there are no suitable companies.

But isn’t that the same case in China?

But the commentator’s thoughts did not reach that far. He was only angry at the thought of not being able to save face because of Russia.

“Hey.”

In the end, all that came out was anger.

“Your Majesty, please don’t do that. We should also follow the Cocoa Order······.”

Someone finally said ‘that word’.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“How could a great nation like ours bend the knee to a small nation? Stop talking nonsense!”

Before he could finish his speech, he was scolded by other executives and ended up being rendered mute.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Be careful next time.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Any other good ideas?”

No ideas could come to mind. Even though winter was almost over, the atmosphere remained cold and showed no sign of melting.

* * *

[ ISS Conference, the secret to becoming an idea bank? ]

[ SMR US leader EnergyX, ‘We warmly welcome the acquisition of Cocoa’ ······ We are also X. Cocoa will go well together.’ ]

Eventually, a new business was launched based on the ISS conference and Elon Musk’s opinions. The Utah project, which had been suspended, was also restarted.

As money started to circulate, the project progressed at a faster pace.

The problem arose elsewhere.

“Mr. Chairman!”

General Han, who had thought that the grass would be dead, suddenly smiled brightly. There was no way to understand English.

“Why? What’s going on?”

Please stay, I desperately hoped.

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“Chairman Do of Doosan Group called me personally. He said that thanks to Cocoa taking charge of the Utah project, our subsidiary Doosan Energy was able to recover.”

“······That happened.”

Still, I was relieved that our company survived.

“That’s not all.”

That was until Han Jang-soo’s next words.

When I listened to his subsequent words, it was an ominous story that many large domestic companies that had participated in this project, such as Seongsam, Dosan, and GH, had enjoyed an economic effect of tens of billions of dollars because of my decision.

As it was the first project to receive approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there was a lot of money at stake.

‘That’s ridiculous.’

I unintentionally blocked their (perishable) path.

“They will definitely thank you.”

Han Jang-soo’s mouth hung from ear to ear, wondering if he felt so good about blocking the path to ruin for others. I always feel that he is a ruthless gentleman.

“Are you done talking?”

I asked.

“No, there’s one more left.”

“What is it?”

“Isn’t there a gold bullion discovered at our Queen Alice farm? It was designated as one of the seven gold bullion drilling sites in the United States······.”

“That’s what it was.”

It’s a bad memory.

“They say they’re going to start drilling in earnest this year. So they need a storage facility. As a reward for our help in reviving the Utah project, Seongsam, GH, and Dosan are planning to start construction on a hydrogen storage facility underground in the Utah desert. Cocoa just wants to add a name to it. Haha, isn’t it great?”

In the end, the thing I was trying to throw away money from ended up bringing in more money.

“Why aren’t you saying anything, Mr. Chairman?”

It seemed as if Han Jang-su was teasing me. I couldn’t answer. I got up.

“Where are you going?”

“KSH Holdings.”

“Why is it suddenly······.”

Han Jang-soo trailed off.

“No matter how much it is a reward, how can we not invest? Where we store our hydrogen, our money must go.”

Even if it wasn’t everything, I had to add some money. If I wanted to spend even a little, I had to hurry. If I was late, there would be no soup.

* * *

Spring passed and summer came.

The Nexus One is finally complete.

[ The first closed artificial ecosystem with 100,000 people that everyone has been waiting for is finally open. ······ ‘ 2-year deadline, if successful, it will make new history. ‘ ]

Strictly speaking, it’s not open, it’s closed. Because if you don’t close the door, it’s not closed.

Outside of Hwapyeong City,

“Have a nice trip.”

“Don’t worry. You can go in and communicate, and there’s nothing you can’t do.”

In front of the Nexus One, there was a final exchange of words between people who were breaking up and people who were about to move in.

Five Korean politicians and many people from all over the world were eagerly awaiting my appearance. So were many domestic and foreign broadcast reporters.

“It’s Kang Si-hyeon!”

As I was moving towards the event venue set up in front, someone who recognized me shouted.

“Where, where!”

“There he is. He’s a tall man.”

People were splitting up in front of me. Still, they were people who had to protect what they had to protect.

I stepped onto the prepared stage. Just in time, the Nexus One, the screens on the walls of the huge dome, beamed my face to everyone.

I picked up the microphone.

“Hello, this is Kang Si-Hyeon, Chairman of Cocoa.”

Wow! Cheers greeted me.

“2024 is a historic year. The new experiences you will begin on Nexus One will be a valuable foundation for paraterraforming, leading to future colonies on the Moon and Mars.”

It means compost, that is, rotting.

We need to experiment as much as possible on the Nexus One to figure out how to fail faster and how to spend more money.

Biosphere 2 is a good example. Only 400 people spent 200 million dollars. 100,000 people is over 250 times more. Just a simple calculation would say that at least 50 billion dollars could be spent.

Of course, I am confident that I can write more than that.

If only they would do well, it would be perfect.

“······.”

“······.”

As I continued speaking, the people remained silent.

I continued with my prepared remarks.

“While you are devoting yourselves to the future of humanity in Nexus One, your families left outside will become the Cocoa family and receive support in both material and spiritual ways. So please rest assured and do your best (to perish).”

Han Jang-soo’s eyebrows twitched when he heard that. It was because he had not been informed in advance.

‘Chairman Lee Jong-seok, what does this mean?’

‘I guess you didn’t tell Chairman Han. I had a hard time because of that.’

The two were talking about this with their eyes.

Former Chairman of Maidu and current Chairman of the Central Committee of China for International Peace Li Hongyan was also present at the peace conference.

Why?

He fell out of favor with the Chinese president because of Maidu, and completely lost points because of the Confucius Peace Prize.

The blade of purge was approaching. I had no choice but to run away.

But anywhere else was dangerous. He had no desire to have a mystical experience.

Instead, I took a different approach.

In front, Kang Si-hyeon, who was once considered a rival, continued to speak.

But not anymore.

– ······ In Nexus One, there is no discrimination based on occupation, nationality, or race. Of course, if you have the ability and skills, it will be advantageous. We would appreciate it if you could fully utilize your abilities and contribute to the development of a new ecosystem.

‘Of course it should be like that.’

Although he has made mistakes along the way, he is an engineer at heart.

In China, I believed that I would definitely find the use I had lost there. Or at least I had to.

There was one more person listening to those words.

-······ Then please come in.

It was Jo Young-jun.

‘Why are you crying so suddenly······.’

Was it his gratitude to Kang Si-hyeon for believing in him, or was it the late spring breeze stimulating his tear ducts?

It didn’t matter which way it was. He thought as he walked forward. He said that he would do everything in his power to repay Kang Si-hyeon’s kindness.

‘The goal is 2048.’

Chairman Kang Si-Hyeon’s voice still echoed in my mind.

2048?

If possible, I will make it happen before 2040. I will definitely do it. It was the moment when his life’s goal was set.

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