After the Divorce, I Found a Thousand Bitcoins - Chapter 166

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Got Divorced and Found a Thousand Bitcoins Episode 166

That terrible and horrific dawn when he woke up spitting blood.

Kang Hyeon instinctively realized it wasn’t just a simple nightmare.

His ability to see through the flow of capital combined with survival instinct, violently tearing through his brain in a forced prophetic vision.

He had to find out the identity of that overwhelming black light that had completely devoured the entire Korean Peninsula.

“Gather all intelligence on North Korean military movements.”

The next morning, in his office.

As soon as he arrived at work, Kang Hyeon gave a chilling order to Future Strategy Team Manager Lee Gi-cheol.

“Not just simple HUMINT lines, but satellite photos and communication intercept data – check everything.”

“Understood, Chairman. I’ll immediately activate all available overseas intelligence networks.”

Team Manager Lee Gi-cheol hurriedly left the office.

Kang Hyeon immediately picked up his secure smartphone to contact Minister Choi.

It was to cross-check with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service’s North Korean intelligence network.

But a few days later, the result report that landed on Kang Hyeon’s desk was eerily calm.

“There are virtually zero unusual movements on the North Korean side.”

Manager Lee continued the briefing with a perplexed expression.

“Pyongyang’s leadership is maintaining their usual schedule. No signs of nuclear tests or deployment of mobile missile launchers have been detected.”

“What about signs of internal coups or riots.”

“None. Communication volume from forward units is also maintaining normal levels. It’s quiet as a mouse.”

Perfect silence.

The Level 1 classified report from the National Intelligence Service delivered through Minister Choi also matched perfectly in content.

Kang Hyeon rested his chin on his hand and closed the documents with coldly cooled eyes.

Not war, not a coup, not military provocation.

Then what exactly was the identity of that terrible black light that had covered the entire Asian continent.

Kang Hyeon roughly loosened his tie and leaned back into the plush sofa.

To clear his frustration, he picked up the remote and turned on the large display on his office wall.

His finger, about to turn on global economic news, hesitated in mid-air.

On the screen was not economics, but a geological documentary program playing.

[Mount Baekdu is by no means a quietly dormant volcano. It’s a terrifying active volcano holding tremendous energy and catching its breath.]

A white-haired geological expert on screen was warning with a serious expression.

Behind him, massive fault line graphics showing red magma boiling up were displayed.

[The Millennium eruption that occurred in 946 AD. Its destructive power was dozens of times greater than Mount Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii. Volcanic ash flew across the Pacific Ocean all the way to the Japanese archipelago.]

Volcanic eruption.

The moment those words sharply struck his ears.

The massive black haze he had seen in his dream flashed through Kang Hyeon’s mind like lightning.

[The enormous magma chamber deep underground. The current academic consensus is that it has reached a critical point where it wouldn’t be strange if it erupted at any time.]

Pure black that swallowed entire mountain ranges and covered all of Asia.

That overwhelming color of death that absorbed light.

It wasn’t humanity’s shallow political games or military provocations.

It was a primordial disaster spewed by nature itself, a terrible dark cloud of volcanic ash covering the sky.

“So this was it.”

Kang Hyeon’s eyes sank as cold as a northern blizzard.

The moment when the puzzle of vague unease fit together with chilling perfection.

He pressed the intercom on his desk without hesitation.

“Manager Ha-ryul. Immediately connect me to Dr. Nathan at the Ulsan Research Center via video call.”

Shortly after, Nathan’s image appeared on the display screen.

-Boss! The space launch pad cooling system design is coming out absolutely fantastic!

Nathan giggled in his characteristic high tone with goggles pushed up on his forehead.

He had an excited expression like a child, shaking a beaker containing immersion cooling liquid.

But Kang Hyeon cut through his excited voice very dryly and firmly.

“Doctor. I know it’s not your specialty, but I have an urgent favor to ask.”

-Huh? Boss is asking me for something other than computers?

Nathan widened his eyes and tilted his head innocently.

“Mount Baekdu. Please immediately look into that mountain’s magma condition and geological eruption signs.”

-Mount Baekdu? Why suddenly a volcano? Are you moving a data center site or something?

“It could be a very critical and massive risk that determines the survival of the entire KH Group. I need solid and precise facts.”

Nathan’s playfulness completely disappeared at Kang Hyeon’s ice-cold voice.

-Well, my major is playing with computers… Ah!

Nathan clapped his hands and leaned his face toward the screen.

-There’s this weird guy who was my roommate at MIT! He’s a geological genius completely obsessed with volcanoes. I’ll pester him to analyze some satellite data and seismic waves!

“The cost doesn’t matter. I’ll give you a blank check, so proceed as quickly as possible and very secretly.”

And exactly two days later.

The video conference screen connected again.

Nathan’s face had completely lost its usual childlike innocence.

His complexion was pale and bloodless, as if he had stayed up for several nights.

-Bo, Boss. This is really serious. No, everything’s just crazy.

Nathan swallowed dry saliva and displayed hologram charts on the screen.

Red and bizarrely distorted thermal satellite maps.

And complex wave graphs fluctuating wildly filled the display.

-My friend hacked and scraped together all the Chinese weather satellite and underground seismic data from the North Korean border region, you know?

“Just tell me the conclusion.”

-The magma chamber under Mount Baekdu’s Cheonji is expanding at an abnormal speed like crazy right now. The ground surface has already swollen up several centimeters, and the hot spring water temperature is boiling!

Nathan’s voice finally came out trembling.

-Eruption probability, over 99%. We can’t predict the exact timing, but… at this expansion rate, Cheonji might blow up entirely within a few months!

A terrible time bomb.

No, it was a massive doomsday countdown that couldn’t be contained even by the term time bomb.

Kang Hyeon’s jaw muscles twitched slightly.

-According to my friend, the problem is the 2 billion tons of water in Cheonji. When that enormous amount of water meets the boiling magma, it will expand hundreds of times and cause an unimaginably massive explosion!

Nathan beyond the screen seemed almost panicked, clutching his head with both hands.

-Volcanic ash will block sunlight and the Korean Peninsula’s temperature will drop sharply! If even a little of that fine volcanic ash gets into electronic devices, our robot factories and space launch pads will all become scrap metal…!

Click.

Kang Hyeon silently pressed the remote to end the video conference.

The office where the noisy sounds disappeared in an instant.

In the space where silence had heavily settled, Kang Hyeon approached the open floor-to-ceiling windows.

Seoul at night.

The lights of cars filling the roads and the dazzling golden light spewed by massive skyscrapers.

This was the heart of the massive empire he had planned to build by pouring KH Capital’s 200 trillion won into.

‘It will all turn to ash.’

Kang Hyeon looked down at those brilliant lights with coldly cooled eyes.

The trillion-won electromagnetic space launch pad to be built in Saemangeum.

The robot demonstration complex in the capital region and the massive smart city being built in India.

And the livelihoods and human dignity of tens of thousands of people he had decided to take responsibility for.

The moment Mount Baekdu erupts, everything would be perfectly destroyed under the black volcanic ash covering the sky.

A disaster of overwhelming scale that couldn’t be stopped by the shallow power of capital that had smashed American financial markets and manipulated politics.

‘What I ultimately saw in my unconscious was.’

Kang Hyeon’s eyes pierced coldly and sharply toward the dark northern night sky.

Not politics, not economics, not humanity’s shallow wars, but nature’s merciless judgment.

It was Mount Baekdu’s massive eruption that would return everything to nothing.

The massive chess board of the predator who had tried to completely dominate the world with capital.

An overwhelming disaster that would shatter that entire board was approaching right up to his chin, choking his breath.

The primordial fury of nature that could not be bought immediately with money or power.

“There must be a reason it showed this to me.”

The ability had always been like that.

It showed him what would happen in the future and helped him find ways to solve it.

This time would be no different.

“Finding that method is what I need to do.”

Kang Hyeon muttered quietly and pressed a button in front of the monitor.

The screen turned on, showing Dr. Nathan and his acquaintance, geologist David.

Dark circles hung heavily under David’s eyes.

-Chairman. I received a general briefing of the situation from Nathan. Mount Baekdu’s magma expansion rate is currently at a very threatening level.

“Let’s get straight to the point. Is there a way to prevent the explosion, or at least reduce its scale?”

Kang Hyeon asked calmly.

David swallowed dryly and displayed a 3D geological cross-section of Mount Baekdu that he had prepared in advance.

-Theoretically, there are two methods. The first is to artificially drain the 2 billion tons of water pooled in Cheonji.

“To prevent the massive steam explosion caused by water contacting magma.”

-Exactly. Just removing the water could reduce the damage scale to dozens of times smaller. However, draining that massive amount of water in a short period from North Korean territory is realistically difficult.

David enlarged the cross-section on screen and pointed to deep parts of the crust.

-The second method is drilling multiple boreholes several kilometers deep into the crust around the magma chamber. It’s a way to artificially create gaps to gradually release gas and pressure.

-That’s right! It’s exactly like releasing steam from a pressure cooker in advance.

Nathan, who had been listening nearby, chimed in.

However, David’s expression remained heavy.

-The problem is the risk. If we accidentally disturb the crust during the drilling process, that stimulus itself could trigger a massive explosion.

Kang Hyeon quietly stared at the cross-section beyond the monitor.

He had found methods, but the risk was enormous.

This wasn’t a problem that could be solved simply with astronomical capital and technology.

‘It’s large-scale construction that must be carried out within North Korean territory.’

No matter how powerful KH Group was, it wasn’t a scale that a single corporation could proceed with secretly.

Not only was there risk of military conflict, but if they accidentally accelerated the explosion, they could end up bearing all responsibility.

To prevent this disaster, legitimate justification and protection at the national level were essential.

“Understood. Please calculate and report specific simulation results for both methods, along with necessary equipment and costs.”

-Yes, Chairman. I’ll work through the night to organize and send it quickly.

The communication ended.

Quiet silence descended on the office once again.

Kang Hyeon lightly tapped the desk while organizing the situation.

He couldn’t know exactly how much time remained. But he couldn’t just sit idle.

‘If this has exceeded what I can handle alone.’

Kang Hyeon immediately picked up the phone on his desk.

“Please connect me directly with Minister Choi.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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