After the Divorce, I Found a Thousand Bitcoins - Chapter 183

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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 183

White House East Room.

Under the brilliant light of crystal chandeliers, the moguls who controlled and shook the world economy had gathered.

A technology company dinner hosted by US President Edwin.

“I’d like to introduce Chairman Choi Kang-hyeon.”

With Edwin’s introduction, Kang Hyeon entered the banquet hall.

Countless gazes focused on Kang Hyeon as he made his entrance.

Everyone gathered in this space were the leaders of Big Tech companies that dominated Silicon Valley.

Among them, Kang Hyeon was the only businessman of Asian nationality.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Chairman Choi.”

Robert Hwang from Nvidia approached first, holding a champagne glass.

He was already a partner who had boarded the same massive ship as KH through the Indian Smart City project.

“CEO Robert. Is the chipset supply to India proceeding smoothly?”

“Thanks to the path you’ve paved, Chairman, everything is going very smoothly.”

Robert Hwang smiled warmly.

Around him, representatives from major Big Tech companies like Microsoft and Apple naturally gathered.

Brief greetings and meaningful glances were exchanged.

They were all showing extreme interest in the rare-earth-free motor technology that KH Group had recently announced.

Kang Hyeon maintained an appropriate distance while calmly receiving their greetings.

Silent pressures for technology licenses poured in, but he avoided giving concrete confirmations.

They were the ones who should be anxious.

Kang Hyeon showed not the slightest impatience.

“Finally meeting KH’s magician in person.”

Just then, a cheerful voice with a somewhat unique accent was heard.

The Big Tech leaders naturally made way.

Through the gap, a man approached with his hand extended.

The person currently closest to space on Earth – Elon Musk.

“CEO Musk.”

Kang Hyeon calmly grasped his hand.

Elon Musk’s eyes sparkled with curiosity and intense interest.

“Astra’s performance in Texas was remarkable.”

Elon Musk got straight to the point.

Skipping unnecessary pleasantries was his long-standing habit.

“Not only did you solve the ultra-high-temperature plasma engine bottleneck in a short time, but you even commercialized rare-earth-free control modules. Even SpaceX engineers couldn’t help but be amazed watching your presentation.”

“You’re too kind. It wouldn’t have been possible without the private space market that SpaceX established.”

Kang Hyeon replied briefly.

It wasn’t simple modesty. It was thorough recognition of reality.

The space infrastructure that Musk had currently built was on an untouchable trajectory.

“Earth’s industries will eventually hit their limits, Mr. Choi.”

Musk’s eyes gleamed as he gently swirled his champagne glass.

He poured out the grand blueprint he envisioned without restraint to Kang Hyeon.

“I will make humanity a multi-planetary species. SpaceX’s Starship is the largest launch vehicle in history, capable of carrying over 100 tons of cargo and humans to Mars in one trip.”

Heat began to enter Musk’s voice.

“We’ve already launched thousands of communication satellites into Earth’s low orbit through Starlink. Ultra-high-speed internet accessible from anywhere in the world. That means controlling the entire planet’s data flow.”

His business didn’t end there.

Advanced artificial intelligence through xAI, Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus, and even Neuralink connecting brains to computers.

All the businesses Musk was pursuing were organically connected to ultimately pioneer the extreme environment of Mars colonization.

Kang Hyeon listened to his words silently.

It wasn’t the nonsense of a simple dreamer. He was actually implementing those technologies into reality.

‘Leaving Earth to create new markets.’

Kang Hyeon’s rational mind spun rapidly.

Earth’s limited territory. A narrow market constrained by borders, regulations, and resource depletion.

But space was different.

It was infinite blank-slate real estate with no regulations or borders.

Whoever planted their flag first would set the rules there and monopolize all resources.

The most perfect and massive monopoly market.

The ultimate capitalism that Kang Hyeon had been pursuing was right there in that dark space.

“Resource wars on Earth are now meaningless.”

Musk looked directly into Kang Hyeon’s eyes.

“China tried to weaponize rare earths, but you neutralized that instantly. It was an excellent strike. But the Moon and asteroid belt have rare earths and platinum group minerals scattered in quantities millions of times Earth’s total reserves.”

“…Monopolizing mining rights in zero-gravity environments.”

Kang Hyeon muttered quietly.

“Exactly. Manufacturing in space transcends Earth’s physical laws.”

Musk snapped his fingers.

“Ultra-high-value-added industries like flawless optical cable production or high-purity artificial organ cultivation are only possible in microgravity conditions. Whoever builds that infrastructure first is like holding the right to issue future currency.”

“…”

“But space is too vast. For one company to monopolize all infrastructure would require enormous physical time and capital consumption.”

He stepped closer and lowered his voice.

“That’s why I’m proposing this. How about SpaceX and Astra joining hands.”

The surrounding noise seemed to fade into the distance.

SpaceX with the world’s best launch platform.

And KH Group with overwhelming capital and new material engine technology.

An alliance of these two giants would essentially mean absolute power in the space market.

“Competition is for Earth. In that infinite space, collaboration is the fastest shortcut.”

Musk’s proposal was extremely rational.

If Starship’s overwhelming payload capacity and reusability were combined with Astra’s high-efficiency plasma engines.

The cost of traveling beyond Earth’s low orbit to deep space could be exponentially reduced.

If Orbis’s precise robotic technology were added to that, the entire paradigm of space base construction would change.

Kang Hyeon fingered his glass while calculating countless variables in his head.

Possibilities of technology leakage, equity structure, and distribution of interests after space pioneering.

But no matter what variables he input, riding on SpaceX’s completed infrastructure now was overwhelmingly advantageous.

The method to compress time and cost most efficiently.

There was no need to reinvent the wheel from scratch.

“It’s not a bad proposal.”

Kang Hyeon finally spoke.

His voice was calm and resolute without any exaggerated emotion.

“It’s a business where we can perfectly fill each other’s deficiencies. The synergy would be certain when SpaceX’s orbital entry know-how meets Astra’s engines.”

“Then, may I take that as a positive response?”

A bright expression appeared on Musk’s face.

“I’ll consider it positively.”

Kang Hyeon lightly raised his champagne glass.

“Let’s have our working-level staff exchange detailed data about the scope of technical cooperation and joint launch projects.”

“Excellent, Mr. Choi! I’ll invite you directly to Starbase in Boca Chica soon. I’ll show you how real spaceships are made.”

Musk cheerfully clinked his glass against Kang Hyeon’s.

The clear sound of glass meeting glass echoed through the White House’s splendid banquet hall.

Kang Hyeon swallowed the champagne and turned his gaze.

Beyond the banquet hall’s huge windows, countless stars embroidered across the night sky were visible.

Whirr- Clunk.

Opening the massive soundproof door, an overwhelmingly scaled research facility came into view at once.

Astra Headquarters located near Boca Chica, Texas, United States.

Hundreds of engineers and researchers were busily moving between complex blueprints and hologram panels.

“Chairman, this way please.”

Michael, Astra’s lead engineer, guided Kang Hyeon to the main control room.

Beyond the massive glass window, the first-stage booster of the launch vehicle under assembly revealed its magnificent form.

“We’ve completed the prototype assembly of the plasma engine module based on the blueprints received from Nereid.”

As Michael operated the tablet, the engine’s combustion test data appeared on the screen.

“The new control module that excludes rare earth elements is also working perfectly. The ground combustion test results matched the simulation values by 99 percent.”

“Well done.”

Kang Hyeon briefly praised while scanning through the graphs on the screen.

“So we could launch it as early as next month?”

Michael’s expression subtly hardened at the direct question.

He put down the tablet and let out a short sigh.

“To be honest, that’s still pushing it.”

“What’s the reason?”

“We lack real-world data.”

Michael pointed to the massive booster beyond the glass window.

“No matter how perfectly we test on the ground, space is a completely different environment. We need to withstand the vacuum state where extreme cold and ultra-high temperatures alternate, and the severe vibrations at the moment of launch.”

He displayed past launch failure cases from other companies marked with red warning signs on the screen.

“The so-called flight heritage, meaning the complete lack of actual spaceflight experience, is our most critical weakness.”

No matter how much capital you pour in, you can’t perfectly buy time with money.

Flight data accumulated through dozens of launches and failures can’t be created overnight.

“To build up independent orbital flight data to a meaningful level, we need at least 3 to 5 years. There are physical limits to the number of launches themselves.”

Kang Hyeon just quietly listened to Michael’s report.

Tap, tap.

Kang Hyeon lightly drummed his fingers on the table.

“What if we form a partnership with SpaceX?”

“…Excuse me?”

Michael’s eyes widened instantly.

The gazes of other staff members who had been assisting with the briefing in the control room all turned toward Kang Hyeon at once.

“I spoke with Elon Musk at the White House dinner. They were the first to propose collaboration with us.”

Kang Hyeon leaned back in his chair as he continued.

“To avoid unnecessary competition on the stage of space and share each other’s infrastructure.”

A heavy silence fell over the control room for a moment.

The engineers looked at each other’s faces, and soon the sound of someone swallowing dry saliva could be heard.

“Chairman. If that’s true…”

Michael stepped forward with an excited face.

“We could completely eliminate our most critical weakness in one stroke.”

“List the advantages specifically.”

At Kang Hyeon’s instruction, Michael immediately switched the screen.

The specifications of SpaceX’s main launch vehicle Falcon 9 and next-generation spacecraft Starship appeared.

“First, overwhelming flight data acquisition. SpaceX is currently launching rockets into space about once every three days.”

His finger pointed to the payload space of Falcon 9.

“We can send Astra’s plasma engine prototypes and Orbis’s space robot modules on their launch vehicles in rideshare form. This means we can conduct real-world tests in the space environment weekly without needing to launch entire rockets ourselves.”

Magic that extremely compresses time and cost.

Kang Hyeon nodded lightly.

“Second is the revolutionary reduction in orbital transportation costs.”

Michael’s voice gained even more strength.

“We no longer need to develop rockets from scratch to carry cargo to low Earth orbit. The brute force work of escaping Earth’s gravity can be entirely left to SpaceX’s already commercialized Falcon 9 and Starship.”

“Meaning we only target deep space.”

“Exactly.”

Michael dragged the plasma engine blueprints to the center of the screen.

“Once SpaceX puts our equipment into space, we start our engines from there. Our plasma engines show their true value when heading to the Moon or Mars in the vacuum state of deep space rather than inside the atmosphere.”

It was the maximization of efficiency.

Concentrating all capital and technology only on what you do best.

“Finally, third. Infrastructure and regulatory free pass.”

Another lead researcher chimed in with an excited tone.

“Getting launch permits from the Federal Aviation Administration each time is a hellish process. But SpaceX already holds perfect launch infrastructure and permits at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Starbase in Texas. Under their umbrella, all administrative battles disappear.”

Looking at it this way, it was a synergy with not a single reason to refuse.

Elon Musk must have been desperate for Astra’s high-efficiency engines and robotics technology as well.

“For Astra, it’s no different from a shortcut that instantly leaps over trillions of won in initial development costs and years of time.”

Michael reached a confident conclusion.

Kang Hyeon stared at the virtual simulation displaying both companies’ logos side by side on the screen.

“Good.”

He stood up from his seat.

“Immediately form a working-level team to contact SpaceX. Draw up the scope of technical exchange and the roadmap for the first joint launch project as quickly as possible.”

“Understood! I’ll form a task force right away.”

Intense anticipation bloomed on the researchers’ faces.

A massive highway had opened for them who had been blocked by the biggest wall.

“I’ll provide unlimited funding and personnel. Just shorten the timeline.”

Kang Hyeon briefly added as he left the control room.

The pioneering of a new market was approaching right before their eyes.

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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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