After the Divorce, I Found a Thousand Bitcoins - Chapter 192

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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 192

Exactly one month after Falcon 9 was launched into the vast night sky of Florida.

Seoul, South Korea,

KH Group Headquarters Main Conference Hall.

Click-click-click-click-!

Hundreds of camera flashes erupted endlessly, burning the interior of the massive hall white.

Reporters from major global news outlets and economic journals like CNN, Reuters, and Bloomberg filled every available seat.

Their lenses and gazes were directed toward the massive main screen at the center of the podium.

Global press members had gathered expecting humanity’s great leap toward space or grand philosophies of deep space exploration.

However, the first words from Kim Ha-ryul, KH Group’s General Manager, who walked up to the podium, shattered their romantic expectations from the very first sentence.

“Today, at this venue, we will unveil the first commercial sales and rental catalog for Orbital One, KH’s exclusive space station to be built in low Earth orbit.”

The murmuring stopped instantly.

The reporters’ fingertips froze over their laptop keyboards.

Their brains couldn’t immediately process that the words they had just heard were about commercial sales and rental catalogs, not scientific bases or research facilities.

Whirr-

Ha-ryul lightly pressed the presentation remote in his hand.

A bird’s-eye view of Orbital One appeared on the massive screen behind him.

It wasn’t the romantic exterior of space exploration vessels that humanity had imagined.

It was the blueprint of an extremely efficient and cold industrial complex, with massive modular containers densely connected in a hexagonal honeycomb structure.

“Orbital One is divided into four independent commercial zones.”

Ha-ryul’s briefing pierced through the silence and filled the hall.

Zone A in the on-screen diagram flashed red.

“Zone A. A zero-gravity pharmaceutical development and cultivation complex. In space without gravitational interference, protein crystals dozens of times larger and purer than on Earth can be cultivated. This is a dedicated residential zone for global Big Pharma companies that will dramatically shorten the development period for targeted cancer drugs for incurable diseases.”

The screen smoothly transitioned to Zone B.

“Zone B. A Ziblan optical cable and high-purity semiconductor manufacturing plant. Optical cables produced in a vacuum state without convection phenomena have data transmission loss rates 100 times lower than Earth-produced products. This is the space for production infrastructure for global telecommunications companies and big tech enterprises.”

Finally, Zones C and D were displayed on screen in succession.

“Zone C is a perfectly extraterritorial data center space that belongs to no nation’s airspace or laws, and Zone D will operate as an orbital residence-type premium hotel for top-tier VVIPs.”

Ha-ryul finished his briefing and lowered the remote.

“The annual rental fee for each zone’s basic 10-pyeong module starts at 1.5 billion dollars. Payment will only be accepted in cash or voting shares of the respective companies. Starting at 3 PM today, we will begin accepting first-round occupancy letters of intent from companies worldwide.”

The announcement was over.

Perfect silence descended upon the conference hall packed with hundreds of reporters, where not even the sound of swallowing could be heard.

Space, which they had blindly believed to be the domain of science.

That sanctuary, where for decades only national institutions had poured astronomical amounts of taxpayer money into ideological battles, had been instantly reduced by a Korean private company to a real estate rental business that charged money for space.

It was the violence of massive capital that had claimed squatter’s rights in space based on overwhelming technological prowess.

“Th-this is insane…”

A Wall Street Journal reporter sitting in the front row muttered while pushing up his glasses with trembling hands.

As if his muttering had been a signal, the reporters’ fingers that had been frozen began frantically pounding their laptop keyboards.

Hundreds of cameras erupted with fierce flashes again, greedily devouring the screen displaying the bird’s-eye view and rental fees.

[KH Group Declares Humanity’s First Space Station Real Estate Sales!]

[Commerce, Not Science. Birth of an Absolute Landlord Dominating Low Earth Orbit.]

[1.5 Billion Dollars Annually for 10 Pyeong. Global Big Tech Companies Enter War to Secure Zero-Gravity Infrastructure.]

The conference hall instantly transformed into chaos.

The sounds of typing and shouting from real-time reports being sent to news desks from various countries became entangled.

And in a space completely isolated from that chaos.

Beyond the VVIP-exclusive glass window on the 2nd floor of the conference hall, Kang Hyeon stood with his arms crossed, indifferently looking down below.

The madness and shock emanating from hundreds of reporters, and the astronomical rental fee numbers displayed on the screen.

Even while taking in all those explosive reactions, Kang Hyeon’s expression remained unwavering.

“Demand forecasting is complete.”

Kang Hyeon muttered briefly as he moved toward the heavy leather sofa.

The target of this space real estate rental business wasn’t ordinary citizens.

The customers he had chosen were the big tech companies that had reigned as emperors on Earth until now.

At the same time.

50 meters underground at KH headquarters, completely isolated from the enthusiastic noise above ground.

As the thick soundproof door of Orbis Special Automation Factory No. 1 opened, cold air and a thick ozone smell pierced the lungs.

Hiss-!

Clang, clang-clang!

The massive factory interior was filled only with regular and violent mechanical sounds.

In the vast space that seemed like three soccer fields combined, not a single human worker could be seen.

Thousands of massive Orbis robot arms filled that empty space instead.

Amid blue welding sparks bursting like fireworks from all directions, the products endlessly pouring out on rails had bizarre forms.

“Current production line operation rate exceeds 120 percent.”

The Orbis Responsible Researcher following behind Kang Hyeon reported while displaying a hologram panel in mid-air.

“Nereid’s swarm control algorithm has perfectly synchronized with 10,000 units. The defect rate is zero.”

Kang Hyeon’s gaze turned toward the silver machines passing over the rails.

Spider-shaped space construction robots with eight multi-joints.

Ultra-powerful electromagnets for gripping hulls in vacuum conditions were attached to the leg tips, while solar panels and plasma welders were grotesquely mounted on the central torso.

It was a structure that would have difficulty even walking properly under Earth’s gravity, but in zero gravity orbit, it was a framework that could move faster and more perfectly than any living creature.

‘Perfect.’

The greatest bottleneck in space station construction was none other than humans.

Astronomical costs are consumed to send workers to space.

Oxygen must be supplied, heavy shielding suits to block cosmic radiation must be worn, and food, sleeping space, and even waste disposal facilities must be provided.

The cost of carrying all that survival infrastructure to orbit far exceeded the weight of construction materials.

‘Then just exclude humans.’

The robots before his eyes needed no oxygen, sleep, or rest time.

Perfect mechanical workers that would form swarms under Nereid’s control and assemble steel frames 24 hours a day in space where extreme temperature differences and radiation poured down.

Click, whirr-

The completed spider-shaped robots folded neatly into compression mode and stacked seamlessly like Tetris blocks into massive loading containers.

Kang Hyeon silently watched the hundreds of machines being loaded into containers.

The moment that brute force quantity offensive was carried to space by plasma engines, buildings rising in empty orbit would only be a matter of time.

“Chairman.”

Then, Ha-ryul approached Kang Hyeon’s side, muffling the sound of her heels.

The screen of the security tablet she was holding continuously displayed red notifications.

“As soon as the 1st floor press announcement ended, CEOs of global Big Pharma and big tech companies are rushing directly to headquarters.”

“Have they already reached the lobby?”

“Yes. The security team is holding them back, but they’re waving briefcases containing blank checks, saying they want to participate in the occupancy rights auction.”

The fear of being eliminated if they failed to secure the unoccupied territory of space.

And the greed to monopolize zero-gravity infrastructure even a day earlier than others to extract overwhelming profits.

Those two emotions made the most arrogant capitalists in the world rush to Korean soil on the other side of the Earth, specifically to the KH headquarters lobby.

“The chairmen of Pfizer and Jackson & Johnson have already been escorted to the VVIP reception room. Senior vice presidents from Silicon Valley are also on standby.”

Kang Hyeon withdrew his gaze from the space construction robots passing over the rails.

Blue welding sparks filling the factory flickered over Kang Hyeon’s cold eyes.

The perfect workforce to build the structures had been confirmed.

Now, as a landlord, it was time to collect bills from tenants whose throats were parched with thirst.

“Let’s go up.”

Kang Hyeon turned around, leaving the heavy mechanical sounds behind.

The floor indicator of the private elevator heading to the VVIP reception room began rapidly changing numbers at a steep pace.

Ding-.

The private elevator door opened and Kang Hyeon entered the VVIP reception room.

The heavy atmosphere that had been weighing down the spacious reception room instantly froze.

Global Big Pharma chairmen who would normally have acted arrogantly even at the White House sprang up from their seats like springs, as if by appointment.

As soon as Kang Hyeon took his seat at the head of the table, the Pfizer CEO roughly loosened his tie and pushed a heavy briefcase onto the table.

“Zone A. We want the 10-year exclusive occupancy rights to the zero-gravity pharmaceutical cultivation complex.”

He swallowed dry saliva as he opened the briefcase.

Inside lay a blank check with no amount written on it.

“Please write whatever rental fee you desire, Mr. Choi. I’ll take responsibility for board approval…”

“Put it away.”

Kang Hyeon lightly pushed it away with the back of his hand without even glancing at the blank check.

Thick cold sweat trickled down the Pfizer CEO’s forehead.

The fear that even hundreds of billions of dollars in cash might be rejected tightened around his throat.

“The basic security deposit of 1.5 billion dollars must be paid entirely in cash upfront. We don’t accept any currency other than dollars.”

Kang Hyeon placed his clasped hands on the table and continued speaking calmly.

“And the annual zero-gravity infrastructure rental fee you’ll pay is 3 percent of your company’s voting shares.”

“…Excuse me?”

The faces of the Big Pharma chairmen gathered in the reception room all turned pale as sheets.

3 percent of shares.

That wasn’t simply a rental fee.

It was a blatant declaration that he would permanently insert a straw into the management rights of global pharmaceutical companies and seize control of their leash.

“M-Mr. Choi! That goes against common sense…! Paying rent with shares!”

“It’s my building.”

Kang Hyeon’s cold words instantly crushed the rising rebellion in the reception room.

“If you don’t like the rules here, you can launch your own rockets and put up buildings in space yourselves.”

Kang Hyeon leaned back deeply in his chair and jerked his chin toward the 1st floor lobby.

“Even during this one second you’re hesitating, Switzerland’s Novartis and the United Kingdom’s AstraZeneca are waiting downstairs with share transfer contracts. Shall I invite the next group up?”

Perfect monopoly. The sole building owner of an uncontested territory that no one could replace.

The protesting Pfizer CEO’s legs gave out as he collapsed onto the sofa.

“Please… give us time to think…! This isn’t something I can decide alone!”

“We’re the same! Voting shares! No matter how much we’re the final decision makers, we can’t make such a big decision right here on the spot!”

A practical problem caught them by the ankle.

This was something Kang Hyeon had anticipated to some extent as well.

“One month from now, please have your answer ready within that time.”

A grace period.

But that was a final courtesy closer to a notification.

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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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