After the Divorce, I Found a Thousand Bitcoins - Chapter 95

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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 095

United States.

Nathan remained alone in the research lab.

“Hehehe.”

Nathan’s face, wearing a sinister smile, was illuminated under the monitor’s light.

Then.

Zing-!

Click!

The automatic door opened and the research lab lights turned on.

As Nathan’s head turned, Sophia was standing there.

“Sigh… Doctor. Are you delaying going home again to do research?”

“Oh~ Sophia. Take a look at this! This is the initial model of the Physical AI modular I’ve been researching.”

Physical AI.

A combination of robots and AI, with humanoids being the most representative example.

Nathan, who created liquid cooling, didn’t stop there and recently had his eye on Physical AI.

“Oh… The modular design is quite unique, isn’t it?”

“Right? Existing humanoids used circuits that go from here to there, but I bent it this way…”

“This would improve power efficiency. Plus, the movement would be different from humans, but that wouldn’t be a big problem for robots.”

“Exactly! That’s precisely what I questioned. Why do robots need to maintain the same skeletal system as humans just because they walk on two legs!”

It was a natural question, if you think about it.

And in reality, many companies were already producing robots with different skeletal systems from humans while maintaining human-like forms.

The two continued their heated exchange of opinions, losing track of time as they debated.

Then the door opened again and Curie entered.

“Sigh… Really. I said I’d go get the doctor, but what am I supposed to do when you’re doing this too?”

“Ahaha! Right. I forgot.”

“Huh? You came to get me? Why?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot again? We agreed to have dinner together tonight. But it’s already 10 PM and you didn’t come, so Sophia went to find you.”

In the end, the two had been chatting, leaving Curie to wait alone for thirty more minutes before coming to find them.

“Haha…”

“I… I’m sorry. I don’t usually have many appointments.”

“It’s okay. Since it’s already late, how about we just order delivery instead?”

“Should we? Then let’s order through Uber.”

It was when the three were preparing to have their late dinner.

‘Damn, why aren’t those bastards leaving?’

Nine Heavens.

Wei Han, an industrial spy from Nine Heavens and an agent of the Chinese Intelligence Agency, frowned as he watched the three people who had no intention of leaving the research lab.

‘Today was D-day, so I even gave them restaurant vouchers on purpose!’

He knew well that the three were obsessed with research.

So they rarely left the office, which is why he tried to lure them outside.

He thought today would be successful, but it was another failure.

‘Crazy bastards who only know research. How can they stay cooped up in the research institute for 24 hours?’

He had done spy work in many places, but he’d never seen people this obsessed with research.

That Nathan guy even slept, ate, and washed at the research institute.

He stayed at the research institute 30 days out of the month, so there was no way to extract information.

‘Plus, that guy’s computer is set up to not be affected by the internal network, so hacking is impossible too.’

Nathan seemed clumsy, but he was thorough when it came to security.

Even most companies are all connected to internal networks, but Nathan’s computer was an exception.

He used an independent server configuration, and even that server’s network was routed once, making hacking through the internal network impossible.

In the end, the only remaining method was to infiltrate the research lab and hack directly.

‘Can’t be helped. I don’t want to leave evidence, but…’

If he had more time, he would have thought of another method.

But currently, there was no time.

Orders had already come from above to secure the research data by today, so he had to complete the mission today.

Swish-

Wei Han put his hand inside his lab coat and pulled it out.

A pistol with a silencer emerged as his eyes turned cold.

‘Kill all three cleanly, secure the data, and return.’

Having made his decision, he reached out and pressed the research lab’s opening button.

Zing-!!

As the door opened, the three people’s gazes naturally turned toward him.

“Tony? Didn’t you go home?”

At Sophia’s question, Wei Han looked at them with an expressionless face and extended his pistol.

“It’s a gun! Get away!!”

Curie urgently wrapped around Sophia and threw their bodies to the side.

Wei Han coldly followed that movement with his gun barrel and tried to pull the trigger.

At that moment.

“Don’t move!!”

Wei Han’s head turned in surprise at the deep voice coming from the side.

There were men in bulletproof vests carrying rifles running toward them.

‘Damn!’

It was a sudden situation, but Wei Han’s body moved reflexively.

Whoosh!!

Pshh-! Pshh-!!

As he threw his body toward cover, he fired his pistol.

“Gunfire situation occurred!!”

“Target is armed! Everyone take cover while securing the target!”

The men shouted quickly while closing the distance.

Wei Han hid behind cover while extending his pistol to block their approach.

At the same time, he looked into the research lab to assess the targets’ situation.

‘I can’t get an angle from here. Damn!’

All three had quickly hidden somewhere and were out of sight.

‘They’re probably hiding behind that big table, but…’

The table was made of steel, so it would be difficult to penetrate with this level of pistol.

Plus, the soldiers in front of him were approaching quickly.

‘Damn, did they hire a PMC? Their response is faster than expected?’

He knew it was an urgent situation since orders came from above to extract the data by force, but he didn’t expect them to move this quickly.

At the speed beyond his expectations, he had no choice but to make a decision.

‘Retreat.’

Having made his decision, he moved.

Rat-a-tat-tat-!!

The PMC agents’ bullets were fired rapidly toward Wei Han.

In this tremendous situation, Curie fell into confusion.

‘Wh… what is this all of a sudden?’

Just moments ago, they were choosing Chinese food for their late dinner.

Suddenly, they found themselves in the middle of a gunfight.

But then.

“Oh! Chairman! Can you hear this?! There’s a gunfight happening right now! Wow~! The intensity is incomparable to what you see in movies! Bullets are flying everywhere!”

Nathan was talking to someone on the phone with a bright face.

Probably Chairman Choi Kang-hyeon.

But to have such a cheerful voice even in this situation.

‘This guy isn’t normal either…’

Curie shook her head.

* * *

An hour later.

Kang Hyeon received a call from the PMC.

-We’ve secured the VIPs.

“Are they safe?”

-Yes. Nathan, Sophia, and Curie are all safe. They seem to be in psychological shock, so our field medic is checking on them.

“Thank you. I’d like to request site security and VIP escort services. My secretary will contact you.”

-Yes, thank you.

After hanging up, Kang Hyeon let out a sigh.

“Phew…”

“How did it go?”

Kang Hyeon nodded at Team Manager Kim Chul-jin’s question.

“They’re safe. Thanks to you, Team Manager Kim, we were able to make it in time.”

“That’s a relief. Hawkeye is composed entirely of elite mercenaries, so it’s quite reliable. If we entrust security to them, Nereid’s protection shouldn’t be a major problem.”

Although it would cost quite a bit, Nereid was KH Group’s cash cow.

The expense for securing such a place wasn’t a waste.

“But I didn’t expect China to come at us this aggressively.”

“Is this unusual?”

“Yes. China typically makes active use of industrial spies, but rarely resorts to force. It’s because they could face criticism from the international community. They must value immersion cooling technology very highly.”

While the Chinese government valued immersion cooling highly, Kang Hyeon’s thoughts were different.

‘Nathan, who created that technology, is the more remarkable person. I need to actively protect him.’

The problem was that the environment in the United States was getting worse.

Civilians could own firearms, and most importantly, ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had recently become problematic.

‘Nathan is technically a second-generation immigrant. Given ICE’s recent movements, it wouldn’t be strange if he were suddenly arrested.’

This would have been impossible in the America of the past.

But ICE’s recent tyranny in the United States was completely unprecedented.

They had even arrested citizens with clear U.S. citizenship and gone as far as shooting and killing them.

They had even arrested 5-year-old and 2-year-old children, receiving tremendous condemnation from the international community.

No matter how promising Nathan was as a researcher, they had to consider the scenario of his arrest.

‘What if I moved everyone to Korea instead?’

Minister Park Do-kyeong’s proposal came to mind.

His offer of full support was certainly attractive.

Moreover, Korea was at least safer than the current United States.

‘I should reconsider his proposal.’

It was worth seriously considering moving Nathan and other key personnel to Korea.

Then Team Manager Kim Chul-jin spoke up.

“Chairman, how about adding more security personnel?”

“Personnel?”

“Yes. If China used force to attack Nereid, they might do the same to you, Chairman.”

“Hmm.”

The possibility certainly wasn’t zero.

He thought that someone of his level might be a target, even if he wasn’t the chairman of a global conglomerate.

Most importantly, he had no intention of ignoring the opinion of Team Manager Kim Chul-jin, who had long experience in the field.

“Understood. Don’t worry about the cost and proceed.”

“Yes, thank you.”

China’s surprise attack.

Because of it, one thought became firmly embedded in Kang Hyeon’s mind.

‘It would be best not to do business with China.’

Like a hedgehog raising its spines when threatened, Kang Hyeon’s antagonism toward China became extremely strong.

* * *

The next day.

Kang Hyeon took a helicopter to the groundbreaking ceremony site for Project Navadaya.

Ten bodyguards, more than the previous day, protected the surroundings like an iron wall.

Seeing the tighter security than usual, Vice President Cha Tae-hun asked with a puzzled expression.

“Security seems tighter than usual today?”

“Since it’s an important event, we’re preparing for any possible situations.”

“Ah.”

It was evasive, but Kang Hyeon’s words weren’t far from the truth.

This Navadaya groundbreaking ceremony was the biggest event among KH Group’s projects.

As if to announce its importance, the attendees were also impressive.

“SS Energy’s CEO Lee Tae-sik has also arrived and is waiting. Barma Chairman Arita Varma has arrived as well, and from Saseng, Saseng Electronics’ Vice President Han Myeong-hun is attending.”

Since Lee Jae-seong from Saseng couldn’t come due to scheduling conflicts, Vice President Han Myeong-hun attended instead.

Vice President Han Myeong-hun was classified as one of the most important figures among Saseng’s executives, a core executive.

In addition, a vice president from Hyeonhwa attended, and from the Indian government, even Prime Minister Lao Sing attended, making it a large-scale event.

“Chairman, it’s time.”

As time passed, the groundbreaking ceremony finally began.

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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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