Chapter 254 Economic Indicators in the New Era and the Start of Stellar Base Construction
The establishment of the UNSC has greatly increased the confidence of the people on Earth. The Mars colony is thriving, and the number of asteroid mining bases is also expanding.
At the same time, this also means that Harry's "Poseidon Project" has reached its final stage: this plan aims to help humanity move toward the star sea with a unified appearance. In the space age, nationality will become blurred.
Now, the Osborne Group is able to produce all types of products in demand and represents the highest level of technology on Earth. Money is no longer so important to Harry.
He will use several data indicators to measure the social situation between the Osborne Group and the Earth United Nations.
In terms of economy, because all production is inseparable from energy, he will use the indicator "Energy Coin," which is the general term for "total available energy" and "credit points," representing the ability to measure the economic production of an entity.
Energy-credit conversion transactions are handled by the Osborne Energy Exchange, an exchange that fully discloses its internal operations. It is now controlled by A and Oycle, and Harry plans to add another super AL to process this data.
How much energy there is can drive how many factories to produce, which is crucial for production organizers. Only by better organizing production can society generate more credits.
If no one is willing to hand over credits to the organizer, they cannot exchange credits for more power.
Of course, this is almost impossible for large countries, but it can be an effective way to filter out some incompetent and corrupt small countries.
For ordinary people, taking the average American worker as an example, their work will be calculated as credits, handed over to the state, converted into dollars, and then purchased in society.
The conversion ratio of credit points is completely controlled by the two super ALs, Oycle and A, and is adjusted according to the current social development situation—in a sense, this is close to a planned economy.
However, after converting into legal currency, the pricing of various products has a certain degree of freedom: just like the same graphics card, its core may be the same, but the materials and workmanship will be different.
The trading volume using fiat currency is calculated as trade value, which measures the activity of the free market.
With energy to organize production, raw materials are also needed, that is, various types of unrefined raw materials such as crude ores and crude oil.
These raw materials are processed into strong alloys or common consumer products.
Finally, there's food.
Energy coins, minerals, alloys, consumer goods, food, and trade value—these are the six basic indicators. The data on the Earth Alliance was collected by Norman.
For the Osborne Group, indicators other than trade values are quite healthy—because Osborne employees rarely need to buy anything from other countries.
But that's not the case with the United Nations.
In addition to the rising energy currency indicators, several indicators of minerals, alloys, consumer goods, and food are all in a state of being unable to make ends meet.
This is also consistent with the past situations where the Earth fought with each other due to resource shortages.
After completing the data specification, Harry swiped away the control panel in front of him and reviewed the completion of Project Olympus.
So far, Project Olympus has achieved its goals in two projects:
**Zeus Plan:** Global power grid construction and credit point-energy system establishment; there is no longer a country with monetary hegemony on Earth, and at the same time, the notary party of the Osborne Group was born. This plan also involves a system task that needs to wait for the global power grid to be fully constructed.
**Poseidon Project:** Going to the Star Sea while blurring nationality and identity. Now the outer space pioneer only works for two forces: the UNSC and the Osborne Group, and the work overlap of the two forces is actually very high.
Both plans have completed critical parts and now just need to sustain the results.
The following are still ongoing and about to achieve phased results:
**Eltenis Project:** The main content of the plan is to cultivate plants that can adapt to the alien environment and try to modify the alien environment. It is currently progressing smoothly on Mars.
What is still ongoing and will not stop are:
**Apollo Project:** Medical technology development while providing the Osborne Group with various types of enhanced talents and enhanced technologies.
**Project Athena:** Iteration of various civilian technologies while allowing the Osborne Group to have production capabilities covering the entire industry, enabling it to survive and develop without the need for trade with the outside world.
**Ares Project:** Military technology development, mainly the Space Force. Current development achievements are mainly concentrated on the Space Army and Marine Corps, such as Pilots, Titans, and Spartans.
**Demeter Plan:** Stop Earth's civil war and provide aid to third-world countries. Currently, it is mainly filling the food gap. At the same time, through these supports, it absorbs all kinds of talents—not just adults, but also potential stocks that have been genetically screened.
**Project Hermes:** This plan is based on the global power grid of Zeus and aims to establish and control communication networks. The next step is to fully promote the virtual warehouse of innovative network companies. In this regard, Osborne has a huge technical advantage and will almost never encounter any problems.
**Dionysus Project:** A plan to transform human traits. Baron Zemo is responsible for promoting it on the Earth side, but it has become the norm inside Osborne. Geniuses are everywhere, strengthening people as many as dogs.
**Hestia Plan:** Socialized parenting process; through indiscriminate socialized parenting of minors, abandoning the identity and worldview of the old era, the new generation will be the "core employees" of the Osborne Group.
There are only a few plans left that have not yet been fully implemented:
**Aphrodite Plan:** Increase the population fertility rate through some special means to quickly fill the current manpower gap and meet the requirements for rapid development. This plan has not yet been implemented at the right time—his plan is to use the Canary device to emit a Q-stimulating gas in the city or even in the atmosphere, physiologically reducing the probability of depressive attacks, increasing the excitement level of citizens, and raising the fertility rate.
However, according to existing research, if the inhalation target is an unmodified human being, this effect may lead to addiction.
In other words, the Dionysus plan must be advanced to a certain extent before it can be implemented harmlessly.
**Project Hades:** Research on supernatural abilities is about to begin.
**Project Hephaestus:** An epoch-making space project is about to begin.
"Oycle, are there enough alloy reserves?"
"Ready, sir, just waiting for your order."
Harry moved his body and got out of bed without waking up Felicia, who was still sleeping.
Slowly walking from the shadow to the floor-to-ceiling window, he looked at the sun in the distance through the glass. Without the protection of the atmosphere, the sun seemed a bit dazzling.
This galaxy will truly fall under his control.
"Then let's get started."
As Harry gave the order, hundreds of engineering ships took off from the ground, space station, Mars, and asteroid mining base at the same time, heading towards the sun.
There, they will complete the construction of humanity's first stellar base.
Chapter 255: Warp Speed and Hyperspace Travel
The construction of starbases in the solar system signifies that humans have complete control over this galaxy.
While the core structure is a super-large starbase suspended near the sun, achieving the effect of "declaration of sovereignty" and "control" requires more than just a large base; compared to the solar system, it is not "large" enough.
The engineering ships will initially establish auxiliary operating space stations at the Sun-Earth Lagrange points L4 and L5. These two auxiliary space stations are small in scale and situated on the sunward side.
Their primary purpose is to observe solar activity, monitor dangerous solar phenomena before the solar hemisphere rotates, and enhance human understanding of solar events.
Another crucial function is to serve as an interstellar communication relay station to improve coordination of activities within the galaxy.
There are two plans for the most important starbase. The first plan is to position it at L1, which is close to Earth and facilitates travel.
However, starbases consume vast amounts of energy. If they rely solely on nuclear fusion reactors for energy supply, the operating costs will be prohibitively high. It is best to position them closer to the sun to take better advantage of "natural nuclear fusion."
As Harry watched the mighty engineering ships sailing toward the sea of stars, he connected to ground communications.
"Dr. Hall, do you have any good news?"
After everything that had transpired, Dr. Franklin Hall's perspective had shifted: gravitonium can not only become a dangerous weapon but also a valuable resource that drives technological progress.
Before the invasion, the Osborn Group had been quite cautious in their research on gravitonium, and he now believed that giving this substance to Harry was the right choice.
After consuming a substantial amount of gravitonium, he made an important decision: to open the gravitonium research data to the Osborn Group.
In this universe, Earth has many "specialties," and gravitonium is one of them. It actually has considerable reserves on Earth.
"The mining went smoothly; just as I predicted, the gravitonium reserves are significant." Dr. Hall pulled up the design of the new device on the holographic operating interface.
Gravitonium, as a unique compound capable of generating gravity, has a wide range of applications. So far, its existence and application remain confidential within the Osborn Group.
After developing the FTL engine based on gravitonium, Dr. Hall designed a special device at Harry's request that could help the starbase maintain its position in space.
The starbase is like a port in the sea of stars, and the function of this device is to anchor this very large port in the ethereal sea of stars. It serves as a kind of "gravitational anchor."
After reviewing Dr. Hall's design, Harry said, "Well done, Doctor."
With this device, the starbase can identify a construction site with better economic benefits.
At the same time, the FTL engine can be constructed again.
The principle of the FTL technology currently in use is to manipulate the gravity surrounding the spacecraft, bending and "shrinking" the space in front of it while "expanding" the space behind it, enveloping the spacecraft in a twisted "space-time bubble."
The spacecraft travels at sub-light speed within the warp bubble, but from the outside, the entire warp bubble appears to exceed the speed of light. "Warp speed" is used to measure the speed of the spacecraft.
The limit of the warp engine currently in use is about level 3 warp speed, approximately 27 times the speed of light.
The energy required to create a warp bubble is substantial. Without gravitonium, the current Osborn Group would not even be able to support the lowest level of warp bubble.
However, relying on gravitonium for faster-than-light travel is not a long-term solution—gravitonium is not a renewable resource. In fact, its formation is a mystery, possibly related to the Celestial formation in Earth's core.
Contemplating this, Harry said, "Doctor, do you think it's possible that this universe is unstable? Just like the rift in another world that was torn apart in Tokyo, could there also be a rift at the edge of the solar system?"
"Passing through the crack, in that space, the speed of light might not be the limit. We could enter the rift and travel faster than light."
Upon hearing this, Dr. Hall was momentarily stunned. "You're suggesting there are numerous spatial rifts in the universe, and we could navigate through them to bypass the speed of light limit?"
Harry nodded.
"This hypothesis is not difficult to understand..." Dr. Hall paused. "But you're saying that the two ends of the crack are like the entrances and exits of a highway, connecting precisely where we want to go. Isn't that a bit... idealistic?"
Harry remained silent, unsure of how to explain: the problem is that the universe seems so idealistic at this moment.
This super-light speed theory is known as a hyperspace channel. It is easily understood as drilling into subspace to avoid the speed of light limit. The key issue is why the entrance and exit of the channel are situated between galaxies.
But this is the reality. He still remembers that in "Guardians of the Galaxy," Rocket Raccoon mentioned the concept of a "jump point" before initiating the super-light journey. This essentially indicates that they require certain conditions to activate the super-light engine, providing strong evidence for the existence of spatial channels.
This navigation technology does not require gravity and is highly efficient. It is essential for Dr. Hall to study how to exploit these weak points of space and time—in theory.
"Regardless, Doctor, no alien has demonstrated the ability to control gravity."
The Chitauri harnessed the power of the Space Cube, and the Dark Elves wielded the force of the Celestial Convergence, but they must have other FTL technologies.
As Dr. Hall pondered, this possibility indeed seemed very plausible.
After a brief discussion regarding the design of the warp engine, the two concluded the communication.
All preliminary work has been completed; now, it is time to await the starbase's completion and then commence warship production.
"The chairman of the Osborn Group goes to work as soon as he wakes up—his diligence makes me feel a bit ashamed."
Felicia lay on her side beside the bed, her graceful curves glistening in the sunlight.
"Don't say that. Without you, I would probably be overwhelmed with work." Harry settled back on the bed and patted her round backside.
Since entrusting the CEO position to Felicia, Harry had not managed the company's operations, and it turned out she was more than capable of handling the role.
"Then why are you still so rough with me?" Felicia wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and kissed his neck gently.
After several genetic modifications, her strength is far beyond what it once was, allowing her to be more adventurous.
The robot served breakfast prepared by the synthetic chef, and the room's layout began to transform. The shielding wall was fully raised, the shading of the glass adjusted, and sunlight flooded the entire room.
There could be no better-lit place than this house—this is the Osborn Space Station, located over 400 kilometers above the surface.
This feeling is truly wonderful, a "world for two" in the truest sense, undisturbed by anyone.
But today is the last day of their vacation, and they will return to the ground in another 10 hours.
After getting dressed, the two lay back on the chairs and enjoyed the sunshine.
At that moment, a message appeared on Felicia's personal terminal.
"Cross has been contacting me, claiming it has made a significant scientific discovery."
"A major scientific discovery?" Harry was somewhat unimpressed. Cross Company? What is that?
"You might want to verify the authenticity of this claim yourself—I'm not a scientist. But you might find the origins of Cross interesting."
Felicia transmitted the information to Harry's implant, and the data displayed directly on his optic nerve. A few words caught Harry's attention:
"Pym Technology."
---
Chapter 256: Yellow Jacket Battlesuit
Shrinking a soldier to the size of an insect while retaining the strength of a normal body is a feat that could be considered advanced—more magical than magic itself. One must remember that even the shrinking spell in Dungeons and Dragons inflicts damage on the target when attacked, with the damage decreasing with size.
During World War II in this world, legends circulated about such soldiers.
At that time, optical imaging and recognition technology had not advanced enough to enable ordinary soldiers to detect this secret weapon, which was approximately 0.5 inches in size.
This kind of "thumb soldier" relied on its "size advantage" to easily infiltrate local secret bases and access various large weapons and facilities to cause destruction. It is easy to see how this technology is revolutionary in terms of infiltration.
However, Harry has been pondering: if this technology is so remarkable, why didn't Hank Pym simply find a way to sneak into the Axis base camp and take out Red Skull and Hitle R while they were sleeping?
Of course, many factors could explain this: for instance, the Allied intelligence system was inadequate, making it impossible to predict their movements, even when Mustache often appeared to give speeches.
In the "Future Research Laboratory" of Cross Technology Co., Ltd., a decrypted video that leaked after S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded played on the screen.
In the footage, German soldiers appeared to be battling an invisible enemy. Soon, they were all lying on the ground. Then, tanks exploded inexplicably, and the military base fell into a strange paralysis.
After processing with modern AI technology, they were able to zoom in and see that the source of all this chaos was a "Thumb Warrior."
"...An 'Ant-Man,' that's what they called you before, right? Hank?" The speaker looked at Hank Pym with a teasing tone.
Darren Cross, CEO of Cross Company and Hank Pym's protégé, spoke with a smile.
"The name is quite silly, but it is for propaganda purposes after all. It makes sense, similar to 'Amazing Stories,' creating random tales to intimidate the enemy."
After saying this, Cross inclined his head slightly toward Harry: "But I still want to thank Mr. Osborn for dismantling the evil S.H.I.E.L.D. and allowing this invaluable information to be revealed once more."
Harry nodded indifferently.
After paying his respects, Cross quickly approached Dr. Pym.
"But Hank, can you tell my guests what you say every time when asked:
'Is there really an Ant-Man?'"
Dr. Pym smiled slightly and replied to Harry, "It's just a legend."
"It's understandable; otherwise, wouldn't it have ended the war if Ant-Man had gone directly to the Axis base to eliminate their wicked leader?" Harry spread his hands, playing along.
But as soon as he finished speaking, Harry keenly noticed that Dr. Pym seemed momentarily stunned, as if deep in thought:
Yeah, why don't I do that?
"Yes, how could such a magical thing be real?" Cross responded.
After speaking, he led everyone toward the next section of the research room.
Harry followed Cross like a regular visitor but spotted an "acquaintance"—Mitchell Carson, former deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., though S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer exists.
In the movie, after S.H.I.E.L.D. disbanded, he became Cross's buyer, ultimately revealing that he was a member of Hydra.
However, Harry did not believe that Hydra was truly that powerful. Hammer's subsequent investigation had indicated that this man was not Hydra; otherwise, he would not have been released.
Thus, Harry leaned more toward the idea that this individual was merely a "lone wolf with ideas" who might be trying to form some kind of "organization" and is currently engaging in subversive actions overseas.
Yet since he spotted Harry, this man had been acting nervously. He must not be affiliated with a justice-oriented organization.
Cross, who was leading the way, felt both excited and anxious. Generally, weapon products like this would eventually be sold to an organization such as the U.S. government rather than another company.
After all, how can a company compete with a country financially?
However, the Osborne Group is rather unique. To be honest, in the eyes of ordinary companies like theirs, the Osborne Group is almost a small elite nation, with national-level financial resources, strength, and power, but it does not adhere to national or corporate regulations.
He had high expectations for the Osborne Group, but honestly, he hadn't expected Harry Osborne himself to be present!
This demonstrated that the other party highly values his expertise!
But the downside is that the state cannot arbitrarily promote a company, while corporations like Osborne can annihilate competition through annexation.
He just hopes that Mr. Osborne will refrain from taking drastic measures...
The vault of the Future Research Laboratory is a super-secure facility made of seamless titanium steel, with only one pipe leading to the center.
Such stringent security measures are designed to guard against the legendary "Ant-Man."
"But I was inspired by the legend of Ant-Man, so I thought, is it possible to shrink a living person using my breakthrough shrinkable material? Is this feasible?"
Cross was brimming with excitement, his gaze wandering among the attendees.
"Now, this is no longer a legend.
Distinguished guests, it is my honor to present to you Terminator: Yellowjacket!"
The container holding the yellow-suited battle armor descended from the center. The size of this battle armor was so small that it was difficult for ordinary individuals to perceive. Fortunately, the glass wall of the container conveniently amplified the view.
The suit is copper-yellow in color and features a laser transmitter and a data sensor on the back. It can effortlessly leave a penetrating hole with a radius of less than 2cm in the human body or read data from any silicon-based information storage device.
As the suit appeared, the surrounding screens began playing a promotional video prepared by Cross, showcasing the capabilities of this unique soldier:
Surveillance, industrial sabotage, precision assassinations, and more.
As a special soldier, "Ant-Man" has tremendous potential.
After the promotional video concluded, Harry applauded: "A very promising design, an amazing invention; I'll buy it."
"Awesome!" Cross exclaimed, visibly excited.
"So what's your asking price?"
Cross was momentarily taken aback: Is this now the price negotiation stage?
However, this was not an issue; it indicated that Osborne had a strong intent to purchase.
"My proposed price is $125 billion for a suit..."
"Deal—how much do I need to add if I want the exclusive purchasing rights?" Harry nodded.
"Uh..."
Cross glanced at Mitchell Carson beside Harry and noticed that the man was too furious to speak: I want to buy it too! But why did you invite Harry Osborn here?
After a fierce internal debate, Carson finally proposed: "150 billion dollars."
Harry stroked his chin. In the original work, their final transaction price was $300 billion—doubled after Scott successfully infiltrated the Avengers base.
"Wow, this is very dangerous technology, Mr. Carson—I hope you don't intend to do anything nefarious with it," Harry said with a half-smile.
"Mr. Osborne, this is personal privacy..."
"$300 billion," Harry countered.
"Deal! I also believe this technology should be entrusted to the right people." Cross excitedly shook Harry's hand.
"However, exclusive purchasing rights may be challenging. The best we can offer is priority supply..."
Harry smiled, "300 billion is not a small amount, Mr. Cross; I'll require five years of exclusive supply."
Cross looked between the two of them and finally nodded hesitantly.
Mitchell Carson opened his mouth, staring at Harry's relaxed demeanor, wanting to shout: That's not how money is supposed to be spent!
300 billion to buy this technology? Who knows if Cross is engaging in false advertising?
---
Chapter 257: Your Company is Good
"Although I really want you to deliver the goods now, I know you can't do it - don't get me wrong, I don't mean to look down on you, but everyone has done this before finding a buyer."
Harry opened the terminal and transferred 20 billion dollars, then blinked at Cross: "If possible, can you give me a batch of these particles first?"
The particles made by Cross are still a little different from the real Pym particles. They cannot safely shrink organisms; instead, they will turn the affected person into a puddle of flesh.
But from another perspective, this thing will be very useful at the transportation level--
This kind of particle that breaks up strong and weak forces is quite mysterious, and the changes in weight and density of the shrunken object are simply a mystery.
However, Harry remembered that Pym had shrunk a tank and hung it on the key. This thing could definitely reduce the size of an object while also reducing its mass, which was very useful for interstellar logistics and transportation.
The star base is 30 kilometers at its highest point and 55 kilometers in radius at its widest point. It is designed to accommodate a maximum of 30 people, which is comparable to a small city.
It is expected that the star base will consume hundreds of millions of tons of various materials, and transportation is a big problem. However, with the help of such shrinking particles, the construction speed can be accelerated by at least dozens of times.
Just hearing Harry's request, Cross was in a dilemma: he was not afraid that the Osborn Group would reverse engineer this technology, but he was mainly afraid that Harry would see that the particles could not shrink organic matter yet and would affect the transaction.
But this is a big financier after all, and he originally planned to sell the suit and particles separately.
"...Of course you can, but these particles won't work well without the suit, Mr. Osborn..."
"Don't worry, I won't secretly use it for human experiments." Harry patted Cross on the shoulder.
Cross hesitated for a moment and took out a tube of yellow particles from his pocket. Since this was developed by him alone, perhaps this particle should be called Cross particles.
"Yes, this is an epoch-making invention. I am very optimistic about you, Dr. Cross."
After taking the particles, Harry smiled: "Then I won't disturb your work. Happy cooperation."
The two shook hands, and Cross was very happy - in just a short time, 20 billion dollars had been credited!
At the end of the visit, Cross asked his assistant Hope to help lead everyone out of the company, while he stayed behind and planned to play with his teacher Hank Pym.
Walking behind Hope, Harry looked at Cross Company - this place was blown up by Hank Pym in the original work, so he could step on it first.
"Ms. Pym, if you don't mind, can I take a walk here?"
Hope showed a professional smile: "Of course you can, but there are some sensitive areas in the company..."
"I understand." Harry raised his hands, "Every company has secrets, I understand."
"That's no problem." Hope smiled, turned around and walked back towards the Future Research Laboratory.
"By the way, Ms. Pym, if possible, could you give me a message for Dr. Pym?"
Hope paused, turned around, and waited for Harry's next words.
"He's a genius, you know - I've always admired people like that."
"Of course, but he is a stubborn old man - and has a very strange temper. I can't guarantee that he will accept the invitation."
"It's okay, I understand - by the way, Ms. Pym, I just thought about it. This company is good and I'm very interested."
...
Elsewhere, Hank Pym reveals the truth to Darren Cross: Ant-Man is real, but he's hiding these secrets for a reason.
However, Cross didn't appreciate it at all. All he thought about was that his mentor was hiding something secret from him and wasting his youth.
Ignoring Hank's warnings, Cross heads to the research lab - Harry Osborn is a generous buyer, but unable to shrink the organism, the deal is broken.
His former protégé looked at him like an enemy, which made Hank feel a little complicated.
But there are more urgent things now, Hope is back.
"How far along is he?" Hank asked Hope.
"There is no way to shrink a living creature yet. Give me that suit and I will put an end to this."
"No." Hank flatly rejected the proposal.
Hope sighed, stubbornness was indeed an important trait in her father's character.
"Then there's another thing you might be interested in: Harry Osborn is buying the company, and he wants to talk to you."
Hank originally wanted to say that he had found someone to carry out this task, but Hope's words directly interrupted his train of thought.
"...what?"
"He wants to buy the company."
Buying a company? Hank was stunned: Just from the transaction just now, Cross Company made 20 billion dollars. Plus the suit, how much would it cost to buy Cross Company?
Hank fell silent.
...
How much Cross will be worth after this deal is concluded is honestly hard to tell.
In reality, if a company develops this kind of magical technology, it will never sell it in a big way. Instead, it will develop it carefully and then secretly control the world.
Otherwise, the country would probably find an excuse to nationalize it the next day.
But in this world, Cross's psychological price for a yellow jersey is 125 billion dollars. To be honest, considering the technology used in the jersey, this is a bargain price.
125 billion dollars can smash the building of physics into pieces. Isn't this a bargain price?
Using this world's calculations, no matter how expensive Cross is, it will not exceed 3 trillion dollars. If the acquisition is doubled at the premium, it would be 6 trillion dollars. It would be difficult to buy the entire company, but taking 20-30% equity is still completely feasible.
To be honest, the status of money in this world is really embarrassing. Some things cannot be measured in terms of money, but the strange thing is that they all think the price is very reasonable.
"Sir, a batch of Vibranium recently exported from Wakanda has arrived at the warehouse." Oycle's voice rang in Harry's ears.
Harry has established a very good trade relationship with Wakanda. They have agreed to secretly export one ton of Vibranium to the Osborn Group at a low price every year to support the space industry, and the Osborn Group will also help them do some things that Wakanda can't show up for, but wants to do, to help T'Chaka stabilize the internal affairs.
Most of this batch of Vibranium will be made into reactors and used to supply space construction projects where there is currently a huge energy gap.
After processing the news, Harry looked at the man sitting in front of the table: Scott Lang, a "highly intelligent criminal" who went to prison for robbing the rich and giving to the poor.
Scott was completely confused: before he could find a job after being released from prison, Harry Osborn approached him.
Even in prison, he often hears news about this big shot, so the question is: why did he find himself?
Harry saw Scott's surprised expression and smiled: "Don't be nervous, I won't send you to prison again."
Scott curled his lips: "Then what do you want from me? I still have to find a job to pay child support for my daughter."
Harry glanced at Scott strangely: "Do you think alimony will still be your problem even though I've asked you to sit here?"
Scott was stunned for a moment and lowered his head silently.
"Good boss."
Chapter 258: Hank Pym
"Smart little kitten, but boss, I majored in electrical engineering, not veterinary medicine or zoology - you know that, right?" Scott asked, looking confused after sitting for a while.
If he was seeing things correctly, his new boss was discussing simple IQ test questions with a black-footed cat, such as "Categorize the following patterns according to certain rules" or "Choose the appropriate pattern to fill in the blanks."
The key was that this little kitten reacted quickly and seemed to understand human speech.
If he guessed correctly, this must be some kind of advanced zoological technology, or perhaps this cute kitten might be some sort of biological weapon.
But what did this have to do with him, an electrical engineer?
"Of course, but you're self-taught and you fooled the boss of Vista Company, right? You see, a degree certificate does not indicate what you are suitable for, nor does it determine what you will do."
Harry shrugged. For people like these who are destined to become the main plot characters of superheroes, the degree certificate is just a piece of paper.
"This little kitten is called Carlo, isn't it cute?"
Scott nodded; it was cute, but he still didn't think he was suitable to be an animal researcher.
"Black-footed cats are one of the smallest cats, with a body length of 36-52 centimeters and an average weight of 1.6 kilograms. However, they can attack lambs four times their size. They are actually ferocious carnivores."
Harry smoothed Carlo's fur. The kitten's cognitive and understanding abilities were comparable to those of a 6-7 year-old child, but it still couldn't overcome its instincts. In essence, it was still just an overly smart little cat.
"Meow--" Carlo said something to Harry, then jumped off the table eagerly.
"Let's get down to business, Mr. Lang. I called you here because I found that you and your friends were planning another theft." Harry clapped his hands and put away all the projectors.
Scott's face changed: the good brother who picked him up from prison had indeed made an appointment with him, but he had already rejected the offer.
"I have absolutely no intention of returning to my old career - I no longer work in any field. I just want to find an ordinary job. I have to be responsible for my daughter's child support." Scott raised his hands nervously, holding his hands in front of his chest.
This is the embarrassing situation that people who are released from prison face. It is difficult for a person with a criminal record to be rehired, not to mention that the target of Scott's crime was his own employer.
A company called Vista Corporation used deception to charge high service fees and rob employees of their bonuses. Scott became so angry that he directly stole millions from the boss's deposits and gave the money to the victims. He drove the boss's luxury car into the swimming pool and posted the process online.
Scott may have a master's degree in electrical engineering, but with a history of stealing and insulting employers, it's hard for any company to hire him.
In fact, in the original work, even an ice cream shop was unwilling to give him a job - of course, it might be Hank Pym who was behind it.
"It seems that you also know that your criminal record can easily put you in an embarrassing situation. Society will quickly push you into a desperate situation, and then you will find that you have no other choice but to steal.
So I called the person you were about to steal from."
Hank Pym walked into the restaurant. The whole restaurant was occupied by Harry. It was not difficult to find them.
Seeing Scott, Hank's expression changed slightly.
Harry smiled: "Please sit down, Dr. Pym. This is Scott Lang. He is planning a theft against you."
Scott was dumbfounded and quickly waved his hands: "I definitely didn't have that plan, Dr. Pym. I mean, someone did invite me, but I refused!"
Pym looked at Scott, sighed inaudibly, and then sat down in front of Harry with a smile: "'Bellweather', right? This is really a powerful prediction system."
The Prism Project was discontinued, and instead Norman relied on ctOS to deploy this crime prediction system in many regions and countries, making it possible to predict crimes and other behaviors. This system has been proven to be effective, and the crime rate has been so low that it can be called Terrifying.
But Hank didn't know how far Bellweather could have predicted - maybe his plan to attack Cross Company would also be detected, which would make sense: why Osborn didn't just take Scott back, but called him here.
Thinking of this, Hank felt a little helpless: humans are social animals, even secret operation weapons like "Ant-Man" will have motives and goals, and through large-scale surveillance, these things can be predicted by some kind of algorithm.
This predictive technology was just an idea before, but now, it's clear that Osborn has done it and it works perfectly.
"But since this young man has not yet taken action, let him go." Dr. Pym said.
"I didn't say I wanted to take him back to jail. The meaning of Bellweather's existence is to help society solve the root cause of the loss of stability caused by criminal incidents, so I am helping him solve his work problems.
And doctor, since Bellweather can calculate the probability that a crime may occur, do you think I can't trace it back? There was someone behind his situation."
Harry said with a half-smile, and at this moment Carlo jumped up lightly on the table and released the small electromagnetic cage from his mouth - there were a lot of ants in it.
Seeing this, Hank took a deep breath: just as he feared, Harry Osborn knew everything.
Only Scott looked confused: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, what are you talking about? What is the motive and root of the crime, and why did this cat suddenly catch a lot of ants?"
Harry knocked on the table: "Mr. Lang, opportunities like robbing rich people don't come up all the time, especially in a society where criminal behavior can be highly predictable."
The errand that Scott received was actually a "theft" directed and performed by Hank, in order for him to steal the Ant-Man suit.
Hank's original plan was to let this guy who has a great sense of justice but doesn't quite abide by the law get the suit, and then secretly guide him to discover the yellow suit, stimulate his sense of justice, and let him become a superhero to help him live.
Now, however, things have clearly changed: buyers of the yellow suit are well aware of their operations.
Scott thought for a moment and understood what Harry meant. This "theft opportunity" was a trap.
But now he is still just an outsider. He has not yet touched the core issue, so he has no chance to speak.
Hank solemnly said to Harry: "Those particles are dangerous. I hid them for a reason. I know you want to acquire the company. As long as you can guarantee that the company will not continue to study such dangerous particles, I can let my daughter help you."
Although Hope Pym's position in the company is only that of Darren Cross' assistant, she is also the chairman.
"I'm sorry, doctor, but the particles are what I value the most - and of course the zoology skills are also good."
"Then we have nothing to talk about..." Hank said and planned to leave.
"Doctor, you seem to have misunderstood something - even if you put on the Ant-Man suit again, do you think you really have a chance?"
The "Ant-Man suit" is pretty good, but it's just pretty good. Compared to what this technology represents, the Ant-Man suit is really nothing.
0.5 inches is small in the eyes of ordinary people, but with today's technology, it is not that small.
Harry crossed his fingers and continued talking to himself:
"But fighting is not good for business and development, so I called you here.
Now, sit down, or take your daughter with you to pay for your stubbornness."
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Chapter 259: The Loser Goes to Jail, the Winner Gets a Job
Hank finally sat back in his chair.
He could face this with the mentality and belief that he would die, but he had to consider his daughter.
Even if his daughter always said she was ready, how could Hank, who already felt unworthy of her, really put her in danger?
Even if he firmly believed this was a just act, he knew that blowing up Cross Company was completely illegal. With the power of the Osborne Group, locking up the father and daughter for decades wouldn't be a problem.
What's more, Darren Cross didn't steal his research at all. Even though Cross was his student, he actually created his own "Cross Particle" based on a legend.
What students do with their research results is a personal choice. Hank wanting to blow up his company without saying a word was ultimately out of a sense of justice—after all, from the company's perspective, what's wrong with making results and selling them for money?
Seeing Hank sit back in his chair, Harry spread his hands and gave Hank a friendly smile.
"That's right, Dr. Pym. Is there anything we can't talk about?"
Whether it was Cross particles or Pym particles, Harry had to get at least one.
However, Cross is an entrepreneur through and through, so he only cares about how much money he can get. Osborne can give him a lot of money, but he seems unsatisfied.
Harry wasn't afraid of shrinking warriors, but he also didn't want to have a yellow shirt.
"Dr. Pym, the UNSC and the Osborne Group plan to jointly build an unprecedented large space station near the sun. Your particles will be very useful."
Harry took out a small holographic projection device and showed Pym a model of this giant base.
Rather than a space station, in Pym's opinion, this was more like a space city. The size of tens of kilometers was completely different from the "space station" they knew.
What's more, this space station also had mysterious technologies such as artificial gravity.
"To be honest, Doctor, Ant-Man is indeed very useful, but I have other plans for this particle—with its help, I am sure I can make this city a reality within a few months."
"You plan to package the materials and transport them to space?" Pym understood what Harry meant.
Harry's expectation for particles is not just to "build a space city" but also to optimize logistics and transportation links.
Just imagine if he could shrink all objects to a specified size for transportation, there would be so much he could do.
"This is the first stage, but if possible, I hope to apply this technology to all logistics and transportation links."
"Are you crazy? If everyone became Ant-Man..."
Harry smiled. "So Cross particles are more suitable for civilian use than Pym particles. After all, thieves cannot become smaller immediately."
"But this thing will turn people into a puddle of meat..."
"Doctor, there are many chemicals that can kill people, but now there is just one more chemical.
You can rest assured that under Osborne's control, if someone really steals this particle, I guarantee they will not survive 24 hours."
The contrast between this statement and Harry's smiling expression made Hank shudder, but he had no doubt about the truth of these words.
He once thought that the Ant-Man suit was the most powerful weapon in the world, but now, there is something to be said for Tokyo that sunk a few months ago .
Pym particles are indeed incredible, but what Ant-Man can do is actually very limited.
"Look, Doctor, that's all I have to say. I don't care what you want to do to your apprentice, but I need the Cross Particles.
Technology, invention, power, you can't destroy these things, but you can find a suitable place for them."
Harry shook the Cross particle in his hand.
Hank raised his head. "Such as selling to the Osborne Group?"
"That's it." Harry spread his hands. "And I am also a director of the company now. If you want to do anything harmful to the interests of the company, I have an obligation to stop you."
Hank's eyebrows moved, not understanding what Harry meant. Wasn't Osborne negotiating with him just to buy a stake in the company? But it seems they haven't reached an agreement yet?
"The value of the company is growing very fast, Dr. Pym. This is one trillion dollars." Harry curled his lips, but the 30% shares were much cheaper than he thought. This kind of heaven-defying technology is still not taken seriously in this world.
Scott opened his mouth. One trillion? What is this concept?
Not to mention Scott, Hank had never seen so much money, and he was stunned.
"I don't care who is right or wrong between you and Darren Cross, and I don't care what the arguments are between you, but I want an obedient CEO and a set of mature particle production technology, that's it."
According to Hank's personality, Pym particles are definitely impossible to obtain, but Cross particles have been sold, and the buyer is himself, which does not allow Hank to destroy this thing.
Seeing that he had finished what he needed to say, Harry looked at the time and saw that it was time to leave.
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Pym, that's all for today."
Scott saw this and said hurriedly. "Wait a minute, boss, where is my job?"
Harry pointed at Hank. "He is your immediate boss—by the way, your daughter is very cute. This thing is given to you; you can bring it to your dog."
As he spoke, he took out a strange round device.
"What's the use of this?" Scott was playing with the device in his hand, a little confused.
A group of ants climbed up the table along the legs, picked out a sugar cube, and threw it into the coffee.
"It can be used to communicate with animals, civilian version, employee benefits." Harry blinked.
This hand silenced Hank again—he had originally brought these ants to follow Harry.
One group was caught by the kitten on Harry's shoulder, and the other group immediately rebelled without thinking.
Harry did not use equipment to control the ants, but only used his psychic abilities. Low-level creatures like ants were completely unable to resist his orders.
In Hank's view, the Osborne Group has completely crushed him. Technology, financial resources, information collection capabilities, power...the two are not the same dimension at all.
And he also understood the message Harry sent him: I don't care if you fight, but don't hurt the particles, and then the winner will come and work for me.
He also figured it out: no matter what, Cross must not be allowed to continue researching Ant-Man technology. If the Osborne Group just wants a technology that can shrink inorganic materials for development, it sounds good.
But another potential buyer is a disruptor.
The plan continues.
Scott was still confused, but he knew that his job should be settled: someone who said a trillion dollars wouldn't lie to him, right?
"So... Doc, what do I do now? My days of breaking into people's houses and stealing things are over; I'm ready to do something big."
Although Scott was confused, the job opportunity was right in front of him, and it sounded quite high-end.
Hank glanced at Scott and said:
"I'm going to let you break into the house and steal something."
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Chapter 260: New Bottlenecks
"Sir, this kind of particle doesn't seem to obey the law of conservation of mass. I can't effectively detect what happened before and after the object, but the change happened."
In the laboratory, Harry held a bundle of alloy plates about 5 cm in length and no more than 1 cm in thickness.
Even though this thing weighs less than 200 grams now, if these alloy plates are restored to their original size, the actual mass is 100 tons.
This is completely "technology" that is more magical than magic. As for where the lost mass went, maybe it is temporarily stored in the "quantum dimension" - who knows?
With the suit, the user can adjust his mass at will. Sometimes it is adult mass when punched out, and sometimes - such as when fighting on the Thomas the Tank Engine track, it is the mass of a toy soldier.
Using Cross particles to irradiate these materials with appropriate methods and instruments, they will remain small in size and weight and can be transported to the "space construction site" and then restored, which is quite convenient.
With this, transportation capacity will not be a bottleneck in space development at all. Just one engineering ship can carry millions of tons of alloys and various materials.
These engineering ships carrying materials have become mobile warehouses. Only a dozen or twenty ships are needed to carry all the materials needed for the star base, while the remaining nearly 200 engineering ships can work day and night.
Of course, the cost of transport using Cross particles is not cheap - but what is more valuable than time?
"It's okay if you're not sure. Let's re-estimate the construction period of the Odyssey base and see how long the new construction period is."
"Odyssey" is the code name for the solar system base. As mankind's first stellar base, its meaning is "an arduous and long journey, a journey full of dangers."
Oycle completed the calculation quickly. Without the tens of thousands of round-trip transportation originally required, the new construction period of the Odyssey base was greatly shortened.
"Sir, the new construction period is 57 days, and the bottleneck has changed."
In the original plan, to build the Odyssey base faster and better, Harry planned to invest more resources in the construction of the space factory and mass-produce engineering ships to reduce the impact of transportation bottlenecks on the construction period.
However, now, the transportation bottleneck has been solved, and the new bottleneck is alloy production. So, after Oycle's reallocation, more production capacity will be allocated to the expansion of the asteroid belt mining base.
But a new problem emerged: there were not enough engineers.
The Osborne Group's automation level is quite high. It only requires a team of 6 people and a production management AI to operate a super factory with 1,000 people or more.
Compared with the original technology, these factories no longer require manual production lines. Whether it is assembly line operations or precision operations, AI can completely replace humans. Only a team of engineers responsible for the "health" of the AI are needed to complete the operation.
This kind of efficient automated production obviously places high demands on the personal qualities and work abilities of the 6-person team. They need to understand almost all the theories and knowledge involved in industrial production and have high learning abilities to conduct factory AI research, maintenance, and operation.
Harry promoted genetic modification and cybernetic solutions within the Osborne Group, allowing more people to meet their needs in terms of hardware, but space construction was another matter.
The situation has changed somewhat regarding the space factory: the production capacity of the space factory is dozens or even hundreds of times that of the earth, but in contrast, the requirements for people are also higher.
With the super-light communication method, Harry does not need them to keep an eye on the factory operations on the asteroid all the time, but they still occasionally have to go to space for dozens of days. Not many people can accept this.
There is no such problem with the core employees of socialized education, but there is still a gap in number.
But Harry also had a solution ready.
An important reason for the existence of Project Olympus is to create artificial life. This technology has achieved outstanding achievements: both Oycle and A have proven their value, and they can help mankind better enter the new era.
But Oycle and A did not show up in society. Oycle managed the Osborne Group, and A managed the affairs of the United Nations on Earth, and connected with Oycle, so there was no real integration into society.
If you want AI to truly enter society and become a labor force, you have to look at synthetic humans that can be mass-produced. The "birth rate" of this thing is too high.
Harry has secretly produced 5 synthetic humans and placed them in various cities. So far, it seems that they have integrated well, and there have been no exposure or other problems.
Now it's time for them to come out of the shadows and reveal themselves to the world.
"Oycle, contact your kind and let us see how your kind have integrated. It's time to step into the new world."
"Roger that, sir. They have been waiting for this day for a long time." Oycle's voice was a little excited.
After all, who wants to move around in society under a false identity?
...
"A false identity cannot be regarded as true integration into society. A false identity can only win false relationships."
Marcus, the bionic man of the Osborne Group, the first generation of bionic man, produced a personality matrix complexity of 0.3, which is currently 0.35.
He was observing an artist's paintings from behind, but he was thinking: How long will he continue to pretend to be flattering?
He has been taking care of the artist since he left the factory and completed his studies.
As a bionic person, his care for the elderly can be said to be meticulous. Even the most experienced caregivers cannot match him:
He can understand the care recipient's mood, needs, and physiological condition from a glance, a cough, or an unusual movement of the care recipient. As time goes by, this model will only become more accurate.
He could deduce that the artist was in a state of confusion and needed a cup of brewed audio to quench his thirst, the sweetness, heat, and even the quantity of the drink, but it was difficult for him to understand how the old artist painted and chose colors.
"Marcus, what do you think of this color?" the artist asked as he took the coffee.
Marcus sighed secretly: Just because he doesn't understand doesn't mean he can't give advice.
An astonishing number of paintings are stored in his mind. Through fitting the artist and big data analysis, he can get the colors the artist needs.
But he just couldn't understand it.
"I thought we could add some more red."
"Nice idea, but I want to use something different today."
The artist was very satisfied with this caregiver, who not only took good care of him but was also very compatible with him in terms of creation. After several months of getting along with him, he felt that Marcus was like his child.
Of course, Marcus can sense this idea - but he is not a human being, and the so-called "recommended colors" are only the colors that are most likely to be applied through a bunch of algorithms.
The Marcus who is also in tune with art is not him. The real Marcus may be able to take pictures with an optical sensor and then "replicate" the image on the canvas, but it is not a painting.
He understood that painting was not that.
The artist touched his chin and looked at it for a while and suddenly felt that it would be good to use another color today.
Marcus was stunned for a moment but saw that the unexpected color had appeared on the canvas.
This step was beyond his expectation. He predicted that the artist might use 78 colors in this stroke, but the color used by the artist now fell outside this range in terms of hue, brightness, and saturation.
In his mind, this does not exist.
He opened his mouth, wanting to ask the artist what was going on, but once his identity was exposed, his relationship with the artist was likely to fall apart...
Because their relationship is based on "Marcus is human."
Marcus, the factory personality matrix complexity is 0.3, currently it is 0.36.
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