Chapter 507: Extremely Romantic

Before the first rays of sunlight could even pierce the gaps between skyscrapers and awaken the city's overworked masses, a giant firework spanning the Atlantic Ocean had already exploded on the headlines of major news outlets.
Su Hao stared expressionlessly at the endlessly looping live broadcast clip in the morning news.
On the screen, a rocket carrying humanity's dreams of reaching for the stars, trailing a dazzling trail of flame, soared majestically into the sky like a giant cigar lit by God himself…
However, under the watchful eyes of the world…
BOOM—!!
With a deafening roar, the rocket, like a firecracker thrown into the air by a mischievous child, exploded into a spectacular burst of fireworks, fragments scattering like celestial blossoms, a breathtakingly romantic spectacle!
The owner of this "giant cigar" was none other than the tech visionary known worldwide for his eccentricities and unconventional thinking—Elon Musk.
His ambitious "low Earth orbit rocket" test project, under the world's watchful eyes, turned into a multi-billion dollar fireworks display.
"...Nevertheless, Musk and his SpaceT company don't consider it a failure."
The financial commentator on the screen was spouting nonsense with a straight face,
"On the contrary, in a subsequent interview, he stated, 'We learned a lot, and next time, we will never repeat the same mistake!'"
These words were even more defiant than the rocket explosion itself.
And precisely because of this, this earth-shattering "fireworks show" had no real impact on the stock price of Musk's other publicly traded company, Tesla.
After all, SpaceT is not yet publicly listed, and in business, launching rockets and building electric cars are completely different things.
The capital market tacitly viewed it as a madman's personal gamble.
"It's widely believed that the rocket project led by SpaceT, despite its bumpy road, will ultimately achieve its goal.
In fact, it has already achieved numerous milestones in technology."
Those financial analysts, one after another, spoke with great confidence, as if they were the chief designers of the rocket.
SpaceT is relentlessly pursuing a technology that could revolutionize the entire space age—a fully reusable rocket!
What does that mean?
After launch, the boosters separate like trash, and these "trash" segments can even have eyes, accurately returning to base, being cleaned, and reused next time.
Once this technology is realized, launch costs will be ridiculously low, practically turning space launches into taking a bus.
"In other words, a rocket that can travel to and from space like a commercial airliner—that's SpaceT's chilling ultimate blueprint."
And the final destination of these "space buses" is only one—Mars!
"To be honest, at first when I heard Musk talking about going to Mars all the time, I thought it was just viral marketing to grab attention.
But now it seems this guy is serious; he really plans to create another human civilization beyond Earth."
Liu Bo, standing beside Su Hao, couldn't help but complain.
Su Hao simply smiled faintly.
The line between madness and genius is often thin.
And this Musk was clearly a ruthless individual who repeatedly teetered on that line.
A quick glance at his seemingly unrelated companies reveals the blatantly clear underlying theme of his madness.
He owns a company that specializes in digging tunnels, ostensibly to solve urban traffic problems.
Isn't this what they'd use to build underground cities for future Martian colonies when humans can no longer survive on the surface?
He's also shown an almost fanatical interest in Bitcoin, a decentralized digital gold.
Why is that?
It's simple. Once the Martian colony is established, it will be a completely new world, not belonging to any nation on Earth.
At that time, a new currency, uncontrolled by the old world's hegemony, will be the inevitable choice.
Beyond these, there's the robot army responsible for scouting and building bases, the rocket company serving as interstellar transportation, the electric vehicle company offering alternative energy sources, and the Starlink network that will provide seamless internet access from any corner of the Earth…
Each of his companies and projects is like a meticulously crafted puzzle piece, seemingly unrelated, yet all pointing to the same grand and breathtaking ultimate goal—the terraforming of Mars!
However, what's most astonishing in this world isn't Musk's madness, but rather…
Behind all these insane ideas lies a ghostly figure.
Fanghuan Investment!
Su Hao is the most mysterious and generous financial backer behind Musk's crazy plans!
"Musk originally wanted to develop his own artificial intelligence, but it is clear that Fang Huan directly invested in his two core lifelines, 'SpaceT' and 'Starlink,' which made him very sensible."
Liu Bo reported,
"He has completely halted his own AI research and development, and instead announced that he will use our GPT as the highest technical interface for in-depth cooperation."
Su Hao nodded, not surprised.
On one hand, Fang Huan is a continuous source of funding, a major investor he can't afford to offend;
On the other hand, GPT's performance is iterating and evolving at a speed that leaves all its competitors feeling hopeless.
Musk knew very well that starting to catch up now wasn't just a matter of losing at the starting line; it meant they couldn't even see the track anymore.
Just recently, Close AI released the world-shaking GPT-4 to the public.
But only a very few people knew that within Fang Huan's organization, an even higher version of GPT, with far superior performance, had already been deployed.
The singularity of artificial intelligence was within reach.
"Continue with the investment, as long as they ask," Su Hao casually instructed.
"We can't predict how far this project will ultimately develop, but for now, we're thoroughly enjoying the Starlink project, aren't we?"
Indeed, the biggest beneficiary of Starlink's global, seamless communication capabilities was Fang Huan's mysterious "Wildfire" unit.
In those desolate, signal-deprived wilderness areas, it was "Wildfire's" only eyes and ears.
Not only that, even the employees of the Fanghuan Foundation, who were stationed deep in remote and impoverished areas, regarded it as a lifesaver.
"By the way, Chairman Su," Liu Bo changed the subject, "there's been new progress regarding the ESG Association that our foundation is spearheading."
"Oh? How is it?"
"With the group's assistance, the association's basic framework and bylaws have been established.
Now, only the most crucial step remains: determining the candidates for the core positions.
The group has sent over the final list of candidates; please make your decision."