Hold on a second!
Adam shuddered, his spine instantly going limp.
What? A radio telescope? How much does that cost? Besides, I heard that's basically top-level state secret stuff. You can't just buy one!
Sophia immediately made Adam realize it wasn't about the money at all: "The ones out there are way too lame. We need to build our own. If we're gonna explore the whole universe, let's start with a fifty-thousand-meter diameter one, just to make do..."
Teresa Teng's beautiful melody in his ears was suddenly muted, replaced by the Symphony of Fate in his heart. Cold sweat poured down Adam's back.
F-Fifty thousand meters?! Fifty kilometers?! Do you have any idea that your fifty-thousand-meter telescope could cover four entire downtown Washingtons?!
"Let's just stick with that for the first one."
The first one—for now?! Wait, there's more? This is just the first?!
The girl kept counting on her fingers, nearly giving Adam a heart attack: "Second, to explore fundamental physics models and improve micro-science, I designed a device called the Lunar Hadron Collider."
Hadron? Yeah, sounds pretty hardcore. So, how do we build it?
"To accelerate massive particles to near light speed, at the very least, you'd need to build a..." Sophia thought for a moment and concluded, "an accelerator ring with a circumference of about 13,000 kilometers."
Thirteen thousand kilometers? Let me crunch the numbers. With my encyclopedic knowledge and superhuman calculation skills, I can tell you, miss, that circumference is nothing! If you drew a circle on Earth, it’d barely wrap around the whole United States—maybe just about fit around Australia, that little pebble of a continent. Why so stingy? I’m the mighty head of the Zade family... Wait, who cares about the Zade family anyway!
Thirteen thousand kilometers? And it’s not just stacking bricks—it’s a high-tech, ultra-precise research device. You’d better ask God to build it for you!
Sophia kept counting on her fingers: "Third, to explore high interaction rates and advanced intelligent computation, I also need..."
Whoa, whoa, hold up! No more thirds! The first one already scared me silly!
Adam instantly grabbed the hand she was counting on, sweat popping out on his forehead. That soft little hand was terrifying—just one finger could make your heart skip a beat. Being the Zade family head means squat! This girl could give you a crash course in what it’s like to be dominated by a witch.
Sophia was puzzled. "What’s wrong?"
Adam started trembling all over. Yep, that’s right—just look at those pure, crystal-clear eyes. This girl isn’t joking. She really, truly wants to build a fifty-thousand-meter-diameter radio telescope and a particle collider with a circumference of thirteen thousand kilometers! With her personality, if she wants it, she’s gotta have it. She’ll wait, but she won’t compromise.
Thinking back to that promise—making dreams come true one by one? Buy whatever equipment she wants? Build the Tyberia Laboratory? Ha! I think our Zade family, just a bunch of country bumpkin millionaires, really can’t afford to build a cosmic wonder like that.
"Is there some kind of problem? We can figure it out together."
Girl, even if you’re so understanding, I still...
"Hey, why are you wearing that 'Unknown Type II' expression again?"
Am I wearing it? Guess my self-control isn’t quite there yet. Slap slap—Adam Zade patted his face, trying to smack away his 'Unknown Type II' look. He carefully chose his words, trying to hide the embarrassing fact that he’d just made big promises and instantly realized he couldn’t deliver on the girl’s wishes: "Such massive equipment..."
"Is it a funding problem?"
Yes, yes, yes, funding is definitely a problem—a huge problem! If I got the entire GDP of America, maybe it’d be a little less of an issue.
But I can’t say that out loud!
"Let’s not talk about funding for now..." Even though Adam was panicking inside, he had to keep up appearances: "Just finding a location for this equipment is tricky. Both devices take up way too much space."
Yep, rejecting it on feasibility—so clever. One would give America eagle eyes, the other would slap a magic band on it. Where on earth can you find a place like that?
"Besides, whether it’s a radio telescope or a particle collider, they both need super clean environments, right? Even if I’m not an expert, dust-free, interference-free, cloudless, disturbance-free—those are basics. Places like that are already rare, and with this much land needed, I doubt anywhere in the world fits the bill."
Phew... He let out a long sigh of relief. Finally managed to talk his way out of it. Objective difficulties—can’t blame me for that.
But when Sophia heard that, she clapped her hands and laughed: "Adam, don’t worry! I’ve already figured it out! I found a place—no approvals, no land fees, no worries about dust, atmosphere, or interference."
"Eh?" Adam was genuinely shocked. "There’s really a place like that? Where?" If you don’t have to pay land fees, my Zade family would be the first to rush in and start flipping real estate!
"Right there—" The girl pointed behind Adam: "That."
Adam turned his head and saw a big, round fake moon.
"Hmm..."
Adam’s EKG was as flat as that long, drawn-out "Hmm..."—not a blip.
After a long system crash, Adam finally managed to come up with the wildest idea: "You mean... the Moon?"
"Yep, the Moon! We’ll build the telescope and the accelerator ring on the Moon." The girl tilted her head, smiling so sweetly Adam almost had a nosebleed. "That solves everything~~"
"On the Moon... Is that even possible...?"
Sophia pumped her fist, full of energy: "Of course it’s possible! Trust me, I’ve got this!"
[You ask me how deep my love for you is]
[How much do I love you?]
[Go think about it, go take a look]
[The moon represents my heart...]
Teresa Teng’s voice slowly faded away, leaving Adam standing there with a look that said, "Is it me who’s wrong, or is it the whole world?" lost in the music.
This chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Click next page for more exciting content!
Next, from the spring of 1981, the Tyberia Laboratory officially began preparations. The chosen location was the same old warehouse used when Tyberia Technologies was first founded. Sure, Adam couldn’t actually build a radio telescope on the moon, but buying up this warehouse and transforming it? Piece of cake.
In the blink of an eye, the property was transferred. The old warehouse started to change, and amid the roar of machinery, a high-tech laboratory rose from the ground.
For such a huge investment, there were some grumblings within the Zade family, but Adam squashed them all. The newly appointed family head didn’t have much clout yet, but he went all-in to support Sophia. Because, while planning the lab, Sophia said something that made his heart skip a beat.
Here’s how it happened.
"Look, here’s my blueprint." Sophia slapped a huge drawing onto the table. The two Tyberia Tech bigshots leaned over it, heads together, studying the plans: "As shown, my design for the lab needs four main teams to tackle four directions for the first phase."
I couldn’t make heads or tails of the diagram, so Adam just asked straight-up: "Which four?"
"First, the Lunar Tide Team, focused on exploring both the macro and micro universe—high-speed states, high-mass states, particle physics, you name it. Plus, we’ll build equipment on the Moon. The whole operation—Lunar Tide Project."
Not this one—this one just made Adam’s gums ache.
"Second, the Cybertron Team, focused on developing ultra-fast interaction and high-performance computing support devices. Main goal: design a faster processing core to handle the workload and create new experimental equipment."
Not this one either—Adam thought about it for ages, then realized: basically, just build computers.
"Third, the Keystone Team. Any scientific research needs tools, and the most important tool is math. I’ll recruit math experts to build mathematical models and push theoretical research forward to support future development."
Still not this one—Adam thought it over and got it: just hire people to crunch numbers.
"Fourth, the Manchester Team—this one’s simple." Sophia straightened up. "Bottom line, you can’t do research without money, so the Manchester Team’s job is to cash in on the results and let Adam make money."
Yes! That was the line that made Adam’s heart soar: "Make money?"
"Exactly! Didn’t we say it before?" Sophia made a money gesture, grinning mischievously. "We’re going to make the most money in the world! The four teams can’t start all at once—we’ll go one by one, easiest first, so the fourth team gets moving. Then the third team needs to recruit fast, and the second can start working too. As for the first team, we’ll hold off until the conditions are right to break ground on the Moon."
"Yes yes yes, great plan, great idea!" Adam cheered, clapping. "I trust you with the lab! So, when does the fourth team start?"
"Right now." Sophia handed Adam a stack of stuff: "As Tyberia Lab’s chief researcher, I appoint you leader of the fourth team. You can assemble it however you want. Now go make us rich—I’m off to recruit for the other teams."
YEAH-SIR! ROGER-THAT-SIR!
Newly appointed fourth team leader Adam Zade grabbed his stack of files and dashed off, grinning from ear to ear. He couldn’t understand a word of those documents, but they were packed with endless business opportunities. He swore he’d build the strongest fourth team ever. Recruit talent, scoop up geniuses, dig gold from between Sophia’s fingers—money, money, money! Someday, I’ll reach for the stars!