Chapter 123: Everything After the New Year (1/10)

PS: Ten chapters today, please show your support!

After boarding the speedboat that Zhulan had arranged in Zhucheng, it only took a few hours to return to Laicheng. It was already the middle of the night when he arrived back at Fantasy Technology. Zhulan dismissed the others and collapsed into bed; the day of flying back and forth had exhausted him.

The next day, Zhulan didn't wake up until noon. Looking at the bright sun outside, he smiled helplessly. He got up to brush his teeth and wash his face. Kong Yan had already placed breakfast—or perhaps it should be called lunch—on the table, and Zhulan began to eat slowly. Since the founding of Fantasy Technology, he had grown accustomed to being alone—eating alone, sleeping alone, and watching the stars alone at night.

"Boss, Manager Lan has urged you nineteen times already!"

Zhulan, who was in the middle of eating a bun, paused. He shook his head and continued eating. "Did she say what it was about?"

"Governor Liu wants you to go to Chenwen Port to take a look and see if there are any other requirements for the layout. The stage at the shipyard is ready, and they hope you can inspect it. Michael Bay will arrive this afternoon!"

"Mmh!" Zhulan replied vaguely, his mouth still full of the bun. Kong Yan was already used to Zhulan's ways; she finished speaking and stood to the side without another word.

After finishing his breakfast—let's call it breakfast—Zhulan changed his clothes and headed out, where his car was already waiting.

"Manager Lan, go and pick him up yourself! I'm heading to Chenwen Port now to take a look," Zhulan said, calling Lan Tianxin as he sat down in the car.

Seeing the time, Lan Tianxin knew Zhulan had only just woken up. But she was already used to her boss. She nodded helplessly. "I understand, Boss."

"Alright, is everything fine at the company?"

"No? Honestly, Boss, can't you get up a little earlier?"

Zhulan gave an awkward laugh. "Next time, next time, I'll definitely get up early!"

Lan Tianxin rolled her eyes. As if his words could be trusted! But since he was her boss, she didn't wait for him to speak further and hung up the video call, out of sight, out of mind.

Zhulan offered a wry smile but said nothing. Fantasy Technology was growing, and the workload on Lan Tianxin was increasing. Zhulan had long noticed that she had too much to handle every day. It was impossible for one woman to manage everything, so he had already instructed Red Queen to start restructuring the company, preparing to decentralize after the New Year.

The plan was to establish the Fantasy Group, with several subsidiaries underneath it. Lan Tianxin would be promoted from General Manager of Fantasy Technology to President of the Fantasy Group. This was something Zhulan had planned from the start.

To date, the group consisted of Fantasy Biological Manufacturing, Fantasy Mechanical Manufacturing, Canglan Shipyard, War Club, and Fantasy Film. Currently, the heads of these companies were juggling multiple roles; Zhulan didn't have enough staff to distribute the responsibilities yet. He had to wait until after the New Year, once the assessments were complete and the Fantasy Group was formally established, to train the personnel and implement a proper group management structure.

As Zhulan pondered the restructuring, the car slowly reached Haicheng. Instead of entering the city, they headed straight to Chenwen Port.

"Boss, we've arrived."

"Oh? We're here?" Zhulan looked out, and sure enough, rows of port cranes stood before him. Pushing the door open and stepping out, he saw thousands of people working on a vast empty space.

"Mr. Zhu, you're here?" Several people, seeing his car, hurried over to greet him.

"Director Fang, long time no see!"

"You flatter me, Mr. Zhu!"

"Is Governor Liu not here?"

"Mr. Zhu, the Governor had other business and left for the provincial government three hours ago."

Zhulan nodded and walked toward the construction site. Fang He, a deputy director of the provincial government office, was someone Zhulan had met a few times; he was a trusted aide to Liu Binghe.

"When is it expected to be completed?"

"The preliminary work will be finished in twenty days. By January 25th, everything should be done, and we can start installing the equipment. If all goes well, we will finish all preparations by February 4th, just waiting for the ceremony to begin!"

Zhulan nodded in satisfaction. He was currently standing in the third phase of the Chenwen Port development. It was intended to be a super freight terminal, and they had essentially created four massive plots of land out of the sea. It was a giant area made of these four segments, with water channels over a dozen meters wide between them, allowing cargo ships to enter and exit. This "four-by-four" layout allowed ships to approach from any direction.

When designing the land reclamation, they had accounted for sea waves by building the ground five to eight meters above sea level. Originally, the freight center was supposed to be built nearby, but due to relocation disputes, they had opted to build it directly on the sea. This incident had become quite famous at the time. When news of the port expansion broke, many people rushed to buy land and build houses, hoping for exorbitant compensation.

It was the first project Liu Binghe pushed after taking office. The news had been leaked by his predecessors, and Liu was furious. He spent eight months trying to negotiate, but the squatters wouldn't budge. The original budget was 1.5 billion, but their demands would have pushed it to 3 billion. Liu Binghe had begged the central government for special subsidies, and every penny had to be stretched. Infuriated, he decided to spend 3.7 billion to build this massive artificial landmass instead.

The cost was higher, but the port's efficiency was vastly improved. Building on the sea meant moving further out, where the water was deeper, making it easier for large ships to pass without the risk of hitting reefs. They didn't have to worry about clearing coastal rocks, as the deep water meant even super-tankers were safe. The increased cost had its advantages.

It was precisely because the third phase featured a four-way water layout that Zhulan decided to use ships as a stage, creating a flat, open platform. This way, the tens of thousands of spectators on each of the four sides could see the stage clearly. Zhulan also planned to use virtual imaging technology—which had only been teased at a press conference—to project the stage's activity perfectly above the four land plots, creating an experience as if the audience were right in front of the stage. He would, of course, ensure the high-definition quality was as good as possible.

Liu Binghe's original plan only accounted for 100,000 people, but Zhulan's proposal was so wild that, after seeing the technology, Liu agreed.

Fang He led Zhulan to a nearby large shipyard, where he could clearly see an 80,000-ton super-freighter that had been stripped of its top, modified into a stage. It was an unfinished ship, one of the new vessels planned for the Shengtang Shipping fleet next year. Zhulan had paid 40 million in conversion fees to gain temporary use of it. It could have bought a new ship, but after the ceremony, it would be dismantled and rebuilt according to the original plan.

The demolition costs alone would be over 30 million. Building is easy, but dismantling is hard! If done improperly, the ship would be ruined. Don't think dismantling is simple; in many ways, it's harder than building. Why do many countries let retired warships rust in ports rather than scrap them? Because the cost of dismantling is so high it’s prohibitive, forcing them to let the assets go to waste.

After 3:00 PM, Zhulan left Chenwen Port and returned to the company.

"Kong Yan, how is the progress on the launch ships?"

"The four ships are 35% complete. They are expected to be ready by February 6th."

"Good, go supervise them yourself. I don't want any accidents with that equipment!"

The launch ships were also four 80,000-ton super-freighters, but these were derelict vessels that had sunk after hitting reefs and were deemed unusable after salvage. Zhulan had managed to acquire them, replaced their engines, gutted the interiors, and reinforced the steel plating to withstand the high-heat shock of the launches. The launchers themselves used a new hydraulic system derived from Skynet war machinery, allowing for rapid-fire capabilities.

These weren't simple mobile launchers; if a launch vehicle was like a colonial-era cannon, these ship-mounted devices were like WWII main batteries, featuring auto-loading and using the best steel from the Canglan base. Theoretically, they could fire four shots per minute. With six launchers per ship, that made twenty-four launchers across four ships, plus the four mobile launch vehicles, for a total of twenty-eight launchers firing simultaneously. They could cover an area thirty kilometers long; the impact would be absolutely stunning.

Beyond the "Suns," there was also 120 million worth of fireworks for the gala. Ordinary fireworks could be released from land, but the "Suns" had to be launched from the sea—further away, but clearly visible.

"Understood!"

"Qite should be back soon, right?"

Kong Yan's eyes flickered. "Expected arrival in three days!"

Zhulan nodded. It was time for Qite to return. If things went well, Qite would be put in charge of the War Club, a project in which Zhulan had invested great hope. It was also time to accelerate the quantum communication satellite project. After the New Year, many things would start moving at rocket speed!