Chapter 384 Feeling Good About Yourself

Just as the two were worried and packed their bags to return home, Duke suddenly received a call.

"Mr. Hamish? Hello, hello!"

"... I understand. I'm out of town now and will be back to Nunavut in about two days!"

"..."

After Duke hung up the phone, he was still confused.

Byrne couldn't help asking, "Who is Hamish?"

"Head of ExxonMobil's investment department, they want to invest in us!"

"ExxonMobil?!"

"Yes!"

Duke couldn't help pacing back and forth in the room excitedly: "They plan to invest 100 million US dollars in us first, and then add more depending on the situation!"

"With Mobil's investment, we will definitely become the world's first company to complete a commercial controlled nuclear fusion reactor! What about China and Kangchi, let them go to hell!"

The two excitedly flew away from China and rushed to Irving, Texas to discuss investment matters.

Of course, Mobil's money is not so easy to get.

According to Mobil's analysis, the current total investment of General Fusion is at most 50 million, so they asked for an additional investment of 100 million and a share of 66% of General Fusion's shares.

Duke was immediately furious when he heard Mobil's lion's mouth.

Not only could he not accept such a condition, but the Maple Leaf Energy Department and Amazon were even less likely to agree.

Especially Amazon, they originally just wanted to keep General Fusion in a half-dead state, betting on a plan to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle,

But with the addition of Mobil, things became complicated.

Finally, after many rounds of negotiations among the four parties, Mobil agreed to pay only 50 million in exchange for 20-30% of General Fusion's shares.

The reason why it is a floating share is that Duke and them signed a bet agreement.

If General Fusion can successfully ignite by the end of this year, Mobil will take the initiative to give 10% of its shares to Duke, accounting for only 20%.

On the contrary, they will not only hold 30% of the shares, but will continue to invest 50 million to buy Duke's 21% shares, thus becoming the actual person in charge of General Fusion.

It can also be seen from this that Mobil's goal from the beginning to the end is to buy the entire General Fusion.

In fact, Mobil does not care whether General Fusion can complete ignition before the end of the year.

As Academician Zhong Weijian analyzed, the outside world may not know much about the magnetized target device, but after professional evaluation and analysis, they are very clear that General Fusion's LM-26 has very serious limitations.

The ultra-low operating efficiency leads to the fact that even if the LM-26 is successfully ignited, the Q value breaks through the historic 1 and reaches an astonishing 5.9,

but it is still a long way from true commercialization.

And this distance is where the real money is burned...

It may be billions of dollars, or it may be hundreds of billions or even hundreds of billions.

At that time, it is not something that Mobil can afford to play with,

So they can only play with the early stage,

Use a small 100 million to fight for the future of controlled nuclear fusion, and at the same time consolidate their dominant position in the energy field.

At least, in public opinion and the capital market, it gives people an illusion: Mobil is about to master controlled nuclear fusion and become a well-deserved energy overlord.

That's enough.

Anyway, ordinary people knowing the Q value is already the limit of knowledge, and it's too easy to fool them...

Amazon is actually happy to see their bet, because their purpose is just to invest and make money.

Once the return on this investment reaches their expectations, they can sell it at any time.

The addition of Mobil will only make General Fusion more valuable, and Amazon, which has done nothing, will only benefit from it.

Why not?

On the second day after the investment plan was finalized, Mobil, Amazon and General Fusion held a joint press conference.

General Fusion CEO Duke announced Mobil's joining to the public at the press conference with great joy, and constantly emphasized that China's line changes and Mobil's joining are the best proof of the correctness of the magnetized target route.

"General Fusion currently holds 698 technical patents for magnetized target fusion devices, and the proportion of technical patents in the field of magnetized targets is as high as 82%, making it the absolute leader in the field of magnetized target research."

"And Mobil has always been a leading company in the energy field. With their support, General Fusion will undoubtedly continue to maintain and expand its leading edge in the field of controlled nuclear fusion magnetized target research!"

"We plan to conduct the first ignition experiment of Lawson Machine-26 before the end of this year. This will be an experiment that can truly ignite the light of hope for civilization. Please wait and see!"

"..."

Under the joint control of Mobil and Amazon, this news soon became a hot news in the M continent.

Including the M country's Energy Bureau, Wall Street and other major departments and institutions, they can't help but focus on this originally inconspicuous small company.

Although Duke only emphasized Huaguo and Kangchi once when he emphasized the correctness of the magnetized target route, it can be seen from his subsequent constant emphasis on the word "leading" that their actual ambition is to build a patented technical barrier for magnetized target nuclear fusion devices before Huaguo, and complete the technical blockade of China's controllable nuclear fusion field.

At a time when China has made breakthroughs in chip technology and has made major breakthroughs in batteries and aerospace lunar exploration, it is undoubtedly an exciting thing for them to have someone stand up and say that they want to snipe Huaguo once.

At least it feels more reliable than the Energy Bureau!

So on the afternoon of the day the news was released, the stock prices of Mobil and Amazon rose by 1.3% and 0.9% respectively!

This means that Mobil only spent 50 million to exchange for a market value of more than 100 billion US dollars for the two companies.

This benefit alone made the shareholders of the two companies smile from ear to ear.

Of course, the stock market has ups and downs. Every penny created by the financial market needs real support. Otherwise, when the bubble is burst, someone will pay a painful price for it...

However, for the Energy Bureau of the United States, Mobil's move made them feel relieved.

Anyway, they don't have to take the blame if it fails, and they can also benefit from it if it succeeds.

...

Pangu Base.

After learning that Yan Hui had returned from Xifei, Kang Chi immediately walked out of the assembly workshop. After taking off his sweat-soaked work clothes, he simply wiped the sweat with a towel, and then took a sip of the iced coffee prepared by Bai Niu in advance.

"Comfortable... Welcome back."

"Thank you."

Looking at Kang Chi with wet hair, to be honest, Yan Hui still admired him.

With Kang Chi's current status, he could actually sit in the office and command easily, without having to do it himself.

But Kang Chi always insisted on being at the forefront of work, and he never got tired of it...

The energy was so high that Yan Hui was under great pressure.

However, what Yan Hui didn't know was that Kang Chi sometimes wanted to be lazy, but every time he saw the few remaining mastery points, he completely lost the idea of ​​being lazy.

It was just like when he was playing games before, he felt uncomfortable when he saw the number of gold coins in the package was about to be cleared.

He just wanted the time to reach 12 o'clock quickly so that the system could quickly reset the daily tasks...

After returning the empty cup to Bai Niu, Kang Chi smiled and asked Yan Hui: "Have you finished the design plan for Xunlong?"

"Yes." Yan Hui took the drawings from the assistant and spread them out for Kang Chi to review.

"The aerodynamic layout of the exterior has not changed much, mainly the air intake and exhaust holes have been adjusted significantly, and the balance performance has theoretically improved by 12%."

Kang Chi took a few simple glances, then nodded and said, "As long as you think it's okay, we can officially start the manufacturing process tomorrow."

"Aren't you making Jinwu No. 1?" Yan Hui hesitated, "I heard that General Fusion has received support from Mobil and wants to be the first to establish a patent barrier for magnetized targets..."

"Making Xunlong will definitely take up a lot of base resources. Will it affect your progress?"

Kang Chi shook his head indifferently "Don't worry, I made 10 more Bainiu some time ago, which is enough for you. As for the general fusion..."

"They think that they can block the road with just one LM-26, which is too good to be true... If they make a rocket, then we make a rocket that can really go to space."

"Isn't it funny to expect to block the space rocket technology with a rocket patent? What's more, we don't know whether their rocket can be launched..."

Yan Hui actually only knew that Kang Chi was working on Jinwu No. 1, but he didn't know its specific technical standards.

Therefore, after hearing Kang Chi's analogy, he couldn't help but be surprised and asked, "Is the gap so big?"

"Almost." Kang Chi said confidently, "The technology from Pangu Base never needs to rely on patents to establish technical barriers."

"Just like solid-state batteries, they know the direction and must have taken our batteries for disassembly and research, but they have tried their best to think about it, but they just can't make it..."

"This is the highest and most desperate technical barrier!"

Looking at Kang Chi with a confident face, even Yan Hui, who has long been accustomed to it, couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "I'm not saying that I'm flattering, Mr. Kang's bragging is really endless!"

Yan Hui's exaggerated expression and movements made Kang Chi couldn't help but smile: "Okay, I won't brag to you anymore, I'm going to continue to be busy, you go back and have a good rest today."

"Okay."

...

Jiangbei Province, Yizhou City.

In a milk tea shop in Ziyun County, two women in their early thirties were sitting by the window, drinking milk tea and chatting.

Looking at the busy streets outside the window, the more fashionable-looking girl on the left couldn't help but sigh: "I remember when I was in high school, this was the most prosperous street in Ziyun. Now, almost 20 years have passed, and I can only come here to shop..."

"No way." Another woman wearing black-framed glasses and looking like a married woman put down her milk tea with a little helplessness and said, "There are only so many people in Ziyun, and there are more people who go out to develop than those who come from the countryside. After all the development, this place is still the most popular."

"Oh, I really envy you for not getting married yet, and you can go wherever you want. I guess I can't leave Ziyun in this life..."

"No, you will be free when the child grows up." The fashionable girl said with a smile, "The transportation in Ziyun is also very convenient now. When the plane of Dasong Air Transport arrives in Ziyun, it will probably take only half an hour to go to Luzhou, which is faster than taking the subway to work in Pengcheng."

"The plane of Dasong Air Transport? That will have to wait until the year of the monkey... But speaking of Dasong Air Transport, our old classmate is really amazing. Who would have thought that he would have today..."

"Yes, I was also shocked when I saw the news. I thought it was someone with the same name, but it turned out to be him... By the way, I heard that you organized a reunion for old classmates last year and invited him?"

"Well, what's the point of inviting him? He ignored us and made everyone very disappointed... But it would be better if you were here."

"What's the point of me?"

"Why are you pretending with me?" The young woman teased, "Everyone in the class knew that Kang Chi liked you."

"No way." The fashionable girl glared at the young woman with some shame and anger, "He just lent me an umbrella at the time, but Shen Lijun saw it and spread it everywhere..."

"Ahem..."

Just then, a man next to the two suddenly coughed dryly, came over and said with a smile: "Are you Kang Chi's classmates?"

The two women looked at the man with a little vigilance and did not answer.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't mean anything else..."

This man was Lai Qinglei, who was ordered to come to Ziyun to inquire about Kang Chi's gossip.

It was no coincidence that he appeared in this milk tea shop...

He took out a press card from his pocket: "Actually, I am a reporter from Jiangbei Metropolis Daily. This time I came to Ziyun because my boss asked me to write a report about Kang Chi's student days... I just happened to hear you discussing Kang Chi. Can I disturb you for a few minutes?"

After the two looked at his press card, they let go of most of their guard and answered doubtfully. : "Yes, we were classmates with Kang Chi, but we were only in the same class in the first year of high school. After the class division in the second year of high school, he went to... which class?"

"I think it was Class 16."

"Why do I remember it was Class 12?"

"Impossible, Bai Guijuan was in Class 12. I went to Class 12 every day to find her and never saw Kang Chi."

"That's because you didn't pay attention to him at all."

"..."

While the two were still discussing which class Kang Chi would be assigned to in the second year of high school, Lai Qinglei was very "professionally" taking out a notebook and pretending to record the key points they said.

In fact, he had already turned on the recorder...

After they finally discussed a result, Lai Qinglei looked at the girl who was dressed more fashionably.

To be honest, although this girl is dressed very fashionably and has a good figure,

but her back is a killer, and you can't take a close look at her face...

Although she is wearing makeup, it still can't cover up the acne marks on her skin, and both her facial features and face shape are very ordinary.

If Lai Qinglei were to give her a score, he would give her 70 points at most, of which at least 50 points are for her dress and figure...

Lai Qinglei is unwilling to admit that Kang Chi liked her from the bottom of his heart...

How could our awesome President Kang have such a good eye?

But Lai Qinglei didn't dare to be too sure...

After all, President Kang was still unknown at that time and had never seen the world, so it was possible that he liked anyone.

"Well, may I ask what is the name of this beautiful lady?"

"Liu Ting."

"Well, hello, Miss Liu... Just now I seem to hear this lady say that Mr. Kang once liked you?"

"I think, I did..."

Seeing Liu Ting suddenly change her words and admit it, Lai Qinglei could not help but be stunned for a moment, and then asked: "But just now I seemed to hear you say that Mr. Kang lent you an umbrella..."

"Lending an umbrella is just one of them. The key is that every time I look back, I can see him staring at me in a daze..."

"Well... Well, is there anything else?"

"What else?"

"For example Love letters, confessions, and the like."

"That's not the case."

"Okay... I have a class photo of you guys at a sports meet. Can I ask if that's you?"

"Yeah... that's me."

Lai Qinglei looked at the fat girl in the photo Liu Ting pointed at, and then looked at her: "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I lost weight later..."

"But the facial features don't look very similar."

"She had some micro plastic surgery..."

"Oh, no wonder, the plastic surgery was quite successful... Sorry to bother you."

"Eh?"

Seeing Lai Qinglei running away, the two of them were immediately puzzled.

Didn't they say they were going to interview them?

Why did they run away after asking two gossips?

After coming out of the milk tea shop, Lai Qinglei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

In fact, Liu Ting was not the first one.

In the past few days of "interviews", at least ten of Kang Chi's former female classmates have revealed that Kang Chi had a crush on them...

The key is that no matter how you look at it, it's all "self-satisfaction", which is completely wishful thinking and has no credibility...

However, there is one thing Lai Qinglei can be sure of,

When Kang Chi was in high school, he was an unknown and transparent person in school, even a little introverted and lonely, and was not the kind of student who would fall in love early.

The only thing that can prove that Kang Chi is a normal man is that his second-year class teacher once confiscated a book from him,

The title of the book is "Alibuda Chronicle"...