Inside Gu Ziming’s chemical and biological laboratory in Donghai, in the boss’s office.
Gu Ziming was facing a problem, a happy problem.
Yes. He had too much money.
Recalling the background of his original body, Gu Ziming could not help but sigh.
Some people are born already standing in Rome.
Gu Ziming’s father had been a PhD in biology from MIT. After graduation, he met Gu Ziming’s mother, who was already an executive at a Fortune 500 company. His father started a business, and his mother immediately resigned to help manage it. Together, they built a biotech unicorn company with a peak market valuation of over 60 billion US dollars.
Unfortunately, good times did not last. For certain reasons, the United States unilaterally placed the company on a sanctions list under allegations of endangering national security.
Not long after, Gu Ziming’s parents died in a plane crash over the Pacific Ocean.
The unicorn company that had thrived because of them declined just as quickly after their death.
Perhaps frightened by everything, the original Gu Ziming immediately liquidated most of the company’s assets, keeping only the core technologies and the original local biochemical laboratory where his parents had started. He ran it casually, more as a keepsake than a serious enterprise.
Looking at the more than 10 billion US dollars in his account, Gu Ziming felt like he had fallen into Wang Duoyu’s dilemma.
How could he spend over 10 billion US dollars within a month?
An oddly catchy phrase surfaced in his mind.
You can’t spend it all in a lifetime.
Thinking back to the original plot, after the sun became abnormally active, Lin Fan initially stayed in his residential compound and became the so-called Neighborhood War God. But by the middle stage, the polar ice caps melted, and sea levels rose by 50 to 60 meters. In less than a year, the island nation was mostly submerged, and the protagonist’s group moved to the southwestern plateau.
Gu Ziming could follow the protagonist’s route and migrate southwest with the masses.
But he decided to buy a cruise ship as insurance, preparing for the risk of rising sea levels.
Besides, the money had to be spent. Although some order would remain in the early apocalypse, no one knew how severely the monetary system would be disrupted. Bartering would become the norm.
“Xiao Zhang, help me filter recent cruise ships for sale. I want to buy one. The larger, the better. The shorter the delivery time, the better,” Gu Ziming said over the phone to his assistant.
Xiao Zhang was his professional assistant. In the past, when Gu Ziming had nothing to do, he would lounge around at the company, but his competence was still solid.
Upon receiving the order, Xiao Zhang asked no questions and immediately began searching online listings for cruise ships.
A 100,000-ton cruise ship required a long construction period, not to mention various procedures and deposits. If Gu Ziming wanted one quickly, he had to buy a ready-made vessel already on the market.
While waiting for the assistant to collect information, Gu Ziming called Qin Feifei. He planned to invite her to provide guidance on producing the special graphene.
He had intended to call Liu Xiaoxiang, but her phone had been unreachable, which irritated him. So he called Qin Feifei directly.
“Miss Qin, this is Gu Ziming. Has Professor Liu returned?”
Qin Feifei replied quickly, “Professor Liu hasn’t come back yet. She said she’ll be on a business trip for over a month and told us not to worry.”
Over a month?
The timing was too coincidental.
Gu Ziming felt a chill run through him. But there was no time to dwell on it.
“If I want to start research immediately, what should I do?” he asked.
“Senior Brother Gu, don’t worry. Professor Liu specifically instructed that if you want to begin now, you can call me anytime to help,” Qin Feifei said hurriedly. “The manufacturing method isn’t especially complicated. There are just a few key parameters to control. I’ve conducted several experiments with her already.”
“I didn’t realize Junior Sister Feifei was so capable.”
Upon learning that Qin Feifei could handle production, Gu Ziming relaxed. Hearing her repeatedly call him Senior Brother, he naturally adjusted his form of address.
On the other end, Qin Feifei blushed slightly when she heard him call her Junior Sister Feifei. She said nothing. After all, technically, she was his junior.
“I may need to travel for a few days soon. Could you help produce the first batch of special graphene in the meantime?” Gu Ziming asked.
If he was to purchase a cruise ship, he would need to negotiate personally, which would take several days. He could not afford to waste time before the apocalypse. Tasks that could be done simultaneously had to be handled simultaneously.
“It’s no trouble. That’s part of my responsibility,” Qin Feifei agreed immediately. With her mentor away, her regular work was paused. Working in Gu Ziming’s laboratory would allow her to continue her research more effectively.
“Good. Let’s start tomorrow. I’ll pick you up from the university and take you to the lab,” Gu Ziming decided.
Although Gu Ziming’s father had built his fortune on biology, the company later expanded into chemistry and materials science. His laboratory was fully equipped to produce special graphene.
Of course, it could not mass-produce it. Gu Ziming estimated that in just over 20 days, ignoring cost efficiency, they could produce around tens of thousands of square meters.
From an industrial efficiency standpoint, this was inefficient and costly. But Gu Ziming was racing against time.
The insulation for the shelter would not rely solely on one layer of special graphene. It would be a composite of multiple materials. The graphene would simply serve as an additional layer of protection.
This was the mindset of a villain.
Without a protagonist’s plot armor, every crisis had to be handled personally. There would be no miraculous twists of fate.
At the same time, Gu Ziming hired three construction teams to begin renovations on the estate and villa.
The first team specialized in security engineering. It was a globally ranked security firm. Many wealthy and powerful clients had used them to reinforce their homes.
Their most famous project was building a secure fortress for a tycoon in the Golden Triangle. Local rebels had bombarded it with cannons and explosives but failed to breach it. The tycoon survived until government forces arrived to rescue him.
Gu Ziming greeted the dark-skinned man in front of him. “Captain Wang, correct? Hello.”
The man removed his helmet and smiled. “CEO Gu, hello. I’m Wang Zhi, leader of Shield Armor Company’s first construction team in the Greater China region. I’m responsible for the security renovation of your estate.”
“Good. I have two requirements. Stability and speed,” Gu Ziming said directly.
He wanted the project completed three days before the apocalypse began. The extra three days would serve as a buffer in case of unexpected delays.
“We understand your requirements from the contract, CEO Gu. Our estimated construction period is 20 days. In the first 10 days, we will complete the security planning and reinforce the estate’s perimeter walls. After your underground warehouse, solar panels, and villa insulation materials are installed, we will complete the full security layout within the remaining 10 days at maximum speed.”
The dark-skinned man then glanced toward the project leaders of the other two construction teams standing nearby.