Chapter 128: Plans
The morning air of Suarez, Iligan City, carried the hum of the megaplant’s construction. Richard stood on an elevated observation platform, overlooking the vast construction site. His eyes scanned the progress, noting every detail from panel laying to intricate wiring. A few miles away, the Lugait fabrication plant, inside the Bytebull compound was also rising rapidly, dedicated to Solid State Batteries and Carbon Nanotube (CNT) chips, outfitted with the latest automation.
A Japanese contractor, Mr. Sasaki, approached Richard. "Santamo-san," he began, bowing slightly, "the progress is exceptional. Your vision, combined with our teams and local expertise, has accelerated beyond initial projections." He gestured expansively. "Completion for both the megaplant and the fabrication plant, we estimate by the end of the year. November at the earliest."
Richard offered a rare, genuine smile. "Excellent, Sasaki-san. Your efficiency is unmatched. I look forward to working with you again very soon with the expansion. We’re already planning the next phase: EV megafactories in Marawi City for Solid State battery production, expanded EV production line in Clark, Pampanga, and CNT chip fabrication in Cebu, specifically Lapu-Lapu City."
Sasaki’s eyes lit up, bowing deeply. "Truly! An honor, Santamo-san! Bytebull’s ambition knows no bounds, and we are privileged to be a part of it."
The costs involved were staggering. These two current projects alone had already consumed $594 million USD. The planned expansion, which would dot the Philippine archipelago with Bytebull’s industrial might, was projected to swallow another $2 billion USD. Yet, for Richard, money was merely a tool, a necessary lubricant for the gears of his true objective.
Richard’s gaze drifted, seeing not construction, but an invisible counter in his mind, a glowing tally of System Points. Money is just money, he affirmed internally. SP... SP is eternal. His last mental tally, after Lina’s physical body and other crucial System purchases, showed 33 million SP. A substantial sum, a testament to Bytebull’s explosive global impact, but agonizingly inadequate for the coming storm only he and Lina fully comprehended. He needed more. Much, much more. A primal hunger for raw power, quantifiable in SP, clawed at him.
He had set a new, immediate target: at least 100 million SP. This was the minimum, the bedrock of power required to prepare for the brutal battle with the Krill Empire. To underestimate such an ancient, interstellar foe, one that saw humanity as cattle, would be catastrophic. If humanity was to win, it wouldn’t be through conventional warfare alone; it would be a "shock and awe" tactic on a scale never before conceived, a systemic disruption so profound it would buy humanity precious, irreplaceable time – time to build up, to consolidate, to prepare for a full-scale war that Richard knew was not a distant threat, but an encroaching reality.
His mind raced, processing Bytebull’s public strategy through the lens of his hidden, crucial agenda. The most efficient way to build SP, bypassing cumbersome physical resources and suspicious capital consumption, was through the System’s core mechanics: software. Information. Accessibility. Ubiquity.
He had a plan. A bold, disruptive, and utterly necessary gambit. They would release a new Operating System. A unified, universal OS for both mobile and PCs, seamlessly integrating their advanced Phoenix AI. It would, without a doubt, disrupt existing tech giants, sending shockwaves through the global market.
But holding back now, adhering to traditional strategies, would spell terrible trouble. It would slow down critical SP generation. He could apply the same disruptive strategy to Phoenix AI itself. He would open-source a foundational version – its kernel, its core source code – making it freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute.
The public justification would be simple, elegant, and disarmingly generous: an "advanced" version of the OS, packed with premium features, enhanced AI capabilities, and exclusive services, would be available for subscription plans. That commercial tier would assuage any suspicions about why Bytebull, a company renowned for its revolutionary technology, would give away something so powerful for free.