Alex did not immediately return to the 40k era, but chose to temporarily stay in the present.
On one hand, he felt his mind had not fully recovered from the previous exhaustion; the dizzying sensation of being completely drained still occasionally Attack upon him.
On the other hand, his phone suddenly rang, an unexpected call disrupting his plans.
The news from the other end of the line was not complicated, in fact, it was quite ordinary.
A brand-new ecological hydroponic farm in the city's suburbs was about to officially commence operations, and he was invited to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Such an occasion might just be a formality for ordinary people, but for Alex, it held special significance.
The reason he, seemingly unrelated to agriculture, was invited to cut the ribbon was quite simple: he held a 30% stake in the company to which this hydroponic farm belonged.
This project was no small matter; it was one of the high-tech industries strongly supported by the state.
Although the initial investment scale was not particularly astonishing, roughly within the range of a few "small goals" (billions), its strategic significance far exceeded this figure.
According to the plan, if the initial pilot results were ideal, this technology would be widely promoted nationwide, expected to fundamentally alleviate long-standing issues threatening food security, such as insufficient per capita arable land and agricultural production gaps in the country.
Moreover, the party that collaborated with Alex had already made a commitment—no matter how many resources the state invested in this project in the future, all project operation rights involving core technology would remain firmly in the hands of this company.
This seemingly inconspicuous startup might now only hover at the fringes of the capital market, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that it was destined to grow into a behemoth capable of shaking the global grain trade landscape.
In fact, certain well-connected, state-backed grain groups had already quietly extended olive branches, with tentative collaborations proceeding in the shadows.
As for the 30% equity in Alex's hands, it concealed a profound secret—the agreement he signed with a certain state-owned investor explicitly stipulated that no matter how the company expanded, financed, or went public in the future, his shareholding percentage would be permanently locked and unaffected by any dilution.
Under normal circumstances, even if the initial shareholding was considerable, as subsequent capital poured in, equity dilution would almost be an inevitable outcome.
Unless Alex was willing to continuously invest huge sums of money to maintain his share, which would be too trivial for him.
But now, what did this 30% constant equity mean? It meant that when this enterprise truly grew into an industry giant, his name would undoubtedly appear at the very top of the global wealth pyramid.
After all, the decision-makers knew full well—what Alex handed over to them was merely the most basic introductory knowledge within the technological system.
Even the currently operational hydroponic farm only used superficial knowledge barely deciphered from these basic technologies.
If they still wanted to access those truly disruptive things, why would they be stingy with mere equity?
Alex was naturally very satisfied with this outcome, and thus, he always had a smile on his face when attending the hydroponic farm's ribbon-cutting ceremony.
From a technical perspective, the planting system adopted by this hydroponic farm was simply a "dimensional reduction strike" against traditional agriculture of this era.
Most astonishingly, the entire system strictly adhered to ecological cycle principles, completely abandoning external inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, relying solely on natural light and water sources to maintain the continuous operation and high yield of the entire ecosystem.
The first batch of visiting agricultural experts, after witnessing its yield data firsthand, all showed expressions of disbelief, with some even exclaiming, "This is unscientific."
Of course, this reaction was entirely within Alex's expectations.
After all, the origin of this technology did not belong to this era—it was designed to meet the terrifying demand of a single planet feeding an entire Sub-Sector, or even an entire Star District's population.
Under such population pressure, the yield of traditional agriculture was indeed "unplayable."
Now, applying it to Earth naturally produced shocking results.
Of course, a more astonishing strategic value was hidden behind this technology—although not yet publicly disclosed, experts at the national level had already keenly realized that this ecological circulation system could be fully applied to future space colonization plans!
Imagine, by carrying such a complete ecological cultivation module, self-sufficiency in food could be achieved at Mars bases, lunar outposts, or even more distant exoplanets.
This system was extremely adaptable to the environment; as long as there was a basic water supply, it could operate continuously.
Even more exciting, it could even operate without relying on natural light!
Experimental data showed that under specific wavelengths of artificial light, crop yields could increase by more than 30%.
In fact, the aerospace department was urgently adding new experimental modules to the space station in orbit; once this new module was installed, the space station would no longer need food transported from Earth.
The only limiting factor might be energy consumption, as artificial supplemental lights consume a lot of electricity when operating.
But this problem was negligible in the face of miniaturized plasma reactors.
In fact, the military's newly equipped Laser Tanks and bipedal mechs could be put into actual combat precisely thanks to this groundbreaking energy technology.
Frontline troops no longer had to worry about fuel resupply.
Due to the highest level of confidentiality requirements, the specific details of this technology were strictly sealed off.
Even frontline soldiers directly operating these new pieces of equipment only knew that their equipment was equipped with an "exceptionally powerful new type of power system," and were unaware of any other details.
These plasma reactors operate on fusion principles and produce no radioactive waste, thus not even requiring the most basic radiation warning signs.
The entire power unit adopts an integrated lead-sealed design, with a theoretical service life of up to two centuries, and can be directly replaced as a whole in case of malfunction—after all, ordinary soldiers cannot repair it themselves.
According to reliable sources, the military is considering promoting this revolutionary energy technology to more areas: next-generation stealth fighters, aircraft carrier power systems, destroyer power grids, and even individual exoskeleton armor and power armor.
Although the currently developed power armor is still at the technical level of the 3k era, once the miniaturization problem of plasma reactors is solved, this individual equipment with tank side armor protection levels will undoubtedly completely change the form of future battlefields.
However, none of this had anything to do with Alex.
At least in official records, he remained just an ordinary citizen who occasionally went out to throw trash, and naturally knew nothing about these "state secrets."
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