777: Chapter 772 Geniuses are always obsessive

An Ran's fingers froze mid-air. The steam from the cup of Darjeeling black tea dissipated above her fingertips, yet she felt no heat.

The tower on the screen was not static; it seemed to breathe as if alive. Every node microadjusted with the wind, resembling the joints of a living creature rather than cold steel.

"This isn't architecture."

An Ran finally found her voice, but it was as dry as if she hadn't drunk water for three days.

"This is a provocation."

She looked up, her gaze sweeping past the ragged Engineer, locking onto the man leaning back in his chair, looking utterly unconcerned.

"You are challenging gravity, Shen Yan."

Shen Yan didn't speak, merely reaching out to help Liang Yibai push the tablet computer toward the center.

"I prefer to call it—evolution."

Shen Yan's voice was not loud, but it echoed in the quiet Western restaurant.

Liang Yibai completely disregarded social etiquette at this moment. His calloused, mud-caked fingers flew across the screen, pulling up the base data.

"Look here, CEO An."

Liang Yibai pointed at the tangled mess of the underground structure, his eyes burning with two balls of ghostly fire.

"Traditional skyscrapers drive piles deep into the bedrock, anchoring them down like driving nails."

"But the sky city doesn't need that."

"Its root system mimics a botanical structure, using carbon nanotube cables to weave a massive net underground. It isn't nailed into the soil; it has grasped the earth."

"Even in a magnitude 12 earthquake, it will only sway like reeds. It will never break."

An Ran didn't understand the obscure parameters, but she understood 'magnitude 12 earthquake' and 'will never break.'

She was a businesswoman, an extremely shrewd one.

What she saw was not a mechanical marvel, but the colossal wave this tower would unleash upon the global real estate market once completed, and the accompanying, maddening cash flow.

"Construction cost."

An Ran spat out two words, regaining her decisive, formidable aura.

"Preliminary budget: eighty billion."

Liang Yibai announced the astronomical figure, his voice slightly shaky, instinctively glancing at Shen Yan.

On the way over, the boss had instructed him not to save the investors money—to quote the highest possible price.

An Ran's hand trembled slightly, the teacup clinking sharply against the saucer.

"Eighty billion? CEO Shen, are you still dreaming in Vienna?"

"I will cover half of the cash flow."

Shen Yan pulled a pen from his pocket and wrote a string of numbers on a napkin.

"For the remaining forty billion, I want you to inject it in three installments."

"I want to see the first installment of ten billion within one month."

"In return, for the commercial operation rights of the sky city after completion, I give you thirty percent."

An Ran narrowed her eyes, like a leopard scrutinizing its prey.

Thirty percent of the operating rights in exchange for a forty-billion-dollar gamble.

If she lost, her reputation in venture capital circles would be ruined; if she won, she would become the godmother who forged a myth.

The air froze for a full minute.

Only the oblivious Liang Yibai was still muttering about the parameters of the 'self-adaptive dampers' nearby.

"Deal."

An Ran extended her hand; the pale blue veins were visible on her perfectly maintained palm.

Shen Yan clasped it; his palm was dry and firm.

"Pleasure doing business with you, lunatic."

An Ran withdrew her hand and gave Liang Yibai a meaningful look.

"Take your beggar Engineer to take a bath."

"I don't want to smell cement on him during the next Board of Directors meeting."

On the private jet back home, Liang Yibai was in a state of exhausted euphoria after the high.

He looked out the window at the clouds, feeling as if he were dreaming.

Four hours ago, he was being kicked around like a dog on a construction site in Vienna.

Four hours later, he held the appointment letter for the Chief Engineer of an eighty-billion-dollar project.

"Boss..."

Liang Yibai turned back to look at Shen Yan, who was reviewing reports.

"Are we really going to build it on that mudflat in the Linhai New District?"

"That area is all silt; the geological conditions are rotten like tofu."

Shen Yan didn't look up.

"Because it's tofu, it will demonstrate how sharp your knife is."

"Besides..."

Shen Yan flipped a page of the document, the paper rustling loudly.

"I secured that land long ago. No one is optimistic about it, so no one will come to cause trouble."

"I want you to grow a tree there."

One month later, Linhai New District.

This area was originally barren saline-alkali land, covered in waist-high weeds. The sea breeze carried a fishy, salty scent that stung people's faces.

But now, this place had become the most bustling spot on the entire eastern coast.

Hundreds of heavy excavators, like tireless steel behemoths, frantically gnawed at the mudflats.

Giant searchlights illuminated the night as brightly as day.

Liang Yibai stood on a temporarily erected platform, holding a walkie-talkie. His previously messy long hair had been shaved into a neat crew cut.

The dirty shirt was gone, replaced by a crisp, dark gray uniform, with the Chief Engineer's badge hanging on his chest.

"Push the pile foundation in Pit Number Three down another two meters!"

"Tell Wu Ya that if that batch of carbon fiber materials is half an hour late, I'll go tear down her office!"

Liang Yibai's voice was hoarse but carried unquestionable authority.

He was the king here.

Chen Guangke stood next to Shen Yan, offering him a cigarette.

"This kid is even scarier than you when he goes crazy."

"Yesterday, a few veteran supervisors tried to pressure him with regulations, but he yelled at them for half an hour, and they couldn't even retort a single word."

Shen Yan took the cigarette but didn't light it.

"Geniuses are always obsessive."

"As long as he can build the tower, even if he tears down the sky, I will back him up."

At that moment, a black Audi A6 pulled up at the construction site entrance.

Several middle-aged men in white shirts, with pot bellies, got out. They pointed at the deep pit, their faces wearing the reserved arrogance characteristic of people within the system.

The leader was an expert from the Geological Survey Bureau, surnamed Zhao.

"Nonsense!"

Expert Zhao stood with his hands behind his back, shaking his head as he looked at the giant pit.

"This geological structure is completely unsuitable for building a super-tall structure."

"What need is there for a bionic root system? It's sheer absurdity!"

"Do young people disregard basic safety regulations just to grab attention?"

This group had heard about a project that 'defied common sense' and specifically came to watch the spectacle.

In the industry, the 'sky city' had already become a joke.

Some people had even set up betting pools on which floor the structure would collapse.

Liang Yibai rushed down from the platform, covered in dust, looking like a vengeful spirit.

"Who let you in?"

Liang Yibai blocked the group of experts, his eyes fierce like a wolf's.

"Little Liang."

Expert Zhao clearly knew him and adopted the posture of an elder.

"When you were at China Construction Third Bureau, I already said that you were too ambitious and impractical."