109: Chapter 109 Logistics Plummets! The Space Mining Era Arrives

"The micro-vibrations in the 32,000-kilometer section of the 'star bridge' have stopped."

Nüwa's report arrived the next morning, allowing Lin Yun, who hadn't slept all night, to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

But the shadow of 'something is testing our space elevator' did not dissipate.

The Red Queen spent a full twelve hours conducting an exhaustive analysis of the micro-vibration data. The conclusion was—that gravity wave from the fifth channel of the Moon Gate had indeed performed a precise 'structural scan' on the star bridge cable.

It was like a doctor holding a percussion hammer, gently tapping the star bridge's knee and listening for the echo.

Then—it left.

No attack. No destruction. It didn't even leave behind any traceable energy signatures.

It just wanted to know how strong this 'rope' was.

Why?

"There are two possible inferences," the Red Queen analyzed. "First, the power behind the fifth channel is evaluating whether the star bridge can serve as a passage for them to enter the solar system. Second—they are evaluating humanity's technological level."

"If it's the latter, then our star bridge is a business card. A business card displaying our strength to other civilizations in the galaxy."

Lin Yun chewed on these words.

A business card.

The first business card handed out to the universe by an infant civilization that had just learned to walk.

And written on that card was—we can build a 'rope' from the ground to space.

The weight of this card depended on how thick, how strong, and how useful this 'rope' was.

"In that case—" Lin Yun's gaze sharpened, "we'll make this 'rope' even more useful."

After the successful first trial run of the space elevator, what followed was simple—large-scale commercial operations.

Lin Yun didn't waste a single day.

Three days after tianwen-1 successfully docked with Tiangong, the second cabin, Tianwen-2, had already completed assembly at the Lotus Base Station.

Then came Tianwen-3, Tianwen-4...

The carbon nanotube weaving factory continuously produced cable fibers at a rate of ten kilometers per hour. These fibers were woven into thicker cable bundles to serve as reinforcement and backups for the star bridge.

By the end of the first month, the star bridge's cabling had expanded from a single main cable three meters in diameter to a 'five-cable parallel' structure consisting of one main cable and four auxiliary cables.

Each auxiliary cable was equipped with independent electromagnetic tracks and gravity adjustment devices, allowing four cabins to run simultaneously.

Including the main cable, the star bridge's simultaneous operating capacity was five cabins.

Each cabin carried five hundred tons per trip.

One-way travel time was six hours.

Operating around the clock.

This meant—the star bridge could transport twenty thousand tons of supplies and thousands of passengers into space every day.

Twenty thousand tons!

This figure was a thousand times greater than the combined space launch capacity of the entire world in the old era.

And the cost?

In the old era, the cost of sending one kilogram of cargo into synchronous orbit was approximately twenty to fifty thousand US dollars.

Using the space elevator?

Lin Yun had Nüwa perform a calculation.

"The transport cost per kilogram of cargo from the ground to synchronous orbit—including electricity, maintenance, labor, and depreciation—is approximately... twelve dragon coins."

"Converted to old US dollars, it's about—"

"Two dollars."

Two dollars per kilogram.

From the ground to space.

Two dollars.

When this figure was announced, the global economic community—from the ruins of Wall Street to the broken walls of the City of London to the dragon coin trading center in the capital—everyone was stunned.

What did a space transport cost of two dollars per kilogram mean?

It meant that sending a ton of steel into space would only cost two thousand dollars.

It meant the cost of building a space station in space was about the same as building an office building on Earth.

It meant—space was no longer the exclusive playground of the wealthy and nations, but a new economic frontier affordable to everyone.

More importantly—space mining.

This concept, once depicted in countless science fiction novels, had remained in the theoretical stage before the space elevator.

The reason was simple—it was too expensive to send mining equipment into space, and too expensive to transport the mined ore back to Earth. No matter how abundant the ore on asteroids was, the transport costs made it uneconomical.

But now—two dollars per kilogram.

In the first week after the space elevator officially began operations, the Red Queen generated a three-hundred-page report titled 'Near-Earth Asteroid Mineral Resource Assessment and Mining Feasibility Report'.

The core conclusion of the report was just one sentence—

"Under the condition that space elevator transport costs drop to twelve dragon coins per kilogram, the return on investment for mining operations on near-Earth asteroids is conservatively estimated at—one thousand percent."

A one thousand percent return on investment.

Invest one dollar, get ten back.

This figure caused the economic ministers of all signatory nations to lose sleep collectively.

"Mr. Lin, you're not joking, are you?"

In the meeting room of the Equatorial Base Station, the former Governor of Texas, Robert—whose current title was 'North American Regional Director of the Earth Civilization Community'—sat in his chair, staring at the report on the holographic projection with an expression as if he had seen Jesus resurrected.

"An M-type asteroid one hundred meters in diameter contains a total amount of platinum-group metals equivalent to... ten times the proven reserves on Earth?"

"Correct." Lin Yun nodded.

"A C-type asteroid five hundred meters in diameter contains enough water ice resources to support ten thousand people living in space for... a hundred years?"

"Correct."

Robert's mouth hung open, forming a silent 'what the f*ck'.

"And using the space elevator to send mining equipment up and bring the ore back, the total cost is only—"

"One-thousandth of the traditional rocket scheme."

Robert stood up.

"Mr. Lin, on behalf of all member states in the North American region, I formally apply to participate in the space mining project."

As soon as he finished speaking, the other seven regional directors in the meeting room almost simultaneously stood up—representatives from the European Union, Asia-Pacific, African Union, Middle East, South America, Oceania, and the CIS.

Everyone wanted a piece of the pie.

"Fine." Lin Yun glanced at these directors, whose eyes were red with greed, and spoke unhurriedly.

"The space mining project, code-named 'Kuafu,' will be unified and managed by the Earth Civilization Community. All signatory nations can obtain corresponding mining quotas according to their GDP contribution ratios."

"But—"

Lin Yun's voice suddenly deepened.

"There are two ironclad rules."

"First, thirty percent of all mining proceeds will go into the 'Interstellar Development Fund' for the maintenance and upgrading of the space elevator, the expansion of the lunar base, and funding for future deep space exploration. No one is allowed to touch this money."

"Second—"

Lin Yun's gaze swept over every director.

"The mineral resources mined by the 'Kuafu' project can only be used for peaceful construction and technological research. Any act of using space minerals to manufacture weapons will result in immediate expulsion from the project and permanent revocation of space elevator usage rights."

"On this point, there is no room for negotiation."

The meeting room was silent for three seconds.

Then—all the directors nodded in unison.

No one dared to challenge Lin Yun's authority at this time. Because he built the space elevator, he built the lunar base, and the carbon nanotube technology was created by his child—anyone who dared to oppose him would be cutting themselves off from space.

And to be cut off from space was to be cut off from the future.

"The first batch of mining ships for the 'Kuafu' project will depart from the 'Tiangong' platform in three months, heading for the nearest near-Earth asteroid—2024 MN4."

"The Red Queen has already calculated the optimal transfer orbit. The round trip will take about four months. The first batch of platinum-group metals expected to be brought back..."

Lin Yun glanced at the data.

"Is about five hundred tons."

"Estimated at current market prices, it's worth approximately... two hundred billion dragon coins."

A collective gasp filled the meeting room.

Two hundred billion dragon coins.

For one mining trip.

Two hundred billion.

"And that's just the most conservative estimate," Lin Yun said. "If the subsequent mining scale expands to once a month—"

He didn't finish.

Because everyone had already done the math.

Space mining would completely change the underlying logic of the Earth's economy.

Rare metals would no longer be rare. Energy would no longer be scarce. Building materials would no longer be expensive.

The curse of 'limited resources' that had plagued human civilization for thousands of years would be broken forever by those rocks flying all over space.

After the meeting ended, Lin Yun returned to the command tent at the Lotus Base Station.

Song Mingyue sat in the tent holding Shi Bao—she had recently started supervising work while taking care of the child. Shi Bao was strapped to her chest with a specially made carrier; the little guy was sleeping peacefully, occasionally stretching out his small hand in his dreams to feel the air, as if perceiving the 'structure' of all surrounding objects.

"Space mining." After hearing Lin Yun's report on the meeting, the corners of Song Mingyue's mouth curled up slightly.

"Do you know what this means?"

"It means humans will no longer fight wars over resources," Lin Yun said.

"No." Song Mingyue shook her head. "It means humanity's 'home' has grown larger."

Lin Yun looked at her.

"Before, humanity's 'home' was only Earth. Everyone fought for resources on Earth. Earth is only so big, and resources are limited, so war was inevitable."

"But now—the space elevator has turned space into a 'backyard.' There are endless rocks in the backyard. No one needs to fight anymore."

"Home has changed from a single room to an entire... forest."

Song Mingyue looked down at Shi Bao in her arms.

"I used to build buildings to give people a place to shelter from the wind and rain."

"Now, building the space elevator is giving people an entire sky."

Her voice carried a trace of an undetectable tremor.

"It's worth it."

Lin Yun was silent for a moment, then reached out and rubbed Shi Bao's little head.

Shi Bao hummed in his sleep, and his small hand unconsciously grabbed Lin Yun's finger. That slight 'scanning' vibration came again—but this time, it had a new texture.

Warmth.

Like a child using his unique way to tell his father—

"I'm here."

Outside the tent, the siren of the third cabin, Tianwen-3, sounded—another space elevator trip loaded with supplies was about to depart.

"Brother Lin!" Xiao Zhang kicked open the tent flap once again.

"Speak!"

"The space elevator usage applications submitted by signatory nations worldwide—cargo transport, personnel travel, space experiments—"

Xiao Zhang's face was full of a kind of 'sweet trouble'.

"They're scheduled all the way into next year."

"All the time slots are completely full."

"And—" Xiao Zhang's voice became strange.

"The tourism departments of one hundred and thirty-seven signatory nations have jointly submitted an application—"

"They want to use the space elevator to launch—"

Xiao Zhang took a deep breath.

"Space tourism."