121: Chapter 121 Resource Overlord

Cao Xiao contacted Dapu, and in less than an hour, several members of the Angress Family appeared in the villa's living room. They were extremely respectful when facing Cao Xiao, likely due to specific instructions from Dapu before they arrived.

Perhaps because she saw hope for her long-awaited revenge, Yan Qingcheng appeared rather anxious. After lunch, she hurriedly departed with Wu Feng and a group of five bodyguards.

Originally, he had planned to take his superyacht out for some sea fishing today. However, after the industrial mother machine was upgraded to Level 3 authorization, its detection range reached 10,000 meters. This gave him some ideas, as a 10,000-meter detection range could cover the vast majority of the deep-sea floor. Deep sea refers to waters exceeding 6,000 meters; there are only about 30 known trenches in the world deeper than 6,000 meters, and the deepest is only 11,043 meters. Thus, from now on, the ocean would be Cao Xiao's playground.

The ocean is the world's largest treasure trove. Since ancient times, humans have explored only 5% of the seabed, leaving 95% unknown. The world's ocean area is approximately 360 million square kilometers, far larger than the land area. After countless years of large-scale human development and utilization, land resources and energy have dwindled and are nearing exhaustion. Due to technological limitations, human exploitation of marine resources has been extremely limited until now.

Marine life, marine energy, marine minerals, and marine chemical resources are collectively known as marine resources. According to their natural attributes, they are classified into marine biological resources, seawater chemical resources, seabed mineral resources, marine space resources, and marine renewable energy.

The ocean is rich in biological resources. There are as many as several hundred thousand species of flora and fauna, with over 25,000 species of fish alone. Even more numerous are the organisms that can provide proteins and antibiotics, exceeding 300,000 species. Hundreds of types of seafood used in Chinese and Western medicine, as well as drugs like cod liver oil, protamine, and insulin, all come from marine organisms. The total reserves of marine life are about 34.2 billion tons, including 32.5 billion tons of marine animals and 1.7 billion tons of marine plants. Marine life can produce 135 billion tons of organic carbon annually. Without disrupting the ecological balance, over 3 billion tons of edible aquatic resources can be harvested each year. Currently, the annual human catch is only 70 to 90 million tons, less than one-thirtieth of that amount.

Protein is the most important substance composing organisms and is the foundation of life. Fish and shellfish in the ocean can provide humans with delicious and nutrient-rich protein food. Currently, the ocean provides only 5% to 10% of the protein consumed by humans. At present, the highest-yielding land crops produce only 0.71 tons of protein per hectare annually. In contrast, scientific experiments show that seawater farming in the same area can yield up to 27.8 tons, with commercially competitive yields reaching 16.7 tons. If the energy issues required for aquaculture can be overcome, the ocean will become humanity's future granary.

The ocean is a treasure chest of mineral resources. Humans have discovered vast amounts of oil, coal, sulfur, and natural gas on the seabed. It is estimated that world oil reserves are 1 trillion tons, with about 300 billion tons extractable, of which 130 billion tons are seabed reserves. The oil reserves of the continental shelf alone reach over 100 billion barrels.

Flammable ice is a new type of mineral known as natural gas hydrate—a solid ice-like substance composed of hydrocarbons and water molecules under low-temperature and high-pressure conditions. It has high energy density, few impurities, almost no pollution after combustion, thick mineral layers, large scale, wide distribution, and abundant resources. Global flammable ice reserves are twice the existing oil and gas reserves. As land-based oil and gas resources gradually deplete, the discovery of flammable ice brings new hope to humanity.

In recent years, humans have also confirmed that the floors of various oceans contain vast amounts of polymetallic nodules and cobalt-rich manganese crusts, totaling over 40 types. The total reserves of manganese nodules in the world's oceans are about 3 trillion tons. The Pacific Ocean alone has over 1 trillion tons, thousands of times higher than land reserves. Manganese nodules are widely distributed on the deep seabed at depths of 4,000 to 5,000 meters. They are the largest usable metal mineral resource for the future. Manganese nodules are a renewable mineral, growing at a rate of about 10 million tons per year, making them an inexhaustible mineral resource. They contain 55 metallic and non-metallic elements such as manganese, copper, cobalt, and nickel. This includes 400 billion tons of manganese, 8.8 billion tons of copper, 16.4 billion tons of nickel, and 4.8 billion tons of cobalt—each being dozens to thousands of times the land reserves. Based on current consumption levels, these manganese reserves could last the world for 33,000 years, nickel for 253,000 years, cobalt for 21,500 years, and copper for 980 years.

The seabed rock layers also harbor rich and diverse mineral resources. Because human investigation of the polar seas and the vast deep-sea areas is still insufficient, it is difficult to know exactly how many seabed minerals exist in the ocean. However, the ocean covers 71% of the Earth's surface, and its total volume is definitely much more than all the land reserves combined. Every mineral resource found on land exists beneath the sea. The copper mines buried under the seabed alone are enough for the world to use for six thousand years; nickel for 150,000 years; and aluminum for 20,000 years. Furthermore, coastal sediments are rich in beach placer resources, with offshore areas containing highly valuable minerals like gold, zircon, ilmenite, monazite, rutile, and chromite.

Humans have discovered hydrothermal sulfide deposits in the ocean that contain large amounts of metal. Also known as heavy metal mud, these deposits are formed from high-temperature lava erupting from ocean ridge fissures, which is then washed by seawater, precipitated, and accumulated. Like plants, they can grow rapidly at a rate of several centimeters per week. They contain dozens of rare and precious metals such as gold, copper, and zinc, and the grades of metals like gold and zinc are very high, earning them the name 'seabed gold and silver vaults.' Interestingly, heavy metals are colorful, appearing in black, white, yellow, blue, and red. The seabed surface also contains phosphorite for making phosphate fertilizers, which, at current consumption rates, could last the world for several hundred years. Various types of ooze on the ocean floor are also available for exploitation, such as Globigerina ooze, which contains 95% calcium phosphate and is an excellent raw material for making cement; such ooze covers about 50% of the seabed surface.

The total volume of seawater in the ocean is 1.37 billion cubic kilometers, accounting for 97.2% of the Earth's total water. This water itself is a valuable resource; it can replace fresh water as cooling water and, through desalination, provide humans with an inexhaustible supply of fresh water. Seawater contains over 80 chemical elements, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, aluminum, tungsten, mercury, antimony, oxygen, magnesium, bromine, iodine, rubidium, cesium, nickel, uranium, strontium, and more. All the salts contained in seawater total about 50 quadrillion tons, of which common salt alone accounts for 40 quadrillion tons. Additionally, seawater contains 1.8 quadrillion tons of magnesium, 9.5 billion tons of bromine, 500 trillion tons of potassium, 93 billion tons of iodine, 190 billion tons of rubidium, 260 billion tons of lithium, 500 million tons of silver, 5 million tons of gold, and 4.5 billion tons of the radioactive element uranium. The amount of uranium is equivalent to 4,500 times the land-based uranium reserves. Seawater also contains 10 trillion tons of deuterium, a precious raw material for nuclear fusion. If all the substances dissolved in 1 cubic kilometer of seawater were extracted, besides 994 million tons of fresh water, it could produce 30.52 million tons of salt, 2.369 million tons of magnesium, 2.442 million tons of gypsum, 825,000 tons of potassium, 67,000 tons of bromine, as well as iodine, uranium, gold, silver, and so on. This shows the value of marine resources.

Nuclear fusion energy is an inexhaustible new energy source. The fuel used in nuclear fusion reactions is deuterium and tritium. Deuterium is a fairly abundant isotope of hydrogen; for every 6,500 hydrogen atoms in the ocean, there is one deuterium atom, with the total amount of deuterium in seawater being about 45 trillion tons. There are 1.03×10^22 deuterium atoms in just one liter of seawater. The energy released by nuclear fusion from deuterium extracted from one liter of seawater is equivalent to the energy released by burning 300 liters of gasoline. That is to say, the potential energy of deuterium atoms in every cubic kilometer of seawater is equivalent to burning 1.36 trillion barrels of crude oil—a figure roughly equal to the Earth's total oil reserves. Based on the world's energy consumption, the fusion energy of deuterium in seawater could last for tens of billions of years. Tritium can be made from lithium. Lithium mainly has two isotopes, lithium-6 and lithium-7. After absorbing a thermal neutron, lithium-6 can turn into tritium and release energy. Lithium-7 must absorb fast neutrons to become tritium. Although Earth's lithium reserves are much smaller than those of deuterium, there are still over 200 billion tons. Using it to manufacture tritium would be sufficient until the era when humans use deuterium-deuterium fusion.

And now, all these marine resources were at Cao Xiao's disposal. In time, the wealth of resources he could obtain from the ocean would rival the entire world, and he would become the most powerful person on Earth, bar none. Raw materials are the foundation of all science and technology, and natural resources are the source of raw materials. Although resources cannot directly promote the progress of scientific civilization, they can restrict its development. Monopolizing resources means controlling the lifeblood of technological advancement. The ocean was Cao Xiao's greatest foundation.

But it was too early to say all this. Having vast resources without a way to realize their value was just empty talk. Furthermore, even if he collected a large amount of resources through the industrial mother machine, he wouldn't dare bring them out openly. He needed a way to convert and 'launder' them before they could be used. As for how to do it, he already had a plan in mind, which he could start implementing after returning home.

The destination for this trip was the waters west of Cape Town. The Benguela Current flows through the west of Cape Town; the special seabed topography causes cold seawater to upwell, bringing rich nutrients to the surface. Consequently, plankton is abundant, providing fish with plenty of food. The fishery resources are extremely rich, making it a world-class fishing ground. The goal this time was to get a batch of high-quality seafood to take back home, with collecting some marine resources being secondary.

With the authorization upgraded to Level 3, the energy capacity of the industrial mother machine had also expanded ten-thousand-fold, and the energy consumption rate was much faster than before. Relying on a single energy reactor to provide power could no longer meet the requirements for high-power usage. He planned to build more energy reactors, but this meant the metal materials stored in his space would be insufficient, and the thirty-plus tons of nuclear fuel wouldn't last long either. Therefore, he had to go collect a stockpile of metal ores and refine nuclear fusion fuel from seawater.

With six bodyguards plus Ren Keyong's family of four, the eleven of them drove in two cars toward the harbor pier where the yacht was docked.

"Cousin-in-law, is this really your yacht?" Ren Huanhuan had become much more familiar with Cao Xiao after two days together, no longer as cold as when they first met. She was stunned when she saw the yacht Cao Xiao mentioned. She had originally thought Cao Xiao owned a luxury yacht with a displacement of a few hundred tons. For a wealthy person like Cao Xiao, owning a yacht worth tens of millions of huaxia currency was normal, but she never expected it to be a super-vessel over a hundred meters long with a displacement of ten thousand tons! For a moment, she was even stuttering.

"It's mine! That old man who came over the day before yesterday gave it to me. It's my first time seeing it too, and it really is quite cool." Cao Xiao was also a bit excited; seeing photos was nothing compared to the shock of seeing it in person. This kind of superyacht was one of only a few in the world, and in terms of value, it would easily rank in the top thirty globally.

"This is simply a floating palace! Such a huge deck, quack quack quack! My palace, this Queen is coming!" Ren Keke looked infatuated, her speech a bit crazed. With a strange laugh, she broke away from the group and ran toward the yacht's boarding ladder with flailing arms.

"Ren Keke! Stop right there!" Seeing her daughter like this, Mrs. Ren felt it was quite embarrassing. Disregarding her usual gentle image, she shouted at Ren Keke.

"Brother Duan, go follow her and keep an eye on her so she doesn't fall into the sea! Uncle, Aunt, let's board as well." Cao Xiao watched Ren Keke's running posture, black lines appearing on his forehead. He quickly sent Duan Hong over and then led the others toward the vessel.

Before Ren Keke could even reach the boarding ladder, a cylindrical red object suddenly rolled down from the gunwale, startling her so much she almost tripped and fell.

Cao Xiao looked closely and saw it was a red carpet. It seemed the yacht's staff had noticed his arrival and were preparing to welcome him. Sure enough, over twenty people in uniform appeared at the gangway. With a rustle, they rushed off the ship and lined up neatly on both sides of the boarding ladder. A blonde, blue-eyed woman quickly walked toward Cao Xiao.

"Welcome, Boss! I am the administrator of this yacht, Simitis Daphne. It is a pleasure to serve you!"

Cao Xiao had read this person's file. Simitis was a Greek surname, and Daphne meant laurel tree in Greek mythology. The name was quite classical, but Daphne was a very fashionable person. She was only twenty-five years old and had graduated from a British butler academy three years ago. In the three years since graduation, however, she had not worked as a butler. Instead, she had successfully applied for a marketing manager position at a Fortune 500 company. After less than a year, she moved to a local British bank as a financial evaluator, but stayed there for only six months. Subsequently, she changed several different jobs. Those who knew her couldn't understand how she had accumulated such a wealth of diverse knowledge, and were even more puzzled as to why she kept switching jobs so frequently. Her most recent position, and her current one, was as the administrator of the Star of Cape Town. Half a month ago, Daphne had suddenly resigned from her post as financial manager at the shipyard that built this yacht and volunteered herself to become the administrator and captain of the Star of Cape Town.