But the story didn't end there. The wealthy tycoon had only one naive and sweet daughter, who, pampered since childhood, understood nothing but shopping.
The tycoon originally intended to groom Weng Quan to be his wealthy son-in-law. However, instead of a son-in-law, he ended up raising a science fanatic, one who only consumed money and never produced any.
How could the tycoon possibly agree? After a hundred years, when he was gone.
Would his daughter have to beg for food if she followed someone like that?
The tycoon rolled his eyes and immediately found a new son-in-law.
The new son-in-law had good character, a good family background, and was not bad-looking, but the pampered daughter simply didn't like him.
Her eyes were filled with Weng Quan, who pursued only scientific achievements and had no regard for her.
But Weng Quan had disappeared after leaving.
The tycoon gradually discovered that the new son-in-law also seemed to be interested in tinkering with chips, and he was truly afraid. He worried that this son-in-law would also become a science fanatic in the future.
But the new son-in-law was not.
Although he was interested in research, he was fundamentally a businessman. He developed a great interest in the unfinished chip that Weng Quan had left behind.
So, with a wave of his hand, he utilized Weng Quan's unfinished design to develop another chip.
At this point, Xu An had a general understanding of most of the situation, but she was curious about this chip.
"What exactly is this chip?"
Zhou Haimei's expression was unusually solemn. "It's an artificial intelligence chip that can replace human labor. It can also convert human consciousness into code and upload it to the digital cloud, achieving true eternal life."
Xu An: "..." Is this sci-fi coming to reality?
"Is this thing real or fake?" she asked, finding it hard to believe.
But then she thought about it. If such absurd things as the Lighthouse existed, then a digital cloud life didn't seem that strange.
What happened next was even more astonishing to Xu An, and it wasn't Weng Quan, but the pampered daughter.
Moreover, Xu An realized she seemed to have become a mere background character in this story.
What followed was that just as the tycoon was about to unveil his new chip, the world was suddenly plunged into a crisis.
In the end, the tycoon used all his family fortune and the company's core technology to exchange for a chance for his family to take refuge in the Lighthouse.
However, during the transfer, the tycoon unfortunately died.
Everyone thought that their new son-in-law would abandon the brainless young lady, as the core technology of the chip was adapted by the man himself.
But unexpectedly, the man married the girl as promised and doted on her until she became a foolish young wife.
However, it was certainly not comparable to her previous life.
The man knew well that the core technology of the chip he held was the foundation for their couple to establish themselves in the Lighthouse.
Otherwise, according to the Lighthouse's principle of not supporting the useless.
He could barely find work in a research institute, but his wife would only end up living in the slums.
But this brainless pampered daughter didn't understand. All she knew was that her current living standards, compared to before, were worlds apart.
She always thought that her family's vast wealth had surely secured her a bright and sunny future.
Instead, she was living with a bunch of ordinary people and had to squeeze onto public transport.
It was at this moment that Weng Quan contacted her. She knew that Weng Quan had ulterior motives for that chip, but she couldn't help but be tempted by the life Weng Quan described.
Hearing this, Xu An asked, "What does Weng Quan want the chip for? Wasn't the chip originally modified from Weng Quan's initial design? Can't he research it himself?"
Zhou Haimei let out a cold, disdainful laugh. "It's like comparing scholars. He thinks he's amazing. He's clearly technically inferior but refuses to admit it."
"Then what does he want this chip for?"
Zhou Haimei's voice turned cold. "The initial prototype of the Lighthouse for us was a cosmic probe. The initial establishment of the Lighthouse was also based on the principle of Noah's Ark. They wanted to lead humanity out of Earth and search for a new planet more suitable for human life."
Xu An had already heard this viewpoint when she first arrived at the Lighthouse.
"But isn't that just the optimistic fantasy of scientists?"
After all, with humanity's current technology, breaking free from Earth and leading billions of people to wander in space seemed impossible.
Even if the current Lighthouse could float in the air, in space, the vacuum would be a fatal flaw capable of destroying all of humanity.
Not to mention, what was the operating principle of this Lighthouse, and could it truly carry so many people away from Earth.
Therefore, Xu An had always considered this idea pure nonsense.
After all, in her previous life, she never saw the Lighthouse leave Earth until her death.
As if guessing Xu An's thoughts, she couldn't help but let out a wry smile. "Even people like us, who know nothing about technology, think this is nonsense. Yet, there are people who believe it. They think the current human population is too large, and many are useless labor. They want to create a large number of artificial intelligences to rapidly develop human technology. Remember what I told you about digital life?"
Xu An nodded.
Zhou Haimei continued, "I also heard from my elders that the authorities wanted to conduct an experiment to transplant human digital consciousness into artificial intelligence. If the experiment succeeded, then humanity would gain eternal life. This way, the Lighthouse might truly break out of Earth, as humans at that time would no longer need air or food, nor would they worry about resource shortages."
Xu An: "..."
When she heard this idea, Xu An's first thought wasn't about the absurdity of the matter.
Instead, she was contemplating whether, if human consciousness were truly transplanted into artificial intelligence, "humans" would still fall under the category of humanity.
Zhou Haimei gave a wry smile. "You also find it incomprehensible, don't you? Yet, such an extremely absurd thing has a not-to-be-underestimated supporting force. And after Weng Quan used that girl to steal the chip for him, he eventually discovered that the chip was fake and decisively abandoned the girl."
Xu An: "..." If I say the chip is with me now, will I be shot to death like a sieve?
Only then did she understand why her neighbor, despite appearing as a gentle and refined gentleman, was constantly berated by his wife without any dignity.
Xu An weakly asked, "What will happen to them after they got the fake chip?"
Zhou Haimei's voice held a hint of schadenfreude. "The entire experiment is now stalled because of a chip. Hilarious. That idiot Weng Quan, thinking he was so smart, believed the chip's prototype was made by him, so he went to ask for the final research results. Who bothered with him? Even with a solid foundation, without the overall framework of the final building, no amount of skill in laying cement will help."