Wu Hao had naturally heard about the rumors spreading around the village. He had initially planned to teach Yao Kaiyin a lesson when he had some free time. However, he had been busy with various matters recently and hadn’t paid much attention to this minor issue.

Unexpectedly, it didn’t take long for Yao Kaiyin to end up in jail for his wrongdoings. Although his crimes weren’t severe, earning him only a two to three-year sentence, it was still a deserved punishment and retribution.

Now that Yao Kaiyin had already been punished, Wu Hao had no intention of causing him any more trouble. In Wu Hao’s eyes, Yao Kaiyin was just a minor, insignificant character, not worth his attention.

As days passed, the main structure of the castle at the mountain’s peak was finally completed. Once the primary construction was finished, Wu Hao only kept a few workers to continue building the castle’s outer walls and working on some interior decorations.

Wu Hao took on the construction of the bunker inside the castle and the central space on the top floor himself. This area, located on the third floor, was completely sealed off from the rest of the castle. Wu Hao had used a unique design for the main structure, so even the workers who had seen the blueprints didn’t know the purpose of the complex internal structure once the castle was built.

The only access to this third-floor space was from the rooftop, which had a special structure that made it impossible for most people to get through. Only from above could one clearly see the rooftop’s true design.

Although the castle only had three floors above ground, each floor was as tall as two or even three regular floors. Naturally, the internal structure was far from ordinary. Apart from luxurious decorations, Wu Hao also personally designed and installed various high-tech devices.

Smart doors and windows were standard, and some hidden high-tech gadgets were kept out of the public eye.

Wu Hao spent more than two months overseeing and secretly working on the construction of the mountaintop castle. Such rapid progress was possible because Wu Hao was willing to spend money without worrying about costs and labor.

During this time, nothing significant happened at home. Both the investment company’s branch in the city and the machinery manufacturing factory were running smoothly.

However, the machinery factory would take a long time to become fully operational. After all, it was built from scratch. If Wu Hao had bought an existing factory or company, it would have been up and running by now.

The city where Wu Hao’s hometown was located didn’t have any large enterprises, so the machinery factory had to be built slowly. Fortunately, Wu Hao didn’t have high expectations for the factory. It was mainly set up to help his old friends and to have some tangible assets on the surface.

While building the mountaintop castle, Wu Hao also began considering a new type of computer for his base during his spare time. His base in the depths of the Qinling Mountains had gradually expanded. Although Wu Hao had little involvement in the expansion, advanced automated digging equipment and construction robots were not slower than when he first built the base.

Although these construction robots weren’t true robots, they were capable of simple digging and building tasks.

After handling family matters, Wu Hao returned to the base in the Qinling Mountains. Unlike his previous trips, this time, he wouldn’t be going back to his hometown frequently.

The construction of the resort in his hometown was also progressing, but it would take at least a year and a half to complete, even at an accelerated pace. Wu Hao wasn’t in a hurry.

The rush to build the mountaintop castle was mainly to provide a safe landing spot for his aircraft. He couldn’t just leave the aircraft in the mountains every time he returned home.

Back at the base, Wu Hao began designing and building a new supercomputer. He had wanted to do this for a while, but various other matters had delayed it.

Now that the base’s energy and other aspects were settled, Wu Hao started planning the core of the base. Although the base’s intelligent system was advanced, it wasn’t true artificial intelligence.

To create a real AI, besides designing its core, Wu Hao needed a powerful carrier for it.

A true AI capable of anything in the digital world couldn’t be hosted by even the combined power of all existing supercomputers on Earth.

So, Wu Hao’s next step was to organize his accumulated ideas and design plans to create a new supercomputer.

This supercomputer would be a quantum computer, something humanity had only theorized and explored. The main obstacle to creating a quantum computer was finding the core material for a new type of chip.

Currently, all semiconductor materials for chips are made of silicon, but a quantum computer’s core chip can’t be made from silicon. Fortunately, Wu Hao had a lead. His next task was to experiment and synthesize a new chip material.

Besides the core chip, other parts of the quantum computer would differ entirely from traditional supercomputers. It was a brand-new high-tech endeavor.