At last, the progress bar for the hair-growth treatment had been completely filled, and new knowledge was unlocked.
The text inside the boxes that had once been covered in ??? became readable.
[Hyper Battery] (Tier 1)
[Description: A battery with extremely high energy storage relative to its weight.Energy density: 5,000 Wh/kg.A battery with no risk of ignition or operational accidents.]
[Quantum Computer – Stage 2 Upgrade] (Tier 1)
[Description: Upgrades the performance of the quantum computer.Once upgraded, it will be capable of decoding Tier 2 knowledge from the Akashic Records.]
Once again, there was no sign of Stage 2 Elixir.
I let out a sigh.
"…When is it finally going to appear?"
"I want to wake Father from his coma as soon as possible."
After a moment of quiet disappointment, I began carefully reading the full descriptions of the newly unlocked technologies.
Then my mouth slowly fell open.
"No way…"
I had expected that knowledge related to upgrading the quantum computer would eventually appear.
The machine itself had hinted before that an upgrade would become necessary.
But the other technology—
Hyper Battery—
was beyond anything I had imagined.
Its listed energy density was 5,000 Wh/kg.
Even at a glance, I could tell that this was on a completely different level from existing batteries.
I quickly connected a laptop to the wired internet line installed in the underground chamber.
This area had been designed as a signal dead zone to prevent surveillance by intelligence agencies, so mobile networks didn't work here.
Only physical connections were possible.
Once online, I searched the energy density of current battery technologies.
Energy density referred to how much electricity could be stored in a battery of equal weight.
In other words:
5,000 Wh/kg meant one kilogram of battery could store 5,000 watt-hours of electricity.
Current mainstream lithium-ion batteries averaged around 250 Wh/kg.
The highly anticipated "dream battery" under global development—solid-state batteries—had a theoretical density of roughly 500 Wh/kg.
Which meant—
This Hyper Battery would offer:
20 times the storage efficiency of current lithium-ion batteries 10 times the theoretical capacity of next-generation solid-state batteries
The numbers were absurd.
Completely unrealistic.
And yet—
I had no choice but to believe them.
The Akashic Records had already given me the formulas for a medicine that cured baldness and another that healed most diseases with a single drink.
"…My God."
"Does that mean Luktic's next industry is batteries?"
I muttered the words aloud.
Entering a new field was tempting enough already.
But entering one of the most promising industries of the future?
That was another matter entirely.
With Elixir's existence, countless pharmaceutical products would eventually become obsolete.
For now, approvals remained mostly domestic.
But soon many countries would likely fast-track imports once they fully recognized Elixir's efficacy.
Big Pharma's obstruction had already been broken.
And with the hair-growth treatment and skin regeneration drug already completed, it was practically inevitable that Luktic would steadily dominate the global pharmaceutical industry.
Which meant pharmaceuticals were nearly a secured market.
If Luktic wanted to grow into something even larger—
We needed a new battlefield.
And batteries were perfect.
All over the world, nations were planning long-term transitions away from fossil fuels.
Nuclear power.
Renewables.
Electrified transportation.
Energy storage infrastructure.
If electricity became society's main energy source, then battery demand would inevitably explode.
That was why battery companies were considered future giants.
Even when market cycles fluctuated wildly, the long-term direction was clear.
It would become one of the largest industries on Earth.
I began estimating what a Hyper Battery could do.
"If this battery really has twenty times the density of lithium-ion…"
A modern electric car with a range of 500–600 km would exceed 10,000 km on the same battery volume.
I recalculated several times.
Again.
And again.
The answer never changed.
If used in smartphones—
One charge might last two weeks to a month.
Even old feature phones had nothing on that.
Drones?
They could remain airborne for weeks or even months.
At that point, electric cars and phones weren't the real story.
Ships.
Aircraft.
Industrial machinery.
Possibly even tanks or submarines.
Entire transportation systems could move from fuel to electricity.
Large-scale ESS storage systems would become vastly more efficient.
Even households could install battery storage, charge cheap off-peak electricity at night, and use it during the day.
This wasn't an improvement.
It was an energy paradigm shift.
And according to the description, it lacked the greatest weakness of lithium batteries:
Fire risk.
I felt it instinctively.
If we could mass-produce this—
Luktic would dominate the global battery market.
Immediately, I selected the new knowledge.
[Hyper Battery] (Tier 1)
Would you like to begin decoding this knowledge?
▶ Yes / No
I pressed Enter without hesitation.
***
In the United States, businessman Frederick was receiving a research briefing from another company under his control: Maxwell.
Maxwell was one of the world's leading electric vehicle manufacturers.
In practical terms, it had become synonymous with EVs themselves.
Even before electric vehicles fully dominated the market, Maxwell already possessed a market capitalization exceeding $1 trillion.
Recently, it had also entered the humanoid robotics industry, drawing enormous global attention.
One of Maxwell's senior research executives was presenting the latest technical status.
After listening for a while, Frederick frowned.
"Hm."
"Is there really no way to significantly increase EV range?"
"And the same problem applies to humanoids. Their runtime is far too short."
The executive answered carefully.
"As you know, Chairman, current battery technology has clear limits."
"If solid-state batteries are commercialized, things may improve significantly."
"But for now, the only options are structural efficiency, fitting more batteries, or reducing power consumption."
Frederick sighed.
"…I know."
Even he, famous for ruthlessly pressuring subordinates, could only accept it this time.
Because it was true.
Human technology advanced rapidly in many fields.
But battery technology moved like a crawling snail.
Motors improved.
AI improved.
Robotics improved.
Battery progress lagged far behind.
Solid-state batteries offered hope—
But they remained at least five years away and would likely be extremely expensive.
"What a headache…"
Frederick grabbed his head.
For Maxwell, which built machines powered entirely by electricity, battery limitations were suffocating.
Some even said battery stagnation was slowing human civilization itself.
Frederick muttered bitterly:
"Wouldn't it be nice if some revolutionary battery technology just appeared out of nowhere…"
"That's usually how breakthroughs happen after long stagnation."
Battery limits were shackling his dreams.
If someone could break those chains—
He would pay almost any price.
***
At the Gimhae Plain construction site of Luktic's second factory, structural work had begun in earnest.
Given the scale of the facility, it wasn't being assembled from steel frames and simple panels.
This was reinforced concrete megastructure construction.
Dense rebar cages.
Massive steel molds.
Repeated concrete pours.
Dong-sik watched the site and muttered:
"Good."
"So far, everything's going smoothly."
"…Too smoothly."
That bothered him.
He had always trusted his instincts.
Whenever he felt this kind of unease, there was usually a real problem somewhere.
So he began inspecting the site more frequently.
Safety systems lacking?
No.
Everything was being followed thoroughly.
Foundation problems?
No.
Multiple experts had already verified the work.
Flood risk due to nearby waterways?
No.
No heavy rain or typhoon forecasts, and reinforced embankments had already been built with Busan City's cooperation.
Then what was wrong?
While making rounds, one site manager cautiously said:
"Director Kim… I understand your dedication completely."
"But if the overall project manager walks the site all day, it may have the opposite effect."
"The workers become nervous and distracted."
Dong-sik realized the man had a point.
So he reduced visible inspections and instead walked the site during lunch breaks and rest periods.
Still—
Nothing looked wrong.
Everything appeared perfect.
Yet his instincts kept warning him.
Something was off.
He thought carefully.
When did I first start feeling this way?
Then suddenly—
Something flashed through his mind.
Dong-sik sprinted into the temporary site office and opened the materials delivery ledger.
Then he laid the engineering design documents beside it.
"…No way."
"That can't be right."
"I've been here every day. How could someone pull this off?"
But the more he compared the numbers—
The stranger they looked.
Then he remembered something a Daesung Group consultant had once told him.
"…They actually do things like this?"
He immediately summoned several trusted managers.
Then ran toward the construction site with them.