CHAPTER 44: IDEAS AND LIMITATIONS

Liam placed his cutlery back on the plate, the faint clink echoing softly in the quiet dining room.

Dinner had been satisfying — not because the meal was extraordinary (though Evelyn and the maids had done a fine job) — but because his mind had been calm enough to actually taste and enjoy it.

Wiping his hands on the napkin, he rose from the table, offering a polite nod to Evelyn.

He had been asleep for most of the day after the Omni-Science assimilation, and his body felt too charged to even consider going to bed. What he needed wasn’t sleep — it was a way to wind down. Something to occupy his mind without demanding too much effort.

And the private home theatre seemed like the perfect choice.

The moment Liam stepped inside, the scent of fresh leather and faint trace of polish wrapped around him. The space was cavernous but warm — plush carpeting underfoot, soft recessed lighting along the walls, and a massive, curved IMAX screen dominating the far end.

A row of premium recliners lined the center, each fitted with controls for angle, temperature, and even massage settings.

He dropped into the center recliner, adjusting it until it was nearly horizontal. The leather was cool against his skin for the first few seconds before absorbing his body heat.

He grabbed the slim remote from the armrest and scrolled through the library until he found something easy — a big-budget action film he’d been meaning to watch but never got around to.

The lights dimmed automatically as the opening credits flared across the screen, sound rolling through the room in a deep, perfect surround.

For a few minutes, he let himself sink into it — explosions on the screen, adrenaline-pumping soundtrack, clean visuals. But inevitably, his mind drifted.

The knowledge in his head refused to stay quiet.

Even here, with a movie blasting at a hundred decibels, he could still feel the hum of ideas just under the surface. Equations, designs, and schematics sat like loaded weapons in the back of his mind, waiting for him to pick one up and pull the trigger.

And he knew one thing for sure: if he wanted to use this advantage properly, he couldn’t just sit on it. He had to move.

The obvious choice was to create a company. With the right products, he could introduce groundbreaking tech without drawing suspicion — or at least, not so much suspicion that people would start digging too deep.

He smirked faintly. No, he wasn’t going to hand this knowledge to his government like some self-sacrificing patriot in a bad novel.

He liked his country well enough, but he wasn’t naïve. He understood exactly how people worked, especially those in power. They wouldn’t "use his discoveries for the good of the nation." They’d strip him bare, milk him for everything, and bury him when he was no longer useful.

And that was if they didn’t lock him up somewhere nice and secure while they kept him "protected."

No — this was his, and he’d use it on his own terms.

But there was one problem.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have an idea for a first product. The problem was the opposite — he had too many.

Billions of possible blueprints flashed through his thoughts: medical nanites that could cure nearly every disease, clean energy devices that could power entire cities for pennies, propulsion systems that could reach Mars in hours.

But for a first product, he had to be careful. It had to be revolutionary but not so alien that it screamed "future tech from another universe."

He couldn’t exactly roll out a warp-capable spaceship and expect no one to panic.

He sighed, smirking at the thought. "Yeah... can’t exactly sell a battleship as a consumer product."

He started mentally filtering, sifting through possibilities like a jeweler sorting stones. In minutes, two stood out.

The first was a new kind of quantum chip — one small enough to fit into a phone, laptops, gaming consoles and all other types of devices, and even chips the size of GPUs which would be powerful enough to replace entire data centers, and stable enough to run on almost no energy.

The second was something even more market-friendly: a regular-looking pair of glasses that doubled as full-immersion VR gaming gear. Not the clunky headsets, limited AR overlays devices that currently exista. But glasses that could seamlessly transport the user into a hyperreal virtual environment indistinguishable from reality.

Either one would dominate the global market.

The problem? Making them exactly as he envisioned was impossible with Earth’s current tech base. Not "difficult" — impossible. The materials, precision, and processes didn’t exist here yet.

That’s when his mind jumped to the perfect solution:

A molecular assembler.

A molecular assembler was the pinnacle of manufacturing — a device capable of constructing matter atom-by-atom according to a digital blueprint. It didn’t just "build" in the traditional sense; it assembled matter with absolute precision, allowing for materials and structures that could never occur naturally.

Want a quantum chip with perfect crystal alignment and zero impurities? Program it. Want a composite lighter and stronger than anything in existence? Feed in the specs. Want to produce a complex machine in one piece with no assembly lines or supply chains? Done.

In short, a molecular assembler could create almost anything — from a spoon to a spacecraft — without waste, without error, and without limitation beyond raw material input.

If Liam had one, producing his quantum chips and VR glasses would be trivial.

He opened the system store and typed the search. The results popped up instantly, and he felt a grin tug at his lips.

Standard Molecular Assembler

Cost: 10,000 SP

Description: A high-precision nanofabrication device capable of constructing matter atom-by-atom within a controlled build chamber. Supports production of objects ranging from micro-scale components to medium-scale machinery (maximum size: small car). Enables flawless manufacturing of quantum circuits, advanced materials, and intricate devices with zero defects and no waste. Requires raw material input. Build speed and complexity scale with blueprint detail..

Unrestricted Molecular Assembler

Cost: 50,000 SP

Description: An unlimited-capacity fabrication system capable of assembling any physical object at the atomic level, regardless of size. From spacecraft to planetary megastructures, including Dyson spheres, orbital rings, warp gates, and planetary defense arrays. No size restriction, no structural limitations. Supports simultaneous multi-object production and live adaptive blueprint modification. Requires corresponding raw materials or matter-energy conversion modules for continuous operation.

***

Liam exhaled softly. "Figures... 10,000 SP for the basic one."

That meant $100 million in exchange rate terms. And he had just over $12 million in liquid cash right now.

The unrestricted version’s 50,000 SP price tag didn’t even bear thinking about yet — that was half a billion dollars.

But the look of dangerous excitement in his eyes didn’t dim by the steep cost.

Still, it was the first time he’d really understood that there were two "tiers" in the system store: regular items that were already world-shattering by Earth standards... and the truly insane ones.

He closed the store with a wry smile. "One day."

For now, he’d have to wait. Maybe start stockpiling sign-ins instead of using them. Though he wasn’t sure he was ready to give up the daily sign-ins just yet.

That thought made him curious enough to ask, "System, if I start accumulating my daily sign-ins, how many points are we talking?"

[You will receive 10 SP for daily sign-ins, 50 SP for weekly sign-ins, 100 SP for monthly sign-ins and 1,000 SP for annual sign-ins.]

He blinked in confusion when he heard this.

"That’s... it?"

A laugh slipped out, low and incredulous.

"You know, system, for something that hands me billion-dollar shares and priceless gems, you’re kind of stingy with the points."

Still — free was free. Complaining would be stupid.

He decided to push the thought aside.

The movie was still playing, but Liam’s attention had fully drifted. His mind was already on tomorrow.

He’d decided — he was going out to sea.

The yacht Mia hadn’t left the dock since he’d acquired her, and he wanted to feel the ocean under her hull. Maybe even take the helicopter for a short trip over the waves.

He pulled out his phone, calling his yacht’s chief sailor and the flight captain.

"I’ll need both of you tomorrow," he said simply. "Be ready for my call."

Both acknowledged instantly.

Ending the calls, Liam thought for a moment. Going alone didn’t appeal to him — not for something like this.

He opened the group chat with Stacy, Kristopher, and the rest. The cursor blinked at him for a few seconds before he started typing.

"Got a trip planned tomorrow. Yacht + open sea. You guys free?"

He hit send, leaned back in the recliner, and watched the little "typing..." bubble appear almost immediately, with their miniature profiles behind it.