In the control center atop Shanghai Tower, after that heart-stopping financial defense war, a process of internal purification and restructuring seemed complete. The air no longer carried the burnt smell of overloaded equipment or the adrenaline scent of extreme pressure. Instead, it held a cold, slightly ozonic quality after deep cleaning, and a settled, more steady operational rhythm. On the massive curved main screen, global capital market data streams still surged like a galactic river, but those once glaring red alarm spots had largely subsided, replaced by reassuring blue and green hues representing normal fluctuations and steady growth. Yet beneath this restored "normal" surface, a deeper transformation concerning the nature and direction of capital was quietly brewing.
Mozi stood before the screen, his figure still tall and stern, but those deep eyes now held less of the sharpness and detachment of pure capital games, and more of the calm and reflection forged in fire. In that life‑or‑death struggle with the capital behemoth, he had wielded capital's coldest, most efficient weapons—precise liquidity sniping and collateral strangulation—securing tactical victory, solidifying "Stringlight's" capital fortress. Yet the taste of victory mingled with sober awareness of capital's destructive power and a heavy moral burden. That long night he spent alone in darkness was not wasted but a deep soul‑searching and reshaping.
He repeatedly examined the "moral algorithm" prototype he had tried to build but which almost shattered in this crisis. He realized that forcibly embedding morality as external constraints into the traditional capital model centered on efficiency and profit was like binding a silk rein on a tiger—not only hard to control but likely to be torn off by instinct in existential moments. A real turn should not shackle capital but fundamentally reshape its objective function, change its compass.
This insight, combined with his deep understanding of the creative technological force represented by Xiuxiu and the theoretical exploration value embodied by Yue'er, ultimately converged into a clear, firm strategic decision.
He chose neither a small‑scale preview nor lengthy internal debate. In what appeared to be an ordinary global video conference for all core staff and key partners of "Stringlight Fund," Mozi stood before the camera, backed by that massive data screen symbolizing capital power and global vision, and announced in a calm yet indisputable tone a major strategic transformation that would shake the entire investment world:
"Effective immediately, 'Stringlight Fund' and all associated investment vehicles will undergo comprehensive strategic upgrading. Our investment core will shift completely from the traditional model with financial return as the sole or primary goal, toward a new paradigm with ESG as the core principle."
ESG—Environment, Social, and Governance. This three‑letter investment concept, though a hot topic in global capital markets in recent years, often served as a supplementary label or risk‑screening tool. What Mozi announced now was a far more thorough and profound turn.
He clearly elaborated the connotation of "Stringlight's" version of ESG investment, which was essentially a purer, more proactive form of impact investing.
"What we understand as impact investing," Mozi's voice carried clearly through speakers across the venue and via network to screens worldwide, "lies at its core in actively seeking financial returns while generating positive, measurable environmental and social impact. Impact is not a by‑product of investment but a core objective equally important as financial return—even a priority strategic goal under specific circumstances."
He detailed how this philosophy would materialize, announcing three key directions "Stringlight Fund" would focus on supporting in the future:
Basic Scientific Research: "We will establish an unprecedented 'Future Science Fund' to support pure basic theoretical research like Professor Yue'er's work on the P vs. NP problem, as well as original innovation in physics, chemistry, life sciences, and other fields—long‑term, patiently, without concern for short‑term commercial returns. We believe exploring the deepest laws of the universe is the fundamental driving force of human civilization's long‑term development, and the ultimate 'asset' most worthy of investment." This was the most direct capital expression and support for the value represented by Yue'er. Green Energy: "Facing global climate change challenges, we will fully invest in disruptive energy technologies: next‑generation nuclear fusion, high‑efficiency solar power, novel energy storage, carbon capture and sequestration. This concerns not only environmental responsibility but also future energy security and industrial high ground. Our goal is to promote fundamental transformation of the energy structure." This represented substantive commitment to environmental responsibility, also harboring immense future industrial opportunities. High‑End Manufacturing: "We will continue and increase investment in high‑end equipment, advanced materials, precision manufacturing, and similar fields pursued by Xiuxiu's team—such as High NA EUV lithography machines. This is key to enhancing national industrial resilience and driving technology implementation. We support 'hard tech' capable of reshaping the global manufacturing landscape." This was continuous empowerment for the technological creative force represented by Xiuxiu.
To ensure this turn was not mere sloganeering, Mozi announced concrete implementation mechanisms:
* Establish rigorous impact measurement systems: Collaborate with top academic institutions to develop quantitative tools for tracking and assessing each investment's environmental benefits (e.g., carbon reduction) and social benefits (e.g., knowledge spillover, job creation). These metrics would be weighted alongside financial indicators in investment decisions and performance evaluations.
* Set up ultra‑long‑term capital pools: Carve out portions of funds to form "permanent capital" solely focused on basic research and ultra‑long‑term technology incubation, freeing it from traditional fund return‑cycle pressures, truly practicing "patient capital."
* Promote "value chain" investing: Invest not only in the technology itself but also along the industry chain's upstream and downstream, supporting related basic materials, core components, specialized software, etc., building a complete innovation ecosystem.
The venue fell silent, then erupted into low, astonished discussion. This was undoubtedly an extremely bold, even "heretical" turn in the eyes of some traditional investors. It shifted capital's logic from mere "value discovery" and "arbitrage" toward the more challenging "value creation" and "positive impact generation."
Yet for Mozi, this was not impulsive idealism but the inevitable choice after reflection on the financial war. He had witnessed firsthand how cold and destructive capital could become when driven purely by profit‑seeking. He did not want to be a master of such power. He hoped the capital he steered could become life‑giving water nourishing technological innovation like Xiuxiu's and theoretical exploration like Yue'er's, part of the solution to global challenges rather than the problem itself. This was his most fundamental practice to counter capital's inherent potential for "evil" and guide it toward "good."
This was also his most profound capital expression of the values represented by Yue'er and Xiuxiu.
Yue'er's mathematical world pursues cosmic harmony, unity, and truth, representing the heights of human rationality and curiosity toward the unknown. Xiuxiu's engineering practice seeks to transform ideas into reality, conquering the material world, creating tangible well‑being, representing human creativity and agency. Their values might be hard to precisely measure within traditional capital valuation systems, especially basic research with no short‑term commercial outlook.
Mozi's turn now used capital's most powerful language—the power of resource allocation—to declare to the world: These seemingly "useless" foundational explorations and arduous technological breakthrough efforts, these efforts concerning humanity's long‑term future and environmental health, possess supreme value, deserving the top‑tier, most patient capital to support and safeguard. He aligned capital's measure with the measure of human civilization's progress.
He was not merely investing in projects but investing in a future—a more sustainable, hopeful future shaped jointly by profound theory, powerful technology, and responsible capital. He sublimated their tacit "triune" understanding into a public, systematic capital strategy.
After the video conference ended, Mozi remained alone in the control center. He watched the global capital data still flowing on the screen, but now, in his eyes, those numbers were no longer mere symbols of prices and fluctuations. They seemed to transform into potential energy, technologies awaiting breakthroughs, unsolved scientific mysteries, waiting to be activated, illuminated by the re‑configured power of capital.
The giant ship of capital, in his hands, had already turned course. It no longer merely chased the profit storm's eye but began sailing toward that vaster, more challenging deep‑blue sea outlined by basic research, green energy, and high‑end manufacturing—a sea representing civilization's future. It was a lonely voyage, but Mozi knew his ship carried the dreams and values of two most exceptional companions. And this was the path of redemption he chose for capital.