At the top floor of Shanghai Tower, the nerve center of "String Light Capital." The circular trading hall stood eerily empty, the once-pervasive clamor composed of countless server cluster hums and trader commands had dissipated like a receding tide, leaving only the near-absolute whisper of precision air conditioning maintaining constant temperature and humidity. On the massive curved screen, the dizzying waterfall of global asset prices no longer danced; in its place, a deep, real-time rendered solar system star map, with planets moving slowly along precise orbits, occasionally interspersed with artificial light dots representing near-Earth objects or deep-space probes, calm and silent.
Mozi stood alone at the center of the hall, beneath his feet the bustling scenery of both banks of the Huangpu River clearly visible through the special glass like a miniature model. Yet his gaze did not look down upon this modern spectacle built by capital; instead, it turned toward the boundless firmament outside the window, toward the vaster and more dangerous universe hinted by the star map. He wore a soft-textured dark gray Chinese-style mandarin collar shirt, rather than the crisp, battle-robe-like tailored suit of earlier days. His silhouette, set against the empty hall, appeared exceptionally tranquil, even carrying a hint of detachment after having shed a heavy burden.
Right here, not long ago, he had just signed a series of documents, launching a plan destined to redefine the boundaries of "capital"--the "Humanity Future Fund." This was not another hedge fund pursuing excess returns, nor a traditional charitable foundation. It was an unprecedented financial entity, its capital scale sufficient to dwarf the GDP of small countries, entirely sourced from his personal wealth--the vast majority of fortune accumulated by "Mozi," who had once seized near-mythical wealth in global capital markets with his "volatility model" and "trend model." Most eye-catching and perplexing was the sole objective engraved on the first page of its charter, sealed with tamper-proof blockchain technology: "To identify and address long-term threats to human civilization survival."
No shareholders, no pursuit of financial returns, no involvement in short-term market fluctuations. Its mission list included items such as: constructing a global asteroid monitoring and deflection defense network; researching and deploying large-scale atmospheric carbon capture and storage technology; establishing a cross-species pan-epidemic early warning and rapid response system; exploring and stockpiling feasible solutions to extreme geological risks like supervolcanic eruptions or geomagnetic reversal... These projects spanned from deep space to the Earth's crust, from climate to microbes; any one of them required enormous investment, long cycles, and was almost impossible to generate "profit" within traditional financial frameworks. What they combated were those "tail risks"--events with perhaps extremely low probability, but once occurring, would cause interruption or regression of human civilization.
This astonishing move was not supported by impulsive generosity, nor by vanity seeking fame in history, but by a systematic philosophical concept named **Long-termism**, applied so decisively for the first time at the core conceptual level of capital operations.
**Long-termism.** Mozi turned, his gaze falling upon the concise lines of text quietly appearing beside the star map--the outline he used for conceptual enlightenment with several core team members. This philosophical perspective demanded shifting the moral focus from present spatiotemporal individuals to all possible future individuals. It weighed with nearlyruthlessrationality: a civilization existing in the distant future with immense prosperity potential could have a total value far exceeding the sum of all present human value. Therefore, any action significantly increasing the probability of such long-term future realization, or reducing its survival risk, even if its success probability seemedremote, could haveimmenseexpected value.
Thisthoroughly overturneded traditional capital's short-sighted nature. Capital markets, with their inherent discount rates, naturally devalue the future. An asteroid crisis possibly striking Earth ten thousand years later has a present value nearly zero in today's financial models. **Long-termism**, however, acted like a mental telescope, forcing capital topierce through the mists of time, paying attention to the grand vistas beyond the horizon concerning the overall survival of civilization. Itreshapecapital from a "greed algorithm" seekingimmediate optimal solutionto a "guardian algorithm" responsible for all possible futures humanity might possess.
Yue'er's information-geometric field theory revealed the unification and harmony of the universe's underlying information structure; Xiuxiu's High NA lithography machine pushed material manipulation to the peak of ultimate precision, providing civilization with more powerful tools. Yet his capital, if stillobsessed withthe zero-sum game of financial market internal circulation, or merely satisfied with supporting those "hard tech" with clear commercial prospects, in Mozi's view, would be like holding a sharp sword yet using it only to trim courtyard shrubs--a betrayal of power. Capital, this torrent he had tamed and guided, must be elevated to a height matching civilization's destiny. **Long-termism** was the philosophical rocket booster necessary for this "sublimation of capital."
He recalled those late nights before making the final decision. In the meditation room at String Light Research Institute where one could gaze at the starry sky, he had several deep conversations with Yue'er and Xiuxiu.
Yue'er offered support from her mathematical cosmic perspective: "Your capital flow can be seen as applying a 'vector field' pointing toward higher survival probability regions in the phase space of civilization as a complex system. Long-termism is the key to calibrating this vector direction."
Xiuxiuaddedfrom a more realistic level: "My lithography machines can produce chips supporting warning systems; Yue'er's models can optimize defense network layouts. But without sustained and massive capital investmentwithout regard for short-term returnsto construct and maintain the entire system, even the best technology remains just blueprints. You need to pay for these 'useless uses.'"
Their understanding and support dispelled his final doubts. The ultimate power of capital should not be reflected in ever-proliferating numbers on balance sheets, but in the greater possibilities and security itsecurefor humanity as a species, in the vast cosmos andvast stretches of time.
The process of launching the "Humanity Future Fund" was far from a mere document. It meantsevering and isolatingfrom the main body of "String Light Capital" which he had personally created and which had become a global capital behemoth; it meant facingenormous resistance and incomprehensionfrom original investors, partners, even internal core trading teams. Some saw him as atraitorbetraying capital logic; others ridiculed him as amadmanwhose mind was addled byimmense success, chasingillusory saviorsentiment; still otherslurking and stirring, attempting tocarve upthe power vacuum left after he "self-disabled."
These, Mozi had anticipated, and calmly endured. He mobilized the last and most resolute capital power he couldmobilize, completing wealth transfer and fund structuring, ensuring its operationunaffected by short-term market sentiment or any single interest group. The process involvedheart-stopping game, but his will waslike iron.
Now, all legal documents had taken effect; the first batch of funds had begun flowing, according topre-set,complex triggering mechanisms, to those most urgent long-term threat research projects. Global mediaeruptedover this unprecedented move; praise and criticismswept across major headlineslike a tsunami. Analysts attempted to interpret its impact with various models; philosophers debated its ethical boundaries; ordinarygeneral publicmingled shock with curiosity and hope.
Yet, Mozi at the eye of the storm felt an unprecedented **ease** utterly contrary to the externalclamor.
Not the weary relaxation after completing a task, but a deeper, soul-level sensation of **shackles**fall away. For years, he had been like a supremely skilled handler,ridingthe beast named "capital"--endowed with infinite power yet fraught with danger. He needed constant vigilance, calculating risks, weighing pros and cons, findingdelicate balanceamid market greed and fear. This power bestowed him with supreme influence, yet alsocloaked in invisible,heavy shackles: obsession withrate of return, craving forscale growth, wariness ofcompetitors, anxiety aboutsystemic risk, and that deeply buried concern about capital's own destructive potential.
Now, heactively channeledmost of this beast's power into the "Humanity Future Fund"--this broad, solid channel dug for civilization's destiny. Capital was no longer a mount he needed toconstantly taming and drivingto prove his own value; it transformed into something closer to infrastructure, like a dam, like a power grid,silently and steadfastlyserving a grand goaltranscending the individual.
He felt as though he hadshedthat set of **capital's shackles** forged from numbers, charts, K-lines, and endless calculations. Breathing becameunusually smooth; long-tautnerve endings relaxed; even the city lights outside the window, in his eyes, shed some of capital's ostentation, gaining more warmth ofeveryday human warmth.
He walked slowly toward the console,fingers tracing in the air, turning off that vast star map. The screen dimmed, reflecting his calm face at this moment.
He remembered many years ago, before entering financial markets, that green studentdevouringAdam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" and Marx's "Capital," while also jotting downspeculative thinkingabout the "invisible hand" and capital alienation in his notebook. Back then, his heart held asimple idealof a **public-spirited intellectual**: hoping to understand and harness economic laws, creating genuine value for society, not merely accumulating personal wealth.
Along the way, he ascended to the peak of capital, witnessing the mostutmost prosperity and deepest darkness,once lost his wayin the dizziness brought by power. It was Yue'er's pure pursuit of truth, Xiuxiu'spersistent dedicationof technology serving the nation, and the higher-level unification and responsibility revealed by "String Light Code" that gradually pulled him back.
Now, launching the "Humanity Future Fund" was not an end to his career, nor even a turning point, but a **return**. Hestripped awaythe alienated shell capital had attached to him, **returning** to that original source--the true nature of a **public-spirited intellectual** who harbors deep concern for civilization's future and employs his wisdom and ability (whether knowledge or capital) toput into practicethis concern. Only now, his "nation" and "people" had expanded to encompass the entire Earth civilization, even its possibleextended future.
He needed no one's understanding or praise. This ease arising from the depths of his heart, this clarity aftercast off shackles,return to authenticity, itself was the mostrich rewardfor all his choices.
Mozi took one last look at this trading hall that had once been a symbol of his power and will, turned, and left without anylingering attachment. Hissteps steady and unhurried, heading no longer toward capital's gladiatorial arena, but toward a longer, moreinitial intention aligningpath--the path of guardianship. The sublimation of capital was ultimately completed in the return of his character.