by <unknown>
It was going to take some time to obtain enough power to help him instantiate crystalline fragments.
The good news was that the Spire Experimental Base was now in the process of researching a newer generation inertial fusion reactor. Taking notes from the first generation reactor, the efficiency of the second generation was expected to increase up to seven-folds. Its power generation should reach up to 2 million kWh, which would put it on par with Chen Chen's nuclear plant.
Though claiming to have unlimited energy would be an exaggeration, at least Chen Chen could instantiate some tools like the PK Armor or crystalline fragments without hurting his reserves as much.
Currently, Chen Chen heavily prioritized the research efforts of the E language as well as the collection of germanium metal.
Germanium metal was very valuable in modern industry. It had extensive and important applications in semiconductors, aerospace measurement and control, nuclear physics detection, optical fiber communications, infrared optics, solar cells, chemical catalysts, biomedicine, and various other fields. Simply put, it was an important strategic resource.
It was also used as a catalyst for alloy pretreatment, in the electronics industry, and the optical industry.
On the international market, germanium metal was priced at approximately 1,000 U.S. dollars per kilogram. It was not incredibly pricey, but it was not particularly cheap either. If Chen Chen wanted to build a Gantz server machine as large as the one he saw in the Gantz dimension, he would need approximately a thousand tons of germanium metal, which came to a billion U.S. dollars.
There were no cutting corners around the construction of the Gantz server machine as it must be a completely solid structure. Its effects could only be exerted if the shape and the texture on its surface were accurate on a nanometer scale.
The only notable challenge to this infrastructure was the Gantz satellite and Gantz sphere serving as relay stations. It was only after the server was set up and connected to the relay station when Chen Chen could transmit humans or other substances between the Gantz sphere and a targeted area marked by the Gantz satellite.
Still, with each of the consortiums across the European and American Continents backing him, it should not pose too much issue for him.
Chen Chen wiped the sweat off his forehead and turned around to leave the Field training ground. Little X continuously reported to him via the earpiece, "We don't have to acquire germanium metal only by using official commerce channels. After all, this volume of purchase nearly exceeds the total annual production of germanium metal and draws too much attention. If possible, we can try mining for them ourselves."
Chen Chen stayed silent to let Little X finish.
"Besides, there are two marked germanium deposits right here in Africa. They are located in the Rainbow Nation and Angola respectively. If we can purchase these germanium mines, half of the raw material supply problem is solved…"
Chen Chen nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this advice of Little X. "This is a decent idea. It may take more time, but is the safer choice in the long run. Besides, our crew of Black Knights is increasing…"
"In this case, inform Old Qian about this and have him send someone to discuss this with the two governments."
Chapter 333: Opposing Organization of Blacklight Biotechnology |
"We at Blacklight Biotechnology would like to offer 120 million U.S. dollars to purchase the germanium mining rights in the county of Gaborone."
A man whose complexion was a poor yellow and seemed utterly exhausted was seated at a negotiation table, looking proud as he spoke. Next to him, there was a professional negotiation team comprised of translators, secretaries, legal consultants, and other professionals.
This man was Wang Liang, one of the original members that came with Chen Chen back when Chen Chen had just arrived in Africa.
Perhaps it was due to how capable he was, Qian Wenhuan would always bury him with a mountain worth of tasks. Now, Wang Liang had finally become one of the senior members of Blacklight Biotechnology. This time, he was dispatched by Qian Wenhuan and put in charge of the acquisition of the germanium mine in Rainbow Nation.
The party on the other end of the negotiation table was none other than the Ministry of Mining and Energy of Rainbow Nation.
Wang Liang kept up a proud front as he waited for the translator to translate his message to the officials. He made sure to emphasize, "This is our highest offer."
The group on the other end of the table discussed among themselves for a while before responding. Soon, the leading official who was a black man replied in fluent English, "Sorry, I'm afraid we cannot agree to this price."
"What? Is it because it's not enough?"
Wang Liang frowned and became slightly flustered. "Do you know what the international market value for germanium is? A thousand U.S. dollars per kilogram. The germanium deposit in Gaborone has 300 tons of proven resources, which is 300 thousand kilograms. Even if we excavate all of them, they are only worth 300 million U.S. dollars.
"Now, doesn't excavation cost money? What about refining them? Doesn't transporting them cost money as well? Germanium metals are already a rare resource on their own. They are extremely difficult to excavate and not any easier to refine them. By the time the process is complete, the total cost expended is pretty much on par with the international market price. If you expect us to pay more, we'd rather just head straight to the international market!"
Despite his questionable attitude, Wang Liang was more than competent on the business end of things. He had clearly presented all the positive and negative aspects of germanium ore mining without leaving them room for any nitpicking.
However, there was no telling just what the opposing party was concerned about. After another round of fervent discussion among themselves, the officials still gave the same answer, "Sorry, we still can't accept this price, we're going to need at least 150 million U.S. dollars!"
"What!"
Wang Liang became so enraged that he slammed the table with all his might and shot up. "I'm guessing you're not planning to sell then! In that case, let's go!"
With that, he left the table and furiously stomped out of the conference room with his crew trailing behind him.
Upon stepping out of the town hall, Wang Liang spat on the floor and exclaimed, "Bunch of uncivilized b*stards!"
"Director Wang, it's not worth getting upset about these people!"
One of the subordinates quickly stepped forward and produced a high-quality cigar for Wang Liang. This was quickly followed up with him producing a lighter like a magician and lighting the cigar for Wang Liang. "Director, don't worry about these b*stards, these people are crazy to ask so much for a small scale mine. If it doesn't work out, we can always go to the next one."
"The main problem is germanium ores are few and far in between. Also, Qian Wenhuan issued strict orders for us to acquire this germanium mine at all costs…"
Wang Liang shook his head dejectedly. When he mentioned Qian Wenhuan, a hint of gloom met his eyes for a brief instant. He took another strong drag from the cigar before heading for the car. "Alright, let's not talk about this now. If it comes down to it, we'll just swing by the houses of these officials later tonight. As long as we can give them something good in return, the price should naturally go down tomorrow…"
With that, Wang Liang entered the car with his secretary diligently escorting him every step of the way.
After closing the door for Wang Liang, the secretary lapped around the vehicle and entered from the other side while the driver got into the driver's seat.
"Zhou Hang, I want you to find out the address of the minister this afternoon. I need it by evening, got it?"
"Understood, Director Wang. Are we returning to the hotel now?"
"Let's just head back to…"
As the two men continued their exchange, the driver started the engine. Just as the engine was started, a deafening explosion emerged and blew the car into smithereens!
>
In an instant, the vehicle along with its three passengers was devoured by a ball of flame that continued to rage on fiercely in front of the city hall…
The remaining members of the negotiation team stood there with their mouths agape, their faces illuminated by the bright flame.
Wang Liang was dead.
After about ten minutes, Chen Chen who had just received the news responded with an immediate twitch of his mouth.
"Who did it?"
Chen Chen was almost speechless. "X, did we not pick up any intel on this?"
"Sorry, Sir Godfather."
Little X sounded almost ashamed. "I didn't pick up any intel at all."
Chen Chen nodded and did not try to put the blame on Little X. He of all people was well aware that Little X had acquired all information related to Blacklight Biotechnology by a large database extracted from the Internet. Unless Little X had very specific search criteria, it would be impossible to thoroughly go through everything ranging from all kinds of chat software, dark web communications or even encrypted sources like radio signals.
It would be false to say that there was no blind spot on the Internet. Besides, this attack was not specifically targeted at Chen Chen, but just an employee of Blacklight Biotechnology instead, making it harder for Little X to notice it.
"Looks like you're going to need an upgrade to become a truly all-knowing entity on the Internet. In this vein, the E Language and Gantz server machine seem like the ideal options."
Chen Chen tipped his head at the notion. "Have you been able to find anything by following along the clues that we have now?"
"I've already extracted surveillance footage of the Rainbow Nation Gaborone City Hall and found a man in a black shirt."
As Little X said this, the surveillance footage quickly appeared on the computer display in front of Chen Chen. Shown on the display was a large man wearing a black mask in a black trench coat. When the man walked past Wang Liang's rental car, he bent down slightly as if he was trying to tie his shoelaces.
Due to the angle of the camera, the man was shielded by the rental car. All Chen Chen could see was the man getting back up after about ten seconds and leaving after that.
Clean execution. The entire process took no longer than twenty seconds.
"This man didn't reveal his face at all so it's difficult for me to identify him. I also continued tracking him using surveillance footage but after he took a turn into the slums, he had effectively gone out of my range."
Little X explained, "I'm not sure if it's intentional or not. Point is, the target has successfully evaded my investigation efforts."
Chen Chen's expression grew darker when he heard this. He pedaled around slowly. "X, looks like somebody has noticed your existence."
"Honestly, this isn't all that surprising."
After giving it some thought, Chen Chen noted in a low voice, "There's the God's Forbidden Zone's Disciple Council, the massacre case in Switzerland, then there's our routine purge of spies inside Eco Science City. When someone put all of this together, it's not difficult to figure out that we at Blacklight Biotechnology have access to some sort of nearly all-knowing information channel online."
Due to the unique nature of Eco Science City, the city never had any shortage of lurking spies.
The demographic of spies was not just limited to the spies of the major pharmaceutical corporations, even the official spies of each major continent were involved. There were spies from the Mainland and spies from North America as well, since everybody was curious just how Eco Science City developed such advanced medical technology.
Most of the time, these spies did not pose any significant threat so Chen Chen just let them be. However, whenever they executed some operation that may endanger the security of the city, someone always erased them without a trace before they could begin.
This was both a way of issuing a warning and also a way of flaunting strength.
After enough occurrences, people would eventually get the message that there was more to the Eco Science City than it let on on its surface.
Chen Chen began to silently dissect the situation they were facing. "So, this means that our lurking enemies intentionally avoid keywords like 'Blacklight Biotechnology' and 'Chen Chen' when discussing online or perhaps they swapped them out with other codewords instead. There's also a chance that they used less mainstream communication platforms. This does minimize the chances of us noticing…"
"In that case, how do we deal with them?"
Little X asked almost restlessly.
"Well, let's just see how things progress from here, then we'll decide what to do from there on."
Chen Chen answered. This response of his seemed to have caught Little X slightly off guard.
"Just because they didn't slip up this time doesn't mean they can keep it up the next time."
When Chen Chen saw that Little X still had trouble grasping his meaning, he had to explain, "You still don't get it? One of these times, they'll slip up and expose themselves. What are the chances that they'll never make a mistake? Impossible!"
As Chen Chen said this, the side of his lips tugged upward to form a cunning smile. "X, have you ever played Pac-man? We're just playing a game of hide and seek with them. We're playing the seeker while they're playing the lone Pac-man in an enormous maze…
"I'd like to see just how many pellets of mine they can eat."
Chapter 334: Kidnap |
Zurich, Switzerland.
In the evening, Wynn, who was over 60 years old, put on a black trench coat and a black top hat and walked out of the Blackwatch Research Institute slowly. He headed toward a 90s-style Porsche car on the side of the road.
Wynn was already very old. He originally had several senile diseases and complications such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and his hair was almost all white. However, a few months ago, he had gone to the African branch office, also known as the Eco Science City. When he came back, he had changed.
His hair had regained its black hue and the wrinkles on his face had been reduced by more than half. His dry yellowing eyes were more hydrated and his figure was not rickety like an old man's, but much more upright.
At first glance, Wynn did not seem to be a 60-year-old man, but a middle-aged man in his early forties.
Everyone knew that this was the result of receiving the age-reversal treatment program. All the elderly who had undergone this treatment were able to miraculously pull away from old age back to middle age.
This was not just about getting younger in one's face, but rather, the full range of changes in physical fitness. This was enough to make everyone scramble madly for a taste.
Still, the price of this treatment was really expensive. The most basic treatment cost more than 500,000 USD, let alone the more luxurious and refined treatments. At present, there were only a few wealthy and even fewer middle-class people in the world who had the financial resources and qualifications to extend their lives.
Even though the customer base was not large and there were sanatoriums all over the world that secretly carried out the same treatment projects, this was the most authoritative and famous Eco Science City, where an appointment would still be two years away.
At this time, Wynn, the general manager of Blackwatch's Swiss branch, got into his car while humming a Zurich folk tune. He knew that he had a date in 30 minutes.
Yes, twenty years ago, Wynn had divorced his wife and spent time alone indulging in debauchery. It was only ten years ago that his body gradually became affected and he started to restrain himself.
However, presently Eco Science City had given him a second chance, so as a romantic playboy by nature, he naturally became restless again.
Just as he got into the car and was about to start the engine, he suddenly looked into the rearview mirror of the car inexplicably.
He seemed to have seen someone sitting in the backseat.
Even so, as he looked up, he saw that the backseat was empty
and there was nothing there.
"A trick of the eye?"
Wynn shook his head, then laughed at himself and started the car.
After that, Wynn drove to Page Hotel, the place that he had agreed upon with the date in advance.
Zurich was not a busy city. The population density here was extremely low. If one were not in the city's business district, but some remote trail instead, there was almost no sign of people except the few occasional cars.
At this time, Winn drove the car down a remote trail.
Along the way, Winn was humming the Zurich tune, but just as he was about to cross the small road in front, suddenly, a dark car cut out from behind him, way ahead of the speed limit. This gave Wynn a bad fright.
"D*mn it!"
Winn hurriedly spun his steering wheel to avoid the other vehicle, but what made him a little furious was that the person did not directly pass him by. Instead, they veered toward his side as if they wanted to cut him off and pin down his car.
Helpless, Wynn hurriedly slammed the brakes to decelerate the Porsche.
Even so, the other party still doggedly drove the car in front of Wynn, obstructing the entire one-way street and completely blocking Wynn's path.
"What are they doing?"
Wynn felt unsettled. He instinctively wanted to reverse the car, but when he looked into the side-view mirror, his expression shifted again.
Another mysterious black car had also appeared behind him, blocking his retreat.
By this point, two people finally got off the black car in front. Both of them were wearing black balaclavas and carrying guns. When they got out of the car, they rushed directly to Wynn's car. "Get off, Mr. Wynn!"
"What are you doing?"
Wynn's expression changed. At this moment, there was no way he would not understand that he was being kidnapped!
"We won't hurt you."
One of the masked men said, "We just want to take you somewhere else to discuss business. It's too noisy here and it'll be quieter there."
