by <unknown>
"Let me see."
Little X closed her eyes, connected to "Adam" via the quantum USB flash drive, and then opened her eyes again within a few seconds. "No! Just like the three statues in the past, it can only predict some key information at most, but we wouldn't be discovered."
Upon hearing this, Chen Chen immediately asked, "What is the reason?"
"One factor is my existence."
Little X sounded triumphant. "Similar to how my 'Prophet System' can't uncover it, it can't uncover me as well. The bigger reason is that the meme's behavior has exceeded its framework of cognition. The only thing 'Adam' can do is derive clues about the meme by colliding the quantum possibilities with its own predictions."
"That's already impressive."
Chen Chen said ruefully, "That is to say, a quantum computer has the ability to make predictions based on nothing. Even without any clues, it can also predict using quantum space-time effects and this ability is something you don't have."
"I'm indeed a little lacking in the ability to predict the future, but I'll kick its *ss in all other aspects!"
Little X puffed up her cheeks and said.
"That was not what I meant..."
Chen Chen hurriedly smiled and assured her. "I mean, if its quantum power is combined with your Prophet System, would it be possible to predict the past and the future more precisely and with a greater range?"
"Hmm, that's true…"
Little X then made a thoughtful face.
"Alright, don't be angry. I worded it wrongly."
Chen Chen ruffled Little X's hair. He had just stood up when Little X spoke again, "Sir Godfather, Cheng Cao has something to report to you."
"Connect him."
Chen Chen said decisively and at the same time, Cheng Cao's voice rang out directly in the office.
"Boss…"
Cheng Cao's voice still sounded as stoic as always. "As per your request, I've found Wang Luo. She's the deputy director of the political department in the Shangdu Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. However, according to my investigation, she hasn't contacted Wang Xi in all her life and there's no such name as Wang Xi in all of her information.
"But the weird thing is that when I tracked down her mother Zhou Yun's address, I found that Zhou Yun only included herself in the household register, but the page of the head of the household was left empty, completely blank…"
Chen Chen sighed secretly when he heard this. Of course, he knew why the main page of Zhou Yun's register was blank.
"Not only that…"
Cheng Cao continued. "There's a lot of men's clothes in Zhou Yun's house, but Zhou Yun is unfazed by these clothes and can even be said to be ignoring them. So I explicitly ordered a subordinate to pretend to be friends with Zhou Yun and find out what she thinks. Only then did we discover Zhou Yun's impression was that she has always had those men's clothes and she doesn't know whom those clothes belonged to.
"And when my subordinate asked whom her husband was, Zhou Yun herself also displayed a moment of confusion, but this confusion quickly disappeared, and her subconscious seemed to automatically avoid these topics…"
"I see. Cao, continue to investigate and find out everything that you can."
Chen Chen gave this order and then asked Little X to cut the call.
"Sir Godfather, are you still worried about Wang Xi?"
Little X asked apprehensively.
"Indeed. All the information about Wang Xi no longer exists in this world and even you will forget him. This kind of antimeme is really horrifying…"
Chen Chen looked solemn. "I don't know if Wang Xi is dead or if he had gone into hiding intentionally, let alone what the existence of the USB drive has to do with him, but there must be a terrible conspiracy in all this…
"A conspiracy that spans more than 30 years and involves me, Zhao Shanhe, and even the owner of the USB flash drive before Zhao Shanhe…"
Chen Chen continued. "Moreover, I have a bigger question — if the USB flash drive had existed in the world as early as thirty years ago, that is, at the time of Zhao Shanhe, has it always been in the form of a USB flash drive?"
"Huh?"
Little X was stupefied when she heard Chen Chen's words. After hearing this, she immediately realized that the earliest USB flash drives had only appeared in 1998 and the USB port only began to appear in 1996. In that case, before 1996, during the time of the last USB drive owner Zhao Shanhe, what kind of form did the USB flash drive take?
"Could it be that the USB flash drive can still change its form?"
Little X asked.
"That's undetermined."
Chen Chen shook his head. "But haven't you noticed? In Zhao Shanhe's video, he didn't call the USB drive a 'USB drive", but used a more intuitive name, 'dimension key', right? Does this mean that when he was holding the USB flash drive, it didn't exist in the form of a USB drive?
"Besides Professor Wang Xi's disappearance, there's almost no evidence that he's related to the USB flash drive, but the more this is the case, the more it means that there's a deep secret in all this, and this secret is probably extremely dangerous…"
Having said this, Chen Chen suddenly thought of something. He said abruptly, "By the way, I keep forgetting to check one thing. The file about Zhao Shanhe that you searched for, where is the server storing this file?"
"Let me check."
Little X closed her eyes and then opened them again. "I've found it. That server containing the file related to Zhao Shanhe is stored in the school server room of Shangdu Jiao Tong University. There are a total of six servers in this server room and the server with the file is No. 1, which is also the oldest server. The server was set up in 2003."
"The timing matches…"
Chen Chen narrowed his eyes when he heard these words. "Tell Cheng Cao to get that server and ship it over."
"Okay, I'll give the order now."
Little X replied.
"Remember to tell Cheng Cao to be careful."
Chen Chen continued. "As far as I know, it's likely to be the first thing that can withstand antimemetic erosion. If that's the case, the server itself is likely to have buried clues about Zhao Shanhe and it's even more likely to house unknown dangers."
After giving this warning, Chen Chen returned to his seat and fell into deep contemplation.
…
While Northern America was abuzz due to This Man incident, Blacklight Biotechnology began to release an even more shocking piece of news in the entire Earth Federation.
This news was outside Northern America and instantly suppressed the popularity of This Man, becoming headline news in all continents —
Blacklight Biotechnology announced to the world: The department of Biological Research Center in the Eco Science City, on 16 December 2024, had deciphered 99% of the cancer genetic chain and could now use genetically modified cell technology to cure all known human cancers!
Once the news was announced, the entire world was in an uproar.
If there were history books in this world, then in future history books, 2024 would be the first year that human beings formally eliminated cancer…
Following that, another update was also released — due to political oppression by the Northern American Continent, Blacklight Biotechnology was determined, from this day onward, to withdraw their FDA applications for three cancer-targeted drugs namely, the targeted drugs for "lung squamous cell carcinoma", "triple-negative advanced breast cancer", and "poorly differentiated advanced combined liver cancer". Phase III clinical trials in Los Angeles, Northern America, would also be suspended indefinitely.
Chapter 426: Cards on the Table |
FDA is the abbreviation for the "Food and Drug Administration" in Northern America. Any drugs that wanted to be officially approved in the Northern American market had to go through this application process. Most continents also had similar institutions such as Europe's EDQM or China's NMPA.
Blacklight Biotechnology had canceled t
he FDA application of three targeted drugs in Northern America, which meant that these three types of drugs were not about to enter the Northern American market.
If these were ordinary drugs, no one would care about such an announcement. After all, if one drug was gone, there were always other drugs to substitute it and the FDA would not simply approve any Tom, Dick or Harry. The review process could take several years and the standards were extremely strict.
Nevertheless, Blacklight Biotechnology was different. The drugs it had applied for were unique in the market. They were highly effective with a cancer cure rate of over 90%. Once these era-defining drugs were withdrawn from the Northern American market, the one who lost out would be Northern America.
Therefore, after learning that the three targeted drugs would not hit the market in Northern America, the Northern American Department of State promptly protested, claiming that this was a monopoly, a sanction, and denied any intention of sanctioning Blacklight Biotechnology. The Northern American Continent, which had always been powerful, began to play the part of the victim and voiced a firm protest against Blacklight Biotechnology.
[Blackwatch Corporation Refuses to Launch Their Highly Effective Drugs in Northern America. Following This Man Incident, the Northern American Authorities Suffer Another Heavy Blow!] — Wall Street Journal.
[Imposing Sanctions on the World's Foremost Economy With Just the Power of a Corporation, Domineering Side Exposed!] — Tencent News.
[Blackwatch Corporation's Latest Announcement Claims That It Can Solve 136 Types of Cancers Known to All Humanity. Truth or Hogwash?] — BBC Express.
[After the Official Website of Blacklight Biotechnology Issued Two Announcements, the Entire Earth Federation Was Shocked!] — UC Subscription.
Furthermore, netizens all over the world were having a field day because of this incident. Whether it was on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook or the major forums, one could see discussions about this matter everywhere.
[Has Blackwatch Corporation eliminated cancer? I don't believe it. If they say they have solved several of these cancers, I can still kinda believe it. Solved them all? It's too exaggerated.]
[OP, didn't you see the announcement? They directly deciphered the cancer heredity chain at the genetic level. Got it? They cracked cancer at the source, it doesn't matter what kind of cancer it is.]
[Person from China here. I've finally realized what monopoly and dictatorship mean. Surely they're being too harsh!]
[Hehe, no matter how powerful this company is, it doesn't even have the fundamental principle that the whole world should work as one and openly discriminates against Northern Americans. This kind of company deserves to be sanctioned. It's best if they go bankrupt as soon as possible and then share the technology with all humankind. Chinese cyber-troopers, don't even bother wielding your pitchforks.]
[I've already blacklisted the idiot above me. They are using Chinese, yet even the sh*t they spew comes out the wrong way. Thanks for enriching my blacklist.]
[Blacklight Biotechnology has recently been making headlines in the world many times. From a private company that nobody cares about to a pharmaceutical giant today, what has this company gone through?]
[Rather than quarrel, why don't we just disperse. What does a battle between gods have to do with us peasants, let's just eat our popcorn and watch this unprecedented showdown.]
As the two announcements continued to go viral, there were supporters and critics and the group of people suffering from cancer paid more attention to the first announcement. They urgently needed to know whether this news was true or false or a half-truth that Blackwatch Corporation deliberately exaggerated.
Due to this, as the outcry became stronger, in the afternoon of the same day, the official website of Blacklight Biotechnology had issued a new announcement. This genetically modified cancer treatment technology would be reviewed and clinically tested in various countries within a week. Blacklight Biotechnology would not charge any fees, but would instead provide free medical treatments for participants in the clinical trials, striving to bring this new type of treatment to the market as efficiently as possible.
As soon as this news came out, the officials of the Earth Federation Headquarters, who had been a little displeased with Blacklight Biotechnology's monopolistic decision, had nothing left to say.
At this time, the uproar was not just happening internationally. Things were in chaos on Chen Chen's side as well. Calls were blowing up his phone. The callers were all from the helms of major financial groups and chairman-level personnel of giant international corporations.
"Sir Godfather, the Blanc Financial Group has also called. Will you take the call?"
"No."
"Sir Godfather, the Edwards family and the Alexander family are calling at the same time. Take the call?"
"No."
"Sir Godfather, the President of the Earth Federation Representative Association…"
"No."
Chen Chen lay back serenely in his chair, unwilling to answer any calls.
He opened the secret network of God's Forbidden Zone and saw that on the forum of God's Forbidden Zone, several families were already cursing:
sigma08Philip: [What is wrong with you? I'm still going to such lengths to lobby the White House over here. How nice of you guys to drop an announcement like that! Yeah, just undo all the f*cking effort we've put in!]
sigma03John: [Why didn't you notify us in advance? My stocks, f*ck!]
sigma01SimonPeter: [Chen Chen, why don't you answer the phone? F*ck you!]
[System notification: User sigma01 has been banned by the system for 10 minutes due to using strong language. Please pay attention to your words and behavior.]
Seeing this, Chen Chen stood up languidly. He thought for a while and said, "Little X, inform all the members of the Disciple Council that we'll have a holographic conference. I'll give them an hour to prepare."
"Very well."
Little X nodded. A huge conference table instantly rose from under the floor. This was a massive table, about ten meters long and three meters wide, and there were rows of seats on both sides. Chen Chen went directly to the end of the conference table and sat down.
In less than five minutes, as a beam of light flickered by, a middle-aged man with gray hair appeared out of thin air on Chen Chen's right side. The man angrily plopped down into a chair and at the same time, he asked, "Chen Chen, what the h*ll are you doing? Do you know how much the Northern American stock market has fallen after all this?!!!"
Chen Chen spread his hands and said innocently, "Sorry. If I give a similar order next time, I'll notify the Northern American financial groups in advance."
"There's a next time?"
The middle-aged man was practically blowing his top. If it had not been a holographic image in front of him, he would even rush forward to beat up Chen Chen.
"This isn't the time to talk, Mr. Edwards."
Chen Chen smiled. "When everyone arrives, I'll give you all an explanation."
On hearing these words, the middle-aged man in front of Chen Chen cooled down slightly. He said crossly, "Very well, then I'll wait for the explanation from Your Excellency Chen Chen!"
Over time, men with different faces appeared at the conference table. These men looked at each other and began to share some less important information.
In the end, after one hour was up, eleven of the original twelve Disciples had shown up. In addition, several families did not have the qualifications to become Disciples, but who still had some significant influence as plutocrats.
With a group of busy important people like these, such a high attendance rate was a rarity.
"The Muhammad family of the Sand Continent sent a message saying that they wouldn't participate in this meeting."
Little X notified from the side.
"Forget it then. This matter has nothing to do with them anyway."
Chen Chen nodded and then looked at everyone present with great intere
st. "This is the first holographic conference we're having after we developed the holographic projection technology, right? What do you think of it?"
"It's brilliant."
A chubby middle-aged man said with a smile, "It's just that the price is a bit steep at one million USD for a set. And if I want to cover a larger room, I'd need a more powerful environmental holographic simulator."
"Let's cut to the chase."
The gray-haired middle-aged man interrupted the chit chat between the two. He said gloomily, "Chen Chen, it's time for you to give us an explanation."
"Give 'us'?"
Chen Chen pretended to be mystified. "Who does this 'us' include?"
"Me!"
A sturdy man said, "We, the Alexander family, need an explanation."
"And our Rodriguez family, too."
Another middle-aged man chimed in.
"Me as well."
The helm of the Edwards family added. "We three Disciples in Northern America plus the Felix family and the Blanc family who are also in attendance — are we not worthy of getting an explanation?"
"Of course, you are."
Chen Chen nodded and his expression gradually turned grave. "But what I want to know is why none of you contacted me when the Northern American Continent wanted to arrest me illegally? Don't tell me you didn't know anything about it!"
"We didn't know…"
Paul from the Blanc family quickly replied as he waved his hand, "That was an ultimate secret meeting and it was no longer under the consortia's influence. Although the political parties in Northern America have the support of financial groups, surely we can't possibly intervene in politics directly?"
"Yes, Paul is right."
The helm of the Edwards family nodded. "It's easy enough for us to lobby the senior officials. This is what we're good at. But whether they listen or not, it's not like our word is the law."
"What's more, no one can prove that the video is true."
The helm of the Alexander family said at the same time, "Didn't the authorities dispel the rumors, saying that the video was forged?"
Chen Chen rolled his eyes upon hearing this. "What if I say that video is real?"
