Chapter 389: Clean-up

Blacklight Biotechnology set the release date of the V.1 series and the environmental holographic simulator on 10 September.

It would be available for purchase simultaneously on all major e-commerce platforms around the world or by directly visiting the official website of Blacklight Technology.

At the end of the day, Chen Chen’s industrial park operations could not handle everything by themselves. Although most ordinary parts could be manufactured by the assembly workforce numbering up to tens of thousands, some parts simply could not be manufactured in the industrial park.

For example, the laser emission lens of the holographic environment simulator had to be imported from Zeiss, Germany while the light source was imported from North America and the chips were imported from TSMC. Since even the Central Continent had trouble keeping up with the manufacturing progress, Chen Chen’s company was facing the same problem as well.

Of course, Chen Chen could always “cheat” and extract more complex, similar manufacturing technology from the USB drive. However, even an expert chef could not exercise his craft without the right ingredients. Although such technology did exist in the world of Elysium and Chen Chen did already obtain them, it was going to take considerable effort to fully examine the workings behind this manufacturing technology. A great deal of workforce, equipment, and luck had to align together for it to work out.

Since before the nuclear reactor was built, Chen Chen had already begun recruiting experts in the lens and laser manufacturing sector. The appropriate laboratory had been set up as well. Chen Chen was now also specifically looking for experts in lithography machines.

“If North America is going to make a move, it’s very likely to be a reenactment of what happened four years ago. They’ll issue a ban to withhold specific technology in specific fields. The supply of light sources in North America, lenses from German companies, and chips from TSMC will be cut off.”

Little X deducted. “If that happens, then we’ll only have the technology available to us but not enough quantity to fulfill our supply chain. They are trying to force our hand here. Basically, if we want to continue manufacturing these devices, we have to sell the relevant technology or even the entire blueprint to their official channels at a discounted price.

“After selling to them, we might still need to yield most of our revenue to their council since they were the ones to facilitate the transaction.”

Chen Chen ranted.

“That’s true, that event four years ago had set a precedent.”

Little X nodded agreeably. “So, what should we do now?”

“It won’t be difficult to solve this problem. We can film several movies and place them into the USB drive. The most important thing is to emphasize a variation of 1-nanometer lithography machines. Perhaps even depict a semiconductor that substitutes silicon with other materials. The precision of this kind of semiconductor should reach up to one hundredth or even one-thousandth of a nanometer, making it possible to manufacture more microchips. Also, the build of these lithography machines should be incredibly compact.”

Chen Chen rubbed his chin as he said this, “This way, we can easily instantiate hundreds of lithography machines and solve the problem with chip manufacturing. In addition to solving the previous problem, we can use these lithography machines to mass-produce God chip, Terminator chip, NS-5 chip, and so on.

“I’d advise against that for the moment.”

Little X quickly informed, “You’re the owner of the USB drive. Have you forgotten the strange interactions with the reality that result from your direct involvement in filming these movies?”

“Of course, I remember.”

Chen Chen answered he was well aware of what Little X was trying to imply. Some years ago, he had invested in the filming of several movies to obtain a list of technologies. Most of these movies turned out to be cost failures and only two of them worked out. One of them was Deadly Crisis: A Shocking Scheme. Inside the movie, someone who seemed to be a future version of him turned out to be one of the bad guys. Ever since then, Chen Chen decided he was better off refraining from simply filming movies to suit his goals.

“Well, context matters. If nothing peculiar happens half a year later, on the 30 May, then that means it’s worth a gamble.”

30 May 2025. That was the date on which the movie was set in.

“I’m just worried that the events depicted in the movie are going to occur on the set date.”

Little X wrinkled her nose as she said this, “I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but the plot of the movie was that a part of the company’s shares was taken over by another company with ill intent. Even their board of executives were infiltrated this way. This was why the protagonist escaped the research institute with the drugs with the intention of bringing it back to the superior of his original company.

“And this is very similar to what we’ve done as well. We’re slowly mirroring the events depicted inside the movie and turning into the bad guys!”

“Of course, I noticed this.”

Chen Chen nodded and smiled. “Which is why I more or less believe that the USB drive can directly affect reality. The tiny amount of doubt I have is staking on the belief that this may all just be a coincidence. After all, there hasn’t been someone with a similar name showing up in this company just yet.”

“Hope so.”

Little X stopped thumping Chen Chen’s shoulders and rubbed her slightly sore hands. “Sir Godfather, the Eco Science City’s operation to pin down the spies have begun. Should we keep them alive?”

“Keep as many of them alive as possible. Even though we’ve already signed felon exchange agreements with several countries in Africa, there’s always a need for more for the memetic experiments.”

Chen Chen answered.

“Understood.”

Little X responded before exiting the room, leaving Chen Chen on his seat by himself.

“The USB drive has accumulated a significant amount of power over the last three months. It’s about time I further add to my Field. I’ll never forget the feeling of flying inside my dream...”

Chen Chen muttered to himself as if he suddenly recalled something. He proceeded to give Cheng Cao a call before leaving the office building.

By the time Chen Chen went outside the office building, Cheng Cao had parked outside and was waiting for him for some time.

...

“Huff, huff, huff...”

Inside one of the buildings in one of the smaller districts of Eco Science City, a middle-aged man drenched in sweat was running up flights of stairs.

What was puzzling about this was that despite there being elevators installed in the building, this middle-aged man decided against using them. Instead, he chose to ascend the building one floor at a time. In the blink of an eye, he had climbed more than thirty floors.

“D*mn it, how did Bob get exposed...”

The middle-aged man whispered curses as he ran to the rooftop of the building. When he arrived, he wiped the sweat pooling down his forehead and looked back at the empty stairs behind him, finally heaving out a sigh of relief.

After some brief consideration, he closed the steel door leading to the rooftop and sealed it with a giant lock, effectively cutting off the only path leading to the rooftop.

Without giving himself some time to catch his breath, he immediately climbed up the several meters tall water tank next to him and jumped inside without a second thought!

Within moments, he emerged from the water tank again, this time with a moderately-sized anti-oil paper bag in hand.

He hopped down the water tank with the anti-oil paper bag in his clutches and immediately ripped it open. The contents inside it were immediately revealed to be two palm-sized satellite phones and a Beretta M92F pistol.

Armed with a weapon, the middle-aged man finally appeared to have calmed down a little. He performed a quick inspection on the pistol and uncocked the barrel. After he made sure that there were rows of copper bullets lying inside them, he swiftly shut the barrel back in place and strapped the gun to his waist.

After that, he opened the satellite phone and quickly pressed a string of numbers into the satellite phone. The call was immediately answered on the first ring.

“Hi, who is this?”

On the opposite end of the phone came the deep, rumbling voice of another person.

“I’m the Ledes agent, code F6777998, verification password 5908A9879ER.”

The middle-aged man took a deep breath to calm his nerves and answered promptly.

“Alright, for what purpose are you contacting the headquarters for?”

The person on the other end of the call seemed to be relieved as well, then asked with mild suspicion, “You should know that there must be no contacting us unless you have major news to report. After all, there’s no telling if Blackwatch has some equipment to intercept communications satellite signals.”

“Agent Thomson is compromised...”

A flash of horror appeared in his eyes as he said this, “I was delivering the goods just now. I was going to take them to Agent Thomson’s home and discuss with him how we can obtain the targeted technology. Just as I arrived at the ground floor of the building, I saw two men dressed in white shirts underneath black suits stepping into Agent Thomson’s house without the slightest hint of expression on their faces.

“I pretended to be just a common passerby. Just as I passed through Agent Thomson’s house, I heard what was unmistakably the sound of him crying out for help. That’s how I know that he’s been compromised...”

The middle-aged man sighed as he said this, “I’m confident that the two emotionless agents who intercepted him are the biochemical soldiers that Blackwatch is keeping under covers.”

“In that case, even more reason for you to not contact us now.”

The person on the other end of the phone quickly responded to the middle-aged man’s report, sounding completely unfazed, “If they detected unverified electromagnetic signals and connected it to you passing by Agent Thomson’s house, they’ll immediately suspect you.”

“I can’t be bothered with any of that, I have no idea if Thomson is going to expose me as well. This is why I’m calling, please get me out of here and take me back to my country.”

The middle-aged man raised his voice. “You understand? I want to be extracted! Extract! Return! Return! Get me out! I want to get out of this d*mned city, right now!”

“...”

The voice on the phone became silent for some time before speaking, “Understood, the headquarters has granted approval for your extraction. We’ll assign agents to receive you on the outside borders of Eco Science City, the time and location are...”

After everything was arranged, the middle-aged man finally heaved a sigh of relief. He turned off the satellite phone before tossing it into the water tank. After that, he produced a set of keys to unlock the rooftop entrance that he had locked previously.

The moment he opened the door, he caught a glimpse of a blinding flash of light. The sudden flash caught him in a state of daze, still trying to figure out where the flash of light came from and what it was.

The very next second, he felt his vision quickly fading into a blur. An anesthesia needle was viciously plunged into the back of his neck, causing him to slump and crash into the ground.

After that, the air behind the rooftop entrance vibrated as two men wearing black suits and white shirts underneath appeared by the door. Underneath their shirt, they both appeared to be wearing a black color bodysuit...

...

The same events transpired across each corner of Eco Science City. To prevent alerting the common civilians and damage the city’s reputation, the Black Knights refrained from using thermal weapons. Instead, they resorted to using weapons like tranquilizers to capture their targets alive.

The three hundred and sixty-four spies discovered in Eco Science City were spread across various sectors and industries. Some of these were spies that received professional training from a young age. They became civilians of Eco Science City through various channels. Some even admitted themselves into the research center of administration bodies of Blacklight Biotechnology.

Some of the spies were the researchers and professors directly hired by Chen Chen. These were the ones who could not resist the temptation of significant monetary gains and agreed to feed Blacklight Biotechnology’s research data to external parties.

Jennifer, the general manager Qian Wenhuan’s secretary, belonged to the former subclass.

At this hour, Qian Wenhuan had just finished his task. He dragged his tired body out of the Blacklight Dome and into his designated vehicle.

“Thank you for your handwork, President Qian.”

Jennifer had seated herself in the backseat ahead of time. She slid to the side to make space for Qian Wenhuan before promptly announcing to the driver in front, “Back to President Qian’s place.”

After that, she pressed a button. A sheet of black cotton quickly appeared in the small section between the rear and front compartment of the car, shielding the driver’s view.

“What are you trying to do?”

Qian Wenhuan tilted his head and stole a curious peek at Jennifer. He tried to mask the disbelief in his voice.

“I remember you mentioned yesterday that you crave excitement. Since it’s excitement that you want, we might as well go all the way, right?”

Jennifer spread her hands out and unbuttoned the strap on her shoulders. The low-cut office wear she wore swiftly slid down her shoulders, revealing the creamy-white texture of flesh underneath.

It was only then when Qian Wenhuan noticed that Jennifer was not wearing anything underneath.

“You’re naughty...”

Qian Wenhuan smiled sheepishly and charged right at her. He was going to unleash all the nerves built up from being on stage earlier.

It was at that moment when the vehicle suddenly ground to a halt, producing piercing screeches as it stopped. Both Qian Wenhuan and Jennifer cried out in shock as they were launched out of the sofa due to the sudden shift in momentum.

“What’s going on?”

Qian Wenhuan asked the driver in front angrily.

“Pres, President Qian, someone is obstructing the lane!”

When Qian Wenhuan heard the helpless cry of the driver, he flicked his eyebrows and immediately pulled himself up and kicked the door open.

Furious at having his entertainment cut short, Qian Wenhuan was about to rain hellfire on these people. When he saw five men in black standing in front of the car, the seeping anger inside him immediately extinguished. Both his boiling anger and previous lust had disappeared when he saw them.

Outsiders may not recognize these agents, but Qian Wenhuan of all people would know that these expressionless men in black were murder machines built without any thoughts or humanity whose only goal was to complete their assigned missions!

The company’s lethal task force – the Black Knight Force!

“What is it, love?”

It was at this moment when Jennifer poked her head out of the vehicle with her hands covering her chest. When she saw the group of Black Knights standing outside, she was first caught by surprise. Her expression then shifted dramatically as she bent down to reach for a sharp dagger hidden inside her high heels!

Everything happened in an instant. She had the tip of the dagger pointed at Qian Wenhuan’s neck.

It was as if Jennifer had transformed into another person in mere seconds. Her previous innocence and charm had all but vanished and been replaced by the aura of a seasoned assassin!

“Don’t come near, unless you want your CEO to die...”

As she was saying this, her eyes suddenly popped out of their sockets grotesquely. All Qian Wenhuan heard was a violent pop and before he could register what was happening, he felt Jennifer’s head exploding right next to him. Her skull and eyeballs splattered everywhere across Qian Wenhuan’s cheeks!