Chapter 232: Counterattack
Inside a dimly lit meeting room, a meticulously designed PPT slider was being shown on the display. A handsome youth with golden curls wearing a suit was perched on the stage, giving a presentation to the array of partic.i.p.ants at the conference table.
“Blacklight Biotechnology, fully known as Blacklight Biotechnology Limited Company. Primarily composed of the Shangdu headquarters in the Mainland, the Swiss branch in Europe, and the Namibian branch in Africa.
“One of the companies it owns is Tara Private Security which has been restructured into Tara Strategic Resources, which specializes in the mining, transportation, and mercenary field. Its military force is enough to effortlessly overwhelm a small country...
“What the company lacks in quant.i.ty of products, they make up with astounding quality. For example, one of its earliest creations, the Little X Translation a.s.sistant has cemented its spot in the world’s top APP list, generating billions of U.S. dollars for the company.
“The follow-up product, the live translator version of Little X Translation a.s.sistant took the creation a step further. Unfortunately, due to the restriction imposed by the European and American governments, the sales couldn’t match its previous rendition.
“After that, talk about the company’s ‘Alzheimer’s Disease Recovery Treatment’ and ‘Age-reversal Treatment’ which revolutionized the medical landscape. The founder of the company, who’s also the founder of these two medical treatments, has been nominated for this year’s n.o.bel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.”
Arriving at this point, the young man with the golden curls tapped the display. “Which is this man you’re looking at —”
The picture of a young man appeared on the gigantic display.
The youth in the picture appeared to be around eighteen to nineteen years old. A small round head and thick black eyebrows, his eyes were like clear and bottomless pools while his cheeks still contain slight traces of baby fat. No matter how you looked at it, he looked like your regular model student.
“Chen Chen, born in 2002, 21 years old this year. He’s a native of Handu, Mainland China. He’s currently on a leave of absence from grade 20 in Jiao Tong University Life Sciences Research Inst.i.tute.”
The young blonde man declared, “Puts a face to the new compet.i.tor.”
“You’re kidding me.”
Below the stage, several elderly men with ashen hair frowned and protested. “Some brat like this can establish such a gigantic corporation and put so much pressure on our Swiss medical care industry? Who’s supposed to be backing him?”
“He undoubtedly has people supporting him, but the strange thing is...”
The young blonde said with a curious look, “Contrary to what you all may believe, the people backing him aren’t the ones controlling everything. According to the evidence I’ve gathered, the plutocrats backing him are of equal standing with Blacklight Biotechnology. This also further proves that Chen Chen isn’t a mere puppet.”
The audience appeared to be greatly intrigued by this mention.
“To date, twelve families are backing Blacklight Biotechnology. This includes Europes’ Foster and Wilson financial groups, North America’s Edwards, Alexander, Rodriguez, and Blanc financial groups as well as the Middle-eastern Mohammed Financial Group...
“The Als Mutual Aid a.s.sociation led by the Blanc Financial Group once made a move against Blacklight Biotechnology and the young man called Chen Chen,” the young blonde said curiously.
“What happened?”
The audience awaited an answer impatiently.
“In the end, the successor of the Blanc Financial Group disappeared for a while. He resurfaced again later with both kidneys cut off.”
The audience felt a chill rising the back of their spines.
The young blonde continued. “That’s not the end of it. Paul Blanc, the leader of the Blanc family sent his son Sloane to Namibia for a short period. His successor came back with both kidneys restored...”
“Was it a new kidney implant?”
“Appears to be the case. The new set of kidneys was also better than the previous set of kidneys, no signs of transplant rejection either.”
The young blonde made a gesture and sighed. “Chances are the rumors circulating around are true. Blacklight Biotechnology possesses a form of cloning technology, capable of cloning human organs.”
“The Blanc family was threatened, has to be it.”
Below the stage, a man with a large beard grunted. “What surprises me is how chicken that Paul is. His son had both his kidneys removed but Paul still ends up backing down.”
The young blonde shook his head. “During the time of this incident, we all thought that Paul Blanc would go all out against Blacklight Biotechnology so none of us expected this outcome. Instead of slighting Paul, I think it’s more a case of Chen Chen’s vicious methods.”
With that, the display switched to another picture.
They craned their necks to look and saw the new picture was still of the young man called Chen Chen. However, the picture gave off a different aura from the previous identification picture. There was an ominous gloom around the young man, his eyes were like two bottomless pits leading nowhere, his entire image gave off an impression of a cunning and vicious jackal.
There was an invasive gaze in his eyes that perpetrated through the display, making the audience feel a wave of chill through them.
If not for the identical features, they may have mistaken this for an entirely different person.
“I’m sure this picture answers your questions.”
The young blonde made a waving gesture. “In all honesty, if not for the Blacklight virus, I think Switzerland wouldn’t even be able to compete against this company. Their age-reversal treatment project alone makes millionaires all across the world line up their wallets for them.
“It’s time to take matters into our own hands.”
When he noted the expressions his audience wore, the young blonde man frowned and declared sternly, “Everyone here is shareholders of Novartis and Roche and some of you also hold shares in Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and GlaxoSmithKline. If we can band our forces together, surely, we can curb this company’s momentum. Even if we cannot keep them suppressed, at least we can buy enough time until the patent for the age-reversal treatment technology expires!”
With that, the young blonde approached the conference table and set his hands on the table. “That’s all I have to say. Who agrees and who objects?”
They exchanged glances with one another. A spectacled man on the right raised his voice. “I object! If we mobilize against them, what happens if they exact their revenge the same way they did the Blanc family?”
This man continued protesting angrily. “I only hold shares in Roche. When a new company like Blacklight Biotechnology that turns a blind eye to the industry rules begins retaliating, can you companies guarantee our safety?”
“If they even dare!”
The young blonde snorted. “The only reason Blacklight Biotechnology dared to make a move against Blanc Financial Group is that Blanc is nowhere near powerful enough. Among the North American giants, the Blanc Financial Group doesn’t rank among the elites, only hovering around the middle tier, but we’re different.
“There are more than a dozen large financial groups between Novartis and Roche. As long as we band together, our combined strength rivals that of the entire Europe. Are you telling me we’re supposed to be afraid of a mere company?”
They became silent.
“Since n.o.body objects, then the matter is settled.”
The young blonde seemed rather content. “In this case, I’ll begin drafting our plan from here on, the general outline is...”
The focal lens began pulling away from the young blonde man until the window borders became visible. It was a video being played on a display.
Chen Chen was looking at the footage and began musing. “These European families with shares in Novartis and Roche are planning to rally against me?”
“Yes, the instigator is the financial group behind the presenter – Oppenheimer Financial Group. They hold thirteen percent shares in Novartis and fifteen percent in Roche.
Little X explained, “Due to the emergence of Eco Science City, the medical sector in Switzerland no longer reigns as they once did. This financial group saw that we’re unaffected by the Blacklight virus and decided to take matters into their own hands.”
“I take it there’s no discrepancy with the message?” Chen Chen asked.
“Even though the footage doesn’t have audio, I can discern their conversations by a.n.a.lyzing their lip motions. I can confirm that the information is accurate,” Little X explained.
“In that case, there’s not much else to say about this.”
Chen Chen nodded. “If you plan to make a move against me, best be ready to get declawed. But it’s exactly as they claim, now that they’re banding their forces together, we won’t be able to take down this giant gathering with just a couple of maneuvers.”
“I understand, it won’t be easy to deal with any one of them as each of them are very powerful,” Little X said.
“Considerably powerful.”
Chen Chen nodded. “The cross-holding situation between them alone makes it difficult to divide them as they’re connected by a complicated web. If we just move boldly against them, we may end up setting off the pack immediately and I’ll be the one suffering for it.”
“What should we do then?”
Chen Chen showed a thoughtful look as he got up. He paced back and forth with his hands behind his back for a while before suddenly raising the question, “Will they be continuing these meetings?”
“This meeting was hosted yesterday. There will probably be a meeting of a larger scale hosted next week.”
Little X answered, “The chairman of both Roche and Novartis will be partic.i.p.ating as well. That’s when they’ll be discussing the specifics of their approach.”
“That makes things easy.”
Chen Chen nodded and ma.s.saged his neck. “There’s no way that they’ll be cooperating properly, so what we need to do is to divide them. Implant a portion of them with the G.o.d chip and have them eliminate the other half. Then have them escape Switzerland and just make them disappear.”
“Isn’t it easier to just kill them all outright? With the weapons available to us, we should be able to easily a.s.sa.s.sinate anyone in the world,” Little X asked.
“That won’t do.”
Chen Chen tapped his head. “Think about it, what are they holding the meeting for? To discuss how they can deal with me. If this gathering of the elites of the society is a.s.sa.s.sinated, wouldn’t that be as good as practically announcing to the world that it was me who did it?”
“Even if the average person wouldn’t know about it, the Swiss government, no, the entire Earth Federation governments will have a hint of what’s going on.”
Chen Chen shook his head. “This point alone will have our company immediately labeled as terrorists. It’s extremely disadvantageous for our company.
“Besides, no matter what they plan to do, they’ll be playing within the rules. It’s not that we can’t use external methods, but when it involves dozens of financial groups, the impact is just too big to risk. Worst comes to worst, the Earth Federation might decide to stop us as well.”
Little X understood now. “I get it, even if we want to slaughter them, we have to do it within the realm of what’s permitted. If we push our luck, we may find ourselves ganged up upon.”
“That’s right.”
Chen Chen said, “Even if we want to resort to less ethical methods, we can’t make it so obvious. We need to make sure there’s zero evidence pointing at us.”
Chen Chen paused for a moment before resuming. “Actually, the best method is to modify the Blacklight virus, lowering its lethality and rate of infection, then unleash it in Switzerland. This way, not only can we deliver a blow to the Switzerland medical care sector, but they’ll also have their hands full and won’t have time to deal with us.
“However, people will notice if the virus is artificially modified. When the Earth Federation gets involved, they should be able to guess that Blacklight is involved in this since we have a good reason to target them and the apt technology to do so.
“So, the best way to cripple their operation against us is to...”
...
A week later. Federer Oppenheimer stood in front of a mirror. Inside the mirror, he could see his handsome reflection and his bright golden curls while a young woman beside him was tying his tie for him.
After sorting out his tie, the young woman wrapped herself around Federer and stared into his reflection in the mirror. “Federer, will you be coming back for dinner tonight?”
“I probably won’t have time to, honey.”
Federer shook his head and noted the disappointment in the woman’s eyes. He was filled with the urge to dote on her. “There’s a conference that I need to host tonight. I’m sure you know as well that to earn my place in the family, I need to prove my worth...”
“I understand.”
The woman nodded and made no further comment.
“That’s good. Mutual trust is very important for two people to stay together, I hope you won’t break this trust between us.” Federer gently tapped her cheeks then turned away and left the house.
After walking out of the villa, Federer was escorted by the driver into the vehicle. He instructed, “Novartis headquarters.”
The driver started the engine and began heading toward the Novartis Corporation headquarters.
On the way there, Federer took out a second phone and started a conversation with someone for a while when a frown suddenly greeted his face.
For some unknown reason, there was a strange stench in the car.
It was the metallic stench of blood.
Federer raised his head and noticed a bandage wrapped around the back of the driver’s neck. Blood was still continuously seeping out of the bandage so Federer asked, “Gilson, what happened to your neck?”
“Sir, I accidentally slipped and fell.”
The driver answered blankly.
The tone of his voice further unsettled Federer. He took a peek at the driver through the rearview mirror and saw that Gilson’s face had become extremely pale and carried no vivid expressions like he had turned into another person...
Federer was uncertain where he got the idea from but his cautious nature prompted him to alert the driver, “Gilson, stop the car on the side of the road, I suddenly remembered there’s something I need to do.”
“Alright, sir.”
Gilson responded coldly.
However, Federer saw that Gilson continued to drive without any intention of stopping any time soon.
“Gilson, stop the car!”
This time, Federer’s voice was harsher.
“Ok, sir.”
The driver answered again.
The mechanical tone of his reply sent a chilling bite across Federer’s body. His first instinct is to hop out of the car to make his escape, but before he acted on it, the doors of the car were locked with a “click”.
Furthermore, a large pair of cold, stoic hands appeared from the bunk, wrapping themselves around Federer’s neck...
In an instant, the vehicle with strictly implemented security guidelines turned into a cage coursing through the highway. Federer repeatedly slapped the windows but n.o.body would see what was happening in here...