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Chapter 276: G-Virus

A few days later, when Chen Chen received the results, he went to the level-five biosafety laboratory again.

At this time, the Black Knight assistants were going through a complicated and tedious process, separating one conical-bottom centrifuge tube after another.

The centrifuge tubes were full of red liquid. This translucent liquid contained many fine and dense sediments.

This was the new substance formed by the combination of black goo and T-virus.

"Click!"

The screen behind Chen Chen turned on automatically, displaying a black and white image. At the same time, the voice of Little X rang out. "The process of combining the T-virus with black goo wasn't stable as it was affected by the dosage and the culture medium. In general, it'd produce unique variations in three directions.

"Ultimately, we obtained 87 new types of viruses. These are also filoviruses. After destroying those viruses with duplicate functions, I finally selected the three most representative types of viruses."

Chen Chen looked at the image when he heard this, only to see three pictures displayed side by side on the screen.

Each of the three pictures featured a special filamentous substance. As these were taken from an electron microscope, there was no color. One could only tell that the three filamentous substances were almost indistinguishable, just like three slender, hideous worms.

Nonetheless, these worms were less than one micron in length and less than a hundred nanometers thick. Their entire body was made of simple protein shells and RNA nucleic acids.

As he stared at these three special viruses, even Chen Chen felt a chill run down his spine. The T-virus itself had the power to threaten mankind in the first place. Now that it had been strengthened by the black goo, what sort of strength had it attained?

"After some experiments on animals, I've determined the properties of the three viruses.

"Of these three, the first virus has enhanced infectivity and can be transmitted through the air. Organisms that can be infected include almost all carbon-based life. After being infected, the same thing will happen as when one is infected with black goo. When the host dies, a new life will be born in the place of the host. Because there were too few experiments, it's still uncertain whether there's an immune group."

Following Little X's explanation, a mouse-like monster with a black shell and red eyes appeared on the screen. Ripples of red muscles could be seen in the cracks of the shell, which looked extremely sinister and terrifying.

"The second type isn't highly infectious and cannot be transmitted through the air, but it strengthens the virus' ability to mutate the host. After the host is infected, the degree of mutation is far more acute than the other two viruses."

Immediately afterward, the picture changed again and Chen Chen was greeted with a palm-sized monster with seven or eight pairs of fleshy feet on its abdomen. This monster did not have a black outer shell. Instead, all over its body were large and small eyeballs, meaningless organs, and swarms of tentacles.

It looked just like a pile of monster corpses piled up and fused to form an indescribable thing.

"Besides these two, there's the last type."

Little X continued. "The third virus isn't very capable of mutation nor is it extremely contagious, but it's indeed the most incredible of the three viruses."

Chen Chen's eyes lit up upon hearing these words. "In what way is it incredible?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Little X kept Chen Chen in suspense. Following that, the screen flashed and another peculiar picture appeared.

The screen showed two pictures spliced together. On the left side was an ordinary-looking white mouse with big, shining eyes, looking endearingly at the screen.

On the right, the mouse was still standing, but it had become a monster about the size of a rabbit, with a black outer shell and red muscles.

"This..."

Chen Chen raised his eyebrows and realized what was off at a glance. "The biggest change in this third mouse seems to be its body size?"

"That's right. What's surprising is that although this mouse infected with the third virus has also eaten a lot, it only consumed about 50 grams of sustenance. Yet it has grown from 20 grams to a monster weighing 300 grams."

"You mean, its weight has increased by 260 grams out of thin air?"

Chen Chen looked up sharply as if he could not believe this.

"It's definitely true!"

Little X quickly explained, "It's true. I have all the video records here. Like the other experimental mice, it only ate twice its weight. The weight of the first two mice only increased from 20 grams to roughly 40 grams. Only this mouse practically broke the law of conservation of energy. Plus, all this happened within a few hours!"

"Then what's the reason?"

Chen Chen asked, "What caused it to increase in size?"

"After dissection, I discovered a special organ in the body of this little white mouse."

Little X replied, "This mouse's skin has a special absorption mechanism that directly absorbs moisture and even microorganisms from the air to replenish itself. Not only that, I've noticed a lot of high-energy covalent bonds in the mouse's blood. It seems that it's able to directly react with the nitrogen in the air to create a shell. Its weight could increase out of thin air probably due to these factors."

After hearing this, Chen Chen could not help looking flabbergasted. "Isn't this too implausible?"

"Not at all."

Little X explained, "Perhaps there are many factors we haven't yet discovered, but what can be confirmed is that the growth rate of the third mouse does exceed the material energy it takes in. This is beyond doubt. I think this holds the secret key to why the alien could grow up rapidly."

"Then let's focus on the second and third viruses."

Chen Chen nodded. "As for the infectiousness of the virus, I don't think there's a need for further research. Just seal off the first virus."

"Understood. I'll use the most stringent storage technology to seal the first virus."

Little X agreed. "Even so, should you give these three viruses a name?"

In response, Chen Chen simply pulled up the gene sequence diagrams of the three viruses and thought aloud, "These three viruses can be regarded as different subspecies of the same type of virus. They have an inextricable link to the T-virus, similar to the G-virus in Resident Evil. In that case, let's just call them G-viruses."

"Then these three types would be G-001, G-002, and G-003?" Little X asked.

"Nothing wrong with that. I'll leave that up to you."

Chen Chen smiled, then turned and left. However, as he reached the door, he suddenly had a very preposterous thought...

G-virus, G-virus... Why was this new type of virus, synthesized from the black goo and T-virus, so similar to the G-virus in the game? No, one could even say that they were identical....

'Why did I have to name it G-virus? What was going through my head?'

Chen Chen could not help but narrow his eyes.

"Sir Godfather?"

Seeing that Chen Chen had halted in his steps, Little X called out instinctively.

Chen Chen did not answer, but took another step forward and disappeared outside the door of the laborator

Chapter 277: Brain-Machine Interface Technology

After obtaining the holographic imaging technology, the bionic technology quickly broke through its previous bottleneck. In less than a month, a bionic prosthesis was sent to Chen Chen.

This gadget called a bionic prosthesis had no head, only extending up to the neck. Its overall appearance was masculine, only there was no genitalia. In addition, the torso and limbs were painted to be flesh-colored, with only the gaps between the joints revealing that this was not a normal human body.

As he stared at this gadget that looked like a sutured monster, Chen Chen could not help raising his eyebrows.

"This is the bionic prosthesis based on the integration of bionic and mechanical technology from many movies."

Little X explained, "The arms, spine, legs, internal organs — the bionic prosthesis can be divided into these four sections. The four sections are assembled to form a complete bionic prosthesis. When they are taken apart, they become separate bionic prostheses and artificial internal organs."

As Little X spoke, the Black Knights standing on both sides of the bionic prosthesis began to take it apart before their eyes, quickly dismantling it into eight pieces, then spent a few minutes to reassemble it.

"The bone structure of the bionic prosthesis is made of titanium alloy, the outer shell is made of elastic polyethylene to simulate muscle tissue, and the joints are constructed with normal-temperature superconductors. The Meissner effect induced within can perpetually maintain a gap of 0.5 mm between the bearings. This is a completely frictionless bearing technology."

"In other words, the joints will have zero resistance and zero wear?"

Chen Chen stepped forward and asked while fiddling with the arm of the bionic prosthesis.

"That's true in principle, but the actual effects will need to be tested before we reach a conclusion."

Little X replied. Seeing that Chen Chen did not ask any more questions, it said again, "The best control mechanism for the bionic prosthesis is still the God chip, which can convert the nerve impulses transmitted from the human brain into electrical signals, then assign them to the bionic prosthesis. In the bionic prosthetic body, we have implanted nano-scale electrodes to act as nerves, according to the technology in the movies. This allows the user to experience tactile sensations that are very realistic.

"In terms of strength and agility, it can be adjusted according to power. Its maximum strength is 500N. If this is exceeded, the titanium alloy skeleton of the body is likely to become deformed.

"As for the battery, what we're using for now is the high-efficiency hydrogen fuel cell, which allows users to remain mobile for a week to half a month."

After listening to Little X's explanation, Chen Chen asked again, "What about the digestive system?"

"That's the function of the artificial internal organs."

Little X continued. "In terms of internal organs, there are three — the artificial heart, artificial lung, and artificial stomach. Both the artificial heart and artificial lung can supply adequate oxygen and blood pressure according to the needs of users, while the artificial stomach can only digest nutrient fluid and water for now. It's unable to consume food like ordinary people."

"In other words, even if the user has only one brain left or even only one part of the brain, they can still be carried around upon this body and move like a normal person?"

Chen Chen asked.

"Yes, although we've only scratched the surface by combining the bionic technologies of various movies, we've still developed a mature bionic prosthesis. If the user has only lost their arms or legs, the limbs of this bionic prosthesis can still be taken off and transplanted to the user."

Hearing this, Chen Chen smiled spontaneously. "Very good. But its level of technology is still too high. We need to simplify it."

"You're planning to commercialize it?" Little X understood at once.

"That's right. Only commercialization will expand the influence of Blacklight Biotechnology in the world."

Chen Chen replied, "I've been taking NZT-48 and reflecting for a long time recently, and the more I think about it, the more it seems that danger lurks all around us. X, aren't you curious?"

"You mean the various anomalies of the Earth Federation?" Little X immediately understood what Chen Chen was referring to.

"Yes, during this period, I've been thinking, what has happened to humankind that led to the resolute decision of various countries to form the Earth Federation in 1992? And recently, how did they foresee the danger of the sculptures and the epidemic?"

Chen Chen paced slowly around the room. "Besides, what worries me even more is, will there be a possibility that one day, our existence will be anticipated by the Federation?"

"If they really have the means to predict crises, that's indeed possible to some extent."

Little X exclaimed, "Moreover, we don't have any defensive measures."

"Thus, with each day that I don't have an answer, I can barely sleep or eat peacefully."

Chen Chen said solemnly, "I need to continue becoming stronger. While improving the company's hard power, I'll gradually approach the truth and try to find out the answer. Now it has been a long time since the launch of the three anti-cancer drugs. Launching a new product every half a year is the perfect frequency, so this time, let's unveil the bionic prosthetic technology."

"So, if it's simplified, besides the elimination of the frictionless bearing technology, what other technologies should be eliminated?" Little X asked.

"In addition to the frictionless bearing technology that requires normal-temperature superconductors, the God chip must be taken out. As for its replacement, I think the brain-machine interface technology is good enough."

Chen Chen said thoughtfully, "The 'lace electrode' that Musk launched in 2020 is a readily available choice. We can send someone to contact them and see if we can obtain the rights to use their company's 'lace electrode'."

The brain-machine interface, in simple terms, was the use of a device to fuse the human brain with a computer. The brain-machine interface was such a device that played the role of this connection.

Generally speaking, brain-machine interfaces were divided into three categories, namely, invasive brain-machine interfaces, semi-invasive brain-machine interfaces, and non-invasive brain-machine interfaces.

With invasive brain-machine interfaces, the device was inserted into the cerebral cortex. This type of brain-machine interface would obtain high-quality neural signals. This equipment was mainly used for treatment purposes, such as restoring the vision of the blind or restoring the motor functions of paralyzed patients.

Semi-invasive brain-machine interfaces were those that were implanted in the cranial cavity but did not penetrate deep into the cerebral cortex.

The last type was non-invasive brain-machine interfaces. As the name suggested, this referred to those brain-machine interfaces that functioned without being implanted in the brain, such as electroencephalography (EEG).

Across all types, useful control signals must be parsed from the complicated cerebral cortex for the interface to work. Still, the invasive brain-machine interface would undoubtedly be much more accurate, while the least precise one was the non-invasive kind.

Now that brain-machine interfaces were leading the world, there existed companies like Neuralink, owned by the famous "real-life Iron Man" Elon Musk. This was why Chen Chen's first choice was the "lace electrode" technology.

"In addition, we can hold back the artificial organ technology for now."

After thinking about it, Chen Chen said analytically, "After all, these technologies are still a little startling. Our customers are only those with disabilities. Few people would be willing to abandon their entire body and preserve only their head unless they have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis."

"Understood. Shall we continue researching bionic prosthetic technology then?" Little X asked.

"Of course."

Chen Chen said matter-of-factly, "Not only that, but I also hope to come up with the mass-produced versions of Terminator's T-800 and NS-5 as soon as possible. These can make up for our lack of personnel. Moreover, we can try to manufacture the artificial skin from Alien, just like the cyborg's."

With that said, Chen Chen looked at the bionic prosthesis in front of him. He had to admit that although the bionic prosthesis was flesh-colored, its plastic gloss could be discerned at a glance. "Only when we combine the bionic prosthesis and the artificial skin will users feel a much stronger desire to buy it. After all, one type can be easily recognized as a prosthesis and the other type looks no different from the human body. Do users still need to think about which one to choose?"

"Artificial skin technology isn't too difficult. We can replicate it in about two months." Little X promised definitively.

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Chapter 278: Project Xingtian

Blacklight Biotechnology Ltd. had a dedicated website on the Internet.

The core server of the website was located in Shangdu of Mainland China and was operated by the data center that was under the head office. This was the same center that Chen Chen once bought.

However, at this time, inside the head office's building, the employees of the technical department who received the information were initially shocked.

"No way! Is this real or not, real or not!"

A young man in a suit and leather shoes, who had graduated only recently, was yelling, "Did I read it right? This is the information for the website update sent by GM Xia? It can't be an April Fool's Day joke, right?"

"What happened?"

The rest of the technical department gathered in front of the computer, then read the copy on the screen. "Bionic technology? It'll restore the mobility of the disabled... Is this a bionic prosthetic?"

"Isn't our company a business that develops biomedicine? Why is it suddenly taking on bioengineering?"

"And why didn't you question the fact that we sell translation software too?"

Everyone joked with each other and started discussing.

Just as the entire technical department was chattering noisily, the supervisor of the technical department suddenly walked in with a stern expression. "Everyone, get ready. In ten minutes, GM Xia will have a meeting with us in the conference room on the 30th floor."

"Just us?" the young man asked.

"Yes, there's no one else in the meeting other than the technical department." The supervisor nodded, then left in a hurry.

"Little Zhang, don't ask that question anymore. It's not appropriate."

As soon as the supervisor left, an older man smiled and came to the young man who had asked the question and patted him on the shoulder.

"Why?" The young man became even more puzzled.

"You'll understand after you've worked here for some time."

The older man said kindly, "I know that when you applied for a job here, you must have come for the name of Blacklight Biotechnology. Although our company didn't make it into the Global 500, it was because our company was not listed. Many people said that once our company goes public, the market value would immediately exceed 100 billion USD."

"Yes, I applied for a job here based on the potential of Blacklight Biotechnology, but..."

The young man called Little Zhang was rather mystified. "From what I can see, it doesn't feel like a high-tech company at all."

"That's right."

Another employee who looked like a stale fried dough-stick came over, chortling. "Our name sounds awe-inspiring. The world-famous Blacklight Biotechnology is a company that has developed an age-reversal treatment project and a variety of anti-cancer drugs as well as the Blacklight virus vaccine. Here is the head office of Blacklight Biotechnology, so it should be pretty awesome, right? We were deceived."

"Deceived?"

"Because these projects are all developed in Africa and the company's real focus is in Africa too. To put it bluntly, our head office is just an external platform."

The employee with the appearance of a stale dough-stick exclaimed, "Surely you understand now. Although our head office has hundreds of people, there are almost no other tasks besides maintaining the website and operating the Little X Translation System. Despite being a biological company, there isn't even a research center in Shangdu, which is f*ckng ridiculous!"

"Doesn't that mean that although GM Xia is the general manager, second only to the boss, she doesn't even have any real power..."

Little Zhang opened his mouth as if there was something he wanted to blurt out, but the man hurriedly covered his mouth. "It's enough that you and I understand this. Don't say it out loud."

"In truth, it isn't like what you think."

Seeing this, the stale dough-stick employee once again said ruefully, "I've joined since the establishment of Blacklight Biotechnology. I won't even conceal the fact that the boss and GM Xia were schoolmates. The two met at university. It's too bad that this is a classic example of a one-sided love..."

"Is the boss that young? Only a few years older than GM Xia? So, the boss is less than thirty years old?"

Someone who was listening raptly suddenly exclaimed.

"He's younger than you think."

The stale dough-stick employee laughed and said, "I met the boss before he went to Africa. He's three years younger than GM Xia. In other words, if the boss had not dropped out of university, he'd be a fresh graduate this year!"

"That can't be..."

Everyone burst out yelling and exclaiming.

"Alright, alright, look at what time it is. Shouldn't we hurry to the conference room so that we're not late?"

Someone suddenly gave a reminder. "Don't gossip about GM Xia anymore. Even if she isn't involved in those research projects, it'd be a piece of cake for her to fire you and me."

Upon hearing this, everyone dispersed quickly.

...

At the same time, in the conference room on the 30th floor, Xia Yin was standing on the podium, gazing at the empty seats below. She seemed a little lost in thought.

"GM Xia. GM Xia?"

A secretary popped up from the side and clattered loudly toward Xia Yin, then stood there, swaying. "Manager Guo has notified the technical department and they'll be there soon."

"Very well."

Xia Yin came back to her senses and nodded to the secretary. Then she turned on the computer while asking, "Has the information been organized?"

"The materials sent by the African branch have been sorted out. You only need to play them in order," the secretary replied, then walked to the door of the conference room and looked outside. "GM Xia, they're here."

Xia Yin nodded without speaking and watched as the group from the technical department filed in and found their seats. After waiting for a while and seeing that no one else was coming in, she turned to the supervisor who was sitting in the first row before the stage. She asked, "Manager Guo, are all your people from the technical department present?"

"Other than those who are on leave, all the rest are here," Manager Guo looked back and replied immediately.

"Very good."

Xia Yin smiled in satisfaction. At the same time, she suddenly exuded the shrewd, capable aura of a strong, independent woman. She seemed to be a different person entirely. Meanwhile, she pressed a button on the desktop and the screen behind her instantly began to display a mix of text and image.

"You should've received the email sent to you just now, so I won't beat around the bush. I'm happy to announce that our Blacklight Biotechnology has achieved another glorious success. According to the update from the African branch, the first-generation bionic prosthetic project we've launched has finished its development and will soon enter the commercial stage.

"The bionic prosthetic project developed by the African branch uses the 'lace electrode' brain-machine interface technology from Neuralink of North America. We've obtained the rights from Neuralink. The reason for this meeting is that, for the official website, we hope that everyone in the technical department can come up with a good plan and creative ideas."

Xia Yin said in a low voice on the podium, "After all, our company's website hasn't changed for two or three years. Let's use this opportunity to revamp the company's look..."

As Xia Yin spoke, the screen behind her began to flicker, quickly revealing a humanoid monster with only a body and without a head.

Xingtian?

Everyone in the audience immediately recognized the figure when they saw the ink painting that was influenced by Chinese culture.

"I believe that, as Chinese descendants, you must've heard of our own myths and legends. Xingtian is one of them. According to legend, Xingtian was an official of the Yan Emperor. Because he couldn't accept that the Yellow Emperor had defeated the Yan Emperor, he went to challenge the Yellow Emperor. After Xingtian was beheaded by the Yellow Emperor, he continued the fight with his two nipples as his eyes and his belly button as his mouth...

"This is the origin of Xingtian. I'll suggest this idea to you — if this project is publicized, I hope to use this Chinese myth from the Classic of Mountains and Sea[1], 'Xingtian', as the theme. First, we can promote the culture of Mainland China. Secondly, Xingtian's persona is indeed in line with the inspirational spirit of being 'disabled but not disheartened'."

As Xia Yin explained all this, a line from an ancient poem suddenly appeared on the screen beside Xingtian —"Jingwei[2] bites hold of twigs, determined to fill the deep-blue sea. Xingtian wields his spear and shield, his old ambitions still burning fiercely!"

"Therefore, I think the new bionic prosthetic project can be called —

"Project Xingtian!"

[1] A classical Chinese text of mythic geography and beasts.

[2] A mythological bird who was once the Yan Emperor's daughter. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingwei.

Chapter 279: Corporate Empire

A few days later, Chen Chen sat in the conference room and quickly flipped through a planner sent over by Xia Yin.

"Project Xingtian?"

After turning to the last page of the planner, Chen Chen could not hold back a smile. With his mouse, he clicked on a checkbox on the computer.

At this moment, the company's new website style and the name of the bionic prosthetic project had been formally confirmed.

Next, it was time for the head office to begin selling and promoting.

However, in the planner sent by the head office, Xia Yin expressed the hope that Chen Chen could make more public appearances. It would be best if he could become a symbol, an emblem, of Blacklight Biotechnology, just like Tencent's Ma Huateng, Alibaba's Jack Ma, and JD.com's Liu Qiangdong.

After all, Chen Chen did have the qualifications to become a "symbol"— he had developed an age-reversal treatment project at the age of eighteen, then dropped out of college and started his own business. After only three years, he became the boss of a corporation with a market value of tens of billions.

Youth, career success, countless triumphs and accolades — these were all part of Chen Chen's "symbol".

Xia Yin hoped that Chen Chen could attend TED to give a speech for this reason.

TED, an acronym of the three words "technology", "entertainment", and "design", was a private non-profit organization in North America. The organization was known for its TED conference, with the objective of "ideas worth spreading".

Those who qualified for the TED conference were also preeminent talents from various fields such as Nobel Prize winners or billionaires like Bill Gates and Musk who had created new legends or scientists, philosophers, artists, explorers, psychologists, linguists, religious leaders, philanthropists, and so on.

Since 2006, the TED Talks had been posted online and quickly gained worldwide attention. It had become one of the most prestigious speech platforms in the world. If Chen Chen could get on this stage, Blacklight Biotechnology's Project Xingtian would swiftly spread throughout the world. The effect of this would be much better than spending hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars on global advertising.

Seeing this, Chen Chen thought for a while and finally agreed to this proposal.

With the increasing influence of the company, Chen Chen's name was destined to be known to even more people. As he was the first to create the Blacklight virus vaccine, Chen Chen was even nominated last September in the list of candidates for this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

If there was no unexpected plot twist, Chen Chen's Nobel Prize this year was guaranteed. This was something the North American government had no choice but to do because if Chen Chen lost the nomination, it would affect the perceived authority and fairness of the Nobel Prize.

After all, in the field of medicine in 2023, there would be no one who had performed better than Chen Chen.

As Chen Chen closed the webpage, he started to ponder silently.

Now, the company had almost reached its peak in the development of biopharmaceuticals, owning several patents and also the trump card that was the Eco Science City. As long as the three anti-cancer drugs passed clinical trials in a few years and they released the AD-001 drug that could completely cure Alzheimer's, not even companies like Pfizer and Novartis would be able to compete with them.

At that point, Blacklight Biotechnology would officially become an unprecedented world-class pharmaceutical monopoly. It would be immensely difficult for even one or two continents or countries to do anything against them.

However, as a rule, when Blacklight Biotechnology had developed to that extent, it had reached its limit. It was impossible to continue expanding, for instance, reaching the level of the Umbrella Corporation.

After all, the potential of a single industry was limited. Even if the global pharmaceutical industry was united, there was no power that could equal the Earth Federation. If Chen Chen wanted to go further, he had only one option —

Horizontal cross-border development!

If a group wanted to achieve long-term development, it must actively expand into other fields and reach the top in all walks of life. This was the path of development for the corporate empire.

What was a corporate empire?

It was a corporation with the characteristics of "imperialism". It did not act in full accordance with economic laws and had its unique means of doing things such as private armed forces that answered only to the company, a unique economic monopoly system, and top-secret projects in cooperation with the government that were hidden from the public.

Even the average country would be somewhat wary of such a corporation. Any of its actions could cause a global sensation and its political influence was no less than that of a nation.

Even for continents, their control over this sort of corporate super monopoly was very limited. Chen Chen's goal was to become an enterprise like this or even stronger!

Still, cross-border development was not that easy. One would have no connections, technology or talents. Everything must begin from scratch, just like starting a business with nothing in hand.

Therefore, for ordinary companies, cross-border expansion was indeed a very dangerous move and might even lead to bankruptcy. However, for Chen Chen, it was not a problem at all.

After all, Chen Chen had a key that could open the door to various worlds.

Through that key, he could obtain any advanced technology that he wanted. These technologies would allow him to stand at the forefront of any field including energy, electronics, network, industry, even aerospace and military.

As long as he had enough time, Chen Chen would be able to create a real-life Umbrella Corporation sooner or later...

...

Three days later, a major change suddenly occurred on the official website of Blacklight Biotechnology Ltd.

Previously, there were only four sections on the homepage of Blacklight Biotechnology's official website, namely the biopharmaceutical section, the medical project section, the infectious disease section, and the electronic technology section.

The four major sections were represented by the colors green, white, gray, and black, so they were clearly distinct at a glance.

The biopharmaceutical section, naturally, listed the three anti-cancer drugs that had entered the clinical trial stage while the medical project section included the "age-reversal treatment" project, the "Alzheimer's disease reversal treatment" project, and so on.

As for the infectious disease section, the research materials on the Blacklight virus and vaccine were publicly shared for anyone in the world to browse through and learn from.

Each section had its own independent forum. Due to Blacklight Biotechnology's prestige, these forums had gradually attracted the attention of countless scholars. Many experts in the medical field had registered accounts on the official website of Blacklight Biotechnology, which had become a professional website similar to an academic network.

Under the management of Little X, the forums under the official website of Blacklight Biotechnology had been managed in an orderly manner, thus winning the favor of those academic experts who now regarded it as a permanent haunt.

However, just this morning, some academic experts and editors of various journals were surprised by Blacklight Biotechnology's new official website when they opened it up to search for materials as usual.

Among the four sections that were once arranged in a square, a new section had suddenly appeared.

The color representing that section was gold and there was a new name on the section — tissue engineering.

If someone clicked in curiously, they would be greeted with a large blank page. In the center of the blank screen, there was a big "question mark" and behind the question mark was a human figure.

This figure was shadowy and vague, and one could just about tell that it was a human figure. Still, the peculiar thing was that this figure did not have a head...

When they saw this new additional section, many people who were silently watching the company now understood that Blacklight Biotechnology had new products.

As a newly emerging pharmaceutical giant in the field of biopharmaceuticals, Blacklight Biotechnology did not have a very high profile, but its every move still roused the attention of countless people. After this information was released, many international media competed to make the first report:

[Blacklight Biotechnology Is Suspected to Be Releasing a New Product. This Time It May Expand Into Tissue Engineering!]—Wall Street Journal.

[Boom! According to Industry Sources, Blacklight Biotechnology Is Suspected to Be Joining Forces With Musk!]—Tencent News.

[Blacklight Biotechnology's New Venture Is Confirmed to Be Related to Tissue Engineering. Its Emblem Is Suspected to Be the Ancient Chinese Figure Xingtian!]—Sina Express.

[When People Opened the Main Page of Blacklight Biotechnology's Official Website, the Entire Earth Federation Was Stunned!]—UC Subscription.

With the exposure from major media, Blacklight Biotechnology had publicly announced the release date of the new product and also announced that on 1 April, the founder and chairman of Blacklight Biotechnology would give a TED Talk. The venue of the talk was arranged by the TED officials, in a rare exception, to be in Blacklight Biotechnology's Eco Science City!

This gesture greatly boosted Blacklight Biotechnology's reputation. Once again, Blacklight Biotechnology had become a discussion topic among the biotechnology crowd. Some netizens who were more invested in the biological field had even more enthusiastic discussions.

"The project is in the field of tissue engineering. If you consider this along with the headless horseman, it's very easy to guess. It must be related to head replacement surgery!"

Under the new section of Blacklight Biotechnology, some netizens speculated.

"My *ss! If it's head replacement surgery, do you think the International Bioethics Committees would agree? Not to mention that stem cells still haven't solved the problem of reconnecting the spinal cord and nerves!"

Someone more knowledgeable quickly refuted this.

"Maybe it's cloning. Recently, wasn't there news circulating online that many wealthy people are cloning their bodies privately for future organ transplantations? Maybe this silhouette of a figure without a head is a clone without a head, who can say?"

Someone else guessed again.

"Impossible, any human cloning is prohibited by the international law of the Earth Federation. So, all of you saying that it's human cloning and head replacement surgery can give it a rest."

...

Chapter 280: Press Conference on Xingtian

Many people noticed that the city built by Blacklight Biotechnology, the Eco Science City, had launched several major projects.

For example, there were several factories of unknown purpose. These factories spanning dozens of kilometers, plus the Blacklight Nuclear Power Plant by the sea, all comprised a vast industrial park that was practically the largest place for manufacturing in Africa.

In addition, in the center of the Eco Science City, a building that had been under construction for more than a year was finally completed during this time.

This was a hemispherical building with an area of about four hectares and a diameter of about 200 meters. Based on its interior, it should be a public facility akin to a multifunctional stadium.

Nonetheless, unlike most stadiums, this hemispherical building had a huge dome made of the latest lightweight-material technology. Beneath this was 40,000 seats and a high-tech stage that could be raised and lowered in the center.

The stage was shaped like a distilling flask. A straight passage extended into the backstage where actors could enter the stage directly from backstage. Above the stage was a hexahedron, which every side featured a huge screen of 15000mm x 10000mm. This was large enough so that even the audience in the furthest seat could see everything on the stage.

The name of this enclosed multifunctional stadium was the Blacklight Dome.

Presently, a large number of people had arrived at this dome-like building. These people thronged in and out, transporting pieces of equipment into the building.

This was because the TED conference in 2024 would be held here.

Xia Yin handed the planner to Chen Chen. After Chen Chen approved it, Xia Yin again sent it to the CEO in Africa, Qian Wenhuan. Qian Wenhuan would run the event on the ground.

To get Project Xingtian an unprecedented amount of publicity, the head office even personally negotiated with the TED organizers and set the venue for 2024's TED conference to be in the Blacklight Dome of the Eco Science City.

Moreover, instead of inviting only 1,350 attendees as was the case with previous TED conferences, this time, Blacklight Biotechnology had issued 30,000 invitations in one go, inviting all well-known audience members who had been to a TED conference before. They even waived the 7,500 USD ticket fee and all expenses would be borne by Blacklight Biotechnology.

This was not only because Chen Chen would be giving a speech at this TED conference, but also because the latest press conference would be held at this venue!

Such an extravagant move immediately attracted the attention of the world. There were some people who, despite not receiving the invitation letter, began to quickly apply for visas to come to Namibia, wanting to participate in this grand technological event.

At the end of March, the number of tourists in the Eco Science City exceeded 100,000 for the first time. The huge flow of people brought explosive economic benefits. It was hard to get a hotel room in the Eco Science City and even the hotels of nearby coastal cities like Walvis Bay and Swakopmund were already overcrowded.

Many people had no choice but to stay in the capital city, Windhoek, over a hundred kilometers away.

Besides the fact that this was TED, a world-renowned speech conference, where all the participants were leaders from all walks of life, the more crucial reason that everyone went crazy over this was that many of them came for Blacklight Biotechnology's latest press conference.

Many people had figured out long ago that Blacklight Biotechnology was a biomedical company standing at the apex of the Earth Federation. Although its market value was not high, not even making it into the world's top 500, this was only because the company had not been funded and listed.

This company had become what it was today entirely on its own...

...

On 1 April, in front of the Blacklight Dome in the center of the Eco Science City, there was a lot of busy traffic and bustling people.

At eleven o'clock in the morning, hundreds of news vehicles and media from all over the world gathered in the square before the main entrance of the Blacklight Dome. Many reporters and anchors had to stand in the crowd, face the camera, and start reporting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Federation Info. It's Anna here. We're now in the Eco Science City of Namibia. As you can see, there's a massive crowd! There are hundreds of media outlets besides us. One must say that today is a special day because today is when the hero of the Earth Federation — Blacklight Biotechnology — will hold its latest conference!

"As the benchmark for biomedical companies, Blacklight Biotechnology isn't that high-profile. Ever since this mysterious company entered the public eye, this is only the second time it has held a press conference. What's more dramatic is that the last press conference this company held was exactly this time last year. That press conference shook up the entire world. I wonder if this press conference will disappoint everyone?

"In any case, let us wait and see!"

The host of Federation Info spoke frankly and eloquently, and not too far from her was the reporter from Agence France-Presse.

"Dear audiences on the other side of the screen, this is AFP. Currently, I'm standing before the main entrance of the Blacklight Dome. We're here in the Eco Science City of the famous Blacklight Biotechnology. Speaking of this legendary company, I think there aren't many who haven't heard about how Blacklight had developed a vaccine for the Blacklight virus one month in advance of many other continents, saving all of Africa, and even indirectly saving the Earth Federation...

"Moreover, they have also developed three anti-cancer targeted drugs, which they claim to have a 90% chance of curing cancer. In addition, they have also developed an age-reversal treatment plan. They're practically a celebrity within the pharmaceutical industry and their existence has saved the equivalent of over a hundred million lives...

"And today, not only is it another one of Blacklight Biotechnology's press conferences, but this time, the extremely mysterious founder of this company will appear in the public eye for the first time as a TED speaker to deliver a talk. And what kind of enlightenment will he bring to our lives? I'm Anson from AFP, please stay tuned in for our follow-up report!"

...

This kept happening in the square of the Blacklight Dome. As it got closer to noon, more people started flocking in. These people were dressed in suits and shoes, exuding an air of confidence. They waved their admission tickets, went past the usher, and verified their identities. Following that, they had to pass through a metal detector and an X-ray machine before entering the venue.

There were 40,000 seats in the Blacklight Dome. The reason why only 30,000 people were invited was that the remaining 10,000 were for the staff members who had signed up as volunteers. In addition, there were also seats for major media outlets.

The Black Knights were responsible for the event's security. To ensure Chen Chen's safety during his talk, five hundred security guards were placed throughout the venue to keep watch. A thousand Black Knights were also situated among the audience.

Furthermore, Little X was also monitoring the Internet around the clock. It would be able to respond quickly if it found any traces of information that hinted at danger.

At a quarter past 12, when everyone was completely seated, the venue lights suddenly dimmed. At the same time, a circular podium at the center of the venue slowly descended from the roof of the dome while the six enormous screens lit up one after another, fully revealing the stage before everyone's eyes.

Without a doubt, the TED Talk was starting.