Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 268 - 268 48 Quanjude

268: Chapter 48 Quanjude 268: Chapter 48 Quanjude Before today, Tao Enhai could never have imagined that the chairman of a major corporation would actually be taking the subway.

And he was dressed casually at that.

Perplexed, Tao Enhai asked, “Don’t you drive a private car?”

“Unless I’m going home with my lover, I won’t drive if there are fewer than three people,” Xiang Shan said with a serious expression, “Loving the Earth is loving the home of humanity.”

Tao Enhai had rarely seen someone quote such slogans with such earnest conviction.

But…

He felt that the other party was not joking.

“To add, my car was just taken by my lover,” Xiang Shan continued.

“Oh…

I see.”

Today, Director Xiang was dressed in ordinary casual wear, donning sneakers.

Aside from the smart glasses on his nose, which were cutting-edge electronic products, the rest of his outfit was fairly inexpensive.

Contrarily, it was Tao Enhai himself who was dressed in a suit and tie, in proper business attire.

“Ah, right, since our department doesn’t engage in external business and won’t be receiving visitors, you can dress more casually in the future,” Xiang Shan said while drawing gestures in the air with his fingers in front of Tao Enhai.

The first generation of smart glasses could only be controlled by voice and motion commands.

In noisy areas like the subway, voice commands might not always be effective.

Xiang Shan’s sudden remark, “They didn’t even wait for me,” was in response to a message shown by the smart glasses.

The two of them soon boarded the subway.

Although they were in the suburbs, this area still resembled a high-tech industrial park, with quite a few people getting off work.

The subway wasn’t crowded, but there were no seats available either.

Xiang Shan and Tao Enhai stood in between two subway cars.

While browsing something, Xiang Shan explained the current main business scope of “Transhumanism” to Tao Enhai.

Superman Enterprise was now deeply involved in four areas.

These areas were “Genetic Engineering,” “Cognitive Science,” “Information Science,” and “Mechanical Engineering.” Within these domains were many overlapping projects.

For instance, “the correlation between certain cognitive abilities and genetics” spanned both “Genetic Engineering” and “Cognitive Science.”

Another example, “recreating human cognitive processes using computers,” fell into the overlap between “Cognitive Science” and “Information Science.”

And these projects influenced each other, forming an organic whole within Superman Enterprise.

Tao Enhai vaguely felt that all these domains seemed to serve a grand plan.

But this plan he faintly guessed at exuded an unrealistic sense of science fiction.

Xiang Shan even revealed that Superman Enterprise had invested in establishing a game incubation community in Northern Europe the previous year, reaching cooperation with many well-known independent game developers to study “the mechanisms behind gaming behavior,” “the interaction between gaming behavior and virtual reality,” and “the influence of gaming behavior on virtual communities.”

“Ah, by the way, if we’re talking about individual departments, that incubation community is the one with the highest profit margin and fastest capital turnover in our Superman Enterprise,” said Xiang Shan with a hint of regret.

After all, the core research and development organization of the company was all about burning cash.

The amount they spent could bankrupt many small countries.

No matter how much was earned, it was never enough to cover the costs of scientific research.

Tao Enhai couldn’t help but interject, “So then…

what do we actually make money from?

Government funding?

I suppose not…”

Xiang Shan nodded, “That’s a part of it.

But primarily, it’s from ‘products’ we’ve earned.

In fact, the state can’t afford our extravagant spending either…”

Tao Enhai was puzzled, “But I haven’t seen any products from…

our company, you know?”

“No, actually you have,” Xiang Shan said in a low voice, “You were a doctor before, right?

On the new drugs in the past two years, many of them were labeled with ‘Yawill Drug Manufacturing Method,’ weren’t they?”

“It seems so…

Ah…” Tao Enhai did recall.

The Yawill Drug Manufacturing Method was an efficient and safe method of producing biological potions using genetically edited yeast to metabolize most types of organic compounds, and it came at a low cost.

Over the years, Yawill drugs had become a mainstream on the market.

Then, as textbooks noted, or as medical representatives explained, the inventor of the Yawill Drug Manufacturing Method was none other than Yawgmoth Voigt.

“That’s too…

but…

” Tao Enhai felt there was something…

somewhat…

unethical about this.

—Or am I too naive?

Similar stories had occurred countless times in history.

Take, for instance, Edison, who owned the best patents for both light bulb sockets and filaments, making it impossible for other companies to compete with him.

“Of course, Doctor Tao, I know what you’re thinking, but please let me finish,” Xiang Shan said, “We can make money this way, but there are conditions.

First, the patent is licensed for free to state-owned enterprises or relevant departments in all countries.

In dealing with private enterprises, we charge a licensing fee that’s a fraction of a percent of the profit.

At the same time, we require that those using the patent must keep their profit margins within a low range.”

Tao Enhai fell silent for a moment, “How has Mr.

Voigt managed to survive until now?”

With this, it seems like all the merchants in the pharmaceutical industry will put Yawgmoth Voigt on the assassination list…

“That’s why we provide patents to governments for free.” Xiang Shan shrugged his shoulders.

“Not just this patent, every patent we hold is authorized for use by all nations.

Aside from avoiding assassination, we also get various kinds of policy support.”

“All the patents we apply for are disclosed in the same way.

Those capitalists either use our patents or don’t, and then get swallowed by their competitors.

Of course, if they use them secretly, that’s not bad either.

Although our legal department is small, we have deep cooperation with several renowned law firms—they really love patent lawsuits.

Even though those lawyers are on our side, trust me, they’re very ruthless.”

Xiang Shan seemed to recall something and chuckled heartily.

“But, those pharmaceutical companies…

and other companies might still try to find ways to snipe us, right?”

Unconsciously, Tao Enhai began to feel a sense of identification with this lunatic enterprise.

“Haha…” Xiang Shan laughed.

“No need to worry about that, brother.

Most of the finest scientists are on our side.”

The “finest scientists” truly only ever represent a tiny fraction of people; that’s an undeniable fact.

If “academic influence” could be converted into a measure of wealth, the Gini coefficient in academia would be greater than in the nation with the largest wealth gap.

With Yawgmoth Voigt being a member of Superman Enterprise, Xiang Shan said this with confidence.

“It’s also because we’re all so good that our predictions about the future of the industry are usually very precise; we’ve always been the ones using that foresight to snipe others.” Xiang Shan thought for a moment.

“Although it’s not like we’ve never made mistakes, but our chances of getting it wrong are pretty low.”

“How low?”

“Currently, my probability is 7 percent, David’s at 3 percent, Xinyu 16 percent?

Anatoly is at zero…

but he’s purely theoretical.” Xiang Shan considered for a moment.

“Hmm, Yawgmoth is still at zero, but that’s simply because the direction of technological development is defined by him, not up for discussion.”

Tao Enhai was deeply impressed.

To be able to describe it with percentages…

just how many patents does this enterprise hold…

Furthermore…

Tao Enhai also realized something.

The core of Superman Enterprise is the research department.

They don’t produce much in the way of tangible goods.

Using patents to snipe at transhumanism is pretty much meaningless.

As Xiang Shan continued his introduction, Tao Enhai began to gradually sketch out a blueprint of the company in his mind.

The two chatted along the way, accompanied by Xiang Shan’s words, “Make the soup, hold the salt and pepper”—probably ordering dishes.

It was after six o’clock when they finally arrived at the Great Front Door.

“Just occurred to me, this place is only a stop or two away from the West Third Ring.” Xiang Shan sighed.

“Had I known you were coming, I would’ve asked you to wait here directly.

It would have saved you the time traveling back and forth.”

Their destination was the Quanjude flagship restaurant at the Great Front Door.

Tao Enhai felt the place was somewhat ostentatious.

He said, “Does the company usually have dinner gatherings here…?”

“Yes, judging by your accent, are you a local too?” Xiang Shan held his forehead.

“Let me just say it.

I didn’t really want to choose this place either.

But it wasn’t actually me who chose the location today.

There’s a high proportion of foreigners in the company, and they, ah, how should I put it, like this kind of…you know what I mean?”

Tao Enhai nodded.

Xiang Shan had already found out the private room number through his smart glasses.

He didn’t ask the waiter, but directly led Tao Enhai there.

From afar, Tao Enhai could hear a burst of laughter and voices.

Upon opening the door, he saw a young woman with white hair enthusiastically singing versions of “The Internationale” in countless languages, surrounded by several people.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the restaurant, a few others were grouped into threes, engaged in heated debates.

In that moment, Tao Enhai felt even more out of place.

In the entire private room, he was the only one dressed in formal attire.

Everyone else was in casual wear.

Xiang Shan cleared his throat twice, but aside from a few who had already noticed them, the rest remained engrossed in their worlds.

Xiang Shan had to raise his voice and said, “Comrades, let me introduce someone.

This is Doctor Tao Enhai whom I mentioned before, who will be joining our research department starting tomorrow.

Let’s welcome him.”

Then, sporadic applause spread through the room.

It was as if the chairman didn’t have much clout here.

Xiang Shan didn’t mind, and promptly found Tao Enhai a seat next to someone else.

Tao Enhai settled into his seat, about to get acquainted with his colleague next to him.

But upon recognizing the person, he exclaimed in surprise, “Mr.

Vigette?”