Chapter 47: The Bounty on the Gene Optimization Serum

After seeing off the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee, Zhu Lan was as exhausted as a dog, sprawling directly across the back seat of the car.

Lan Tianxin couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of her boss in such a state.

“What are you laughing at?” Zhu Lan turned her head at the sound of Lan Tianxin’s laughter, glancing at her.

“Boss, do you finally understand the kind of hard work we all put in?”

Zhu Lan nodded awkwardly. “All right, all right, at the end of the year, I’ll give you a generous bonus—will that satisfy you?” She knew Lan Tianxin was gently voicing her complaints.

Zhu Lan rarely involved herself in the company’s affairs—it had always been Ren Linting’s responsibility. But after Ren Linting’s betrayal, Zhu Lan had taken a few days to assess the situation before entrusting Lan Tianxin with the position.

She had known there was a lot to handle in this role, but only after shouldering the responsibilities herself did she realize just how exhausting it truly was.

There were only eight days left until the conference on the gene optimization serum agency rights. Representatives from many other companies had already arrived in the city—many of them from world-renowned international conglomerates.

Of course, the provincial government wouldn’t pass up such an opportunity. Even if only a tenth of these companies were to invest in a few projects in the province, it would be a tremendous boost to the local economy. Heads of several municipal departments had already visited Illusion Technology over a hundred times these past days.

Originally, Zhu Lan had planned to hold the event at the newly developed area of Fantasy District. But the city government insisted on hosting the agency conference with full force, offering up the city’s finest venue—the Fengluan Opera House—for the occasion.

The Fengluan Opera House was the pride of the city. Since its completion in 2013, it had hosted sixteen world-class opera performances and earned a prestigious reputation throughout the South.

Perched on a small island by the sea, the opera house was the only building there—the rest was lush greenery and flowers, with a panoramic view of the ocean. From its conception, it had drawn attention; after all, building an opera house on a seaside island required a massive investment.

To attract investment, the city government had done its homework, even persuading the province to allow use of the Fengluan Opera House.

Though belonging to the city, initial investment in the opera house had been led by the provincial government, so provincial approval was required for its use.

To secure it, municipal leaders had gone all out, and seeing the potential of this conference, provincial officials offered their full support.

As the conference approached, the provincial government sent officials to oversee proceedings. The man just now had been He Ming, deputy provincial party secretary and the leading candidate for the next provincial party secretary.

“Really?”

Zhu Lan sighed and nodded. “When have I ever shortchanged you?”

Lan Tianxin nodded in agreement. “That’s true!”

Zhu Lan rolled her eyes, mustering some strength and sitting up in the car.

“All right, the government side is taken care of. The rest is up to you.”

Lan Tianxin smiled confidently. “Don’t worry, boss. I’ve already assembled enough staff to ensure our guests have a flawless experience at the agency conference.”

“Are all the hotels ready?”

“They are. I secured all six five-star hotels in the city a week ago. We’ve stationed twenty sedans at the airport, ready to pick up guests who present our invitations. The cars are all Mercedes-Benz S600 business class, rented from leasing companies and dealerships. If we need more, they’ll be transferred from other locations.”

“Excellent. Don’t hesitate to spend money. Our clients deserve the best service.”

Lan Tianxin hesitated. “Boss, isn’t this a bit extravagant?”

Zhu Lan laughed, stepping out of the car.

Lan Tianxin hurried after her.

“We could just wait for them to come to us, but I want you to handle these details. It demonstrates our company’s sincerity.”

“Isn’t this a little like a nouveau riche showing off?” Lan Tianxin considered, then nodded.

Zhu Lan was unfazed. “That’s exactly my intention.”

Lan Tianxin’s eyes flashed with realization. She looked at Zhu Lan in surprise. “Boss, now I see! No wonder you’re in charge and I’m just an employee!”

Zhu Lan looked at her with satisfaction. “You have more experience than I do, but when it comes to perspective, you still have room to grow. You need to broaden your horizons.”

Lan Tianxin smiled wryly and nodded. “I appreciate the lesson.”

Zhu Lan nodded. “All right, go make the arrangements. The conference is in seven days.”

“Don’t worry, boss!” With that, Lan Tianxin turned to leave.

“Wait a moment!” Zhu Lan suddenly called after her.

“Is there something else?” Lan Tianxin stopped, looking at Zhu Lan in confusion.

“Six days from now, arrange a press conference for me. We’ll formally announce the gene optimization serum to the world, along with our company’s latest products.”

“A press conference?”

Zhu Lan nodded. “That’s right. Illusion Technology hasn’t actually made a formal announcement for the gene optimization serum yet. This is the perfect opportunity. It will help our agents understand the product better. And find a few people—you know, the kind the internet talks about.”

“You mean terminally ill patients?” Lan Tianxin looked at Zhu Lan in shock.

Zhu Lan only smiled.

“Boss, this, this, this…”

“Just do as I say. I know what I’m doing.”

Lan Tianxin gazed at Zhu Lan, then nodded. “I’ll get someone on it immediately. But where should we hold it? Fengluan is out of the question—it’s still being set up for the main event, and there’s no time to prepare another press conference there.”

“No, we already have a venue, don’t we?”

“You mean here?”

Zhu Lan nodded. “Have someone make the necessary modifications. And speed up the rest of the preparations. The company needs to make a statement.”

Lan Tianxin’s eyes lit up. “Understood. I’ll take care of it at once!”

“Go. Do your best—I want a platform that will shake the world.”

Lan Tianxin nodded silently, then turned and left.

Zhu Lan glanced at Kong Yan beside her, exchanged a look, and headed toward her small building.

Entering the basement, she found it had already been transformed by Kong Yan into a workshop.

Along one wall, several eighty-inch monitors displayed various feeds—some from the company, some from within the city.

“How are things looking?” Zhu Lan asked.

“In the past week, the city recorded 190,000 new arrivals, of which 36,387 are foreigners.”

“That many?” Zhu Lan looked at Kong Yan in surprise.

Without a word, Kong Yan operated the controls, instantly pulling up a long list of names and photographs.

“My god!” Zhu Lan was astonished at the sheer number of foreigners crammed onto the screen.

“Why are so many people coming here?”

Kong Yan deftly brought up a website.

The moment Zhu Lan saw it, she was stunned.

It was a bounty website—and the top headline was about the gene optimization serum.

“Reward: Acquire the Gene Optimization Serum Formula!”

That wasn’t even the most shocking part—the reward was set at one hundred million dollars.

Now Zhu Lan was troubled. Who had such a vendetta against her to offer a hundred million for the formula?

No wonder she had sensed something off these past few days. Now she realized the military had increased protection around her.

Although Zhu Lan had stayed at the company and hadn’t gone out, she had picked up on the changing atmosphere, attributing it to the arrival of provincial leaders. But now she understood it was something else entirely.

Why was this happening?

Over thirty-six thousand foreigners—almost forty thousand! That number was terrifying, even by the standards of the metropolis, and this was just in two weeks.

No wonder the deputy party secretary had seemed so strange earlier, as if he wanted to say something but held back. Now, Zhu Lan understood.

“Why didn’t you warn me?” Zhu Lan fixed Kong Yan with a questioning gaze.

Kong Yan’s eyes flickered. “There was no danger to your safety, boss. This information was not important.”

“All right, perhaps I’m overthinking it.” Though Kong Yan was a -1000 series robot, her methods were still too rigid. Even with the emotional program loaded, it would take more time for her to internalize those processes.

“Notify Yu Dongming to tighten security during this period. And reconfigure the -001 unit, just in case anything unexpected happens.”

Kong Yan’s lights flickered as she processed the data. “Understood. -001 will serve as the last line of defense.”

Since all these people were after the gene optimization serum formula, Zhu Lan had to make preparations.

There were many things in the company that could not be discovered—most importantly, the true identities of Qite and Kong Yan as robots. The Canglan Base was still under construction and had to remain secret, as did the formula for the gene optimization serum—or rather, for the elemental body. Security needed to be tightened.

Most crucial of all was the virus.

She had already removed the virus and transferred it to the Canglan Base.

Although the base was not yet complete, it had already been excavated two hundred meters underground. Setting up a storage vault would take only half a day.

The engineering robots were all under Qite’s command, and Kong Yan had installed numerous assassination modules in their bodies—last-resort measures designed to protect the virus.

Xiao He had warned her before: many people were interested in her.

That was when Zhu Lan realized she had become a prize to be fought over.

So when Kong Yan appeared, Zhu Lan kept her close. With the abilities of a -1000 unit, no one could take Zhu Lan away from her, short of deploying an entire army.

As a robot, Kong Yan required no special precautions. Zhu Lan had modified her programming so that she could be privy to the most confidential information without risk.

Kong Yan’s presence was Zhu Lan’s greatest reassurance.

As long as her adversaries didn’t resort to madness, Zhu Lan was confident she could handle whatever came her way.

“All right, let’s see who’s truly formidable—me or this swarm of mercenaries. Illusion Technology is waiting for you. The gates of hell have already been opened!”