Chapter Sixty-Nine: The Birth of the First Agent

An hour—neither too long nor too short—had passed, and when Zhu Lan returned, even more people had gathered. It turned out that some of those who had left earlier had come back, mostly representatives of domestic enterprises. Zhu Lan said nothing about it; he simply handed out tablets as before, allowing them to participate in the bidding. Of course, the final decision still rested with him.

Though the allotted time had expired, some remained unsure of their bids and had not entered any prices. Zhu Lan, however, was fully aware of how many had submitted offers. Every number entered was recorded by the computer, making it clear to Zhu Lan which companies hesitated, and which acted decisively.

“Very well, time’s up. For those companies that failed to enter a bid, I’m afraid I must apologize!” Zhu Lan pressed a button on his watch, instantly locking every computer in the room.

“What? How could this happen?”

“Mr. Zhu, please give us another chance!”

Zhu Lan ignored their protests. Suddenly, a massive display screen appeared behind him.

“To ensure fairness and transparency, there will be no objections considered. All bids today will be announced publicly!”

With these words and the enormous screen behind him, everyone immediately understood.

“Lights out!” Zhu Lan commanded, and the hall lights went dark. A great beam of light shone down, illuminating only the high platform where Zhu Lan stood. There was still some warm ambient light below, but the stage remained the brightest.

Seven names appeared on the screen: Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, United States, Japan, and Huaxia.

Below these, a dense grid was displayed, with each cell blocked from view.

“These are the prices you’ve bid. As I reveal each one, the highest price will win the secondary agency rights for that region.”

No one was listening to Zhu Lan’s words anymore. Each region had more than eighty competitors, with no more than ninety enterprises in total, meaning every single place was being fought for. Whether it was a matter of casting a wide net or truly aiming to monopolize all secondary agency rights, only they knew.

“Wait!”

Zhu Lan was just about to start unveiling the bids when someone called out.

He turned his head, and all eyes followed, focusing on Zhu Lan.

Seeing who had spoken, Zhu Lan narrowed his eyes. “Well, my friend, is there something you wish to say?”

The man nodded, glancing around at everyone present. “I believe you’re all here for the same reason as I am. I am the Chief Executive Officer of the Stet Group. May I ask everyone to give us the United States agency rights? I trust you will make a wise choice.”

Zhu Lan laughed, and so did many others.

Stet! A true giant. This was a company responsible for 1.58% of global shipping, and a renowned name in pharmaceuticals, valued at over four hundred billion dollars.

But today, there were many even more powerful than Stet—let alone the top American conglomerates, neither the Huaxia nor the Middle Eastern magnates had made an appearance. What was Stet compared to them?

“All right, Mr. Stet, the comedy hour is over. Even if Microsoft were to ask in person, I doubt everyone would agree.”

The Stet CEO was not offended. He simply waved it off, smiled, and sat back down.

“Now, let the auction begin!”

“The first bid is for the secondary agency rights in Japan. Originally, I intended to leave this to the primary agent, but due to certain circumstances, I will handle the Japanese rights personally.”

Most people didn’t know the details of what had transpired, but some understood perfectly well what Zhu Lan meant.

The competition for the Japanese agency rights was not as fierce—only sixty-four bidders.

As the first bid was revealed, everyone was astonished.

“Baisheng is making a bold move!” The first bid came from Baisheng, at four hundred million dollars.

The Baisheng president, however, did not look at Zhu Lan, but instead watched the presidents of Sakura Group, Black Dragon Group, and Mount Fuji Group. Yet the three showed no reaction, while Baisheng’s own president frowned.

Today’s gathering was attended by presidents and investment managers from major corporations, but not by the true decision-makers. Not even domestic companies were represented by their board members—only presidents. Presumably, they found their status unsuited for dealing with Illusion Technology; were it not for the matter of the gene optimization serum, they likely would have ignored the event altogether.

Zhu Lan glanced at the audience. Seeing no reaction, he continued unveiling the bids.

The following bids were not as high as Baisheng’s. Seventeen in a row failed to reach even one hundred million, with the lowest at four million dollars—a clear sign of chaos.

“Six hundred million, a new record!” A new price appeared, and the Baisheng president seemed unsurprised, as if expecting this outcome.

The new high bid did not come from any of the three Japanese conglomerates, but from America’s Stet Group.

Four hundred and seventy million!

Five hundred million!

Five hundred and four million!

One high price after another was unveiled, two of which belonged to Black Dragon Group and Mount Fuji Group, yet still failed to surpass Stet. All eyes were now on Sakura Group’s final bid.

Six unopened bids remained, one of which belonged to Sakura Group.

“Wow, yet another record! The new top bid comes from Huaxia’s Canglong Group—six hundred and seventy million dollars!”

Many glanced at Canglong Group’s investment manager. The group was not widely known on the world stage, so such a bid was unexpected.

It must be remembered that this was only an agency fee, paid outright to Illusion Technology. The duration of the agency rights—ten years—had already been displayed on the computer, as well as all the benefits and restrictions.

The kimono-clad lady from Sakura Group showed no surprise at the six hundred and seventy million figure; head bowed, she sipped her tea quietly, lost in thought.

The next few bids were all in the tens of millions. Only one remained.

There was no need to guess—it was Sakura Group’s bid.

Zhu Lan slowly revealed it, and as the number appeared, the entire room gasped.

A billion!

That was Sakura Group’s offer.

Even Zhu Lan was momentarily stunned—a billion dollars, three hundred and thirty million above the runner-up. In terms of Japanese yen, that was a staggering nineteen billion yen. And a billion dollars was sixty-five billion yen—an astronomical figure!

“Congratulations to Sakura Group for winning the Japanese agency rights. Please, the representatives from Sakura Group may now use your tablets to access the privileges of your new status.”

The kimono-clad lady from Sakura Group rose, bowed deeply, and expressed her thanks in the traditional Japanese manner.

“All right, everyone, take a short break. In five minutes, we’ll proceed with the bidding for the Italian agency rights.”

With that, Zhu Lan stepped backstage and pressed a discreet button near his eye, receiving data transmitted from the Azure Base.

After reading the report, Zhu Lan frowned.

Sakura Group was anything but simple—the imperial family’s shadow loomed behind it.

Founded in 1957, Sakura Group was born in a turbulent era. For nineteen years, it dealt solely in everyday goods, yet even then, it was highly profitable, as postwar Japan desperately needed such supplies.

In the 1970s, Sakura Group expanded overseas, establishing a foothold in energy, biotechnology, and communications. It set up research bases in seventeen countries, pouring enormous investments into several stable African nations—one of which was rumored to host a Japanese expeditionary force.

In recent years, Japan’s overseas bases in Africa were all operated by Sakura Group.

Many believed the most powerful Japanese faction was the Black Dragon Organization under the right wing, but in truth, Sakura was the mightiest conglomerate, thanks to its imperial connection.

It was worth noting that during World War II, Japan had acquired more than six thousand tons of gold from Huaxia, all of which went to the imperial family. The rapid postwar recovery of Japan was made possible by those funds.

Yet, according to Zhu Lan’s information, less than three thousand tons had been used; the remainder was still under imperial control.

In short, Japan possessed nearly as much gold as the United States appeared to have on record.

There was no data Zhu Lan could not access online; with a single command, he could obtain complete profiles on any person or company, even hacking into national databases for confidential information.

With Sakura Group securing the Japanese agency rights, Zhu Lan naturally had to understand exactly who he was dealing with.

“Kong Yan, are you certain there will be no unforeseen issues?”

A hidden screen, invisible to others, appeared at the corner of Zhu Lan’s eye—Kong Yan’s image materialized.

“Yes, boss. The gene optimization serum is fully gene-locked. Humanity will not be able to access this information for at least fifty years. Sakura Group may be experts, but according to all available data, they cannot break the genetic lock.”

Though the information was scant, it was still revealing.

Sakura’s research bases in Africa were, in fact, biological research facilities focused on gene enhancement.

Globally, Sakura was an undisputed leader in this field, equaled only by the bioscience branches of three other conglomerates.

Before the gene optimization serum was released, Zhu Lan had already investigated the leading research institutions in this area.

Using this as a reference, he had deduced whether the serum’s genetic lock could possibly be broken.

During his investigation, Sakura had already caught his attention, but ultimately, Zhu Lan was drawn to another group: Sentinel. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Sentinel operated most of its research centers in South and North America.

What attracted Zhu Lan was Sentinel’s “super soldier” program, reminiscent of those in comic books—and with many successful cases already to its name.

The gene optimization serum was, in essence, a diluted version of a gene enhancement agent—a fact Zhu Lan was well aware of. For this reason, he paid special attention to companies and institutes with similar research.

(To be continued.)