34: Chapter 34 Hive: The Emergence of Collaborative Logistics Networks

"Wait, did you all misunderstand something?"

Lin Fang's words caused the crowd, who had started a verbal sparring match, to quiet down and prick up their ears.

"If you want to buy shares of Third-Party Technology, this amount of money is not enough." Lin Fang waved his hand again: "Mr. Mario, if you want this many shares, you need to pay this amount."

Mario frowned, "3 billion?"

"No, I want 30 billion U.S. dollars,"

Lin Fang smiled, "As long as you can pay this price, this company of mine will belong to UPS."

That's business; asking for an exorbitant price is a basic tactic.

"Are you joking? That's simply impossible!" Mario suddenly stood up and said angrily.

"Then I'm sorry. Since you can't afford it, I have no intention of lowering the price for financing," Lin Fang picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Mario's gaze was sharp, "Mr. Lin, you are still young. Going against UPS is not a wise choice. Please think it over."

"It seems I was right to open my company in the Central Continent," Lin Fang responded unhurriedly.

Facing the unyielding Lin Fang, Mario was clearly quite angry. He signaled his assistant with his eyes, and the female assistant hurriedly took a thin white paper from her bag and handed it to Lin Fang.

"Mr. Lin, in that case, you can take a look at this letter of intent. We at UPS can purchase the global exclusive license for ASC for 100 million U.S. dollars per year."

"Oh, Mr. Mario, so you came for the Ark Smart Chain. It seems its trial version is indeed quite good,"

Lin Fang flipped through the white paper and suddenly realized, but then sighed and said, "But unfortunately, I will not be granting technology licensing for ASC."

"We only provide technical services."

"Mr. Lin, that's not realistic!"

Mario took a deep breath, "Our company is sincere. I can increase the price to 150 million U.S. dollars per year."

"We at FedEx offer…" the FedEx representative also hurriedly chimed in.

"No need to say more."

Lin Fang closed the white paper and pushed it back, "ASC only offers technical services, and it is not exclusive. Only if you can accept that is cooperation possible; otherwise, don't bother."

"You!..."

Hearing the assistant's translation, Mario's face turned livid, and he stormed off.

"Mr. Lin, I see absolutely no sincerity from your company," the female representative from DHL also left.

This meeting ended on a sour note; none of the foreign logistics companies were willing to continue talking with Lin Fang.

Was there really no hope? No, there was still some.

Lin Fang looked smilingly at the representatives of the domestic logistics companies still in the conference room. Indeed, it's better to deal with one's own people; cooperating with them could also strengthen the company's influence domestically.

This was also the reason why Lin Fang had invited them.

"Everyone, would you like to try it? The price is negotiable, and the first month is free. I can guarantee that we will absolutely not leak our partners' privacy."

Xu Ruiqiang felt his scalp tingle as he looked at this devious young man. However, SF Express was not like these international giants; its main business was domestic, and it didn't have as much "privacy" to protect.

"President Lin is truly young and promising, but I still have to ask our boss about this," Xu Ruiqiang hesitated for a moment.

Most of the other logistics representatives gave the same response.

"Please do," Lin Fang gestured for them to go ahead.

——

After watching everyone leave, Xu Anqing slowly spoke up, "Boss, I think I understand why you only accept technical services."

Lin Fang poured himself another cup of tea, "Oh? Tell me about it."

"The Hive," Xu Anqing uttered a word.

Lin Fang looked at her and nodded, "Correct answer. A 50-yuan bonus for this month."

"Wow, 50 yuan! Boss, you are the best!"

Xu Anqing's smile reached her eyes.

The true value of ASC was not optimizing for a single company, but building a logistics collaborative network with ASC as the "Hive" at its center. Every time a company connected, the "Hive" would absorb its data to strengthen the global model, becoming an ecological barrier that latecomers would never be able to catch up to.

Every time these enterprises used the algorithm, their logistics data would be cleansed and fed back into the ASC global model—the "Hive"—causing the algorithm to continuously evolve. Enterprises that refused to cooperate would be reduced to "data islands."

Until ASC transcended its status as a tool and became the underlying rule of the logistics World, these enterprises would appear to be purchasing technical services, but in reality, they would be ceding their say in the logistics industry to him.

Was that a bit wishful thinking?

Lin Fang stroked his chin in thought, but as the saying goes, how would he know without trying?

Xu Anqing continued, "Looking at it now, the domestic ones are very interested."

The young man chuckled,

"Because they have no other choice."