16: Chapter 16 The Right Way to Spend One Hundred Million Dollars

"Boss, are we really rich now?"

Tony sat on the creaking old swivel chair in the lab, clutching his phone tightly. The string of zeros on the screen made his head spin. The most money he had ever seen in his life was at that illegal casino, but he had never seen a number followed by so many zeros.

Chen Feng finished the last sip of his cooled coffee, casually crushed the paper cup, and accurately tossed it into the trash can three meters away.

"That's the company's money, not yours. Wipe your drool and don't let it drip on my floor."

"But this is fifty million dollars! The first installment!" Tony jumped up abruptly, pacing in circles in the cramped office. "Shouldn't we move? Let's go to the Central District, rent the top floor of the Twin Towers, hire four tall foreign girls as receptionists, and buy two custom-made bulletproof Cadillacs..."

"Sit down." Chen Feng's voice wasn't loud, but Tony immediately sat back down obediently, like a duck being choked.

"Move? No." Chen Feng walked to the window and looked out at the dilapidated streets of the South District. "This place may be a dump, but it's a lawless land. Here, if we make some noise, the neighbors will just think someone's gas tank exploded. If we went to the Central District, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Fire Department would tear down my front door within five minutes if my lab emitted even a tiny bit of exhaust."

Chen Feng turned around, pulled a thick list from a drawer, and slammed it directly against Tony's chest.

"This is the procurement list. Go and get these things for me. Remember, don't place orders at official flagship stores."

Tony looked down, and his eyes nearly popped out: "Thermo Fisher ultracentrifuges, Leica confocal microscopes, and... bioreactors? Boss, these are all controlled items. Even with money, the lead time for ordering would be at least half a year, right?"

"That's why I'm telling you to use your brain." Chen Feng tapped the table. "Biotech companies go bankrupt every day in Los Angeles. Go to those liquidation auctions and scavenge. As long as they're in 'like new' condition, push the price down to thirty percent. Remember, all transactions must be in cash or via offshore accounts. I want all this equipment on-site by next Monday, and the name Maple Leaf Bio must not appear on any federal equipment monitoring lists."

Tony shrank his neck: "I get it, you're trying to run an 'off-the-books' lab."

"Also, go to the labor market in the South District to recruit people," Chen Feng continued to instruct. "I want thirty skilled chemical operators with clean backgrounds—preferably those who are in desperate need of money, have no social security, or even no legal status. Tell them the base salary is three times what's outside, with room and board included, but they must sign a strict non-disclosure agreement. Their phones will be confiscated during work, and they will live and eat entirely within the factory."

"This... isn't this just a sweatshop?" Tony muttered.

"It's called closed-loop management," Chen Feng corrected. "Marcus, come here."

Marcus, who had been guarding the door like an iron tower, stepped inside, making the floor tremble slightly.

"Boss."

"How many of your old comrades are still out there struggling to survive?" Chen Feng asked.

Marcus was silent for a moment, his voice a bit low: "Many. Some are hauling bags at the docks, some are working as muscle for drug dealers, and two were kicked out to live under a bridge just the day before yesterday because they couldn't pay rent. They're all good boys, it's just... society has no need for people who only know how to kill."

"I want them," Chen Feng said straightforwardly. "Recruit twenty people first to form Maple Leaf Bio's security department. You'll be the head. I'll provide the best equipment, and the salary will be according to private military contractor standards. The only requirement: whether it's the FBI or the Iron Fist Gang, as long as I haven't nodded, anyone who dares step into this building will be carried out horizontally."

A sharp light flashed in Marcus's eyes as he straightened his back: "Understood."

Over the next three days, the originally lifeless Maple Leaf Biopharmaceutical Company became like a giant beast injected with adrenaline, operating frantically.

Tony demonstrated his surprisingly smooth methods. Driving Chen Feng's beat-up pickup truck, he shuttled between various industrial parks and liquidation warehouses around Los Angeles.

"Hey, buddy, this mass spectrometer is gathering dust. Fifty thousand dollars? Are you crazy? Thirty thousand, and I'll take it right now. All cash, no need to go through your rotten financial books."

Relying on his familiarity with the gray areas, Tony managed to bring back top-tier laboratory equipment that would have normally cost twenty million for less than five million dollars, moving it all into this dilapidated building in the South District within three days.

Meanwhile, Marcus brought back a group of fierce-eyed, taciturn men. They cut their messy long hair and changed into uniform black security outfits. Although they weren't carrying guns yet, their murderous aura made passing thugs instinctively steer clear.

Chen Feng carried out a complete renovation of the five-story building.

The first and second floors were converted into standardized GMP workshops. The recruited skilled workers were divided into three shifts. Under Chen Feng's simplified process, they began mass-producing 'ruisu' and the newly developed 'healing factor'.

To these employees, they had no idea what they were actually making. They only knew that according to the young Chinese boss's requirements, they had to pour the liquid from Tank A into Tank B, monitor the pressure gauge, and finally package it into those pale green test tubes.

The third floor served as the office area and security center.

As for the basement.

The originally dark and damp underground warehouse was reinforced by Chen Feng with thick lead plates and reinforced concrete. An independent ventilation system and top-of-the-line biosafety cabinets were installed here.

This was the restricted zone of Maple Leaf Bio. Except for Chen Feng and Da Hei, anyone approaching would trigger the infrared alarms personally installed by Marcus.

At this moment, on the second basement level.

Chen Feng wore goggles, looking at a cluster of colonies in a petri dish that exhibited an eerie blue color.

[System Prompt: T-Virus base strain activity stable, matching degree 99.8%.]

[Current R&D Points: 500.]

[Suggestion: Start the second-generation enhancement experiment for 'healing factor', which can serve as an upgraded product for the civilian version of ruisu.]

The corners of Chen Feng's mouth curled up. Webber thought he was buying his life, United Shield Health Insurance thought he was stealing business, and the FBI thought he was making biological weapons.

In fact, they all only guessed a small part.

What he wanted to do was redefine the 'value of life' in this world.

"Boss, someone from the bank is here," Tony's voice came through the intercom, carrying an irrepressible smugness. "It's that Vice President Morris who used to call every day to collect debts. This grandson is now holding two bottles of Louis XIII, begging for an audience at the door."

Chen Feng took off his lab coat and tossed it casually into the incinerator.

"Let him wait. Tell him I'm in an important R&D meeting and have no time for such a small character."

"You got it!" Tony laughed like a villain on the other end.

Chen Feng walked out of the lab, and Da Hei immediately lunged out from the shadows. His body was a size larger than a few days ago, his muscles knotted all over, looking like a small calf draped in dog skin.

"Let's go, Da Hei, to see an old friend."

As soon as Chen Feng reached the first-floor lobby, he saw a familiar police car parked at the entrance.

Sarah was leaning against the car door in her crisp police uniform, holding a donut, looking playfully at the two black bodyguards at the entrance of Maple Leaf Bio who looked as if they were facing a great enemy.

Seeing Chen Feng come out, Sarah stuffed the last bite of the donut into her mouth and brushed the powdered sugar off her hands.

"Yo, Chen, quite a setup you've got here." Sarah sized up Chen Feng and then looked at the brand-new building sign. "I heard you landed a big investment? Now even the guards at the door look more professional than our precinct's SWAT team."

Chen Feng smiled and walked over to lean against the other side of the police car: "Just making a living. Sergeant Sarah, what wind blew you here today? It's not someone reporting me for practicing medicine illegally again, is it?"

"Not that. However, that FBI guy named Ford threw a mug at the office this morning. I heard his investigation warrant was forcibly retracted by the higher-ups." Sarah leaned in a bit closer and lowered her voice, a faint scent of lemongrass wafting from her. "Chen Feng, tell me honestly, who exactly is backing you? There aren't many people in Los Angeles who can make the FBI swallow such a bitter pill."

Chen Feng shrugged: "I'm backed by law and science, do you believe that?"

"I don't believe a word of it." Sarah rolled her eyes, then couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, since you're a big tycoon now, shouldn't you show some appreciation? The public security budget for the South District has been very tight lately."

"No problem. On Monday, I'll donate one hundred thousand dollars to the precinct's welfare fund. And while I'm at it, I'll send you a batch of the latest 'ruisu'. Through the formal donation process, of course," Chen Feng said generously.

Sarah was stunned, clearly not expecting Chen Feng to be so straightforward. She was about to speak when she suddenly noticed the massive black shadow behind Chen Feng.

Da Hei stood silently by Chen Feng's feet, his eerie green eyes staring fixedly at Sarah.

Sarah instinctively reached for her holster, her palms actually breaking into a cold sweat.

"This dog..." Sarah swallowed. "What have you been feeding it?"

"His name is Da Hei, he's very good." Chen Feng patted Da Hei's head, and Da Hei actually cooperated by wagging his tail, though the power of that tail swing felt like it could snap a person's leg.

"Good?" Sarah's mouth twitched. "Fine, since you're okay, I'm relieved. But I have to warn you, a man like Ford won't give up easily. He can't investigate your company now, but he'll definitely be watching your people. Be careful."

With that, Sarah opened the car door and sat inside. Before leaving, she leaned her head out the window and joked, "Congratulations, Tycoon Chen. Next time we meet, do I have to make an appointment first?"

"You're always welcome, Sergeant."

Watching the police car drive away, the smile on Chen Feng's face gradually vanished.

He turned his head to look at Tony.

"Is Morris still waiting?"

"He's there, his legs are numb from standing, and he can barely hold onto those two bottles of wine."

Chen Feng spat out a single cold word: "Scram."

"Huh?" Tony was stunned.

"Tell him the loan is cleared. From now on, Maple Leaf Bio's accounts will no longer go through their bank. Tell him to take his wine and scram out of the South District."