35: Chapter 35: The decision was made in Jingzhou, and the money arrived.

In Jingzhou, at the First Military Region General Hospital, within the heavily guarded intensive care ward area, a makeshift conference room was filled with cigarette smoke.

General Liu Zhenbang, sitting at the head of the table, tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop, his sharp gaze fixed on the massive LCD screen in front of him.

On the screen was Song Yun, who was in Los Angeles. Her complexion was not looking good, and the background was still that hotel room.

"Fifty-one percent of the net profit share."

Song Yun's voice came through the speakers, echoing clearly in the dead-silent conference room; every word landed like a stone thrown into water.

"He also requires us to invest fifty million USD in initial R&D funding, and demands that we provide all sales channels and administrative approval support within the Hua Federation."

As soon as she finished speaking, a middle-aged man sitting to the right of General Liu slammed his hand on the table.

"Insolence!"

The man was Zhang Zhiyuan, chairman of Jinghua Pharmaceutical Group, the leader of the domestic pharmaceutical industry. His face was flushed red, and he was so angry he was fuming: "This isn't cooperation at all; this is naked extortion! We provide the money, the people, and the market, doing all the hard work, yet he, a small company from the U Federation, just sits at home and takes over half the profit? On what grounds! These are humiliating terms that forfeit our sovereignty, and I absolutely refuse to agree!"

Zhang Zhiyuan's voice was loud, but the several military bigwigs present, including Director Qian Feng of the Second Department of the General Staff, only smoked in silence, with no one chiming in.

The atmosphere remained tense for over ten seconds.

Qian Feng stubbed out his cigarette and spoke slowly. His voice wasn't loud, but it made the agitated Zhang Zhiyuan instantly shut his mouth.

"Chairman Zhang, let's look at this problem from a different angle." Qian Feng looked at him. "Professor Zhou has already verified the data for the healing factor. The rate of tissue regeneration increases by 14 to 15 times, without any exaggeration. I had the General Staff run a simple wargame simulation."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over every general present.

"If—and I mean if—our frontline assault troops could be equipped with this reagent on a small scale, in combat of equal intensity, our battlefield casualty and attrition rate could be reduced by forty percent."

The only sound left in the conference room was heavy breathing.

The anger on Zhang Zhiyuan's face froze. He was not a soldier, but he understood the meaning behind this number. That wasn't just profit; those were the lives of countless young soldiers.

The generals present had even more alarming glints in their eyes. They had spent their entire lives dealing with casualty figures; no one understood better than them what a terrifying concept "a forty percent reduction in attrition rate" was.

"Furthermore," Qian Feng continued, dropping another bombshell, "according to the intelligence brought back by Comrade Song Yun, and confirmed by our inside sources, the Umbrella Corporation has not provided any drugs or technology to the U Federation military. The Pentagon, just like us, is guessing in the dark."

"He chose us."

This sentence was more important than anything else.

The silent General Liu Zhenbang finally spoke. He raised his hand and pressed it down, signaling everyone to calm down.

"Enough arguing."

The old general's voice carried unquestionable authority.

"From beginning to end, the initiative in this matter has not been in our hands." He held up one finger. "He is the only person in the world who possesses the core technology. This is a seller's market; he has the right to set the price."

"Second," he held up a second finger, "fifty-one percent sounds like a lot, but the forty-nine percent we get is a massive, brand-new market with no competitors. I asked Chairman Zhang: based on the efficacy of ruisu and the healing factor, the conservative net profit for the domestic market in the first year will be no less than two billion. Even if we take half, that's one billion. Is this deal a loss?"

Zhang Zhiyuan opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. Two billion was his extremely conservative estimate; if it were truly rolled out, the numbers would only be more exaggerated.

"Third, and most importantly." General Liu's gaze became solemn. "Qian Feng is right; he chose us. What does this mean? It means this person wants money and security, not to discuss ideologies or beliefs with us. Comrades, a political problem that can be solved with money is the simplest political problem in the world."

These words made everyone present suddenly see the light.

Zhang Zhiyuan was still somewhat unwilling. He raised the final practical question: "General, what about the security of raw material supply? His core materials are also exclusively supplied by him. What if he cuts off the supply one day, or his company in the U Federation is sealed off? Won't our production lines become a pile of scrap metal?"

At this question, everyone looked at Song Yun on the screen.

Song Yun immediately replied: "Regarding this point, Chen Feng has made two commitments. First, he can assist us in establishing a one-month strategic reserve within the Hua Federation, ensuring that if the supply chain is interrupted under extreme circumstances, we can still maintain thirty days of full-capacity production."

"Second, in addition to the technical cooperation, his own Umbrella Corporation will continue to maintain exports of finished reagents to us. According to the figures he provided, it can stably supply 50,000 units of ruisu and 50,000 units of the healing factor per quarter. He also hinted that there will be more new drugs with even more astonishing effects released in the future."

One-month strategic reserve... continuous finished product supply... and new drugs?

With these bargaining chips thrown down, Zhang Zhiyuan was completely speechless.

General Liu made the final decision.

"Then it's settled!" He said decisively. "Reply to him that we accept the fifty-one percent profit-sharing plan. The initial investment of fifty million USD, not a cent less. Have the finance department coordinate; the first earnest money payment of ten million USD must be deposited into his designated account within twenty-four hours!"

"Yes!" Song Yun immediately replied from the other side of the screen.

The atmosphere in the conference room relaxed; it seemed this thorny problem had been solved.

However, General Liu's next words made the atmosphere, which had just eased, tense up again.

He waved his hand, signaling that the communication with Song Yun could be ended.

After the video signal was cut, he looked at the key figures in the room and issued a secret order in a voice that was almost inaudible.

"Cooperation is cooperation, but we cannot hand our lifeline over to others."

"Initiate the 'Mirror' project. From today on, all raw materials, technical data, and finished reagents we receive must undergo the highest level of reverse engineering analysis. I want you to use all resources to 'replicate' this technology for me in its entirety."

"I do not hope that in two years, we are still living at the mercy of a young man."

"Do you all understand?"

Qian Feng and the several generals exchanged glances and simultaneously straightened their backs.

"Yes! We guarantee to complete the mission!"

Whoever uncovers the other's hand first is the one who will have the last laugh at the poker table.

...

Meanwhile, in the U Federation, Los Angeles.

Three o'clock in the morning.

Chen Feng was sitting in front of the console in the second underground level laboratory, watching the various physiological data of the "Licker" on the screen.

After a few days of adaptive training, this biological weapon, code-named B-03, could perfectly understand several sonic commands such as "standby," "search," and "attack designated target." Its predatory efficiency was frighteningly high, but likewise, its weaknesses were also incredibly obvious.

Ultimately, this was just a transitional product.

The real trump card should be the "Hunter" model based on Jason.

Just then, the phone he had placed on the table vibrated slightly.

It wasn't a text message, but a push notification from an encrypted application of an offshore bank.

Chen Feng picked it up and took a look.

[Your account ending in 8848 received a transfer at 03:02 local time, amount: $10,000,000.00 USD.]

Ten million USD.

Not a cent missing.

The corners of Chen Feng's mouth curled up slightly.

He knew the fish had bitten the hook hard.

He tossed the phone back onto the table and brought up the system panel in his mind.

His gaze fell upon the dense, star-like, brilliant technology tree.

The T-Virus was just the starting point.

He looked at the subsequent branches that were still in a gray locked state but whose names were already visible—G-Virus, C-Virus, Ouroboros...

Chen Feng smiled.

"Reverse engineering? Replication?"

He whispered to himself, as if speaking to the air.

"Your imagination stops right there."