60: Chapter 60 The Devil's Advice

The phrase "You look better in casual clothes than in your police uniform" was like a pebble tossed into a calm lake, sending ripples through Sarah's heart.

Her cheeks grew even hotter, the charming flush spreading from her face to the tips of her ears. Her emerald eyes were clouded with a layer of mist, and she averted her gaze from Chen Feng, looking somewhat flustered.

In this state, there wasn't a trace left of the decisive Deputy Chief Mitchell of the South District Police Department.

Just as Chen Feng felt the atmosphere was perfect and was about to take a step further, a mood-killing voice suddenly rang out from the doorway.

"Sis! Boss! What... what are you doing!"

Amy's small head popped out from behind the door. She was holding a bag of potato chips, her mouth stuffed full, her large eyes wide with the fire of gossip, as if she had stumbled upon a world-shattering secret.

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Sarah was instantly jolted out of the ambiguous atmosphere. She took a sudden step back, putting a full meter of distance between herself and Chen Feng, her hands clasped behind her back, her posture as stiff as a soldier in training.

"It's... it's nothing! It's windy outside, some sand got in my eye, and Mr. Chen was helping me blow it out!"

The excuse was so poor that even Amy wasn't fooled.

"Oh—blowing out your eye, huh..." Amy drawled, her eyes darting back and forth between the two. Her expression clearly said, 'I don't believe a word of that.'

Chen Feng looked at the flustered Sarah, whose face was so red it looked like it might bleed, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

His laughter only made Sarah more embarrassed and annoyed, and she shot him a fierce glare.

Seeing this "flirtatious" exchange, Amy suddenly covered her eyes with exaggerated drama and let out a shriek: "Ah! My eyes! I'm blind! I didn't see anything! Mom told you to come in and eat fruit!"

With that, the little girl retracted her head with a 'whoosh' and pulled the door shut behind her, leaving behind a series of footsteps as if she were fleeing for her life.

On the lawn, only a wryly smiling Chen Feng and a Sarah who wished she could find a hole to crawl into remained.

The romantic atmosphere from before had been completely ruined by Amy's interruption, replaced by a slightly awkward yet somewhat humorous warmth.

"Your sister... is quite lively," Chen Feng said, stifling a laugh.

"She's a brat!" Sarah gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly.

The two shared a smile, and the invisible wall that had existed between them seemed to dissolve completely at that moment.

Back inside, Amy had already hidden in her room, and only Mrs. Karen was in the living room watching TV. Seeing them enter, she greeted them warmly: "Chen, come here, try this cantaloupe. It's very sweet."

Time passed unknowingly until late at night, and both Mrs. Karen and Amy had retired to their rooms to rest.

Chen Feng rose to take his leave, but Sarah called out to him.

"It's so late, it's not safe to drive," her gaze flickered, not daring to look Chen Feng directly in the eye, "and... I still have some technical questions I'd like to ask you."

Chen Feng raised an eyebrow; this excuse was even more ridiculous than the "sand in the eye" one.

Just then, Mrs. Karen happened to come out of her room to get some water. Hearing their conversation, she immediately chimed in enthusiastically: "That's right, Chen, don't leave! The guest room... oh, the guest room is full of clutter that hasn't been cleared yet. Sarah, why doesn't Chen just sleep in your room? Your bed is big enough, and I remember you just got a new mattress last week."

"Mom!" Sarah's face instantly turned bright red again.

"It's settled then!" Mrs. Karen finalized the decision with a smile and returned to her room with her water cup, giving Chen Feng an "I'm rooting for you" look before she left.

Chen Feng looked at the embarrassed Sarah, who didn't even know where to put her hands, and felt in high spirits.

"Since Mrs. Karen said so," he spread his hands with an innocent look, "then I'll be troubling you, Deputy Chief Mitchell."

That night was very quiet.

...

The next morning, a ray of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the blinds and shone on Chen Feng's face.

He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a peaceful sleeping face. Sarah was lying on her side, her long golden hair cascading over the pillow like a waterfall. Her breathing was steady, and she was sleeping soundly. Without the constraints of her police uniform and her daytime vigilance, she looked as soft as an angel at this moment.

Chen Feng carefully sat up, afraid of waking her.

Just then, a familiar blue light screen silently unfolded before his eyes.

[Ding! Detected a breakthrough in the host's relationship with the key plot character "Sarah Mitchell." Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Bond of the Police Force!]

[Achievement Description: The fortress of justice is not impregnable. When the guardian of order opens her doors to you, you possess the ultimate pass to walk within the gray zones.]

[Achievement Reward: Research Points +5000. Special permission unlocked: "Junior Police Database Access" (Passive).]

[Permission Description: When you need to query non-encrypted routine police system information of the U Federation, the system will automatically use this permission to retrieve it. Success rate: 70%, and access traces will be erased. Note: This permission cannot access encrypted files or conduct active attacks.]

Chen Feng's eyebrows shot up.

Five thousand research points wasn't much, but this "Junior Police Database Access" was a pleasant surprise.

It was practically an official cheat. In the future, if he wanted to look up someone's basic information, he would no longer need to hack into those heavily secured systems; it was both convenient and safe.

It seemed the benefits of winning over key characters were far greater than he had imagined.

He glanced at the system panel; his research points had recovered to 83,000.

Just then, his phone on the nightstand vibrated slightly.

Chen Feng picked up the phone, and seeing the name on the caller ID, his gaze darkened slightly.

— Weber.

He quietly got out of bed and walked to the balcony before answering the call.

"Chen."

A full-bodied, even resonant voice came from the other end of the line, a world away from the withered old man who sounded like he could stop breathing at any moment.

"Good morning, Mr. Weber," Chen Feng leaned against the railing, his tone calm. "It sounds like you're recovering well."

"Well?" Weber let out a low chuckle on the other end, a laugh filled with the euphoria of a survivor and an indescribable awe. "It's more than just well. Old man Hopkins gave me a full body scan this morning. The way he looked at the report... it was like he'd seen God. No, he was even more shocked than if he'd seen God."

"Mr. Chen, tell me," Weber's voice turned serious, "what kind of devil's creation did you inject into me?"

"A new drug, I call it 'Neo-Genesis'," Chen Feng said flatly. "Its function is simple: it target-identifies and induces programmed cell death in all cancer cells while simultaneously repairing damaged organs and tissues."

To put it simply, it eradicates cancer.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

Chen Feng could imagine Weber, this financial emperor who had spent his life navigating the worlds of business and power, currently processing the massive impact of this news.

This was no longer as simple as a new drug.

This was a declaration of war against Death itself.

After a full minute, Weber spoke again, his voice slightly raspy: "Neo-Genesis... a good name. Chen, you've created a miracle, a miracle enough to make the entire planet go mad."

"Therefore, I have a suggestion."

"Please, go ahead."

"Don't go public with it, at least not now." Weber's tone became more solemn than ever before. "Absolutely do not let it appear on the market in the form of a conventional drug."

Chen Feng didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

"You may not understand what a massive and deformed collective of interests the medical system of the U Federation, and indeed the whole world, is." Weber's voice was like a scalpel, precisely dissecting the cruel truth of this world.

"Do you know how large the market created by cancer is globally every year? Trillions of dollars! Chemotherapy drugs, targeted drugs, immunotherapy, surgery costs, inpatient care, medical insurance... countless pharmaceutical companies with market caps in the hundreds of billions, countless hospitals, doctors, and insurance giants are all like leeches, attached to this massive chain of interests to suck blood."

"With your 'Neo-Genesis', one injection and the cancer is gone. You're not just curing a disease; you're digging up everyone's ancestral graves!"

"Once 'Neo-Genesis' is launched on a large scale, do you know what will happen? Compared to this, the downfall of the Maida Group would be like child's play. Those capital titans who make their living off cancer will instantly unite, using all their political resources, media power, and even military force to wipe you and your Umbrella Corporation off this planet at any cost."

"Because you have shaken their foundations; you have blocked everyone's path to wealth. At 그 point, your enemies will no longer be small fry like Hamon, but the entire medical vested interest group, including even the U Federation government."

Weber's words brought a chill to the morning breeze on the balcony.

Chen Feng naturally understood this logic, but he hadn't expected Weber to see it so clearly and analyze it so bluntly.

"Then what do you mean?" Chen Feng asked.

"Sell it as the ultimate luxury item," Weber gave the answer without hesitation. "Just like those 'toys' you sell to the military, only sell it to a specific group of people."

"In this world, there are plenty of wealthy people who don't want to die, and plenty of powerful people with terminal illnesses. They are willing to pay any price to live a few years longer. A hundred million dollars? A billion dollars? As long as they can stay alive, those are just numbers."

"Keep the pricing power of 'Neo-Genesis' firmly in your hands and turn it into an ultimate ticket to high society—no, to the pinnacle of power. If you need connections, use it to trade; if you need resources, use it to trade; if you need protection, it will be your strongest shield."

"Make those who receive it your supporters, your Umbrella. And those who cannot get it will only be desperate to please you."

Weber paused and finally concluded: "Mr. Chen, what you hold in your hand is not medicine, but divine right. And a god does not need to personally descend to make deals with mortals."

Chen Feng hung up the phone and looked at the city skyline in the distance, remaining silent for a long time.

Weber's words had pushed open a whole new door for him.

He had originally been thinking about how to use the trump card product "Neo-Genesis" to establish the Umbrella Corporation's dominance in the global pharmaceutical industry in one fell swoop.

Now it seemed his perspective had been too narrow.

Weber was right. When your product is enough to subvert an industry, or even the rules of the world, conventional business thinking no longer applies.

What you need is a way of playing that matches it.

"What are you thinking about?"

A gentle voice sounded behind him, and a jacket carrying body warmth was softly draped over his shoulders.

Chen Feng turned around to see Sarah standing behind him, wearing only a large men's shirt that just covered the base of her thighs, revealing a pair of straight, slender legs. The morning sun bathed her, enveloping her in a soft halo.

"Thinking about... how to rule the world," Chen Feng said half-jokingly.

Sarah rolled her eyes at him and reached out to straighten his collar, which was a bit messy from sleep.

"What do you want for breakfast, Mr. Ruler?"

"Fried eggs, over easy."

"As you wish."

Watching Sarah's back as she turned to walk into the kitchen, the smile on Chen Feng's face deepened.

Divine right?

He quite liked that way of putting it.