159: The leader's balance sheet

"Enough."

Chen Feng's calm voice wasn't loud, yet it was like a cold blade, instantly slicing through the heated argument in the meeting room.

Both Eve and Su Li stopped.

Eve's chest heaved violently with anger, her silver eyes filled with the grievance of being misunderstood and the stubbornness unique to technical personnel. Su Li, on the other hand, was like an enraged lioness, her fists clenched so tightly her nails nearly dug into her palms, the disappointment and anxiety in her eyes almost tangible.

The entire core team—over a dozen pairs of eyes—all focused on the man sitting at the head of the table, who had remained silent from the beginning.

They were waiting for his final verdict.

Chen Feng slowly raised his head. His gaze didn't linger on anyone but swept across the room, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"Meeting adjourned."

He stood up, giving no one time to react.

"Su Li, follow me."

Chen Feng's temporary office was merely a converted standard container dormitory—narrow and simple.

As soon as the door closed, Su Li slammed a data report onto the desk in front of Chen Feng, the crimson deficits nearly overflowing from the light screen.

"Boss, you must give me an explanation!" Her voice was suppressed but hissed like a burning fuse. "You brought her back; I admit that was a strategic victory. But what price did we pay for that victory? We were nearly crippled! And now, for some completely unrealistic 'perfect' plan, are you going to drag us all into hell?"

"Look at these numbers! Every second, we are burning credit points! Our energy, our food, our future! How am I supposed to explain this to the people below?"

Chen Feng didn't look at the report that could cause any CFO to suffer cardiac arrest. He just looked at her quietly, then asked a question in return.

"Su Li, let me ask you: how many credit points is Reno's loyalty worth?"

Su Li was stunned, all the data and logic she had prepared getting stuck in her throat.

"...That can't be measured in credit points, but..."

"Then how should we price Eve's talent?" Chen Feng continued, his voice still calm. "We escaped from Tartarus. Heishan and two other warriors whose full names I haven't even had time to memorize—under which category on your balance sheet are their lives recorded?"

Su Li's face instantly turned pale. Her lips moved, but she couldn't say a single word.

"They are priceless assets," Chen Feng's voice finally carried a hint of weight. "Reno is Hanhai Trade's first priceless shield. If we fall, he'll be the first to stand in front of us. Now that he's down, we must help him back up."

"And Eve," he paused, his gaze sharpening, "she is the spear that pierces the future. Your 'stripped-down' version might let us survive, but only her 'perfect' plan can let us win the future. We don't need to just scrape by; we need victory."

"I..." Su Li's defenses completely crumbled before the term 'priceless assets.' She took a deep breath, the sharpness in her eyes gradually turning into a struggle. "I understand. But, Boss, the data doesn't lie. We really... have no money left."

"I'll handle the money issue," Chen Feng said decisively. "What you need to do now is designate the project to save Reno and Eve's mass production project as top priorities. Set up separate accounts for them, and then, from the perspective of a Strategic Investment Officer, think about how to use our only remaining resources to leverage the greatest possibility."

Su Li remained silent for a long time. Finally, she nodded, as if accepting a military order.

"I understand. I will conduct the strictest independent budget accounting and risk monitoring for these two projects."

In Eve's temporary laboratory, the air was filled with the sound of metal parts being roughly dismantled.

Like a petulant child, she was frantically tearing apart a high-precision substance analyzer, as if trying to vent all her frustration on these cold machines.

"Finished playing?"

Chen Feng's voice sounded behind her.

Eve's movements paused. Without looking back, she said coldly, "I'm just performing equipment maintenance. If you're here to make me accept that stupid 'stripped-down' plan, you can leave."

Chen Feng ignored her mockery. He walked to her side and projected a data file directly onto the light screen in front of her.

It was a real-time vitals monitoring chart. Every curve on it was sliding toward the baseline representing death at a visible rate.

It was Reno's.

"I'm not asking you," Chen Feng's voice was as cold as the ice fields outside. "I'm giving you your first formal R&D task. Save him."

"If your technology can't even save a companion lying right next to you, then it's worthless."

"You!" Eve spun around, fire burning in her eyes. "What do you think this is? Do you think it's as simple as tightening a screw? This is 'Law Contamination'! It's a high-dimensional law tearing apart a low-dimensional life! You don't understand at all!"

"I don't understand, but you do." Chen Feng looked directly into her eyes. "I gambled everything to fish you out of Tartarus, and it wasn't to hear you say you can't do it."

He took a step forward, his presence overbearing.

"From this moment on, I authorize the establishment of the 'Hanhai Trade Life Sciences Department.' You, Eve, are the first and only person in charge. I'm giving you the highest authority in the base to mobilize any resource you can. Now, it's your turn to prove to me that my bet wasn't wrong."

Eve was completely stunned by his almost arrogant trust and his provocation. Anger, grievance, and a sliver of pride sparked by the challenge intertwined violently in her heart.

Half an hour later, the meeting reconvened.

"My decision is to run both lines in parallel."

Chen Feng's voice echoed in the dead silent meeting room.

"Effective immediately, we are launching the 'Life Ark' project. Save Supervisor Reno at all costs. Ms. Eve will be in full charge of this project."

Eve's shoulders trembled slightly.

"Simultaneously, we are launching the 'Kindling' project to fully support Ms. Eve in completing the mass production R&D of the Phase Deflection Shield. Su Li, I require you to provide budget support for the 'Kindling' project under extreme pressure."

Su Li's lips pressed into a tight line.

Everyone present felt the immense pressure washing over them. Eve and Su Li looked at each other; the hostility in their eyes had vanished, replaced by a heavy sense of responsibility centered on Chen Feng.

"Technology, operations, and every one of our living partners," Chen Feng concluded. "These three together constitute Hanhai Trade's balance sheet. Remember, not one can be missing."

The meeting ended.

Chen Feng stood alone outside the cold observation window of the medical center, looking at Reno inside the medical bay, surrounded by countless instruments and tubes. That resolute face was now completely bloodless.

A faint sound of footsteps came from behind him.

Su Li and Eve arrived at his side, one on each left and right.

None of the three spoke. The atmosphere was still tense, but it was no longer adversarial.

Finally, Su Li broke the silence, handing over a data pad.

"This is the budget draft for the first phase of the 'Life Ark' project," she said, her voice dry. "It's entirely in the red."

Almost at the same time, Eve handed over another data pad.

"This is the equipment list necessary to start the research," she said softly, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "There are several items... I've only heard of in the legends of the Academy. I don't know if we can buy them, and even if we can, the price..."

Chen Feng took the two data pads.

One was a blood-red budget representing bankruptcy.

The other was a dark list of tasks representing the impossible.

The problem hadn't been solved.

It had merely transformed into a more concrete, heavier pressure, weighing down ruthlessly on each of their shoulders.