Chapter 703: You didn't have anything going on with Zheng Qian, did you?

Huh?

Everyone followed the sound, turning around one after another.

General Manager Shang Xinlan raised her small, delicate chin and furrowed her brows slightly.

How could she not recognize this person?

How could she forget the man who had made the Shang family suffer so much?

She dreamed of Zheng Qian dying. Anyone who made her proud older brother suffer a setback had to die! Whether it was Zheng Qian, Chen Chou by his side, or those women around him... and, and that cadre Victor who withdrew the merchant ships at the critical moment!

He had obtained the USB drive from Qianlu Research Institute for him, only to turn around and abandon Shang Yanxiong!

These people all deserved to die!

However, even though a monstrous rage surged within her, General Manager Shang Xinlan still managed to control her emotions well.

"Any questions can be addressed later; this is not the time for media interaction."

General Manager Shang Xinlan had originally intended to be more aggressive, but to maintain the image of Shanghe International, she answered with forced patience.

"Oh, beautiful General Manager Shang, my question is actually not just for you, but also for this racer, Sion Stanley. Hearing your exchange just now made my blood boil, and my patriotic heart has been thoroughly ignited. I also want to join in." Zheng Qian said with gentlemanly flair.

He wants to join in too?

She sneered inwardly, naturally knowing that Zheng Qian was also working on some Autonomous Driving System.

Did he hope to show off in this rally race?

She had communicated with Amazon before, and they had made it very clear that developing this system could absolutely not be done in a month or two. Even if Qianlu Research Institute was incredibly impressive, it was impossible to achieve. At the very least, whatever they brought out could absolutely not be a disruptive product.

In fact, General Manager Shang Xinlan's system was already impressive.

One had to know that mainstream Autonomous Driving Systems currently applied to daily sedans and urban traffic conditions were already riddled with errors and frequently caused accidents. To use it in a rally race? That was already a disruptive product that invited public skepticism.

Was Zheng Qian really going to bring something out to compete with them in such a short time?

Heh, he was simply courting death.

You have to realize!

This was a cutting-edge product from the well-known United States tech company, Amazon!

What right did you, Zheng Qian, have?

Thinking of this, General Manager Shang Xinlan couldn't help but laugh, looking at Zheng Qian with raised eyebrows. "Oh? You want to participate too? Do you plan on sending some formidable racer? You don't need to ask me about that; just sign up directly."

"No, there is no racer, only a car." Zheng Qian shook his head and said slowly.

Only a car?

Everyone stared at this madman in unison. What on earth was he talking about?

Had he finished drinking yesterday and still hadn't sobered up?

"Well, more accurately, it is a car driven by an Autonomous Driving System. How about it, General Manager Shang, Mr. Sion Stanley, do you have any questions? You agreed to this beautiful lady's proposal just now, so mine should be even less of an issue, right?"

No issue! Of course, it was no issue!

A rally race was a competition that relied heavily on skill and experience.

It tested a racer's ability to adapt on the fly, which was definitely not something that could be won by relying on a computer.

Of course, the most critical point was people's distrust of current Autonomous Driving Systems.

In dealing with extremely complex track conditions, could a computer fully make the most appropriate judgment for the current situation?

Fine, even if it could make a judgment, could the car keep up?

Were they sure the vehicle condition wouldn't have problems?

What if the car's performance couldn't keep up with the instructions issued by the computer?

What if the computer system malfunctioned? These were all points of doubt!

Auxiliary Autonomous Driving Systems were already highly questioned by people, and a pure AI driving system with no racer control, left entirely to the computer, was even more problematic! This wasn't a computer game!

"Hahahaha! Are you kidding me?"

"No problem! I agree! I am Sion Stanley; how could I lose to a remote-controlled race car?"

One could feel his hearty laughter even through the screen.

Was this, perhaps, the confidence of the strong?

Zheng Qian shook his head and continued, "No, Yankee, what I am sending is not a remote-controlled race car. The race track can install internet jamming devices, or simply install network jammers targeted at my car; that doesn't matter."

"Because in the future, cars installed with this system need to be guaranteed to function even in extremely harsh conditions, in case they cannot connect to the internet. Note, this is true [Autonomous Driving]. The racer has already agreed; General Manager Shang, you aren't afraid, are you?"

Although General Manager Shang Xinlan appeared very calm on the surface, her inner turmoil was quite intense.

This was humiliation, naked and very direct humiliation!

Was he joking with her?

True Autonomous Driving?

If there weren't so many people sitting here, she would have really wanted to smash the microphone into Zheng Qian's face.

What kind of international joke was this! How could such technology possibly exist!

"President Zheng is joking. How could we possibly be afraid? It's just that... Qianlu Research Institute is currently being targeted by the United States Patent Office. The technology you are providing, it wouldn't happen to be an infringing product, would it?"

"I need to be sure, otherwise, if we get entangled in some lawsuit later, I don't want it to affect our competition." General Manager Shang Xinlan said with a forced, insincere smile.

President Zheng?

Reminded by her, many people suddenly realized that he seemed to be Zheng Qian, who had been riding a wave of immense popularity recently. The actual controller behind groups like Qianlu Research Institute—was he going head-to-head with Shanghe International this time?

Everyone became excited instantly.

Flashbulbs went off crazily.

"Rest assured, the United States rogue Patent Office won't succeed in their extortion this time. We have already arranged for people to go through the process of applying for patents, and I believe it will be approved before the race starts. Oh, it might be slower in the United States, but that doesn't matter."

"Furthermore, I, representing Qianlu Group, will sponsor another 100 million Euros."

"If the final champion comes from Kyushu, this money will be directly deposited into their account, and the taxes will also be borne by our Qianlu Group. Hmm... an Autonomous Driving System from Kyushu also counts. Beauty, I'm rooting for you!" Zheng Qian flicked his fingernails and spoke eloquently.

He spoke of such a huge sum of money so nonchalantly.

Everyone had their mouths wide open, their jaws almost hitting the floor.

100 million Euros???

Was he crazy?

Or was he so confident, believing that this money would definitely be pocketed by himself?

But now, there was one person who was also feeling uneasy.

That was Shang Rongyan, who was sitting in the first row, closest to General Manager Shang Xinlan! As an international superstar, her personally coming down to endorse her family's product this time was essentially understandable, but she hadn't expected Zheng Qian to come here.

Especially hearing him talking eloquently there, she felt uncomfortable all over.

She didn't dare to turn her head at all.

She was afraid of accidentally making eye contact with Zheng Qian.

"Hehe, good. Then I will thank President Zheng on behalf of those Kyushu racers. If we are lucky enough to win the championship, I hope President Zheng will not go back on his word. I am really looking forward to this scene." General Manager Shang Xinlan also had no intention of backing down, looking straight at him as she spoke.

Zheng Qian nodded in satisfaction.

He suddenly bowed his head and said, "Please rest assured, I am always a man of my word and will never go back on it. On this point, I believe the big star, Miss Shang Rongyan, who is even more beautiful than you, must have a deep understanding, right? Shang Rongyan?"

Huh!??

Why did he suddenly mention me?

Shang Rongyan sat up straight subconsciously, changing her original posture of crossing her legs.

Feeling the eyes of everyone around her looking over, she felt even more restless.

What to do? What to do?

Why is this scumbag talking about me?

Just when she didn't know how to answer, General Manager Shang Xinlan spoke, "Good, that's enough. Media friends, there is no need to rush to leave; there will be a relevant meeting later, which will continue after a short break."

After saying this, she took a deep look at Shang Rongyan and Zheng Qian, and left from backstage.

Shang Rongyan breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly followed her to escape.

She was terrified that Zheng Qian would talk to her at this moment.

"Rongrong, you haven't... had anything happen with Zheng Qian, have you?" Arriving backstage, General Manager Shang Xinlan's face instantly darkened, and she stared fixedly at Shang Rongyan as she spoke.