Chapter 69: You Go Home and Keep Him in Check

“Jianguo, any big news from Legion Ant Company?”

“No, after the last cleanup, those trolls behaved. Legion Ant Company has been quiet for the past half month, with no major events. They’re probably focusing on development. There have been many reports about them acquiring factories and hiring staff, though.”

He Jianguo took out his newly bought Butterfly Eye Phone, connected it to the computer, and prepared to download a Smart Assistant. The Smart Assistant wasn’t expensive and had excellent voice interaction, allowing voice input.

For people like them who worked with text, it was incredibly convenient. Plus, the Legion Ant Smart Assistant let him experience a taste of futuristic black technology.

As soon as he entered Legion Ant Company’s official website, a newly updated message caught his attention.

“New material?”

He Jianguo clicked into the announcement and read quietly. After a short while, his face showed surprise. “Big news! Legion Ant Company announced they discovered a new battery material, Carbon Crystal.”

He Jianguo nearly shouted these words. As soon as he finished speaking, several colleagues in the office immediately gathered around him.

“Is Legion Ant Company about to make a big move again?”

“Probably.”

“Hurry up and write the article, catch the news angle…”

…

They weren’t the only ones who got this news. Legion Ant Company had been riding high recently, and any major activity was a huge news story.

Since the last Smart Assistant release, Legion Ant Company had jumped to become one of the top tech giants domestically. If they maintained their position, another unicorn company was almost certain to appear in the country.

After the last smear campaign, when the troll company was shut down for spreading rumors, Legion Ant Company went quiet, and there hadn’t been much news about them.

Now there was this new battery material.

The news spread quickly online. Many media outlets didn’t even write their own articles but directly reposted Legion Ant Company’s announcement.

With news angles emerging again, many people started chasing the hype. After all, lately, aside from celebrity divorces, affairs, and relationships, there hadn’t been much major news domestically.

Legion Ant Company was always a topic of discussion, so many chose to report on their new material.

However, Legion Ant Company’s announcement already stated that the new material’s electrical capacity was only 2-3 times that of existing batteries, and its uses were limited. So the news didn’t cause as much of a stir as the Smart Assistant had.

“To be honest, I thought it was some big news. This new material has too many limitations and probably isn’t worth much research. With current cutting-edge tech, increasing capacity by 2-3 times is almost trivial. Spending huge sums on Carbon Crystal research might not be worth it.”

“Regardless, it’s a new material. If Carbon Crystal technology matures quickly, at least as an interim material, having our phones, tablets, personal PCs, and other electronics last 2-3 times longer would be great.”

“Graphene batteries are just a gimmick. Theoretically, Graphene only improves charge and discharge efficiency, not capacity. The hype outweighs its practical value. Plus, the material is expensive and almost impossible to use in ordinary batteries as electrodes. I’m more optimistic about this Carbon Crystal.”

…

Discussions erupted online with varying opinions.

In this era, new battery materials were constantly being discovered.

The legendary Graphene battery was one of the top contenders. But opinions on Graphene batteries were divided, and debates never stopped.

This Carbon Crystal discovery only offered a 2-3 times improvement, so it didn’t cause much excitement among ordinary people. It was just the discovery of a new material that didn’t affect their lives, so most didn’t pay attention.

Zhao Min was thinking about how to produce the phone. The Smart Assistant plus the new battery would definitely be a big selling point.

But the issue with the new battery was that while the Carbon Crystal material had appeared, the new battery was still being tested. Also, the Smart Assistant wasn’t planned to be discontinued so soon, so mass production of the second phone model would take some time.

While she was pondering how to handle a pile of problems, Xiaoyu knocked and entered.

“Sister Zhao, he posted an announcement on the official website revealing the Carbon Crystal material news. It’s already spreading online now.”

“Xiaoyu, let me tell you something.”

“Go ahead, Sister Zhao.”

“You go home and keep him in check.”

Zhao Min tapped her head, looking utterly helpless. Company matters were chaotic enough, and now this guy had thrown another problem at her.

“Well… I can’t control him.” Xiaoyu blushed deeply at Zhao Min’s words. She wasn’t thick-skinned to begin with, and now Zhao Min was teasing her directly.

“Not too bad.” Zhao Min clicked open the official website announcement and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Xiaoyu, take the company headquarters design plans for him to look at. Also, leave the Carbon Crystal matter to me. The company can’t spare the energy to deal with it now. Talk to him about it.”

“Okay.” Xiaoyu nodded.

After Xiaoyu left, Zhao Min rubbed her temples.

Chen Mo didn’t participate in company management and didn’t know how complicated company affairs were.

The company was expanding, with a mountain of tasks. The headquarters construction was about to start, plus the phone business, Smart Assistant, setting up the research institute, acquiring factories and companies.

Chen Mo didn’t handle these matters—she did. If they added batteries to the mix, the company was already short on talent and couldn’t spare manpower for this area.

In the office, Chen Mo looked at Xiaoyu and blinked innocently.

He truly hadn’t realized the company had so many issues, but hearing it from Xiaoyu, he now saw it was true.

After the last smear campaign died down, Zhao Min had kept her head down, developing quietly without releasing any news.

Now Legion Ant Company had grown too big to handle easily. Zhao Min’s goal was to shift public attention so Legion Ant Company could grow quietly. She never expected Chen Mo’s announcement would put Legion Ant Company back in the public spotlight.

It seemed you couldn’t become fat with one bite—the company was indeed developing too fast and needed to slow down and consolidate.

“So what should we do?” Chen Mo said.

“Sister Zhao said to leave the Carbon Crystal battery matter to her. So for now, keep your usual low profile, read and research quietly. Also, check the company headquarters design for anything you’re not satisfied with. If you’re tired, go out for a walk or stroll around.”

Xiaoyu picked up the books on the table and stuffed them into Chen Mo’s arms.

“That works—nice and easy.” Chen Mo laughed.

Elder Shu wanted him to finish reading 1000 books quickly. He still had over 430 left. With no particularly interesting tech to research right now, reading was perfect. In his free time, he could study the Chest Development Assistant Serum and Human Reproduction Assistant Serum.

Although he wasn’t planning to enter the pharmaceutical market yet, he could research them first and have them ready. Once he entered, the profits would be unimaginably huge.

After Xiaoyu left, Chen Mo sat on the sofa and read quietly.

Carbon Crystal wasn’t a super material like Graphene, so attention was limited, but it still needed to be kept confidential for now. Zhao Min directly had the factory stop production and announced externally that the technology wasn’t mature yet.

She was grateful Chen Mo’s announcement didn’t say the Carbon Crystal material technology was mature—only that a new material was discovered. Otherwise, it would have caused more trouble.

Time passed slowly. Due to Legion Ant Company’s cold treatment and the announcement that the technology wasn’t mature, Carbon Crystal faded from ordinary people’s view.

Chen Mo’s days became peaceful again. He wandered around the company twice daily and spent the rest of his time reading. Occasionally, he prepared serums, enjoying a rare period of leisure.

“Brother Mo, hackers from the Island Nation are invading the company server.” While Chen Mo was reading, Ink Girl’s childish voice interrupted his thoughts.