Chapter 77: A Small Toy?

“Wang Hai, male, age 31…”

Before long, Wang Hai’s information appeared on the computer screen. As he browsed through Wang Hai’s details, Chen Mo’s eyes were filled with deep surprise.

He was a member of the Blue Sword Special Force, codename: Sea King.

He never expected that Wang Hai, with his ordinary appearance and quiet personality, had such a background.

Why would someone like that appear in their company working as a security guard and part-time bodyguard? This couldn’t be described as a normal identity. People like him, even after retiring, should definitely be working for government agencies.

But since he was now in his company, Chen Mo couldn’t help but suspect there was some special reason for it.

Driven by curiosity, Chen Mo continued reading.

Soon, Chen Mo’s gaze settled on the final entry. Operation Cobra, successful, retired due to serious injury.

Chen Mo didn’t investigate further what Operation Cobra was about. Instead, he had Ink Girl close the information page.

However, he gained a basic understanding of Wang Hai. At the very least, he knew Wang Hai wasn’t an ordinary soldier. He didn’t dwell too much on the specific reasons why Wang Hai wasn’t working for a government agency.

Digging too deep into some things and knowing too much wouldn’t be good for him.

“Zhao Min, come up for a moment,” Chen Mo said as he picked up the phone.

“Okay.”

Soon after hanging up, Zhao Min entered Chen Mo’s office.

“This is the technical data for a small laser sensor I’ve organized over the past two months. Take it and have someone test it, then apply for a patent,” Chen Mo said.

“Okay.” Zhao Min took the documents. She already knew Chen Mo had been researching sensors, so she was used to his short development cycles. The world of a genius was something she truly didn’t understand.

“For the next little while, I’m going to spend some time reading books and also researching a small toy.”

“What small toy are you researching?”

“A fun little toy. You’ll find out later,” Chen Mo said with a smile.

“Whatever you say. You’re the big boss of the company, after all.”

“There won’t be any major products for a short time. You’re responsible for growing and stabilizing the company during this period, and then preparing for the unmanned vehicle project,” Chen Mo said.

“Entering the unmanned vehicle market?” Zhao Min said. “There’s some risk in this market. The Le Shi company is a living example.”

“We’re just testing the laser sensor and software technology. If it’s successful, we can cooperate with other car companies. We’ll provide the software technology and platform; the rest has nothing to do with us.”

“Okay.” Zhao Min nodded, hesitating to speak.

“Is something wrong?”

“I’m planning to set up a holding company to form a group company in the future,” Zhao Min said after a moment of hesitation.

“Tell me your thoughts.”

Chen Mo was a bit surprised that Zhao Min brought this up.

“It’s for the company’s future development,” Zhao Min said. “The company has too many different types of business in different directions. In the future, the phone business and other businesses definitely need to be separated into independent companies responsible for facing the market, while the main company handles product development and core operations. This will make management easier. Each company will be independent and more focused, which will make development easier.”

“Hmm, alright. Go ahead and do it,” Chen Mo said after thinking for a moment. “You’ll get 3% of the shares.”

“Then I won’t refuse politely,” Zhao Min said with a laugh.

Based on the current value of Legion Ant Company, a 3% share was enough for her to enter the domestic rich list. This was a company with limitless potential.

“You deserve it. I’ll leave the specific matters to you. Bring it to me to review and sign once it’s finalized,” Chen Mo said.

“There’s no hurry right now; it’s just an idea to prepare for the future.” After chatting with Chen Mo for a while, Zhao Min took the documents and left his office.

After Zhao Min left, Chen Mo returned to his seat and picked up the book next to him.

In just over two months, it would be the school’s graduation season.

During this time, he didn’t plan to work on developing other products. He wanted to read books and strive to finish the 1,000 books required by the Science and Technology Library before graduation to reach the next permission level.

Currently, the Novice-level technologies in the Science and Technology Library didn’t hold much appeal for him. The Artificial Intelligence available at the next permission level, which he exchanged using the Chinese Character Programming Language code, was much more useful than all the technologies he had obtained so far.

He wanted to see what technologies the next permission level actually held.

Before that, he planned to use all four remaining chances to freely choose technologies on the small toy he was going to work on next. The company already had enough income to sustain its growth and expansion. He no longer needed to use technologies just for money.

Across the ocean.

Cook looked at the sales statistics sent from various countries, his face dark.

Smartphone sales in the Greater China Region had dropped by 9%, and that was just for one quarter. The second Butterfly Eye model hadn’t even officially launched yet; it was still in the pre-sale stage.

If this Butterfly Eye, which was clearly targeted at them, actually hit the market, they would probably be in even bigger trouble.

Besides the impact from Huawei, they now also faced competition from Legion Ant Company, this sudden dark horse.

The Army Ant System, Smart Assistant, new material battery. Each of these features surpassed those of the Apple iPhone. Once this phone launched, their new Apple models would probably be stuck in warehouses in the Greater China Region.

This ant had been targeting their Apple from the very beginning.

Since Legion Ant Company emerged, there had been three product launches. Each launch took a bite out of them. If this continued, their Apple might be half-eaten before long.

The smartphone business was the most profitable among their many operations, and they had already suffered heavy losses in the Greater China Region. If the Smart Assistant and Army Ant System went international, they would be finished.

Ever since Legion Ant Company appeared, Apple Inc.’s stock price had fallen repeatedly.

Just two days after Legion Ant Company’s product launch, their stock price, which had just stabilized, lost another 80 billion dollars in value. The company’s board was putting pressure on him. If he couldn’t stop this downward trend, he would be in trouble.

Cook’s face was grim as he kept thinking of solutions.

The only way now was to cut off the heart of the Legion Ant phone. Otherwise, in the future, Apple Inc. would definitely be squeezed out by the two Chinese unicorns.

After some thought, Cook dialed the number of Aberly, President of Qualcomm.

“Mr. Cook, what’s the emergency that you’re calling me? Have you thought it over and decided to pay us the patent fees?” As soon as the call connected, a mocking voice came from the other end of the phone.

Apple and Qualcomm were already in a legal battle. Since Cook was calling him now, Aberly naturally wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“If you cut off cooperation with Legion Ant Company, we’ll pay you the patent fees. Double,” Cook said, his expression extremely unpleasant.

But at this point, if they wanted to restrict Legion Ant Company, this was the only way.

At the very least, it would delay the launch of the Legion Ant phone. If their own phone, the Apple S2, could launch safely, the losses wouldn’t be as severe.

“Do I look like a fool? We’re not stupid enough to abandon an honest Huaxia partner for an unreliable company. Plus, we’d have to pay them penalties,” Aberly’s voice was full of sarcasm.

“What conditions do you want to stop supplying them with chips?” Cook was desperate. If Legion Ant proceeded smoothly, their situation would be troublesome.

“If we break the contract, our reputation will also suffer. Stopping is impossible. Besides, the money we make from them seems to be more than your little patent fees. We’re not stupid. You can just sit on the toilet, eat your apple, and dream on.”

Hearing the dial tone from his phone, Cook’s face turned from black to red, then to green. Finally, he took a deep breath, grabbed his coat, and left his office.

“Book a flight to Binhai City, Huaxia,” Cook said to his assistant as soon as he stepped out of the office.