Chapter 86: Giants Never Bow to Ants

The atmosphere was a bit heavy in the conference room at Apple Inc.’s headquarters.

All the suited board members around the table had their eyes fixed on Cook, who was sitting at the head.

Apple’s stock kept falling.

They were losing a lot of money every moment, and their personal wealth was shrinking.

This was not good news.

“Cook, you went to Huaxia. What did you gain from this trip?” A middle-aged man wearing glasses asked from across the table.

People in the industry who knew him held him in high respect.

He had joined a genetic technology company as a scientist and turned it from a small, nearly bankrupt firm into a giant in the biology field with annual revenue of 13 billion dollars and a market value of over 100 billion dollars, creating a Wall Street legend.

He was the Chairman and CEO of Genentech, the largest pharmaceutical company in the United States, and also the board member of Apple Inc. known to hold the most shares. He was currently the Chairman of Apple’s board, Levinson.

After Levinson spoke, Cook immediately became more alert. Although he managed Apple Inc., he was also bound by the board of directors.

“Levinson, to be honest, this trip to Huaxia didn’t bring much useful information. Instead, I did a bunch of stupid things,” Cook said.

“We are not interested in your stupid things. We only want to know what you gained,” an elderly man, nearly 70 years old, spoke from his seat.

As soon as he spoke, everyone in the room straightened up a bit.

Shugel, the former CEO of Northrop Grumman Corporation. This was the world’s third-largest defense contractor. The famous B-2 stealth bomber, the Global Hawk drone, and the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers were all products of this company. No one outside knew exactly how much Apple stock he held, but those who knew him regarded him with awe.

This old man with a mustache was definitely one of the people at the very top of the American food chain.

Hearing Shugel speak, Cook felt a chill. Even though he was the CEO of Apple Inc. and seemed powerful, the real control of Apple lay with these few board members.

“I met with the Chairman and President of Legion Ant Company and proposed the idea of acquiring their company.”

“And the result?”

“They refused. They rejected it without hesitation. They said they would not sell the company,” Cook said. “So, I talked to them about developing a Smart Assistant for the IOS platform.”

All the board members present kept their eyes on Cook, listening to his words without expression.

Former Vice President Al Gore, Disney’s current Chairman and CEO Robert, former Avon Group Chairman Zhong Binxian, BlackRock partner Susan, former Boeing Chief Financial Officer James—this was the most powerful board lineup.

Facing such a group, anyone would feel uneasy.

“In the end, they asked us to open up the Source Code for IOS. They said that to design the Smart Assistant, they must understand the core code of IOS; otherwise, development would be impossible,” Cook said with a dark expression.

Even he did not know if what Chen Mo said was true or false. He could only grit his teeth and believe it.

No one responded, letting Cook continue.

“I proposed that both sides open their Source Code. We would open our IOS Source Code to them, and they would open their Smart Assistant Source Code to us. In the end, they still refused. They insisted that unless we opened the Source Code of the Apple System, they could not develop a Smart Assistant for IOS. The talks yielded no results.”

“Tell us about the company’s situation,” James said.

“In the mobile phone business, in the Greater China Region, last quarter saw a 9% decline, and our market share dropped to fourth place. After Legion Ant Company introduced their Smart Assistant, the sales drop became even more severe. If we still cannot support the Smart Assistant, or if our Siri doesn’t achieve a technological breakthrough, soon we will have to say goodbye to the Huaxia market for our phone business.”

Cook’s face was gloomy. This was the reason he had to go to Binhai City personally.

The Smart Assistant had improved phones by a whole generation. Without keeping up with the times, Apple’s phone business would become the next Nokia. If Legion Ant Company entered the international market in the future, they would be in even greater danger.

“Do any of you have better ideas? Or should we open the Source Code of our phone system to Legion Ant Company?” Cook asked.

The few men pondered. Legion Ant Company was in Huaxia, not in the United States, and it was not a listed company. If they wanted to take action against Legion Ant Company, they could not get past the Huaxia government. After all, Huaxia was not the United States or Europe. There, only the Huaxia government had the final say, not the big capital.

If it were in another country, everything would be easy. They could do as they pleased, but that red land was different. Any tentacle that broke the rules would be cut off without mercy.

Thinking this way, they really had no way to deal with Legion Ant Company. The conference room fell into dead silence as everyone thought about countermeasures.

“Opening the IOS Source Code is impossible. Giants never bow to ants,” Shugel said calmly.

The others exchanged calm glances but said nothing more.

“Our company’s S2 will have its launch event soon. If it could have the Smart Assistant, its performance would surpass any phone on the market,” Cook said in a calm tone. “But if it doesn’t, I’m afraid this time will be very troublesome.”

No one in the room spoke. Everyone was making their own calculations.

The meeting did not adjourn until everyone left the conference room.

After getting into his car, Shugel took out his phone. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as the call connected. “Send two people to Huaxia. I want to retrieve something. 10 million.”

“Okay, Sir. I will arrange it now.”

After hanging up, a sinister smile appeared on Shugel’s wrinkled face. The car started and left Apple Inc. The cars of the others followed closely behind.

…

After Cook quietly left, the uproar surrounding Legion Ant Company gradually died down.

Everything returned to normal, and Legion Ant Company operated as usual, as if the online rumors had never appeared.

And Apple Inc. showed no unusual movements.

However, topics about the second-generation Butterfly Eye · Metamorphosis occasionally appeared in the media.

As the flagship phone of Legion Ant Company, the Butterfly Eye had already received over two million pre-orders during this period. This number of pre-orders exceeded everyone’s expectations.

This number of pre-orders meant that Legion Ant Company had gained the users’ recognition.

The first batch of phones had already been shipped. They were now in high demand and would continue to be shipped out steadily.

Zhao Min had already sent people to contact telecommunications operators in Europe, preparing to launch the Butterfly Eye Phone in the European and international markets. As for the United States market, they were not considering it for now.

Even a unicorn like Huawei, which had tried for so many years to enter the United States market, had only barely managed to open a small gap. They did not believe that Legion Ant Company currently had the power to break into the United States market.

So Zhao Min set her sights on the European market, thinking that perhaps in the future, they could replace Apple iPhone’s position.

While the company was developing rapidly, Chen Mo was not idle either.

Chen Mo hung the last design drawing on the wall of the Laboratory and clapped his hands, staring at the design drawings on the wall.

There were seven design drawings. These were all designs for the Robot. They included the design of the machine’s head, limbs, and body. The body design was the most complex and precise, as it was the main part of the Robot.

Many functions would be concentrated here, so the design was very detailed.

The design drawings for the components had already been given to Zhao Min. Senior fitters in the workshop factory were crafting them according to the requirements, and they would be completed soon. When that time came, his task would be assembly.

But before that, he needed to make the battery for the Robot.

While Chen Mo was busy with the Robot’s design, on a small path in the southwestern border, two big men emerged from the mountain forest, carrying an intimidating aura.

“I heard this is a forbidden zone for mercenaries? Hehe, I don’t think it’s that impressive,” the black man on the left said.

“Boyle, don’t celebrate too soon. Finish the task first, leave safely, and then say that. This place is not simple.”

“Okay, cowardly Jack.”