Homo Sapiens

August 15, 2018.

Dart Port, 142 Juan Street.

This was the new headquarters of the Homo Sapiens Company—or rather, its public-facing headquarters.

After all, Kalaqua Island was just a small island. It also housed research bases and confidential technologies, making it unsuitable to serve as the company’s public face.

It was a small, eight-story building, and the offices of Li Jinglan, Kang Nan, Fang Xincheng, Chen Jianxiong, and others had all been relocated here.

Inside the general manager’s office.

Li Jinglan held the purchasing budget proposal, his expression grim. His secretary, standing to one side, looked just as displeased.

”President Li, this is the third time Minister Fang has rejected it. He said our purchasing budget isn’t detailed enough and wants us to revise it.”

Li Jinglan’s brow furrowed. He then instructed, ”I understand. Go and invite him to dinner tonight at the Sea Star Restaurant.”

”Understood.” The secretary hurried out.

A moment later, the secretary knocked and opened the door, an embarrassed look on her face. The stern-faced Fang Xincheng stood behind her.

Seeing this, Li Jinglan’s eyes narrowed slightly. He waved his hand, dismissing the secretary to pour tea, then invited Fang Xincheng to sit. ”Xincheng, have a seat.”

”That won’t be necessary. I’m here on business,” Fang Xincheng said bluntly.

A flash of displeasure appeared in Li Jinglan’s eyes, but he quickly replaced it with a smile. ”Is this about today’s purchasing budget proposal? I’ve looked it over, and it seems there aren’t any problems, are there?”

”The quote for steel structures from Windmill Building Materials is 42% higher than the market price. The steel structures from the three building material wholesalers here in Dart Port all basically come from the same factory. Also, regarding the waterproof tarp for the pond, why are we purchasing the East Japan Company’s product? I recall a Huaguo supplier whose product has similar performance, but their quote is only about 53% of that price...”

Faced with Fang Xincheng’s rapid-fire questioning, Li Jinglan kept a smile on his face, but he was growing angrier by the second.

After taking a deep breath, Li Jinglan’s expression grew serious. ”This is my mistake. I was too trusting of the head of the Purchasing Department.”

He immediately picked up his desk phone, dialed the head of the Purchasing Department, and chewed him out over the phone.

”I’ve already ordered the Purchasing Department to reflect on their work and prepare a new budget.”

”General Manager, the boss put me in charge of the Finance Department, so I have to do my due diligence. Let’s skip dinner tonight. I have to make a trip to Kalaqua Island tomorrow anyway.”

With that, Fang Xincheng left directly.

A moment later, Baru, the head of the Purchasing Department, came running up, looking uneasy.

Li Jinglan’s expression was livid. He snapped, ”Are you an idiot? Do you take everyone for a fool? Making it so obvious—do you not want this job anymore?”

”I’m sorry, it’s all my fault,” Baru apologized hastily.

Li Jinglan was exasperated. ”Do as I told you, but be cleaner about it this time. If you let Fang Xincheng find anything else, you can pack your bags and leave. Understand?”

”Understood, understood.” Baru nodded and bowed, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

”Get lost!”

Watching Baru leave in a panic, Li Jinglan stood up, loosened his tie, and took a large gulp of green tea from his cup.

He glanced at the budget proposal on his desk, his expression growing even more grim.

He cursed inwardly, ’Why is he risking his neck for such a paltry salary? He refused the easy way, so he’ll get the hard way. It looks like I need to find a way to kick this guy out.’

...

In another office not far from Li Jinglan’s, Bafate, who slacked off all day, was present.

Since Bafate was ostensibly Li Qingye’s ”relative’s kid,” Li Jinglan naturally tried to win him over while simultaneously remaining wary of him.

Although his official title was assistant, in reality, he was just a driver; all other work was handled by Li Jinglan’s secretary.

At that moment, Bafate was slouched in his office chair, feet propped up on the desk, fast asleep with his headphones on.

In reality, however, every single move inside the building was under Bafate’s surveillance, and the secret lay in the very headphones he was wearing.

The headphones were a fiber optic connector, plugged into a specially modified socket.

After the renovations were completed, Li Qingye had his subordinates secretly install a fiber-optic intranet, and the cables themselves were produced by genetically engineered organisms.

The fiber-optic cables were installed in the ceilings, and the surveillance equipment wasn’t pinhole cameras or listening devices, but two types of genetically engineered lichens.

These organisms could adhere to the surfaces of many materials, including metal, rock, ceramic, glass, wood, and plastic.

Their tissue structure was divided into two parts. One part was the surface thallus, whose color could change with its environment, similar to a chameleon’s camouflage. Furthermore, the thallus was practically bonded to the object’s surface, making it very difficult to remove.

The other part was its root system.

The names of the two genetically engineered lichens were: [Phyto-instrument—Auscultation Lichen] and [Phyto-instrument—Optical Lichen].

Once their spores were deployed, these two lichens would automatically grow on a surface, forming a circular covering about five centimeters in diameter. Their root system could penetrate 5 to 20 centimeters of soil, rock, or wood, or simply spread through any available crevice.

They connected to the fiber-optic network via their root systems and had their own data storage capacity of around 2 to 3 terabytes.

The [Phyto-instrument—Auscultation Lichen] variety, in particular, had a thallus that possessed a special kind of prestin. Prestin is an essential substance for many animals with acute hearing, enabling auditory organs to even detect infrasound and ultrasound.

As for the [Phyto-instrument—Optical Lichen], its thallus surface was densely packed with highly sensitive photoreceptive cells that could capture ambient visible light and a portion of the infrared spectrum.

These two types of lichen were now spread throughout the building, with at least four or five in every single room.

Through these lichens, Bafate could monitor the entire building at all times.

Naturally, he saw and heard everything that transpired in the general manager’s office.

Even Lime, the secretary who shared Bafate’s office, didn’t notice anything amiss. All she saw was him sleeping.

But Bafate was, at that very moment, reporting the day’s events to the Information Department of the Internal Affairs Department on Kalaqua Island.

As for how he was reporting it, it wasn’t by making phone calls or sending text messages, but through another fiber-optic cable.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the Homo Sapiens Company was setting up its internal network, a secret submarine fiber-optic cable had been laid between Dart Port and Kalaqua Island long ago.

Bafate was using this submarine cable; a Soldier program automatically screened for key information, then sent the relevant intelligence back to the Information Department.

「Kalaqua Island.」

Internal Affairs Department, Information Department.

After seeing Bafate’s report, Soldiers 21 and 22 made a copy of the intelligence and immediately went to report the matter to Li Qingye.

”Boss, I have intelligence to report.” Soldier 21 (Skinny Monkey) walked into his study.

”Speak,” Li Qingye said without looking up, continuing to flip through some academic materials.

Skinny Monkey reported stiffly, ”Just now, Li Jinglan, Fang Xincheng, Baru, and Lime were in the general manager’s office because of the budget...”

From Skinny Monkey’s word-for-word report, Li Qingye understood the full story. He showed no emotion. ”Understood. You may go.”

”Yes, Boss.”

「Early the next morning.」

Fang Xincheng hurried to Kalaqua Island.

Li Qingye listened to the financial report while eating his breakfast.

”...Boss, Baru’s work in the Purchasing Department is terrible. I’ve already had them revise the purchasing budget, and Manager Li has agreed to it.”

”Thank you for your hard work, Xincheng. I appreciate you managing the Finance Department for me,” Li Qingye said with a smile.

”It’s all part of my job,” Fang Xincheng replied humbly.