Homo sapiens

Hong Kong, Victoria Harbour.

Li Qingye had not let his guard down in his hotel room.

After all, this was the information age. Although his appearance had grown older and his skin had darkened considerably in the identity documents he had retained when he became a naturalized citizen of Transvaal, his bone structure had not changed much.

If he appeared online too often, or even took flights frequently, people might be able to identify him using digital technology.

Even with so many measures in place to confuse and mislead, he still wasn't entirely at ease.

But there was nothing he could do for now. In the short term, he could only use Zhang Jack's identity, and he needed to keep as low a profile as possible.

A service agency in the harbor district.

Unlike the other firms he had used before, he had arranged for separate companies to handle most of his business, so that too much information wouldn't end up in the hands of a single agency.

"Mr. Zhang, we've found three suitable targets among the aquaculture companies you asked us to acquire in Luzon. Here are the relevant details." Business manager Lin Ji smiled as he introduced them.

Li Qingye sat with one leg crossed over the other, his hair slicked back and rimless glasses perched on his nose. He looked no different from a man in his thirties.

In fact, due to the side effects of Gene Modification, Li Qingye's body had grown extremely old. His face did look like that of a man in his thirties or forties.

The personality in control of his body at that moment was his third personality, "Guan Zhong," which had developed specifically to run companies and handle business affairs.

He carefully looked through the three sets of documents.

"Forget the second target."

"Kame Aquaculture Company?" Lin Ji nodded.

Li Qingye quickly settled on a target. "We'll go with the first one, Yada Marine Aquaculture Company. But I'll need to inspect it in person."

"No problem. Our company will make the arrangements as soon as possible."

A week later.

After getting off at Manila International Airport, he followed Lin Ji and the others to Darte Port, a city on the eastern coast of Luzon Island.

The city faced the Pacific Ocean. About two hundred kilometers to the east lay the Luzon Trench.

The owner of Yada Company was an American, a cowboy in his fifties wearing brightly patterned shorts, with strange tattoos on his arms.

"Hello, Paul." Lin Ji embraced him, then exchanged a few pleasantries and introduced the two sides.

Li Qingye asked a few questions.

According to the introduction, Daya Company owned five fishing vessels with a combined tonnage of around 24,000 tons. It also had a five-story office building of roughly 3,000 square meters in Darte Port.

In addition, it had an aquaculture base on the nearby Calamian Islands, including the rights to an entire island covering 17.3 square kilometers.

The island had fifteen large seawater fish farms, as well as eighty-two net-pen farms along its shallow-water coastline.

It also had plenty of other infrastructure.

Of course, the island's rights were not permanent. There were around fourteen years left on the lease, and it was restricted to aquaculture development.

After hearing Paul's asking price, Li Qingye shook his head. "That's too expensive. Those shrimp and pomfret farms make less than two million US dollars in profit a year, and the fishing vessels are barely breaking even. They're not worth thirty million."

"No, sir. You have to understand, those five fishing vessels alone are worth thirty-five million US dollars..."

Li Qingye scoffed. "Ha! Paul, are you joking? Thirty-five million? That's what they'd cost new. How many years have they been in service? Don't they depreciate? And you do understand the state of deep-sea fishing these days, don't you?"

Paul was shameless. "Those fishing vessels are worth at least twenty million."

"Ha. Five hundred thousand at most. Of course, you could always send them to a scrapyard."

"Uh..." Paul's face darkened. Sending those ships to the scrapyard would be a nightmare, but if he kept trying to sell them, he might not find a buyer even for a million, let alone five hundred thousand.

They were old ships, and fuel consumption and maintenance were major problems. The poor state of the fishing industry was another. As marine resources dwindled around the world, medium-sized fishing vessels were increasingly likely to lose money on every trip. Otherwise, he wouldn't be looking for someone to take them off his hands.

As for the farms, their yearly profits weren't much either. They barely managed to stay afloat.

And with age catching up to him, Paul no longer wanted to stay in Luzon.

"One price: twelve million. Take it or leave it." Li Qingye laid his cards on the table.

Paul furrowed his brows, but he knew the state of the market. Businesses in remote areas like this simply weren't worth much, and Li Qingye had offered more than any of the other interested parties.

In the end, Paul couldn't hold out any longer. He sold all of Daya Company to Li Qingye for twelve million US dollars.

Li Qingye used several offshore companies to hold shares in one another. After acquiring the company, he renamed it Homo sapiens Company.

He had hired three professional managers in Hong Kong to run the company's daily affairs. They weren't particularly talented—just average—but there was nothing he could do about that.

The Calamian Islands.

Calagua Island was the largest island in the archipelago and the only one where people could live year-round. It was also the island leased by Daya Company.

There was a small pier near the aquaculture base, along with an employee dormitory building that could house around 120 people. There was also a building with a staff cafeteria, a billiards room, a medical room, and a storeroom for daily necessities.

Then there was Paul's old villa, a seaside house with its own private beach.

Inside the seaside villa.

Li Qingye summoned the three managers and the two managers who had stayed on from the previous company.

"I have only one requirement. You just need to follow my instructions. You don't need to worry about anything else. Understood?"

"Boss, Paul hasn't paid wages in more than two months..." Zaxi, the aquaculture base supervisor, reminded him.

"Pay them immediately." Li Qingye glanced at him, then began assigning jobs to the five men. "Jing Lan, you'll be the general manager and oversee the company's operations."

Li Jinglan, a thin man with glasses, nodded. "No problem."

"Xin Cheng, you'll handle financial management."

Fang Xin Cheng, a somewhat wooden-looking middle-aged man, stood up. "Yes, boss."

Li Qingye continued giving instructions. "Jian Xiong, you'll be responsible for security and logistics."

The tall, imposing middle-aged man had previously worked in the security industry. He was Chen Jianxiong. "Thank you for trusting me, boss."

"Zaxi, you'll continue managing the aquaculture base and work with the general manager."

The dark-skinned middle-aged man was Zaxi, the first to speak. He was a native of Luzon.

Li Qingye turned to the last man, who was nearly fifty. "Kang Nan, you'll continue managing the fishing vessels. But don't take them out to fish for now. Move them to the port near Calagua Island and help transport some things. We'll adjust your operations later."

Kang Nan, who had Chinese ancestry, showed no particular reaction to the change in ownership. He immediately agreed.

After the others left, Li Qingye spoke to Chen Jianxiong separately. He told him to hire a group of security personnel as soon as possible and purchase some firearms.

Gun ownership was legal in Luzon, but people needed to obtain firearms licenses.

Finally, he instructed general manager Li Jinglan to purchase some scientific research equipment for a biology laboratory on the company's behalf. He planned to establish an aquaculture laboratory on Calagua Island.