Internal Affairs

August 15, 2018.

142 Juan Street, Darte Port.

This was the new headquarters of Homo sapiens Company—or, more accurately, its public-facing headquarters.

After all, Calagua Island was small, and with its Research Base and confidential technology, it wasn't suitable as the company's public face.

The headquarters was an eight-story building. Li Jinglan, Kang Nan, Fang Xin Cheng, Chen Jianxiong, and the others had moved their offices here.

Inside the general manager's office.

Li Jinglan held the procurement budget in his hands, his expression sour. His secretary stood beside him, looking just as displeased.

"Mr. Li, Minister Fang has rejected it for the third time. He says our procurement budget isn't clear enough and wants us to check it again."

Li Jinglan furrowed his brows, then gave an order. "I understand. Arrange for him to have dinner with me at Starfish Restaurant tonight."

"Of course." The secretary hurried out.

Before long, the secretary knocked on the door again, looking embarrassed. Fang Xin Cheng, his face stern, followed behind her.

Li Jinglan's eyes narrowed slightly. He waved the secretary off to pour some tea, then invited Fang Xin Cheng to sit. "Xin Cheng, have a seat."

"No need. I'm here on business." Fang Xin Cheng was blunt.

A flash of displeasure crossed Li Jinglan's eyes, but he quickly smiled again. "Is this about today's procurement budget? I looked it over. It seemed fine to me."

"Windmill Building Materials' steel structure quote is 42% higher than the market price. The steel structures sold by the three building-materials wholesalers in Darte Port all come from the same factory. Also, why are we buying pond liners from a company in Japan? I remember Chinese suppliers offer products with comparable performance, but their quotes are only about 53% as much..."

As Fang Xin Cheng fired off question after question, Li Jinglan kept smiling on the surface, but inside, his anger continued to mount.

After taking a deep breath, Li Jinglan said solemnly, "This was my oversight. I trusted the head of Procurement too much."

He picked up the landline and called the head of Procurement, then tore into him over the phone.

"I've ordered Procurement to reflect on this and draw up a new budget."

"General Manager, the boss entrusted me with the Finance Department, so I have to do my job properly. Let's forget about dinner tonight. I have to go to Calagua Island tomorrow."

With that, Fang Xin Cheng left.

A short while later, the head of Procurement, Baru, hurried upstairs, looking anxious.

Li Jinglan's expression was grim as he shot back, "Are you an idiot? Do you think everyone else is blind? You've made it so obvious. Do you even want to keep your job?"

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault." Baru hastily apologized.

Li Jinglan scolded him in frustration. "Do as I told you. This time, cover your tracks properly. If Fang Xin Cheng sees through it again, pack your things and get out. Understand?"

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

"Get out!"

Watching Baru hurry away in a panic, Li Jinglan stood up, loosened his tie, picked up his teacup, and took a long gulp of green tea.

He looked over the budget on his desk again, his expression growing darker.

He cursed inwardly: He's paid peanuts. Why risk your neck for this? You refuse the easy way and insist on taking the hard way. I'll have to find a way to get rid of him.

In another office not far from Li Jinglan's, Baffart spent his days doing nothing.

As Li Qingye's publicly known "relative," Li Jinglan naturally tried to win him over while also keeping an eye on him.

Though Baffart officially held the position of assistant, he was really just a driver. Li Jinglan's secretary handled all his other duties.

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

In reality, though, every movement in the building was under Baffart's surveillance. The secret lay in the headphones he was wearing.

The headphones were a fiber-optic connector linked to a specially modified power outlet.

After the renovations were completed, Li Qingye had his subordinates secretly install an internal fiber-optic network. The fiber-optic cables were all produced by organisms created through Gene recombination.

The fiber-optic cables were installed in the ceiling. The surveillance devices weren't pinhole cameras or wiretaps, but two kinds of lichen created through Gene recombination.

These organisms could cling to the surfaces of all kinds of things, including metal, stone, ceramic, glass, wood, and plastic.

Their structure had two parts: one was the surface foliage. Its color could change with its surroundings, like a chameleon's camouflage, and it adhered so closely to the surface that it was difficult to remove.

The other part was the root system.

The two kinds of genetically recombined lichen were called [Plant Organism—Listening Lichen] and [Plant Organism—Light-Eyed Lichen].

Once their seeds were placed, the two kinds of lichen would grow on their own across the surface of an object, forming a circular covering about five centimeters in diameter. Their root systems could penetrate five to twenty centimeters of soil, rock, or wood, or spread through gaps in objects.

Connected through their root systems and the fiber-optic cables, they also had a certain amount of information storage capacity—around two to three terabytes.

The foliage of [Plant Organism—Listening Lichen] contained a special pressure-sensitive substance. It was an essential component in many animals with sharp hearing, and could even let their hearing organs detect infrasound and ultrasound.

Meanwhile, the foliage of [Plant Organism—Light-Eyed Lichen] was densely covered with highly sensitive light-receptor cells that could detect visible light and some infrared radiation in the surrounding area.

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

Through them, Baffart could monitor the whole building at all times.

Naturally, he had seen and heard everything that took place in the general manager's office.

Even Secretary Lyme, who shared an office with Baffart, hadn't noticed anything unusual. She had only seen him sleeping.

But Baffart was currently reporting the day's events to the Information Section of the Internal Affairs Department on Calagua Island.

He didn't make his report by phone call or text message. Instead, he sent it through another fiber-optic cable.

Taking advantage of Homo sapiens Company's internal network installation, they had already laid a secret undersea fiber-optic cable between Darte Port and Calagua Island.

Baffart used this undersea cable to send the relevant intelligence back to the Information Section. The soldier program automatically screened it for key information first.

Calagua Island.

Internal Affairs Department, Information Section.

After Soldier 21 and Soldier 22 received Baffart's report, they copied it and immediately informed Li Qingye.

"Boss, I have a report." Soldier 21, Skinny Monkey, walked into his study.

"Go ahead." Li Qingye didn't look up, continuing to read through some academic materials.

Skinny Monkey reported in a stiff voice, "Just now, Li Jinglan, Fang Xin Cheng, Baru, and Lyme were in the general manager's office over the budget..."

After listening to Skinny Monkey's complete report, Li Qingye understood what had happened. He showed no reaction. "Understood. You can go."

"Yes, boss."

The next morning, bright and early.

Fang Xin Cheng hurried to Calagua Island.

Li Qingye ate breakfast as he listened to the financial report.

"...Boss, Baru has done a terrible job in Procurement. I've had them revise the procurement budget, and Manager Li agreed."

"Thanks for your hard work, Xin Cheng. Thank you for helping me manage the Finance Department." Li Qingye smiled.

"It's my job." Fang Xin Cheng was modest.

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