Arrangements

Another technology planned for Qingye Group.

Coral Cement Manufacturing Technology was likewise a technology humanity had discovered long ago but found difficult to industrialize.

The technology made use of the biomineralization of coral polyps. Biomineralization referred to the process by which living organisms produced minerals.

For example, coral polyps could use elements in seawater to produce stalactites, which formed the skeletons of coral.

The biochemical process involved was a chemical reaction triggered by the coral polyps. Inside a sealed nanostructure, they converted carbon in the water into carbonate ions, producing a compound called aragonite, which was exceptionally hard.

Of course, this material did not possess all the properties of cement. Its adhesive quality, in particular, needed improvement. However, it could still be mixed with cement.

But this was aragonite made by natural coral polyps. Through Gene Recombination Technology, Li Qingye could give coral polyps additional traits, enabling them to secrete highly adhesive, high-strength compounds.

Moreover, some of the raw materials used by genetically modified coral polyps to synthesize Coral Cement came from elements in seawater, while others came from Carbon Dioxide in the air.

This meant that Coral Cement factories could be built alongside Low-Temperature Glass factories and power plants. The Carbon Dioxide produced by Low-Temperature Glass manufacturing could be supplied to cement factories, making use of what would otherwise be Carbon Dioxide waste.

Likewise, the aragonite and other substances secreted by genetically modified coral polyps only needed to be ground up and mixed with powders of other cement raw materials. There was no need for a second round of calcination.

This process also saved a great deal of energy.

The Coral Cement produced by this method had an average strength greater than that of ordinary cement. Depending on the mix and the additives used, its overall strength was 21%–57% greater than ordinary cement, its corrosion resistance was 16%–62% greater, and its resistance to cracking in low temperatures rivaled that of specialized cold-resistant cement.

Lower energy consumption meant lower production costs.

And improved overall performance meant greater competitiveness.

With Low-Temperature Glass and Coral Cement, Qingye Group would surely grow at a decent pace.

The key now was finding a suitable location.

Luzon, as the home base of Homo sapiens Company, certainly could not serve as Qingye Group's launchpad.

Nor could they just pick any location; they had to carefully consider all sorts of factors.

For example, the local authorities could not be too powerful. The location also had to be coastal, which ruled out landlocked countries. In addition, it needed some infrastructure; it could not be entirely lacking an industrial base.

That ruled out many places.

After careful analysis, Li Qingye decided to establish Qingye Group in the southern coastal region of Hongsawad.

Compared with Africa's industrial base, southern Hongsawad had some industrial foundations of its own. It was also relatively turbulent, but not too chaotic.

This was the kind of place where one could fish in troubled waters. It was situated between the Indochina Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, giving it a fairly good geographical position.

If he could control all of Hongsawad, he could work with China's southwestern regions to the north; to the west lay Tianzhu, Bangladesh, and Ceylon; to the east were Siam and Lan Xang; and to the south were Malaysia, Java, and Singapore.

Compared with other parts of Southeast Asia, Hongsawad was a better place to establish a foothold.

After drawing up a series of plans, Li Qingye returned to Calagua Island that very night.

As for Yang Tiancheng, he would naturally have to stay on the island a little longer. Once his training was completely finished, he could return to Malaysia.

However, to throw Yang Tiancheng's assistant and Yang Changfeng in Manila off the scent, Harry did keep his word. He ordered 30,000 tons of crude palm oil from Borneo Xinfeng Company, managed by Yang Tiancheng, at a price of 672 US dollars per ton.

This completely dispelled the assistant and Yang Changfeng's suspicions.

Under the control of the soldier program, Yang Tiancheng also told his assistant to hurry back to Malaysia and arrange the sale of the crude palm oil. He himself planned to spend another ten-odd days touring the Calamian Islands with Harry, under the pretext of building a closer relationship.

The assistant had no suspicions at all. After all, the order had taken care of the previous year's year-end inventory, along with 20,000 tons of new oil from this year. A major customer like that naturally had to be kept on good terms.

The assistant would not care if Yang Tiancheng stayed here another ten-odd days. He probably would not even care if Yang Tiancheng had to sell his body; it was not as if he would have to stay behind himself.

Meanwhile.

On Calagua Island, Li Qingye quickly summoned the managers he intended to assign to Qingye Group. There were twenty-four of them in all.

The three at the helm were Liu Zhifan, Ma Chi, and Yang Mengjiao.

Ma Chi was the one who bore some resemblance to Li Qingye. He looked much younger than Li Qingye, though he was actually twenty-seven.

Liu Zhifan would be responsible for managing Qingye Group and serve as its general manager.

Yang Mengjiao would oversee Qingye Group's Internal Affairs Department. To avoid having departments with the same names as those at Homo sapiens Company, Qingye Group would not use a name like "Internal Affairs Department," though the department's functions would be the same.

As for a Security Department, Qingye Group did not need to establish one separately. Security was already an undisclosed department, and Homo sapiens Company's Security Department could handle it.

For now, Homo sapiens Company's Security Department appeared to handle security work. Its real operations were kept out of sight.

"Ma Chi, are you confident you can carry out this assignment?"

Ma Chi nodded at once. "Yes. Don't worry, Boss. I'll get it done."

"Remember, when you're using this identity, don't leave the controlled zone without permission, especially not to enter China. Otherwise, you could die," Li Qingye warned.

"I'll be careful." Ma Chi did not seem afraid.

Over the past few days, he had already seen how powerful Homo sapiens Company was: the surveillance insects everywhere, the Biochips that could control people, and the endless stream of advanced technologies.

Ma Chi had been tricked into coming to Manila last year because of his greed. Although the Fuqing Gang's "lessons" had made him more mature, that did not mean he had given up on making something of himself.

If he kept working like an ordinary employee, he might never earn enough money in his lifetime. His elderly parents were still in China, and his mother had severe diabetes that could develop into kidney failure at any time.

After becoming a manager in the Web, he had lost some of his freedom, but he had gained a lot as well.

Li Qingye had also made him a promise: if he completed the assignment successfully, he would arrange a senior executive position for him at a Homo sapiens Company subsidiary, allowing him to return to China with honors.

That was why Ma Chi had agreed without hesitation, even though he knew it was dangerous.

The other manager, Liu Zhifan, had ambitions of his own. He wanted the people who had looked down on him back then to regret it.

As for Yang Mengjiao, she had completely lost hope in the world. The Fuqing Gang had forced her into prostitution, and she had contracted AIDS.

Of course, she no longer needed to worry too much about AIDS.

For one thing, there were medications on the market that could control the disease.

For another, Li Qingye was a top biologist. It was only AIDS. Given enough time, he would find a safe treatment sooner or later.

If he set aside all other considerations, Li Qingye actually had a way to treat AIDS: use Gene Recombination Technology together with the Jianmu Factor to give the human body the ability to resist AIDS.

But this would mean altering people's genes. It might cause genetic contamination and disrupt the human gene pool.

Unless he had no other choice, Li Qingye did not want to use this method.