After hearing Wang Fantian out, Mi Yue set aside the report in her hands. She toyed with her burgundy hair with her mechanical right hand and gazed at him. "So you came to me for my artificial intelligence managers."
Wang Fantian nodded. When it came to developing and applying artificial intelligence, Mi Yue was ahead of everyone else in the Hong Alliance.
The Eastern Region had fewer than a hundred million employees, yet produced more economic output than the Southern Region's several hundred million people. Many middle- and lower-level managers had been replaced by Smart Managers.
Mi Yue had single-handedly pushed the Smart Manager system through development and into use. After it was implemented, businesses' administrative efficiency increased several times over. Most of the vast sums previously spent on management salaries were saved, and the remainder was invested in frontline workers doing practical work.
As a result, frontline employees' salaries rose several times over, while businesses reduced their headcount and labor costs. Overall efficiency increased rather than decreased.
Of course, not all the managers who were laid off had been idle seat-warmers who got in through back doors. Most were well-educated, capable workers who had taken their jobs seriously.
However, Smart Managers did have advantages that humans simply couldn't match.
In economics, the basic characteristic of a rational person was that everyone engaged in economic activity acted in their own self-interest.
In other words, everyone engaged in economic activity tried to obtain the greatest possible benefit at the lowest possible cost to themselves.
But humans had never been rational.
On the secondary market, people were happy when the stocks they held soared and downcast when their account balances shrank.
The nature of a company hadn't changed, yet a change in its stock price could lead people to judge a listed company entirely differently within the space of a few years.
People capable of rationally weighing risk and reward at every moment were practically nonexistent. That was why the secondary market was always so volatile.
With the advent of artificial intelligence, many fund managers who once controlled vast sums had been replaced by Smart Managers. They were utterly free of emotional swings, and simply sought returns commensurate with the risks their clients were willing to take.
The emergence of Smart Managers had also made the secondary market's wild fluctuations less and less common, leaving small individual investors struggling to make any headway.
Similarly, negotiations and cooperation between different companies were almost never able to reach the best possible outcome because of managers' personal preferences and opaque information.
The emergence of Smart Managers changed all that. In business administration and commercial partnerships, every procedure they followed led to the most direct and effective outcome. Fair compensation for work done was rigorously enforced, and workplace decisions were no longer muddied by personal feelings.
This extremely efficient management style allowed the Eastern Region to invest more money in scientific research. That was also why medical technology had lagged behind communications and artificial intelligence over the past decade.
Ethical concerns were one reason for the constraints. The different management systems in the two regions also made the Southern Region lumber along like an ungainly giant.
Mi Yue asked, "How many do you need? These managers also require a lot of computing power, so I can't spare too many all at once."
Wang Fantian said, "Not as many as you think. This time I'm only going to lay off some people. I won't go as far as you did and replace everyone outright. I'll need five hundred thousand small-scale Smart Managers to replace the people holding us back—around five million employees in total. We'll roll it out gradually over six months."
Though he had decided to lay people off, Wang Fantian wouldn't make a sweeping cut like Mi Yue had. He needed to raise efficiency steadily and concentrate the Southern Region's strength, not cause massive upheaval.
The Southern Region had more people in the workforce than all the other regions combined. There was no way to replace everyone in one go.
In the past, even a decision involving tens of thousands of people would have drawn fierce opposition from senior executives, let alone one to lay off five million. With all the twists and turns of workplace relationships, it would have been almost impossible for Wang Fantian to carry out the plan in a short time.
But now, the secret of eternal life could outweigh everything. Instead of letting their relatives and friends keep coasting along at work, their one and only wish was to pool all their strength and secure eternal life for themselves.
Mi Yue said, "Fifty thousand units won't be a problem. Our data centers can support them. So how much funding are you going to give me?"
Wang Fantian said, "All of it. Managers earn an average of about eighty thousand yuan a month. I'll pay these Smart Managers the full four hundred billion yuan in monthly salaries."
Mi Yue's lips curled into a beaming smile. "Old Wang, you may be a bit old-fashioned and indecisive, but you sure are generous when it comes to paying up. I'll thank you on behalf of the researchers for your generosity."
Smart Managers were, of course, not free labor. The developers in the Eastern Region owned them. Most of the salaries would go to the researchers, while the rest would fund other research projects.
Hearing Mi Yue's choice of words, Wang Fantian's already furrowed brows knitted together even more. His voice low, he said, "Since you understand, get to work. Send over the first hundred thousand units."
Mi Yue wasn't offended. She was in a good mood at the prospect of getting such a large sum, and after cheerfully saying goodbye to Wang Fantian, she ended the call and left.
After Mi Yue was gone, Wang Fantian shook his head with a sigh. They had worked together for years and understood each other well. He was used to her ways by now and couldn't be bothered to argue with her.
After editing another document, Wang Fantian sent it to the company's senior executives and the heads of its subsidiaries. They controlled the Southern Region's high-tech industries and economic lifelines, and knew about the ongoing Immortal Cell research.
Thinking of those men who were always going against him, Wang Fantian couldn't help smiling despite his stern expression.
"Old fossils, now it's your turn to have a headache."
In a coastal city somewhere in the Southern Region, an elderly man with white hair stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, admiring the distant view.
The old man was named Tao Renkun. In his seventies, he wore a black Zhongshan suit and silver-rimmed glasses.
It was only October, and autumn had just begun. The sky, washed clean by autumn rain, was as blue and clear as the sea. The wide-open view lifted his spirits.
The appearance of Immortal Cells had reignited his passion for life. He had even reclaimed the power he'd begun relinquishing as he grew older, and was still the chairman of this large pharmaceutical company.
"Hello. You have an important message."
The Smart Manager's voice rang out. The old man looked over the report, and his kindly expression turned gloomy in an instant.
His hoarse, aged voice rang out. "That brat Wang Fantian sure picked a good time."
The Southern Region had a population of nearly half a billion, and with so many people, relationships inevitably became more complicated. After leaving the military, Wang Fantian had climbed the ranks at Googol Tech with help from plenty of people, but in the process, he had also made enemies.
The old man, for example, had been a strong contender more than a decade ago. Unfortunately, he'd lost to Wang Fantian, and the two had been at odds ever since.
In the past, a radical proposal to lay off hundreds of thousands would have been opposed by nearly every senior executive, especially the old man, who had long been at loggerheads with Wang Fantian.
But now, if it helped the Immortal Cell research, they wouldn't hesitate to lay off a few relatives who were coasting at work. They'd even be willing to kick their own children out of the company without a second thought.
Time never stood still. They were more desperate than anyone.
"Send this document to all the directors. Also, tell Weidong that things are different this time. He can't smooth things over like before."
The document was sent to all the directors within a short time. They saw the radical plan and forceful wording, and though they found it absurd, they still chose to carry it out. The old man controlled every aspect of the company.
In a luxurious suite somewhere, a middle-aged man named Tao Weidong read the message his father had sent him personally. His usually nonchalant expression grew grave.
Under his father's protection, he had placed quite a few relatives and friends in the company. Several women with close ties to him had also secured senior management positions.
The large pharmaceutical company had more than twenty thousand employees. According to the document, at least six hundred would have to be laid off. Excluding frontline workers, there were more than two thousand managers, which meant that a third of the management staff would be replaced.
"Bang!" The man hurled a golf club to the ground, grabbed a teacup, and drained it in one go. He panted heavily, his chest heaving with anger.
In front of his relatives and friends, he was like a god, surrounded by adoring followers all day long. Hearing their praise and flattery always put him in a good mood.
He knew he didn't have his father's keen mind or iron will. He was just an ordinary man living off the shade of his elders.
But he didn't care. Unlike his father, he had no lofty ambitions. He just wanted to eat, drink, and have fun without a care, basking in the attention of those around him.
Even if they weren't sincere, their hypocritical reluctance—the way they had no choice but to flatter him—made him even happier. At least he lived more freely and honestly than they did.
Now, all of that was about to vanish. All his power came from his father. If he went against his father's wishes, he'd be kicked out just like those poor fools.
Tao Weidong knew his father. Beneath his kindly exterior, he was cold and ruthless. Just as he'd cruelly abandoned Tao Weidong's mother, his own son was no more than a flaw he'd deliberately allowed to show.
A flawless person made others wary and afraid, while an old man doting on his son made them feel more at ease.
Tao Weidong had played the part of an incompetent son to perfection. He never did anything outrageous, only indulging in petty benefits within the rules. No one would bother worrying about such a harmless man.
A few minutes later, Tao Weidong got his emotions under control and carried out his father's instructions to the letter.
Perhaps he was just like his father deep down. Whether it was a lover or a friend or relative, he never hesitated to cast them aside when the time came.
In an office at the pharmaceutical company, the young man from the earlier footage was humming as he packed his luggage. The next day, he'd be able to go on a business trip with the new female employee—and expense the whole vacation.
By now, he'd long since forgotten about his own work. As a director's nephew, no one would keep tabs on him. He could leave his tasks to the people below him; that was how things had always been.
Those poor, hard-working fools made less in a whole day than he earned in half his salary. That was the difference between people with connections and ordinary people. He'd been born lucky and could have everything they envied without lifting a finger.