Purification Tree 1.0

At this moment, on the other side of the globe, Jiro, dressed in a high-end suit and sporting the look of a successful businessman, boarded a passenger plane bound for the Xia Kingdom, escorted by several bodyguards in black suits and two male secretaries.

Having become the CEO of Sman Group, he had grandly chartered the first-class cabin of the airliner. As an investment group focused on various types of enterprises, even though many of their subsidiaries were merely shell companies, they had to maintain a polished facade.

By the time the plane landed, a motorcade consisting of a black Rolls-Royce in the middle, flanked by two black Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans at the front and back, had already been waiting for a long time.

These vehicles had, of course, been rented in advance; the current financial strength of Sman Group was not yet enough to support them in buying cars all over the world.

"Boss, our destination for this trip is ten technology companies that have been carefully screened."

"Our person-in-charge has already contacted the founders of these companies yesterday. We will begin heading to the first target company tomorrow," one of the secretaries said in a low voice while sitting next to Jiro.

"I understand. Also, send over some information on startups in the Xia Kingdom; I hope to see some ideas that can surprise me." Jiro rubbed his forehead. He knew the purpose of this trip: to inject capital into a startup. Although he did not know why the people on the board of directors suddenly wanted him to come to the Xia Kingdom to invest in that specific company, as a puppet, he just needed to obey the orders of the person behind the scenes.

His secretaries and bodyguards were completely unaware of this; they truly believed that their current boss was the Chairman and CEO of Sman Group.

"Boss, Jiro has already returned to the country." Inside an office building in the suburbs of New York State, Eagle Country, Tang Shi, dressed as a janitor, reported to Tang Shizhe via the Mental Network.

As his primary shell company in the Americas and the most important bridge for his future layout, how could Tang Shizhe not send someone to monitor it? Tang Shi was someone he had sent out not long ago. After infiltrating Eagle Country using forged documents, he had applied for a cleaning position at Sman Group.

Since his information was already in the Sman Group database, Tang Shi didn't even need an interview to get the job.

His team leader thought he had been hired by the Human Resources Department, the Human Resources Department thought he had been hired by the CEO, and Jiro thought he had been hired by the Human Resources Department.

"Received!" Tang Shizhe nodded slightly.

"Tang Yi, prepare our relevant technical documents and articles, as well as the financing plan. Jiro will be coming over in a few days!" Tang Shizhe instructed Tang Yi.

After finishing his perfunctory visits to the ten technology companies, Jiro notified the founders of these companies to return and wait for his news.

On the day the visits concluded, his motorcade set off for Jiaodong City.

Although the two secretaries did not know why their boss was suddenly interested in this second- or third-tier city in the Xia Kingdom, he was the boss, after all.

Inside the Rolls-Royce, Jiro kept flipping through the documents Tang Shizhe had sent him.

The first product of this company, called Titan Environmental, already had a preliminary prototype. Although it was still only on paper, the probability of turning it into a finished product was very high.

However, even if this company were just a scam, he had to bite the bait like a fool. The board of directors had just sent an ironclad order: no matter how outrageous this company's concepts were, and no matter how high their demands were, he had to agree unconditionally. He had to secure forty-nine percent of their shares!

One day later, the motorcade arrived in Jiaodong City. Guided by the navigation system, the motorcade gradually drove toward Tang Shizhe's factory area.

The factory area was now nearing completion. Except for the five-story office building at the very center, which was still being topped off, the landscaping and roads within the complex were already finished.

Emerald green lawns were visible everywhere in the factory area, with flowers, plants, and trees arranged in a well-ordered fashion. The current factory area was no different from a park.

In the center of the factory area stood a five-story rectangular building. The exterior walls of the building were entirely made of light-white glass curtain walls, giving the architecture a sense of being a seamless whole when sunlight hit the facade.

The white factory buildings and the milky-white glass building made the entire complex feel full of modernity.

When the three-meter-high, heavy metal gates slowly opened, the scenery inside made Jiro nod to himself involuntarily.

"Looks like the factory is not bad," Jiro muttered to himself, touching the stubble on his chin that he had just shaved off and which had already begun to grow back.

The two secretaries accompanying Jiro clearly did not expect this startup to have such a scale; they had assumed Titan Environmental was just a company that rented a cheap factory space.

"Welcome, welcome. Welcome to our friends from Sman Group who have traveled from afar." Tang Er walked out of the office building. The main structure of the office building was now complete; its modular design allowed for rapid construction.

The only thing left unfinished was the "sky" mansion that Tang Shizhe wanted.

Due to Tang Shizhe's high requirements, the speed of renovating his floor had suddenly slowed down, and it was expected to take another half a month to be completely finished.

"Hello! You must be the founder of Titan Environmental." Jiro said a sentence in broken Chinese and reached out to shake Tang Er's hand.

"That's right, I am. You must be President Jiro of Sman Group," Tang Er also smiled and replied politely.

"Let's talk inside." Tang Er made a gesture of invitation, leading Jiro inside.

Although Jiro felt a strange sense of familiarity when he saw Tang Er, Tang Yi—whom he had met previously—had been disguised, so he did not recognize Tang Er.

No one noticed that on the fourth floor of the office building, Tang Shizhe was standing by the window, sipping coffee bit by bit. The one-way transparent glass of this office building could prevent the secrets inside from being spied upon, which was also a special consideration of Tang Shizhe's.

Jiro and his party were led by Tang Er into a large conference room. Upon entering, the first thing that caught their eyes was a full-wall projection screen on the east wall of the room.

The screen was currently displaying the logo of Titan Environmental. This logo had been carefully designed by Tang Shizhe: a white leaf embedded in the center of a green planet that looked somewhat like Earth, and on the white leaf were many irregular green veins.

After Jiro and the others were seated, Tang Er reached out and made a "click" gesture in the air. The image on the screen began to play immediately after sensing the gesture.

"Gentlemen from Sman Group, I will now introduce the first heavyweight product that Titan Environmental Technology is about to launch!" Tang Er pointed to the screen with an impassioned tone.

On the screen appeared a spherical green plant with a surface covered in fine leaves. Beneath this plant, a thin stem connected to a white porcelain flowerpot.

"Isn't that just a potted plant?" The two secretaries whispered to each other, and Jiro also frowned. Could their company be a front for money laundering?

Could this thing be the reason they were told they must invest even if it killed them? A potted plant? Was this some kind of gardening company?