By then, the number of Splitters Tang Shizhe had divided off had reached a full ninety.
By now, anyone paying close attention had probably noticed that Tang Yi's records listed only eighty people. The remaining ten seemed to have vanished without a trace.
The ten people named Death Two through Death Eleven were phantom-like Death Soldiers. They didn't need to take over any of the Group's work or learn anything. All they had to do was stay hidden and wait until they were needed.
"Titan Biotechnology's current focus is developing new Bio-batteries. Once the Bio-battery market stabilizes, we'll start making Bio-Processors, followed by Bio-Terminals."
"Manufacturing this equipment will consume a lot of resources. I don't want that money flowing out of our companies. Do you have any good ideas?" Tang Shizhe picked up a slice of steak with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully before asking. He didn't need to put on airs in front of his own people. He could eat however he was used to, and forget about using knives and forks.
"Boss, I think we should first go to the Black Continent and establish our mining company there. At the same time, our security company can use the opportunity to gain a foothold there, too." Tang Er rubbed his chin and made the suggestion.
"Oh? We have very few people we can split off right now. How are we supposed to establish ourselves in the Black Continent?" Tang Shizhe frowned. He also wanted to extend his reach into that undeveloped continent, but he simply didn't have enough people.
"Heh, Boss, you've forgotten about the Black Continent's biggest resource: its people. Since the economy there is so backward, we can hire an adult man to risk his life for us for just a few hundred dollars a month. At first, we can use them to hone our combat and command skills." Tang Er grinned slyly, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.
"That's a good idea. See if you can get in touch with arms dealers in the Black Continent through the dark web. We need a large shipment of weapons."
"Then have the Brood Mother set off for the Black Continent. She can stay there and provide you with a steady stream of new Splitter recruits."
"Tang Jiu, you'll go to the Black Continent and handle Titan Mining's affairs there. Tang Shi, you'll be responsible for Titan Security. As for the Death Soldiers, assign two to Titan Mining and eight to Titan Security!" Tang Shizhe thought it over, then decided to send all ten remaining Death Soldiers to the Black Continent.
As for the Brood Mother's safety, there was no need to worry. Although he could only split off one Brood Mother at a time, he could create a new one if she died. The only people he was concerned about were Tang Jiu and Tang Shi.
"Understood!" Tang Jiu and Tang Shi nodded.
"You two should travel separately. Don't go through customs in the same city. Meet up once you reach your destination." They could make fake passports and ID documents, but he was worried someone at customs might recognize them.
The two nodded again, and everyone happily finished the rest of dinner.
The next day, Tang Shizhe got into the Maybach that had just dropped Victor off and headed to neighboring Danning City.
Since the trip hadn't been announced, even the employees of Titan Biotechnology had no idea that the company's real boss had come to inspect the place.
"Titan Group should start hiring, too. Every applicant needs to be thoroughly screened. Don't hire anyone suspicious, no matter how impressive their résumé looks!" Sitting in the car, Tang Shizhe suddenly remembered that Titan Group was still just an empty shell. Its only office staff were a few accountants it had hired earlier, and its total headcount was less than one percent of its subsidiary Titan Environmental's.
Even the newly established Titan Biotechnology now had several times as many employees. As a result, he had to go through Titan Environmental whenever he wanted to make arrangements.
The convoy pulled up outside the Titan Biotechnology factory. Like Titan Environmental, Titan Biotechnology had plenty of funding and had completely renovated its factory. The buildings were designed in exactly the same style as Titan Environmental's.
"May I ask who you are?" Four security guards from Titan Biotechnology approached in confusion and knocked on the window of the lead vehicle. Three of them continued toward the back of the convoy.
The guards were all former soldiers and took their jobs seriously. The cars in the convoy had license plates from the neighboring city, and the guards had never seen them before.
"It's me." Tang Shizhe lowered the window, removed the sunglasses he wore to look cool, and revealed his face.
"Hello, Boss!" The guards straightened up and saluted when they saw Tang Shizhe.
Tang Shizhe nodded and rolled the window back up. Once the gate opened, the convoy drove into the factory.
Since Tang Shizhe was coming that day, the Splitter who had been managing Titan Biotechnology had already left in advance. Tang Shizhe had also received the memories from that period.
"Hello, Boss." The receptionist hurriedly bowed when she saw Tang Shizhe.
Tang Shizhe smiled and nodded. Soon, he arrived at "his" office, where several of the company's key managers were already waiting to report on the latest developments.
"Go ahead," Tang Shizhe said gravely from his office chair.
"Yes, Boss. All the experimental equipment you asked us to purchase has arrived, and it's being installed now."
"The production line has also been installed. We can start trial production today. We expect to produce five hundred thousand units a day, though the assembly speed is the main limiting factor."
"Even with extensive use of machinery, a hundred workers can only assemble five hundred thousand units a day. They couldn't handle any more than that." One of the managers launched into a lengthy complaint.
"That's fine. We'll expand the factory later and hire more people. Our wages are high, after all. People are fighting tooth and nail to get in." Tang Shizhe waved it off.
To boost the company's standing in society, he paid each worker by the piece, offering a commission of six cents per unit.
It might not sound like much, but each worker handled ten thousand units a day. That worked out to six hundred yuan a day!
Eighteen thousand a month. Ten hours of work a day, and eighteen thousand a month! In a fourth-tier city like Danning, that put them among the highest earners.
Of course, after deducting social insurance and housing fund contributions, they would be left with fifteen thousand. Income tax would reduce that further, but they would still take home a decent amount. Just look at the fifty positions available—the young people across the whole city had gone wild trying to get them.
Some might wonder if Tang Shizhe was stupid for paying the workers so much. Even if he cut their wages by a third, he could still easily find workers who met his standards in a fourth-tier city like Danning.
But if they knew the cost of these Bio-batteries, they might not say that.
If one phone Bio-battery cost 13.4 yuan for equipment and construction, 2 yuan for materials, 0.6 yuan for assembly, and 2 yuan for operating costs, then producing fifteen million units a month would bring the cost of each battery to just 18 yuan! Tang Shizhe's wholesale price was as high as 60 yuan—a net profit of 42 yuan per unit!
After producing fifteen million units, the equipment and construction costs would already have been paid off. From then on, each battery would cost only 5 yuan to make, giving them a pure profit of 55 yuan per unit!
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