Chapter 57

After doing the math, Yang Chen finally woke up completely.

He was no longer the Grand Elder of the Chinese Daoist Alliance from his previous life. The mere ten billion yuan in cash he had was barely enough to reorganize the Hengyang Group, let alone the hundreds of billions of yuan required for such large-scale investments.

Even in his previous life, five hundred billion yuan wasn't something he could just use at will. It required board discussions and research, and at least a majority support from the Elders' Council to smoothly allocate such a massive amount of funds.

The money he currently had wouldn't even make a ripple... The Golden Sun Spirit Grass was never a project for the poor. In the future, those bases covering tens of thousands of acres each required investments of hundreds of billions or even trillions of yuan.

What was even more critical was that as the Golden Sun Spirit Grass cultivation projects were built around the world, the demand for gold skyrocketed, causing international gold prices to soar. At one point, Yang Chen even remembered that the international gold price had surged to over 900 yuan per gram.

It wasn't until a few years later, when the expansion of those cultivation bases gradually stopped, that the gold prices stabilized.

But since then, the gold price never fell below 700 yuan, and sometimes it even saw a slight increase...

After his mind cleared, the first thing Yang Chen did was to send the Mad Daoist to Ming Mountain Town, instructing him to find a way to lease the entire mountain, for as long as possible, and money was not an issue!

He didn't have the funds to set up such a large-scale cultivation base now, but leasing the land first and slowly preparing it would allow the base to be ready by the time the Mad Daoist gathered enough seeds.

Although he was unhappy with the slow progress, he had to accept the reality.

However, this situation meant that the Five Peaks Temple, which Yang Chen had subconsciously excluded from his plans, would now play a significant role.

A combination of one 4th-stage True Cultivator, one 3rd-stage, and three 2nd-stage cultivators wasn't a formidable lineup, but it was enough to handle the initial work.

If they could make some breakthroughs during this process... that would be even better!

Yang Chen was calculating all the resources he could mobilize when he received a call from Tang Yino, who sounded very urgent, "Something happened at the Hengyang Laboratory!"

"Hengyang Laboratory? What happened?" Yang Chen was taken aback and instinctively asked, "Is it Luo Zhong?"

"The laboratory... How did you know?" Tang Yino, who was flustered, asked in surprise, "It just happened, how did you know?"

"I guessed," Yang Chen gave a response that left Tang Yino speechless, then said, "Don't worry, take your time. What exactly happened? Don't worry, the sky won't fall."

"The reorganization of the Hengyang Group is going smoothly. President Jin has already received the court documents in advance. This morning, she arranged to have lunch with Zhou Xuzheng, the head of the Hengyang Laboratory..."

While Yang Chen was away, Tang Yino had been acting as Jin Meifeng's assistant, running errands for her.

"After lunch, President Jin went to the Hengyang Laboratory with Zhou Xuzheng and personally tore off the seal on the door. Everything was fine until Zhou Xuzheng went to his office... He found that his computer had been tampered with. The only person who knew the password to his computer was Luo Zhong!"

"President Jin was shocked and asked Zhou Xuzheng to check if anything else was missing... It turned out that not only had Zhou Xuzheng's computer been tampered with, but all the computers in the laboratory showed signs of tampering. Additionally, all the research data and documents locked in Zhou Xuzheng's safe were gone."

"According to Zhou Xuzheng, someone had ransacked the Hengyang Laboratory. No one except Luo Zhong could be so familiar with the laboratory, so it must have been Luo Zhong who copied the data and took the contents of the safe! It's said that some experimental reagents were also taken..."

"Where are you now? Come over quickly! Zhou Xuzheng is almost crazy... We've called Luo Zhong dozens of times, but no one answered, and his phone is now off. The same goes for the other lab assistants, either their phones are off or no one answers! President Jin is very upset, and everyone is at a loss!"

Tang Yino's emotions were clearly affected by the situation, making her sound agitated.

But after hearing her, Yang Chen smiled and said casually, "Oh, I see..."

"You... You..." Tang Yino didn't know how to respond to Yang Chen... How could he still smile after such a big incident?!

"Give me the phone to Mom, I'll talk to her," Yang Chen said calmly, "It's not a big deal if they're missing... As long as Zhou Xuzheng is still around, it's not a problem."

"You... You might not understand the situation! Sigh!" Tang Yino handed the phone to Jin Meifeng.

"Hello."

"Mom." Hearing his mother's voice, Yang Chen smiled and asked, "Luo Zhong ran away and took all the lab data?"

"Yes." Jin Meifeng wasn't as relaxed as Yang Chen. She said solemnly, "To ensure that the product could catch the competitors off guard after its release, the Hengyang Laboratory never published any papers or applied for patents... We don't even know when Luo Zhong stole these things. If..."

"Are you worried that Luo Zhong will register the patents first?" Yang Chen laughed, then said straightforwardly, "I've known for a while that something was off with Luo Zhong. Don't worry, the data he took has been tampered with..."

"Tampered with?" Jin Meifeng was taken aback.

Yang Chen nodded, "I took some time one day and went to the Hengyang Laboratory in the early morning when no one was around..."

Yang Chen then explained everything he had done.

After realizing that the patent researcher for Xiphenylamine in his previous life was Luo Zhong, not Zhou Xuzheng, Yang Chen took advantage of their unconscious state to place a tracking spell on Luo Zhong, allowing him to sense Luo Zhong's location within a certain range.

He also took the opportunity to copy all the data from the computers while they were still on, and then started tampering with the documents. He couldn't understand the experimental data, but he could easily change simple numbers and times.

For example, he changed 0.1 milliliters to 0.3 milliliters, 36 hours to 26 hours, and for more complex data, he just randomly changed the numbers and letters, regardless of whether it made sense.

It was difficult for him to write a research record, but it was much easier to sabotage it.

A few days later, still uneasy, Yang Chen secretly went to the laboratory again, took out all the documents from the safe, and input them into the computer, further tampering with the data. Some sections were so altered that they made no sense at all.

He then reprinted the documents and put them back in the safe.

He even tampered with many of the chemical reagents, adding random substances or diluting them with water. That night, Yang Chen had a lot of fun!

"You... You really thought this through!" After hearing Yang Chen's explanation, Jin Meifeng was both relieved and amused, "How did you come up with such a devious plan?"

"Isn't it what you taught me from a young age..."

"Alright, stop being cheeky." Jin Meifeng said helplessly, "We don't know if your method will work. Don't hang up, I'll talk to Old Zhou and see if this can stop Luo Zhong from doing anything harmful."

A moment later, Yang Chen heard Jin Meifeng talking to Zhou Xuzheng...

"...That's the situation. Do you think this will be effective, Old Zhou?"

Zhou Xuzheng, who was checking the files on the computer, finally said with a bitter smile, "They've all been tampered with... The data is unrecognizable. If Luo Zhong stole this version of the data..."

"Can it stop him?"

"Completely stopping him is impossible. Luo Zhong has always been my right-hand man and knows the project's design very well. But without the key data, repeating the experiments will be a nightmare for him!"

Zhou Xuzheng was confident, "Moreover, the tampered data is too obvious. He will quickly realize something is wrong and won't dare to publish papers or register patents with this data..."

Jin Meifeng sighed in relief but still asked, "What if he completes the repeated experiments?"

"By then, we will have already published our papers and registered the patents. Even if he eventually gets the results, will he dare to publish them?" Zhou Xuzheng's anger subsided, and he laughed heartily, "Yang Chen did a great job. We don't have to worry about this anymore!"

Hearing that the laboratory's secrets were safe, Jin Meifeng finally felt relieved.

However, after the issue was resolved, Jin Meifeng's expression still wasn't good. She muttered to herself, "How did Luo Zhong have the nerve to steal from the laboratory? Without support, these things would be useless even if he stole them all..."

At this moment, Yang Chen, who had already gotten into the car, fastened his seatbelt and quietly used his cultivation to evaporate the alcohol in his body.

He then said to Jin Meifeng, "Mom, don't overthink it... It can only be the Sujiang Group. Luo Zhong might already be their guest. We can't let this go unpunished."

Yang Chen's words echoed Jin Meifeng's thoughts.

She narrowed her eyes and asked, "Did you contact Zhu Rongqiang about coming to Jinzhou City as I asked?"

"I forgot to ask." Yang Chen slapped his forehead, "I'll hang up and call him to set a time. I'll get back to you later."

"Okay." Jin Meifeng hung up the phone and turned to Tang Yino, "Report to the police immediately..."

But then she thought for a moment, a smile appeared on her face, and she changed her mind, "No, let's keep this quiet for now... I'll make other arrangements."

"Okay." Tang Yino nodded obediently.

Zhou Xuzheng added, "Luo Zhong isn't stupid, and the Sujiang Group isn't short of talent... It will be hard to avoid detection with this tampered data. Luo Zhong might have already realized the problem..."

"Even if he realizes it, will he dare to say anything?" Jin Meifeng sneered, "The Sujiang Group has invested a lot in him. If they find out he stole a pile of garbage, what will his future be?"

A researcher's status is always tied to their achievements.

In his previous life, Luo Zhong was famous because he developed Xiphenylamine. But now, he was just an unknown figure... If the Sujiang Group decided to act against him, it would be as easy as squashing an ant!

So Jin Meifeng was sure that even if Luo Zhong realized something was wrong, he wouldn't dare to speak out. His only option was to quickly repeat the experiments, recover some of the real data, and report back to the Sujiang Group!

Jin Meifeng's plan was to let this mistake continue until the Sujiang Group paid the price.

As Jin Meifeng predicted, Luo Zhong, lured by the Sujiang Group with a high-paying position and generous benefits, found himself at the entrance to hell after a few days of paradise!

Hiding in a townhouse provided by the Sujiang Group with a few equally panicked lab assistants, Luo Zhong was frantically sorting through the data, trying to figure out how much of the experimental data had been tampered with.

After a day and a night of red-eyed work, the results were clear...

The key data had been almost entirely tampered with, and the few remaining details were uncertain. Without repeating the experiments, he couldn't be truly confident.

In other words... He had stolen a pile of garbage, a real pile of garbage!

The lab assistants who had joined Luo Zhong in the jump were stunned when they saw the results.

If it was just tampered data, it would be manageable—just repeat the experiments and restore the key data. But the problem was that the tampered data also included altered experimental procedures and design ideas. What was the point of adding a fried egg and a glass of milk in the middle of an experiment?!

Everything was a mess, a complete mess, a mess that could drive anyone crazy!

The lab assistants asked with worried faces, "President Luo, what do we do now?"

Luo Zhong, panting on the sofa, gritted his teeth and said, "There's no turning back. What a cunning old fox, Zhou Xuzheng! He's been guarding against me all these years!"

After a pause, Luo Zhong continued, "There's no other way. We have to repeat the experiments... Correct the data, reorganize the design ideas and experimental procedures, make bold assumptions, and carefully verify..."

"How long will that take?!" The lab assistants groaned. This was more torturous than starting a new experiment!

Luo Zheng smiled bitterly, "A few months at best, a year or two at worst... We have no choice now, and we can't let Song Peng'an and the others know, or it will be even more troublesome!"

He stood up from the sofa, gritting his teeth, "Let's go."

"Where?"

"To the Sujiang biological laboratory, to quickly restore the overall design!"

"But we haven't slept for a day and a night..."

"Neither have I! Stop complaining and let's go!"

"Ah..." The lab assistants responded weakly and followed him out.

They thought they would have a good life at the Sujiang Group, but instead, they had jumped into hell!