Chapter 69

Aldrich Killian, who had long since changed from his former self, was indeed surprised by someone's prophetic ability but quickly regained his composure.

"After years of circumventing the president's ban on 'unethical biological research,' my think tank invented a rather inconspicuous little gadget."

"We call this idea 'Extremis.'"

As he spoke, Aldrich Killian pulled out a small silver rectangular device from his person and said, "I'm sorry, but the environment here doesn't seem suitable. I need a darker setting."

"No problem, that's easy to arrange." Liu Rui'an, who clearly understood what the other party was about to demonstrate, clapped his hands.

In the next moment, the originally sunny terrace darkened, much to Aldrich Killian's shock.

Before he could figure out what kind of technology this was, he heard Liu Rui'an laugh and say, "Is this environment suitable?"

"Of course."

Aldrich Killian, who had a higher opinion of Umbrella Tech, then took a small device similar to an earplug from the silver rectangular device and placed it behind his left ear.

He then took out three silver "marbles" and gently threw them onto the table, continuing his explanation: "This idea is related to the human brain."

Under some kind of force field, the three marbles quickly formed an equilateral triangle on the table.

The light projected from these marbles soon cast a dazzling image above the two of them.

"Wait a moment, this is the universe, I made a mistake." Pretending to make a mistake but actually doing it on purpose, Aldrich Killian said, "But I just need to do this..."

As he spoke, he pressed the remote control in his hand.

In the next moment, the projection of the universe's star map immediately changed to an image of a human brain, or more precisely, Aldrich Killian's brain.

"This is the brain, but they are remarkably similar, aren't they?"

Aldrich Killian, who was watching this scene, was still quite excited, even though it wasn't the first time he had seen it.

"Very good idea."

Liu Rui'an, leaning back in his chair and looking at the brain image, praised it while communicating with the Starling to record and analyze the image.

"Thank you, this is my brain," Aldrich Killian said, with a hint of pride in his eyes.

"Indeed." Liu Rui'an nodded, with no surprise or shock on his face.

Aldrich Killian, who had expected his research to be taken seriously, was somewhat disappointed by the other party's reaction.

However, this "real" Mandarin quickly composed himself, tapped the small device behind his left ear, and continued his explanation: "You are now inside my brain, or rather, this is a live broadcast."

"Are you sure?" Liu Rui'an, who was quite curious about this project, asked.

"Of course."

Aldrich Killian pinched his arm, and almost simultaneously, a part of the blue-dominated image in the projection flashed with orange-red lines.

"This is the primary somatosensory cortex, the brain's pain reception area."

"But this is what I want to show you."

Aldrich Killian reached out and gently pulled at the projection of his brain, and the star-like image quickly zoomed in and enlarged.

"Now 'Extremis' fully develops and controls the biological neural potential, then sends signals to... here."

As the zoomed-in and enlarged image stopped, a strange image appeared before the two of them.

"This is essentially a void, and this tells us..."

Before Aldrich Killian could finish his sentence, Liu Rui'an, sitting beside him, suddenly interjected: "It tells us that our brains, our entire DNA, are destined to be upgraded, right?"

Caught off guard, Aldrich Killian instinctively nodded and said, "You're right, that's exactly it."

Unfortunately, Liu Rui'an, who had never been particularly fond of men, did not stop there but continued with a smile: "So, your 'Extremis' can, to some extent, infiltrate any organic body and reprogram DNA, right?"

"You..."

Aldrich Killian, who did not believe that the other party had discovered the use of 'Extremis' just by watching the demonstration, wanted to ask how the other party knew.

But thinking of the "prophet" title, he could not hide his shock.

"Indeed, it's a very good project, but from what I hear, this technology is highly weaponizable." Liu Rui'an, satisfied with the other party's reaction, said.

"Yes, sir, but 'Extremis' still has a vast and promising future." Aldrich Killian, who had lost his initial confidence, said.

Liu Rui'an, satisfied that he had cooled down this genius with just a few words, nodded and said, "I agree with that. So, Dr. Killian, what is the purpose of your visit?"

In fact, Aldrich Killian's goal was simple. Apart from the substantial funding provided by Umbrella Tech, he was more interested in the company's biological research foundation.

It's not surprising that the AIM research team could only conduct research in places like basements, even if they could get financial support from certain forces, the research equipment was often not something money could solve.

Of course, it was also possible that someone had instructed Aldrich Killian to appear due to Umbrella Tech's recent success.

"A billion dollars? And that's just the initial investment?" Liu Rui'an asked, facing this rather excessive demand.

"Yes, sir, please believe that these investments are worth it," Aldrich Killian nodded and said.

"Dr. Killian, I can't help you with the money," Liu Rui'an, after a moment of silence, shook his head and said.

"Why, sir, can't you see the value of 'Extremis'?" Aldrich Killian, who appeared calm on the surface, asked.

Sitting opposite, Liu Rui'an immediately sensed that the other party's body temperature had risen significantly, knowing that the "real" Mandarin was somewhat agitated.

"No, no, Dr. Killian, you misunderstood me," Liu Rui'an, wagging his finger, said, "I just said I can't help you with the money, but I'm not unwilling to invest in this project."

If it were anyone else, Aldrich Killian would have given them a piece of his mind, but after witnessing the other party's "prophetic" ability and the sincere look, he could only ask, "Then what do you mean?"

Faced with this question, Liu Rui'an did not answer but stood up and said, "Dr. Killian, please follow me."

A few minutes later, the puzzled Aldrich Killian followed the other party into a secret storage room via a secure elevator.

When the door of the storage room opened, Aldrich Killian was momentarily blinded by the golden light and was completely stunned.

Walking into the large storage room, Liu Rui'an picked up a gold bar marked with "9999" and "10KG" and said with a smile, "Dr. Killian, please understand, 'Extremis' is a good project, but it can easily attract significant trouble."

"And I, for one, hate trouble, so I can't just give you money. What I can give you is this."

To be honest, with the support of certain forces, AIM was not short of money, but seeing this storage room full of gold bars, he was still dumbfounded.

It's not that Aldrich Killian's psychological resilience was too weak; it's just that the amount of gold in this storage room was terrifying.

After all, the official gold reserves of the entire United States were only about 8,000 tons.

Even if you added up the gold reserves of all countries in the world, it would only be around 15,000 tons.

Based on Aldrich Killian's estimate of the total amount of gold in this storage room, it wouldn't be far off from that number.

Aldrich Killian was not surprised by the idea of private gold reserves.

After all, although the price of gold is affected by market fluctuations, it remains a hard currency for a gold-standard human civilization.

But a storage room with at least ten thousand tons of gold had nothing to do with private gold reserves.

"Mr. Liu, do you mean these are your investments?" Pointing to the huge block of gold bars in front of him, Aldrich Killian, who had tried to calm down, asked.

"No, no, the first investment will only be fifty tons. I will continue to invest after I see returns," Liu Rui'an, throwing the gold bar to him, shook his head and said.

"Fifty tons?" Aldrich Killian, catching the gold bar deftly, immediately converted fifty tons of gold into cash.

Even with the current volatile gold prices and the inevitable loss from selling such a large amount of gold quickly, at a low price of one thousand dollars per ounce, fifty tons of gold would still bring him nearly two billion dollars.

Faced with this unexpected investment, Aldrich Killian was initially delighted, but then some unpleasant thoughts arose.

After all, for a "successful person" who was preparing to rule the United States, two billion dollars was far less valuable than the gold in this storage room or Umbrella Tech itself.

But when he met Liu Rui'an's playful, knowing gaze, Aldrich Killian suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.