by <unknown>
Chen Chen nodded and made to head outside before he suddenly seemed to recall something. "Oh yeah, look up information regarding the residents of this house, I want all their details."
With that, Chen Chen turned and exited the basement, disappearing at the end of the room.
Chapter 255: Mother's Day? |
Chen Chen took a taxi and instructed the driver to take him to Los Angeles.
San Diego was only about a hundred kilometers away from Los Angeles. They arrived within two hours.
After paying the fare, Chen Chen took out and ate the last energy bar in his backpack but still felt an emptiness in his stomach.
Chen Chen wandered around the street for a short while before he heard music humming from the side of the street.
Chen Chen began heading toward the source of the music. He saw a KFC lot and on the display on the top of the building, he saw an old man with a white mustache leading a group of healthy young boys in an energetic dance.
"Oh, howdy mommy, I hear you're the best mommy in the world. Well… What do you think,boys?"
"I love you, mom~"
"You're a real special lady…"
"Happy Mother's Day!"
Emmm…
Watching the endlessly looping KFC commercial, Chen Chen could not help but feel a little confused. Today was not Mother's Day, why would KFC put on this commercial?
Deciding to not give it too much thought, Chen Chen walked right into KFC and ordered three family buckets using the self-ordering kiosk.
The KFC in North America was extremely affordable. When the waiter placed all three family buckets on Chen Chen's table, he was immediately taken aback and raised the question. "Do you need me to pack two of these buckets to go?"
"No, just leave them here." Chen Chen waved him away.
Despite the waiter's mild confusion as to why a young man of seemingly average height and weight would order three family buckets, the waiter did not let his confusion show. He set the three family buckets in front of Chen Chen and took his leave.
With that, Chen Chen no longer spared any hesitation as he took out two hamburgers from the family buckets and began mowing them down.
As Chen Chen devoured the hamburgers three bites at a time, he soon began to feel several pairs of eyes fixed on him and the hushed whispers of people around him.
"Mommy, look over there…"
On a neighboring seat several spots away, a little boy seated across his blonde-haired mother by the window could not contain his amusement and made his mom inspect the spectacle with him.
"Oh my god…"
Not far away, with their friends making pointed gestures, several patrons at the restaurant dressed in university apparel put on their glasses and turned to look as well.
Even the cashiers at the counter were constantly stealing glances at Chen Chen's direction, their mouths agape as they beheld Chen Chen's ridiculous eating speed.
Chen Chen paid little to no mind to them. Little X had already infiltrated the surveillance system of this KFC outlet. The footage since Chen Chen's arrival in this place was just a blank screen.
Just as Chen Chen devoured an entire family bucket in three minutes and prepared to move on to the next bucket, he heard what was the sound of people around him inhaling sharply.
On top of that, on the side of the four-seater, one of the university students held up a camera and pointed it at Chen Chen.
Chen Chen barely made an effort to raise his head to look as the sound of a distinct crack emerged from the university student's phone. The display of his phone was immediately shattered.
"My phone…"
The university student wailed, completely unaware of what was happening.
Hm, it may appear that it was rather effortless to shatter the display of a phone eight meters away…
Chen Chen evaluated silently as he hungrily stuffed all the chicken rolls in the second family bucket into his mouth. His mouth still bulging with food, he dove into the third family bucket.
"Tsss...!"
The sharp sound of his audience inhaling was growing louder.
Ten minutes later, Chen Chen nonchalantly exited KFC, leaving behind a gathering of flabbergasted patrons…
It was only until noon when Chen Chen finally arrived at the main camp of the Munster Financial Group.
Similar to the Edwards Manor, the main camp of the Munster Financial Group was also situated in the most prominent spot of the rich – Holmby Hills. This was a gigantic manor spanning up to 50 acres, located on the east side of the winding highways. Chen Chen could even see a wall of tall iron fences with some blue signs on top.
The signs read "Private Land, Trespassers Prohibited.".
Chen Chen looked across the iron fences and saw a building shaped like a palace erected in the middle of the flourishing, colorful garden. It held a resemblance to the places run by slave owners during the time of the civil war in the South.
On the east side of the villa, Chen Chen spotted a golf course with a man-made lake.
The price of this manor alone should be in the range of millions.
Chen Chen shook his head. Although his current financial abilities had surpassed that of a few financial groups, he still had a hard time grasping the concept of the extravagant capitalist lifestyle. He wondered, would there even be enough time to make it to the toilet with the house being this large?
Chen Chen figured that if he were to settle down in the future, he would buy three Lujiazui's Tomson Riviera suites back in the Mainland. This was the most extravagant lifestyle as he knew it.
Shaking his head, Chen Chen shrugged these ridiculous ideas out of his mind and with a flip of his palm, a metal ball the size of a longan appeared in his hand.
With a finger stretched, Chen Chen gently flicked the metal ball. In an instant, his figure vanished and turned into a distorted beam of light. It was next to impossible to notice him without paying close attention.
This stealth device had its fair share of drawbacks. For instance, it was very easy to reveal oneself when splattered with water. It was also unreliable in a wide-open field. However, it was very easy to carry and could store an enormous amount of electricity so Chen Chen had never had to swap them out.
At the current moment, Chen Chen was completely invisible. He candidly lifted one foot and stepped over the barrier, trespassing into the private land.
For a consortium family of this level, having a host of private bodyguards was guaranteed. Although they may not number in the hundreds, it was inevitable that there was going to be at least twenty to thirty bodyguards. With a brief survey, Chen Chen had spotted three bodyguards patrolling in front.
These private bodyguards may have received a lot of military training, some of them were even retired special forces. Each one of them boasted spectacular skills which all but amounted to nothing when put in front of Chen Chen.
On the way there, Chen Chen effortlessly avoided two groups of patrol and entered the tightly guarded manor. When he entered the ground floor of the villa, Little X sent him the blueprint of the villa as well as the potential location of their target.
The next part was easy. With a gentle kick, Chen Chen launched himself onto a window above like a nimble ape and climbed into the kitchen, where he walked right behind a chef who was occupied with cooking.
The chef shuddered suddenly and instinctively turned around to investigate. Noticing nothing out of place behind him, he went back to cooking.
While this was going on, in a separate corner of the Munster family villa, there was a gigantic study.
This room was closer to a library than a study. Measuring several hundred square meters, the bookshelves made of solid wood with ladders mounted on them stretched four meters upward into the roof. These bookshelves were densely packed with close to ten-thousand books. At first glance, there was what was a sea of books in this place…
Inside the study, there was a middle-aged man with gold-framed glasses and
appeared to be approaching his fifties seated at the desk. It may appear that as a result of assuming a position of power for an extended period, he gave off an authoritative aura around him.
This was the master of the manor – Adrian Munster, the true leader of the Munster Financial Group.
Chapter 256: Enchanting |
Ten minutes later. Chen Chen shook his head when he saw the middle-aged man with his head buried in his work in the study.
If Chen Chen could help it, he would rather not enforce his will on this person.
This was because he had previously gone through this middle-aged man's background and this was a spectacular, talented individual. Although it would not be right to say he came from nothing, he had displayed exceptional abilities ever since he started working at his father's company at the ripe age of twenty. In just a year, he had tripled the market value of his father's company!
Immediately after that, his father promoted him to general manager of the company, granting him a proper stage to put his talents to use. From there on, Adrian had excelled right out the gate, kickstarting his career in an awe-striking manner.
In just twenty years, Adrian had managed to propel his father's company's market value from tens of millions to hundreds of billions. He expanded their reach into the mega-corporations across countless industries including finance, electronics, entertainment, services, and other sectors...
Such brilliance in managing a business was far more commendable compared to Wall Street with their decades of wealth accumulated by their ancestors. It was difficult for Chen Chen to not have a great deal of respect for this man.
It had to be said that behind the path to success of every pioneer, a story comparable to the likes of wondrous fables could be told.
Chen Chen sat across Adrian's desk where he gave out a short sigh and canceled his invisibility.
"Hm?"
While Adrian was completely immersed in his task of fixing documents, he heard the voice of another man inside his otherwise tranquil study. He subconsciously looked up and saw Chen Chen seated across his desk.
Adrian in his state of confusion glanced at the still tightly-shut door of the study and seemed to have understood something so he fixed his gaze on the man in front of him.
From where Adrian sat, this person in front of him appeared to be an average-looking Chinese young man somewhere in his twenties. The man had a common appearance that would not earn him a second glance if Adrian saw someone like him on the street.
However, Adrian's pupils shrunk into their shells when he looked into the other person's eyes.
Such eyes were dark and bottomless like a black hole, absorbing all the light around it. Even in the dimly lit study, those eyes stood out like a sore thumb…
At this current moment, both the young man and Adrian were looking at each other dead in the eye. The corner of the stranger's lips crooked upward into a subtle smile. The way this man wore his predatory smile made Adrian's heart flutter ominously.
Even with a common smile, the young man radiated such threatening, bloodthirsty aura…
"Sir Adrian, I've come here uninvited because there's something I need to discuss with you, please do excuse my manners."
Chen Chen started plainly. However, the tone of his voice hardly suggested the faintest hint of remorse.
"Who are you?"
Adrian took a deep breath and asked solemnly, "Also, how did you get in here, where's my bodyguard posted outside?"
"He should be coming in here soon unless he went for a toilet break."
At the end of Chen Chen's note, the muffled sounds of conversation coming from inside the study finally attracted the attention of the bodyguard posted outside. A round of knocking sound came from the door.
Adrian looked visibly comforted by this as things should be easier for him as long as his bodyguard realized his predicament. As it was, even if he did not raise a word of caution and only remained silent, the bodyguard outside should quickly realize something was off and would take appropriate measures.
"Come in."
To Adrian's surprise, it was the young man who had broken the silence.
"Click…"
The door of the study was opened. A large, stout man built like none other than Sylvester Stallone himself poked his head in. "Boss, I thought I heard you talking with someone…"
Before he could finish, he saw Chen Chen with his back facing toward him.
"You are…"
The man digested the situation with a split instant, he immediately charged toward Chen Chen with his right hand aimed at Chen Chen's hair. The speed and explosiveness he had displayed were at the utmost limit of what a common person should be capable of!
However, immediately after taking two steps and readying to take his third step, his brain was torn out of its shell and slid down his neck. His body collapsed in one swift motion onto the rug and began twitching uncontrollably…
Fresh blood pumped to the rhythm of his heartbeat out of his lifeless body like a high-pressure fountain, seeping into the expensive rug. The room was instantly engulfed in a thick, foul mist of blood.
"Creak…"
The door to the study simultaneously shut on its own.
Everything happened in a split instant. Adrian barely had time to react at all. It was only after the matter when he felt his body overtaken by a horrible chill.
What was even more appalling was that the young man in front of him barely moved a muscle. He did not so much as blink at all, but the bodyguard was indeed eliminated almost instantly…
"How did you do that…"
Adrian heard his voice turning hoarse as he asked.
"Just a little trick."
Chen Chen gestured slightly with his hands, an almost completely transparent poker card suddenly appeared in his palms and spun on it as if it had a life of its own. Chen Chen gave an apologetic look. "Sir, I'm sorry if I've caused you some shock. I only did so as I'd prefer if nobody would interrupt our conversation, I hope you don't mind."
Adrian turned pale white. He wanted to return a courteous smile but was otherwise too frightened to do so.
"Nobody should be able to interrupt us now."
Chen Chen put away the graphene poker card and got up. He approached a bookshelf and silently observed the rows of books stacked on the bookshelf. "Sir Adrian, I heard your father is exhibiting the early signs of Alzheimer's?"
"Yes…"
Adrian looked at Chen Chen who was candidly flipping through the books and asked, "Who sent you here?"
"Foolish."
Chen Chen uttered blankly as he took a random book from the bookshelf. "What makes you think that there's another party backing me? Is it so ridiculous to assume that I came here on my own accord?"
"…" Adrian dared not refute him and got silent.
"Sir Adrian, I've come here because I want to make a deal with you."
Chen Chen continued. "I know that you've invested in Osmond in hopes of them manufacturing a drug for curing Alzheimer's disease. Why not try your luck with our Eco Science City?"
"Eco Science City?"
Adrian was instantly made aware of Chen Chen's identity. He shook his head. "I already had experts look into the program in Eco Science City, the technology can only halt the progress of Alzheimer's at best without actually treating it. Besides, although the patent to these techniques is still held by Eco Science City, many treatment centers in North America have already been secretly circulating them, there's no need to head to Eco Science City."
"I understand."
Chen Chen nodded and turned back to Adrian. He tossed the book back into the bookshelf and returned to his seat. "In that case, please look at your computer."
"My computer?"
Adrian was first slightly taken aback before he saw his computer booting up on its own. A web page titled "God's Forbidden Zone" was opened without any user interference. After that, the computer selected an article which in an instant, information regardi
ng a certain "Alzheimer's Disease AD-001 Specialized Drug" was shown.
Reading the passages of information and research statistics, Adrian revealed a look of utter shock and disbelief, almost forgetting the predicament that he was currently in.
"How, how is this possible…"
"There's no such thing as impossible, Sir Adrian."
Chen Chen smiled. "You should be well aware that before the 'Age Reversal Treatment' was publicized, our God's Forbidden Zone has restored the youth of plenty of members of various financial groups. In truth, we hold the most advanced medical technology in the entire Federation. We've also long since developed a specialized drug for Alzheimer's Disease, only we haven't publicize it."
"Why not publicize it?"
Adrian asked with a hint of doubt, "You as well should be well aware of the sheer impact of publicizing such a drug. Its influence may be even comparable to when you developed the first vaccine for 'Blacklight virus'."
"As for this, I'll have to first start with describing the motive of our God's Forbidden Zone."
Chen Chen smiled faintly. "Our God's Forbidden Zone is founded by a group of people committed to prolonging the human lifespan. The goal is to overcome the human Hayflick limit to attain the privilege unique to Gods themselves – Immortality."
"Immortality?" Adrian turned the question back to Chen Chen. "That's impossible, everything rots away eventually. Even metal rots away."
"No such thing as impossible. Death as we know it is merely a common misunderstanding."
Chen Chen shook his head. "I'm sure you know, sir, that we have a generalized term for the advancement and progress of living things – evolution. In the natural world, there's no reason to expect that evolution should extend our lifespan in any shape or form. As long as we can survive long enough to reproduce and procure the next generation, and raise them to be self-sufficient on their own, that's more than enough.
"Therefore, in terms of evolution of life forms, it's more than enough for humans to reach the age of 30-years-old. Any further genetic mutations serving to prolong lifespan aren't subject to any adoration by natural selection. As we humans age, all sorts of odd and bizarre genetic diseases will begin to surface.