by <unknown>
"In other words, the joints will have zero resistance and zero wear?"
Chen Chen stepped forward and asked while fiddling with the arm of the bionic prosthesis.
"That's true in principle, but the actual effects will need to be tested before we reach a conclusion."
Little X replied. Seeing that Chen Chen did not ask any more questions, it said again, "The best control mechanism for the bionic prosthesis is still the God chip, which can convert the nerve impulses transmitted from the human brain into electrical signals, then assign them to the bionic prosthesis. In the bionic prosthetic body, we have implanted nano-scale electrodes to act as nerves, according to the technology in the movies. This allows the user to experience tactile sensations that are very realistic.
"In terms of strength and agility, it can be adjusted according to power. Its maximum strength is 500N. If this is exceeded, the titanium alloy skeleton of the body is likely to become deformed.
"As for the battery, what we're using for now is the high-efficiency hydrogen fuel cell, which allows users to remain mobile for a week to half a month."
After listening to Little X's explanation, Chen Chen asked again, "What about the digestive system?"
"That's the function of the artificial internal organs."
Little X continued. "In terms of internal organs, there are three — the artificial heart, artificial lung, and artificial stomach. Both the artificial heart and artificial lung can supply adequate oxygen and blood pressure according to the needs of users, while the artificial stomach can only digest nutrient fluid and water for now. It's unable to consume food like ordinary people."
"In other words, even if the user has only one brain left or even only one part of the brain, they can still be carried around upon this body and move like a normal person?"
Chen Chen asked.
"Yes, although we've only scratched the surface by combining the bionic technologies of various movies, we've still developed a mature bionic prosthesis. If the user has only lost their arms or legs, the limbs of this bionic prosthesis can still be taken off and transplanted to the user."
Hearing this, Chen Chen smiled spontaneously. "Very good. But its level of technology is still too high. We need to simplify it."
"You're planning to commercialize it?" Little X understood at once.
"That's right. Only commercialization will expand the influence of Blacklight Biotechnology in the world."
Chen Chen replied, "I've been taking NZT-48 and reflecting for a long time recently, and the more I think about it, the more it seems that danger lurks all around us. X, aren't you curious?"
"You mean the various anomalies of the Earth Federation?" Little X immediately understood what Chen Chen was referring to.
"Yes, during this period, I've been thinking, what has happened to humankind that led to the resolute decision of various countries to form the Earth Federation in 1992? And recently, how did they foresee the danger of the sculptures and the epidemic?"
Chen Chen paced slowly around the room. "Besides, what worries me even more is, will there be a possibility that one day, our existence will be anticipated by the Federation?"
"If they really have the means to predict crises, that's indeed possible to some extent."
Little X exclaimed, "Moreover, we don't have any defensive measures."
"Thus, with each day that I don't have an answer, I can barely sleep or eat peacefully."
Chen Chen said solemnly, "I need to continue becoming stronger. While improving the company's hard power, I'll gradually approach the truth and try to find out the answer. Now it has been a long time since the launch of the three anti-cancer drugs. Launching a new product every half a year is the perfect frequency, so this time, let's unveil the bionic prosthetic technology."
"So, if it's simplified, besides the elimination of the frictionless bearing technology, what other technologies should be eliminated?" Little X asked.
"In addition to the frictionless bearing technology that requires normal-temperature superconductors, the God chip must be taken out. As for its replacement, I think the brain-machine interface technology is good enough."
Chen Chen said thoughtfully, "The 'lace electrode' that Musk launched in 2020 is a readily available choice. We can send someone to contact them and see if we can obtain the rights to use their company's 'lace electrode'."
The brain-machine interface, in simple terms, was the use of a device to fuse the human brain with a computer. The brain-machine interface was such a device that played the role of this connection.
Generally speaking, brain-machine interfaces were divided into three categories, namely, invasive brain-machine interfaces, semi-invasive brain-machine interfaces, and non-invasive brain-machine interfaces.
With invasive brain-machine interfaces, the device was inserted into the cerebral cortex. This type of brain-machine interface would obtain high-quality neural signals. This equipment was mainly used for treatment purposes, such as restoring the vision of the blind or restoring the motor functions of paralyzed patients.
Semi-invasive brain-machine interfaces were those that were implanted in the cranial cavity but did not penetrate deep into the cerebral cortex.
The last type was non-invasive brain-machine interfaces. As the name suggested, this referred to those brain-machine interfaces that functioned without being implanted in the brain, such as electroencephalography (EEG).
Across all types, useful control signals must be parsed from the complicated cerebral cortex for the interface to work. Still, the invasive brain-machine interface would undoubtedly be much more accurate, while the least precise one was the non-invasive kind.
Now that brain-machine interfaces were leading the world, there existed companies like Neuralink, owned by the famous "real-life Iron Man" Elon Musk. This was why Chen Chen's first choice was the "lace electrode" technology.
"In addition, we can hold back the artificial organ technology for now."
After thinking about it, Chen Chen said analytically, "After all, these technologies are still a little startling. Our customers are only those with disabilities. Few people would be willing to abandon their entire body and preserve only their head unless they have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis."
"Understood. Shall we continue researching bionic prosthetic technology then?" Little X asked.
"Of course."
Chen Chen said matter-of-factly, "Not only that, but I also hope to come up with the mass-produced versions of Terminator's T-800 and NS-5 as soon as possible. These can make up for our lack of personnel. Moreover, we can try to manufacture the artificial skin from Alien, just like the cyborg's."
With that said, Chen Chen looked at the bionic prosthesis in front of him. He had to admit that although the bionic prosthesis was flesh-colored, its plastic gloss could be discerned at a glance. "Only when we combine the bionic prosthesis and the artificial skin will users feel a much stronger desire to buy it. After all, one type can be easily recognized as a prosthesis and the other type looks no different from the human body. Do users still need to think about which one to choose?"
"Artificial skin technology isn't too difficult. We can replicate it in about two months." Little X promised definitively.
Chapter 278: Project Xingtian |
Blacklight Biotechnology Ltd. had a dedicated website on the Internet.
The core server of the website was located in Shangdu of Mainland China and was operated by the data center that was under the head office. This was the same center that Chen Chen once bought.
However, at this time, inside the head office's building, the employees of the technical department who received the information were initially shocked.
"No way! Is this real or not, real or not!"
A young man in a suit and leather shoes, who had graduated only recently, was yelling, "Did I read it right? This is the information for the website update sent by GM Xia? It can't be an April Fool's Day joke, right?"
"
What happened?"
The rest of the technical department gathered in front of the computer, then read the copy on the screen. "Bionic technology? It'll restore the mobility of the disabled… Is this a bionic prosthetic?"
"Isn't our company a business that develops biomedicine? Why is it suddenly taking on bioengineering?"
"And why didn't you question the fact that we sell translation software too?"
Everyone joked with each other and started discussing.
Just as the entire technical department was chattering noisily, the supervisor of the technical department suddenly walked in with a stern expression. "Everyone, get ready. In ten minutes, GM Xia will have a meeting with us in the conference room on the 30th floor."
"Just us?" the young man asked.
"Yes, there's no one else in the meeting other than the technical department." The supervisor nodded, then left in a hurry.
"Little Zhang, don't ask that question anymore. It's not appropriate."
As soon as the supervisor left, an older man smiled and came to the young man who had asked the question and patted him on the shoulder.
"Why?" The young man became even more puzzled.
"You'll understand after you've worked here for some time."
The older man said kindly, "I know that when you applied for a job here, you must have come for the name of Blacklight Biotechnology. Although our company didn't make it into the Global 500, it was because our company was not listed. Many people said that once our company goes public, the market value would immediately exceed 100 billion USD."
"Yes, I applied for a job here based on the potential of Blacklight Biotechnology, but…"
The young man called Little Zhang was rather mystified. "From what I can see, it doesn't feel like a high-tech company at all."
"That's right."
Another employee who looked like a stale fried dough-stick came over, chortling. "Our name sounds awe-inspiring. The world-famous Blacklight Biotechnology is a company that has developed an age-reversal treatment project and a variety of anti-cancer drugs as well as the Blacklight virus vaccine. Here is the head office of Blacklight Biotechnology, so it should be pretty awesome, right? We were deceived."
"Deceived?"
"Because these projects are all developed in Africa and the company's real focus is in Africa too. To put it bluntly, our head office is just an external platform."
The employee with the appearance of a stale dough-stick exclaimed, "Surely you understand now. Although our head office has hundreds of people, there are almost no other tasks besides maintaining the website and operating the Little X Translation System. Despite being a biological company, there isn't even a research center in Shangdu, which is f*ckng ridiculous!"
"Doesn't that mean that although GM Xia is the general manager, second only to the boss, she doesn't even have any real power…"
Little Zhang opened his mouth as if there was something he wanted to blurt out, but the man hurriedly covered his mouth. "It's enough that you and I understand this. Don't say it out loud."
"In truth, it isn't like what you think."
Seeing this, the stale dough-stick employee once again said ruefully, "I've joined since the establishment of Blacklight Biotechnology. I won't even conceal the fact that the boss and GM Xia were schoolmates. The two met at university. It's too bad that this is a classic example of a one-sided love…"
"Is the boss that young? Only a few years older than GM Xia? So, the boss is less than thirty years old?"
Someone who was listening raptly suddenly exclaimed.
"He's younger than you think."
The stale dough-stick employee laughed and said, "I met the boss before he went to Africa. He's three years younger than GM Xia. In other words, if the boss had not dropped out of university, he'd be a fresh graduate this year!"
"That can't be…"
Everyone burst out yelling and exclaiming.
"Alright, alright, look at what time it is. Shouldn't we hurry to the conference room so that we're not late?"
Someone suddenly gave a reminder. "Don't gossip about GM Xia anymore. Even if she isn't involved in those research projects, it'd be a piece of cake for her to fire you and me."
Upon hearing this, everyone dispersed quickly.
…
At the same time, in the conference room on the 30th floor, Xia Yin was standing on the podium, gazing at the empty seats below. She seemed a little lost in thought.
"GM Xia. GM Xia?"
A secretary popped up from the side and clattered loudly toward Xia Yin, then stood there, swaying. "Manager Guo has notified the technical department and they'll be there soon."
"Very well."
Xia Yin came back to her senses and nodded to the secretary. Then she turned on the computer while asking, "Has the information been organized?"
"The materials sent by the African branch have been sorted out. You only need to play them in order," the secretary replied, then walked to the door of the conference room and looked outside. "GM Xia, they're here."
Xia Yin nodded without speaking and watched as the group from the technical department filed in and found their seats. After waiting for a while and seeing that no one else was coming in, she turned to the supervisor who was sitting in the first row before the stage. She asked, "Manager Guo, are all your people from the technical department present?"
"Other than those who are on leave, all the rest are here," Manager Guo looked back and replied immediately.
"Very good."
Xia Yin smiled in satisfaction. At the same time, she suddenly exuded the shrewd, capable aura of a strong, independent woman. She seemed to be a different person entirely. Meanwhile, she pressed a button on the desktop and the screen behind her instantly began to display a mix of text and image.
"You should've received the email sent to you just now, so I won't beat around the bush. I'm happy to announce that our Blacklight Biotechnology has achieved another glorious success. According to the update from the African branch, the first-generation bionic prosthetic project we've launched has finished its development and will soon enter the commercial stage.
"The bionic prosthetic project developed by the African branch uses the 'lace electrode' brain-machine interface technology from Neuralink of North America. We've obtained the rights from Neuralink. The reason for this meeting is that, for the official website, we hope that everyone in the technical department can come up with a good plan and creative ideas."
Xia Yin said in a low voice on the podium, "After all, our company's website hasn't changed for two or three years. Let's use this opportunity to revamp the company's look…"
As Xia Yin spoke, the screen behind her began to flicker, quickly revealing a humanoid monster with only a body and without a head.
Xingtian?
Everyone in the audience immediately recognized the figure when they saw the ink painting that was influenced by Chinese culture.
"I believe that, as Chinese descendants, you must've heard of our own myths and legends. Xingtian is one of them. According to legend, Xingtian was an official of the Yan Emperor. Because he couldn't accept that the Yellow Emperor had defeated the Yan Emperor, he went to challenge the Yellow Emperor. After Xingtian was beheaded by the Yellow Emperor, he continued the fight with his two nipples as his eyes and his belly button as his mouth…
"This is the origin of Xingtian. I'll suggest this idea to you — if this project is publicized, I hope to use this Chinese myth from the Classic of Mountains and Sea, 'Xingtian', as the theme. First, we can promote the culture of Mainland China. Secondly, Xingtian's persona is indeed in line with the inspirational spirit of being 'disabled but not disheartened'."
As Xia Yin explained all this, a line from an ancient poem suddenly appeared on the screen beside Xingtian —"Jingwei bites hold of twigs, determined to fill the deep-blue sea. Xingtian wields his spear and shield, his old ambitions still burning fiercely!"
"Therefore, I think th
e new bionic prosthetic project can be called —
"Project Xingtian!"
[ol][li data-annotation-id="66af25df-2e2a-d7d6-f404-85ef09017337"]A classical Chinese text of mythic geography and beasts.[li data-annotation-id="50d3971d-08fa-e033-db89-24ec93d33de5"]A mythological bird who was once the Yan Emperor's daughter. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingwei.[/ol]
Chapter 279: Corporate Empire |
A few days later, Chen Chen sat in the conference room and quickly flipped through a planner sent over by Xia Yin.
"Project Xingtian?"
After turning to the last page of the planner, Chen Chen could not hold back a smile. With his mouse, he clicked on a checkbox on the computer.
At this moment, the company's new website style and the name of the bionic prosthetic project had been formally confirmed.
Next, it was time for the head office to begin selling and promoting.
However, in the planner sent by the head office, Xia Yin expressed the hope that Chen Chen could make more public appearances. It would be best if he could become a symbol, an emblem, of Blacklight Biotechnology, just like Tencent's Ma Huateng, Alibaba's Jack Ma, and JD.com's Liu Qiangdong.
After all, Chen Chen did have the qualifications to become a "symbol"— he had developed an age-reversal treatment project at the age of eighteen, then dropped out of college and started his own business. After only three years, he became the boss of a corporation with a market value of tens of billions.
Youth, career success, countless triumphs and accolades — these were all part of Chen Chen's "symbol".
Xia Yin hoped that Chen Chen could attend TED to give a speech for this reason.
TED, an acronym of the three words "technology", "entertainment", and "design", was a private non-profit organization in North America. The organization was known for its TED conference, with the objective of "ideas worth spreading".