r18novel Page 103
Page 103
The icy touch on his fingertips made his eyes narrow slightly.
He was certainly familiar with this name.
In the world of countless Kamen Riders, this mysterious and massive organization plays the role of the source of funding and ambition, the mastermind lurking in the deepest recesses.
"We have great interest in your company's technology."
The representative of Foundation X got straight to the point, speaking calmly yet with an undeniable confidence.
"The consortium can provide your company with the world's top technical support, the largest funding channels, and the safest political asylum."
He paused briefly, and a hint of fox-like cunning finally appeared in his professional smile as he revealed his true conditions.
"However, in return, the consortium needs to send our dedicated researchers to your company and share all of our core R&D results with us."
These words sound like an equal partnership, but in reality, they are no different from extortion and plunder.
What they wanted was to completely control 01 Technology, this nascent technological behemoth, and to seize all the groundbreaking knowledge and blueprints in Su Chen's mind.
Su Chen smiled.
The air in the office seemed to freeze for a moment because of his smile.
"You mean you want to exchange everything I have for something I don't need at all?"
He casually tossed the black business card onto the table. The card slid a short distance across the smooth surface before coming to rest on the edge.
His tone remained calm, yet carried an unassailable air of authority.
“Go back and tell your boss, 01 Technology, that they have no interest in playing pretend games with a bunch of old fogies whose thinking is still stuck in the last century.”
When rejected so bluntly and even with insulting words, a slight crack finally appeared on the smile of the conglomerate representative.
He gave Su Chen a deep look, a cold glint flashing in his calculating eyes.
He didn't say another word, but silently put away the business cards on the table, turned around and left the office.
However, Su Chen's gaze pierced through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows as he watched the black sedan quietly drive away, his mind clear.
Things will not end so simply.
as predicted.
In the back seat of that car with the highest level of sound insulation, the professional smile on the representative's face had vanished, replaced by a gloomy expression.
He immediately dialed a number that was heavily encrypted.
On the other end of the phone was the Fuuto Museum, the Fuuto Museum, the residence of the Sonozaki family, the true underground rulers of Fuuto, a place brimming with secrets and conspiracies.
A man wearing a black trench coat, with a sinister and cold look in his eyes, answered the phone.
He was the inspector dispatched to Fuuto by Foundation X, and also the holder of that terrifying Utopia Memory—Kato Jun.
"The plan failed... as expected."
Jia Toushun hung up the phone without any surprise on his face; instead, a cold smile appeared on his face.
"It seems necessary to have the people from the Sonozaki family personally test the 'capacity' of this mysterious president."
He turned around, his figure slowly disappearing into the deep shadow cast by the huge dinosaur skeleton in the museum.
A conspiracy targeting Su Chen has quietly begun in the underworld of Fengdu.
Chapter 78: The Magician's Plea for Help! Foreign Object Removal, Invisible Memory
The fake smile left behind by the representative of Foundation X as he departed seemed not to have completely dissipated into the air.
Su Chen's office returned to tranquility.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows lies the bustling night view of the city, dazzling with lights, yet the light cannot penetrate this absolute realm enveloped by cutting-edge technology.
This peace and quiet lasted for less than three minutes.
The built-in communication system on the desktop lit up with a soft blue light, breaking the silence.
Iz's emotionless, synthesized electronic voice rang out precisely.
"President, a lady named 'Lily' has requested a meeting."
She claimed there was something extremely urgent.
"Lily?"
Su Chen lightly tapped the smooth tabletop with his fingertip.
The name stirred a faint ripple in his memory.
An image of a promotional poster flashed through my mind.
Under the spotlight, a confident and dazzling young woman smiles brightly against a backdrop of a glamorous stage and fluttering playing cards.
A rising magician, a hot topic in Fengdu recently.
A person living in the light should have no connection with a behemoth like 01 Technology that roams in the shadows.
"Let her in."
Su Chen's tone remained unchanged, but his eyes deepened.
Soon, the heavy metal door of the office slid open silently.
Izzy led a young woman in.
However, the person in front of him seemed to be a completely different entity from the radiant figure on the poster in Su Chen's memory.
Her face was a sickly grayish-white, like moss that had never seen the light of day.
His eye sockets were deeply sunken, surrounded by a dark bluish-black color, as if he hadn't closed his eyes for many days.
My lips were chapped and bloodless.
The strangest thing was her body.
She was enveloped in an unstable visual effect, with the edges of her body appearing faintly translucent, like a holographic projection with a poor signal, which might flicker with static at any moment before disappearing completely.
A faint, acrid smell, similar to ozone, filled the air, a sign of abnormal energy dissipation.
"Mr. Su Chen! Please, save me!"
The moment Lily saw Su Chen sitting behind the desk, her already tense mental state instantly collapsed.
She rushed forward, as if grasping the only spider silk hanging down from the dark abyss, her voice hoarse and desperate.
Su Chen slightly raised his hand, signaling her to stop.
His gaze was calm as still water, yet it carried an undeniable power that caused Lily's chaotic steps to subconsciously halt.
"Iz, a glass of warm water."
"Sit down and talk."
Su Chen's voice was very gentle, as if it had a special frequency that could soothe people's anxious nerves.
Lily did as she was told and sat down on the opposite sofa, sinking into it deeply from exhaustion.
Izzy brought over some warm water, which Lily took with trembling hands. The warmth brought her back a sense of reality.
She took a big gulp of water, the scalding liquid sliding down her throat, and her emotions finally calmed down a bit.
She began to recount her ordeal, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
"About a month ago, it was the last show of my tour, at the Fengdu Grand Theatre."
"The performance was a great success. After it ended, I was walking home alone..."
Recalling that terrifying night, her pupils involuntarily contracted.
“I remember one of the streetlights was broken, and that section of the road was very dark. I suddenly felt a gust of wind behind me, but it wasn’t a normal wind; it carried a kind of… sticky malice.”
"I didn't even have time to turn around before a sharp pain shot through the back of my neck, and then I knew nothing more."
"I didn't see any of the other person's features clearly, and I didn't even know if they were male or female."
She paused for a moment, as if gathering her courage.
"When I woke up, I was already in a hospital bed. A passerby found me and called the police."
"The doctor gave me a full examination and concluded that I was just frightened and had no external injuries, but I did have a concussion."
"But I know something is different."
She raised her right hand, which appeared even more transparent in the bright office light, almost revealing the outline of the sofa behind her.
“From that day on, my body began to experience this terrible condition.”
"At first it was just occasional, like when I was drinking water, I would see my fingertips disappear for a fraction of a second."
"Later, the situation became more and more serious."
Her eyes were filled with profound despair and fear.
"Especially when I need to concentrate, such as when practicing magic or coming up with new ideas for a show... this blurring phenomenon gets out of control."
“Once during a rehearsal, I was just trying to perform a very simple card trick, but half of my arm just disappeared in front of everyone.”
“I’m completely ruined. I can no longer perform, and even walking and eating normally have become extremely difficult. I’m afraid that I will just ‘evaporate’ completely at some point.”
"I searched all the famous hospitals in Fengdu, visited countless experts, and did every possible test, including CT scans, MRIs, and genetic testing... but the results were all the same."
"everything is normal."
"They looked at me like I was a madman, a pathetic wretch who fantasized about illness to escape reality."
She raised her head, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Su Chen, her gaze carrying her last glimmer of hope.
“Until a few days ago, I saw 01 Tech’s press conference on a public screen on the street, and I saw the technology you demonstrated… it was like magic.”
"At that moment, everyone thought it was a miracle, but only I knew that it was my only way out."
"Mr. Su Chen, everyone says your company has the power to change the world. You must... you must have a way to save me, right?"
Her voice changed from pleading to a prayer that was almost a pleas.
Su Chen listened quietly the whole time, his eyes deep and unwavering.
His brain, however, was working at the speed of a supercomputer.