Chapter 44: Chapter 44: All-Pervasive
Manila International Airport.
A passenger plane from Malaysia slowly landed on the runway.
Yang Tiancheng walked out of the cabin, looking sullen. The bodyguards and assistants beside him were also walking on eggshells, afraid of provoking the ill-tempered Yang Tiancheng.
As soon as they reached the airport exit, a flock of taxi drivers swarmed them like vultures spotting carrion.
But the well-prepared assistant had the bodyguards drive the drivers away.
A middle-aged man in gold-rimmed glasses waved and said, "Young Master, welcome to Manila for your inspection."
This man was Yang Changfeng, the manager of the New Nanyang Company’s Luzon Branch. In terms of seniority, he was of Yang Tiancheng’s uncle’s generation. However, Yang Changfeng knew his place. Even within the same family, there were clear distinctions between who was close and who was distant.
Although he knew that Yang Tiancheng had been exiled to Borneo by the Patriarch, he also understood one thing: the man was, after all, the Patriarch’s son.
Perhaps the Patriarch and Yang Tianci could look down on Yang Tiancheng, but that didn’t mean others in the family could do the same.
He personally opened the car door for Yang Tiancheng.
After getting into the car, Yang Changfeng was very tactful. He didn’t mention anything about the Huaguo headquarters, nor did he ask how Yang Tiancheng was faring in Borneo. Instead, he started introducing the Luzon Branch and recent events in Manila.
"...A lot has happened in Manila’s Tangdu District recently. The halls of several Chinese gangs were destroyed. I heard it was the work of the Fernando Clan."
"The Fernando Clan? I’ve heard of them in Malaysia. Is Manila still safe?" Yang Tiancheng asked.
Evidently, the hardships of the past two years had matured Yang Tiancheng considerably. Besides, this was Luzon, not the Yang Clan’s stronghold of Yangcheng. Others wouldn’t necessarily respect his title as the young master of the Yang Family.
Yang Changfeng smiled and replied, "As long as you stay out of the Tangdu District, there won’t be any major problems in the Manila South City District. We still have some connections in Manila’s circle of Chinese Merchants."
"Uncle Changfeng, which gangs are active in Manila now?"
Yang Changfeng thought for a moment before explaining, "After the Fuzhou Gang’s branch was wiped out, it was replaced by the Fernando Clan’s Tiger Shark Gang. The Sakura Association has also expanded its territory. Then there’s the Claw Blade Gang, which the Lopez Clan reorganized, and the Iron Fist Association under Xu A. These are currently the four strongest gangs in Manila."
"Has the Manila Branch’s business been affected?" Yang Tiancheng continued to ask.
"It’s been fine. We mainly cooperate with plantations. In fact, the tourism industry has actually improved a bit."
"That’s good." Yang Tiancheng leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, pondering his next move.
He was actually very resentful about being sent to Borneo by his father, Yang Haibo. He was already being overshadowed by his younger brother, Yang Tianci, at home, and the past two years had pushed him to the absolute fringes.
’But how do I return to the family’s inner circle?’
This thought made Yang Tiancheng feel powerless. The Borneo palm plantation he currently managed only earned him chump change. Without any benefits to offer, why would anyone else in the family support him?
As if sensing Yang Tiancheng’s frustration, Yang Changfeng took an invitation from his inner pocket:
"Young Master, this is an invitation to the Luzon Chinese Chamber of Commerce’s New Year’s reception. It’s on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. Not only will the Luzon Chinese Merchants be there, but members of local Luzon families will be attending as well."
Taking the invitation, Yang Tiancheng nodded. "Thanks, Uncle Changfeng."
Yang Changfeng wasn’t one of Yang Tianci’s people. Besides, this wasn’t really a favor. Whether Yang Tiancheng could make anything of it would depend on his own abilities.
Before he knew it, the convoy had arrived at the Manila Hilton Hotel. Yang Changfeng then took his leave.
...
「Elsewhere.」
Homo Sapiens Company—Security Department—Luzon Intelligence Group—Manila Intelligence Station.
Near the Harbor District in Manila’s South City District, there was an eight-story building with a sign that read: [Manila West Sea Seafood Trading Company].
It was a small, unknown trading company specializing in seafood exports. The company also handled some of the eel fry produced by the Homo Sapiens Company. Clearly, this was one of Homo Sapiens Company’s shell corporations.
After the Security Department’s intelligence network was standardized, the Manila intelligence station was established. This small company served as its disguise.
In the eight-story building, the bottom four floors were used for company operations, while the top four floors served as the living quarters and secret base for the person in charge.
The intelligence station currently had 17 Soldiers and 3 technical managers.
Zhang Wei’s older brother, Zhang Hao, served here as a network intelligence officer and was the station’s second-in-command.
He was currently in the server room on the eighth floor.
However, the computers in this server room weren’t the electronic computers available on the market, but biocomputers unique to the Homo Sapiens Company.
Compared to the power consumption of electronic computers, the energy usage of biocomputers was practically negligible.
The dozen or so biocomputers ran on a special nutrient solution, its main component being glucose, supplemented with vitamins and minerals to maintain cell activity.
As a programmer, Zhang Hao didn’t fully understand the manufacturing or principles of biocomputers, but he could still use their software editors to write simple programs.
The dozen or so biocomputers were disguised as ordinary laptops. The communication methods they used were currently limited to bio-optical fibers and pheromone hives.
Since they were incompatible with current communication systems, long-distance communication was impossible.
However, at the main base in the southern part of Luzon Island, they were secretly deploying a fiber-optic communication network exclusive to the Homo Sapiens Company, using the Fernando Clan’s telecommunications company as cover.
Of course, pheromone hives could solve some of these issues. The new generation of pheromone hives could already cover an area with a radius of about 8 kilometers.
But pheromone communication had a drawback: the information capacity per unit of pheromone was low, making it impossible to transmit detailed data.
For instance, Zhang Hao and his team were currently monitoring Yang Tiancheng’s group using surveillance flies, surveillance cockroaches, and surveillance bees spread throughout Manila.
These genetically modified insects could be remotely controlled via the pheromone hives, but the information they collected could not be transmitted back to the intelligence station.
To transfer this detailed information, the insects had to return to the intelligence station periodically. The station’s biocomputers would then connect to the surveillance insects and read the information from their DNA storage.
In the greenhouse garden on the eighth-floor rooftop, five flies flew back to a row of beehive-like nests. They entered a nest cell labeled [JKCY-0201-3682], where each of them clasped a bio-optical fiber rod integrated with dense fiber-optic signal connectors.
A steady stream of data was quickly transmitted to the biocomputers downstairs.
On the biocomputer screen in front of Zhang Hao, the latest information on Yang Tiancheng and Yang Changfeng popped up.
He watched the data collected by the surveillance fly in the car, which included both video and audio. Zhang Hao put down his pen and noted:
"The 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, ’Little New Year.’ January 28th on the Gregorian calendar, 5:30 PM. The Luzon Chinese Chamber of Commerce at the Winford Casino Hotel..."
He turned and asked, "Hake, do we have surveillance points at the Winford Casino Hotel?"
The Soldier, Hake, nodded. "We have five surveillance points. They’re all semi-stationary surveillance cockroaches."
"Then increase it to 50 points. 25 flies and 25 cockroaches."
"OK."
Zhang Hao thought for a moment, then quickly compiled the intelligence and recorded it into the DNA storage of five Messenger Dragonflies.
Soon, these Messenger Dragonflies took off in five batches, flying northwest at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour.
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