Homo Sapiens

「May 22nd.」

「Siam. Bangkok Airport.」

A passenger plane slowly touched down on the runway.

As Yang Tianci stepped out of the plane, he was assaulted by a wall of heat. His assistant and bodyguards went to collect the luggage, while he proceeded directly to the terminal.

A young man saw Yang Tianci and immediately walked over with a smile. ”Brother Yang, long time no see! My father has already prepared a dinner banquet. This way, please!”

”Brother Xu, you’re too kind. My dad caught a cold a few days ago, so it wasn’t convenient for him to come. I’ll be in your care this time,” Yang Tianci replied, playing the part of a close brother.

Xu Xue Meng nodded.

The assistant soon retrieved the luggage, and the group rode in the Mercedes-Benz arranged by Xu Xue Meng, heading for the Xu Manor.

The Xu Clan was a major family in Siam that controlled the Celestial Silk Group. Their primary businesses were in pharmaceuticals and beverages (they were, in fact, the creators of the red-canned energy drink).

「That evening.」

Yang Tianci, along with the Xu Clan’s current Patriarch Xu Xuekong, his younger brother Xu Xue Meng, and others, attended a dinner banquet hosted by the Xu Family.

About 1.6 kilometers from the Xu Manor, a van was parked on the side of the road. Inside, its occupants watched as sampling mosquitoes continuously returned through a modified sunroof.

One of the Soldiers operated a bio-computer, continuously reading the mosquitoes’ history logs and filtering for the target’s blood sample.

After all, there were several hundred people inside the Xu Manor, and pheromone control couldn’t lock onto a single individual with enough precision. The only option was this kind of indiscriminate sampling.

At the banquet that night, many guests were quietly complaining about the number of mosquitoes, completely unaware that these insects were collecting their blood samples.

The Soldiers in the van discarded all the blood samples from valueless targets like servants and bodyguards, while the rest were preserved in cryogenic storage.

They continued this process until the target’s blood sample was obtained.

An hour and a half later, the van departed silently, heading for a secret base prepared by the Security Department.

Chen Jianxiong gazed at the cryogenic vial in his hand, which contained three mosquitoes gorged on fresh blood. He handed the vial to another Spider Web Manager, the one in charge of technology.

”Domino, begin cultivating the targeted toxic mosquitoes!”

Domino nodded and took the vial.

This was one method for precisely controlling genetically modified insects: making the GM insects recognize the target’s pheromones, allowing them to attack the target with precision instead of attacking indiscriminately.

After all, Yang Tianci was currently residing in the Xu Manor, which was full of innocent servants. They couldn’t just let the toxic mosquitoes attack indiscriminately!

If they did that, it would be utterly monstrous, and it would also easily expose them, drawing suspicion toward the mosquitoes.

After 12 hours of cultivation, they successfully used the larvae to imbue 100 genetically modified toxic mosquitoes with the ability to recognize specific pheromones. The target of this recognition: Yang Tianci.

「The next day, around 9:30 AM.」

At Bangkok’s luxurious Riverfront Hotel, the top-floor business center had been booked out for the day.

In a private room at a high-end restaurant not far from the hotel, Chen Jianxiong and two of his subordinates were eating while watching the entrance of the Riverfront Hotel.

As a stream of luxury cars entered the hotel’s underground parking garage, the key players for the secret meeting began to arrive at the Riverfront Hotel’s business center.

They included Yang Tianci, Xu Xuekong, and others.

At the conference table, Xu Xuekong introduced the local Siamese Huashang Clans to Yang Tianci.

”This is Mr. Li Xinneng of Dacheng Bank... This is Mr. Zheng Min of the Central Group... This is Mr. Su Kangcheng of the Sula Group...”

”I am Yang Tianci, and my father is Yang Haibo. It’s a great honor to meet you all,” Yang Tianci said with a beaming smile as he greeted them.

Zheng Min patted his shoulder. ”So you’re Haibo’s son? You’ve grown so much.”

”It’s good to see you, Uncle Zheng,” Yang Tianci quickly replied.

Just then, Guo Lijia, the representative of the Malaysian Guo Family, and Li Xiaohua, the general manager of Temasek Investment, appeared, accompanying a Caucasian man.

Yang Tianci and the others quickly gathered around.

”Mr. Thomas, I’m...”

Everyone started introducing themselves all at once.

Holding a glass of red wine, Thomas Morgan maintained a refined smile. He waited until everyone had finished their introductions before speaking.

”Gentlemen, why don’t we sit down and talk?”

After speaking, Thomas took the head seat, and the others quickly took their places as well.

Thomas’s butler addressed the group. ”Regarding the cooperative development of the Kam Oil Field in Malaysia, you all have already heard some of the details. It is a submarine oil field with estimated total recoverable reserves of around 200 million barrels, accompanied by approximately 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas.”

Upon hearing these exploration figures, many people’s eyes lit up, revealing an uncontrollable greed.

Yang Tianci’s mouth went dry as well, and he picked up the glass of water in front of him and took a sip.

For context, the current international price for crude oil was about 50 to 60 US Dollars per barrel, while natural gas was about 150 to 200 US Dollars per thousand cubic meters.

Two hundred million barrels of crude oil were currently valued at around 10 to 12 billion US Dollars. The 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas was currently worth 1.8 to 2.4 billion US Dollars.

However, not everyone was blinded by the potential profits.

Zheng Min, the head of the Central Group, for example, knew that the cost of offshore oil extraction was extremely high. He tentatively asked:

”Mr. Thomas, if I may ask, what is the quality of the oil in this field? What is the water depth in the area? And what is the drilling depth for the field?”

Thomas’s butler replied with a smile, ”It’s light, low-sulfur crude oil. The average water depth in the area is 120 to 150 meters, and the drilling depth for the field is around 1,400 to 1,500 meters.”

Hearing this, many of the attendees sobered up.

An offshore oil field wasn’t something you could just casually exploit. The cost of a single offshore drilling platform alone was over 200 million US Dollars.

Furthermore, these were only preliminary exploration data, not the actual field data. If there were discrepancies in the field’s actual conditions, they could lose their entire investment.

But unlike the others, who were hesitating, Yang Tianci didn’t want to give up this hard-won opportunity. He wasn’t just representing the Yang Family; he was also representing other investors who intended to get in on this project.

If it weren’t for Du Jianxin’s connections with the Morgan Clan, they wouldn’t even be qualified to participate in an investment like this.

Yang Tianci asked, ”Mr. Thomas, what is the total investment required for this project?”

The butler explained, ”For the company developing the Kam Oil Field, the Malaysian government requires a 33% stake and share of the profits.”

No one had any objections to this. After all, the oil field was in Malaysian waters, so it was only natural to give Malaysia its share.

”The Morgan Clan will take a 25% stake, and Temasek Investment has already confirmed a 7% stake. The remaining 35% has not yet been allocated, but each 1% share requires an investment of 50 million US Dollars.”

Hearing this, Yang Tianci immediately stood up. ”On behalf of the New Nanyang Investment Company, I will invest 1 billion US Dollars for a 20% stake.”

”...” Zheng Min glanced at Yang Tianci, then looked at the others.

The representative of the Malaysian Guo Family raised his hand. ”Fenglong Company is willing to invest 400 million US Dollars for an 8% stake.”

As Yang Tianci and the Guo Family made their moves, only 7% of the unconfirmed shares remained.

Xu Xuekong picked up his wine glass. ”On behalf of the Celestial Silk Group, I will invest 200 million US Dollars.”

Dacheng Bank took the remaining 3%.

With that, the share distribution for the Kam Oil Field was settled.

Malaysian Government: 33%, Morgan Clan: 25%, New Nanyang Investment Company: 20%, Fenglong Company: 8%, Temasek Investment: 7%, Celestial Silk Group: 4%, Dacheng Bank: 3%.

Thomas raised his wine glass, smiled at everyone, and said, ”Congratulations on our successful partnership. Cheers!”

”Cheers!” Yang Tianci was the first to respond.