Chapter 164: In the Eye of the Storm
Chapter 164: In the Eye of the Storm
As the Eco Science City got closer to its completion date, this newly built town was also getting more tourists who came here to visit.
Since the construction of the Eco Science City began, it had practically become a local attraction for Namibia. After all, these towering buildings had been erected in a wasteland. In the eyes of a bunch of idle natives, this was the mighty power of civilization.
They praised this great power and they always went to the construction team to ask for water from the well. Every day, before daylight, some villagers from nearby villages would even earnestly haul up water from the wells created by the construction team.
Finally, in desperation, the research center had to apply for assistance from the military before they managed to drive away these natives.
Even so, in this sense, the lack of manpower in Blacklight Biotechnology became evident.
As Chen Chen’s territory expanded, he was stretched for manpower, whether it was the scientific research personnel or the technical personnel or even the guards in the Black Security Service force. A new round of talent recruitment was urgently needed.
Meanwhile, as the precedents from the eleven Disciple families also served to create buzz for his Eco Science City, Chen Chen chose to announce the “age-reversal treatment” in the form of a paper in the journal, Cell.
The core of this technology was to cultivate the patients’ cloned embryos, from which embryonic stem cells would be extracted. Therefore, after the announcement, the entire academic community was in a complete uproar!
Following that, this information quickly went viral. Numerous news outlets and even independent media, like flies that had caught a stench, all published the results of Chen Chen’s paper on the Internet.
“Journal Cell Publishes Amazing Research Results, Human Life Expectancy Is Expected to Reach New Limits! — Old Wave News.”
“Can Human Aging Be Reversed? Scientists Have a Shocking Answer — TX News.”
“What Is a Cloned Embryo? What Does It Have to Do With Cloned Humans? Is It Illegal to Study Cloned Embryos? — Search Bear Express.”
All at once, the words “age-reversal treatment” were everywhere online all over the world.
On one hand, many marveled at the progress of science and the fact that even aging could be treated now. On the other hand, countless people immediately leaped up angrily and began to raise their banners to oppose Blacklight Biotechnology.
Soon, the Internet was full of comments that lambasted Blacklight Biotechnology.
This was why Chen Chen previously had reservations. Many people thought that an embryo was a new life and killing embryos to extract embryonic stem cells was a kind of murder, which should be strongly rejected.
Of course, if there were detractors, there would naturally be supporters too. Some people thought that this was a price that was not even worth mentioning when compared to increasing human lifespan.
For instance, on a certain technological forum currently, the debate between both sides was in full swing in a post titled [Where did a third-rate company like Blacklight Biotechnology even come from]:
LunarSirius: [What right does Blacklight Biotechnology have to take away the lives of those cloned embryos? I seem to recall that China has forbidden human cloning over and over? Why is this company of theirs not punished?]
LuyaoZou: [OP, are you an idiot? Yes, the company is a China company, but they’ve even built a city in another country, who even gives a f*ck about that law?]
JoyLovesGrayWolf: [It’s bad enough that the OP is dumb, but the reply is just as stupid. The Earth Federation and every continent oppose all forms of human cloning, yes, but cloned embryos aren’t included in this definition. Which continent or country in this world has not researched cloned embryos? If researching cloned embryos is a crime, then the whole world is guilty.]
Poison: [Lol, so you can harm a life just like that? Embryos aren’t human? In that case, dear poster, didn’t you start out as an embryo? Or you jumped out from a crack in a rock?]
Childheart: [dude you’re a troll right]
...
These discussions either started out on an extreme note, after which both parties started to attack each other’s parents or they began as a friendly debate which gradually turned violent, finally devolving into comments that revolved around genitals and parents, all in the spirit of cheerful academic discourse.
In short, the “age-reversal treatment” had taken over every screen across the entire Earth Federation. Before the situation cleared up, some authoritative agencies would not even deign to come to a conclusion.
Nonetheless, Chen Chen was no longer the simpleton he once was. If he had publicized this technology one year ago, he would have been crushed to death by international public opinion. However, by now, these criticisms and verbal abuses had no effect on him.
This was because he had capital backing.
Not only that but as Chen Chen kept publishing papers in major journals one after another, his reputation gradually improved accordingly. Although he was not at the level of those academic luminaries, he was at least considered to have some clout.
When people in academia mention Chen Chen’s name, they could immediately associate him with results such as “Alzheimer’s disease treatment” and “age-reversal treatment”.
This was a form of recognition by the academic world.
Before the public, Chen Chen had deliberately downplayed things and even allowed Little X to manipulate online public opinion so that his name appeared in the public eye as little as possible. Nonetheless, the names, “Blacklight Biotechnology” and “Eco Science City”, had become known to everyone.
Even so, with the announcement of these technologies, the principles behind the technologies also became fully known to the public. After all, the technology of the “age-reversal treatment” was not complicated. It was simply using embryonic stem cells to transform the hematopoietic stem cells, then rebuild the human immune system.
Although there were difficulties with this technology, they were not impossible to overcome. In Chen Chen’s view, as long as he had publicized the technology, the world would be able to develop a mature version of the technology within a few years even without the core data.
In other words, the world would have been able to develop this technology sooner or later, even without Chen Chen. He merely advanced it by a few years.
Still, for the time being, the Eco Science City was the only place in the entire Earth Federation that could utilize this technology. This was an intangible advantage. Once the Eco Science City was launched, the money would come rolling in at once.
Of course, when there was profit, there would also be more conflicts.
In North America and Europe, the eleven Disciple families served as his sentries. Coupled with the Blanc family incident some time ago that acted as a deterrent, Chen Chen could hold down the fort. Now he was just afraid that someone from Mainland China would try to trip him up.
Therefore, Chen Chen headed to the Embassy of Mainland China again and sold the core data of the “age-reversal treatment” to the authorities of China.
Though it was called a sale, naturally, it was more like a gift. At this point, some of the researchers in this country could use this technology to extend their lives. Chen Chen had only one condition, which was, the technology must not be developed for commercial use for three years.
By now, Chen Chen had everything ready and was only lacking manpower.
However, after his rise in fame, things like manpower came to him in a steady stream. Chen Chen no longer had to employ threats and rewards as he did before. He only had to toss out hundreds of invitations and more than one-third of these researchers would gladly accept this olive branch and come to Namibia.