Chapter 128 - 112: Silent

Chapter 128: Chapter 112: Silent

"I know what you’re worried about. Rest assured, I have my own plans for the Blood Salt."

"You’re my most trusted subordinate. The Blood Salt is the company’s lifeline here, and once I’m gone, it will naturally be in your hands."

"I’ll allow you to observe tomorrow’s Blood Salt concoction, so you can get an early look."

Binks saw right through Ma Qi. If there were anyone more suitable, he really wouldn’t want to choose him at all.

It wasn’t that the man was incapable, but that he had been heavily influenced by the Lanyu Kingdom.

As the former heir to a major conglomerate, Binks naturally knew a thing or two about the Lanyu Kingdom.

He knew that staying here too long meant falling under the influence of the Demon’s game, making one never want to leave.

Just like Ma Qi, who was already starting to see this place as his true home.

But how could Binks be content with being imprisoned here? That bastard had exiled him to the Lanyu Kingdom for the sole purpose of seeing him sink into oblivion, hadn’t he?

Fortunately, he had learned through certain channels that the Lanyu Kingdom’s mysterious influence was slow-acting.

With the right precautions, it wouldn’t be a major issue for a year or two.

This was why he wore a helmet all day, lost in virtual games.

’Does anyone really think wearing a helmet all day is comfortable? I’m about to go insane.’

The world outside was so vast, yet he was trapped inside this cramped helmet. It was a testament to Binks’s incredible willpower that his thoughts hadn’t devolved into chaos.

But as fate would have it, Binks, stewing in his confinement, ran into an old friend from the Inner World.

And that was how Blood Salt came to be.

...

To Binks, the Inner World was far less mysterious than the legends made it out to be. Its inhabitants simply didn’t interact with ordinary people.

For major corporations, especially those in the Blood Ore industry, their relationship with the Inner World was closer than anyone could imagine.

In fact, the entire Blood Ore industry was merely a front for certain Extraordinary lineages.

Whether it was Evil Demons of the Outer Path, the self-proclaimed righteous Alchemy School, or even ancient totem worshipers, none of them could do without the blood of sentient beings.

And that was just for ordinary blood. As far as Binks knew, certain mysterious organizations in the Inner World were constantly searching for special blood types among the billions of ordinary humans.

A huge portion of a Blood Ore Company’s profits came from selling the blood data of ordinary people.

To be blunt, the Comir Biological Company was only a lower-middle-tier player in the grand scheme of the Blood Mining Industry.

Their products were just various biological goods, and their clientele was limited to the ordinarily wealthy.

This destined them to be vulnerable to the policies of mid-level world powers, forcing them to pivot.

But the true titans of the Blood Mining Industry weren’t just digging for blood; they were mining the genetic data of billions of humans.

Discovering a single special human genome could yield profits in the hundreds of billions.

The rise of the KE Conglomerate, one of the three titans of the Blood Mining Industry, began with the discovery of a special sequence in the human genome.

It was a mysterious gene, rumored to be connected to humanity’s capacity for language.

It originated from a rare mutation and existed only within small pockets of the human population.

Humans possessing this genome are incapable of speech their entire lives, and are thus known as the Silent.

KE was an abbreviation for that gene sequence. The price tag for this single, mysterious gene was rumored to be three trillion.

The KE Conglomerate was born, and its predecessor, much like the Comir Company, had been just another ordinary Blood Ore Company.

The KE Conglomerate had always been Binks’s ideal, his ultimate goal. He had been trying to expand his own company’s operations into the gene-mining sector.

Unfortunately, before he could succeed in making that pivot, he was suddenly kicked out of the game.

’Damn that *Second World*, and damn that bastard. They completely destroyed my dream.’

Binks swore he would take the company back. The *Second World* Project was a path to ruin, one that would only bring disaster upon humanity.

Only he, Binks, could lead the Comir Biological Company down the right path and grow it into a true conglomerate.

...

’I’ll be the one making the Blood Salt from now on?’

"Boss, the Blood Salt is so mysterious... can I really make it?"

Ma Qi was almost floored by the incredible offer. He was starting to panic.

He had never used it himself, but he had seen what happened to those who did. No matter how you looked at it, the aftermath was just... bizarre.

He had a good life ahead of him; he didn’t want to turn into something weird.

"Relax. It’s all very simple."

"That settles it!"

Binks made the decision with absolute authority. Ma Qi could only manage a sheepish smile.

Binks’s mental state seemed off right now, and Ma Qi didn’t dare push his luck.

After settling the matter, Binks dismissed Ma Qi.

The latter felt a mix of excitement and dread. He was excited, of course, at the prospect of holding all the power, but he was terrified of the Blood Salt.

Ma Qi had always had complicated feelings about the Blood Salt.

It had certainly saved the company’s business, but the price its users paid was just too steep.

The fact that Blood Salt was so prevalent among gang members was largely thanks to Ma Qi.

As the one in charge of the company’s business, he was the one who had targeted gang members as the primary customer base.

It was, strangely enough, an act of conscience on his part, a decision he had made after much hesitation.

In truth, Ma Qi didn’t know why he’d done it. After so many years in the Blood Mining Industry, his heart should have been black as coal.

But after coming to the Lanyu Kingdom, he had felt an unprecedented sense of peace and tranquility. He just couldn’t bear to ruin something so beautiful.