godfather of surgery

Chapter 1266 Cannot be copied
Switzerland, BG Group European Headquarters.

Carl Müller is known for his tough tactics and meticulous planning, but he is currently in a state of deep anxiety, with no good news coming his way recently.

Scattered across the desk were printed copies of experimental data, flowcharts, and analysis reports. This intelligence, obtained at great expense through meticulously cultivated contacts, was successfully acquired from the Sanbo Research Institute. It contained crucial information about the synergistic effect of Yang Ping's latest breakthrough technology—the "X-2 enhancer"—with a novel vaccine.

According to Carl's original plan, once they obtained this crucial data, BG's top laboratories would quickly and successfully replicate it, and leverage their global patent network to file priority documents for key patents before Yang Ping's team could complete a comprehensive international patent application. This was a tried-and-true method of legal plunder they had used for over a century. With BG's massive legal team and strong relationships with patent offices worldwide, they had a high probability of being able to distort and dismantle Yang Ping's core innovations, ultimately incorporating them into their own patent barriers, or at least creating numerous obstacles to make Yang Ping's team struggle in their future commercialization efforts or even cause them to fail before they even began.

Sometimes, competition can be despicable. However, this time he miscalculated; his opponent's shrewdness clearly exceeded his expectations.

“Mr. Mueller,” a weary voice broke the silence. It was Dr. Walker, a senior scientist at BG Group, his hair graying, wearing thick glasses, his face etched with confusion and frustration. “We may be in serious trouble.”

Carl slowly turned around, his eyes sharp as a hawk's, his voice low and steady, but those who knew him could hear the suppressed anger in his voice: "Dr. Walker, the word 'big trouble' should not be in your dictionary. I need solutions, not problem descriptions."

Dr. Walker picked up a document from the table: "We conducted three independent replicate experiments strictly following the obtained procedures. Although we encountered some difficulties in the early vector construction and antigen selection, we managed to overcome them with our technical reserves. The problem lay in the most critical preliminary synthesis of the X-2 enhancer, and the binding and enhancement process."

He pointed to a string of complex data: “Look here, according to the procedure we need to complete gene recombination in a specific temperature and specific buffer environment. The steps are written clearly, and the reagent ratios also seem very clear. However, when we operate, the reaction system is extremely unstable. Either gene recombination fails, or the expected immune enhancement signal is not generated, or it directly leads to antigen inactivation. There was even an uncontrollable polymerization phenomenon once, which ruined our two whole weeks of work.”

Karl walked to the table, placed his hands on the surface, and leaned forward, creating a powerful sense of pressure: "The reason? Is it that our operation is not precise enough? Or that the equipment is not accurate enough? BG has world-class laboratory conditions. I don't believe that we can't do what the Chinese can do."

“That’s exactly the problem!” Dr. Walker looked up excitedly. “I suspect that the process we obtained is incomplete, or rather, encrypted.”

"Encryption?" Karl frowned.

“Yes, it’s encrypted,” Dr. Walker affirmed. “What Yang Ping released was just a foolproof operating manual, telling you how to do it, but without explaining why. The physical, chemical, and biological principles behind each step, the key catalytic mechanisms, the allowable error range, and the control parameters were all deliberately hidden, and these key technologies may only be applicable to his unique tools.”

He picked up another report and handed it to Carl: "What's more challenging is that this process has almost demanding requirements for experimental equipment and reagents. Many key steps rely on instruments that are specially supplied by a few core companies within the cell wall breaking alliance. Their control software, sensor precision, and even the inner wall coating of the reactor may contain undisclosed technical details. There are also several key buffer solutions and catalysts that the gene combination technology suppliers have strictly blocked from us. We tried to replace them with the closest similar products on the market, but none of them were successful. Instead, they introduced new interfering variables."

"Are you saying we can't do these things with our more sophisticated instruments? They can do them with inferior instruments, is that what you mean?" Karl was furious.

Dr. Walker was also angered by Carl's anger, and he nodded without hesitation: "Yes, that's right. Our so-called more sophisticated methods have no advantage, or even disadvantage, in this experiment."

“Are you kidding me?” Carl stared at Dr. Walker.

The doctor, undeterred, had had enough of this arrogant jerk: "Do I look like I'm joking?"

“How do you explain this?” Carl didn’t believe Walker’s words.

The doctor said with a hint of sarcasm, "The reason is simple: in terms of off-road capability, a Porsche sports car can't compete with a family SUV costing tens of thousands of dollars. All its so-called advantages are disadvantages at this point."

Carl slumped back into his chair.

Dr. Walker frankly stated, “Mr. Muller, with all due respect, based on the information we currently have, completely replicating Yang Ping’s results would not only require an astronomical investment to reverse engineer those specific devices and reagents, but more importantly, we lack the core theoretical foundation. If any deviation from expectations occurs during the experiment, we will lack the ability to diagnose the problem and adjust the parameters, and deviations are almost inevitable in complex biological experiments. Yang Ping’s team is like giving us a sports car without engine blueprints; we might be able to replicate the outer shell, but we will never be able to make it run, and we might even blow it up when trying to start it.”

“I highly suspect that your information has been misleading,” Walker added.

This was his retaliation, to prevent Karl from thinking that they, the scientists, were just there to coast. Now he wanted to tell Karl that the problem wasn't with them, but with management; the so-called intelligence was rubbish, and management was the incompetent one.

A deathly silence fell over the office. Outside, the sun shone brightly, but inside, a chilling cold prevailed.

Carl straightened up, slowly walked to the liquor cabinet, poured himself a glass of whiskey, and downed it in one gulp without ice. The strong liquor burned his throat, but it couldn't dispel the chill in his heart. He had meticulously planned his patent scheme, but unexpectedly encountered unprecedented difficulties in technology replication. He couldn't replicate what his outdated equipment produced using more advanced and sophisticated equipment.

This is not just a technical failure, but also a challenge to his wisdom and confidence.

“Gan,” Carl said without turning around, his voice regaining its composure, “what do you think?”

Gan Fengyi, who had been standing quietly to the side without saying a word, stepped forward upon hearing the sound. His eyes were calm, and his whole demeanor exuded competence and aloofness.

“Mr. Muller, I’ve said it before, your opponent is stronger than you think.” Gan Fengyi’s voice was calm and clear. “We don’t need to question the strength of Dr. Walker’s team. I think he is right. Rather, we underestimated Yang Ping and the caution and cunning of the team behind him.”

Finally, someone understood him, and Dr. Walker felt a little better, casting a grateful glance at Gan Fengyi.

Gan Fengyi walked to the desk and glanced at the scattered documents: "The process of obtaining this intelligence seemed to go very smoothly on the surface, but now that I think about it, this smoothness itself may have been a trap."

"What do you mean?" Karl turned around and looked at his most trusted strategist.

“Two possibilities.” Gan Fengyi held up two slender fingers. “First, our informant may have been turned by the other side. The intelligence they are passing on is a manipulated bait deliberately released by Yang Ping’s team, with the aim of making us waste resources, go astray, and even mislead our research and development direction.”

Karl's eyes narrowed. He had considered this possibility before, but Gan Fengyi's explicit mention of it still made his heart sink. Gan Fengyi continued, "Secondly, and this is what I'm even more worried about—while we're doing everything we can to infiltrate their ranks, there's a good chance that they've also planted their informants within our own BG."

"What?!" Karl's face darkened, his eyes instantly turning incredibly dangerous as he stared at Gan Fengyi: "Evidence?"

“There is no direct evidence at the moment.” Gan Fengyi met his gaze calmly. “However, Mr. Muller, please consider this. Yang Ping’s team’s protection of technical details is outrageous. They employ a distributed research strategy, with the core ideas held by only a very small number of people. So, how did they so accurately predict our theft operation and prepare this superficial procedure to deal with it?”

She paused, then continued her analysis: "Unless, of course, they have some knowledge of our general action plan and timeline. Within the group, only a handful of people have access to the core details of the Trojan Plan. Without a leak, Yang Ping's team's reaction couldn't have been so swift and targeted. This outward procedure is practically a bait tailor-made for us."

Karl fell silent.

Gan Fengyi's analysis makes a lot of sense.

“Dr. Walker,” Carl took a deep breath, temporarily setting aside his internal concerns, “if you concentrate all your resources and disregard cost, how long would it take you to overcome these technological barriers?”

Dr. Walker shook his head with a wry smile: “Mr. Mueller, it’s not just a matter of cost and time. Without the core theory, we’re like groping in the dark. Reversing the equipment and reagents is a long process, and understanding and mastering that hidden core logic could take years, or even longer. And don’t forget, Yang Ping’s team won’t stop to wait for us. Their patent applications are progressing rapidly, and their clinical trials may have already begun. Time is definitely not on our side.”

There was another suffocating silence.

Carl felt powerless. He was used to crushing his opponents with capital, power, and rules, but this time, his opponent used a more sophisticated method to neutralize all his attacks and began to counterattack.

"Perhaps we could try contacting the core members of Yang Ping's team?" Dr. Walker cautiously suggested. "Poach them with high salaries? Or some other methods?"

Gan Fengyi immediately denied it: "The possibility is extremely low. This is a plan that has been tried countless times. According to the intelligence we have, Yang Ping's core team has amazing cohesion. The main members have an almost symbiotic academic relationship with him, and their interests are deeply intertwined. Moreover, China is constantly strengthening its awareness of confidentiality and protection measures in key technology fields. Making contact rashly not only has a slim chance of success, but may also alert them, confirm our attempt to steal technology, and attract stronger countermeasures and worse international public opinion."

She looked at Karl and concluded, "Mr. Muller, traditional strategies of technology theft and patent preemption seem to have failed in the face of Yang Ping's defensive system. We need to reassess the situation and adjust our strategy."

“Adjust strategy…” Karl muttered to himself, a ruthless glint in his eyes. “Yes, we must adjust. Since we can’t break through from the inside, we’ll put pressure on the outside. If the technical route doesn’t work, we’ll take the commercial and political route.”

He turned abruptly, his gaze sharpening and becoming aggressive once more: "Gan, two things. First, use all available resources to conduct a secret and thorough internal investigation, focusing on monitoring all personnel who have access to the core information of the Troy Project, including you and me. I need to know who is betraying us."

"Understood." Gan Fengyi nodded calmly.

“Second,” Carl said with a cold smile, “activate Plan B. Contact our people at the FDA and EMA, as well as our medical policy advisors and the media, and have them block the possibility of their technology being launched in Europe, the United States, and other territories we have. Since we cannot have this technology for the time being, the best way is to delay its launch, or even keep it in the laboratory stage forever, and set up regulatory barriers for it globally.”

"At the same time," he added, his eyes deep, "we are closely monitoring the movements of the Wall Breaking Alliance, especially their supply chain, and continuing to look for the weakest link in it. There is no truly monolithic entity in the world."

“Yes, Mr. Muller,” Gan Fengyi replied.

Dr. Walker looked at Carl, hesitant to speak. He had always opposed competition that went beyond technology, but he was just a scientist.

Carl picked up his glass and poured himself another glass of whiskey. This time, he slowly swirled the glass, the amber liquid rippling within.

“Yang Ping, Huang Jiacai… very interesting opponents,” he murmured, as if talking to himself.

He tilted his head back and drank the wine in his glass again. This time, the burning sensation brought a slight illusion of returning to control.

Dr. Walker glanced at Carl out of the corner of his eye, a hint of disdain in his eyes. He knew: the war was already lost.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back now.” Dr. Walker left the office without waiting for Carl’s permission.

Carl cast a disgruntled glance at Walker's retreating figure.

After Dr. Walker left, Gan Fengyi sneered, "Mr. Muller, you don't really believe that advanced instruments can't replicate outdated technology?"

"What do you mean?" Karl raised an eyebrow, because he was thinking about the same thing.

"It's just my intuition..."

"It's okay, feel free to speak up."

"The intelligence we obtained was practically tailor-made for us, perfectly targeting the weaknesses of our lab equipment. What a coincidence! If this mole were in management, who in management could expose the equipment's weaknesses to the other side?"

"what do you mean?"

"I'm just using my gut feeling. Before I figure it out, anyone could be involved, including you and me..."