America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 636 Assassination

A cool evening breeze ruffled the stray hairs at her temples. By the time the two of them came out, it was already dark.

She subconsciously raised her hand, her fingertips repeatedly stroking the pocket watch hanging on her chest, then looked at Ernst and asked curiously, "Why didn't you let China Telecom develop coaxial cables themselves, but instead handed it over to Bell Labs?"

"It seems to be more than just mainland China Telecom; I've noticed that many of your companies are collaborating with Bell Labs. Many technological developments that could have been conducted internally have been taken over by Bell Labs."

"You investigated me?" Ernst's tone was unreadable; he simply turned his head slowly, his deep eyes locking onto her.

The evening lights cast shadows on his sharply defined face, adding a touch of oppressiveness.

Annie was flustered by his sudden questioning. She quickly waved her hands in front of her and her cheeks flushed slightly. "No, no! I just... I just noticed it without thinking."

Did no one notice this?

You're kidding me.

Seeing her flustered and avoidant gaze, Ernst's lips curled into a mischievous, playful smile. "Is that... concern for me?"

Instantly, Annie's cheeks turned even redder, and her ears even felt hot.

She quickly lowered her head, her gaze falling on the tips of her shoes. Her heart pounded like a drum, and even her breathing became rapid. She simply chose to remain silent.

Indeed, as Anne said, he had been secretly pushing a computation ever since he acquired Bell Labs.

That is to gradually concentrate the core technology patent research and development of all its subsidiaries on Bell Labs.

Whether it's the coaxial cable technology of mainland China Telecom, Google's cutting-edge explorations in Internet technology, or iTech's innovative research and development in electronic hardware.

In matters involving the iteration of core technologies and patent layout, many projects are led or deeply involved by Bell Labs through collaborative research and development or technology commissioning.

This certainly includes considerations for enabling Bell Labs to achieve technological self-sufficiency and financial self-sufficiency.

As a world-leading research institution, Bell Labs requires huge financial support for its operation and research and development. Through technical cooperation and technology licensing with its subsidiaries, Bell Labs can not only ensure that it has stable research and development funding to be self-sufficient, but also quickly transform its research results into commercial value, forming a virtuous cycle of research and development-application-profit-re-research and development, thus making up for the weakness of Bell Labs in commercial applications.

However, the main reason was that Ernst wanted to keep the company's core assets firmly in his own hands.

The business world is ever-changing, and the life cycle of a company is full of uncertainty.

Today's industry giants may fall tomorrow due to market iterations and industry mergers and acquisitions.

Not to mention that after a company goes public, the dispersed shareholding structure will weaken the Garfield family's control over the company.

If the industry landscape undergoes a reshuffle, some companies may even be sold off due to mergers.

What truly allows a company to weather economic cycles and maintain its dominant position is never its tangible assets, but rather its intangible core technologies.

Ernst's goal is to build a closed-loop ecosystem of family office, Bell Labs, subsidiaries, and supply chain.

The family office firmly controls the ownership and R&D direction of Bell Labs, while Bell Labs becomes the technological heart of all its subsidiaries through technology patent licensing and core technology supply.

These companies, through their influence in various industries, penetrate and dominate the entire manufacturing supply chain, ultimately achieving implicit control over global manufacturing.

Ernst didn't mind saying a few words to her, but before he could even open his mouth, a black van suddenly sped out from the street corner and stopped across the sidewalk, blocking their way.

The truck's side door was yanked open almost the instant it stopped, and with a screeching metallic scraping sound, two men wearing black hoods and black tight-fitting sportswear jumped out.

They moved nimbly, drawing pistols from their waists as they landed; the muzzles were black and cold, and they aimed directly at Ernst.

"Watch out! Protect the boss!" Muller shouted urgently, and almost as soon as the thugs appeared, he drew the pistol from his waist and pulled the trigger without hesitation at the thug closest to him.

"Bang!" The gunshot rang out crisply and loudly, sounding particularly jarring in the twilight.

The bullet whistled through the air and struck the assailant precisely in the left shoulder.

The assailant grunted, his assault rifle fell to the ground, and he lost his balance, crashing heavily onto the sidewalk.

At the same time, he rushed to Ernst and Anne almost instantly, his tall figure forming a barrier, and shouted urgently, "Quickly, crouch down!"

Meanwhile, the other bodyguards scattered around were also quickly gathering together.

But everything happened so fast that before Tom could even get in front of the two men, the gunshots from the assailants rang out one after another.

One voice came from another thug who had just gotten out of the car, and the other from the driver.

The bullet, with a piercing whistling sound, flew straight toward Ernst like the scythe of death.

Almost instinctively, Anne shoved Ernst away and lunged forward, using her frail body to shield him.

"Annie!" Ernst's eyes widened in horror as he watched a bullet strike Anne.

He tried to catch the fallen man, but Tom forcibly dragged him away to a nearby store. "Boss, danger! Hide first!"

Just as he was about to speak and ask Tom to bring Annie back, the gunfire suddenly stopped.

Before the remaining two thugs could fire a second bullet, they were accurately hit by his bodyguards.

One of the assailants was shot between the eyebrows and died instantly.

The other person was shot in the heart and is still convulsing; he is unlikely to survive.

Only the thug who was first hit in the shoulder by Muller lay on the ground groaning in pain, but he had now been subdued and was no longer able to resist.

The whole process took only a few dozen seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

On the street, the screams and cries of pedestrians mingled together, forming a chaotic and desperate symphony.

Mueller quickly checked the two assailants lying on the ground, confirmed that they were no longer a threat, took out his phone, and dialed emergency services and the police.

However, for safety's sake, he did not let Ernst leave the shop, but instead carried Anne to Ernst's side.

Ernst held her in his arms, grasped her hand, and his voice trembled, "How are you? Hang in there, Annie, the ambulance is on its way."

Anne's face had turned deathly pale. Looking at Ernst, she managed a faint smile. "I'm fine... don't worry..."

Before she could finish speaking, everything went black and she fainted.

Ernst held her tightly in his arms, his fingers stained with her blood.

"Boss, let me give her a quick check-up." While the others remained on guard, Muller, seeing that there was no further danger, said to Ernst.

"Yes, please check it out. You've studied emergency care, you should be able to handle it," Ernst said urgently.

Muller crouched down, carefully opened her trench coat, looked around, and then froze.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get him treated!" Ernst roared when he saw his appearance, his eyes bloodshot, like a raging lion.

Muller looked at her strangely, then took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around her arm.

"You..." Ernst was about to start cursing.

Muller spoke first, "Boss, Miss Anne's injuries... don't seem to be serious."

"Bullshit!" Ernst shouted excitedly, stretching out his blood-soaked hand. "Didn't you see she's bleeding a lot? Didn't you see she's already unconscious?"

"I saw it with my own eyes; the bullet went into her body."

"But there are no bullet wounds on her body," Muller replied.

Ernst was stunned when he heard this.

He quickly lowered his head and carefully examined Anne's body.

Sure enough, apart from a bleeding wound on her left arm, there were no bullet holes on her chest, abdomen, or other vital areas, and her clothes were not stained with blood.

Then, their gazes fell simultaneously on the pocket watch on Annie's chest.

The surface of the pocket watch was no longer smooth; instead, a deep dent had appeared, and in the center of the dent, a trace of black gunpowder remained.

"It must have been this pocket watch that stopped the bullet," Muller analyzed, following the traces. "After the bullet hit the pocket watch, the impact was cushioned by the watch and its direction was changed."

"The wound on her left arm was probably caused by the bullet changing direction. Although she bled a lot, it was not a serious fatal wound."

He carefully examined the location of the wound and slowly said, "It's very likely that the bone wasn't broken."

"Then why did she faint?" Ernst was still worried, his brows furrowed.

Muller pondered for a moment and finally came to the conclusion, "It's probably from being frightened."

Ernst looked down at Anne in his arms and examined her carefully again. Seeing that there was only one wound on her arm, he was instantly relieved.

Then, his face turned icy cold, terrifyingly dark, and he asked without a trace of warmth, "How is the assailant?"

"Two were killed, and one had a bullet hole in his shoulder, but he's under control," Muller replied.

Ernst slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, his eyes were filled with coldness. "When the police arrive, tell them that there were only two criminals at the scene, and that they have both been killed."

Muller immediately understood Ernst's meaning: he wanted to find out the identity of the mastermind from this survivor.

Hand it over to the police; the outcome is obvious.

"And one more thing." Ernst's gaze returned to Anne's pale face. "Inform Daphne to arrange a private clinic. I need it completely secluded. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Don't worry, boss, I'll take care of it."