America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

Chapter 96 The Same Technical Direction

After saying all that, Chen Yuan shook his head and sighed, "Although Adrian's approach sounds a bit like a Ponzi scheme, his project already has a feasibility report and even has Dr. Berg's personal endorsement, so many students with money will probably choose to join in."

Kevin, standing nearby, added, "Yeah, I heard the college plans to package Adrian's project as a benchmark for student entrepreneurship, so even if they do some underhanded things, as long as it's not too outrageous, the school will just turn a blind eye."

"Let's ignore Adrian for now and get our own project going."

Chen Yuan looked at Arthur beside him and continued, "Our team's next research goal will be to use your high-temperature curing enzyme technology as a breakthrough. What do you think?"

Arthur's expression brightened, after all, he certainly hoped to continue his previous research in the new team.

However, Mina Hoshino noticed a crucial point: "Arthur, you just mentioned that your 'high-temperature curing enzyme' and Adrian's 'biological lipid blocking enzyme' both originate from blocking enzymes extracted from papaya—doesn't that mean you two are researching the same thing?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan and Kevin both wore solemn expressions.

After all, Adrian had Dr. Berg's endorsement and had assembled a formidable technical team.

If both parties have the same research approach, the other party is very likely to produce results first!

Wouldn't Arthur's research be rendered useless in the end?

Arthur, his face flushed, said angrily, "We are indeed studying the same thing!"

"It was Dr. Berg who, after reading my paper and research report, saw the project as profitable and handed it over to Adrian!"

Chen Yuan and the others suddenly realized what was going on.

It is commonplace on American university campuses for professors to use their privileges to forcibly strip a student of their research findings and give them to a more valuable student to publish.

Perhaps it was because Dr. Berg felt that Adrian, in terms of both appearance and eloquence, was more suitable to be packaged as an "elite college student entrepreneur".

Arthur is already overweight, so it would be difficult for investors to believe him if he went to Wall Street to give a presentation and said he had developed a "miracle weight-loss drug".

Arthur let out a heavy sigh and continued, "Dr. Berg, in order to gain more profit, proposed to turn this enzyme-blocking agent into a drug for people to swallow. However, this research direction is extremely difficult."

"In contrast, the route I'm taking is to coat the surface of food with the blocking enzyme as a food additive, which is much easier."

Chen Yuan immediately realized the difference between the two.

The difficulty of using the same technology to make medicines for humans to eat and additives for food is worlds apart.

Of course, if a "miracle weight-loss drug" could really be created, the profits would certainly be much greater than those from ordinary food additives.

"In other words, if your food additive project can be launched first, you can get a head start and obtain a patent for this 'blocking enzyme'?"

Arthur nodded, then said resentfully, "That's why I must persist with this research; I can't let Adrian steal my hard work!"

Seeing the flames of revenge burning in Arthur's eyes, Chen Yuan also felt a sense of anticipation for this project.

After all, if we can use this technology to get rid of Rongdingge's reputation for being "high in oil and fat", it will definitely be a great benefit!

Moreover, while drugs for human consumption are easier to package and market, they are more difficult to develop, and the FDA clinical approval process alone involves many steps.

Food additives are much simpler, and the process of going to market can be completed in as little as a few months.

Therefore, Arthur is not entirely without a chance.

Moreover, Chen Yuan also has the system as a cheat code.

So he finally made up his mind: "It's common for different teams to have conflicting research directions. There's no need to lose confidence just because they have more resources. Maybe we'll be the first to achieve results?"

Seeing that Chen Yuan had said so, Arthur immediately nodded emphatically: "Alright! I'll send you a copy of the existing research data. Who knows, we might make some new discoveries!"

As Chen Yuan had predicted, that very evening, multiple listings for the transfer of Adrian LBX early partner positions appeared on the external Discord community of the USc School of Life Sciences.

Although the post was titled "transfer," it was actually an auction.

The spot, which was originally capped at $10,000, was directly marked as starting at $15,000.

However, such an outrageous price did not dampen the enthusiasm of smart people.

In just one hour, this spot was sold for $20,000!

Around midnight, an anonymous student stepped in and spent $50,000 to finally secure the spot!

The news caused a sensation among students in the School of Life Sciences.

After all, rich people aren't stupid. Since they chose to spend $50,000 to buy a spot, it means that Adrian's LBX project is indeed promising!

If this project successfully secures venture capital from Wall Street, it could be worth millions or even tens of millions of dollars.

At that time, the LBX early partner slots will instantly translate into a commercial value of $50,000, thus fulfilling the targets set by the School of Life Sciences' "Spark Program".

After figuring this out, the second and third early partner slots were sold one after another, and the transaction prices were all over $50,000!

After all, the target for the "Spark Program" is $50,000, so spending the same amount of money to achieve that target is definitely not a loss.

Although the early partner slots for the LBX project on Discord were all sold by anonymous users, it's easy to guess that Adrian himself put these slots up for auction.

Maybe even the anonymous seller is Adrian's own account.

Adrian's real goal was to maximize the profits from his project, which is why he used an auction to sell the slots at the highest possible price.

Some people even went so far as to resell his spot at a higher price to more anxious buyers, creating a financial bubble in the primary derivatives market.

"Chen, it seems Adrian's appetite is bigger than we thought."

Almost simultaneously, Chen Yuan received a message from Vivian, clearly indicating that the student council was also paying attention to this matter.

"A group of people who claim to be the smartest STEM brains in the country have actually treated a PowerPoint project that hasn't even completed animal testing as a Wall Street stock and hyped it up like crazy."

Although it was just text, Chen Yuan could perfectly imagine the mocking expression on Vivian's face at that moment.

"This is normal. With Dr. Berg's personal endorsement and this hype, it will definitely attract the attention of some venture capitalists."

"But if this project ultimately fails, the loss will not only be financial, but also the academic reputation of the entire USC."

Vivian frankly expressed her concerns: "I really don't understand why the Board of Trustees would approve Dr. Berg's insane plan. What good does it do?"

At that moment, Chen Yuan was carefully reading Adrian's original paper on biological lipid blocking enzymes.

It must be admitted that Adrian is an extremely talented student. His papers are not only highly professional, but he also has a great understanding of human nature.

His description of the project's prospects in his paper would entice any investor.

So he replied, "If you only look at Adrian's paper, the project seems to be technically sound; the only thing it lacks right now is research funding and time."

"What Wall Street has no shortage of is money, but rather the ability to spend it and then make it back double. That's why Adrian and Dr. Berg were so confident that this project would fetch a good price."

"But if we fail, the school might have to cover this huge hole for them! I'm thinking, should we use anonymous accounts to buy three or four spots at a high price? If we can track the flow of funds, we might be able to catch them laundering money."

"Then, just like you did at the club that day, report them to the IRS and take them all down."

Adrian's project quota is ostensibly capped at $1, but the actual transaction price far exceeds that figure.

This extra money naturally needs to be laundered through some means.

Chen Yuan had no idea that Vivian would actually spend money to buy a few spots and then investigate Adrian's tax loopholes.

As expected of the heiress of the old Qian family, her way of solving problems is simple and brutal.

"I don't recommend you do that. Getting the IRS to come to the school to investigate could easily trigger a chain reaction."

After all, Adrian had Dr. Berg behind him, and Dr. Berg was able to push forward such a large "Spark Project" because he must have had the support of the school's higher-ups.

If the IRS were to launch a large-scale audit, the school would definitely protect Adrian at all costs.

Vivian was clearly aware of this as well.

"In that case, do you have any better suggestions?"

"Don't worry, I already have a preliminary plan."

"Tell me about it?"

You'll see when the time comes!

'

"1

Chen Yuan smiled slightly as he looked at the ellipsis sent from the other end.

Occasionally, I'll play the role of a riddle teller to whet other people's appetites.

This tastes really good.