Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

It's not like recording is strictly prohibited at a science expo. It would be strange if someone attending such a scientific event didn't have a camera on them or their entourage. However, because the camera contained photos of Kal'tsit exclaiming "Wow!", Wayne didn't dare entrust it to Kal'tsit for safekeeping, lest it disappear without a trace.

After placing the camera into the locker in front of Loken Williams, Wayne shrugged at Kal'tsit. It didn't matter much without the camera; he didn't expect Loken Williams to be foolish enough to hand him evidence anyway.

He could have come alone, but now he's accompanied by Kal'tsit. To avoid damaging his outstanding image in his teacher's eyes, Loken Williams' caution has to be at least doubled. There's no need to hold out too much hope; the real evidence is the child named Fiona beside Himer, and what's in her mind. This is just supplementary.

"Where would you like to visit first?"

Loken Williams took the initiative to ask, and since he didn't call his secretary or any dedicated clerical staff, he probably intended to act as the guide himself, as he had said.

Wayne wasn't very familiar with the company's internal functional divisions, so he could only turn to Kal'tsit, who was more knowledgeable in this area. Kal'tsit considered it for a moment and said:

"Let's go to the production department first. If Mr. Wayne wants to invest, it would be best to show him the company's current production situation first."

Wayne nodded, indicating that he would do as Kal'tsit said.

It must be said that although Kal'tsit was completely unaware of the truth, her cooperation with Wayne was surprisingly seamless. Their act was quite well-executed. Loken Williams seemed to have absolutely no suspicion of Wayne. Seeing that both Wayne and Kal'tsit nodded, he turned around and led the way:

"Then let's go this way."

The corridors of Loken Water Tank were very quiet, and the soundproofing of each department's rooms was excellent. There was no Rhine Labs's Miss Manager who was always running back and forth in the corridors. The thing Wayne saw most along the way was the sweeping robot that was shuttling back and forth.

Unfortunately, there were no unexpected surprises, such as encountering a raw girl trying to escape from the laboratory along the way. Wayne and his group quickly arrived at the production workshop.

Wien's first impression of the place was its modernity.

Fully automated robotic arms, production lines, and packaging lines require only a small number of employees to supervise key work positions, enabling large-scale, high-efficiency product production. If one had to give an example, Wayne had only seen such a scenario in his previous life during news broadcasts, when reporters interviewed the production workshops of large state-owned enterprises.

At that time, he was separated from the production vehicle in the video by a dining table, a bowl of rice, several dishes, and a television screen. But now, he is in the middle of it all, becoming the reporter being watched by himself outside the television screen.

Joseph Pulitzer has secretly infiltrated the Loken tank.

Loken Williams was very enthusiastic. He took Wayne down into the workshop and led him to the end of a production line, specifically the packaging line. Small glass bottles, already filled, were neatly arranged in a row at the end of the conveyor belt, then placed in shock-absorbing foam, into boxes bearing the Loken Water Tank logo, and then precisely dispensed into cardboard boxes below by robotic arms.

Before Wayne could ask a question, Loken Williams spoke up:

"This is the production line for Oripathy Suppressant. Locken Water Tank's Oripathy Suppressant, Wall, is currently the best Oripathy Suppressant on the market. For Oripathy patients, it can effectively suppress the continuous rise in Originium infection rate. Although it cannot cure the disease, it can allow users to have a lifespan no less than that of a normal person. For non-infected individuals, it also has a good anti-infection effect. After use, it can ensure that even if you work in a moderately polluted mining area for more than eight hours, there is an 80% chance that you will not be infected."

It sounds like it works well, but it's much weaker than Rhine Life's groundbreaking Oripathy inhibitor Saver. At least in the moderate to severe stratification, Ironwall is already at a disadvantage.

No wonder, it seems that this inhibitor only has one production line. They probably knew they couldn't compete with RheinLife in the market, so they cut production lines in advance to cut losses.

However, there are advantages to less effective results, such as a lower price. Wayne then asked curiously:

"How much does this inhibitor cost?"

"Are you worried about his profits? This inhibitor sells for 150,000 per vial, which is 15 times the price of the main products circulating in the market. Profits are absolutely guaranteed."

Wayne stumbled, grabbing for support against a nearby pillar. Trying hard to suppress his surprise, he asked:

"How many?"

"150,000 per tube."

"Who can afford this?"

Loken Williams thought Wayne was joking and laughed.

"Of course, some people can afford it. We're targeting the high-end market. Wealthy people who are willing to prolong the lives of their family members infected with Oripathy won't care whether the inhibitor costs 150,000 or 50,000. Ordinary people won't even look at our inhibitors. Inhibitors that cost 10,000 per dose on the market are already a luxury for them. For most of them, it's more practical to kick them out than to support someone who needs a luxury injection every week and whose social status and family conditions will plummet."

Chapter Thirty-One: Was I the Real Culprit?

Oripathy suppressants were never intended for the poor. Loken Williams had no interest in earning the meager sums from the pockets of the poor. As he put it, Oripathy suppressants were luxury goods, targeting the high-end markets of various countries, and only wealthy businessmen, politicians, and warlords could afford them.

If an ordinary person contracts Oripathy, and they have some savings, they might buy a common medicine costing 10,000 yuan per dose to prolong their life, then wait to die destitute after exhausting their savings. If they only have enough to eat and can't afford it, they might as well skip the medicine altogether and just wait to die.

Loken Williams showed no sympathy for them, because even with such high prices, the inhibitors were still in short supply at the lower levels, while at the higher levels, there was no demand. Even though Loken Tank Labs had reduced its inhibitor production to just one production line, they were still losing money.

Because the needs of those at the top are really too few.

Surely no one really thinks that the top echelons of the country, political figures at all levels, and the wealthiest people, along with their families, would be so easily infected with Oripathy?

The upper and lower classes are always separated; some suffer from drought, while others are flooded. The Oripathy inhibitors, sold to powerful figures, are mostly not because their families have problems, but to satisfy some particular fetish. As for what those fetishes are, Loken Williams has no interest in, nor is he willing to, find out.

Selling to the lower classes was impossible. Besides being a scientist, he was also a capitalist. How could a capitalist give things to the poor at a loss?

Research and development, production, and marketing all cost money. Even if costs are reduced to the bare minimum, and profits are so thin that they barely cover basic living expenses, the price is still several times higher than those adulterated vaccines on the market. At this price, the poor still cannot afford it, and they will still buy cheaper, inferior inhibitors. After all, they are trying to survive, and no one can criticize their frugality or lack of self-care.

However, excessively low prices would offend the upper class. For them, everything is about status and comparison. For instance, while digital watches are clearly more convenient than handcrafted watches, and smartwatches can even make calls, the nobility still prefer expensive, and not necessarily practical, handcrafted watches from Letania. This is what's called "refined taste." The same applies to inhibitors. They must distance themselves from "ordinary people" to flaunt their nobility, so they would undoubtedly reject an inhibitor priced so low as to cater to the lower classes.

In this way, charities that price high-value items at low prices not only fail to gain the support of the lower classes but also lose access to the upper-class market. How could Loken Williams possibly do something that pleases neither side and offends both?

To put it bluntly, even if he poured all the inhibitors into the Great Lakes, he would never be so kind as to distribute them to ordinary people.

But Wayne couldn't accept this approach.

Even if he didn't accept it, he had to admit that what Loken Williams said did have some merit.

Sold to the poor, but the poor can't afford it, resulting in extremely low sales and losses.

Sold to the rich, but the rich don't need them, resulting in extremely low sales and losses.

This is still a relatively good situation. The real fear is that unscrupulous merchants will buy up all the inhibitors sold at low prices and then resell them at high prices. Not only will ordinary people not benefit at all, but the companies that sold them at low prices will also receive huge negative reviews for their good intentions. History has already proven one thing: ordinary people absolutely cannot compete with scalpers.

You can't expect capitalists to have a kind heart; they only think about making money. Market transactions are far more complicated than ordinary people think. Even Rhodes Island in the future, isn't it also using low-priced Oripathy suppression services to maneuver among the nations, attracting the surrender of many infected and the help of some powerful forces?

The difference is that Rhodes Island inherited Theresa's legacy, at least retaining a good initial intention. Although they made their operators work 996 (9am-9pm, 6 days a week), they were generally doing good. But what about the others? Those scalpers who bought up large quantities of high-quality vaccines at low prices—if they wanted to use this to recruit infected people, would they possibly be doing anything good?

Wayne felt that they couldn't place their hopes on their conscience.

It's time to overthrow the capitalists; once communism is established, these problems will be solved.

But this idea could only remain in Wayne's mind; it would be at least a century before it could be put into practice. Wayne couldn't possibly change his own destiny, after all, if he lost this identity, he wouldn't be able to save Terra with the Red Flag, let alone protect those around him.

"I've heard that Rhine Lab recently developed an Oripathy inhibitor, which they named Saver."

Loken Williams sneered, his voice filled with disdain. To tip the scales in Wayne's mind, he bluntly stated:

"They still portray themselves as saviors; they're not far from their doom."

Wayne is Kelsey's husband, so it's good to explain this to him beforehand to avoid him giving money to a company that's about to go bankrupt. Loken Williams felt he was being kind.

But Wayne was stunned when he heard this. He turned his head and was about to ask why when suddenly the string in his mind snapped and a chill ran through him.

Was everything Rhine Lab did exactly what he had just thought about and what he had said to Loken Williams?

"During his presentation at the technology expo, he said they would sell their inhibitors at 1.5 times the market price, probably hoping to rely on high volume and low price to maintain profitability."

Kal'tsit frowned, crossed her arms, and said...

"But that's clearly impossible. They haven't figured out their target audience. No miner is qualified to enter a technology expo. And the owners of the mining companies participating in the expo wouldn't be foolish enough to offer such a benefit to their employees. On the contrary, to prevent this news from leaking and causing unrest among civilians and workers, they would unite to attack Rhine Life, either forcing them to raise the price of inhibitors, thus eliminating the poor people's hopes, or causing them to suffer excessive losses and go bankrupt. These things..."

As Kal'tsit spoke, her gaze drifted to Wayne, a hint of doubt appearing on her face. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Clearly, what she was trying to say was, "Didn't you bring these things up at the shareholders' meeting?"

The answer was, of course, no. Wayne was so caught up in the shock and joy that Rhine Lab was actually a good company that he didn't think about it in detail at all. In fact, even if he had thought about it, he might not have been able to come up with these things. He wasn't Kal'tsit, who "knew a little about" everything. Business warfare was clearly not his area of ​​expertise.

He only knows how to imitate Wang Duoyu, throwing money around, and at most, he can offer some future development directions based on his advanced thinking and historical foresight. He knows nothing about how to operate or how to sell.

Wien's talent lies in theoretical innovation and institutional construction, rather than practical handling. This is why he angered Vina but did not help her with governance. On the one hand, he wanted to cultivate independence, and on the other hand, he was simply not up to the task.

Now, thanks to a casual remark from Kelsey and Loken Williams, Wayne suddenly realized what was going on.

As a company, Rhine Life Sciences is recklessly speeding down the road to self-destruction.

No, we have to stop them!

Wayne was about to say goodbye, but then stopped himself from speaking.

Stop them, what?

Isn't Rhine Lab's approach actually for the benefit of both the infected and ordinary people? Isn't it also profiting for both the infected and ordinary people? Now that they've stopped them, told them what might happen afterward, and awakened these young people chasing their dreams, what will they gain?

A group of well-trained capitalists?

The person who turned Rhine Lab into what it is today was actually Wayne himself?

Wayne could not accept this ending, nor did he want to see Rhine Life headed towards that end.

What should we do next?

Wayne fell into deep thought. He sensed an opportunity. Rhine Life's self-destructive actions had already begun, and to save them now, it would probably require some unconventional methods.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Kal'tsit's "Storybook"

During the rest of the visit, Wayne seemed somewhat distracted. Perhaps noticing his senior apprentice's absent-mindedness, Loken Williams cast a questioning glance at Kal'tsit. Kal'tsit, of course, knew what was catching Wayne's attention and offered to explain:

"He just came from Victoria, and he's probably having trouble adjusting to the new environment. He probably didn't get enough rest last night."

Loken Williams shrugged indifferently, thinking it unnecessary to worry about whether Kal'tsit was telling the truth or not. The adult world was used to people saying goodnight before starting their nightlife. Even if they bumped into each other unexpectedly in a brightly lit bar, they would just clink glasses lightly and not undermine each other.

Furthermore, Loken Williams didn't believe that Kal'tsit's obviously fabricated excuses contained any truth mixed in, such as the matter of his mentor not sleeping well last night...

If we calculate based on the year he graduated, Professor Kal'tsit must be at least in her forties now. Right in the middle of life, as biology has proven, is the age when Felin is at its most sexually frustrated...

That's all for today. I wish you happiness.

As Loken Williams spoke, he added sincerely,

"I also wish my senior uncle good health."

Kal'tsit glanced at him questioningly, thought for a moment, but decided not to correct Locken Williams' strange word order—she hadn't been a teacher for many years.

..........

Guided, or rather, monitored by security guards, Wayne and Kal'tsit did not get lost in the complex environment inside the Loken Water Tank Laboratory and walked out without any hindrance.

After helping Wayne, who was pretending to be unwell, walk a block, Kal'tsit finally let go of Wayne's arm. The two tacitly avoided mentioning the exercise that had just taken place and went straight to the point.

Kal'tsit stared straight ahead, her attention fixed on Wayne, and asked:

"Are you very worried about Rhine Life? Didn't you raise those issues at the shareholders' meeting?"

Wayne sighed and shook his head:

"Of course I'm worried. After all, it's my money (even though it's from a PUA Lateran). Besides, I have some... other expectations for him."

"As for the shareholders' meeting, I did not bring up those things you mentioned at the meeting. In fact, I only just realized the implications of that."

Kal'tsit snorted coldly: "Who told you not to let me listen in back then?"

Wayne glared at him back: "Who was so clever as to send themselves into the lounge?"

Kal'tsit blushed; this incident would likely become a major stain on her long life.