Homo Sapiens

Kalaqua Island.

"Boss, this is the latest intelligence report from Yang Mengjiao." Phil handed him a thick file.

Li Qingye began to read through it carefully.

At the end of February, the Qingye Group’s Hongsawaddy branch, led by Ma Chi, Liu Zhifan, and Yang Mengjiao, had gradually made its way to Yangon City in Hongsawaddy through various channels.

After more than two months of effort, they first established a branch office in Yangon City before moving on to Hongsawaddy’s southernmost province, Deline Province, to begin investing and building.

The current headquarters was established in the provincial capital, Tuwah District, and they had also purchased several small islands in the region.

Yang Mengjiao had already successfully handled both the legal and illegal local powers. A small place like this was indeed very easy to infiltrate.

The second division’s current mission was to continue its low-key development for a while, build up the Qingye Group’s glass and cement industries, and simultaneously increase its infiltration of Hongsawaddy.

「In the Tuwah District.」

The Qingye Group, having directly acquired a large number of buildings, designated a five-story building as its temporary headquarters.

Within their internal division of labor, Liu Zhifan was responsible for business and some internal management, Ma Chi handled technology and another part of internal management, and Yang Mengjiao was in charge of internal supervision while also coordinating with the Security Department’s infiltration efforts.

Normally, Yang Mengjiao was elusive, rarely seen by anyone.

Currently in the conference room were Liu Zhifan, Ma Chi, and four other Spider Web Managers.

"Zhi Fan, has that batch of grinding equipment arrived yet?" Ma Chi asked.

Liu Zhifan nodded. "It’s at Tuwah Port. Installation and calibration will be completed within half a month. It’s all specialized equipment custom-ordered from Huaguo."

"I’ve also finished three test-model cultivation tanks on my end. Production is currently going well and meeting all technical specifications." As Ma Chi spoke, he pulled up data from a bio-computer and projected it onto the [Butterfly Screen].

The Butterfly Screen, affixed to the conference room wall, displayed photos of the cultivation tanks.

Meanwhile, the head of the Craftsmanship Department took out several boxes containing recently produced glass products.

The products from the three cultivation tanks differed based on their designated gene sequences.

They were: glass bottles, flat glass, and tempered glass products.

Ma Chi explained, "Flat glass is the simplest to produce and has the shortest cultivation time. This glass is slightly harder than the flat glass on the market, but its other physical and chemical properties are basically the same."

Through a series of photos of the cultivation tank, everyone could see the entire cultivation process for flat glass.

Filtered seawater was pumped into the cultivation tank, followed by the addition of a suitable amount of silicon dioxide powder and other auxiliary materials (such as colorants, modifiers, and clarifying agents).

Once all the raw materials were added, the water temperature was maintained between 35.8 and 37.2 degrees Celsius. Finally, a special hormone and nutrient solution were introduced, causing the glass sponge to rapidly enter a growth state.

After 45 hours, the glass at the bottom of the tank would reach a thickness of 5 millimeters. The raw materials would be almost completely consumed, leaving only some waste fluid and living sponge cells.

A grasping device was used to remove the glass, and the sponge cells adhering to its surface were cleaned off. Just like that, a 3-by-3-meter sheet of flat glass, 5 millimeters thick, was complete.

As for the sponge cells in the cultivation tank, apart from the mother culture at the bottom, all remaining living cells were removed to be used as raw material for methane fermentation.

The waste fluid was essentially just seawater with low nutrient and salt content, so it could be discharged directly into the ocean.

Freshwater could also be used for production, but doing so would increase costs. After all, freshwater isn’t as cheap as seawater, and using it would require supplementing other elements, further raising the cost.

However, the advantage of the low-temperature glass technology was its incredibly low production cost.

Ma Chi continued his presentation. "Based on our tests, the cost of low-temperature glass is mainly concentrated in the nutrient solution, hormones, and grinding the silicon dioxide powder. The equipment costs are far lower than for high-temperature glass."

"How much lower than high-temperature glass?" Liu Zhifan was very concerned about this.

"The cost is 85 to 96 percent lower. This means we can initially hit the entire Southeast Asia and South Asia glass markets with low prices."

Liu Zhifan noted down the data. "What about the glass bottles and tempered glass?"

"Glass bottles with specific shapes have a slightly higher cost than flat glass. Tempered glass requires secondary processing and adjustments to the raw materials, so its cost is about 50 to 60 percent that of ordinary tempered glass," Ma Chi said, rattling off the figures with ease.

The others also reported on the situation in their respective departments.

Because the production processes for low-temperature glass and Coral Cement were quite different from traditional technologies, they not only reduced energy consumption but also significantly decreased the amount of equipment needed on the production line.

For example, the low-temperature glass production line only required cultivation tanks, injection machines, grasping machines, water pumps, filtration pools, water temperature regulators, post-production cell cleaning machines, conveyor belts, cutting stations, and equipment for quarrying and grinding quartz.

The production line for Coral Cement was similar.

Near Tuwah Port, the Qingye Group had cordoned off a 50,000-mu plot of wasteland and simultaneously acquired the mining rights for local quartz, limestone, and other minerals.

They planned to build a cement and glass production base here, using the convenient transport links of Tuwah Port to export glass products to South Asia and Southeast Asia.

However, Liu Zhifan understood that foreign trade exports depended on cost-effectiveness and opportunity. Many companies already had their own suppliers and wouldn’t switch overnight just because the Qingye Group offered lower prices.

But in the local Hongsawaddy market, the small glass factories were absolutely no match for the Qingye Group.

But he didn’t want to rely solely on glass and cement. After listening to everyone’s reports, Liu Zhifan presented a plan of his own. "I intend to enter the beverage industry. The fast-moving consumer goods sector is even better."

"Fast-moving consumer goods? Beverages?" Ma Chi’s brows furrowed. He really didn’t know much about that field.

Liu Zhifan smiled and reminded him, "We have an advantage that other beverage companies don’t—a huge one."

"The glass bottles?" Ma Chi realized.

"Yes, the glass bottles. Do you know why glass bottles were phased out in favor of plastic? It’s because of the difference in production costs. Glass bottles are heavier than plastic ones and break easily, but the key factor is still the cost."

Liu Zhifan pulled up a document and displayed it on the screen.

"This shows the cost difference between glass and plastic bottles. Although recycling can reduce some of the cost for glass bottles, the cost of traditional glass bottles remains high."

He then brought up another document. "This is the current market cost for packaging. Whether it’s plastic bottles or Tetra Paks, the cost is not low."

"It really isn’t." This was the first time Ma Chi had realized that the packaging for a carton of milk could account for 20 to 30 percent of its retail price.

Liu Zhifan said, full of confidence, "But our production cost for glass bottles is much lower than even plastic bottles. Even if we just sell mineral water, we can crush the competition."

"Sell mineral water?" The head of the Craftsmanship Department considered it and realized the process for mineral water wasn’t difficult. They would only need to import a set of water treatment equipment and a production line for tinplate bottle caps, and they could basically assemble a mineral water production line.

When the time came, they could start a price war, crush their competitors in Hongsawaddy, and then use their technological and price advantages to storm the entire Southeast Asian market. They could completely dominate a segment of the beverage industry.

Soon, Ma Chi and the others agreed with Liu Zhifan’s beverage strategy.

They would compile all of this information and report it back to the main headquarters on a regular basis.