This Alpha Is So Devoted to His Wife - Chapter 74

Lorman Palace.

“Serena, how is your work in the Galaxy Marketing Department going recently?”

Serena took a sip of her black tea and smiled in response to the Queen’s inquiry. “It hasn’t been easy. Galaxy has a lot of business, and the market supply and demand have been high lately, so it’s a bit exhausting.”

“Then, what differences do you notice between Galaxy and our domestic enterprises? I see you are particularly fond of Galaxy; you weren’t even willing to let your father arrange for you to come to Royal Pharmaceuticals last time,” the Queen said, holding a pen as if writing something, speaking in the relaxed tone of chatting with a younger relative.

Serena looked at the Queen’s usual demeanor. She was somewhat surprised that the Queen would approach her, but it suited her intentions. Hearing the question, she answered truthfully: “I joined Galaxy right after graduation. I’m not very clear about other enterprises, but what attracts me to Galaxy is not entirely its top-tier status in the industry, but its sense of cohesion. I’ve never felt such unity, not even when I participated in sports meets at school. I feel this is very different from our overall environment and the education I received growing up.”

The Queen’s pen paused. She looked at Serena, who was joining her for afternoon tea at the glass floral table. “How so?”

“We emphasize that individual freedom, rights, and interests should be respected and protected, with a stronger focus on individualism and advocating for market competition. They emphasize collectivism, where the collective interest is above personal interest. Of course, I don’t think either value is right or wrong; it just depends on the application.”

Serena leisurely ate a pastry. “I have never experienced such a strong sense of collective environment. This environment makes me very willing to dedicate myself. It gives me a great sense of honor when an objective is completed. Moreover, the leader has incredible personal charisma, which I like even more.”

The Queen had to swallow the words of persuasion she was about to utter and changed her angle. “I remember the annual salary at Royal Pharmaceuticals is quite high, around 300,000 w [Note: w likely stands for ten thousand, so 3,000,000 of the local currency].”

“Galaxy offers fourteen salaries a year, a bonus every quarter, and annual leave immediately upon joining,” Serena stated vaguely. Of course, the actual amount was only higher, never lower; Galaxy’s salary has always been its most tempting feature.

The Queen: “…” The whole market is competing, so why doesn’t Galaxy feel competitive enough? “I also heard that Galaxy caught a commercial spy last week, is that right?”

Serena smiled. “That person was an ingrate. As ‘Code Name J’ [a figure in their world] has said, those who attempt to disrupt the Secondary Differentiation Plan are highly likely to become one of the ten percent who cannot be saved one day in the future. They will be blacklisted by Galaxy, and none of the hospitals under the Galaxy Group will accept them for treatment. Currently, the only hospitals globally with this treatment technology are those under the Galaxy Group.”

“So, I think cooperating with the Galaxy Group is a very fortunate thing. Their ideas and concepts are highly advanced.”

The Queen closed her pen and didn’t reply to that statement. She placed the written letter aside, stood up, and walked to sit next to Serena at the glass table, speaking in the tone of an elder to a junior.

“Since you are working at Galaxy, you must often see Bennett, right?”

Serena knew Queen [The Queen’s name is implied to be ‘Fini’ later] was referring to Prince Bennett, who had abandoned power and wealth for love and left the royal family. She listened to the Queen’s tone. “I haven’t seen Prince Bennett visit Jacob at Galaxy.”

How dedicated Jacob was to his career was obvious to everyone at Galaxy.

The Queen, hearing this, assumed there was a rift in their relationship. She elegantly took a sip of tea and then sighed. “Well, yes. After all, their statuses are different. Bennett is the son of a Duke, accustomed to a life of privilege. I named him a Prince at a young age, and he was raised to be an heir. It’s inevitable that there are some differences in values.”

“Last year, the Galaxy Group’s annual revenue surpassed that of nearly ninety percent of countries worldwide, including ours. In that light, Prince Bennett is very discerning and far-sighted because his lover is the heir to the Galaxy Group, backed by a century-old family enterprise that is rich enough to rival a nation.”

Serena was in marketing, so these talking points came easily to her. She loved her country, but she also loved her company, and she wished for both to develop successfully.

She noticed the Queen’s expression seemed a little stiff. Her words were subtle enough. Although Serena was not a person with grand ambitions, she had experienced the social pressures of the internal competition and felt it was truly a loss for Country D to lose such a powerful partner—a backer, essentially.

“Jacob is very clever. He can calmly face wins and losses under fair competition. Setting everything else aside, although he is gentle, he is by no means easy to provoke, and the family behind him is even less so.”

The Queen challenged Serena. “Serena, do you know who you are speaking to?”

Her impression of this Duan Yeluo was complicated. At the very least, his deceiving her about having a child had greatly angered her, and now he had completely captivated Bennett to the point where he no longer wanted his family.

Serena replied, “Auntie Fini, I am not joking. From a neutral standpoint, attempting friendly cooperation is far more beneficial to us than being hostile. Last year, having a meal with Chu Yiqiao, the Chairman of the Galaxy Group, cost 3 billion. So, how would I dare to fight with Duan Yeluo for his man? I couldn’t win. Any man Duan Yeluo takes a fancy to must be an outstanding person.”

This statement seemed to slightly appease the Queen.

Just then, the office door was knocked.

The Queen saw her Chief of Staff looking somewhat serious. “Come in, Wolf. What is it?”

“The airport just informed me that a private jet belonging to the Huaxia Chu-Luo family has landed.”

The Queen’s face changed slightly. “Who has arrived?”

“The executives of the Galaxy Group under the Chu-Luo family, including Mr. Chu Yiqiao, have all arrived.”

There was one day left until the Guardian Chip press conference.

The entire group was on high alert because this was the Galaxy Group’s first independently developed chip press conference. Given the major and minor attacks the group had experienced recently, as well as foreign adversaries infiltrating their premises, everyone was extremely cautious.

As a leading enterprise in the fields of biomedicine and technology, the announcement of the Guardian Chip at a subsidiary location was equally the subject of widespread public opinion and intense scrutiny.

Similarly, this was the debut of the Galaxy Group’s next heir. Since the promotion of the Gene Defect Screening Plan for Secondary Differentiation began, the name ‘Duan Yeluo’ had appeared multiple times in major industry reports.

As controversial as the Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect Screening Plan was the time of its inception—it was proposed when Duan Yeluo was 16. Back then, implanting artificial intelligence into the Hyper-Memory Chip was a highly idealistic blueprint, but it had now been realized, and an even more stable Guardian Chip had been developed.

This meant that individuals who accepted the gene screening plan would have the highly secure, confidential, and stable Guardian Chip implanted in their bodies. The chip would read the brain upon implantation and simulate the implantee’s entire life habits in the shortest time possible.

If a secondary differentiation patient had aphasia, the Guardian Chip could vocalize the implantee’s intended meaning; if a secondary differentiation patient had blindness, the Guardian Chip could become the implantee’s eyes.

This functionality was the source of much controversy.

Some people felt there was no need to label everyone as having the potential for a secondary differentiation gene defect; they saw it as research driven by a victim mentality.

Others felt that AI already occupied too many areas of life, and if it were implanted into the human body to become another version of oneself, one wouldn’t know when they might be replaced.

But scientific research is a constant struggle of failure and innovation. Without bold risk-taking, progress is difficult.

The conference venue was the Galaxy Technology Hall. Every dozen meters along the path to the hall stood a tall, black-suited Alpha bodyguard. Every department in the hall was conducting an orderly rehearsal, with half a month’s preparation going into ensuring everything was flawless for the presentation tomorrow.

“Young CEO Duan, can you hear me?”

Duan Yeluo stood on the central steps of the audience section, looking at the agenda for the Guardian Chip press conference on the large screen. A hidden earphone in his right ear transmitted Lu Xinghe’s deep, steady, and serious voice asking the question.

“Mhm, I can hear you.”

“Then let’s review tomorrow’s procedures, including potential contingencies that might occur midway through the conference.”

Duan Yeluo: “Good.”

With that, he descended the steps, his expression calm and unhurried, and walked towards the podium.

…

“We all know that as a genetic disease that cannot be cured, prevention for Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect is especially important right now.”

The Technology Hall could accommodate nearly two thousand people. The Guardian Chip press conference was fully seated, with hundreds of media outlets from around the world, top experts, entrepreneurs, and researchers from the industry, and the successive CEOs of the Galaxy Group seated in the center.

This was also a global live broadcast, with billions of people following the chip’s unveiling.

Everyone, including the online audience, was intently watching the young man on the stage who was introducing the concept of the Guardian Chip.

The youth was wearing a well-tailored black dress shirt and trousers, his expression poised and calm behind gold-rimmed glasses. He stood steadily in the center of the stage. The high-intensity lighting and flash photography of the Technology Hall did not cause the slightest change in his demeanor.

Duan Yeluo surveyed the audience of over two thousand people, particularly the elders watching him. He continued, “In recent years, with the continuous growth of the Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect population, the world is facing a major change in the ABO population structure. We are finding that the chromosomes of the ABO population have undergone a corresponding misalignment, which leads to a greater probability of Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect individuals passing on the ailment to the next generation without knowing their own recessive gene status.”

“I believe everyone is aware from relevant information about the first global case of a secondary differentiation gene defect patient suddenly falling ill. When an individual is subjected to immense stimulation or harm, the body’s protective consciousness erupts—this is the secondary differentiation that serves as the final line of defense for self-protection.”

“When a Beta or Omega is subjected to extreme physiological or psychological harm, there is a fifty percent chance that they will undergo secondary differentiation into an Alpha under very extreme circumstances. This probability is due to the recessive, misaligned gene present in his/her chromosomes.”

“Conversely, the possibility of an Alpha undergoing secondary differentiation into a Beta or Omega is similar or greater. When subjected to external harm or pressure that they cannot resist, the feeling of avoidance and being overwhelmed can cause them to differentiate into an Omega or Beta.”

“Once secondary differentiation occurs, it causes near-devastating damage to the body. An Alpha undergoing secondary differentiation into an Omega must endure the instantaneous differentiation of the scent gland at the back of the neck and the short-term growth of the uterus, with similar processes for other gender transitions.”

“In today’s society, with increasing pressure, we are finding that the number of people with the Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect is growing. One out of every fifty people is a Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect patient, and this density is increasing. Research indicates that almost everyone carries this ‘ticking time bomb’ inside them; they just don’t know when it will explode.”

“This is why the Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect Screening Plan should be universally promoted—not to create anxiety, but to prevent this ‘bomb’ from exploding without warning, because you do not know what moment will become the fuse.” ←

“The Guardian Chip is the strongest defensive wall to block and protect Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect patients.”

Duan Yeluo turned slightly to the side.

Immediately, the lights in the Technology Hall dimmed a little. In the next moment, two cube-shaped stands slowly rose from the center stage. The cubes were adorned with the Galaxy Group’s logo pattern, and the ceiling and the floor around the edges lit up with dazzling, galaxy-like lights.

The entire Technology Hall felt as if it were situated within the Milky Way, brilliantly outshining the flashlights in the hands of all the media outlets.

Two identical young men appeared on the two enormous technological cube stands via holographic projection, like twins. Both had their eyes closed, standing on the cubes, making it difficult for the naked eye to tell the difference between them.

This sparked quiet discussion among the audience, all of whom had many questions and curiosities about the chip.

“The concept of implanting artificial intelligence into the human body is controversial for many people. If AI truly reads human data and our brains, will it completely replace the implantee, leading to concerns about the replacement of our humanity?” Duan Yeluo said. He then lightly pressed the control pen in his hand:

“Next, I will demonstrate a holographic simulation. This is our first volunteer for the Guardian Chip, Liao Mengqi. He is a survivor who developed a Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect within tens of seconds of birth, resulting in aphasia and blindness. To give everyone a more intuitive and clear view, the technician has anthropomorphized Liao Mengqi’s Guardian Chip. Let’s see how much the Guardian Chip can do for our implantee.”

In the second the words fell, with a ‘thud’ sound, the entire hall went dark, plunging into complete darkness, and the audience erupted in a murmur.

Duan Yeluo’s brain gave a loud ‘buzz.’ The hand holding the control pen instantly clenched as the fear and pressure of the darkness surged over him.

His throat bobbed.

…Oh, no.

[Baby, we just suffered a cyber attack from a foreign hacker. We are preparing to restore power now. Countdown two seconds: 2, 1…]

The lights in the Technology Hall came back on.

The incident lasted no more than two seconds, and no one knew exactly what had happened.

Duan Yeluo held the control pen, which was now damp with sweat from his grip. He adjusted his composure and calmly stated, “Please watch this holographic video clip.”

The young man on the left cube looked distressed, seeming unwell. He couldn’t see, nor could he speak, and there was no one around him.

Just then, the young man on the right opened his eyes, which glowed with a technological blue light. A transparent information box popped up next to his cheek, on which the implantee’s physical data gradually appeared, followed by a reassuring prompt. The young man’s clear voice echoed through the Technology Hall.

[Master, you have a fever. Please stand up now, walk ten steps to your left, and extend your right hand forward.]

The young man on the left, still with his eyes closed, slightly turned his face as if listening intently to the guidance from the Guardian Chip inside his body. Upon hearing it, he slowly stood up from the chair, walked ten steps to the left, and extended his right hand forward.

[Master, please grasp the fever-reducing agent on your right, tear open the small corner, and drink it.]

The blind young man followed the Guardian Chip’s instructions, grasped the fever-reducing agent on his right, felt for the tear tab on the sachet, gently ripped it open, lowered his head, and drank the agent.

[Excellent, Master. Now, please dispose of the used agent sachet into the trash receptacle on your left, walk ten steps to your right to return to the bedside, and then lie down to rest.]

Immediately afterward, another holographic video played.

It was still Liao Mengqi. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, but in the next moment, he collapsed heavily next to the bed, clearly experiencing a physical emergency.

[Drip, drip, drip—]

An urgent warning sound—this came from the Guardian Chip. The young man on the right’s eyes glowed blue, and a transparent signal box appeared next to his face. The box displayed the emergency center’s phone number and quickly transmitted the emergency situation in text form to the center.

One second later, the information box received a reply from the emergency center.

[Received.]

Two minutes later, medical personnel arrived at the scene. Under the Guardian Chip’s emergency protocol, Liao Mengqi was safely transported to the hospital and was fine.

Gasps of astonishment and quiet discussion arose from the audience.

…

While everyone was focused on the video, no one noticed that the young man standing near the light projection was drenched in sweat on his back, his hands clenched tightly at his sides in an extreme act of self-control.

This scene was completely witnessed by Lu Xinghe backstage.

The Technology Department had actually suffered several successive foreign cyber attacks. It was tricky, and clearly aimed at disrupting the press conference.

Unfortunately, the Haven Team had joined the Galaxy Group this time—they were an impenetrable wall of steel.

They quickly found the source of the attack and immediately launched a counter-attack, using the enemy’s own methods against them by invading the attacker’s network. The remaining personnel continued to maintain the network, ensuring the conference proceeded normally.

Dozens of computers were furiously clacking, running a defense measured in seconds.

Lu Xinghe raised his hand from the keyboard right after resolving the foreign attack, touching the headset on his right ear, gazing at Duan Yeluo in the spotlight on the monitor. “Baby, you did great. Flawless. Keep up the good work.”

Duan Yeluo heard the voice in his headset, which made him feel completely safe. He took a deep breath, maintaining his composure.

With Lu Xinghe, there was nothing to fear.

The two thirty-second holographic video clips were brief but shook everyone.

Duan Yeluo withdrew his gaze and looked around at everyone in the audience. “The Guardian Chip is a technology that integrates artificial intelligence and the medical functions of the Hyper-Memory Chip. Although we showed you an anthropomorphized version of the Guardian Chip, in daily life, the chip will make different intelligent adjustments based on the implantee’s condition.”

“For patients with blindness, aphasia, or even sensory disorder, the Guardian Chip will read the implantee’s brain, input text into their brain for guidance, and generate a concrete image in the implantee’s mind.”

“For patients with mobility issues who use a wheelchair, the Guardian Chip will read the implantee’s wheelchair usage habits, accurately assess the surrounding environment, and assist the implantee with mobility.”

“For all symptoms, the Guardian Chip acts as a repair mechanism, providing different needs or assistance to the implantee in the shortest possible time.”

“Similarly, the Guardian Chip is not limited to Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect patients. Like the Hyper-Memory Chip, it is suitable for everyone who needs it. Its stability, security, and privacy will be fully supervised by the Hyper-Memory Chip Cloud Service. Aside from the implantee and major medical systems, only the police can receive emergency signals; no one else has the authority to apply for access. It has a highly modern concept, but Galaxy has realized it ahead of time.”

Duan Yeluo raised his hand to adjust his gold-rimmed glasses. Holding the control pen with both hands, he was composed and dignified. He faced everyone with a gentle smile:

“I believe the Guardian Chip is not just the guardian of Secondary Differentiation Gene Defect patients; it can become the guardian angel for everyone—a guardian angel from science.”

When his words fell silent, the entire venue was momentarily quiet. Two seconds later, it erupted in thunderous applause.

A highly modern concept, a chip that perfectly combines medical means and artificial intelligence, was formally unveiled to the world for the first time, showcasing its true brilliance.

It was far more shocking than the mere concept.

Flashbulbs popped furiously, capturing every brilliant moment of this young talent.

No one could have predicted that within a day, the Guardian Chip would receive orders worth over a hundred billion from dozens of countries overnight, becoming the strongest source of revenue for the Galaxy Group’s business.

The successive CEOs of the Galaxy Group, seated in the center of the audience, watched Duan Yeluo with unreserved amazement and pride.

Behind the monitor screen.

Lu Xinghe clasped his hands, resting his chin on his knuckles, gazing at Duan Yeluo under the spotlight on the stage in the monitor. His eyes became faintly red. He patted the colleague next to him, who was exhausted from typing until his hands were burning.

“Did you see that?”

The exhausted colleague, who had given his all in the recent cyber defense, weakly replied to Lu Xinghe, “See what?”

Lu Xinghe looked at Duan Yeluo on the monitor, his eyes full of love and admiration, and choked up with tears. “My wife is glowing. I’m so moved.”

The colleagues behind him: “…”

They had used up all their energy, but their boss was still full of vigor, his eyes fixed only on his wife.

Was this the difference between one person and another?