Progress in Africa was slow. Just getting the land ready would take at least ten days or half a month.
Fortunately, T'Chaka had now placed the Atlas Group's operations as top priority, like a wife eager to register her marriage to lock down her husband's assets.
But unlike that kind of cynical example, T'Chaka's support wasn't just verbal or symbolic. Thanks to his efforts, the African Union's banks had started releasing large amounts of funds. Much of this money flowed into the market to hire the limited number of engineering teams, machinery, and labor.
It could be said this king had a great deal of confidence in the benefits Atlas Group could bring. Because with this kind of aggressive investment, if the bet turned out to be a dud, it would blow up sooner or later.
Transporting goods would still take time, but land preparation had already begun, and this was with government-backed upfront funding. This kind of treatment was truly top-tier.
T'Chaka's hunger for high technology was extreme. So that very evening, he gave his reply.
[T'Chaka: Leo, we've made our decision. We agree to include brain-computer interface (BCI) technology in our national healthcare program.]
[T'Chaka: But our people might be strongly resistant to this kind of mechanical technology.]
[Leo: Don't worry, that's not a problem.]
Even if the African Union held strong influence among the public, suddenly ordering people to get BCIs installed—being commanded, guided, and directed—would naturally cause resistance.
But when presented with a good job opportunity, various desires, needs, and ambitions would eventually push qualified people to install brain-computer interfaces.
Leo's business car slowly drove toward the Blume Corporation Tower
This building was located across the street from the Lee Financial Building. Its previous occupant was a securities firm that had gone bankrupt under multiple blows. The property went up for auction and was snapped up by Martin. Now, it was filled with Blume's servers.
Martin had already purchased most of the nearby real estate. The street was full of Lee Financial Group employees, and Inner Demon Security guards patrolled like police officers from inside vehicles, alert and watchful.
What you could see with the naked eye was only part of it. The streets were covered in cameras, and drones regularly passed overhead, monitoring the area.
These experimental security measures had sparked some external debate, but the people working and living here were all insiders. No one raised objections.
Combined with the highest-sensitivity ctOS surveillance system, unless an infiltrator had stealth-based superpowers, there was absolutely no way to escape detection.
Even Nick Fury, the king of spies, couldn't get through—let alone his sidekicks.
[Skye: Boss, there's a car that's been tailing you openly since Jackson Avenue. Are they planning to hit you with a machine gun ambush or what?]
[Skye: Should we call the cops, or just take care of them ourselves?]
[Leo: We're a legitimate company! No "taking care" of anyone!]
[Skye: Got it. They've connected their phone to the network. Where should we have them wait?]
An image was transmitted to Leo's cyber modulator. Clearly, whoever was in the car had no intention of hiding their approach—
At least, not from Leo.
Inside the car was a woman—great figure, flaming red lips, fiery red hair.
She looked into the cameras whenever she had the chance. The message was obvious—she wanted to talk.
Strong anti-surveillance awareness, clear intent to communicate—felt like Black Widow.
[Leo: The one without an interface device? Have two people watch her. Deploy the exoskeleton patrol team.]
[Skye: Got it.]
Leo's car came to a smooth stop at the building entrance. He stepped out and walked into the Blume Corporation Tower.
Security here was composed of the elite from Inner Demon Security. Their motivations and mental states had all been rigorously vetted by Martin. Every guard had a brain-computer interface and was equipped with an exoskeleton—each one was worth two in a fight.
Black Widow's car pulled up. She quickly exited and walked toward Leo, planning to use her unbeatable charm to strike up a conversation—
Only to be immediately stopped by security at the door and directed to another entrance.
She gave the guard a sultry look, but he just stared at her like she was a lump of meat. Completely unbothered.
This was something that puzzled S.H.I.E.L.D., too—why were Inner Demon Security's personnel so immune to distraction?
Left with no choice, she followed the guard through the alternate entrance into the building.
"Wait a second—why is a security guard escorting me?" Black Widow suddenly asked. "Doesn't your company have any business reps?"
"No," the guard shook his head. "Blume Corporation is an information company. We place the highest priority on information security in the industry."
A complete non-answer.
Black Widow fell silent.
In the hallway, several AVG-guided carts were moving along marked lines on the floor.
These vehicles transported various hardware components. Each cart was equipped with multifunctional robotic arms, so they weren't just for logistics—they were also operational robots.
Most repetitive physical tasks in the company had already been replaced by robots. The few remaining tasks that couldn't yet be automated were handled by Inner Demon Security personnel.
As for core network operations—
Only Skye worked on that, managing everything through the network.
In the central control room, the walls were covered with unevenly sized screens forming a massive wall display. Skye sat alone in front of it all.
This scene reminded Leo of those real full-time hackers from the network surveillance training textbooks. After getting a brain-computer interface, they could essentially become one with the machine. With a few automated systems injecting them with nutrient fluids, they wouldn't even need to move.
But the bodies of these hackers were usually in bad shape — the accelerated processing in shallow or deep interface pods would speed up energy metabolism, and prolonged lack of exercise would cause muscle atrophy, resulting in serious sub-health conditions.
Even without using neural interface equipment, typical shut-ins would still become obese or overly thin due to a lack of physical activity.
However—
Skye spun her chair around with a slice of bread still in her mouth. Judging by both appearance and her medical report, she was in excellent health—
A born shut-in blessed body!
As she spoke, her hands didn't stop moving across the keyboard, giving the impression that she wished she had more hands.
With a keen eye, Leo noticed several screens beside her were all open to forums—
Network maintenance was highly automated, so the main reason Skye was this busy was because she enjoyed trolling people online.
"Boss, this place is amazing, way better than the hellhole I used to live in!"
This wasn't just a server room — the adjacent room was Skye's personal living space.
Out of respect for his employees, Leo didn't pry into the details of her room. Regardless, it was clear she enjoyed both working and living here.
Since the founding of Blume Company, ctOS had already covered more than half of New York.
Normally, deploying such an advanced public safety system in chaotic neighborhoods would be a challenge, but this time, there hadn't been much resistance.
Meanwhile, several Californian cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, had already begun rolling out the system. Its effectiveness at maintaining public order was simply too great — even politicians who had beef with Leo had to admit it was amazing.
"I'm glad you like it. This time, we've got a new project — we're going to establish a transcontinental dedicated line with Wakanda."
"That serious?" Skye asked, then turned and typed a big phrase on the screen:
Where is Wakanda?
It may sound exaggerated, but for internet-illiterate African nations like this, even well-educated Americans often couldn't immediately identify them.
"Uh… Africa? They even have internet?"
"Not only do they have internet, they're getting a dedicated line — a fully-funded undersea fiber-optic cable connecting them directly."
"And we're installing ctOS for them?" Skye asked, chewing her bread in confusion. "Seriously? They can't even feed themselves — how can ctOS help?"
"It's not for that. This cable is for open-sourcing some technologies to them, like brain-computer interfaces."
"Brain-computer interfaces?!"
"Yeah, brain-computer interfaces. We have to quickly spread these technologies within our own camp to shorten education cycles."
"But…" Skye's eyes shifted. "They probably can't afford much in patent fees, right? We're giving it away?"
"Free and open-source. Promoting standards and expanding foundational tech is what matters. If you want to learn the business side of this, you can take your time, but—"
A blue glow flickered in Leo's cybernetic eye. "Look at the screen. We're linking to their equipment now."
Half-skeptical, half-convinced, Skye looked at the screen.
On the giant wall of monitors, streams of data rapidly flickered, quickly turning into indecipherable code she couldn't understand!
And through the whole process, Leo merely raised his head slightly.
Skye's heart began pounding faster — she had long suspected her boss had some kind of superpower.
A dimensional pocket? Telepathic hacking? She had no proof… until now!
Her boss was finally revealing his true nature!
She turned to him and saw his glowing eye, unmistakable.
"That's amazing!"
[Device connected. Welcome to the Wakanda Royal Line.]
[Shuri: Welcome to Wakanda, Mr. Lee.]
Skye ignored the screen's contents and grabbed Leo's hand excitedly. "God!"
Leo flicked her hand away: "God, my ass. You want to learn this?"
"Huh? You can learn that?"
Leo pulled a chip from his brain-computer interface — the Parallel Line Type-2, a piece of military tech he'd been using from the start.
It was still in excellent condition and could now be passed on.
Then, Leo summoned over a different chip — the Raven Microcyber Type-4 Dock Chip.
[Cross-material transfer:R aven Microcyber Type-4 Dock Chip]
[Tech Points -2700]
[Current Tech Points: 8000]
He shook the chip, and it gleamed under the screen's glow, catching Skye's full attention.
It was time to give this little network admin some company perks.
End of Chapter 319