Chapter 208: Laboratory Seven (6)

There was another scientist in the room other than Young-Joon. There was also Doctor Legion, one of the top authorities in ecology and a GSC member, who was going to work with Young-Joon on the mosquito extinction project.

“I didn’t know you were here, Doctor Legion. Nice to meet you.”

Kim Young-Hoon shook hands with Doctor Legion.

“We need an ecologist on a project of this magnitude,” Doctor Legion said.

“But what is all this?” asked Min Byung-Jin, the director of the SGSW research center.

He could barely speak as the screens surrounding him were too intimidating.

“It’s information on the population and habitat distribution of Guangdong’s thirty thousand species of biological resources and the food chain pyramid,” Young-Joon said.

“You really surprise people... I can’t believe we’re starting the meeting with such ridiculous data on display...”

The data was so vast that the Excel file, which they could flip through using the touchscreen, was neverending.

—Hagenomyia micans

—Odontomachus bauri

—Odontomachus brunneus

—Odontomachus assiniensis

.......

Tanya Manker gulped as she read the screen in front of her. She clicked on [Odontomachus bauri]. This name was a scientific name of the species, and it was a species of the trapper ant genus known domestically as trap-jaw ants.

As she clicked on it, a map of Guangdong Province appeared along with a distribution map. The red curves indicated the population, showing around thirty-eight million organisms in the Haizhou wetlands.

The developers chattered, fascinated about how Young-Joon gathered all this data. But Tanya, who was knowledgeable in ecology, wasn’t just fascinated—this was shocking data to her. Even if they studied the habitats like how Young-Joon described, it wouldn’t have been easy to generate this kind of data.

‘What kind of biology knowledge do you need to have in order to do this?’

Young-Joon approached Tanya as she was deep in thought.

“What do you think, Ms. Manker?” he asked. “Will it be possible to develop an AI that inputs these as variables? The best software developers in the country are here right now.”

Young-Joon pointed to the programmers from SG Electronics.”

“... Yes, I think it will be possible.”

“Thank you. Then...”

Click!

Yoo Song-Mi entered the room, pushing a cart full of refreshments.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said to Young-Joon as she set up the table. “You have a phone call, sir.”

“I’m busy right now, so I’ll take it later. Where is it from?”

“It said it was from Doctor Messelson from the GSC.”

“Doctor Messelson?”

Young-Joon squinted.

“What was he calling about?”

Yoo Song-Mi glanced at the people around her, including Tanya and Kim Young-Hoon.

“It’s okay, just tell me. He’s in Africa right now on a search mission.”

“Yes, that’s right. He said he found one of the hideouts of the Palestine Liberation Front.”

“...”

Young-Joon thought for a moment. Before the last GSC conference, there were anthrax attacks in Africa along the anthracis fence. Messelson was working with the CIA and a coalition of African governments to track down the terrorist.

“Did he say whether it was successful?”

“He said they obtained some top-secret documents and research facilities. He said the research data is so difficult that even he needs to study it to understand it.”

“There’s no one in the world who knows more about anthrax weapons than Doctor Messelson. It must be different data about different research,” Young-Joon said.

Then, Young-Joon spoke to the room.

“Everyone,” he said to Kim Young-Hoon and the developers. “Mr. Kim here is well-versed in both biology and computer science, and he’s used to collaborations between companies as he’s been an executive at two major companies for a long time. Mr. Kim will take the lead on this project. I’ll be back after a quick phone call.”

Young-Joon introduced Kim Young-Hoon and walked out with Yoo Song-Mi.

* * *

Guangdong Province was bordered by the towering Nanling Mountains to the north and by the ocean to the south. With the river flowing in all directions and a network of waterways, the province boasted a natural ecological environment. The city was not only the economic heart of China, but also the lungs of the environment. The wetlands established around the city showcased the beautiful scenery of humans and nature living together symbiotically.

‘You can’t see this in most countries in the West, where the market economy has led them to develop recklessly.’

It was so beautiful that the International Horticultural Expo organized a “Guangdong Day” to promote its environment.

Growing up in Guangdong, Yang Gunyu, the governor of Guangdong, loved the beauty of the city’s environment, sometimes even more so than its economic power, which rivaled that of Russia at times.

“True riches lie in a clean environment,” Yang Gunyu murmured to himself as he walked along the Haizhou Wetland.

This was one of Guangdong’s development ideologies in recent years.

“You don’t want to tamper with an ecosystem like this. Who knows what will happen if you mess with something like mosquitoes.”

Yang Gunyu walked the flocks of ducks floating in the water, submerging their heads for food, and the cranes flying away.

“Mr. Governor,” said his secretary. “What is it?”

“There’s trouble. The protest in Maoming City against the opening of a paraxylene plant is turning into a riot.”

“What?”

Yang Gunyu glanced at his secretary.

“They’ve risen up, demanding to know why we’re suppressing a peaceful protest. They’re throwing rocks and setting police vehicles on fire... Take a look at this.”

His secretary held out their phone. It was a video on Weibo, China’s social media, that showed fully armed police officers mercilessly beating citizens with batons. There were screams, blood, and flames everywhere, and citizens were fighting back by throwing rocks at them.

—Shut down polluting facilities!

—Guarantee our right to survival!

“Those stupid bastards!” Yang Gunyu shouted as he listened to the citizens shouting. “That factory zone doesn’t cause any problems in environmental pollution or public health! I’m responsible for it, and I’ve consulted all kinds of experts. Those imbeciles don’t know how fond I am of Guangdong’s environment.”

“The situation isn’t good, sir. They say there were at least fifteen casualties among the protestors during the crackdown.”

“Nonsense. Send more officers. I can’t allow this to escalate further. And announce that there were spies among the protestors who were encouraging violent protests,” Yang Gunyu said. Paraxylene was a petrochemical used as a raw material for a variety of things, such as plastic bottles, films, and polyester clothing. However, it was a carcinogen that caused harm when it accumulated in the body. Because of this, citizens of Maoming, a city in Guangdong, were protesting the operation of the newly built paraxylene factories.

“No, wait,” Yang Gunyu said. “The reason why citizens are protesting right now is because the paraxylene factory in Zhangzhou exploded last year.”

In fact, there were no issues during the construction of the paraxylene factory in Maoming, but the atmosphere had changed after the explosion in Zhangzhou resulted in casualties and the release of paraxylene into the environment.

“They were especially shocked because the People’s Daily reported that paraxylene is as safe as coffee right before the explosion,” the secretary said.

“That’s why they are scared,” replied Yang Gunyu. “Because those idiots couldn’t take care of a factory... It’s obviously highly flammable because it’s a petrochemical. Of course the factory will explode if it catches on fire.”

Yang Gunyu frowned as he thought.

“Perhaps there’s no point in suppressing them by force. Most of the people who are protesting probably don’t have much understanding of the environment or paraxylene. All they’re thinking of is probably that it will explode like Zhangzhou, causing casualties and spraying dangerous carcinogens into the air,” Yang Gunyu said. “Then simply cracking down on them might backfire. They might think their lives are in danger and become even more violent... We should actually coax them. Let’s announce that we’re going to talk to the residents and take things slow, no more crackdowns.”

“Then should we delay opening the factory? Xenopac won’t stand for it.”

Xenopac was China’s largest oil production conglomerate. They were also the owners of the paraxylene factory zone.

“That’s just what we’re going to say. The area around the factory is all Xenopac’s property anyway, and it’s guarded by their security guards and our police. Tell them to keep the public out and run the factories in secret,” Yang Gunyu said. “After about six months, tell the people that it has actually been running for six months. If you ask them if they have any health problems, they won’t be able to organize this stupid protest again.”

“I see what you mean. We’ll go ahead with that,” said the secretary. “And Mr. Governor, there’s something else.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about Doctor Ryu Young-Joon from A-GenBio.”

“What about Doctor Ryu?”

“He’d like to speak with you.”

* * *

“Stop the paraxylene factories,” Young-Joon said.

—What are you talking about? Are you sure you got the right number?

Yang Gunyu sounded like he was irritated.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Young-Joon said. “The footage of the riots and bloodshed that was uploaded on Weibo is all over the news, so I couldn’t help but see it. I also saw the pollution treatment facilities and schematics released by Xenopac, saying the factories are safe,” Young-Joon said.

—Then you must know that there’s nothing wrong with the factory. We’ve already consulted numerous wastewater treatment experts, including Doctor Crape, an expert in ecology.

Yang Gunyu went on.

—And you, the head of some trivial company, have no right to interfere in internal affairs and tell me, the governor of Guangdong Province, what to do. Know your place. The operation of the paraxylene factories is a matter for me to decide after consulting my residents.

Yang Gunyu sounded adamant.

“Think of it as advice, not inference in your internal affairs,” Young-Joon said. “If you put that wastewater facility into operation, it will be devastating to the ecology of Guangdong’s wetlands.”

—You’re joking. Did you not just hear what I said? Doctor Ryu, you are an expert in biology and medicine, but are you saying you know a lot about wastewater treatment, too?

“You can understand the schematic of the treatment if you have some knowledge of organic chemistry. You’re adding an oxidizer to the wastewater to drop the pH below 7.5, then adding ferric salt to five percent of the total volume of the wastewater to precipitate the waste, and then adding dithiocarbamate to filter it and discharge it into the sewage system, right?”

—...

Yang Gunyu was silent.

“It’s definitely not biology, but chemical physics and organic chemistry. But there are some things I know because I’m a biologist. I know that the waste will contain unfiltered polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which will be fatal to the wetlands in Guangdong.”

—Doctor Ryu, please excuse my insolence. Could you elaborate on that?

“The reason why a place like Guangdong hasn’t had a major mosquito-borne epidemic so far is because the wetlands are well-managed. It’s hard for mosquitoes to reproduce in Class B water[1] because there are a lot of predators that prey on mosquito larvae. But it will be completely different if you release that wastewater."

1. Class B is the second-best water quality ☜