Chapter 759 - 755: Money Is Not the Point

"You want it?"

"Cecilia, what do you want this thing for?"

"Yeah, Cecilia. This terminal technology is really expensive. Otherwise, some company in Cathay would have brought it in by now."

At Cecilia Sterling’s words, everyone expressed their shock and disapproval.

But Cecilia Sterling remained calm and dropped another bombshell. "I have my own plans. Not only do I want it, but I also want the exclusive distribution rights for this terminal technology in Cathay."

"Timothy, you go make contact with them. Sound them out."

"Exclusive rights for Cathay?" Timothy Rowe furrowed his brow, clearly not understanding why she wanted to do this. "Cecilia, this isn’t a small sum of money. Do you really need to go this far just to hold the Lane Group in check?"

"Of course, I do!" Cecilia Sterling’s eyes darkened as she spoke coolly. "I can spend a fortune to buy this technology, but I absolutely cannot let the Lane Group have it."

Becoming the exclusive distributor meant that if the Lane Group ever wanted to use this technology, they would have to buy it from her.

The outcome was obvious: she would never let them use it.

Cecilia Sterling had never given up on her desire for revenge against the Lane Group. She was simply boiling the frog slowly, tormenting them bit by bit whenever she could.

Whenever she discovered an opportunity to obstruct the Lane Group’s development, she would act without hesitation.

From the industrial park to the artificial intelligence program, and even to getting Eugene Jacobs thrown in prison, she had always been the one on the offensive.

This time, she would certainly not let the Lane Group get their way!

Seeing her mind was made up, Timothy Rowe could only nod. "Alright, I’ll try to contact them. It’s just that our studio is too small-scale; they might not take us seriously."

Cecilia Sterling sneered. "The Lane Group is big, but aren’t they still too stingy to fork over the cash? As long as I’m willing to pay, that’ll be enough for them."

"Besides, you don’t need to worry. Buying this terminal technology won’t necessarily be money down the drain."

Cecilia Sterling looked at the group and asked, "I’m sure you all were just thinking about what would happen to Cathay’s AI products if this technology fell into the Lane Group’s hands, and how our own project would be affected."

Hearing this, everyone nodded silently.

Cecilia Sterling continued, "So, even if the Lane Group doesn’t buy it, we can’t predict whether other companies will suddenly import Occidenta’s technology in the future. Top domestic AI corporations like the Goodman Group, Linden Group, and Trigem Corporation must know about this technology from Occidenta, and they all could potentially bring it in."

"Since this technology will have a huge impact on the market and on us once it enters the country, the simplest, most direct approach is to get the exclusive domestic distribution rights for it ourselves."

"That way, who gets to use this technology and in which fields will be entirely up to us!"

After Cecilia Sterling’s explanation, everything started to become much clearer for the group.

Timothy Rowe analyzed in a low voice, "The AI field is currently in a period of vigorous expansion, and its scope is getting wider and wider. The Goodman Group has already made breakthroughs in self-driving technology, and Trigem Corporation is even developing smart healthcare and emotional robots."

"For more massive and complex projects like these, our program would probably need to be upgraded to the seventh or eighth generation at least to be compatible."

This was because these were all breakthrough fields, not fully mature ones like smart home appliances.

Their patch program would only work precisely on fully mature projects.

But for immature projects that still needed to fill in their own code, their program would be even less likely to be of any use.

Timothy Rowe continued, "So, for the market sectors that our code can’t handle, Occidenta’s terminal technology can. We could sell this technology to these more suitable projects."

A smug expression appeared on Cecilia Sterling’s face. "My guess is that the Lane Group has been hesitating because they don’t currently have a sector that can match this terminal technology. If this tech is only used for ordinary smart home appliances, it would be hard to turn a profit even if the Lane Group jacked up the price to an astronomical level."

Because it was just too expensive!

"This all sounds good in theory, but it won’t necessarily be easy to execute. And even if things go as smoothly as we hope, we might not actually make any money. The whole thing is still pretty risky," Paige analyzed rationally.

Hearing this, Cecilia Sterling replied calmly, "I never intended to make money from this, so none of you should feel any pressure. I just want to see the Lane Group backed into a corner. If there’s some return on it later, great, I’ll have spent a little less. If not, it doesn’t matter. The money isn’t the point."

Everyone blinked, their expressions unreadable. Their junior really was in a league of her own, willing to sink a fortune into a massive project just to screw over the Lane Group.

"Okay, I’ll go contact them about this. I’ll let you know the second I have news," Timothy Rowe said.

Cecilia Sterling nodded. "The sooner, the better. Don’t give the Lane Group time to react."

*

The next day, Cecilia Sterling was in the middle of a sweet dream when she vaguely heard the sound of someone dry heaving nearby.

"Blech... urgh..."

Cecilia Sterling groggily opened her eyes, lifted her bed curtain, and looked down to see Estelle Goodman squatting on the floor in her pajamas, throwing up.

"Are you okay, Your Highness? Still not sober?" Cecilia Sterling asked helplessly, already getting out of bed.

She grabbed a bottle of water from the table. "You holding up? You didn’t puke when you got back yesterday!"

Estelle Goodman’s face was pale from vomiting. She weakly took the water from Cecilia Sterling. "I definitely drank fake liquor last night. I woke up today purely because my head was hurting so bad."

"Impossible," Cecilia Sterling immediately denied. "That bar belongs to my sister-in-law. I was the one who checked the books last year. All the alcohol comes from legitimate suppliers; it can’t be fake."

"Besides, you were completely passed out when we left the bar yesterday. You just drank too much."

Estelle Goodman rinsed her mouth and shook her head weakly. "I need to rest today. Honey, stay and take care of me."

Cecilia Sterling glanced at the time but shook her head. "I really can’t today. I have to take Mindy to school."

"Oh, your sister?"

"Yeah, I arranged for her to repeat a year at Patriot High School."

"Why not No. 2 High? Patriot is a private school, right?"

Cecilia Sterling nodded and explained, "It’s private. You can’t board at No. 2 High, and she needs to. Patriot High is stricter, so we’ll have less to worry about."

"Then wait for me to recover a bit, I’ll go with you." Estelle suddenly found a burst of energy and shot to her feet.

"You’re this hungover, just stay in the dorm and rest. Don’t push yourself."

But Estelle insisted on going. "I’m fine. Ever since I heard about what happened to Mindy, I’ve felt really bad for her. Oh, right! I need to get her a school entrance gift."