If this kind of merger were successful, a series of assets including technology, talent, and market share would exit the country. The Americans would certainly not get any benefits.
Not to mention that SubCom itself had a monopoly in the industry. There was no reason for a company like this to be allowed to merge with overseas companies.
However, the current situation was obviously extraordinary.
The acquisition of SubCom by East Asia Communications wasn’t just a business transaction; it was also the result of a compromise from a political battle.
If this acquisition failed, SubCom would not have access to the technology and the ability to put down quantum optical cables. They would eventually go bankrupt.
If the acquisition was successful, not only would it mean that East Asia Communications would be able to penetrate the North American market faster, but also SubCom would have a chance of entering the global submarine quantum optical cable project.
Even though it was unlikely for East Asia Communications to give them access to quantum submarine optical cable technology, they could still purchase equipment from Chinese factories and work in secondary cable laying…
Jinling high-tech zone.
Star Sky Technology headquarters.
After Chen Yushan read the report from the manager of the investment department, she nodded with satisfaction. She signed her name on the document and put it aside.
“… I have a rough understanding of the situation, so let’s follow this financing plan.”
Star Sky Technology held 30% of the shares of East Asia Communications. Although they were not involved with its specific operations, a round of large-scale financing like this must be approved by Star Sky Technology.
The manager picked up the document off the table and took two steps back. He suddenly thought of something and said, “Oh yeah, one more thing…”
Chen Yushan: “Go ahead.”
The investment department manager said, “… Why don’t we use this opportunity to borrow more USD from JPMorgan? Now is a good opportunity to short US stocks. We can use this opportunity to make a lot of money.”
“It’s too late. The bad news is already out on the street. The US stocks have the bad news priced in. Also…” Chen Yushan shook her head and said, “This is not the best time to borrow USD.”
The manager asked, “Why?”
Chen Yushan: “After this wave of financial turbulence, Manhattan is gradually losing its status as the world’s financial center. In order to prevent the outflow of American assets, the Feds might release more dollars to the market by reducing reserves and interest rates.”
“So you’re saying… the Feds might adopt an active devaluation strategy?”
Chen Yushan nodded and said, “Yes, a one-time substantial depreciation.”
Even though the Fed’s control of the exchange rate was not as powerful as the People’s Bank of China, it was still possible for them to manipulate the exchange rate in an indirect and secretive manner.
By using a one-time large-scale active devaluation, they could effectively prevent the inflow of foreign capital.
However, this behavior was very risky. It was like drinking seawater to quench one’s thirst.
Active depreciation methods could certainly prevent capital from leaving the country in the short term, but in the long-term, it would weaken the domestic currency’s credit and ruin the competitiveness in the international market.
If the future economic situation did not improve, it would further enhance the dangers of foreign capital.
After all, no one was stupid.
If the future expectations were gloomy, no capital would be willing to stay in America…
Chen Yushan looked at the investment manager and said, “Don’t think about this too much, we are a technology company, not an investment bank. Just invest our funds in low-risk bonds. There is no need to go into the muddy markets.”
“… I understand.”
After the investment department manager left, the office was quiet again.
Chen Yushan twisted the ballpoint pen in her hand and was about to continue her unfinished work for today.
However, she suddenly thought of the phone call she had with the people from the high-tech eastern docks zone this morning. Thus she picked her phone off the corner of the table.
Chen Yushan stared at the phone and thought for a while. She muttered some opening lines to herself, such as “hey” and “what are you doing?”.
She practiced until her voice sounded softer and more soothing.
A smile appeared on her face. She dialed a number on the phone and waited for the call to connect before she said, “Hey, what are you doing?”
Lu Zhou was standing in a laboratory at the Institute for Advanced Study. He was staring at the oscillating graph on the computer screen in front of him as he replied casually, “Doing an interesting experiment, what’s up?”
An interesting experiment?
Even though she was curious about what the experiment was, since Lu Zhou was busy, she did not want to disturb him too much. Thus, she went straight to the point.
“The Star Voyage One will be completed in a few days. The high-tech eastern docks zone management committee invites you to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony. Will you have time to go?”
Opening ceremony?
Lu Zhou pondered for a while before speaking.
“I think… I have time.”
In any case, he had a trip planned to Shanghai in the near future.
He could just stop by and cut the opening ceremony ribbon. It would not take too much time.
Chen Yushan: “Okay then, I’ll arrange it for you.”
“Okay, thanks.”
The phone call ended.
Chen Yushan put her phone on the desk and sighed. She began to fan herself with her hand.
“Who set the aircon temperature so high, it’s boiling in here…”
Chen Yushan took out the remote control from her desk drawer and lowered the temperature of the central air conditioner by two degrees.
She felt the temperature in the office gradually cool down. She took a deep breath and patted herself on the cheeks, trying to make herself focus on the work at hand…
…
At the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
After hanging up the call, Lu Zhou turned his attention to the weird equipment.
A string of text popped up on his phone.
Xiao Ai: [Master! The program debugging is finished, can begin at any time! (•̀∀•́)]
Lu Zhou nodded.
“Then, let’s begin.”
Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]
The signal lights on the top of the strangely shaped equipment lit up for the first time. Soon after, a silver ring at the top of the equipment lit up with a blue light, followed by a rumbling sound.
Then, a vertical beam of light began to shoot upward. The string of light particles seemed to suspend in the air, interlaced with one another according to a certain pattern.
These light particles formed a Rubik’s cube at first, then a model of Starlight, constantly switching the images.
Even a layman who knew nothing about imaging technology could still name this device!
This was a hologram projection!
The kind that could be seen with the naked eye!
This gadget was inspired by the “wearable facial hologram projection system” Lu Zhou won in the last system lottery. The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study had developed a similar product over the years.
To be honest, when Lu Zhou first came into contact with this thing, he thought it was an incredible piece of advanced technology. But after some in-depth research, he discovered that it was actually not as advanced as he had imagined.
The specific principle was very simple. A water droplet with a diameter of 1 to 100 nm was activated by high-frequency vibration and thrown into the air, forming a state space with air as a dispersive substance. Using the Tyndall effect, light beams of specific wavelengths were emitted from multiple angles, and the light-scattering properties of the water particles were used to generate a three-dimensional image.
At first, Lu Zhou thought this was an optical problem.
However, after some in-depth research, he discovered that this was actually a programming problem.
After the accuracy of the emitted light, the diameter of the dispersed particles and the strength of the vibration waves all had to reach certain standards. The rest of the problem was how to program and make each beam of light enter the designated area at a specific angle and intensity to form the image needed.
This involved extremely complex programming problems.
Even with the help from Xiao Ai, it took him a long time to finish.
After 20 sets of preset images were displayed, the device had successfully completed all of the tests. The performance had reached the expectations, at least for a laboratory prototype.
The rest was the constant debugging and adjusting the parameters.
“Not bad.”
As Lu Zhou looked at the light particles disappear, he shook his head and mumbled, “But…
“It’s still not perfect.”
Due to the sensitivity of the device, the images appeared to be distorted when changing pictures, especially for some complex structures. It was difficult for the machine to accurately project these images.
This was still far from the hologram projection technology that he had imagined.
Maybe when the technology matures, it will get better.
As for an interactive hologram technology…
That would take a while.
Xiao Ai: [But Xiao Ai thinks it is very good. (;′⌒`)]
Lu Zhou: “Maybe… What is this?”
The experiment device was not turned off. He saw some light particles floating in the air, forming the image of a woman…
A female model?
The female floating in the air… It looked like something in heaven.
Lu Zhou didn’t know what Xiao Ai was doing.
A hologram dialog box appeared in the air, right in front of his face.
[By using fuzzy calculation methods on the data from 320,000 players in the Calan Empire, this is the most attractive body model. There is no doubt that if this woman were in a TV show, she would be the most popular character!]
The players in the Calan Empire could customize their own characters’ appearances. After all, it would be a bit weird if everyone were designed to have blue skin.
Players could also adjust minor appearance details.
Thus, the players’ characters were all beautified, even though it didn’t fit the theme of the game.
But…
Lu Zhou asked, “So what?”
Xiao Ai: [This is Xiao Ai’s body! (ฅu003eω
Lu Zhou: “…”
Yep, this guy…
Has definitely lost a few brain cells.
