What worried 006 wasn't his personal safety—he'd been through far more dangerous situations. What worried him was his pride.
Whether he wanted to or not, for the sake of money, he had to bite the bullet and lead the clients around on tours.
Bella stayed behind the scenes, reviewing medical records with Dr. Harlow.
"Treatable."
"Minor issue."
"What an idiot! Does this condition even need cloning? Ridiculous!"
Bella was basically just watching the show, while Dr. Harlow examined everything carefully.
His medical skills were genuinely impressive. According to him, two of the patients didn't need cloning at all—they'd simply fallen victim to incompetent doctors. If he performed the surgery, there'd be no need for all this trouble.
Bella ignored his boasting and picked up one particular medical file to examine closely.
An acquaintance, sort of—Anna Miller, the executive president of Crawford Group whom she'd met at the Sea of Galilee.
This middle-aged woman suffered from a rare neurological disease and needed a bone marrow transplant. Even with all her connections and access to high-level contacts worldwide, if the bone marrow didn't match, there was no transplant. For now, she could only rely on expensive medication to suppress the symptoms, with poor results. She could die any day.
006 didn't know her—she'd found her way here through her own channels.
Bella had investigated Crawford Group. One word to describe it: wealthy.
This British-based conglomerate operated across an incredibly wide range, with subsidiaries in every industry around the globe and over fifty thousand employees.
Anna Miller, the executive president, wasn't a shareholder, but she certainly wasn't poor. To save her life, she probably wouldn't mind spending some money, right?
006 led the clients on an extensive tour before finally reaching the laboratory. Even then, they could only observe from outside—citing concerns about protecting core trade secrets.
The guests were all silently calculating. They had money, lots of it, but they didn't have health. They didn't mind exchanging money for health.
Among them, Anna Miller was the most desperate. The disease tormented her daily, and she'd reached the point of trying any cure, no matter how dubious.
The visitors were here for treatment, not business negotiations. Weyland didn't offer discounts or accept medical insurance. If the price seemed fair, pay up. If not, leave.
Several clients immediately prepared to pay.
Full payment was impossible, but at least they needed to leave a deposit. According to 006, this cultivation required massive resources. The price had been more or less negotiated beforehand—now it just depended on individual willingness.
Do it or don't? Simple as that.
Most chose to proceed. If Weyland had revealed itself as just a two-story building, they would've refused. But the high-tech prestige on display had won their approval.
"Hahaha—" Bella calculated her income in the back room and couldn't help bursting into very unladylike laughter.
The clients left one by one. Besides leaving their DNA samples, they'd paid a total of ninety million in deposits.
Some had severe conditions—without organ replacement, they'd die soon. Weyland would arrange their surgeries as quickly as possible.
Anna Miller was one such case. After Dr. Harlow's examination, he found her body on the verge of collapse, sustained entirely by medication. She could die any day.
She couldn't wait two years. She didn't even know how many days she had left. Weyland couldn't promise too quickly either, so they used the concepts of "imperfect form" and "complete form" to explain.
They'd spend three months cultivating an imperfect form using the DNA sample, then harvest hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation to sustain her life first. Afterward, they'd spend two years cultivating the complete cloned body.
This treatment plan would let Weyland earn money twice, but for Anna Miller, it was absolutely a blessing. She agreed without hesitation.
Miles Warren personally collected various samples and performed comprehensive examinations before letting her leave.
Three other patients were as desperate as Anna Miller.
Some cases weren't urgent, and the patients thought they understood cloning technology—those could wait the full two years.
Some were simply delayed by their doctors' incompetence. Those were easiest—schedule them for surgery, perform the operation, and tell them the transplant was complete! They'd recover within two or three months with absolutely no rejection reactions.
After kicking out the two hired hands, Bella and 006 divided the money in the secret chamber.
Whether at the source or destination, this money wasn't legal and wasn't within the United States, so no taxes were needed.
The patients feared exposure of Weyland Company dragging them down too, so they used secret accounts that appeared completely unconnected to them personally.
Bella's side also used secret accounts—New Zealand, Panama, scattered all over the map.
Of the ninety million, there were dollars, euros, and various currencies.
They planned to set aside thirty million as development funds for the company's next phase. The two secret bases still needed continuous investment for construction—they couldn't keep using movie special effects to bluff forever or they'd be exposed eventually.
Purchasing laboratory equipment, buying raw materials, employee salaries, enormous bonuses for Professor Warren and Dr. Harlow—all required money.
Another thirty million would go toward legitimate scientific research—namely the bio-android project Bella hadn't yet launched.
Bio-androids equipped with the most advanced hardware sensors, hydraulic limb movement, surface bodies made of biomechanically optimized prosthetics, soft tissue composed of polyester-fiber nylon composite materials, with facial recognition and identification software, plus basic combat and exploration functions.
This posed no social or ethical pressure. The main R&D facilities were in Texas and could operate openly. It was also the company's key focus for the future.
Thirty million definitely wasn't enough. Most future income from cloned organs would need to be invested there.
The remaining thirty million was split between Bella and 006 at a three-to-one ratio.
Bella had Gen helping her, and 006 had his own team. Transferring money from overseas back to the United States wasn't difficult for them.
Over twenty million in income brought near-bankrupt Bella back to full health. Acquiring Chanel was definitely out of reach, but at least she wasn't as strapped as before.
"Contact me if anything comes up, Mr. Trevelyan." Leaving all operational matters to 006, Bella flew back to Texas on her flying carpet that evening, then took a plane back to San Francisco.
"Since when do you have money to treat me to dinner?" Natasha wore a beige shirt, ripped jeans, and sandals. The two were out shopping, with Bella covering all expenses. At noon, she even treated Natasha to French cuisine.
Natasha licked the sauce from her fingers, her gaze probing. Recently, this woman had been incredibly stingy, not only mooching meals at home daily but using her skincare products. What changed? Did she have some ulterior motive?