Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 514 Comprehensive Examination

The plane slowed down a bit more.

The scenery outside the porthole moved slower and slower, and the outlines of the ground support vehicles on the tarmac in the distance could be clearly seen.

Amy temporarily put aside the thoughts of capital, investment banks, and Wall Street, and suddenly remembered something else that was more relevant to her.

"By the way, this trip is called a comprehensive inspection tour, right?"

"Um?"

"Then what does this mean for me? A research collaboration?"

"Hmm." Satsuki turned her head. "Did everyone on the team arrive early?"

"Mr. Chuan sent a message yesterday saying that everyone has arrived in New York. They were in first class and landed even earlier than us."

Amy pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, on which a name and flight information were handwritten.

"You should be waiting at another terminal in the airport now."

"Once the plane lands, you'll lead the team directly," Satsuki said. "Ann Arbor, Salt Lake City, Baltimore, and Atlanta, which you added later, are all part of the itinerary you can arrange yourself."

"Um……"

Amy folded the paper back up and put it away.

Then she stopped talking.

Satsuki, who had been looking out the window, was a little unaccustomed to Amy's sudden silence, so she turned to look at her.

Amy was staring at her two hands on her knees, her lips pursed.

The eyes behind the round-framed glasses blinked twice, then blinked twice more.

"What's wrong?"

Satsuki seemed a little confused.

Amy doesn't get airsick, so why is she experiencing acclimatization issues right after landing?

"It's nothing."

Satsuki didn't press the matter further.

After a few seconds, Amy spoke up herself.

"I'm just... a little nervous."

"What's wrong?"

"The people I'm going to see." Amy's voice was much softer than before. "When Mr. Najaffee was working on microfabrication probes, I was still reading his papers. I only finished learning about Mr. Chuanren's motion control model last year from an ATR report. The head of that lab in Ann Arbor... I haven't even dared to email him."

She looked up.

"Back in Tokyo, the lab was full of our own people. If we couldn't figure it out, we could just go back and revise the plan. But this time, I'm representing Saionji to negotiate collaborations. What if they ask me a question and I can't answer it..."

Do you think you won't be able to answer that?

"It's not just a feeling, it's a real possibility," Amy said honestly. "I understand the areas of research each of them does, but understanding and mastering are worlds apart."

"I can understand the principles of the processing technology that Najfy uses, but if you ask me to explain why they chose that particular substrate material, I can only say, 'It's written in the paper.'"

After listening, Satsuki did not rush to answer.

It seems this girl is getting nervous because the authors of the papers she used to follow are now coming down from the page and having to take orders from her.

She probably hasn't truly realized just how strong she has become.

When she first joined WIDE three years ago, she was just a high school student who hadn't even gone to college.

Now, they have been able to trace all the way from networks and chips to neural interfaces, mastering a completely unfamiliar field in just over a year, and then bringing together a group of experts who have been researching for more than ten or twenty years to push the project forward.

This learning speed is ridiculously fast, no matter where you put it.

Satsuki often wondered if it was really scientific for someone to be this genius. Could Amy be the cheat code that allowed her to be reborn?

But when it was actually her turn to stand in front of these people and make decisions for Saionji as the person in charge, she began to doubt whether she was qualified enough.

Ultimately, what Amy lacks now is no longer ability.

She just hadn't gotten used to it yet—from now on, she would face many people whose resumes might be longer and who might be older than her, but in the end, the number of people she would have to look up and wait for her to make a decision would only increase.

In these kinds of situations, someone always has to give her a push first.

The plane is passing through the last section of the ramp, and the tarmac can already be seen in the distance outside the window.

"Amy."

"Um?"

Why do you think you have to know more than them?

Amy paused for a moment.

"But I'm in charge."

"Does being in charge mean you have to be better than everyone else in every field?"

Satsuki smiled.

"Then why did Mr. Najaffee come to Odaiba?"

Amy opened her mouth.

"Because...we need his micromachining experience."

"Where is Mr. Chuanren?"

"Motion control and decoding."

"Are there other people?"

Amy quickly understood what she meant.

Satsuki continued:

"You can't possibly do everything perfectly on your own."

"Some people have been working on electrodes for over a decade, and some have been studying the motor cortex longer than you are old enough. If you can outperform them in their area of expertise, then I'd start to question whether all the research funding given to them over the years has been wasted."

Amy couldn't help but laugh.

"But……"

"But they also have things you don't."

Satsuki looked at her.

"Mr. Najaffee is very knowledgeable about micromachining, but he won't consider the decoding model for you."

"Mr. Chuanren can explain motion control very clearly, but he won't also consider how many days the electrode can work stably after implantation."

"How will all these things eventually come together, and how will each person's part affect the rest of the process—"

Satsuki raised her hand and gently tapped Amy's forehead.

"This is what you've been doing all along."

Amy quieted down.

"You don't need to rush to answer every technical question during the meeting."

"If they ask about micro-machining, let the person who actually does micro-machining answer. If they ask about materials, let the person who deals with materials answer."

If you don't understand, just ask.

"If you feel something is wrong, just ask."

"What you really need to do is find out whether what they're saying can ultimately be incorporated into your project."

Satsuki leaned back.

"And haven't you always done this very well?"

Amy didn't say anything.

"You were the one who gradually determined the direction of that laboratory in Odaiba, transforming it from an empty room into what it is today."

"Sixty-four channels online decoding, one hundred and forty milliseconds latency, and fifty-three days of long-term implantation."

"Those people did enter their respective fields many years earlier than you."

Satsuki looked at her.

"But now, you've put what they've made into the same project."

So stop thinking about whether you're qualified to stand in front of them.

"You were already standing there."

Amy's lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but she swallowed it back.

After a while, she said softly, "Then I'll give it a try."

"It's not 'trying,'" Satsuki corrected her. "It's 'doing.'"

Amy looked at her for two seconds.

"Um."

This time, the nod was much stronger than before.

Hmm, he's a promising young man.

Satsuki looked at it and nodded with satisfaction.

Amy has lost some of that genius-level "arrogance" now. If she were Amy, she would even dare to criticize herself.

At this moment, the guide path outside the window came to an end.

The plane began to turn left, and the speed had dropped to a very low level; the cabin could barely feel any movement.

Amy leaned close to the porthole, trying to get a look at the situation on the tarmac.

Then she stopped moving.

"Satsuki-chan".

"Um?"

"Outside……"

Amy's voice sounded a little strange.

Satsuki glanced out the other porthole.

This parking area has been completely isolated.

Not to mention other passenger planes, there were hardly any ground support trailers or baggage handling equipment that are usually parked around large aprons.

Instead, there are large open spaces—and vehicles densely packed together on those spaces.

The row closest to the designated parking spot was all printed with the Saionji family crest, and Satsuki immediately recognized it as Dojima Iwao's motorcade.

Three bulletproof Toyota Century vehicles were lined up in a row, interspersed with two dark-colored Chevrolets, which were taller than the regular versions.

A little further away, there were four unmarked black vans with their side doors half open, revealing large equipment cases and folding stretchers inside. Those were medical support vehicles.

Further out—

Amy was pressed against the porthole, her eyes wide open.

The vehicles on the perimeter clearly did not belong to Saionji. A long line of dark-colored Ford Crown Victorias and Chevrolet Caprices stretched out, without police lights on their roofs, but federal agency permits were faintly visible on the inside of their windshields.

Several larger armored SUVs were parked at the end of the convoy, with people wearing dark combat uniforms and carrying equipment that was clearly not ordinary handguns.

Some people were carrying rifles, and others were walking dogs.

Temporary roadblocks were erected at the entrance to the tarmac, with two vehicles bearing clear law enforcement markings blocking the passage. Further away, there appeared to be several more patrol cars than usual below the airport's control tower.

"this……"

Amy turned to look at Satsuki, her expression a mix of surprise and nervousness.

"There are way too many people here!"

Satsuki didn't react in any particular way. She looked away from the porthole and slowly organized the documents next to her seat.

"The innermost circle is our people," she pointed. "They arrived last week, and they rechecked everything: the route, accommodation, vehicles, and backup communication lines."

"What about those outside?"

"It's the responsibility of the U.S. federal government," Satsuki said. "And there's also the cooperation of local law enforcement in New York."

Amy glanced out the window again.

From her angle, she could count at least twenty cars, and there were at least a hundred security personnel standing in various places.

Was it like this the last time you came to the United States?

"Hmm... there wasn't this kind of situation last time," Satsuki admitted. "It's just that this time is different—I've already been shot once, and the US investigation found it was related to their own people. If something happens to me in New York..."

She didn't finish her sentence; she simply flicked the newspaper off the table.

"Didn't you just read those reports?"

"Solomon is waiting for me to come. At least half of Wall Street is watching this. The government, Carlyle, Texas, the various American capital firms we work with, and clients who are considering whether to continue doing business with Salomon... everyone has one bottom line."

"What's the bottom line?"

"I absolutely cannot die in New York."

Amy swallowed hard, feeling a pang of sympathy, but she wasn't so worried anymore.

She didn't care about anything else, as long as her Satsuki-chan absolutely couldn't get into trouble.

"If I were attacked within the United States, this would turn from business news into a diplomatic incident."

"Solomon will lose its last remaining market confidence, and all American capital that does business with Saionji will suffer losses. Those in Congress who are already focused on Japan-U.S. trade relations will have even more reason to cause trouble."

Satsuki tilted her head slightly.

"So even if there's someone within the US who really wants to take action against me—do you think the White House would allow it? Would Gutfred allow it? Would Carlyle allow it?"

Amy was silent for a few seconds.

She glanced again at the vehicles and people outside the window.

Standing in the inner circle, Dojima Iwao's subordinates were checking something with the American personnel, each holding a folder and a communicator.

Further out, federal security personnel were scattered throughout the tarmac, rifles pointed downwards, relaxed yet precisely positioned, clearly dividing the area into distinct layers.

"It feels like... I'm almost as good as the president," Amy whispered.

Upon hearing this, Satsuki finally smiled.

"The real presidential procession is far more extravagant than this. It includes Air Force One, an advance team, snipers, electronic jamming vehicles, a backup medical helicopter, and several fake routes."

"The situation on my end is just special; the US doesn't want any problems to arise right under their noses."

Even so, Amy felt somewhat reassured looking at the scene outside the window.

At least it feels more reassuring than when I was flipping through the newspaper earlier.

The aircraft made one last minor directional adjustment, aligned itself with the parking position, and began its final braking maneuvers.

The speed slowed down to a level where it was almost possible to walk, and the scenery outside the window finally came to a complete stop.

The low hum of the engine gradually subsided.

The cabin crew came over to Satsuki and confirmed that she could prepare to disembark.

Satsuki stood up.

Today she was wearing a dark gray wool coat over a white shirt. Her hair was styled in a bun at the back of her head, revealing the full contours of her face.

Amy also stood up and reached for the overhead luggage compartment.

"Don't take that yet."

Satsuki raised her hand to stop her.

Amy turned around, looking somewhat aggrieved.

"My toolkit..."

"I know," Satsuki said with a hint of helplessness. "There might be media taking photos downstairs later. You can't just carry your toolbox out the moment you get off the plane, can you?"

Amy lowered her head and thought about it, and it seemed to make sense.

"Then tell them to be careful; there are things inside that they can't drop."

"understood."

Satsuki fastened the luggage compartments back up for her.

Amy then withdrew her hand and straightened her collar.

She was wearing a navy blue coat today, her round-framed glasses were clean, and the marks left by her short hair when she leaned back in the chair were quickly smoothed out with her fingers.

Satsuki glanced at her.

"We'll split up after we go downstairs. A car will take you to meet up with the Sichuanese."

"Um."

"You're in charge of the research team."

"Um."

"If you're unsure about something, make a phone call."

"understood."

Satsuki nodded.

"Then I'll be leaving first."

"Wait a moment."

Amy called out to her.

Satsuki turned around.