"You guys are fighting with us over this?"
"This is originally something belonging to us, the Gene Production Association."
"What nonsense. This is something produced here at our Genetic Union. Don't forget the fact that you guys are only temporarily staying here. Even your migration from Star City was with our help."
"Hehe, since you dared to say those words, would you believe me if I said that even if you guys obtained the formula, you guys would not be able to produce a single one of the new gene reagents?"
"…"
At this, the person from the Genetic Union sank into silence, realizing that he had been too excessive in his words. As both their organizations were reliant on each other, if the Genetic Union truly wanted to bully others with force, the Gene Production Association would most certainly be capable of teaching them a hard lesson. Wanting to produce gene reagents without the Gene Production Association's support? That was naive.
The Genetic Union people decided to change the topic. "Let's not talk about this for now. The copyright should belong to us, as all the materials used during the research were supplied by us."
"Hehe." The people from the Gene Production Association merely sneered at this. Due to this, the two parties were in conflict.
The people from the Research Agency wanted to get involved but noted that they couldn't find any justifiable arguments to declare that the copyright should belong to them. Realizing that, they declared, "A formula like this should belong to the entirety of humanity!" The people from the Research Agency spoke earnestly. "Regardless of which party it is that obtains the copyright for this, it will be unfair to humanity. Therefore, I propose that the copyright for this formula should belong to everyone."
"Scram!" the Gene Production Association berated without politeness. The Research Agency was merely trying to get a piece of the cake for themselves as well. Now, the conflict between two parties expanded into a conflict between three parties.
None of them were willing to give up on the formula. The Genetic Union was rationalizing that this formula had been created using their materials. After all, it was common sense that the produced item should belong to those who had provided the materials. It was undisputed that all the materials here had been provided by the Genetic Union. That was the reason the Genetic Union felt it reasonable and fair to fight over this formula despite the fact that they had never dabbled in gene production.
The Gene Production Association rationalized that this was a formula created by Chen Feng. The Gene Production Association was willing to pay for whatever materials Chen Feng had used in the course of his research. After all, Chen Feng was part of the Gene Production Association's management. Despite the fact that his authority was still limited, he was still considered part of the Association. As such, why should the Genetic Union be the one to obtain this formula? This seemed to be a rather justifiable argument as well.
As for the Research Agency… Mhm…
They had also participated in the project this time, but they were aware of how low their skill level was. As such, without any hesitation, they dragged all other powers together and proposed that this formula should belong to humanity. By banding together with various other powers, they were capable of temporarily resisting the Genetic Union and Gene Production Association. Due to this, the three parties had been arguing for hours yet had failed to reach a conclusion.
"This is meaningless."
"Why not ask Chen Feng?" the Gene Production Association suggested.
"Let's listen to what he has to say then."
The Genetic Union did not comment much on it. If Chen Feng was allowed to decide, the copyright would most certainly land in the hands of the Gene Production Association. Since they were the supplier for all the materials used, they would most certainly not give up on the copyright. Based on the laws, even if Chen Feng insisted on taking the copyright away, the most he could own was 50% of the copyright. This was fixed in the laws. If that person disagreed, he would lose even the publishing rights.
"This formula will most certainly be ours," the Genetic Union vowed solemnly. The Research Agency was also preparing for another round of fighting. Alas, surprising all of them, just as they were still arguing over the copyright, Chen Feng submitted an application for the copyright of the formula. After automatic vetting by the system, the submission was actually approved.
Beyond X gene reagent copyright owner: Chen Feng.
What?
The Genetic Union was bursting with rage. How dare Chen Feng ignore the copyright laws like this? They had invested materials worth several hundred million to establish several dozen teams, which had ultimately led to the creation of this formula. Why was it that they didn't obtain even a tiny bit of ownership over this new formula? This was too excessive.
They were aware of Chen Feng's huge contribution and they found that respectable as well. However, even if they couldn't obtain full ownership over the copyright, they should have obtained at least 50% ownership over the copyright, no? With that, they would be able to profit from it. As they thought of the profit they stood to gain from this, the Genetic Union became furious.
As for the Gene Production Association and the research agency, they were stupefied for quite a while as well. It was beyond their expectations that this Chen Feng was actually so ferocious as to directly grab the copyright for himself.
"We are calling for an arbitration!"
"Let's get the Copyright Department involved in this."
"Chen Feng is being too excessive this time."
Some of the higher-ups in the Genetic Union were incredibly dissatisfied with this. Yes, Chen Feng had indeed contributed greatly by creating this formula, but could the contributions of the Genetic Union, who had supplied all the materials, be ignored? Moreover, the participation of those beyond A classes had to be taken into consideration as well. Each of them was equivalent to an extremely terrifying resource.
For this matter, they had maintained their respect for Chen Feng, yet Chen Feng did not seem to have any sort of sincerity when dealing with them and had taken the entire formula for himself!
"Is he thinking that he is the greatest of all?"
"The Genetic Union was established through numerous battles. All the A classes and beyond A classes here were those who contributed greatly to humanity! A lot of them sacrificed even their lives for humanity! This is not a matter of politics. Rather, we must fight for what is rightfully ours! This formula must be ours!"
The Copyright Department of the Genetic Union started making their moves speedily. Alas, when the people from the Copyright Department went over, they failed to even meet Chen Feng and were directly given a receipt that listed numerous items and concluded with a sum of money at the bottom.
"What is this?"
They studied it and noted that these were precisely the expenses of Chen Feng's group when they had been researching this project.
"Why has he issued this thing to us?"
"Is he thinking that by paying us the cost of the materials, all will be fine?"
"How ridiculous!"
The people from the Copyright Department were just about to berate Chen Feng's thinking before an assistant pointed out the "time of repayment" listed on the receipt. It turned out that Chen Feng had paid them this sum of money before the tests had even started.
"This is…"
Their eyes widened abruptly. Could it be…
They immediately checked the latest records of Chen Feng's item retrieval application form. Their faces paled at what they saw.
The reason for this? From the start, Chen Feng had never used a single material provided by the Genetic Union. Everything listed on the receipt had been purchased by Chen Feng at market price. With Chen Feng's identity, even if he wasn't participating in the project, he would still have the rights to purchase these materials.
The people from the Copyright Department were dumbfounded. "He has been using his own money all along?" This… If he had been funding his research with his own money…
"That doesn't matter. The equipment he used was supplied by us, right? Don't forget that our equipment is the most advanced on the market…"
At this, they continued reading and noticed a long rental contract. On the contract, it was written that Chen Feng had rented the listed equipments for a period of two months, and the amount paid was listed clearly as well.
Shua!
Instantly, they all sank into silence. Rental? Why was there even such thing?
"Oh. This seems to be because Chen Feng's was the last team and was organized at the last minute. At that time, all our supplied equipment had already been distributed to the other teams. As such, Chen Feng had no choice but to rent more equipments for his own usage…"
As they thought about it, they seemed to recall that when that happened, they had even held a celebration to celebrate this huge amount of money they had earned from Chen Feng by merely renting some equipment to him.
"Well, at the very least, he used our beyond-class warriors, right?" someone said suddenly.
He hadn't used their materials or equipment, but their manpower had been used by him, right? Next, they started checking the records for Chen Feng's manpower application form. Indeed, he had applied for a beyond-class warrior to help in his research. Alas, the application had all been rejected. This…
"Therefore, officially, Chen Feng hasn't used anything provided by the Genetic Union at all?"
They did not dare to believe this. Was this a joke?