As Xia Shiyu expected, the economic crisis came as expected, sweeping the world from the Mediterranean with lightning speed. Even though OPEC members have announced increases in production, they are still helpless against the overall rising oil prices.
You must know that production capacity is only one factor that controls prices, not all factors. The civil war in Turkey has cut off the southern corridor of European energy, and the Ukraine issue and sanctions against Russia have completely blocked the natural gas pipeline from the east to Europe.
The extremist forces such as IS, which are growing like weeds, have also brought the expected oil production capacity of the Middle East to the bottom.
The attack on the synagogue in Pilsen was just a trigger.
The turmoil in the stock prices of the industries owned by the thirteen consortiums directly triggered a crisis that had been building up for a long time.
The global economy once again faced a disaster no less than that of 2008. The New York Stock Exchange's Dow Jones Index failed to hit the mark, and Wall Street's "dealers" rang the bell to reshuffle the cards.
The first to fall was India. Limited by geological conditions, India is a severely oil-poor country with very small natural gas reserves. As an emerging economy embarking on the road to heavy industry, the level of oil prices directly restricts the lifeline of this country.
As oil prices rise, India's crude oil import bill continues to rise, further exacerbating the crisis. Production and transportation costs rose sharply, exports fell, and investors withdrew. This was followed by a sharp increase in the Indian government's fiscal deficit, which ultimately triggered an external payments crisis.
Countless companies have closed down, the unemployment rate in various countries has increased by more than a point and a half, and the consumption index has fallen to historic lows. Affected by the aftermath, Futureman Group's global business also suffered considerable losses, and these losses were intuitively reflected in the November financial report.
However, compared to other companies, Future People Group, which focuses on cutting-edge fields, has been relatively less affected.
Because the planting area of oil crops continues to expand, the factories of Futureman Group at least do not have to worry about high oil prices. As for other commodities whose prices have increased due to crude oil, Futureman Group can also rely on the three raw material supply places of Mindanao, the Philippines and Madagascar to relieve some of the pressure.
The global economic situation is in a downturn, and Jiang Chen has gradually shifted the focus of investment to space beyond the earth. The real enemy is more than ten light years away. The Freemasons are indeed a big trouble, but in comparison, he has more important things that must be planned in advance.
The space elevator is basically completed, and some plans that were originally unable to be launched can be gradually started.
But before that, Jiang Chen still had one thing to do.
…
Koro Island Central Hospital, this hospital invested and built by Future Human Group, integrates the most cutting-edge technologies of Future Human. Many difficult and complicated diseases that cannot be solved by modern medicine can be treated to a certain extent here, or even completely eradicated.
The entrance to the hospital was blocked by reporters and broadcast trucks. People stared at the door with expectant eyes, just like devout believers, as if waiting for some miracle to happen.
At this moment, in the special treatment room of the hospital, there was a culture cabin wrapped in pipelines. On the surface of the training cabin, there is a screen about the size of a palm, with a countdown-like number jumping in the center of the screen.
When the number reached zero, the medical staff in the room rushed forward, evacuated the culture fluid in the culture cabin, opened the culture cabin, removed the patient's respirator and pipelines with different functions, and finally lifted him onto the mobile bed and sent him to the hospital. Gym.
There was a commotion downstairs, and the impatient reporters might have rushed upstairs if the security guards hadn't stopped them.
Who can win this honor?
That's right, the person lying on the hospital bed at this moment is none other than the famous physicist and ALS patient, Hawking.
Before being sent to the rehabilitation room, he had already opened his eyes and saw Jiang Chen at the door of the rehabilitation room. He used his vocal cords to speak intermittently for the first time in decades.
"Where's my wheelchair?"
Jiang Chen smiled and didn't answer him, watching him being carried into the rehabilitation room.
In the 22nd century, where medical technology is highly developed, ALS is not an unsolvable problem. The reason why he lay in the culture chamber for so long was mainly to repair the muscle cells and neurons in his body that had been necrotic due to paralysis.
In the rehabilitation room, accompanied by medical staff, Hawking regained the feeling of walking, holding on to two handrails like a baby learning to walk. He looked quite excited, and with every step he took, incoherent words came out of his trembling lips.
The nurse responsible for supporting him could only distinguish two words.
“Unbelievable,” and “God.”
More than an hour later, Hawking, who was able to walk with a cane, walked out of the rehabilitation room accompanied by two medical staff. Learning to walk again is no easy task, especially for an elderly person who has been in a wheelchair for decades.
Looking at the old man with excitement and gratitude on his face, Jiang Chen smiled slightly.
"How does it feel?"
"Kick me, I need to make sure I'm not dreaming." Hawking reluctantly replied in non-standard English.
"Haha, please leave this kind of thing to your son and daughter. It's really surprising. I originally planned to prepare a keyboard and amplifier for you, but I didn't expect that in less than two hours, you'd I learned how to speak." Jiang Chen teased.
"Where are they? I want to see them now!"
"They are downstairs." Jiang Chen pointed to the direction of the stairs, "But before going downstairs, you'd better be prepared, because there are already surrounded by reporters."
After hearing the second half of the sentence, Hawking, who was walking eagerly towards the stairs, suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Jiang Chen with a troubled expression.
"Can you drive them all away?"
Jiang Chen shook his head.
"We made an agreement. If I cure you, the first thing you need to do for me is to be interviewed by reporters."
"I am a patient now and I need to rest!" Hawking said without giving up.
"But people are eager to know the truth, and I have no right to stop them." Jiang Chen spread his hands and said innocently, "Think about it, we cured patients with late-stage ALS. This is simply a story worthy of being recorded in medical history. A miracle. Those doctors who are busy with your health must also be looking forward to your appearance in front of the media. Don't you plan to do something for them? "
Perhaps it was the last sentence that touched the stubborn old man. After going downstairs, Hawking was interviewed by the media.
"Thanks to Jiang Chen, thanks to Future Human Creatures, and thanks to the caregivers at Coro Central Hospital, I feel very good now. There are many things I want to do now, and the most important thing I want to do is hug my wife, my son, Daughters... I owe them this hug for so long. Also, I want to see my wheelchair, which I will give to the Queen of England soon. I'm sorry that I left the British citizenship, but the Pannu Islands were historically part of the Commonwealth Part of it, I'm lucky I don't have to betray my vows..."
Hawking spoke slowly, but no reporter showed any impatience. Everyone can feel the true feelings in his words and the excitement of overcoming the disease. His wife and children squeezed through the crowd and hugged the old man.
The Times reporter wiped his eyes and left this heartwarming picture in the photo and on the cover of The Times the next day.
At the same time, the fame of Future Human Biology and Future Human Medicine also spread to the world with the news of Hawking's recovery. The Beta-4 drone, which was originally unsalable due to the economic crisis, has also been absorbed by the North American market at an incredible speed.
The original rumor that it was impossible for the Future Man Group to cure Hawking was subsequently disproven.