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    Chapter 705


    Daniel was drinking when he saw Christine and Gareth from the corner of his eye. Their faces were inches from each other''s.


    Daniel couldn''t help feeling bitter.


    At the same time, he felt a sense of insecurity rise inside him.


    Although his family was fairly well off, and Ryan was the CEO of Xenos Technology, he was still nothingpared to Gareth.


    Carlisle respected Gareth.


    Even Ryan had to speak respectfully to Gareth when they met.


    Not only that, Gareth was handsome.


    He really was the epitome of a tall, rich, and handsome man.


    How could Danielpare?


    Daniel sighed and picked up his ss. He gulped down its contents in one go.


    Why was life so difficult?


    He had expected to start dating freely once he got into university, but his love life had been full of unexpected challenges.


    First, he had fallen for Wanda, the woman of his dreams, who turned out to be Carlisle''s girlfriend.


    After that, he tried to pursue Christine, but she didn''t seem to have any feelings toward him at all.


    Now, it seemed that Christine was about to get lured away by Gareth.


    However, it was true that they were a good-looking couple and seemedpatible.


    Daniel was the kind of person who could let things go easily.


    He would not persist when he knew that there was no hope.


    Sometimes, things happened or didn''t happen for a reason. There was no point in forcing it.


    Carlisle''s brow furrowed tightly as he asked, "If we choose to produce wafers on our own, how much would we need to invest?"


    Ryan was talking about the current difficulties that Xenos Technology was facing. They were facing a tricky problem. There were no suppliers willing to supply them with silicon wafers, which was one of the essential materials needed for manufacturing chips. Ryan exined, "Wafers and chips are both cutting-edge technology equivalent to aerospace ventures. If we think of a chip as a spaceship, the wafers would be the mother ship. "Producing wafers requires many kinds of equipment, such as silicon manufacturing equipment, lithography equipment, ion imntation equipment, oxidation furnaces, diffusion furnaces, cutting equipment, and many more. Some of the equipment must be imported, and the cost of purchasing can range over one million to tens of millions of dors!


    "Apart from that, wafer factory operations requirerge quantities of energy, water, gas, and other sources. This will also be a huge expenditure. Venue construction, hiring technical staff, and training are also necessary. I would estimate that without 500 million in funds, we won''t be able to establish a wafer factory at all."


    Ryan looked discouraged as he said, "We have experience in chips, and it''s only a matter of time before we can develop the artificial intelligence chip you mentioned. However, we have no technical knowledge or experience in wafers. An investment of 500 million would be on the low side. Holden Microchips International invested-"


    Carlisle asked, "Are there any wafer factories in Rivend?"


    Ryanughed wryly and answered, "Currently, only six factories in the country can manufacture wafers. They are Holden Microchips International in Yorskle, Premier Technology in Mocuwait, Dracochip Technology in Sunderhen, Aura Chips in Grencity, Pinnacle Chips in Soutnd, and Microconductors in Caulitorna.


    "We used to work with Premier Technology, but the coboration ended when ourpany almost went bankrupt and closed down. We contacted Premier Technology again, but they told us that their orders are currently stabilized, and they''re still in the midst of constructing their new factory. They won''t be taking any new orders for now."


    "What about the otherpanies?" Carlisle hadn''t expected there to only be sixpanies that could manufacture wafers.


    Additionally, all sixpanies would be leaders in the field of chips in the future.


    There was also anotherpany called Orion.


    However, it had only been established a year before and wasn''t very well-known yet.


    "The otherpanies refused to take our orders as well. I suspect that Terrence is behind it. Ryan squinted in suspicion.


    Stable orders?


    Temporarily not taking orders?


    That was ridiculous.


    Premier Technology had the capacity to produce arge volume of orders.


    All six of the manufacturers who could manufacture wafers were bigpanies. It wasn''t hard for them to fulfill the needs of the small semiconductorpanies in the country. Now that all sixpanies had ced restrictions on Xenos Factory, there was clearly something wrong.


    The first thing Ryan thought of was that Terrence was making things difficult for him. "Terrence...." Carlisle narrowed his eyes. He suspected Terrence, too.


    When Govan Technology and Riley Phones arrived, Terrence threatened to make all the chippanies in Rivend stop supplying chips to Riley Phones.