Chapter 148 - 142: Acquire Qingfeng Company? Insolent?
Chapter 148: Chapter 142: Acquire Qingfeng Company? Insolent?
Two days passed.
Under the leadership of their head of technology, Zhao De, Penguin Company’s top experts threw everything they had into cracking Wang Xin’s encryption. Before long, they succeeded.
Of course, Wang Xin had only added that layer of encryption as a joke, so it wasn’t particularly difficult to bypass.
This, however, made Penguin’s computer experts laugh.
"I can’t believe it was that easy to crack."
"Yeah, President Zhao. This Wang Xin doesn’t seem as impressive as you made him out to be."
"Right? That was no challenge at all. Cracking games from small-time online companies is harder than this."
Hearing his subordinates, Zhao De couldn’t help but smile as well.
It was true that the cracking process hadn’t taken much time.
’Looks like I misunderstood Wang Xin.’
’Or perhaps Wang Xin’s skills had just gotten rusty over time.’
"Hurry up and examine the software so we can crack it," Zhao De instructed his team.
Penguin’s computer experts all nodded and prepared to crack the Qingfeng Intelligent Assistant.
But just as they broke through Wang Xin’s initial encryption and began the real cracking process, they were left completely dumbfounded. Cries of shock erupted one after another.
"What’s going on?"
"There’s another encryption program?"
"Damn it, the first encryption was just to mess with us."
"I can’t make heads or tails of this encryption. It’s so hard!"
"..."
Zhao De, of course, had noticed as well. His expression darkened.
’So this is Wang Xin’s true strength?’
He suddenly felt a profound sense of embarrassment.
After all, he had been far too arrogant and presumptuous earlier.
But as he analyzed this new layer of encryption, his expression soured even more. It was incredibly difficult to parse; his current methods were completely useless against it.
’When a situation like this occurs, it means the other party is on another level. It’s time to call for outside help.’
Just then, Zhao De’s cell phone rang. It was his boss, Mr. Ma.
He immediately answered the call. "President Zhao," Mr. Ma’s voice came through, "how is the cracking coming along?"
Zhao De sighed. "Mr. Ma, this is proving very difficult. I’m afraid we need to seek outside help."
In another office at Penguin Company.
Mr. Ma’s brow was tightly furrowed. He hung up the phone and turned to a senior executive beside him. "President Zhao’s team has run into a problem. They need outside help again."
The executive frowned as well. "Another piece of troublesome software? Besides, Mr. Ma, do you really think the Qingfeng Intelligent Assistant Software is that much of a threat?"
Mr. Ma nodded. "Putting the intelligent system aside, its ability to unleash a phone’s full performance is already incredibly powerful. But on top of that, this Qingfeng Assistant has several other potent features!"
"Besides, you’ve tried the Qingfeng Intelligent Assistant yourself. It’s a no-brainer that its user stickiness is going to be extremely high."
The executive nodded. "That’s true. That AI, in particular, is incredible. It’s like how no one went back to using flip phones after smartphones came out. This is a generational leap."
Mr. Ma nodded. "Now that President Zhao’s team is having trouble, we need to prepare a plan B. After all, the user base for the Qingfeng Intelligent Assistant Software is growing far too quickly."
"President Zhang, I want you to contact Qingfeng Network Company. Immediately open negotiations for an acquisition."
"Acquiring them would be best, of course. Remember not to offer too high a price. At this stage, they probably don’t realize the market potential of their product yet."
"They’re just a new company, after all. They probably haven’t even started thinking about monetization yet. If it were us, we’d already be mass-releasing skins and playing on user psychology."
"Furthermore, with pressure from Penguin Company, they’ll likely be afraid we’ll crack their software anyway. Try to keep the price around 3 billion."
He planned to buy the company for 3 billion, which he considered a very generous offer.
It wasn’t the first time a company had skyrocketed to fame on the back of a hit product. Without fail, those companies had all ended up in Penguin’s pocket. Qingfeng Network Company would be no exception.
If the other party didn’t know what was good for them, then after cracking the software, he would use that same 3 billion as a war chest to crush them.
"Yes, Mr. Ma." President Zhang nodded.
Meanwhile, domestic internet giant Douyin and several other top-tier tech companies had also taken notice of Qingfeng Network Company. They all began gathering their own teams to discuss and attempt to crack the software...
However, none were moving as quickly as Penguin, which had already begun to make moves toward an acquisition.
After all, a company as domineering as Penguin was a rare sight.
...
Another day passed in the blink of an eye.
Back in his villa, Lu Feng met with Lin Jin again. This time, Lin Jin brought the designs for the mechanical trap. "President Lu, take a look. Is this what you had in mind for the mechanical trap design?"
Lu Feng took the blueprint and examined it. It depicted a rotating spiral structure fitted with rows of menacing blades. The spiral itself was composed of eleven layers, each separated by about ten centimeters. In other words, when activated, it would instantly slice a zombie into a dozen pieces.
The design was excellent. However, based on the dimensions Lin Jin had used, a single trap wouldn’t be enough. He would need at least five of them.
So, he said to Lin Jin, "Mr. Lin, this design is excellent. Go ahead and have the parts for five of these traps manufactured according to your blueprint."
"Of course, President Lu!" Lin Jin nodded, then took his leave.
After seeing Lin Jin off, Lu Feng was joined by Ah Pao, Yang Ming, and Chen Bo for tea.
The three of them were just there for a casual chat over tea, catching up on matters concerning the Entertainment City.
After all, the Entertainment City was booming, so it was always a hot topic during their tea sessions.
More importantly, for them, it was always beneficial to make an appearance before Lu Feng from time to time.
Qingfeng Company.
Wang Kai was reviewing a project file concerning the universal skin they had released.
The latest report showed that another 800,000 users had purchased a skin for their intelligent assistant’s avatar. That meant another 16 million in revenue for the company.
In other words, in just a short amount of time, the company had earned 58 million from this one simple skin.
’If they were to release some exquisite VIP skins, how much more could they earn?’
This thought filled Wang Kai with motivation.
’He never imagined he’d go from facing unemployment to having his career skyrocket in such a short time.’
Just as he was thinking this, his secretary rushed in. "President Wang, this is bad! It looks like Penguin has its sights on us. They sent a request to open talks and hinted at acquiring our company for 3 billion."
Hearing this, Wang Kai burst out laughing. "So we’ve attracted one of the giants, just as I thought. Too bad for them, they’ve completely miscalculated. Three billion to acquire us? At this point, President Lu wouldn’t sell the company even for 3 billion USD. They can keep dreaming. Reply and tell them to drop the idea at once."
"Yes, President Wang." The secretary nodded and immediately went out to deliver the response.
Watching her leave, Wang Kai had an idea. He immediately summoned someone from the marketing department and handed them a financial report.
It was the report showing the 58 million in revenue from the single skin.
He wanted it published. It was a clear message to rapacious giants like Penguin: give up on the idea of an acquisition.
After all, anyone in the industry would understand what 58 million in revenue from a single, simple skin truly meant.
Back at Penguin’s headquarters, President Zhang soon received the reply. His expression soured as he read it. This was the first time he had ever encountered a company that dared to refuse Penguin without even opening a dialogue.
He went to Mr. Ma at once. "Mr. Ma," he reported, "our attempt to make contact failed. They knew our intentions and rejected us decisively. They made it clear they won’t even negotiate, so we didn’t even get a chance to apply pressure."
"Where do they get this confidence?" Mr. Ma’s face darkened upon hearing the news. "They’re just a new company. Do they think we can’t crack their software, or do they think they can already rake in cash at will?"
Just then, Zhao De, the head of the technical team, rushed into the room, followed closely by another person.
This second person was from the marketing department and had been tasked by Mr. Ma to monitor all news and developments related to Qingfeng Network Company.
As soon as he entered, he said to Mr. Ma, "Mr. Ma, Qingfeng Network Company just released a financial report. You should take a look at it immediately."
Hearing this, Mr. Ma immediately went online to check. A moment later, his brow was tightly furrowed...