Chapter 149 - 143: Automated Machinery Clears Zombies
Chapter 149: Chapter 143: Automated Machinery Clears Zombies
A single test-run skin earned 58 million?
When Mr. Ma saw this data, his expression turned grave.
He had been in the internet industry his entire life. In fact, he had been the one to pioneer these kinds of cash-grab schemes, like character skins.
So he knew full well how terrifying the user stickiness and conversion rate must be for a product with 13 million users to earn 58 million from a single, generic, test-run skin.
And the key was, their user base was still growing rapidly.
Under these circumstances, anyone who wasn’t an idiot would know the product’s potential. There was no way they would sell the company now.
An acquisition was also out of the question.
At this point, many major internet companies had also seen the financial report released by Qingfeng Network Company, and they were all clearly in an uproar.
It had been a long time since such a formidable internet product had emerged. But considering the features of the Qingfeng Intelligent Assistant, it all seemed to make sense.
The companies that had been considering an acquisition or investment had no choice but to give up. The only option left was to crack and pirate the software, then use their resources and financial power to seize the market.
It was a cutthroat tactic, but ever since Penguin, every major internet company operated this way.
The key now was to crack and pirate it quickly. If Qingfeng Network Company managed to capture a user base beyond a certain size, it would become much more difficult.
Mr. Ma of Penguin naturally knew this as well. He immediately turned to Zhao De. "President Zhao, what’s the status on cracking Qingfeng Company’s intelligent assistant software?"
"Mr. Ma, I was just about to report to you on this matter." Zhao De wore a helpless expression. "We hired several external experts—all top figures in the computer industry, as you know—but even by joining forces, we haven’t been able to crack the software’s basic encryption."
"It’s terrifying. What’s more, we’ve found that we can’t even understand their basic code, let alone perform an in-depth analysis or pirate it."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Ma’s expression instantly turned grim.
Having come from a background in network coding himself, he knew exactly what this meant. If they couldn’t even understand the code, cracking and pirating the software was virtually impossible.
"How could this be? There shouldn’t be any code that you can’t understand," Mr. Ma said, his face etched with disbelief.
His own staff, plus the external experts, were the nation’s top computer masters.
Zhao De quickly explained, "Mr. Ma, it seems they’re using a new type of code."
"How is that possible?" Mr. Ma said incredulously.
He had been in the internet industry for so long, and everyone had always used standard code. He’d never seen anyone create a new programming language from scratch. It was just too difficult, too troublesome, and far too expensive.
And now, this obscure little company had somehow created a new language and used it to develop a piece of software with such terrifying capabilities.
Mr. Ma sank powerlessly into his office chair. He knew, with absolute clarity, that Qingfeng Network Company was probably unstoppable now.
Without a way to learn the new code, even pirating it was impossible.
It was like asking someone who didn’t know a word of English to translate an English document. Wasn’t that just absurd?
This was the first time he had ever felt so powerless. Even when he had gone up against Douyin, and even when he had ultimately failed, he hadn’t felt like this.
In the days that followed, the entire internet industry was rocked.
Faced with a product like the Qingfeng Intelligent Assistant Software, every company tried to crack it.
But once they began, they were all astonished to find that they couldn’t crack it at all. They simply couldn’t understand the code.
’This code doesn’t belong to our era!’
And with this, Wang Xin became famous.
Everyone on the internet knew he was the head of technology at Qingfeng Network Company.
It was a classic case of becoming famous overnight.
But only he knew the real story, so he made no public response.
’Let them guess!’
...
Lu Feng soon stopped paying attention to Qingfeng Network’s affairs.
After all, he was a hands-off boss. If he paid attention to everything, he’d work himself to death. As long as the company wasn’t having any problems, that was good enough for him.
Besides, if he got too involved, he wouldn’t be a hands-off boss anymore.
However, Lin Jin came looking for him again. He had already prepared everything Lu Feng needed.
Accompanying him were Chen Bo and Yang Ming.
"Xiaofeng, we put the equipment in that warehouse, just like you asked," Yang Ming said the moment he walked in the door.
"Okay, Cousin." Lu Feng knew which warehouse his cousin was talking about—it was the old grain warehouse.
"I’ve also given the warehouse staff a few days off," Yang Ming added.
He knew his younger cousin had secrets and didn’t want to be disturbed, so he had naturally handled everything perfectly.
After discussing the matter of the entertainment complex with Lu Feng for a bit, Yang Ming and the others took their leave.
Afterward, Lu Feng went to the warehouse and locked the door from the inside.
Inside the warehouse, the machinery was already in place. The most conspicuous parts were the central rotating bearing and a set of sharp, petal-like steel blades.
The rest consisted of numerous support columns, fixed shafts, rotating gears, and so on.
Furthermore, to prevent deformation and wear, they were all made of steel and aluminum alloy.
However, Lu Feng frowned as he looked at the gasoline-powered drive mechanism. He pulled out his phone, dialed Chen Bo’s number, and said as soon as the call connected, "Chen Bo, can you ask Lin Jin if the drive system can be converted to an energy-based power source? This gasoline engine is a bit of a hassle."
"Of course, President Lu." Chen Bo agreed. After hanging up, he immediately called Lin Jin. "Mr. Lin, I was wondering if the drive system for the machinery you designed can be modified. President Lu doesn’t want to use gasoline."