Chapter 505: The Great Unification of Engines! Cyber Qin Shi Huang! |
In an instant!
Carter Walker felt his mind go completely blank!
Because the person sitting in the guest seat was none other than the President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden Wind Game Company—
SamGu!
Gu Sheng!
"An old friend meeting for the first time. Over the past nine months, the challenge your company presented has been quite a headache..."
As he spoke, Gu Sheng extended his hand towards him.
Carter Walker hurriedly took two steps forward, reaching out with both hands to shake it!
It was almost a completely instinctive reaction!
The boss behind [Made in Heaven]... was actually Golden Wind?!
No wonder.
No wonder a little-known tech investment company would suddenly shift its focus to the gaming industry.
No wonder, in the current climate where everyone was singing their doom, they still chose to acquire Illusion Engine.
Because Made in Heaven was crafted by Gu Sheng's hand...
Silence.
The conference room fell silent for a full five seconds.
It was too dramatic.
Taking a long moment to process it, Carter Walker now almost felt like laughing.
If no one intervened at this point, within a month or two at most, the towering edifice of Illusion Engine would come crashing down.
And at this critical juncture of life and death, the hand extended to aid them wasn't from CloudPower or Komera, who had closer ties to Illusion Engine.
Instead, it was Golden Wind—the very company they had previously blocked and sanctioned!
How could such a dramatic turn of events not make him let out a bitter chuckle?
Although, theoretically speaking, Golden Wind's so-called "aid" this time was far from pure in intention; it was practically a hostile takeover, massively acquiring Illusion Engine's equity. Even Laira Capital's substantial 12% stake had been taken over and absorbed by them.
But regardless of the process, everything ultimately comes down to the result.
And the result of this matter was that Golden Wind was willing to extend a helping hand, saving their lives, preventing them from going bankrupt and dissolving, and even...
"...making your market value stop its decline, reverse course, and embark once more on a broader upward trajectory."
Gu Sheng sat down, interlacing his fingers, his tone calm and steady.
His voice was even, composed, without any noticeable fluctuation.
As if stopping Illusion Engine's nine-month-long decline and reversing its downturn was, in his view, as easy as turning over his hand.
If it were anyone else!
Carter Walker would definitely offer an ambiguous smile, inwardly cursing, "Stop bragging. Forget you—in the current situation, unless the King of Heaven himself descends, no one can reverse Illusion Engine's collapse in a short time."
But now!
The King of Heaven had truly arrived!
Carter Walker wasn't a fool. Of course, he knew that all of this, from beginning to end, had been Golden Wind stirring the waters.
Either directly confronting them head-on, developing their own engine to break through the blockade.
Or orchestrating everything from behind the scenes, secretly fueling negative public opinion, using other companies to suppress and acquire Illusion Engine.
There's a saying in Huaguo: "Whoever tied the bell must untie it."
Illusion Engine's decline began with Golden Wind's engine development and resistance.
Now, to stop the decline and avoid bankruptcy and further collapse, only Golden Wind could save them.
Thinking this, Carter Walker opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something...
But nothing came out.
What more could he say?
The predatory gaze of industry peers, the ruthless abandonment by former partners.
Now, only one path remained before him, didn't it?
Just as Gu Sheng wished!
The negotiations with Illusion Engine didn't last very long.
In an atmosphere of positivity and harmony, as naturally as water flowing in its course, both sides reached a mutual agreement.
"However, there's one thing I'm quite curious about. I don't know if President Gu would be willing to share,"
Several days later, after both parties had signed the agreement, Carter Walker hesitantly voiced the question in his heart:
"[Made in Heaven]... was it from the very beginning intended as a 'feint to the east while attacking in the west,' to avoid Vivendi secretly stirring trouble and to conceal your true intentions?"
"If that's the case, why go through the name change?"
Carter Walker had never been able to understand the significance of Golden Wind's move.
Now that Illusion Engine, like Phoenix, had become a subsidiary of Golden Wind,
Gu Sheng had naturally revealed some details about this "supportive acquisition" to him, more or less.
Just as he said, the biggest purpose of this Polish-registered company used for acquiring equity was to conceal their identity, preventing Vivendi from knowing Golden Wind was massively buying up equity behind the scenes.
Otherwise, even if Vivendi didn't want to take on Illusion Engine's mess, they absolutely wouldn't let Golden Wind succeed so easily.
And to achieve this effect,
Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao had specifically sought help from Comrade Lao Shen.
That's right, this "clean foreign company" was obtained through Shen Capital's channels.
And Shen Capital had many such so-called "clean" companies in hand.
These enterprises weren't directly tied to Shen Capital through equity or capital, so naturally, nothing could be traced.
It was a somewhat gray but barely legal relationship.
And now, with the formal completion of Illusion Engine's acquisition, this Polish company had also been merged into Golden Wind's portfolio.
This series of operations!
Carter Walker could understand all of it!
But the question was—!
What was the point of the name change?
If this Polish-registered company was only meant to serve as an "intermediary medium,"
Once used, it could simply be fully merged into Golden Wind—quick and easy.
Why bother preserving this company's independence, even specifically changing its name and slogan?
"President Walker is quite sharp,"
Hearing this, Gu Sheng pushed the signed agreement aside, handing it to Chu Qingzhou for safekeeping, and smiled:
"Being this sharp, you really shouldn't have blindly trusted the bone-devouring Vivendi back then."
"Uh... this... heh... heh..."
Faced with Gu Sheng's teasing, Carter Walker grinned awkwardly.
Seeing this, Gu Sheng patted his shoulder:
"Just a little joke, President Walker. Don't take it to heart."
"No, no..."
Walker quickly waved his hands.
He still knew who was in charge now:
"Back then, I was just... confused, led astray..."
"Then remember the consequences of being led astray. Make sure it never happens again,"
With a slight smile, Gu Sheng continued:
"Because what we are about to face together is an unprecedented, grand project in the history of virtual technology. There's absolutely no room for blind confidence or carelessness..."
That's right!
Just as Carter Walker had thought!
If Made in Heaven was merely a tool to conceal their actions, there was absolutely no need to rename it, let alone preserve it after the acquisition was complete.
So!
"Made in Heaven has a significant mission,"
Gu Sheng said:
"This mission is intricately linked to the gaming industry, yet transcends it,"
"It is a virtual realm that surpasses the limitations of games, a centralized hub integrating millions of worlds,"
"This is an unprecedented concept, the ultimate form of the virtual,"
"And this concept, we will soon begin to realize,"
"Just wait and see..."
And so!
Golden Wind's "supportive acquisition" concluded peacefully amidst calm and harmony.
No waves, no surprises, as naturally as water flowing in its course.
However!
This seemingly calm and peaceful acquisition stirred up a tsunami of shock within the gaming circle—!!!
.......
On the very next day after the full acquisition was officially completed!
The appearance of one piece of news directly ignited the global gaming industry—!
《Engine Earthquake! Golden Wind, in conjunction with Yiyou and XunTeng, suddenly announces the completion of its acquisition of Illusion Engine Company! Golden Wind becomes Illusion Engine's largest shareholder!》
And with the announcement of this news!
Within just three minutes!
The news of Illusion Engine's change of ownership exploded across the gaming circle!
An industry earthquake! A complete uproar!
《Today is not April Fools' Day! Just now, Golden Wind officially becomes the largest shareholder of Illusion Engine Technology Company!》
《Nine Months of Accumulation! One Day of Rise! Golden Wind becomes Illusion Engine's largest shareholder! Holds the reins of the global engine industry!》
《Instant Reversal! As Golden Wind announces its takeover of Illusion Engine, Illusion Engine's stock price sees its first turning point in nine months!》
《A Century-Defining Acquisition! After nine months of contention! Golden Wind finally announces the acquisition of Illusion Engine! Achieving a new breakthrough in industry integration!》
《Supportive Acquisition! Golden Wind states the most significant meaning of this acquisition is preserving the spark of industry progress, better realizing coordinated industrial development!》
《...》
Instant explosion!
The entire gaming industry was in an uproar!
Indeed!
Based on the previous situation, Illusion Engine's collapse wasn't hard to predict, and many manufacturers and media had anticipated it.
But what no one expected was!
The one who ultimately saved Illusion Engine wasn't CloudPower, nor Komera, not even the industry peers who had long coveted Illusion Engine.
It was Golden Wind—the very company that had been targeted and blocked!
No wonder this acquisition was called a "century-defining acquisition"!
For a time, the entire industry was in an uproar!
Discussions on industry forums soared to the skies, creating a huge stir!
"Holy shit!!! I must have woken up too hard!!! Golden Wind acquired Illusion Engine???"
"Damn... doesn't this mean Golden Engine is about to skyrocket?!"
"Skyrocket? Global No.1! From today on, the world looks to Huaguo for engines, and Huaguo looks to Golden!"
"This is insane! What kind of configuration does Golden Engine have now? Self-developed physics and AI, Phoenix's visuals, Aurora Games' audio, Illusion Engine's reality augmentation! Holy fucking shit! Mom—come out and see God!!!"
"Hahahahahaha damn! This is just too ridiculous!"
"My evaluation is—really, don't push Huaguo people to the brink"
"True, originally GW was just making games happily, content with modest success. They had to be pushed to the absolute limit. Now, the fire's out..."
"If I had just two acres of land in Luoyang, how could I wear the seals of six states as prime minister..."
"You call this Su Qin? This is almost 'standardizing the script and unifying the gauge of cart axles'! Damn! I'm willing to call President Gu the Cyber Qin Shi Huang!"
"I'm utterly dumbfounded..."
"I really, really want to see Konik's expression right now hahahahahahahahaha"
"On this day! Konik finally uttered the cry of being dominated by Golden Wind!"
"[Huh?]"
"Hahahahahahahaha damn! Perfect!"