A Minor Problem, Utterly Worthless

Shanda Headquarters.

Wednesday, the sixth day since "Legend of the Abyss" went online.

"Director Zhang, the technical department refuses to use hacking."

"What do they mean?"

"Director Chen said their main responsibilities are network security maintenance and technical research and development. Currently, their workload is heavy, and they don't have extra manpower to do hacking."

"I understand."

Zhang Yingfeng, the head of legal affairs and copyright, felt a bit angry at the moment.

He had been busy arranging personnel to investigate infringing manufacturers in reality and hadn't paid attention to the private server issue at all.

Two days ago, when he received the report about "Legend of the Abyss," Zhang Yingfeng didn't take it too seriously and casually signed off on approving a hacking attack.

But when it went through the process to the technical department, it was rejected again.

Zhang Yingfeng couldn't even get angry about it, because the head of the technical department was Boss Chen's younger brother and one of the founders of Shanda.

Let's call him Little Chen for now.

Shanda's acquisition of Qidian Chinese Website was led by Little Chen.

At this time, Shanda had a general manager, a vice president, and a large number of department directors.

The general manager was naturally Boss Chen.

The vice president, Zhu William, was originally the founder of Under the Banyan Tree. He was recruited by Boss Chen half a year ago to improve the internal structure, plan external acquisitions, and contact Wall Street for a potential listing.

And Little Chen was at the director level.

Zhang Yingfeng tried to calm his emotions, and only after ensuring there was no trace of anger did he personally go to connect with Little Chen.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Please come in."

Little Chen wore half-rimmed glasses, a T-shirt with jeans, and a sweater over it. There was also a bed in his office, and he often worked until midnight and then stayed at the company to sleep.

"Director Chen," Zhang Yingfeng greeted with a smile.

Little Chen typed away on the keyboard, saying without lifting his head, "Have a seat."

Zhang Yingfeng sat down across the table, and the secretary brought coffee.

"Is there something?" Little Chen asked.

Zhang Yingfeng organized his words and said in the most peaceful tone, "Director Chen, it's like this. Recently, a private server has appeared, and the impact is very bad. I need to use a few hackers."

Little Chen was always straightforward: "I know about 'Legend of the Abyss.' The number of players is not even as many as 'DuDu Legend.' 'DuDu Legend' doesn't even need hackers, why would you attack 'Legend of the Abyss'?"

"The public opinion impact is extremely negative, and they are even recruiting people in 'Legend'," Zhang Yingfeng said.

Little Chen said, "Aren't you supposed to cooperate with the five ministries and commissions for a special crackdown? Just take down the private server platform. From the end of last year until now, why has the company stopped using hacking attacks on private servers? Besides there being too many private servers to deal with, hacking behavior will bring serious negative impacts to the company!"

"Director Chen, I am also just doing my job. I hope you can understand," Zhang Yingfeng said.

"I cannot understand," Little Chen retorted. "I am in charge of technology. Last year, I opposed the use of hackers. This thing is a double-edged sword, and using it too much will eventually cut yourself. If you use hacking attacks for every little thing, then what's the point of having your legal department?"

Since Shanda used hackers at the end of 2002, they have been very cautious about it ever since.

A few years later, although they started using hackers again, they were always unwilling to do it themselves. Instead, they first formed a team (which later became a subsidiary) and used external personnel to infiltrate various private servers. Those hacker teams were also formed by external personnel and had no direct connection with Shanda itself.

There really was no connection; Shanda even messed up.

One of the external personnel colluded with members of Shanda's anti-private server team and directly collected protection fees from private servers on the market. Private servers that paid protection fees could survive, while those that didn't were severely cracked down upon.

Finally, they simply targeted private server platforms, using hackers to threaten anyone who didn't obey. Gradually, the largest private server platforms in China all had to listen to Shanda's external personnel...

Shanda chose to report it to the police, but even after arresting the people, they were only fined, and the relevant departments found it difficult to convict them.

In other words, except for the time when private servers first appeared and Shanda used hacking attacks, for the next twenty years, no matter how rampant private servers were, Shanda never directly used hacking methods again.

Zhang Yingfeng patiently explained, "The legislation is temporarily incomplete, and normal legal means are ineffective, which is why I suggested using hackers."

Little Chen was too lazy to say more: "If you want to use hackers, you can. Go get my second brother (Boss Chen) to sign first."

"Okay, goodbye, Director Chen." Zhang Yingfeng left with a belly full of anger.

Little Chen also took his hands off the keyboard and lay back in his chair, closing his eyes to rest.

He only had a vocational high school education and worked as a cashier after graduation. But he taught himself computer technology and developed China's first internet billing software, breaking Microsoft's monopoly in this field in China.

At the age of 21, he followed his brother to found Shanda and was the second largest shareholder of Shanda.

But as it developed, he was almost being squeezed out of the decision-making circle.

This was not a case of brothers turning against each other, but rather that besides being good at technology, Little Chen was really not good at other aspects and had been criticized by his brother in public more than once.

From now on, he would only be responsible for two areas:

One was Shanda Literature, including a bunch of literary websites like Qidian, Jinjiang, Under the Banyan Tree, Red Sleeve Adds Fragrance, Xiaoxiang Academy, Novel Reading Website, etc.

One was Shanda Innovation Institute, becoming a pioneer explorer in fields such as cloud computing and voice input in China. He was the first person to research and develop cloud computing in China.

"Legend of the Abyss" had been online for seven days, and Boss Chen finally flew back to Modu.

This trip wasn't just for a meeting in the capital; he was also received by high-level leaders to discuss the development of China's online gaming industry. Afterward, he exchanged views with other game companies and visited some tech companies in the capital.

Minor matters like private servers had long been forgotten by Boss Chen.

As soon as Boss Chen returned to the company, Vice President Zhu William came to his office. "The acquisition of ZONA has been finalized. We can officially sign next month."

"You work quickly and steadily, as expected," Boss Chen said happily.

ZONA was an American company with world-leading game engine development technology.

Shanda buying ZONA was naturally to enhance its own research and development capabilities!

Boss Chen asked, "How was your contact with Wall Street during this trip to the US?"

Zhu William said, "I contacted a few old friends, and they are very interested in Shanda. If Director Chen wants to list on NASDAQ, it's best to find another industry insider to be specifically responsible for this area."

"What do you think of Tang Jun?" Boss Chen asked.

"Which Tang Jun?" Zhu William asked.

Boss Chen said, "The head of Microsoft in Shanghai."

Zhu William spoke frankly, "I don't know this person and cannot comment."

Boss Chen added, "If Tang Jun comes, he will take over your current work completely."

This meant taking away all of Zhu William's current authority.

Zhu William smiled without speaking.

Boss Chen continued, "After Tang Jun joins, I will give you Shanda Xinhua."

"What does Director Chen want?" Zhu William asked.

Boss Chen said, "Shanda Xinhua has been established for half a year and hasn't made much progress. I need you to break new ground, integrate the peripherals of all Shanda's products, and build a strong technical team responsible for computer software, hardware, and network technology research and development. You also need to build investment and marketing teams to be responsible for acquiring some promising companies. You must work hard for Shanda's diversification and technological development. Shanda's future is in your hands. You can also take some technical staff from the headquarters."

"Director Chen..." Zhu William didn't want to take away the power of the company's second-largest shareholder and the boss's younger brother.

How could an outsider interfere in matters between brothers?

Boss Chen said, "I will personally persuade my brother."

Zhu William no longer refused and made a condition, "When I go to Shanda Xinhua, I want enough power."

"From finance to management, you handle everything yourself, no need to report to me. Just treat Shanda Xinhua as your own company." Boss Chen gave him maximum authority.

"I will give it my all," Zhu William said and left.

A scholar dies for his confidant.

Zhu William's departure truly had a sense of giving his all.

Within nine months, he would increase Shanda Xinhua's profits by 18 times and build strong investment, marketing, and technical teams.

But he also suffered two stomach hemorrhages from exhaustion and voluntarily resigned.

Even because his resignation was too sudden and he wouldn't change his mind no matter how much he was persuaded, Boss Chen couldn't find a qualified successor for a long time.

As soon as Zhu William left, Zhang Yingfeng came in.

"We have identified seven pirated factories and dens," Zhang Yingfeng reported. "We are just waiting for the special operation to begin and will immediately provide clues to the relevant departments. There is also a group that counterfeits and sells point cards, which we have been monitoring for over two months."

Boss Chen praised, "Well done."

Zhang Yingfeng hesitated for a moment. "There is a Legend private server that is causing quite a stir. I hope to use hacker attacks."

"Just coordinate with the technical department," Boss Chen said.

Zhang Yingfeng hesitated, "Director Chen... doesn't agree to use hackers."

Hearing this, Boss Chen fell silent.

Zhang Yingfeng was quite uneasy and said bravely, "Director Chen said that if you sign off on it, he will agree to proceed."

Boss Chen thought for a long time and finally spoke, "He has a point. Hacking is ultimately not honorable."

"Then..." Zhang Yingfeng was dumbfounded.

Boss Chen had been weakening his brother's power, and he had to give his brother enough face in such a small matter.

Alas, his own brother was sometimes very obedient, and sometimes very stubborn.

Just like a child who hasn't grown up.

And he was indeed not old; Little Chen was only 25 this year. Yet he was already Shanda's second-largest shareholder and the third most powerful person!

He had to be suppressed and coaxed at the same time.

Boss Chen said, "You don't need to worry about the private server. According to the original plan, focus on cracking down on private server platforms."

Zhang Yingfeng still wanted to try to convince him. "That private server has a very bad influence."

"Is it very large?" Boss Chen asked.

Zhang Yingfeng said, "The scale is not the largest, and the number of players is not as many as 'DuDu Legend'. But the public opinion impact is very bad; it even made it onto the homepage news of 17173."

Boss Chen finally became interested: "How did they do it?"

Zhang Yingfeng said: "A series of posts guided public opinion, stirring up players' resentment towards Shanda. Even netizens from Tianya and Xici Hutong went to join the fun."

"You mean the one that posted the 'game refugee post'?" Boss Chen asked.

Zhang Yingfeng said: "That's the one, it's called 'Legend of the Abyss'."

Boss Chen logged into the 17173 forum, roughly read through those posts, and actually praised: "These people are quite good at promotion. What does their Abyss map look like?"

"It's just copying the maps with BOSSes and selling tickets for them, with one team having exclusive access to one map. And, they only copy the floor where the BOSS is located," Zhang Yingfeng said.

Boss Chen thought for a moment: "The 'Age of Heroes' we are developing can also incorporate the Abyss map gameplay."

Zhang Yingfeng said: "'Age of Heroes' sells point cards, which conflicts with charging for map tickets."

"Let the development team research how to combine them," Boss Chen said.

Zhang Yingfeng asked: "Are we really not going to shut down this private server?"

Boss Chen sighed and said: "You can't catch all the mice. Your task is to clean up the mouse nests."

For Chen Guiliang and Tao Chenggang, "Legend of the Abyss" was a big deal.

But in Boss Chen's eyes, it was truly just a small matter. Half a month ago, when he saw the post, he was just curious about how Chen Guiliang operated. Now that the mystery was revealed, he wasn't interested anymore.

Recruitment?

Impossible.

If they recruited the private server team, what positions should they be given? How much salary should they be paid?

They were already making money from running a private server, so why would they be willing to be recruited if the salary was too low? If the salary was too high and the positions were too high, what would other Shanda employees think?

Moreover, at this time, Shanda was already developing two new games and didn't need to make a third one in the short term.

Resources were limited.

Shanda's "Age of Heroes" development team was poached by Boss Shi precisely because they couldn't get resources, which intensified the conflict.

As for the instance gameplay of "Legend of the Abyss", it conflicted with the sale of point cards for the official Legend. Although it temporarily had a novel selling point, it was not cost-effective in the long run, far less profitable than the profit provided by Legend point cards.

Even if they wanted to borrow the instance idea, they could just use it for free!

Chen Guiliang and "Legend of the Abyss" were worthless to Shanda, and there wasn't even a need to use hackers.

Chen Guiliang's side was about to have their monthly exam.

Shanda's lawyer's letter hadn't even been sent yet, and no Shanda employees had called or sent them QQ messages.

This, on the contrary, made Chen Guiliang suspicious and paranoid. Every day at noon, he would call Tao Chenggang: "Brother Gang, is Shanda still not making a move?"

Tao Chenggang was also puzzled: "Yeah, we've already opened the tenth server, and the first few servers are about to merge two by two. Why the hell is there no news from Shanda? Are they planning something big? I'm worried the police will suddenly show up."

"Uh... let's wait and see. Even if we get caught, it's just a fine, at most a few days of detention," Chen Guiliang said.

Tao Chenggang said nervously: "I'll consult a lawyer again."