Challenge Letter

"Sorry, Mr. Li, but we have no plans for financing at the moment. If we do, I'll contact you."

Zhao Min hung up, set the phone back on its cradle, leaned into her chair, and let out a long breath.

It had been a week since Butterfly Eye officially went on sale. Throughout that week, Zhao Min had been constantly answering calls, all of them asking about financing.

IDG, Tencent Investment, Sequoia, Jiu Ding Holdings—several of the country's largest venture capital firms had all called her, along with quite a few independent investors.

Her hands had gone numb from answering calls these past few days. In seven days, she had taken more than seventy calls. If it had not been for work, she would have loved to rip out the phone line.

Chen Mo, the chairman, did not handle anything at all and had dumped every matter on her shoulders. She was starting to feel that betting with Chen Mo back then had landed her in a huge pit.

Still, one thing that relieved her was that the phones were selling extremely well. The phones were waterproof, and coupled with the smooth Army Ant System experience, they had received plenty of praise.

Many of the newly ordered phones had already been delivered to users. Thanks to their careful approach in the early stages, everything had gone very smoothly so far, with no major issues arising. There were only occasional discordant voices online, but they had not affected the company in any way.

Several phone companies had already contacted them about the waterproof port.

Many phone companies had their own unique charging port designs, while the standard headphone jack was now the 3.5mm jack.

Butterfly Eye's unique waterproof port design had already caught the interest of many companies.

Zhao Min had said at the press conference that they could license it externally, so representatives from many phone companies were already discussing licensing with them.

After all, not every company could choose wireless charging like Apple. Waterproof ports were not as expensive as wireless charging, yet they could still give phones waterproofing capabilities.

Whether in terms of cost or practicality, waterproof ports were an excellent choice.

The company was now progressing steadily. As long as they weathered things for a while longer, it would truly stabilize.

Just as Zhao Min was reviewing documents, a rapid knock sounded at the door. Li Lingfeng hurried in, holding something in his hand.

"What happened?" Zhao Min frowned at the sight of Li Lingfeng. In her impression, he had always been calm and composed.

"President Zhao, some articles attacking us have appeared online. They say the Army Ant System has a major security vulnerability, and it's causing a huge uproar online."

"A security vulnerability?" Zhao Min immediately turned serious. "Is it real?"

"It's fake. I went to the technical department and spoke with Lao Luo. He said the so-called security vulnerability is completely fabricated. Someone hired internet trolls to deliberately smear us. I also received news from Julie that quite a few users have chosen to return their phones."

Zhao Min picked up her phone and opened the news. Sure enough, just as Li Lingfeng had said, many articles were reporting on the Army Ant System security vulnerability.

After reading several articles, Zhao Min checked the comments as well.

There was no shortage of criticism and abuse. Driven by a small number of haters, the comments had become overwhelmingly one-sided, all attacking Ant Army Company.

The vast sea of news comments was nothing but mindless hate.

Zhao Min gave them a quick glance, then put down her phone and pressed hard against her brow. What was bound to come had come. Clearly, someone did not want to see them succeed so smoothly.

"What should we do?" Li Lingfeng asked.

The appearance of the Army Ant System and Butterfly Eye had already cut into the enormous pie that was the mobile phone market.

If their company was hyped up and its reputation completely ruined, the Army Ant System would be finished. No one would dare use it afterward. Then they could acquire the company, repackage it, and release it again.

The tactic was a little old-fashioned, but it was very effective.

"Don't panic. I'll contact the chairman first."

Zhao Min gestured for Li Lingfeng to sit and wait, then dialed Chen Mo's number.

Something this serious had happened, and she was working herself to death here while that chairman had no idea where he was off enjoying himself. It left her helpless.

"Chairman, there's bad news." Zhao Min spoke the moment the call connected.

"Is it about the Army Ant System security vulnerability?" Chen Mo asked as he closed the news page on his computer.

He had designed the Army Ant System himself, so there was no way he could remain indifferent to something like this.

As for the online smears, he did not care. Only mediocrities went unnoticed by others' envy. Every company went through such trivial troubles.

"It's good that you know," Zhao Min said.

"I couldn't find a vulnerability in the Army Ant System myself. I knew it was fake before even looking at it. You can't handle it?" Chen Mo asked.

"I can handle it. I just wanted to ask whether you had a better method. After all, you understand the Army Ant System best."

"Is that so?" Chen Mo thought for a moment. "I do have a bold idea."

"Your ideas have always been bold. Go ahead."

"Anyone who can find a vulnerability and crack the phone's system gets one million," Chen Mo said.

"Are you crazy?"

"Don't worry. No one will find one."

Chen Mo was brimming with confidence. This phone system had been developed using the framework he obtained from the Sci-Tech Library.

After it was completed, it had also been optimized by the Sci-Tech Library. In terms of security, it might not be perfect, but without the source code, cracking it would be extraordinarily difficult. That was why he dared say the Army Ant System was superior to other mobile operating systems.

"Fine. If you're not worried, then there's no reason for me, the employee, to worry either. But based on your idea, I'm planning to do it differently. Since you aren't afraid someone will find a vulnerability, can we raise the reward to two million?"

"As long as the bounty is under five million, do whatever you want."

"Alright."

After hanging up, Zhao Min looked at Li Lingfeng.

"Lingfeng, put out an announcement. Whoever finds a vulnerability in the Army Ant System and cracks the system without damaging any data—we'll put up two million. One million will be donated to the Children's Fund, and the other million will go to whoever finds the vulnerability. The reward will remain valid for six months."

Zhao Min had more company-related concerns than Chen Mo. Someone was smearing them now, and charity was the best way to restore the company's reputation.

Once this stunt was out, it would not only drive phone sales but also earn the company a good reputation. At the same time, everyone would learn just how secure the Army Ant System was—a win on multiple fronts.

"Mm, understood." Li Lingfeng nodded and left the office.

The Army Ant System remained a hot topic online, with all kinds of articles describing its supposed security vulnerabilities in vivid detail.

And just as the buzz reached its peak, the official Weibo account of Ant Army Company reposted an article claiming that the Army Ant System had security vulnerabilities and issued a public response.

"A challenge! The chairman says: two million for each vulnerability. Anyone or any team that finds a vulnerability in the Army Ant System and cracks the phone without damaging its data, the company is willing to offer two million—one million to the Children's Fund, and one million to the person or team that cracks it. (The reward is valid for six months. Ant Army Company reserves the right of final interpretation.)"

This response was like throwing a basin of cold water into an already boiling pan of oil. It instantly ignited public discussion and pushed the topic to a new peak.

#Ant Army Company Responds#

The topic immediately shot to the top of the trending searches.

The comments beneath Ant Army Company's official Weibo were quickly taken over by joke-makers.

"Me: Mom, give me money! I want to study computers. I could get rich—there's a million up for grabs. Mom: You want money to play games at an internet café, right? Honey, tie him up!"

"Last time, you tricked me into begging in Dubai. Then you tried to trick me into marrying a wife in Ukraine. Last year, you told me I could make money playing poker in prison. My ass still hurts to this day. And now you're trying to trick me into studying computer technology and finding vulnerabilities. I'm not doing it... Boss, settle my wages from hauling bricks. I need to pay my tuition. Yeah, that's right—I'm going to study computers."

"Bamboo rats, bamboo rats, clearance sale!"

Under Ant Army Company's official Weibo, countless comments appeared in a bizarre style. News of the company's two-million reward rapidly drowned out the smear campaign.

Articles attacking the Army Ant System over supposed security vulnerabilities quickly died off after the response came out. Online coverage entirely shifted toward Ant Army Company's reward offer.

This was too outrageous. Even Apple would not dare make such a claim, yet an ant that had just crawled out of its nest dared to say it.

Once the news spread, technical experts from all sides quickly followed Ant Army Company's official Weibo and reposted the announcement, declaring that they were joining the effort to crack it.

The leaders of the renowned domestic Tencent Network Security Team and Seven Tiger Network Security Team also reposted the Weibo post and publicly announced that they were joining the cracking effort. If they succeeded, they would donate all the money to charity.

One announcement sparked a massive online frenzy to crack the Army Ant System.