Negotiation

Zhan Fei had already rehearsed the conversation with the person on the other end in his mind.

Who was the other party? What was their identity? What did they intend to threaten him with?

Would it be a cold male voice? A seductive female voice? Or perhaps some grotesque tone created with a voice changer?

Yet he had never expected the voice coming through to be that of a child.

"Friend, have you heard of Little X?"

Perhaps because Zhan Fei had not replied, the childlike voice on the other end asked again.

"I only heard that name today."

Zhan Fei decided to go along with the other party for now, observe their intentions, and then decide how to proceed with the conversation.

"That's wonderful."

The voice on the other end sounded quite delighted. "In that case, would you be willing to join us and help promote Little X across the world?"

"What do you mean?" Zhan Fei frowned. "Who are you? Why do you want me to join? What value do I have to offer, and what benefits can I get from this?"

"Mr. Zhan Fei, you may call me X."

The childlike voice on the phone spoke with complete seriousness. "We are a small organization focused on biotechnology research. The Little X Translation Assistant we sent you is the first artificial intelligence product under Organization X."

"If an organization capable of designing something like this is considered small, then wouldn't my company amount to nothing?" Zhan Fei snorted coldly.

"No, no, no! We're called a 'small organization' because we don't have enough manpower." The childlike voice explained, "So I traced my way through the Dark Web and followed the trail until I found you."

"What are you talking about? Why can't I understand a word of it?"

Zhan Fei's expression turned cold. Sure enough, the other party had found him through the Dark Web.

"Of course, you weren't the only one I found. I also found King, SB, CZH, and a few others."

"Impossible!"

Zhan Fei's pupils contracted, and he nearly crushed his phone in his grip. "You found King and the others too? In real life?"

Those English names seemed ordinary, even somewhat ridiculous, but only those familiar with the hacker world understood just how terrifying they were.

Every one of those names represented a top figure in the hacking world.

"Of course. To me, the traces you left behind were simply too obvious."

The childlike voice chuckled. "I sought you out because all of you are self-made successful people in real life, without complicated backgrounds. That makes us suitable partners."

Zhan Fei felt a chill run down his back. When he reached behind him, he realized that he was already drenched in cold sweat.

If any hacker had told him that they had discovered the real identities of King, SB, and the others, Zhan Fei would have dismissed it with scorn. But at this moment, he did not think for a second that the other party was bluffing...

He had always made sure to erase every trace with the utmost caution. Even in that clash with whine a year ago, he had only lost by a slight margin.

To find him without him noticing anything at all—just what kind of entity was this X?

At that thought, Zhan Fei took a deep breath. "Then what do you need us to do?"

"My request is simple. I hope that you can become shareholders of Little X Translation Assistant."

The childlike voice seemed completely unaware of the issue with its own image and continued speaking in a soft, childish tone. "I hope you can provide funding for a company called Black Light Biotechnology Co., Ltd. That way, my company can avoid a great deal of trouble."

"But from what I can see, this product doesn't need us."

Zhan Fei frowned. "I believe that with this software's technology, it could easily attract a large amount of venture capital."

"But if that happened, the product—and even the company—would no longer belong entirely to me."

The childlike voice sounded somewhat helpless. "Although that would indeed be a good option, I want the company to remain under my control forever."

"I understand."

Zhan Fei nodded. Most entrepreneurs had a special attachment to their companies, and that was perfectly normal. However, if a company wanted to grow larger and stronger, it needed investment from all sides, which was why angel investment had become such a common practice in the industry.

But not every company or project could attract investment. Those that truly could were invariably companies with enormous potential and widespread confidence behind them.

Yet capital was driven by profit. It was common for companies to go through several rounds of financing only to end up bearing someone else's name, or even for their founders to be kicked out of their own companies.

And if you refused financing, the other party could replicate your technology and establish a new company to compete with you. Lacking funds, your only fate would be to be easily crushed by them, with no hope of recovery.

That was why so many people both loved and hated venture capital.

Capital never slept. In the eyes of capital, there was no right or wrong—only profit.

But if a company's shareholders had their lifelines in your hands, then things would naturally be different. They would be unable to interfere in the company's affairs and thus could not infringe on the founder's authority.

And that seemed to be exactly what this X meant.

"Can I take that as a threat?" Zhan Fei asked coldly.

"If it makes you happy." X sounded unconcerned.

"Then one last question. What do I stand to gain from this?"

Zhan Fei asked again, "If I get nothing out of all this and even have to stake everything I currently possess, then I'm sorry, but I'd rather go down with you!"

"Relax, relax. I'm not that kind of person."

X said, "The four of you each invest ten million in my project, and I'll give each of you two percent of the shares. But the condition is that you may not interfere in any of the company's internal affairs. That sounds reasonable, right?"

Zhan Fei was so angry he laughed. "Are you sure you're talking about the Little X Translation Assistant project and not the company? Ten million per person for only two percent of the shares? Why don't you just rob us?"

"Two percent is already a lot!"

X defended itself. "Perhaps you don't fully understand the technological capabilities of the Little X Translation Assistant. Let me put it this way: once this software hits the market, it will solve any written communication problem. It is the only one of its kind in the world, at least five years ahead of current AI translation technology!"

Zhan Fei opened his mouth to argue, but then a thought suddenly struck him.

Although he had only glanced at it before, its ability to perfectly replace every bit of text on a foreign-language webpage without feeling the slightest bit out of place really did seem advanced enough to crush any similar product, just as X claimed.

The other party did not seem to be exaggerating.

If that was true, then once this software was released, it would definitely bring in outrageous profits!

At that thought, Zhan Fei's initial anger and resistance faded somewhat.

"Besides, my company will not have only the Little X Translation Assistant project in the future."

X continued. "There is also a Simultaneous Translator under development. It is expected to launch within half a year. You'll understand then."

"A Simultaneous Translator?" Zhan Fei frowned. "The kind of thing that lets two people who speak different languages communicate? I've used those before. They weren't very good."

"But ours is different," X explained. "You've seen The Wandering Earth, right? Our Simultaneous Translator can achieve the level shown in that movie."

Zhan Fei immediately fell silent. After a long while, he finally said, "I need to think about it."

"No problem." X's damn childish voice continued to chatter away. "If you don't mind, please go to Mickey Coffee Shop in the city center three hours from now. There, you will meet King, SB, and CZH. We can discuss it together then."