Using Torture

Inside the airport waiting area, Zhang Qian sat down next to Xiang Kun and asked, "Was that thing you mentioned about making games serious?"

A few days ago, when they visited Liu Caifu's home in Chongyun Village, Xiang Kun discussed with Liu Caifu the previous construction plans for Chongyun Village, such as the so-called artificial intelligence and internet-based breeding research institute, and the meat rabbit breeding base.

Of course, this discussion needs to be more grounded, more detailed, and more practically feasible.

Liu Caifu even took out a map and explained to Xiang Kun in detail the general situation of each piece of land, what kind of policies they could get from Tongshi Town, Jianzhou City, and even the province, and what kind of joint development could be carried out, etc.

Putting everything else aside, this dilapidated road outside Chongyun Village alone definitely needs to be repaired.

Tang Baona, Zhang Qian, Zicheng, Xia Libing, and others were also present during the discussion and listened in throughout.

Everyone else who listened to Xiang Kun and Liu Caifu's discussion felt like they were listening to wishful thinking, but Zhang Qian thought about it more deeply. She knew that Xiang Kun was a person with strong execution skills, and she could vaguely see Xiang Kun's plan for this matter.

So when Xiang Kun casually mentioned wanting to get Zhang Qian, Zi Cheng, and Liu Caifu to invest in a company together, she had a feeling of "just as expected." But when Xiang Kun proposed a project to collaborate on, it surprised her greatly—what Xiang Kun wanted to do with them was not to invest in the projects and plans he and Liu Caifu had discussed in Chongyun Village, but rather online games.

Zhang Qian was already very familiar with Xiang Kun's resume and the projects he had participated in. When she worked with Xiang Kun before, she had asked Director Lin to check Xiang Kun's detailed information. After confirming that the project had been successfully put into internal testing, she checked it through other channels. So she knew very well that Xiang Kun had not participated in the production of any games, not even during his university years.

Why did you suddenly propose making online games together?

Not only her, but Deputy Director Liu had spent the afternoon chatting with Xiang Kun about the Chongyun Village construction plan, was even more bewildered. Only Liu Chuang showed strong interest, repeatedly asking what games they were going to play.

However, Xiang Kun simply said that everyone would know once it was made, and then told Deputy Director Liu that their collaboration on the game was merely to make money and integrate resources to facilitate future operations. The various plans previously discussed in Chongyun Village and even Tongshi Town would still proceed, but he would personally invest in them once the company they were working with had made money.

Zhang Qian wasn't afraid of being scammed by Xiang Kun and losing her investment, because according to Xiang Kun's explanation, he clearly intended to wait until the product was finished before recruiting them. But for a game project, one of the biggest costs is the manpower required for development. If they waited until the product was complete before deciding whether to join, wouldn't that virtually eliminate the risk? But then how would Xiang Kun cover the development costs? He couldn't very well do it all himself, could he?

Upon hearing her bring up this topic, Zicheng, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, and others nearby became interested, and even Yang Zhuo and Yang Jie curiously gathered around.

Xiang Kun laughed and said, "Of course I'm serious. I'll be relying on the money I earn from making games to support my future plans of raising rabbits and opening a restaurant."

"Brother Xiang, why don't you tell me what kind of game you're going to play? Is it a MOBA game like League of Legends or Dota 2, or an MMORPG like World of Warcraft, JX Online, or Final Fantasy, or a card game like Hearthstone?" Yang Zhuo asked curiously.

His girlfriend, Xiao Min, whispered from the side, "Computer games aren't popular anymore. If you want to make money, you have to play mobile games."

Zi Cheng also said, "Large-scale games are impossible; the investment is too huge. I'm thinking... Xiang Kun said we should make it first, so it'll probably be a small, simple mobile game."

"Small mobile games, unless they have a big platform to promote them, will have a hard time taking off. Even if they are fun, they can easily be copied by big companies and they can reap the benefits," Yang Zhuo said, frowning.

Xiang Kun laughed and said, "Don't worry, the game I'm making is something no one has ever done before. It's absolutely unique and almost impossible to imitate. I'll have you guys be among the first to try it out. You'll know what I mean once you play it."

After boarding, Tang Baona sat next to Xiang Kun and whispered, "Zhen'er and I would like to participate in that game company you're running, is that okay?"

Xiang Kun laughed and said, "Of course." Just like he told Zhang Qian, he would develop the game first, and only if it proved to be a good project would he ask them to join him. Anyway, he didn't have any money to invest, so instead of looking for venture capitalists or other investors, he might as well ask his wealthy friends.

Yang Zhen'er also craned her neck and said to him across Tang Baona, "Boss Xiang, if you ever need money, remember to let us know. I can help you get investment. I know a lot of big bosses."

"'Boss Xiang' is a good title. Let's use that from now on. Don't call me 'Chef Xiang' anymore!" Xiang Kun said with a smile.

"Dream on! At most, you'll be called Master Xiang!" Yang Zhen'er raised her chin.

Tang Baona then asked in a low voice, "Could the brand-new game mode you mentioned before be related to the voice system we made before?"

Xiang Kun secretly gave her a thumbs up. "Smart!"

Tang Baona chuckled softly, "Won't my voice be in this game too?"

"Don't worry, you won't. Your voice won't be leaked," Xiang Kun promised.

"It doesn't really matter. I've done a lot of video editing and dubbing for movies and TV shows before," Tang Baona said. "Hey, now that you mention it, I'm suddenly really looking forward to the game you're going to make. Good luck with your game! If you need any help, remember to let us know. Although we don't make games, we do know people who do! Like Linlin's husband, who works for a game company."

"Okay, we might really need your help later," Xiang Kun said with a smile.

The idea of making games was certainly not something he came up with on a whim.

He had thought about how to make money many times before.

We don't need to be as large and powerful as "Shenxing Technology," with a global reach, to support a "secret department" of that scale, with so many research centers, so many researchers with confidentiality agreements, so many field professionals, and so much high-tech equipment.

However, it is still necessary to have a laboratory with basic experimental equipment and basic analytical research capabilities, a private place that can provide a certain degree of privacy and shelter, and a safe house where one can eat and sleep peacefully.

As for ways to make money, with his current abilities, he naturally has many options.

However, after weighing the pros and cons and considering the current situation, Xiang Kun decided to use Alice's abilities to help him accumulate capital.

Of course, he couldn't release Alice directly right now. He had a feeling that Alice might become one of his most important trump cards in the future, and Alice herself wasn't perfect enough yet.

However, some of the functional modules that Alice completed can be completely extracted, re-integrated, and monetized.

As for the specific implementation method, he actually has many ideas, but whether they can be implemented or not, he still needs to go back and "discuss" with Alice and actually try it out.

After the plane took off, Xiang Kun, just like when he arrived, asked a flight attendant for a blanket to cover himself with, looking like he was planning to catch up on some sleep.

He wasn't really going to sleep, but rather using this to sense the various objects with which he had established connections, and to enter a "Hyper-Sensory State" when necessary.

He first sensed the 3x3cm piece of paper tucked inside Mi Qiao's softcover notebook, and was able to determine his current location: a villa area not far from the Wushu Mountain Scenic Area, which he had previously spied on.

Then he entered Hyper-Sensory State, descending to the vicinity of the "Black Circle Graffiti," confirming that Mi Qiao and Fang Pingfang were indeed inside the villa. It seemed they hadn't continued deeper into the mountains to track the "mutated bird," or perhaps someone else was in charge of the tracking?

Xiang Kun focused on observing Mi Qiao's cognitive information, attempting to "translate" the various sensory information around her by analyzing her cognitive information.

He could "see" that besides Fang Pingfang, there were four other people around Mi Qiao in the same room, some standing and some sitting. Fang Pingfang was saying something, while the others listened quietly. Unfortunately, the information he could "translate" through Mi Qiao was still limited, and he couldn't understand what Fang Pingfang was saying.

Xiang Kun didn't observe any further. He exited the "Hyper-Sensory State," rested briefly, then re-entered it and descended around the Rabbit Woodcarving.

To be honest, he didn't have high hopes. He was just conducting a routine "check" and training his precise perception in a "Hyper-Sensory State." He didn't think any important figures would appear around the Rabbit Woodcarving at this time—after all, no one had appeared around the Rabbit Woodcarving in the past few days, so it was obviously isolated.

But this time, as soon as it descended around the Rabbit Woodcarving, Xiang Kun immediately sensed a special cognitive information.

In Baoqing City, Ironpeace Town, inside a high-tech industrial park, there is a building that actually belongs to Shenxing Technology.

At this time, all the staff in the building had left, including security personnel with classified information such as Zhang Yaozu, who had been reassigned to another building in the park that also belonged to Shenxing Technology to stand by.

On the second floor below that building, in the experimental area that had been sealed off since the early morning of the 18th and had not been entered by anyone, there was not a single person in sight, only a few small drones flying slowly through the corridor.

The drone used some kind of technology that made it almost inaudible, so quiet that one could hear faint footsteps.

The footsteps seemed to stop outside "Ninth Laboratory".

A second later, a tall figure quickly appeared at the laboratory entrance.

It was a "person" whose entire body was covered with spiderweb-like patterns and had a metallic sheen.

This, naturally, is "Mr. Liang".

He stood in front of "Lab Nine," reached out, and a drone carrying a tablet computer was placed in his hand.

He quickly reviewed the surveillance videos from the early morning of the 18th in "Lab Nine", "Lab Six" and the corridor. He had already watched these videos once before, but now that he was on site, he watched them again to compare and confirm them.

He glanced at the lights in the video, their brightness shifting between light and shadow, then at the lights that were now steadily illuminated in the corridor. His enormous, black pupils shifted color slightly.

He used his privileges to open the door to "Lab Nine" directly. After entering, he found nothing unusual in the laboratory. He operated the control panel on the huge metal platform inside the laboratory, and a transparent "box" rose from the platform. The strange Rabbit Woodcarving that Fang Pingfang, Li Shiping, and others had painstakingly brought back from a cave in the Qinling Uninhabited Zone was now standing quietly inside, grinning at him.

Mr. Liang opened the box, but instead of immediately taking out the Rabbit Woodcarving, he kept letting the box rotate automatically, observing it from different angles. The two huge eyes, which had no eyelids and seemed to be embedded in the face, appeared to be constantly changing color.

After observing for a few minutes, "Mr. Liang" slowly reached out and pinched the Rabbit Woodcarving, bringing it to his face.

His fingers were also covered with that metallic skin with spiderweb-like patterns, and his fingernails, palm prints, and fingerprints were not visible.

He tightened his grip on the wooden carving slightly, clearly feeling a slight sinking sensation and hearing the squeaking sound of the wood being compressed. Then he extended his tongue, covered in a dense layer of fine hairs, and slowly licked the wooden carving.

He "felt" it for a while, then looked at the wood carving in his hand with some surprise.

According to his judgment, the wood carving was indeed made of the same material as Dr. Fang and his team's experiments and tests, without any abnormalities; it was just very ordinary wood.

Moreover, he did not sense any obvious changes in the magnetic field from the wood carving, and the radiation was within the normal range.

How does it affect people's dreams, induce hallucinations, and interfere with electrical currents?

He thought for a moment, placed the wooden carving on the metal table, and then pinched his right index finger with his left hand. In no time, his index finger was "pinched" into the shape of a scalpel.

Mr. Liang used his index finger knife to lightly make a cut on the Rabbit Woodcarving. The blade was extremely sharp, seemingly even more powerful than a real scalpel, and easily left a clear scratch on the surface of the carving.

No response?

Mr. Liang then cut off a small piece of the Rabbit Woodcarving.

Still no response?

Mr. Liang took the wood carving to Lab Six and began experimenting with some corrosive solutions in the laboratory, subjecting the Rabbit Woodcarving to various forms of "torture".

Others could also conduct such experiments. But no one but him had the authority to perform destructive experiments on such important experimental subjects.

But no matter what he did, nothing unusual happened.

At that moment, a drone that had been hovering nearby approached, and a notification sound rang out from the tablet computer it was carrying.

Mr. Liang didn't reach for the tablet; he simply tapped his ear and heard Dr. Fang's voice.

"Mr. Liang, it seems our drone has lost track of that giant raptor."

Mr. Liang's signature, unpleasant voice, tinged with friction, rang out. "We've already recorded its data, so finding it again won't be difficult. Don't worry about it. Tell us about your current findings. What are your thoughts on this large bird and the 'invisible' creature it captured?"