First Pot of Gold

As Tang Yi pressed Enter on the keyboard, a short line of code was sent to computers and phones around the world.

Under normal circumstances, systems would intercept this code as junk data, but infected devices would not.

Upon receiving a signal similar to "Smash Bowl," every infected device that was online simultaneously entered its infected state.

New York State

John Cena was a college student about to graduate. He had spent half a year working on his graduation thesis.

However, when he got up that morning and opened the computer he had left running all night to put the finishing touches on his thesis, he was shocked to discover that his thesis document would not open!

Not only that, none of the documents or pictures on his computer could be opened, no matter how many times he clicked them!

"Fuck! Does it have to be this damn screwed up?" John Cena cursed, slamming the desk in frustration.

"But luckily, I backed up all these documents onto a USB drive last night." John Cena secretly rejoiced. This was the result of half a year of work!

"Forget it, I'll try another computer."

However, when he plugged the USB drive into his roommate's computer, he was shocked to find that his roommate's computer, just like his own, could not open any documents or pictures!

The virus had successfully spread to his roommate's computer through the USB drive!

He was not the only one experiencing this. When people picked up their phones or sat down at their computers to chat with friends, they suddenly discovered that none of the pictures stored on their devices could be opened.

They soon found that it was not just the pictures. All their documents could not be opened either!

Although they did not know why the system itself was unaffected, with the desktop icons and text still displaying normally, their own pictures and documents had all become unclickable!

After giving these people a few minutes to adapt, Tang Shizhe had Tang Yi send a pop-up window to every device:

"Ladies and gentlemen, hello. I believe you have discovered that your computers can no longer open any pictures or documents. That's right, your devices have all been infected by the super virus I developed.

"However, as long as you purchase 001 Leiden Coin through the link below and pay me, your computer will immediately return to normal and will never be infected by this virus again."

Below the message, Tang Shizhe had thoughtfully included links to virtual currency trading platforms in countries around the world.

Every word in the message had been carefully designed by Tang Shizhe. For example, he said good morning, though it had only just fallen night where he was; in the Americas, it was already morning.

"AB TV: Breaking news! A virus dubbed Vampire by the public has infected hundreds of millions of devices around the world! This virus prevents users from accessing pictures and documents. Its primary means of transmission is through pictures and stickers. Users only need to purchase Leiden Coin and pay the ransom to remove the infection."

"Taishi News: Picture virus sweeps the world; victims must purchase Leiden Coin to pay the ransom!" Television stations rushed to release the news, drawing the attention of people around the world.

At the same time, sharp-eyed people around the world had already spotted the business opportunity: Leiden Coin might soar in value!

Those who had spotted the chance to make money rushed onto virtual currency trading sites and began purchasing Leiden Coin.

International speculators waved their cash around, buying up the Leiden Coin circulating on the market.

Tang Shizhe, the instigator behind it all, was naturally among them. Pretending that he had spotted the opportunity just like the other speculators, he decisively sold all his other digital currencies and used all his funds to buy Leiden Coin.

In the blink of an eye, Leiden Coin was driven ever higher by speculators around the world. Six hundred yuan, seven hundred yuan, eight hundred yuan, one thousand yuan!

In the mere ten minutes after the news broke, the price of Leiden Coin had already doubled!

At this point, the clever people who had noticed something was wrong chose to buy Leiden Coin to "disinfect" their computers.

Some people who were still hesitating could no longer hold back when they saw Leiden Coin soaring so crazily. Tang Shizhe had demanded 001 Leiden Coin, after all. If they acted too late, it could mean paying several more dollars, or even over ten dollars more!

Spurred by powerful market "demand," Leiden Coin entered its second round of frenzied growth under the push of speculators.

000 yuan, 000 yuan, 4,000 yuan, 5,000 yuan, 6,000 yuan!

Some slow-moving people discovered that the amount they needed to pay to recover their computer files had risen to ten dollars!!!

Some people who had no important files on their computers simply chose to reinstall their systems.

Those who had important pictures and documents saved, however, gritted their teeth and paid.

10,000 yuan, 20,000 yuan, 30,000 yuan.

Just like Bitcoin back then, Leiden Coin had increased a hundredfold in only a few hours!

It was insane. Tang Shizhe had never seen such a completely mad rise. People all around the world seemed to have joined this cryptocurrency frenzy, and the original virus incident was instead overshadowed by Leiden Coin's explosive growth!

Media reports around the world shifted from the super virus to Leiden Coin's meteoric rise. Countless fools and wealthy people waved cash around, eager to enter the market!

By this point, out of the 180 million infected devices worldwide, 50 million had chosen to pay the ransom. (Devices that were not connected to the internet when the signal was sent would not enter the infected state.)

By the time the growth rate of Leiden Coin's price began slowing, the Leiden Coin in Tang Shizhe's hands had already reached a market value of more than five billion RMB.

But it was all a castle in the air. Once he began dumping large amounts of Leiden Coin, its price would likely crash back to its original level in an instant, perhaps even lower!

Therefore, Tang Shizhe could only sell bit by bit. The first coins he sold were the Leiden Coin he had bought with the 500,000 RMB he could openly account for.

Those Leiden Coin were now worth 60 million RMB!

However, the speculators who had decided to cash out had clearly begun selling in secret as well. As a large amount of Leiden Coin appeared on the market, its price began plummeting.

In the end, after Tang Shizhe sold the Leiden Coin he could openly use, he received only 30 million RMB.

Leiden Coin also fell to 30,000 RMB, and the remaining Leiden Coin in Tang Shizhe's hands shrank in value to just over 2.5 billion RMB.

However, the price of Leiden Coin had begun to stabilize, and there should not be any major fluctuations next.

"Hmm, this money came in a little beyond my expectations." Tang Shizhe stared at the 30 million RMB in his account and fell into thought.

If he chose to sell the antivirus module to antivirus software companies now, he could only get close to ten million for it. After all, devices that could be reset after infection had already been reset, and the number of infected devices was still decreasing.

That price was somewhat irrelevant to Tang Shizhe now that he held "over two billion," and doing so could easily arouse suspicion and increase the risk of exposure.

"Send this antivirus module directly to every website."

"We'd better not expose ourselves. The money we earned from cryptocurrency speculation is already enough for us to develop!" Tang Shizhe said to Tang Yi, stroking the stubble that had grown on his chin after two days without shaving.

"Yes, boss!" Tang Yi nodded and quickly returned to his post with Tang Er, Tang San, and the others.