At this moment, Hao Aiguo's data transmission returned. Chen Xu opened it and saw that the title of the file was: The X-Files.
"What an old-fashioned name! No creativity at all." Chen Xu muttered, opening the file. The first sentence read: "The X-Files record the most mysterious organization in the world today, X. Founded after World War I, the organization's purpose is to gather the world's most outstanding talents to jointly explore the path of human progress. The list of founders of the X-Files is unknown, but according to some rumors, the founders of the X-Files include Irène Curie, Leo Szilard, and others."
Irène Curie, Leo Szilard?
Chen Xu didn't know who the two people were, but after asking Xiao Min, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
Irène Curie, the eldest daughter of the renowned Marie Curie, was a world-renowned nuclear physicist. Her mother's fame is undeniable, and as the daughter of a prominent figure, Irène was no less accomplished. She and her husband, Frederick, discovered and produced artificial radioactive isotopes, and were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935!
Leo Szilard was a renowned American nuclear physicist during World War II and a close friend of Albert Einstein. He joined Einstein in writing to then-President Roosevelt, thus promoting the implementation of the Manhattan Project.
It's these two amazing people!
The document continues: "Organization X has always been committed to pioneering the path and policy of human development, and their research achievements are countless. According to the information that has been disclosed, the Manhattan Project, the birth of the first computer, the discovery of DNA, the birth of the laser, the emergence of the Internet, and the Apollo moon landing program—these technologies that have influenced the entire world's human transformation are inseparable from the shadow of Organization X."
"The X Organization has been quietly driving the development of technology around the world, but by the end of the 20th century, its mission had gradually shifted from promoting human progress to restricting it. Almost any technology that could potentially disrupt the world's financial system and the balance of power had been restricted. The nature of the X Organization has changed. Judging from the timeline, this change likely originated in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union."
"Organization X's consistent policy toward talent is to recruit them for its own use. Their methods are not particularly harsh; they generally do not take overly forceful measures against those who are unwilling to join the organization. However, they will monitor these talents to ensure that their inventions do not violate the organization's rules. Once their inventions exceed the organization's bottom line, they will not hesitate to eliminate them."
Hao Aiguo added, "But you can rest assured, the X organization's power within China is very small. If we don't even know your exact location, we believe they can't either. Please trust our strength. With the development of technology and the increasing power of countries around the world, especially Third World countries, the X organization's power has diminished considerably."
Has the power of the X organization diminished significantly with technological advancements?
Chen Xu's eyes lit up; he immediately understood the key point... he understood why the X organization restricted technological development!
Is Chapter 130 of the main text right or wrong?
monopoly!
What's the most profitable thing in this world? Drugs? Arms? No, no, no, what we're talking about here isn't the means of making money, but the methods of making money.
This method is called monopoly.
To give a simple example, consider Chen Xu's father's rabies killer. Why is this drug so wildly popular worldwide, and yet so expensive? It's because only Chen Xu's father's family has it. He can set the price however he wants, and anyone who needs it has to pay that price. Haggling? Trying to steal the market with lower-priced similar products? That's impossible!
Chen Xu was able to think of this because of his father's rabies killer product, which monopolized a world-leading technology. Naturally, they could set any price they wanted when selling this technology. And to maintain their monopoly, they wouldn't allow anyone to steal their business…
These are the rules.
When Chen Xu thought of this, he couldn't help but sneer. So this was their so-called rule?
However, after reading the description, Chen Xu felt that the rules were not so simple.
"Organization X intensified its efforts to promote technological development in the United States and Europe during the Cold War, but this pace of technological development slowed down after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although the speed of technological development around the world has seemed to be rapid since the 1990s, the pace of development in cutting-edge fields has slowed down. In Organization X's words, technological development has entered an orderly and gradual process."
"There are many different definitions of Organization X. What is certain is that its supporters include powerful American families like the Morgans and Rockefellers. Whether their current existence contradicts the original intentions of their founders or continues their mission is unclear. Here are Hao Aiguo's own words: 'Based on the information we have, Organization X does indeed possess world-leading technology. If their technology were made public, the global technological system would suffer an incredibly severe blow. The consequence of this severe blow to technology would be an equally severe blow to the global economic system. From this perspective, Organization X's guidance and direction in technology has its own merits.'"
"However, similarly, due to the restrictions imposed by Organization X, current technological development has reached a bottleneck. In other words, global technological development is currently confined to a single circle. Take the development of computers as a simple example. Ten years ago, home computers were just beginning to enter ordinary people's lives, but today, both the hardware and software of home computers have improved significantly. Although this improvement is remarkable, according to our data, Organization X has already preliminarily mastered the manufacturing process of fifth-generation computers. In other words, the rapid development of computers is actually limited to a certain scope and cannot break out of this circle; it remains at the fourth-generation level. And according to our estimates, unless the development space for fourth-generation computers is completely exhausted, they will not launch a fifth-generation computer."
Upon seeing this, Chen Xu did some more research. The development of computers is currently in its fourth generation. The earliest, first-generation computers were vacuum tube computers, electronic computers that used vacuum tubes as their main circuit components, and they were almost all supercomputers.
The invention of the first generation of computers ushered humanity into another industrial revolution... the computer revolution. However, because vacuum tube computers were so large, often containing tens of thousands of components, repairing even a single faulty component required a great deal of effort. Therefore, they were not perfect, but they were still a huge step forward in human history.
The second generation of electronic computers used transistors, a huge leap forward. Transistors drastically reduced the size and weight of computers, lowered prices, and reduced malfunctions. This was the second generation of computers—not only a leap in performance, but also a breakthrough in manufacturing processes.
The third generation of computers appeared in 1950, consisting of high-efficiency computers made of integrated circuits. However, up to the third generation, computer development remained within the realm of mid-range or mainframe computers. At this time, people began to call for the advent of minicomputers.
Thus, the fourth-generation computer we use today was finally born.
Fourth-generation computers evolved from third-generation computers. With the advent of very large-scale integrated circuits and microprocessors, computer processing speeds increased dramatically, while their size decreased significantly. In 1974, with the release of Intel's 8-bit microprocessor chip, the 8080, computers gradually entered the lives of ordinary people. And to this day, all the computers we use are fourth-generation.
Organization X has already gained initial mastery of the technology for fifth-generation computers. However, due to their restrictions, computer development has remained at the fourth generation; in fact, it won't be upgraded until the potential of the fourth generation is fully utilized.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
From Chen Xu's perspective, such organizations that restrict technological development should be punished for crimes against humanity and paraded through the streets. However, reason also tells him that many things are not as simple as they seem on the surface.
What if… a biological computer like Xiaomin suddenly appeared in this world and was mass-produced and sold?
Leaving aside the data on Xiaomin's computer, what consequences will this kind of biological computer cause next?
With such high-tech biological computers, who would still use today's crappy PCs? And with virtual reality capabilities, how many computer hardware and software manufacturers worldwide will go bankrupt? How terrifying will the global tech stock market crash? Furthermore, the tech stock crash will cause the entire stock market to plummet, leading to factory closures, mass unemployment, and a global economic recession… And besides computer manufacturers, manufacturers of mobile phones, digital video cameras, cameras, and other products will also be impacted.
The sheer magnitude of this chain reaction is enough to ignite a war!
As the person from Organization X who was in contact with Chen Xu said: "These days, wars waged by countries over oil alone are enough to make the world tremble. So, to give an example, if China were to completely abandon oil at this time and use and promote the more efficient helium-3 energy, do you think that such an action, which would affect the interests of the entire world, wouldn't trigger World War III?"
Both World Wars were ultimately linked to interests. If the aforementioned scenario were to occur, plunging the global economy into a recession, causing a surge in unemployment, and placing immense pressure on governments, then the only way to alleviate this pressure would be through external war.
From this perspective, some technologies that are too advanced and ahead of their time should not easily appear in this era.
So now Chen Xu is a bit confused. Whether the existence of the X organization is right or wrong is hard to judge fairly. Actually, this is not surprising. There is rarely a true right and wrong in the world. Such a philosophical question, similar to the chicken-or-egg dilemma, is indeed too difficult for Chen Xu, who has little experience, to ponder.
So how should they respond? Judging from the information Hao Aiguo provided, this X organization is incredibly powerful. After all, an organization that is twenty years ahead of the world in technology can exert a tremendous influence on the world's economy and politics. The fact that they dared to brazenly infiltrate the military's systems is enough to demonstrate their fearlessness.
Seeing that Chen Xu hadn't replied for a long time, the other party asked again, "SMMH, how have you decided?"
Upon seeing this, Chen Xu began to tense up. After all, as a student, it was inevitable to feel nervous facing such a powerful organization. For Chen Xu, even with a virtual online identity, rashly offending such an organization would be absolutely unwise.
As for joining... that's even more impossible. Chen Xu knows his own limitations perfectly well. Apart from having a computer from the future, he's utterly useless. And even if Chen Xu had the ability, he wouldn't want to join such an organization... because deep down, Chen Xu dislikes this X organization. Regardless of whether they're protecting the balance of the world, in Chen Xu's view, they're mostly hindering the world's development.
How can we make them give up?
After all, SMMH had dealings with Chen Xu before. For example, regarding Rabies Killer, although there's no news linking SMMH to this drug, it was still a monopolized drug. Also, there was the time SMMH provided the software for Gao Xiaojie's game development project.
If someone with malicious intent connects these things, it's inevitable that they'll trace it back to him. Even if they can't find anything, it's not the theft itself that's worrisome, it's the having someone eyeing the thief!
So what Chen Xu is thinking about now is how to reach a balance with them, so that they give up the idea of recruiting him, and so that the two sides don't become mortal enemies.
Because my strength is still too weak! If I had enough strength, why would I need to live such a secretive life?
This idea first came to Chen Xu after he got the computer.
Chapter 131 The Third Way
The current situation is that an organization powerful enough to cause a magnitude 7 earthquake with a stomp of its foot is earnestly inviting Chen Xu to join. Although the words are quite polite, the implicit threat is unmistakable.
With flowers in one hand and a butcher's knife in the other, it remains to be seen how Chen Xu will choose.
But Chen Xu wanted neither flowers nor executioner's blade; he had only a third option.
The path I forged myself.
The question is, which path should we take?!
What to do, what to do, what to do? Chen Xu lit a cigarette in front of the computer and took a deep drag.
This is fucking forcing me to come clean!
The other party seemed to be getting impatient, sending a message saying, "SMMH, I hope you are still considering our suggestions. Or are you already looking for a topic that you think can stump us?"
How arrogant!
Chen Xu felt that among all the people he had ever met in his life, including those who boasted online about how awesome they were, none of them had ever been as arrogant as this organization... Of course, none of them could compare to the X organization, which was truly at the pinnacle of the world!
Looking at the communication software, Chen Xu suddenly shuddered. The research topic?!
Exactly! The reason Organization X is so arrogant is because they believe their technology is unmatched! But if it really comes down to a contest of skill… does Chen Xu need to be afraid of them?!
An organization that was 20 years ahead of the world, but Xiaomin was a full 80 years ahead! What does it mean to be 60 years ahead of Organization X in terms of technology? It's like someone in 2007 looking back at technology from 1947. What would they feel besides finding it rudimentary and laughable?
When it comes to technical skills, Chen Xu has nothing to fear from anyone in this world!
Chen Xu was about to type when he suddenly felt something was amiss. He naturally had no fear of anyone when it came to technical skills. But was this what the X organization feared?
No! What he feared was the organization's powerful political and economic influence, not their technology... Simply put, how advanced their technology was was none of Chen Xu's business!
Chen Xu was actually a very intelligent person, with a lot of ideas running through his mind. Although facing such a massive organization that an ordinary person might never have heard of in their entire life, Chen Xu quickly calmed down after the initial tension. He thought for a moment and finally typed on the keyboard: "Organization X, is that it? I've heard so much about you. Hello, I will now be in charge of this contact. You can call me..." This sentence immediately made a difference in X's eyes. It was obvious that the SMMH here was a different person, so Organization X immediately concluded that SMMH was indeed an organization, not an individual.
"We are indeed an organization. Ha, if we weren't an organization, how could we be involved in so many different fields?" After seeing X's question, Chen Xu typed on the keyboard: "Our organization's code name is S. Naturally, we weren't established as long as the renowned X, but..."
"But what?"
"However, please allow me to speak frankly and disrespectfully of your organization, X is not qualified to have us work for you."
After that sentence was sent, there was a silence of more than ten seconds before a message came in: "Does your organization think too highly of itself?"
Chen Xu couldn't help but laugh when he saw the message. Yes, what he needed to do now was bluff. He had thought it through clearly. The reason X was so brazen was because their power was immense, even capable of influencing American politics. Because of this power, they dared to attack the Chinese military's network. They knew that their search for SMMH hadn't actually crossed China's bottom line; at most, China would only issue a few protests.
Hey, since he thinks he's the best in the world in terms of power and technology, then Chen Xu will target that!
So Chen Xu replied: "X has been high and mighty for too long, so long that you've become complacent. Heh, the meaning of X in English is unknown. But your strength is already known. And the meaning of S... I'm sure you understand that too."
"SUPPER? Super? Your organization is really being presumptuous." X's tone was already somewhat impatient, no longer as polite as before.
So S stands for SUPPER. Chen Xu chuckled; he finally understood the meaning of the word. He'd always seen rating systems like S-rank, A-rank, and B-rank in novels and comics, but he never understood why S-rank was above A-rank. Now he'd learned something new.
"Whether it's boastful or not, you'll know once you try it."
"How do we test it?"
Chen Xu watched as his opponent gradually fell into his trap, smiled smugly, and replied, "Naturally, it's a competition of skills. Most of the people in our organization are old madmen who like to bury themselves in research when they have nothing to do. So we have some advanced data, and we can take this opportunity to verify it with the famous X."
At this point, the X organization members were probably seething with rage. The other party kept using such prestigious titles, seemingly showing them respect, but the arrogance in their words was obvious. How could X, who had always stood at the pinnacle of the world, swallow this insult?!
So they rigidly sent three words: "How do we compete?" From these three words, you could clearly see X's anger.
Chen Xu deliberately teased them: "Don't rush to talk about how the competition will go. Let's talk about the results first. If we win, what will your organization do? Of course, if we lose, we'll admit that we're no match for your organization and joining you wouldn't be a problem."
"Negotiate terms?" A member of X sneered. With X's current strength, what couldn't they have? Money and power were no longer their pursuits. For these high-level technicians, unimaginable technology was their true goal.
"If you win, name your price."
Wow, they're really confident! Chen Xu gleaned two meanings from those words: first, they were very confident they would never lose; second, they were confident they could provide whatever Chen Xu wanted!
That's fucking bold!
But now they're going to die a horrible death!
So Chen Xu replied, "In that case, we can begin. What kind of competition are we going to have?"
X replied, "Let your organization make a suggestion. Let's see which areas of technology your organization is involved in. You can suggest an area first, and then we can determine the topic of the competition."
It seems that X is still very cautious, afraid that Chen Xu will bring up a field they are completely unfamiliar with. After all, cutting-edge technology encompasses too many fields, and even someone as strong as X cannot possibly have the best advantage in all of them.
Of course, Chen Xu didn't want to gain an advantage in areas they were unfamiliar with. For Chen Xu right now, what he needed was to defeat them in their strongest areas of expertise! Only then could he achieve a truly impactful effect.
Chen Xu then replied, "Your organization has been able to develop the Beacon Fire virus, which means that X's research on computers has reached a certain level. So let's make this competition a competition in the field of computers."
The members of Organization X hesitated after seeing this sentence.