After discussing it for a moment, Drunk Cat and his group replied, "This is a small matter, and we will do our best. As for this girl, do you need us to take special care of her? You have to trust our abilities. With just a word from us, this girl will live a carefree life for the rest of her days."
"No, no, please don't do that. What you can give, we can offer in much the same way. But we don't want her to know about this. We just want to secretly help a poor girl fulfill her dream, to let her live a happy and free life. That's more important than anything else. However, we also believe in your strength. Your power in the real world is much greater than ours. So, I'm making a personal request here: if this girl encounters any trouble in the future, please help her."
The more this was said, the more confused the X people became. This girl seemed very important to the person from the S organization who was talking to them, but the other party didn't seem to care that they would be monitoring the girl. In other words, he wasn't afraid of exposing his identity through this girl!
This is what is meant by "making the illusory appear real."
Not only did she sever ties with Gao Xiaojie, she also ended up having a world-class individual work for her for free...
This deal is a sure thing!
Chapter 136 of the main text: X, the errand boy!
Upon seeing this, the members of Organization X were both frustrated and aggrieved. "Damn it, what do you take us for? Just to do your menial tasks and run errands?" they thought. But complaints aside, they still had to get things done. They couldn't let such a small matter ruin their "friendly relationship" with this mysterious organization, S!
So Drunk Cat replied, "But please rest assured, we will send someone to protect her."
"No need for that. She's just a student; what could possibly happen to her? As for protection, that would be going too far, and I don't want her to one day find herself living under surveillance and without her freedom. How about this: after your organization contacts her, you can leave her your contact information. If she encounters any difficulties in the future, she can directly contact you for help. After all, in reality, your organization is far more powerful than ours."
“Most of us old men have no children, so we all treat this girl like our own granddaughter. Not to mention the others, but I don’t have many years left to live, and I plan to leave all my inheritance to her after I die.” Chen Xu discovered that he really had a talent for storytelling, and these things he made up were so convincing that they were indistinguishable from the truth. “So I just hope that she can live freely and happily, which is my way of making it up to her.”
"Furthermore, because of my unauthorized provision of game software to her last time, some people with ulterior motives have focused their attention on her, hoping to use her as a breakthrough to find us. This is very unfair to her, but I can't show my face again, so this time I'm able to form an alliance with X. I hope X can use some special channels on your side to dispel those people's ideas. Don't monitor her or hurt her. If she's unhappy, then I'll be unhappy too. If she suffers any harm, then I don't know what I might do."
At this point, Chen Xu laid his cards on the table. The implication was clear: not only could the X organization not monitor her, but they also needed to use their influence to prevent others from targeting Gao Xiaojie, let alone taking any action against her!
However, most of the people in the X organization actually believed what they said!
Because they're at their current level, they naturally know that many people like them are actually very lonely. There are plenty of old men in the X organization without descendants, and when they suddenly find a younger person to whom they can entrust their feelings, they truly treat that person like their own child. They're like possessive mother hens, utterly unreasonable!
Moreover, this kind of old madman truly doesn't care about the consequences when he acts. An ordinary person going mad might just grab a knife and fight to the death, but someone like this can't be calculated by common sense. He might just barge into the US air defense command system like Kevin Mitnick… With the power of the S organization, or rather the SMMH, everyone thinks it's as simple as breathing… and then press the missile launch button. So those who had designs on Gao Xiaojie earlier don't dare to even consider it now, because they can't afford to mess with this kind of person. And in the past half hour, most of the scientists present have been immersed in the research data on the god sent by the S organization. They are now 100% certain… this data is definitely not a fake document that the S organization casually fabricated to fool them. It truly has research value!
In that case, since it is impossible to obtain more information from Organization S, the organization can only maintain the current status quo... that is, the current state of friendly cooperation between the two sides, which is the most perfect outcome.
It wasn't that X's people didn't want to track S's news; it was simply that they were terrified. The spiral double-chain structure of the program organization was a generation ahead of their computer technology. Given this huge gap, their tracking would inevitably be discovered by the other side, meaning they wouldn't even have the right to communicate with them.
So what other options do they have besides complying with S's conditions?
After a few more words, Chen Xu said, "As for Gao Xiaojie's matter, you just need to help her with some small favors online. With X's abilities, it shouldn't bother you. By the way, her QQ number is 24***. After you add her, just say you're a friend of SMMH."
The people at X were so frustrated they wanted to vomit blood. QQ? This garbage messaging software?! And they actually want the X organization to add her? Good heavens, we're all about big things! The Manhattan Project! The Apollo Project! The Star Wars Project! And now you're actually asking us to help a little girl with a game?!
Despite his frustration, the drunkard still agreed... He had no choice but to agree!
The two sides chatted for a few more minutes, and before leaving, Chen Xu said his last words: "I hope to continue cooperating with X. Once you make progress, you can contact us through this communication method, but if we discover any underhanded tactics on your part..."
"No, no, no." Drunk Cat hurriedly typed on the keyboard: "Please believe in our sincerity. We look forward to further cooperation between us."
"Great. I'll log off now. Oh, and you're Chinese too. Happy New Year."
When the drunkard replied with a wry smile and a "Happy New Year," Chen Xu had already logged off and turned Xiao Min back into a watch.
His vest was covered in cold sweat!
As a student suddenly facing such a powerful force, it was impossible for Chen Xu not to be nervous. He hadn't felt it much when he was chatting and fooling people, but now he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.
Just then, Gao Xiaojie suddenly shouted, "Chen Xu, come quick! I've been hacked! Wait, he says his name is X, and he's a friend of the SMMH god!"
Hearing this, Chen Xu laughed. X really acted quickly! But they probably wouldn't use such trashy communication software as QQ to protect their identities. After taking a few deep breaths, he went out and entered Gao Xiaojie's room. Guan Yi was there too. She glanced at Chen Xu, raised an eyebrow, and said with a "Oh," "What are you doing, busy man? What shady business are you doing hiding in your room on New Year's Eve?"
Chen Xu chuckled and brushed it off with a few casual words. Just then, a text document appeared on Gao Xiaojie's screen. The first sentence read: "Dear Ms. Gao Xiaojie, please don't panic. We are friends of SMMH. You can call us X. We greatly admired your previous game, 'Jin Yong's Heroes...Continuing the Romance.' We heard you encountered some minor technical difficulties while developing your new game. Although we dare not compare ourselves to SMMH, we believe we can offer some assistance."
Chen Xu chuckled upon seeing this. It seemed X was quite frightened by him. The saying goes, "love me, love my dog," but this was more like "fear my dog because of my house." He was being so polite to Gao Xiaojie now.
Gao Xiaojie was very puzzled: "My God, how did SMMH know we were making a game?!"
Chen Xu shrugged, exchanged a glance with Guan Yi, and gave him an innocent look. Gao Xiaojie typed on the keyboard: "How did SMMH know? Yes, I am indeed working on a web game, and the technical problem we are encountering is... our 3D models are too large for a web game. Can you solve this?"
X's person quickly replied: "Is it in your computer's D drive, in the 'My Home' folder? Yes, it has very detailed settings and source code. Okay, let's take a look."
Gao Xiaojie immediately tensed up and said, "Could they be corporate spies, here to steal our game?"
Chen Xu rolled his eyes decisively. Come on, lady, that's X! They're all doing big things! These people usually research world-destroying or space travel—who would be interested in your game?!
X was indeed very efficient, replying quickly: "We've seen the game plan. You mean to compress and reduce the size of these 3D models as much as possible, right?"
Gao Xiaojie answered timidly, "Yes, it's best to ensure the requirements of the web game. That is, the model unit is calculated in kilobytes (KB), otherwise the web game will lag if it's too large."
"No problem, we'll handle this for you, directly in bytes. Please wait five minutes while we integrate some software for you."
byte?!
When Gao Xiaojie saw this term, he almost thought the other person had gone mad. A 3D model measured in bytes? Was this a joke?!
Generally speaking, a 3D model like the one Chen Xu created would be at least 1MB in size for just one room. 1MB is 1024KB, and 1KB is 1024 bytes...
It's possible to reduce the size of a 3D model from MB to bytes... Keep in mind, even a small image on a webpage can be tens of KB!
Are they gods?
Chapter 137 New Game
Technically speaking, X is indeed a god. Unlike Chen Xu, they rely entirely on their own abilities. Even the worst technician in the X organization is at least on par with a world-class scientist!
Being able to shrink a 3D model by tens of thousands of times is simply a fantasy for ordinary people, but for X, who is 20 years ahead of the entire Earth's technology, it is a piece of cake... Of course, for a certain supercomputer that is 80 years ahead of the Earth's technology, this thing is not even worth mentioning.
Chen Xu had actually asked Xiao Min a long time ago if there was a good way to compress 3D models. Xiao Min said there was, but Chen Xu didn't dare to use it.
Why? Because the bigger the tree, the more the wind will blow against it!
Is it really necessary for SMMH to handle everything through Chen Xu? Isn't that a bit too conspicuous? And won't SMMH's constant handing over things to Gao Xiaojie attract the attention of relevant parties? Like this time?
Moreover, Chen Xu never intended to use such a small game to dominate the martial arts world for eternity, so he simply gave up... The money he earned from the game was practically worthless to Chen Xu.
Five minutes later, a compressed file arrived with a message: "Okay, this is an encrypted compression generator. However, this can only be used by you and is bound to your hard drive data; it will become invalid once you leave this computer. This compression generator can reduce the size of your 3D models with just one click. Of course, if you change computers, you can contact us; there's a communication software in the compressed file. If you encounter any other problems, whether online or in person, you can contact us anytime."
Wow, X's people are really sincere!
Then the people from X politely excused themselves... Actually, they were too lazy to waste any more energy on a girl they had no connection with; the sooner it was over, the better... leaving Gao Xiaojie completely bewildered. @@Chen Xu patted her and said, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and open the app to take a look!"
The software's interface is very basic. After clicking the file option in the upper left corner, there are only three functions: input, output, and exit.
Click to enter. A dialog box appears, which allows you to select 3D models in batches. There are no restrictions on the file type, but Chen Xu usually uses 3ds Max's proprietary format *.max file extension.
After batch inputting the data, I set the output file location and clicked "Convert." The progress bar moved incredibly fast, quickly reaching the top one by one. In less than a minute, hundreds of models were successfully converted. Opening the output folder, I noticed that the main filenames were unchanged, but all the extensions had been changed to the unfamiliar ".X3D" format.
However, each one is actually only a few hundred bytes in size!
"This might be a completely new compression calculation method, definitely containing a super-advanced compression algorithm," Chen Xu muttered to himself, inwardly full of admiration. No wonder it's X, their technology is damn advanced!
However, the thought that such a technologically advanced organization was intimidated by a college student like himself made Chen Xu feel smug again.
Gao Xiaojie stared at the screen, gasping in disbelief, "My God! Their skills are incredible! How is this possible?! Are they really friends of SMMH? Why would they help us?!"
Guan Yi said, "Didn't SMMH say he's your brother's friend? He's probably doing this because of your brother."
Thinking of her deceased brother, Gao Xiaojie felt a pang of sadness. However, she nodded nonetheless, because anyone with even a basic understanding of computers could see the value of this software; it had been given to her so casually. Perhaps her brother and SMMH had known each other before; otherwise, while the first time it might have been explained as some kind of intervention by a genius, this time there was truly no reason for it.
After discussing SMMH for a while, the conversation returned to the compression software.
Gao Xiaojie exclaimed, "My God, this thing is so powerful that it can shrink 3D models by tens of thousands of times. If we use it in World of Warcraft, wouldn't that mean a 10GB client would only need to be a tiny bit to play?"
Chen Xu shook his head and said that wasn't the case. "I'm guessing. This compression algorithm, while powerful enough, isn't omnipotent. Because our models are all just static, three-dimensional things, compression is easy. But dynamic, large models like those in Warcraft aren't so easy. And did you see that the new model looks a bit distorted? There must be some loss in the compression. This model is probably similar to the demo we saw last time, and the size seems similar too. It's like compressing something a few hundred MB into something much smaller." Gao Xiaojie thought that was probably it, but seeing this new file extension, she frowned and said, "Won't this type of file be unable to load? I've never seen this extension before!"
The file extension was X3D, and Chen Xu couldn't help but roll his eyes when he saw it. The X Organization really valued their title; clearly, this extension meant "3D model of the X Organization."
However, considering the possibility of incompatibility was very small, Chen Xu asked Gao Xiaojie to send these models to his computer and then tested them. They loaded successfully and easily, indicating that the models were compatible with the current system.
In that case, the client that originally required more than 100MB can now be solved in just a few hundredKB. In other words, if all these 3D models are loaded onto the webpage, the size will be only a few hundredKB, which users can easily open, even if the network speed is a little slow.
This kind of web-based game is Gao Xiaojie's ideal creation.
And more importantly... no one can copy it! They can only do the simplest imitations, at best making a 2D game. Compared to this 3D game where you can arrange things in a three-dimensional space, those copycats are completely uncompetitive!
"I think we should renegotiate our contract with Zhong Ziyu," Guan Yi said with a smile. "If we stick to the original contract, we'll be at a disadvantage, a huge disadvantage!"
The three of them laughed at the same time, each one more cunning than the last!
When Zhong Ziyu heard that the conditions were to be changed, her eyes widened in surprise, but after seeing the game, she was immediately speechless. After a long while, she muttered, "You guys didn't ask SMMH for help again, did you?"
"Why would we trouble SMMH with such a trivial matter?" Gao Xiaojie smiled smugly. "It was just SMMH's underling who helped with it."
The big boss's underling... I wonder if the people in the X organization will cry when they hear this.
However, for Zhong Ziyu, SMMH's underlings were someone he looked up to... When it comes to technology, who dares to say that what the X organization produces is bad?
In the final negotiations, the equity transaction was increased to five percent, while the revenue sharing for paid usage was directly increased to 9:1... Zhong Ziyu was on the verge of tears. If he only took one percent, he really wouldn't make much money.
Guan Yi smiled and put away the contract: "Actually, you can't think of it that way. First of all, our game has a lot of room for development, and it will definitely attract a lot of users and traffic for you. We haven't touched your money at all, and I think you should be secretly happy about that. An unreplicable, cutting-edge game will bring enormous benefits. You won't lose out on this deal."
Zhong Ziyu rubbed his nose, smiled wryly, and said, "Forget it, I never expected to make a fortune doing business with you. Okay, when will your game be completely finished?"
"About a month." Chen Xu was in complete charge of this aspect: "It will be fully launched in a month. The first version of the game is almost finished. It only needs some data calculations and then we will conduct internal testing. I believe it will be very soon."
Zhong Ziyu nodded and said, "Alright then, one month. I'll start contacting advertisers now and prepare the relevant advertising details."
One month.
Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, but the sixteenth day of the first lunar month is usually the first day of school.
However, Zhan Jing and Wu Yuan returned on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year.
When Wu Yuan returned, Chen Xu was still fast asleep in bed. Tang Bixuan picked him up from the train station in the middle of the night. Well, the relationship between these two... well, it's hard to say. Every time Wu Yuan is mentioned, Tang Bixuan's face turns red, and she refuses to say anything.
The next morning, Chen Xu woke up and was terrified to see a big man next to him! He kicked the guy off the bed and then realized it was Wu Yuan.
When Chen Xu sleepily pushed open the door and came downstairs, Zhan Jing was sitting quietly on the living room sofa watching the morning news. Seeing Chen Xu come down, the serene girl smiled slightly and said, "Good morning, would you like something to eat?"
This moment truly feels like a dream!
Chapter 138 The Game's Popularity
The addition of Zhan Jing and Wu Yuan doubled the efficiency of the game's operation.
Previously, discussions about the game could only be arranged by group on QQ or in voice chat rooms, but these conversations often became disorganized and inefficient. Wu Yuan's addition relieved some of Chen Xu's pressure, while Zhan Jing took charge of encrypting the game data... because without encryption, the game data could be easily intercepted and analyzed by others, who could then create cheats for farming money and experience... just like in the old days of Legend of Mir.
Chen Xu and his team's attitude is enough to make many game companies feel ashamed to death.