Chapter 707: Chapter 670: Fighting for Life
It remains to be seen how much effect Lincoln’s actions can have and how much trust they can gain from players and society.
But causing a sensation is inevitable.
Players cheered and loudly supported him.
Meanwhile, colleagues in other Internet industries couldn’t help but curse.
It’s easy to understand –
“Excessive collection of user data” has always been a common practice in the industry, but as long as everyone does the same, users have no choice but to accept this status quo.
But now there’s suddenly a “traitor” shouting about respecting users’ personal data, so all big companies at least have to come out and make a statement, do something to show that they are also taking this seriously.
Otherwise, whoever does the least will become a live target, suffering the most severe damage to their reputation whenever netizens discuss the relevant topics.
For them, it’s like an unexpected disaster.
Although the reporters on the scene were confused, it didn’t stop them from raising their arms in hopes of asking Lincoln more questions and digging out more information.
However, Lincoln didn’t even plan for a Q&A session, he simply thanked everyone for coming and announced the end of the press conference amidst the chaos.
Then, he bolted.
*
After leaving the press conference, Lincoln didn’t go back to procrastinate and catch up on sleep. Instead, he made a phone call to Henry.
It was already late after leaving the Journey Prosthetics Company yesterday, Lincoln thought it would be better to finish all the troublesome tasks in one go, so he didn’t rush to sleep and stayed up to complete the “silent communication technology”.
— The hardware part had already been completed by Henry and his team, and with the results of the Rehabilitation Plan, there were no obstacles for the software part.
“Hey, Boss Lin, are you done?” Henry’s voice with a smile came on the line.
“It’s done. The silent communication technology is all set. Do I send it to you directly online? Or do you want to send someone to Cloud Dream to pick it up?” Lincoln cut to the chase.
— He really wanted to go to sleep now.
“Don’t send it online! I’m on my way to Cloud Dream! No more than 40 minutes.” Henry, as always, was cautious.
Since he had already been waiting for so long that he and his colleagues thought the “Lincoln’s Wishing Machine” had broken down – fortunately, this wasn’t the case. The “Wishing Machine” had worked again, and Lincoln had proved himself once more.
In that case, waiting a few more hours wouldn’t matter.
*
On the other side, the operation team of “My World” seemed eager and couldn’t wait any longer. As soon as Lincoln announced the end of the press conference, they went online with two new mods:
“Fortnite” and “Witch”.
There was nothing to say about the latter since they made it themselves. As long as there were no severe bugs, they didn’t need to be too concerned about the players’ posts.
However, the former was off –
Once again, the boss secretly made a game behind their backs!
They had made “Terraria” and “Witch” themselves and knew the workload involved perfectly well.
In name, it was a “mod”, but it was actually made by following the standards of a “new game”!
What was even more outrageous was that the full name of the “mod” when it went online was – “Fortnite – Congrats on the Wedding of Randall and Little Chun!”
Yes, it was that outrageous.
They put the wedding congrats for the two veterans of the company directly into the game title!
Moreover, this suffix would remain for a full week, letting players from all over the world come and share this happy news.
— This “mod” was born because of their wedding, so how could they not share their blessings and gratitude while having fun?
The operation team was not only surprised by the generosity, but they also realized that, since Randall and Little Chun got their marriage certificates just two weeks ago, and the boss was touring Chang’an last week, it meant that the boss had completed this mod in just one week, in his spare time!
What terrifying efficiency and technical power was that?
Well, it wasn’t just one person; it was three people—[Lincoln], [Mavis], and…
[Victoria]?
The intern??
Although everyone knew the intern’s status was very special as a “veteran intern” within the company.
But they still felt bewildered.
And extremely envious.
Leaders’ love, bosses’ strength, and an intern’s…?
It’s unclear what exactly they envy, but they just feel envious nevertheless!
Not only the Cloud Dream employees felt this way, but the players who saw the suffix in the mod’s name were also astonished.
They were not unfamiliar with the names [Randall] and [Little Chun].
They had joined Cloud Dream back when it was still a small studio, and together with Lincoln, they created the game “Assassins’ Alliance”, shaping the earliest version of the metropolis.
Later, they divided into two teams, each leading the production of heavy and casual games for Cloud Dream.
Their names appeared on the list of producers for most of Cloud Dream’s games that are already on the market.
Facing the combination of these two, players were shocked, but also thought it was very reasonable.
Especially when they found out that the couple had been together since their student days, and their relationship had been very stable over the years after graduation, and now they finally achieved their goal.
Walking into marriage from campus, it is an enviable thing for many people. Now that they have witnessed it, they naturally won’t be stingy in offering their blessings.
On social networks, various auspicious words like “happily married forever,” “grow old together,” and “have children early” keep pouring out.
However, they don’t know that Lincoln can’t say these blessings.
—Because Little Chun might not live to be a hundred years old, and her health condition doesn’t allow them to have children early, as the risk is too great.
However, Lincoln just found out that Randall is investing in the development of new drugs for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, planning to pour all the money he earned from Cloud Dream into it, in order to get a chance for Little Chun.
Of course, Little Chun’s money will also be invested in it.
If it were before, Little Chun wouldn’t agree.
Because this venture is almost bottomless, the investment is terrifyingly high, but the success rate is very low, and it mainly depends on luck.
Research time is also an issue that cannot be ignored, which further reduces the hope for Little Chun to catch up with the special effect medicine.
Little Chun didn’t want herself to leave when she couldn’t stand it anymore, and Randall would become a penniless poor guy.
But times have changed.
Now both of them are working at Cloud Dream, with incomes that qualify them to invest in new drug development, and can even afford to open at least 10 drug pipelines at the same time!
They now have hope to fight for a way to survive.
Moreover, along with Randall working at Cloud Dream, he wouldn’t have to worry about falling into financial difficulties in the future.
Even if he couldn’t work anymore because of Little Chun’s departure, Lincoln’s game revenue sharing rules could guarantee his income after he stopped working.
—This bonus would be withdrawn for other employees after leaving, but never for Randall, Little Chun, Camille, and Fred.
This eliminated their worries.
All that’s left is to give it all and fight for a life for Little Chun.
It wasn’t until he returned from Chang’an that Lincoln learned of this news and was about to find Randall and discuss the matter, offering his help.
—If Randall and Little Chun can afford to invest in 10 new drug development pipelines, Lincoln’s financial strength can bring that number up by 100 times.
Unfortunately, this merely reflects Lincoln’s economic strength and is not actually achievable.
Because human resources are limited, and the new drug development pipeline wouldn’t just emerge after investing money.
Scientific research is not that simple.
Even if wastage is not taken into account, it’s not just a matter of money to change the direction of new drug development; it also takes time, often measured in years, or at least half a year.
And what Little Chun needs most right now is time.
Nevertheless, Lincoln’s involvement would significantly improve Little Chun’s chances of getting the special effect medicine.
Compared to a “happy marriage” message in the name of “Fortnite”, this is indeed a grand wedding gift true to Lincoln’s status!
If they succeed, they could save Cloud Dream’s “two development giants” in “Heavy Games” and “Casual Games” – if Little Chun is gone, would Randall still be in the mood to make games?
Lincoln wasn’t too sure about that.
Even without considering Lincoln’s personal relationships with the couple, two trustworthy and capable senior managers are extremely important to Cloud Dream.
Beyond that, if the new drug is successfully developed, it could save not just Little Chun but many others.
The huge reputation of “conquering rare diseases” and “benefiting patients worldwide” and the substantial revenue from the market entry of the new drug are additional gains.
So, it’s worth it!
*
Henry arrived at Cloud Dream Headquarters on time and took the original and backup hard drives from Lincoln’s hands.
Then he habitually asked, “How’s it going? What do you want this time?”
Every time they asked Lincoln to do something, they would also help Lincoln with something in return, and neither party would be tangled over whether it’s equivalent, just trying to help each other as much as possible. It was more like maintaining friendships than a transaction.
But Lincoln shook his head, “I haven’t encountered any difficult problems recently.”
Lincoln didn’t want anything, which Henry found a little unusual: “Why don’t you think about it again?”
Lincoln then racked his brains to think of something he wanted to do but couldn’t.
As a result, he thought of something—
“I remember there’s supposed to be a manned rocket launch at the end of the year?”
“???” Henry suddenly widened his eyes in horror, “What do you want to do?”
Lincoln, on the other hand, looked sincerely at Henry: “I want to go up there.”