The world is in trouble

Chapter 248 The Pinnacle! Madness! Surpassing!

Lin Xiao's decision to spin off YouTube at this time is undoubtedly an act of extreme arrogance.

The effect he wanted to create was that when Yang Zhiyuan and Son Zhengyi visited Renren Group, they would see a certain scene.

Even after the split, Facebook and YouTube still have an incredible amount of traffic.

Merging these two stations would be an unfair victory.

Even after being split up, Facebook's traffic still surpassed that of the combination of Renren and Renren Video.

Of course, this may seem risky on the surface, but it is actually a sound decision, and it is a judgment made after long-term research.

When Lin Xiao first founded YouTube, he said that he would completely split the two websites within six months to maintain the purity of each track.

At this point, splitting it up again is actually a bit late; it's been almost ten months.

Moreover, Lin Xiao can see very detailed backend analysis. Currently, the mutual traffic generation between the two websites has almost reached its limit, and there is already a large overlap in users.

If we don't split it up, the damage will only get worse.

And what about Renren.com and Renren Video?
Only heaven knows.

Renren.com's semi-acquaintance social networking genes were not strong to begin with, and now it has integrated Renren Video, which has already grown and expanded.

..............................

Renren Group held another emergency meeting overnight.

The core issue is whether or not to follow Facebook's example and separate Renren Video from other platforms.

The harm caused by this is so obvious that Wu Lingxi no longer needs to educate or emphasize it repeatedly.

Chen Yizhou and other senior executives could see very clearly that Renren Video had begun to devour Renren.com's traffic.

They could also clearly see in the background that Renren Video's user retention rate had surpassed that of Renren.com.

If this continues, there will be a consequence.

That means the branches extend beyond the trunk.

Just as Renren Video was grafted onto Renren.com, it should be independently transplanted when it becomes capable of independent operation.

but now……

Who would dare to transplant it?
If Renren Video becomes independent, how much traffic will be lost?

And it happened at this most crucial moment.

Everyone looked at Wu Lingxi with trepidation, because she had been emphasizing that Renren Video could be developed, but it had to be developed independently and not merged into Renren.com, otherwise it would repeat the mistakes of Lingxi Island.

This is Lin Xiao's conspiracy.

Facebook can do this because it has a strong foundation and a powerful social media presence, which gives it a strong sense of community.

Renren.com was formed through a merger and lacks this kind of cohesive force.

As a result, the board of directors disagreed and instead used the opportunity to remove her from her position as chairman.

"Forget about the splitting up for now. Since it's a mistake, let's just go with it!"

"Even if we were to split it up, it would be at least six months from now. We should first secure the major investments from Yahoo! and SoftBank, and then cut off Lin Xiao's international path."

"Also, ignore Lin Xiao's counterattack and focus all your attention on World of Warcraft and Perfect World."

....................................

Next, Wu Lingxi and Liao Feng had a private meeting.

“Now, assuming we’ve secured investments from SoftBank and Yahoo, most likely around $400 million,” Wu Lingxi asked, “what are your plans next? What actions are you taking?”

Liao Feng thought for a moment and said, "I'll focus on games and Lingxi Island e-commerce, and you can focus on Renren.com."

Wu Lingxi remained silent for a while: "There's something you need to support me on."

Liao Feng: "Go ahead."

Wu Lingxi: "Acquiring The Faces in the United States."

Liao Feng was astonished: "The one Zuckerberg founded? The one that made Lin Xiao's Facebook in the US suffer repeated defeats? He received guidance from us, and we ourselves have an investment in it."

Wu Lingxi: "This is not enough; we need to acquire everything."

"We are willing to accept the price as long as it does not exceed $1 million."

Liao Feng exclaimed in astonishment, "With its size, how could it be worth a hundred million US dollars? Our Renren.com has tens of millions of users, far surpassing Facebook. Besides, we're not in a hurry to expand; we can't even make enough money domestically."

Wu Lingxi remained silent.

In fact, by now, she has seen it very clearly: it is now extremely difficult for Renren.com to develop into a semi-acquaintance social network.

Because it has already grown into this behemoth, its genes cannot be changed.

This is also a product of several capital groups' short-sighted pursuit of quick profits and their frantic struggle.

Therefore, they want to take advantage of this peak of prosperity to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, and then exchange it for the best quality industries abroad.

She is confident that once she fully acquires Zuckerberg's The Faces, she will develop it into a North American unicorn in the shortest possible time, and then quickly expand it to Europe.

Finally, they will return to East Asia to fight their way back.

The siege of Facebook was finally completed.

Moreover, if someone is willing to offer $1 million, Zuckerberg is highly likely to sell, as he has considered selling several times before.

“In China, online games will become one of the largest industries, so it is absolutely the right time for us to enter the online game market and seize the biggest profits,” Wu Lingxi said. “As for Renren.com, to some extent, its ceiling is limited.”

"Even Facebook has its limits; it can never surpass QQ."

"From now on, we'll walk on two legs, or even three legs."

"One leg in the game, the other overseas."

"Overseas, there are no social monsters like QQ, and MSN is too tool-like."

"Moreover, only when we acquire Zuckerberg's The Faces will we be truly tied to SoftBank and Yahoo!"

"Only in this way can we completely cut off the Lightning Group's escape route and trap it in the country."

"Why does Lin Xiao need SoftBank Group? It's not because he lacks money, but because he lacks the protection of overseas capital. Masayoshi Son is very dissatisfied with the development of Facebook in the United States, and it was only by acquiring The Faces that we were able to completely bring SoftBank Group onto our chariot."

"Because SoftBank Group has sunk costs, it will not make massive duplicate investments in the same field."

Liao Feng was stunned.

He really didn't expect that Wu Lingxi had this plan.

"The two of us together have the greatest say. And SoftBank and Yahoo! are happy to see us expand overseas."

"The key point is that this is very beneficial to you."

“In the next few years, once I shift my focus overseas, your influence within Renren Group will increase, and I fully support you in exercising that power.”

Liao Feng stared at Wu Lingxi with a complicated expression for a long while before saying, "I can agree to your condition if you want."

"Get engaged to me."

"On the night of the Lunar New Year, I publicly propose to you."

"As a ceremony to mark our complete victory over Facebook and Lin Xiao."

Liao Feng had been feigning deep affection, trying to disguise their relationship of mutual benefit as a veneer of love.

Therefore, there is never any pressure to get married.

However, tonight, he was somewhat shocked by Wu Lingxi, and finally saw through her capitalist monster nature, an absolute creature of profit.

It is impossible for them to be conquered by so-called love.

Moreover, the core meaning of their conversation tonight was not revealed; what they said was merely the tip of the iceberg.

Neither of them said those words.

We were actually defrauding SoftBank and Yahoo! Group of their investments.

They frantically created a false sense of prosperity.

However, the two men also believed that once Yahoo and SoftBank were tied to the chariot, this false prosperity could become real prosperity.

........................

After Liao Feng left.

Wu Lingxi took out her special phone and sent a message: Dog, do you really love me?

If Lin Xiao saw this message, he would definitely be shocked.

What exactly did you two talk about?

We've gotten this into a deep conversation?
Xia Xi: Without a doubt, I am the person who loves you most in this world, without exception. More than Liao Feng, more than your parents.

Wu Lingxi: You dog of a man, do you think I would believe that you're two-timing me? Do you think I don't know?
Xia Xi: We are the most mortal enemies. We are both on the mountaintop. You understand me best, and I understand you best. You have a fatal sexual attraction for me, and I have a fatal sexual attraction for you. We are enemies, mirrors, and abysses to each other. Do I need to say more about this feeling?

Xia Xi: I'm a dog of a man, you're a dog of a woman. Isn't this distorted love still love?

Xia Xi: We are both people who know the truth. We are both the loneliest people. We are each other's confidants and we want to sleep with each other. Isn't that love?
Wu Lingxi: Get out!
Wu Lingxi: What about Xia Xi? What is she?
Xia Xi: She's been standing behind me for too long, she's become completely weakened, she's no longer a wolf. There may be many wolves in this world, but in our field of vision, there are only two wolves, one is you, and the other is me.

Wu Lingxi: So, only one of us can live. Either you bite me to death, or I bite you to death.

Xia Xi: No, you're only interested in biting me to death. But I'm only interested in fucking you to death.

Wu Lingxi: Get out!
Then, Wu Lingxi tossed the dedicated phone aside again.

She is a creature of capital, a creature of profit.

"Er Gou, I still won't show any mercy. When the opportunity arises, I will still bite down hard on your neck."

....................................

Xia Xi found Lin Xiao, carrying a thick stack of documents.

"Hurry up and finish reading these things."

Lin Xiao: "What?"

Xia Xi: "Your chat history with Wu Lingxi, and all the random photos you sent each other."

I haven't talked to them at all.

so much?
How much have you talked about in the past year?
How many words would that be?

Xia Xi: "About two hundred thousand words."

Lin Xiao took it and quickly flipped through it, feeling a chill run down his spine.

Damn it, how could you say something so twisted?

That...that's your sister, isn't it?

Finally, their conversation became increasingly strange. Wu Lingxi's tone was already cold and ruthless, but the act of exchanging photos while drunk was particularly perverse.

"How did you do that?" Lin Xiao asked. "Wu Lingxi is the most ruthless woman in the world. She only cares about interests."

Xia Xi: "It's very simple. The kind of excitement I want is also what she wants."

"I was thinking about how to conquer myself, and the same tactics would work on her."

"We two... are very similar."

Lin Xiao: "Don't say that, it's getting more and more perverted."

Xia Xi: "Now let's consider a hypothetical scenario: if Renren Group really receives investment from SoftBank and Yahoo! Group, if you were Wu Lingxi, what would you do to maximize the damage to us?"

"Think boldly."

"Think freely."

Xia Xi: "Wu Lingxi is acting strange today. Her words have always been sharp as knives. No matter how much I flirt with her, she still scolds me."

"But today, she showed a tiny bit of weakness."

"This proves that she's going to kill us."

Lin Xiao entered a state of deep thought.

Assuming Renren Group actually receives this $400 million investment, how would they eliminate Lightning Group?

Lin Xiao: "If I were Wu Lingxi, and I really managed to swindle huge investments from SoftBank and Yahoo! Group, I wouldn't spend money to maintain the superficial prosperity of Renren.com. I would use the money in two places. First, I would focus on Perfect World and World of Warcraft."

"Turn the large-scale closed beta into a closed beta with data wipe."

"We will only open the game up to level 50. Even if we get criticized and attacked, we will wait for six months to give the team enough time to improve the game before launching the public beta."

"Then, focus your energy on the operation of World of Warcraft, transform yourself into an online game-driven company, and generate huge cash flow."

"Furthermore...Furthermore...Furthermore, I will acquire Zuckerberg's The Faces to completely block Facebook's internationalization strategy in Europe and America."

"In the mobile internet era, social networking sites in China have a ceiling, which is QQ, and it is impossible to surpass it. So even if Facebook develops to a certain level, it can't go any higher. It can only break through in one fell swoop in the mobile internet era."

"In the past few years, if I were Wu Lingxi, I would have focused on developing social networking sites in Europe and America, and finally used the power of overseas to make a comeback. Even if I couldn't make a comeback, it wouldn't matter, at least I could completely block Facebook in China."

Xia Xi was taken aback. Would she really take this path?
Then, Xia Xi asked, "This is for public matters, but what about private matters?"

"Suppose he wanted to kill you, what would he do?"

Lin Xiao: "We share similar views on the industry landscape, but we share similar views on private matters. What do you think she will do?"

Xia Xi: "I'll expose your love triangle with Xiao Momo and Lian Yi. I'll expose Lian Zheng for giving us three loans and accuse him of abusing his power for personal gain."

..........................................

Wu Lingxi gazed at the scenery outside the window.

At Renren Group, she had already gone all in and given everything.

It's gotten so big that we can't afford to lose.

So, in order to win!
She felt she could use any means necessary.

But... is it really possible?

What about the escape route Lin Xiao provided?

If Lin Xiao really does take the helm at Facebook in the US, as she says, what will happen?
This meant she would almost have to give up everything at Renren Group, and it meant she would have to endure the endless wrath of her family, because it represented the complete shattering of the marriage alliance between the two families.

This means she has to start from scratch in the United States, with a fragile American Facebook, to fight against the increasingly powerful The Faces.

How much money and effort did she invest in Renren Group?

After a while, she returned to her dressing room, opened a hidden compartment, and found a safe inside.

Enter the password, open the safe, and take out a laptop.

Turn on the computer and enter a series of passwords.

There are two folders inside.

A folder is named: Dog.

Another file is named: Liao.

Opening the dog's folder, you'll find all sorts of photos: pictures of Xiao Momo and Lin Xiao, pictures of Lian Yi and Lin Xiao, and detailed information about several loans Lian Zheng gave to the Lightning Group. There's even... wedding photos of Lin Xiao and Xiao Momo.

She obtained this wedding photo by accident; it was uploaded to a user's profile on Renren.com, seemingly as an advertisement.

Someone discovered it and immediately reported it to her. She immediately intercepted it and went directly to the owner of the wedding dress shop to buy the photo outright.

Then open Liao's folder.

Inside, it was even more shocking, containing numerous photos detailing Liao Feng's illegal and irregular operations, his deep cooperation with the Ant Power Group, and other incriminating evidence.

However, when she opened Liao's folder, she frowned slightly and immediately closed it, as if she didn't want to look at it even once more. Then she opened the dog's folder and instead zoomed in on each photo, her gaze and expression complex as she looked at them.

Sometimes she gets angry, and sometimes she shows a rare smile.

Then, she took out her dedicated phone and found the text message.

We are the most mortal enemies, both perched atop a mountain peak. You understand me best, and I understand you best. You hold a fatal sexual attraction for me, and I hold a fatal sexual attraction for you. We are enemies, mirrors, and abysses to each other. Need I say more about this feeling?

After reading it, she threw the phone aside and sneered, "You dog of a man!"

Then, she shut down the laptop and put it back in the safe.

Then, she picked up her dedicated phone and sent a text message: Xia Xi once told me that she could take everything from Lightning Group whenever she wanted. Is that true?

The reply from the other end was: It's true.

Wu Lingxi: You think you can fool me? She really has been tamed like a dog by you.

The reply was: So you're actually asking, if we ever become in that kind of relationship, what do you want, and will I give it to you? I will…

Wu Lingxi: I'm not that naive, I'm not that stupid!

..........................................

Happy Farm has been gaining traction for a while now.

The number of players is increasing, leading to more and more interactions.

But... it hasn't gone viral yet.

Because its rise to fame was the kind that happened subtly and gradually.

As the number of players accumulates, more and more, and then quantitative change leads to change.

Suddenly one day, it became an instant hit and went viral.

The game that's still incredibly popular right now is "Perfect World".

The news that "Zhu Xian" would be going into closed beta has naturally attracted a lot of attention, and it's unknown how many players have reached their limit of anticipation for this game.

And then... Perfect World snatched it away.

The die-hard fans of Er Gou Jiaozhu are even anxious, saying that "Zhu Xian" is too slow and should skip the closed beta and go straight to a large-scale internal beta, directly competing with "Perfect World".

Otherwise, by the time Perfect World has completed its closed beta and open beta, and you release Jade Dynasty, it will be too late.

The village will only show enough enthusiasm to the first college student.

The reaction wouldn't have been so intense with the second college student.

Therefore, without sufficient strategic resolve at this time, one can easily be swayed by countless opinions.

Lightning Games continues to ignore these voices and insists on opening up only 5,000 slots for the first closed beta test.

Moreover, applications are only open for three days.

As a result, over 300,000 people applied.

Ultimately, all 5,000 closed beta test slots were distributed, and many players who were unable to obtain a slot complained and vented their anger on Facebook's gaming community.

"Heh, you really treat your game like a treasure? Since you won't let me play it, then I'll never play it again. I'm going to play Perfect World instead."

"Right, what time is it? Still clinging to your old ways? You're no longer the number one domestic 3D game, Perfect World is the real deal."

"Second Dog Cult Leader, I suggest you try playing Perfect World. Don't be so arrogant and think that everyone has to play your Jade Dynasty."

Renren Group immediately picked up on this sentiment.

Targeted publicity was carried out once again.

For Perfect World, China's first domestically produced 3D game, we have invested an unprecedented amount of money to purchase the most advanced servers so that every player can play. Perhaps this investment will cause us to lose everything, and perhaps we shouldn't have prepared so many servers, but it's all worth it for the players.

1 Month 28 Day!
The open beta test of Perfect World has officially begun!
then……

This ushered in a golden age for domestically produced games.

A massive influx of players entered the game.

Basically, opening a server group immediately fills that group of servers.

They keep opening new servers.

It remains plump and full.

It has to be said that Renren Group has really gone all out.

They have indeed prepared a massive number of servers to minimize players' queuing time.

The entire Renren Group has entered a state of combat readiness.

They were in a state of tension and excitement.

Then, Renren.com's homepage kept sending out battle reports.

The number of online players for "Perfect World" has exceeded 5.

Just over an hour later, it surpassed 10.

A few hours later, it surpassed 15!
This is even more successful than the large-scale closed beta test of "Perfect World" in history.

Historically, the highest number of concurrent users on the first day of closed beta testing only exceeded 100,000, but in this world, it directly exceeded 150,000.

In the game, whether it's the starting village or anywhere else, it's always packed with people.

Unprecedented!

................................................

Liao Feng walked through the crowd, his face completely expressionless.

The entire company was cheering and excited.

Liao Feng, however, remained calm.

"Hello, Mr. Liao, congratulations."

"General Manager Liao is wise!"

Amidst the compliments, Liao Feng stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for his floor.

He returned to his private office and closed the door.

"Ah...ah...ah..." He let out a series of roars when he was alone.

An exhilarating roar.

We have finally achieved such a great victory.

For a whole year, most of the time was filled with repression, but this victory was so complete.

Moreover, this victory belongs to him alone.

Because both the early closed beta and early internal testing were decisions he made against all odds. Spending a huge sum to buy out the game was also his decisive action.

Well, they've even started using this idiom.

Everyone else just keeps saying that the game quality is not perfect and it's not done well yet.

Only he made strategic and business-related assessments.

So what if the game isn't perfect? ​​80 points is enough.

What's the point of striving for 95 points like Lin Xiao did?
The most important thing is to be the first to launch a domestically produced 3D game.

Everyone only remembers the first place winner, who remembers the second place winner?
After calming himself down, he made a phone call.

"Mr. Yang, I have some great news to share with you: the first day of the large-scale closed beta test for Perfect World saw over 16 concurrent users!"

Yang Zhiyuan: "That's a remarkable achievement, congratulations."

Everyone knows that this is different from website traffic; this can be directly converted into money.

The number of players determines the number of income levels.

Next, Liao Feng hesitated.

He had Masayoshi Son's phone number, but he never called him.

However, he couldn't resist and dialed the number.

When Sun Zhengyi received Liao Feng's call, he was quite surprised. Wasn't it always Wu Lingxi who was in contact with him?
Isn't it a bit presumptuous of you to call me directly like this?

"Mr. Sun, I'd like to report to you that the first 3D game we developed in China has already surpassed 16 concurrent online players!"

"I believe we will break 20 tomorrow, and then climb even higher numbers."

"This is a phenomenal work."

Masayoshi Son: "Oh, congratulations then."

........................

February 29st evening!
Renren.com has once again announced that the peak concurrent user count for "Perfect World" has exceeded 20!
February 1st evening!
Renren.com has once again released good news.

The peak concurrent player count for Perfect World has exceeded 25!
However, the amount of criticism on gaming forums has been increasing.

Because the later stages of the game, the less polished it becomes, and the rougher it gets.

Not only are there visible signs of rushed work, but many side quests, and even the main quest, are clearly unfinished and forcibly cut off.

The closed beta test only allowed players to reach level 50, so the impact wasn't very noticeable.

And this last part is the roughest part.

The roughness in many places has exceeded the players' tolerance.

But Liao Feng didn't care, because he had already heard the relevant reports and was mentally prepared.

Besides, people may be criticizing it, but they're still playing, the number of players is still skyrocketing, and the peak concurrent users are still rising, so what's there to be afraid of?
At this moment, Liao Feng only regretted that Yang Zhiyuan and Sun Zhengyi had arrived too late and missed this grand occasion.

Amidst a wave of controversy.

On the evening of February 3rd, the peak number of concurrent users of "Perfect World" exceeded 300,000!
Liao Feng even felt a sense of euphoria from winning.

Lineage 2 is already considered one of the strongest games in recent times, yet its peak concurrent player count was only 17.

In less than ten days, Perfect World surpassed 30 views!
What a tremendous success this is!
What enormous benefits will this bring?
........................

Lightning Group!

"Boss, I have some good news for you!"

"Our Facebook page's IP visits and PV visits have officially surpassed Renren's."

Lin Xiao was surprised: "We've already spun off YouTube, yet we still managed to surpass them in traffic?"

Cheng Hai: "Yes, even though Renren.com had the support of Renren Video, and we even suspected that it was still inflating its traffic, we still surpassed it."

"Boss, should we announce it?"

Lin Xiao: "No rush!"

Then, Zhang Chun came in to report.

"Boss, should we deploy the deadly cheat for Perfect World?"

Lin Xiao: "No rush, let's wait for the serious bugs to surface one by one."

Currently, this game has at least three extremely serious bugs, the latter two of which could completely ruin the entire game.

One is a gold coin bug, and the other is an equipment bug.

As for disconnections and game crashes, these aren't even considered serious bugs in this game.

however……

Lin Xiao hadn't even imagined that these serious bugs would occur, but another bug actually did.

Moreover, it was a bug that Lin Xiao hadn't anticipated.

However, it's a bug that looks very familiar.

It's the BOSS slaughtering the city!

In other words, players can lure some super bosses all the way to the main city and then slaughter all the players inside.

Moreover, the bug here is even more outrageous; it can attract several bosses to massacre the city together.

As a result, many players with a perverse sense of humor stopped playing the game seriously and instead lured the big boss to the most crowded areas to carry out a massacre.

And this is happening on every server.

Countless servers were ravaged by bloodshed, especially near the starting village, where the most players were.

Countless players have been killed as soon as they appeared, only to be resurrected and killed again.

Lin Xiao was stunned by what he saw. This... wasn't this happening in World of Warcraft a few years later?
Senior Sister Ding Yuanzhi, is this... is this your doing?

I... I only mentioned it briefly at the time, thinking it was quite interesting.

So, you surprised me like this?

..........................................

The first wave of chaos erupted within Renren Games.

Liao Feng angrily rebuked, "What's the rush? What's the panic?"

"It's just a minor bug."

"Six hours of downtime for maintenance, then fix this bug immediately!"

Next, Perfect World temporarily shut down for maintenance, choosing to do so in the middle of the night when there are the fewest players.

After working tirelessly for several hours throughout the project, we finally fixed this bug.

Liao Feng pointed to the foreign aid team and asked, "Are you sure this bug has been completely fixed?"

The foreign aid team stated, "We are 100% certain that it has been fixed."

Liao Feng glared at Li Qing, the project manager, and said coldly, "Find out the person in charge of this part and fire him!"

Li Qing: "It's hard to find the responsibility for this. Although it's just a very bizarre bug, it has a very wide scope, and... many people from our original team have already been fired."

Previously, due to internal strife, a game of social etiquette had been triggered, and Liao Feng took the opportunity to fire more than a dozen people.

Liao Feng coldly said, "Don't make me say it a second time!"

The game servers opened at 10:00 AM!
Everyone couldn't help but feel uneasy, wondering if this server maintenance would result in losses for the players.

result.

Countless players continue to flood in like a tidal wave.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Liao Feng smiled and said, "As long as the foundation for success is solid enough, there is a high margin for error."

"No one can change the fact that our game has been a success, nor can anyone overturn this victory."

Just one day later, the number of online players returned to its peak.

However, at this moment, a truly fatal and malicious bug began to spread silently.

........................

Note: Finally finished writing, going to eat now! For those who haven't yet cast their guaranteed monthly votes, please lend a hand! Long live the benefactor!
(End of this chapter)