Hong Kong films: From street thugs to Hong Kong financial tycoons

Sichuan, the Ten Thousand Mountains, the summit of Yuntai Peak.

The mountain wind howled, stirring up clouds and mist that made the few welcoming pines at the edge of Taiji Square rustle in the wind.

"Boss, you were looking for us?"

Before long, Fatty Wang and Li Qiang came running up to the viewing platform with a great view, panting heavily.

Fatty Wang was still clutching a megaphone used for directing, his forehead covered in sweat.

Li Qiang was in an even worse state; his red safety helmet was covered in grayish-white cement slurry, and his work vest was soaked with machine oil and sweat, making him look like a laborer who had just crawled out of a coal mine.

But their eyes were brighter than each other's, revealing the kind of fanaticism unique to those in a state of extreme excitement.

Lin Yao didn't speak immediately. He turned around, his deep gaze peering through his sunglasses at the giant flying zombie below, which had just completed an extremely violent mechanical sweep and was now spewing thick black smoke.

The sounds of wind, the meshing of mechanical gears, and the rough chants of construction workers in the distance intertwine to create a hardcore symphony of heavy industry.

"Li Qiang".

More than a minute passed before Lin Yao slowly spoke. His voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard by the two people carried by the mountain wind.

"Boss, I'm here!"

Li Qiang quickly stood up straight, like a soldier waiting for his superior to give instructions.

"That mechanical flying zombie, and this tens of thousands of square meters of Maoshan Celestial Master's Mansion real scenery."

Lin Yao extended his long, slender finger, pointing to the imposing film set below, and asked in a calm tone:

"If I remember correctly, all of these were 3D models you built line by line of code and polygon by polygon in the computer lab using top-of-the-line IBM workstations, right?"

"right!"

When the topic of his professional field came up, Li Qiang immediately perked up, and that ultimate pride that belongs to engineering students welled up spontaneously.

"Boss, our academy is meticulous in everything we do, not just in appearance, but also in the stress points of every beam in this hall."

"The physical transmission trajectories of the sixteen hydraulic pumps of the Underground Ghost Gate were all run countless times in the computer using three-dimensional wireframe diagrams."

"You could say that every single brick on this mountain has an extremely precise digital twin on the hard drives of our five hundred computers!"

"very good."

Lin Yao nodded in satisfaction and turned to look at Fatty Wang.

"Director Wang, you must have detailed video footage and camera position data archives for Uncle Nine's motion capture, as well as the movement trajectories of those Taoist stances, right?"

Fatty Wang paused for a moment, scratched his head, and although he didn't know why his boss suddenly asked this, he still answered truthfully.

"Of course, boss. The budget you gave us is too generous. We not only used film, but also set up dozens of the highest-definition fixed-point video recorders throughout the venue."

"They captured every glance and every angle of Uncle Nine's sword swing on the tape. The data is so detailed it's outrageous."

"As long as the data is all there, that's good."

Lin Yao turned his gaze away and sat down on the armchair next to him. Qiu Shuyi immediately and very considerately handed him a cup of hot tea.

Lin Yao took the teacup, took a small sip, and then unleashed a groundbreaking, outlandish idea that would blow the top of both men's heads off on the spot.

"Since we hold the most detailed virtual 3D model in the world, and also the most perfect motion data."

"Wouldn't it be such a waste to just leave all this data gathering dust on a hard drive after filming is finished?"

Lin Yao leaned back in his chair, a devilishly ambitious smile curving his lips.

"Li Qiang, Fatty Wang."

"What do you think would happen if I let the Yaosheng Technology software team in Hong Kong use these 3D models you drew as scene maps...?"

"Using the motion data of that mechanical flying zombie and Uncle Nine as the core monster and protagonist..."

"Develop me a true 3D action game based on Eastern mythology that can run on a personal computer."

"Let players all over the world not only watch Uncle Nine fight zombies in the movie theater, but also sit in front of the computer, press the keyboard, and control Uncle Nine to fly on a sword in the virtual Celestial Master's Mansion and tear apart this five-meter-tall steel flying zombie."

"Is this deal worthwhile?"

boom!!!

When Lin Yao casually uttered the words "full 3D perspective game," Li Qiang and Fatty Wang felt as if their brains had been struck head-on by a massive Thor's hammer.

What, a game?

In 1987, what stage was the general public's understanding of video games at?

That's Super Mario on the Nintendo Famicom (NES) with mushrooms on top, and those are pixelated figures from Contra and Street Fighter in arcades.

Two-dimensional, flat, and crude electronic sounds—this is currently the absolute ceiling of the human gaming industry.

But now, Lin Yao is telling them that he wants to turn this tens of thousands of square meters of real-world scenery, which is comparable to the real world, and that mechanical behemoth with an overwhelming sense of physical oppression, into a fully three-dimensional game that can run on a computer.

This isn't just crossing boundaries; it's a complete dimensional reduction attack, leaping directly from the Stone Age to the modern era.

"Boss... you're not kidding, are you?"

Li Qiang swallowed hard, his legs almost giving way to Lin Yao. As an engineering student who dealt with computers every day, he understood the terrifying technical barriers involved better than Fatty Wang.

"Boss, the concept of 3D games is indeed being proposed by some labs overseas, but that requires extremely powerful graphics rendering capabilities and underlying architecture support."

Li Qiang's voice trembled with excitement as he frantically gestured with his hands in the air: "The blueprints we drew are composed of millions of extremely complex geometric polygons."

"To enable the computer to render these polygons in real time, we also need to add lighting effects, physical collision feedback, and so on..."

"There is simply no personal computer on the market that can handle such a terrifying amount of data, not even an American Intel processor. Running it would definitely burn out the motherboard on the spot."

"Just because Intel is not good doesn't mean that our Loongson chips from Yaosheng Technology are not good."

Looking at Li Qiang, who was so excited he was about to have a stroke, Lin Yao calmly revealed another fact that would leave the entire scientific community in despair.

"The merger and acquisition agreement on Wall Street was finalized this morning."

"MSI's operating system source code and all of Intel's x86 patents are now in the safe of Yaosheng Capital."

Lin Yao extended a finger and tapped it lightly on the table. His overwhelming aura as a capitalist tyrant was suffocating.

"In terms of hardware, we have 0.8-micron nanometer-scale process chips that are two generations ahead of the world. In terms of software, we have a global geek ecosystem built with billions of dollars, as well as underlying code that we bought from the Americans at rock-bottom prices."

"If even our Yaosheng Technology can't make this game, then humanity as a whole won't be able to play 3D games for the next twenty years."

Completely dumbfounded, Li Qiang and Fatty Wang stood frozen in place, like two statues charred by lightning.

It has absorbed the core technologies of MSI and Intel, and developed a 0.8-micron chip.

Only at this moment did Fatty Wang finally recover from the extreme shock. He slapped his thigh and jumped up on the spot like a 200-pound ball of excitement.

"I understand now, I finally understand!"

Fatty Wang pointed to the massive film set below, which cost 1 billion yuan to build, and tears were almost streaming down his face.

"Boss, no wonder you insisted on spending a billion to build a real set in this remote mountain forest. No wonder you even used a purely physical hydraulic pump to make a gate."

"So this wasn't just a simple movie making all along!"

The way Fatty Wang looked at Lin Yao had completely transformed into the way he looked at a living god who could calculate everything perfectly.

"This epic blockbuster is basically a super-long game promotional trailer that you spent a billion yuan to produce in order to sell that Loongson PC, right?"

This is amazing! This is the real closed loop of a cross-border business empire!

To make a high-quality film that will shock the world and grab the adrenaline and attention of all viewers.

Then tell them that the world in the movie is not fake. As long as you buy the Loongson personal computer produced by our Yaosheng Technology, you can personally enter this world in the game.

Moreover, this game is only compatible with Yaosheng Technology's exclusive chips and systems. If you want to play it, you'll have to obediently pay for Yaosheng's hardware!

"Spending a billion yuan to make a movie that's used as a game trailer, and then using the game to forcibly bundle and promote our domestically produced computers and operating systems..."

Li Qiang muttered to himself. As a college student who had never experienced the harsh realities of society, he was completely shocked and utterly impressed by Lin Yao's ultimate business conspiracy, which was intricately linked and ruthless.

What a profound business strategy this is, what a terrifyingly powerful attack!

Hollywood film studios and Silicon Valley hardware manufacturers are as naive as three-year-olds who have just learned to walk in front of their bosses.

"The fact that you can understand this shows that you're not completely stupid, you fatso."

Lin Yao smiled, neither confirming nor denying.

In fact, this was a trump card he added on a whim after seeing the physical oppressive feeling of that mechanical flying zombie.

Since the wealth prediction panel gave him access to the complete set of underlying technologies, he might as well take the ecosystem to its extreme.

"Li Qiang, you'll have to work hard these days."

Lin Yao's smile vanished, and his tone became unquestionable.

"Besides keeping a close eye on the construction on set, you need to have all the 3D coordinate data, mechanical transmission models, and camera position data of the Celestial Master's Mansion that you have."

"Organize everything, encrypt and package it, and send someone to deliver it back to the New Territories factory in Hong Kong every day."

"I want Lu Qiu and the others to perfectly embed this full 3D game called 'Myth: Zombie Taoist Priest' onto our hard drives on the day our first Loongson personal computer rolls off the assembly line."

"Yes, boss, I guarantee the mission will be completed. Even if it takes all my hard work, I won't let a single hair on this data go to waste!"

Li Qiang was so excited that he stood at attention and saluted, his voice resounding through the sky. He was overjoyed at the thought that the engineering drawings he had drawn would soon become the map for the first fully 3D game in human history.

For an engineering student, this is even more exhilarating than receiving a ten million dollar bonus.

……

In the dead of night, in Tai Po Industrial Area, New Territories, Hong Kong.

In contrast to the wild, heavy industrial atmosphere of the mountains, Yaosheng Technology's core cleanroom is filled with the extremely cold scent of liquid nitrogen and the crackling sound of high-voltage current.

"Beep—Authentication successful. Highest level of defense disarmed."

As an extremely heavy steel airlock slowly opened.

Thirteen Sister, dressed in a black, tight-fitting combat suit, led twenty fully armed Blackwater mercenaries, escorting three extremely heavy black explosion-proof briefcases, and strode into this laboratory with the highest security level in the world.

"Mr. Lu, the bargains that A Yao bought in the US have arrived."

Thirteen Sister walked up to Lu Qiu, who was lying in front of the lithography machine with bloodshot eyes, and patted the three explosion-proof boxes.

Lu Qiu suddenly raised his head, and two beams of green light, like those of a vicious wolf, instantly erupted from his face, which looked somewhat withered from long-term lack of sleep.

"They've arrived. MSI's system source code and x86 underlying patent licenses have really been delivered?"

Lu Qiu pounced on the three cold combination lock boxes like a madman possessing his food, his hands trembling as he stroked them, as if they contained not hard drives, but the Nine-Turn Immortal Pill that could make him ascend to immortality in broad daylight.

"Quick, Peter, wake up all the European engineers!"

As Lu Qiu entered the password, he roared hysterically, "Our boss helped us conquer this land, and he even brought back the enemy's secrets!"

"If we can't create a system that truly belongs to the Chinese people, we'll all jump into Victoria Harbour and feed the turtles!"

"Click!"

The safe was opened, and inside lay a dozen high-capacity military-grade portable hard drives, as well as a thick stack of permanent authorization documents bearing the handprint of Intel's global president, Andy.

At this moment, all 104 top-notch scientific research enthusiasts gathered around, their breathing as heavy as a herd of bulls in heat.

Just as Lu Qiu's hands trembled as he inserted the first hard drive containing MSI's core operating system into the supercomputer's read slot in the laboratory.

Thousands of miles away, Lin Yao decisively activated the god-level passive aura that had burst forth from the Wall Street slaughterhouse in his mind.

[Ding! A god-level scientific research halo—the Inspiration Explosion—has been forcibly applied to the designated area (Yaosheng Technology Plant Area, New Territories, Hong Kong)!]

"boom!!!"

In that extremely mysterious moment when the halo fell, the air in the dust-free laboratory seemed to undergo an extremely strange physical distortion.

Lu Qiu, Peter, and all the engineers present felt as if a supernova had suddenly exploded deep within their brains.

My brain, which was originally extremely muddled and filled with all sorts of logical dead ends due to continuous all-nighters, became clearer than ever before, as if the purest ice water had been poured over my head.

Looking at the extremely complex, almost incomprehensible, underlying source code of MSI (Micro-Star International) that was scrolling wildly on the computer screen.

Normally, even a top genius like Lu Qiu would need to rack his brains for several hours to understand the core encryption logic of a single line.

but now!

"Holy crap..."

Lu Qiu stared intently at the screen, his eyes darting around frantically, and he unconsciously uttered a vulgar curse.

"Is this... this the underlying logic of the American system?"

"It's too rudimentary, too bloated! This, this, and this—it's all redundant and unnecessary code!"

Under the terrifying boost of the "inspiration explosion" aura, which pushed brainpower to its limits by 300%, these core codes, once revered as divine by the world, were...

In Lu Qiu's eyes, it was as flawed as a primary school student's diary!

Moreover, countless brilliant ideas, like a spring, and countless new algorithms capable of overturning existing computer architectures, collided, split, and merged wildly in their 104 brains.

"Quick, get me some paper, no, get me a whiteboard!"

Peter, like a madman, pulled at his hair and frantically wrote a long string of extremely complex physics formulas on the glass wall with an oil-based pen, laughing wildly as he wrote.

"I get it! I finally understand how to separate graphics processing from the central processing unit."

"We need a dedicated chip for processing polygons and physically based lighting, let's call it... GPU!!!"

"The x86 instruction set is too outdated. We not only need to be backward compatible with it, but also need to write a completely new three-dimensional spatial algorithm into the Loongson core."

Lu Qiu's hands moved across the keyboard in a blur, his eyes fixed on the mechanical flying zombie blueprints he had just received via satellite network from Yuntai Peak in Sichuan.

"The boss wants us to make 3D games? He not only got us the underlying source code from the US, but he even built all the damn modeling data for us!"

"Brothers, the boss has paved the way for us to the very end."

Lu Qiu suddenly stood up, his dirty white lab coat fluttering even without wind, and the absolute arrogance of a top Chinese technology leader was fully awakened at that moment.

"Nobody's going to sleep tonight. We're going to overthrow the entire digital dominance of the West right here in this lab."

"Within three months, I'm going to make the first domestically produced supercomputer, powered by our Yaosheng Loongson chip and running the fully 3D 'Zombie Master,' stage the most extreme dimensional reduction massacre on the world stage!"