22: Chapter 22: The CD is for you, but you won't be able to use it.

Zhao Yang tilted his head slightly and smiled faintly, "Director Jian, please continue watching."

He clicked open the trading System, the party interface, the guild panel, the class System...

"Mr. Bao, take a look at this."

Zhao Yang opened an interface called "Sabac Siege," "Ten thousand players on the same server, guilds competing for ownership of the main city, where the winning side can adjust tax rates."

Bao Yueqiao sat up straight, drawing in a sharp breath.

In the year 2000, this concept was enough to make the heart of anyone who understood games race.

"What is the completion status of this game?" Bao Yueqiao asked.

"Like I said, I'm here to sell something. The game is already finished."

"Did you make this by yourself?"

Zhao Yang smiled meaningfully, "Mr. Bao can consider it as having been done by me alone."

Bao Yueqiao and Jian Jing exchanged a glance, both thinking the same thing—there must be a team behind this person.

"What is your asking price?" Bao Yueqiao probed.

"On the international market, this game is worth one million US dollars."

The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.

Both Bao Yueqiao and Jian Jing frowned—this young man had quite an appetite.

"How about this..." Zhao Yang stood up, "This version currently contains about 50% of the game's content. I've adjusted the drop rates and leveling speed. A two or three-hour trial is enough for Mr. Bao to form a clear judgment on the game's value. Let's discuss the specific price tomorrow, shall we?"

Jian Jing's eyes darted around, and he smiled, "That works. Mr. Zhao, please leave the disc behind; we'll install it on a few more machines to test it."

Zhao Yang smiled, "The more players, the better; it's not fun with too few. I'll be waiting for your and Mr. Jian's call, Mr. Bao."

After seeing Zhao Yang out, Bao Yueqiao and Jian Jing closed the door and looked at the disc on the table, both wearing the smiles of "old foxes."

Jian Jing shook his head, "Mr. Zhao is still a bit young. Leaving the disc behind so easily—50% of the content is enough for us to figure out the game's internal details."

Bao Yueqiao also smiled, "Actually, I saw the value of this game at a glance—at least eight hundred thousand US dollars. But what I value most is the team behind him. I'd love to poach them!"

"Mr. Bao, I'm of the same mind," Jian Jing said, "We should do two things immediately. First, I'll get a few key staff members to decompile it right away and crack part of the code to use as leverage for tomorrow's negotiation. Second, we'll conduct a detailed trial of this game to further evaluate the value of his team."

Bao Yueqiao made the call, "Good. I'll go organize the trial, and you go handle the decryption."

Jian Jing picked up the disc and smiled meaningfully, "Young people have talent, but their social experience is still a bit lacking."

Zhao Yang, of course, knew that Bao Yueqiao wouldn't be so quick to open his wallet.

In this era, piracy was rampant, and the big shots in the IT circle had plenty of tricks up their sleeves.

He wasn't afraid of them playing tricks; he was only afraid they wouldn't play at all.

The Imperial Capital was still quite cold in early spring. Zhao Yang had no interest in strolling through the city streets of this era, so he ducked into a teahouse, ordered a pot of Pu-erh tea, and flipped through the magazines provided by the shop while sipping his tea.

In the year 2000, the real estate industry was just getting started, and quite a few periodicals introducing real estate had appeared on the market. Zhao Yang flipped through them for a while, then suddenly narrowed his eyes.

The game could sell for at least nine hundred thousand US dollars, and he didn't need that much cash, so he might as well acquire some property in the Imperial Capital.

He immediately ruled out Siheyuan.

In this era, Siheyuan did indeed have investment and cultural value. In a larger courtyard, one could even dig a fish pond; it was absolutely grounded and close to nature.

But before his Transmigration, he had spent a few years in the Imperial Capital, living near Shichahai. Those narrow streets and alleys were a disaster for private cars. A ten-kilometer commute was slower than riding a bicycle.

He really couldn't understand why transmigrators wanted to buy Siheyuan.

Besides sentiment, what else could there be?

As for the return on investment—where could one find low-yield real estate in the Imperial Capital? Plus, it wouldn't be as troublesome to sell as a Siheyuan.

The place Zhao Yang had his eye on was called Wanquan Xinxin Home. It was a high-end European-style garden residential complex, with two households per elevator, six floors in total, and duplex units on the top floor.

Right now, it was five or six thousand per square meter.

Twenty years later, it would be one hundred and seventy thousand per square meter!

He wasted no time and rushed to the sales office.

After scanning the room, Zhao Yang picked the prettiest sales Young Miss and walked over. Before she could speak, he said directly,

"My requirement is a top-floor duplex; I want two units across from each other. Ready-to-move-in units from Phase One are preferred; if not, then Phase Two. I can pay the deposit today, and I'll pay the full amount within a week."

The pretty girl was stunned for a dozen seconds before she realized—a big spender had just dropped right in front of her.

Her heart began to race.

The man in front of her was dressed in a suit, had an extraordinary air about him, was wealthy, and was incredibly handsome to boot.

Why do I have a boyfriend?

Wait, no, where would I have a boyfriend from!

I'm single!

I must be single!

"Ahem!" Zhao Yang interrupted her short-circuited brain, "Do you need me to repeat that?"

"Ah... no, no need. Please follow me, let's talk in the office."

Zhao Yang was in luck; there were indeed units in Phase One that met his requirements. He readily signed the letter of intent, paid the deposit, and left.

Leaving the sales Young Miss behind to stomp her feet in regret.

Such a young, wealthy, and handsome guy! Why didn't I talk to him more!

Meanwhile, at the Lianzhong headquarters.

Jian Jing stared at the computer screen, his brows furrowed deeply.

He tried to decompile the program Zhao Yang had left behind, but no matter what technique he used, the result was either garbled text or a pile of meaningless characters.

Several key technical staff members stood behind him; seeing that their boss was also stumped, they all secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"You were right," Jian Jing sighed, "The program has been protected to prevent decompilation. If we go all out, can we break the protection mechanism?"

"Boss, I have absolutely no clue right now," one of the staff members said, "The decompilation results have no pattern whatsoever. Even stranger, the result is different every single time we decompile it. I can't imagine what kind of technology this is."

Jian Jing was silent.

He had no clue either.

This Zhao Yang must have used a completely different programming technique.

He had encountered a master!

Just then, Bao Yueqiao hurried over, "Director Jian, how is the progress on your end?"

Jian Jing offered a bitter smile, "We underestimated Zhao Yang. The program he left behind has a protection mechanism that can't be decompiled in the short term. Look, the results are completely erratic; we can't even deduce a single line of code."

Bao Yueqiao's expression became very strange, "Director Jian, come, take a look at my side."

"Is there a problem with the trial too?"

"You'll know when you see it. It's absolutely insane!" He pulled Jian Jing to the temporarily set-up "game trial room."

Inside, a dozen young people were sitting there, all repeating the same action—searching for filenames related to the game.

Jian Jing asked, confused, "Mr. Bao, what's wrong? What are they all looking for?"

Bao Yueqiao smiled bitterly, "When Zhao Yang left, he said that a two or three-hour trial would be enough to see the game's value. It's been exactly three hours, and then... the game became unplayable. Not only is it unplayable, but it also deleted itself—wiped clean."

"What?" Jian Jing's eyes widened, "What about the server side?"

"It's gone too. Wiped clean."

"Have you tried reinstalling it?"

Bao Yueqiao shook his head, "It can't be reinstalled. The prompt says the disc is invalid."

Jian Jing stood there stunned, taking a long while to snap out of it.

He gave a self-deprecating smile, "Mr. Bao, we underestimated him! I feel like a clown."

Bao Yueqiao patted his shoulder, "Me too."