123: Chapter 123 Xiao Ma's Last Effort: To Acquire Xiao Men!

Just as Anli Group began its secret investigation.

During this period, to see if any internet platforms in need of a logistics system had appeared.

Tencent Group was still making its final efforts for crossfire.

...

South Korea, Smilegate headquarters.

The atmosphere at Smilegate today was heavy; a stifling silence permeated the entire building, and the employees who usually gathered in small groups in the hallways to chat were nowhere to be found.

Because just half an hour ago, someone no one expected had personally appeared at Smilegate headquarters.

Upon learning that this person had arrived in person.

Smilegate's executives were immediately alarmed. President Kim Hyuk-byung dropped all his work to host him, and even Kim Seok-jin, who was on vacation back in South Korea from Langchao Group, received a call and rushed to the company.

At this moment.

Inside Smilegate's largest conference room.

The long table was filled with people on both sides. Several key executives from Smilegate were all present, and sitting opposite them was a group of guests who had traveled all the way from Great Xia.

The person in the main seat was in his forties, wearing a dark gray suit. He wasn't very tall, and his expression was indifferent.

And this person.

Was the founder of Tencent Group, Pony.

Sitting next to him was Sun Qiang, with an interpreter and two assistants standing behind him.

The conference room was quite quiet. Smilegate's president Kim Hyuk-byung sat opposite Pony, a thin layer of sweat already seeping from his forehead.

He didn't know why Pony had visited suddenly today, but for such a big figure to personally fly over from Great Xia, whatever the matter was, it likely wasn't trivial.

Finally.

Kim Hyuk-byung took a deep breath and spoke, breaking the silence.

"Mr. Ma, I'm not sure what brings you to Smilegate personally."

Pony leaned back in his chair, his tone quite relaxed.

"I just came to take a look. Is that not allowed?"

He looked around the conference room, his gaze sweeping over the face of every Smilegate executive.

"Come to think of it."

"When Tencent was about to officially enter the shooting game field, I should have come to take a look in person to discuss the agency rights."

"It's just a pity I didn't have time back then and left the agency matters to the people below."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the Smilegate executives changed.

A single thought popped into their minds simultaneously: the other party was here to settle scores.

alliance of valiant arms had caused Tencent huge losses. They had spent astronomical sums on promotion and utilized resources from the entire Tencent ecosystem, but after 2.8 million players on the first day, the daily active users were slashed in half. Now, only about 500,000 daily active users remained.

And back then, they had sworn that alliance of valiant arms would definitely be a hit, claiming that crossfire was an obsolete product and that Tencent wouldn't go wrong by acting as the agent for alliance of valiant arms.

And the result?

The final results were completely the opposite. alliance of valiant arms was crushed by crossfire, without even room to fight back.

With Pony visiting in person at this point in time, what else could it be if not to settle accounts with them?

Kim Hyuk-byung wiped the sweat from his forehead and leaned forward slightly.

"Mr. Ma."

"Regarding the promotional investment Tencent previously made for alliance of valiant arms in Great Xia, we at Smilegate are willing to bear half the cost. Furthermore, we can permanently reduce the subsequent agency fees for alliance of valiant arms by fifty percent."

His tone was quite sincere, and the price offered was substantial.

You have to know.

Although alliance of valiant arms couldn't compare to crossfire at all, a record of 500,000 daily active users was already considered quite good in the current shooting game market, ranking firmly in the top three globally, second only to crossfire and CS.

Coupled with the compensation for promotional costs and the reduction in agency fees, they had already shown a considerable amount of remorse.

If Pony had really come to settle scores, these things would have been enough to sway him.

But after Pony finished listening to his words, he just shook his head.

"You misunderstood."

He leaned back in his chair, his tone indifferent.

"I didn't come here today to talk about alliance of valiant arms."

Kim Hyuk-byung was stunned for a moment, and the other Smilegate executives in the conference room looked at each other, not knowing what Pony meant. If not for alliance of valiant arms, then what else could it be for?

Pony didn't let them guess for too long; he spoke directly.

"I want to acquire Smilegate."

As soon as this sentence was spoken, the conference room instantly exploded with commotion.

Several executives raised their heads simultaneously. Some gasped, some subconsciously leaned back into their chairs, and Kim Hyuk-byung's brows furrowed tightly.

"Mr. Ma, Smilegate currently has no intention of being sold."

Kim Hyuk-byung's tone was cautious, but his attitude was clear.

He was stating the truth. Currently, crossfire was exploding in popularity in the Great Xia market, with daily active users exceeding ten million, second only to league of legends.

As the parent company.

Smilegate's stock price had gone crazy recently. No company would sell itself while its stock was soaring.

Not to mention.

In Kim Seok-jin's disclosure to them, they also knew that Langchao Group still had subsequent update plans for crossfire, which could further boost crossfire's daily active users and revenue. At that time, Smilegate's stock price would soar again.

Sell the company at this time? How could that be possible?

Another executive nearby also spoke up.

"Mr. Ma, I'm sorry to have made you make a wasted trip. Smilegate currently really has no plans to accept an acquisition; this is the consensus of the board of directors."

Pony just smiled after hearing these words. He didn't say anything, just turned his head to look at Sun Qiang beside him.

Sun Qiang pushed up his glasses and sneered.

"Do you think so?"

"If we didn't have enough certainty, would we have made this trip specifically?"

Kim Hyuk-byung's expression changed. He suddenly thought of something.

"Mr. Ma, those South Korean companies that have been secretly acquiring Smilegate shares during this period."

"They are yours!"

Pony nodded, not denying it.

"Coming here today is, more accurately, to notify you, not to negotiate."

"Tencent already had some shares in Smilegate before, and during this period, we have secretly increased our holdings significantly through several subsidiaries."

"According to Smilegate's current board equity structure, as long as I initiate the mandatory acquisition process, it can be completed within half a month. You cannot stop it."

Instantly.

The conference room fell into a deathly silence.

The expressions on the faces of Smilegate's executives were uglier than ever. They had indeed noticed before that several South Korean companies were quietly acquiring Smilegate shares.

But they had always thought that it was just ordinary capital wanting to jump on the bandwagon after seeing crossfire explode in popularity.

They never imagined that it would be Tencent's shell.

Kim Hyuk-byung was silent for a good while, then suddenly thought of something, looked at Pony, and spoke.

"Mr. Ma..."

"Are you... here for crossfire?"

Pony nodded, not hiding it.

"That's right. The most important purpose of Tencent acquiring Smilegate is to take down crossfire."

Pony paused.

"Regardless of how much the penalty is in the agency contract you signed with Langchao Group, Tencent will pay it."

"We must take crossfire."

Pony being so aggressive this time was actually somewhat out of helplessness. As the world's highest-valued gaming company, they couldn't possibly not have a single game with over ten million daily active users in their hands.

There was nothing they could do about league of legends, but they had to snatch crossfire over.

A game with over ten million daily active users had too much influence.

But listening to his words, several Smilegate executives suddenly laughed and breathed a sigh of relief.

Kim Hyuk-byung also smiled.

He leaned back in his chair, the tense expression on his face finally relaxing.

"Mr. Ma, if acquiring Smilegate doesn't mean getting crossfire, would you give up on the acquisition?"

Pony frowned, not knowing what had suddenly happened to the others.

"That's natural."

"But what do you mean by that?"

"As long as we acquire you, crossfire will naturally be ours."

Kim Hyuk-byung didn't answer immediately. He turned his head to look at Kim Seok-jin, who was sitting at the edge. The other party understood immediately, stood up from his seat, and walked out quickly.

The conference room door opened and closed. Pony and Sun Qiang exchanged glances, both seeing a trace of confusion in the other's eyes.

Very soon.

Kim Seok-jin pushed the door open and returned. He had a folder in his hand, which he handed directly to Kim Hyuk-byung. Kim Hyuk-byung took it and gently placed the folder on the table in front of Pony.

"Mr. Ma, you might as well take a look at this first."

Pony didn't look at the document. He leaned back in his chair, his tone still determined.

"No matter what you take out, it won't change the outcome that Tencent is about to acquire Smilegate and take away crossfire."

"Even if the penalty is an astronomical figure, Tencent can afford it."

In Pony and Sun Qiang's view, Smilegate's actions were because they had signed a sky-high penalty clause with Langchao Group, a price so high that even Tencent would recoil.

But this time.

Tencent had to take crossfire.

So before coming, Pony had already prepared himself mentally; even if it was an astronomical penalty, they had to pay it.

But listening to Pony's words, Kim Hyuk-byung shook his head.

"Mr. Ma."

"As early as two months before crossfire's open beta, Langchao Group had already bought out all the copyrights to crossfire."