44: The gaming community is going crazy over it.

Meeting Room Number One.

The core technical team brought by Bai Qianqian sat quietly on one side.

She, herself, sat opposite Su Jin.

Jiang Zhonghua served as the Star Sea representative, but the negotiation was primarily led by Su Jin, who was responsible for the specific project execution.

"President Bai, your efficiency is truly astonishing."

Su Jin pushed a list of technical requirements toward Bai Qianqian.

"These are our basic parameter requirements for the core chips and components."

Bai Qianqian took the list handed over by her assistant, gave it a brief glance, and confidently placed it back on the table.

"Mr./Ms. Su, the parameters are not a problem."

"As long as Star Sea provides the blueprints, Bais Technology can handle the production."

She continued, smiling, "For this project, Bais Technology is willing to undertake the production of all Star Sea-designated core components at cost price."

"In the future, if Star Sea requires production capacity, Bais Technology will definitely cooperate fully."

Even though Su Jin was mentally prepared, it was greatly shocked by these terms; this was far beyond simple profit concession.

Su Jin asked tentatively.

"President Bai, these terms are honestly very generous."

"If we proceed with these terms, your company is guaranteed to incur losses on this project."

"Profit is not the primary concern for Bais Technology," Bai Qianqian replied decisively, projecting an image of great wealth and confidence.

"I value Star Sea's future prospects. Feel free to propose specific details; as long as Bais Technology can achieve it, we will not refuse."

Bai Qianqian spoke these words eloquently, emphasizing strategic planning and long-term vision, perfectly concealing her true motivation behind the scenes.

That was to cling tightly to Ghost's massive thigh, no matter the cost.

Su Jin and Jiang Zhonghua exchanged a glance.

Given Bais Technology's formidable technical strength and willingness to concede profit, there was simply no reason to refuse.

"President Bai's courage is admirable."

"Since your side has shown such sincerity, we hope to initiate the specific business terms as soon as possible..."

Two hours later, Star Sea Technology and Bais Technology officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement and completed the handover of the design blueprints for the core chips and components.

The entire process was extraordinarily efficient, as if both parties had long understood each other tacitly, waiting only for this final step.

The Star Sea Official quickly released an announcement.

[Star Sea Technology and Bais Technology have established a comprehensive strategic partnership to jointly promote the research, development, and manufacturing of next-generation intelligent interactive devices.]

The industry was stunned when the news broke.

How much time had passed?

Was it even three hours from the initial rumor to the official announcement?

Although surprising, upon closer reflection, it made sense.

Bais Technology's recent series of drastic measures, its cost-unaware investment strategy, and the consistent extravagant style of its leader, Bai Qianqian, all pointed to this outcome.

This behavior of quickly finalizing cooperation with apparent disregard for cost could only be interpreted by capital markets in one way: Bais Technology wanted to tie itself to the Star Sea flagship to make a name for itself.

Just two hours after the announcement was released, Bais Technology's stock price soared, rising by 2 percentage points.

The heated discussions online were in full swing.

The Star Sea Official only mentioned the next-generation intelligent interactive device, which led countless tech enthusiasts to engage in frantic speculation.

A blogger with millions of followers, [Teardown Maniac], published an analysis post based on the cooperation checklist provided by Star Sea.

"Brothers, take a look at these key components."

"Neural signal simulation interface, multi-channel bio-electrical sensing, real-time data stream processing... This is simply not the high-end configuration required for an ordinary VR or AR headset."

In the post, [Teardown Maniac] detailed comparisons with existing technology, analyzing the potential applications behind each parameter, and finally reached a conclusion that made everyone hold their breath.

"Overall, what Star Sea and Bai's are collaborating to build is highly likely to be a true neural interface virtual reality gaming helmet."

"The era of controlling games with the brain is probably upon us. This is damn science fiction becoming reality!"

This post was pushed to the top trending spot by a mysterious force, igniting the entire network within just one hour.

[Neural interface, is that what I think it means?]

[Is Star Sea finally making a move on gaming? And when they strike, it's a nuclear option.]

[Look, this is Star Sea's style: either they don't do it, or when they do, they slap all their competitors dead (dog head emoji for safety).]

[Major gaming companies are feeling the pressure.]

[Is this the prototype for true full-dive technology?]

Gamers were thrown into collective euphoria.

"Fatty, hurry, they're flanking from the right!"

Zhang Zhifei leaned against his dorm bed frame, holding his phone with both hands, his six fingers frantically operating on the screen.

On the screen, the crimson mech he controlled executed a nimble side-slide, and its shoulder cannon continuously burst-fired, turning an enemy scout mech attempting a sneak attack into sparks.

"I'm tanking, I'm tanking! Heal me, quickly heal me!"

Fatty, on the bunk opposite Zhang Zhifei, was yelling until his face was red and his neck was thick.

Just as they were about to tear open the opponent's defense line, Zhang Zhifei noticed that Fatty's heavy mech had stopped moving, standing in the center of the battlefield like a lump of iron.

[Battlefield Channel] Fatty Grandpa Will Never Lose Weight: "Star Sea is awesome!!!"

Zhang Zhifei nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood onto the screen.

"What the hell, Fatty, are you messing with me?"

Just as Zhang Zhifei was about to pounce on the opposite bunk to fight Fatty, something even stranger happened.

The two unusually fierce enemy mechs opposite them also stopped operating, just like Fatty.

[All Battlefield Channel]: Star Sea is awesome!!!

"???"

Zhang Zhifei was bewildered. What was going on?

Before he could react, Fatty had jumped down from the top bunk, neglecting to put on his slippers, and rushed over to Zhang Zhifei, shoving a video notification on his phone right into his face.

"Brother Fei, forget that trash game, look at the news!"

"Look at your face!"

"Star Sea is going to build a virtual gaming helmet! Neural connection, the kind where you play games with your brain!"

Zhang Zhifei squinted, tilting his head back to barely make out the screen.

He couldn't help but drop his own phone, taking Fatty's phone to look closely.

After watching the entire popular science video, Zhang Zhifei felt an indescribable heat rush from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.

"Holy crap, is this real or fake?"

Fatty excitedly replied, "It has to be real! When has Star Sea ever made a move without crushing its competitors into the dirt?"

Almost simultaneously, similar situations occurred in the public channels, world channels, and even team dungeons of various popular games.

[Continent of Gods and Demons]

World Channel.

"Grouping to farm Phoenix, need a Tank and a Healer."

"Star Sea is awesome!!!"

"Is 'Star Sea is awesome' the password to join the group? Big shot, take me, I can heal like crazy!"

"I'm just asking, is 'Star Sea is awesome' some new meme? I haven't heard of it."

"This must be the trigger keyword for a new activation code, right?"

"Star Sea is awesome!!!"

"It didn't work?"

[Peak Canyon]

"Mid-laner, stop feeding. I'll carry you."

"Star Sea is awesome!"

"Support, what the hell? You went AFK to type and abandoned me?"

"Star Sea is awesome!"

"F*ck, everyone stop playing."

Just then, the enemy ADC suddenly stopped moving, and the kill was decisively secured.

He noticed that in the all-chat interface, the enemy summoner was also spamming 'Star Sea is awesome!'

[Phantom Ranger]

Main City.

"Selling +12 Legendary Bow, DM with price."

"Star Sea is awesome!"

"Buying enhancement stones, need large quantities, contact me if you have any."

"Star Sea is awesome!!"

"May I humbly ask, what are you all spamming? What does it mean?" a professional gold farmer couldn't help but type and ask.

"Are you seriously not watching the news, buddy? Don't you even scroll through short videos?"

"I'm busy grinding every day; where do I find time for short videos?"

"Go take a look. Before long, we'll be playing games with our minds."

"Don't you have a mind?"

... As time went on, the chat systems of countless popular games entered a state of semi-collapse; the active spamming made it impossible to see what anyone was actually talking about.

Players who didn't know the truth looked at the spamming messages; some blindly followed suit, some typed questions, and others, thinking they had discovered some game Easter egg or welfare code, joined the repeating army out of curiosity.

It wasn't until the gamers who first learned the news threw links, analysis post screenshots, and chat logs into various forums, message boards, and chat groups that the truth gradually surfaced.

Star Sea External Publicity Department.

Brother Zhe's team was already urgently producing a promotional video capable of igniting the entire gaming community, along with a Q&A acquisition channel for the activation codes for [star sea knight: enlightenment].