498: Chapter 498 The virus cost a lot of money? More money is needed.

After some communication, the call was quickly connected.

At the beginning, Sundar Pichai still put on an act: "Mr. Shen? To think you would call me personally. May I ask what the purpose of your call is? Surely you aren't just here to mock us, are you?"

"Mr. Pichai, we are both seasoned foxes, so there is no need to put on a show here."

"You should be aware of the cyberattack against Taishan System, right?"

Sundar Pichai felt a wave of panic inside. After all, only he and a few directors had discussed this matter, and Huaxin Investment had long been excluded from the loop.

Therefore, this matter absolutely had nothing to do with Google, and even if it did, he could not admit it.

"Mr. Shen, I don't understand what you are talking about?" Sundar Pichai hurriedly tried to distance himself from the responsibility.

"I didn't say you did it, did I? Why are you so nervous, Mr. Pichai?"

Shen Fei suddenly chuckled!

"We are both in the business of making operating systems, so aren't I just concerned? After all, this group of hackers hasn't been caught yet. What if they target Google... wouldn't my tenure as CEO be nearing its end?"

After finishing, Sundar Pichai gave himself a mental pat on the back for his quick wit.

The panic in his heart did not disappear. After all, this guy was a handful... making this phone call today was definitely not going to be easy to brush off.

Sure enough, just as he wanted to steer the conversation toward Vivo and Oppo to change the subject, Shen Fei suddenly said again:

"Whether you did it or not is not important. What is important is that Google is a member of Silver Lake Capital, and more importantly, after the attack occurred, Taishan System's reputation was damaged, Android's market share rebounded, and you are the biggest beneficiaries."

Sundar Pichai gripped his phone tightly. Isn't this fucking guilt by association?

This matter was indeed done by him, but... didn't it fail?

"Mr. Shen, you are joking. Besides us, isn't there Apple? Why only say that we, Google, benefited? Taishan System also developed from open-source Android; if your reputation is damaged, aren't ours as well?"

"Mr. Shen..."

"Stop!"

Just as Sundar Pichai was preparing to defend himself again, Mr. Shen spoke up: "Mr. Pichai, there is no need to explain so much. I have a complete chain of evidence in my hands right now that can prove the attack traffic was transmitted via Google Cloud nodes."

"If I were to make this evidence public, and incidentally expose the cooperative relationship between Google, Silver Lake Capital, and the Eagle Eye Alliance, how would global users view Google?"

"Would antitrust agencies in China and some markets in Africa issue Google a few more multi-billion dollar fines?"

Sundar Pichai once again felt Shen Fei's terror. He had originally thought this kid was just here to be snarky... he didn't expect him to be here to carve off a piece of his flesh!

But to think he could take him down with just a few words—how could it be that simple?

"That was the attackers maliciously borrowing Google Cloud services; it has nothing to do with us, and we are also victims."

"Whether it is legally unrelated is not important."

Shen Fei's words were extremely domineering, but in the eyes of Sundar Pichai, he was just like a thug.

"Users and the market will think that Google used underhanded tactics to suppress a competitor. By then, we will have Vivo and Oppo accelerate their adaptation to Taishan System, and our two companies will directly tear off the mask, check each other's code, and handle everything strictly by the book... How big do you think Google's losses will be then?"

The scale of Vivo and Oppo is plain to see; relying on the offline market, their annual shipments are over 50 million each... together, the two companies make 100 million!

Once they truly decouple from the Android ecosystem, Google's Google Play Store revenue will be slashed by a huge chunk.

"Mr. Shen, you are an excellent negotiator. Tell me, what exactly do you want to do?"

"It's very simple!"

On this side of the phone, Shen Fei took out a document he had prepared long ago and signed it effortlessly.

"I have prepared a document here: Google will transfer 5% of its shares to Transsion. Anyway, we are already partners; strengthening our cooperation seems like a very good idea to me."

"Impossible!"

Sundar Pichai instantly broke down. He knew the other party's appetite was a bit large, but he didn't expect the appetite to be this big.

This is 5% of the shares. Although Google's stock price has been falling, it is still worth tens of billions.

Their Transsion only had some equipment issues, yet now they actually want billions in compensation... Although Google has thoughts of suppressing this, it is absolutely impossible to pay such a price.

But Shen Fei is not someone to be trifled with; he must find a way.

"5% of the shares? This is absolutely impossible; the board of directors will never agree!"

"Whether the board agrees or not is your business."

Shen Fei remained firm to the end. After all, compared to the consequences of this matter being exposed, this was already a very reasonable price.

"You can choose; I will only give you half an hour. Either hand over the 50% shares, and I will treat this matter as having nothing to do with Google, suppress the evidence, and I guarantee there will be no administrative measures on the China side."

"Or we go down together. I will make all the evidence public and sue Google globally for unfair competition. We will send a special team to help Vivo and Oppo with adaptation. Don't talk about Qualcomm and MediaTek chips not being integrated; we are their shareholder, I can intervene by force!"

"If we really do that, you calculate which side will suffer greater losses?"

A very crude threat, and the other end of the phone instantly fell into a long silence.

Sundar Pichai analyzed the pros and cons rapidly, even calling in his secretariat team to communicate with various shareholders.

"Mr. Pichai, we absolutely cannot agree. Their little tricks have been constant these days, and they have now reached 12% of the shares; it is already very dangerous."

"How about we follow England's lead and pay cash compensation! We can even get Mr. Obama to pay a sum and shift the problem over there."

"I think this method is feasible; after all, giving away shares means it is the shareholders' interests that are lost."

Some representatives of shareholders spoke up in the office, all talking at once.

But Sundar Pichai did not know Shen Fei's true intent, so he could only let everyone guess first.

"Mr. Shen, 5% of the shares is a bit much; we need to discuss it carefully, but rest assured, I will push the board of directors to pass it. However, you must guarantee that if it is signed, all evidence must be destroyed, and you cannot use this matter to blackmail Google. At the same time, that mysterious virus of yours must be completely sealed away and cannot be used to attack us again."

On the other end of the phone, Shen Fei laughed.

Who does Sundar Pichai take him for? When he, Shen Fei, goes out into the world, he relies on benevolence and righteousness!

How could he threaten someone repeatedly over one matter? That is something only a thug would do; he, Shen Fei, is a person with morals.

However, wanting to seal the virus... after all, this virus was the hero that helped them resolve this matter, and this is not easy to handle.