Chapter 104

“Holographic cabin?”

The number of shareholders in Polar was still quite large, and they all had their own factions. When Shengquan was filming the movie, no one paid much attention. However, once it was mentioned that she really planned to release a holographic cabin, everyone exploded.

“Is it true or not?”

“I think it’s fake. Can she develop a holographic cabin as soon as she says she can? Our VR devices have invested so much money to barely reach this level. I don’t believe she can develop a holographic cabin in such a short time.”

“It’s hard to say.” A blond shareholder looked at various data on the tablet. “How did the guide dogs come out before? Have you all forgotten?”

Everyone looked at each other.

Although they were shareholders of Polar, anyone sitting in this position had other assets in their hands. Smart machines had always been popular, and when Shengquan released the robotic dogs, countless people’s intelligent machinery industries were impacted.

Of course, where there’s a fall, there’s a rise. After many people were affected, even more people, riding the momentum Shengquan created, rose to prominence.

Whether it was a fall or a rise, everyone knew Shengquan’s destructive power.

Now, she was no longer the chairman of a small company and had to be questioned about whether she could support an artist.

The faces of the major shareholders were unpleasant, and the minor shareholders were looking at each other with calculating eyes.

Polar is not a family business. Its seemingly vast and interconnected network of relationships is tied together by interests. When interests no longer align, the situation changes.

It’s like the inevitable replacement of old-fashioned phones by smartphones. Nowadays, how many young people would willingly use an old-fashioned phone?

Holographic cabins and VR—truth be told, even the shareholders themselves have to admit that if they had to choose, they would choose holography.

It’s a real second world.

“We can’t just sit back and wait.”

The small shareholders have prepared for a retreat. The major shareholders, whose main business is Polar, are unwilling to just watch Shengquan overshadow them with holographic technology.

Meetings, discussions, research—during this period, Polar’s employees could clearly feel that their bosses were often in a hurry, and the top-level conference room was often lit until the early morning.

Privately, Polar’s official employees couldn’t help but discuss

“Is the news about the holographic cabins in the Huaxia region true?”

“If it’s true, that’s great. I watched that movie, and it truly lives up to the Starlight brand. If the holographic cabins are real, does that mean we can go anywhere without leaving home?”

“You better think about it first. If holographic gaming cabins are real, won’t we be unemployed?”

The employee had an indifferent attitude: “Unemployed? That’s not necessarily the case. Even if it’s holographic, don’t we still need our expertise? Wherever you work, it’s still just working.”

As a young person, he was more excited about holographic cabins than losing his job.

After the two left the pantry, the major shareholder standing on a high chair put his cup on the table with a thud.

Even Polar’s own employees were looking forward to holographic cabins. Not to mention other ordinary gamers.

It can be expected that once Shengquan’s holographic technology is revealed, the mighty Polar will collapse instantly.

While the major shareholder was contemplating, his assistant approached:

“Ms. Shengquan’s call. She said she would like to talk to you.”

***

“We have the technology for holographic cabins, but if we want to develop a new game, it will take at least two or three years. If we want to scale it up, it will take at least four or five years. So it’s best to cooperate with Polar.”

Shengquan was stacking poker cards, her newfound hobby. Currently, she had built a towering poker card tower, and when placing cards on top, she had to be careful.

Gu Zhaolei didn’t think Polar would be willing to cooperate. “They have always had the whole cake to themselves. The probability of them wanting to share with others is low.”

A gaming company that can dominate the world can’t possibly rely solely on game content for sustenance. In recent years, many countries have produced outstanding new games, but under Polar’s commercial pressure, most of them were just a flash in the pan.

Gu Zhaolei didn’t think there was anything wrong with Polar’s business model. The business world is like a battlefield. If Polar allows competitors to grow and become strong, that would be unacceptable.

But he didn’t believe that a company used to being a dominant force in the gaming market would be willing to cooperate.

“It depends on how they choose.”

Shengquan looked at the high poker card tower she had built, satisfied. She withdrew her hand and smiled at Gu Zhaolei. “I don’t have only this one plan.”

“Don’t forget, I am also a shareholder of Polar, even though it’s a small one.”

Gu Zhaolei looked up, seeming to understand something. In his seemingly emotionless, light gray eyes, a faint smile appeared: “It seems you were well-prepared.”

Shengquan spent two hundred million in the game to obtain year-end shares; several of their close subordinates were aware of it. However, for some reason, neither Gu Zhaolei nor Yu Xiangwan said anything about it.

Yu Xiangwan has always thought everything Shengquan does is excellent. Even if Shengquan spent two hundred million playing games, even if she spent two hundred million on water polo, Yu Xiangwan would hold up his golden-rimmed glasses, calmly praising Shengquan’s skill in both activities, claiming that no one in the world plays water polo as well as Shengquan.

As for Gu Zhaolei, he purely thought of it as Shengquan’s personal hobby.

Just like the little grass he raised, in his eyes, the two were completely the same.

Of course, General Gu did not recall the time when, at Wansheng, faced with the former boss Chen Xuanzheng and He Qi’s “spending money on personal hobbies, street racing, and changing girlfriends,” his attitude was one of disdain and a feeling that the two were wasting their time.

He completely failed to realize his own double standards. “I thought you wanted to pass the time in the game.”

“Polar is indeed fun. But I spent two hundred million solely for the year-end shares.”

The proportion of this year-end share is really small, so small that when Shengquan spent two hundred million to obtain shares, no one behind her knew how many people said she was foolish.

Even Polar’s official thought she was encountering a big sucker, but considering Shengquan’s consistent display of wealth to the outside world, everyone could only think that she was just burning money because she had too much.

And now, the money-burning Shengdong, who spent money extravagantly, was leaning back on the sofa.

“Transferring shares between shareholders does not require approval from the board of directors or a shareholders’ meeting.”

What is this called in the game?

Robbing a house?

Indeed, several major shareholders of Polar planned to rob Shengquan’s house.

Shengquan, lying on the sofa, said, “Shengquan has only one research institute under her name.”

In the meeting, someone was analyzing the situation at Shengquan’s research institute.

That’s right. They were pleasantly surprised to find that this research institute did not have a confidentiality policy. Generally, in various countries, with the increasing importance of research results, the level of confidentiality will continue to rise.

The level of confidentiality itself is not of much use. Various research institutes related to scientific research have their own security systems. The main purpose is to alert visitors that there are important things inside and they should not enter casually.

As for the research institute with no confidentiality level, the security should be relatively lax. It would be easier for them to send someone to steal holographic technology.

Indeed, compared to the benefits they would have to give up, the major shareholders of Polar would rather hire professionals to steal holographic technology from Shengquan.

This might sound like “corporate warfare,” but in reality, among various large companies, this kind of technology theft and imitation is not uncommon.

To put it simply, hiring someone to steal technology costs much less than the money they would have to give up.

Of course, for a research institute in Huaxia, they would need to find people from Huaxia.

This is not difficult; you just need to select the right people and then throw money at them.

Even if the other party gets caught, they might just end up spending a few years in prison. Compared to the substantial amount of money they receive, they probably wouldn’t mind serving time.

Soon, the major shareholders of Polar selected their operatives. After successfully throwing money at them, they began waiting for news from Huaxia.

That night, the assistant received a call from those people.

“What? You’re not doing it? Why? Didn’t we agree on everything before? You’ve already taken the money.”

“Bro, it’s not about the money. That place looked like a military base.”

In the distance, the group of people pretended to walk nonchalantly in the opposite direction while feeling their hearts pounding and their legs going weak.

At the entrance of the research institute behind them, there was nothing unusual to see, but inside, there were soldiers in military uniforms, armed with real guns, guarding.

The assistant was baffled. “The military? Huaxia’s military?”

Walking with an air of panic, one of them said, “Otherwise, which country’s military do you think it would be? We just wanted to make money, not pick a fight with a country.”

“Keep your money. We won’t take this job. You’re putting us in danger! I want to make it clear, we are corporate spies, not military spies. The nature of this job is different, you know?”

“Also, don’t mention that you know us in the future. Even if you do, we won’t admit it.”

The group quickly hung up the phone, as if they were avoiding some dangerous flood or beast.

The assistant: “…”

Other executives: “…”

How did Shengquan’s research institute get involved with Huaxia’s military?

She’s just an ordinary, wealthy person, isn’t she?

While everyone was dumbfounded, the secretary knocked on the door and walked in. She whispered to the major shareholder:

“Sir, we’ve received information. The shares of most small and medium shareholders have been transferred one after another.”

“The one who acquired the shares is Shengquan.”