"As for the main project, starting this week, our cooperation agreement with MOSIA has taken effect, and the first payment has already been made."

"Good, we’re pressing on with the payment schedule. Did they say anything over there?"

"The other party had no objections. They understand our current need to accumulate funds to break into the mid-sized game developer market, and they said subsequent payments can be appropriately delayed until after we officially announce ourselves as a mid-sized game developer, then resume regular payments."

"Moriya-san’s reputation is quite strong, and MOSIA is reasonable. They could be a long-term cooperative partner... How about motion capture?"

"As for motion capture, Kenji Tanigaki’s team has already signed with MOSIA. Although, theoretically, they don’t directly coordinate with developers, considering the project’s special nature, Mr. Kenji Tanigaki still wishes to have a video call with you to discuss the motion design plan. It’s tentatively scheduled for tomorrow morning. How does that sound?"

"That works. This is a key project; all problems pave the way for Sekiro. Tell them I’m available."

"Got it. Also, Yan Sheng from Yiyou Technology hopes to have a call with you this afternoon to discuss the overseas rollout plan for the motion-sensing pods next quarter."

"Haha, their overseas rollout plan at Yiyou, coordinating with Golden Wind—if that gets out, no telling how many people will be baffled. Yan Sheng must have been holding this in for a long time. Reply to him; I’ll call him this afternoon."

"Understood. Also, the development work for Garden Warfare is basically complete and requires your confirmation on the release date."

"Alright, those are the main issues. I’ll coordinate with each right away..."

Monday morning!

In the CEO’s office!

Shen Miaomiao watched Sister Chuchu and Old Gu go back and forth with rapid-fire questions and answers. The fried dough stick in her hand almost fell to the floor, her mouth wide open.

Oh my god!

Sister Chuchu must have mentioned at least a hundred things!

Old Gu not only analyzed and handled everything in an orderly fashion but also made corresponding arrangements with plans in place.

Is this the processing speed a human brain can achieve?

Did my parents install a fake CPU in me?

Why can Old Gu reach 16-core processing speed while I can’t even reach 6 cores?

Back when Old Gu went to Neon to work on Silent Hill PT, he was in charge for a while.

That feeling of desperately trying to prevent information from rushing through his mind without leaving a trace, brain cells burning, boiling with effort to make arrangements—it still lingers vividly in her memory.

Back then, she wondered what kind of life Old Gu lived, handling so many things daily without any chaos.

Now, she witnessed it firsthand.

No doubt.

Being the helmsman really isn’t a job just anyone can do.

Just as she was thinking this, Chu Qingzhou turned to her:

"Director Shen, do you have any further instructions?"

"I... I..."

Shen Miaomiao opened her mouth and pointed at the soy milk in front of her:

"Is there any sugar? My soy milk isn’t sweet enough."

Chu Qingzhou: ...

"I’ll bring you a sugar cube later."

Chu Qingzhou was speechless.

It felt like she had just played the role of a top workplace elite, only to turn around and be asked to buy a street vendor’s pancake—what a stark contrast.

"Anything else?"

Chu Qingzhou hoped Miaomiao would offer some constructive opinions or suggestions.

Miaomiao blinked her big eyes:

"I want to eat tofu pudding tomorrow, is that okay?"

Chu Qingzhou felt like slapping herself.

I’m really overdoing it. After all this time, she still harbors such unrealistic fantasies about the young lady.

"Alright... I’ll get it for you tomorrow."

Chu Qingzhou sighed internally:

"Make sure to put extra garlic juice and chili oil, right?"

"Exactly!" Shen Miaomiao gave a thumbs-up with sparkling eyes. "Thanks, Sister Chuchu!"

Chu Qingzhou almost spat blood.

Thank goodness for Director Gu!

When Gu Sheng first applied to join Golden Wind, she even doubted him a bit.

Now, looking at this family—

...

"...Without XunTeng, it’s over."

Afternoon!

Gu Sheng and Yan Sheng started a phone conference.

Now that Gu Sheng was the company’s vice president, Yan Sheng basically liaised with him directly for most matters.

Neither of them was the type to dawdle, so after brief greetings, they cut to the chase.

Nothing else.

Naturally, it was about the Sekiro project.

Gu Sheng wasn’t surprised by Yan Sheng’s precise guess.

After all, as the helmsman of a comprehensive gaming company, Yan Sheng managed to create a miracle in just two or three years, surpassing XunTeng’s dominance in the market. Besides his keen eye (yes, Gu Sheng was complimenting himself), sharp intuition and timing were indispensable.

Gu Sheng didn’t hide anything. He laid out his ideas and related preparations openly, which made Yan Sheng gasp repeatedly.

Motion-sensing pod action game, MOSIA motion capture studio, Kenji Tanigaki’s team completing the motions...

One piece of news after another was astonishing.

More importantly, this would be Golden Wind’s first-ever “3S” tier blockbuster since its founding!

That is to say:

Once they announced their disposable net assets exceeding one billion and entered the mid-sized game developer category, securing a ticket to the Higashitsu Gaming Festival, the project would fully kick off.

By then, the freshly acquired billion would be spent lavishly.

After Titanfall, this was another all-in gamble!

Yet this situation was even more perilous than Titanfall’s—

In terms of experience accumulation, before Titanfall’s development, Golden Wind had two major second-generation FPS titles, Left 4 Dead and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, as foundations.

But Sekiro didn’t have that premise. Even globally, action games on motion-sensing pods were extremely rare!

As for competitors, Titanfall faced off against XunTeng’s three main generals, at best swaggering domestically.

But Komera was a force that dominated the global gaming market!

Such a desperate gamble!

Truly nerve-wracking.

Therefore!

Gu Sheng proposed—

This time, Yiyou and XunTeng must form a temporary alliance on the same front.

Only then could they barely capture one-tenth of Komera’s share in the motion-sensing pod market, securing enough platforms for the game.

Yan Sheng definitely opposed.

When they previously formed a temporary alliance during the Escape project, XunTeng’s market share increased by several percentage points.

Now, with Sekiro’s alliance, the gap might narrow even more.

"How about this, Director Gu," Yan Sheng said after a moment of thought.

"We can further reduce our cut by five points, only taking 15%, but..."

Before Yan Sheng finished, Gu Sheng interrupted with a smile, waving his hands repeatedly:

"Director Yan, you misunderstood. I’m not here to ask for concessions today. Director Shen already said we must firmly confirm your company’s cut ratio, strictly enforcing the 20% standard."

Gu Sheng wasn’t speaking nonsense.

This was a special instruction from Little Nezha.

According to Little Nezha, this was to prevent Golden Wind from becoming a target of gossip. Otherwise, if Yiyou kept offering concessions casually, how would others perceive Golden Wind?

Backdoor dealings? Favoritism? Throwing its weight around?

They weren’t even a large game developer yet, but they were constantly milking platform benefits. If they really grew big, what would happen then?

Besides,

They were a company officially commended by authorities. Such behavior would disrupt market fairness, so how could they set this kind of example?

Though Gu Sheng thought not earning money was foolish, Little Nezha’s words made sense. So he took this opportunity to inform Yan Sheng.

This put Yan Sheng in a tough spot!

It seemed Golden Wind was determined to organize a same-front alliance again to formally challenge Komera!

After a long silence,

Yan Sheng finally said slowly:

"Alright, Director Gu, please give us some time."

"I need to discuss the alliance with XunTeng with our executives and get back to you as soon as possible."

"No rush."

Gu Sheng understood Yan Sheng’s concerns.

If it weren’t for Komera or the fact this was a 3S-tier game, he wouldn’t have hastily suggested this to Yiyou.

But special circumstances called for special measures.

After all, this battle was crucial for Golden Wind.

...

Meanwhile!

Coordination and discussions for the Sekiro project were progressing rapidly.

On the other side!

Garden Warfare suddenly launched on a Friday night.

Calling it “sudden” was due to two reasons.

First, its release was nowhere near as grand as expected.

Golden Wind hardly promoted it at all.

Not to mention matching the publicity of Titanfall, Escape, or PUBG.

It didn’t even reach the level of To the Moon’s release.

It simply didn’t feel like a ‘main blockbuster’ deserved such treatment.

Second, the development time shocked everyone.

Two months.

Not even that!

At this speed, even Komera-level giants would find it hard to produce a high-quality masterpiece!

Suddenly!

The gaming community buzzed with speculation, all curious whether Garden Warfare was really Golden Wind’s “big masterpiece.”

And how good would this “masterpiece” actually be?

So!

With all these questions,

Donggua gathered Qiezi, Liu Di, and Little Dark inmate.

The former Left 4 Dead four-person team reassembled, ready to experience this official derivative game riding on the Plants vs. Zombies IP’s popularity—Garden Warfare.

"This cover..."

Right away,

Little Dark made an indescribable murmur:

"Looks kinda cartoonish? Is this... a masterpiece?"

On the left side of the cover, various plants wore serious, battle-ready expressions!

Peashooter, Sunflower, Cactus, Chomper...

On the right side, the zombies formed a lineup with mischievous expressions!

Bean Gunner, Fat Worker, Mad Scientist, Football Player...

Is it fun?

Undoubtedly!

Very entertaining.

But this thing...

"Doesn’t look like a masterpiece at all..."

Little Dark was highly skeptical.

The chat barrage was full of “emmmmm”—

‘Isn’t this... just a 3D version of Plants vs. Zombies?’

‘Yeah, feels more like planting flowers and grass...’

‘Wasn’t it supposed to be FPS? This is still plants vs. zombies.’

‘Maybe... they replaced guns with plants?’

‘Dang... fighting zombies with flowerpots? That’s way too abstract.’

‘Maybe you cosplay as Peashooter to fight zombies (funny).’

‘Hahaha what dumb concept? Golden Wind should hire you as a designer...’

‘The tags say it even has battle elements; maybe you can cosplay as smart zombies (doge).’

‘Could be, like Left 4 Dead’s creative workshop PvP mode, letting players play as special infected and protagonists fighting.’

‘Probably turns plants into firearms? Like Peashooter’s vines wrapping around your hands firing bullets.’

‘Hey—this guess is kinda interesting.’

‘True, the one above saying players cosplay as plants is too abstract. Even Little Yellow can’t be that abstract...’

At this moment!

Before the chat barrage finished,

A scream echoed in the livestream chat!

"Damn—Donggua!!! I swear I actually turned into Peashooter, holy crap!!!"

There!

Liu Di was standing in the game’s training ground!

Originally, he wanted to try the gameplay first.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered and looked down,

He was stunned!

At that moment, he had transformed into a ‘willowy figure,’ with a vine waist as thin as a pipe, two leaf-like hands stretching left and right.

Looking further down!

Below the charming vine waist were two slender roots, moving back and forth with his motions.

Liu Di was dumbfounded!

He walked dazedly to the “change outfit mirror” in the training ground, staring blankly at his reflection—

On his smooth head sprouted two fresh buds, thick eyebrows full of fighting spirit, and a trumpet-shaped mouth puckered, looking both serious and hilarious.

"I... I... am I...?"

Liu Di had lived for thirty-four years!

He never imagined one day he would see such a self in the mirror!

Silent for a full ten seconds!

He didn’t know what switched in his brain, but it was as if a voice told him he had to do this.

Turning his head toward the empty space in the training ground, he slightly shrank his neck, then suddenly leaned forward:

"I—phooey!"

Pom!

With a crisp pop, a pea bullet shot forcefully from his mouth!

The livestream chat froze for two seconds!

Then,

Instantly exploded!

‘Puhahaha!!!’

‘I really like what a Golden Wind player said—’

‘Huh???’

‘Hahaha, really turned into a plant, holy crap!!!’

‘The pea shot sounds so crisp hahaha holy...’

‘Hahaha I can’t take it! I really can’t! What kind of dumb game is this?!’

‘Is this made by carbon-based life forms?’

‘I’m literally exploding like an elephant tribe!’

‘Players cosplay as plants?!’

‘This is truly...’

‘An unthinkable 2B game hahaha...’

‘Masterpiece! But abstract!’

‘A damn abstract masterpiece hahaha...’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com