novelODS Chapter 295 The Death Knell Will Toll
Chapter 295 The Death Knell Will Toll
On the evening of the 13th, Ziying was watching the news when she got so angry that she smashed her phone on the ground.
The screen shattered into a spiderweb pattern, resembling a hideous ghost face, reflecting his distorted features.
A meticulously prepared, high-priced online smear campaign was so easily neutralized.
He picked up his phone with trembling hands. The crack on the screen severed Jiang Feng's smiling face—Jiang Feng was live-streaming himself playing "Only Up," a simple jumping game, and yet 90 people were watching online.
"Why..." Ziying murmured to herself, her voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping, "Why can't I suppress it? Why just can't I suppress it?!"
He stood up abruptly and paced back and forth in the office, his leather shoes making a dull thud on the carpet, like a death knell.
Just one day, he was slapped in the face by three official endorsements, but by night Jiang Feng's popularity had risen instead of fallen, which was like being slapped in the face repeatedly.
The seven-figure sum he spent on hiring online trolls and publishing smear articles was like a pebble thrown into the ocean—it didn't even make a splash. Instead, it gave Jiang Feng a boost in popularity.
Jiang Feng is trending again; it's like he lives on the trending topics list these days.
The entertainment industry is in a state of mourning.
The video of that press conference where they directly confronted Tencent has resurfaced and gone viral online.
Now, almost everyone in the country knows about the feud between Jiang Feng and Delta.
Everyone knows the young man who dared to confront Tencent at a press conference and expose the shady practices of ACE's anti-cheat system. And everyone knows he doesn't play games.
Today, he was called to a meeting by his superiors.
He was questioned about Jiang Feng's matter.
He practically begged on his knees to promise to increase revenue and see results within a month, which barely saved his position.
Ziying leaned back in her chair, her hand trembling as she lit a cigarette. The nicotine filled her lungs, but she couldn't suppress the chill in her heart.
"If all else fails, I'll have to admit defeat and resign..." He exhaled a breath of stale air, his eyes turning sinister, "Let that old fox Su Ming reap the benefits..."
Suddenly, as if he remembered something, a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.
"However... I still have this. I can swindle that old fox out of some money, at least... at least enough to ensure I'll be financially secure for the rest of my life..."
Ziying opened the combination lock drawer, wanting to take out the black USB drive worth millions that made her feel safe.
He reached into the hidden compartment—
empty.
His hand froze in mid-air, his fingertips touching only the cold wood grain.
Ziying's pupils contracted sharply, and her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.
"Impossible..." he murmured, his voice trembling, "I clearly put it here..."
He frantically searched through the drawer, pulling it out completely, scattering documents, business cards, and spare cell phones all over the floor.
No, no, no!
The small black USB drive, which contained Su Ming's Bitcoin transaction records and some recordings of their conspiracy, is gone!
"How could it disappear?"
Ziying was checking when she suddenly discovered that the combination lock drawer was broken!
Ziying slumped into the chair, her face ashen, cold sweat instantly soaking through her shirt.
His mind was racing, but it was a complete mess.
"Su Ming?"
If Su Ming got it, then there's still hope...
What if it's not Su Ming...
Looking out at the pitch-black night sky, Ziying felt a real sense of fear for the first time. The chill that rose from the soles of his feet made him tremble uncontrollably.
………………
June 14th, morning.
There's only one day left until the Delta S3 season update.
Zhejiang University of Commerce and Industry is trending on social media again.
This time it has nothing to do with Jiang Feng, but with the dean.
This "sixty-year-old Deng," who usually gets kicked to death in the game and laughs around in his live stream, suddenly showed amazing energy—he formally submitted a proposal to the conference to amend the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China and add the crime of "making, providing, or using game cheats for profit."
The proposal directly targets the game cheat industry chain, suggesting that the production, sale, and use of cheats for profit be criminalized, with a maximum penalty of more than ten years imprisonment and a fine, depending on the severity of the circumstances.
The dean spoke out on his Douyin account, his tone unusually serious:
"Games are the ninth art and an important part of the cultural industry. Cheating software not only undermines the fairness of games but also erodes the entire digital cultural industry. I propose that those who create and use cheat software be severely punished by law!"
This statement was immediately shared and supported by big names in the computer, IT, and gaming industries.
#60-year-old Deng is serious# and #Suggesting that cheating should be criminalized# instantly became trending topics.
Netizens then realized that the old man who usually dominated the live stream had such a terrifying social influence.
And this isn't the only trending topic today.
While domestic public opinion was in an uproar, it also became a hot topic on international social media.
Following its announcement of the full acquisition of EA, the Saudi Public Investment Fund formally sent an inquiry letter to TX Group: Could Delta Force be sold separately? The price is negotiable.
TX headquarters firmly refused: "Operation Delta Force is a core asset of the group and is not for sale."
Stasik, who was rejected, retweeted the "Five Questions" video from the preview livestream of Jiangfeng 10 on his Twitter account, adding a sarcastic caption:
"If you can't make games and only think about how to squeeze money out of players, you might as well let us do it."
"If we acquire Delta Force, I promise: we will absolutely not profit from this game. It should be a pure game, not a cash cow."
These words coming from a Saudi prince are highly credible—after all, he really is not short of money.
So a petition was launched on the internet.
Please sell Delta to a Saudi consortium.
In just 4 hours, 920 million netizens signed and forwarded the message.
This buzz quickly spread back to China, with #Saudi Arabia wants to buy Delta# and #Stasik calls out to Tencent# trending on social media.
TX's public relations department was in complete turmoil, facing difficulties both internally and externally.
Meanwhile.
Yun Shu and Su He, who were laid off on the 13th, are packing their things.
He Yingtang, who had already been laid off, sighed: "You guys should have held on a little longer; you could have provided Brother Feng with some inside information."
"It's not that we didn't want to persevere," Yun Shu shook her head with a wry smile, "it's just that TX felt too much information was leaking internally, so they fired all the interns."
"I wonder what will happen to the Delta in the future..."
Yun Shu squatted on the ground, sorting through the cardboard box she had brought back from her workstation—it contained some of her personal belongings: a water bottle, a notebook, a few pens, and…
Her fingers touched a cold, metallic object.
A black USB flash drive.