The police and medical personnel arrived quickly, along with the two reporters sent by Shen Qinghan.
Soon, a news story shot to the trending topics.
【Exposed: Penguin Corporation’s new work “Wasteland Future: 2100” suspected of plagiarism, original creator Polar Star Games CEO brutally beats insider】
Following this was a photo with the entire body pixelated.
But one could vaguely make out it was an adult male, covered in blood.
It quickly surged to the top trending spot on the Federation’s largest news and entertainment website, Federal Headlines.
The comments below kept scrolling non-stop.
【66666, I knew it, those bastards at Penguin Group are up to no good again.】
【Penguin Group’s bunch is plagiarizing again?】
【What do you mean “again”? Did they ever stop?】
【Gotta say though, this boss has some backbone, brutally beating the insider.】
【Laughing to death, what’s the point of beating someone up? If you don’t have the skills, you don’t have the skills. Wasting good creative ideas, might as well let Penguin Group do it – their capabilities are right there, they make things way better than the originals.】
【Right now it’s the computational power era anyway. As long as you have money, you can make the best stuff. Since that’s the case, why not let Penguin Group do it? They really throw money at it.】
【Exactly, this way we get to play finished products directly, way better than those crappy games made with a bit of money. Saves us from having to update every so often – isn’t it better to just make it perfect from the start?】
【6666 this level of bootlicking, how many Federal coins per comment? Hook a brother up?】
【I’ll lick your *】
Countless netizens kept flaming each other.
The online environment wasn’t much different from Earth, if not worse.
After all, this era had new energy sources, making humans way too idle.
So idle they kept advocating for war.
Nightfall.
Sky Shark Live Streaming.
As the largest gaming live streaming platform within the Great Xia Federation, and also the platform with broadcasting rights for “Anti-War Competition,” it had always been the most beloved platform among gaming players in the Great Xia Federation.
And as a pillar streamer for gunfight games, this ancient game genre, Mo Xiaomo’s streaming room suddenly lit up.
A young, energetic girl in police cosplay came into view:
“Hello hello, good evening everyone~”
“Welcome to Mo Xiaomo’s streaming room~”
“Let’s begin today’s conquest journey~”
“Today we’re playing ‘Wasteland Future: 2100’. This game is a work participating in the ‘Anti-War Competition’, but thanks to this great streamer’s efforts, I managed to get an experience slot~”
“Hahahaha, brothers, are you excited~”
As Mo Xiaomo’s words fell, the barrage in the streaming room went crazy:
【6666, are you getting full of yourself, little juice? Actually calling yourself a great streamer?!】
【Did you really get it? I heard a bunch of others are also streaming this game today.】
【Tsk, another game plagiarized by Penguin.】
【Laughing to death, streamer don’t play it, this game is plagiarized, careful the original creator sues you.】
【Exactly exactly, not watching Penguin’s games!】
【Aren’t you watching the news, pigeons? It’s already headline news, and you’re still streaming this plagiarized game?】
【Really not afraid of ruining your character?】
The barrage in the streaming room wasn’t as excited as expected. Even the joking viewers were drowned out by a bunch of people cursing Penguin Group. This left Mo Xiaomo somewhat at a loss, looking at the barrage and saying:
“Ah this, wait a moment.”
“Let me go understand the situation.”
Then she hurriedly got up, looking at her equally anxious assistant and asking:
“What’s going on? This game plagiarized someone else’s?”
“Why didn’t we know about this before?”
The assistant was somewhat confused, scrolling through online news:
“I don’t know either.”
“This only broke this afternoon.”
“But there’s been no statement from Polar Star Games.”
“It’s just that online public opinion is now one-sidedly talking about Penguin Group’s plagiarism and Polar Star Games CEO brutally beating an insider.”
“How about… we stream normally?”
“Penguin Group plagiarizing isn’t a first or second time. Every time the original creator gets screwed over.”
“This time probably won’t be an exception either.”
Mo Xiaomo frowned deeply:
“No way.”
“Even if we stream it, we can’t stream it now. We have to wait for others to stream it first and for the public to accept it before we stream.”
The assistant smiled bitterly:
“But we already took the money.”
“Won’t this offend them?”
Mo Xiaomo glared:
“It’s a plagiarized game anyway, we definitely can’t stream it first.”
“This counts as them breaching contract first.”
The assistant sighed:
“I understand.”
The assistant went to contact Penguin Group’s staff.
Mo Xiaomo quickly returned to the streaming room camera:
“Sorry about that, brothers.”
“I had no idea about this, I only found out through my assistant just now.”
“We won’t be streaming this game today.”
“Let’s just randomly look around online today.”
“See if there are any fun games.”
With the “Anti-War Competition” approaching, various games began promoting themselves.
This was also a hard requirement – if promotion started too early, some powerful companies would kill off all the small workshops. Any violation of early promotion would result in disqualification. Only within ten days of the competition could promotion begin.
At this moment.
The barrage scrolled crazily.
【Go check Polar Star Games’ official website, then tell us if it’s plagiarized or not?】
【Well, this Polar Star Games CEO is really unlucky, waiting for bankruptcy.】
【Hahahaha, delightful to see +1.】
【Another day of Penguin Group not being human, though they’ve never been human anyway.】
Mo Xiaomo looked at the barrage helplessly.
These people had no end when they started cursing, but this matter did have some buzz. She then spoke:
“Alright, as requested by the vast number of viewers.”
“Let’s go check out Polar Star Games’ official website~”
Then she opened the search, typed in Polar Star Games Company, and lightly clicked the mouse.
A search interface appeared.
The first result was Polar Star Games Company’s official website. Mo Xiaomo clicked in and saw a sci-fi futuristic CG animation appear before her eyes. The scene went from far to near, with Blue Star already turned into ruins.
Cities were pitch black, humans were merged with machinery, the sci-fi atmosphere was very strong.
This also made Mo Xiaomo couldn’t help but click her tongue.
Damn!
It really was plagiarized.
Since she was going to stream, Mo Xiaomo had definitely learned about the game “Wasteland Future: 2100.”
And this CG on Polar Star Games’ official website was basically identical to “Wasteland Future: 2100,” except Penguin Group’s “Wasteland Future: 2100” had more exquisite and detailed graphics. This was also Penguin Group’s old routine.
But they’re not even hiding this?
Even the transition times and angles in the CG were basically the same.
Mo Xiaomo silently mourned for Polar Star Company’s CEO in her heart. Getting plagiarized by Penguin, just accept your bad luck.
Suddenly.
The CG playing on Polar Star Games’ official website disappeared. Mo Xiaomo was somewhat surprised:
“Huh?”
“Why is the video gone?”
She refreshed twice, but it still wasn’t there.
Mo Xiaomo’s gaze turned to other areas. The promotion for “Cyber Blue Star: 2077” at the top of the official website had been moved to second place.
The first position was replaced by “World War II: Rise of the Empire.”
This immediately sparked Mo Xiaomo’s interest:
“Oh—”
“This title? Pretty interesting?”
“Is it a new game?”
“Polar Star Company moves so fast, they already found a replacement?”
She clicked twice but couldn’t get in.
But her curiosity was piqued.
The barrage was also constantly discussing.
【Holy shit? Empire? Such an ancient word.】
【Empire represents conquest and slaughter, it doesn’t align with the Federation’s current mainstream ideology. Is this Polar Star Games CEO trying to get himself arrested?】
【Could it be that this Polar Star Games Company is a war-promoting fanatic?】
【I think he’s gone crazy from anger, giving up on himself.】
【Wait? Don’t you guys notice the blind spot?】
【Why is it World War II? Where’s the first one?】
【Yeah? Where’s the first one?】
【Holy shit, now that you mention it, I’m actually curious!】
【This Polar Star Games is going to make a big move.】
【Waiting online for news of Polar Star Games CEO getting arrested, hahahaha.】
Curiosity kept building in the streaming room. Whether it was World War II or Rise of the Empire, both made the viewers in the streaming room itch with curiosity. They could only be anxious though, as Polar Star gave no information at all.
The matter of Polar Star’s official website was quickly discovered by netizens, and many came to check it out.
The buzz quickly occupied the trending topics on Federal Headlines.
At this time.
Zhao Ming, who had countless netizens scratching their hearts and minds.
Was in his office, tinkering with a virtual reality headset.
After an afternoon of promotion, many people knew about his company’s situation, providing quite a bit of emotional value. Zhao Ming first exchanged for a segment of “D-Day Landing” video, then used the computational power purchased from the Photon Supercomputing Cluster for rendering.
Now he had turned that segment into a virtual game, linked it to the virtual headset, and just needed to test it.
According to the memories in his mind, Zhao Ming put on the headset and pressed the button.
His vision went black, then brightened again.
What came into view was being aboard an assault boat.
An endless ocean.
All around were warships and assault boats, with planes in the sky roaring toward the island ahead.
His ears were filled with the rumbling of assault boats.
This was the opening scene of “D-Day Landing,” exactly the same. If he didn’t know it was a virtual game, Zhao Ming would have thought he’d transmigrated again.
The virtual headset could achieve this level?!
Immersive.
Wouldn’t that mean all of Earth’s movies could be made into games?!
This was a feeling impossible to experience on Earth.
The swaying of the assault boat, the ocean waves, the crowding of soldiers around, the wet salty smell from the seawater – everything was so real. Zhao Ming pinched his own arm, and pain much weaker than reality came through:
“Hiss—”
“Pretty impressive.”
This was just a virtual headset. According to the memories in Zhao Ming’s mind, those virtual reality pods could simulate one hundred percent.
Thinking about this.
Zhao Ming’s expression became strange. One hundred percent simulation, wouldn’t the pain also be about the same?
Tsk.
For those playing with virtual reality pods, he’d better add a warning disclaimer later.
Otherwise, if someone gets hurt from the pain, that would be trouble.
While thinking about this, Zhao Ming’s ears suddenly heard urgent whistle sounds.
Beep————
Beep————
“Everyone! Form two lines, avoid the shell craters!”
“Prepare to land!”
“May the Lord bless you all!”
As the words fell, the barrier in front of the assault boat was lowered.
Zhao Ming snapped back to reality, thinking of the upcoming plot. Looking at the lowered steel barrier, his scalp went numb:
“Damn!!!”
Zhao Ming tried to dodge to the side, just lifting his foot.
Rat-a-tat-tat, heavy machine gun bullets swept over.
The four or five NPCs in front of Zhao Ming were instantly mowed down by machine gun fire, flesh and blood exploding, followed immediately by Zhao Ming.
Bang!
His helmet was directly blown apart, a bone-chilling sensation traveling from his forehead to the back of his head.
His body was also riddled with machine gun bullets.
Before he could exit, the screen plunged into darkness.
In the office.
Zhao Ming, wearing the virtual headset, shuddered and quickly removed it, his heart pounding:
“Damn, being too realistic isn’t good either.”
“Can’t test this anymore.”
“Better leave it to torment the players.”
(End of Chapter)
