Offside game

Jian Dongming took Su Yi to meet Richard Buhler of Microsoft. Then Jian Dongming returned to their room.

What remained was the meeting between Brønsley and Su Yi. Brown's opening remarks surprised Su Yi. He directly proposed that Pangu Studio join Microsoft, offering a very attractive package.

Su Yi politely declined the offer. He was somewhat displeased, though; even though Microsoft was wealthy and powerful, he didn't like being overwhelmed by money.

Bühler's next words revealed their intentions. Seeing that Su Yi had rejected him, Bühler's other request was to purchase the game engine used by Pangu Studios in *Evolution of History* and the data compression technology from the LeChang gaming platform. Microsoft had previously released a very famous game, *Age of Empires*, which Su Yi also planned to launch on the LeChang gaming platform. Now, they had their eye on the *Evolution of History* game engine, presumably intending to use it in their future games.

Hearing Su Yi's tactful refusal, Bühler's expression darkened. The atmosphere of their conversation became somewhat awkward, and it ended unpleasantly.

Stepping out of the room, Su Yi's dissatisfaction finally surfaced on his face. Microsoft, they really are domineering, always wanting to control all the technology. He couldn't even count how many small companies they'd acquired so far; they probably considered Pangu Studio one of them too. After all, Pangu Studio only had one truly outstanding game, *Evolution of History*, and the LeChang gaming platform was probably nothing special in their eyes.

When Su Yi returned to Yu Bi's place, Vincent rushed out, his face beaming with undisguised joy. He said directly to Su Yi, "Su, perhaps we can solve this problem in another way." At his signal, Jian Dongming took out a document and handed it to Su Yi.

Su Yi took the document and browsed through it. It was information about a European company. This company operated an interactive game platform, which was somewhat well-known in the industry, but not particularly outstanding. It had a certain number of members and was able to make a living.

Seeing that Su Yi had roughly finished reading, Vincent said, "This is a subsidiary of the game company we acquired last month, and it's also a company that operates an interactive game platform. Although the company's main business is operating some card and board games and small casual games, it happens to own licenses for many games, including StarCraft, Diablo II, Red Alert, Age of Empires, and Counter-Strike, among many others. The company's online multiplayer business isn't very popular, but it does have a group of regular users."

At this point, Su Yi understood. He was aware of the acquisition Vincent mentioned, which had made Yubi the second-largest gaming group in Europe, second only to Vivendi. This company, however, was probably seen as a dispensable asset by them, as they primarily focused on game development and distribution, and hadn't yet ventured into online gaming platforms. Furthermore, many of their licenses came from games produced by their competitor, Vivendi. Who knew if Vivendi would revoke those licenses if they took over directly? Normally, Yubi would have sold the company as a package deal, but now it could be used to solve their current problems.

Sure enough, Vincent continued, "Sue, if you agree, we can sell this company to you at a low price. That way, you'll have licenses for many online multiplayer games, and the problems you're facing will no longer be problems."

Su Yi carefully reviewed the company's information. He could see that although their gaming platform wasn't very well-known in Europe and America—most Chinese people didn't even know such a platform existed—their greatest asset was a loyal user base and numerous game licenses. The latter was exactly what Su Yi needed. Then again, he couldn't afford many famous gaming platforms right now, nor did he need to. Su Yi was quite satisfied with the outcome; this acquisition would allow him to expand the LeChang gaming platform globally.

He looked up and asked, "What's the price? How much do I need to pay to buy this company?"

Vincent held up one finger, thankfully not the middle finger, Su Yi thought to himself with amusement. Then he heard Vincent say, "Ten million US dollars, just ten million US dollars, and this company is yours, Su. Of course, in fact you don't have to pay; we can deduct this money directly from your share."

The price wasn't expensive, and Su Yi nodded to indicate that he could accept it.

So they signed a letter of intent on the spot. But it's only an intention for now; the specific agreement will have to wait until Su Yi's company is officially established before it can be signed.

Meanwhile, at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto, Japan, under the shade of a tree, an old man and a young man sat at a chessboard, playing a game of Go. The older man was dressed as a monk, with white eyebrows and kind eyes. The younger man was a rather handsome young man with bright eyes, his expression thoughtful as he carefully placed the Go pieces on the edge of the board.

"Mr. Morita has just consolidated his power in the Central Plains, yet he's already interfering in matters a thousand miles away. Isn't that a bit too hasty?" With that, the old monk placed his chess piece, separating it from the young man's. He then stared at the young man, awaiting his reaction.

“Master, you are mistaken. The course of the game can often be determined from a thousand miles away,” the young man said with a light laugh, picking up a chess piece and about to place it. Just then, a girl dressed as a maid came running from afar, and when she reached the young man's side, she leaned down and whispered something in his ear.

“Mr. Morita, you may go if you have business to attend to. This game is still too close to a conclusion. Let’s play again another day,” the old monk said softly.

"Some mundane matters," the young man said apologetically to the monk as he took his leave.

As the young man and his maid stepped out of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a burly man in a black suit respectfully handed a cell phone to the young man.

"Tanaka, what's up?" the young man said into the phone.

"Young Master, we just received news that Richard Bühler from Microsoft and Su Yi from Pangu Studio had contact today," a middle-aged man's voice said respectfully from the other end of the phone.

“Is that so? They can’t wait.” The young man said softly, “It seems you should get going too. Remember, you must bring them into our camp. Those Americans are always arrogant; we can use good terms to entice them to join us. Although we have the advantage in the market now, we can’t give them any chance yet.”

"Yes, young master, I'll do it right away."

After finishing his conversation with Yu Bi's people, Su Yi politely declined their invitation to dinner that evening. He left the Shangri-La Hotel. But just as he got out of the taxi and was about to return to his apartment, an unfamiliar number called. Su Yi heard a strange voice on the other end of the line speaking in rather broken Chinese: "Excuse me, are you Mr. Su?"

"I am Su Yi, and you are?"

The man continued, "Hello, I am Tanaka Hisashi, the general manager of Sony China. May I bother you, Mr. Su, to discuss something?"

So he's Japanese. No wonder his Chinese sounds a bit stiff. Having just met with people from Microsoft, and now someone from Sony has come. Su Yi found it amusing and said, "I have time this afternoon, we can talk."

"Where is Su Jun now? I'll send someone to pick you up," Tanaka Hisashi said.

"No need, just tell me the location, I'll go there myself."

"That would be very impolite. Please come to the Sakura Avenue Clubhouse in the Genting Tower to meet me. Someone will invite you up once you arrive at the Genting Tower."

Su Yi took a taxi to the Cloud Top Building, a well-known building in Yanjing. It used to be the tallest building in Yanjing, and although it has been surpassed by many later buildings, its reputation remains strong.

As soon as he got out of the car and walked to the entrance of Genting Highlands, a beautiful girl in a Chanel suit walked up to Su Yi, bowed deeply, and respectfully asked, "Are you Mr. Su Yi?"

Su Yi was surprised that the girl who came to pick him up was so beautiful, and she even used standard Japanese etiquette. However, he still calmly said, "Hello, I am Su Yi."

The girl bowed deeply again and said, "Hello, welcome to Sakura Path Club. My name is Minako. Nice to meet you. Shall I take you upstairs now?"

Su Yi took the elevator to the eighth floor with Minako. Inside the elevator, Su Yi could smell the girl's faint fragrance, a unique scent similar to cherry blossoms. Stepping out of the elevator, they were greeted by two burly men in black suits with cold, stern expressions. Seeing Su Yi emerge with Minako, the men bowed deeply and said, "Hello." Then, one on each side, they simultaneously opened the doors behind them.

Just by looking at their synchronized movements and words, you can tell they've undergone rigorous training. If even the bodyguards at the door are like this, it only makes you more eager to go inside.

Upon entering, two rows of young women dressed in kimonos bowed deeply in unison, saying in unison in Japanese and Chinese, "Hello, nice to meet you."

Such a display immediately gave one the feeling of being an emperor. On the wall directly opposite Su Yi was a large calligraphy scroll with the words "Sakura-do" written in Japanese, below which was a slightly smaller Chinese inscription "Sakura-do Hall".