Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

Chen Mo uploaded the encrypted compressed file to a top-tier technology forum.

Wang Tianqi's technical director is a senior diver here.

The compressed file is not password protected; anyone can download it.

But Gu Ming had a more ingenious backup plan.

"President Gu, why did you deliberately leave our internal naming conventions in the comments?" Su Qingying watched Chen Mo's actions and keenly noticed a few fleeting variable names that had the style of Star Media.

In the eyes of professionals, this is tantamount to directly exposing the source.

"Because the perfect trap itself is a flaw." Gu Ming looked at the screen, the faint light of the flowing code reflected in his eyes.

"A groundbreaking new technology that appears out of nowhere would only make a suspicious person like Wang Tianqi wary. But a story about the accidental leakage of core technology sounds much more believable."

"He would imagine many possibilities: internal strife at Star Media? Retaliation by departing core employees? Server attack?"

"Doubt will drive him to desperately seek verification, and the process of seeking verification will only make him more and more convinced that it is true. He will consider this thing as something he found by sheer luck."

Su Qingying looked at Gu Ming; this man's scheming had thoroughly grasped human nature.

He not only wanted to destroy the other party, but also to make them willingly jump into the trap.

……

Top floor office, headquarters of Tianqi Entertainment.

The ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts, and various bank demand letters and court summonses were scattered on the mahogany desk.

Wang Tianqi's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the computer screen.

On the screen is the page of the "Deep Blue Forbidden Zone" forum.

The title of that pinned post, highlighted in red, instantly roused him.

[Leaked version? Suspected underlying code of Star Media's next-generation virtual idol engine "Soul-Engine"!]

Wang Tianqi's hands trembled slightly as he clicked on the post.

There wasn't much fluff inside; it just contained a download link and a few blurry architecture diagrams.

But those few pictures made Wang Tianqi, a CEO with a technical background, pause in his breath.

That complex underlying architecture, every node showcased the technology he had always dreamed of.

This is his only chance to turn things around!

Wang Tianqi suddenly grabbed the phone and dialed a number that had already been blocked.

"Director Zhao, you have ten minutes to get back to the company, now!"

Half an hour later, Zhao Lide, the technical director who had just submitted his resignation, was "invited" back to his office by several security guards. He looked sullen, thinking that Wang Tianqi was going to settle scores with him.

"Mr. Wang, I've said everything I needed to say. The company is in this state, I..."

"Shut up! Look at this!"

Wang Tianqi turned the laptop around.

Zhao Lide didn't want to watch, but the moment his eyes swept across the screen, he was stunned.

He rushed to the computer, practically snatched the mouse, and quickly scanned the code, muttering to himself.

"My God... this... how is this possible... this algorithm model..."

Zhao Lide suddenly looked up at Wang Tianqi, his eyes shining and his breathing becoming rapid.

"Mr. Wang! This thing can change the times! Compared to this, that 'zero' is nothing!"

"Can it be cracked? Can it be replicated?" Wang Tianqi's voice was hoarse and filled with urgency.

"Yes! No, we don't need to crack it!" Zhao Lide's face flushed with excitement. "Look at the comments here, and these variable names, 'Stardust_Protocol', 'Nova_Core'—this is definitely something from within Stardust Media! They have a mole! This is raw code that wasn't encrypted!"

Wang Tianqi's doubts were dispelled by Zhao Lide's excited demeanor.

He's been cut off from internet access, is being chased for debts, and has been banned across the entire internet. Now all he wants is to survive.

Wang Tianqi slammed his fist on the table and shouted at Zhao Lide, "I don't care what methods you use, recall all the technical staff, three shifts a day! No, non-stop! Reproduce it for me! Money! Servers! I'll figure it out!"

In the underground studio.

Su Qingying looked at the monitoring screen and saw that the curves representing computing power on Tianqi Entertainment's server backend were rising vertically at an exaggerated angle.

She frowned slightly: "This code looks perfect, with almost no logical flaws. Wang Tianqi may be insane, but he's not stupid. Can't he really see the trap inside?"

"Because the problem isn't in the code itself."

Gu Ming sneered and brought up the core architecture diagram of "Soul-Engine".

"What I gave him was an engine that used a 'pseudo-random sentiment compensation algorithm'."

"Initially, it was able to give virtual idols almost lifelike micro-expressions and interactive logic, with amazing results. But this 'compensation' is based on the exponential replication and fitting of existing data."

"It performs well when the amount of data is small. But once the amount of data exceeds a certain critical point, in order to maintain the appearance of being 'human,' its computing power demand will explode instantly, causing irreversible logical collapse. All the data will become a bunch of meaningless gibberish."

Gu Ming pointed to a red warning line on the screen.

"What's even more amazing is that this process is extremely computationally intensive. The closer he gets to success, the higher the server costs become. He'll watch hope unfold before his eyes and then willingly invest his last penny."

Su Qingying understood.

This is a trap that will devour everything.

The greater the hope it gives, the stronger its destructive power.

Soon, Chen Mo's report arrived.

"We monitored that Wang Tianqi signed a private property mortgage contract."

"Then, he pledged all the shares of his subsidiaries to an overseas trust."

"Finally, he even used the overseas education fund he had prepared for his son, transferring the money into the account of a cloud server rental company."

Wang Tianqi was gambling with his life.

He staked his life, his son's future, and everything he had on this code.

Su Qingying looked at Gu Ming's calm profile and felt a chill run down her spine.

In investment banking, she'd seen plenty of backstabbing and corporate mergers. But those companies still had some rules to follow and would leave themselves an escape route.

Gu Ming not only wants to destroy Tianqi Entertainment, but also wants to make Wang Tianqi carry a debt he can never repay, so that he can never get back up.

This is going to completely ruin a person.

late at night.

Just when everyone thought Apocalypse Entertainment was dead, its official website suddenly lit up.

A huge red countdown poster took up the entire page.

[Apocalypse - Nirvana]

【72:00:00】

This crazy move instantly ignited the capital market.

Countless retail investors who were trapped in their positions saw hope again and began to buy more shares.

The stock price of Tianqi Entertainment, which had already hit the daily limit down, surprisingly rebounded in after-hours trading!

Wang Tianqi used his last bit of reputation and wealth to make a final struggle.

Backstage at the press conference.

Wang Tianqi stood in front of the mirror, meticulously adjusting his tie. He had lost weight and looked haggard, but his eyes held the light of a gambler who had staked everything.

he does not know.

Just a few kilometers away, Gu Ming was sitting in the server room opposite the cloud servers he had rented at a high price.

The server's indicator lights cast flashing light on his face.

His finger hovered over a red virtual button on the console labeled "Data Overload Injection".

Gu Ming looked at Wang Tianqi's face on the screen, which was slightly distorted with excitement, and said softly.

"Fly higher."

"It's only when it falls that it makes a loud noise."