I Have A Super USB Drive

by <unknown>

  "This product is equipped with powerful language processing technology. Unlike other translation software, it tries its best to recapture the meaning of the original text. Moreover, it has seamless intelligent pattern-processing capabilities and is able to process foreign languages into the user's language without affecting the layout of the webpage."

  …

  Chapter 34: My Friend, Have You Heard Of Little X? |

  Dawn began to brighten and a marble white expanse gradually permeated the sky, ushering in a new daybreak.

  At this time, in Shangdu's inner ring where land was precious, there was a three-hundred-square-meter mansion, from which a faint snoring sound constantly rang out.

  The interior design of the room was of a classical European aesthetic but the messy clothes around the room, the beer bottles scattered everywhere, and the overturned trash cans and ashtrays, revealed the owner's sloppiness.

  Upon the luxurious Paris Dream bed, a man, around thirty years of age, was sleeping soundly.

  A trace of heroism from his youth could still be discerned on his face but the gradual weight gain of middle-age had pushed this heroism to the brink of vanishing.

  Modern internet lingo would describe him as "fatty".

  This man was named Zhan Fei. Seven or eight years back, he relied on YY to make his fortune and established his union four years ago, signing on hundreds of anchors from different platforms. Now, he earned most of his wealth through live broadcasting.

  However, this was only his surface identity.

  Zhan Fei was secretly a hacker as well. When he was young, he had dropped out of school because he heard that there was a promising future in the computer industry. Therefore, he learned computer programming and later became enchanted by the unrestrained freedom of the internet.

  With this basic foundation of knowledge, Zhan Fei started to access the dark web, plunging directly into the evilest forbidden area online, that was even unrestricted by law.

  As time passed, Zhan Fei amassed many skills: invading, cracking, compiling, decompiling, and so on. When he was sixteen, he even created a highly lethal computer worm by himself, earning hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars.

  Even today, he still lurked in the shadows of the internet. He was like an assassin. In this world, no one knew his true identity.

  However, this could change today.

  "Beep beep beep…"

  Zhan Fei, who had fallen asleep not long ago, was suddenly startled awake by a peculiar alarm.

  It sounded like the dulcet tones of a music box. The entire song was composed of a crisp melody, without any accompaniment or harmony. This music was light and pure.

  Nevertheless, to someone who was awakened from sleep, even the most melodious tune would sound like noise pollution.

  "D*mn it…"

  Zhan Fei mumbled hoarsely to himself. He snatched up his phone by the bed, then stared blankly, lost for words.

  When he turned on the screen of his phone, the alarm stopped as well.

  His phone indicated that his mailbox had received an anonymous email.

  Although Zhan Fei was close to being middle-aged, he was still very cautious thanks to his frequent trips to the dark web. When he saw this notification, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

  This was because he had never set a 7 A.M. alarm nor had he selected this alarm tone that he had never heard before.

  Moreover, this mailbox was the one he had used with his dark web's identity. In this world, there were fewer than ten people who knew about this email address.

  "Does my phone have a virus?"

  Zhan Fei frowned. His vigilant hacker's instincts prevented him from opening the email. Instead, he got up with a grunt and walked to the computer with his phone.

  He fished around for a USB cable, then connected his phone to the computer. Only then did he download the compressed package on his computer that had been well fortified.

  Meanwhile, he also started up an Android emulator, preparing to open this unknown email on his computer.

  After he unzipped the file, he found that there were three software installation packages.

  "Little X Translation Assistant? What the hell is this?"

  Zhan Fei was rather taken aback and skimmed over the introduction below. "Software that translates webpages in foreign languages? But what does that have to do with me?"

  Nonetheless, considering that it was sent from the dark web after all, Zhan Fei made the necessary preparations before installing the program in the Android emulator.

  The icon of this program was a cartoon image. In essence, it was a large X with two eyes, just like a cartoon.

  Zhan Fei double-clicked on the icon. Instantly, the emulator's screen was covered by a transparent film while a window popped out from the software.

  "Chinese system detected. Automatically translate all foreign languages into Chinese?"

  Zhan Fei thought for a second, then clicked "Yes".

  After that, there was nothing else.

  It seemed that the software would run in the background automatically. Other than that, nothing else changed.

  "That's all?"

  Zhan Fei was flabbergasted. He stared at the lower right corner of his screen disbelievingly but there was no message that some unknown virus had been detected. This installation package seemed to be clean, without any issues.

  However, Zhan Fei soon gathered himself. After some thinking, he tried opening a foreign language webpage but the moment it appeared, he saw that this website, which was supposedly written in a foreign language, was in Chinese as well?

  "I haven't visited this page for a while. Did this website develop a Chinese version?"

  Zhan Fei was rather bewildered. Still, he exited this page and opened another well-known webpage written in a foreign language.

  However, the shocking thing was that this webpage also displayed actual Chinese characters.

  "This…"

  By this point, Zhan Fei had finally realized something was off.

  "That's impossible. How can a software change the entire webpage?"

  After puzzling over it, Zhan Fei shook his head quickly. "No, it's not the webpage that has changed. Does it only change the webpages I've opened?"

  With this in mind, Zhan Fei went to the system settings of the emulator and forcibly stopped Little X Translation Assistant from running. Then, he clicked on that foreign-language website again.

  He was right. The English webpage remained in English. This website had not set up a Chinese page for users in Mainland China.

  "So, that's it!"

  At this moment, Zhan Fei had a realization at last. However, he started frowning again. Next, he immediately opened the search engine and searched for "Little X Translation Assistant".

  There was nothing online.

  "This means that this is an application that hasn't been officially launched?"

  Now, Zhan Fei finally somewhat understood what was going on.

  He could not help feeling excited. Though he did not know about the translation market, he knew that Baidu Translator had never been able to translate between English and Chinese so perfectly.

  This technology was far beyond any translation software on the market.

  "But why was it sent to me?"

  "Beep beep beep…"

  Before he could finish speaking, Zhan Fei's phone suddenly rang again.

  This time was different than before. This was an unknown phone call.

  The incoming call did not display any number, only the words "Unknown Caller".

  Zhan Fei was silent for a moment. This could only mean that the base station nearby had been hacked by the caller.

  The sender of the email was contacting him.

  Although Zhan Fei felt a little flustered by this, he got a grip on himself at once. As a hacker, the most important thing to do was remain calm.

  If he could not even keep a cool head, then he could never have become a hacker.


  Moreover, was the other person going to such lengths merely to show off and while they were at it, perhaps send Zhan Fei to prison?

  Chances of that were very slim. This person had probably just got a hold of Zhan Fei's secrets and wanted to blackmail him.

  Although the other person had the upper ground for now, Zhan Fei might still have an opportunity to retaliate once they had established contact.

  Having considered this, Zhan Fei made up his mind. He lifted his hand and gently accepted the call.

  The moment the call was connected, a babyish voice rang out from the phone.

  "My friend, have you heard of Little X?"

  Chapter 35: Discussion |

  Initially, Zhan Fei had already planned out the conversation in his head.

  Who was this? What was their identity? How were they planning to threaten him?

  Would there be a cold, masculine voice? A flirty, female voice? Perhaps even a distorted sound produced by a voice changer?

  However, Zhan Fei had never thought that he would hear a kid's voice.

  "My friend, have you heard of Little X?"

  As Zhan Fei was too stunned to reply, the childish voice at the other end repeated the question.

  "I've just heard of this name today."

  Zhan Fei decided to continue talking for the time being, observing the other person's objective before thinking of what to say next.

  "That's great."

  The voice in the call seemed overjoyed. "In that case, would you like to join us in promoting Little X to the entire world?"

  "What do you mean?" Zhan Fei frowned. "Who are you guys? Why do you want me to join? How would I be useful and what do I get out of this?"

  "Mr. Zhan Fei, you may call me X."

  The child's voice said solemnly through the phone, "We're a small organization that focuses on biotechnology in our research. The Little X Translation Assistant sent to you is the first artificial intelligence product under the X banner."

  "If an organization that can design such a product is considered a small organization, then the company that I run is worth nothing, is that it?" Zhan Fei snorted coldly.

  "No, no, no! The reason we're a 'small organization' is that we have no staff in our organization," the kid's voice explained, "so, I rummaged around the dark web and tracked you down."

  "What are you saying? I don't understand."

  Zhan Fei's face turned icy. Indeed, this person had found him through the dark web.

  "Of course, I've located others as well. I've also tracked down King, SB, CZH."

  "Impossible!"

  Zhan Fei's pupils shrank and his hand was practically crushing his phone. "You've even tracked down King and the others in real life?"

  These English names might appear ordinary, even a little comical. Nonetheless, anyone involved in the hacker world would know how fearsome they were.

  Any one of these names was a top figure in the hacker world.

  "Of course, to me, the traces you guys left online are too obvious."

  The voice chuckled childishly. "I looked for you because you are all successful people who've forged your own paths and you don't have a complicated background. Thus, cooperation between us is possible."

  Zhan Fei felt a chill run down his spine. He reached back and realized he was already drenched in a cold sweat.

  If any hacker had told him that they found the real identities of King, SB, and the rest, Zhan Fei would surely sneer disdainfully. However, at the present, he did not feel as if the caller was making empty boasts…

  Zhan Fei had always been careful to clear up any online traces. Even in that battle against Whine one year ago, he had only suffered a small loss.

  To be able to track him down without him realizing it – what sort of god was this X?

  With this in mind, Zhan Fei drew in a deep breath. "What do you want us to do?"

  "My request is simple: I hope that you can all become shareholders of Little X Translation Assistant."

  The child's voice did not seem aware of how it came across and continued speaking in the same, innocent tone, "I hope that you can help finance a company called Blacklight Biotechnology Ltd. This will save my company a lot of trouble."

  "But from what I can tell, this product doesn't need us."

  Zhan Fei frowned. "I believe that with this software's technology, it'll attract plenty of venture capital for sure."

  "However, in that case, the product and even the company would no longer completely belong to me."

  The child's voice sounded helpless. "Although this isn't a bad option, my wish is that the company will forever remain under my control."

  "I get it."

  Zhan Fei nodded. It was normal for entrepreneurs to feel attached to their own company. Even so, if a company were to expand significantly, it would require investments from different parties. Hence, something like angel investors became common in the industry.

  Not every company or project was capable of attracting investments. Those that could do so were all companies with immense potential, regarded to have good prospects.

  After all, capital was driven by profit. Often companies went through several rounds of financing and they ended up being named after other people. Sometimes, the founders were even kicked out.

  On the other hand, if one did not accept financing, other people might imitate one's technology and establish a new competitor company. When one lacked the funds, the only outcome was to be easily defeated by one's competitors, with nothing left to one's name.

  This was the reason many people had a love-hate relationship with venture capital.

  Capital would never sleep. In the eyes of capital, there was no right or wrong, only profit.

  However, if one had control over the lifelines of the company shareholders, the situation was different, of course. Those shareholders would be unable to intervene in company matters nor interfere with the founder's authority.

  Currently, this seemed to be what X meant.

  "Do I take these words as a threat?" Zhan Fei asked coldly.

  "If that makes you happy." X sounded unconcerned.

  "Then, I have one last question – what do I get out of this?"

  Zhan Fei asked once again, "If all this doesn't benefit me and even requires me to invest everything I have, then I'm sorry, but I'll rather fight to the death with you!"

  "Calm down now, I'm not that kind of person."

  X said, "Each of you four shall invest ten million in this project of mine. I'll give you a two percent share. The condition is that you mustn't interfere in any of the company's internal affairs. Surely that's reasonable?"

  Zhan Fei burst out in indignant laughter. "You're talking about the project Little X Translation Assistant and not the company? Ten million each, in return for only two percent of the shares? Why don't you just rob us?"

  "Two percent is plenty!"

  X argued, "Perhaps you're not familiar enough with the technological capabilities of Little X Translation Assistant. Let me put it this way – once this software hits the market, it'll resolve any issues in written communication. It's the only one of its kind in the entire world and is more than five years ahead of current AI translation technology!"

  Zhan Fei opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly felt a jolt of temptation.

  Although he had merely fooled around with the program earlier, that level of technology, which could flawlessly replace every word on a foreign-language webpage, without any clumsy aspects – just as X had said, it could kick the *ss of any similar products.

  The other person was not exaggerating at all.

  If this was the case, once this software was officially launched, they would be raking in huge profits!

  Having thought of this, Zhan Fei's initially angry and resisting mood was somewhat alleviated.

  "Moreover, my company would've more than just Little X Translation Assistant in the future."

  X continued speaking, "The company is also researching a
'simultaneous translator', predicted to hit the market within half a year. You'll understand then."

  "Simultaneous translator?" Zhan Fei frowned. "Is it something that allows two people who speak different languages to communicate? I've used that before, it doesn't work well."

  "But we're different," X explained, "you've watched The Wandering Earth before? Our simultaneous translator will reach the level of the one in the movie."

  When Zhan Fei heard this, he fell silent. After a long while, he continued. "I'll have to think about it."

  "No problem." That d*mn kid's voice of X still chattered on relentlessly. "If you don't mind, please head to the Mickey Café in the city center three hours later. There, you'll meet King, SB, and CZH. Let's discuss further then."

  …

  Chapter 36: King |

  As Zhan Fei was troubled by his ongoing predicament, there was a man who was currently in a business office located in Shangdu City Center. He was draped in a suit and intently staring at the computer screen.

  His temperament was a stark contrast to that of Zhan Fei. The man sat in a spacious office. He had both of his closed fists resting on the table, a glimpse of his expensive watch could be seen from under his cuffs.

  The floor of the office was coated with glossy obsidian, the french windows behind him overlooked the bustling city traffic. This was no ordinary man.

  However, despite his luxurious temperament, he had a strangely traditional name.

  Guo Dazhuang.

  At the present, Guo Dazhuang's eyebrows were tightly locked. He was not even remotely interested in the newly recruited young secretary who was wearing a deep V-neckline blouse.

  This was because he had received a particular email earlier today.

  The content of the mail was a translation software that was not on the market yet. As one of the elites in the IT industry himself, he was able to immediately recognize the potential of this particular software.

  Without any attempts at exaggeration, this software alone could catapult any enterprise into a technological empire far more successful than his own.

  Why would someone send such a revolutionary product to him?