Pei Qian looked at the two of them: “That’s the general idea. Do you understand?”

Wu Bin and Ma Yiqun both nodded: “Understood!”

Pei Qian looked at their confident expressions and inwardly scoffed.

You don’t understand a damn thing! You’ve definitely gone off track somewhere again!

Oh well, he was used to it by now.

Seeing these two with their “we get it” expressions, even exchanging glances to confirm they were on the same page, Pei Qian felt that any further explanation would be futile.

As long as the end result was more or less what he wanted, it didn’t matter how problematic the process might be…

After sending Ma Yiqun and Wu Bin away, Pei Qian continued pondering the game project.

After another half hour of thinking, he still had no inspiration.

Just then, the phone on his desk rang.

Looking at the caller ID, it was Lin Chang from Shenhua Films.

“Hmm? What does he want?”

Pei Qian was confused, since there didn’t seem to be any ongoing projects with Shenhua Films recently, but he answered anyway.

Lin Chang’s somewhat urgent voice came through the phone: “Mr. Pei, I have important news!”

“I just found out that Shengrun Express, Zhujai Group, Wolftooth Livestreaming, and Zhaiju Food Delivery appear to be uniting to collectively target Tenda Group!”

“Not only that, they also seem to be planning to approach major companies in gaming, film, transportation, and other fields to recruit them into this alliance!”

“This information came from the CEO of a small film company. Although there’s no definitive confirmation yet, I believe the possibility is high—we can’t be too careful!”

Pei Qian was puzzled: “Hmm? Their businesses have nothing to do with each other, so how could they unite? Don’t tell me Shengrun Express and the food delivery company are going to share delivery personnel? Or Zhujai Group and Wolftooth Livestreaming are planning a rental housing livestream program?”

Lin Chang was caught between laughter and tears: “That’s certainly not possible, but even if these companies’ businesses don’t overlap, they can still unite. It’s simply a matter of each attacking Tenda in their own field!”

“For instance, in courier services, housing rentals, livestreaming, food delivery, gaming, and various other sectors, they could simultaneously compete against Tenda’s industries, whether through price wars, public opinion battles, or other means!”

“No matter how wealthy Tenda is, it can’t possibly engage in price wars across so many industries simultaneously, right? You’d likely become overwhelmed, allowing them to quickly seize market share in many sectors. Once that happens, it would be extremely difficult to turn the situation around!”

“Moreover, these companies all have major capital backing them to some extent. Once they see the possibility of completely defeating Tenda, these capital forces will likely mobilize even more companies to join, since they believe Tenda is threatening their revenue streams. They might do anything.”

“I must say that Lü Mingliang’s statements during the livestream were a bit impulsive. He could have directed all criticism toward Shengrun Express alone, but instead delivered an AOE attack on all similar internet companies, which was premature and unwise.”

“If Tenda had waited another year or two to develop further, completely overwhelming these companies in scale before picking them off one by one, the chances of success would have been much higher…”

As he listened, Pei Qian’s face broke into a smile: “No, Lü Mingliang’s timing was perfect—absolutely perfect!”

Who would have thought such a wonderful thing could happen?

So many companies willing to burn money alongside him?

This was fantastic, absolutely delightful!

Pei Qian could barely contain his excitement, suddenly feeling that this settlement period had become incredibly bright and promising!

The acquisition of Finger Company had indeed cost a substantial sum, but it was being paid in installments. Considering Tenda’s current profit-generating capability, it wasn’t guaranteed that this settlement period would result in a major loss.

The main concern had been unexpected situations.

But now, with so many companies joining in the money-burning party, the situation had completely changed!

Previously, even when Pei Qian wanted to burn money, he had to be extremely restrained—partly due to concerns about expanding the business too quickly, and partly because the System imposed strict limitations. So even when organizing promotional activities, they were generally small-scale affairs that couldn’t satisfy his money-burning goals.

But now these companies were initiating a major money-burning war, the System would surely loosen its restrictions, allowing him to burn money without any inhibitions!

This cycle, Pei Qian could lose up to 150 million yuan, converting 15 million of his personal assets. If successful, he could recoup all his previous failed losses in one go.

Not only that, but Pei Qian also had three layers of insurance for this period.

First, the money for acquiring Finger Company would continue to be paid out in the future, and the merger plans for GOG and IOI had delayed the development of new versions and various marketing activities for both games, which would impact revenue to some extent.

Second, with Shengrun Express, Zhujai Group, and these major companies initiating a money-burning war, Tenda would certainly join in, burning money at a much greater intensity than before.

Third, this period had a higher charity quota and a longer duration, meaning they could undertake large-scale projects, including major games, big-budget films, and major infrastructure projects like the haunted house.

With these three layers of insurance, how could he not lose money?

It was impossible!

And Pei Qian truly believed that Lü Mingliang’s words had come at the perfect time.

If, as Lin Chang suggested, Lü Mingliang hadn’t delivered an AOE attack on all internet platform companies but instead waited a year or two until Tenda had grown several times larger before taking action, even if these major companies united, they would likely struggle to inflict significant damage on Tenda.

By then, even if Pei Qian wanted to lose money, how could he do it?

But the current timing was just right.

Tenda wouldn’t collapse because its revenue was too stable and its cash flow too healthy. At most, the expansion of some businesses might be hindered, or market share might contract slightly. Beyond that, they would just lose money.

And the more money lost, the happier Pei Qian would be!

Who would have thought that Lü Mingliang had inadvertently rendered another great service? He truly was a capable minister!

Lin Chang was stunned: “Huh? Perfect timing? Absolutely perfect?”

This didn’t seem right at all!

After a brief consideration, he said: “Mr. Pei, were you already prepared for this?”

Pei Qian chuckled: “You could say that.”

Indeed, he had been prepared from the very first day of establishing Tenda, eagerly anticipating this moment!

Unfortunately, in the earliest days, these major companies had regarded Tenda as a small fish, not taking it seriously. Later, they viewed Tenda as a formidable boss and wouldn’t dare to retaliate even when bullied.

Now they were finally uniting against Tenda—what a cause for celebration!

Lin Chang sighed in relief: “Alright, seeing your confidence reassures me. But we should still be cautious, especially since Zhujai Group and Shengrun Express have both become desperate and might do anything.”

Pei Qian nodded: “Don’t worry.”

After hanging up, Pei Qian could barely contain his excitement, almost wanting to slide across the office floor on his knees.

This was perfect!

Pei Qian had no intention of devising countermeasures. If they wanted to burn money, let them burn. Tenda would join the burning if it had money, or just watch if it didn’t. Either way, he’d be delighted as long as he lost money.

With his spirits lifted by this good news, Pei Qian decided to visit the gaming department.

The recent events had given him some inspiration.

If he could get a bit more stimulation and inspiration from the gaming department, the concept for the new game might finally take shape.

With this in mind, Pei Qian strolled upstairs to the Tenda Games department.

Just as he reached the entrance, he saw Yu Fei typing rapidly, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

From the looks of it, he was likely writing his new novel—inspiration had struck, and he was typing at lightning speed.

Pei Qian approached with interest, confirming that Yu Fei was indeed working on his new novel. From the segment currently being written, it appeared to be somewhat similar to “Beautiful Tomorrow” in its cyberpunk theme. He was writing quite rapidly, with the word processor estimating his speed at around 3,000 characters per hour.

Currently, the Tenda Games department didn’t have any critical development tasks, and Yu Fei had special permission to write during work hours, so everyone had grown accustomed to this scene, and no one disturbed him.

After typing for a while, Yu Fei suddenly felt something wasn’t right. He turned his head and was startled.

“Mr. Pei?”

He was surprised—when had Mr. Pei arrived?

But immediately, this surprise turned into wild joy.

Yu Fei stood up and asked: “Mr. Pei, have you found a new department head for the gaming division?”

Pei Qian chuckled: “No, I’m here about the new game.”

Yu Fei’s face instantly fell: “Mr. Pei, we really can’t delay this matter any longer! ‘Ghost General 2’ has already been released, and I’ve fulfilled my mission. My new novel…”

Pei Qian smiled and said: “New novel? From what I can see, you’re writing quite smoothly, even faster than before.”

Yu Fei was momentarily stunned: “Uh… my typing speed has indeed increased, possibly because I’m more focused during work hours… but that’s not the point!”

“Mr. Pei, my inspiration is completely exhausted—not a drop remains!”

“The game mechanics for ‘Eternal Cycle’ were derived from the storyline, and ‘Ghost General 2’ also highlighted the plot—I accepted those. But I truly have no more storylines to conceive. Making me the lead designer would be irresponsible to the new project…”

Pei Qian nodded slightly and asked: “What’s the theme of your new novel?”

Yu Fei was taken aback: “Cyberpunk, why?”

Pei Qian clapped his hands: “The theme for the new game is also cyberpunk! Isn’t that a wonderful coincidence?”

“Look, if you continue developing this game, Tenda will directly purchase the copyright to your novel and promote it as a featured project on Terminus Chinese Web.”

“Isn’t that great?”

Yu Fei was dumbfounded: “What…?”

He hadn’t expected this turn of events at all.

The new game Mr. Pei wanted to make was cyberpunk-themed? Exactly the same genre as his new novel?

Could this really be such a coincidence?

Could it be that Mr. Pei was doing this deliberately? To keep him as the lead designer, he specifically chose to make a cyberpunk-themed game?

No, no, that couldn’t be possible…

Yu Fei quickly abandoned this unrealistic idea and instead pondered the promising prospect Mr. Pei had outlined.

It sounded like… an offer he simply couldn’t refuse!