"Total downloads just crossed half a million," Zhao Kang announced after crunching the numbers on Li Mu's laptop.
Li Mu smirked. "Time to chat with Abei's people."
He logged into his "NoSurvivor" QQ account. Dozens of friend requests from Sun Peng, Abei's lead, flooded the screen. Accepting one, a grim-faced avatar labeled "Roc" popped up—Li Mu's first "business contact."
Sun Peng, nibbling a jianbing crepe in his dimly lit office, jolted upright at the notification sound. He typed furiously: Hello! Abei's lead here. Let's collaborate.
Li Mu: Competitors collaborating? Unlikely.
Sun gritted his teeth. The arrogance! *Stone Overlord's brilliant, but you can't keep it free. Post-trial plans?*
Li Mu: My business.
Sun: *I move 30k monthly subscriptions. Partner with me—you'll net 6 yuan per 15-yuan sale.*
Li Mu: Advance payment?
Sun froze. Prepayment? His distributors paid after sales. If he fronted cash for 50k subscriptions at 6 yuan each… 300,000 yuan upfront. Even at 20k monthly profit after expenses, recouping that would take over a year.
Li Mu: *1 million. Buy the code outright. Sell 40k/month? You'll recoup in six months.*
Sun's fingers trembled. Pure math: 40k subscriptions at 8 yuan profit each—320,000 monthly. No coders, no overhead. But where to get a million?
Discount? Sun pleaded.
Three days. Others are circling. Li Mu logged off.
Zhao Kang gaped. "A million? Would he bite?"
"Doubtful." Li Mu leaned back. "Guy's broke. Two years in this racket, maybe 400k total."
He was right. Sun Peng's savings totaled 480k. Family might scrape together 100k more. But another idea struck—his original partner from pre-Abei days.
Gathering his team in their cramped dorm-office, Sun dropped the bomb: "I'm out."
Chaos erupted. Programmers panicked. Co-founder Jia Bei cursed: "Fuck this! Let the NoSurvivor bastard rule then!"
Sun raised a hand. "Qianyu veterans—take your PCs. Sell 'em, start fresh."
Relief swept the old guard. Each machine, worth 3k yuan, was a lifeline.
Jia Bei spat: "My Abei guys get nothing! Barely broke even!"
As arguments flared, Sun slipped out. Let Jia Bei rage. By dawn, he'd draft a proposal to his ex-partner: 800k for the code. Two men, clean split. No deadweight.
Elsewhere, Li Mu powered down his laptop. The chessboard was set. Let the pawns scramble.