Chapter 135：On the Eve of Launch

In Li Daode's office.

Situ Zhou, Li Daode, and the undercover programmer gathered around the computer, barely daring to breathe.

The once-resolute technical director now trembled as he rubbed the small USB drive.

"Is this the core code of Gemini?"

"Yes, I managed to steal it out with great difficulty!" The undercover programmer nodded emphatically.

"I'm so excited! I'm about to witness a miracle!"

The technical director's hands shook uncontrollably.

"Cut the crap, hurry up!"

Li Daode was already growing impatient!

It seemed as though he could already see the day when Gemini would be destroyed!

Click.

Beep.

The USB drive was inserted into the computer.

A black dialog box instantly appeared on the screen, with lines of code rapidly flashing by!

"This is it! It's really it!"

The technical director was beyond excited, tears welling up in his eyes.

Ding!

'Due to confidentiality measures, all external programs require an activation password.'

The code on the screen abruptly stopped.

It turned pitch black, leaving only a password input field in the center.

Everyone was stunned!

All eyes turned toward the undercover programmer!

The young man looked panic-stricken. "I don't know what happened. It was fine when I copied it!"

Li Daode also panicked. "Are we falling into another trap?"

"Hmph!"

The technical director suddenly let out a cold laugh. "No need to panic, everyone!"

"It's only natural for Gemini to encrypt their program."

"But they underestimate me!"

Li Daode saw a glimmer of hope. "What do you mean?"

The technical director smiled confidently.

"This is indeed the core code of Gemini!"

"They just added an anti-theft password!"

"But!"

"As luck would have it!"

"I'm capable of cracking it!"

"Haha!"

Li Daode's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely!"

The technical director turned slightly, "To be honest, Gemini's technology is top-notch. Very few people in China could crack this password, and I'm one of them!"

"That's fantastic!"

Li Daode clapped his hands, feeling like crying!

This was the happiest moment of his life!

Gemini was finally going down!

I will have my revenge!

I'll make Di San polish my shoes, and Zhang Tianjia!

I'll make him polish the other one!

Damn it!

The technical director then put on an air, giving Li Daode a sidelong glance. "Li, who did you call useless earlier?"

Li Daode was taken aback, then quickly realized.

He pointed to his own nose. "Me! I'm the useless one! Teacher Jiang, I take back everything I said earlier, and I apologize!"

"Please don't waste any more time! Hurry up and crack it!"

"Hmph, knowing your mistake is good!"

The technical director flexed his fingers a bit, looked at the screen, and said, "This will take some time, about 18 hours!"

Eighteen hours?

Li Daode thought for a moment. Isn't that the same time Gemini Music is launching?

Good!

A few hours don't matter, as long as we can get Gemini's core code, a little music platform is nothing!

"Teacher Jiang, please start!"

"Sure, but get me a cup of tea first!"

"No problem! Situ Zhou, quickly!"

Seventeen hours later.

At the Creator Company.

Ruan Liangji had been leading the Creator employees, working tirelessly around the clock.

The results were remarkable!

The new Gemini Music features were fully operational.

They had also undergone internal testing!

Classic algorithm matching.

A simple interface.

A pleasant user experience.

Another masterpiece!

After watching Ruan Liangji's demonstration, Liu Di nodded in satisfaction!

His work was almost flawless!

Meanwhile, on A-Jia's side.

After 20 hours of work, with the help of the "Music Master," the number of signed quality songs had reached an astonishing 80,000!

Encompassing all genres!

This was more than enough to offer users a stunning musical feast!

The mentally exhausted Ruan Liangji, after seeing Liu Di's approval, breathed a heavy sigh of relief!

Only then did he recall the music library issue!

When he learned that in just 20 hours, A-Jia had secured the rights to tens of thousands of songs.

And after witnessing the "Music Master" feature.

Ruan Liangji was once again taken aback!

These two bosses are truly remarkable!

It's hard for a company like this not to succeed!

At this moment, the countdown was at 23 hours and 45 minutes.

All the Creator employees gathered in the meeting room.

They were exhausted.

But not a single person chose to rest.

They were all waiting for the moment when Gemini Music would go live!

They knew this time would be different from the past.

Because this time, the features were paid!

Gaining user acceptance would be much more challenging than before!

How much revenue would it generate?

Everyone had their guesses!

Liu Di and A-Jia stood at the front with their arms crossed.

A-Jia was nervous, sweat pooling in his palms.

He looked at Liu Di, who still maintained his usual calm demeanor.

A-Jia whispered, "When our new features go live, it will coincide with Penguin Music's free period."

"Plus, Penguin has hired celebrities and organized a prize giveaway."

A-Jia paused and asked Liu Di, "Aren't you worried about the users?"

A-Jia's voice was low.

But the entire meeting room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and all the Gemini employees heard him clearly.

They all turned to look at the Third Great God.

With Penguin making such a drastic move, they needed reassurance.

After all, this was free vs. paid, which in the internet world is a bold and risky move!

If the Third Great God is so calm, he must have a plan!

Liu Di raised an eyebrow. "Of course I'm worried!"

Huh?

Everyone was shocked.

Does the Third Great God have no trump card this time?

Liu Di smiled, "Penguin is free, we're paid; that's the first gap, and it's huge!"

"Plus, all our signed artists are from the grassroots, with no fame, while Penguin boasts a galaxy of stars! That's the second gap!"

"And Penguin has launched two events, one giving away money, the other leveraging celebrity influence. In contrast, we've been stingy, and that's the third gap!"

"So, of course, we won't have too many users!"

Huh?

Once again, everyone was stunned!

Boss, are you admitting defeat?

"But!"

Liu Di turned, his gaze sweeping over each colleague. "We must have faith in our product! This is the result of countless sleepless nights and hard work from all of you!"

"The Gemini Music features, in my opinion, offer a user experience that absolutely crushes Penguin Music!"

"And I also have confidence in our music content!"

"I believe that once users listen to a track, they won't want to leave!"

"Getting users to accept us is just a matter of time!"

Liu Di spoke, then revealed a meaningful smile and shrugged. "Besides, I have a feeling that the Penguin Group will encounter a little problem in about 10 minutes!"

At this moment.

The Penguin Group was also exceptionally busy!

All the programmers were on high alert, ready to make Penguin Music entirely free on the hour, 10 minutes from now!

They were also bracing for a massive influx of users!

In two studios.

Two heavyweight singers in the Chinese music scene had already finished their makeup.

All the equipment was adjusted and ready!

Just waiting for the broadcast to begin and interact with a large number of fans!

Li Daode watched all this with a wide grin.

For some reason, he suddenly felt that Gemini wasn't so scary!

In the end, aren't they just preparing for a new feature launch like any other?

No special tricks?

Even if I didn't have your code.

With Penguin Music being free for an entire month!

And two big-name celebrities!

You won't get much traffic either!

Gemini Music won't catch fire!

"Mr. Li, Mr. Li, good news!"

Behind him, Situ Zhou rushed over excitedly, his face full of joy!

Li Daode could already guess; it was undoubtedly another piece of good news!

He asked excitedly, "Has the password been cracked?"

"Yes, come and see!"

"Heaven is helping me!"

In front of the computer, the technical director's lips trembled slightly.

After battling for over ten hours, only one last command remained to break through Gemini's password protection!

Li Daode and Situ Zhou had already arrived.

Their hearts were pounding!

Their eyes were glued to the computer screen!

"Director Jiang, please start!"

Li Daode licked his lips in excitement!

The technical director nervously rubbed his hands together.

Click, click, click.

He typed the final few lines of code and hit enter!

Everyone's hearts leaped into their throats!

'Congratulations, the password has been removed!'

Phew.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Gemini was finished!

Just then, a Penguin employee's shout came from outside, "One minute to countdown, get ready for the free launch!"

But the people in the office couldn't be bothered with that.

Their eyes were about to pop out as they stared at the screen!

Where's the code?

In the next moment.

The screen went black!

Slowly, a line of text appeared.

At the same time, a voice with a unique magnetic quality gently spoke.

"Hello."

"I guess you're a bit tired right now."

"It's okay."

The voice continued, and for some reason, Li Daode and Situ Zhou found it oddly familiar.

"If you're"

"Holding a fist, slowly raise your arm."

"Lift it above your head."

"Then suddenly spread your fingers."

"Boom."

"Congratulations."

"You just set off a firework."

The few people in front of the computer seemed to fall into a trance as they listened to the sound.

"Hehe."

The technical director looked at the screen with a silly grin and said, "This is fun."

He raised his hand, mimicking the gesture described in the words, and lifted it above his head.

"I'm going to set off some fireworks for myself, hehe."

"Boom."

The technical director softly imitated the sound with his mouth.

Boom!

Boom!

The ground shook!

Outside the office, a sudden loud explosion echoed!

Several computers sparked, then instantly went black!

The ceiling lights flickered, then went out with a clatter!

With that one "boom" from the technical director's mouth, within five seconds, the entire Penguin building was plunged into darkness!

The series of loud noises snapped the four people at their computers out of their daze!

In the darkness, Li Daode was completely baffled, muttering, "What the hell just happened?"

Situ Zhou was equally confused and said, "Mr. Li, Director Jiang seemed to have set off some fireworks."

"And then blew up the entire office building."