Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 137 A new storm has emerged
Three hours later, in a large flat in downtown Santa Clara, Don Valentine and Nolan Bushnell sat opposite each other. On the coffee table in front of them were cans of Coca-Cola and glass bottles of Budweiser beer. Although the containers were different, they all had the same feature: they were covered with water droplets.

"I don't have anything else here. If you want to drink something else, I'll call someone to send it to you now." Don Valentine, leaning on the sofa, crossed his legs and raised a Budweiser to make a simple gesture.

"These are enough. I can't drink anything else right now." Nolan Bushnell grabbed the Coke and squeezed it with his index finger. There was a crisp sound, and the pull ring fell out of his hand, and the carbon dioxide flew everywhere.

He raised his head and drank deeply. The sound was like an abyss, swallowing up everything.

The next second, Nolan Bushnell tightened his fingers and light brown liquid suddenly spurted out.

"Oh! Sxxt! Why the hell am I so unlucky?"

"If the previous failure was due to product deficiencies, the game Breakout was indeed not as good and amazing as Pac-Man, but this failure is not my fault at all, right?"

"The new generation of home game consoles is already the most perfect product at the moment!"

"From CPU to onboard storage! From cartridges to first release games!"

“I have done everything to the extreme!”

“But even so, people won’t buy my machine???”

"MFxxk!!!"

Having roared to this point, he shook his arms vigorously.

The deformed can hit the ground hard, making a painful sound.

Although the light brown fat man's happy water was spilled everywhere because of Nolan Bushnell, Don Valentine didn't care. He took a few sips of Budweiser and said with a smile: "People don't want to buy your machine? Oh - Nolan - isn't this the problem you caused?"

“Your biggest failure is not that the product is not well made.”

“Instead, it was released when the product wasn’t immediately available.”

"Your actions gave Ethan Jones some breathing space!"

"Because as far as I know, he only saw the movie Star Wars at the beginning of this year? If nothing unexpected happens, it should be after you announced the new generation?"

"The Star Wars game was a complete rush job!"

“If you didn’t launch the product first and then ship it, or if the time between launching and shipping wasn’t that long…”

"I don't think the Game of Fate can pose any threat to you!"

Nolan Bushnell was stunned after hearing these words.

The next second, the blood rushed to that slightly swollen face!

"Oh—Don—it makes me even angrier just talking about it!"

He waved his hands and yelled, "If it weren't for those idiots of Milova, how could I have released new products in advance? If Milova hadn't made a high-profile announcement about the shitty Apollo, which made Warner think that we were lagging behind and eager to catch up in publicity, I would definitely not have shown the new generation to the public at the beginning of this year!"

“Because in my plan, the Chicago exhibition is the best time!”

“And the interval of a few months is enough time for us to purchase media for marketing!”

When talking about this, Nolan Bushnell became extremely angry.

How could Don Valentine not know this fact?
He smiled and said, "So you are the scapegoat?"

"Of course!" Nolan Bushnell shouted, "I'm just the scapegoat!"

"A scapegoat for those incompetent Warner executives!"

The sharp roar was like a sharp knife that could cut through all the injustices above one's head.

The panting sound was like a shadow spreading from bottom to top, dragging Bushnell into the abyss.

After staring at Don Valentine for a long while, the guy's body gradually hunched over. "Forget it, there is no point in talking about this now."

He leaned back, sighed and laughed, "Even if time could go back, I don't think I could withstand Warner's pressure. Moreover, even if I could hold it back, with those idiots like Miluohua around..."

"Ethan Jones will continue to trample us into the ground just like he does now."

"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's talk about you."

"When I learned that Ethan Jones had an accident at Milpitas' factory, I began to speculate that the whole thing might be related to you? Because Milpitas... is your territory..."

Nolan Bushnell smiled at Don Valentine.

The guy who had grown his hair long in the past year waved his hands and said, "Oh Nolan, you can't talk nonsense. What do you mean Milbida is my territory? You make me look like a gangster!"

"Isn't it?" Nolan Bushnell said. "If you weren't a member of the Mafia, how could you have thought of such a strange way to disgust Ethan Jones?"

"Hey! Watch your words!" Don Valentine frowned and said unhappily, "I just provided some help to those who needed it!"

Don Valentine gave Nolan Bushnell a serious look.

But as their eyes met, he only lasted less than half a minute before he was defeated.

"Okay, Okay..." He smiled and said, "You're right, I did go to disgust Ethan Jones, or rather, I wished he would die!"

As Don Valentine told his story, Nolan Bushnell finally found out what this guy had done after they parted ways.

After Don Valentine sold all his shares in Atari to Warner two years ago, he left with cash and settled in Santa Clara. Because it is close to Silicon Valley, he can easily learn about the projects happening here if he wants to invest in high-tech industries.

While looking for projects, he did not give up his attention to Ethan Jones. Both the loss of face and the financial loss made him want to get back the lost ground.

Perhaps because he had been following him all the time, he could be said to have witnessed Ethan Jones' entire growth, from the initial start of the grass-roots team, to catching Ralph Baer's express train, to the shocking release of "Pac-Man". The fact that he jumped higher than flying made him very uncomfortable.

But in the process he also discovered that Ethan Jones bought land in Milpitas in Silicon Valley, built a factory, and adopted the current manufacturing company's favorite employment standards, using hippies to lower costs.

When this fact came to light——

"To be honest, I was very excited at the time." Don Valentine said with a smile: "I know that hippies are very undisciplined and difficult to manage."

"Although they need to integrate into society now because they can no longer march and sing like before, the real key to managing them is not their peaceful hearts, but to integrate with them."

"Just like you did before, drink with them, sing with them, play grass with them, and drive fast with them. Only by doing all these will they obey you."

"Ethan Jones can't do that."

"So, from that moment on, I felt that there would be problems with his factory."

"Then I asked my Intel friend to help me keep an eye on the situation over there."

"And then……"

“People who can provide the needs and those who want to get help are connected.”

At this point, Don Valentine chuckled.

Although he didn't say it clearly, Nolan Bushnell heard it clearly.

The so-called connection between people who can provide needs and people who need help is actually about traffickers providing door-to-door service. When this hint appeared, Don Valentine had actually confessed everything to him.

"But the method you used hardly caused any damage to Ethan Jones."

Nolan Bushnell opened another can of Coke and said, "It was just a mess for a few days, and then it returned to peace. Ethan Jones was not affected at all."

"Ohhhh—Nolan, I don't like what you said."

Don Valentine shook his head and shouted, "Ethan Jones was not affected in any way?"

"Stop lying to yourself!"

"You Atari... well, Atari at that time benefited a lot from this incident!"

"If those guys hadn't caused trouble, Ethan Jones would have started developing a new game after returning from the book. How could it have been delayed until the beginning of this year?"

"If you say something like that that has no effect, it's fine to fool others, but it won't work on me!"

"Okay, okay, okay..."

Nolan Bushnell nodded and said, "I admit it has an effect, but not much..."

The continuous denials made Don Valentine laugh, "Oh Nolan, I know what you mean, you just want to know what my back-up plan is."

"Now you just want to see Ethan Jones get into trouble as soon as possible."

"And it's okay to tell you about this kind of thing."

"Because my original plan is no longer useful, and it will never be useful..."

In fact, connecting people who can provide help with those in need is only the first step in Don Valentine's plan. The main purpose is to see how Ethan Jones will deal with such an emergency.

If Destiny Game regarded those hippies as destabilizing factors and fired them all, he would directly add fuel to the fire and make those guys who lost their jobs for no reason start protesting. Then he would contact the media and expose Destiny Game's capitalist style.

He even thought of the media headlines——

[The Beat Generation embraced society but was rejected, and the fate game expelled everyone. What does it mean?]

He wants to make the whole thing into a social issue!
Use the pressure of public opinion to ruin the reputation of the Destiny Game!

But unfortunately...

"He didn't fire all those people." Don Valentine raised his eyebrows and said, "They chose the kindest way and only fired those who had an impact on the company."

"But it doesn't matter, right, because he has recruited a new group of people."

"It's a **veteran." Speaking of this, Don Valentine sighed, with countless regrets on his face, "Nolan, to be honest, when I heard the news, I was very excited!"

"A new plan popped into my mind straight away!"

"That means letting those traffickers come again!"

"Spread coke among those hippies playing the game of fate!"

"You may not understand why I do this... It's very simple. When those dealers start to spread Coke, those ** veterans will definitely find out. They will definitely drive them away and take action. And when they threaten those dealers not to come again... the job is done..."

At this point, Don Valentine paused, stared at Nolan Bushnell with burning eyes, and said seriously, "After being threatened by the ** veterans, the traffickers will obey and leave. After a while, their families will call the police and say they are missing."

"Although the disappearance of a few traffickers is a small matter in our country, so small that the California police don't even bother to deal with it. Because California and Baja California are connected, there are countless traffickers scurrying across the border every year, but...what if those traffickers have criminal records?"

"Those traffickers are originally gangsters on the border?"

"They are originally engaged in the business of carrying goods on human flesh?"

With each question, Don Valentine leaned forward a little.

When he finished asking what was on his mind, his bulging eyes revealed even more madness.

That creepy look made Nolan Bushnell stunned on the spot.

After a long while, he suddenly realized what was going on and shouted, "Oh! Sxxt! Could it be that the person you are looking for is a leader or a henchman who has direct ties to MXG?"

"uh-huh."

Nolan Bushnell’s awakening puts Don Valentine back on track.

He smiled, shrugged, and spread his hands slightly.

That smug look gave Nolan Bushnell the chill.

Because he understood what Don Valentine meant!
Some traffickers disappeared in California, and that was a small matter indeed.

But what if some traffickers who carry goods across the border every day, have criminal records, or even have connections with the leaders of MXG disappeared?

That will definitely attract the attention of the federal government, the media and even the public!

Because right now in America, right under their feet, California, is really cracking down on drugs!

In 1970, California enacted the Controlled Substances Act, implementing more severe penalties in California than federal drug laws. They divided drugs into five categories, of which Class I and Class II would be subject to the strictest control and punishment. Three years later, the California Drug Abuse Advisory Committee was established, which sent commissioners to study drug issues and provide regular reports to the governor and the legislature.

In the same year (73), the DEA (Federal Anti-Drug Agency) was formally established, and worked together with FBI, Customs and other agencies to crack down on drug crimes, and even drug transportation crimes.

In 75, America signed a bilateral anti-corruption agreement with MXG. In 76, De Zong even visited MXG specifically for this matter and directly promoted Operation Condor, which used specific herbicides to destroy large plantations in Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua, Mexico.

When these facts emerge...

Some of the line dealers disappeared after coming into contact with the Destiny Game?

Then Ethan Jones will definitely be targeted!

No matter whether Stanford is behind him or not!

When the media dug deeper and found out that Destiny Game had been in contact with traffickers before, and then hired a bunch of ** veterans...

Nolan Bushnell can even imagine all the negative coverage in the media!
Even if they don't add fuel to the fire, the media will think that the disappearance of the trafficker is related to the game of fate!

Because in this day and age, ** veterans have indeed fought back in anger amid humiliation!

Even if they were watching the show from the sidelines, Ethan Jones would be busy and overwhelmed!

What if they add fuel to the fire?

Then we can directly come up with the headline: ** Veteran Soldier Kills Dealer, Ethan Jones Hires Killer!
As for whether these things are true?
That doesn’t matter at all!
Because no matter if they are hippies, veterans, or wire dealers, they are not good people! In the eyes of the public, the DEBUFF of the game of fate is simply maxed out!

"Then why didn't you do it?" Nolan Bushnell asked excitedly, "This plan is so perfect, why didn't you implement it?"

“Is it because there is something wrong with those traffickers?”

"They won't cooperate?"

"Or is it because the money you gave them was too little, so they refused to disappear completely?"

The continuous questioning made Don Valentine purse his lips.

He raised his head with a decadent look on his face, drank the beer in his hand, and said helplessly, "Neither of them. There is no problem with the dealers I found. They are all small people who are willing to cooperate with me. The money I give is also enough. They can go around and run to Canada to enjoy life."

"But it's a pity..."

"All of this has become a plan that will never be put into practice because of last year's election!"

"Barbara Babcock, who was very close to Ethan Jones, went to the DoJ?"

"MFxxk! Do you know what this means?"

"It means that if I really did this, even if the DEA was involved, the DoJ would come out to endorse him and say that he, Ethan Jones, had nothing to do with those things!"

"If the situation gets bigger, and Ethan Jones' sister goes to Vinton Cerf for help, then the NSA and CIA will definitely come to an end. At that time, will I still be able to escape?"

"Do not make jokes!"

"There is no one in this world that they can't catch!"

Although the Federation had established a special Anti-Drug Bureau to combat drug crimes, which was even equal to Foberle in terms of power, and could even apply to mobilize the army for joint suppression in special circumstances, but...

Like Furber, they are still a subsidiary of the DoJ. After the accident, they can indeed investigate the fate game, but the DoJ can also ask them not to investigate.

The NSA is even simpler. As the largest intelligence department in the United States, they are a subordinate agency of the DoD, specializing in collecting and analyzing foreign and domestic communications data. To this end, they employ a bunch of mathematicians, computer scientists and linguists, and Vinton Cerf's paper and TCP/IP protocol... were circulated here as early as two years ago.

When these accidents occur...

Don Valentine chose to stop.

He did want to strangle Ethan Jones, but he was no idiot.

I won't do anything that will bring trouble to myself.

"So you're just letting this provocation turn into a farce with no end?" Nolan asked.

"What else?" Don Valentine shrugged.

"It seems like that..." Nolan smiled helplessly and nodded.

Emotionally, he couldn't accept this fact.

But from the current situation...

"Damn it! How come Ethan Jones is so lucky!"

Nolan Bushnell burst into swear words, "He can find Ralph Baer to help him with patents! He has MOS and Apple for hardware! While you were watching him, Barbara Babcock and Vinton Cerf went from being university professors to government officials? And they were high-level special personnel? More importantly, when I was ahead of him in making products, the games he rushed out could lead the trend? And he had Star Wars to protect him?"

"MFxxk! What the hell is this!"

"A normal person would thank God if something like this happened to him, but what about him?"

"Has he he he he ever lost?"

Nolan Bushnell was so angry that he couldn't even speak clearly.

He sat there breathing heavily in discomfort.

Just when he thought that Ethan Jones had become a big shot and was no longer someone a loser like him could look down upon, Don Valentine laughed out loud.

He stood up and left the living room.

When he appeared again, he threw a document in front of Nolan Bushnell.

"What is this?" Nolan Bushnell asked puzzledly.

"Ethan Jones's big trouble," Don Valentine said with a smile.

Such an answer made Nolan Bushnell raise his eyebrows.

Because he didn't know what kind of troubles Ethan Jones, who was so successful, would encounter at this moment.

And when he opened the document and took a closer look...

A picture that came into his sight made him overjoyed.

"Nintendo?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah~Nintendo~" Don Valentine nodded and said, "Ethan Jones may be very happy now, right? Because Star Wars is selling well in North America, but soon, he will not be happy anymore, because Nintendo is already infringing on his interests..."

At this point, Don Valentine burst into laughter.

"This is such an unlucky child."

"Even if we don't do anything, he'll be in constant trouble."

Note: ① America's drug prohibition from 1969 to 1977 was indeed very wild, and they were indeed crazy about drug prohibition. Regarding this matter, our country's Academy of Social Sciences has also conducted special research and issued many reports and papers. The problem is very complicated. If you want to talk about it, you have to start with native chickens and Gallic chickens. What is written in the article is actually very one-sided. Just take a look. ② California was also crazy about drug prohibition in the s, but people who know that period of history may know that California's madness should be put in quotation marks because they jumped left and right. On the one hand, they did formulate more severe penalties than the federal government in the early s. On the other hand, a few years later, they removed hemp again. The reasons for this are very complicated and sensitive. I will not write about it in detail. I would like to make a note here to explain why Nolan and Valentine's views in this chapter are inconsistent with what Sheriff Milbida said in the previous article, because in reality they are jumping back and forth, as long as it is beneficial to themselves, it is actually reasonable. ③ The DoD where Vinton Cerf worked was indeed one of the departments that banned intelligence. The DoD did have the authority to manage it. The organization was called EPIC (Eipaso Intelligence Center) at that time, and the NSA was responsible for analyzing intelligence.

PS, no more

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(End of this chapter)