As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 142 Everyone Has Their Own Difficulties
Wang Dali's speech was unanimously approved by everyone.

The experience of another member, Zhao Qian, is even more representative.

He was a financial expert at a financial company, a typical office worker whose daily work had absolutely nothing to do with fighting or violence.

In the past, the economic situation in Dawn City was very good. His financial company could make a fortune just by undertaking business related to Dawn Heavy Industry, so naturally they would not be stingy with office supplies and employee benefits.

Working in their line of work involves dealing with rapidly changing big data year after year, which requires extremely high mental capacity. In the past, they used fourth-generation computing cards to stimulate brain cells and improve computing power.

The so-called "computing card" contains guardian spirits that are all artificial intelligences from the "Fourth Era, the Strange Machine Civilization".

It can be simply and crudely understood as the remnants of the past left behind by silicon-based life after it awakened self-awareness.

The logic circuits and thought patterns of silicon-based life are vastly different from those of carbon-based life forms such as humans.

Establishing a mental connection with artificial intelligence is a very complex and dangerous thing.

In the past, the financial company where Zhao Qian worked purchased computing cards developed by DeepBlue Technology, one of the four major card manufacturers, to ensure employee safety, work efficiency, and the company's image.

However, with the continuous deterioration of the economic situation, Liming Heavy Industry had long since terminated its cooperation with the financial company where Zhao Qian worked.

Helpless, Zhao Qian's financial company continued to cut salaries and lay off employees, the company's space shrank by two-thirds, and it moved from the central business district in the city center to the suburbs where the rent was cheaper.

The quality of office supplies, including computing cards, has been declining again and again.

“Our entire business line originally had seven colleagues, but now only two remain. In order to survive, we have been forced to take on a lot of very complicated but not very profitable business from outside.”

“Our income has been cut in half, but our workload has increased three or four times. To make matters worse, they even downgraded our computing cards from the well-known DeepBlue Technology cards to ‘cheap alternatives’ made by some small manufacturer that I’ve never even heard of.”

Zhao Qian initially maintained a certain level of composure befitting a high-level white-collar worker.

Once she started talking, she stopped pretending and poured out her grievances to everyone who shared her plight: "The brand-name cards produced by Deep Blue Technology contain ancient remnants of the past, which are all genuine supercomputers from the Age of Wonders, capable of performing millions of complex calculations per second."

"As for the products from smaller brands, I don't even know how to describe them. I strongly suspect that the remnants of the past stored inside them all come from game consoles, educational machines, robot vacuums, and even washing machines from the Age of Wonders, and they simply don't have the ability to perform complex calculations."

"In order to meet the needs of daily work, our company leaders sent these broken cards, which contained the soul of the old washing machines, to an underground workshop in some unknown corner, where they engraved external runes to achieve forced overclocking."

"This approach, while it may barely improve our computing power, puts a lot of strain on our brains."

"After working 12 or 13 hours a day, my forehead feels burning hot, my head is throbbing, and my temples are throbbing. It feels like my boiling brain is about to spray out through my eyes and nostrils."

"After finally dragging my exhausted body home, I collapsed onto the bed, but my mind was wide awake, and I couldn't fall asleep no matter what I did. Even if I took half a bottle of sleeping pills to force myself to sleep, I would be immersed in one terrifying nightmare after another—several times, I dreamed that I had become a robot vacuum cleaner or washing machine from the Age of Wonders, 'buzzing' day and night, without end."

"The doctor said my neurasthenia is very serious."

"This is a precursor to spiritual erosion."

"If I don't stop using this overclocking computing card, I will definitely get spiritual erosion within a year or two, or even worse, my brain will be burned out while I'm working, turning me into an idiot or even brain dead."

"My family always advises me not to work so hard, that there's no end to the work, and that I should take a break if I really can't keep up."

"Hehe, if I had a choice, who wouldn't want to take a break? But these days it's easy to lie down, but where would I go to find a new job? Not to mention the food, drink, and shelter of my family, back when the environment was good and making money was easy, I took out a loan to buy seven high-end credit cards in one go. Now every day when I open my eyes, I have to pay back several hundred yuan of credit card debt!"

“Our company has already announced that there is still room for further optimization in our business line, which only has two people left, and we will lay off another employee.”

"Now every day when I go to work, I stare at the guy across from me. It feels like we're two fighting roosters locked in a cage. We're going to fight to the death!"

"To keep this job, I will persevere no matter how severe the side effects of the calculation card are."

"Whether it's the washing machine spirit and sweeping robot spirit from the Age of Oddity, or the machine spirit of the war machine that once triggered the Oddity Crisis and destroyed the Fourth Age, fucking stuff them all into my brain!"

"In order to preserve my brain and be able to burn a few more hours every day in a highly complex computing environment, I came to the Crazy Iron Club to toughen up my muscles and strengthen my body."

"Seriously, after practicing the guiding techniques and meditation methods a few times every day at the Crazy Iron Club, imagining the sandbag and punching bag as the company leaders, and throwing a few punches and kicks, sweating profusely, and then taking a shower, I feel refreshed, clear-headed, and my long-standing neurasthenia has disappeared. I haven't had any nightmares for more than half a month. I believe I can definitely crush all my colleagues in the company and become the survivor who laughs last!"
"I have no complaints about the facilities and services of the Crazy Iron Club, and I don't need any 'no-card master with twenty years of experience in wilderness hunting' as a coach. It's fine as it is now."

"If I had to suggest something reasonable, it would be that our club could open a midnight session. Because we have more and more work during the day and the working hours are getting longer and longer, we might not have time to come and practice until after 10 p.m. in the future."

"No, no, no, I don't even need a full-time coach. As long as you open the door, I can train on my own. After I'm done, I'll make sure to put all the equipment back in its place neatly. It won't interfere with your business opening during the day."

"Of course, as Dali just said, it would be even more suitable if the membership fee could be cheaper."

Zhao Qian's experience earned him applause from many long-time members.

Many people only then realized that this seemingly impeccably dressed white-collar elite, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, also had such a predicament.

Wang Dali patted his shoulder hard: "These days, it's not easy for me, for you, for Kuang Tie!"

(End of this chapter)