You were supposed to have a fake marriage with the diva, so how did you become her father?

When Lu Ran was halfway through the puzzle, he paused, put down the mouse, stared at the completed part on the screen for a while, and then picked up his phone to call Chen Mo.

The phone rang twice before connecting. Lu Ran said, "Come to my office."

When Chen Mo arrived, he was carrying a cup of soy milk that he hadn't even started drinking yet. Upon entering, he saw two rows of folders and several open program windows on Lu Ran's screen and asked, "So early today?"

Lu Ran asked him to sit down, and then recounted the whole story he had been thinking about from last night to this morning.

He didn't mention the National Security Bureau, only saying that the company needed a new product direction, to use positioning functions to achieve global geographic coverage, with the aim of collecting ground activity data in different regions for commercial applications.

When he spoke, he handled the cause-and-effect relationship cleanly, and packaged "data collection" as "product function optimization" and "regional activity analysis," which sounded like a normal product iteration approach for a game company.

Chen Mo listened, but hadn't even opened the lid of the soy milk in his hand.

He started by asking, "Which product's framework do you plan to use as a foundation?"

"Pokémon and Monster Catcher in the Open Airbenders have been combined." Lu Ran turned the screen over for Chen Mo to see. "The collection system is from Pokémon, and the training and battle system is from Monster Catcher in the Open Airbenders. The map data is from both, and I've merged them together. I've thought of a name: 'Discover the Classic of Mountains and Seas Together,' with Chinese elements as the base, and the overseas version will be further localized."

Chen Mo leaned closer to look at the interface being pieced together on the screen, then straightened up and sat back down in his chair: "You're making a game that requires players to keep location services constantly on. How high of a precision is required? Have you solved the battery drain issue? Where are you getting the overseas map data?"

Lu Ran said that the positioning accuracy should be similar to that of ordinary navigation applications, without needing to be down to the centimeter level. The map data uses open-source maps plus a self-developed rendering layer, and the power consumption problem is handled by the background positioning optimization solution—these are all ready-made technical routes, and the system already comes with a complete set of optimization strategies.

After listening, Chen Mo asked a more crucial question: "What exactly is this 'regional activity analysis' you mentioned used for commercial purposes? Is it sold to commercial real estate companies or urban planning agencies?"

"We haven't thought that far ahead yet," Lu Ran said. "Let's get the product out there first, and then we'll decide on the commercialization direction once it's up and running."

Chen Mo looked at him for a moment, then nodded: "Okay. I trust you. How should this product be prioritized?"

"The best course of action," Lu Ran said. "Postpone the renewal of the European agency agreement by a week. Let Zhao Yiming continue pushing forward the expansion of the North American servers, but don't rush it. Put all available resources into this project first."

Chen Mo unscrewed the lid of the soy milk, took a sip, stood up and said, "Then I'll go talk to Brother Zhou first and go through the schedule again."

He walked to the door, then turned back. "By the way, what was the name of the new game again?"

"Let's discover the Classic of Mountains and Seas together."

"The Classic of Mountains and Seas?" Chen Mo muttered those words to himself before turning and walking out.

Lu Ran sat back down at the computer and continued assembling the remaining modules.

He merged the wild encounter mechanism of Pokémon with the monster distribution logic of Let's Catch Monsters and set a dynamic refresh rule in the background: ordinary creatures have a chance to spawn in any area, but the types of creatures that spawn in different areas are different; rare creatures only spawn under specific geographical conditions - such as mountains, lakes, deserts, islands, and near the border.

He also set up a hidden layer, adding a set of coordinate ranges for "undisclosed areas" in the system backend. The refresh frequency of creatures within these coordinate ranges would be artificially reduced, but if the access frequency of a certain area fluctuated abnormally, the backend would automatically mark it.

After making these settings, he added another layer of gameplay design: each country and region has its own set of exclusive limited creatures.

The Dragon Kingdom uses mythical beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas—the nine-tailed fox, Yinglong, Bifang, Taotie, and Taowu.

Japan uses monsters from their native legends—tengu, yuki-onna, kappa, and ibiki-dōji.

The United States uses folklore such as Bigfoot, Jersey Devil, and Mothman.

Europe used dragons, unicorns, griffins, and fairies.

Southeast Asia uses Naga, Flying Spirits, and Shadow Puppet Elves.

Each region's limited creatures can only be captured within the corresponding geographical area. If players want to complete the global Pokédex, they either need to fly to the region to capture them themselves, or wait for local players to capture them and then exchange them through the in-game trading system.

His plan was very clear.

Players worldwide will continue playing for their region-exclusive creatures, because that's the only thing they can catch.

A small number of high-end gamers who have the ability and willingness to travel around the world will become mobile hotspots, taking the game to places that ordinary players would not go, and filling in the location data of the new areas.

He thought of a more detailed approach: the spawn locations of rare creatures cannot be fixed; they must be dynamically randomized.

If it's fixed at the top of a mountain, the player can catch it once and won't go back.

Players must repeatedly run and search within the same area to maximize coverage of different corners of that area.

He added a parameter to the backend refresh: the precise coordinates of each rare creature are randomly shifted within a radius of 500 meters each time it refreshes. Even if the same player goes to the same location twice on the same day, the location where the creature appears may differ by several hundred meters.

After entering all these settings, he added an achievement system to the game.

The achievement is not just about "how many species of creatures have been collected", but also about "how many kilometers have been traveled", "how many different regions have been visited", and "how many countries and regions have been captured".

Those achievements themselves don't offer any real rewards, but players will care about those numbers.

When someone posts a screenshot on social media showing their achievement of walking 1,000 kilometers, others will want to walk 1,100 kilometers to surpass them.

After doing all this, he saved the project files and put the merged complete game package into a new folder named "Classic of Mountains and Seas - Integrated Version".

He closed his laptop, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes for a moment.

There was a knock on the door, and Zhou Mingzhe pushed it open, holding the schedule adjustment proposal that Chen Mo had just submitted.

He sat down opposite Lu Ran and placed the suggestion on the table: "Chen Mo told me. The new game is the highest priority, that's fine with me. But I have a question—location services are a core part of the game, right? That means we must ensure the accuracy and stability of location services globally, otherwise players' locations will become unstable while walking around, ruining the experience. What solution do you plan to use to address the overseas location accuracy issue?"

Lu Ran opened his eyes: "Use existing third-party location service providers, add a layer of our own location correction algorithm, and fuse the data from GPS, base stations, and WiFi. If the accuracy is still not enough, add another round of background calibration of user trajectories to smooth out multiple location points of the same user within the same time period."

After listening, Zhou Mingzhe nodded: "Okay. I'll go arrange the technical resources then. The art team needs to do a lot of concept design for the new creature models in advance. If each region needs its own unique creature, the workload will be considerable."

He stood up and walked to the door, then turned back and said, "By the way, I recorded your singing on my phone on the wedding day. I'll cut it up and send it to you later."

"Don't send it."

"Then I'll send it to Yuege."

"You little brat."

Lu Ran watched Zhou Mingzhe's figure disappear outside the door frame, then turned the chair halfway to face the window.

He sat there and thought for a while, and felt that this move should be feasible.

Players will travel further to complete the encyclopedia, share their exploration results on social media, and repeatedly circle around an area in order to catch rare creatures.

They don't realize that every step they take helps others draw a bigger picture; they're just playing a collecting game.

But those footprints will piece together a picture.

Every bright spot in that picture represents a location request, originating from a real person standing on real ground, holding a real phone, and moving in the real physical world.

If the frequency of ground activity in a region doesn't match its geographical conditions and population density, then there's something worth taking a closer look at.

He picked up his phone and sent a brief message to the National Security Bureau: "I'm preparing a new product, which may take a few weeks to be available. Once it's ready, I'll provide you with more precise data for your reference."

Wang Anguo replied: "Received. Contact me anytime if there are any developments."

Lu Ran put down his phone, turned on his computer again, and looked at the "Classic of Mountains and Seas - Integrated Version" project file once more.

The project structure diagram on the screen has been completed, and the connections between each module are clearly marked. From the positioning interface to the biometric refresh logic to the social system to the achievement system, the entire chain is lit up in green with a completed status.

He glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the screen; it was 10:40 AM.

Less than forty-eight hours had passed since the wedding ended.

He saved the project files, turned off the computer, stood up and stretched his shoulders, then went out of the office to the tea room to get a cup of hot water.

The window of the tea room was open a crack, and the hot wind from outside blew in through the gap, causing the leaves of the potted green ivy on the windowsill to tremble slightly.

Lu Ran stood by the window, took a sip of water, and looked at the traffic and pedestrians on the street below.

Everyone was busy with their own things. Some were rushing to work, some had just dropped their children off at school and were walking back, and some were pushing shopping carts out of the supermarket with a bag of rice and a bundle of scallions in the cart.

They had no idea that the paths they took in the game might be used elsewhere.

Lu Ran placed the water glass on the windowsill without picking it up immediately.

He was thinking about ordinary people who were busy with their daily lives—they would wake up in the morning, habitually open their phones, scroll through their social media feeds, and then casually open a game, tracing the path of their daily routines in the new day.

Going to work, grocery shopping, picking up the kids, walking the dog, going to the park, having dinner at a friend's house.

Those everyday tracks have no meaning in themselves, but when they are collected by the same game, stacked together, and placed on the same map, the overlapping and blank areas will speak for themselves.

He picked up the water glass, drank the last sip, rinsed the glass clean, put it back on the glass rack, and turned to leave the tea room.

The corridor was already bustling with activity. Several people hurried past with their laptops in hand. Someone was shouting, "The art team is having a meeting in the conference room!" Someone was standing next to their workstation with a coffee in hand, discussing something with their colleagues. The sound of keyboards clicking came from all directions, one after another.

Zhou Mingzhe's voice came from a room in the distance, as if he was explaining the scheduling to someone, and his tone was much faster than usual.

Lu Ran walked back to his office, paused at the door, glanced back at the people busy in the corridor and the sounds of keyboards clicking in the room, then pushed open the door, sat back down at his computer, and opened the project file again.

He felt he should increase the number of species limited to a particular region.

If each country is allocated five to six limited creatures on average, the difficulty of completing the global encyclopedia will be so high that most people will give up. However, if many countries only have one or two limited creatures, players will focus their attention on those creatures, making the goal of the game clearer.

He adjusted the allocation plan: four to six for large countries, two to three for medium-sized countries, and one for small countries.

This way, players in each region have something they absolutely must catch, while keeping the total number of items in the complete collection within a reasonable range.

As he thought about it, he changed the parameters one by one in the system backend. After he finished changing them, he checked them again to make sure that nothing was missed.

The green project link on the screen is still lit up, and all the modules are connected, from the map interface to the bio-refresh to the user trajectory record to the achievement system, the whole line is working.

He closed his laptop, leaned back in his chair, and let out a sigh of relief.

Then he picked up his phone and sent a message to the project group chat with Zhou Mingzhe and Chen Mo: "Finish the technical assessment today, and start breaking down the tasks and scheduling tomorrow. The goal is to release the internal beta version within two weeks."

Replies came quickly in the group. Zhou Mingzhe replied "Received", Chen Mo replied "Okay", and Zhao Yiming added, "I've already contacted someone to look at the map data, and I'll give you a preliminary conclusion tonight," followed by a thumbs-up emoji.