Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

Central, Hong Kong Island.

Although it's late autumn, the sunlight today is unusually glaring. This is the most prime location in Central, where even the price of land is beyond description. Yet, at this moment, a large area of ​​old commercial buildings has been razed to the ground, surrounded by high fences, and the huge "Golden Harvest Construction" logo shines brightly in the sunlight.

Wearing a white hard hat and a black trench coat, Lu Chen stood on the construction site full of rubble, looking up at the towering skyscrapers around him.

Behind him stood Ma Zhihua, Zeng Jianqiao, Cheng Yiyan, and the chief designer from I.M. Pei's architectural firm.

Taking advantage of the recent decline in the Hang Seng Index, Lu Chen bought the land at a 30% discount to build the future headquarters of Jiahe International.

"Mr. Lu, as per your requirements, the geological survey has been completed," the designer said, unfolding a huge blueprint, his eyes gleaming with excitement at the prospect of launching his project. "The foundation here is extremely stable; the rock structure is strong enough to support a supertall building. According to the current design plan, we will adopt the latest steel frame structure and triangular geometric mechanics design..."

"Very well, I only have one request!" Lu Chen's voice was calm, yet it revealed an ambition that could encompass the heavens and the earth. "I want to build the tallest skyscraper in all of Asia, and even the entire Eastern Hemisphere! Taller than HSBC, taller than the Sunshine Building in East Asia. The top floor should be designed as an executive lounge with panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows. I want to be there, overlooking the entire Hong Kong."

"Boss, in the current economic climate, building such a tall building..." Cheng Yiyan whispered a reminder, "Isn't it a bit too ostentatious?"

"Flamboyant? That's exactly what I want!" Lu Chen laughed, a meaningful laugh. "Old Cheng, you need to understand. For a conglomerate aiming to conquer the world, the headquarters building is not just a place to work; it's a calling card, a monument, and even more so, a huge, permanent 'GG' (a metaphor for a powerful and influential entity).

"When people look up, the first thing they see is the Jiahe Building soaring into the sky. That visual shock will translate into blind trust in Jiahe's strength."

"This is the power of branding!" Lu Chen patted Cheng Yiyan on the shoulder. "Please keep an eye on things at headquarters. I want to be standing on top of Asia, drinking coffee, before 85."

"Yes, boss!"

With Lu Chen's command, the pile driver roared to life. The "Golden Harvest Centre," which will become a new landmark on Hong Kong Island and a symbol of the pinnacle of Chinese capital, officially broke ground.

three days later.

New Territories, Jiahe High-Tech Electronics Industrial Park.

"Boss, I haven't failed you!"

The head of the R&D department had huge dark circles under his eyes, but his eyes were surprisingly bright. He carefully took out a red and white plastic box and placed it in front of Lu Chen.

It was a rectangular game console with a classic red and white color scheme, but with smoother and more angular lines. On both sides, there were not only ventilation grilles, but also two slots for storing the controllers.

This is Lu Chen's trump card for reaping the wallets of players worldwide—

JH-Family Computer, also known as "Jiahe JF Machine".

"How's the core?" Lu Chen picked up the controller and felt the feedback of the buttons.

"Amazing! Incredibly amazing!" the supervisor exclaimed excitedly. "We successfully mass-produced the 'Kirin-1' graphics processing chip using the blueprints you provided earlier. This chip's performance is ten times that of the Atari 2600 currently on the market! It boasts 52 colors, with 24 colors displayed simultaneously, and it supports hardware scrolling and sprite layer processing!"

In 1982, this was practically cutting-edge technology.

Keep in mind that at this time, Atari was still playing with mosaic blocks, while Nintendo's Famicom wouldn't be released in Japan until next July, and it probably hadn't even entered the trial production stage yet.

Taking advantage of information asymmetry and technological reserves, Lu Chen created this monster more than six months ahead of schedule.

"The hardware is good, but we also need to look at the software," Lu Chen inserted a yellow cartridge into the slot and pressed the power button. "Let's take a look at our flagship title."

The TV screen flickered, and then a burst of exciting, adrenaline-pumping 8-bit electronic music suddenly blared out.

"Ta-da! Ta-da! Ta-da! Ta-da!"

Two shirtless, muscular men appeared on the screen, with burning flames and a huge helicopter in the background.

Two large characters crashed down—Contra.

Lu Chen picked up the controller and skillfully entered the secret code etched into his DNA: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B.

"drop!"

Health points have increased to 30.

Games start.

The protagonist jumps out of the helicopter, lands, tumbles, and fires a gun.

At that moment, the entire conference room fell silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the smooth character movements on the screen, the bullets flying everywhere, and the particle effects of the explosions.

This isn't a game; it's practically an animated film!

In an era when people were still playing Pac-Man and Space Invaders, games were often confined to a single screen. Contra, however, was different. It replaced Super Mario as the first game with a movable scrolling background, allowing players to smoothly move from one scene to another.

The side-scrolling shooting thrill, the interactive two-player co-op, and the visuals reminiscent of Hollywood blockbusters in Contra are simply a game-changer.

Lu Chen cleared the first level and calmly switched to a different cartridge.

The screen went black, followed by a desolate and tragic piece of music.

Metal Max.

Unlike the sword and magic fantasy style that was popular at the time, this game is set in the post-apocalyptic era of the legendary "Great Destruction".

Human civilization collapsed, and the world became a wasteland. Everywhere there were mutated creatures and rampaging machines.

In this world, there are no heroes, and no demon kings.

Only tanks and bounty hunters.

Lu Chen controls the protagonist, a boy who has been kicked out of his home by his father, and finds the first red chariot in a cave.

"How does it work?" Zeng Jianqiao, who had come along for the visit, asked curiously, "Driving tanks to fight monsters?"

"This is called Metal Max," Lu Chen explained while demonstrating. "It's an RPG (role-playing game) with no fixed path to completion. You can fight monsters on wanted posters to earn money, dig for treasure in ruins, or even do nothing at all and just drink in a bar."

"Most importantly..."

Lu Chen opened the menu interface and displayed the system that drove countless boys crazy—the vehicle modification system.

Main gun, secondary gun, SE (Special Equipment), engine, C-device, chassis... every component can be freely replaced and upgraded. You can turn a beat-up jeep into a mobile fortress loaded with missiles, or paint a heavy tank pink.

"A dual-system combat system of man and vehicle, a bounty hunter mode, and the desolate feeling of a post-apocalyptic wasteland." Lu Chen put down the controller and looked at Zeng Jianqiao, who was dumbfounded and whose eyes were shining. "This is called 'a man's romance'."

"Boss..." The manager swallowed hard. "This game... is too ahead of its time. With such a high degree of freedom, won't players be unsure what to do?"

"What we want to do is revolutionize the times, letting children explore and discover for themselves." Lu Chen stood up, his eyes resolute. "With the Kirin-1 chip, plus the masterpieces 'Contra' and 'Metal Max,' I want the 'Jiahe JF Machine' to be on every child's wish list before Christmas this year."

The reason for rushing before Christmas was to better target Atari. Lu Chen clearly remembered that Christmas 1982 was the infamous Atari crash. Lu Chen wanted to step on Atari's corpse and give all children a perfect gaming dream!

"Regarding pricing, we'll sell the machines cheaper; we'll make money by selling cartridges."

This is the famous "razor and blades" business model.

"Yes, sir! Mission accomplished!"

……

After finishing the commercial layout on the ground, Lu Chen did not stop.

Night falls.

A speedboat without any markings cut through the waves and headed towards an outlying island in the southwest of Hong Kong Island.

This is a desolate, uninhabited area, not marked on any map. But in reality, it has been secretly leased by DOA and transformed into a training base codenamed "Purgatory."

The sea breeze howls, and the waves crash against the rocks.

Lu Chen, accompanied by his fourth brother (Rum), boarded the pier.

The island was heavily guarded, with barbed wire and searchlights everywhere. In the distance, the firing range echoed with the crackling of gunfire, while nearby, in a mud pit, dozens of shirtless recruits were undergoing brutal physical training.

"Boss, the first phase of the base is complete," Fourth Brother reported. "It can now accommodate 300 people for training at the same time. In addition to the regular shooting, hand-to-hand combat, and CQB (close-quarters combat), we have also added demolition, diving, and driving courses."

Lu Chen nodded, and after inspecting the area, he led his fourth brother to the underground command center.

This is the intelligence hub of the "distillery".

The huge wall was covered with photos and relationship diagrams, and several intelligence analysts were working hard to process information from all over the world.

"How's the Wind Catchers team doing?" Lu Chen sat down and lit a cigarette.

Upon hearing this question, Fourth Brother looked somewhat embarrassed.

"We're still training... but the results are still not ideal," Fourth Brother confessed honestly.

The problem was exposed last time when we were tracking the Viper Gang. Although the brothers from the distillery are skilled and daring, they are still too rough when it comes to delicate tasks such as tracking, counter-surveillance, and disguise.

"That Ishii Oren can smell the murderous aura emanating from us brothers even from two streets away. That's a fatal flaw," Lu Chen exhaled a smoke ring. "These new recruits at the distillery are all retired soldiers, used to straightforward, hard-fought battles. Asking a bunch of fierce warriors to do delicate work is indeed asking too much of them. However, intelligence work is the eyes and ears of the distillery. If our eyes are blind and our ears are deaf, no matter how strong we are, we're just fighting like blind men."

Lu Chen pondered for a moment, then tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

"Recruit people," Lu Chen ordered. "Fourth Brother, you handle it personally."

"I'm looking for a true master of tracking, an expert who can blend into the air and become a shadow."

"No matter how much it costs, we must recruit an instructor. Tell him that as long as he can train the 'Windcatchers,' I will give him a salary he could never earn in a lifetime of work."

"In addition," Lu Chen added, "the equipment also needs to be upgraded. Eavesdropping devices, pinhole cameras, long-range directional microphones... We'll throw money at it. I want to make 'Windcatcher' the most professional ghost unit in all of Asia."

"Understood, boss!" Fourth Brother nodded and noted it down. "I'll contact a few old contacts tomorrow."

Lu Chen stood up and looked at the world map on the wall.

The Golden Harvest Center is rising from the ground, JF game consoles are about to sweep the globe, and an invisible intelligence network is quietly being woven in the darkness.