Entertainment: A whirlwind marriage with a fairy-like mother at the start!

The car drove away from the bustling city center and turned into a somewhat dilapidated industrial park.

There's graffiti and abandoned shipping containers everywhere.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a huge red brick warehouse.

The roller shutter door was half-drawn, and a faint blue light shone through.

Before even entering the door, you could hear a heated argument coming from inside.

It's all in English.

It contains a large number of F-words and technical terms.

"This simply won't work! Without sufficient computing power, these particle collision effects simply cannot be rendered!"

"Shut up, David! We're waiting for investors! Once the money arrives, you can have as much computing power as you want!"

Yu Le got out of the car and straightened his collar.

"Let's go in and see these geniuses."

Li Zhaohua quickly ran over and pulled up the roller shutter.

The scene inside the warehouse was laid out before us.

chaos.

This was Yu Le's first impression.

The space, spanning several hundred square meters, was filled with tangled electrical wires, resembling a spider's web.

The dozen or so disassembled mainframes hummed and emitted heat.

The ground was littered with empty pizza boxes and Coke cans.

In the middle, around several tables, five white men were arguing heatedly in front of several monitors.

The argument stopped abruptly when someone entered.

All eyes turned to the doorway.

The Asian man in the casual suit and sunglasses.

And the burly man in black behind him who looked like the Terminator.

"plum?"

A fat man with a thick beard and a ponytail walked over, eyeing Yu Le warily.

"Is this the... Chinese boss you were talking about?"

Mark's tone was tinged with undisguised skepticism.

too young.

And they look too... relaxed.

He doesn't seem like a techie or a shrewd investor at all; he seems more like a rich kid on vacation.

Yu Le took off his sunglasses and casually hung them on his collar.

He ignored Mark's question and walked into the geeky space on his own.

His gaze swept across the screens.

Some are running code, while others are rendering models.

It must be said that although the environment was simple, these people's stuff was indeed quite sophisticated.

The fluid simulation on the screen is far superior to the current level in China.

"That's right, I am the Chinese boss he was talking about."

Yu Le turned around and looked at Mark.

"I heard you're short of money?"

Mark snorted and crossed his arms.

"We are short of money, but what we need is cooperation and investment, not acquisition. Moreover, if you don't understand what we are doing, we'd rather not have this money."

A classic case of being stubborn and refusing to admit defeat.

Yu Le smiled but didn't say anything.

His gaze passed over Mark and landed on a monitor in the corner.

There sat a thin young man wearing thick-rimmed glasses, staring intently at the screen, seemingly oblivious to everything around him.

On the screen is a blue facial model.

It's not just simple 3D modeling.

The surface was densely covered with green capture points.

As the mouse is dragged, the facial muscles of the model are undergoing extremely subtle movements.

That kind of movement isn't a rigid stretching of the texture.

Instead, it is based on real physical feedback from the direction of bones and muscles.

Yu Le's heart skipped a beat.

This thing...

Why does it look so familiar?

Isn't this the prototype of the facial capture technology that Cameron later used when making Avatar?

Although it looks quite rough now, even a bit primitive.

But the underlying logic is absolutely correct.

Yu Le squinted and walked over quickly.

Luo Xiang followed closely behind.

"What is this?"

Yu Le, standing behind the young man, suddenly spoke up.

The young man was startled.

He turned around and looked at Yu Le with a blank expression.

"Uh... this is... this is a facial expression capture system that I just came up with myself."

The young man stuttered slightly, clearly not good at speaking.

"I was thinking... could we avoid using traditional markers and instead use algorithms to directly capture the micro-expressions on the actors' faces and then map them onto the virtual model in real time?"

Mark walked over, frowning.

"That's Kevin. He's always doing these unrealistic things."

"unrealistic?"

Yu Le pondered these words, her gaze never leaving the slightly twitching face on the screen.

He reached out and pressed Enter twice on the keyboard.

The model on the screen contracted its eye muscles slightly in response to the instruction.

It's very rough.

The latency is very high.

But this was indeed the prototype of motion capture technology, a ticket to Pandora.

"I just like the unrealistic."

Yu Le straightened up and patted the back of Kevin's chair.

Kevin shrank his neck and looked at Mark for help.

Mark stepped forward, blocking Kevin's path; his fat jiggled with the movement.

"Mr. Yu, we respect your wealth, but art and technology cannot be acquired simply by throwing money at them..."

Five million US dollars.

Yu Le stretched out a hand, fingers spread, interrupting Mark's spellcasting.

The air suddenly became quiet.

Only the host fan was still humming tirelessly.

Mark's unfinished sentence, "It can be solved," was abruptly stuck in his throat, making a strange "clunking" sound.

"Five...five million US dollars?"

Mark swallowed hard, and the determination in his eyes began to waver—an instinctive tremor of idealism under the onslaught of money.

Yu Le casually pulled over a folding chair, not caring that it was dirty, and sat down with an air of nonchalance.

"The initial investment of five million US dollars will be used to upgrade equipment and pay off your debts."

"I will offer top-tier salaries to everyone here."

"In addition, I will allocate an additional ten million US dollars in special research and development funds specifically for this person..."

Yu Le pointed to Kevin, who was huddled in the back.

"To provide for Mr. Kevin's tinkering with his 'impractical' facial capture systems."

Mark's cheeks twitched visibly three times.

His eyes, which were originally filled with the aloofness of a "tech geek," were now completely filled with the glint of US dollars.

The arms that were originally crossed in front of her chest have unknowingly fallen to her sides.

"Mr. Yu, are you sure... you're not joking?"

Mark took a half step forward, his foot landing on an empty Coke can with a grating creak.

He disregarded his dignity and stared intently at Yu Le.

Yu Le crossed his legs and tapped his fingers on his knees.

"Look at what I'm wearing, I flew for over ten hours just to come here and listen to you guys argue?"

Luo Xiang pulled out several documents from his black briefcase and neatly stacked them on the oil-stained table.

The movements were mechanical and precise, exuding a chilling aura that threatened to seize the warehouse along with its inhabitants and the land.

"This is a preliminary letter of intent to acquire the company."

When Luo Xiang spoke, every word sounded as if it had been pulled out of a freezer.

"In addition to the five million initial payment and the ten million special fund that the boss just mentioned."

"Each of you will receive two percent of the stock options in the Light and Shadow Labs."

"This means that if the company goes public or is acquired at a high price in the future, you will have a ticket to Beverly Hills."

A heavy breathing sounded from inside the warehouse.

David put down the circuit board he was holding.

Kevin peeked out from behind the monitor, his eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and ecstasy behind his glasses.

"Options?"

Mark swallowed hard and turned to look at his companions.

These tech guys, even though their heads are full of algorithms, they also know that 2% is only a small fraction of the value.

Especially in the hands of a tycoon who dares to casually throw out fifteen million US dollars.

"Of course, there's no such thing as a free lunch."

Luo Xiang tapped his finger on the last page of the contract.

"Once you sign this contract, your careers for the next ten years will belong to Saltyfish Entertainment."

"Including all the patents, algorithms, and even the ideas that are not yet formed in your minds that you are currently developing."

"If we breach the contract..."

Luo Xiang paused for a moment, then gave an extremely professional smile.

"I will make you pay the price."

Mark shrank back.

Looking at Luo Xiang, he had a feeling that the lawyer would pull out a chainsaw from his suit at any moment.

"We need to discuss this."