The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

The air in the basement seemed to freeze.

The young intern analyst named Li was clinging tightly to the document about "national security," blocking the signing table.

Like Don Quixote.

His glasses were fogged up, and his chest heaved violently.

"This is an instruction set architecture! It's the brain of the chip!"

Li's voice became shrill due to nervousness.

He pointed to the row of dilapidated servers behind Jim.

"Without this, all the software is useless code! If we sell it to a Chinese company, what if they use it to make missile navigation systems..."

"puff."

A snicker broke the tense atmosphere of patriotism.

Lin Che smiled.

He laughed so hard he almost fell over, nearly dropping his sunglasses.

"missile?"

Lin Che pointed to his own nose.

"Do I look like someone who builds missiles?"

"It doesn't look like it."

Li was taken aback for a moment, then answered honestly.

The man in front of me, dressed in an expensive suit and reeking of alcohol and money, certainly looked more like a gambler who had lost everything in Las Vegas.

"That's right."

Lin Che's smile faded.

He slammed his unreleased phone, which contained the latest physics engine demo from Weiguang Interactive Entertainment, onto the table with a loud "thud."

The screen lights up.

The visuals were extremely stunning.

Those are internal test footage of the VR version of "The Wandering Earth".

A massive space station is disintegrating, with countless fragments flying through space, each piece following a trajectory that conforms to the strict laws of physics.

The lighting and shadow effects were rendered to perfection.

"This is the 'missile' I'm going to build."

Lin Che pointed to the space station on the screen that was exploding.

"To make this pile of virtual junk explode more realistically, and to prevent these millions of fragments from lagging, commercially available chips simply can't handle it!"

"Intel is too expensive."

"ARM's licensing fees are too high, and they also charge me royalties for each device."

Lin Che turned his head and looked at Jim.

"I heard that this thing you guys call Open-V is free? And you can modify it however you want?"

Jim rolled his eyes.

As a top architect, he felt that this explanation was an insult to technology.

But all for that black card with unlimited credit.

He endured.

"Theoretically, yes," Jim replied coldly. "RISC-V is modular; you can cut out all the unnecessary instructions just to run this one... damn game."

"Did you hear that?"

Lin Che spread his hands and looked at the analyst.

It's like watching someone with an intellectual disability.

"I'm a businessman. I bought this dilapidated lab to save money and avoid paying protection money to those greedy chip giants."

"As for national security..."

Lin Che walked up to Li.

He reached out and helped the young man straighten his crooked tie.

The movements are gentle.

But his eyes were full of mockery.

"Kid, have you been watching too many Hollywood movies? Threatening the Pentagon with open-source code meant for playing games? Believe me, CNN will be making you a laughing stock on their front page tomorrow!"

Li's face turned a deep purplish-red.

This humiliation is worse than being slapped.

"But...but what if this fundamental technology is lost..."

"That's enough!"

A loud shout interrupted him.

Thomas finally snapped.

He charged forward like a mad dog whose food had been stolen, and shoved Li aside.

"You're fired!"

Thomas roared, spitting all over Li's face.

"Get out of my company now! Right now!"

"You arrogant intern! What do you know about business? What do you know about strategy? Mr. Lin is our savior! He's helping us deal with our bad assets!"

"Open-V is open source! It's available for download everywhere online! Are you trying to tell me that every download link on GitHub endangers US security?"

Thomas's logic is impeccable.

At least for this moment.

Faced with the temptation of thirty million US dollars, he could even sell the Statue of Liberty and justify it by saying "it's to promote international cultural exchange."

"Thomas, you're committing a crime..."

"security guard!"

Thomas didn't give him a chance to speak at all.

Two uniformed Black security guards rushed in.

"Throw him out."

Thomas pointed to the doorway.

"Don't let him show up here again. Also, confiscate his access card and check if he has stolen any company assets."

Li was lifted up.

He was struggling.

The soles of the shoes made a screeching sound as they rubbed against the cement floor.

"You'll regret this! This is a key! You gave the key to that..."

boom.

The basement door slammed shut.

All the noise stopped abruptly.

The world is quiet now.

Thomas, panting heavily, straightened his disheveled clothes.

Then, she put on a fawning smile and turned to face Lin Che.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lin."

Thomas wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Young people today are full of Cold War mentality. They don't understand what globalization is, let alone what... win-win cooperation is."

"yes."

Lin Che nodded thoughtfully.

He looked at the tightly closed door.

A barely perceptible hint of admiration flashed deep in his eyes.

That young man named Li is a talented person.

pity.

Born into the wrong camp.

If you were born ten years later or ten years earlier, I might hire you as my risk control director with a high salary.

But now.

You are my stumbling block.

"I don't like trouble."

Lin Che sat back in the creaking swivel chair and crossed his legs.

"If CFIUS really comes looking for trouble..."

"Absolutely not!"

Thomas patted his chest and assured him.

"Open-V is an asset under a non-profit foundation, belonging to all of humanity. Moreover, we list it as the 'Game Engine Development Department' on our reports. When the reviewers see such a loss-making project, they will only laugh at you... oh no, they will only think it's a regular business acquisition."

"That would be best."

Lin Che snorted.

He picked up the Montblanc pen again.

This time.

Without any hesitation.

The pen tip glides across the paper.

Lin Che.

That's his name.

This is also the signature that is about to rewrite history.

Jim stood to the side, looking at the signature.

The old man's eyes were complicated.

As a pure technologist, he instinctively loathed such a money-grubbing deal. But as an architect who had been suppressed by Intel and ARM for half his life, he desperately craved that promise of "no upper limit."

"alright."

Lin Che closed the folder.

He tossed it to Xie Yu, the bodyguard behind him.

"The money will arrive within 24 hours."

"As for you..."

Lin Che stood up and his gaze swept across the faces of each programmer.

Finally, it stopped on Jim.

"Pack your things."

"This place stinks; it's not worthy of my game."

"I've already had someone rent an entire floor of office space in Palo Alto, the place Facebook just vacated. It has floor-to-ceiling windows, free snacks, and..."

Lin Che paused for a moment.

He revealed a cynical smile.

"It also has the world's fastest supercomputing interface."

Jim's eyes suddenly lit up.

Supercomputing.

That's the lifeblood of chip fabrication.

"Are you...are you serious?" Jim's voice trembled slightly.

"I never joke."

Lin Che put on sunglasses.

It obscured the cold glint in his eyes that truly belonged to a predator.

"As long as you can get that architecture right for me, even if it's just for making coffee, I'll provide you with a nuclear reactor."

……

Ten minutes later.

The black Cadillac convoy drove away from the dilapidated industrial park.

inside the car.

Soundproof glass completely shuts out the noise from the outside world.

Lin Che leaned back in the leather seat with his eyes closed.

The arrogance, haughtiness, and cynicism he displayed vanished like a tide the moment the car door closed.

All that remained was extreme exhaustion.

And calm.

"Boss."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Xie Yu turned around, clutching the newly signed contract tightly in his hand.

My palms were sweaty.

"That's... all done?"

Xie Yu felt like he was dreaming.

That's a RISC-V.

It was a strategic high ground that the boss had repeatedly emphasized before he came, a place that he had to take, even at any cost.

result.

Did you just buy it like buying cabbage?

And it even comes with a top-notch team?

"All done?"

Lin Che did not open his eyes.

A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

"Xie Yu, this is just an admission ticket."

"That analyst was right. This is a key."

"Once those old men at CFIUS realize that Huawei is being besieged, and that RISC-V is the only way out..."

Lin Che suddenly opened his eyes.

Looking out the window at the rapidly receding Silicon Valley streetscape.

"They'll pounce on us like mad dogs."

"Tearing up contracts, detaining personnel, and even..."

Lin Che paused for a moment.

His fingers tapped the armrest unconsciously.

"Even causing car accidents."

Xie Yu shivered.

"So what do we do? Should we arrange for Jim and the others to return to China now?"

"no."

Lin Che resolutely refused.

"The commotion is too great right now. If this group of people shows up at the airport, customs will immediately detain them."

"Keep them in the United States."

"This is what happens when you're in the dark."

"The most dangerous place is the safest place."

"Let them make Chinese chips for us right here in Silicon Valley, right under the noses of Google and Apple, using American electricity and American internet."

This is the ultimate way to get freebies.

Use the enemy's resources to sharpen your own blade.

"What about Thomas?" Xie Yu asked.

"Give him money."

Lin Che's voice was as cold as ice.

"Not only should we give, we should give more."

"Let him think he's gotten a great deal, let him take the bullets for us. As long as he's in front, all the firepower will be focused on this greedy American."

"If anyone investigates, let them talk, make a scene, and prove that this is just a business game."

"remember."

Lin Che looked at Xie Yu.

His eyes were sharp as knives.

"Before May 15th, before that list is released."

"We're just a bunch of spendthrift kids who only know how to play games."

Even if the sky falls down.

"You have to keep acting."

The car entered the highway.

far away.

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was partially obscured by the fog.

Like a steel behemoth heading towards the future.

Lin Che took out his phone.

time is limited.

But the seed has already been planted.

Wait until the storm arrives.

This seed, ridiculed by everyone, will grow into a unique, towering tree.

To provide a safe haven for that country that is suffering from storms, free from lockdown.

"Next stop."

Lin Che put away his phone.

"Go and meet with that vice president of ARM."

"Since we bought the engine..."

"We need to buy a few more blueprints, just to make it look like we're doing something else."