This attack by DreamForge came somewhat unexpectedly.
Xu Meng's coronation battle as the "Digital Emperor" lasted only a day.
After collapsing seven major companies (actually eight, though the outside world wasn't aware that an organization with ties to the CIA had also been wiped out by DreamForge), Xu Meng didn't push for complete annihilation.
Instead, after ensuring that all participants had suffered enough consequences, paying a heavy price in economic losses and brand reputation, he stopped the attack without a word.
— Xu Meng needed to retaliate and establish authority, letting his opponents know that DreamForge was not to be trifled with.
In this regard, he had plenty of experience:
Back then, he played the "fake employee burning" card, which significantly reduced the online attacks against DreamForge and "Project Frost Snow."
The strong counterattack that led to the closure and bankruptcy of Miao Wang Games, Luzhu Games, and Kashima Games also meant that there were almost no game companies in China that dared to use underhanded tactics against DreamForge.
So, Xu Meng was very clear: being nice and reasonable wouldn't solve the problem.
When encountering unreasonable opponents, you had to be even more unreasonable than them!
Only when they were hurt badly enough would they remember the lesson.
Therefore, he ignored pleas for leniency and compensation, using iron-fisted tactics to thoroughly cleanse all opponents.
Afterward, in the spirit of the internet, he even helped Yitai Network, the most stubborn of the bunch, who threatened to sue DreamForge and make them pay huge compensation, by editing their encyclopedia page—
He freely uploaded their core technical data on artificial intelligence and embodied robots from their database to the world's largest online encyclopedia.
The spirit of the internet lies in sharing!
Following this, he anonymously disseminated a large number of secret documents regarding the CIA's cyberattacks and infiltration of multiple countries and large enterprises around the world onto the global internet.
Adding another topic of discussion for global media and netizens.
… …
After that, Xu Meng stopped.
After all, he didn't want to be the enemy of the world.
Now is the era of the internet. The world can accept a powerful internet company, and it can also accept a super genius in the field of computer science.
But it cannot accept a true "Digital Emperor."
If someone is very similar, it definitely cannot be a "tyrant."
Because a "Digital Tyrant" is the same as an "Internet Terrorist."
A "Digital Terrorist" who could launch terrorist attacks in the internet world at any time, incinerating countless precious data, and causing billions in losses with a wave of their hand, is a hundred times more terrifying than real-world terrorists using assault rifles and car bombs!
If Xu Meng refused to stop, the global media and netizens' mood of "watching the fun" and "seeing the spectacle" would quickly turn into unease and fear.
The security costs of global internet and technology companies would skyrocket.
— In fact, such a trend has already emerged.
The companies that had been crushed by Xu Meng once before had already begun to urgently expand their security teams and upgrade their security measures.
This image was not what Xu Meng wanted.
So, he stopped at the right time, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.
As a result, the matter remained at the level of "defense and counterattack" and did not escalate further.
Regardless of what other companies and media thought, at least in the minds of global netizens and players, there was only admiration and respect for DreamForge, without raising any feelings of vigilance or worry.
… …
They didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they were sure that DreamForge hadn't reappeared.
But as soon as they relaxed, DreamForge struck again, once again crashing Sony's servers!
The eyes of the world immediately focused!
Sony's leadership was extremely worried!
The several large technology and internet companies that had been crushed by DreamForge before also shuddered.
They immediately stopped all the work at hand, nervously notified the security department to be prepared, and maximized preventive measures to guard against possible attacks from DreamForge.
The media quickly followed up.
Netizens also rushed to Sony's comment section to leave messages:
“Hello~ motherfucker!”
“Hahaha, DreamForge is here again! Surprise! Unexpected!”
“Hahaha, I knew this wasn't over! Xu Meng hasn't even made a statement yet, who told you it was over?!”
“You can choose when the war starts, but the right to end it is in DreamForge's hands!”
“I declare: Sony is finished!”
“Yeah, the server crashes at every turn, and you get rolled back or even lose your save files from time to time. Who would dare to play your games?”
“Xu Meng is too brutal! I like it!”
… …
A surge of traffic swept in.
But the entire Sony Interactive Entertainment was just silent.
No announcements were made to explain the situation, and no one questioned the security department—whether there were backdoors left by DreamForge in the servers or office equipment.
They just silently carried out the established plan for defense, waiting to clean up the mess after things were over.
—Their bodies were still resisting, but their minds had already given up.
Amidst the netizens' revelry, the media's attention, Sony's silence, and the vigilance of other companies, time passed little by little.
Except for the US stock investors and financial practitioners reacting and the three major stock exchanges plummeting at the same time, nothing new happened.
DreamForge didn't make any further moves.
So, the tension pervading the internet slowly faded.
Everyone then realized—
This time, the English letters on Sony's official website were no longer blood red, but had turned into a peaceful blue.
The latest novels are first published on 69shu!
There was no longer the murderous feeling of before, but rather a hint of ease and ridicule.
Players were the first to react:
“GG? Isn't that what you say when the game is over?”
“So… Xu Meng means he's had enough and it's over?”
“Laughing to death, in games, they say 'good game', but Sony has been beaten badly all along, does this count as a good game?”
“It's sarcasm! You see it all the time in games, what, haven't you seen it before?”
“Poor Sony, being ridiculed and having to thank DreamForge for showing mercy! Hahaha!”
… …
The netizens' words were harsh.
But everyone at Sony Interactive Entertainment, from top to bottom, did breathe a sigh of relief.
“It's finally over.”
—These words appeared in their minds at the same time.
The other seven companies and institutions that were facing a formidable enemy also breathed a sigh of relief, and their hearts, which had been hanging for several days, finally returned to their stomachs.
In this week, they had upgraded their security measures by a large margin, and the cost of investment had increased several times.
But even so, they didn't have the confidence to stop DreamForge's attack.
Now that they didn't have to fight another battle, it was naturally the best.
Financial investors who had suffered a week of stock market crashes due to the stock market collapse also calmed their terrified hearts.
However, the view of the stock market was still mostly bearish.
But the stock market problem was irrelevant to ordinary netizens and players.
DreamForge's cessation marked the official end of this catastrophic "Bit Storm."
Everyone, companies, and organizations affected by this storm could finally calm down and deal with the fierce aftershocks.
Upgrading defenses, calculating losses, communicating with customers, punishing relevant responsible persons, dealing with technical leaks, stabilizing stock prices, and…
Finding DreamForge to buy indulgences!
So many things made everyone overwhelmed and working overtime all night.
—Especially the matter of finding DreamForge to buy “indulgences” was the top priority.
They were very clear: although Xu Meng had stopped, he hadn't "forgiven" them.
The "hostile" situation between the two sides had not changed.
In the internet age, being enemies with a "Digital Emperor"?
Who could withstand that?!
Not to mention that this "Digital Emperor" was also famously petty!
If they didn't turn hostility into friendship, not to mention that they would always be worried, shareholders and the board of directors wouldn't be at ease.
If the shareholders and the board of directors weren't at ease, the company's stock price wouldn't be stable. In the long run, the company's losses in the securities market would be more serious than the server downtime!
So, they had to reconcile!
These indulgences, whether DreamForge was willing to sell them or not, they were determined to buy them!
One cooperation agreement after another with extremely generous terms was transmitted to DreamForge's email.
The senior executives of the seven major companies that had been hung up and whipped by DreamForge also took a plane to Ningzhou with the board of directors' death order to "turn enemies into friends" and with the firm determination to "make friends."
DreamForge's international affairs department became visibly busy.
But Xu Meng had already withdrawn from this matter and went to work on the [Hunting Ground Development Team] activity for 【Eternal Hunting Ground】.
He only left a brief guiding opinion for these companies that came to seek cooperation:
“Don't be too polite to these bandits!”
