What It's Like Being a Vampire

Chapter 478: Explosive (Part 2)

Since the public testing of “Genesis of Voice” began, the hype on the internet has been steadily increasing.

There has been a wave of various discussion topics on various platforms, and due to the popularity of the game in the live streaming world, though the number of players who have actually played the game is not large, the number of internet users who know about the game and have “cloud experienced” it through following live streams or videos is increasing.

Pretty much all the internet users who have watched related livestreams or videos have a strong interest in the game.

Among these internet users, many people with diverse technical and financial backgrounds are shifting their attention from the game to various related topics, unveiling many more of their interest points.

So, on the Zhihu platform, the hot questions related to the game have moved away from “What is your assessment of the game ‘Genesis of Voice’”, “What is your take on the game AI of ‘Genesis of Voice’”, “What is your assessment of streamer XX’s performance of ‘Genesis of Voice’ on date XX” and “What is your assessment of the storyline of ‘Genesis of Voice’ played by XX” to:

“What is the background of ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’, the makers of ‘Genesis of Voice’, and how were they able to create such a distinctive voice game?”, “What powerful technology does ‘Genesis of Voice’ showcase?”, “How does the user’s voice input affect the storyline in ‘Genesis of Voice’?”, “What is your evaluation of Zhang Qian, the beautiful CEO of ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’?” and other similar questions.

At this moment, Xia Tianhuo, half-lying on the sofa and scrolling through his phone, is reading through the highest-rated answers to these questions.

“Thanks for the invitation.

In accordance with the rules of Zhihu, we need to ask ‘is it?’ before we ask ‘why?’

First of all, ‘Genesis of Voice’ is not developed by ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’. ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’ is just the operator and publisher of the game. The real developers of the game are ‘Qiankun Technology Co., Ltd.’

Furthermore, both ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’ and ‘Qiankun Technology’ were founded in 2020 and in the same month.

Clearly, there is a deep connection between these two companies.

Now, looking at the equity relationship, these two companies… indeed have a deep relationship.

From the chart above, it’s clear that the largest shareholder of ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’ is Zhang Qian with 60%, the second largest shareholder being ‘Qiankun Technology’ with 15%. The third is Liu Chuang with 10%, and the remaining 15% is held by multiple other people.

The largest shareholder of ‘Qiankun Technology’ is Tang Baona, holding 70%. The second is Zhang Qian and the third is Liu Chuang. The remaining shares are held by others who also appear on the shareholder list of ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’.

Zhang Qian is also the legal representative and shareholder of two other companies, both of which are associated with Zhang Corporation. Judging from known information, Zhang Qian should be the granddaughter of Zhang Hongpu, the chairman of Zhang Corporation, who just returned from studying in the United Kingdom last year.

As for Tang Baona from ‘Qiankun Technology’, there is no public information related to her holding a stake in any other company.

Obviously, both companies were created by the same group of interconnected people for the sake of the game ‘Genesis of Voice’. Zhang Qian’s ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’ primarily manages the game’s operations and distribution, while Tang Baona’s ‘Qiankun Technology’ leads the development of the game.

It’s worth noting that both companies are effectively controlled by women. Their unique perspectives may be one of the reasons why ‘Genesis of Voice’ is so distinctive.

Another strange thing is that ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’ is registered in Pengcheng City. This is normal as it is a city where high-tech enterprises and talents converge.

However, ‘Qiankun Technology’, the company responsible for the game development, is registered in Tongshi Town, Jianzhou City, Haixi Province. This is odd. Why would an internet and technology company be there?

Recently, Tongshi Town in Haixi Province became known on the internet due to a viral rabbit meat restaurant.

It’s said that Tongshi Town is preparing to be turned into a tourist city featuring specialty foods.

Could it be that the people at ‘Qiankun Technology’ have a particular fondness for the local cuisine there?

…”

Underneath this answer, there was another highly rated one that proposed a new point of view.

“The game ‘Genesis of Voice’ was developed by ‘Qiankun Technology’, which other users have already mentioned.

However, I noticed that everyone considers Ms. Tang as the core of ‘Qiankun Technology’, but I believe that someone else is actually the main driving force behind this product’s development.

I noticed that the third largest shareholder of both ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’ and ‘Qiankun Technology’ is Liu Chuang, which is the same name as a classmate of mine from when I studied in the United States.

And I’ve confirmed with my old classmate that this Liu Chuang is indeed the person I know.

If so, I lean more towards the belief that the main technical guiding force behind ‘Qiankun Technology’ is him.

During his time in the United States, he had his own startup, which was an internet company. But he later folded it up due to financial constraints and returned to China.

Although his startup failed in the United States, he still has his own technology and connections. I’m not sure what his entrepreneurial project was when he was in the United States, but considering this game now, it’s very likely that he was working on natural language processing and voice recognition products back in the day.

After returning to China, Zhang Qian from Zhang Corporation and the currently unknown Ms. Tang both took interest in his project. With financial support on one hand and technical expertise on the other, they quickly came together to establish ‘Qiankun Technology’ and ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’.

I’m guessing that the reason for splitting into these two companies might have something to do with the capital behind Ms. Zhang and Ms. Tang.”

However, this answer immediately received a retort:

“It’s obvious that the user who claims to be Liu Chuang’s classmate from studying in the United States knows very little about Liu Chuang and lacks understanding about relevant technology.

They don’t know to what extent the voice recognition and language processing technology demonstrated in ‘Genesis of Voice’ has reached. If Liu Chuang’s company in the States had such superior technology, they would not have closed down.

In fact, the company he founded in the United States had nothing to do with these technologies.

If you understand his background and family background, you should also know that for him, as long as there is a mature project with core technology, money would certainly not be a problem.

But I agree with that user’s point of view that Liu Chuang definitely played a big role in the development of this game. Especially since I know why ‘Qiankun Technology’ is located in such an obscure place in Tongshi Town, Haixi Province – I heard Liu Chuang fell in love with a girl who is from Tongshi Town!”

There was another highly rated comment under this answer: “Maybe the real technical guru behind the scenes is the girl Liu Chuang has a crush on, which is why the company had to be located in Tongshi Town. If that’s true, then this game is essentially one grand play directed by three women!”

Upon reading this, Xia Tianhuo found it very strange, because he knew very well that the actual game developer of “Genesis of Voice” is Xiang Kun, and from start to finish, the game was directed by Xiang Kun alone. Tang Baona, Liu Chuang, Zhang Qian and others only played the game and did not contribute technically.

But the strange thing was, in the final equity structure that could be traced, there was not a trace of Xiang Kun, his name didn’t even appear?

Obviously, Tang Baona’s 70% stake in “QianKun Technology” was largely Xiang Kun’s.

Without any other evidence, anyone aware of the matter could tell the connection between “QianKun Technology” and Xiang Kun just from the name.

Why add this layer of confusion? Xiang Kun didn’t want to draw attention?

Was this a habit in their tech circles, or was there another reason?

However, he knew that “QianKun Technology” being registered in Tongshi town had nothing to do with Liu Chuang dating a girl from Tongshi town. It was because Xiang Kun had a restaurant here and had a research project with Old Xia in Chongyun Village, so they arranged it nearby.

He looked at the other questions and answers, many of which praised the technology of “Genesis of Voice” as remarkable and even ahead of the industry by a whole generation.

One response bluntly stated, “You don’t grasp the true purpose of the launch of this game. The actual intent is to sell the whole cow, not just the sheep’s head!”

The actual game is secondary. The real crux is the technologically advanced and even trans-generational technology displayed within the game. That’s what they really want to showcase to the market!”

That’s why although ‘Tengjiao Entertainment’ is in the spotlight and garnering much attention now, the real core is still ‘QianKun Technology’! This company will definitely launch many more related products in the future, and these products may not necessarily be games!”

Moreover, I refuse to believe that these trans-generational, cutting-edge technologies were developed by a company that was just established this year. And surely not by a group of people who were previously unheard of in the industry. This is impossible!”

The big factories still haven’t made a sound, which also proves something!”

I’ll say it here, when more news breaks, there will be shadows of established tech giants behind ‘QianKun Technology’, maybe even more than one. I wouldn’t be surprised if companies like Goose Factory, Dog Factory, Pig Factory, Baidu, and Divine Technology were also involved!”

Xia Tianhuo didn’t care much for these statements or maybe he also didn’t really understand how a game without graphics could have so many amazingly advanced technologies?

But having seen so much, he couldn’t help but wonder, did Bald Guy, who he had seen once, really have such an advanced technical background? Does he actually have several technical teams supporting him from behind?

But why are these teams doing this? It’s not like they are engaged in espionage, so why hide so deep?

At this point, Xia Tianhuo received a new message on WeChat. It was from Old Xia, agreeing to his visit to Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village the next day, and to stay there for a few days.

Xia Tianhuo was relieved, the main reason he came to Haixi Province was to find Old Xia.

After surviving the kidnapping, his family was very concerned about his mental state. According to later investigations, his situation at the time was very dangerous. The kidnappers had decided early on to get rid of him whether or not they received the ransom. The accident on the ship and the sight of so many dead people had understandably shocked him.

So, his family agreed to give him a temporary break to relax, but they restricted him from leaving his residential complex…

Eventually, he managed to convince his parents to let him visit Haixi Province by telling them that he wanted to visit Old Xia and his three uncles and aunts.

In reality, Xia Tianhuo wasn’t as mentally affected as his family feared. Although he had seen dead bodies on the ship, he had seen plenty of death in his years traveling around Africa and Southeast Asia for his company’s business. He had just never told his family about it. Although this situation was a bit unusual, he was only thinking about operating the boat and contacting his company at the time, and didn’t have any other feelings.

But ever since he came back from Burma, there was a mystery he could not unravel. It was what the surviving kidnapper had told him about seeing the “sea monster” with many arms and eyes.

It was after the appearance of the “sea monster” that chaos erupted on the ship. The “sea monster” seemed to possess a peculiar “magic power” that made them submit to the unutterable horror deep inside their hearts, acting out their true fears.

Even if they later realized that the “sea monster” might have been an illusion, the effects were palpable and could be distinctly felt.

In fact, not only the kidnapper, but also Xia Tianhuo, who was locked in the cabin at that time, had a similar sensation.

This feeling was subtle and hard to describe, but when he heard the kidnapper describe what he felt when he saw the “sea monster”, he immediately knew that they had experienced the same thing.

He distinctly felt that the whole ship suddenly became still, as if it were on flat ground, devoid of the slightest ripple. He also heard the clear sound of the ship being gnawed at, along with various creaks and crunches. He recalled past terrifying experiences and felt tremors originating from the depths of his soul, which made him believe the kidnapper’s words even more.

Regardless of the presence of the “sea monster”, the impact certainly existed, and he, too, felt it.

Later, he heard about the “eight-armed eight-eyed giant” that appeared to many people during the unrest in Myitkyina on the evening of March 8th —— the characteristics of the “eight-armed eight-eyed” were exactly the same as the “sea monster” described by the kidnapper.

He had a hunch that there might be a connection between these two events.

But no one, be it the Burmese police, the staff of the embassy, or the domestic officials he met later, could explain it to him.

During his time in Burma, two people claiming to be from domestic media tried to interview him. Still, he knew instantly that they were not reporters, but people who had worked for the government. Without revealing his suspicions, he shared his experiences, hoping they might provide some answers, but alas, they did not.

After returning to China, these questions perpetually lingered in his mind. He knew he might never understand, and the only person who might possibly provide him with answers was Old Xia.

Although she was his younger sister, he had always known that Old Xia was not only intelligent but also had a knack for perceiving the essence of things. Regardless of how peculiar the events were, Old Xia could help him make sense of them. He had an inexplicable faith in her, far greater than his self-confidence.

So, after being kidnapped, without any prearrangement, he dared to let the kidnappers call Old Xia directly for ransom, trusting that Old Xia won’t blow his cover and would help him.

In fact, not only he thought this way, but everyone in the Xia family did. Therefore, when Old Xia surprisingly gave up practicing medicine this year, and went with the then unknown bald guy to start a breeding research base in some remote place, the people in the Xia family just responded with “Ah? Okay.”, a little surprised, but with no opposition.

On the other hand, if it were anyone else, like himself, trying to do something out of the ordinary, they would certainly be rebuked first — treatment vastly different from Old Xia’s, even from the elders, all trust Old Xia’s judgment of people and things.

What’s more, he had always had a vague feeling:

Despite that it seemed Old Xia did not actually do anything to aid his near-miraculous escape from death, but in reality…perhaps Old Xia had done something that he and his aunts and uncles were unaware of.

When he met with Old Xia this time, he wanted to ask her carefully, firstly about the strange events that happened in Burma, and secondly if Old Xia had helped him in some special way?

These things were quite difficult to explain clearly over a phone call or WeChat, so it was better to meet face to face.

The next day, Xia Tianhuo called a car early in the morning to rush towards Tongshi Town. However, he received a message from Old Xia on his way, saying they were going to pick up someone in Jianzhou City and asked him to take the expressway exit, to meet at the airport.

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