abnabooks Chapter 145
Chapter 145
Chapter 145: An Irreparable Blow!Meanwhile, in Her Office
Su Xiaoxiao closely followed the situation. Zhou Hongyi was attending the IPO celebration. The bigger his name, the better for her.
“This Penguin Bodyguard is a real bomb.”
“Penguin can’t break through this, can it?”
Seeing Penguin’s restricted features, Su realized 370 had become a formidable rival. That was good news for her. With only seven days until the celebration, she planned to invite media coverage to boost Xiaoxiao Beauty’s influence.
Later That Afternoon
Li Mo arrived at the company. An anxious Ma Tengyun rushed over.
“Mr. Mo, you’re finally here! I’m dying here!”
“Our red and yellow diamond revenues are plummeting!”
“This Penguin Bodyguard is ruthless!”
Ma felt it was unbeatable. It force-installed 370’s chat software, browser, and other products…leaving nothing untouched. Once installed, Penguin had no room to operate.
At this rate, Penguin’s future looked grim. Even if he tried to stay calm, Ma couldn’t.
“Tengyun, did you forget what I told you?”
“I remember, but you also said Penguin is our foundation. If we lose that, our future is in jeopardy.”
“I just can’t stay calm.”
In the meeting room, Zhang Zhidong and others were already waiting. Lei Xiaojun was away handling the Xiaomi phone team. Qiu Bojun had come specifically to meet Li Mo.
“Mr. Mo…”
“I’m truly ashamed. Our tech team has been trying to break Penguin Bodyguard’s blockade, but at this pace, we need at least fifteen days. By then, Penguin will be severely damaged.”
Qiu Bojun felt increasingly embarrassed. Despite being hailed as the nation’s top programmer, he couldn’t crack the Bodyguard. It spread like a virus.
Li Mo had to find a solution.
“Don’t worry.”
“Your expertise lies elsewhere. Zhou Hongyi built his empire on rogue software.”
“To be honest, compared to him, other rogue software developers are amateurs.”
“Different specialties…no need to compare.”
Qiu sighed. He knew Li Mo was right. Still, failing to solve the problem made him feel ashamed.
“What should we do?”
“Our users are receiving 370’s Bodyguard promotions. One click installs it.”
“At this rate, 370’s user base will match ours.”
Chen Yidan added, “Exactly. Penguin is facing its most dangerous moment.”
Zeng Liqing slammed the table.
“This is clearly unfair competition! We should sue!”
“Legal action takes time. By the time we get a verdict, Penguin will be crippled. We must save ourselves!”
The Five Tigers were red-faced, shouting. This attack had struck Penguin’s core.
“Enough. Everyone quiet down.”
The room fell silent. All eyes turned to Li Mo. They knew…he would have a solution.
“The situation is indeed bad. Public backlash against us is intense.”
“So it’s understandable that everyone panicked,” Li Mo said calmly. “But as senior executives of a company, the last thing you should do is lose composure. Don’t you realize that?” “This situation may look extremely dangerous…” “But don’t forget what helped us defeat Lianzhong.”
The Five Tigers and Qiu Bojun fell into deep thought.
“We beat Lianzhong because of our user stickiness in instant messaging. That’s our core strength,” Ma Tengyun said.
Li Mo nodded approvingly.
“370’s aggressive user acquisition may seem fast, but the users they gain are no different from Lianzhong’s.”
“So we only need one move…to strike at the root.”
Everyone fell silent, waiting for Li Mo to continue.
“Qiu Bojun, stop trying to crack Penguin Bodyguard. We don’t need it.”
“Instead, add a feature to the Penguin client that prevents it from launching if 370 is installed on the computer.”
“And make sure 370 can’t bypass it. Can you do that?”
Qiu Bojun immediately promised it would be foolproof.
“From now on, a computer can’t have both Penguin and 370. If one is installed, the other won’t work.”
“We’ll force users to choose. In just seven days, 370 will suffer an irreparable blow!”
Ma Tengyun slapped the table in excitement.
“Exactly! Our Penguin services are all interconnected. They’re essential to users. But 370’s core is antivirus…if users must choose, 370 will lose badly. This time, they’ll learn what it means to shoot themselves in the foot!”
“They tried to dig up our roots…now we’ll dig up theirs. By the time the legal process catches up, they’ll already be finished!”
Zhang Zhidong added enthusiastically, “After this, no one will dare use rogue tactics against Penguin again!”
Soon, Penguin issued a public announcement that shocked the entire internet. CEOs across the tech industry were stunned.
Penguin’s move was a brutal ultimatum: either Penguin or 370…only one could survive.
It was ruthless.
Seven days passed in a flash.
At 370 headquarters, Zhou Hongyi sat slumped in his chair. The user loss was staggering. Nearly 99% of users had chosen Penguin.
370 suffered catastrophic damage.
Its valuation plummeted from 6 billion to under 1 billion.
Many investors who had considered backing 370 now backed away.
“Call Ma Tengyun. We’re willing to issue a public apology and compensate Penguin for the damages. We’re not qualified to continue this 3Q war…”
The once-dominant figure in the antivirus industry had been crushed by Penguin, stripped of all pride.
The appointed day arrived quickly.
Su Xiaoxiao dressed in full glamour and headed to Nanjiang Scenic View. It was the grandest day of her life…her personal pinnacle.
Countless social elites, corporate executives, and government officials were expected to attend the Xiaoxiao Beauty investment gala.
Her Ferrari drew countless stares as it sped through the city.
When Su Xiaoxiao arrived at Nanjiang Scenic View, the company’s top executives were already there. They had come early…this celebration was massive and directly tied to their market valuation. Everyone had to be present.
Outside, reporters who had arrived early were buzzing with anticipation. Rumor had it that a mysterious internet tycoon would attend…his website boasted over 200 million users.
None of them wanted to miss this golden opportunity for traffic.
When Su Xiaoxiao arrived, some reporters were stunned. They had been assigned to help promote Xiaoxiao Beauty…but they hadn’t expected Su Xiaoxiao to be so stunningly beautiful.