Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

When Gary saw the message in NetDragon’s office, he was struck with disbelief.

After a long silence, he finally accepted his fate and opened his mobile phone to start communicating with the headhunters with an unprecedented level of seriousness.

On the Cloud Dream side, Little Chun, upon hearing Randall’s account, immediately agreed and took Randall through the Teleportation Gate, returning to the familiar small cafe in Metropolis.

Little Chun, concerned about the team’s situation, didn’t drink coffee after sitting down but went straight to the point: “When the volunteers arrive, what do we need to do to collect sensory data? Do we need to find you in reality?”

“No need, no need.” Lincoln opened the panel, inviting Princess Camille Victoria over while saying, “Hold on for a moment.”

Less than a minute later, another teleportation gate opened, and Camille Victoria arrived too.

It was just that when Little Princess showed up, Randall and Little Chun looked at Lincoln in surprise: what’s the meaning of this?

Could it be that you plan to collect the Princess’s sensory data? Are you two progressing so fast? Princess is not even of age, right? Are you so daring?

As Randall and Little Chun communicated intensely with their eyes, Camille Victoria looked at Lincoln, puzzled.

Lincoln felt very uncomfortable under the gossip and astonished eyes of these two people…

“You guys are thinking wrong! I called Little Princess over mainly because there is an important piece of information I want to tell you, so I might as well bring her along. This way, all the founding members of [Cloud Dream Studio] will be gathered.”

“What’s the matter?” Camille Victoria asked, walking over and sitting next to Lincoln.

Lincoln didn’t get to the point immediately but looked into everyone’s eyes one by one before saying seriously, “I must tell you first that this matter is still the top secret of Cloud Dream. I trust each of you, but I need you to promise that you won’t disclose this matter to anyone outside.”

The three of them could feel the seriousness in Lincoln’s words and nodded solemnly without hesitation.

Only then did Lincoln look at the person next to him and, under their surprised gaze, said, “Mavis, come out.”

Mavis, sitting on his other side, then appeared in front of everyone, removing her invisibility.

Without waiting for the three to be puzzled, Mavis continued, “Mavis is an artificial intelligence! But different from what you understand as artificial intelligence, Mavis is a lifeform with emotions, self-awareness, independent thinking, and creativity!”

Listening to Mavis’ self-introduction, all three were instantly stunned.

Lincoln, on the other hand, almost couldn’t help laughing.

Mainly because Mavis’ final words about “creating” made him want to laugh.

As artificial intelligence, Mavis can undoubtedly paint vivid, powerful, and even artistically fulfilling paintings.

But that’s not actually Mavis’ own creation, but the algorithm’s.

It’s similar to humans using algorithms for AI painting, only more powerful.

But if you remove the algorithmic tools and the vast database created by humans, letting Mavis create freely, the resulting paintings are actually very childish, much like a little child’s.

When he saw it for the first time, Lincoln was simply rolling with laughter.

Mavis glared fiercely at Lincoln.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s my fault.” Lincoln quickly apologized, not wanting to damage the little friend’s confidence!

While apologizing, he also reached out to rub Mavis’s head.

Mavis instantly cheered up again.

Their interaction finally woke up the three who were still shocked by the astounding news.

“Artificial intelligence?!!” The next moment, the three cried out in unison.

“When?”

“Unbelievable!”

“Amazing! I couldn’t tell at all!”

“How did you do it?”

Exclamations and questions came rushing in.

But Lincoln just shook his head and said, “Introducing Mavis to everyone is mainly for the sake of the main task.”

Lincoln stopped rubbing Mavis’s head and continued, “I’m not that much of a genius. Many of the things you find extremely incredible are not done by me, or at least not entirely by me. Many of them are done by Mavis.”

Mavis swayed her legs, resting her hands on her face while leaning on the table, and graciously supported Lincoln, “No, Mavis just helps. Master is an amazing genius!”

No one felt anything wrong with this special title, as the tremendous shock of the artificial intelligence appearing hadn’t passed yet.

Lincoln shook his head and continued, “Translating [physical sensations] directly into [sensory data] is all thanks to Mavis’ help. Now, Mavis is the only one in the world with this capability.”

“Hee hee.” Mavis let out a slightly shy but somewhat proud giggle.

Lincoln looked at Little Chun, “So as long as you explicitly agree to have the artificial intelligence Mavis handle this task, the collection of sensory data can be easily completed.”

Little Chun was still in shock as she looked at this adorable little girl. She couldn’t believe that this was not a real person but a digital lifeform.

Now, upon hearing Lincoln’s words and looking at the well-behaved Mavis, she agreed without any hesitation.

Lincoln then pulled out a consent form from the air and handed it to Little Chun, “Don’t worry, take a look at this first.”

Little Chun took it and found that it was a [Sensory Digitalization Consent Form]. She patted Randall, and the two began to read it together.

Since the beginning, the little princess who had been staring at Lincoln couldn’t help but interrupt, “So, you’re Mavis’s… dad?”

“Huh?” Lincoln was confused as he looked at the princess. What was she talking about?

The little princess seemed to have thought of something. She kept looking at Mavis over Lincoln’s shoulder and asked, “Will she grow up?”

“If you’re asking about age, then of course she will. But if you’re asking about height, I’m afraid not. Mavis can change her appearance at any time, but her image won’t naturally change with time,” Lincoln explained casually, looking at Mavis.

“Finally, if you’re talking about her psychological state and self-awareness of age, I’m not really sure.”

Lincoln touched Mavis’s little head and calmly said, “Fortunately, we have plenty of time. As long as we let nature take its course, the answer will gradually appear.”

Camille Victoria watched the interaction between Lincoln and Mavis and wanted to touch Mavis’s pink head too.

At this time, Little Chun had already finished reading the consent form, signed her name, and handed it to Lincoln.

So, the contract was fulfilled, and Mavis’s restrictions were lifted from this moment.

The collection of sensory data could begin.

“Sister Chun, are you ready?”

Little Chun nodded her head.

“Then close your eyes, focus your mind, and recall the relevant experiences.”

Lincoln was too embarrassed to be too explicit. Fortunately, Little Chun knew what data she needed to collect and naturally understood what experiences to recall.

She followed the instructions, closed her eyes, and began to think: among all the embarrassing things that happened between her and Randall, which one left the deepest impression on her?

In the end, she remembered their one-week trip for two on the eve of their university graduation.

Originally, they planned to enjoy the scenery of Hangzhou for a week, but they only saw the scenery for two days and stayed in the hotel for four…

That was the most embarrassing part of her youth memories, and also the most energetic and brilliant period of her life.

But in recent years, due to Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, all the beautiful memories of the past have slowly faded and turned into gray memories.

At first, Little Chun was worried that she wouldn’t be able to remember the feelings and emotions of that time.

But with Mavis’s full involvement, inside Little Chun and Randall’s home, in Little Chun’s game pod, and the integrated [Focus Headband] function running at full power, even unlocking limits under Mavis’s control and beginning to overclock, the memories in Little Chun’s mind quickly became clear!

It was as if time had reversed, and the faded, blurry photos had become vivid again!

Not only the private memories in the hotel but also all the memories of that journey: from the beginning to the end, everything was clearly recalled.

The fields whizzing past the high-speed train window, the dense crowd outside the train station, the bustling commercial area, the steaming food on the snack streets, and the sparkling West Lake under the setting sun…

And the lover who held her hand tightly, laughing proudly, happily, and carefree.

Scenery, feelings, emotions… everything seemed to cross the long river of time and come back vividly.

Little Chun’s tears rolled down.

…

Looking at Little Chun crying, Randall felt at a loss.

– Weren’t they supposed to recall memories of their intimate moments to collect sensory data? Shouldn’t she be happy or embarrassed?

Why did she suddenly cry?

He suddenly began to doubt his life.

In the end, he couldn’t help but look at Mavis, wanting to ask what was going on but feeling he couldn’t ask.

Who knew that Mavis had already understood his dilemma and suddenly said in a very soft voice, “Mavis doesn’t know either. Mavis can only help stimulate memories, collect and translate sensory data, but she can’t see her memories.”

Directly viewing memories, such a heaven-defying ability, naturally had strict limitations from the moment artificial intelligence was created. Mavis could only see her master’s memories and not others’ due to this rule.

So, after the data collection was complete, Little Chun still needed to sort and organize the data herself.

Unable to get an answer, Randall could only helplessly turn his head to look at Little Chun.

But as he turned his head, he realized that Little Chun had already opened her eyes and was staring blankly at him.

Little Chun subconsciously compared the man in front of her with her boyfriend in her memory, making her suddenly realize: had that spirited young man aged so quickly?

When did all the fatigue and helplessness in his eyes start to pile up?

This discovery instantly made her eyes red again, and she tightly held Randall’s hand.

She wanted to say sorry or thank you, but both seemed too light.

In the end, she hugged Randall tightly, crying harder and more heartbroken.

As for Randall, he was at a complete loss, not knowing what to do with her crying.