Chapter 1032: Bilibili's Predicament

The good news is that this captured group has tight lips; although they confessed their intent, they insist they were the masterminds, with no higher-ups above them.

But such talk could only fool a three-year-old child.

Raising the banner of restoring the German Second Empire while possessing no royal bloodline whatsoever — if they truly restored it, who would be in charge? Would they run a parliamentary system?

If that were really the case, what would be the point of calling it the Second Empire?

In short, there is definitely a big fish hiding behind this case; in fact, that big fish has already all but surfaced, but because there is no evidence, the police cannot take further action for now.

Moreover, the deeper the investigation goes, the more alarmed the German police become.

Although the organization does not have many members, a considerable portion of them once served or are currently serving in the military.

The highest rank among those caught is colonel; one step above that is general.

And these are only the ones who have been caught; how many of those still at large are high-ranking military officers? And among those high-ranking officers, are there generals?

This is a question that sends chills down your spine the more you think about it.

A band of traitors organized and plotted rebellion in a planned manner, secretly colluding with a considerable number of military figures, yet the German government had not the slightest inkling beforehand.

If not for one organization member getting drunk in a beer hall and letting something slip, the government might still not know of this group of restorationists to this day.

Had these people been allowed to develop further, in three to five years they might actually have had a chance of succeeding.

And even though the plot has been exposed and large numbers of members arrested, it cannot be said to have failed completely.

After all, the true mastermind remains at large, and voices of support can still be heard both in the military and among civilians.

In fact, right-wing sentiment in Germany has been running high in recent years, mainly for two reasons: one is the acceptance of refugees.

These foreigners who contribute little to the national economy — wherever they go, crime rates spike, leaving the native residents suffering bitterly.

The second reason is the chaotic protests of the baizuo.

Today they call for vegetarianism, tomorrow they call for banning oil; every so often they pour milk in supermarkets or stage sit-ins on highways blocking traffic.

Although they have not committed any heinous atrocities, the accumulation of one incident after another is genuinely nauseating.

Germans influenced by these two groups naturally become radicalized, their thinking shifting toward the right wing.

To satirize reality, a German director made a film titled "Look Who's Back".

It tells of a certain failed art student who, after military defeat, prepares to commit suicide by bomb, but upon waking discovers he has time-traveled to twenty-first-century Germany.

Today's Germany has experienced defeat — repentance — resurgence, and has once again become a European power.

However, behind the seemingly prosperous and strong nation, society is not as stable as imagined.

After crossing over, the Führer, in the guise of a comedian, conducts street interviews to learn the common people's true thoughts on the government.

In the end he discovers that the vast majority are dissatisfied with the status quo, expressing extreme disgust toward refugees and baizuo, even saying it would be best if all those people were locked up.

And upon seeing a comedian who bears a striking resemblance to the Führer, many passersby even jokingly raise their right arms and perform the iconic salute.

Such behavior is a criminal offense in Germany.

Yet the surrounding onlookers merely wear amused expressions, and no one steps forward to stop it.

Everyone says Germany has repented from top to bottom, but the facts appear otherwise.

At the end of the story, the Führer's true identity is discovered by the reporter who made him famous.

This reporter shoots the Führer dead on the rooftop with a gun, but the next second the Führer stands unharmed behind him and says:

"I cannot be killed, for I forever lurk in people's hearts; whenever there is need, I will rise again at any time."

The story ends there; if it only had this content, the film would merely be an ordinary comedy satire.

But what is thought-provoking is that all the street-interview footage in the film was actually shot on real streets by the crew.

And the vast majority of those appearing on camera were not extras, but ordinary passersby.

In other words, those shockingly right-wing remarks are actually the genuine thoughts of today's Germans.

What this means, a little reflection makes clear.

Even more terrifying is that Germany is actually just a microcosm of Europe.

What Germans are experiencing, most Europeans are in fact also experiencing.

After all, millions of refugees from the Middle East pour into Europe every year; Germany is relatively far away yet is already like this — what those smaller European nations closer to the source are like, you can guess with your backside.

In short, the disasters politicians create are ultimately paid for in full by the populace.

But if the accumulation reaches a point where the people can bear no more, then perhaps another failed art student will be pushed to the fore.

Of course, things have certainly not reached that severe a stage yet.

And the figure the right-wing factions have chosen as their representative is not an art student, but the House of Hohenzollern.

Those who were not arrested will certainly not let the matter rest; no one knows what plans they will unleash next.

But Luo Quan knows clearly that this Hohenzollern relative truly cannot be associated with any longer.

Her father sending her this message is tantamount to notifying her to draw a clear line between herself and these people.

What era is this, still engaging in restoration? Germany no longer has that foundation; continuing down this path can only lead to a dead end.

The Albert family certainly will not accompany them in foolishness; after all, their power base is in Britain, and whatever happens in Germany has nothing to do with them.

In fact, this matter has even less to do with Luo Quan, far away in Huaxia.

However, considering that reporters might ask about it, Erik mentioned it to his daughter.

Luo Quan glanced at the news and did not take it too much to heart.

By comparison, the delayed return of the Queen's Crown excites her more.

At the same time, the national football team officially released a piece of news that excited countless fans.

That is, the squad for the World Cup qualifier against Vietnam on the first day of the Lunar New Year has been finalized — the main force is out in full, plus several naturalized players; the lineup looks quite formidable, while the opponents Vietnam are no powerhouse, making it a match with a high probability of victory.

Although the national team already reached a World Cup two years ago, most fans do not really acknowledge that one.

Because that time Huaxia was the host and entered the group stage unconditionally, equivalent to entering through the back door.

By comparison, fans hope more to see the national team fight its way out of the World Cup qualifiers and enter the World Cup fair and square.

Only then is it meaningful, only then can it prove that Chinese football has truly risen.

If it can only rely on spending money to host the World Cup to qualify, then it is truly a sucker, and it will still inevitably be mocked by neighboring South Korea and Japan.

Therefore, fans attach great importance to the Qatar World Cup qualifiers, believing this is the moment for the national team, after years of dormancy, to display its strength to Asian football.

This match against Vietnam is very important; winning would secure a favorable position and greatly increase the probability of advancing to the next round.

If they lose, the situation would not be very good.

Fans have already experienced too many crucial matches—life-or-death battles—qualification deciders—honor battles—train stations.

Moreover, this match is taking place on Lunar New Year's Day; frankly, no one wants to start the new year with bad news adding to their woes.

Thus, tens of thousands of comments in the comment section, many of them, are applying pressure, urging the players to give their all and secure this opening-year victory.

Of course, there are also rational fans urging everyone not to exert so much pressure, otherwise it could easily affect the players' performance.

They also say the national team's strength is steadily surpassing Vietnam's; over the past decade or so, they haven't lost much, so the probability of an upset is not high.

Therefore, the most important thing is to create a relaxed environment for the team up and down, so they can perform normally.

It can be seen that normal fans in the comment section are still relatively numerous.

Although they usually scold fiercely, when the critical moment arrives, the big guys still unconditionally support them, and no one would disrupt morale at this time.

By the way, Miss Luo Quan, as the lucky goddess of the national team from the previous Jingcheng World Cup, has also been @mentioned by netizens to send blessings to the national team.

Although she doesn't watch football much, such an important matter definitely cannot be refused, so she posted a Weibo:

"Wishing the national team a stunning debut in the match against Vietnam on Lunar New Year's Day, scoring two goals, achieving three consecutive successes, flourishing in all four seasons, and five sons passing the imperial examinations!"

In fact, she could continue blessing further, all the way to perfection.

However, scoring ten goals in a single match would be too exaggerated; the gap between the national team and Vietnam is not that large, so let's aim for five goals.

And such a blessing, fans who frequently watch football immediately understood:

"Good! With your blessing, I can rest assured."

Luo Ba makes a move, then this time the national team is likely secure; we await the good news on Lunar New Year's Day.

"Well…… what if, I say what if, the national team loses, what should we do, after all, it's not impossible."

"You damn morale-disrupting traitor, I'll drag you out and chop you!"

"Still, don't be blindly confident; if superstition really worked, the national team would have qualified for the World Cup ten years ago."

"I've already bet 10,000 yuan; if the national team wins 1-3 against Vietnam, I'll be happy if they win, and I'll make money if they lose."

"Brother, are you being this careless?"

"This ten thousand yuan is probably going to be wasted."

……………………

Overall, netizens are still quite confident about this matchup.

After all, Vietnam's world ranking is only 138, over fifty places behind the national team.

Moreover, from historical head-to-head records, the national team holds a comprehensive advantage.

Putting it slightly more boldly, that is, finding reasons to lose, unless the entire national team ate sea cucumber during the New Year's feast and got sick.

If that were truly the case, losing would not be their fault; it would definitely be the sea cucumber's problem.

In short, netizens' emotions regarding this match are still quite optimistic.

As for Miss Luo Quan, she herself does not know what will happen in the future, and her blessings usually only work best for herself; for others, it's just a matter of whether heaven gives face or not.

Forging iron requires strength oneself; if the national team wants to win, wants to qualify for the World Cup, besides itself, there is nothing else to rely on.

Coincidentally, Cheng Rui also feels utterly without support at this moment.

On his huge desk are piled schemes to increase Bilibili's monthly active users and revenue, but most of these schemes have been crossed out with a red marker by him, equivalent to being scrapped.

"With so much money, I've really raised a bunch of good-for-nothings; after so long, I can't come up with a single effective plan."

Cheng Rui violently crumpled a waste draft into a ball, cursing bitterly under his breath.

As the founder and largest shareholder of Bilibili, what was his style two years ago?

At that time, Bilibili had just gone public, its stock soaring like a rocket; iQiyi, Youku, Penguin Video—none were rivals, and the title "China's YouTube" was growing increasingly prominent.

However, who could have imagined that merely two years later, Bilibili would already be in a state of declining vigor at a crossroads.

Not only has its stock price shrunk by ninety-seven percent from its peak, but monthly revenue has also been continuously in deficit.

The projects Bilibili invested heavily in were either abandoned halfway through, or if completed, received lukewarm responses and generated little profit.

Moreover, the most crucial element, which can be called Bilibili's lifeline—its anime—has also suffered a devastating blow due to some fool's remarks.

The pre-broadcast review system caused all of Bilibili's anime to not only require extensive content revisions, but also to be released much later than pirated resources.

Those who follow anime have already finished watching on pirated sites, while your official version hasn't even launched yet; over time, would anyone still spend money on Bilibili to watch anime?

No one watches anime, no one plays games, no one browses the mall, projects are made one yellow one, and the stock price falls so low that financing cannot be secured.

Faced with this situation, Cheng Rui has pulled out his hair, still not knowing what method could save Bilibili.

However, Bilibili is something he built single-handedly, condensing over a decade of his heart and blood; even if it's difficult, he must persevere and let Bilibili survive.

Currently, the idea he has come up with is to let an aunt temporarily manage Bilibili's affairs on his behalf, while he himself goes to develop new games.

To discuss how to quickly obtain a large cash flow, developing mobile games is absolutely one of the best options!

Next door, Honor of Kings generates six to seven billion in annual revenue, and on New Year's Eve alone, daily revenue reached twenty billion!

What a terrifying income—whoever sees it would be envious.

He does not dare hope to create a mobile game of the same tier, after all, Honor of Kings is backed by Penguin, with QQ as this social hegemon; even if it's a trashy skin-changing game, it could still have a large user base upon launch.

Honor of Kings certainly cannot be called trash, but wanting to replicate a second such game requires favorable timing, location, and harmony—Cheng Rui currently lacks such confidence.

However, if he creates a game with annual revenue of several billion, that is still worth daydreaming about.

Several billion may not seem like much, but for the current Bilibili, it would absolutely solve the urgent financial crisis.

However, the idea is good, but when the time comes to actually implement it, he discovers it's not that simple.

Every single new game concept was either a 5v5 MOBA or a turn-based raising sim; this kind of waifu/husbando game had bored even someone like him who barely played mobile games, so how could the people who played them every day possibly be interested?

And the proposals his subordinates gave were all this type too — it felt like they were copied off some website, the creativity inexplicably similar.

That was why Cheng Rui was so furious.

And beneath the anger his face was full of worry — Bilibili's cash flow really wasn't going to last much longer.