Chapter 306: Accelerated Development 2

With the launch of the membership features, Cybertron Technology officially unleashed the "big killer" that is the portable hard drive, and the topics and attention surrounding Cybertron Cloud Drive immediately saw an astonishing rise.

"What kind of stupid company is this? A newly launched cloud drive and they want to charge fees after only a few users? Go eat sh*t! Uninstalling..."

"A paid cloud drive? I'd rather spend the money to buy a portable hard drive!"

"Well, although it's paid software, the membership renewal is only 3 yuan a month, which isn't actually expensive. As long as they don't throttle the speed, it's still within an acceptable range."

"Spend 199 yuan to upgrade to a permanent member and get a 1T portable hard drive as a gift? Is that for real?"

Some people only saw that the membership features for Cybertron Cloud Drive had launched, clicked on 【Member Phase 1 Recharge】 in a rush, and started hurling abuse because it was paid software.

Others patiently finished reading the options for 【Permanent Member Upgrade】 and 【Permanent Cloud Drive Expansion】 and couldn't help but be dumbfounded, even suspecting that the officials had made a mistake.

However, despite the chorus of questioning, the topics and attention surrounding Cybertron Cloud Drive increased because of it, and the download speed of the cloud drive once again saw an astonishing surge.

On the morning of June 1, 2016, Sun Cheng woke up early, groomed himself, and after driving to the company to meet up with Wang Lu, the two of them took his domestic large SUV and headed toward a five-star hotel in Wuxuan District named Jinling Hotel.

Cybertron Technology Company did not yet have its own official vehicles. It wasn't that the company's cash flow was tight; it would be no exaggeration to say that Sun Cheng, backed by the 【Transformers】 universe, controlled the terrifying wealth of an entire world.

However, the wealth he held was staggering, but most of it was inconvenient to liquidate immediately, and it did not befit the status of Cybertron Technology as a startup, so he simply did not rush to purchase official vehicles for the company.

The distance from the company to Wuxuan District was not very far, but they encountered a traffic jam on the way. Fortunately, Sun Cheng and his companion had realized early on that they might encounter such a situation and chose to leave early, so although they were delayed for some time on the road, they finally arrived at Jinling Hotel around the agreed-upon time.

Wang Lu got out of the car first and entered the hotel. Sun Cheng drove the car to the underground parking lot, and after parking and walking into the hotel lobby, he soon saw Wang Lu standing with several middle-aged men in suits and leather shoes, chatting and laughing together.

Perhaps because he had been distracted, keeping an eye on the hotel entrance, Wang Lu's eyes lit up the moment he saw Sun Cheng's figure, and he raised his hand to call out: "General Manager Sun, over here..."

Sun Cheng nodded and walked quickly toward them with a smile on his face.

"General Manager Sun, let me introduce you. This is the president of Panda Security Protection Company—Mr. Chen Li!"

"General Manager Chen, the young hero before you is the founder and president of our Cybertron Technology—Mr. Sun Cheng."

"General Manager Chen, there was a traffic jam on the way, so we arrived a bit late. Please forgive us!"

"General Manager Sun is so young that it makes one feel a bit ashamed!"

After the two sides shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, Chen Li smiled and said: "This is not the place for a conversation. If you two don't mind, I have already booked a conference room upstairs. Why don't we go up and talk in detail?"

Sun Cheng had no objections. The group took the elevator together and soon reached the sixth floor, walking into a spacious and luxuriously decorated conference room.

"General Manager Sun, I am very happy to meet such a creative and technically skilled young entrepreneur to cooperate with. I have also had contact with your company's product—Cybertron Cloud Drive. Even placed in the golden age of domestic cloud drives a few years ago, it would still be an incredible work!"

Sun Cheng's eyelids twitched. He understood the meaning behind Chen Li's words: it was incredible a few years ago, but it might not necessarily succeed now.

Chen Li was much more straightforward than he had imagined. As soon as everyone was seated in the conference room, he cut straight to the point: "I entrusted someone to get General Manager Wang Lu's contact information a few days ago, and I naturally came with the sincerity of cooperation. I won't hide it either: our Panda Security Protection Company is very interested in your company's technical team, especially the team that wrote the 【Pure Version XP】 operating system. We are willing to offer a price that will absolutely satisfy your company to acquire this team. Of course, if General Manager Sun is willing to join us, that would be even better!"

Sure enough, they came for the 【Pure Version XP】 system.

Wang Lu and Sun Cheng exchanged a subtle glance, both seeing the meaning in the other's eyes.

"General Manager Chen, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. The 【Pure Version XP】 system was just a practice project for our General Manager Sun and a few friends before starting the business; there is no such thing as a technical team!"

Before coming, the two had already coordinated. Wang Lu had already received a definitive answer from Sun Cheng. Although he personally was quite in favor of cooperating with Panda, the boss was Sun Cheng after all.

"Don't be in such a hurry to refuse. I know that you, General Manager Sun, might have concerns. Microsoft has indeed noticed 【Pure Version XP】, and I heard that their China branch is already investigating issues like copyright infringement. However, General Manager Sun, you haven't used it for commercial applications; you only shared it on the internet after modifying it privately, so the problem isn't very serious!"

Chen Li smiled and looked straight at Sun Cheng. His attitude was sincere, but his words were soft yet firm. Sun Cheng frowned slightly, as he understood the deeper meaning in Chen Li's words.

After pondering for a moment, he spoke up to respond: "Just as our General Manager Wang said, 【Pure Version XP】 was just a practice project for me and a few friends before starting the business. We haven't used it for commercial purposes, and we have been very clear from the beginning that the copyright belongs to Microsoft. Therefore, General Manager Chen, whether Microsoft sends us a lawyer's letter personally or entrusts your company to convey their attitude on their behalf, we will humbly accept it. As for acquiring any technical team, there is no need to mention it again!"

The implication was: do your worst, the worst I'll do is admit defeat and pay the money.

This attitude immediately caused the smile on the face of Chen Li, who had been holding the winning hand, to stiffen.

He looked at the young man in front of him with some surprise, but had to admit that he might have misjudged him.

He had used the threat of a potential commercial lawsuit from Microsoft against Cybertron Technology for infringement to try to make Cybertron Technology cave in. He had not expected that Sun Cheng would be so indifferent to provoking an internet giant like Microsoft; it seemed he was not entirely ignorant of cross-border commercial litigation.

If coercion didn't work, then he could only resort to enticement.

With a shift in his thoughts, the smile on Chen Li's face became a bit richer. He looked at the secretary beside him, and that rare, thirty-something young male secretary understood and took a document out of his briefcase and pushed it in front of Sun Cheng and the others.

"General Manager Sun, we have indeed come with sincerity. Twenty million US dollars—our Panda Security Protection Company is willing to invest in your Cybertron Technology, hoping to obtain a percentage of your company."