Chapter 173: What Happened?
Chapter 173: What Happened?
Binhai Grand Theater.
Many reporters and Army Ant fans were entering the press conference venue one after another.
The news of Legion Ant Company’s product launch had drawn people’s attention as soon as it was announced. Up until now, Legion Ant Company had very few products.
The emergence of the groundbreaking Seismograph had solidified Legion Ant Company’s unshakable leading position. Even though the Joker Virus crisis was dominating the news, Legion Ant Company still managed to claim a spot.
Many reporters who came to cover Legion Ant Company’s event wanted to see what product the company would launch this time. Every time, Legion Ant Company’s products always turned out to be unexpected.
Xia Xue was pointing her phone at the stage, feeling a bit nervous.
After her first live stream of a Legion Ant Company press conference, she had gained quite a few fans. Now signed with a streaming platform and working as an online streamer, she had become a somewhat famous internet celebrity.
When Legion Ant Company announced another press conference, she had flown back from the Capital two days ago just to live stream this event.
The number of viewers in her live stream had already surpassed three hundred thousand, and the screen was filled with comments.
“What do you think Legion Ant Company’s product will be this time?” Xia Xue said to the camera.
“Rice Man Hero!”
“Robot Girlfriend.”
“Electric Big Cucumber.”
“What’s the ‘Rice Man Hero’ joke?”
“Humans are iron, rice is steel.”
“…”
The comments started out normal, but slowly they became weird. The screen was filled with off-topic messages, leaving Xia Xue speechless. She couldn’t help but admire the wild imagination of netizens.
It wasn’t just Xia Xue; other media outlets were also live streaming Legion Ant Company’s press conference, including some foreign media.
This time, Legion Ant Company’s theme was: Rebirth.
This theme reminded people of the market fears caused by the Joker Virus. Many guessed that the product might be an antivirus software for the Joker Virus.
Many news reports claimed that Legion Ant Company had software that could detect and remove the Joker Virus, but Legion Ant Company had never responded to this matter, and its executives had not given any interviews.
After a short video, Zhao Min stepped onto the stage, and everyone quieted down, their eyes fixed on her. Legion Ant Company’s press conferences were always unique, simplifying all sorts of complicated formalities.
“Hello everyone, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend our company’s press conference,” Zhao Min greeted everyone, then turned to look at the big screen. “This time, our company has four products. The Smart Whiteboard, the Smart Notebook, and the Smart Office Computer.”
The images of the three products appeared on the big screen, but there was no sign of the fourth product.
“We will talk about the advantages of these three products together with the fourth product.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the images of the three products on the big screen lit up, showing the Legion Ant Company logo. Five seconds later, a computer desktop with an Army Ant cartoon image appeared.
This scene left everyone puzzled.
“I get it. The fourth product is a computer operating system.”
“Computer operating system.”
“A domestic computer operating system?”
…
Before Zhao Min could speak, the netizens watching the live stream erupted. After the first person pointed it out, everyone else quickly understood.
“The fourth product is a brand-new computer operating system—the Termite System.”
As soon as Zhao Min said this, the venue burst into an uproar.
After releasing a smartphone operating system, Legion Ant Company was now launching a computer operating system. There had been no prior news about this; no one had known that Legion Ant Company was developing a computer operating system.
“The Termite System is a computer operating system developed based on the Army Ant System architecture. It comes with a Smart Assistant that allows voice control of the computer. This feature should be familiar to everyone—it’s the same as the function on the Butterfly Eye Phone.”
Zhao Min began demonstrating the computer system’s operation using voice commands. As they watched the software on the computer change according to Zhao Min’s voice commands, everyone in the venue looked utterly amazed.
“The Termite System has three main advantages. First is its efficiency. The system comes with a Smart Office Assistant, which greatly improves work efficiency. Second, the Termite System is compatible with both Android and Army Ant System apps. Mobile apps can be opened on the computer.”
Zhao Min introduced the functions of the three products, but the features were mainly targeted at the enterprise office market. Due to ecosystem application issues and user habits, they couldn’t yet reach the general consumer market.
“The third advantage is its security. The Termite System is developed based on the Army Ant System, inheriting its security features. The built-in Intelligent Firewall in the Termite System can block all known computer viruses, including the Joker Virus.”
Zhao Min dropped a bombshell.
The two cities held hostage by the Joker Virus still showed no signs of a resolution. The two countries involved had no intention of giving in to the hacker’s demands. Without catching the hacker, the two cities continued to suffer huge losses.
Windows, Linux, Mac, and other systems had all fallen victim to the Joker Virus.
Now, Legion Ant Company claimed that their newly launched computer operating system could block the Joker Virus. It sounded like a huge conspiracy—as if Legion Ant Company had long intended to enter the enterprise office market.
Businesses needed office PCs. The market was stable, and companies had a strong willingness to pay. Launching the Termite System amid the Joker Virus outbreak perfectly met market demands, allowing them to establish a foothold in the enterprise office market in the shortest time possible.
This event seemed like a heaven-sent opportunity for Legion Ant Company.
The reporters at the venue began to get excited. Within just five minutes, major media outlets kept updating their news feeds.
They finally understood the meaning behind the press conference’s theme. Rebirth after fear—with the Termite System’s release, the Joker Virus was no longer something to fear.
Was it all a coincidence? Or was the Joker Virus incident itself part of a conspiracy?
Zhao Min started to explain the other advantages of the products in detail.
For Legion Ant Company’s entry into the office sector, this was a major opportunity.
The biggest characteristics of mainstream office PCs were stability and security. Commercial organizations used laptops mainly to store business secrets and important documents. If these files were leaked or lost, the consequences would be serious.
The emergence of the Joker Virus had wiped out the security of existing office PCs. This was the best time for them to enter the market.
In terms of pricing, the notebook was 8999, the desktop computer was 4999, the Smart Whiteboard was 30,000, and the computer operating system was priced at 388 for the standard version, 888 for the professional version, 1680 for the flagship version, with enterprise version pricing to be discussed in detail.
The product pricing was more competitive compared to similar products. Combined with the security of the Termite System and the advantages of the smart office package, it was very attractive to businesses.
Back when Legion Ant Company issued a challenge—offering a reward of two million to anyone who could crack the Army Ant System—no one had ever claimed that money. Its security was beyond doubt.
Right after Legion Ant Company’s press conference ended, the internet was buzzing. All major well-known forums had posts about the Termite System.
On the Weibo hot topic list, Legion Ant Company once again climbed to the top.
The Joker Virus crisis had left many companies in a state of panic. Now, with a computer operating system that could resist the Joker Virus, many companies felt relieved.
As long as companies could work without worrying about files being stolen or data loss, money was not an issue.
Some people had already installed and tried out the system, and various performance reviews were posted online. As soon as the experience videos were uploaded, they attracted countless netizens.
As time passed, more and more trial feedback about the Army Ant System appeared online. Most of the discussions were about the user experience.
Many reviews were positive, though some users, accustomed to long-term Windows use, found certain aspects unfamiliar and needed a few days to adapt. The Smart Office Assistant was very useful.
The emergence of various experience reviews increased the popularity of the Termite System.
Zhao Min sat in her office, looking at the sales data from the previous day. Based on the current situation, the market response was good. The market panic caused by the Joker Virus had prompted many companies to voluntarily switch to the Termite System.
Foreign companies, especially those in London and New York, had also contacted them and purchased the enterprise version of the Termite System.
The Termite System was good for office work, but it had its drawbacks. Its security was excellent, but it was not compatible with computer games, so it could only be used as an office computer.
Currently, only some commonly used office software were available. The development of other parts of the ecosystem would take some time. These things couldn’t be handled by Legion Ant Company alone; they needed many internet companies to develop the ecosystem for the Termite System.
Li Lingfeng pushed open the door and entered Zhao Min’s office, his expression serious. After the new product launch, the popularity was indeed high, but new troubles had also emerged.
Seeing Li Lingfeng’s serious face, Zhao Min put down the document in her hand. In her memory, Li Lingfeng was always steady and calm; it was rare to see him in such a hurry. “What happened?”