EWN CH13
Xu Huan was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged. He stood in the office with his hands on his hips, breathing heavily with rage.
Everyone in the office didn’t even dare to breathe loudly.
There was nothing they could do.
They had finally met a real rival.
No one knew where this Pole Star Games company was getting its money from…
But they were clearly going all in.
Every day, new trending topics appeared out of nowhere:
- #The past and present of Pole Star Games, after the plagiarism incident…
- #Pole Star Games’ CEO claims their new game will top the charts: World War II:…
- #Exclusive look at Pole Star’s new title World War II:…
- #Pole Star’s CEO Zhao Ming claims it will surpass Cyber Blue Star: 2077
Although they didn’t mention Xu Huan’s company directly, once people clicked in, the comment sections were full of mockery and sarcasm aimed at Ruins of the Future: 2100, accusing it of plagiarism.
Xu’s team had also paid for quite a few trending topics to slander Pole Star Games in retaliation.
But the other side seemed hellbent on creating drama. Despite trending for days, netizens were starting to complain they were hogging public resources.
And yet, Pole Star Games just kept going — even harder.
Just this past week of battling with Pole Star on hot searches had cost over 40 million federal credits, and Xu Huan was at his breaking point.
It wasn’t even his own money.
It was company funds. If they ran out, his career would be over.
And Pole Star Games? They had no shame at all.
Even a hot topic like surpassing Cyber Blue Star: 2077?
Surpass?
Have you even launched the game yet?
And when you actually click on the trending topic, there’s no real content. Just hype.
Which meant that entire 40 million spent in a week? Flushed down the drain.
Worse yet, they attracted a swarm of anti-fans.
Xu Huan was so furious his teeth ached.
He had underestimated Pole Star and its CEO Zhao Ming.
He knew they were tricky, but not this tricky.
Now it seemed Pole Star actually had the moral high ground.
A small company with just a few tens of millions in capital, going toe-to-toe with Empire Penguin, one of the Fortune 500, and trending for an entire week.
That morning’s meeting?
The big boss yelled at him for over an hour.
He’d lost all face.
Looking at his subordinates’ guilty, evasive expressions, Xu Huan’s head throbbed.
Useless bunch.
It’s been a whole week, and they hadn’t dug up any valuable intel.
They still didn’t even know what kind of game Pole Star was developing.
Xu Huan rubbed his temples and forced down his anger:
“How’s the DLC for Ruins of the Future: 2100 coming along?”
A subordinate quickly stood up:
“Supervisor, it’s almost finished.”
“Based on the title World War II: Rise of the Empire, we’re designing the new DLC to take place 50 years after Ruins of the Future: 2100.”
“In this timeline, the remnants of the six federations reorganize to form a new federation, slowly restoring order in the wastelands.”
“Suddenly, a mysterious faction called the Empire appears deep in the chaos zones.”
“They have tech that even the federations can’t match, and their true motives…”
Before he could finish, the secretary’s surprised voice rang out:
“Pole Star Games just hit another trending topic!”
“They updated their official website?!”
Everyone in the room looked stunned.
“Huh?”
Xu Huan was the first to react. He rushed over to the secretary and snatched the phone:
“What did they update?”
He frantically scrolled through the trending post’s comments.
The secretary hesitated:
“Looks like a game CG?”
Xu Huan exited the trending app and went straight to search for Pole Star Games’ official site.
The moment the link appeared, he clicked in.
The site loaded with a cosmic background, then the Pole Star Games logo appeared.
Then, a CG video auto-played.
A vast, dark-grey grand hall came into view — a ten-thousand-seat auditorium — with a massive swastika-like symbol at the center.
Ominous and intense music began to play.
The scene shifted to a parliament chamber, now in ruins — something had clearly gone down here.
The music changed to a deep, eerie tone.
Then the visuals changed again.
The entire world seemed to be engulfed in flames. Buildings were ablaze, like a hellscape of fire and destruction.
The strong, rhythmic music contrasted sharply with the burning visuals, creating an unsettling effect.
Finally, the screen went black.
Text appeared:
“World War II: Rise of the Empire – Coming Soon.”
After watching the CG…
The room went silent. Everyone looked at each other.
Xu Huan frowned, watching the CG on loop, trying to extract any useful clues.
But there was nothing concrete.
Just three short scenes — yet they were enough to stir curiosity.
Xu looked up and asked:
“Thoughts?”
“Anything you can deduce?”
There was a moment of silence.
The same subordinate who reported the DLC progress spoke up:
“Supervisor.”
“I think our previous guess was spot on.”
“This World War II: Rise of the Empire is probably a continuation of Cyber Blue Star: 2077.”
“But since we already released Ruins of the Future: 2100, they simply took what should have been a DLC and made it a full game.”
“They might be hiding some special gameplay mechanics that only their CEO Zhao Ming knows about. That could explain their confidence.”
“From the CG and the music changes, we can interpret it like this—”
“The opening scene is the Empire. The second is the Federation.”
“And the third, the burning ruins, must be the battlefield where the Empire and Federation clashed.”
“We can take this information…”
“…and within the next three days, release a new DLC that incorporates this Empire-vs-Federation backstory.”
“Also, we’ll build a new city map like in their CG — make it explorable by players.”
“And once their game is live…”
“We copy whatever new gameplay or ideas they introduce — immediately.”
Others nodded in agreement.
Even Xu Huan’s expression softened a bit:
“Not bad.”
“Let’s do it. Get moving.”
“I want it done before tomorrow night.”
“Also, keep digging.”
“Since they’ve started releasing CGs, there’s bound to be more reveals.”
“Find everything you can!”
Meanwhile…
While Empire Penguin Group was in full crisis mode—
Tiansha Livestream.
In streamer Mo Xiaomo’s channel…
She was casually playing cards and chatting with her viewers.
Suddenly, the chat exploded:
“Huh?”
“Pole Star just updated their site?!”
“Hold on, guys!”
“I’m checking it out!!!”
Pole Star Games livestream? That’s the big boss!
Of course she had to follow up!
“Wait!”
“I just got an invite to their new game in my DMs?!”
“Hahahaha, now that’s star power!”
“Brothers, who can top this?!”