Chapter 690: 428: The Striving Summit【3800 words, Thanks to Alliance Leader Chaopigu】_2
Chapter 690: Chapter 428: The Striving Summit【3800 words, Thanks to Alliance Leader Chaopigu】_2
The gazes they exchanged were soothing, more like close friends than lovers.
Compared to Avril Green, Harrison Clark spent more time with Carrie Thomas. They were a great match, but no one had ever caught Harrison cheating on his “wife.”
All this left people with wild guesses and no actual answers.
The success of Summit Ventures was reflected in many aspects.
For example, the early rise of Starlight Studio made up for the absence caused by Avril’s transition and Carrie’s brief hiatus.
After James Diaz’s new movie triggered a special effects explosion, Starlight Studio went from an unknown company to an industry giant overnight.
From 2021 to 2025, Starlight Studio was active in the film industry, participating in the post-production special effects of two to three blockbusters every year.
At the same time, Harrison generously shared his simulation modeling framework by providing revenue-share licensing to major 3D game engine development companies worldwide. He also independently developed Summit Simulation by utilizing data flow simulation and extensive data collection as core methods, replacing Matlab and other simulation software.
In its early stages, Summit Simulation was far inferior to Matlab. However, after Harrison spared no expense in development, this new simulation software integrated self-domestication capabilities and autonomous growth in data collection, surpassing its predecessor within two years and leaving them in the dust.
Initially, Star pushed the concept of artificial intelligence simulation to the extreme. In the Eighth Timeline, most basic scientific experiments could be completed in Star’s intelligent simulation.
In the 21st century, though Harrison only had lower computing power, the technological background of this era allowed for the 1nm-level silicon chip server to meet the computing needs of most research projects, as they didn’t require high precision.
Thus, Matlab died a justified death.
The same year Summit Simulation killed Matlab, James Diaz’s third-directed movie “Across the Starry Sky” was released on schedule.
Previously, Starlight Studio’s participation in post-production visual effects had spoiled the global audience.
People thought it would be a small improvement, but when they entered the theater, they found the film revolutionized visual effects. With 3D glasses on, they couldn’t tell the difference between virtual and reality.
“Across the Starry Sky” ultimately achieved a worldwide box office of 7.8 billion USD, even more impressive than the previous 6 billion.
From then on, Harrison’s entertainment empire once again swept across the globe.
On the other hand, Ou Pangzi surprisingly did not drag his feet during these new changes.
Harrison entrusted him with the North America Branch Company. In those years of overseas development, Ou Pangzi made outstanding contributions, securing many lucrative deals for post-production special effects projects by networking and working tirelessly.
Ultimately, “Across the Starry Sky” instantly ignited the box office and quickly amassed a fortune, thanks to Ou Pangzi visiting European and American theater owners, securing an overwhelming amount of screenings from the outset.
Harrison launched a new plan to create a movie universe, this time entrusting Ou Pangzi with the role of executive producer.
Before Dr. Royce, the chief expert of the private advisory team, passed away, Ou Pangzi did an excellent job, helping Summit Ventures reach a market value of 170 billion USD in 2038, 70 billion higher than in the previous timeline.
Money, as always, was just a number.
Before that, in 2035, “Compound Eye Crisis,” the grand game that took 15 years of development by Summit Games, wore out Richey Clark and Angela Hart, the two lead planners who nearly died of liver cirrhosis before being saved twice by Lamont-Nigel Ramsey, was launched three years earlier.
The first client’s size reached an astonishing 317.5T, and the expansion of Summit Simulation software was the main difference from the previous 177.5T version.
Harrison intended to use this game as a second home, changing how people learn basic knowledge with it as a medium.
So this time, he was very radical, implementing a forceful teaching and entertainment model from the start.His provocative approach caused gamers great pain, feeling a mix of pain and pleasure from the first second of the game.
In the beginning, many players joined together in protest against the creators and the malicious planning.
We are here to play games, not to read and take tests!
We want entertainment, not masochism!
They thought their boycott could make the game company lose money and then give in.
They almost succeeded.
During the first three months of the game’s launch, “Compound Eye Crisis” actually took a heavy loss.
Not to mention the terrifying development costs, maintaining bandwidth and electricity consumption for servers alone were over a billion dollars. This was even with the biocomputer server operators and broadband suppliers being Summit Technology, who only charged cost price.
The operations team of the game company was as restless as ants on a hot pot, and the person in charge of the core operations and development teams could not wait to commit suicide.
But Harrison Clark calmly reassured everyone, “Don’t panic, everything is under control. Looking at your tense faces, it’s not necessary. I’ll give you a raise.”
Everyone was shocked, “Boss, don’t do this! We are too ashamed!”
Harrison Clark continued to comfort them, “You got one thing wrong. What you’re creating is not a game, but a second world, a second home. Although we have harnessed virtual reality technology, our game has not completely detached from reality. We must use learning that can enhance productivity as a medium to closely combine the second world with the first world.”
As they hadn’t understood yet, Harrison Clark smiled again, “Let me give you an assumption. If our second world is completely detached from reality, making the game simply for profit, allowing players to be addicted to it, so that they forget their families, their responsibilities, and forget their hard work for the sake of self-narcotization, then what would the world be like?”
Everyone fell silent in thought.
Each person had different guesses, but all headed in the same direction.
“So, you have no idea how powerful the Sword of Damocles you hold is. Virtual reality technology can be both a divine artifact to help humanity expand their territory and a Pandora’s box that could bring destruction. Technology should bring progress, not a muddy swamp that hinders civilization.”
“We have harnessed technology that others can’t touch, so we also hold the key to the door of human progress. If we lose our sense of responsibility and our highest goal becomes profit, then the door we open will lead to hell. But if we hold on to our sense of responsibility and embrace the advancement of civilization, then we are opening a door to a vast, starry sea. Money, of course, should be made, but it should be done with a clear conscience.”
“Technology should be used for good, my friends.”
With those words, Harrison Clark steadied the turbulent core team of Summit Games and laid the foundation for Summit Games’ development for the next several hundred years.
“Create a second, third… Nth world for the advancement of civilization!”
Another three months passed, and the players eventually gave in.
Because they found out that, during their three months of boycotting the game, not only were they playing worse than the die-hard gamers, but their work and learning abilities had also fallen behind.
To boycott the game would be to become a useless person?
How terrifying is that?
What should they do?
Charge ahead!
Time rewinds, and Harrison Clark’s gaze returns to the Summit Research Institute at the end of June, 2020.