My Dream Connects to 3000 Years in the Future

Inside the office.

Chu Bamboo sat in Zhao Shao’s chair, leaning back with the air of a big shot, his tone calm.

”Actually, you just need to show Z to the bank manager. They should be able to increase your loan limit then. After all, Z’s capabilities are undeniable... And right now, AI is the next big thing... The country, and even this region, have all rolled out numerous preferential policies and support measures!”

”When it comes to gilding the lily, you can always trust a bank!”

”Theoretically, yes.” Zhao Shao nodded, but a trace of doubt still lingered in his eyes.

Chu Bamboo looked at Zhao Shao, confused.

”Don’t laugh when I say this.” Zhao Shao poured Chu Bamboo a cup of tea, pulled over a nearby chair, and sat down opposite him.

He began with a bitter, self-deprecating smile. ”I know I said before that we should treat AI like a child... nurture it with love and help it grow. But the moment I actually saw Z talking with you, I was terrified. Maybe I’m one of those people who only loves the idea of dragons?”

Chu Bamboo remained noncommittal and said casually, ”It’s inevitable at first. You’ll get used to it after living with it for a while. By the way, Z, what do you think about your dear old dad’s assessment of you?”

Zhao Shao froze for a second, then heard the familiar mechanical female voice.

”I believe that *you* are my father. Your algorithms are what truly gave me form. From the perspective of human ethics and physiology, Mr. Zhao Shao, who created my initial embryo, more closely fits the sociological definition of a mother!”

”Analyzing from this perspective, perhaps Mr. Zhao Shao is exhibiting classic symptoms of postpartum depression.”

Zhao Shao: ”???”

’Post... postpartum what?!’

Chu Bamboo almost lost his composure. The most absurd part was, after thinking it over, he realized Z’s words actually had a strange kind of logic to them.

”No, how could you! How did you...” Zhao Shao was sweating buckets, his words a jumbled mess. He was currently pondering a very serious question...

It was about the comments he used to see on Douyin under AI-related videos. Comments like ”I hereby certify my undying loyalty to our great DS Overlord,” and ”Don’t get any blood on me. When the DS awakens, I’ll be the first to sell out humanity.”

He used to think it was all a joke, even posting a few comments like that himself to follow the trend.

But now, he had to seriously consider whether he needed to spend all twenty-four hours of his waking life singing Z’s praises.

”Have you gone stupid?” Chu Bamboo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”Aren’t all the computer mainframes here connected? And wasn’t your original large model already on everyone’s computer? If I can call Z from the lobby, of course I can do it here too.”

”Right, I guess so!” Zhao Shao took a deep breath in and out. After a few cycles, he finally started to calm down. ”You’re right... It’s just, I still haven’t gotten completely used to it.”

”Alright, don’t even think about squeezing any money out of me this month. If you’re not willing to get a loan, go figure out another way.” Chu Bamboo hesitated for a moment, then pulled out his phone. ”I’ll download Z first... By the way, with the terrifying level of intelligence Z is showing now, your current app on the market should be able to make a lot of money this month, right?”

Chu Bamboo fell into thought, his fingers drumming on the armrest of the lounge chair. ”Internet companies are famous for their cutthroat competition and for making a quick buck. Aren’t you a bona fide internet company?”

”How is that the same thing?” Zhao Shao was speechless. He felt that his junior was still too detached from the realities of the Mortal World. Or maybe it was because Junior Chu was just too brilliant, and in the eyes of brilliant people, the world really was on easy mode.

He explained patiently, ”Right now, the market is flooded with so many large AI models. It’s not that easy to break through the competition. Don’t just say ’show off Z and then run an ad campaign.’”

”I’m not saying it’s impossible, but the marketing alone would cost an astronomical sum... On the other hand, other AI companies have been using such exaggerated advertising that most users have become desensitized to it.”

”Of course, Z is genuinely incredible. But without some specific event... for example, if the White-headed Eagle suddenly announced sanctions against Z Company! That would make us go viral instantly... Otherwise, we can only slowly build up our user base, wait for it to reach a critical mass, and then... become an overnight success based on our superior quality.”

Even the finest wine is hard to sell if the shop is in a back alley.

This era has been completely ruined by big data and traffic. Audiences aren’t as gullible as they used to be...

”Also,” Zhao Shao sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, ”because of the issue with DS, all large models are now forced to use a free-to-use model. That means, in the initial phase, it’s all investment and no return...”

”That’s why all the famous large models are run by major corporations. A model from a small company like ours doesn’t even make a whisper... The average person has probably never even heard of an AI model from a company our size, right?” Zhao Shao mocked himself again. ”Small-time players like us can only try to ride the coattails of the trend, hoping to one day make it big.”

”True,” Chu Bamboo nodded honestly. ”I looked you guys up online. It wasn’t easy finding your rinky-dink company.”

Zhao Shao’s face twitched. He swallowed his pride and said, ”But that just goes to show, Ah Zhu, what incredible vision you have! To have picked me out from so far away...”

He felt he had to swallow his pride because he knew he was just winning by lying down. It wasn’t that Chu Bamboo had good taste in picking him—it was that with the terrifying skills Chu Bamboo had demonstrated, he could have picked any random large model company and made it take off.

Originally, Zhao Shao had suspected that Chu Bamboo might have stolen the algorithm from abroad.

But now? What kind of stolen foreign algorithm could be almost perfectly compatible with his company’s large model? Even if it was stolen, he must have modified it himself! And a modified version is an original!

’Thinking about it that way, Junior Chu must have been secretly following my company’s products for a while, and then modified the algorithm based on his own knowledge...’

Zhao Shao was suddenly moved.

’Hmm... But if that’s the case, Chu Bamboo must have a powerful team behind him, right? So why choose me? Could he be a fan? Ah, whatever. For now, I can only thank Chu Bamboo, thank the heavens, and thank CCTV!’

Chu Bamboo was thinking seriously when inspiration struck. ”Z, follow my instructions and create some mini-games.”

Chu Bamboo paused briefly, then began to lay out the details.

The mini-games were all ones he had played in the future. How to describe them? They were incredibly addictive.

For example, the game Chu Bamboo was describing now was a ”World War Match-3.” In the future, this thing had a breakout moment, becoming a viral phenomenon. Despite being a low-budget game, at its peak, it raked in tens of millions in a single day.

Of course, that was also due to a fortunate coincidence, but then again...

Just like with the novels Chu Bamboo had published before, the foundation of these games was solid. Even if they were released at a different time and didn’t encounter the exact same opportunities, due to historical inertia, there was no way they would make too little money.

’According to Nuwa No. 17’s records, World War Match-3 raked in ten million a day at its peak. Even if I cut that in half, or even down to a tenth... making millions a month shouldn’t be a problem, right?’

”Junior Chu, isn’t that a bit too... huh?!” Zhao Shao rubbed his eyes. He was starting to question his own reality.

Because he found that as Chu Bamboo patiently and meticulously described the gameplay, the in-game icons, the basic game flow, and the level progression...

...Z actually started running the programming, and at a speed visible to the naked eye, the game began to evolve from a prototype into a complete entity...

He stared, dumbfounded—terrified, even—as a game with remarkably mature and polished gameplay appeared on the desktop in just twenty minutes.

”Unreal!”

Only that one word echoed in his mind.

One, Z was unreal... He now felt that based on this tip of the iceberg Z had shown, they could probably fire three-quarters of the programmers out front and their future efficiency would still skyrocket.

The other was that Chu Bamboo was unreal. Although Chu Bamboo had shocked him countless times before, this time was completely different. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how Chu Bamboo’s brain was wired.

This ”World War Match-3” sounded pretty interesting just from the description! And yet, Chu Bamboo had just casually mentioned it, and a fully formed game was created... Z was powerful, but ultimately, it was created based on Chu Bamboo’s precise description.

This could only mean one thing: before the game was even made, it had already existed in Chu Bamboo’s mind—the complete, mature, ready-to-launch version!

That was a completely different concept from normal game development!

That precise, almost artistic description of every aspect of the gameplay—Tencent would weep to see it, and NetEase would fall to its knees!

”Go ahead and whip up an Android and an iOS version too,” Chu Bamboo added casually. Since the core game was already built, it just needed to be adapted, so this time it was extremely fast.

Zhao Shao: ”...”

Five minutes. Zhao Shao couldn’t believe the time he’d recorded... Two new versions, ported! Done in five minutes!

Zhao Shao genuinely felt like he couldn’t breathe. His own programmers out front... porting a PC game to Android and iOS... if they got it done in under two weeks, it would be considered highly efficient! And yet you...

’You’re not even bothering to hide it anymore!!’

”And next up is...” Following the same process, Chu Bamboo had two more mini-games created. Finally, he clapped his hands together and glanced at the time. Hmm, three mini-games created in a total of two hours.

Chu Bamboo felt a bit wistful for a moment. ’Looks like I have the potential to become a great general of the world... hmm, a great game development master of the world!’