Chapter 107 Black Gold Technology

March 24th, Saturday afternoon.

Ding Gan, the owner of the SUG club, had nothing to do today. Neither the FV nor the SUG teams had any matches, so he decided to drop by Wu Yue's place.

After returning from the world championships in the US, the relationship between the SUG and FV clubs had been steadily improving, to the point where they were almost like brother teams.

This was probably a case of "we were never meant to be, but I have money."

The two teams originally had little connection. The SUG team was a well-known team from the early days of domestic esports, while the FV team was insignificant. Even if Wu Yue wanted to reach out, it would have been difficult.

However, during the world championships, the two teams went to Los Angeles together. SUG benefited greatly from being a training partner, and with President Pei's connection, the two owners became closer and closer.

Of course, Ding Gan often visited the FV team to learn from their advanced experience and try to help SUG achieve better results.

However, unlike usual, Ding Gan felt that something was different as soon as he entered the door today.

The main members of the FV team were not training. The training room was empty, with only Manager Lu and a few substitute members of the second team present.

Seeing Ding Gan enter, Manager Lu immediately stood up to greet him, "President Ding."

They were old acquaintances, so there was no need for formalities. Ding Gan asked directly, "Oh, where are President Wu and the team members? Why aren't they training today? Is there some special event?"

Manager Lu explained, "President Ding, they're all in the conference room. Someone from Finger Corporation is here today to discuss the champion skins with the team members."

Ding Gan was taken aback. "Oh! They're only starting to discuss the champion skins now?"

Manager Lu nodded. "Yes, it seems that Finger Corporation has been busy with the version updates for *ioi* and preparing for the leagues in other regions. They only have time now."

"After all, it has to be someone from Finger Corporation headquarters to come in person, so it was delayed for a while."

Ding Gan nodded. He had heard a little about the *ioi* version update.

The higher-ups at Finger Corporation and Dayak Group were definitely very unhappy about the FV team winning the championship.

Not because they were biased against domestic teams, but because the FV team was a competitor's team, and their key to winning the match was the data support from Tenda Games. This was like slapping Finger Corporation in the face in front of players worldwide, proving that Tenda Games' designers and balance masters were better than Finger Corporation's.

It also further solidified the rumor that "*ioi* is imitating *gog*."

Therefore, in order to weaken the FV team and regain face, Finger Corporation would definitely plan a new round of version updates. In addition, major overseas leagues, including the North American region, were also in preparation, so it was not until now that they could spare the time to send a design team to the FV club to discuss the champion skins.

Manager Lu said, "President Ding, they might need some time. Would you like to sit here for a while?"

Ding Gan nodded and sat down on the sofa nearby, waiting for them to finish their meeting.

...

Meanwhile, in the conference room.

Wu Yue, the owner of the FV team, the translator, and five main team members sat on one side of the conference table, while two skin designers from Finger Corporation sat on the other side.

Wu Yue said, "We've discussed the champion skins quite a bit."

"The heroes will be the signature heroes that our team members used in the finals, including the Lava Treant, Storm Swordsman, Blade Wings..."

"Then there's the overall style of the skins."

"Since they're FV team skins, they must have the FV team logo. Anyway, add the recall effect, signatures, and so on. This should be the most basic."

"Then there are two elements that our team particularly likes, and we hope they can definitely be added."

"As you can see, our team logo has golden elements, and our team members also like the glittering effect, so we hope to add a lot of golden elements to the skin effects, such as range skills exploding with a lot of golden light effects, and so on."

"Secondly, our team members all use their brains to play games, and they prefer cool, tech-savvy skins. So, we hope to add some special effects similar to program code and scientific formulas to the skins, such as displaying them during channeling and recall."

Wu Yue first explained the overall idea of the FV team's champion skin design.

After finalizing the overall style, the players also had to make some special customization requests for their skins, such as what kind of recall animation to use, whether to add any special elements to the skins, and so on.

The two designers listened to the translator, nodding and taking notes carefully.

The FV team's requirements sounded very reasonable.

Everyone loves gold, and the sense of technology and numbers also fits the preferences of internet-addicted youths. This series of skins should be quite popular.

One of the designers considered it carefully. "We can set the theme of the skins as 'Black Gold Technology'. The normal state of the skins will be black as the main color, with some golden lines. The armor will be high-tech battle armor, and all weapons, whether cold weapons or hot weapons, will be replaced with high-tech designs."

"As the level increases, the golden elements on the body will gradually increase, and the sense of technology will become stronger."

"As for special effects similar to program code, a lot can be added when releasing channeling skills or recalling, giving people a sense of being in a hacker world."

Wu Yue was very happy. "That's exactly the feeling we want!"

"Then let the team members talk in detail about their requirements for their skins. I'll leave first."

...

Leaving the conference room, Wu Yue's mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly, revealing a smile.

Good, the two designers from Finger Corporation headquarters had no doubts at all.

In fact, Wu Yue and the team members had discussed the champion skins many times and had reached a consensus.

Who deserves the most credit for the FV team's victory?

Of course, it was President Pei!

If President Pei hadn't spent so much money, providing room and board and internet cafes, providing the team members with a perfect training environment, and finding a dedicated data analysis team and training partners to significantly improve the FV team's understanding of the game in a short period of time, how could the FV team have won the championship with their original strength?

Therefore, this champion skin must commemorate President Pei!

But this couldn't be expressed too obviously. It was best if the designers at Finger Corporation couldn't see it, but domestic players could see it at a glance.

Therefore, Wu Yue and the team members discussed it for a long time and finally decided on the two elements of gold and numbers.

The golden element was similar to the coin-tossing hedgehog Modeste in *gog*, both to commemorate President Pei's generosity in spending a lot of money on the FV team, while the numerical element represented the strong data support provided by Tenda Games.

Leaving the first set of champion skins in *ioi* as a memorial to President Pei could be considered a meager way to repay President Pei's kindness to the FV team!

Ding Gan was sitting on the sofa in the training room. Seeing Wu Yue come out of the conference room, he immediately stood up to greet him.

The two of them were also very familiar with each other. They sat on the sofa and exchanged a few pleasantries, chatting about the recent events of the two clubs.

Ding Gan looked at the second team members who were training in the training room and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"Oh, President Wu, why do I feel like your team members are even stronger than the last time I came? This is too effective, almost catching up with those monsters from DGE!"

"Why haven't my team members seen any results after training for so long?"

Wu Yue was stunned. "How would I know? Maybe people's physiques can't be generalized."

Ding Gan thought about it. "That's not right. Your team members do have different physiques, but overall, their body shape has improved. My team members also have different physiques, but those who should be fat are still fat, and those who should be thin are still thin. There's no change at all!"

"Could it be that my team members are going to a fake gym?"

Wu Yue thought about it. "Then... maybe it's a diet problem?"

Ding Gan slapped his thigh lightly. "That's it, that must be the reason!"

"At that time, Zhao Xuming asked us to hire our own cooking aunt and find our own nearby gym to get a card, telling us that the subsidy prices were the same, so I didn't pay much attention to it."

"Now it seems that's not the case at all!"

"The subsidy prices are the same, but the effect is too different!"

As a second-generation rich kid, Ding Gan didn't often go to the club to see. He only went occasionally. Before, Zhao Xuming gave all the clubs the same amount of money for subsidies, so Ding Gan didn't think much about it.

He didn't expect that after a while, the difference would be so big!

Ding Gan couldn't sit still. "No, I have to go back and take a look!"

...

After leaving the FV club, Ding Gan drove directly back to the SUG club.

However, this time he didn't go in directly. Instead, he found a place by the side of the road to park his car and waited patiently.

According to the club's arrangement, after the afternoon's training match, there would be a fitness session, followed by dinner and rest before continuing with the evening's training match.

Looking at the time, the training match should be over now. As long as he waited at the door, he should be able to see the team members going to the gym for training.

Ding Gan waited in the car for more than half an hour. Sure enough, he saw the SUG team members coming out of the club and heading towards the nearby gym.

There were many cars parked by the side of the road, and Ding Gan had deliberately chosen a relatively remote location to hide, so the team members didn't realize that their every move was being watched by their own boss.

After the team members walked a little further away, Ding Gan got out of the car and followed them quietly.

The SUG team members had been training at the nearby gym for a while, but it had no effect at all. Not only had they not narrowed the gap with the FV team members, but they had also fallen further and further behind.

This made Ding Gan, as the club owner, very unacceptable!

He followed silently, came to the gym near the training base, and then quietly went inside.

Ding Gan was a little worried about being discovered, but he soon realized that he was overthinking it, because there were a lot of people at the gym on a Saturday afternoon. He mingled in the crowd, and the team members didn't notice at all.

In order to avoid being exposed, Ding Gan deliberately waited for a while, and after the team members had all changed their clothes and started exercising, he hid in the crowd to observe.

He saw the team members find their training partners and start their training for the day.

However, Ding Gan's brows soon furrowed, because he saw that these team members were not training seriously at all, but were working together to slack off!

There were already a lot of people in the gym, and many of the machines in the weight area were occupied. If you wanted to use them, you had to wait in line. The private trainer was only leading the team members in some physical fitness training on the yoga mats. The team members were not doing it very seriously, and they would give up and lie on the yoga mats after getting a little tired, which didn't achieve the best training effect.

Ding Gan now understood why it wasn't very effective after training for so long.

Because cooking aunts and ordinary gyms couldn't replace Moyu Takeaway's fitness meals and托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) fitness!

Although the coaches at this gym were still considered conscientious, on the one hand, the arrangement of the gym's equipment was not so free, and you had to wait in line. On the other hand, the private trainer didn't dare to train the team members too hard. The team members were slacking off, and the private trainer was too embarrassed to say anything harsh, so they could only let it go.

Therefore, this fitness slowly became a formality.

Ding Gan even suspected that these team members usually came to the gym based on their mood. They wouldn't come when the club manager wasn't there, and the private trainers at the gym wouldn't say much.

And it was definitely not just the SUG club that was like this. The other clubs, except for the FV team, were probably all similar, because the body shapes of the members of the other clubs were obviously about the same as SUG's, with no difference.

Ding Gan was unhappy.

Why was everyone's money the same, but the FV team could use Moyu Takeaway and 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) gyms, and the training effect was so good, while we could only hire cooking aunts and ordinary gyms, and we couldn't see any effect after training for a long time?

He didn't bring it up before because he didn't realize that there would be such a big difference.

Now, if he united with the owners of several clubs to bring it up with Zhao Xuming, it shouldn't be a problem to switch to Moyu Takeaway and 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) gyms now, right?

After all, Moyu Takeaway and 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) gyms had recently opened in Shanghai, and it shouldn't be a problem to take down these professional players.

Thinking of this, Ding Gan left directly and went to contact other club owners to put pressure on Zhao Xuming together.

The team members were not working out properly and were still thinking about slacking off? Absolutely not!

...

...

March 26th, Monday.

Pei Qian, as usual, came to the office to check the situation of each department.

"It seems like I haven't looked at the situation of these physical industries for a while."

"Let's take a look today."

Pei Qian found the reports from Moyu Internet Cafe, Moyu Takeaway, and 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym in the work reports of each department, and then opened them one by one to check.

Since the physical industries fully entered the top-tier cities before, Pei Qian hadn't looked at the work reports of these departments for a while.

Mainly because he was afraid of seeing situations such as booming business and full houses, which would only add to his annoyance.

But today Pei Qian was in a good mood and had already made mental preparations, so he opened them to take a look.

"Moyu Internet Cafe is indeed full not long after it opened."

"Okay, as expected, nothing to say."

"Hmm? The situation of the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym is actually not bad? Quite a few people have refunded their money?"

Pei Qian couldn't help but smile when he saw the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym's work report from last week.

It seemed that the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym was a bit unsuitable in Shanghai!

When the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym in Shanghai first opened, a lot of people signed up, but a group of them were quickly persuaded to quit.

Because the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym had too many requirements, such as bundling the purchase of Moyu Takeaway's fitness meals and strictly implementing the fitness schedule, many people simply couldn't stick to it.

In fact, the same situation happened when the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym first opened in Jingzhou. After washing away several batches of people, the customer base was roughly determined. After a while, because the fitness effect of these customers was very obvious, the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym became popular.

And these white-collar workers in Shanghai had obviously overestimated their perseverance.

"Not bad, this situation can at least last for a month or two, right? I don't ask for a loss, just make money slower."

Pei Qian opened Moyu Takeaway's report again, and the situation was better than the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym, but it was far from as popular as in Jingzhou.

In fact, the reason was very simple. On the one hand, Shanghai didn't have garbage sorting yet, and on the other hand, Shanghai had a lot of delicious food, so Moyu Takeaway's competitiveness in Shanghai was far inferior to Jingzhou's.

"Oh, so the situation is more optimistic than I imagined?"

Pei Qian couldn't help but smile.

Just as he was happy, the new week's work reports were sent over one after another.

Pei Qian opened the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym's new week's work report.

However, his smile froze on his face after only reading two lines.

"All the team members of the iCL League have been transferred to the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym? And their daily diet has all been changed to Moyu Takeaway's fitness meals?!"

A bolt from the blue directly made Pei Qian dizzy.

What was going on?

Wasn't everything fine last week?

The iCL League hadn't used any of Tenda's industries before, so what was going on?

Pei Qian immediately called Guo Licheng.

"What's the situation with all the teams in the iCL League in Shanghai changing to our gym?"

Guo Licheng was a little surprised. "Oh, President Pei, don't you know?"

"That's right, you may not have paid attention to the business in Shanghai."

"It's like this. President Ding of the SUG club found that his team members' fitness effect was very poor. They trained for a long time and didn't see any effect. As a result, he found that it was because the gym they found was not good. The team members didn't train properly when they were working out, and they were all slacking off."

"The other clubs also had more or less similar situations. Only the FV club was using the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym, and it was very effective."

"So the owners of these clubs were unhappy. Everyone had the same subsidies, so why were they using inferior services?"

"These owners still care about these things, after all, the subsidy money is the same. If the team members' training effect is not good, it will affect the perception on the one hand, and waste time on the other hand."

"So the owners of several clubs went to Zhao Xuming and asked him to change all of them to 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) gyms and Moyu Takeaway's fitness meals, and not to treat them differently."

"And their reasons are also very sufficient. The team members' body shape is a part of their appearance, which is conducive to the commercialization of the club and even the entire iCL League. Moreover, the higher the quality of the team members' training, the more hope they will have to win glory for the iCL League in the world championships in the future..."

"Zhao Xuming should have felt that since he was spending the same amount of money anyway, and he had already cooperated with Tenda on Rabbit Tail Live, it wouldn't matter if he cooperated a little more."

"It just so happened that the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym had enough vacancies, so they all signed up, and they also gave them a little friendship price."

"I have already told the coaches there that they must strictly demand these professional players and strive to train them all into muscular men, so as to make a name for the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym in Shanghai!"

Pei Qian hung up the phone and fell into silence.

It was getting bad!

The iCL League had already made Pei Qian suffer once before. Rabbit Tail Live inexplicably absorbed a lot of heat because of the iCL League, and the audience was increasing, and he couldn't drive them away.

Now, even the 托管 (Tuoguan - entrusted) Gym and Moyu Takeaway had not been able to escape the clutches of the iCL!

Pei Qian couldn't sit still, and immediately got up to go to Rabbit Tail Live.

He had to do something to salvage the current situation!