After hanging up the call, Lu Xingye did not rush to reply to either email.
He returned to his chair, sat down slowly, and stared at the two subject lines glowing on his screen.
360 Security.
Kingsoft Security.
Two giants.
Two doors.
And behind each door—money, influence, exposure… and danger.
"Jarvis," Lu Xingye said calmly, "analyze the optimal path."
"Define 'optimal,' Boss," Jarvis replied.
Lu Xingye smiled faintly.
"Maximum profit. Minimum trouble. Zero loss of control."
"Understood."
Tony's indicator light pulsed rhythmically as data streamed at terrifying speed.
"Option One," Jarvis began, "sell the full source code exclusively to one company. Short-term profit is maximized, but control is permanently lost. Risk: medium to high."
"Option Two," Jarvis continued, "license the executable only. Retain source code. Profit slightly lower but long-term leverage preserved. Risk: medium."
"Option Three," Jarvis paused deliberately, "submit the solution directly to relevant departments. Receive official reward of one million Dragon Coins. Public recognition guaranteed. Profit: minimal. Risk: unknown."
Lu Xingye snorted.
"One million?"
"That wouldn't even buy your electricity bill in Stark Industries."
Jarvis replied flatly, "Correct."
Lu Xingye leaned forward, fingers steepled.
"So… Option Two."
"Correct," Jarvis confirmed. "Licensing grants you dominance without exposure."
"Good."
Lu Xingye cracked his knuckles and began typing.
Reply to: 360 Security Emergency Response Center
I can provide a live remote demonstration.
The solution will be delivered in executable form only.
Source code is not for sale.
If terms are acceptable, schedule immediately.
He copied the same structure and sent it to Kingsoft.
Then he closed the laptop.
Now, he waited.
Ten minutes later.
Ding.
360 Security replied first.
Terms acceptable.
Remote verification scheduled in 15 minutes.
Three seconds later—
Ding.
Kingsoft replied.
We agree to executable-only licensing.
However, Kingsoft offers a higher upfront price.
Please reconsider priority.
Lu Xingye laughed softly.
Capital always smelled blood fastest.
"Jarvis," he said, "prepare two identical demo environments. No backdoors. No fingerprints."
"Yes, Boss."
"And mask all system calls through a generic virtual machine signature."
"Understood."
Lu Xingye stood up, poured himself a glass of water, and took a slow sip.
To the outside world, this was a race against time.
To him—
It was a performance.
Fifteen minutes later.
The video conference connected.
On one side of the screen: Lu Xingye, wearing a simple hoodie, face calm, eyes clear.
On the other side:
A full conference room at 360 Security.
At least a dozen senior engineers.
Two white-haired experts.
And one man in the center, whose gaze was sharp enough to cut steel.
"Hello," the man said. "I am Zhang Jianjun, Chief Technical Officer of 360 Security."
Lu Xingye nodded slightly.
"Lu Xingye."
No titles.
No explanations.
Zhang Jianjun didn't mind.
Experts didn't waste words.
"Begin," Zhang said.
Lu Xingye plugged in the USB drive.
The demo machine was already infected with the ransomware.
The skull grinned on-screen.
Countdown ticking.
Lu Xingye clicked once.
A black command window flashed.
Then—
Progress bar.
1%
10%
50%
100%
The skull vanished.
Files unlocked.
Encrypted data restored.
Not copied.
Not replaced.
Recovered.
Silence filled the conference room.
An engineer stood up abruptly.
"Impossible… The encryption uses a dynamically generated asymmetric key!"
Another muttered, "It bypassed the key entirely…"
Zhang Jianjun stared at the screen, pupils shrinking.
"You didn't crack the encryption," he said slowly.
"You… invalidated it."
Lu Xingye smiled.
"I removed the assumption that it was necessary."
The room exploded.
Questions flew like bullets.
"How?"
"What logic?"
"Is this universal?"
"Does it work on all variants?"
Lu Xingye raised one finger.
"Executable-only licensing."
The room fell silent again.
Zhang Jianjun exhaled deeply.
"Price?" he asked.
Lu Xingye leaned back.
"Thirty million Dragon Coins."
The room froze.
Lu Xingye continued calmly.
"Non-exclusive. Nationwide deployment rights. My name does not appear anywhere."
"And one more condition," he added.
Zhang Jianjun nodded slowly.
"Speak."
"If the attacker updates the Trojan," Lu Xingye said, eyes steady,
"you come back to me."
Zhang Jianjun looked at him for a long moment.
Then stood up.
"Deal."
At the same time—
In a dim room somewhere unknown.
A man stared at a wall of monitors.
One by one, infected nodes went dark.
The ransom payments stopped.
His smile vanished.
"…Someone cracked it," he whispered.
His fingers clenched.
"No one in this country should be able to do that."
On another screen, a line of text appeared:
Antivirus signature detected. Rapid neutralization observed.
The man's eyes burned with cold fury.
"Find him."
Back in his apartment, Lu Xingye closed the video call.
Thirty million Dragon Coins.
His first real step.
"Jarvis," he said quietly, "how long before they trace the antivirus to me?"
Jarvis replied without hesitation.
"With your current precautions?"
"Indefinitely."
Lu Xingye smiled.
Then his phone buzzed again.
Message from Junior Sister Tongtong:
Senior, thank you again.
If you're free tomorrow… can I treat you to dinner?
Lu Xingye looked at the message.
Then at the city outside.
Then at the invisible storm he had just stepped into.
He typed back.
Sure.
After all—
Even gods needed to eat.