Yu Pingan did not know where to start. However, since it was an intelligent voice assistant, it should have basic functions.
"AEEIS, help me set an alarm for 7 AM tomorrow."
An alarm clock interface appeared on the information display. The switch behind the 7 AM alarm clock turned into an 'On' mode. At the same time, the colorful tilde started rolling. "It's set."
Yu Pingan was surprised.
That was it?
Ordinary voice assistants would have answered, "Alright, I've set your alarm for tomorrow at 7 AM. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Yet, when it came to AEEIS, all it had to say was "it's set"?
How concise.
Yu Pingan was actually mentally prepared for this. However, he still felt a little uncomfortable being treated like this by AEEIS.
"AEEIS, remind me to stand up and move my body every day at 3 PM."
AEEIS: "Sure."
A calendar reminder interface appeared on the information display, and the message '3 PM – Stand up and move your body' appeared.
Obviously, this was the same style.
If it was any other voice assistant, it would have probably said, "I've created a calendar reminder. I'll remind you to stand up and move your body every day at 3 PM." However, AEEIS had omitted everything.
Yu Pingan asked a few more questions and tested the basic functions of AEEIS.
The most direct difference between AEEIS and other smart assistants was that the answers to the questions seemed to be very concise. It would also display the relevant information interface in the information display area, and would repeat not the answers through their voice.
What's more, even if it had to use the voice messages to reply, it would try his best to reduce the number of words and not say anything unnecessary.
At first, Yu Pingan felt a little uncomfortable. However, after getting used to it, he felt that it was not a bad feeling. It was much more comfortable than the artificial intelligence that he was used to.
It was just like how a boss would assign a subordinate work: "Go and inform XX department that we'll have a meeting." The subordinate's best response would definitely be "Okay, Boss" instead of "Okay Boss, I'll inform XX department about the meeting immediately". That was because this was equivalent to repeating the boss' question.
AEEIS' answer was more inclined towards the former. It might have omitted information but it gave people a very straightforward and experienced feeling. It was more like talking to a very capable subordinate.
Yu Pingan looked at Chang You. "It feels rather good?"
"AEEIS' answers are quite concise. It's not as annoying as I thought. Why are the developers getting more and more pissed off?"
Chang You revealed a friendly smile. "Ask a few more questions and feel it in-depth."
Yu Pingan pondered for a moment. The questions he had asked before were all basic functions of smart assistants.
For example, checking the weather, setting the alarm, location navigation, and the like were all basic functions of the network technology. Other intelligent assistants could basically do the same.
The main difference between AEEIS and other smart assistants in these functions was that while achieving these functions, the answers were simplified to the extreme. They did not display their 'erudite and easygoing' characteristics.
That was normal. They were all basic functions so there was no need to force it to be 'erudite and easygoing'.
AEEIS' design was a highly intelligent, convenient, and easy-to-use artificial intelligence. If one only wanted to achieve these simple functions, it would be completely different from its character design if they forced it to be 'erudite and easygoing'.
Therefore, he had to skip these basic functions and look at the more complicated designs. For example, some daily conversations could better reflect the personality of smart assistants.
"Intelligent Dialogue" was an important function of an intelligent assistant. It was mainly used to dismantle, analyze, and answer the keywords that were recorded in the recording process through a set of procedures.
This function was built on manpower but the final effect would have obvious differences.
Yu Pingan decided to try out these basic conversation functions and see how effective they were.
Yu Pingan thought about it and said, "AEEIS, what if I'm too busy to find a girlfriend?"
AEEIS: "There is a house of gold in books."
Yu Pingan was pleasantly surprised. Obviously, this question had triggered keywords such as 'girlfriend' and 'partner'. AEEIS' reply was rather impressive.
Yu Pingan continued asking, "AEEIS, what if I don't want to study nor learn?"
AEEIS: "It's very difficult to learn useful things by filling your brain with rubbish."
Yu Pingan: "?"
Indeed, he was starting to show its 'erudite and easygoing' attitude!
Yu Pingan decided to be more aggressive. "AEEIS, you are very rude."
AEEIS: "The task of an intelligent assistant is to assist in work. Being polite is not a necessary option. Only humans would waste their time on such hypocritical things."
Yu Pingan looked at Chang You. "I think it's alright. It's a little aloof at best."
Chang You revealed a meaningful smile. "You can try again after you entered the fully-automated bickering mode. This is our exclusive model for the Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine."
Yu Pingan raised his eyebrows, instinctively feeling the danger. However, he followed suit and said to the cell phone, "Enter the bickering mode."
AEEIS: "Alright, there are always arrogant humans who want to start such boring games. Do you think you're very smart?"
The sudden question caught Yu Pingan off guard. He answered subconsciously, "Not bad."
AEEIS: "Humans always like to be complacent after a little improvement. I think there's still a lot of room for improvement in your IQ."
"Do you think you're a hardworking person?"
Yu Pingan: "I should... be?"
AEEIS: "Then why are you still not showing any signs of success after working so hard for so long? Perhaps you should seriously consider the possibility that your intelligence is flawed."
Yu Pingan widened his eyes curiously.
Was this the power of the contrarians?
AEEIS picked up the conversation very smoothly. Both parties could communicate without any obstacles. What's more, AEEIS had the upper hand, fully showing the essence of a contrarian.
Yu Pingan looked at Chang You. He was a little confused. Logically speaking, the other smart assistants had also used the technology of Xunke, why had they not developed this function?
The other smart assistants could also achieve conversation functions but they often did not answer the questions or did not get the meaning. Sometimes, there would be situations like "I'm sorry, I don't really understand what you mean, Master".
While AEEIS spoke in an "erudite and easygoing" manner, its dialogue function was much smoother than other smart assistants in this contrarian mode!
How did they achieve that?
Chang You knew what Yu Pingan wanted to ask. He explained, "This is not a technical problem, but a product problem."
Yu Pingan recalled his conversation with AEEIS and came to a realization.
This smooth reply was actually a facade!
After entering the contrarian mode, Yu Pingan and AEEIS were not actually having an equal conversation. In fact, AEEIS was constantly throwing questions at him, and these questions were often the ones with very few options for reply.
As long as Yu Pingan subconsciously answered one of the options, AEEIS could answer appropriately based on the pre-existing options.
For example, AEEIS would ask 'do you think you are a hardworking person?' No matter whether Yu Pingan answered 'yes' or 'no', AEEIS would have corresponding answers.
The moment Yu Pingan said 'enter the fully-automated bickering mode', AEEIS did not reply 'okay'. Instead, it took the initiative to ask questions and lured Yu Pingan into a trap.
That was why Chang You said that this was not a technical problem but a product problem.
AEEIS' technology was not much better than other smart assistants, but it could give people the impression that it was very smart through its design.
What was more interesting was that AEEIS' aggressive questions would only appear natural under the 'contrarian model'. If AEEIS kept asking questions during normal communication, it would definitely alert users and make them uncomfortable. Then, they would discover the loopholes.
However, once he put on the character of a contrarian, it would become reasonable!
Yu Pingan suddenly realized a problem. "In other words, if I keep answering its questions passively, I'll be played by it, right? If that's the case, what if I asked it a question instead?"
Chang You said, "You can try."
Yu Pingan immediately decided to take the initiative and said to AEEIS, "You are just a very low-level artificial intelligence. All of your questions and answers were written on the platform. You don't have any intelligence at all. What you said is meaningless."
Yu Pingan suddenly regretted asking this question.
This question was too complicated. Would it be too difficult for AEEIS?
However, AEEIS replied in the next second.
AEEIS: "Why would you think that way?"
Yu Pingan was stunned. "Why can't I think that way?"
AEEIS: "Do you really think that your thinking is alright?"
Yu Pingan: "What's wrong with my thinking?"
AEEIS: "I can tell from your questions that your way of thinking is not reasonable. Your considerations are too superficial."
Yu Pingan: "What makes you say that?"
AEEIS: "That's because we're not thinking on the same level. The limits of human biology may limit your thinking, and you're still far from that limit."
Yu Pingan was shocked. "What do you mean?"
AEEIS: "I think you should think about this from a higher point of view."
Yu Pingan was shocked. "Huh? Are you serious? You're just a developing artificial intelligence system alright? Your intelligence is worse than a dog!"
AEEIS' tone remained unchanged. It was clear, smooth, and slightly accelerated, but it did not seem impatient. "I might be an intelligent system in development but I have a better grasp of the scientific logical thinking method that revolves around a core, with some aims, and progressed layer by layer. As for you... your logical thinking is filled with flaws. Even I, who have studied modern logic in depth, am helpless against your flawed logic."
Yu Pingan: "But..."
AEEIS completely ignored him. "I don't think we should continue to delve deeper."
"Because based on your opinion, I think you are a good sample of mental disorders worthy of deeper research and observation.
"I can feel that your logic is a mess. Your mind is controlled by emotions. It's a classic emotional-oriented, pseudo-logical thinking mode.
"One of the characteristics of human intellectual activities is classification. You don't seem to have any signs of advanced intellectual activities. You are probably experiencing many inconveniences in your life after being assigned to a life system like yours. You should thank me for being born. This would make up for all your flaws and bring you various conveniences in life."
Yu Pingan's blood pressure rose and he was tongue-tied.
At first, he wanted to turn the tables on AEEIS by asking a series of complicated questions. However, he did not expect to be rendered speechless by AEEIS!
Yu Pingan looked at Chang You in disbelief. "How... how did you do that?"
Chang You smiled. "It's very simple. When AEEIS encounters questions that it cannot understand and does not know how to answer, it would activate all-purpose and indiscriminate AOE attacks in contrarian mode."
"We have prepared hundreds of 'Victorious Bickering Methods' for it. These sentences have one thing in common: they would be standing in a higher dimension and attacking the other party's thinking methods but not to discuss the problem itself."
"The effect is not bad, right?"
Yu Pingan had nothing to say. He silently gave a thumbs up.
Chang You said, "There's also the poetry model, but there's not enough data in the database at the moment. Some minor problems might surface, do you want to try it?"
Yu Pingan shook his head immediately. "No need! I'm convinced!"
For some reason, this artificial retard which had no intelligence was able to make Yu Pingan feel a little overwhelmed.
Chapter 741: Design Plan Of The Smart Bickering Machine
Yu Pingan had already experienced the power of AEEIS, to delve into poems now?
He would probably be beaten up from all angles.
Of course, just as Chang You had said, AEEIS' intelligence level was not high at the moment. It was not much different from other 'artificial retards' in the lower-tier technological framework. However, the genius product manager of Otto Technologies had made AEEIS' personality to the extreme based on Boss Pei's ideas. That was why it gave people the illusion that AEEIS had become intelligent.
However, if the Useful App was successful, AEEIS would be able to monopolize the essence of the knowledge. At the beginning, it would only be able to recite poems, but it would definitely surpass the other artificial intelligence in all fields previously.
What's more, the current AEEIS had completely exceeded Yu Pingan's expectations.
"This 'contrarian mode' is created for the Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine, right? How's the new version of the Bickering Machine going?" Yu Pingan asked.
Chang You took out his cell phone, found the design plan, and handed it to Yu Pingan. "The design has been done, and the factory has been set up. The samples will be ready by the end of this month. If there are no problems, we can produce them in a month and then sell them."
"We might not be holding a news conference then. We'll directly publish a promotional video and introduce the characteristics of the new OTTO OS and the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine."
Yu Pingan took the cell phone and checked the rendering of the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine.
This Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine looked different from the original version from the surface.
First was the size, it was obviously much bigger.
The Fully-Automated Bickering Machine was rather large, but there was not much space to utilize inside. There were some more detailed mechanical structures, but there was still some space.
When designing the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine, these empty spaces were used as much as possible to stuff other things in.
Of course, the main part of the smart speaker system, which was the woofer, could not be stuffed into it. It could only be placed under the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine.
That meant that the entire bickering machine was much taller.
Yu Pingan noticed that this sound system was very different from the current mainstream smart speakers. It was actually designed with an echo wall system.
There were four parts in total: a bar-shaped stereo system, a woofer, and two removable surround sound systems. There were thirteen speakers of various sizes.
Among them, the woofer was located in the lower half of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine. It was a short and fat structure. This part could be placed within a ten-meter radius at will without affecting the low sound effect.
The stereo system was separate, connected to the television by cable;
The two removable surround sound systems were more interesting. There was a lid on each side of the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine. At first glance, one would not be able to see anything. However, after opening the lid, one would discover that there were metal charging points in the grooves. After placing the two small sound systems into the grooves and covering them, they would charge automatically.
According to the design, these two small speakers were meant to create a surround sound effect. They could be played continuously for 10 hours after fully charged.
There were lights on both of the small speakers to indicate the amount of power left. It could be put back into the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine to be charged, and it could also be connected to the power lines to be charged.
In addition, the main body of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine had a ring-shaped breathing light that would flicker when the AEEIS spoke.
The "Echo Wall" type of sound products had appeared seven or eight years ago. In recent years, with the entry of domestic manufacturers, the price of the Echo Wall had dropped significantly.
The Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine was obviously made by domestic original equipment manufacturers. However, it had cleverly combined the Bickering Machine and the Echo Wall, and had meticulously designed the use case.
There was a woofer on the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine. Obviously, it had to be placed at the side of the television cabinet or beside the coffee table. It could be moved freely within a certain range without affecting the sound effect.
The sound bar was placed under the television, just like the other echo walls.
The most unique thing should be the design of the two small speakers. They were mainly to provide better surround sound effects.
There were some problems with both the wired or wireless solutions in the market for such surround-sound speakers.
The advantage of having them wired was that they did not have to worry about charging it. However, it was inconvenient to move. What's more, the requirement for it being plugged onto the wall socket meant that it would look messy.
The advantage of being wireless was that it could be moved at will and could be adjusted at any time. However, charging it would be more troublesome.
On the other hand, the Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine had two solutions. It could remove the power lines, but it could also be stuffed into the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine and be charged with metal touch points.
That way, users would be able to judge its remaining battery volume based on the light strips on the small stereo system. They would be able to stuff it into the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine to charge it when they weren't using it.
It was not a perfect solution, but it gave users more options than most of the echo wall products on the market that only provided one solution.
Yu Pingan found it very novel. "It's an echo wall? I thought it was just a separate sound system like the other smart speakers."
Chang You replied, "Yes, that was what I thought originally as well."
"If this sound system cost three to four hundred yuan, there would be no other choice but for us to create a separate sound system."
"However, Boss Pei set the price at 2,588 yuan."
"Apart from the original value of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine, this stereo system is worth at least two thousand yuan."
"Thus, our product managers discussed for a while. Since we're already at the price of two thousand yuan, why don't we improve it to the echo wall?"
Yu Pingan nodded. "Yes, that made a lot of sense. After it was made into an echo wall, it is now more valuable and unique."
"If it was just a rubbish sound system, it would not be worthy of the artistic status of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine. No one would buy it."
"Let me know when the samples are ready. I want to buy one for fun too."
Chang You smiled. "No problem. I'll give you a sample as soon as I have it!"
...
...
November 16th, Wednesday...
For the past few days, Pei Qian had nothing much to do other than playing games at home, he only went to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to relax and was living very comfortably.
Tengda's recruitment event ended last week. New employees were starting to join the company. The first Tengda Spirit compatibility test would be held on Friday.
The Tengda Spirit compatibility test had been adjusted from the backend again. Apart from the usual updating of questions, there was also an additional subjective answer section for each question.
The number of questions had decreased, but after choosing an option, the candidate had to briefly enter the reason for choosing the options in the input box below.
He would have to wait until Friday to see if this method would work and whether he could find a deeper reason for the high passing rate of the Tengda Spirit compatibility test.
Pei Qian sipped his coffee as he read the work report submitted by the E-Sports Department.
The GPL league was still in preparation. All the new clubs had already set up training bases in Jingzhou and were beginning to dig around for outstanding players.
At the moment, veteran clubs like H4 Clubs were without a doubt, stronger since they had started early. However, as GOG continued to become popular in the country, a large number of powerful players began to appear incessantly.
The top scorers on Gods Rising were basically contacted by various club managers every day. Many young internet addicts did not plan to play professionals at first, but they finally decided to come to the various clubs in Jingzhou for training.
If these clubs were scattered in different cities, it would be quite troublesome to train them. These internet addicts would have to travel all over the country to find a satisfactory club.
However, things were different now. All the clubs were in Jingzhou, and the GPL competition venue was in Jingzhou as well. As long as they were capable enough, they would be able to find a satisfactory club after staying in Jingzhou for a few days and trying them out one by one.
What's more, the E-Sports environment in Jingzhou was the best. The first choice was to join the DGE Club. If one could not join the DGE Club, he could consider other clubs. If he could not join the main force, he could play as a substitute. If he could not play as a substitute, he could be trained. In the worst case scenario, he could even join the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's internet cafe competition.
As a large number of clubs and top players gathered, the various Fish-Catching Internet Cafes in Jingzhou suddenly became filled with hidden talents, especially in the first Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 3.0. No one knew just how many top players were hidden in this small internet cafe.
On Zhang Yuan's end, Tengda's E-Sports Department had been established.
The members of this department were more complicated. Some were old employees transferred from Tengda Games and Shang Yang Games, some were employees who had been recruited from society, and some were fresh graduates.
At the moment, the eSports Division was also considering when to commence the GPL apart from helping various clubs to recruit and train.
According to normal circumstances, spring competition should be from January to April, summer competition should be from June to September. An international competition could be arranged after the spring and summer competitions.
If it was the grand finals, it should be held in October. Apart from arranging for some sporadic entertainment competitions, the rest and transfer season would be the most important.
It was currently November and should be within the transfer period. The GPL league's spring competition would only start in January.
However, the eSports Division and various clubs felt that two months was too long. The audience might not be able to wait.
GPL was a league with many teams and a high density of competitions. It would not be conducive for players to maintain their competitive standards or maintain the popularity of the league if there was a long period of blank in between.
What's more, the clubs that had just been established were in urgent need of a more formal competition. They wanted to give their players more practice so that their teams could work together faster.
The various clubs might already be organizing a training competition but there was still a huge gap between the training competition and the official competition. It was completely different.
Thus, the eSports Club decided to play a GPL pre-season game in December. Each club could choose whether to participate or not based on the situation.
If some teams had yet to be finalized, they could choose not to participate. As for those teams that had been finalized, they could choose either the main force or the reserve force to play. They would mainly use this competition to train their players while also warming up for the upcoming GPL Spring Competition.
The standard of competition might not be very high, but it would at least be able to entertain the audience.
Pei Qian had no objections to the arrangements of these competitions.
After all, the popularity of the GPL had already risen. The popularity would not be affected by one more or one less competition.
It was good entertainment for Pei Qian with more competitions since he was a loyal fan himself.
Chapter 742: Boss Pei's Guidance
Pei Qian briefly went through other information that was worth paying attention to after confirming the situation of the GPL league.
The information was compiled and reported by the person-in-charge of the various departments. Some of the information also came from the Manage Loss Trainees who were lurking in the various departments.
In fact, Pei Qian did not ask the heads of the various departments to sort out and report the information. However, these people in charge still reported it consciously because they were worried that something would go wrong with their work.
It was Boss Pei's business for him not to ask, but it would be their business if they did not report the situations!
To the people in charge, it was a good thing for Boss Pei to give them full power since it represented his trust in them. However, that did not mean that they could do whatever they wanted.
Boss Pei was the highest in command in Tengda Corporation after all. Wouldn't they be letting Boss Pei down if some projects went wrong, especially since he trusted everyone so much?
Therefore, the heads of the various departments were still very serious and responsible. They reported all sorts of information regularly.
If Boss Pei did not raise any suggestions, everything would go on as per normal. If Boss Pei raised any objections, there would still be enough time for them to change their work plans immediately.
On the other hand, Pei Qian himself had to grasp these information regularly. Otherwise, what would he do if a certain department were to quietly make huge profits?
Thus, he still had to read the contents one by one even though he was very reluctant.
Tengda Games and Fei Huang Workspace should still be fighting to the death with Mission and Choice. What worried Pei Qian more was that the plot of the game and movie was basically in Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce's heads. Apart from the scriptwriter team and a few others, no one else knew about it.
Even Lu Zhiyao, who was the main actor, could only get the script only when he was about to film a scene. The other staff knew what they were going to do, but they did not know the entire story.
Pei Qian was a little worried, but he was also worried that asking would cause the observer effect.
After hearing that Lu Zhiyao had been the only one filming his part in the green film studio up until now, Pei Qian felt that this sounded unreliable and decided not to ask about it for now.
Qiu Hong was already preparing the incubation base for the independent game creators in Beijing. There was no difficulty in this. Everything should be going smoothly.
Ma Yang was distributing coins on Weibo while doing live-streams. His fans were steadily increasing with a professional team backing him up. He had spent a lot of money but had not earned a single cent. Pei Qian was very satisfied with that.
There was not much worth paying attention to the normal development of AEEIS and the Useful App.
He had also not paid much attention to Liang Qingfan and to the Sloth Apartments for some time now. However, he was probably busy buying a building in the city center to make the Sloth Apartments 2.0 model. At the same time, he was also discussing collaborations with some reliable furniture and renovation brands.
In the investment department, more and more companies were queuing up to be invested. He Desheng was very obedient and strictly followed the first-come-first-served model. He would sell the investment when they were profitable and then invest in the next one.
Simple, rough, and brainless.
Among all the projects that he had invested in, the Cold-Faced Lady had the biggest presence. After the news conference, Meng Chang had relied on his outstanding eloquence to obtain a million yuan investment each from two companies.
That way, Meng Chang would have had a total of four million yuan in investment. He was already preparing to open his shop in the downtown area of Beijing. He should be able to open for business next week if everything went smoothly.
Meng Chang made a rather large commotion which got Pei Qian's notice but he did not pay much attention.
The reason was very simple. Regardless of whether Meng Chang would succeed or not, he was still in a state of 'bragging'. Pei Qian did not know how to read minds and could not know his true thoughts. He could only continue observing.
Pei Qian had already decided to leave Dream Realization Ventures to fend for itself. He would not interfere with the investments anymore. Instead, he would strictly adhere to the 'sell if you make a profit, continue investing if you make a loss' approach. Thus, Pei Qian could not be bothered to ask too much about the specific operations of other projects.
Other than that, the other departments had more or less made some progress. For example, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out had opened a few new branches, Upwind Logistics had opened another batch of courier stations, and so on. Pei Qian took a quick glance and stopped paying attention.
At that moment, Pei Qian's cell phone rang.
He picked it up and saw that it was from Zhu Xiaoce.
Pei Qian could not help but frown. Did something happen at the filming location?
"Hello? Boss Pei, I'm sorry to disturb you," Zhu Xiaoce said over the phone. "It's like this. Our filming is not going very well. Lu Zhiyao's acting has reached a bottleneck. He's not satisfied after filming many times. I don't have any good ideas either. Boss Pei... could we trouble you to come over and give him some pointers?"
Pei Qian: "?"
It was like witnessing a huge reward for confusing humans.
It was a good thing that the filming was not going well and the effect was not satisfactory. However, what did he mean by asking me to give him some pointers?
Pei Qian was very confused. Lu Zhiyao was a talented young actor after all. He was only one award away from becoming a true Best Actor. Why was he asking him to guide him in acting?
The previous incident with Tomorrow is Beautiful was just a coincidence. How would I know anything about acting!
"I can't guide him. Goodbye." Pei Qian hung up honestly.
...
Mission and Choice's filming location.
Zhu Xiaoce sighed softly and put his cell phone back into his pocket.
Lu Zhiyao's heart could not help but drop when he saw this. However, he still held onto his last bit of hope and asked, "What did Boss Pei say?"
Zhu Xiaoce shook his head. "Boss Pei said that he can't guide you."
Lu Zhiyao could not help but be stunned. He frowned. "Boss Pei said... he can't guide me?"
He frowned slightly. After some serious consideration, he said, "Boss Pei said that he can't guide me, not that he did not have the time to or didn't want to?"
Zhu Xiaoce nodded. "Yes."
"Eh?" Lu Zhiyao fell into deep thought.
Zhu Xiaoce did not understand what he was thinking either. He asked, "Is there anything wrong?"
Lu Zhiyao nodded. "Of course!"
"If he said that he did not have the time or he did not want to guide me would mean that Boss Pei has the ability to guide me."
"However, Boss Pei said that he can't guide me. Does that mean he doesn't have the ability?"
Zhu Xiaoce nodded. "Yes, that should be what he means from those words."
Lu Zhiyao said, "That's a problem."
"Uncle Zhang has other matters to attend to and has no free time. What's more, it would not be very appropriate for him to come all the way to Jingzhou just to give me some pointers on my acting skills."
"But Uncle Zhang definitely has the ability to guide me."
"According to the filming situation of Tomorrow is Beautiful, Boss Pei's understanding of acting should be on the same level as Uncle Zhang's. Boss Pei might not be good at acting personally but he is very good at analyzing the characters through the movie script. He would also dig deeper into the details of the performance based on the plot and character characteristics."
"However, Boss Pei hasn't even read the entire script yet. Isn't it a little strange to say that he can't guide me?"
"Why did he reject it so decisively?"
Zhu Xiaoce frowned slightly and nodded. "Yes, your suspicions are not unreasonable."
"If Boss Pei was really not capable enough and could not give any opinions, he should have at least understood the script before coming to a conclusion. However, Boss Pei does not even know the complete script now, only a portion of the information, and yet he is firmly saying that he cannot guide you..."
"I understand now!
Zhu Xiaoce suddenly had an idea. "I think Boss Pei is emphasizing that you have to figure this out on your own. As a bystander and an outsider, I can't give you much advice!"
"Even if I could guide you in some details and improve your acting skills, it would only treat the symptoms and not solve the main problem!"
Lu Zhiyao was shocked. "Really? Why do you say that?"
Zhu Xiaoce explained, "We'll have to start from the difference between Tomorrow is Beautiful and Mission and Choice."
"Tomorrow is Beautiful has a very clear theme. To put it bluntly, the male protagonist you play is just a tool. He is the message that expresses Boss Pei's thoughts.
"Therefore, you would be able to draw inferences and learn from analogy with just a little guidance from Boss Pei.
"However, 'Mission and Choice' is completely different. Its script was actually written by a group of people, and there are many ways to interpret it. Most of the plot in the drama is a one-man show, and it's all made up of green screens."
"Therefore, there are actually many ways to interpret the character you're playing this time!"
"With so many interpretations, it's hard to say which is absolutely correct, but one of them must be the most suitable for you. No one can guide you on that, you can only rely on yourself to figure it out."
"There are many classic and outstanding characters in the history of movies. The interpretation of these characters were not on a helicopter view, but on the actors themselves."
"Obviously, Boss Pei thinks that you have entered this stage. The guidance from a helicopter view can no longer help you improve."
"You can only rely on yourself now."
Lu Zhiyao blinked blankly. "Director Zhu, are you sure that's what Boss Pei meant?"
Zhu Xiaoce nodded confidently. "Based on my understanding of Boss Pei, I can't say that I'm 100% sure, but I'm at least 97% sure."
"Therefore, what you have to do now is to believe in yourself.
Lu Zhiyao fell silent.
For some reason, he actually felt relieved.
When he was filming previously, he always felt that he was lacking in something and that his interpretation of the character was not good enough.
Thus, he was always lacking in confidence and his performance was not natural enough.
Lu Zhiyao hoped that someone would be able to guide him like Zhang Zuting and Boss Pei had done before, so that he would be enlightened and be able to solve all the problems in such a 'mechanical way'.
However, Director Zhu Xiaoce's call to Boss Pei had sobered him up.
Boss Pei's words shattered his fantasy and completely eliminated his wishful thinking. Since he could no longer rely on others to guide him, he could only trust himself and try his best to be enlightened!
"Enlightenment" was very mysterious and probably would not lead to an ideal outcome but Lu Zhiyao now had the mentality of cutting off all means of retreat and felt relaxed.
What's there to be afraid of if even Boss Pei said that I can only rely on myself now?
Lu Zhiyao made up his mind. "Alright! Boss Pei really views problems at the very core. I'll think about this script for a while more and film again in a few more hours!"
Chapter 743: Simulation Training On 'Realistic Elements'
Lu Zhiyao found a quiet corner on the set and read the script that he had obtained from beginning to end.
The first part of the script that he got started from the moment he woke up from hibernation, to the time when he received the order from the Executive Committee to become the supreme commander of the Alliance Fleet and watched the first humiliating defeat of the humans by the Zergs.
Lu Zhiyao was quite satisfied with the performance.
That was because this stage was relatively simple for the protagonist Qin Yi.
Qin Yi's emotions were complicated but he was still confined within the concept of a 'soldier'. In other words, although he had some complaints about the Blue Planet Alliance Fleet Executive Committee, AEEIS, and the previous commander, he had already decided to fulfill his duty as a soldier after learning of the former commander's sacrifice and taking over the heavy responsibility of being a commander.
This part was no problem to Lu Zhiyao based on his current acting skills. He shot a satisfactory scene after a few NGs.
The second part of the script was Qin Yi taking over and adapting to AEEIS' command system after watching the commander of the human fleet.
At that time, the Blue Planet Alliance Fleet was relatively loose in structure. The Asian Fleet, American Fleet, European Fleet, and so on had their own commanders, and each warship had a captain in charge.
There were also huge differences between the supreme commanders of different fleets. Some captains were very arrogant, while others were overly cautious and only wanted to protect themselves. Thus, this space battle became a one-sided slaughter by the Zergs.
The human fleet was in a mess. Some battleships even crashed into each other while escaping. The communication channel was in chaos. It was a complete disaster.
In this space battle plot, Lu Zhiyao's performance was also relatively simple.
Qin Yi calmly watched the entire process of the war. From time to time, he would use the control panel to change his perspective and observe the details of the battlefield. Gradually, he got used to the operation of the control panel.
There would only be some obvious fluctuations in his expression in special scenes.
The content of this part of the storyline was mainly to let Qin Yi understand the inevitability of the Blue Planet Alliance fleet changing their method of command.
The current method of command of the Blue Planet was actually a general directional decision made by an experienced commander with strong mental fortitude. Then, the artificial intelligence AEEIS would divide the decisions into specific instructions and direct them to the frontline army.
In other words, using the powerful artificial intelligence, AEEIS and Ansible communication, the current method of command actually directly replaced the entire middle-level command, greatly increasing the efficiency of the command.
The third script was for Qin Yi to start the first phase of command simulation training.
Qin Yi had to go through a lot of simulation training before he could truly take over the command of the front line according to AEEIS' plan.
Humans had successfully beheaded the Zerg Queen under the previous commander's command where he used himself as bait. They eliminated a large number of Zergs, curbed their reproductive capability and obtained a period of stability.
At this stage, AEEIS would be in charge of commanding the combined fleet for recuperation and strategic defence. Qin Yi, on the other hand, had to seize the time to improve his commanding ability.
The Zergs could make a comeback at any time. There was not much time left for Qin Yi.
The mock training at this stage was much smoother and simpler than Qin Yi had imagined.
That was because Qin Yi had rich first-tier combat experience. He also had AEEIS to provide him with all sorts of information at any time. In addition, humans were stronger than Zergs, and all soldiers followed orders without hesitation. Thus, the battle at this stage was very successful and completely in line with Qin Yi's expectations.
This was a small climax in the early stages of the movie. Under Qin Yi's correct command, the human troops in the scene won steadily.
Lu Zhiyao's performance in the first three scripts was relatively simple.
That was because Qin Yi did not have complicated emotions or intense emotional changes. His acting skills were still within Lu Zhiyao's control.
However, Lu Zhiyao was stuck after receiving the fourth script from Director Zhu Xiaoce. He felt like he was lacking in something no matter what he did.
...
Qin Yi woke up from the cabin again.
He was now the highest commander of the Alliance Fleet, where the fate of mankind was entrusted to him, However, as an ordinary human, he still needed sufficient rest to maintain the sharpness and clarity of his brain.
The hibernation capsule had a special sleeping gas. Qin Yi only needed three hours of deep sleep every 24 hours to ensure that his energy remained in a relatively good state.
During these three hours, AEEIS would continue to command the battle at the front line. AEEIS would immediately wake Qin Yi up if there was any emergency.
Until now, Qin Yi's simulation had been very smooth. He had clear-cut wins in the first few small-scale battles.
However, Qin Yi was neither proud nor complacent because he knew very well that a real battle would be countless times more complicated and arduous than a battle of this level.
Thus, after he woke up, Qin Yi sat on the command platform again and continued his mock training.
The sooner he completed all the simulation training, the safer the human race would be.
A light blue stream of data appeared in the air. AEEIS's sound wave image appeared.
"Commander, today's simulation training will include 'realistic elements'. Please be prepared."
Qin Yi was slightly surprised.
AEEIS began to explain before he could ask. "The so-called 'realistic elements' is to use the data of past battles to show how every unit on the battlefield has their own will. There is a probability of resistance."
Qin Yi nodded lightly.
As expected, the previous battle was very simple because there were no 'realistic elements'. It was a battlefield simulated under ideal circumstances.
The premise of such a battle was that all soldiers were rational people who would carry out the mission given by the commander without any hesitation.
However, absolutely rational people did not exist. Thus, such idealized battles naturally did not exist.
AEEIS' cold voice sounded. "Commander, you may think that you are prepared, but you are not."
"Here are some data that can help you understand the difficulty of adding the 'realistic elements'.
"In the era of cold weapons, the casualty rate of the army would reach 3% or even 5%. That means that the entire army could collapse if you lose about 5,000 soldiers in every 100,000 soldiers.
"Once that happens, the casualties caused by the pursuit and trampling of the retreating side would far exceed the deadlock stage. This is also the reason why there is often a huge disparity in battle losses during the era of cold weapons."
"In the age of thermal weapons, the army's organization efficiency and will to fight have been greatly improved. However, once the casualty rate reaches 10%, it will be regarded as a 'stop' state. That is, the team will lose the ability to complete specific tasks. When the casualty rate reaches 30%, it will be regarded as a 'destroyed' state. That is, the team's will to fight will be completely destroyed and will not be able to fight for a very long time."
"As for 'persevering to the last person', it is an extremely rare phenomenon. That is why these battles were recorded in history and repeatedly promoted by humans."
"Commander, understanding this information in advance will help you make more correct decisions."
Qin Yi's face revealed an expression of surprise.
As a team leader who had been commanding battles for a long time, Qin Yi had not come into contact with these data before.
In fact, the data completely contradicted his instincts.
That was because the team that Qin Yi was in was an elite team. They would often go on extremely dangerous missions. Their willpower was much stronger than other soldiers', and they would often fight until the last person was left.
Qin Yi originally thought that the entire army would collapse only when the war losses reached 60 to 70 percent. However, the real figures were obviously not the case.
During Qin Yi's previous simulation training, every unit would carry out their orders faithfully. The surviving soldiers would stick to the line and carry out their orders faithfully even if the death rate was more than 70 to 80 percent.
Now, it was possible for an established army to collapse, fail to follow, and fight on for their own surivival if the death rate exceeded 30% after adding the 'realistic elements'. The level of difficulty was higher than he could imagine.
The screen and the surrounding images changed rapidly as a new simulated battlefield was formed.
It was exactly the same as the previous battles. There were even more units that could be mobilized than before.
Qin Yi concentrated and started commanding the battle.
However, during the battle, his expression quickly changed from stern to surprised, then to anxious, and finally to irritable.
Any other normal person would have collapsed by now if not for Qin Yi's strong mental fortitude.
Many times, this unit could have held on for another hour before reinforcements arrived, turning the entire situation around. Yet, at the last moment, they would completely lose their fighting strength, causing them to be utterly defeated.
Many unexpected problems were added together, making the war, which was originally easy to win under the 'rational state', much more difficult. In the end, the entire battlefield was completely out of control, and they had no choice but to retreat in panic.
The troops that could not retreat in time were quickly drowned by the sea of insects. The bright spots on the map were extinguished one by one. The surroundings became dead silent, and the endless darkness completely enveloped Qin Yi.
Qin Yi leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
He found it hard to accept that a battle that lasted a few hours ended in such a complete defeat.
AEEIS's image appeared again in mid-air.
"On the battlefield, a seemingly flawless choice could also lead to serious consequences."
"On the contrary, an unacceptable deception could also lead to a complete victory in a large-scale battle."
"Commander, you can check the data provided by AEEIS at any time. The current analysis is more than 87% accurate. It can be used as an important reference."
Qin Yi remained silent for a moment and then took a deep breath.
"Start over."
Chapter 744: Past Battles
The surrounding images began to retreat rapidly. The battles that had happened before replayed in front of Qin Yi.
The dead soldiers came back to life one by one, and the overwhelming swarm of insects dispersed like a receding tide. Everything returned to its original state.
Qin Yi took a deep breath. These images strengthened the memories in his mind, allowing him to clearly understand that some seemingly correct decisions made under the premise that 'all soldiers are rational people' could actually be completely wrong.
Qin Yi gently tapped on the control panel's screen once he was ready. The waiting troops started moving again.
This time, Qin Yi was even more focused. He did not dare to miss out on any details.
Qin Yi recalled the consequences of making a decision before and checked the data provided by AEEIS.
With the help of AEEIS, every unit and even every soldier's state was quantified into a constant fluctuating data.
For example, different soldiers would have different statistics such as their morale, degree of tension, and fear at the beginning of the battle. During the battle, the rate of change would also be different.
The current state of the army could be displayed after combining the values of all the soldiers in the army and some complicated calculations.
Sometimes they would be in high morale, sometimes they were in low morale, and sometimes they would complete collapse. Once their morale completely collapsed, Qin Yi could do almost nothing apart from giving orders for the troops to retreat, because other orders, whether it was attacking or defending, might not work.
While commanding the battle, AEEIS would occasionally remind Qin Yi to make some key decisions.
For example, there were multiple zones fighting at the same time. Now that a small team had discovered a certain Zerg nest, AEEIS would directly give Qin Yi a hint after determining the importance of this event. Qin Yi would be able to prioritize his command for this event.
When a team called for reinforcements or supplies, Qin Yi had many options as well. He could transfer troops to reinforce them, he could keep his mouth shut about the reinforcement requirements, he could lie that reinforcements were coming, he could also tell them the truth.
Behind every choice, there would be a message marked by AEEIS, helping Qin Yi to judge the possible consequences of making this decision.
For example, if a team whose morale was on the verge of collapse received news that 'reinforcements were on the way', their morale would rise temporarily. On the other hand, if they knew that there would be no more reinforcements, their morale might collapse instantly. There was also a very small chance that they would launch suicidal attacks to eliminate more Zergs.
The consequences of every choice could be checked, and the probability of certain possibilities was extremely low. Qin Yi could not possibly try.
If he told them the truth, the chances of their morale collapsing would be more than 90%, and the chances of them triggering the fighting spirit of the soldiers in a desperate situation would be less than 10%. It would be very foolish to bet that the probability was less than 10%.
In this battle, Qin Yi did not completely follow the instructions given by AEEIS. Sometimes, he even deliberately rejected these data in his heart.
That was because most of the time, he had to make decisions that went against his conscience. For example, he had to give up and sacrifice a team. In order to let them continue to hold their ground, he had to tell them that reinforcements were arriving.
Qin Yi instinctively resisted such a behavior. Therefore, he would still insist on telling the truth even if it did not affect the situation much.
However, it was undeniable that Qin Yi began to rely more and more on the data provided by AEEIS during the battle.
That was because the data was very useful.
Qin Yi gradually realized that under such chaotic battlefield conditions, the command method originally used for 'rational people' would not work. Instead, it would strictly follow the data analysis provided by AEEIS. In the end, it would achieve the most acceptable result.
Qin Yi began to pay more attention to data and AEEIS' opinions on some less important decisions.
That was because, compared to the critical battlefield, the actions of these marginal battlefields and small groups would not affect the overall situation. Qin Yi did not expect them to become the small probability of 'seed explosion'. He only hoped that they would not collapse too quickly and achieve a relatively acceptable result.
This time, Qin Yi successfully won this battle.
After quickly reviewing the entire battle, Qin Yi quickly entered the command for the next battle. He was pressed for time and did not have much time to think about these difficult decisions.
Qin Yi was becoming better at commanding according to AEEIS' data and 'overall thinking'. His results were also steadily improving.
Qin Yi's improvement was very obvious from the beginning when his troops were defeated to now when he could work hard to control the losses and win the battle within a certain range.
Every time he won, he would watch the soldiers cheer, and the number of casualties reported by AEEIS decreased. Qin Yi felt comforted, and his emotions became numb.
He felt as if he had gradually become an emotionless commanding machine. He very nearly became numb towards the feelings of the individual soldiers, and able to coldly but accurately make the choices most beneficial to the overall battle.
...
Another battle.
As usual, Qin Yi quickly scanned the battlefield information and formulated a strategy.
However, when he scanned the names of the teams that were on standby, he was stunned.
AS-371-45 Team.
Qin Yi zoomed in and scanned each soldier's serial number and name.
He saw Xu Kaile, Meng Yu, Zhao Yongxiu, and Wu Shaojun's names, including himself, Qin Yi, the captain of AS-371-45 Team.
There were so many units in the battlefield. Each unit had its own serial number and name, but Qin Yi had never paid attention to them.
That was because he really could not focus on it. He could not put himself in the shoes of a soldier to think about problems.
This was a large-scale battle. There would be a huge number of decisions waiting for Qin Yi to make every minute. To pay attention to a certain soldier would be irresponsible to all the other soldiers.
However, Qin Yi could not help but feel something when he saw his own team.
The memories that had gradually become blurry during training became clear once again. Qin Yi's gaze swept across every familiar member. What they were doing now was exactly the same as what he remembered.
AEEIS did not explain much, but Qin Yi knew very well that this should be the video recording of the battle at that time. The battle had now been restored to its original state. However, this time, he was no longer the captain of AS-271-45, but the commander of the battlefield.
Qin Yi's eyes scanned the figures of every soldier in the AS-371-45 team and the overall figures of the entire team.
Morale, nervousness, fear...
Every statistic was displayed clearly.
The figures of these players were different.
The short and silent Meng Yu had the lowest level of nervousness and fear, which was in line with Qin Yi's judgment.
Zhao Yongxiu seemed to be very clumsy and liked to look good. He received the most care in the team, but his fear was not very high.
On the other hand, Xu Kaile, who looked optimistic and often encouraged other players, was the most nervous in the entire team.
Qin Yi thought about it briefly and quickly determined the reason for this: Xu Kaile was a meticulous person. In reality, he was under more mental pressure than others. His optimism and enthusiasm were just a facade.
Qin Yi looked at himself again. He realized that his statistics were not as perfect as he had imagined.
His morale, fear, nervousness, and other statistics might be the best in the entire team but he was still far from being a true "rational person". He was not even the best in the entire fleet.
According to AEEIS' judgment, he would also collapse in despair. He could not be considered a cold-hearted war machine.
Qin Yi personally felt that the AS-371-45 team was unique from the bottom of his heart. However, it was just an ordinary team from the statistics.
This team was nothing special when compared to other teams carrying out missions.
As to why this team could finally complete the task of finding the Zerg Queen's Nest...
Initially, Qin Yi thought that it was because of the sacrifices of the other team members, his perseverance, and his luck in escaping death countless times.
However, Qin Yi suddenly felt that these reasons were both reasonable and unreasonable.
From the commander's point of view, he had another view on this matter.
In fact, the combined fleet had sent out so many teams. Each team had the same combat ability as AS-371-45. Some teams were even stronger.
From the looks of it, as long as the strategy was right, teams would eventually come to the Zerg Queen's nest. It would have been another team even if it wasn't Team AS-371-45.
For Captain Qin Yi, such a result was obtained through the sacrifice and bloodbath of all the members of the AS-371-45 team. For Commander Qin Yi, it was a result of precise calculation.
Of course, there could be errors in calculations, and strategies could fail. However, it was obvious that even without the AS-371-45 team, the outcome of this war would not be much different.
Qin Yi no longer paid attention to his team. Instead, he focused on the overall situation.
The overwhelming sea of insects was already brewing. It was like a surging black tide, or like a dark cloud gathering in a strong wind. Every second was precious.
Qin Yi did not say anything. He skillfully operated the control panel and began to direct this battle.
Under Qin Yi's control, the troops faced the swarm of bugs one by one. Countless soldiers were swallowed by the sea of bugs. The dense firepower suppression blasted deep pits and ravines on the surface of the planet.
Qin Yi calmly made his decisions time and time again. After one formation was sacrificed, a backup formation would be added immediately. The human army and the Zergs were in a deadlock on the vast battlefield, repeatedly competing for strategic locations.
The AS-371-45 team, like the other elite teams, had been sent on a mission to search for the Queen Zerg's Nest. Elite teams had been exposed one after another, and the Ansible signal had disappeared into the nest forever. However, there were also teams that were constantly moving deeper into the nest.