Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Little rascal, what do you think?” The Bureau Chief smiled and said, “Let me put it this way. The films and entertainment industry in Hollywood is indeed much better than that of our Nation, especially in terms of special effects and animation. Putting special effects aside and just talking about animation first, at least within the film companies in our Nation, none of them can be compared to the magnates in Hollywood yet.”
He wasn’t wrong, the animation technology in Hollywood was always much better than that in Heavenly State. Hong Dali was at least aware of this too—he could tell it just from the animation from “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre: Pugilistic World”…
But knowing it was one thing, Hong Dali carefully pointed at the Bureau Chief. “But, the problem is, has this got anything to do with you? You don’t seem to be in charge of this matter…”
This Bureau Chief was the leader of the National Security Bureau, where would he have the leisure mood to care about matters in the filming industry? Unless this National Security Bureau was the legendary “related authorities”!?
“Hehe, being a citizen of Heavenly State.” The Bureau Chief solemnly and slowly said, “For the glory of Heavenly State, my prodigal.”
OK, the front part “for the glory of Heavenly State” was still quite blood-boiling, but the last part “my prodigal” instantly destroyed the whole atmosphere—looks like this Bureau Chief was also quite humorous…
“OK, for the glory of Hollywood, my Bureau Chief.” Hond Dali helplessly opened his hands and shrugged. “However, I still don’t understand how is this related to what I am doing. No matter how I look at it, what I am doing doesn’t seem to be something that can break the technological barrier of Hollywood.”
“Yup, let me tell you the reason I am here today in detail.” The Bureau Chief organized his thoughts and gradually said, “We will have to start from the beginning.
“You should know that in this modern world, computers are a necessity in our life. Many things in life need the support of computer technology. So far, any issue?”
Hong Weiguo, Hong Dali, and Lan Ruoxi all nodded together.
This was an era of electronic engineering, and basically, everything in our daily life could be related to computer technology.
The Bureau Chief continued, “As for the animation technology in Hollywood, from the surface, their technology is just a bit stronger than others. However, if you look behind this, the problem is much bigger.
“This is an era of peace and development, there is no physical war in the world. Between countries, we are fighting economical wars now. Hollywood’s existence and Merika’s advancement in the films industry allow it to draw in money worldwide faster. Let me put it this way, some time ago, Hollywood implemented the policy of technological barrier and caused the cost of animation in our Nation to increase by about 20%.
“You guys might not have a clear idea what this 20% means, but it’s easier to understand if I change the way to say it.
“The amount our Nation invests in animation every year is 14 billion. Now that the cost was raised by 20%, that means that almost 3 billion worth of capital is gone.”
“So much!” Hearing the Bureau Chief’s words, Hong Weiguo and Lan Ruoxi were shocked. They never expected that the technological barrier in Hollywood actually had such a great effect!
Three billion was, after all, not a small amount.
“Yes, and this is only for the animation.” The Bureau Chief looked at Hong Dali. “Dali, do you still remember the ‘The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre: Pugilistic World’ that you invested in? It had animation design in it too, Yup, about two minutes or so of animation. The cost was originally under 1 million, but because of this technological barrier and that Hollywood is not supporting us with this technology now, an additional 200,000 yuan or more is needed to reach the desired effect.”
“What the heck!” Hong Dali directly swore.
He finally understood why the Bureau Chief placed so much emphasis on this area. Just imagine, how many films did the Nation produce every year? Under the current environment, the Nation placed quite a lot of emphasis on entertainment projects for children. There were quite a lot of fully computer-animated movies. Plus, the various other industries were involved too. Adding everything up, the money required was really a very large sum.
“So, why is CG animation so expensive?” The Bureau Chief asked. “Actually, the main reason is that it’s easy for the movement of the characters to be very stiff and unreal. Therefore, they have to design a lot of models for the characters. I’m not sure about the actual concepts, but this is roughly what it is about.
“And today, when I heard your call, I guessed that you definitely had some ideas regarding this aspect.” The Bureau Chief beamed and said, “I knew that your luck is always good, the stuff that you did or created always seemed to be of big use, so I directly came over to find you. How is it, tell me more about your plans?”
“Oh, OK.” Hong Dali smiled and replied, “You know about Chuyin, right? She didn’t have any emotions and couldn’t laugh or cry. So, I thought, why don’t we just create a virtual character based on her. Then, just nice, I have both the Virtual Reality Projection and the Holographic Projection Technology. So isn’t it simple now, I just have to combine the two of them together. Let Xinxin wear the suit and dance, record the movements, put it into the computer, and change it into a second dimension character model… Huh!?”
Speaking up to this point, he finally realized it. “Isn’t this the stiffness of the CG animation models that you talked about just now? This item that I am making seems to be able to solve this issue…”
“Hahaha! You see?” The Bureau Chief pointed at Hong Dali and said towards Hong Weiguo and Lan Ruoxi, “This kid’s luck is always very good. Something he made unintentionally actually solved our technology difficulties!”
Hong Weiguo and Lan Ruoxi were really speechless.
This technology that this kid tinkered, the motive was practically just purely for fun…
The three of time laughed for a while, then the Bureau Chief beamed and asked, “Then? Dali, are you planning to add in computer dubbing too and let this second dimension Chuyin be released on that ‘I Am a Singer’ show of yours?”
“Uncle Chief, you are really smart!” Hong Dali was overjoyed. “This is really what I was thinking of doing.”
“Hehe, I knew it.” The Bureau Chief nodded and asked, “Then, did you think about what you are going to do next after it’s done going in the ‘I Am a Singer’?”
It’s coming, it’s coming, I knew that this old guy definitely has some other idea.
Hong Dali curiously asked, “I really haven’t thought of this yet. I was just thinking that if Chuyin joined ‘I Am a Singer,’ the effect will be very interesting. Maybe, it will very a very hot topic…”
“Hehe, you are always so eager to play about.” The Bureau Chief reminded him. “Let me give you an example. This Virtual Nodes Projection Suit, if you slightly improve on it and let it become a GPS locator on the human body and coordinate with the Holographic Projection Technology—yup, for example, setting the location on the person’s back, then add wings to it, then use the Holographic Projection Technology to project it…”
“What the heck!” Hong Dali instantly blurted out. “Wouldn’t they become a bird-man, then!?”
Once the bird-man appears, who could fight against it!
“Little rascal!” Hong Weiguo and his wife were immediately amused. “That’s an angel! An angel! You really just say anything that comes to your mind…”
Although this technology that the Bureau Chief talked about still had a lot of difficulties to be solved, at least there was a general direction now.
This wasn’t all, the Bureau Chief continued to smile and said, “Dali, think about this too. If war really happens, at night, we can make some remote cars that carry the GPS locators and use the Holographic Projection Technology to project it… In the eyes of the enemy, that will be countless soldiers. Hehe, this way, real and fake soldiers mixed together to confuse the enemy, what will the effect be?”
Once he said it this way, Hong Weiguo and Lan Ruoxi understood.
This thing, to speak of it on a small scale, it was just for entertainment and fun. However, speaking of it on a large scale, the meaning would be totally different.
“That does indeed sounds really cool!” As expected, Hong Dali was immediately invigorated upon hearing this. “This is a good idea! Hehe, looks like this money was really worth spending… Hehe, hehe…”
Are you purposely trying to anger us? This isn’t just worth spending, this is practically a sure win!
Speaking up to this point, the Bureau Chief solemnly said, “Therefore, since we are not outsiders anyway and this child Dali likes to tinker with things, we are also happy to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of his tinkering. We admire the fact that he frequently comes up with very good ideas. However, this matter must be kept secret and must not be leaked out. Otherwise, there might be people who will harbor evil intentions towards Dali. I’m not being an alarmist. Now, the more carefree Dali lives, the more he squanders, the safer he is!”
“I understand!” Hong Weiguo and his wife furiously nodded. “Don’t worry about us, we promise that we will not mention this to anyone.”
The two of them treated Hong Dali as their precious darling, they would definitely prevent anything that would be bad for Hong Dali.
Hong Dali touched his nose.
So, from now on, is this considered to be squandering on official orders?
Oh my, this is good! From now on, I can squander openly and as much as I want!
As Hong Dali was thinking about this, he suddenly grinned and said, “Since Uncle Chief regards me so highly, I can only execute my divine squandering techniques to squander as much as I can. I will tinker with whatever I see and whatever I think of. However…”
When Hong Weiguo and Lan Ruoxi heard this, they both gave a long sigh. Now, they were not worried that Hong Dali would squander, but more worried that he would not squander. Yet, when they heard his last word, they were kept at suspense again. This kid was really killing them!
What was there to “however” at such a time!?
“However what?” The Bureau Chief was a bit curious and asked.
“Uncle Chief.” Hong Dali beamed with delight, his expression inviting a beating from others. “What I am going to do from now on, to say it nicely, will be to give my service to the Nation. To put it not so nicely, I will become a big prodigal from a little prodigal… Sigh, actually, I do still care about my image. It’s fine being just a little prodigal, but this title of a big prodigal, it will really damage my reputation!”
