Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Alliance
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"Sorry for interrupting your conversation."
"The person in the CEO seat is supposed to be busy, so I understand."
Bill Gates accepted my apology with a relaxed expression, as if he completely understood.
"In return, I think I can share some good news with you, Mr. Gates."
"Good news?"
"Savior just signed a partnership deal with IBM."
"Ha... I hope that doesn't mean we're handing over the top spot anytime soon."
Even as he kept smiling at my words, the murderous glint in Gates's eyes sent chills down my spine.
'Bill Gates at this time really is terrifying.'
If anything got in the way of his plans, he'd bulldoze right through it. That was the Bill Gates of now.
But there was no lie in what I said.
This was genuinely good news for Microsoft and Bill Gates.
"Aren't you preparing a cloud service?"
"!"
Bill Gates's eyes widened, his mouth agape at my words.
He was probably shocked, wondering if I'd planted a spy in his company.
'The world Microsoft and Bill Gates were aiming for is truly terrifying.'
.NET
The name of Microsoft's vision for a next-generation software and internet integrated platform, unveiled in the early 2000s.
As the internet and Java grew from the late 1990s, software independent of operating systems proliferated.
Microsoft saw this trend as a threat.
And rightly so—if developers no longer depended on operating systems, the Windows-based monopoly ecosystem they'd painstakingly built would crumble.
To counter this, Microsoft planned to build an exclusive ecosystem through Microsoft Office and the GameBox console they were originally set to create.
It was a fearsome project to maintain OS dominance in the internet and web services era, integrating all devices and services under Microsoft's account umbrella.
But both were already in my hands, leaving them with just one option.
"The era of internet and web services is inevitable. That means servers for providers—cloud computing—will be essential."
"A prediction? Or..."
"Hard to believe, I know, but it's a prediction. We entered the office software and console markets seeing the same future, which made it possible."
"So now you're eyeing the cloud too?"
I shook my head at Bill Gates's question.
"I'll support you fully."
"Pardon?"
"From technical support to equity investment. No voting rights needed, of course. I'll leave it entirely to you, Mr. Gates."
Bill Gates's face filled with confusion again at my words.
"You expect me to believe that? From Savior, who peeked into our future projects and snatched them away?!"
"We have more businesses than you think. No need to dive into cloud ourselves."
It was the honest truth.
I knew better than anyone how promising and crucial cloud would be in the future, but Savior lacked the bandwidth to jump in.
With so many ongoing projects, touching cloud directly could backfire.
'Can't control everything. Best to entrust it to experts.'
That's why I chose Microsoft as my partner.
"Because of Byte Line?"
"Spot on."
After pondering my words, Bill Gates seemed to grasp why we were offering to back their cloud venture.
"It was an intriguing program. UDP-based lightweight protocol, custom retransmission requests, compression algorithms, and various other tailored layers."
"You've already dissected it?"
"Employees use it at home; safety checks are necessary."
Savior's newly released Byte Line Online was spreading rapidly, especially among developers as an essential tool.
It wasn't surprising Gates took interest, but I hadn't expected him to dive into the technical details personally.
"Byte Line's performance is impressive. Auto-reconnect and session persistence for unstable networks, plus UDP-based low-latency tech."
As expected from the genius reshaping the era, he had already pinpointed Byte Line's core technologies.
"But the fundamental issue couldn't be solved with tech alone, it seems."
"Exactly. Network speed and bottlenecks persist, no matter our cutting-edge tech."
That was precisely why I came to Gates to discuss cloud and negotiate.
No matter how well I designed and our devs with Rogers implemented it, an online chat program's core was internet and servers.
We couldn't control the internet, so default it. The issue was ping.
Packet Internet Groper—ping to us—a program to check network reachability.
Its importance in online chat was painfully obvious.
"Mr. Gates, what's the most crucial aspect of an online chat program?"
"Hm... Real-time, probably."
"Precisely. More specifically, minimizing conversation latency."
Real-time chat programs existed before Byte Line, like Waffle's and Microsoft's Office Chat.
But Byte Line dominated because it truly felt like real-time conversation.
I send, they read instantly; they send, I read instantly.
"That's what sets real-time chat apart from email or texts."
"The 'conversation feel'... So you want us to build servers for you?"
"How about mutual aid?"
"More accurate to say you're using us."
I expected it wouldn't be easy, but Gates's grudge against Savior ran deeper than anticipated.
He'd lost two of three core projects; I understood.
'But I can't back down. Don't want to spend our own money.'
To fix ping, a distributed server network was the only answer.
Servers at global hubs, auto-connecting to lowest-ping ones.
That would eliminate displeasure in Byte Line use, except in truly poor internet spots.
But installing massive servers at every hub was exorbitantly expensive.
Worse, annual maintenance costs were huge.
Knowing this, Gates eyed my tech transfer and investment offer warily.
Yet he was sharp.
By now, he'd realized why I offered cloud support.
"Join hands, and you'll share Office and the console. Refuse, and Savior takes cloud too."
He muttered it like a soliloquy, but loud enough for me to hear clearly.
Exactly.
Their .NET project was now impossible without our cooperation.
"Shall we discuss terms?"
In the end, Bill Gates couldn't refuse my outstretched hand.
"Intel got struck by lightning."
"Not just Intel. Nvidia and Dell are in chaos too, rumors say they're rushing emergency meetings."
"Too late. People already see it as Savior's tripartite alliance."
Morgan Stanley's CEO Stanley folded the New York Times he'd been reading and set it aside on his desk.
"TV, newspapers, internet—all buzzing about the alliance. Even folks who ignore finance are chattering about Savior building a coalition."
"It's the birth of a union that could shake not just IT, but the entire economy."
Savior, which had conquered Korea and ascended to major conglomerate status.
Microsoft, the top IT darling before Savior.
And IBM, who could claim to have bloomed America's IT flower first.
Each influential in U.S. economics, their collaboration was no small matter.
Global financial markets had erupted since the joint announcement.
"Post-opening, those three stocks are skyrocketing. Forecasts say Savior hits $500 today."
"$500? That's over 10% up, right?"
"Yes. Consensus is it'll break Microsoft's old 12% single-day record."
"Makes sense."
Stanley felt a rush of emotion.
He recalled Wall Street mocking him as senile or mad for setting Savior's IPO at $200.
'$500 is lowballing it.'
But Stanley predicted it wouldn't end there.
Savior's growth was astonishing, and scarier still—it had room left to grow.