Chapter 616 - A Different Circ.u.mstances

It had been two weeks since the bombshell, Univ One, was thrown into the ICT industry. The waves it created had not yet dissipated and seemed to have no plans to settle down just yet.

The fame spread out to the public, inciting a lot of consumers to download Univ One's app and experience for themselves the services it provided. 

Since Univ One was a recent creation, the public who always loved to try new things favored this trending new app until it became a hot trend in the public.

The social media platforms were full of Univ One's news, and even in the business industry, it was the topic of their conversation.

Whenever Univ One was mentioned in the discussion, ZD World would also be brought up.

A lot of people were wondering, with the appearance of Univ One, how would ZD World handle this unexpected strong rival?

ZD World sure was great. Being the pioneer in providing the first app with the unprecedentedly comprehensive features previously only offered by separate operators and service providers, offered through the latest exclusive international mobile network was its advantage. However, with the rumors flying around, ZD World's credibility was greatly hit by the public. 

There was even a rumor that ZD World stole Univ One's technology and took the chance to launch the project first, resulting in Univ One having no choice but to back down and make new feature adjustments so as to not be exactly the same as ZD World.

It could be said that a lot of consumers were now eyeing Univ One after tasting the magnificent delicacy that was the ZD World. And the public seemed to buy Univ One's stories. 

Yet despite all these, there was no public announcement from SC Company yet and their stance was strangely quiet. 

This made the public's suspicions about ZD World increase.

However, unbeknownst to the public, SC was not silent at all.

They were quietly laying down the groundwork for a huge reversal while moving discreetly and appeasing all their important clients first. 

Fortunately, Linfeng had been careful in choosing their core clients and partners. Those tycoons who had keen eyes and knew that the outside rumours were most likely just a large drama played out by Univ One's company were not swayed by the rumors. With their resources and network of contacts, they soon confirmed that this was indeed only a hype.

In the first month since Univ One's appearance, when Univ One was constantly occupying the top spot of the downloads, SC suddenly came out and casually dropped an announcement.

ZD World would be expanding their peak coverage to another six more countries. The articles they released contained solid details of new batches of state of the art tower facilities of the ZD Comprehensive Project in other countries. 

This sudden news yet again rocked the ICT world. 

Not even a year passed, but they have already reached their first success expansion?!

With the addition of the new countries, the range of ZD World increased. Its international mobile network supported by the exclusive latest Nth generation of mobile technology had become wider and the existing users could also freely connect to users of those six countries under ZD Network through the same ZD World app while enjoying many benefits.

Under the banner of public-private partnership and inclusion of the domestic cellular service providers, the ICT industry in the six countries widely promoted ZD World.

Aside from the benefits previously given to them, with the appearance of ZD World, the government would receive a lot of benefits in the future development, and for the business corporations and various institutions, the convenience that ZD World could provide to them to support their operations easily could add a great boost in keeping up with the global trends.

"ZD World is finally here!"

"I've always been envious of those countries boasting about having ZD World, but fortunately, I don't have to anymore! I can also use it now!"

"Download, let's download and try it out! Is it really as good as what they all say?"

The people from the six additional countries who excitedly tried out the famous global app network immediately found ZD World convenient and useful. 

Such lightning data speed!

The network had no buffer time at all!

Such amazing reliability even inside the elevators and deep bas.e.m.e.nt floors!

Thus, ZD World users increased once more. The previously stagnant rank in downloads rose again in a few days and dominated the global ICT industry once more.

The businessmen who had not yet given up on ZD World used this opportunity to knock for cooperation with SC again before anyone else. Some people who were wavering into going to Univ One now become desperate to hop back to SC. 

How could they not hope to land a cooperation with SC?

Even though Univ One was a great project with lots of potential for being a second ZD World, it still could not beat ZD World who had already done its first expansion.

It was like comparing a person who ran the first l.a.p meeting the person who had already run his second l.a.p.

Thus, ZD World's expansion overwhelmed all ICT related news, toppling down Univ One's glory and pushing Univ One's fame behind them.

All the spectators kneeled down. 

They were waiting for a counterattack from SC to clarify the rumours. Who knew, instead of responding to the provocation, it was as if they did not take Univ One seriously at all and casually did something big!

****

Guan Gao Huan was drinking alone in the highest floor of LG Club.

It was his third glass already, yet none of the alcohol went to his system.

His golden eyes stared unblinkingly at the screen in front of him. 

He was watching the virtual data of Univ One and ZD World.

He had been battling with ZD World for a month. He had tasted victory in the first few weeks. However, he felt uneasy when he still had not heard any news from SC. 

It turned out that SC was actually waiting to finish their first expansion!

Guan Gao Huan gulped down the wine on his glass.

ZD World's users had increased by ten million in just one night, and its graphic line was still rising in rapid succession. On the other hand, although still rising, Univ One's pathetic line was like a slow worm.

Univ One gathered fifty million users in one month, while ZD World had gathered a billion. With the expansion to the six countries, their users might increase for another half a billion.

The difference would just increase and increase.

Guan Gao Huan threw the glass expressionlessly.

Crash!

It had only been a few months since he issued the challenge, yet Linfeng had already covered another six countries?!

Why was he so fast!

Guan Gao Huan's Univ One was actually a great creation. However, it could not replace the pioneer ZD World's first ranking in a short amount of time without any significant advantage in the features. There was also a lot of benefits in becoming second, after all, there were only two of them in the market. 

However, Guan Gao Huan's goal was to bring Linfeng down and totally defeat ZD World.

Guan Gao Huan flopped down on his seat.

After venting his anger, he calmed down. He took out his phone and called someone.

"You called, Third Young Master?" The voice of an old man sounded on the other line.

"Yes, it's me. Please make an appointment with grandfather."

The other line was silent. Then the old man sighed.

"I apologize, but headmaster is in the hospital right now."

Guan Gao Huan froze.

"What happened?" he asked, even though he had an idea of what could have happened.

"Headmaster collapsed. I was not supposed to tell you due to the headmaster's insistence, but thankfully you called first. I know that headmaster doesn't want to appear weak in front of the three of you, but someone needs to know this and stay by the headmaster's side."

"I'll go there. Which hospital and which room?"

The head butler told him the address and the room number.

Guan Gao Huan then asked. "Are you going to tell my brothers?"

"Headmaster's order is to not disrupt the three of you. I already went against my master's order by telling you."

"That's alright. I'll take care of grandfather. Grandpa doesn't want my two brothers to worry about him. I am the youngest so I should stay with him."

After confirming that the head butler would not call his two brothers, Guan Gao Huan ended the call.

He went to the bathroom to wash his face and remove the smell of wine on his body. He put on his contact lenses and looked at his reflection on the mirror coldly.

It was a good thing that he called today, or else the head butler might call the eldest who in turn might alert his second brother of their grandfather's condition.

The second brother was suspicious of him. So of course, he would investigate this matter deeply once he knew of their grandfather's condition.

Picking up his coat, Guan Gao Huan glanced down at the broken shards of the wine glass on the floor. 

His blurred reflection shone through it.

He had to meet his grandfather to ask about 'that' and also gain help for Univ One. He also needed to confirm the old man's condition. 

This visit was necessary with a lot of intentions.

*****

A/n: In the past lifetime, under different circ.u.mstances, Univ One had gone against ZD World. That time, Guan Gao Huan has Xiong Zhi by his side (Refer Chapter 59-61 XZ's flashback). Using Xiong Zhi as Linfeng's weakness, he managed to see eye to eye to SC's ZD World. But right now, he doesn't have Xiong Zhi. Linfeng could act on his will. So the intense battle that Univ One and ZD World had before was completely different in this life.