Chapter 18 — The entire department's salary is 39,000 yuan, just me 5,800 yuan

The night is like a thick layer of ink. Covering the entire picture of the city. But the Phoenix Project office is on the top floor of Lap Tan Technology. It's the only island that hasn't been swallowed by darkness. Bright torchlight. Bright as day. It's been twenty days since the meeting to determine the direction for developing the core apparatus. During those twenty days. The concept of time in this place has almost completely disappeared. No one remembers what day it is today. No one paid attention to whether it was dawn or dusk outside. In everyone's world. Only the source code remains. Architectural diagram. And endless technical debates. Three whiteboards have been replaced. On each plate. Extensive formula. Logical flow. Along with countless sketches scribbled like mysterious symbols. Under the floor. Empty coffee cups and disposable lunch boxes lay scattered about. In the air. Filled with the smell of coffee. Cigarette smell. And the unique flavor only appears when the human brain is operating at full capacity. The dream team is full of geniuses. Going through the fiercest battle. But also the most exciting in their career. The famous chief architect always acts alone. Right now my hair is messy. Crowded with Lam Phong in front of a computer screen. Just because of the transmission performance of a data packet. But arguing until my face turned red. Young security genius. Wear noise-canceling headphones. My fingers flew across the keyboard so fast that only afterimages remained. On your screen. Countless firewalls and virtual traps are being erected. Simulate the world's highest level cyber attacks. The whole team. Like a sophisticated machine that has been tuned to the limit. Every gear is running like crazy. But still perfectly coordinated. And the overall designer. It is also the central engine of that machine. It's me. I have been in this office continuously for seventy-two hours. Never stepped out. A folding bed is placed in the corner of the room. But it's almost never been used. I use cold water to wash my face. I ate a few pieces of dry bread. All my energy. All are packed into an endless digital universe made up of the numbers 0 and 1. I'm not just the commander. I am also the strongest warrior on the front lines. Any technical issues the team encounters. Finally they were all delivered to me. And I can always find the crux of the problem in the shortest time. At the same time, provide the most optimal solution. One late night. Phantom encountered a bottleneck in a base layer algorithm. That is the problem of dynamic memory allocation. He was stuck with it for two days. Try more than a dozen different ways. But all failed. That directly affects the performance limits of the entire core engine. He angrily scratched his hair. Your sense of pride and confidence. Little by little it's being crushed by that tiny algorithm. Just when he almost wanted to give up. I hold a cup of hot coffee. Quietly walked up behind him. I just stood there looking at the screen for five minutes. I picked up the pen. Write down a little more than ten lines of pseudocode on the scrap paper next to you.

“Try this direction.”

“Using a bidirectional linked list combined with a hash mapping table.”

“Replacing the current red and black tree structure.”

“Complexity the time can be reduced from O(log n) to O(1).”

Ghost was stunned. He stared at that short but creative code. It was like a bolt of lightning ripped through the fog in my head. Why didn't you think of it? This idea completely breaks away from the traditional memory management framework. Truly a magical stroke of the pen. He raised his head. It's hard to believe my slightly pale face due to fatigue.

“You... how did you come up with that?”

I just smiled softly.

“Before participating in the Prometheus project.”

“I had the same problem.”

I don't tell you. To solve that problem. I have single-handedly read the entire source code related to memory management in the Linux kernel. I put the coffee cup on his table.

“Don't stay up too late.”

“Health is the most valuable asset.”

I turned around and returned to my seat. Continue to immerse yourself in the world of private source code. Ghost looked at my back. Then he bowed his head again and looked at the short code on the paper. It's almost a work of art. That moment. The last bit of pride belonging to a top expert like him completely disappeared. Instead. It is sincere admiration from the bottom of my heart. He finally understood. Why did Tran Lap Tan assign such an important project to a young and unknown woman like me? I'm truly a genius born for code. Under my guidance. Core engine development progress increased at an astonishing rate. One module at a time. Continuously under construction. Continuously being perfected. The entire team also reached an unprecedented state of excitement. Everyone feels it. A great work is gradually taking shape in their own hands. Just when everyone thought that the light of victory was right before their eyes. A phone call came from across the ocean. It's Tran Lap Tan. First time. There was a rare heaviness in his voice.

“Tieu Chu.”

“I just received the news.”

“A big competitor of ours.”

“A leading technology corporation in Silicon Valley.”

“Just announced they are also developing a similar project.”

“Code name is Pangu.”

“Their product launch conference is scheduled for three months.”

My hand holding the phone tightened slightly. That number is like a sharp blade. Hovering above everyone's heads. According to current progress. At least four more months. The new Phoenix project can complete its first internal testing. That's synonymous. We will completely lose our pioneering advantage in the market.

“I know this request is excessive.”

Tran Lap Tan's voice carried a bit of guilt.

“But we have to stay ahead of them.”

“The board is putting a lot of pressure on me.”

“I need you and your team to create a miracle.”

“One month.”

“Within a month.”

“I got to see the Alpha version of the Project Phoenix core engine.”

“And its performance must comprehensively exceed all the technical indicators we currently have for the Pan Co project.”

The call ended. I stood in front of the ground-level glass door. Looking at the lights of tens of thousands of families below my feet. There's not much time left. A real battle. Now it's only just begun.