Hearing the word "Silk Road", Holsten was secretly shocked.

The Silk Road Network is a well-known online black market, where there are many contraband for sale, especially all kinds of "medicines" and unlicensed weapons.

Looking left and right, he lowered his voice and glared at his sister, "Are you crazy? If you are bored, you will go to find someone 419, what kind of Silk Road is playing? That is very dangerous, don't you know?"

"You're crazy," Alicia waved her hand nonchalantly, "what's wrong with you? Why are you reacting so much?"

Brother Larson didn't answer, and the big nose kept inhaling, trying to find the strange smell in his sister.

Seeing the other party come over like a puppy and sniff around, Alicia was suddenly annoyed, after more than 20 hours of intercontinental flight, she was tired and did have some smell on her body, and she urgently needed to take a bubble bath to relax, but this was not a reason for the other party to make such a faux pas.

"Holsteen! You'd better explain it to me!"

The latter frowned, and he found no scent other than the familiar smell of perfume and shampoo.

It's normal to think about it, drug detection dogs can't smell all the medicine, and the human nose is even more impossible. What's more, her sister took CA Airlines with a red flag printed on it, and she also transferred at PEK Airport in the middle, even if she was really addicted to it and couldn't extricate herself, she couldn't pass the security check smoothly.

Although he didn't find it, Holsten still couldn't feel at ease, and asked tentatively, "Ellie, you didn't touch those things, did you?"

"What is it?" Alicia asked casually, and although she noticed her brother's abnormality, she didn't think about what was wrong for a while.

"drugs, or some other contraband. ”

Hearing this, the blonde Fan girl suddenly became furious, and grabbed the other party's clothes, "You actually suspect me of buying medicine?

"It's hard to say, a lot of people come into contact with those things because they are empty, boring, curious, confident, or socializing, and they can't get rid of them as soon as they get wet," Holsten tried to keep his voice down, the train hadn't arrived yet, and he didn't want to make his family ugly.

"I think you're stupid," Alicia glared at her brother viciously, "Hear, Horse, I haven't, I haven't, I won't touch those things!"

"Ahh ”

After staring at each other for a few seconds, Sister Larson expressed her doubts, "The 'Silk Road' I am talking about is a new game developed by Bee Games, set on the Silk Road 2,000 years ago. Why do you think of those things?"

"Don't you know?" the embarrassment on Holsten's face quickly faded, and the excitement belonging to the melon-eating crowd appeared at the corner of his mouth, "Silk Road is also the name of a well-known black market website, and I just thought of it." ”

Alicia rightly asked, "Why should I know?"

picked up her mobile phone to capture the other party's deflated expression, and then she smiled and said, "Okay, tell me about it!"

Since its inception, the development of the Internet has been completely explosive. The entire cyberspace is like an ever-expanding sea, with new web pages and websites joining in every moment. For the average user, they have access to only a tiny fraction of the websites that can be discovered and accessed through public means.

In addition, there are an unknown number of websites on the Internet that cannot be retrieved and accessed by search engines and ordinary people due to special security settings, as if hidden in the "deep waters of the Internet". This includes private networks of government agencies and large corporations, as well as secret strongholds where hackers and anonymous people exchange information and items, and this part of the website is often referred to collectively as the "deep web" or "dark web."

Silk Road Network is such a deep web e-commerce.

His creator, Rossulbricht, is a real-life version of Breaking Bad. He first majored in physics at the University of Texas, and then went to Penn State University to study crystallography, and applied what he learned to develop a new type of drug. Like other tech freaks, Ross was just amusing himself at first, knowing that he had discovered Bitcoin.

Bitcoin adheres to the concept of "decentralization" and realizes the whole network bookkeeping through blockchain technology, which has excellent anonymity characteristics. This design made Ross, a liberal, happy and safe, and then he came up with the idea of building an underground black market called "Silkroad" that uses Bitcoin as a means of payment.

In addition to selling his own medicines, Ross also opened his website to allow other drug dealers and arms dealers to sell their products on the Silk Road. Even in the underworld, the agglomeration effect still played a role, and more and more people patronized the Silk Road Network, earning a lot of bitcoin for Ross, and at the same time, it also attracted the attention of the relevant authorities in the United States. Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Security Agency, the Inland Revenue Department, the Secret Service, and the Postal Service all tried to break into the organization, but in the end, it was the NSA who was superior and used fishing tactics to catch the big fish.

"Ross is trying to justify himself with liberalism and free will, arguing that consumers have the right to make their own choices about their medications. However, the judge did not listen to his plea and sentenced him to life imprisonment. ”

Speaking of this, Holsten couldn't help but sigh deeply, "Alas, I worked hard to earn 600,000 bitcoins, and all of them turned out to be cheaper than others." If he had kept those bitcoins in his hands, he would be a billionaire by now! close to $1.4 billion, and I wonder if we can make so much money in our lifetime?"

After Ross was arrested, his Bitcoin wallet was also confiscated as stolen money, and was eventually sent to the auction by the Marshal Police, where he fell prey to other collectors and investors.

Alicia was also shocked by the number of 1.4 billion, and hurriedly asked, "Are there really so many?"

"On the face of it, there are so many. Over the past few years, the price of bitcoin has risen a lot, and recently it has skyrocketed, and now the unit price is even more than $2,300. However, if it is sold in large quantities, the price should fall quickly, and I don't know at what price it will be sold at. ”

"That's not bad," Alicia rubbed her hands, "what kind of bitcoin, is there still a chance to join now?"

"No," Holsten shook his head and sighed, "Bitcoin mining is getting less and less efficient, and it is gradually transitioning from mining to making money by speculating on coins, and the risk has increased a lot. Stocks, futures, and securities still make less money and lose more, and the lack of regulation of Bitcoin will only be more dangerous. There are also many virtual currencies on the Internet that imitate Bitcoin, and you can mine and make money by equipping your computer with a high-end graphics card, but they are very weak and may have problems at any time, which is also not a good choice. ”

"Alas!" Alicia was also depressed, "why do opportunities always pass me by?"

Holsten shrugged his shoulders and didn't say anything more. Opportunities are never equal, and ninety-nine out of a hundred discus that fall on the heads of ordinary people are discus that will break their heads, and the remaining pie is promoted by the media.

Alicia is a cheerful Nordic girl in the end, and she quickly came out of the blow of failing to earn 1.4 billion, and threw a new question to her brother: "Ross was arrested, the website was closed, and the matter should end here." Why does the word 'Silk Road' still make you nervous?"

"The Silk Road in Ross was closed by the FBI, and soon someone opened a new Silk Road. The name Silk Road has become a well-known brand in the underground world, and it is to the contraband trade what Google is to search, and no one will let go of the name. ”

Holsten shook his head, "From that point of view, it's a bit risky for Bee Games to give this name to a new game. By the way, how about the game, is it fun?"

"It's okay, a typical bee-style sandbox epic, with huge scenes, detailed weather, abundant creatures, massive characters, and pale main lines and rudimentary combat. ”

"Ah, isn't that boring?"

"No," Alicia shook her head, "on the contrary, this game has the potential to be a perfect masterpiece. ”

"So high?" said Holsten, with some disbelief. Bee Games is a well-known "high-yield king", hundreds of games are launched every year, but most of them are lightweight mobile games and casual stand-alone games, and the ratings and evaluations are very average, and there is no recognized perfect score masterpiece so far.

"Yes," my sister nodded affirmatively, "After doing so many games, Bee Games has finally found its own rhythm in the 'Silk Road', and can maximize its advantages and cover up its weaknesses." ”

Speaking of this, she stopped abruptly, took out her mobile phone and called up a video, "The language is not intuitive enough, this is a trial video I secretly recorded, you can watch it yourself!"

More than 2,000 years ago, four powerful centralized powers emerged on the Eurasian continent: the Han Dynasty, which ruled East Asia, the Kushan, which ruled the northwestern Indian Plateau and Central Asia, the Sabbat, which unified the Iranian Plateau, and Rome, which turned the Mediterranean Sea into an inland sea.

The unified regime boosted population and economic development, and the growing demand prompted more and more merchants to go abroad to purchase goods from foreign lands, gradually forming a long trade route across Asia and Europe. Because of the high cost of land transportation, merchants can only choose small weight and high value of valuable goods, the silk of the Han Dynasty, the Buddhist scriptures of India, the sweat and blood horses of Central Asia, the spices of West Asia, the furs of Africa, the gold, silver and gems of Europe are favored by most merchants, especially the silk transaction volume is the largest, and the name of the Silk Road comes from this.

Even in modern times, overland travel across thousands of kilometers is not an easy task, and it was even more arduous more than 2,000 years ago. The Silk Road is not only a road of wealth but also a road of suffering, and people who walk on this road have to deal with all kinds of people, but also have to fight against the harsh natural environment.

Pointing to the game video secretly taken on her mobile phone, Alicia said excitedly: "The bee game deliberately weakens the role of the script, and the main plot of 'Silk Road' is very simple, set foot on the Silk Road to see the scenery on the other side of the world. However, this is not easy to do, as you will encounter different NPCs, a rich variety of terrain, flora and fauna, and unpredictable weather, any of which will keep you in the gameover. ”

"And it's all random, and the content you encounter is different every time you enter the game. Save/Load becomes a double-edged sword here, which can get better and allow you to escape the mortal plot, or it can get worse and be killed by horse bandits at will as soon as you enter the game. ”

"Sounds good," Holsten nodded, "to dilute the main plot and emphasize the travel experience, and make it a road movie-style experiential game." In this way, the lack of a script is the biggest advantage, and the game will always be able to bring freshness to the player, no matter how many times it is launched. Making the huge and varied world itself a level is indeed the best route for a bee game. They have never been good at writing and setting up plots, but they have the most powerful environmental and biological construction abilities. There is so much research about the Silk Road and ancient cities, they just need to pick the right materials to move into the game. ”

"Actually, it's not easy," Alicia shook her head slightly, "As far as I know, 'Silk Road' should be the game with the longest production cycle of Bee, which has been in production since 13 years, and it is only now basically completed." ”

"It's been four years? It's not in the style of the bee game? They're known in the industry for being prolific, how can they be so slow?"

"It did take so long. This is the result of Atletico intervening in the middle of the game and making a strong comeback. ”

Holsten was a little stunned, "Oh? Superma is out making a game again?"

The producer/main planner/main program of many bee games is signed by Atletico Madrid/majing, and then he gradually faded out of development work, and this situation became less and less, and I can't imagine that it has turned back now.

"Yes, it won't work if it doesn't come out, the project is seriously overdue, and he needs to be an expert to save the scene. ”

"That's right," Holsten nodded slightly, "he's the best at making big games with a small amount of manpower, so it should be okay to save the game on the fly." ”

Four years ago, China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan jointly organized a delegation to apply for the World Cultural Heritage Site for the road network of the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor on the eastern section of the Silk Road. Bee Games captured this hot spot of current affairs and established the "Silk Road Merchants" with the theme of the Silk Road for the first time. It's a business simulation game, somewhat like a land version of the Age of Discovery.

The following year, the joint application for World Heritage was successful, and the concept of "Silk Road" quickly became popular, and Bee was no longer satisfied with the previous setting, and set up a multinational development team to try to create a masterpiece rich in cultural flavor and historical heritage.

As a result, the bee game has uploaded a heel on the "culture".

There are a series of historical and cultural cities on the Silk Road, such as Chang'an, Dunhuang, Samarkand, Baghdad, Damascus, Istanbul, and Rome.

If it is a simulation game like "Silk Road Merchants", it only needs to make key locations such as taverns, merchant houses, and palaces, but the new "Legend of the Silk Road" is a huge open sandbox, which must focus on performance in terms of architectural style, world life, etc., and must match the city with local heroes who have left names in history, and the workload has directly increased by more than ten times.

They are happy to do it, but the bee game as an investor is getting more and more urgent. Seeing that the scheduled development budget was about to be exhausted, he had to report the problem and ask Atletico to come to the rescue, but fortunately, the result was not bad.