New Times, New Hell

Chapter 45 - Life and Death Accounts System Released

Luofeng’s Life and Death Accounts system was split into two parts: the backend system used by internal staff and the client server designed for public use.

This time, it was the backend system used by internal staff being released.

After the system was released, a training meeting was scheduled at the Luofeng headquarters. Yu Zhengdu was the instructor in charge of teaching Luofeng’s employees how to use the new system’s functions.

“Our backend system currently runs on six of the largest servers available, which effectively solves the problem where everything would crash on Excel when the numbers got too big.” To display the severity and professionalism of the training session, Yu Zhengdu was wearing a collared shirt, which he rarely did. It made him look sharper and more well-kept than usual. Though he was young, every word he said, every pause he made, the way he smoothly spoke, all caused Luofeng’s employees to understand how skilled he was in the matters of technology.

“The energy that powers our servers is provided by our Great Ghost King and the faith of his mortal worshippers. Let us express our sincerest respect for Boss.” As Yu Zhengdu spoke, he started applauding Shang Que.

Shang Que leaned against the back of his chair, legs crossed, elegant as usual. Upon hearing this, he slightly nodded. “In order to ensure that the server doesn’t crash, I’ve decided that from now on, I’m going to eat all ghosts who have committed crimes so as to keep my energy levels up.”

Everyone panicked: “…………Great King, think again!”

Yu Zhengdu said in exasperation, “……Don’t make those kinds of jokes during meetings.”

Everyone: “…………!!!!” CTO dares to speak to Boss like that!

Shang Que waved his hand. “Fine. I’ll listen to you.”

Everyone: “………………!!!” Why is Boss listening to CTO????

After this, Yu Zhengdu calmly continued, “In the future, we will continue to develop a Luofeng cloud server in order to resolve the issues of lagging caused by an overabundance of data when there is an increase in deaths during extremely cold winters or natural disasters.”

“At the same time, the structure of the cloud server can be used as the base for other Underworld Internet compositions. It’ll be a crucial part in pushing for the further development and modernization of the Underworld.”

“But cloud computing is a relatively new technology. We will need to partner with tech companies in the mortal realm.” Yu Zhengdu glanced at his coworkers before his gaze finally fell on Shang Que. In his eyes, the anticipation an employee had towards his boss were obvious. “This development fee will be even higher than previously, so everyone will need to work harder to earn money for the company.”

Shang Que: “……”

Shang Que’s mouth twitched. He silently picked up his phone and took a selfie. “I’ll post on Weibo in a bit.”

The other ghosts: “…………” Boss has it so hard!

“Now I will proceed to introduce the system’s functions and how to use them to everyone,” Yu Zhengdu smiled. He switched to the next slide of the powerpoint. “This is the operation interface for the entire system. All you have to do is input the deceased’s name and ID number into the search bar to be able to immediately look up their past and present lives within twenty reincarnations.”

“Twenty reincarnations?” Kang Jin was shocked. “Then wouldn’t we be able to find information on Qin Shi Huang……”

“This is only the furthest back that the system can support searches for right now,” Yu Zhengdu explained. “Not that we can find so many records for each spirit. In concept, this is because we considered that some spirits have relatively short lives; for example, though chickens have lifespans of seven to eight years, because of reasons we all know, most chickens don’t live past one year before becoming food on the dining table. Thus, it’s better for the reincarnation records to be more flexible and comprehensive.”

Yu Zhengdu paused and added, “To protect spirits’ privacies, we have already set query passwords for records beyond three reincarnations. You will need to use the Ghost King’s magical seal to be able to see others.”

His coworkers nodded from where they were sitting. In comparison to the system of the past, this function was definitely much more advanced. It could effectively maintain lengthy records of each spirit’s past and present lives, but also protected one’s privacy. This way, spirits couldn’t manipulate, use, or expose others’ reincarnation records.

After explaining the Life and Death Accounts system’s basic functions, Yu Zhengdu answered some related questions from those present before continuing.

“Now we will introduce a new function that the Life and Death Accounts didn’t have before and that our product development team added after much consideration.” Yu Zhengdu opened a new slide. “Reincarnation recommendation.”

“As everyone knows, the previous Life and Death Accounts utilized an outdated Underworld law and calculation algorithm, so oftentimes controversies would arise. For example, the good and evil amounts for reincarnating into a chicken or duck are about the same. So, should a spirit ultimately reincarnate into a chicken or a duck? This is a question that constantly plagues our coworkers and that can only be resolved after double-checking several of the deceased’s deeds when alive.”

Yu Zhengdu pointed in Zheng Yan’s direction. “This difficulty has been settled by our excellent product manager, Zheng Yan. The function Zheng Yan designed can automatically identify the deceased’s crucial accomplishments in life and can, in consideration of the current needs for ecological balance, give the most scientific recommendation.”

Their ghostly coworkers immediately turned to Zheng Yan and gave him a fierce round of applause. Kang Jin said in admiration, “Zheng Yan, look at you. You’re a living, breathing human, but how come you have so many ghostly ideas!”

Zheng Yan: “&#k2026;&#k2026;” Though he had been working here for a while, he still wasn’t used to how those of the Underworld spoke.

Zheng Yan lightly coughed and said, “What was it, didn’t we have a really bad swine flu epidemic this year? So I thought if a lot of people reincarnated as pigs now, it would be a burden to both the mortal realm and Underworld. If they reincarnated to other animals with equivalent good and evil amounts, things would be much easier. Similarly, it’s not recommended for large quantities of spirits to reincarnate into birds during an avian influenza. Thus, I thought that we could have the system pick up on data from the mortal realm to be able to give the most reasonable recommendation in consideration of the current ecological situation.”

Some of Luofeng’s employees understood what he was saying, while others didn’t. But their expressions were all filled with inexplicable admiration.

Chen Yangli gave a thumbs up. “I hadn’t expected that us in the Underworld could contribute to the ecological balance of the mortal realm. I respect that.”

“Of course.” Yu Zhengdu’s expression was very cool. “Only balance between the Yin and the Yang can be considered real balance.”

Zheng Yan sighed in relief too, then sent Wei Xiao a message:【Boss Wei, thank you for your guidance. The new function I designed has been formally utilized by the company.】

Wei Xiao:【No problem. I didn’t expect for your company to also be concerned with the ecological balance. You guys truly feel responsible for society. Young man, work hard ah】

Zheng Yan:【Un un】

A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. He didn’t dare to go too in depth with Wei Xiao. He just thought: perhaps one day in the future, when Wei Xiao arrives in the Underworld hundreds of years later and sees this function, what would he think……

It could be said that the release of the backend system for the Life and Death Accounts greatly increased the workrate for all of Luofeng. It also successfully resolved certain management issues that had been plaguing the Underworld for a long time.

The testing for this part of the system was being completed by Kang Jin and other current Luofeng employees.

Another thing was, because the Life and Death Accounts were particularly important, crucial to the harmony and balance of the entire Underworld society, Luofeng made severe restrictions to who could login. Aside from those in the Life and Death Accounts department, other official employees, even those in the development department, weren’t allowed to view the contents.

All data related to the systems were secured with the Ghost King’s magical seal. Without Shang Que’s permission, no matter if you were a human programmer or Underworld spirit, you wouldn’t be able to steal or change any of the server’s information.

……

After completing the Life and Death Accounts system training, Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que held a private mini meeting.

“In accordance with the development schedule now, the app server should be able to be completed and released in September.” Yu Zhengdu placed a copy of the project’s Gantt chart in front of Shang Que.

The backend system for internal employees had already been released. From now on, they would only need to continue altering and updating new versions of it.

But as for the app server designed for use by all Underworld citizens, that was still under development.

He emphasized, “I mean, given that the circumstances are ideal.”

Shang Que understood what he was hinting at. He asked, “Have we run into difficulties?”

“In the development of mobile servers, we don’t have any exceptional talents,” Yu Zhengdu waved his hand.

Computer system development and mobile server development used two different languages. Though Yu Zhengdu knew several languages, he still had those he was better with. He had been the main programmer for the development of the backend system and had also participated in the development of the mobile server, but whether from a professional standpoint or in terms of his energy levels, he obviously wasn’t able to take care of everything.

Shang Que didn’t know how to code, but he understood the general gist of it. Upon hearing this, he asked, “So should we hire someone else to be responsible for the mobile server?”

“We’ll definitely have to hire one.” Yu Zhengdu was very worried. “But to find a talent who can help lead us in the development of the mobile server will be extremely hard.”

Shang Que: “……”

He observed Yu Zhengdu’s expression. Though the other didn’t say anything, he could very clearly read two words in Yu Zhengdu’s eyes: Small, poor.

It also wasn’t simply because they couldn’t pay enough wages. The Life and Death Accounts application was directly connected to the order of the Underworld. The requirements for its development were far stricter than any app in the mortal realm. A person capable of being responsible for such a task would need to be both an extraordinary leader and an above average program developer.

A person like that currently only existed in Nova and similar large companies. Their salaries started in the millions.

Shang Que pondered a bit and said, “How about you choose a few project managers in those big companies. If there’s one you think would fit, we can send someone to steal their soul.”

If the other became a ghost, they would be completely under his control.

“Calm down!” Yu Zhengdu pressed down with his hand. “We’re an official company. I hope you can remember to follow the laws at all times.”

Shang Que said reluctantly, “Socialism has too many restraints on ghosts.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

Shang Que thought about it and lamented, “But compared to demons and monsters we still have it a bit better. At least nobody has said that people can’t be ghosts anymore after the reformation of the country.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……You’re right.”

The two discussed some more. In the end, they decided to outsource the job of mobile server development to freelancers.

After talking about official business, Yu Zhengdu finally switched topics to personal business. He said, “Oh right. I need to take next Monday morning off. I’ll be attending a technology summit.”

Shang Que expressed his confusion, “Technology summit?”

Yu Zhengdu nodded. The high-tech industry would sporadically hold some skill discussion meetings to explore the newest technologies, exchange information, etc. However, the hosts, guests, and quality of these meetings would all differ.

The technology summit he spoke of was one of the most prestigious in all of Fu City. It was hosted by Nova, Double Horn Technology, and several other factories. Every year, the country’s best tech employees and higher-ups would be in attendance. It was highly sought after by those in the industry.

This year, because Nova was creating a new advanced laboratory and was currently searching for the best talents in the industry, the desire to attend this summit was unprecedentedly high. The main guest list had also been leaked quite a bit earlier.

Jiao Shanlan from Nova’s laboratory, Wei Xiao from Double Horn Technology – one of the leading figures in the field of artificial intelligence, and Riding Wind Technology’s Cui Jianlan would all be in attendance. Aside from them, there was another name that everyone was both surprised and not surprised by: Zhao Ruola. She had previously been working at a large tech company in America, but had recently quit and returned to her home country.

The shock factor of this guest list for the Internet field was the equivalent of a complete film emperor and empress lineup in the entertainment industry. Immediately, those in the field rose like a flock of startled birds. Those that were even slightly talented or had connections all tried their best to be allowed to attend. The requirements for getting an invitation were much stricter than in previous years.

Yu Zhengdu could receive an invitation only because Jiao Shanlan had specially saved one for him.

At first, Shang Que didn’t think anything of it, but upon hearing that Yu Zhengdu’s spot was given to him by Jiao Shanlan, he instantly sat up straight and slightly furrowed his brows. He said, “Laboratory hasn’t given up yet and still wants to steal you?”

Yu Zhengdu could practically read the words in his gaze: Becoming a chicken warning.

He hurriedly added, “lan is innocent, so don’t write him down in your little booklet.”

Shang Que laughed coldly. “I’ve already got him written down.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

It appeared to be time to persuade Jiao Shanlan to do more charity work.

Shang Que thought about it. “How about I go with you.”

Yu Zhengdu expressed with difficulty, “……I only have one invitation.”

The space was extremely limited this year. Yu Zhengdu wasn’t Nova’s employee, so it was already amazing that Jiao Shanlan could give him one invitation. It was obviously impossible for him to bring anyone along.

Shang Que added another line in his little booklet, expression dark. “Purposefully separating us.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

He made to exit the office, cold sweat on his forehead, only to run into Zheng Yan who was knocking to enter. He said, “Boss, Leader, I need to take a day off tomorrow.”

Shang Que was in a bad mood. Upon hearing this, he hrmph’d and asked, “For what?”

Zheng Yan replied, “Something came up at home. They told me to take a trip back.”

Yu Zhengdu immediately became nervous. “They’re not calling you back to inherit the family business, right?”

Zheng Yan scratched his head. “No, my family has already given up on that wish. Some of my uncles from the collateral branches of our family are visiting to hold a family meeting.”

Yu Zhengdu went oh. It wasn’t polite to ask about others’ private matters, so he only replied, “Alright. Now that there’s somewhat of a lull in your workload, I’ll give you two days off. Along with the weekend, take some time to relax.”

Only to see a stressed expression appear on Zheng Yan’s face. “Ey, I most likely won’t be able to relax.”

Yu Zhengdu cocked an eyebrow. “Why do you say that?”

Zheng Yan sighed. “My dad said that the uncles in the collateral branches of our family found out that I don’t have any talent in the ways of the Dao and don’t plan on being a Daoist anymore, so specially arrived to try and split the magical tools passed down from our ancestors.”

Yu Zhengdu’s mouth twitched. “You can do that?”

Zheng Yan: “You can do that.”

This was like when an old and aristocratic family didn’t have any more heirs. All those even slightly related to them would suddenly appear to try and split the inheritance. This was simply a normal occurrence.

Zheng Yan said in exasperation, “There isn’t anything else to be done. I’m truly not gifted in this regard.”

“What do you mean you’re not gifted?” Yu Zhengdu strongly disagreed. “When all your uncles need to reincarnate later, they’ll have to use the product and functions you designed.”

Zheng Yan: “……Yi.”

That kind of made sense.

The author has something to say:

A hundred years later, Wei Xiao who finally arrives in the Underworld: “…………”

Truly an Underworld business that feels quite responsible for society!