Chapter 68: Acting and Strategy

"Brother! Brother! Calm down! Calm down!"

As soon as Tang Valentine's words fell, Nolan Bushnell, who was standing beside him, stood up.

One hand on the other's shoulder, the other gently patting his back, his mouth was like a spring, constantly bouncing.

"Brother, calm down a bit, we are discussing things."

"Ethan's attitude has been good since he came in. No matter how we question or express our emotions, he has remained very restrained. I think he wants to show his willingness to communicate, right?"

Nolan Bushnell gave Ethan a wink.

Ethan, understanding the signal, descended the steps and nodded slightly.

This situation relieved Nolan Bushnell, and then he turned to Tang Valentine and said, "Ethan may indeed cause us significant economic losses, but since he has a willingness to communicate, why don't we sit down and talk first?"

"I admit that when I first saw him, I was full of anger. I wanted to strangle him directly! But we all know that killing won't solve anything, right? And now we are in a civilized society; no one uses barbaric behavior anymore."

These words made Tang Valentine glare at Ethan fiercely.

"Hmph!"

He snorted and forcefully shook his hand.

"Fxxk You!"

Breaking free from Nolan Bushnell's arm, he walked out of the office without looking back.

Then, there was a muffled sound.

It was a release of pent-up frustration.

Nolan Bushnell shook his head at this action, then looked back at Ethan. He shrugged and spread his hands, showing helplessness.

"Ethan, sorry, our emotions were a bit excessive just now. But I believe you should understand."

Nolan Bushnell took out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer and handed one to Ethan.

Seeing Ethan not taking it, he put it in his own mouth and lit it.

With the waft of light blue smoke, Nolan Bushnell sighed, "Ethan, you know, a few months ago, we Atari just settled a reconciliation agreement with Milowa, compensating them hundreds of thousands and not being able to release our own developed games for a year."

"In this situation, Atari's survival is very difficult. The company's finances are already running low, and the whole company is on the brink of bankruptcy. That's why I sent Steve, who just returned, to find out information about the competition. If they develop a popular game, Atari might fall into the abyss overnight."

"No choice, business is always this cruel."

"But..."

At this point, Nolan Bushnell put out the cigarette near the ashtray with a flick.

With his movement, the already fragile cigarette ash instantly collapsed.

A faint red glow appeared, like a star in the dark night, suddenly emerging.

"Steve found you, and you brought us 'Snake Game,' which is a huge surprise for us."

Nolan Bushnell smiled at Ethan, "Honestly, in the past few months, we have been very grateful to you."

"Although we had conflicts, such as the unpleasant negotiations at the beginning, business is business. Everyone's core goal is to seek greater benefits for themselves, and there is no malice."

"It's because we have no ill will towards each other that our cooperation has been very pleasant, right?"

Although it was a question, Nolan Bushnell did not give Ethan time to answer. Playing with the cigarette in his hand, he continued, "We believe in you, so we settled the profit share after the first round of sales..."

"We believe in you, so we want to hear your opinion on distribution..."

"We believe in you, so we invited you to review the accounts after the second round of sales..."

"But today's incident caught us off guard."

With these words, Nolan Bushnell extinguished the cigarette in his hand.

Arms crossed, elbows on the table, he looked at Ethan with a complex expression.

"Ethan, do you know? When we received Milowa's lawsuit, we felt like the sky was falling. We didn't understand why this happened. We don't know why you, as a former Milowa employee, would make such a mistake."

"We urgently wanted to find you, wanted to get the real answers, but we couldn't find a trace of you all afternoon. So when you finally answered the phone, we might have used some harsh words in the communication due to our urgency."

"For that, I apologize. Of course, I also want to apologize on behalf of Tang. After all, he invested all the money he earned over the years into Atari. If Atari is gone, then his years of work would be in vain."

"Everyone is intelligent, so I think you should understand my meaning. Since you say this may be a misunderstanding, I will trust you once again. I hope that after you go back, you can communicate well with Milowa, and hopefully, you can reach an agreement with them, because... everyone wants to make money, right?"

"At the same time, we also hope you can understand us. We need to temporarily suspend the second-phase profit distribution because no one knows how this case will develop. So until the case is resolved..."

"I'm sorry."

Nolan Bushnell sighed.

He gave Ethan a stiff smile.

And Ethan, after looking at him deeply, showed a formulaic smile and left Atari.

As he left, Tang Valentine returned to Nolan Bushnell's office.

They looked at each other.

Then, they both burst into laughter.

"How was my performance?" Tang Valentine asked.

"Great! Brother!" Nolan Bushnell gave a thumbs up. "When you shouted at Ethan, I thought you were going to punch him! Especially when you said, 'Ethan, aren't you supposed to talk about the law? Then go to jail!' Your expression was really terrifying! I was actually afraid you would fight with him!"

"Hahaha~" Tang Valentine liked Nolan Bushnell's appraisal. "If you think I'm fierce, just wait for Ethan to come back. Because the pressure you gave him was strong; he didn't even speak just now!"

"Of course! My acting skills can win awards in Hollywood!"

Nolan Bushnell boasted, then returned to the main topic. "Of course, this is also related to Milowa's lawsuit. They are claiming a million from us and another million from Ethan? Oh... the idea of filing separate lawsuits is really clever! It's all about the money! And Ethan can't afford so much, so he can only sell 'Snake Game' to us..."

...

The distance between Palo Alto and Los Gatos is not far. When Ethan returned to his new home, with the closing of the gate, he threw himself onto the newly bought sofa. The soft feeling made him ache all over, and the endless darkness made him shiver.

He didn't know why things had developed to this point!

He had no idea why things had happened so suddenly!

A few months ago, Milowa, with whom he had never had any contact, suddenly took him to court?

Is this person crazy?

If he really infringed, couldn't Milowa just send a lawyer's letter?

Why hit him with a legal fist like thunder?

Ethan couldn't understand.

And compared to this, what made him more angry was Atari's attitude tonight!

Tang Valentine and Nolan Bushnell's skillful coordination was too clumsy!

Anyone could see their core purpose, which was to shift all the responsibility for the "Snake Game" project onto him!

Although this approach was understandable, everything was business, but that hypocritical face of being both a harlot and wanting to establish a memorial arch was really disgusting.

Discussing business and venting emotions are understandable. But after venting, pretending to maintain a relationship? Saying that the profit sharing is reluctantly suspended due to being forced?

Am I pulling you? Are you forced?

From a business perspective, not distributing profits is only natural!

Putting on a hypocritical facade, isn't that really hypocritical!

Perhaps because he was too angry or maybe because today's events were mentally exhausting, Ethan only lay on the sofa for a short while before falling asleep.

When he woke up again, a tempting aroma wafted into his nostrils, tantalizing his taste buds.

'?'

Confused, Ethan sat up and noticed the blanket covering him. Following the scent into the kitchen, he found Evelyn frying eggs.

"Awake? Go freshen up," Evelyn glanced at Ethan, not pausing in her actions, and smiled, "I'll be done with the eggs soon, the bread is toasted, salad is mixed, and there's milk too."

Simultaneously, she cracked a joke.

"If Linda saw us eating all this in the morning, she would definitely be distressed, right? But well, I can only make these things."

"When did you arrive?" Ethan didn't engage in his sister's topic but directly asked the question on his mind.

This question made Evelyn pause for a moment, then she smiled and shook her head, "Last night."

"Last night?" Ethan became even more puzzled.

"Yeah, last night." Evelyn sighed, "Our villas' front doors are facing each other. I came in not long after you left. Do you think I wouldn't know about that?"

"Although I don't know where you went, I do know that you came back after midnight without turning on the lights. Then I came over, found you lying on the sofa."

"Oh, by the way, this shouldn't be considered breaking into someone's house, right? I used your keys to open the door."

Evelyn's tone was light.

Ethan also shook his head with a smile, "Oh... not considered..."

After a slight pause, he added, "Thank you."

At the same time, he began to talk about last night's events, but unfortunately, before he could express himself, Evelyn interrupted, "Go freshen up first. We can talk about it later."

"The freshly toasted bread is the best; it loses its flavor when it gets cold."

Taking Evelyn's advice, Ethan went upstairs, took a shower, and brushed his teeth. When he returned to the dining room, he began to eat breakfast and recounted the previous night's encounter.

When Evelyn learned that Ethan had visited Atari last night, she nodded slightly. After hearing Ethan's account of the situation, the problems Atari faced, and their attitude, she wiped her mouth with a napkin and said with a smile, "It seems that Barbara is really experienced; she guessed everything."

"Since she can see through everything, I'm not in a hurry now."

"Just being sued, right? This kind of thing is too common in our country, isn't it? After all, even a simple traffic violation can land people in court."

"I have classes today. You go see her later; I trust her."

Ethan understood that his sister wanted him to relax and not feel too pressured. Smiling and nodding, he cleaned up the house, then drove to Stanford.

Familiar with the path, he found Barbara in the law school, quietly attending one of her classes.

Although Barbara's women's protection class had nothing to do with him, her confident figure made Ethan feel incredibly reassured.

When Barbara gestured for him to help her move the case collection from the lectern to her office, the mage behind the desk also listened attentively to Ethan's account.

Having already shared the story with his sister in the morning, Ethan narrated quickly this time. However, his clear and concise words annoyed Barbara.

"Ethan."

"Hmm?"

"The old problem."

"What?"

"You're talking too fast." Barbara tapped the desk, saying, "Ethan, you need to understand something. Our country follows maritime law, different from those continental legal systems that strictly adhere to statutes. Many times, what we discuss is essentially empiricism."

"So, you need to tell me all the details. Many details may not seem important to you, but I can judge, based on experience, whether Milowa's lawsuit and Atari's response are abnormal."

"Now, what we're looking for is this abnormality, right?"

"Because, so far, we don't understand why Milowa suddenly sued you."

Barbara's hint made Ethan decisively nod. After a thoughtful silence, he recounted the incident in detail.

After he finished describing last night's encounter in every detail, Barbara, who had been scratching her head while listening, twisted her features into a puzzled expression.

She thought for a while, then said uncomfortably, "Ethan..."

"Hmm?"

"Did you offend Magnavox as well?"

"Why would you say that?" Ethan was somewhat puzzled.

His confusion made Barbara clasp her hands, close her eyes slightly, and gently tap her forehead with her index finger, as if casting a spell but more like contemplating.

"Ethan, I'll be honest. If you haven't omitted any information, then the case you're involved in is too strange."

"Because, according to your description, both Milowa and Don Valentine's behaviors are very unusual."

"It's like, how do I describe it to you... Milowa doesn't fit the typical profile of a plaintiff, and Don Valentine doesn't look like a defendant at all... I don't know if you understand what I mean."

'...'

Ethan shook his head because he genuinely couldn't see it.

And when he expressed his confusion, Barbara slammed the table and took out a piece of paper—

"Ethan, let's forget about the law for now and play a Q&A game."

"After we go through everything, maybe we can get an answer."

"The answer may point in the right direction, or it may be wrong, but that doesn't matter, right? How to find flaws from all sides in an issue is a long and arduous process."

"So, first question, tell me, what are your feelings towards Milowa? Or rather, did you have any conflicts with Milowa while working there?"

Barbara pulled out a pen, squinted her eyes, and looked at Ethan seriously.