Ch 44: The World’s Number One Resort

Tang Huai was slightly puzzled but continued walking. The tomato vines stretched along the edge of the Blue Sea Lake, winding for nearly ten meters. The lake was crystal clear, and the Angel Oak trees were lush and green, presenting a clean and pristine scene.

The tomato vines seemed like clumsy intruders, clashing with the serene beauty around them.

“Baa—”

The white sheep bleated when it saw Tang Huai. Tang Huai reached out and petted its fur. From the red ribbon on its head, he recognized this as the leader of the wool sheep flock. But why was the leader here?

“Rustle—” The sound of footsteps came from behind the treehouse.

“What happened here?” Tang Huai looked up to see that the person approaching was Ali.

Li Qianshan and the others curiously observed the young Native American man. Ali was bare-chested, carrying two chickens in his right hand and a watering can in his left, looking strong and a bit wild.

He looked like a true wild man of Blue Sea.

“Ah-meh…” Ali pointed at the tomato vines, then at the leader sheep, and began to explain briefly. Since there were guests around, Ali only mentioned a few keywords, but Tang Huai understood his meaning.

The tomatoes had been brought here secretly by the leader sheep. With Tang Huai away, the sheep and chicks were left to roam near the spiritual fields. To prevent them from damaging the crops, Tang Huai had built a one-meter-high fence around the fields. The fence blocked the sheep, keeping them from getting into the fields.

Being herbivores, the sheep had always had their eyes on the tomato vines. During the previous mission, Tang Huai had noticed their interest. However, the high fence meant the sheep could only look but not eat.

Tang Huai had specifically instructed Ali to keep an eye on the sheep while he was away. But now… Tang Huai glanced down and saw the red stains around the sheep’s mouth – remnants of the tomatoes.

Tang Huai squatted down to inspect the vines. The tomatoes had been brought here by the leader sheep, although how it managed to plant the seeds by the lakeside was a mystery. The Blue Sea Lake and the tomatoes both came from the system, and when combined, the tomatoes had grown wildly into a dense patch.

“These are tomatoes? What a pity, they should’ve been put on a trellis to grow properly,” Li Qianshan said regretfully as he approached the tomatoes on the ground. The tomatoes were bright red and looked quite natural.

“There’s nothing to pity. Ali, pick the tomatoes and remove the vines,” Tang Huai ordered as he stood up. The Blue Sea Lake’s main attraction was its scenery, and he still didn’t want agricultural plants to ruin the overall aesthetic.

Li Qianshan and the others didn’t comment further. Although the tomatoes looked appealing, they were just common goods you could get at the supermarket for three bucks a pound…

Li Qianshan and the others went to their respective treehouses, and half an hour later, they gathered again by the Blue Sea Lake.

“Tang, can we start catching the fish now?” Li Qianshan rubbed his hands together excitedly.

The Blue Sea Lake was crystal clear, and the water was so transparent that one could see straight to the bottom. The colorful fish swam leisurely, looking utterly delightful.

They had come specifically for the Blue Sea Fish, and judging by the fish in the lake, they appeared identical to the ones they had previously tested.

“This is the price list.”

Tang Huai instructed Zhao Hu to bring over a newly made KT board and set it up by the Blue Sea Lake. The Great Tang Resort aimed to be international and world-class, so they couldn’t continue with their old-fashioned pricing methods. Tang Huai had carefully considered these prices while on the Great Tang No. 1, and from now on, each attraction would charge clearly listed fees.

Li Qianshan and the others took a look.

Sora Island Entry Ticket: $100 USD/night.

Blue Sea Fish: $200 USD/fish, limited purchase.

Blue Sea Diving Tour: $50 USD/half hour.

Blue Sea Treehouse: $200 USD/night.

Blue Sea Snow Field Hoverboard: $30 USD/ride.

Sora Tomatoes: $5 USD each, limited purchase.

…

On Sora Island, all activities have clear pricing. This KT board covers only the Blue Sea Lake area; places like the Snow Village Scenic Area and Sora Town have their own separate boards.

“Mr. Tang, hasn’t the price gone up?” Li Qianshan quickly scanned the board and asked, a bit suspiciously.

Leaving aside the peculiar items like Sora tomatoes, the prices for things like the treehouses and Blue Sea fish were noticeably higher than what was shown in the videos. Li Qianshan suspected Tang Huai was trying to squeeze them for more money.

“Previously, it was a trial run, but now the promotional period has ended,” Tang Huai shrugged, explaining with a straight face. He had initially underestimated the value of the Blue Sea Fish. Judging from Li Suhao and the Ace students’ reactions, the fish was definitely worth the price.

Sora Island’s goal was to become the world’s number one destination. With more tourists, the supply of Blue Sea Fish would certainly not keep up with demand. Selling it at the original low price would be unwise.

Sora Island’s previous operations were somewhat chaotic, and Tang Huai decided to make things more standardized going forward.

He planned to buy an intelligent island manager once he had enough island points. Specialization in different areas would allow him to oversee the island’s development while having someone to consult with, avoiding the need to handle everything personally.

“We’ll buy two fish for now,” Tang Huai was lost in his thoughts when Li Qianshan and the others discussed among themselves before finally making their request. Their goal was research, not eating.

Zhao Hu went into the water to catch two fish. Li Qianshan carefully placed the colorful fish into a container and then took out some equipment to conduct on-site research. A 30-something female researcher beside him diligently recorded everything. Tang Huai glanced at them briefly before losing interest.

He had consulted FD730, who indicated that current scientific equipment could only reveal that Sora’s flora and fauna were more robust than usual, but couldn’t uncover any supernatural properties. The explanation for their enhanced traits lay in Sora Island’s unique environment, much like how oranges from Huainan were different.

In short, the FillTech Corporation could explain it all perfectly.

Li Qianshan and the others focused intently on their research. Tang Huai roasted a fish for himself, and after eating his fill, he left Zhao Hu to handle the rest. There was no need for him to micromanage everything.

Compared to how seriously he had hosted Li Suhao and the others, Tang Huai felt he was becoming a bit complacent. But since he was currently between tasks, he believed there was no need to act like a tour guide, catering to every visitor.

“It smells amazing.”

After Tang Huai left, Meng Wei glanced at the leftover roasted fish and sniffed the air. The aroma was simply too enticing. Meng Wei looked at the colorful fish the team had been dissecting and felt a pang of longing… Scientific research could be so dull.

“It does smell good. I can smell the cumin.”

“The fish skin is nicely charred. Now I’m craving garlic-flavored roasted fish…”

Although the research team had high-end occupations, they hadn’t outgrown their basic desires. Now that Meng Wei had spoken up, the others chimed in.

They had already gutted the colorful fish and sealed them in vacuum bags… If only they could eat those fish in the bags.

Seeing everyone’s eager expressions, Li Qianshan sighed. “Finish recording the data, and tonight we’ll each have a fish.” He glanced at the group before finally making the decision. Even he felt an urge to taste the fish.

The team cheered, reinvigorated and ready to work harder. Eating fish wouldn’t conflict with their research; it might even aid it.

That evening, every member of the research team had a fish, just like in Yaoyao’s livestream. The flavor of the Blue Sea Fish won them over, even the members who typically didn’t like fish couldn’t help but eat a whole one, and then paid out of their own pockets for a second one…

It was an extremely enjoyable night.

Tang Huai didn’t join them that night. Instead, he passed through the Blue Sea Forest and arrived at the Blue Sea Spirit Fields. The lambs wandered about, and the chicks ran all over the hills…

The Cauliflower Chicken looked similar to the native Chinese chickens, with shiny feathers and plump bodies, appearing quite fat and tasty. The Cauliflower Chicken was bred for meat and couldn’t escape its fate of ending up on the dining table—that was its nature.

The sheep were also meat sheep. Tang Huai set the prices for both: Down Wool Sheep at $2000 each and Cauliflower Chicken at $200 each.

Both had hefty price tags. While Tang Huai hadn’t tasted Down Wool Sheep or Cauliflower Chicken, given the “system-made” label, they were likely even more valuable than Blue Sea Fish.

“Baa—” As Tang Huai was lost in thought, the head sheep bleated and nuzzled up to his leg.

“No more sneaking food from now on.”

Tang Huai squatted down to retie the head sheep’s red ribbon. There were 80 Down Wool Sheep in the Blue Sea field. Observing them, Tang Huai noticed that, unlike the others which were similar to ordinary lambs, this head sheep had eyes that darted around, showing a certain cleverness.

Tang Huai didn’t plan to sell the head sheep; it was better to let it watch over the flock.

“Baa—” The head sheep bleated again and then spat out a green vine branch, placing it in front of Tang Huai.

Tang Huai sighed; it was a tomato vine from near Blue Sea Lake. Zhao Hu had already cleared the vines, leaving the extras for the sheep as a snack.

The sheep, although greedy, only coveted things from Sora’s fields and hadn’t damaged Blue Sea Lake.

“I’m not eating it. You go ahead,” Tang Huai said as he stroked the head sheep’s fur. Then, he opened the fence and walked into Sora’s fields.

The field grew five kinds of crops: tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, purple cabbage, apples, and bananas.

All five were already ripe. Perhaps due to some advanced technology, these plants would continue to grow indefinitely if left alone.

Tang Huai picked an apple from a tree, wiped it off with his right hand, and took a bite. It was crisp and sweet, the most delicious apple he had ever tasted. Tang Huai felt a refreshing sensation flowing through his heart.

He took a few more bites and quickly finished off the half-pound apple.

“The Great Tang Fruit Store can introduce a new variety…” Tang Huai looked at the apple core in his hand, seriously contemplating.

Sora apples were a unique product of the island. Since his reputation and Sora Island’s reputation were linked, eating the apple made Tang Huai realize a new path to gaining experience points…

Apples and bananas were bulk goods. Cross-country transportation would be tricky; he’d need to coordinate with shipping and customs, making it somewhat complicated. It would all have to be planned out carefully.

At 9 p.m., Tang Huai returned to Blue Sea Lake. Li Qianshan and the others had already gone back to their rooms to study the Blue Sea Fish data. Blue Sea Lake had a professional waste disposal system, so they only needed to throw garbage into the tree-shaped trash cans as usual.

…

Back in his room, Tang Huai opened the island’s sandbox map.

Blue Sea Lake and the Snow Village appeared clearly on the map. Sora Town was half-covered in mist, indicating it was still under construction.

Tang Huai browsed the sandbox and then clicked the green option at the bottom right.

This was the island’s tourist marker. As soon as Tang Huai clicked on it, 20 green dots appeared on the map—Li Qianshan and his group, scattered around Blue Sea Lake.

Tang Huai then switched to the red option.

The markers on the map instantly multiplied. The light red ones were non-intelligent AIs, all concentrated near Sora Port. The deep red ones were intelligent AIs, with the intensity of the red indicating the AI’s level.

“FD730, are there any suitable defensive measures available in the system?” Tang Huai scrutinized the map and asked a key question.

There were quite a few AIs on Sora Island, but only Ali and Da Huang were capable of active defense… If Tang Huai hadn’t returned earlier today, Li Qianshan and the others might have ended up in a situation similar to Li Suhao’s before.

With Sora Island now open for business, they would undoubtedly encounter all sorts of uninvited guests in the future. This was much like tourists visiting places like the Great Wall or the Forbidden City. From the tourists’ perspective, they wouldn’t think to call ahead before visiting. In their eyes, Sora Island was just another travel destination, akin to the Great Wall or the Forbidden City.

Although Tang Huai understood the situation, the island had just been established, the number of AIs was limited, and there were hardly any defense measures in place. It was fine when he was present, but if he had to leave, the island’s response to potential dangers would be severely lacking.

The only consolation for Tang Huai was that Sora Island currently had only one entry and exit point: Sora Port. The rest were impassable cliffs, and under the system’s protection, visitors could not access them. However, as the island opened up further, one port would not suffice.

In short, establishing a robust security system was of utmost importance.

“Ding—Query complete.

Sora Shield: 10 million USD. Rental: 10,000 USD/day.

Sora Bodyguards: 200,000 USD/person for standard, 1 million USD/person for elite, with strength comparable to international mercenaries.

Sora Mechanical Gun: 200,000 USD/unit.

Sora Traps: 300,000 USD/unit.”

…

After Tang Huai posed the question, FD730 appeared to run a search. A rather magical 3D interface popped up in front of him, with dozens of pages of relevant information.

After the collapse of the Aierjian, Tang Huai’s reputation value surged again, now standing at 260,000.

“What is the Sora Shield?” Browsing through the list, Tang Huai’s eyes focused on the Sora Shield. Among all the options, the rental price for the shield was within his acceptable range.

“The Sora Shield is a new defense system. When the host leaves, it can be remotely controlled via the island sandbox. While active on the island, unfamiliar visitors will experience a ‘lost’ phenomenon, commonly known as ‘ghost hitting the wall’ in China. The shield only provides stealth; the host can purchase additional counterattack equipment,” FD730 explained in a serious tone.

“Is 10,000 USD per day the price for one area or the whole island?” Tang Huai asked with interest. With the Sora Shield, the entire island would appear as an empty, barren land, like a desolate canyon. Add various high-tech countermeasures, and it would essentially become a small country with self-defense capabilities.

Tang Huai had no ambitions to revolt and establish a nation, but the idea of Sora Island’s defense surpassing that of Britain or America was rather satisfying.

Step one: Save up for the Sora Shield. Step two: Purchase various counterattack weapons… In the end, strength makes the rules. Tang Huai eagerly planned his strategy.

“Single area price,” FD730 responded in its usual straightforward manner.

Tang Huai sighed. “Typical system behavior.”

He reviewed the defense options once more before closing the interface.

For now, given the limited number of visitors and island value, Tang Huai planned to rent the Sora Shield when he left the island. As Sora Island developed, he could then switch to bodyguards or traps for security.

One step at a time.

“Why didn’t I find this before?” After closing the interface, Tang Huai thought of a key question. He had attempted to search for defense measures last week before leaving, but the system’s response had been “No results found.”

Now, after just a week, all these defense measures were available?

“Congratulations to the host on becoming a Junior Island Master,” FD730 replied in its typical cold tone.

Tang Huai opened his personal panel with suspicion. Only then did he notice a “Junior Island Master” badge in the upper left corner of the panel. Previously, it had been labeled “Apprentice Island Master.”

He clicked on the small circle of the badge.

Apprentice, Junior, Intermediate, Senior, and Grand Island Master—the island master system was divided into five levels. Each level unlocked corresponding privileges, though the specifics of these privileges were unknown.

It seemed that his previous inability to search for these options was due to insufficient access rights.

Tang Huai closed the personal panel. It was going to be a long journey ahead.

After finishing all his tasks, it was already midnight. The night was deep outside the window. Tang Huai got up to drink some water, then lay down to sleep.

…

In the next three days, Li Qianshan and his team remained focused on researching Blue Sea Fish. On the third afternoon, they rode balance scooters to visit the Snow Village. During these three days, Ali had gradually transported the balance scooters to the Blue sea-snow village road. As for the sightseeing electric cars, they were too large to use until the road connecting Sora Town was completed.

Tang Huai was reassured by the fact that Da De and Zhang Long, the two AIs, were in charge of the Snow Village, so he didn’t accompany Li Qianshan and his group there. While they were exploring Snow Village, Tang Huai checked on the progress of Sora Town’s construction.

The land for the entire town had been leveled, and half of the first mountain had been cleared. Tang Huai estimated that the road connecting the town to Blue Sea would be accessible in about a month. Structures like the cinema and restaurants already had their foundations laid. With the efficient work of the disguised laborers, everything should be completed in about two months.

Everything was running smoothly and efficiently.

That evening, when Tang Huai returned to Blue Sea Lake, he saw Li Qianshan and the others returning, whispering among themselves.

“Amazing…” Li Qianshan muttered, clearly stunned. In all his years, it was his first time seeing such transparent scenery. He felt his worldview had been completely reshaped.

Li Qianshan had initially come for Blue Sea Fish, but now he was in awe of the magical sights like the Ice Snow Castle and the Snow Village.

“This is a magical island,” he stated solemnly when he saw Tang Huai.

The Blue Sea Fish, tree houses, Ice Snow Castle—everything here made people reluctant to leave.

Tang Huai smiled but said nothing.

After a bit more whispering among themselves, Li Qianshan and his group returned to their tree houses, signaling an eventful, sleepless night ahead.

The next morning, Li Qianshan and his team packed up. They had been on the island for five days, and now that they had collected the Blue Sea Fish samples and studied their habits, it was time to go back and conduct further research and compile their report.

“Mr. Tang, I’ll be back here with my family after the New Year,” Li Qianshan said reluctantly as he walked toward the shore. The cruise ship they had arrived on would be passing by Hawaii and would take them back.

“Looking forward to your next visit,” Tang Huai replied with a smile.

Li Qianshan waved to Tang Huai and then walked toward the inflatable boat.

Carrying his luggage, he felt the weight of not just the Blue Sea Fish but also a bag of apples and a bag of tomatoes—the specialties of Sora Island. Each apple cost ten dollars, and each tomato five dollars. The prices were astronomical, and Li Qianshan originally didn’t want to buy them, but he thought, “Since I’m here, might as well take some souvenirs.”

He planned to eat them during the journey.

“Toot—” Five minutes later, the heavy horn of the cruise ship sounded. Li Qianshan and the others had boarded the ship, and the 150,000-ton cruise ship slowly sailed away.

Onboard, Li Qianshan sat down in the cabin, took a moment to rest, and then pulled out a pen and paper, feeling inspired as he started to write.

It wasn’t related to Blue Sea Fish; instead, it was a narrative filled with his strong personal impressions: “Five Days on Sora Island.”

…

With the Blue Sea Fish research team returning to their country, only Tang Huai and the system AIs were left on the island. Everything returned to how it had been initially, with the disguised laborers tirelessly at work.

With nothing much to do, Tang Huai sorted and organized the items in the containers, which were all purchased from Mexico.

The balance scooters had already been transported to Blue Sea Road, while things like toiletries, swimsuits, and trunks were placed in a specific tree house, which now served as the island’s only temporary store.

Since there were no new system tasks at the moment, Tang Huai lazed around for a day before deciding to register the social media accounts for the “Great Tang Overseas Resort” on Weibo and TreeSound.

Setting up the TreeSound account was easy, but Weibo required a phone number. Tang Huai had previously registered with “@GreatTangFruits”… After some thought, he changed the name to “@GreatTangOverseasResort.”

Perfect.

“Ding! Congratulations, Host, on achieving the special milestone ‘A Budding Lotus.’ You have been awarded a spin on the Lucky Wheel.”

As soon as Tang Huai successfully changed the name, the system notification rang out.

Tang Huai was surprised. “I got an achievement just for changing a name?”

He opened his personal panel and noticed that beside the golden badge for “Junior Island Master,” there was now a new light green badge that read “A Budding Lotus.”

Considering the attributes of TreeSound and Weibo, Tang Huai guessed that this achievement was related to his reputation value.

The Lucky Wheel was an unexpected surprise, so of course, Tang Huai decided to use it immediately.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️