Ch 102: The World’s Number One Resort

“The first real-life celebrity painting from ‘Stroke of the Brush’ is complete! Tao Ke transforms into an NPC, delivering an explosive performance.”

“Tao Ke attends an extravagant wine event, with rumors of a new relationship being exposed.”

“From innocent campus belle to a third-tier supporting actress, a detailed account of Tao Ke’s two-year acting journey.”

…

Tang Huai was enjoying his meal immensely. At Bianjing Inn, Su Guang finished the meeting, and the PR team quickly took over, launching the topic ‘Tao Ke Huawu’ onto Huaxia’s trending list. Tao Ke once again dominated the hot searches, but this time, alongside ‘Stroke of the Brush Huawu,’ there were also controversial topics like ‘Tao Ke serving drinks’ and ‘Tao Ke flopped.’

From a tourist’s perspective, Tao Ke’s trending topics seemed inexplicable, yet each one irresistibly urged people to click and view.

At this moment, Su Guang was staring nervously at his phone’s Weibo feed. All three hot topics were bought by Yuntian. Whether Tao Ke could make a comeback depended on this trial run… Su Guang even wanted to add a topic like ‘Tao Ke in Great Tang Resort,’ but a contract between both parties prevented Su Guang from using Great Tang for hype.

It was now 9 AM in China, a time of relatively high traffic. Everything was ready, and now it was up to Tao Ke’s luck.

Tonight was destined to be a restless night for both Su Guang and Tao Ke.

…

“HE-76 has entered the Qinghu star region. Awaiting instructions!”

“Proceed with stealth navigation. Use all available resources to locate the escaped pirates.”

“Yes, sir!”

…

China Weibo was bustling with activity. After finishing his seafood feast, Tang Huai, with nothing else to do, leisurely strolled to Sora Cinema with the other tourists. Tonight’s showing was Interstellar Pirate Saga, which mainly depicted the battle of wits between the pirate alliance led by Joss and the Federal Anti-Piracy Corps in the future star domain.

My boyfriend is a Dragon was a pure campus romance, while Interstellar Pirate was a straightforward popcorn movie. All of these were system-produced, proving that love and popcorn were two eternal themes, no matter which star domain you were in.

Sora Cinema was currently screening five new films, including My boyfriend is a Dragon, Interstellar Pirate, and Strongest Mech Master. Due to character design choices, these films all featured animated characters. At first, tourists were not accustomed to this, but after watching two films, they became hooked.

“Enemy detected ahead. Requesting backup! Bang—”

“The pirate crew is counterattacking. Retreat immediately.”

The film was already halfway through, and the tourists, wearing 3D glasses, looked extremely tense.

“Boom!”

Amid the intense scenes, a massive explosion occurred on the battlefield in Interstellar Pirate. The tourists, along with the protagonist, were thrown into the endless universe, surrounded by fragmented debris of spaceships. This sensation was… heroic yet exhilarating.

Everyone’s adrenaline surged rapidly.

“That was intense! I thought I was going to be blown away at one point.”

“Thrilling! I can’t get enough, though it’s a bit surreal for someone my age to be watching an animated movie. A live-action version would be better.”

“Adding some China elements would be even better. Maybe something like the Monkey King or Nezha…”

“Hahaha, that’s a great idea. Perfect for taking a spin around the sky with the Monkey King.”

…

An hour later, Interstellar Pirate ended, and the crowd reluctantly left the cinema. As they vacated their seats, they began discussing their views on Sora Cinema. While Sora’s movies were undeniably captivating, they felt like something was missing.

“Manager Tang, could Great Tang produce some adaptations based on Huaxia mythology?”

In small groups, tourists chatted idly. A middle-aged man in his fifties noticed Tang Huai and walked over.

Tang Huai had a good temperament, often strolling around the scenic areas in his free time. Visitors became familiar with him and knew he was the resort manager.

“If adaptations are difficult, even remakes of some movies would be fine,” the middle-aged man, who looked quite stern, added.

The man was a Chinese painting teacher with a deep love for China culture. The movie he just watched was indeed excellent, but he still hoped to see China-themed films on Sora’s big screen.

Pangu creating the world, Xing Tian wielding a shield and axe, the Yellow Emperor battling Chi You… Whenever he thought of these legendary scenes, the man felt a surge of genuine excitement.

“Though the movie is fictional, with Sora Cinema’s 10D viewing technology, the idea of experiencing China mythology up close would be a perfect experience.”

After the man finished speaking, quite a few tourists also looked over.

“Technologically, we can’t achieve that just yet, but FillTech Company is working hard to overcome the challenges…”

Faced with the tourists’ eager gazes, Tang Huai could only cough lightly and explain. He had browsed the system’s marketplace before; while there were many movies, none of them focused on China mythology. Even those related to China were mostly crime thrillers and urban romance dramas.

Not just the middle-aged man, Tang Huai was also looking forward to a 10D version of China legends.

“Sigh, let’s hope,” the man sighed when he saw how serious Tang Huai was. He was inspired after watching Interstellar Pirate, but as for what the future holds, that would depend on high-tech advancements.

“If it happens, will Great Tang announce it on Weibo?” The middle-aged man was about to leave, but couldn’t resist asking. If he missed it, he would feel a bit regretful.

“We will.” Tang Huai answered with certainty. Currently, @GreatTangOverseasResort is the official Weibo account of Great Tang Overseas Resort, where announcements like ‘Stroke of the Brush,’ new updates for Fruit Kingdom, and others are published.

The man nodded, planning to download Weibo once he got back.

Now, it was 11 PM. After this brief interlude, the tourists began to head back to their hotels, intending to get a good rest and continue their fun the next day.

After stepping outside, Tang Huai went for a short night run before returning to the Island Master’s Courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, Tang Huai opened up the island’s sand table.

The sand table remained as grand and mysterious as before.

Currently, the sand table had forty-three light grey areas and six green areas. The remaining one was orange, indicating it was under construction.

Sky Forest had been under construction for less than a week and was operating in a fully closed mode. While the tourists knew a new scenic area was being built, they didn’t know what it was or how long the construction would take. They were very curious for the first couple of days, but since Tang Huai chose an area too far away, their curiosity soon faded as they returned to their usual activities.

Tang Huai scanned the island sand table, then closed it. The island was far stronger than it had been at the beginning, so he planned to maintain a steady mindset and take things one step at a time.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, he turned off the lights and went to sleep.

…

The next morning, Tang Huai woke up right on time at 7 AM. After a quick wash, he headed straight to Great Tang No. 2.

It was still early, and Sora Port was empty, with no tourists in sight.

“Manager Tang.” As Tang Huai boarded the ship, the AI from the previous Ocean Horizon Hot Air Balloon greeted him respectfully.

“Let’s get started.” Tang Huai pointed to the Ocean Horizon hot air balloon. The green vine-colored basket was sitting quietly on the deck, looking fresh and natural from afar.

After Tang Huai finished speaking, the AI expertly went over and activated the heating system. Five minutes later, the hot air balloon was ready for launch, resembling a giant, colorful mushroom.

The AI opened the balloon’s cabin door and made a welcoming gesture toward Tang Huai.

Tang Huai stepped inside. The AI pressed a red button, the door closed, and the hot air balloon began to ascend slowly.

“The Ocean Horizon hot air balloon can fly within a 300-nautical-mile radius of Sora Island, reaching a maximum height of 5,000 meters. This is the navigation pad; tourists can select the direction themselves…” Standing by the balloon’s railing, the AI handed Tang Huai a tablet-sized device. It displayed the open areas of Sora Island.

“What about the other areas?” Tang Huai was curious. The Ocean Horizon hot air balloon was a high-altitude device; if it could fly freely, then no matter how hidden Sky Forest’s construction was, it wouldn’t be concealed.

“In non-open areas, there is system protection. To tourists at high altitude, these areas appear as a blend of gray fog and canyons,” the Ring Sea AI responded earnestly. This was one of Sora Island’s system features. Not only the hot air balloon but even helicopters and airplanes could not see the full view of Sora Island.

Tang Huai pondered for a moment before setting the hot air balloon to automatic flight mode. After completing this, he looked around.

The entire basket covered an area of 25 square meters—not very large, but the facilities were exquisitely designed. In addition to a simple cooking station, there was a modern round table and ten massage chairs. Under each chair were data cables and charging ports. Moreover, each chair was equipped with wheels to meet tourists’ basic comfort needs.

Tang Huai chose a single-seat sofa and pressed the remote control. The linen-colored sofa moved like a remote-controlled car, responding to Tang Huai’s commands. He maneuvered it to the edge of the railing, then replaced the green vine-colored railing with transparent glass.

Tang Huai lay down comfortably. By now, the hot air balloon had reached an altitude of 300 meters. Looking down, the buildings of Sora Island resembled tiny pearls the size of fingernails.

Enjoying the view, Tang Huai noticed that the hot air balloon had flown over Sora Town.

Below, tourists gathered in groups for breakfast. While waiting for their food, some of them casually glanced upward.

The Ring Sea hot air balloon was enormous and conspicuous. When the tourists noticed it, they couldn’t help but take a second look. This time, they were taken aback.

On the nearly transparent basket, there was a sofa with a figure reclining on it. The figure had no visible support, appearing as though a gust of wind could knock it off at any moment.

In the crowd, a young man in his twenties squinted through his glasses and casually pulled out a pair of binoculars he had brought for sea-watching. He hadn’t expected them to come in handy now.

“Damn, it’s a real person,” the young man exclaimed, initially mistaking the figure for a mannequin. But upon closer inspection, the figure was holding a phone, relaxing in a laid-back posture, with a teacup in its right hand. This was no model; it was clearly a real person.

His voice was loud, and upon hearing him, the other tourists lifted their heads. Since it was breakfast time, there were more than 300 people waiting at the Delicious Restaurant. They had been chatting or playing on their phones, but now, all of them looked up, creating a rather striking scene.

“So many people?” Up in the hot air balloon, Tang Huai also noticed the crowd at the Delicious Restaurant. He hadn’t realized that it was already 8 AM.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Huai opened his sports backpack and pulled out a large red banner.

He unfolded the banner and let it roll down along the transparent basket’s railing.

The banner, measuring 5×50 meters, had white text on a red background, displaying the message: “Ocean Horizon Hot Air Balloon: Fly Across Sora’s Sky and Breathe the Freest Air. $100/hour.”

The Sora office building had basic printing equipment, and Tang Huai had made this banner on his way back yesterday. He had originally planned to use it when they reached Blue Sea Lake, but given the large number of tourists in Sora Town, he decided to use it now.

With the internet so prevalent nowadays, Tang Huai didn’t actually need to go through all this trouble to advertise. But advertising wasn’t just about promotion; it was about creating some excitement. No matter how many fans there were on Douyin and Weibo, those were still online platforms; they couldn’t compare to the festive feel of traditional advertising.

After securing the red banner, Tang Huai continued to lie on the sofa, browsing his phone. A gentle breeze brushed by, and he felt utterly relaxed.

In Sora Town, the tourists were first stunned upon seeing the banner. Then they quickly pulled out their phones to take pictures.

Due to the viewing angle, the tourists couldn’t see the transparent glass. To them, the banner seemed to be suspended in mid-air, and Tang Huai appeared to be boldly perched on the edge of the hot air balloon. This looked… even more thrilling than the Crystal Bridge!

The Crystal Bridge stood at twenty meters, but this hot air balloon was at least 300 meters up. Some tourists, however, speculated that the hot air balloon must have some sort of safety device similar to the Crystal Bridge.

In short, with Tang Huai’s bold advertisement, they were definitely going to try it out!

Excited, the tourists began planning their travel itinerary. After flying over Sora Town, Tang Huai headed toward Blue Sea Lake.

Blue Sea Lake, Fruit Kingdom, Thrilling Racing… Over the next two hours, Tang Huai made a full circle around Sora Island. As the Ocean Horizon AI had described, apart from the open areas, the rest appeared as canyon-like landscapes.

Feeling reassured, Tang Huai relaxed.

An hour later, Tang Huai returned to Sora Town. This time, he didn’t land on the ship but instead stopped on a nearby shallow beach by the port.

This would also be one of the future project points for the Ocean Horizon hot air balloon.

“It’s here, it’s here.”

“It looks even bigger than I imagined.”

Tang Huai stepped off the hot air balloon. At that moment, quite a few tourists were nearby, and they excitedly ran over upon seeing the balloon. Most of them were young people eager to try new things. It had to be said that Tang Huai’s giant advertisement had been quite effective.

He handed over the work to the AIs there and headed toward the town.

The hot air balloon’s refrigerator hadn’t been restocked yet, and he was feeling a bit hungry…

Over the next two days, Tang Huai’s routine was quite fulfilling: working, strolling around, and walking Da Huang. During this time, he occasionally came across news about Tao Ke on Weibo. However, since he wasn’t a fan, and Tao Ke was just a collaborator with Great Tang, he merely glanced at the headlines before moving on.

Compared to celebrity gossip, he preferred various funny videos.

With some leisure time now, and without any new system tasks, Tang Huai was living quite comfortably.

…

On the afternoon of the third day, a deep black yacht approached. It was a brand-new business ship, slightly larger than Great Tang No. 1, but overall not as grand as Great Tang No. 2.

Tang Huai stood at Sora Port to greet it. Onboard were representatives from the A-class brands they had previously collaborated with. Over the past month, the disguised laborers had carefully renovated the contract store spaces according to the brand merchants’ blueprints. A remote inspection confirmed that they fully matched the styles required by the various brands.

With the hardware in place, what remained was shipping goods, service training, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

This time, the brand representatives were Han Tao and the others. After exchanging greetings, both parties went into a detailed meeting.

…

“Five minutes left. I’m getting a bit nervous.” While Tang Huai was busy preparing, in a tube-shaped building in Yongming City, China, a woman around twenty-five years old with slightly messy hair anxiously scrolled through her phone.

She kept an eye on the time in the top right corner while browsing.

Only five minutes remained until Great Tang Fruit’s new launch.

The woman’s name was Li Huajuan, a cashier at Huiming Accounting Firm. Her job was a typical nine-to-five, with a salary of around 5,000 yuan. Although she wasn’t wealthy, it was a comfortable income for an 18th-tier small city like Yongming.

Li Huajuan had decent looks, but her skin wasn’t in great condition; she suffered from high humidity in her body, leading to persistent acne. One day a pimple would clear up, and the next, a new one would emerge. This had been going on for years, and the acne never truly went away. Because of it, she had spent the prime years of her twenties to twenty-five without ever dating a boyfriend.

Every time she looked at her face in the mirror, all her dreams of romance would vanish.

She had tried numerous traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatments and visited beauty salons but had given up hope. However, just when she was about to completely surrender, Great Tang Fruit emerged out of nowhere. It claimed to relieve constipation, promote weight loss, and improve skin health… Great Tang Fruit never advertised, but the buyer recommendations were more convincing than any health ad.

Li Huajuan was a rational person who didn’t follow trends blindly. However, there was an intern at her firm who also suffered from recurring acne. The day after eating Great Tang Fruit, the intern’s facial swelling subsided, leaving only some small pimples. The intern was overjoyed.

Li Huajuan was shocked. After confirming multiple times that the effect was indeed due to Great Tang Fruit, she was tempted. She researched numerous customer reviews, and both the feedback and posts on @ChinaScienceInstitute’s Weibo confirmed that Great Tang Fruit was indeed living up to its reputation.

Li Huajuan pinned all her hopes on Great Tang Fruit.

While she was lost in her thoughts, the clock struck 11:59.

Sitting upright, she waited… one more minute.

“Ah?” At exactly 12:00, Li Huajuan selected her products and made the purchase. But when she saw the “Sold Out” message, she was stunned.

It took just 36 seconds from selection to payment. In that brief time, everything was sold out?

She couldn’t believe it. She had chosen the Sora oranges priced at 199 yuan per jin. Now the oranges were gone, and she could only try to buy something else.

Sora pineapples: Sold out.

Sora bananas: Sold out.

Sora strawberries: Sold out.

…

In the next minute, Li Huajuan felt dazed. Not only were the ordinary fruits like pineapples and strawberries sold out, but even the 600-yuan Sora grapes were gone… How ruthless!

She felt awful. She had been waiting for this day for a whole week.

Unwilling to give up, she refreshed the page twice, but there was still no sign of Great Tang Fruit.

She returned to the homepage and tentatively typed in: Great Tang Fruit.

It was just a test, but this time, not only did the “Great Tang Fruit Official Store” pop up, but there was also a small shop called “Great Tang Reseller.”

The shop’s location was: Shengze. The same as Great Tang Fruit’s shipping site.

…

“Is it ready? If we mess this up, we’re losing tens of thousands,” said someone urgently.

“Hold on… Image upload successful,” came the reply.

While Li Huajuan was refreshing the “Great Tang Fruit” search, in a 200-square-meter warehouse on the southern outskirts of Shengze, Du Yueyue sat in front of a computer, while Wang Song stood nearby, smoking.

The fruits in the warehouse were all rebranded with Great Tang Fruit’s labels. As long as no one checked the QR codes, they looked identical to the genuine products. To minimize risks, they chose to launch their shop when Great Tang Fruit released its new stock, hoping to complete their sale with the least amount of time and risk.

“Seventy-nine? No, change it. Make it one hundred and twenty-nine,” Wang Song suddenly interjected as Du Yueyue was about to set the price after uploading the stolen images.

“One hundred and twenty-nine? The official price on Great Tang’s site is ninety-nine…”

Du Yueyue was taken aback. She was pricing “Great Tang Apples,” which had an official price of ninety-nine yuan. Their counterfeit’s cost was five yuan and fifty cents per jin. She thought seventy-nine was already quite aggressive, but Wang Song was even more ruthless.

“Will anyone buy it?” she hesitated and then added.

“People who want to buy Great Tang Fruit won’t care about ten or twenty yuan more. If we price it at one hundred and twenty-nine, they’ll buy it. But seventy-nine? That’s suspicious,” Wang Song waved his hand dismissively. Since they were posing as a reseller, their prices should naturally be higher than the original. If Great Tang Fruit was so in demand, selling it at a lower price would immediately raise doubts.

Wang Song sounded so confident that Du Yueyue had no choice but to follow his instructions.

After setting the price, she clicked to publish the listing. The prices for other fruits were similarly marked up by ten to fifty yuan more than the official prices.

Du Juanhua: “Is this Great Tang Fruit from Sora Island?”

At 12:05 AM, after they finished setting everything up, Du Yueyue was about to take a break when a notification from Taobao Wangwang popped up.

Du Yueyue sat up straight.

Great Tang Reseller: “Yes, guaranteed authentic.”

Du Yueyue replied decisively.

“Why is it cheaper than the official price?”

“Our boss knows an employee from Great Tang. This batch of fruits was shipped together with the official store’s. Same channel, different distributor.”

After Great Tang Reseller sent the message, there was no immediate response from the customer.

Meanwhile, in the tube-shaped building, Li Huajuan read Du Yueyue’s reply with a hint of anxiety. She had just reviewed the product details, noting that it was a de-labeled version without an official QR code. However, from the shipping location to the explanation provided, Great Tang Reseller seemed to match the other authentic resellers she had seen before.

“Are you sure it’s authentic? Can you provide one with a QR code?” After some consideration, Li Huajuan continued to ask.

“This is privately sourced through Great Tang, so we can’t provide a QR code. But we guarantee it’s genuine. If it’s fake, we’ll compensate you tenfold. Let’s be understanding of each other. If you place an order now, we can give you a vacuum-sealed Sora grape as a gift. Each grape alone costs over ten yuan.”

“I’ll order two sets…”

After a bit of back-and-forth, ten minutes later, Li Huajuan paid 459 yuan. She bought the counterfeit Sora oranges priced at 229 yuan, compared to the official price of 199 yuan.

“Impressive.” Seeing the pending payment amount in the Taobao backend, Wang Song gave Du Yueyue a thumbs-up. She might be young, but she had no trouble weaving a convincing story.

Du Yueyue felt smug; back in school, she was always the smartest in the class.

“If this transaction goes through, we can make about 400 yuan, right?” she asked, getting to the crucial point. The cost price of the oranges was six yuan per jin, and after deducting warehouse and shipping costs, she estimated that the net profit should be over 400 yuan.

“At least 430,” Wang Song corrected. The warehouse costs might seem high, but when averaged out over each jin of fruit, it wasn’t much.

“Boss, are you sure it’s authentic? Do you have any real pictures?”

“Is there one with a QR code?”

“Will it ship tomorrow?”

…

While Du Yueyue was still feeling proud of herself and wanted to ask more questions, Taobao Wangwang kept pinging one after another. The buyers’ questions were mostly the same. Half an hour later, Great Tang Reseller had made a total of 21 transactions, amounting to 36,128 yuan.

Looking at the real-time data in the backend, Du Yueyue was in disbelief. She finally understood why so many merchants risk it all to sell counterfeit branded bags and watches… This was pure profiteering.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️