Ch 124: The World’s Number One Resort

“Manager Tang, what kind of advertisement does Great Tang want to run?” Liu Ke had his doubts and asked directly.

“VR glasses,” Tang Huai replied without hesitation. When Liu Ke mentioned the financial struggles of Treasure Travel, Tang Huai had already devised a plan for the Ancient Town VR advertisement.

The Haunted Ancient Town project required a VR game factory. The VR game factory could produce VR glasses, which could then be sold… at a 1:1 ratio of dollars to island points. If executed well, the Haunted Ancient Town could fully recover the island points invested and even generate some surplus.

After stating his plan, Tang Huai seriously contemplated the feasibility of advertising on Treasure Travel. While Tang Huai was thinking, Liu Ke was momentarily stunned. Was Great Tang Resort also branching out into selling glasses now?

“What kind of VR glasses are we talking about?” Liu Ke asked out of curiosity after snapping out of his daze.

“Horror game type,” Tang Huai answered concisely.

Liu Ke was left speechless. Advertising a horror game on Treasure Travel? That was a bit confusing.

Tang Huai smiled. His target audience wasn’t the kids but rather their parents. With technological advancements happening so rapidly, parents are the primary consumers of tech products in China.

Island experience points are linked to Sora Island’s profit consumption. Tang Huai intended to use the Haunted Ancient Town to accumulate a wave of island points. Although something like Ancient Town could be replaced with Stroke of the Brush or an advanced version of Sky Forest, the system was rigid and couldn’t be modified.

The office atmosphere grew silent once more.

Liu Ke pondered. He figured that FillTech Technology was at the forefront of the world, so its entry into the VR glasses market seemed reasonable. A couple of years ago, VR games were all the rage, and he had tried them out, but the market offerings were limited and the equipment was basic. Except for some major investments, small VR shops opened and closed quickly.

There were plenty of VR glasses for sale on Taobao, but they were similar to the ones in physical stores—low in technology and lacking buyers!

“What about the glasses factory?” Liu Ke asked after considering this point.

“FillTech Company is investing, while Great Tang will handle the manufacturing.”

“Do you have a finished product?”

“Not yet.”

“One more thing… How much is Great Tang planning to invest?”

After a series of questions and answers, Liu Ke left the Sora office half an hour later.

Liu Ke reviewed the conversation in his mind. Great Tang was planning to invest 20 million dollars, approximately 160 million yuan. It was a significant investment, but the VR glasses Tang Huai mentioned seemed like the moon in the sky—completely intangible. If they went all out on advertising and Great Tang ended up not producing anything… it would be quite embarrassing.

Liu Ke returned to Bianjing Ancient City and immediately called his station. This was a major investment, and it was up to the higher-ups to decide.

…

Host Name: Tang Huai
Island Points: 1.02 million+
Prestige Points: 70.55 million+
Inventory: [Windmill] x3, [Encyclopedia of Species], [Haunted Ancient Town].
Account Balance: 50.26 million dollars.

In the Sora Island office, after Liu Ke left, Tang Huai opened his personal dashboard. The current prestige points stood at 70.55 million, with a daily growth rate of around 300,000. The VR glasses factory was estimated to cost 80 million island points. Although 80 million was a lot, it wouldn’t be a one-time payment. Given the current prestige growth rate of Great Tang Resort, it barely fit within the budget.

“We need to sell 50 million to break even…” Tang Huai murmured after reviewing his dashboard. With an investment of 80 million prestige points and 20 million dollars, including subsequent costs, it indeed required selling 50 million units to break even.

Tang Huai originally planned to implement the Haunted Ancient Town project later in the development of Great Tang Resort. However, with the slow growth of prestige points, he realized he needed a new project to boost Great Tang’s reputation. Currently, the only external promotion was through “Great Tang Fruits.”

This new project could work like free samples in a supermarket. Once visitors experienced the Haunted Ancient Town, many might be enticed to come to the island and try other high-tech tourism experiences, right?

Tang Huai drafted a proposal. Then, his gaze fell on the balance of “$50.25 million.” This was Great Tang’s income over the past year. A year ago, Tang Huai was merely the owner of the Great Tang Fruit Store. Now, he had assets worth tens of millions. This feeling… wasn’t bad at all.

Tang Huai chuckled at his own thoughts.

After completing the draft proposal, he headed to the second-floor office. Regardless of whether Treasure Travel agreed to the partnership, he was determined to move forward with the Haunted Ancient Town project. Since this was a significant investment, he decided to discuss it with Xie Yunshu.

Since the completion of Sky Forest, Xie Yunshu had been overseeing security, public transport routes, and AI allocation. His workload had increased significantly. Tang Huai considered that it might be time to assign him a personal assistant.

“Manager Tang, there’s a commotion at the treehouses,” the AI secretary rushed over as Tang Huai reached the second-floor entrance.

Tang Huai: ???

…

“What’s going on up ahead?”

“Seems like it’s about the bamboo raft. One person saw it first, but the other paid first…”

“That’s yesterday’s Middle Eastern businessman. The other one looks familiar.”

“It’s Amanda! My gosh, it’s Amanda Cruz!”

…

Half an hour later, Tang Huai arrived at the Blue Sea Treehouses. With 80% of the Chinese tourists already on their way back by ship, the remaining visitors were mostly from Europe. A crowd had formed on the southern side of Blue Sea Lake, surrounded by layers of onlookers, with a few Sora security guards maintaining order.

“Rude Middle Easterner.”

“Lady, I saw the raft first.”

Tang Huai squeezed into the crowd and saw Nasser wearing three large gem rings, his expression uninterested in further discussion. Across from him stood a young woman in a jacket—none other than the recently arrived Amanda Cruz.

Amanda was tapping on her phone, her expression defiant. On the lake beside them lay a two-meter-long bamboo raft. From the conversations around, Tang Huai learned that the dispute between the two was over this raft.

In short, Nasser had stepped out and taken a liking to the raft. While his assistant went back to retrieve the pass, Amanda came along and, using her pass, was able to claim the raft before Nasser. Thus, the conflict arose.

“Sir, Ms. Amanda, how about choosing another raft?” Tang Huai suggested after learning the backstory. There were a total of ten bamboo rafts on Blue Sea Lake, with two currently available, having just been vacated…

Tang Huai felt like an elementary school teacher resolving a student conflict.

“No need,” Amanda replied, putting away her phone. She had just returned from a visit to the Snow village and was ready to recharge when she encountered this annoying situation. With more and more onlookers gathering, she no longer felt like enjoying the ride. Without another word, Amanda turned back toward the treehouse.

“A terrible experience,” Nasser grumbled, his delightful vacation now ruined. His English was somewhat stilted, and after speaking, he also returned to the treehouse without looking back.

The two were heading in the same direction.

Tang Huai noticed that Amanda was staying in Treehouse 25, while Nasser was in Treehouse 26… This could be a problem.

“A wonderful trip.”

Amanda and Nasser might not be in the best of moods, but the surrounding tourists were enjoying the spectacle. After the two left, the crowd murmured among themselves before posting about it on Twitter.

Amanda had a bad reputation, but her online popularity was undeniable. Soon after a short video of the argument was posted, the hashtag #GreatTangAmanda trended briefly. The fallout was that many wealthy fans, upon learning that Amanda was vacationing at Great Tang Resort, immediately booked flights to come and see her.

In the Blue Sea Forest, Tang Huai, wanting to maintain a harmonious tourism environment, dispatched two attendants to ask both parties if they wanted to switch treehouses. Both Amanda and Nasser were hot-tempered and, upon learning who their neighbor would be, refused to move.

With no other options, Tang Huai instructed the AI to tighten security. After making a round of the Blue Sea Forest, he returned to the Sora office to continue drafting the Haunted Ancient Town plan.

Liu Ke was still negotiating, and there had been no response yet.

In the midst of all this busyness, on the evening of the second day, Great Tang No. 2 returned. With reviews from the first group of tourists already out, more than 6,000 European Union visitors had arrived this time, making up 80% of the island’s total visitors.

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the ‘Ten Nations Visitors’ task. A special mystery gift pack has been awarded,” the pleasant system notification sounded just as the visitors were disembarking on the island. Tang Huai, who had just finished dinner in his private courtyard, let out a sigh of relief. The task was completed with a surplus, and there were still two weeks left before the deadline.

Sitting comfortably on his bed, Tang Huai took a deep breath and opened the system interface with a look of anticipation. The mystery gift pack… It was an intermediate reward. Based on past experiences, Tang Huai guessed that its type would be similar to Snow village or Trilling Racing.

While he was contemplating, the mysterious gift box gradually appeared. It was a rectangular box adorned with a 3D bow, giving it a much more sophisticated look compared to the ordinary task cards.

After examining it for a moment, Tang Huai gently untied the bow.

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining an advanced item card, [Underwater Tunnel],” the system chimed again as the bow was pulled.

[Underwater Tunnel]: It can extend up to 1,000 meters underwater, impervious to maritime disasters, collisions, or any other calamities. It is an advanced item card with a total length of 20,000 kilometers.

Tang Huai was left in a daze as he read through the description of the [Underwater Tunnel].

What does a total length of 20,000 kilometers mean? A flight from Beijing to Los Angeles is roughly 10,000 kilometers. In other words, with the [Underwater Tunnel], he could potentially build multiple tunnels connecting Sora Island to China, Mexico, Hawaii, and other places.

Would anyone need to fly to Sora Island in the future? No. Would they need a cruise? Absolutely not. The [Underwater Tunnel] would function similarly to a high-speed highway. Once it’s laid out, Sora Island would control not just technology but also key transportation hubs, becoming a true maritime overlord.

Dominating the Pacific Ocean!

Tang Huai, suppressing his excitement, examined the [Underwater Tunnel] card back and forth before reluctantly putting it away. Dominating the Pacific sounded impressive, but would the Americans agree? Would the European Union agree? Would other countries agree? This would be a blatant infringement on the territorial waters of other nations.

Sora Island is located on the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean, and it originally belonged to Mexico. Only after Tang Wangchun purchased it did it become a fully private island. Now, with Sora Island’s rapid development, other countries must have taken notice of its existence. However, Tang Huai was indifferent. Bound by the “Island Convention,” Sora Island was entirely private property, and even national governments couldn’t interfere.

Tang Huai could move freely within his own domain, but if he were to recklessly infringe upon another country’s territorial waters, things could get complicated. After some thought, he checked the usage conditions for the [Underwater Tunnel].

The [Underwater Tunnel] required a cost of 1 million per kilometer for camouflage labor.

Covering the entire 20,000 kilometers would amount to a total cost of 2 billion… Tang Huai decisively put the [Underwater Tunnel] card away. Not only was it currently impossible to use, but he also suspected that even after completing the World’s No. 1 Resort mission, it might still be out of reach.

The opportunity to use the [Underwater Tunnel] seemed quite elusive.

Stretching his limbs, Tang Huai turned off the lights and went to sleep. Now that the Ten Nations mission was completed, he could afford to take a break.

…

“Manager Tang, the station has agreed to Great Tang’s investment. However, the VR advertisement can only be aired in the first destination.” Early the next morning, Liu Ke arrived at the Great Tang Resort office and got straight to the point.

Luo Hai TV was a nationally broadcast station in China, and Treasure Travel was its flagship show. Even though Pure Cheese had backed out, Treasure Travel wasn’t short of investors. However, the production schedule was tight, and securing new investment would take at least half a month, which the show couldn’t afford.

Yesterday, Luo Hai’s top executives held an overnight meeting. Two million USD was a considerable investment. If it were for well-known products like “Yoyo Yogurt” or “Guardian Diapers,” they would have agreed without a second thought. But Great Tang was investing in a VR headset—a horror-themed VR headset at that?

The executives were in quite a dilemma. After much discussion, they settled on allowing the advertisement to air only in the first destination. Each season of Treasure Travel features five locations, with three episodes filmed at each spot, totaling five spots. This meant Great Tang would get exclusive advertising rights for the first three episodes.

“Manager Tang, the station will only charge a four hundred thousand USD advertising fee. The site rental will be calculated separately… This is the station’s bottom line. What do you think?” Liu Ke added after finishing his explanation. Four hundred thousand USD wasn’t much for advertising fees, but the station had given him a strict deadline. If Great Tang didn’t agree, he would have to find a new location back in China.

Liu Ke kept a neutral expression but was anxious inside. He was really keen on Sora Island.

“Is there a standard for the number of ad appearances?” Tang Huai finally spoke up after two minutes of silence.

“Here’s the advertising proposal.” Liu Ke straightened up immediately. Screen time for ads was limited, and there were specific standards to follow. He handed over last year’s contract proposal with Pure Cheese. Although the nature of the product differed, the timing and screen time were roughly the same.

“Looking forward to working together.” Tang Huai skimmed through the contract and then set it down.

“Working together? Haha, great, looking forward to it!” Liu Ke was momentarily stunned but then burst into a hearty laugh when he grasped Tang Huai’s meaning. It felt like the weight of the past two days had finally lifted.

Tang Huai smiled. Only three episodes? How to use three episodes to promote an entirely new product would be quite the challenge.

He sipped his tea and suddenly realized a critical issue: The Ancient Town VR headset was still just a concept product, and the factory hadn’t even been built…

Hmm, how to use three episodes to promote a brand-new, virtual, conceptual product… Now that was a complex question indeed.

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