Ch 125: The World’s Number One Resort

The next day, Liu Ke signed the contract on behalf of Luo Hai TV, and Tang Huai transferred one million USD as an initial payment. It wasn’t a large sum, but the station was quite pleased. Great Tang Resort was the fastest advertiser to go from signing to payment.

“Manager Tang, see you next week.”

With the contract signed, there was no reason for Liu Ke to stay. Thus, he and Zhang Min returned, leaving three location scouts at Great Tang Resort. With numerous scenic areas to choose from, the first filming location for the first season of Treasure Travel was decided to be [Sky Forest]. The specifics of how to film would be discussed between the scouts and the directors.

After Liu Ke left, Tang Huai opened the island sand table.

Currently, Sora Island hosted around eleven thousand European Union tourists, two thousand Chinese tourists, and about eight hundred visitors from other countries, such as Japan, India, and Singapore. Sora Island was beginning to take shape. To accommodate the increasing number of tourists, Tang Huai had fully opened Bianjing Ancient City.

Bianjing Ancient City could host approximately thirty thousand visitors. The Snow Village Sora Hotel was halfway through construction, and once completed, it could accommodate another twenty thousand guests. Altogether, Sora Island’s total capacity would be around fifty thousand. If some tourists chose to stay in Blue Sea tents, the capacity could increase to eighty thousand.

Eighty thousand people.

Tang Huai had initially thought “eighty thousand” was a large number. But as Sora Island gradually improved, the current facilities couldn’t keep up with the growing number of tourists.

After pondering for a while, Tang Huai opened the [Horror Ancient Town] card.

The [Horror Ancient Town] was a VR game package that could be used anytime and anywhere with the help of VR glasses. This would be the second project from Great Tang Resort that could be marketed beyond the island.

Sora Island’s revenue mainly came from three sources: 1. The overall reputation value tourists had of Great Tang Resort, 2. The 1:1 conversion of Sora Island’s project income to USD, and 3. Income from related Sora Resort industries.

Ignoring the first two for now, the only related industry currently was Great Tang Fruits. Over two months of sales and promotions, Great Tang Fruits had generated a profit of 2.3 million USD, which was converted into 2.3 million island points.

While the fruits brought in a significant reputation value, production was limited, and fast, large-scale distribution wasn’t feasible. To increase the island’s value, Great Tang Resort could only work on opening new revenue streams and reducing expenses. Since reducing expenses wasn’t viable, expanding revenue was the only option. The [Horror Ancient Town] project was one of those new revenue streams, albeit with a high initial cost.

After some thought, Tang Huai put on his jacket and headed to the southern part of Sora Town. It was 3 PM, and most tourists were concentrated in scenic spots like Sky Forest and Thrilling Racing. Ever since He Kun won the million-dollar prize, Thrilling Racing’s popularity had surged, making it one of the top five attractions on Sora Island. The Fruit Kingdom and Ice Castle also remained top destinations.

Sora’s southern side was adjacent to the ochre canyon. Apart from a wide asphalt road, the surroundings were mostly barren land.

“FD730, can I directly purchase the glasses factory?” Tang Huai surveyed the area and asked FD730. This was the first card requiring him to oversee its setup.

“The host can purchase a VR glasses factory, VR equipment, and VR technicians. The initial estimate is 70 million island points. After purchasing the equipment, additional purchases of VR processors and registration software will be necessary,” FD730 explained.

“Can I purchase them in batches?” Considering the complicated steps involved in setting up a VR glasses factory, Tang Huai went straight to the key question.

“You can.”

Upon FD730’s confirmation, Tang Huai proceeded to make the purchase.

The Great Tang Glasses Factory would occupy an area of 30,000 square meters. Like the Sora Hotel and Sora Cinema, it required disguised labor for construction. Since it was a tech factory, the design and layout could be worked on simultaneously while building the site.

Tang Huai purchased the land and then hired a [Horror Ancient Town] designer.

The designer was a fifty-year-old Indian man, identified in the records as a native of Andhra Pradesh. He wasn’t an AI. With the [Horror Ancient Town] data package already available, the designer’s job was to integrate it into the VR glasses. The task was relatively simple.

The [Horror Ancient Town] project would take about a month and a half from design to market launch, just in time for the end of the first three episodes of Treasure Travel, providing an opportunity to sell it in China.

The [Horror Ancient Town] was a high-tech product, different in nature from Great Tang Fruits. In addition to the Chinese market, Tang Huai planned to target the international market. In short, he needed to do everything possible to earn island points.

Money was tight.

The Great Tang Glasses Factory was under construction. Tang Huai took a walk around Sora Town and then returned to the Island Master’s courtyard. Now that Liu Ke had left and Great Tang Resort was on the right track, Tang Huai could relax a little.

He organized his work and inspected the island. In the next two days, Tang Huai’s routine was both fulfilling and structured.

On the evening of the second day, a whistle sounded from the port of Sora Island.

The CC filming crew had arrived. “Forest Moisturizer” was CC’s summer flagship product, and this time, they brought over thirty staff members, led by Abel himself.

“Tang, it’s great to see you again.” At the port, Tang Huai greeted the arriving ship. Abel, wearing a light yellow shirt, approached him with an exaggerated hug.

With CC’s preparations in place, they were ready to dive into filming, post-production, and a full-scale promotional campaign after the shoot was completed in the next few days. Abel was full of energy.

“Where’s Amanda?” Abel asked casually after some small talk.

Amanda was known as a symbol of Hollywood’s rebellious stars—bad-tempered and flamboyant, traits that had become her signature. Besides Amanda, CC had also considered established stars like Jennifer and Monica, with whom they had frequently collaborated. After some deliberation, however, they had chosen Amanda.

The target audience for “Forest Moisturizer” was women aged fifteen to thirty, aligning with Amanda’s image, making her the perfect choice and reflecting CC’s desire to innovate with their branding.

“Manager Tang?” Abel had asked casually, but when he noticed Tang Huai’s expression, he was a bit puzzled.

Tang Huai was touching his nose, unsure of how to start. His expression… seemed a bit strange.

Abel was filled with confusion.

“Amanda… might be in love,” Tang Huai finally said after some thought, shrugging.

Though he added the word “might,” Tang Huai was almost certain that Amanda had fallen in love. He just wanted to prepare Abel for the situation.

Amanda’s romance was no longer news on Sora Island. Over the past couple of days, nearly all the tourists had seen Amanda passionately kissing a man in his thirties under the blue sea tree, picking grapes in the Fruit Kingdom, or bungee jumping in Sky Forest.

Amanda had donned a Bohemian-style long dress, and her demeanor was that of a girl deeply in love. Her romantic partner was none other than her neighbor in No. 26—Middle Eastern tycoon, Nasser.

Tang Huai was quite baffled by how their relationship had developed. Just three days ago, they had been quarreling over a bamboo raft, and now they were in love?

Love can be that magical. Although Tang Huai didn’t involve himself in the entertainment industry, he knew that a celebrity’s love life could be a double-edged sword when it came to advertising. Given Amanda’s personality and her past romantic history, she certainly wouldn’t hide her relationship.

In fact, an hour earlier, Amanda had already tweeted about her romance. However, since Abel had just arrived on the island and was being greeted by Tang Huai, neither had seen it yet.

“Oh God, this is terrible news. Tang…”

“Ring, ring—”

Just as Tang Huai had expected, Abel was incredulous upon hearing about Amanda’s romance and was about to say more when his phone rang.

“Damn it, I know,” Abel said into the phone, his expression growing more serious by the second. Half a minute later, he hung up and opened Twitter.

@AmandaCruz: “My prince. [Image] [Image]”

The tweet had been posted an hour ago.

In the first photo, Amanda is seen embracing a Middle Eastern man. The background shows an endless sky; both of them are strapped to a thin rope. Perhaps due to the wind, Amanda’s golden hair was blown across the man’s face, and he gazed at her with a look of deep affection. The morning light added a glow to the scene, filling the image with a palpable romantic tension.

The second photo shows Amanda and the man fearlessly jumping off a cliff. This was taken with the assistance of the staff. With exceptional photography skills, the scene captures Sky Island, clouds, and the icy blue ground, creating an incredibly dreamy sky peninsula. Amanda and the Middle Eastern man appeared as the perfect accents in the vastness of the landscape.

Abel was stunned by the photo’s composition before checking the tweet’s metrics. Within that hour, Amanda’s tweet had been retweeted over 10 million times, with comments surpassing 1 million.

Abel quickly skimmed through the comments.

“Oh my God, who is that damned Middle Eastern man?”

“Amanda belongs to Jennifer; how can she be interested in men?”

“I must be seeing things. This can’t be the Amanda I follow.”

…

Amanda’s Twitter was filled with lamenting cries.

Fans couldn’t accept the news of Amanda’s romance. Since her debut, Amanda had been surrounded by numerous rumors but had never officially confirmed any relationship. Hollywood paparazzi, known for their relentless pursuit, had linked her with both men and women, from Luke to Jennifer. However, Amanda had never formally responded, regardless of media speculation.

Amidst all the guesswork, Amanda suddenly announces a romance with a Middle Eastern man out of nowhere? It was too much to handle.

“This has to be fake. Where was this shot? Is this some movie special effect?”

“An island floating in the sky… This has to be CGI! Is this Luke’s new film?”

Unable to accept the reality of Amanda’s romance, fans started scrutinizing the shooting location. A floating island in the sky, with crystal-clear icy blue ground and air that seemed exceptionally fresh… The fans were bewildered. How could such a magical place exist?

Movie green screens could be plausible.

As they mulled over this possibility, some started to convince themselves that Amanda was indeed filming a new movie. Yet, doubt lingered… there hadn’t been any news of Amanda starting a new project.

“Find Amanda.”

While fans buzzed over Amanda’s two pictures, Abel was on the verge of tears. Although he had never visited Sky Forest, he recognized it as a scene from Great Tang Resort.

Amanda had only arrived two days earlier, and now… things were starting to get complicated.

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