Ch 137: The World’s Number One Resort

“Sorry, the item you wish to purchase is sold out.”

Following the instructions, Takakura Nakai navigated to the Great Tang fruit section. However, when he attempted to add the item to his cart, he was surprised. The Great Tang pineapples were sold out?

He opened the pineapple comment section.

“Out of stock for three days. We’ll have to wait until next month to buy it. So frustrating.”

“Strongly suggest that Great Tang Resort increases supply. The monthly quota is simply not enough!”

“Is it just me, or did the supply of Great Tang fruits decrease by 20% compared to last month…”

“The number of tourists at Great Tang Resort is increasing, so the export volume is relatively decreasing. At this rate, there will be fewer and fewer Great Tang fruits available…”

“Oh my god! Pineapples are sold out, grapes are sold out. Do we have to go to Great Tang itself to taste them?”

…

Only customers who successfully made a purchase could leave a comment. Takakura Nakai glanced at the pineapple section, which had over 9,000 comments with a 98% positive rating. The remaining 2% were complaints about the purchasing limits.

Great Tang fruits have a limit of ‘5 kg’ per order. While 5 kg sounds like a lot, with the rising fame of Great Tang, it wasn’t nearly enough to meet demand. The comment section under “Great Tang Pineapples” was filled with grumbles. Takakura skimmed through other products as well.

“Great Tang Kumquats,” “Great Tang Lemons,” “Great Tang Dragon Fruits”…

Great Tang Resort offered over fifty types of fruits, but like pineapples, the comment sections for other fruits told the same story.

“Truly fascinating,” Takakura Nakai muttered as he scanned through the comments before closing the website.

“Ring, ring, ring—” As Takakura was lost in thought, his phone rang.

“Sorry, the Great Tang pineapples are sold out. And it’s not just the pineapples; all the other fruits are sold out too.” The call was from South Korea, and after a brief chat, Takakura regretfully delivered the news.

After reading the reviews of Great Tang fruits, Takakura found himself wanting to buy a few kilograms for himself. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

Suddenly, Takakura’s curiosity about Great Tang Resort peaked.

Given all the rave reviews for Great Tang fruits, his anticipation for the “Horror Town” VR game grew.

…

The Great Tang VR headset stirred some curiosity among visitors, but it quickly faded. Compared to the international buzz for Great Tang fruits, the interest in the VR headset was minimal.

Over the next three days, the calmness returned to Great Tang Resort as usual—tourists played, took photos, and came and went.

Host Name: Tang Huai

Open Areas: [Blue Sea Lake], [Sky Forest]…

Current Tasks: None

Island Points: 1,302 million+

Reputation Points: 2,015 million+

Inventory: [Encyclopedia of Species], [Windmill] x3, [Sola Dungeon].

On the morning of June 28th, at the Island Master’s courtyard, Tang Huai had just freshened up and opened the system interface. Thanks to the promotion from Treasure Travel, both the island points and reputation points for Great Tang Resort had increased significantly.

After a brief glance, he focused on the [Sola Dungeon].

[Sola Dungeon]: Regional Landscape Card. Attributes: Unknown. Traits: Advanced.

Like before, aside from the trait description, the rest of the [Dungeon] details remained a mystery. After some thought, Tang Huai opened the island map.

Over a year of development, one-third of the island map was now brightly lit. In addition, the icons for tourists, intelligent AI, and non-intelligent AI had also been upgraded.

The [Sola Dungeon] was an advanced region, requiring 30 million island points for camouflage and construction. After some deliberation, Tang Huai designated Area 43 as the dungeon’s location.

Area 43 was located on the northern side of Sola Island, surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on one, covering a total area of sixteen square kilometers, roughly the same size as the [Sky Forest].

Since the laborers for [Sky Forest] were still on the island, Tang Huai didn’t need to go through the trouble of disguising them.

The [Sola Dungeon] would take two months to complete. It was now late June, so the expected completion date would be in late August.

“Spending like water,” Tang Huai muttered, a bit helpless as he looked at the system interface after making the purchase. The balance now showed just over 3 million island points. Although the daily income of Great Tang was considerable, it left little after subtracting the AI costs.

In short, the current priority remained expanding revenue.

After closing the system interface, Tang Huai opened his Great Tang Resort account.

Unlike the island points, Tang Huai’s private account held 220 million USD. It was an undeniably beautiful figure.

However, money only demonstrates its value when it’s put to use.

After some thought, Tang Huai headed towards the Sola office building.

…

“Get me in touch with Inda Airlines,” Tang Huai said as he looked over the scenic areas. With only his secretary in the office, he opened his computer and gave the direct order.

Currently, Great Tang’s official transportation options included Great Tang No. 1, Great Tang No. 2, and the auxiliary Storm. In addition to these, some passing ships occasionally carried tourists. In the past, when there were fewer visitors to Great Tang Resort, these means of transportation were sufficient. However, as the number of tourists increased, even the Great Tang No. 2, with a capacity of 10,000 passengers, was no longer enough.

Great Tang was now neither short of money nor land. Tang Huai decided to establish an air route.

Inda Airlines is a well-known South American airline operating primarily on routes like Brazil-Los Angeles and Chile-Singapore. Although not large, the company had seen a decline in recent years due to increased competition in the airline industry.

Three months ago, when Great Tang Resort first gained fame, Inda Airlines had approached them to sell a batch of passenger planes. However, due to a lack of funds, a low number of tourists, and the absence of an airport, Tang Huai had to decline at that time.

But now…

If Inda Airlines still had planes available, Tang Huai wouldn’t mind considering the offer.

This was just a brief interlude in the daily operations of Great Tang Resort. After giving his instructions, Tang Huai opened his office software and began his workday.

…

“Chris, the offer from Gogu Airlines is out. They are willing to buy Inda’s aircraft at $8 million per plane. This is already the highest price we’ve received in response…” Great Tang Resort was running like a luxurious engine at full throttle. Meanwhile, in a conference room at Inda Airlines’ headquarters in Brasília, the atmosphere was tense.

Inda Airlines was established thirty years ago as one of the earliest airline companies in South America. Back then, with the wave of globalization, it enjoyed a brief period of fame. However, intense competition and poor leadership decisions led to the company’s worsening financial state. For the past three years, the airline had been operating at a loss.

Chris, the CEO of Inda Airlines, had ordered twenty passenger planes three years ago at $20 million each. These were high-end aircraft, and Chris had hoped to gain a competitive edge through a premium flying experience. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned, and Inda Airlines remained in a state of stagnation.

Now on the brink of bankruptcy, Chris had no choice but to sell the planes to alleviate the company’s financial crisis.

Inda offered the aircraft at $15 million each. While many airlines showed interest, none had placed an order. The planes were too high-end, making them a considerable expense for most regular airlines. As for major companies like South American Airlines and Gogu Airlines, they pushed for a lower price.

Twenty aircraft priced at over $10 million each… this was a substantial deal.

Negotiations between Inda and other airlines reached a stalemate.

In an attempt to save the company, Inda’s sales team was dispatched to contact tourist destinations worldwide and wealthy individuals to explore alternative sales opportunities.

The sales team worked diligently, but after six months, apart from selling one plane to a rich sheikh, they had little to show for their efforts.

Chris, a slightly overweight man in his sixties, stared at a painting on the wall in silence as his secretary reported on the aircraft sales situation. Inda Airlines had been passed down from his father, and with a 60% stake in the company, Chris held deep feelings for it. If possible, he didn’t want to give up on Inda Airlines.

“How about North American Airlines?” Chris asked expectantly, taking a deep puff of his cigar after the secretary finished speaking.

North American Airlines was one of the largest airlines in North America. Inda Airlines had cooperated with them on several occasions in the past. When Inda Airlines started facing financial trouble, Chris had reached out to them first. However, after more than six months, there had been no response…

“North American Airlines is willing to acquire Inda for $1 billion…” The secretary hesitated, seeing the look in Chris’s eyes.

Apart from the twenty high-end passenger planes, Inda Airlines also owned thirty regular aircraft, twenty international routes, and the Inda headquarters building. According to the analysts, the current value of Inda Airlines was estimated to be over $2 billion.

The offer from North American Airlines was nothing short of opportunistic.

“Damn it!” As expected, Chris cursed under his breath when the secretary finished.

Gogu Airlines’ offer was far too low. Even if they bought the remaining nineteen aircraft, the total would barely reach $150 million. With Inda Airlines’ debts amounting to $300 million, it would not even cover their liabilities.

Chris fell into a state of confusion, and the atmosphere in the office grew tense.

“Is there any other…”

Knock, knock!

Chris was about to say something when there was a knock at the door. He hesitated for a moment and then signaled the secretary to open it.

The door opened, revealing the director of Inda’s marketing department.

“A company from the North American market has expressed interest in acquiring Inda’s aircraft…” With Inda’s current dire situation, everyone at headquarters was on edge. The marketing director cut straight to the point without much preamble.

“Donsco? Wynn? Or Vielda?” Chris shot up, listing the names of some well-known North American airlines. Though not as prestigious as North American Airlines, they were still significant players in the aviation industry.

“No… it’s Great Tang.” The director quickly clarified, noticing the intense look in Chris’s eyes.

“Great Tang Airlines?” Chris was puzzled and looked up in confusion. Was this a newly established airline in North America?

“It’s Great Tang Resort. However, there are some preconditions…” The director explained as he handed over the documents he was carrying.

Chris took the papers.

He wasn’t familiar with Great Tang Resort. However, six months ago, Inda had compiled a list of over 30,000 well-known companies and individuals globally and began reaching out to them for potential sales. Chris assumed that Great Tang Resort was one of those 30,000…

Chris carefully reviewed the documents. Great Tang Resort’s proposed offer was $12 million per aircraft. With the baseline set by Gogu Airlines’ offer, Chris felt a bit more at ease.

He continued reading. The conditions set by Great Tang Resort were all within reasonable limits and far more lenient than those of other companies. The more Chris read, the more excited he became.

Chris kept flipping through the pages, eager to fly to Great Tang immediately. However, upon seeing the final clause, he froze.

“They want Inda Airlines’ global routes?”

The terms offered by Great Tang Resort were generous, but this last demand… A resort wanting global airline routes? Chris was baffled.

Then, frustration set in. The airline routes were the lifeblood of any aviation company. Compared to the relatively minor conditions set by other companies, Great Tang Resort’s request was a game-changer.

Chris had initially thought Great Tang Resort was a harmless lamb, but now it was clear—it was a full-fledged shark!

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