Ch 152: The World’s Number One Resort

Great Tang Resort soared to first place at lightning speed. While the regions lower in rank could accept it, Australia and Hawaii were completely stunned.

Was this a last-minute steal?

“This is definitely vote-rigging! Contact the Environmental Committee and disqualify Great Tang!” In the Hawaii Governor’s office, Jonathan was so angry at the real-time vote count on the official website that even his mustache went askew.

TV commercials, beach posters, souvenir giveaways—for an entire month, Hawaii had racked its brains to secure the top spot. They were only 300,000 votes behind Rose Fragrance Valley. Jonathan thought they would overtake them in the next couple of days. But now, not only had overtaking become impossible, even holding onto second place seemed out of reach.

This was a blatant, foolish, and shameless act of vote-rigging.

“Why are you still standing there? Go now!” Jonathan took a sip of coffee and frowned as he saw his assistant still rooted in place. Could nothing go smoothly these days?

“I’m on it.” The assistant, who had been reporting on Hawaiian municipal affairs, quickly put down his work upon hearing the command.

In the blink of an eye, the office was left with only Jonathan. The “Great Tang documents” were conspicuously lying on the desk.

Jonathan had been keeping an eye on Great Tang lately, but his focus wasn’t on the resort itself—it was on the mysterious FillTech Company behind it. FillTech Company’s advanced technology, such as 10D holography and floating islands, was far beyond the world’s current capabilities.

Hawaii was world-renowned, and cooperation between the two would undoubtedly be a strong alliance.

Jonathan closed his eyes. A floating island appeared in his mind, hovering over 3,000 meters above the ground, with Hawaii’s golden beaches spread out beneath it…

This was the image Jonathan had in his mind. Although FillTech Company remained elusive, Great Tang’s reckless vote-rigging was bound to tarnish its reputation. It was time to seek a new partner for the sake of FillTech’s prestige.

A smile crept across Jonathan’s lips.

Hawaii was the best cooperation partner.

“Governor Jonathan, the committee has responded.” While Jonathan was lost in thought, his assistant knocked and entered the room.

“What’s the outcome?” Jonathan regained his previous air of authority.

“The committee voted. Great Tang’s vote count is legitimate; there was no vote-rigging.” The assistant hesitated for a moment before replying.

Jonathan looked up, dumbfounded.

No vote-rigging? Impossible!

…

“The Global Committee must be crazy. A hundred million votes in two days? Obvious vote-rigging.”

“Incredible. Is Great Tang insulting the intelligence of countries worldwide?”

“Great Tang’s votes have increased by another ten million. The voting system has too many loopholes.”

…

It wasn’t just Jonathan who found the situation astonishing; even other tourists didn’t believe it. Rose Fragrance Valley took 25 days to reach 98 million votes, while Great Tang Resort had soared by a hundred million in just two days. It defied all logic!

Many expected Great Tang to be swiftly disqualified. But one day passed, then two… Apart from the steadily increasing vote count, nothing else changed for Great Tang.

By October 28th, Great Tang had reached 230 million votes. Rose Fragrance Valley had 110 million, and Hawaii had 130 million.

Great Tang’s votes were now the combined total of Rose Fragrance Valley and Hawaii.

With only three days left until the end of voting, tourists looked at Great Tang and other regions with a sense of helplessness, feeling that the outcome was already sealed.

“The Global Conference is a worldwide public welfare organization. We reject any form of manipulation!”

Some radical individuals couldn’t bear it any longer and wrote directly to the Global Committee. Additionally, Twitter’s homepage was filled with discussions about Great Tang’s vote count.

This week, the search index for “Global Great Tang” continued to rise. After gaining momentum, it broke into the global TOP 10, becoming a worldwide trending topic.

“After investigation by the committee, Great Tang’s votes are as follows: 1% from the United States, 0.6% from India, 3.2% from the EU… and 92.5% from China. This data is authentic and free of any vote-rigging.”

Under global scrutiny, the Global Conference could no longer bear the pressure and directly updated the homepage of the official website. It displayed the real-time data for Great Tang and a voting table by region.

With all countries watching and the committee stepping in, the Global Conference confirmed Great Tang’s vote legitimacy.

Seeing the 92.5% from China, everyone was completely baffled. Over four-fifths of Great Tang’s votes came from China… Was this really Great Tang’s application, or China’s?

Tourists clicked on Great Tang’s geographical location.

Great Tang was on the eastern coast of the Pacific, 2,300 nautical miles from Mexico and 2,000 nautical miles from Hawaii.

This was not a Chinese scenic spot.

“Great Tang’s high vote count comes from China’s incredible solidarity.”

“200 million Chinese netizens voted for Great Tang!”

“Chinese celebrities are unanimously supporting Great Tang…”

…

With the conclusion of the global voting, Great Tang Resort saw a surge in visitors. The resort’s daily visitor count now stabilized at around 100,000.

To better accommodate the influx of tourists, Tang Huai went all out and built ten new hotels. These hotels featured unique system designs that perfectly blended with Great Tang’s scenic beauty. Combined with the resort’s special accommodations, Great Tang could now host up to 300,000 visitors.

This time, even if Great Tang didn’t secure the hosting rights for the conference, the gains far outweighed the efforts.

…

“The purpose of the Global Environmental Conference is to build a green and ecological environment, and we must adhere strictly to this purpose…” While Great Tang Resort was expanding fervently, a week later, at the North American Global Committee Headquarters, Steven sat at the head of the table, dressed in formal attire.

This was an enormous conference room, over 500 square meters, where the full meetings of the Global Committee took place.

Steven looked around. The Global Committee consisted of 72 members from all around the world. As Steven began speaking, the committee members also reviewed the English documents in their hands. Over the past week, they had held numerous meetings, and now was the time to make a decision.

“Bring it in,” Steven said to his assistant, retracting his gaze.

Thirty seconds later, the projector was turned on. Five staff members came in carrying tablets. The members would use these tablets to cast their votes, and the results would be announced on the spot. The venue for next year’s Global Conference would be chosen at this meeting.

“Let’s begin.” Once everyone was ready, Steven spoke. The lights in the conference room dimmed, leaving only the glow of the projector.

To prevent external influence, the projector screen remained blank. Once the members finished voting, the results would be displayed in a bar chart.

The entire voting process was silent.

After casting his vote, Steven glanced at the others. They represented Japan, Italy, India, Myanmar… each skin tone reflecting different perspectives. Even Steven was uncertain which region would be chosen.

In the midst of this silence, five minutes later, everyone put down their electronic pens.

“Announce the results,” Steven said to the assistant, as everyone adjusted to a more comfortable posture. The assistant operated the computer, and soon, a multicolored bar chart appeared on the big screen.

Ten minutes later, the meeting ended, and the committee members left. Steven remained in his seat, turning around.

Behind him was the large projection screen.

Steven’s expression was strange at first, but then the corners of his mouth curved upward, the smile growing wider and wider.

He looked relieved.

The voting result was simple.

Great Tang: 72 votes.

Other countries: 0 votes.

This was the result of the committee members’ direct choice, without any prior discussion.

“You all…” Steven chuckled after staring at the screen for half an hour. The Global Conference’s goal is to promote green and ecological practices, a direction they had all been striving for over the past decades.

When Great Tang had overtaken in the votes, they had collectively studied the resort. Great Tang was like a mysterious treasure, continuously astonishing them.

Great Tang was like a forest spirit that had suddenly appeared in their view. Everyone understood that no place aligned with the conference’s purpose more than Great Tang. However, given the diverse makeup of the committee members, even though they belonged to a neutral organization, they were inevitably influenced by the pressures of their home countries…

Now, this was a choice made by the environmentalists following their hearts. A decision made irrespective of economy or politics.

Steven felt a surge of emotion, as if he were on the verge of tears.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Sandy: Next chapter is Pw locked. Pw is TangTang.