Rebirth of the Godly Prodigal

Big Fish, inside Lucifer and the beauty, Mu Yunyun’s little hut.

“It’s really too touching!” Lucifer looked at the computer screen, brawling his eyes out. “Such a nice young lady, soon to be gone. It’s too sad! There are so many people in the Heavenly State who are concerned about her. I’m so touched!”

“Yes.” Mu Yunyun’s eyes, too, were rimmed with red. “It has been forwarded more than three million times. Darling, let’s share it too?”

Lucifer nodded vehemently. “Ok, I shall share it now.”

As the two of them talked, there was a knock on the door. Ling Xiaoyi called from outside the door, “Mr. Ferguson, are you in? May I come in?”

Ferguson was the name Lucifer had given to Hong Dali. He immediately replied, “I’m in, come in please.”

When Ling Xiaoyi walked into the room, Lucifer covertly wiped his face and put on a neutral expression. He asked, “Miss Xiaoyi, is anything the matter?”

“Oh, it’s like this.” Ling Xiao smiled and said, “There is a Weibo post recently about a girl who has Lymphoma. Young Master wishes to help her, but we cannot find her. We would like to ask if Mr. Ferguson can help—see if you can locate her IP address.”

Ferguson was immediately stunned when he heard what Ling Xiaoyi said.

Hong Dali knew about this? He intended to personally offer his assistance? To be honest, this foolish prodigal was actually quite kind and charitable. He had to help for sure! Lucifer immediately nodded. “No problem. I will check it now.”

After he loaded the IP tracking software, Lucifer swiftly obtained some basic information and started searching.

Soon, Lucifer reported. “The location of the IP address is at Fuzhou Province, Panshan City, Mingguang County, Dahuang Village of Deng Town. It’s only about a hundred kilometers away from here; not far.”

It was easy now that she had some specific information. Ling Xiaoyi hurried out. “Thank you, Mr. Ferguson. I will let Young Master know.”

In the command room on the ship island Big Fish.

“Fuzhou Province, Panshan City, Mingguang County, Dahuang Village of Deng Town?” Hong Dali looked at the map on the computer screen in the command room. “It seems quite near to us. Yes, let’s set off now.” He waved his hand vehemently as he spoke, “Lackeys, move it!”

…

Early the next morning, Door to Heaven, Level 99, in the International Conference Center…

The members of the Resource Chamber of Commerce had gathered at the Conference Center early in the morning, waiting for Running Dog to announce the latest news on Dali’s businesses.

Yesterday was fantastic. The big group of highly-intelligent animals notwithstanding, Hong Dali actually donated all seven hundred or so million of the proceeds from the auctions!

Seven hundred million was not a small amount!

The meeting had not begun yet. Many people were whispering, “I wonder what kind of surprise Young Master Dali will bring us today. Yesterday was great!””Yes, those animals are all treasures. In the whole world, only Young Master Dali has them!””That’s right. I have already sent people to Tianjing to arrange for the animals to be sent back here. Whenever I think of the little fellows I feel like laughing.”

As everyone was talking, someone suddenly whispered, “Everyone, quiet. I heard that something special will be happening today. I’m ready to study it.”

Once the person finished speaking, everyone around him got curious. They asked, “What is it? So mysterious. Is it another auction?””Yes, wasn’t there an auction just yesterday? Will there be another one today?”

The person who spoke before said, “I am not sure, either. It’s possible that there will be another auction. Anyway, it’s something big. I only heard some news in passing, so I’m not sure either.”

All the surrounding people started talking again. “Everything Young Master Dali comes up with is special. Let’s just wait and see. If it’s really something good, we can research more on it.””That’s right. Otherwise, why are we here so early?”

The crowd continued their discussion for a while more. Soon, the entire International Conference Center went silent.

The door opened and Hong Weiguo, Liu Yihui, and Mu Tie came in, followed by Running Dog. Their appearance attracted the attention of everyone in the Resource Chamber of Commerce. Running Dog even waved its four arms ceremoniously and executed a perfect bow.

The five magnates of the Chamber of Commerce entered after them. When everyone was seated, Wen Jianan tapped the gavel and announced: “The meeting continues.”

As he spoke, he looked at Running Dog, who stood below. He smiled and said, “So, Mr. Running Dog, please continue your introduction.”

“Yes, Sir.” Running Dog bowed and continued using holographic projection to project an image of the Chenhui Building. This time, he showed them the third floor. According to the holographic projection, the third floor had been refurbished. There were about four or five hundred computers and all kinds of wires all over the ground. Running Dog explained, “Level three of the Chenhui Building is currently Young Master’s Online Games Research and Development Center.”

Everyone present knew about the overwhelming success of the Dream Dota League. The battle with Spiritual Sword which ended in a complete reversal of positions was a textbook classic.

Originally, the Spiritual Sword Company had been nominated to become an outer circle member. However, because of Hong Dali’s Dream Dota League, the company completely collapsed in just a few short days. Their reputation fell to rock bottom after that and the company went completely under.

When Qian Guangzhao was trying to impeach Hong Weiguo, he had used the Spiritual Sword incident as an example to pull support.

The crowd craned their necks in anticipation when they heard Running Dog talk about Hong Dali’s Online Gaming Research and Development Center.

“At the moment, Dream Dota League is extremely popular. It has exceeded ten million users and the numbers are still increasing.” Running Dog had a low metallic voice. “Furthermore, this is just the start of what Dream Dota League will become.”

Wen Jianan, who was seated on the host podium, already had a vague idea of what Running Dog was going to say. “We all know Dream Dota League’s popularity is sky-high now. Running Dog, what is this game’s income now?”

Popularity. The members of the Resource Chamber of Commerce were not familiar with online games as they mostly did not play, so they had no idea what to expect. Everyone wanted to know the answer to Wen Jianan’s question.

“The current income is negative 324 million, Sir,” said Running Dog confidently. “Young Master demands that the game be completely free to play, so there has been no profit so far.”

Negative 324 million. Negative!

Upon hearing Running Dog’s answer, everyone was stunned. How was it possible that Hong Dali’s venture would lose money?

After a brief silence, everyone started talking. “This… Dream Dota League is popular, but the earnings… it actually lost more than 300 million? That’s a lot!””Yes, although the game is really popular, Hong Dali has never liked complicated things. I’ve said it before, he can’t be so successful every time.””Well, it’s normal that there are losses. The game claims to be free forever. It’s a pity. If it were my game, even if I don’t earn four or five hundred million yuan a year, I’d at least earn a hundred million or two.””Yes, it’s such a pity.”

“Brother,” Liu Yihui asked in a small voice. “Dream Dota League really has no profits?”

“Yes, Mingxin should be able to earn some three or four hundred million a year from a game like that.” Mu Tie was curious, too. “Dali is really not earning from it?”

“I don’t know, either.” Hong Weiguo shrugged. “He never reports his little projects to me. Anyway, he has the money, so I have never care about what he does. Whether there is any profit or not, Running Dog should know. It’s Ling Xiaoyi’s assistant, and it seems to have some of Ling Xiaoyi’s character traits as well.”

On the podium, Wen Jianan and the other five magnates looked at each other. Wen Jianan looked at Running Dog and asked carefully, “Running Dog, Dream Dota League really did not make any money at all?”

More than 10 million users and not only did it not make any money, it lost more than 300 million yuan? Hong Dali had really out-squandered himself this time!

“That is true for now.” Running Dog looked at Wen Jianan. “Sir, may I continue? I have not finished introducing this part of the third floor of the Chenhui Building.”

“Continue, continue!” There seemed to be some changes in the situation. At this moment, Wen Jianan straightened himself involuntarily. “We are all listening, please continue!”

Everyone else sat up in attention as well. The introduction for level three was not yet complete? Was there a surprise in store for them?

“The Young Master is developing a new mode of gaming and has made significant progress.” Running Dog continued, “It’s able to completely duplicate a player’s actions onto the screen. The Simulation Gaming Chamber has already been completed. Most of the tests are also done. With this, the health of the entire population of the Heavenly State will be increased. A merger between gaming and exercise has got an enormous room for expansion.”

As he spoke, he used holographic projection to project a gaming chamber.

It was a semi-closed gaming chamber. In the holographic projection, whenever the person in the gaming chamber made a movement, his corresponding character in the game made the same movement.

Everyone was full of enthusiasm about the mode of gameplay for the Dream Dota League when it was first launched. That was what brought Spiritual Sword down.

Everyone present knew about that. Many wrought their hands in anguish. “What a prodigal. Such a great advertising opportunity, such a great gameplay mode, and he made it all free. This is simply…””Hey, he’s a prodigal, after all. The opportunity has been lost. The fact that it’s free to play has already been advertised. It will not be easy to change that.”

“Yes. I heard about it.” Wen Jianan also felt it was a bit of a waste. After all, once this simulation gaming chamber was released, it was bound to enjoy great popularity. In this world, sports were something the state had always focused on. But to make this free…

Wen Jianan asked carefully, “Then, Running Dog, when this simulation gaming chamber is launched, will the game still be free?”

This was the crux of the matter. Everyone strained their ears for the answer for Wen Jianan’s question.

“Yes.” As expected, Running Dog answered matter-of-factly, “The things that Young Master makes are naturally for free. In fact, the Young Master only intends to collect back the cost price of the gaming chamber.”

Everyone had learned their lesson. This time, they did not kick up a fuss, all they did was quietly speculate. If the game was going to be completely free, how did Hong Dali intend to earn from this project?