Qingfeng Network Company had suddenly become unstoppable.
Everyone knew that even a giant like Penguin was helpless against them.
Countless investors also contacted Qingfeng Network Company, wanting to invest and acquire shares.
Unfortunately, Lu Feng had no interest in this whatsoever.
Instead, it was a financial report released by Qingfeng Network Company that captured everyone’s attention.
This report wasn’t about Qingfeng Network Company itself, but about the royalty distribution for its intelligent assistant software.
This was because the intelligent assistant software used various avatars.
These avatars included animated characters and real people.
All of these required copyrights and image rights.
For anime characters, a licensing fee had to be paid to the copyright holder. For real-life likenesses, a fee had to be paid to the individual.
As for these fees, some were paid as a one-time lump sum, while others opted for a revenue-sharing model, receiving a 10% royalty on their likeness.
This meant that for any spending on that person’s avatar, after deducting costs, the individual received 10% of the profits, and Qingfeng Network Company took 90%.
Most people chose the one-time payment. Of course, there were also many who were too proud, disdaining to license their image and not wanting their likeness to be used by so many people.
For example, a certain celebrity with the surname Jin was notoriously proud.
But this time, when Qingfeng Network Company’s royalty-share financial report was released, it shocked everyone.
Topping the list was none other than Teacher Youcai. Her 10% royalty share had reached an astonishing 41 million.
This figure stunned everyone.
Some might think this was a huge share, but one had to remember this was only 10% of the profit. Qingfeng Company was earning much more.
How much did Qingfeng Company make from Teacher Youcai alone?
The 90% profit share amounted to 369 million.
This was absolutely incredible.
Keep in mind, Teacher Youcai had only licensed her image rights! She didn’t have to do anything but lie back and rake in the money?
Although her career also involved "lying back to make money," when had she ever made this much from it before?
But then again, without all those years of "lying back," she wouldn’t have this kind of earning power now.
Still, this news must have made countless celebrities sick with regret.
Qingfeng Company had approached them in the beginning, but they had refused. Who knew that licensing one’s image to Qingfeng Network Company could be so lucrative?
They worked themselves to the bone, rushing between gigs, and still didn’t earn this much.
In an instant, countless stars began expressing their desire to collaborate with Qingfeng Network Company.
This included that celebrity surnamed Jin.
The prouder that celebrity was back then, the more humble they were now. So much for being "proud"—it was just a persona. In the end, it all came down to money.
Naturally, the news didn’t just cause a sensation domestically; it also created a huge stir in the Plaster Country.
This was because Qingfeng Company had to send the settlement information and statements to Teacher Youcai.
When Teacher Youcai received the message from Qingfeng Company, she was equally dumbfounded. The first thing she did was pull out a calculator.
million yen?
Teacher Youcai couldn’t believe it. She only made 3.5 million yen per film.
How many films would she have to shoot to make this much?
...
「Tianzhou City.」
In his Seaside Villa, Lu Feng was well aware of the launch status of "Swordsman," and the results were just as he expected.
After all, this game was 20 years ahead of modern games. Moreover, it was a visionary-class game destined to be a massive hit 20 years in the future.
He had brought this game out from "After the Apocalypse," so of course it was going to be a hit.
He went online to check the news, and most of it was praise for the game.
"Huh?!"
Lu Feng paused for a moment when he saw some of the headlines.
*"Without a Doubt, Qingfeng Network Company Has Become a New Giant, Even Surpassing Penguin, Having Twice Left Penguin Powerless!"*
*"Qingfeng Network Company’s New Code Has Made It the Emperor of the Internet. In the Future, If Companies Like Penguin and Douyin Can’t Crack This New Code, They Will Merely Be Stepping Stones for Qingfeng Network Company."*
*"Qingfeng Company Is Unstoppable, and Crucially, Its Shares Seem to Be Entirely in the Hands of One Individual!"*
*"It’s Easy to Imagine That the Boss Behind Qingfeng Network Company Will Soon Become the Richest Person in the Country! Moreover, They Will Also Control the Nation’s Public Opinion!"*
*"For One Person to Control a Nation’s Channels of Public Opinion, That Is... "*
...
There were more and more articles like this, every single one praising Qingfeng Network Company.
He looked closer and was surprised to find that even media outlets affiliated with Penguin were publishing such stories.
This was definitely not normal.
Lu Feng’s brow furrowed deeply.
’Is this a setup? Praising me to death?’
’A soft blade?’
Naturally, countless netizens saw these articles, and for a moment, it truly seemed as if Qingfeng Network Company’s momentum had surpassed Penguin’s.
It also made Qingfeng Network Company the hottest topic of the moment, with news outlets reporting on it in cycles.
In an official government building in Tianzhou City.
A figure walked into Mr. Chen’s office.
"Is there new intel on Qingfeng Network Company?" Mr. Chen asked as his secretary entered.
The last time he had suffered a setback at the hands of Qingfeng Network Company, he had chosen to back down. That was because the company already had the ability to shape public opinion.
Therefore, he could only lie low, having his people monitor the situation and wait for an opportunity.
The secretary immediately took out a collection of news articles and handed them over. "Mr. Chen, take a look at these. It seems the opportunity you’ve been waiting for has arrived."
Mr. Chen took the articles and saw they were all filled with lavish praise for Qingfeng Network Company.
He looked closer and noticed the shadow of companies like Penguin behind some of them.
He understood at once. Penguin was clearly using a soft blade against Qingfeng Network Company.
At this thought, he smiled. "What perfect timing. Someone in the Capital City must be getting antsy. It’s time for me to add some fuel to the fire."
Theirs was a state-controlled country; certain things had their own set of rules.
Not even Penguin or Douyin could avoid them.
Once Qingfeng Network Company was brought into the fold, it would no longer be able to launch public opinion offensives against people like them at will.
This was also why Douyin and Penguin had always been quiet on this front.
He immediately made a call, speaking respectfully into the phone, "Sir, I’d like to talk to you about Qingfeng Network Company. I believe the company may have triggered certain clauses... it’s showing monopolistic tendencies..."
...
「In the villa.」
Lu Feng temporarily stopped paying attention to the news and turned his gaze to the screen displaying the game world.
Zheng Lin was waiting with a document in front of the core building of the Qingfeng Base air-raid shelter, clearly wanting to see him.
Seeing this, he entered the game with a thought and met with Zheng Lin.
"Mr. Lu, the document from the City East Alliance has arrived." Zheng Lin immediately handed the file in his hand to Lu Feng.
Lu Feng took the document. The Li Family had procured it for them from the City East Alliance. It was essentially an official authorization that would allow them to travel to the East Suburban Area controlled by the Alliance.
[This is a document from the City East Alliance. It may prove to be very useful at times.]
Lu Feng saw this note and a smile touched the corner of his mouth.
’Indeed. With this document, I’ll have the chance to get some things done in the City East Alliance.’
Moreover, with this document, Qingfeng Base could operate openly under the banner of the City East Alliance, which could save them a lot of trouble at times.
However, the document’s arrival also meant they first had to make a trip to the East Suburb to eliminate the bandits.
Lu Feng also summoned Lin Jiao and told her to get ready.
After assembling the elite soldiers who had been trained and equipped with weapons, Lu Feng led the team out of Qingfeng Base.
This time, he only took half of his combat personnel, leaving the other half at Qingfeng Base.
A force consisting of half his troops, fully armed with howitzers, mortars, infantry fighting vehicles, and cavalry fighting vehicles, was more than enough to deal with the poorly equipped bandits in the East Suburb.
What’s more, he also brought half of the powered individuals he had enhanced with Crystal Cores, along with his and Wang Cheng’s mechas.
Guo Zhen’s mecha was likewise left behind to defend Qingfeng Base.
If a force of this magnitude couldn’t handle some bandits hanging around the suburbs, they might as well go bang their heads against a block of tofu.
The East Suburb was located east of Celestial Sea City and southeast of the City East Alliance’s territory.
Lu Feng led his people out from Qingfeng Base. They passed two Survivor Bases along the way, but since they were flying the flag of the City East Alliance, the people at these bases gave them a wide berth.
Aside from a few battles with Mutant Beasts, the group quickly reached the East Suburban Area.
Upon arriving in the East Suburban Area, Lu Feng noticed that it was indeed different from the inside of Celestial Sea City.
The land here wasn’t barren; on the contrary, crops were being grown in many places.
In one direction, vast, continuous fields were planted with crops like wheat and rice.
The soil here could clearly still support crops, but the yields were sparse and the harvests weren’t very high.
The state of the soil still had a major impact.
Moreover, there were watchtowers in many places throughout the area. If they hadn’t had the official document, they would have likely been treated as enemies for entering so rashly.
"Mr. Lu, see that fortress? That’s the City East Alliance’s military garrison in the East Suburban Area," Zheng Lin shouted, pointing to a fortress in the distance.
Lu Feng looked over. The fortress was clearly built for combat. It made sense; this area could grow crops, so it must be very important to the City East Alliance.
Building such a fortress was also a means of protecting the area.
It was just that a powerful group of bandits had recently appeared. Two consecutive commanders sent by the Li Family had died at the bandits’ hands, along with significant personnel losses.
The Li Family needed their manpower for other fronts right now, so they had temporarily recruited Qingfeng Base to serve as cannon fodder.
’Once the Li Family has a free hand, they’ll probably turn their attention here. When that time comes, they might have ideas about our Qingfeng Base as well.’
But Lu Feng wasn’t concerned. After all, it was still unclear who was the cannon fodder and who was there to recruit the cannon fodder.
In their convoy, one vehicle was filled with electronic shackles.
"Let’s go!" Lu Feng’s group quickly arrived outside the fortress. However, they had hidden most of their heavy weapons in the hover cars, covered them with tarps, and carried only standard-issue rifles.
He didn’t want the Li Family’s people to know his current armament.
A person in charge of the sentries immediately came out to question them.
Lu Feng immediately produced the City East Alliance document and handed it to the person in charge.
After glancing at the document, the person hurried into the fortress. Upon reaching the main hall, they found a sturdy, bearded man. "Mr. Lu, another team has arrived outside. They were sent by the City East Alliance, the people from Qingfeng Base that the Li Family Patriarch mentioned."
Hearing this, the bearded man’s gaze turned cold and sinister. "Another stumbling block has arrived. Looks like we’ll have to get rid of these ones, too."