CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 77 [NORTH AFRICA][PACIFIC OCEAN][ASIA]

After Zhao Ming finished the call with the Anti-War Competition officials, he began preparing materials.

Meanwhile, the Anti-War Competition’s official headline account quickly posted the news.

[After initial selection by the judges and players, we will be conducting a live interview at noon tomorrow with the creator of the currently hottest game World War II: Empire’s Rise, Mr. Zhao Ming. Mr. Zhao Ming will also bring a complete world background of ’Earth’.]

[ps: Additionally, questions regarding the origin of World War II and players’ inquiries are welcome in the comments section.]

[ @Polestar Game Zhao Ming, #World War II: Empire’s Rise.....]

Due to Shi Jun’s incident, discussions online are all about Polestar Games.

Now, with the Anti-War Competition’s sudden announcement, the topic has become even hotter. Even those who don’t usually play games notice that people around them are discussing that Polestar game.

One can’t help but be curious about what kind of game this is, how it keeps trending every few days?

Even those who don’t play games or follow trends can’t avoid being bombarded with such trending topics.

Meanwhile, at Polestar Company.

Zhao Ming was directing the staff to clean up the conference room for tomorrow’s interview.

He set up some tech-savvy decorations and virtual projection equipment to facilitate explaining the ’Earth’ background. After quickly organizing, the room was almost ready.

The receptionist came over and said:

"Boss, Shen Qinghan is here, waiting for you in the office."

Zhao Ming nodded:

"I know."

He adjusted some plants and then returned to the office.

Inside the office.

Shen Qinghan was sitting on the sofa; the sound of the door opening echoed as Zhao Ming walked in:

"Senior sister."

Shen Qinghan softly responded, then said:

"The first batch of patents has been registered."

"35,276 of them."

She operated her phone and sent all the patent information to Zhao Ming. After sending, Shen Qinghan curiously asked:

"How many patents do you plan to register in total?"

"Is the first batch this many?"

Zhao Ming’s phone received Shen Qinghan’s message. After checking a few, he nodded and replied:

"Not quite sure, maybe... hundreds of thousands? Millions? Tens of millions?"

"The ’Earth’ IP is huge, so there will be many elements. As long as they can be registered, I plan to register all of them, making it convenient for us to develop merchandise in the future."

"Compared to games, I think developing everyday merchandise is more profitable."

Shen Qinghan had no objections and instead agreed:

"Exactly."

"Solely relying on the game isn’t enough; it’s time to develop merchandise around the ’Earth’ IP."

"So the first batch is of foods and beverages from World War II different countries? What about badge pendants and similar items?"

"Any progress with the factories? Have you found them yet?"

Zhao Ming shrugged and said:

"Not yet, so..."

His gaze turned to Shen Qinghan.

Seeing Zhao Ming’s gaze, she understood and responded with a playful eye roll:

"You really don’t want to move a finger, huh?"

"Acting like a carefree boss?"

Zhao Ming coughed lightly:

"Isn’t this because you’re a professional, senior sister... just take charge."

"I’ll choose some samples later, like rum, wine, imperial bread, cola... all as ’Earth’ derivatives. This is relatively easy to produce. Later, I’ll select some ’World War II’ badge-like pendants to release as merchandise."

"I’ll rely on you, senior sister, to find someone to mix the food products."

Zhao Ming sent the composition materials for these products to Shen Qinghan. While there are similar items on Blue Star, these are tied to the game, ensuring buyers as long as there are players.

Looking at the products sent over, Shen Qinghan thought they weren’t hard to make.

Considering the time, she didn’t linger too long.

The two discussed the content of tomorrow’s interview briefly, and Shen Qinghan left to arrange for the mixing of beverages.

Meanwhile, Zhao Ming started organizing the materials about ’Earth’.

Preparing to introduce them in tomorrow’s interview.

...

...

The next day.

Celestial Shark Live and Polestar Game Company’s website.

Both launched the live stream rooms simultaneously.

The live room was completely dark, not yet noon, but the bullet comments were plentiful.

As time passed.

Noon, 12 o’clock, Polestar Game Company.

Inside the conference room.

All live streaming equipment was ready. Wearing a black form-fitting skirt, the host Qiao Meng signaled towards the live stream equipment, then started the broadcast:

"Welcome everyone to the latest episode of the Anti-War Competition interview, I’m your host Qiao Meng."

"Today we are interviewing Mr. Zhao Ming, the creator of the most popular game in the Great Xia Federation, World War II: Empire’s Rise."

Bullet comments rolled in the live room.

[Hurry up! Old Thief Zhao Ming, where are you?! Get the heck out!!]

[Everyone get ready to screenshot! Big rewards offered!]

[Every update plays with words, damn.... Horse riding counts as a vehicle?!]

[This time... What the hell?]

[What is this dog thing???]

The camera turned, showing Zhao Ming wearing a mask and waving with a smile:

"Hello everyone, I’m Zhao Ming."

Qiao Meng said with a smile:

"Mr. Zhao Ming’s outfit is quite avant-garde."

"But why wear a mask?"

Zhao Ming laughed and said:

"Well... even without looking at the live chat, I know."

"Ninety percent of people want to send me razor blades."

"In this situation, how dare I show my face?"

Qiao Meng curiously said:

"But isn’t there still ten percent?"

Zhao Ming sighed dramatically:

"That ten percent probably wants to hit me directly."

Qiao Meng looked helplessly at the live chat and said:

"Seems like there’s no way to make Mr. Zhao Ming take off his mask."

"I can’t help you with this wish."

Then Qiao Meng adopted a serious tone:

"Alright, let’s get to the main topic."

"Today’s interview focuses on the background of your creation ’Earth,’ as well as the origins of the development of World War II in the story."

"These are questions players are curious about but haven’t been able to understand."

"Can we have you explain a bit?"

Zhao Ming nodded and began to speak:

"No problem."

Saying this, he picked up the remote on the conference table and pressed it.

The virtual projection device immediately displayed a flat map of ’Earth’ on the desktop:

"About this world map."

"Many players have already seen it in immersive gameplay."

"Let me explain in detail: Everyone can view ’Earth’ as a parallel world to Blue Star, or as a parallel world created with Blue Star’s background."

"For example, Blue Star has the Six Major Federations, and ’Earth’ has seven continents; Blue Star has five oceans, and ’Earth’ has four oceans."

"The land and ocean area proportions of Blue Star are 64% and 36%, with land dominating the planet."

"Whereas ’Earth’s land and ocean area proportions are 29% and 71%, with the ocean dominating the planet."

"Because the ocean covers most of it, and there aren’t sustainable energy materials like those on Blue Star, and because the countries are too scattered, conflicts for resources among nations continue endlessly."

"The war spans from Europe to Asia, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, with 61 countries involved, 84 countries and regions affected, and about 80% of the world’s population caught in the war."

The originally static world map lit up with scarlet regions as Zhao Ming spoke, every sentence highlighting areas where wars occurred, almost dragging the whole planet into conflict.

Places not affected by red were few and far between.

Then Zhao Ming raised his hand to tap on the virtual map, causing all the red lights to vanish. He clicked again on Europe, making the European region slightly rise, standing out:

"Currently, players mainly experience the ’European Battlefield,’ which is the confrontation between the Empire, the European countries, and the Soviet Union."

"Subsequent releases will include the North African Battlefield."

He tapped on the North African territory, causing its region to float.

"And the Pacific Theater."

Islands that experienced key battles in the Pacific floated up.

Then Zhao Ming moved his hand eastward:

"As well as the Asian Battlefield."

With just a few clicks, the expansive influence zones were clearly shown, occupying most of the world.

Zhao Ming continued to explain:

"Due to player numbers, the main focus is currently on the European Battlefield."

"But in the European Battlefield, many players have already experienced the helplessness of ordinary people facing war."

"This was the original intent in creating this game."

"By experiencing the cruelty and ruthlessness of war, civilians won’t be swayed by the zealots who preach about it, like how those zealots trumpet war but never actually pick up arms to fight against the Federation."

"They know they’d die, so they incite civilians to revolt instead of doing it themselves."

Qiao Meng nodded and said:

"So the core of the game is like this, and from the effects, you can truly appreciate Mr. Zhao Ming’s thoughtful intentions."

"However, if there’s only this core, it obviously won’t attract players. Are there other secrets involved?"

These were pre-arranged interview lines, so Zhao Ming continued smoothly:

"Of course, if there’s only this core, it obviously won’t be intriguing enough to attract and retain players."

"So now the game features immersive storytelling, the Normandy Landing battlefield, a Multiplayer Cooperation Mode, limited-time National War dungeon events, and diverse gameplay for player retention."

"Also, the perspectives for gameplay vary."

"For example, the Normandy Landing battlefield involves beach landings; in the Battle of Britain, players can pilot planes for aerial combat; and Blitzkrieg Poland opens up the vehicle system."

"Most importantly, players can experience large corps combats in Blitzkrieg Poland."

"Upcoming battlefields include desert combat in the North African Battlefield, Airborne Assault in the European Battlefield, naval and aerial combat in the Pacific Theater, jungle and guerrilla warfare in the Asian Battlefield—offering diverse battle experiences for players."

However, the live chat was in uproar, although players focused on different points...

[Open vehicles? This guy has the nerve to say?!]

[If it wasn’t for you enabling that warhorse, how would I end up following Shi Jun’s dumb command to charge a tank on horseback?!!!]

[Damn... Old Thief Zhao definitely has ill intentions! Don’t fall for it, guys!]

[Exactly, you can’t trust a word from this guy. Desert combat, Airborne Assault—won’t he just use us as targets?!]