Chapter 329 - 305: More Technology Needed! Why a Beauty Pageant?

Chapter 329: Chapter 305: More Technology Needed! Why a Beauty Pageant?

Hearing his subordinate’s report, the Caucasian man immediately took the files on the three individuals and accessed a system to begin investigating them.

Soon, he had their identity information.

Curik!

James!

Geling!

Their public online records were sparse, but there was an internal note in the department files suggesting they might be hackers.

This information made the Caucasian man nod.

Hackers could alter their own records, making it difficult to verify their identities through official files alone. But the fact that someone within the department had already flagged them as suspicious was enough to practically confirm they were hackers.

The most crucial piece of corroborating evidence was that all three had been employed by the financial titan, Osborne.

When these titans made their moves, they were always worried about online interference, so they would hire formidable hackers to provide cybersecurity.

This was especially true for a magnate like Aubens. After all, his initial goal had been massive, and he had raised so much capital.

But no one had expected that Aubens, who had targeted the Xuanfeng Alliance as a warm-up, would ultimately be defeated by them.

The capital Aubens had raised ended up enriching the Xuanfeng Alliance, doubling the net worth of its citizens. Meanwhile, the capitalists who had funded Aubens all suffered catastrophic losses.

Still, no one understood how a titan like Aubens could have suddenly fallen to the Xuanfeng Alliance.

Now, seeing these files, he suddenly had a theory—and the implications were astonishing.

Aubens had been targeted by the Xuanfeng Alliance from the very beginning.

These three had been deliberately planted by the Xuanfeng Alliance as moles within Aubens’s organization.

So, with three moles on the inside and ample preparation by the Xuanfeng Alliance, they had lured Aubens into their trap, leaving him with nothing.

’If that’s the case, the Xuanfeng Alliance is utterly ruthless,’ he thought.

It was the only possibility he could conceive of at the moment.

It also meant that Curik, James, and Geling were the Xuanfeng Alliance’s God of Hackers.

The outside world probably had no idea that the God of Hackers wasn’t a single person, but a team.

’No wonder,’ he mused. ’No single hacker, no matter how skilled, could have pulled that off. It turns out it was never just one person.’

Having confirmed the identities of Curik and his team, the Caucasian man didn’t hesitate. He used a special encrypted communication channel to contact a number.

During the call, he recited a password out loud in front of his men.

This was a verbal password prepared by the F.B.I. in secret, one that left no digital trace and was only activated when absolutely necessary.

Therefore, anyone who knew this verbal password was guaranteed to be an insider, not an enemy hacker in disguise.

A moment later, a voice came over the line, "Bower, you activated this special line. Have you identified the God of Hackers?"

The man, Bower, replied immediately, "Mr. Doug, we have confirmation."

Mr. Doug was the head of their special division at the F.B.I.

Bower and his team answered directly to Mr. Doug, and this very operation targeting the Xuanfeng Alliance’s God of Hackers had been planned by him.

Bower continued, "Mr. Doug, the Xuanfeng Alliance’s God of Hackers isn’t a single person, but a team. There are three of them: Curik, James, and Geling. Of course, there could be others."

Doug’s cold voice came back from the other end. "I don’t care if it’s just three of them or not. Now that they’re confirmed, eliminate them first. They exposed the information of so many of our people. They have to pay the price."

Bower chimed in, "I will provide full cooperation."

Doug instructed, "To avoid exposing the operation, the team we’re sending will first enter Myanmar and then cross the border into the Xuanfeng Alliance."

"You be ready to provide support on your end. And whatever you do, don’t get discovered by the Xuanfeng Alliance. Remember to be cautious with network communications. Don’t get your surveillance hacked without even realizing it."

Bower replied at once, "Rest assured, sir. I have people monitoring the three of them. I only make contact when I can confirm they are outside. There’s no way they’ll find out."

It was indeed a foolproof plan.

「Wind Manor.」

On the screen in front of Lu Feng, the conversation between Bower and Doug was playing out.

’They won’t find out?’

’They probably have no idea they’re being monitored around the clock by my AI, Xiaozhi.’

He was, however, curious about this Doug’s identity. "Xiaozhi, I want Doug’s file."

"Yes, Master," Xiaozhi replied.

A moment later, a file appeared on the screen—it was Doug’s internal F.B.I. personnel file.

Judging from the file, the man was indeed highly capable. He had numerous merits to his name, had planned many similar operations, and had succeeded every time.

’A pity,’ Lu Feng thought. ’This time, he’s picked the wrong opponent.’

Lu Feng gave another order, "Xiaozhi, maintain strict surveillance. When the F.B.I. arrives, give them a big surprise."

Afterward, he turned his attention to the game screen. He moved the camera to inspect Red Leaf Base and Zhuangyuan District, where Qingfeng Base was located.

Zhuangyuan District was the first base he had occupied after eliminating the Gray Wolf. He hadn’t abandoned it; he still kept it active, with personnel stationed there to recruit survivors.

This was because it was closer to the City East Alliance.

Having taken the East Suburb Fortress, they needed more survivors to prepare for the eventual collapse of the City East Alliance following the Hexagonal Beast chaos.

As for Red Leaf Base, he had people stationed there to lure and kill zombies, farming experience points for him.

After checking that all locations were in order, he entered the game with a thought and appeared inside the East Suburb Fortress.

Everything at the East Suburb Fortress was operating as usual, which put him at ease. He then returned to reality, took out a piece of paper, and started writing.

He was writing down formulas.

It was a fact that the Xuanfeng Alliance’s economy was underdeveloped. The addition of Xuanfeng Bank, Xuanfeng Dream-Returning Wine, and the Xuanfeng Facial Mask wouldn’t be enough to completely turn things around.

With no gold mines, no oil, and no significant energy resources, the Xuanfeng Alliance needed more technology if it wanted to develop.

In the game world, he had placed high hopes on the research department led by Cheng Sisi and Cheng Yaoyao.

The game world was seventy to eighty years ahead of the real world technologically. It held countless advanced technologies, and as long as they could be reverse-engineered, he could put them to use.

The formulas he was writing now were from the loot dropped after annihilating the Beastman Race: recipes for a Special Refined Salt, Special MSG, and Special Sauce.

These three were all everyday commodities. If they could capture the market, it would undoubtedly become a massive industry.

The key was that the Special Refined Salt and Special MSG both had a [Cooking Deliciousness +1] attribute.

The Special Sauce had [Flavor Infusion +1] and [Appetite +1] attributes.

Producing these three items would be like leveling up a chef’s culinary skills. As the saying goes, with a good sauce, even plainly boiled vegetables become a delicacy with just a dip.

’This is definitely worth pursuing.’

Just as he finished writing the formulas down from memory and was about to call Baguda, he received a report that Baguda had already arrived and wished to see him.

After letting Baguda in, before Lu Feng could speak, Baguda immediately said, "His Excellency the Governor, please take a look at this file first."

"What is it? About the facial masks?" Lu Feng asked, puzzled.

Baguda said, "The facial mask business is on the right track; we don’t need to worry about it. This is about the development of the Xuanfeng Alliance. Our Alliance has few natural resources, which is why we’ve always been poor. But many places in the Xuanfeng Alliance have beautiful scenery. We can take advantage of that and develop our tourism resources."

"Before, we were poor and chaotic, with no conditions to develop tourism. But things are different now. The entire Xuanfeng Alliance is very stable. Moreover, thanks to Xuanfeng Bank, the Xuanfeng Facial Mask, the Xuanfeng Dream-Returning Wine, and the whole Aubens Capital incident, we’ve gained quite a bit of fame internationally. We have the right conditions now."

"So, we need to fully utilize what we have. Look at the scenery in these files. They’re no worse than what Tai Country has, right? If Tai Country can do it, why can’t we?"

Lu Feng was surprised by Baguda’s line of thought.

Indeed, tourism was a development project pursued by many countries, and even a major power like the Dragon Country was no exception.

Even places like Ba Country and Myanmar attracted countless domestic tourists, despite the threat of the Gaya Group.

Lu Feng looked at the file in his hands. The scenery depicted was indeed no worse than the sights in Tai Country.

Balung Temple, Wug Cave, the Ta Prohm Tree Cave Scenic Spot, Beng Mealea Temple, the Bakken Mountain Sunrise...

Judging from the photos alone, many of these places were not inferior to the scenic spots back in the Dragon Country. They were perfectly preserved and had a high degree of natural beauty.

Even if he wasn’t an expert in the tourism industry, he knew that places like these were perfect for development.

Besides, at the end of the day, tourism was simply about one person going to a place that another person was tired of looking at. It was like northerners going south to play in the water.

Southerners would think those northerners were crazy.

And when southerners went north to play in the snow, their excitement would make northerners think they were crazy, too.

Therefore, for a tourism project, promotion was even more important than the quality of the attractions themselves.

Why was Tai Country’s tourism so successful, with so many people from the Dragon Country visiting? The biggest reasons were good marketing and its proximity to the Dragon Country.

For people from the Dragon Country, a trip to Tai Country counted as going abroad.

And traveling abroad added a certain intangible prestige.

The Xuanfeng Alliance could also leverage this kind of prestige, as it was also close to the Dragon Country.

Tai Country could use its ladyboys as a gimmick, and the Xuanfeng Alliance had its own gimmicks too. The first was being the origin country of Xuanfeng Dream-Returning Wine and the Xuanfeng Facial Mask.

They could also create a special purchasing policy for the Xuanfeng Facial Mask, something like a duty-free shop. He was sure this policy would attract countless female tourists who would come just for the masks.

Assuming it was safe enough, and given its proximity to the Dragon Country, a great number of women from his home country would surely visit.

As a citizen of the Dragon Country, he understood the psychology of its women very well.

The second gimmick, naturally, was beautiful women. The ratio of women to men in the Xuanfeng Alliance was now three to one.

Just imagine, if they selected all the beautiful ones and employed them as staff at the scenic spots, or even had them form welcoming committees...

They could even shoot more videos of these beautiful women, letting everyone know that you could see beauties everywhere on the streets of the Xuanfeng Alliance.

The key was to imply that these beauties were all single, worried about finding a husband, and couldn’t find boyfriends.

Hint that visiting here could easily lead to a romantic encounter, and countless men from the Dragon Country would be drawn over.

And once those men actually had their romantic encounters and developed feelings, what would happen when they found out that if they stayed to work in the Xuanfeng Alliance, they could marry these women without a bride price, a car, or a house, and would even receive many excellent government benefits?

Without a doubt, many of them would choose to stay.

This was the same method he had originally conceived for attracting talented immigrants.

It was a honey trap. Whether used for tourism or for recruiting talent, it was absolutely effective.

So, this time, they could use it for both.

Baguda asked nervously, "His Excellency the Governor, what do you think of this tourism development plan?"

Lu Feng replied without hesitation, "Baguda, this is an excellent plan. Therefore, I have two things to entrust to you right now. The first is to organize beauty pageants—in every city, and every town."

"???" Baguda was completely stunned.

’Beauty pageants?’

’We were talking about tourism!’