I Don't Agree to the Terms

A virtual online game named "Life" went viral throughout the Navia Empire within a day, and everyone became aware of this special game known for its excellent openness.

At first, people were indeed skeptical, but under the lure of extremely low equipment prices and free game content, a large number of people rushed into it.

The main reason was that the entertainment options within the Navia Empire were truly lackluster; although the empire was developing rapidly, gaming was still at the Pac-Man stage, and other forms like film and performing arts were also terribly dull.

Now, suddenly, a groundbreaking industry emerged, sending everyone into a frenzy.

However, there were criticisms as well, although the equipment was inexpensive and the content was free, there were various points demanding in-game purchases, such as first-time top-up rewards, cumulative top-up rewards, monthly subscriptions, battle pass promotions, daily/weekly/monthly/seasonal gift packs, and so on.

There were also points for in-game purchases related to costumes and mounts among others.

Fortunately, although the "Life" players of the Navia Empire were stunned by the impact, they went all out in making purchases, filling up on all sorts of packages.

Of course, the planners of "Life" weren't miserly, and also offered daily, weekly, and monthly tasks, sign-in rewards, and game time rewards, which could yield abundant resources, although they required an exceedingly long time.

Due to the birth of this virtual online game, various prototypes of game merchants also appeared within the Navia Empire.

As long as it could make money, anything was worth doing.

Gu Shanhai thereby made a fortune.

During this time, numerous council members were attracted to Gu Shanhai, this goose that could lay golden eggs. They initially planned to use some extrajudicial means to have Gu Shanhai hand it over, but upon investigating his identity, they ultimately decided to lay low.

There were also some obtuse council members who thought that Prince Gu Shanhai, an insignificant and powerless member of the Royal Family, might be persuaded indirectly to part with some shares.

This behavior clearly crossed the line with the Royal Family.

The Royal Family ensured that these princes adhered to not causing trouble, but that didn't mean the princes had to endure insults or attacks without responding.

Thus, these tactless council members were dealt with using methods like corruption and disciplinary violations, and they are likely picking up soap in prison cells right now.

Of course, apart from the council members, some princes also came knocking.

They brought real assets to trade with Gu Shanhai, who selected some industries he needed from each person, such as factories, mines, and commercial districts, to form upstream and downstream industry chains for the "Life" game.

In exchange for these industries, he allocated a total of 10% of the shares. Some princes were not satisfied, but Gu Shanhai stated, take it or leave it, it's just 10% to divide among themselves.

In the end, the princes had to grit their teeth and divide them, the specific amounts of which Gu Shanhai did not care.

Regarding the revenue from "Life," Gu Shanhai didn't really place much emphasis on it. If it weren't necessary to sustain the game's ongoing release, Gu Shanhai would not have introduced these in-game purchases, and would even give away the equipment for free. Unfortunately, without money, nothing could be done, and all the assets he had were not enough to cover the costs.

"One ten-thousandth, it seems my exploration of this new track has indeed succeeded."

Gu Shanhai felt a minuscule amount of Ghost Energy approaching, which was ultimately absorbed by the two Ghost Energy Seeds inside him.

Each player's death provided him approximately one ten-thousandth of the standard Ghost Energy Aura in the form of Secondary Ghost Energy Aura. At first glance, it wasn't as substantial as the Imperial Palace, but with the vast number of players, each death provided a supply, and it was continuously available without concerns of running out.

The more players there were, the more Secondary Ghost Energy Auras he could obtain, which could combine into Ghost Energy Auras, or even form into actual Ghost Energy, rather than these fragments.

"The birth of Ghost Energy is a type of death activity, which can be produced even if it's not real death, although it can't match the quality of real death."

"Compared to Emperor Navia's harvesting method, my approach is much gentler, the only drawback is that it must be based in a peaceful era."

Gu Shanhai knew his method's weakness, it was not as stable as Emperor Navia's, whose harvesting was unaffected by peace or chaos, or even race, and any occurrence of death would transform into Ghost Energy and be harvested by him.

Unlike Gu Shanhai, who could only harvest from humans, and what he harvested were mere fragments of Ghost Energy.

Thus, for Gu Shanhai to reach the level of Emperor Navia, he had to wait until digital life was perfected. As for competing with Emperor Navia, Gu Shanhai estimated it would at least have to wait until the later stages, as the two were on different tracks with no conflicting interests in the early and middle stages.

Of course, it didn't rule out the possibility that Emperor Navia might target him for this benefit.

Gu Shanhai's actions were indeed too high-profile, fortunately, the company releasing "Life," whether its legal representatives or directors, did not include him. He controlled it in practice but did not manage it in person.

The primary requirement for a prince was to stay out of public opinion, which was something Gu Shanhai managed to settle this year by giving ten blocks of Ghost Energy crystals to the Royal Family, who then assisted him by smoothing things over and promoting the "Life" virtual reality online game.