Full-speed development, overtake Eagle Sauce!

Inside the instance, after Itō Hidetaka confirmed their choice of mission, the Firmament gave them a more detailed mission briefing.

[Firmament notice: As the challengers have chosen mission two, you will now receive a more detailed introduction to the factions.]

At the same time, a screen of light appeared before everyone, projecting scenes of Eagle Sauce Country as it was now.

[Eagle Sauce Country is a multiethnic nation with exceptionally favorable immigration policies, attracting people of every race from around the world to join the country...]

[Talented people from around the world have gathered here, pursuing wealth and status together and enabling Eagle Sauce Country to achieve comprehensive industrialization in the shortest possible time!]

[Eagle Sauce Country holds a position of global supremacy in technology, agriculture, industry, aviation, energy, and more!]

People of different races, skin colors, and appearances began to appear on the screen. Each was busy at their own post in Eagle Sauce Country, carrying out construction and development in an orderly fashion.

Railways wound like giant dragons, weaving across the vast land.

Locomotives roared and charged forward like warriors.

They traced a network of lines across the vast land, connecting bustling cities to tranquil villages.

On crisscrossing highways, cars came and went like ants, crawling along at great speed.

Their steel bodies gleamed in the sunlight, becoming the most vibrant pulse on this land!

Inside factories, machines roared nonstop while enormous chimneys breathed out billowing steam.

These factories operated day and night, producing all manner of goods!

Towers carrying circuit signals rose from the ground, reaching straight into the clouds. Like giant guardians, they kept communications and information flowing unimpeded across the land.

Artificial satellites, aircraft carriers, transnational oil transport routes, cutting-edge bionic robots...

All sorts of novel things played out one after another on the enormous screen.

Every challenger watched in a daze, and Itō Hidetaka was no exception.

Many of the things shown on the screen were beyond anything they could imagine, let alone anything they had seen.

As they understood it, a so-called country in this instance was essentially a settlement. But compared with the real world, Eagle Sauce Country's prosperity and abundance could be said to surpass even that of the entire Azure Star.

That was because Azure Star was regulated by the Firmament as a whole. The Firmament would not allow any settlement to grow excessively strong, nor would it allow one to become too weak.

On top of that, this world itself had a tradition of revering martial strength,

so for people like Itō Hidetaka, it was impossible to imagine a settlement flourishing to such an extent.

[Eagle Sauce Country: Annual GDP of 25 trillion US dollars, per capita GDP of 76,300 dollars, CPI of 3.7%, total foreign trade exports of 3 trillion US dollars...]

[All data concerning Eagle Sauce Country can be viewed at any time at the Command Console.]

Numerical indicators and big-data visualizations appeared one after another on the screen.

The challengers did not really understand these complex economic indicators. They only felt that some of the numbers were ridiculously large.

[Eastern Ocean Island: Annual GDP of 4 trillion US dollars, per capita GDP of 30,000 US dollars...]

Immediately afterward, the Firmament displayed Eastern Ocean Island's economic indicators before the challengers as well, giving everyone a clearer view of the gap between the two factions.

[Firmament notice: Attention, challengers. You may directly regulate all industries on Eastern Ocean Island at a macro level through the Arsenal's main control console. From now on, every NPC on Eastern Ocean Island will follow your remote commands!]

[The criteria for overtaking the other side economically are not limited to gross domestic product. As long as the challengers direct Eastern Ocean Island to surpass Eagle Sauce Country in either gross domestic product or per capita gross domestic product at any point in time, the mission will be deemed complete!]

[The mission now officially begins. Countdown: 119h59m59s...]

The Firmament's final notice was a shot in the arm for Itō Hidetaka and the others.

Eagle Sauce Country's population was several times that of Eastern Ocean Island, so if they were competing solely on the size of their economies, it would be very difficult for Eastern Ocean Island to pull ahead.

But the mission was not limited to the size of their economies; it also included per capita gross domestic product.

The current data showed that Eagle Sauce Country's per capita GDP was 70,000 dollars, while Eastern Ocean Island's was 30,000 dollars.

There was a gap, but it was not insurmountable.

As long as they pulled ahead at any point, even for a single second, the mission would count as complete.

With a short burst, they actually had a good chance of briefly overtaking the other side economically.

"Everyone, the time has come for us to serve the Emperor. From here on, we must throw ourselves into the instance with everything we have." Itō Hidetaka delivered another impassioned speech.

Compared with when he had first entered the instance, he was much steadier now, and much more confident.

"I don't understand economics, but all of you are first-rate talents from our Dahe Settlement!"

"From here on, each of you must manage the field you have devoted yourselves to, identify the shortcomings in Eastern Ocean Island's operations, and correct them at once!"

"We only need to pull ahead economically for one second for the mission to count as a success, so we can even use bad methods that drain the pond to catch the fish. There's no need to consider the consequences."

"After all, this is only a virtual world, not our real settlement."

Itō Hidetaka conveyed his thinking to all the challengers: use any means necessary and put every ounce of strength they had into it.

It did not matter even if they ran Dongying Country in this instance into the ground.

Everyone agreed with Itō Hidetaka's instructions, and before long, the twenty thousand of them got to work under Shancheng Kojirō's leadership.

"Increase oil imports by 50%!"

"Increase automobile production capacity across Eastern Ocean Island by 30%. Replace high-grade materials with cheap, low-grade ones to reduce costs!"

"Put all environmental protection funds toward electronic equipment production!"

"There's no need to treat any wastewater. Dump it straight into the ocean..."

"Launch an all-out ocean whaling program and expand seafood sales!"

"Vigorously develop Dongying's action film industry and sell the films across the entire planet..."

One deranged measure after another followed!

Under this management and operation without regard for consequences, Eastern Ocean Island's gross domestic product did indeed grow rapidly.

These perverse measures soon drew a barrage of condemnation in the bullet comments.

[Even if it's a virtual world, what these Dahe people are doing still feels disgusting.]

[Thank goodness it's only a virtual world. If the real world were like the instance too, people from other settlements like us would probably be screwed to death by Dahe Settlement.]

[But honestly, this method really does have a good chance of overtaking the other side economically...]

[It feels like God Ye is in some danger. He probably wouldn't have imagined these Dahe people could be this perverse.]

Since Itō Hidetaka knew nothing at all about economics or production, he could only continue drinking coffee in the main command room.

In less than half a day, per capita GDP had already risen to 40,000 US dollars. If things continued like this, there was a good chance they could overtake the other side in per capita GDP within five days!

Looking at the encouraging indicators, Itō Hidetaka wore a thoroughly contented smile.

"Lin Ye, oh, Lin Ye."

"In terms of military strength, I might be no match for you, but when it comes to using your brains, you're simply not in my league."

"I'll show you just how foolish it was to set up this so-called Non-Combat Mode!"

Just as Itō Hidetaka was muttering to himself, his phone suddenly rang.

Ring, ring~

The sudden vibration and ringing made Itō Hidetaka shudder in fright.

He was inside the instance, so why was he getting a phone call?!

Could it be that this instance had a complete communications system too?

Itō Hidetaka picked up his phone and saw that no number was displayed, which made it feel even more bizarre.

But in the end, he answered the call.

"Mr. Itō Hidetaka!"

"Your country's actions have already violated dozens of international conventions, including the Basel Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights... and have already caused irreversible harm to the planet!"

"I am now giving your country a chance to mend its ways. Immediately cease all violations and pay compensation to Eagle Sauce Country!"

"Otherwise, your country will face comprehensive sanctions from Eagle Sauce!"