First Bucket of Gold

Pang Ban and Xu Pengkun, under Chen Hao's strict training, have now both become qualified "trolls" (players hired to boost activity).

Currently, there are three servers. The presidents of the second and third largest guilds are each leading a team. Their levels and equipment have been modified by Chen Hao, making them comparable to top-tier spenders.

Pang Ban has been transforming into an Eight-Armed Arhat these past few days, switching between three computers. Sometimes he personally leads his subordinates to PK the largest guild daily, to the point where his brain feels like it's about to explode.

Especially the Sabuk City battles, now held every three days, are truly rivers of blood. Some spenders die in guild wars, their equipment is dropped, and they immediately spend money to buy new gear and continue fighting without a word!

Lin Lang, besides working during the day, has been dedicating all his nights to setting up the server room, even taking a few days off for it.

These past few days, Chen Hao's four-person team has been incredibly busy.

Fortunately, through everyone's efforts, Greedy Blue Moon Legend's revenue has broken new records.

Before the end of the month, Lin Lang's dedicated server room will officially be put into use, costing over a million.

Chen Hao announced in advance that the servers would be down for 5 hours at midnight to migrate to the new server room. It's a complete upgrade; all current servers are officially activated and can accommodate fifty thousand concurrent online players.

Three days in advance, Chen Hao posted an announcement on the Greedy Blue Moon Legend website:

To celebrate Greedy Blue Moon Legend surpassing 100,000 registered users and exceeding 30,000 concurrent online players!

At 10 AM on April 1st, Greedy Blue Moon Legend will open a new server, "Riding the Wind and Breaking the Waves, Setting Sail and Navigating."

At the bottom, they also added an investment recruitment notice: "Welcome all private servers to join and settle in. Cooperation email: XXXX."

Additionally, the top-up mechanism has been adjusted. After topping up on the first day, leave a message for customer service, and the funds will be credited within 24 hours.

Chen Hao's appetite is huge now; he's profiting from both consumers and businesses!

On the last day of the third month, at the "Lost a Shoe" barbecue restaurant.

This time, there was one more person and one more mobile phone than the last time they drank.

The person was Pang Ban, who arrived later. The mobile phone was for Xu Pengkun, who was drinking remotely with speakerphone on.

This is the current core team of Chen Hao.

"Our first battle was a success, brothers, let's have a toast!"

"Cheers!"

After proposing the toast, Chen Hao personally refilled his old brother's glass and raised his own.

Setting down his glass, Chen Hao said, "Old Brother, you've been busy with work during the day and our business at night, and you've been very concerned about the server room. This is your share."

He pulled out a bundle of newspapers containing a "big gift package" from his backpack and handed it to Lin Lang and Pang Ban.

Lin Lang took it and weighed it. It was quite heavy. "Whoa, is this a hundred thousand?" Seeing his younger brother nod, he downed his drink in one gulp and said excitedly, "Good heavens, that's more than my salary for a whole year. This overtime was worth it."

"As we develop, there will be more in the future. Old Brother, you're currently like a spy infiltrating IBM to learn their technology. We still have a long way to go, you and I."

Seeing it was his turn, Pang Ban had already proactively refilled his own drink.

"Old Ban, a peerless master, was actually turned into a troll by me, working tirelessly. It's truly underutilizing his talents. There will be better opportunities in the future! Soon~"

Pang Ban raised his glass in acknowledgment, drank it in one go, and then accepted the "big gift package." Everything was understood without words.

The last one, before he could speak, Xu Pengkun's voice came from the phone, "Don't pretend with your small capacity, hurry up and eat! Hehe, anyway, the phone can only hear, it can't see if I'm actually eating or not."

"Haha, me too. I just took a sip as a gesture!"

Despite saying that, Chen Hao still downed the wine in his glass. And in far-off Beijing, Xu Pengkun did the same!

After a few quick drinks, Chen Hao's face was flushed.

While still clear-headed, he quickly got down to business.

He synchronized the March summary and April plan with them in advance.

"We started public beta on March 15th, and it's been exactly half a month. As of now, our income is nearly five million. After deducting the costs of building the server room and servers, plus various other expenses like promotion, we still have a net profit of three million."

"Three million? I never even dreamed of participating in a project worth over a million in my dreams," Lin Lang marveled inwardly.

"Awesome!"

Pang Ban's surprised phoenix eyes widened a bit more than usual.

The group exclaimed, with the voice from the phone being the loudest. They had another drink to celebrate.

After finishing the drink, Chen Hao quickly pleaded, "I can't, I can't. I need to slow down first~"

Lin Lang called out to Xu Pengkun, exchanged a look with Pang Ban, and signaled. Without Chen Hao, the three of them had another drink together.

Chen Hao could drink five or six bottles of beer slowly, like a steady stream. He couldn't handle quick drinks. Having downed five or six glasses on an empty stomach was equivalent to two bottles, and his chest started to churn.

After calming himself and grabbing a few skewers, he continued, "Everyone has worked hard these past few days. Ten thousand each. Don't think it's too little. We're not doing a one-off deal. The remaining money will be used for further investment. Next month, I plan to continue growing and strengthening based on this."

Chen Hao spoke of his plans, his expression turning serious. "Old Brother, your task is to manage the servers well. We're on a roll right now, and who knows if someone envious will play dirty tricks. The most likely scenario is a server attack, so we need to prepare defensive measures in advance!"

"Don't worry. The server already has a built-in firewall. I'll be upgrading and configuring it these next couple of days," Lin Lang said confidently, as this was his area of expertise.

"Big Bird will continue to be responsible for external promotion, and Old Ban will continue to be responsible for training the trolls internally. I'll be in charge of event planning and game updates. If you encounter any problems during the process, communicate with me at any time. Our goal for next month is to double our revenue."

Chen Hao spoke decisively, beaming with pride and full of confidence!

With tangible results, the group was genuinely convinced and had no objections.

"Haozi, just charge ahead. We've got your back!"

"Old Brother, we're just talking, what's with you raising your cup again?"

Chen Hao felt like crying but had no tears, so he could only pick up his wine glass and drink.

Brothers, beer, and grilled skewers.

The group ate, drank, chatted, and talked about everything under the sun, having a wonderfully good time!

Magic City, Shanda Network Company.

"Manager, here's the user data report for Legend of Mir this month. Please take a look~" A professional-looking woman handed a report to the plump, middle-aged man opposite her.

As the Operations Manager, Zhou Xiao reviewed Legend of Mir's various operational data at the end of each month, paying attention to the game's real-time status to adjust upcoming operational plans.

After looking at the report for a while, Zhou Xiao suddenly voiced his doubts.

"Hmm? Did the data department make a mistake? The data from Beijing and Ice City is basically the same as last month, with no increase?"

You have to understand that Hot-blooded Legend of Mir online game is currently all the rage across the country, becoming the game with the highest market share. Its data should increase by at least 50% each month compared to before.

It wouldn't be surprising if Ice City didn't see an increase, but Beijing, as the capital, in this era dominated by Legend of Mir, seeing no increase means something is wrong. Unusual occurrences often hide a hidden danger!

"Go ask the data department. Never mind, I'll go myself. You can go back to your work!"

With that, Zhou Xiao slowly stood up and walked out.

An hour later, he returned to his seat and closed his eyes, lost in thought.

He had cross-checked with the data department, and the collected data had no issues.

He needed to give his monthly report to the big boss tomorrow, but this small matter didn't require the boss's attention. What was he getting paid so much salary for, then?

At least the data, on the whole, looked extremely good. Overall, March saw an average increase of 78% compared to the previous month, which was enough to earn praise.

It just so happened that he had to go to Beijing on a business trip next week, so he could check it out then.