Designing the Script, Puppet Kings

"Only Safe Zone can be built?"

"The Safe Zone is very small, only about the size of a village, or one or two square kilometers."

"One or two square kilometers will suffice. Based on Blue Star's building density standards, we can support 100,000 to 200,000 people, which is enough for a City-State."

"But where do the food, water, and energy come from?" another player asked.

"Of course, we'll acquire them offline. These basic supplies have long been overproduced offline."

"But nowadays most cities are controlled by companies of all sizes. Only a few places are free City-State, not controlled by companies. What if they don't sell to us?"

"It's simple, if you don't give us candy, we'll play tricks; if you won't sell it to us, we'll do it ourselves!"

"Isn't this robbery?"

"Ridiculous! Before, online, they not only robbed us, they killed us! Now that we have the upper hand, can't we rob them? Can't we kill them?"

"If we try to buy it politely now, how can they refuse to sell?"

"That's right, things change every thirty years, now it's our turn to be in charge!"

"That's right, we solo players are now the chosen ones of this version!"

"Yes, that's right. We need to organize ourselves to become truly powerful."

"History tells us that organization is the most powerful force. Without organization, you're just a disorganized mess that can be defeated one by one. No matter how strong you are, there are only 24 hours in Gou in Skyfall continued.

Many individual investors agreed.

"That's the truth. It seems we have no choice but to establish an online court!"

"That's right, that's exactly it."

Then someone else said, "But those damn Corporate Players won't let us build easily. They'll definitely try to block and attack our Safe Zone, using decapitation tactics. We only have three free respawns a day."

"We'd better find a very stable Safe Zone on a lone island."

"Now that you mention it, Wolf Snake Island's Safe Zone is the best, because there's a powerful player with Canxue guarding it."

"Yeah, we should let the Canxue powerhouse be our king," a Rogue Players remarked instinctively.

"We're sorry, we've already asked the expert, but he's not interested in building a nation, probably because he wants to focus on improving his strength."

"That's a real shame. That place belongs to someone else; they certainly won't let us establish a country there."

"That's true, but we can set up a mobile court and work remotely from there. This way, we can also prevent being maliciously beheaded by the Company Executive Players."

"That's true. We won't establish a country there. We can always rent a large building in East Wolf Village, right?"

The casual players were saying this in the event channel.

It must be said, they are all quite intelligent.

Since they said that, Gao Linzhi naturally couldn't say no in the event channel.

After all, leasing a building is simply a business transaction.

Why was Gao Linzhi unwilling to participate in this nation-building effort?

It's not that building a nation has no future, but as "Gou in Skyfall" said, it would be too much of a waste of time.

He doesn't have the time to worry about those things.

He was a seeker of Immortality.

Throughout history, those Longevity Being achieved immortality may not have been alone, but like top scientists, they must have focused their minds on one area rather than trying to do a haphazard thing.

To want both Immortality and to become emperor is simply too difficult.

The result was that there was nothing.

For a time, the creation of a nation by casual netizens became the most talked-about topic online.

Every day when I wake up, someone asks me about the progress.

And they made rapid progress.

Recruit personnel, identify islands for cooperation, and select organizers...

The only difficulty now is the pressure from large companies.

Even the Sky Wolf Dynasty secretly sent people to provide support.

Clearly, they are happy to see a major split within the player community.

The Sky Wolf Dynasty was inefficient and lacked creativity, but when it came to using these privacy tactics, they were incredibly adept at catching criminals red-handed.

Thus, the establishment of the Sanren Dynasty received strong support from the very beginning.

At the same time.

The five major companies are discussing this matter urgently.

The occasion for their discussion happened to be the platform of the Countermeasures Bureau.

The Countermeasures Bureau, a meeting room.

Chairman Shi Zhongsheng was pulled over to act as the host.

Zhou Xuantong of "Canglong Company", Su Hongxiu of "Aomori Company", Rumike of "White Stone Company", the monk of "Ambuler Company", and the clown of "Trak Company"—representatives of the five major companies—once again gathered in one place.

Zhou Xuantong from Canglong Company spoke first, saying, "The problem is very serious now."

"Those casual players are causing division within the player base."

"Once they succeed in establishing their own country, they will inevitably become our enemies."

"Once they gain influence online, it will spread offline, because they need to obtain food and energy offline."

White Stone's Rumike: "That's obvious."

"It seems we should establish our own kingdom online and bring in manpower ahead of time."

"Yes, that's what it means to transform one's family into one's nation."

At this moment, Su Hongxiu from Aomori Company frowned and said, "Gentlemen, but I heard them say that if we turn our family into a country, any problems that arise in the future will be our responsibility."

"We will attract the most hatred; compared to players and the imperial court, the strange creatures are the truly intractable enemy."

"Boys and the imperial court can negotiate and find ways around the rules, but when it comes to the supernatural, breaking the rules means death."

"What should we do?"

Upon hearing this, the other representatives also fell silent for a moment.

This is precisely why the Sky Wolf Dynasty only governs one Capital Island, and it is also the root of its offline company system.

It's not that no one wants to build a faction; the problem is that it attracts too much hatred.

"Although the founding of the nation had many drawbacks, it also had its share of advantages," Zhou Xuantong of Canglong Company said.

"We can take this opportunity to consolidate our resources on a larger scale and organize more manpower and resources."

"Right now, relying solely on the company system, we cannot expand further."

"A company with a million employees is already very large, but a large country with a hundred million people is not considered large."

"You should all know very well that our strength is far from sufficient."

"The biggest drawback of this company system is its lack of enforcement power."

"We can only exert coercive power over our own employees and security departments through a steady stream of salaries."

"If we don't get paid for three months in a row, nobody will take us seriously."

"However, the imperial court is different. Its greatest privilege lies in collecting taxes and obtaining the fruits of labor for free."

"We can still recruit soldiers, and it doesn't cost any money. We only need to pay some military pay and equipment, but compared to the lives the enemy is willing to risk, it's too cheap."

"Our company cannot collect taxes from the public. At most, we can collect taxes indirectly by monopolizing goods and raising prices."

"But the other party can choose not to buy our goods, or buy less. The imperial court is different; the taxes it levies are based solely on the people's ability to pay, and they have no choice but to pay."

Everyone nodded.

They were naturally aware of these things.

The greatest advantage of the imperial court lies in its coercive power, enabling it to organize violent institutions such as militias and patrols.

"Moreover, the imperial court has a higher ceiling; the key is that it can offer higher official positions, titles, and honors."

"Compared to company honors, the honors bestowed by the imperial court have more advantages and are more easily recognized."

"Many people would casually toss their company's annual meeting honors under the bed, but they would proudly display the honors bestowed by the imperial court on the wall."

"Because it is a form of protection, a symbol of status, and something that can make court officials take him seriously."

"Company honors, on the other hand, generally don't offer such benefits, unless they come from a large company, which provides significant security for their next job search."

"That's right," said Rumike of White Stone Corporation. "Once a dynasty is established, we can enforce taxation and conscript manpower."

"We can form patrol teams and police units; we don't need to rely solely on a security force of a few thousand people."

"The main advantage is that it can break previous agreements and expand to many nearby cities."

"Compared to Ordinary Player, we have more wealth and manpower, allowing us to establish formal teams and motivate our subjects in better ways."

"That's right, that's the benefit of turning the family into the nation. As for the drawbacks, we can avoid them through other means."

"We can control several puppet kings, set up a set of stamina, and have them take turns."

"We'll make this a customized system, and then remotely control it from behind the scenes."

The others nodded in agreement.

They were already drawn to the benefits of establishing this nation.

The main problem is the current dire situation, with bizarre phenomena emerging everywhere.

They must break free from previous limitations.

Their company structure comes with many limitations.

The simplest solution is for the company to resort to large-scale conscription and taxation, as there is no legal basis for it.

They must rely on producing goods, providing wages, and hiring people to exert influence.

Of course, they could also, like the Umbrella Corporation, use security personnel to achieve violent rule.

However, with so many companies around, people would quickly flee to other cities to work for these companies.

In this way, evil companies will find it difficult to win in the competition and will eventually be quickly eliminated.

Moreover, it's difficult for ordinary people to develop a sense of belonging to a company.

Apart from those who are kings of the scrolls.

Everyone else likes to slack off at work, and there's no way to enforce punishment.

Thus, the five companies reached a consensus.

They decided to support a puppet.

They keep all the benefits, but when problems arise, they let puppets take the blame.

In the past, such an idea might have been used by a puppet emperor to overturn the situation using a nominal power.

For example, turning a fake into a real thing.

After all, the emperor's name, if used well, can also win over many people whose interests have been harmed.

But they are not afraid of that now.

Because nowadays, individual strength is paramount.

A person won over by a mere name is no match for a physical powerhouse cultivated through resources.

Moreover, there are many hidden methods that can be used to control a puppet king.

Of course, to avoid being targeted by the supernatural, they won't directly control it.

At most, they can only intimidate the puppet king with military force.

Thus, the king takes the blame while the privileged family enjoys the benefits.

After making their decision, the five companies immediately began searching for the puppet king.

After searching high and low, they decided to look among the scattered individuals.

This led them to Li Gun on Island 219.

Because Li Gun is currently second only to Canxue in reputation among the unaffiliated players.

Li Gun has some hidden dangers and is not easy to control.

But if they want to find a king, he must first be able to win the hearts and minds of the people.

Moreover, as the founding king, he needed his reputation even more.

Both Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang established their reputations before attracting a group of brothers to join them in conquering the world.

It's easy to control a lowly soldier, but others won't accept it. Why can he be king, but I can't?

Li Gun has another advantage: he can't exist in isolation from people.

He personally still holds large companies in high regard.

Because his talent is not an independent talent, but rather a "forced transaction".

This kind of forced transaction must rely on a powerful social group.

Moreover, there are many restrictions.

For example, if someone knows in advance and doesn't meet with him, his coercive transaction becomes useless.

For example, if he is surrounded by poor people, the most he can get in return for forced transactions is the flesh and blood and lives of others.

Therefore, after much deliberation, they found Li Gun.

They demanded that Li Gun agree to their request.

However, Li Gun naturally saw through the other party's intentions at a glance.

Giving in to their demands and becoming king would not be a good thing.

So he refused outright:

"This won't do. I can't be the king."

"In this chaotic world, only you possess such prestige among the unaffiliated cultivators," the visitor advised. " With the Canxue fading, only you, brother, are fit to occupy this position."

Li Gun immediately shook his head and said, "Heh, what's this talk about prestige?"

"They're just using me as a target."

"If others can't see it, do you think I can't see it?"

"Don't force people to do things they don't want to do."

"Let's part ways amicably; nobody's a fool."

Upon hearing this, the visitor naturally understood that this Li Gun was indeed very shrewd.

No wonder he was able to connect with that man with the Canxue.

What a pity.

With someone as shrewd as him, it's very difficult to outsmart him.

Such a good puppet king, we have no choice but to give up.

Forcing the other party to be king will only create hidden dangers.

But if Li Gun doesn't agree, then who should they turn to?

Among the independent practitioners, there are very few left who still possess prestige and strength.

"It seems this Li Gun isn't falling for it either. Finding a puppet with prestige that's easy to fool is really difficult these days." Zhou Xuantong of Canglong Company shook his head after receiving the report.

"I do know someone who's not bad, that's Empty 2086," Su Hongxiu said.

"But he's Company Executive Players."

"We can design a script that makes him betray his family and the company, and become a nobody, wouldn't that work?" Su Hongxiu said.

"Furthermore, don't assume that all independent individuals are hostile to aristocratic families and large corporations. They may appear hostile on the surface, but deep down they still envy lineage and aristocratic families."

"Therefore, in history, most emperors were from aristocratic families."

"That's true."