Journey

The plane took off, the buildings on the ground growing smaller and smaller, patches of white clouds rapidly flashing past the window beside him.

Sitting in a window seat, Ning Yifan closed his eyes, looking forward to the journey ahead.

As for that country of neon lights—how to put it—due to historical reasons, Ning Yifan still felt a fair bit of disgust and aversion. But that didn't stop him from liking their anime.

Since childhood, he had watched a great many anime works from that neon-lit country.

One Piece—Luffy and the bonds with his crew, the incredible adventures they shared.

Pokémon—cute or cool creatures, one after another.

Bleach—the other side of the city, with Soul Reapers, Quincy, and Lord Aizen Sousuke!

Naruto—a world view that was stunning at first sight, Naruto's gradual growth, and his Talk no Jutsu against all kinds of strong foes.

Doraemon—the warm and funny daily life of Doraemon and Nobita, all kinds of black tech.

Slam Dunk—Coach, I want to play basketball.

Dragon Ball—the Kamehameha, gathering the seven Dragon Balls to make a wish.

Crayon Shin-chan—Elephant, elephant, why is your nose so long!

Cardcaptor Sakura—Key that hides the power of darkness, release the seal!

Conan—The truth is only one!

New Mobile Report Gundam Wing—One slash, two halves, Ruyi Divine Sword!

Digimon—the evolution sound effect playing, WarGreymon.

Ultraman Tiga—like sunlight piercing through the darkness. Toriko.

Let's & Go!!, Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail, Akame ga Kill!, Gintama, Hunter x Hunter, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Heaven's Lost Property, Fullmetal Alchemist, Kamen Rider, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Gintama, Mob Psycho 100, Steins;Gate, Noragami, A Certain Scientific Railgun, Himouto! Umaru-chan, Lelouch, Fate/stay night, Inuyasha, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Mobile Suit, Death Note, Rurouni Kenshin, The Prince of Tennis, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Yowamushi Pedal, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, One-Punch Man, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kuroko's Basketball...

All kinds of anime formed an important part of Ning Yifan's childhood and influenced him to this day.

Of course, besides the neon-lit country's anime, Daxia also had many anime that Ning Yifan remembered vividly: Adventures of Little Carp, The Legend of Nezha, The Little Bee's Journey, Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit Seven Heroes, Calabash Brothers, Shuke and Beita, The Tale of Three-Faced God, The Adventures of Sanmao the Orphan, The Sloppy King, Blue-P Skin Rat and Big-Face Cat, Big Head Son and Small Head Dad, Lotus Lantern, Little Tiger's Adventures, Journey to the West...

In recent years, there were also many domestic anime that Ning Yifan really liked: Genshin Impact, Fog Hill of Five Elements, The Legend of Hei, The BlDemon, Hitori no Shita: The Outcast, Scissor Seven, The Legend of Qin, Rakshasa Street, Painting Jianghu...

He still remembered when he was little, every time school let out, he'd race home, turn on the TV, and lose himself in all the anime channels—Animation City, Big Windmill—he could still clearly recall the opening music of those shows.

He also remembered there was a pay-per-view channel back then. On weekends, Ning Yifan liked to wait in front of it, hoping someone would order an anime. On that very channel, he watched the first few dozen episodes of Naruto, Dragon Ball, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ultraman Tiga, and others over and over again.

Besides that, whenever a local station was airing an anime he liked, Ning Yifan would sprint home just to catch the start, or if he really couldn't make it, at least watch the ending credits.

Roughly counting, there were dozens of deeply memorable works. Going through them all, Ning Yifan had watched hundreds of anime!

A long time ago, Ning Yifan had wanted to trace the origins of neon-lit anime, to see the creative environment behind these works and the real-life scenes that often appeared in them. This trip was also a journey to chase after neon-lit anime.

The plane landed at Narita Airport. Ning Yifan carried a small backpack containing exchanged neon-lit country currency, identification, simple daily necessities, and so on.

A phone and a small backpack—that was all Ning Yifan had for this entire trip.

By the time he left the airport, it was already past two in the afternoon.

Alone with a small backpack, Ning Yifan didn't choose to take a car. Instead, he went to a nearby bicycle shop, spent over thirty thousand in neon-lit country currency—about two thousand Daxia Coins—and rented a bike he was fairly satisfied with.

He turned on his phone's navigation and, following the map's directions, rode off into the distance.

There were plenty of travel guides for the neon-lit country online. Ning Yifan had looked at some, combined them with the anime he liked, made a few modifications, and then set off on this journey.

For this trip, Ning Yifan had even spent a few days simply learning the language of the neon-lit country.

With the help of his photographic memory and the fact that he'd watched so much anime, he was already very familiar with the grammar.

Others had to slowly memorize the fifty-sound chart and slowly memorize vocabulary, but for Ning Yifan, seeing it once and hearing it once was enough to remember. In just a few days, he had a basic grasp of the language, enough to travel alone and handle everyday conversations.

Cycling through the streets of an unfamiliar city, surrounded by a cultural environment completely different from Daxia, Ning Yifan rode and looked around. With his strong physique, the bike's speed wasn't slow either.

Occasionally passing a snack shop, Ning Yifan would stop and try some local food.

At night, he'd casually find a hotel or inn to stay at, then set off again the next day. Stopping and going, sometimes when he didn't feel like cycling or the next stop was far, he could hitch a ride. As long as he paid enough fare, the driver didn't mind giving him a lift.

The Naruto Theme Park—it had tons of large Naruto statues and related buildings.

Tokyo Tower—a building that often appeared in anime. Ning Yifan could roughly recall scenes from Cardcaptor Sakura, Digimon, Tokyo Ghoul, and more. There was also a One Piece Theme Park there, with plenty of anime-related content.

Big theme parks, small real-life scenes that had appeared in anime—he traveled and played along the way, occasionally buying lots of figurines and dolls, shipping them straight back to the Shenma Technology factory in Daxia.

During the trip, thanks to his super-invincible good looks, a very impressive physique, and generous spending, Ning Yifan received phone numbers and contact info from many neon-lit country girls. Some even proactively offered to accompany him on his travels, but Ning Yifan ignored all of them.

No women in the heart!

After slowly touring the neon-lit country for about ten days, Ning Yifan finally ended this journey, still wanting more.

The last stop was the Konami Games Company headquarters in Tokyo.

Changing into a formal suit, Ning Yifan arrived at the Konami company headquarters building.

Konami—one of the most influential game software companies in the neon-lit country. Founded in 1969, it had a history of fifty years and had created many classic games: Silent Hill, Contra, Metal Gear, Castlevania, Pro Evolution Soccer, Tokimeki Memorial, Gradius, Suikoden, Dance Dance Revolution, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and so on.

Entering the company, Ning Yifan went to the front desk and said to the young lady there, "Hello, I'm Ning Yifan from Daxia Country. I have an appointment with Mr. Matsushita of your company."

"Ah, o-okay!" Looking at Ning Yifan's face, the front desk girl blushed before hurriedly replying, "Mr. Matsushita is in his office. He mentioned earlier that if Mr. Ning Yifan arrived, you could go directly to see him. Would you like me to show you the way?"

"Then I'll trouble you."

"You're welcome."

Following the front desk receptionist who kept stealing glances at him, Ning Yifan arrived at the office of Komere Company's manager, Matsushita Ichinichi.

Knock knock knock—

The front desk girl knocked on the door.

"Come in." A voice answered from inside.

Pushing the door open, Ning Yifan stepped in.

The front desk girl reluctantly left, returning to her post.

After entering, Ning Yifan addressed the manager sitting behind the desk: "Hello, I'm Ning Yifan from Daxia Country. We've spoken on the phone before."

Matsushita, who was over fifty, looked at Ning Yifan's youthful face and remarked with emotion, "Mr. Ning Yifan, you look very young, very handsome!"

"Thank you."

"Haha, you're welcome. Mr. Ning Yifan, I already understand your purpose here. Regarding the official TV game license for Yu-Gi-Oh! in the Dasha Kingdom region, there are still some specific details that need to be discussed."

The official license for the Yu-Gi-Oh! game was Ning Yifan's ultimate goal this time.

For the second-generation Phantom Projector, Ning Yifan planned to equip it with a TV system he had developed himself, using the previous generation's Snapdragon 855 series processor chip. Purchasing last-generation products was no longer difficult, and after Ning Yifan's optimization, performance would be further enhanced. Meanwhile, the memory would be unified at 8+128GB, with built-in AI image enhancement technology and various official TV software.

With the official Yu-Gi-Oh! game license, combined with the naked-eye 3D technology Ning Yifan had developed and the upgraded configuration, he believed the sales of the Phantom Projector Generation 2 would undoubtedly see another significant surge.

In addition to the Phantom Projector Generation 2, a Youth Edition with reduced specifications would also be added, significantly lowering the price. At the same time, the first-generation Phantom Projector would not be discontinued.

This wave of product upgrades would bring more sales to Shenma Technology Company and capture the world's attention.