With 5 more energy points, Li Xing wasn't about to complain.
Compared to the rewards he'd earned through sheer effort, fighting tooth and nail and risking his life,
these 5 free energy points were something Li Xing was naturally overjoyed to accept.
At a physique of 1.4, 5 energy points meant 7 points of combat power.
Within this range, where a 2-point difference in combat power meant an absolute gap in strength, those 7 points were already enough for Li Xing to beat most people with ease.
Besides, Li Xing's physique kept increasing, which meant the energy multiplier was growing too.
If things continued like this, he might even get a decent ranking at the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament.
After moving into the room Xiao Wu had arranged for him, Li Xing began to think back on the strange events of the day.
He'd noticed a while ago that Xiao Wu and Ashu had started treating him with respect.
It was different from the fear and apprehension they'd shown before.
After he took a considerable fortune from Ox-King, he wandered around the town behind them with the two of them. He was generous with them and never harsh.
He always asked what they wanted and gave them plenty of money to spend.
That wasn't all. Li Xing's formidable strength could intimidate anyone, letting him protect their wealth while keeping them safe.
That wasn't to say Li Xing had become their bodyguard.
On the contrary, Li Xing had become something like a stabilizing pillar, the main support holding them up.
After noticing this, Li Xing hadn't really given it much thought.
He'd instinctively assumed Xiao Wu and Ashu treated him just as they had King Piccolo: they could betray him at any moment.
Who would've thought they'd be so damn slick? They'd nearly knocked him off balance.
He'd just faced Pilaf's tricks and crushed him with ease.
Li Xing wasn't like Sun Wukong and the others.
He had more than just strength. He was clever, too, and knew how to come up with solutions.
Using violence to beat Pilaf into submission obviously wouldn't win him over.
In the end, Li Xing had a soul-searching talk with Pilaf. With Xiao Wu and Ashu there, he painted them a picture of a bright future.
All three of them—Pilaf most of all—readily agreed.
Pilaf's dream was to become king and have people wait on him. Li Xing painted him a wonderful vision of building a huge corporation.
Pilaf surrendered on the spot.
He slept soundly that night.
The next day, Li Xing went straight to see Pilaf.
After another bout of brainwashing, he broke the plan down step by step and laid out a business empire for Pilaf.
This world had computers and airplanes, not to mention Hoi-Poi Capsules and flying cars, which were even more advanced.
Energy wasn't much of a problem, either.
Li Xing started with satellites, then smart devices, then the mobile internet, hyping it all up for them.
Once he'd finished, Li Xing fixed his gaze on Pilaf.
"Come on, do the math. Let's say the Dragon Ball World has a population of 5 billion, and 3 billion people buy our devices.
Each device sells for 3,000 yuan and costs 1,000 yuan to make. How much is that?"
(Using RMB!)
Pilaf sucked in a breath.
Ashu tried hard to count on his fingers.
"That's too much money to count."
Pilaf and Xiao Wu looked at him with disdain.
Pilaf was especially smug as he said,
"Lord Li Xing, we'd make 2 trillion yuan right there."
Li Xing nodded.
"Now work out the numbers. That's 2 trillion. If we release new models every one or two years, and 30% of people replace their devices each year, that's 2 trillion in the first year and 600 billion in the second.
And that's just the pocket change from smart devices.
Now factor in televisions, cars, computers, and so on.
Then add the internet and mobile service fees.
Say we charge each person 100 yuan a month for phone service. That's 300 billion yuan in revenue every month.
Now tell me: can you even calculate how much money is hidden in all this?"
Pilaf, Xiao Wu, and Ashu stared with shining eyes, their minds filled with money.
With money, who needed to be king? What couldn't they do?
Even a king couldn't live this comfortably.
"Come on, let's calculate something else. If we assign ten guards to every store
and set up 100,000 stores around the world,
it may look like we're spending money, but wouldn't that give us an army of a million people?
We've got more money than a king, our army is stronger than a king's, and our affairs are nowhere near as complicated.
Pilaf, tell me: which is better, that king dream of yours or the business plan I've laid out?"
The three of them were utterly impressed.
They gazed at Li Xing with admiration.
"Sir, we understand!"
"Sir, I'm convinced!"
"Sir, we pledge ourselves to you!"
Li Xing looked quite pleased.
Conning a bunch of fools was no challenge at all.
Easy as could be.
"That's enough. You can go. Xiao Wu, go help Pilaf. Work on a satellite and launch it into the sky, then make a computer, and finally a smart device."
Li Xing had no idea how scientific research was supposed to work, so he just gave orders at random.
Science in this world didn't make sense anyway. He'd let the scientists tinker however they liked, as long as they got results.
Master Roshi had enough strength to destroy the moon over a hundred times.
The Androids had combat power in the hundreds of millions, enough to destroy the entire solar system, or even the galaxy.
Yet they hadn't done it. They couldn't even destroy Earth.
And then there was the fact that humans had managed to create such super-powered beings. Where did all that energy come from?
Even if they were somehow drawing it out of thin air from the void, the technology was still unbelievable.
Since Li Xing wasn't even an amateur, there was no reason for him to get too involved.
Compared to technology, improving his martial arts was far more important for now.
Ashu couldn't even do arithmetic, so he naturally had to stay behind and train with Li Xing.
Time flew by.
Ashu was constantly being put through the wringer by Li Xing.
Pilaf and the others successfully launched a satellite and linked it to an upgraded computer.
Li Xing didn't understand the details, but he knew it was an incredible achievement.
"Sir, we did it!"
Li Xing calmly looked out the window.
A Category 12 storm was raging in his heart.
This was the Dragon Ball World's science for you.
It made no sense at all.
It wasn't just the research. Even manufacturing everything shouldn't have been this fast.
They'd researched and built the satellite, researched and built the launch vehicle, and researched and built a new-generation computer.
Even if they had some foundations to work from, like telephone networks and computer technology,
there was no way they should've succeeded this quickly.
"Sir, what's wrong?" Pilaf asked, his voice full of confusion. Li Xing came back to his senses.
"Nothing. I'm happy. Now we can make a fortune.
Pilaf, soon you'll know what it's like to eat one serving, dump another, and lie asleep on a mountain of gold."
Pilaf was thrilled.
"Haha, it's all thanks to your guidance, Lord Li Xing."
Li Xing's mouth twitched.
Guidance?
If brainwashing counted as guidance, then sure.
"By the way, we need to act more professionally from now on.
Calling each other 'king' or 'lord' won't do anymore.
I've made the decision for us: we'll establish a corporation.
We'll call it the Aurora Group. I'll be the chairman, responsible for business operations.
You'll be the group's chief scientist. Later, the company will hire thousands of outstanding scientists, and they'll all follow your orders and conduct research. How does that sound?"
Before you continue