Takeoff!

While Alice posted ads on major gaming forums, Mark also developed an instant messaging app, naming it Panda Chat. Its icon was an adorably clumsy-looking panda.

Mark bundled Panda Chat with the two games he had created.

Whether players had purchased Stardew Valley or installed Myth of Heroes, they would see the panda icon upon entering the game.

Besides allowing users to chat with friends, Panda Chat also came with the official game website and game forums built in.

From then on, players could use Panda Chat to find teammates or exchange gaming tips on the forums.

There were now over two million players who had purchased Stardew Valley. Once Mark pushed out Panda Chat, it immediately gained two million users.

At the same time, the new game Myth of Heroes was rapidly promoted through Panda Chat, and the number of people downloading and installing it kept skyrocketing!

"Not bad. In just three days, the number of players who downloaded and installed Myth of Heroes has surpassed one million!"

Mark nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the backend data.

The game was spreading far faster than Stardew Valley had when it first launched.

However, the new players might not yet have become familiar with Myth of Heroes's gameplay, so not many of them had chosen to pay so far.

Myth of Heroes was an online game and required daily maintenance and operation.

As the player count increased, relying solely on Alice would be too wasteful of her daily computing power, so Mark decided to establish a game company.

Starting a company from scratch would take too much time.

After searching online, Mark quickly found a small-to-medium-sized game company on the verge of bankruptcy. He bought it for $1.2 million and renamed it Payne Games.

He handed the operation and maintenance of both games he had created over to the newly established game company and stopped worrying about them.

"The company's affairs are settled. What matters most now is improving my own strength!"

Mark knew very well that strength was what mattered most in the Marvel Universe.

Without sufficient strength, it would be difficult to hold on to however much money he earned.

When he had previously flown back and forth to New York, Mark had discovered that he gained Sunlight Value several times faster on a plane than on the ground.

Now that he had enough funds, it was time to buy a private jet and rapidly collect Sunlight Value.

Mark contacted an aviation brokerage firm and entrusted them with purchasing the aircraft, handling all the paperwork, and hiring a pilot, security personnel, a chef, flight attendants, and other staff.

A week later, the aviation brokerage firm had completed everything for Mark, and he readily paid the total sum of $8 million.

"Hiss, I'm broke again!"

Seeing that there was less than $1 million left in his bank account, Mark felt a little pained as well.

But for the sake of becoming stronger quickly, it was all worth it!

"Mom, I'm going away for a while. Please help me ask the community elementary school for a long leave."

Mark found Rosalie and told her.

"Huh? What are you going to do? How long will you be gone?"

Rosalie asked in surprise.

"You know I just started a game company. I need to handle company matters recently, so I'll probably be away for over half a month!"

Mark would not tell anyone else about his abilities, so he could only use another excuse.

Rosalie had already grown accustomed to Mark's maturity beyond his years.

Though she was somewhat worried, she ultimately nodded and agreed. "All right, but you have to video call Mom every day while you're away. Don't make Mom worry."

"Okay, Mom. Don't worry."

Mark naturally nodded in agreement.

After settling things with Rosalie, Mark took out his phone and called his pilot, Dalton Lawrence.

"Dalton, have the crew get ready. I'm taking the plane tomorrow."

"Mr. Payne, where would you like to fly?"

Dalton asked respectfully.

"Um... just fly in the direction of the sun. Be careful to avoid areas covered by thunderstorms."

Only by flying after the sun could Mark maximize his daily time in the sunlight. The destination did not matter.

"Huh? Y-you don't have a destination?"

Dalton was a little dumbfounded.

He had been a pilot for so many years, but he had never heard such a strange request.

"No... flying is my hobby. I just want to experience what it feels like to soar through the sky."

Mark could not possibly tell him that he was collecting Sunlight Value, so he casually brushed him off.

"This... all right!"

Dalton did not quite understand, so he could only treat it as a rich person's eccentricity.

Early the next morning, Mark headed to the airport escorted by two bodyguards.

Dalton stood at the cabin entrance with more than a dozen crew members to welcome him.

"Good morning, Mr. Payne!"

Although they were surprised by Mark's age, the crew all bowed to him together.

"Mm. Sorry for the trouble, everyone."

Mark nodded and boarded the plane with the two bodyguards.

This was Mark's first time boarding the aircraft that belonged to him. Before this, he had only seen photos and videos of it.

The interior was spacious, fifteen meters long, around 1.8 meters high, and nearly three meters wide at its widest point.

The furnishings were also luxurious—wood flooring, imported Italian leather seats, and thick wool carpets.

What satisfied Mark most were the enormous oval windows on both sides of the cabin, which ensured that he could receive sufficient sunlight.

Once Mark settled onto the sofa in the forward cabin, the plane immediately began to take off.

Boom!

Amid a roar, the plane quickly pierced through the clouds and soared into the sky.

[Sunlight Value +1 +1 +1...]

As the plane reached its cruising altitude and began flying steadily, the speed at which Mark gained Sunlight Value also surged.

"The speed of collecting Sunlight Value up here truly can't compare to being on the ground..."

Mark let the sunlight shine across his face. Feeling his Sunlight Value continuously rise, he comfortably closed his eyes.

"Sir, would you like something to drink?"

A beautiful, curvaceous flight attendant approached Mark carrying a tray of beverages. She bent down and asked respectfully.

Mark casually picked up a bottle of milk and placed it on the table in front of him.

Then he opened the laptop on the table and used Panda Chat to start a video call with Rosalie.

Although there were already quite a few instant messaging apps online, because such apps were free, few companies were willing to spend much effort expanding their functions.

However, the Panda Chat app Mark had created was already highly refined in every aspect.

At first, some users complained that Mark should not have bundled the messaging app with the games and forced players to use it.

But after using it for a while, those players discovered just how good it was, and Panda Chat received endless praise.

Now, some users who had not installed the games were even taking the initiative to download and install the messaging app.