To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Chapter 498: 293 Chapter: A Treacherous Merchant! (Second Update)_2

An infamous schemer among the Iron Guards, a master of verbal artillery.

With a tap of the keys, Gong Gong began a verbal battle against multiple scholars, greeting each one by one, and soon had them tossing helmets and shedding armor in defeat.

“Bullying others? I’m bullying you now, what are you going to do about it, bite me?!”

“I’m just that adorable, that domineering, I just can’t stand seeing others in pain, I want to liberate everyone!”

“You all talk so righteously, but you know very well what you actually do. You’re clearly exploiting other players, so stop pretending like you’re running a charity, okay?”

“Calling me a non-profit broadcaster? The only thing cheaper than me is your dear mother!”

—- Gong Gong was muted for inappropriate language —-

—- Gong Gong logged on —-

“Come on, I have thousands of alternate accounts, am I afraid of you leeches?”

—- Gong Gong was muted for inappropriate language —-

—- Gong Gong logged on —-

“Keep it up, I’m not done ranting, let’s continue the battle for three hundred rounds!”

That day, players witnessed the terror of being dominated by a cosmic-class insulter.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ɴ0νǤ0.сο

She was well-read, her tongue as sharp as a lotus flower, masterfully citing various sources, battling on all fronts until she made her opponents break down, cursing them out before getting herself banned.

The flame war delighted the popcorn-eating crowd, and Gong Gong’s notoriety as a troll spread far and wide.

Everyone witnessed the terror of this little white-haired loli, and her portrayal would undoubtedly incorporate a venomous tongue, further elevating Gong Gong’s fame beyond its circle.

Watching Gong Gong’s chat log, Chen Rang remarked, “You really are something, taking on hundreds of people by yourself, leaving them too afraid to speak.”

Gong Gong, sipping on watermelon juice, proudly stuck out her chest that wasn’t there and boasted, “I was going easy on them. Otherwise, I could have cursed out their ancestors.”

“But you went through all this trouble, and it wasn’t just to curse people out, right?”

Gong Gong gave a thumbs-up, “Of course not, this matter needed attention, or it would’ve just been a small-scale self-indulgence. Public opinion pressure is just one aspect, there’s more to follow.”

“More to follow?”

“Yeah. Chanting scriptures is just part of the game, it’s no substitute for the criticism of weapons. We must have our own stake in the game, or there’s no way we’ll succeed.”

“And what would that be?” Chen Rang asked, puzzled, “Currently most ingredients are monopolized; what else is there for us to corner the market in?”

“Of course, it’s the most commonplace, yet most vital thing—salt.”

Chen Rang thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

The major guilds, because of their first-mover and monetary advantages, have monopolized nearly all industries, leaving newcomers trailing in their wake.

But salt, being far too common and virtually profitless, had somehow escaped this monopolistic fate.

Moreover, Lin’an City didn’t produce salt, so all salt had to be shipped by sea.

Once every ten days, the salt ships would arrive, and depart after their cargo was sold.

However, monopolizing such a fundamental item also risked backfiring, with numerous variables in between that made the outcome unpredictable.

But Gong Gong said it didn’t matter.

“Monopolizing salt can’t last for a prolonged period, but if we take certain actions at specific times, we can achieve the desired effect. We might need a large-scale propaganda campaign by then, Chen Rang, so start gearing up.”

Though still somewhat skeptical, Chen Rang gained confidence from Gong Gong’s attitude and went off to make preparations.

Watching Chen Rang leave, Gong Gong logged out of the game and started handling affairs.

Thousands of alternate accounts maneuvered within Lin’an City, constantly gathering information and relaying it back to Gong Gong.

Beyond those mingling within the guilds, many alternates blended in with NPCs, collecting data from various layers to compile it into a tight-knit network.

Frightening computational power coursed through the network, with masses of information converging. The trio of Artifact Spirits even started to collaborate, harnessing their combined computing power to take various factors into account and momentarily predict future outcomes with Divine Skills.

This feature was typically used by the Iron Guards to briefly forecast the outcomes of future battles. With the variety of events in a cosmic war far more complex than the current scenario, there was a higher chance of inaccurate predictions.

But now, just forecasting the direction of the game, the accuracy would be much higher.

Soon, Gong Gong had obtained the intelligence he needed.

Alts and players started to act together, nibbling away at the salt stock whereby large quantities of salt were quietly purchased and used to fill the temporary warehouses.

At the same time, the guild’s retaliation arrived.

Many supply channels started to indicate that they could not cooperate with Gong Gong and others, as all the items could no longer be sold to them. The upper echelons of the guild began pressuring them through NPCs and came forward with a favorable proposition.

“Either apologize, or stop playing.”

In response to this, Gong Gong skillfully exhaled through his nose, took a bite of his deep-fried dough stick, and said, “Such trivial bullshit isn’t even qualified to be a threat.”

The power struggle between the two sides commenced, while Gong Gong continued to quietly stockpile the surplus salt, silently awaiting an opportunity to resist.

Soon, Gong Gong’s opportunity arrived.

On this day, the weather was fine and the sky clear.

The gates of the sect in Linhua City were thrown open, and a line of Cultivators came out, proclaiming the orders from the Immortal.

Outside the sect, a crowd of players had been waiting for a long time. They were like quails on tiptoe, looking at the notice, eager to find out what the sect wanted.

The Cultivators of the Food God Sect were the highest administrators of Linhua City. They managed this place with their powers that transcended the mundane and occasionally released various quests.

The Cultivators, with their saintly abilities, controlled resources that far exceeded those of ordinary NPCs, and every major quest meant a windfall of benefits and was worth the effort for players to pursue.

Facing the players, these Cultivators appeared as if they had lost their parents, emotionless as they stated, “The Supreme Elder has spoken, he wishes to eat salted fish, the more the better.”

Upon hearing this sentence, the members of the guild were overjoyed.

The price offered by the sect was twenty times the normal rate, and quality was not a top priority during purchase, as long as the product was available.

If the quantity was large enough, there would be an extra reward, usually an opportunity for the large guilds to obtain additional resources.

Since Linhua City was near the sea, fish were not scarce. So by purchasing a lot of salt, one could make salted fish and earn a hefty profit.

However, just as they were about to buy salt, the procurement players were shocked to discover…

The salt was gone.

The last package of salt had been sold, and the shelves of the salt shop were empty, with barely a grain of salt left.

Seaborne salt would take five days to arrive, while buying from Nanan City came with quantity restrictions. The players responsible for purchasing fish were already poised to go, and in a bid to take the lead, they had aggressively bought up a large quantity of sea fish.

But, incidentally, the normally abundant salt was nowhere to be found.

This unusual situation put the guild management on alert, but before they could realize what was happening, news came from a secluded corner of Linhua City.

There was salt there!

The guild members immediately rushed over and found that the place was actually Gong Gong’s small shop.

They were indeed selling salt, but at an exorbitant price. The salt, which usually cost around a dozen coins, was now priced at three taels of silver. The skyrocketing price made the representatives gulp.

Suppressing their anger, the representatives found the Artifact Spirit, Tai Yin, who was bored and nodding off, and said with a bad temper, “Where is Gong Gong?”

“My young miss has returned to her maternal home, so what I say goes here,” Tai Yin said.

“Stop playing with this setting! Where do you get a maternal home in the game?!”

“I don’t know, she just told me that,” Tai Yin replied.

“And the price…”

“The price is fixed. Take it or leave it. It’s that simple.”

Grinding their teeth while looking at Tai Yin, most of the representatives turned around and left. Only a few bit the bullet and painfully purchased the salt.

After all, the fish wouldn’t wait, and if left any longer, they would spoil.

And the others, after taking a round in Linhua City and finding truly no salt, begrudgingly returned to Gong Gong’s small shop, only to see the price of salt had risen to four taels.

What a bunch of profiteers!