"...Stark Industries announced its entry into the energy and gaming sectors, and will hold a press conference in three days. According to information released by Stark Industries, the product to be announced in three days will be of epoch-making significance..."
The news released by Stark Industries was widely reported by major media companies, with various interpretations and speculations from all angles. Some were pessimistic, some were praising, and some were analyzing seriously...
The energy companies were instinctively uneasy when they learned that Stark Industries was entering the energy sector.
If it were before, they might have been wary but not uneasy when they learned of Stark Industries' intention to enter the energy sector. However, now, Tony Stark was related to the aliens who caused a ruckus in New York a few days ago...
What if Tony Stark obtained some epoch-making black technology from those aliens that could replace all current energy sources? Wouldn't they all go bankrupt?!!!
No! Absolutely not! They must find out what new energy source Stark Industries was planning to release! If it could impact them, it must be destroyed! Although Stark Industries was strong, a group of energy companies joining forces was not a joke.
Commercial spies swarmed like flies smelling blood, buzzing towards Stark Industries, trying every possible way to gather intelligence.
The gaming companies were doing the same, hiring many commercial spies to collect intelligence.
But compared to the giants in the energy sector, the little brothers in the gaming industry were much weaker. Even if they banded together, they couldn't threaten Stark Industries, and they were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, anxiously awaiting news from their commercial spies.
However, the commercial spies had nothing to show for their efforts.
Within half a day, they tried all sorts of methods, including coercion and bribery, but couldn't obtain a single piece of useful information. Some commercial spies were even swindled by greedy ordinary employees of Stark Industries, losing a small amount of money.
Stark Industries employees were tight-lipped… Well, that wasn't possible.
The only explanation was that Tony Stark was hiding things very well, not revealing a single piece of information about the product. Thinking back to Stark Industries' recent series of inexplicable operations, like lowering stock prices and repurchasing shares…
The company bosses and commercial spies all understood: Tony Stark was cleaning up the company's internal parasites and fence-sitters, repurchasing shares to increase his say, and preparing for the product launch.
As expected of you, Tony Stark! A group of company bosses and commercial spies couldn't help but sigh.
The ordinary people, on the other hand, weren't thinking so much. What attracted them wasn't some new energy source. The slogan of new energy had been shouted for many years without any results, and even if new energy did come out, it wouldn't have much to do with them.
Games were relatively accessible to them. Even the most expensive game wouldn't cost that much. If Stark Industries released a fun game, they wouldn't mind spending some money on it.
Discussions raged on forums and other websites about what game Stark Industries would be releasing.
"Speaking of games, it's probably Full Dive,"
Muyang habitually stroked his chin, lost in thought. He had introduced Kayaba Akihiko to Tony Stark yesterday, and today Stark Industries announced their entry into the gaming field. Muyang didn't believe for a second that Kayaba Akihiko wasn't involved.
He was also somewhat interested in Full Dive games. As a child, he could happily play a game of Tank Battle over and over again.
Games played through Full Dive were also known as Second World, mainly because of their high degree of realism.
"I think it's very interesting. What do you think?"
Muyang looked at the Ancient One. The idle Sorcerer Supreme had once again come to his shop to chat today. Was the Sorcerer Supreme really this free?
"So-so," the Ancient One said calmly. "If I wished, I could construct a dream encompassing tens of thousands of people, making those drawn into it believe they'd time-traveled. After they'd learned some knowledge, I could send them back, creating the illusion of time travel."
Muyang's expression was speechless. "You're very boring."
"To be honest, I haven't been bored lately." The Ancient One smiled gently. "Mephisto seems to be under some kind of stress, and has been trying every way to get into the real world these past few days. It's made this soon-to-be-retired old lady quite busy. Do you think it might be because of a certain someone who runs a shop, loves stirring up trouble, and is always coming up with new schemes?"
The Ancient One emphasized the words "soon-to-be-retired," especially as she looked at Muyang with a smile.
You might as well just read out my ID card.
Muyang conjured a cup of tea, raised it, and took a sip. It looked like the Ancient One was really annoyed by Mephisto lately, and her anger was quite high! It was almost turning into killing intent.
Is the old devil okay? Huh? Why am I even worried about whether a devil is okay or not?
Muyang was stunned, then recovered. He responded calmly, "I don't think it matters! It's just a coincidence."
Mephisto wanting to sneak into the real world had two possibilities: either he discovered that the real world was gathering a large number of rare souls from other dimensions.
As a devil, Mephisto was a devil of taste. He enjoyed collecting unique souls, so how could he not be excited when a bunch of special, otherworldly souls appeared?
Another possibility? Mephisto might have discovered something amiss in the real world. Perhaps he suspected it would involve a part of the Ancient One's experiences, and he wanted to sneak into the real world to have some fun and snag a few souls.
Whichever it was, it was directly related to him.
But it was fine; he wouldn't admit it. Anyway, the Ancient One didn't intend to pursue the matter, just to complain a bit.
"..." The Ancient One rolled her eyes, saying nothing.
Muyang conjured another cup of tea and handed it to the Ancient One, "Have some tea."
The Ancient One didn't say a word, picking up the teacup and drinking it down in one gulp.
Muyang watched the Ancient One's unrestrained tea-drinking, which was more like drinking alcohol, and asked, "What brings you here today? Don't tell me it's just to complain."
"As expected of you, Boss Muyang."
The Ancient One said with a smile, "Right on the money."
That's true!
Muyang thought, speechless.
Seriously, is the Sorcerer Supreme this free?
Seeing Muyang's speechless expression, the Ancient One's mood gradually improved. The two of them looked at each other in silence, and the room fell quiet.
Ding-ling—
The doorbell's sound broke the silence. The two people in the room looked at the door simultaneously. A figure walked in.
The person who was being stared at by the two big shots felt a sense of pressure, and their body immediately stiffened.
"Wh… what's going on?"
Zheng Xian was sweating. He felt like he hadn't entered a magical shop that could grant wishes, but rather had fallen into a dragon's lair. He was the defenseless little rabbit, now targeted by the dragon, pitiful, weak, and helpless.