Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

 Chapter 370 -  361: The First and Final Victory

Lincoln asked a few questions in confusion before he finally understood why Camille Victoria was angry.

It turned out that she had failed to mimic Camille, got counter-killed, and even lost her dog in the process. She was in a "I'm totally done for" state.

What could Lincoln say at this point?

"How about... I let you take care of Milkshake for a few days?"

Princess Camille Victoria was quite tempted, but her mother was allergic to dog fur and couldn't keep a dog...

"I'll just go visit it then."

After chatting for a while and agreeing to meet up the next day, the two hung up the phone.

On Princess Camille Victoria's end, just as she hung up, Shuihua called her.

The moment she answered the phone, she was bombarded with complaints. "Isn't Lincoln going too far? He's inhuman! A dog's life is still a life!"

Princess Camille Victoria had no intention of defending Lincoln at the moment and completely sided with her best friend Shuihua. "You're right, he's gone too far!"

——Even players who had already been spoiled about the plot and knew the storyline in advance still felt their blood pressure rise at what was happening in front of them. They couldn't help but feel uncomfortable without cursing Lincoln and Cloud Dream.

...

On Lincoln's end, after hanging up, he realized that as more players joined the game during the evening's peak hours, an even more intense wave of public opinion attacks would come.

So he opened various social media platforms to see the players' posts.

As expected, the previous topic cursing him was heating up again.

—This was within expectations, so it wasn't surprising.

But what did surprise him was that there was a brand-new topic that was pushed to the top and rushed to the forefront of the hot search list:

#DogLivesMatter#

Those who were not aware of the situation might think that dog lovers in reality had finally erupted and were starting a century-long battle with those who eat dog meat.

Only upon entering the topic would they find out that it wasn't the case:

'Dogs' lives matter too! Protest against the violent abuse of puppies!'

'Why? You can kill people to create the plot, but why kill the dog?!'

'Dog Lives Matter!!!'

'DLM! Call for protection of animals in virtual worlds!'

...

"Seriously?" Lincoln looked at the frenzied netizens, his mind full of question marks. "Have they all gone mad?"

What's even more absurd is that employees in the original office started receiving "banners" when they were about to get off work.

Of these, a full eighteen were all about "Give Me My Life Back!"

According to the employees' predictions, there might be even more packages and banners coming in the next few days than today.

Luckily, they were taking the day off tomorrow, so they wouldn't have to keep signing for them constantly.

The bad news was that on Monday, they wouldn't need to do anything else but figure out how to deal with the packages. If the packages couldn't even fit, that was another problem.

Lincoln was worried about the paint-splashing incident that hadn't happened yet.

But people had already started hanging banners on trees outside the company and pasting big-character posters on the distribution boxes.

How exaggerated has the situation become?

It's gotten to the point where Gary voluntarily halted all Water Army actions and even wanted to send an email to Lincoln saying, "This is all your own doing, it has nothing to do with me!"

He really wanted to cause some trouble, but he didn't expect it to escalate to such an extent!

If this continues, it will no longer just be about business competition but personal grudges as well!

But the problem is——he really did participate in fanning the flames, and as soon as the incident started brewing in the morning, he immediately got involved...

If Lincoln ever found out, it would definitely be used against him...

The good news is that Lincoln isn't concerned about him right now. After checking with Yue Pengju again to make sure that players didn't engage in any truly radical activities, he finally felt a little relieved.

Once they announce the news tomorrow, it should somewhat appease the players.

By the day after tomorrow, if nothing goes wrong, the players should have no more interest in cursing him and will instead focus on gloating over the players from other servers, watching their reactions to the "Death Arena."

*

"Speed Chase," on its launch day, had already attracted the attention of nearly all players in the gaming circle. Moreover, with Cloud Dream creating such a controversial storyline, the level of attention it attracted was astronomically high.

Not only did this indirectly attract more people to check out the game, but it also caused another not-so-small impact——

The "Assassins' Alliance" group match today saw the lowest audience number since the start of the competition, with only 60% of yesterday's audience.

Under such circumstances, Warehouse Bird, Chasing Wind, and their teammates went to the competition venue with some trepidation after several days of training and preparation.

Their opponents, on the other hand, entered the competition venue while cursing Lincoln and Cloud Dream and saying, "If it wasn't for rushing the plot, I'd definitely delete and restart the game."

The group match was a best-of-three series.

Round one: Duel mode.

There was no respawn mechanism; each person had one life, and the last surviving team won.

Of course, Warehouse Bird and his teammates wouldn't miss such a huge opening. Even Chasing Wind seized the opportunity and launched an attack together.

The opponents' desperate attempts to shield themselves were futile as they lost two teammates on the spot.

At the start of the match, everything seemed normal.

But when the skirmishes began, Warehouse Bird immediately noticed that there was something off about their opponents!

In the past, when everyone was hiding behind cover, the usual action for all contestants was to try to use the cover to their advantage, attempting to stretch the engagement with arcing fire, maintain distance during attack and defense, and look for opportunities.

But this time——the opponents charged forward without any hesitation or thought!

What's even more outrageous was that only after three of them came out of cover did they seem to realize something was wrong, and they hurriedly stopped and tried to run back.

Of course, Warehouse Bird and his teammates wouldn't miss such a huge opening. Even Chasing Wind seized the opportunity and launched an attack together.

The opponents' desperate attempts to shield themselves were futile as they lost two teammates on the spot.

After that, five against three, no matter how hard their opponents tried, it was impossible to turn the tide.

Even if Chasing Wind was slightly weaker, it was still like 4.5 against 3, and it was not easy to turn things around!

Second round: Point accumulation mode.

There are A and B points on the battlefield, and each point, once occupied, will add 5 points per minute to their team's score.

There is a respawn mechanism, each kill will add 1 point to their score.

The first team to reach 150 points wins.

However, right at the beginning, Warehouse Bird didn't even go for the points, and without second thoughts, he led his team to a convenience store at the edge of the map. After a shopping spree, they returned to the battlefield.

But they didn't use guns; instead, they each held a "Fire Dragon Firework" and launched it towards the enemies hiding inside the house, guarding the point.

The "Fire Dragon Fireworks" made by Mavis are not like ordinary fireworks at all.

Ordinary fireworks in daylight aren't very eye-catching, and using them as weapons against people is pretty much useless, with only a slight visual interference at most.

But Mavis's "Fire Dragon Fireworks" don't care if it's day or night!

As soon as they are lit, they show off what a "Fire Dragon" is all about!

Loud booming sounds, dazzling lights, and an enormous size, nothing is missing!

Shooting this thing indoors, other than having no killing power and not causing any damage upon direct hit, it's much more effective than flash bombs or shock bombs!

This is Warehouse Bird's secret weapon, but he never had a chance to use it in the preliminary matches because they were either too easy or too difficult.

Either they lost too quickly, or there was no convenience store on the map at all, so there was simply no opportunity.

But now, in the last match of the group stage, which also happens to be their best chance to win, and this is even on the map, it's as if fate is telling him to use this move!

With a manic laugh, Warehouse Bird launches "Fire Dragon Fireworks", watching their opponents panic and thinking only four words: "A match made in heaven!"

As for his teammates, they had already put down their fireworks and started shooting with their guns.

Dealing with a bunch of blinded enemies, it was a massacre!

Warehouse Bird looked at his backpack full of fireworks and felt incredibly happy!

Victory was already beckoning them!

As the match progressed, everything went exactly as he had expected.

After grabbing the points, they didn't defend, but instead hid not far away. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

If the opponents didn't try to take the points, they would just hang back and wait for their score to increase.

If the opponents tried to take the points, well, then Warehouse Bird would light up the Fire Dragon Fireworks and yell at them, "Here come the fireworks~~"

After trying twice, the opponent felt utterly miserable.

The dizziness, blurred vision, and tinnitus from the negative effects were far worse than being shot!

Afterwards, they tried to adjust their tactics, giving up on taking the points and attempting to charge at Warehouse Bird's team, planning to kill them and then calmly take control of the points.

But Warehouse Bird had already formed a defensive formation like a turtle shell early on, occasionally shooting Fire Dragon Fireworks to disrupt the opponents.

Moreover, it seemed that the enemy's combat rhythm had also gone haywire, as they frequently exposed large flaws, either accidentally charging forward or rapidly firing in succession, leading to a gap in their firepower...

With so many factors combined, Warehouse Bird didn't just feel like it was easy to fight, even Chasing Wind gained confidence, and the more he fought, the smoother it got. He continuously killed the enemies, getting "Last Hit" after "Last Hit".

After several attempts proved fruitless, the opponents finally realized that continuing like this would only give Warehouse Bird's team more points.

In the end, the opponents simply gave up, no longer charging out after respawning.

Warehouse Bird's team, feeling bored while waiting for the last minute, lit all the remaining fireworks towards the sky.

Celebrating their first and last victory in the group stage.

At the same time, it was also a farewell ceremony for the end of their group stage journey.

The fireworks in the last minute of the match, with their continuous defeats and only winning the final game in the group stage, were full of romanticism, leaving a deep impression on the audience who watched the match.

It was also the most popular and had the most comments during that minute in all matches today.

As the match ended, they left the competition venue.

All five team members knew it was time to disband their temporary team.

But instead of going back to their hotel, they found a roadside barbecue stall nearby and indulged in the joys of skewers and drinks.

Chasing Wind, who hadn't visited such a small roadside stall in years, didn't mind sitting on a small plastic stool and grilling skewers at the low table, boasting, "Hahaha, I got 13 kills! So satisfying!"

Everyone toasted and drank, having a great time.

"Awesome!"

"Worth it!"

"Fantastic!"

...

Returning to the hotel after a fun night, Chasing Wind immediately transferred the prize money from their victorious match to his teammates.

But to his surprise, everyone soon returned the money to him.

Warehouse Bird sent him a message: "You played really well! It's a collective effort for us to win!"

His teammates also replied with similar words:

"Don't worry about it, we couldn't have won without you."

"I can't take this, I've earned enough haha."

"13 kills, the king of common killers!"

Chasing Wind couldn't help but laugh at these messages.

However, he still replied to the last teammate: "What the hell are you talking about? What king of killers? I earned those kills with my own skills!"