Chu Fu was starting to feel a little embarrassed.
Skill books weren’t cheap.
However, a Level 1 skill book only required rabbit hide, rabbit blood, plant fiber, and ink.
The production cost was roughly three copper coins.
After all, rabbit hide and rabbit blood cost two copper coins, while plant fiber and ink could be bought in the real world for no more than ten yuan.
But there were also the costs of spending twenty years as a professional book printer, the potions needed to restore mana, a full set of mana-regeneration equipment, and a team dedicated to helping him level up.
“This is something that benefits both the country and its people. How about this? I’ll give up twenty percent of the profits as well.”
Chu Fu didn’t waste time politely arguing with Li Weizheng. She covered all the expenses.
But wouldn’t the buyers who had already purchased skill books cause a commotion?
Besides, after this plan was promoted, Li Weizheng would take a loss in the short term, but in the long run, he would make a fortune.
These players could use their pets to kill the mutated rats and help maintain the safety of the cities.
Even taking the worst-case scenario into account, once the game invaded reality, every player would pay taxes to their villages, towns, and cities.
This taxation would be mandatory.
Players accompanied by contracted beasts would likely work even harder to earn money for cat food and dog food.
The more they earned, the more taxes they would pay.
By giving up twenty percent of the profits, Chu Fu would gain a reputation and promote her own skills.
Li Weizheng hurriedly said, “Thank you so much, Chairwoman Chu! You really are a conscientious entrepreneur!”
Chu Fu’s conscience hurt a little.
Li Weizheng ended the call, then immediately dialed his superiors.
“Leader, I have a better solution on my end…
“Yes, I’ve already contacted Chairwoman Chu. She’s willing to fully support us and produce Summoner skills on a large scale. She’s even willing to give up twenty percent of the profits.
“Leader, what do you think about reimbursing the public for part of the cost? This would actually benefit us as well. Level 30 players won’t waste their time fighting Level 3 monsters anymore.
“Yes, yes!
“I discussed it with Chairwoman Chu. The government can subsidize fifty percent. What do you think? If it costs one gold coin, many players won’t be able to afford it. But if they only need to pay three hundred silver coins, I think some players would be willing to borrow the money, even if they had to borrow from one another.
“Understood. I’ll make sure it’s publicized properly.
“Yes, I didn’t force her to lower the price. Chairwoman Chu offered this herself. She really is a wonderful person with a truly sincere heart. She even helped us fight the divine envoy and never held back when it came to sharing the benefits.
“Rest assured, Leader. I’ll cooperate fully with Chairwoman Chu.”
Li Weizheng hung up with a broad smile.
It had worked.
He had acted as the intermediary and ultimately made the whole arrangement possible.
Fortunately, everyone was currently staying home and playing the game. It was also only the first day that canine creatures had mutated, and no attacks on humans had occurred yet. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the policy to change so quickly.
Soon, Contract Arts were promoted nationwide.
According to statistics, roughly forty million households across the country kept pets, so the demand for Summoning Arts was enormous.
As soon as the order came down from above, these people dragged their dogs along and began frantically ordering Summoning Arts.
It didn’t take long for them to realize how wonderful the arrangement was.
Netizens flocked to the official website to share their experiences. These days, traffic on the major video platforms had plummeted, while The Gate of Origin had instead become the largest platform for communication.
“Ever since I contracted my dog, I’ve put it through a series of training exercises. It’s now learned how to open the door, carry its own leash, and walk itself. The day before yesterday, it even brought me ten mutated rats.
“In a few days, I’m going to teach it how to recognize the route to the quarantine station. Then I can have it sell the rats itself.”
“The poster above has a Border Collie, right? No wonder! I must have assigned my husky’s attribute points wrong. It really did get smarter after I contracted it, and its eyes look much clearer now. But while I was playing the game yesterday, it ate an entire bag of dog food, couldn’t hold it in, and left ten pounds of poop in the house!”
“My beagle—I think it’s learned a sonic attack.”
“Oh my god, I think my Snowball learned Holy Light healing. Otherwise, why would I feel so happy and healed every time I look at it smiling? (Samoyed photo.)”
“(Caucasian Shepherd photo.) No interruptions, please. I just came down from the mountain after taking down three wild boars.”
Some people joined in for fun and bought Contract Arts to contract their cats.
Before long, some cats learned how to fetch water, some learned how to bring tissues, and one could even do a backflip.
For a time, everyone seemed to return to the days before the game descended upon the world. They began showing off their pets again, and the tense atmosphere of facing a catastrophe gradually eased.
But this was true only in China.
Other countries had clearly descended into disaster.
This was especially true for countries near vast grasslands, where wolf packs genuinely existed.
The wilderness had become extremely dangerous.
And such crises would only continue to multiply.
…
Inside China’s Analysis Bureau, everyone was summarizing the intelligence from this incident.
“If canine creatures can mutate, then next will be…
“Level 5 Berserk Bulls—bovines.
“Level 6 bears—ursines.
“Level 7 snakes—reptiles.
“Level 8 black panthers—felines.
“Level 9 ravens—birds.
“Level 10 striped tigers—which are also felines.
“However, there are also some special creatures in the various starter villages, such as wildebeests and dragon-blood lizards. Taking every possibility into account, perhaps by Level 10, all creatures will have mutated.”
Everyone sensed the overwhelming danger.
“Still, there’s some good news. These creatures’ combat power has currently fallen by half. It seems their bodies underwent mutation, but their attack power has actually decreased significantly.”
“With China’s current strength, we can completely guarantee the safety of our citizens once all the safe zones have been established.”
“Next, we need to explore the goblin divine envoy.”
The Analysis Bureau concluded its discussion of the beasts. Then a map appeared on the enormous screen.
It was an ultra-high-definition, futuristic map with a three-dimensional effect, depicting an entirely new planet.
This planet appeared to be a hundred times larger than Earth. Vast forests covered much of its surface, while water occupied half the planet.
Yet despite its terrifying size, its gravity was actually weaker than Earth’s, allowing the creatures living there to grow even larger.
The race that inhabited this world was the goblins.
That was right. This was the map created through the Dark Gold Project after entering the Goblin City and continuously exploring the surrounding areas.
“Since Werewolf Tuge was a divine envoy, and killing divine envoys grants a large number of attribute points, all we need to do is find new divine envoys and kill them. That way, the monsters’ strength will continue to weaken.”
“Also, during the last siege of Werewolf Tuge, Leader One obtained a divine fragment. Lu Xing, City Lord Chu, and the others obtained fragments as well.
“This means that, hypothetically, if we kill ten divine envoys, our players can become false gods.”
“The background of The Gate of Origin is an invasion by evil gods. Our ultimate enemies are the gods themselves. Only by defeating them can we end this apocalyptic crisis!”
“Then let’s find those gods!”
“Kill them!”
