"Michael, Your Son is the Real Hidden Gem"
After John left the room, David Cooper looked at Michael and joked, "Your son is quite the dark horse."
Michael remained stoic, his expression unreadable. "Master Cooper, you give him too much credit. He's just designing games."
David shook his head. "You're downplaying it. Those games are something else. Do you know how many jobs that Pokémon game has created?"
"My daughter is obsessed with dressing up her Pikachu. She's even organizing a beauty contest for it!" David chuckled before turning serious.
"This is what we need to discuss today. Pokémon has taken Seaside City by storm. The league competition you implemented there had an overwhelming response. Now, the higher-ups want to expand this into a national league."
David continued, "John has already provided the framework for us. Every participant needs to collect eight gym badges. So far, Lily has the only gym in Seaside City. We need to establish more gyms in your regions."
As he spoke, David gestured to the people around him, who all received an email.
"The purpose of these gyms is to test the trainers' abilities. You'll need to follow these guidelines for setting up your gyms. For now, they will only be in first-tier cities. It's up to you to decide who runs them, but let me remind you: there will be oversight. It's best not to get any funny ideas."
David's demeanor shifted, and the atmosphere in the room grew heavy. The leaders around the table nodded in acknowledgment, sensing the gravity of the situation.
"Additionally," David continued, "it's not just about league battles. We've discussed how the value of Pokémon isn't just in combat. There's training, customization, even beauty contests. We want to explore all these aspects. We'll start the testing in Seaside City, under your watch, Michael. If successful, we'll roll it out nationwide."
Michael nodded. "Understood, Master Cooper."
This was another opportunity for Seaside City to shine, and for Michael to cement his political success. The groundwork was being laid for his ascension as the leader of Eastflower Province.
"That's it for now. You all know what to do. Prepare accordingly."
On the other side, John logged out of the "Second World" game. There wasn't much more he could do for the moment.
The Dragon Kingdom moved quickly. Shortly after John returned to the real world, just as he was contemplating what Devil Fruits to introduce next, the Dragon Kingdom reposted an announcement about "One Piece" on the official WebNet page for "Second World." Their stance was simple and clear: they supported him.
The move caught game companies off guard. They were gearing up to accuse John of "destroying the game market," but now, with the Dragon Kingdom backing him, their protests seemed hollow. The message was clear: the market hadn't complained, so why should they?
Inside "Second World," after the Dragon Kingdom declared their support, five men quietly gathered in a modest house. These five were titans of the virtual gaming industry. Aside from "Second World," almost every other top-tier game was under their control.
At first, when "Second World" was developed, these men sought to divide it among themselves. Any time a talented game designer appeared, they either bought them out or crushed them. But John was different. He rose too quickly and didn't follow the usual rules. They couldn't find an opening.
Now, with the Dragon Kingdom behind him, they were furious.
"Dammit!" one of them snapped. "Why did the government approve this? Aren't they worried about the game market collapsing?"
A square-faced man chuckled darkly. "I think they knew this was coming. John's just the pawn they're using to see how we'll react. It's a message: don't try any underhanded tactics."
"We'll give them a response all right," another man muttered, his face grim.
"We don't need shady tactics to deal with a kid like him. We'll just enter his game and tear it apart from the inside!" One of them slammed his fist on the table.
"Didn't he allow in-game currency exchange? We'll make sure he loses everything."
"I've studied his game. I admire his vision, but this game is still a tool we can use against him."
"Are you worried he might manipulate the game to block us?"
"That'd be a mistake on his part. If he pulls something like that, it gives us a reason to take him down. Even the Dragon Kingdom can't protect him from that kind of backlash."
"We've got more resources than civilians. In his game world, we can buy up everything and force him to pay us back."
They were confident. This method had worked before against other rising game designers. The victories they'd achieved made them feel unstoppable.
"Let's start slow. Each of us will invest 100 million Dragon coins."
A collective murmur of agreement passed through the room. 100 million Dragon coins converted into 10 billion Beli inside the game. A small test for them, but enough to begin shaking things up.
"Agreed. We'll recruit specialists to dive into his game. If John makes even a small mistake, we'll pounce."
They smirked, already envisioning John's downfall. It was a tactic they'd used to crush countless others before. To them, John was just another name on that long list of victims.
A/N; Thanks for reading, donate some power stones for extra chapters.
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