Turning on the TV, he could just catch the second GPL match.
While eating Slackin’ delivery and watching the GPL match, Qiao Laoshi’s mind kept echoing with the Sea Fortress DLC storyline.
“Damned cliffhanger dog!”
This storyline left Qiao Laoshi completely bewildered, but it had thoroughly aroused his gaming addiction.
He suddenly realized that over these past months, several updated older games had DLCs that were all connected—all linked to Tenda’s new game!
Or rather, they served as promotion and warm-up.
Desert Lonely Road DLC included new vehicle skins featuring a technologically advanced micro-spaceship, plus a new game scene on a gritty, dark-red planet surface;
Game Producer had a debate assistant AEEIS, which proved to also be the AI from Sea Fortress’s new storyline, as well as OTTO phone’s voice assistant.
Sea Fortress’s new story mode was essentially a massive story preview. Qin Yi and his squad’s mission storyline ending so abruptly connects to the later game narrative, while the new epic weapon is the Skylark Combat Suit’s standard-issue weapon (nerfed version);
Currently, only Return to Shore’s DLC connection to the new game remained unknown, but it likely also related to this new insect-themed sci-fi game.
Qiao Laoshi quickly found answers online.
Indeed, players had begun speedrunning Return to Shore’s reincarnation mode immediately after the DLC update, and with impressive skill and decent luck, obtained the reincarnation mode completion reward: a set of insect-style clothing and weapons.
This outfit appeared crafted from insect shells, with a massive, curved, oddly-shaped insect claw as the weapon.
Compared to other in-game attire, this set offered respectable defense with low weight, proving very useful; while the weapon’s stats weren’t as broken as bug weapons like “Universal Salvation,” its unique attack animations made it quite handy.
With this, Tenda’s new round of older game DLC updates was complete, enriching gameplay content while most importantly cross-promoting with the new game—maximizing advertising impact.
Qiao Laoshi couldn’t help lamenting: “Mr. Pei is so shrewd!”
“These are obviously models and textures from the new game, slightly modified for older game DLCs, saving resources while promoting the new game.”
“To this I can only say… please amp it up more!”
Despite resource-saving suspicions, overall satisfaction remained high because these DLC updates were genuinely high-quality and affordably priced.
The only dissatisfaction was Sea Fortress DLC’s cliffhanger ending.
Though understanding it as effective marketing, not seeing the rest felt excruciating, making him wish Tenda’s new game would release tomorrow.
One could only say good works make people love and hate simultaneously, impossible to quit. If Tenda made garbage games, expectations wouldn’t be this high.
Browsing online player comments, Qiao Laoshi found most players extremely satisfied with the updates, with anticipation for Tenda’s new game reaching unprecedented heights.
“These DLCs are too generous! Especially Sea Fortress’s new storyline—selling it as a standalone game for 45 would be fine, but they’re giving it away!”
“How’s it free? Didn’t they release an 888 yuan epic weapon? This wave is whales spending, free players benefiting.”
“You might not believe this, but the most generous domestic FPS is actually Sea Fortress with their 888 yuan Fire Qilin, that’s ridiculous.”
“Tenda feels like they’re playing chess at a grand scale—all these game DLCs promoting the new game. This new game must be massive! Could it be one of those billion-dollar investments?”
“Several hundred million, unlikely. But seeing this momentum, scale is definitely huge. Can any expert guess this game’s genre?”
“Hard to say. Theme-wise, definitely sci-fi, human vs insect warfare. Logically, FPS seems most likely, but Sea Fortress DLC is already FPS—wouldn’t another be repetitive? Quite tricky to guess.”
“I also think FPS is most likely. Other genres are kinda cold now, probably unlikely?”
“I didn’t quite get this story—did Qin Yi actually die at the end? Did the decapitation mission succeed? Looks successful, but if so, what’s the story trying to convey? Something’s off.”
“I think it probably failed, definitely continuing with more story. Just wait patiently.”
Many players used Sea Fortress storyline for wild speculation, searching for designer-planted clues to guess Tenda’s new game narrative direction.
These theories couldn’t convince everyone, often contradicting designers’ intentions.
But people enjoyed theorizing regardless—the process itself was entertaining.
Suddenly, Qiao Laoshi spotted a post that caught his eye: “Holy crap! AEEIS on OTTO phone has a special feature—it can play dialogue scenes with me!”
Somewhat surprised, Qiao Laoshi clicked in to read the post details. The author used an OTTO phone, and on a whim spoke one of Qin Yi’s game lines to AEEIS, which immediately responded, perfectly recreating the game dialogue!
Replies quickly piled up, with many OTTO phone users discovering this feature, some noting AEEIS Fully Automatic Smart Debate Machine worked similarly but even better.
“Huh? Right, this AEEIS seems part of Mr. Pei’s master plan!”
“Wait, what’s this AEEIS Fully Automatic Smart Debate Machine?”
Qiao Laoshi owned an OTTO E1 and had just updated the system. While he’d tried AEEIS, lacking voice assistant habits meant no deep exploration.
As for AEEIS Fully Automatic Smart Debate Machine’s promotional page, buried in OTTO phone’s store app, Qiao Laoshi rarely shopped there, making it easy to miss.
Not until seeing this post did Qiao Laoshi realize OTTO Technology had released such a product.
Curious, Qiao Laoshi immediately checked the store, quickly finding the Fully Automatic Smart Debate Machine in a prominent spot.
Similar to the original design but visibly taller, product details clearly listed specifications—technically, it was a soundbar.
Qiao Laoshi was shocked: “There’s an upgraded version? And it’s a soundbar?”
He glanced at his big TV, then at his original debate machine.
Then decisively ordered the new one.
“Perfect for surround sound gaming with the big TV—ordered!”
“They even have trade-in options. Old debate machines get money back, that’s quite thoughtful.”
Checking time showed evening already—even shipping from local Jingzhou warehouses meant arrival tomorrow morning at earliest.
This disappointed him slightly, wishing he’d discovered this Smart Debate Machine earlier.
If he’d ordered at noon, wouldn’t it have arrived by now?
Guess he’d try it tomorrow, then consider making a video to introduce fans.
…
…
January 13th, Friday.
In his office, Pei Qian reviewed various project progress.
Though troublesome and reluctant, having ignored these projects while preparing for exams meant now that he’d finished, attention was necessary.
Not fear of problems—fear nothing would go wrong.
Past experience showed complete neglect would lead these projects to eventually appear with massive profits.
Better find and fix problems early.
Friday meant weekend approaching. Pei Qian planned surveying project situations now, understanding circumstances, organizing thoughts, enjoying weekend rest, then preparing for “high-intensity work mode” come Monday.
First, checking Qiu Hong’s Imperial Capital Incubation Base situation.
Previously, Pei Qian had sent Tang Yixu to Imperial Capital, delivering a heavy blow to the cool-girl while significantly impacting the incubation base. Developing indie games encountered numerous bugs, requiring extra debugging.
Simultaneously, following Pei Qian’s requirements, the base organized game sessions among indie designers, greatly slowing development.
Thus, games scheduled for last month mostly delayed to mid-month or month-end.
More severely affected projects pushed to next month or beyond.
However, the system treated incubation base similar to Dream Investment. These indie developers were like Dream Investment startups—their products didn’t count as direct Tenda department products, not affecting settlements.
As long as the incubation base and Dream Investment operated normally, their invested companies functioned properly, system restrictions remained loose compared to Tenda’s strict direct departments.
This explained Pei Qian’s growing preference for outsourcing spending.
Among many incubation base games, only two launched under pressure, both far from successful: one had unpopular art style and gameplay, essentially ignored; the other had good reviews but poor sales—classic critical acclaim without commercial success.
None made profits, not even recovering incubation base investments.
Qiu Hong felt ashamed, his weekly reports revealing insecurity and lack of confidence.
But Pei Qian was extremely satisfied.
See, I knew indie developers harbored talents who could create loss-making games!
Incubation base was indeed brilliant!
By Qiu Hong’s logic, proven failures didn’t warrant continued resource investment. He’d have these developers begin conceptualizing new indie projects.
Reading this, Pei Qian immediately decided to call and correct his misguided thinking.
Such great projects—how could he abandon them so easily?
Must invest more resources! The more, the better!