Chapter 170: Do You Know How Terrifying the Bamboo Forest Maze Upgrade Is?

Chapter 170: Do You Know How Terrifying the Bamboo Forest Maze Upgrade Is?

[It seems that a foreign organization has taken an interest in the Bamboo Forest Maze. They are viciously denigrating your maze, claiming it is too simple. Please investigate the situation immediately!]



Zhang Lin was taken aback by the notification.

What's going on here?

Suddenly, a foreign organization is targeting the Bamboo Forest Maze, and they are using smear tactics to undermine it. This is quite unusual.

Deciding to investigate, he hopped back on his electric scooter and headed straight for the Bamboo Forest Maze.

Lin Muxue, seeing this, quickly called out, "Mr. Zhang, wait for me!"

Zhang Lin stopped his scooter, and Lin Muxue climbed on the back. They then continued their journey to the Bamboo Forest Maze.

Jiang Ling, standing there in confusion, knew that the Bamboo Forest Maze was one of the most important projects for Liyuan Farm. Now, it seemed to be in trouble. To make matters worse, the People's Daily had just reported on Liyuan Farm, and now this issue had arisen, which was not a good look.

So, she contacted three photographers from the People's Daily and arranged for them to head to the Bamboo Forest Maze as well.

...

Zhang Lin and Lin Muxue arrived at the Bamboo Forest Maze quickly. They found a crowd gathered at the entrance, with several foreigners loudly criticizing the maze.

The surrounding tourists looked dejected.

On the fair play screen, three new completion records had appeared:

17 minutes.

19 minutes.

20 minutes.

All the names were foreigners, and the times seemed suspiciously fast. It was as if they had run through the maze using the correct path at top speed. Now, a fourth foreigner was entering the maze.

"How is this possible?" Lin Muxue asked, her face filled with disbelief.

Zhang Lin was equally astonished. It was absolutely impossible. Even the champions and runners-up of the previous "Strongest Brain" competition, who knew the path, couldn't complete it this quickly.

He didn't believe these foreigners could be better than the "Strongest Brain" contestants. While there were certainly people more skilled than those contestants, like Sun Xuan, who won the Dragon Institute’s Bgavt Young Dragon Award and completed the maze without knowing the path, such individuals wouldn't just randomly visit the Bamboo Forest Maze. One such person showing up would be a coincidence, but not multiple.

So, if there were such skilled people in foreign countries, they wouldn't be sent to China, let alone in such numbers.

At that moment, a girl rushed up to Lin Muxue, her face full of apology. "Director Lin, my name is He Rou. I previously filmed the 'Strongest Brain' show here, and I'm really sorry for causing trouble for your farm."

Zhang Lin and Lin Muxue both recognized He Rou.

Lin Muxue asked, puzzled, "What happened?"

He Rou explained, "We recently completed the Bamboo Forest Maze segment of 'Strongest Brain,' which had great ratings and gained us a lot of popularity. We earned some money from ads, so we decided to travel abroad together."

"In America, we came across a maze attraction in Mist, which they claimed was the hardest maze in the country and very popular. The maze was created by the Wols organization, a Hollywood team known for designing maze sets for movies."

"We thought it would be challenging, so we tried it out, but it turned out to be incredibly simple. We cleared it easily because of our experience from the Bamboo Forest Maze and the fact that their maze was just too easy."

"However, things went wrong when one of our members, who was studying in America, uploaded a video of us completing the maze to the internet. It was widely shared among the Chinese community, causing a stir and embarrassing the Wols organization."

"Now, they have sent members here for revenge. I suspect they are cheating because their completion times are just too fast."

Hearing this, Zhang Lin and Lin Muxue understood the situation.

The "Strongest Brain" contestants had traveled abroad and inadvertently ruined a local attraction's reputation. Because of their experience at the Bamboo Forest Maze, they had done so easily. Now, the Wols organization was seeking revenge by targeting the Bamboo Forest Maze.

In this situation, Liyuan Farm was clearly the victim, as this had nothing to do with them.

This must be what they mean by "unforeseen calamity."

Just then, Ye Ling approached Zhang Lin and said, "Boss, the surveillance room reported that there's an issue with these foreigners attempting the maze. I didn't think much of it at first, but when I noticed them filming videos, I realized something was off, so I investigated."

"The people entering the maze kept fiddling with their earpieces, which made me suspect they were receiving communication. I later discovered a drone flying very high above the Bamboo Forest Maze, likely unnoticed by the naked eye."

"That drone seems to be a UGB78, a military-grade modified drone used in Hollywood productions. It can create a thermal map of the entire Bamboo Forest Maze. With the maze's path diagram, it can generate the correct path on a computer. If the people inside are also wearing sensors, their positions will be visible on the computer."

"In that case, someone can guide them using the thermal map generated by the computer. Even if they run continuously, they can be directed from outside, making it easy for them to navigate."

Zhang Lin understood; these people were indeed cheating, using Hollywood special effects technology.

He looked at Ye Ling in surprise, "Why do you know about this?"

"Why can't I know, Boss?" Ye Ling asked, puzzled.

"..." Zhang Lin was momentarily at a loss for words. After all, the security guards provided by the game system only had the 'Dare to Act When Needed' attribute and nothing else.

However, Zhang Lin frowned. These people had gone to such great lengths, even using Hollywood filming equipment. Was it really necessary?

"Mr. Lin, why did you rush over here?" Jiang Ling arrived with three cameramen.

She pretended not to know Zhang Lin's identity.

After all, their mission didn't require them to know who the owner of Liyuan Farm was or to film him.

Since they were getting along well, there was no need to disrupt the harmony.

Lin Muxue explained the situation to Jiang Ling.

"What a bizarre situation," Jiang Ling looked stunned.

Clearly, the sudden involvement of Hollywood's Voster with Liyuan Farm was unexpected.

However, she had seen many strange things before, so it didn't surprise her.

Unforeseen calamities happen every day.

Once, before she joined the People's Daily, she covered a case where a man's wife cheated on him. He decided to kill the lover but ended up stabbing a man who looked similar from behind. In the end, he went to jail, his parents lost their house and pension to the victim's family, and his wife ended up with the lover.

The man who was stabbed was even more wronged than the situation at Liyuan Farm.

At that moment, the people from Voster began cheering as another member emerged from the Bamboo Forest Maze, completing it in 20 minutes.

A blond Caucasian man stepped forward; he was Strahlin, the head of Voster.

He had the largest stake in the maze business that the Chinese had accused of being rigged, so he was the most upset about this.

Strahlin spoke in fluent English, mocking, "Everyone can see that another member of Voster has quickly completed their so-called hardest Bamboo Forest Maze, and they did it much faster than the fastest person in their country."

"The fastest person in their country took enough time for us to run through it twice. It's absurd that they still claim this maze is the strongest and harder than the ones we created. Those despicable Chinese cheated in our maze."

"Now that we've personally completed this maze, we realize how ridiculous it is. Such a simple maze took them so long, showing that their brains are far less developed than ours."

A black man nearby translated Strahlin's words into broken Chinese for the tourists, "Your brains are all messed up, you're all mentally handicapped. Your brains are underdeveloped. This simple Bamboo Forest Maze took your best so long to complete, showing how much smarter we are in the beautiful country."

The tourists around them started to get angry.

Wasn't this outright insulting?

"Damn, how dare they say such things?" Jiang Ling was furious.

As a journalist for the People's Daily, she had a position and represented the official stance. Hearing such biased and racially charged remarks, how could she not be angry?

Zhang Lin's face darkened.

He might know what these people were up to.

The videos of the Brainiest Contestants failing their maze had embarrassed them. Now, they wanted to film videos of their own success and release them to prove themselves and restore their reputation.

Zhang Lin was well aware that the video would not only be released in the United States but also in other countries, including China. If the opponents were truly as skilled as they claimed, he would have no choice but to acknowledge their abilities. After all, the whole incident started because the top geniuses from China had undermined their livelihoods, and he understood the gravity of such an act.

However, these people had resorted to cheating to pass the Bamboo Forest Maze, even dragging in topics like human intelligence. This was not just insulting but also a more serious matter of principle. Since they had been forced out of their jobs by the geniuses from the "Super Brain" show, using such underhanded methods for revenge was understandable.

If they wanted to sabotage the Lishan Farm's reputation, then he wouldn't blame himself for using game cheats against them. After all, for just 10 million yuan, he could upgrade the Bamboo Forest Maze and ensure they couldn't cheat, making them cry in frustration.

Especially with formations like the Eight-Trigram Formation, the Eight-Gate Golden Lock Formation, and the Eight-Trigram Maze—were they really joking?

Thus, he had an idea: to both teach them a lesson and make the Bamboo Forest Maze world-famous, establishing its international status.

"Boss, let me throw these guys out," Ye Ling said, eager to act. He would do so without hesitation if Zhang Lin nodded.

"Let's not be too rough," Zhang Lin shook his head and turned to Lin Muxue, "Senior Lin, go and tell those foreigners that this is just an open path test, and the real experts aren't participating. We invite them to come back in a week to attempt the new Bamboo Forest Maze at Lishan Farm. We'll invite journalists to live-stream the event, and there will be a 10 million yuan prize for those who can complete it."

These people were trying to save face and belittle their intelligence using such methods, so there was no reason they wouldn't accept this challenge. After all, they could humiliate the Chinese in front of their own country's media and journalists, and there was a 10 million yuan prize on the line.

Given their mindset, could they resist such a temptation?

Absolutely not.

This way, not only would these people be publicly disgraced, but it would also boost the Bamboo Forest Maze's reputation worldwide. After all, the Woset organization was renowned in Hollywood and the maze industry globally. Their challenge to a farm maze would definitely attract attention, and if they couldn't even escape the Bamboo Forest Maze, it would cement its status as the world's best.

At that point, the Bamboo Forest Maze's prestige, status, and fame would be entirely different.

Lin Muxue nodded and approached the foreigners, understanding Zhang Lin's plan. The Bamboo Forest Maze was due for an upgrade, which would generate more attention. As for the cost of the upgrade, she knew Zhang Lin had connections with the "Super Brain" show, so a phone call should take care of it. The 10 million yuan prize wouldn't even be a burden, as the broadcast rights for the event would likely be worth more given Lishan Farm's current popularity. After all, the "whitening sweet potato" incident was still a hot topic online.

Lin Muxue approached the foreigners with a smile, "Gentlemen, this is just an open path test, and the real experts aren't participating. Our Bamboo Forest Maze will be upgraded soon, and we invite you to come back in a week to attempt it. We will have many journalists present, and if you can complete the maze, there will be a 10 million yuan prize."

The mention of 10 million yuan stunned the surrounding tourists. It was equivalent to winning the lottery twice.

The members of the Woset organization were also visibly excited, their eyes gleaming with delight.

Stella Lin, recognizing this as a challenge, smiled sweetly, "Beautiful lady, we accept your invitation. Please have the 10 million yuan ready in a week."

His face was filled with confidence. After all, they had their high-tech methods, and such a maze was no real challenge.

So, using 10 million yuan as bait to try and regain their lost dignity by upgrading the maze was a naive plan.

Moreover, that 10 million yuan was practically being handed to them.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end