Chapter 171: Treating the Bamboo Forest Maze as an Array!

Chapter 171: Treating the Bamboo Forest Maze as an Array!

Sterling quickly led the group away. Since the other party had issued a challenge, continuing to push the matter further would be meaningless. After all, the 10 million in this country was equivalent to over 1.4 million US dollars, which wasn't a small amount.

Building a maze matrix in Hollywood would take a long time to earn that much money, and movies related to mazes wouldn't always be in demand.

Most importantly, the other party planned to invite journalists in seven days.

This was the main point.

With the path now public and no experts to back them up, they wouldn't have any excuses, right?

Even without the public path, using the same methods, it would only take them a bit more time to complete the maze.

Not only would they have to easily clear the maze in front of the media, but they also planned to invite journalists from various countries. This would not only restore the Woster Organization's reputation but also enhance its standing and status in the world.

Sterling arrived at the parking lot, where someone was already waiting for them. It was a friend of theirs who did business in this country.

Soon, the car left the Liyuan Farm and arrived at a minivan parked by the national highway.

From this vantage point, they could see the bamboo forest maze of the Liyuan Farm. A black man was leaning against the minivan, fiddling with a drone.

Sterling smiled. Bringing the fruits of Hollywood's film technology to a small farm in this country was a clear case of dimensional superiority.

...

Back at Liyuan Farm, Zhang Lin returned to his office.

After the bamboo forest maze was built, the construction market offered an option to upgrade the maze, and it didn't count towards the game's construction limit.

Therefore, Zhang Lin wasn't worried about the maze being cleared by others. He had casually agreed to the subsequent collaboration with the Brainiest Minds because he could always upgrade the maze at any time.

He had been thinking about when to upgrade the maze.

Now was the perfect opportunity.

Sitting at his desk, he looked at the bamboo forest maze option in the construction market:

【Intelligence-Reducing Bamboo Forest Maze Upgrade Scroll: Quality 1】

【This is a special bamboo forest maze construction blueprint. The maze built using this blueprint has the following special attributes: Confusion +1, Exploration Intelligence Reduction +1, Investigation Desire +1, Scenic Beauty +1!】

【Construction Requirements: 1. 1,000 acres of bamboo forest maze. 2. Construction cost: 10 million!】

【Special Restrictions: 1. Can only be built within the farm's boundaries! 2. The attributes do not affect the host or game-recruited employees!】

【Upgradable Play Options: Eight Trigram Array, Eight Gates Golden Lock Array, Eight Trigram Formation, etc.】

Zhang Lin read the notes on the bamboo forest maze upgrade scroll. Initially, the construction scrolls were the same, with identical attributes, but the construction requirement had changed to 1,000 acres of bamboo forest, and the cost had increased from 5 million to 10 million.

Moreover, there was an additional option.

The upgradable play options were not limited to one.

From the Eight Trigram Array, Eight Gates Golden Lock Array, and Eight Trigram Formation, it was clear that the new maze would be built as an array, one that had no offensive capabilities, only confinement and confusion.

He could choose one of these arrays.

When the new maze was completed, it could be marketed as the Bamboo Forest Maze—Eight Trigram Array or Bamboo Forest Maze—Eight Trigram Formation.

The key was that after completing the Eight Trigram Formation, he could spend another 10 million to build the Eight Trigram Array, and so on.

This way, the bamboo forest maze project at Liyuan Farm would remain popular for a long time.

After much consideration, Zhang Lin decided to choose the Eight Trigram Formation. This maze would be built based on the principles of the I Ching, and without the path, one would need to understand the I Ching to navigate it.

Even with that knowledge, the Confusion +1 and Exploration Intelligence Reduction +1 attributes would make it extremely difficult to exit the maze.

Overall, it would be much harder than the original maze, which only cost 5 million to build, while the upgraded version required 10 million.

The extra 5 million shouldn't be wasted.

However, there were still visitors in the maze, so he couldn't start the upgrade immediately. He would have to wait until the tourists left.

Soon, Lin Muxue arrived at his office, accompanied by a reporter from the People's Daily, Jiang Ling.

At this moment, he didn't pretend and directly instructed Lin Muxue, "Senior Sister, I've already found a construction team. Close the bamboo forest maze for bookings. For those who have already booked, explain the situation and refund them double the price."

Jiang Ling was taken aback by this.

The other party had just returned from the bamboo forest maze, and he had already found a construction team. This was incredibly efficient.

"Sure thing, Mr. Zhang!" Lin Muxue nodded and then added, "I'll invite well-known domestic media and journalists. Reporter Jiang has also mentioned that when the time comes, the People's Daily will send reporters as well."

Zhang Lin smiled and said, "Sis Lin, it's not enough to just invite domestic journalists. We need to invite reporters from around the world. The Voster Organization is so famous in Hollywood; many media outlets are likely to be interested in this challenge."

"This is a great opportunity to boost the international status of the Bamboo Forest Maze. If we can make the Voster Organization members cry as they come out, the new maze will gain worldwide recognition, and its status and reputation will be elevated."

"Similarly, before we release the path, we can also welcome maze enthusiasts from around the world to come and suffer. The more people suffer, the more popular our Bamboo Forest Maze will become, and its international status will be even higher."

"This time, the Bamboo Forest Maze will be even more challenging. Whoever goes in will cry as they come out."

Lin Muxue hadn't expected Mr. Zhang to have such plans. When she heard that the Bamboo Forest Maze would be even more difficult, she was shocked.

She knew how challenging the original maze was, and if it became even harder, it would truly make people cry.

So, she glanced at Jiang Ling and deliberately said with a hint of difficulty, "Mr. Zhang, there's one issue. We don't have the contact information for foreign journalists. I need some time."

Jiang Ling smiled and said, "Mr. Lin, I can help with that!"

"Reporter Jiang, that would be a great help," Lin Muxue said with a smile.

She had intentionally said that to leverage Jiang Ling's connections.

Afterward, Lin Muxue invited Jiang Ling to the operations department to discuss the details of inviting foreign journalists.

Once the two left, Zhang Lin took out his phone and called Chu Heng, the producer of Brain Power.

As soon as the call connected, Chu Heng's voice came through, "Mr. Zhang, I was just about to call you. I apologize for the Voster Organization issue. He Rou told me about it."

"Mr. Chu, this isn't your fault. Who could have predicted such a thing?" Zhang Lin replied with a laugh. "Besides, this might not be a bad thing. Once we make the maze even more challenging, I plan to invite journalists from both domestic and international media, turning the Bamboo Forest Maze into a global sensation, attracting maze enthusiasts from all over the world to come and suffer."

Hearing the words "even more challenging," Chu Heng immediately said, "Mr. Zhang, don't forget our agreement. The 10 million yuan for the Heart Maze will be provided by Brain Power. This is a great opportunity to start Brain Power—Bamboo Forest Maze Season 2."

Brain Power—Bamboo Forest Maze Season 1 had already aired three episodes. While the ratings weren't as high as the number one spot, it was still a huge success, and the advertisers who joined mid-season had already made them a fortune. The 10 million yuan was a small price to pay.

With the foundation of the first season, there would be plenty of people eager to invest in advertisements for the second season.

"Sure, let's do it as you suggested," Zhang Lin smiled. He was going to bring up this topic anyway, so it was perfect that Chu Heng had mentioned it first.

"Mr. Zhang, there's one more thing I'd like to discuss with you," Chu Heng's voice continued, "Isn't your maze supposed to offer a 10 million yuan prize in a week? How about we provide that prize money? We'll treat it as advertising expenses, and in return, you can authorize us to broadcast the event for the next week. This will help boost the popularity of our show."

He believed that with the current buzz around Linyuan Farm and the upcoming challenge at the Bamboo Forest Maze, the attention would be significant. The 10 million yuan would definitely bring in enough advertising revenue.

If this could help Brain Power—Bamboo Forest Maze Season 1's remaining nine episodes gain higher ratings, then the second season would attract more sponsorship and advertising, making the 10 million yuan a worthwhile investment.

"Sure, let's do it as you suggested," Zhang Lin smiled.

He knew someone would be eager to take the 10 million yuan prize.

He could guess Chu Heng's intentions, but it didn't matter. Both parties were getting what they wanted, and that was the best way to maintain a good partnership.

Time passed quickly.

By nightfall, all the visitors had safely exited the Bamboo Forest Maze.

To be on the safe side, Zhang Lin had Ye Ling and his team go in for a final check. Once they confirmed everything was fine, he clicked to upgrade the Bamboo Forest Maze with the Eight Trigrams Formation.

As he confirmed, he could see the Bamboo Forest Maze being cordoned off in the game map, with construction warning lines set up.

In the game map, he could see the appearance of an intricate Eight Trigrams Formation, not a simplified version, but one that incorporated the complex transformations of the I Ching.

At the same time, the game construction team quickly arrived in the real world, setting up construction lights within the Bamboo Maze and getting to work.

The construction lights illuminated various parts of the Bamboo Maze, drawing the attention of many people.

Jiang Ling noticed this and was impressed by the speed of the operation. She marveled at how they had started working overnight, which would undoubtedly add to the construction costs.

Meanwhile, all the tourists who had booked tickets for the Bamboo Maze received a message about the refund. Even those who were trying to book tickets suddenly found that the booking system was closed.

This left everyone in a state of confusion, with no idea what was happening.

The news quickly spread online, with countless fans and tourists asking questions, pushing the issue to the top of the trending topics. Some conspiracy theorists even began to suspect that there was something wrong with Liyuan Farm.

At this point, tourists who were present during the Voss organization's challenge uploaded their videos to the internet, revealing the entire situation to everyone.

Even the official People's Daily media account promoted the news about Liyuan Farm's Bamboo Maze event for a week.

Typically, an official media outlet like the People's Daily wouldn't report on something as trivial as the Bamboo Maze, especially compared to the whitening sweet potatoes and the overall success of Liyuan Farm. However, the statements made by the Voss organization clearly touched a nerve, leading to the coverage of the event.

This pushed the entire incident to the top of the trending topics.

The Bamboo Maze was to be upgraded, with a prize of 10 million yuan, and the Voss organization was challenging three specific points. These details quickly became the focus of the discussion.

However, most fans were only interested in the upgrade and the 10 million yuan prize. The challenge by the Voss organization was largely ignored.

Based on their understanding of Liyuan Farm, could a few foreigners really complete the Bamboo Maze just because 10 million yuan was on the line?

Back when Liyuan Farm offered a 1 million yuan prize, it was so difficult that no one could complete it for a long time. It was only after a mysterious person found a way through that Liyuan Farm revealed the path, allowing others to follow and eventually complete it.

Many people even suspected that the mysterious person was actually arranged by Liyuan Farm because no one had managed to complete it for so long.

Now, with the prize ten times larger, they were confident that the Bamboo Maze would be even more challenging. If it weren't, they'd eat their words.

Of course, some people, seeing the 10 million yuan prize, immediately got excited and expressed their desire to participate.

Was completing the Bamboo Maze for 10 million yuan really harder than winning the lottery for the same amount? If they couldn't do it in one day, they'd try for two, and if not two, then three. Some even planned to camp out, hoping for a stroke of luck.

For a while, the news of the Bamboo Maze upgrade dominated the headlines, attracting an unprecedented level of attention. Many people flooded Liyuan Farm's official account, asking for the latest updates, and the number of comments kept increasing.

However, those who flooded the account found that it had only posted a refund apology statement and nothing about the Bamboo Maze.

Lin Muxue was also at a loss.

Although she was the project director, she knew nothing about the Bamboo Maze, and Zhang Lin hadn't told her anything.

Even if Zhang Lin had explained the upgrade, she might not have understood it. The current Bamboo Maze had no path map, and she couldn't even complete the first part, let alone the more challenging sections.

Thus, she couldn't answer the numerous inquiries from tourists and fans and could only ask Zhang Lin later.

At that moment, Liu Qian suddenly said, "Sis Lin, our farm's account posted new content, and it wasn't from our operations department."

"Who else could it be? What did Zhang Lin post?" Lin Muxue asked immediately.

Only she and Zhang Lin knew the password for the official account, and all content had to be approved by her before being posted.

Liu Qian quickly explained, "Two pictures: one of a Bagua diagram and one of the cover of a book on the I Ching."

Lin Muxue was taken aback. She opened the post and saw the two photos.

At that moment, many people were following Liyuan Farm's official account, and Zhang Lin's sudden post quickly drew a lot of attention.

However, everyone was puzzled by the Bagua diagram and the I Ching book.

What did it mean? Was Liyuan Farm suggesting that the Bamboo Maze upgrade was based on the Bagua diagram and the I Ching?

Was this a joke? Were they treating the Bamboo Maze like a mystical array?

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end