As the Oasis was promoted, several months passed.
It's almost 2009.
Preparations for the election became increasingly tense.
But in New York, Norman Osborn already had victory in his grasp.
Unless Kingpin could make Norman Osborn physically disappear, there was no chance.
And Kingpin didn't have that chance; Norman Osborn became more and more careful, giving no opportunities.
Norman Osborn, on the other hand, was preparing things, waiting for the election victory to send Kingpin in.
But none of this was important; what was important was that the Oasis was about to be released.
During this time, the two major groups had been stocking virtual devices.
Tony Stark was shocked.
"Where did you get so much stock, kid?"
The goods seemed free, and the quantity was immense.
He had thought it would be good enough for people in America to play first, but Levi's speed in getting goods was relentless.
It directly shocked Tony Stark.
Levi smiled slightly: "If the World factory can't supply the entire World, can it still be called the World factory?"
Of course, Levi didn't shortchange the Pacific Rim World.
That World's technology development was skewed; Levi gave them a lot of technology, and also food.
There was no other way; due to resisting monster invasions, food had become somewhat scarce.
Tony Stark was utterly bewildered.
But since things were already like this, then let's release it globally.
Anyway, advertisements for the Oasis had already spread throughout the World.
As they expected, after the Oasis became popular in North America, it immediately spurred interest in other places.
First were allies in Europe, and then even people in those two great nations across the ocean wanted to play.
Levi and his team naturally went with the flow.
So, on January 1, 2009, VR devices began to be sold globally.
VR devices were not expensive and came in several tiers.
The cheapest was 399 U.S. dollars, and a slightly more expensive one was 999 U.S. dollars, which was equivalent to the price of a mobile phone.
After all, this was meant for universal participation, so a too-high price wouldn't be suitable.
Of course, this wasn't the most expensive.
The most expensive was invented by Tony Stark.
Levi had only mentioned it at the time, suggesting a virtual device like a nutrient capsule from 'online game novels,' where people could lie inside to play games.
As a result, Tony Stark actually researched and developed it.
However, to use the nutrient capsule, a Brain-computer Interface was required.
This, in turn, boosted the sales of some Brain-computer Interface devices.
The Brain-computer Interface was already on the market, but not many people trusted it.
Most people bought the non-invasive type, which only needed to be worn on the head.
As for the type requiring surgery, very few people would purchase it.
Most people couldn't accept having surgery in their brain and adding something extra.
Levi didn't forcefully promote it; he didn't intend for the World to become cybernetic.
Instead, the appearance of the nutrient capsule boosted Brain-computer Interface sales.
Of course, the nutrient capsule was also very expensive, meant for the wealthy.
One unit cost 88,888 U.S. dollars.
Even though one unit was nearly one hundred thousand U.S. dollars, it still sold well, with orders from all over the World never stopping.
This also made Levi realize just how many rich people there were in the World.
Tony Stark was also proud of this.
To make money, you had to earn from these rich people.
This made Levi not even want to earn money from firearms anymore.
The Oasis was definitely a money-grabbing project.
...
A few days later, Levi held a celebration banquet, inviting all his acquaintances.
For example, Mei, Maria Hill, and others, all wearing evening gowns, showed off their mature beauty.
As for the company's staff, even more could not be left out.
Except for the scientists who didn't want to participate in such activities, people like Hope, Gwen, and others were all there.
Of course, people from Tony Stark's side also came.
They were there to celebrate the success of the Oasis.
After such a long period of preparation, and with Red Queen controlling the operation of the Oasis, such powerful computing power ensured that the Oasis servers did not encounter problems.
In just one week, over a billion players entered the Oasis servers.
Moreover, the money transaction system indeed made the two major groups incredibly rich.
They set it up so that every transaction incurred a two percent transaction fee, and every withdrawal also incurred a one percent fee; only deposits were free.
Although it didn't seem like much, when the number of transactions increased, they became incredibly rich just from the commissions.
"Come on, everyone!"
"Cheers!"
A group of people gathered, clinking glasses in Levi's manor.
"We succeeded!"
Hope smiled, her face showing exhaustion.
She hadn't expected Future Industries to have so many things to do.
Of course, every single one of them surprised her.
Especially the Oasis; she now loved the Oasis and played it every day after getting off work.
In the Oasis, she transformed herself into an anime character and became a 'pro player,' completely living a second life.
No one cared about her true identity, no one knew that she was actually the CEO of Future Industries.
In the game, it seemed to be equal.
Of course, this was an illusion.
As time passed, the gap between regular players and pay-to-win players would grow larger and larger.
But it wouldn't be to the point of being completely unplayable.
Because the Death penalty in the Oasis was very severe.
Once Death occurred, everything would be reset to zero, and equipment on the body would drop.
Of course, not all maps allowed attacking other people.
But precisely because of this, many people found it exciting.
Levi drank and apologized to each of his employees.
Mei seemed a bit awkward, as she wasn't from Future Industries.
Moreover, she looked at Maria Hill; this woman's relationship with Levi also seemed out of the ordinary.
For example, at this moment, Maria Hill directly leaned close to Levi.
"Li, why didn't you think of us for such a good project?"
Maria Hill lamented.
"You are just an Agent organization, you don't have commercial attributes."
Levi said casually, "By the way, are you interested in what I told you before?"
"Let's talk about it after S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone."
Maria Hill replied.
Of course, she didn't think S.H.I.E.L.D. would just disappear like that.
However, she and Nick Fury were still very serious and started an internal investigation within S.H.I.E.L.D..
After all the socializing.
Levi sat on a nearby sofa; he was still not very accustomed to such occasions, but it was fine since they were all acquaintances, so he was very relaxed.
Before long, Tony Stark also sat down.
"You need to give me a bigger share; do you know how many people's covetousness I've helped you ward off?"
Tony Stark said, "Even people in Washington wanted a piece of the pie, but I pushed them back."
Currently, the split between the two sides was seventy-thirty, with seventy percent naturally going to Levi, as he provided the technology.
So Tony Stark always wanted a little more income.
"That's the role you're supposed to play; otherwise, why would I find you?"
Levi said casually.
"Of course, I've seen your efforts, so I'll tell you a way to survive."
"What do you mean?"
Tony Stark asked.
"Your palladium poisoning, you didn't think I didn't know about it, did you?"
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