Shen Fei was forgoing sleep to prepare for his next Krypton Gold spending spree.
The Game World channel and the game Forum, which he had muted, had blown up again!
Two weeks ago, the top Combat Power on the rankings was just over three million. No one had expected that, two weeks later, the top player's Combat Power would directly surpass one hundred million.
In just half a day, Shen Fei's Combat Power had shot up to one hundred million. Players familiar with the game's Krypton Gold spending figures instantly calculated that the top-ranked whale, "Skyrocketing," had just spent another hundred million.
Just a few hours earlier, someone had even posted photos claiming that the headquarters of the *Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms* game company had been raided overnight by the authorities. Not only was the game's future in jeopardy, but so was the game's number one spender.
Many players were waiting for his downfall, eager to watch the drama surrounding "Skyrocketing" unfold. Many even speculated that "Skyrocketing" was a corrupt official. After all, who else but a corrupt official with easy money could treat several hundred million like it was nothing and dump it all into a game? A normal person, even a whale, would never spend money like that.
Unfortunately, what they got wasn't the downfall of the "high-profile" Krypton Gold titan they were waiting for.
Instead, he spent another hundred million. Right in the eye of the storm, he dropped another hundred million—openly and decisively.
Some even felt it was a blatant provocation! It was as if he were saying, "You leaked my transaction records? You think you can take me down? I refuse! I'll just keep spending! Heh, watch me keep going! Heh, I just won't fall!"
"A hundred million! A hundred million! How many years would I have to work to earn that?!"
On the World channel, countless people were cursing furiously.
As the news of his three-hundred-million spending spree spread, many people logged into the game out of curiosity when they woke up in the morning. Then they discovered that the news about three hundred million was completely wrong.
The guy was at five hundred million!
And by the looks of it, he wasn't going to stop. He was going to spend even more! In *Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms*, the last update had released several new Krypton Gold features all at once. Currently, the whale "Skyrocketing" had only maxed out the "Tower Master Equipment" feature. By that logic, there were still plenty more Krypton Gold features to come.
WHOOSH. WHOOSH. WHOOSH.
On countless game streaming platforms, many people noticed that a lot of famous female streamers had started broadcasting a game called *Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms*. Many fans followed them to check it out, only to discover it was an old game, not a new one. Their favorite female streamers hadn't taken on a new game promotion; they were playing *Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms* of their own accord.
The reason was unknown!
"Extra! Extra!"
"The three-hundred-million whale has transformed! He's officially the five-hundred-million whale!"
"Extra! Extra!"
"Number one on the rankings has broken one hundred million Combat Power!"
"The whale's Combat Power increased by over thirty million in one night!"
On the game Forum, countless new threads about Shen Fei appeared, quickly going viral.
"FUCK YOU, PAY UP!"
"I bet on a thirty-million Combat Power increase in one day! The odds you gave were 1,000-to-1, and I bet 1,000 gold!"
On the Forum, people were chasing down a debt. Some troll had started a betting pool on Shen Fei's daily Combat Power increase. Based on past patterns, Shen Fei's Combat Power usually increased by about five million per day, so the bookie had focused the odds mainly on that bracket. However, because of the leaked transaction records and the authorities' investigation into the game company, the bookie had even raised the odds slightly for today.
He figured that Shen Fei would probably lay low for a few days, maybe even quit the game entirely.
But the bookie never expected that not only would Shen Fei not quit, but he would also, as if in defiance, increase his Combat Power by over thirty million in a single night. This completely wiped out his betting pool. Even if the bookie sold the shirt off his back, he couldn't afford to pay out that much.
Hunted by the winners, all he could do was run for it.
I'm never playing a Krypton Gold game again... From now on, I'm only playing match-3 games... You can't mess with these Krypton Gold whales. They're just too wild! After fleeing, the bookie cried his heart out internally.
Damn! I'm starting to panic!
In the game, the Immortal Emperor had, of course, seen what was happening with Shen Fei and the chatter on the World channel. After being "provoked" by Shen Fei half a day earlier, the Immortal Emperor had stayed up all night to deposit five million into the game. When it came to spending, he wouldn't lose to anyone. Now, after playing all night, he had already made it onto the Combat Power rankings.
But the Immortal Emperor hadn't expected that in the same half-day he had spent five million, Shen Fei had somehow spent over a hundred million. In the past, he was always the one using money to crush others. Today, the Immortal Emperor felt he was the one being crushed.
A hundred million is a hundred million. I can match that! You just wait!
After a moment of contemplation, the Immortal Emperor decided to follow suit. He could afford a hundred million. Before entering *Tower Defense of Ten Thousand Realms*, he had already done a lot of bragging. Not only did many of his fans know he had come to challenge the top dog, but many of his real-life friends also knew what he was up to. If he left with his tail between his legs like this, the Immortal Emperor couldn't bear the loss of face. For someone like him, face was the most important thing.
I'll follow! The Immortal Emperor muttered viciously, preparing to match the bet. In another Cultivation Game, he had spent fifty million to become the game's highest-ranking player, the Immortal Emperor. He'd just have to accept spending a hundred million in this game! After all, he was the one who had come looking for a fight.
A Tower-Carrying Beast? It really is pretty much like a pet...
In the morning light, Shen Fei continued his Krypton Gold spending spree. This time, he set his sights on the game's new feature: the "Tower-Carrying Beast."
A pet system is a common feature in most games, with mechanics like catching, hatching, refining, enhancing, and merging with pets being widespread. However, pet systems rarely appear in tower defense games because the concept is too jarring. In a tower defense game, the Defense Towers are your units—your pets, followers, and subordinates. And yet, *Tower Defense of Ten thousand Realms* had gone and launched a pet system anyway. Of course, they didn't call them "pets."
They were called Tower-Carrying Beasts!
Their functions were to carry Defense Towers, protect them, and provide them with extra ability boosts. They could also roam freely within the Defense Tower Array while grinding mobs. Checking the feature description, Shen Fei saw that the Tower-Carrying Beast was different from a Summoning-type Defense Tower. The creatures from a Summoning-type Defense Tower had a time limit and couldn't move too far away from their tower. The Tower-Carrying Beast had no such problems.
The Tower-Carrying Beast was an entity that could move freely, independent of any Defense Tower. It had no restrictions and possessed its own independent health bar, skills, and Attack Power.
Alright, let's do this! As long as he could spend money on it, as long as it could provide an upgrade, it was exactly what Shen Fei needed. After understanding the Tower-Carrying Beast's functions, Shen Fei prepared to start spending. I don't care if you call it a pet, a baby, a War Beast, or a Tower-Carrying Beast. You're what I want!
The only regrettable thing was that each player could only have one. You couldn't own hundreds or thousands of them like you could with Defense Towers. Shen Fei had heard that there were players who specialized as Beast Tamers and had once acquired hundreds of pets in a game, enjoying a period of glory. He guessed that his sister, Shen Yue, might one day end up with a huge swarm of frog pets.
What a cliché setup! You can tell this is a new feature you guys hastily slapped together just to squeeze out more Krypton Gold. So sloppy! Seeing that the quality tiers for the Tower-Carrying Beast—from lowest to highest—were Mortal Beast, Fierce Beast, Exotic Beast, Demon Beast, Immortal Beast, and Divine Beast, Shen Fei couldn't help but snark. This pet quality system was so old-fashioned.
After looking at the quality tiers, he also saw that the Tower-Carrying Beast had Talent that needed to be refined, skills that needed to be upgraded, and Enhancements to be made.
Well, bring it on!
After topping up another hundred million, Shen Fei prepared to start spending right away. No matter how old-fashioned the system was, if it could increase his Combat Power, it was a good system.
Time to spend!
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. It was time for breakfast.
Well then...
Resigned, Shen Fei could only turn on the auto-play function. Then he logged off, washed his face, and went out to eat.