Chapter 120: Global Live Broadcast, [WWI] CG that

The battlefield in the footage was filled with smoke, with the bodies of Empire soldiers and British Federation soldiers everywhere.

The Empire soldier held at gunpoint had a gloomy look in his eyes, standing in place with a leg injury; the scene froze there, and a moment later, the British Federation soldier slowly lowered his gun.

At this time, some of the British Federation soldiers and officers still maintained the tradition of not killing wounded soldiers.

However...

The British soldier who turned and left did not know that the Empire soldier he had spared would bring such an impact to this world more than twenty years later.

The footage ended.

Zhao Ming thought for a moment and moved this video clip further back.

He then pulled up data on the British Federation, the Tsarist Empire, and others, selecting clips and arranging them in order.

Three days later.

In "World War II: Rise of the Empire," the 【Battle of Moscow】 had now quietly come to an end.

Settlement began.

Many players and streamers were dazed when the settlement interface suddenly popped up; it was over?

So fast...

But it also felt so long.

The final period of the 【Battle of Moscow】 in the game was also a form of torture for the Blue Star players, with the long winter and pure war of attrition.

Many players were so war-weary that they stopped moving or simply didn't log into the game, but even under these circumstances,

the Empire NPCs and Soviet NPCs in the game never stopped fighting for a single moment.

They remained in a stalemate of attrition right up until the 【Battle of Moscow】 ended.

Many players began to collect their rewards; compared to the initial settlement, the rewards obtained by players who persisted to the end were several times greater than before.

At this moment.

In Mo Xiaomo's stream.

Mo Xiaomo was sitting in front of a stove, warming herself by the fire; there was an iron plate on the stove with potatoes roasting on it, and seasoning jars nearby.

The settlement interface suddenly popped up before her eyes.

【Battle of Moscow】

【Settlement beginning.】

【Congratulations, you have survived this battle in its entirety.】

【Received the 'Earth' IP series product gift package; please fill in your address and wait for the gift to be mailed.】

【Performance settlement.】

【Under your command, although 15,732 soldiers (Blue Star players, continuously replenished) were sacrificed, you successfully held the line and did not let the Empire troops advance.】

【Hereby awarded the 'Defender' Medal.】

【Note: Wearing this, you will become a Major in the Soviet Federation, commanding a battalion of troops.】

"Huh?"

Mo Xiaomo was still a bit dazed, and when she came to her senses again, she had already returned to the main interface:

"What the hell?!"

"Why did it suddenly settle?!"

"I hadn't even eaten the potatoes I just roasted yet, ahhhhh!!!"

Unexplained grief and indignation.

She had spent ages roasting that one perfect, golden, crispy potato!!!

Watching the viewers in the stream kicking her while she was down.

Mo Xiaomo, unable to cry or laugh, could only look at the settlement interface to see what rewards were given:

"'Earth' IP series product gift package?"

"Feels better than those from the first wave of settlements; after all, theirs didn't have the words 'gift package'."

"'Defender' Medal... wearing it makes me a Major."

"Not bad."

"But is that it? Why is the reward so small."

Mo Xiaomo looked at the brief settlement, a bit confused, as the danmu in the stream floated by,

【Laughing to death, look at the medal description: under your command, 15,732 soldiers (players) died; honestly, if I were the Soviet leader, I'd have you shot.】

【You're really something, a brigade establishment (5,000 people), and you managed to get three brigades' worth of people killed.】

【Be content; most of the time you were just two noobs pecking at each other, you didn't even have a chance to trigger hidden plots.】

【Others who chose different starts were fighting against enemy NPCs; you were just fighting against opposing Blue Star players, what other rewards do you want.】

Mo Xiaomo widened her eyes and immediately retorted:

"I fought too!"

"And there weren't that many deaths! I was clearly suppressing the enemy in the early stages!"

"The reason so many died later was entirely because I was transferred to fight against Empire NPCs, and the reinforcements here were all newbies from other federations, that's why!!"

"Besides, I've been playing for so long! Even if I didn't have merit, I had hard work!"

"And they only give this little reward?!"

Mo Xiaomo complained.

At this time, danmu floated by in the stream.

【Does the hard work you're talking about refer to roasting potatoes in various ways in the stream every day?】

Mo Xiaomo coughed twice and said righteously:

"I wanted to roast other things too."

"It's just that there wasn't anything else."

"Alright! Let's not talk about this topic anymore."

"Let's go to the Polar Star official website to see what the situation is after the 【Battle of Moscow】 ended."

"Eh?"

"When did the Anti-War Competition end?"

"I was playing the whole time and didn't notice."

"Yesterday at dawn?"

Just after entering the Polar Star official website, Mo Xiaomo saw the pinned latest announcement.

【Thank you for the players' support; celebrating "World War II: Rise of the Empire" winning the Anti-War Competition, game category champion!】

Clicked in to view.

【To thank players for their support, after internal discussion, the company has decided to produce an exclusive Polar Star app; after registering, players can view game content, information, and purchase products from the "Earth" IP series mall on the app.】

【At the same time, players who register for the app will receive an exclusive ID card, which can be used to purchase "Earth" IP series products and other game peripherals at a 12% discount.】

【In order to bring players a better experience and complete the history of "Earth".】

【Our company will announce the brand-new series game early access data CG, as well as follow-up updates and sequel CG for "World War II: Rise of the Empire" at the "Anti-War Competition" awards gala four days from now.】

【For the full version, please wait for the domestic press conference; please look forward to it.】

As the announcement ended, there were three boxes below, and the pictures above were also different.

Mo Xiaomo moved to the first one, and the picture brightened a bit; it was a soldier holding a machine gun, with smoke everywhere in the background; looking at the equipment on his body and the machine gun in his hand.

It was even more backward than the period of "World War II: Rise of the Empire," and below it was written:

【"World War I: Twilight of the Empire" please look forward to it.】

Mo Xiaomo widened her eyes:

"World War I?"

"Is this a new game that Polar Star is going to launch later?"

The stream was also astonished; no wonder it was so hard to collect WWI data and information in the game; it turns out they were going to make a WWI game.

But if that's the case, just experience it after it's released; no need to go through the trouble of collecting WWI data now.

Mo Xiaomo looked at the second box and clicked on it.

The picture brightened a bit; this one was very familiar; it was a picture of Empire and Soviet soldiers confronting each other in the suburbs of Moscow.

Below it showed:

【"World War II: Rise of the Empire" -> 【"Global: Cold War Clouds"】 -> 【"Earth Online: Modern Warfare"】】

Mo Xiaomo looked at the introduction and understood a little:

"The WWI one is an independent game."

"After WWII ends, there should be follow-up DLC updates, which are the 【Global: Cold War Clouds】 above, and the later 【Earth Online: Modern Warfare】."

"So WWI and WWII are two games."

"What about this last one?"

"It looks like a historical subject."

Mo Xiaomo's gaze moved to the last picture and clicked on it.

The back of the man wearing the black and gold dragon robe brightened a bit; in the picture, countless soldiers held spears high,

shouting something, revealing a bit of fanaticism.

The text below showed:

【Huaxia History Series: 【??】 【??】...】

Mo Xiaomo widened her eyes:

"I know this Huaxia; in 'Earth', it's the collective name for the ethnic group of that largest country in the 【Asia Theater】, but the 【Asia Theater】 has never been opened."

"Is it also because they are going to release a new game?"

Because she couldn't find information on WWI in WWII, she only now knew that 'WWI' was also going to be an independent game.

So Mo Xiaomo and the viewers in the stream subconsciously thought that the reason the 【Asia Theater】 wasn't opened was because the Polar Star company was going to release a "History Series Game."

But looking at the question marks behind it, Mo Xiaomo said:

"Is that it?"

"This didn't reveal anything at all."

Mo Xiaomo clicked a few times, and it was indeed gone, so she could only say helplessly:

"Looks like we can only wait for the 'Anti-War Competition' awards gala."

"But Polar Star company's move this time feels quite big, three games."

"WWII series, then WWI, and then the Huaxia History series."

"Feels like there's plenty to play for the next few years."

"The quality of Polar Star company's games is still reliable."

Then, looking at the app download method at the end of the announcement, Mo Xiaomo followed the prompts to start searching and downloading:

"Brothers, download this app."

"Looks pretty good."

"'Earth' IP series products at a 12% discount."

"I guess they will start listing products after the 'Anti-War Competition' awards; we'll see then."

"Speaking of which..."

"Since it's an awards ceremony, will the boss of Polar Star company show up?"

As the words fell, the stream fell into silence.

The viewers also discovered this blind spot.

Holy crap?!

That's right, since it's an awards gala, Old Thief Zhao should show his face, right?!!!

Good, good, good, finally we can catch him!

Mo Xiaomo's heart skipped a beat; oh no... seems like she said the wrong thing?

Four days later.

Golden Moon Federation, New Moon City.

The city located at the center of the Golden Moon Federation, also the new capital established after the Golden Moon Federation was founded, a city laid out in the shape of a crescent moon by seven huge new energy crystals that reached straight into the sky.

The huge new energy crystals reaching into the sky emitted energy without stopping, and these energies were guided by technology to form a turquoise dome shield above New Moon City.

And these energy sources also kept the temperature of the entire city constant, with spring all year round.

Stepping out of the aviation special train and seeing those seven sky-high new energy crystals.

Zhao Ming finally understood why the eldest prince of the Golden Moon Federation could casually toss out 500 million.

With such a huge volume, the energy contained alone was probably worth more than hundreds of billions of Federation coins, not to mention this unique value.

And there were seven such huge new energy crystals in the capital of the Golden Moon Federation, just used like air conditioners.

Zhao Ming looked at these seven huge new energy crystals, and Shen Qinghan smiled from the side and said:

"How is it?"

"The scenery is not bad, right."

Zhao Ming nodded, then felt a toothache; damn it...:

"Asked for too little."

Shen Qinghan was full of question marks:

"What did you ask for too little of?"

Zhao Ming said:

"The agency fee."

"Should have multiplied it several times more."

The rich guy didn't treat money as money, so why was he feeling sorry for it.

Need to study this later.

Doesn't the eldest prince of the Golden Moon Federation like military strategy... I'll swindle a few billion more out of him one way or another.

Shen Qinghan was speechless:

"You..."

At this time.

A group of people wearing white robes and gorgeous decorations walked over from afar, and Shen Qinghan prompted:

"The one in the front is the eldest prince of the Golden Moon Federation."

Zhao Ming nodded, watching the eldest prince of the Golden Moon Federation walk over, a smile appearing on his face as he reached out his hand, about to speak.

The eldest prince of the Golden Moon Federation, however, didn't stand on ceremony, coming straight up to hug him and patting Zhao Ming on the shoulder:

"You must be Zhao Ming, hahahaha."

"The game you made is really good; I learned a lot of things from General Zhukov."

"The deep operations tactics are really amazing!"

Hearing this, the corners of Zhao Ming's mouth twitched:

"It's only right."

Learned a lot of things?

That deep operations tactic is pure attrition, you learned...

Zhao Ming's gaze looked at the seven huge crystals in the distance; forget it...: just pretend he didn't say anything.

This guy isn't afraid of attrition at all; who could be richer than him.

The eldest prince of the Golden Moon Federation released Zhao Ming and said with a smile:

"I've arranged the top-tier palace for you; after the 'Anti-War Competition' awards end, you must stay for a few more days."

"By the way."

"Since you are the creator of this game, I saw there is a tactics library in it."

"Can you explain the military strategies in there to me?"

"I feel like quite a lot of them are very powerful."

Zhao Ming looked at the enthusiastic Golden Moon Federation prince and couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle; a pure game fan, and he's asking for a walkthrough...:

"This... no problem."

"I'll use the photonic supercomputer to organize a copy later."

"That will be more detailed."

He didn't dare to think about how long it would take if he had to explain it all.

Hearing that it would be more detailed, the eyes of the Golden Moon Federation eldest prince lit up:

"That's great."

"Let's go, let me take you to the palace first."

"The 'Anti-War Competition' awards won't start for another two hours."

Then he took Zhao Ming and Shen Qinghan toward the prepared palace.

At this time.

The stream for the "Anti-War Competition" also opened in various federations on Blue Star.

Many streamers on various platforms had the "Anti-War Competition" stream hung in their own rooms, chatting with viewers while waiting for the broadcast to start.

Daxia Federation, Sky Shark Live.

Quite a few streamers were watching the "Anti-War Competition" stream; although it hadn't started yet, news had already come out that Zhao Ming had arrived in the Golden Moon Federation.

So.

"Brothers, Boss Zhao might show his face today."

"Finally, we'll be able to see what kind of sacred person Boss Zhao is."

Fang Ming said with a smile to the viewers in his stream; on the other side of the screen was the official "Anti-War Competition" stream, which was currently setting up the hall, with staff walking around.

Danmu floated by in the stream.

【Recorded, you bastard, you were definitely going to say Old Thief Zhao just now, right?!】

【Report, report! Let Old Thief Zhao give him a hard time!】

【Hahahaha, are you experiencing being bombed continuously during the 'Normandy Landings'?】

【To be honest, back then with those few people, I suspect Old Thief Zhao was watching the stream and locked onto him, otherwise why was he the one being bombed continuously.】

Fang Ming looked at the danmu and recalled the unbearable past:

"Don't mention it."

"Those first few games I played were indeed outrageous."

"Those shells were like they were chasing me."

"Just bombing my ship; I don't know what was special about that ship of mine."

"Besides me, there were only a few other streamers, and one was a newbie."

"It was outrageous."

Fang Ming said helplessly, and his stream, like those of Mo Xiaomo, Yu Feng, Xu Jie, and others who had risen in popularity due to the game, were also guarding the stream.

Time passed bit by bit.

Until two hours later, the awards ceremony broadcast across the entire network began.

【Movies】, 【Novels】, 【Games】 were the three major categories, so they would generally start awarding prizes at the very end.

So the earlier ones were small items like 【Opera】, 【Short Plays】, etc.

When it was the turn of the 【Game】 category.

The awards had already been going on for an hour and a half; the camera was on the hall, and the streamers from the Daxia Federation had been looking for an hour and a half and still hadn't found which one was Zhao Ming.

Until the awards for the 【Game】 category began.

Tenth place 【Homecoming Journey】, Producer...:

Second place 【Anti-War Knight】, Producer...:

First place 【World War II: Rise of the Empire】

"Producer! Zhao Ming!"

Accompanied by the host's shout, Zhao Ming, sitting in the audience below in a black tuxedo, showed a smile at the corner of his mouth, stood up, and waved to the people around him.

Then he walked toward the podium.

【Emotion Value +32594】

【Emotion Value +28877】

【Emotion Value +321...】

The emotion value brought by the streamers and players from the Daxia Federation had even exceeded the shock of the several updates in the game.

In Mo Xiaomo's stream.

"This, this, this... I thought this was a celebrity they hired?!"

"And you're telling me this is Boss Zhao???"

Watching that man who looked like a celebrity stand up and walk toward the podium, Mo Xiaomo was already dumbfounded, and the stream was also frantically brushing exclamation marks and question marks.

【!!!!】

【Holy crap? This is Old Thief Zhao? Doesn't look like it?】

【Hiss—although very shocked, but... where does it not look like him?】

【The face doesn't look like it! Such a handsome guy, how could the levels and plots he designed be so insane?!】

【My god... this is outrageous?!】

【No? Is this right?】

The shock in the stream never stopped, and Zhao Ming had already walked onto the podium.

Looking at the huge awards gala hall and the constantly lighting up lights, Zhao Ming took the trophy and then said with a smile:

"I actually didn't expect the game to get to where it is today and win this grand prize."

"Mainly, I want to thank everyone for their support."

"In order not to let down everyone's expectations, I have also brought some follow-up updates for the game and information on other series of games today; please look at the big screen."

Saying this, Zhao Ming stepped back a bit.

Except for the host and staff who had been briefed in advance, other participants of the awards gala and the netizens watching the stream were all stunned.

Holy crap?

Such a short acceptance speech? Three sentences and he starts playing the CG?

You're really something.

Zhao Ming's brief speech also truly stunned a batch of netizens.

At this time.

Three pictures lit up on the big screen.

Many netizens recognized that these were the three pictures from the Polar Star official website announcement.

Zhao Ming stood on the podium, a virtual screen appeared in front of him, and Zhao Ming clicked on the first picture.

The first picture enlarged, and Zhao Ming said:

"First is 'World War I: Twilight of the Empire,' which is a brand-new game independent of 'World War II: Rise of the Empire'."

"Helping players understand another piece of history on 'Earth'."

Then he clicked in the air again, and the picture turned into a CG video and started playing.

Blue Star netizens in major streams held their breath.

The scene slowly emerged.

【June 28, 1914, Sarajevo, Serbia 'National Humiliation Day'】

Looking at the subtitles that appeared, many Blue Star netizens were a bit confused; 'National Humiliation Day'? Are you sure?

This colorful display, and this formation, it was clearly welcoming something; could this 'National Humiliation Day' be a day worth celebrating?

Just as this thought flashed through.

A young man on the side of the street suddenly threw something at the motorcade; the bodyguards on the car reacted and hurriedly used an umbrella to knock it away.

Boom—!!!

The explosion spread at the bottom of the vehicle behind; the bodyguards on the car had angry and shocked expressions, shouting something; one could vaguely feel they were shouting the word 'assassination.'

Then the vehicles behind the motorcade suddenly turned around and left the area.

After turning several corners, they rushed into a small alley.

A young man sitting on the side of the street reading a newspaper had a look of confusion and shock in his eyes, watching the vehicles pass by his side; the next second, his expression became determined.

He suddenly pulled a gun from his bosom and cocked it.

Aiming at the big shot sitting in the back row of the vehicle, he fired several shots.

The scene slowly darkened on the body of the big shot in the vehicle, and then suddenly lit up.

Austro-Hungarian Empire soldiers appeared in groups, not knowing where they were heading.

Then came the soldiers of the British Federation, French Federation, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Tsarist Empire, and American Freedom Federation, carrying guns and appearing in turns.

Then the scene switched.

【American Freedom Federation】

Capitol Building.

In the scene.

The President of the American Freedom Federation, 【Wilson】, stood on the podium, delivering a speech declaring war on the Empire with a solemn expression, with the fluttering Stars and Stripes behind him.

Below were countless congressmen raising their hands in agreement, and the banners around them were written with phrases like 'Calling for World Peace.'

Outside were countless American Freedom Federation citizens listening to the radio, discussing the scene.

The scene switched again.

【Empire】

The scene slowly lit up; it was a smoke-filled battlefield, with corpses everywhere, the cruel scene impacting the viewer's soul, but what was even more terrifying was.

At this moment in the scene, the man held at gunpoint, that iconic mustache...:

【Emotion Value +128844】

【Emotion Value +128377】

【Emotion Value +1241...】

In an instant, a large amount of shock emotion value was credited.

On the Daxia Federation side, countless streamers held their breath, and the viewers were also stunned, widening their eyes:

"This is?!"

"No way?!!"

Cheng Yu, a streamer for the Empire faction, had his scalp tingling:

"Holy crap?!"

"World War I, is it this exciting?!"

That man held at gunpoint was none other than the main character of the Empire who appeared in the CG at the very beginning of the game.

Everyone held their breath.

Wondering inexplicably what would happen if this shot were fired?

But this thought only lasted for an instant.

It turned into why this guy didn't fire the gun?

In the scene.

The two sides confronted each other for a moment; this British Federation soldier glanced at the bleeding thigh of the Empire 'soldier' opposite and slowly lowered his gun.

There were corpses everywhere in the scene.

Clatter!

A newspaper flew over and covered the scene.

When the newspaper was taken away, the background had changed to a courtyard of an ordinary family in the Empire's capital; the master of the house placed the newspaper on the table, sighing that it was another peaceful day.

The headline on the newspaper read 【Today, All Quiet on the Western Front】.

All the viewers watching the stream were stunned; all quiet? Then what was that just now? This... and that man?!!!

The scene switched again.

【British Federation】

Cabinet.

In a serious conference room, an old man pointed at the map of the 【Somme River】, marked with the words '60,000 casualties,' and said to a general in uniform with a trembling voice:

"This is not tactics, this is a massacre!"

"It's a massacre!!!"

The general in uniform was expressionless, looking at the old man with indifference.

The scene switched.

【Tsarist Empire】

Inside the palace.

The Tsarist Emperor, wearing imperial robes, frowned as he looked at the battle report, couldn't help but scold the generals around him, and then angrily threw the battle report in his hand away.

The camera followed the battle report as it slowly fell, until it landed on the ground.

The Blue Star netizens then looked at what was written on it.

It was the casualty list of the Tsarist Empire's Eastern Front battlefield; the casualties had already reached... 3 million people?!

Stunned, all the Blue Star players were stunned.

Holy crap?!

How many years are there between WWI and WWII, and the Soviets were already this capable of filling the gaps during WWI?

3 million people???

So this is a tradition???

Just when the Blue Star players were still shocked by 【World War I】 and hadn't come to their senses, still wanting more.

The scene had gradually darkened.

Thump!

A drum sound, and then a few large characters appeared.

【World War I】

Zhao Ming didn't give the Blue Star players a chance to recover from the shock at all, and then his voice slowly rang out to announce the second game of the future:

"This is the game we are going to make next, the World War I series."

"Next, please look at..."

"Huaxia History Series."