This Is Prestige Won Through Combat

In short.

After the gaming helmets appeared,

Big and small uproars never ceased.

Scalpers, big and small, never disappeared either.

Though over time, the protesting crowds would gradually dwindle,

But...

At the slightest stir—like the recent viral short videos sweeping through Europe and America, bringing along clips of games played inside those helmets—

The feeling was... unbeatable.

And so, with the popularity of these short videos, the issue of gaming helmets was brought back into the spotlight. Protests continued, and complaints never stopped.

...

Fortunately.

This time was different.

The Eastern District introduced a visa-free policy.

Coming over became much easier.

With some luck, you could even buy a helmet here and take it back.

Though it required some maneuvering.

But the scalper price here was only around a hundred thousand RMB—roughly twenty grand in dollars, several times cheaper than what they’d pay back home through their own scalpers!

Worth the risk.

At worst, they could cross the border via land, first to Shit Country, then exit from there and catch a flight back to Europe or America.

That way, they had a chance to smuggle the helmet out.

A bit troublesome, sure.

There were also rumors about specialized routes for smuggling helmets—as long as you could buy one from a scalper here, they had connections to get it out, just for an extra fee.

In short.

The risks were higher, but the rewards were worth it.

...

Recently, more and more tourists arrived.

And the photos and videos they sent back multiplied.

One of the top three trending videos was about buying a helmet.

A tourist found a scalper, paid a few bucks, and got a helmet—footage like this exploded online overseas.

Moreover,

Tourists only needed a passport and a local SIM card to register online for a chance to win a helmet reservation.

Whether by coincidence or not,

Over the past month, foreigners visiting China seemed to hit the jackpot frequently.

The odds were surprisingly high.

Almost one in three foreigners won.

Securing the cheapest gaming helmets.

These filtered videos spread abroad, causing another sensation.

If scalper-bought helmets had sparked envy before, now winning one through a lottery drove people mad with jealousy.

After all,

A helmet costing less than thirty thousand RMB could be resold to scalpers for around a hundred and thirty thousand.

Effectively covering their entire trip expenses.

...

That’s right.

This was all Young Master Cao’s doing.

No tampering with the lottery odds—just platforms accessing user data behind the scenes. If they won fairly, they got it.

If not, they’d simply receive a fake winning notification.

A few wasted helmets were nothing.

But the advertising payoff was huge.

Platforms played along, ensuring the clips went viral with their logos visible.

All indirect marketing.

...

Beyond gaming helmets,

Other trending clips featured food, entertainment, and safety—especially healthcare.

Ordinary medical services weren’t worth mentioning.

Every country had its strengths and weaknesses.

But miracle treatments?

Anyone with a passport could queue up at designated hospitals for specific medications.

Many were cancer drugs.

Affordable, too.

Of course,

“Affordable” meant for those with local insurance or special plans. Foreigners paid the standard price.

But even that was fifteen times cheaper than abroad.

A full fifteen times.

Domestic sales were in RMB, while overseas prices were in dollars—and doubled at that!

And these meds didn’t require smuggling.

Rules allowed tourists to carry a limited amount out—enough for a month, maybe a month and a half at most.

So now,

Many came for treatment, using visa-free entry, then hopping to Hong Kong or elsewhere before re-entering.

They’d stay until cured.

The costs weren’t excessive, especially if they avoided first-tier cities.

Now, rentals in second-tier, provincial capitals, or even smaller cities—especially spacious, well-furnished ones—were in high demand.

...

Thus,

Helmet lottery winners.

Medical tourists.

Domestic safety.

Local hospitality.

All these viral clips stirred up quite a storm.

And boosted national pride significantly.

But this was just the beginning.

Young Master Cao knew—even if the timeline differed slightly from his dreams, and Cao Cheng had altered a few things—

The future would diverge more and more.

But Young Master Cao was certain.

Rebuilding national confidence was a two-generation task, not achievable in one.

The era of insecurity had lasted three to four generations.

Reversing it in one was near impossible.

Some people were rotten to the bone.

Only ashes could harden them again.

Still,

With Young Master Cao here, he believed he could achieve in one-and-a-half generations what took two in his dreams.

That was confidence.

After all, shifting the tide required monumental power.

Only with his system, plus the flood of emotional feedback from the helmets, did he dare aim so high.

Otherwise,

Even with the system, claiming to shorten the timeline would’ve been sheer arrogance.

...

...

As expected.

None of the sanctions or “security” crackdowns from his dreams materialized.

Because some things had nothing to do with security.

It was all about media interests and profits.

Even the elites tied to the Eternal Club hesitated before moving against Young Master Cao.

Hadn’t they seen John’s collapse?

It started with a small protest.

Against gaming helmets, against Miracle Cosmetics.

Then snowballed into chaos.

Of course,

The real trigger was freezing Miracle Cosmetics’ funds.

Retaliation followed—companies pulled out their capital, trust evaporated, and the dominoes fell.

Hacked systems.

A cascade of crises... ending in collapse.

Thankfully, John held massive dollar-denominated bonds and gold reserves as a lifeline.

Without those, it would’ve been wiped out.

Literally.

A tiny island.

A handful of people.

Surrounded by enemies after cutting ties with Europe.

Their only overseas “ally”? No saint either.

If they’d faltered without those safeguards,

The first to strike would’ve been that “ally” and their neighbors.

A narrow escape.

It was precisely because of John's cautionary tale that many others who had designs on Miracle had to think twice before acting.

This was a reputation forged through sheer force.