God's imitator

Chapter 264 The Use of the "Insincere Ticket"
On the big screen, a new round of land auctions began.

The developable land in this round of the game is: A7 3x3 grid.

[Community 9 has selected this 3x3 grid as a 'Priority Development Area', and therefore will automatically be designated as the 'Number One Developer'.]

[Communities 12 and 15 can acquire the status of 'Second Developer' through bidding.]

[Bidding begins now, time limit 3 minutes.]

Zhang Shichao from the 9th community sighed silently. At this moment, he could understand Jin Cheng's feelings very well.

These two communities seem to be targeted at every turn in this game.

If grids A1 and A7 are selected as developable in the first phase, both communities will gain more land parcels.

At the same time, they were the first two communities to be declared guilty.

If it weren't for the intervention of Community 17, Community 9 would still only have 4 shelters at this point, and all players within that community would be implicated.

In that case, even if four players lose their shelter and one player dies, they will be in a very bad situation, just like Community 7.

Now that the trial is over, the nine-square grid they selected has finally been opened.

Once again, the 12th and 15th communities began bidding for the title of "Second Developer".

But it's clear that the situation is different from the last round; the 12th community is coming on strong.

Wang Weidong had already listed four low-quality shelters for sale and still had a fair amount of gold coins. However, Fan Zehui from Community 12 showed a determined attitude and had clearly sold some shelters for 16 gold coins each.

Ultimately, the price was raised to 50 gold coins, and Wang Weidong chose to give up.

This was also his last attempt to auction off the land.

Wang Weidong clearly realized that he was powerless to compete with the 12th Community, and that selling the existing shelter at the highest possible price and cashing out was the only correct option.

Community 9 and Community 12 each selected a plot of land, dividing the nine-square grid once again in a 5:4 ratio.

……

After the land auction, Chen Guangming from Community 12 did not leave. Instead, he found Wang Weidong from Community 15, Zhang Shichao from Community 9, and Jin Cheng from Community 7 and gathered them together.

Chen Guangming's first words surprised Zhang Shichao and Jin Cheng.

“Now, I can tell you about my crimes and how ‘insincere tickets’ should be used.”

"At the same time, we can also agree on the method to maximize our gains in this game."

If Zhang Shichao's crimes had not been made public, Chen Guangming could have been implicated and punished for similar offenses.

Therefore, even though Chen Guangming had such a plan long ago, he never said it.

Now that the crime has been adjudicated, this act of "inciting price gouging" is completely safe.

Zhang Shichao glanced at Wang Weidong, who didn't show much expression, but was listening attentively.

Chen Guangming continued, "First of all, everyone must have realized that this game has now become a game of 'selling inferior shelters to the audience at high prices as much as possible'."

"At the same time, we realized that to maximize profits, we should only sell inferior shelters, and the selling price should never be lower than 16 gold coins. "The transaction prices on the big screen are proof of this."

"I am very pleased with this. Since everyone has thought of this, I can save myself a lot of trouble."

"However, the price of 16 gold coins is not high enough."

"Since there are only 30 viewers in total, those who bought the shelter are unlikely to buy another one. We need to raise the price even higher to generate sufficient revenue."

"Moreover, the price of 16 gold coins may not be able to hold."

"Because the number of shelters ultimately exceeds the number of viewers, if we cannot reach an agreement, some communities may not be able to hold on and sell their shelters for less than 16 gold coins, which could trigger a run on the market and cause a price collapse."

"Of course I cannot allow that to happen."

"So my proposal is that our four communities, except for Community 17, should work together to raise the price of shelters to the highest possible level and distribute the profits according to a certain ratio."

"This is the optimal solution for each of our communities."

Zhang Shichao frowned and asked, "You mean, we should raise the price together?"
“My crime is ‘inciting price gouging,’ which I have already been tried for. But what if ‘price gouging’ and ‘inciting price gouging’ are two different crimes?”

Chen Guangming shook his head: "Don't worry, because I can confirm that my crime is raising prices."

“In the game, selling any shelter at an excessively high price is likely to be considered a ‘similar crime’.”

Jin Cheng was taken aback: "Wait, then aren't the three of us guilty of very similar crimes?"

Chen Guangming explained: "It is obvious that the crimes of the three of us each have their own focus."

“Jin Cheng, your crime is ‘passing off inferior goods as superior ones,’ Zhang Shichao’s crime is ‘incitement and instigation,’ and my crime is ‘price gouging.’”

"Specifically in the game, our three crimes focused on 'inferior shelters,' 'inciting other players,' and 'personally inflating prices,' respectively."

"You can still distinguish them in the details."

"However, this also shows that the copycat who designed this game was indeed full of malice."

"Because players are indeed very likely to commit three crimes at the same time. For example, if a player sells a substandard shelter at an extremely high price and then instigates other players, he or she could be punished three times in a row."

Everyone was somewhat moved, as they had not yet experienced a particularly large-scale death toll, which was undoubtedly a stroke of luck.

But Zhang Shichao was even more puzzled: "Wait, are you sure that raising prices is a crime, and you still want us to raise prices?"
"You still have shelter, but we're doomed!"

Wang Weidong had already understood Chen Guangming's intention: "You mean, you want us to use 'votes against our conscience'?"

Chen Guangming nodded: "That's right."

"According to the game rules, players in the same community cannot vote against their conscience for sinners in their own community, so everyone should still have their votes against their conscience, right?"
"Then you should think carefully about when is the most appropriate time to use a vote against your conscience?"
"I am not yet certain of the specific crimes committed by the other two sinners, but I am certain that my crimes will benefit all of you the most."

"Now, you have two paths before you:"
"The first option is that you can refuse to cooperate with my plan, not raise prices, and always sell your shelters at prices roughly equal to the cost price, and you also can't give me tickets against my will."

"In that case, you won't benefit, we'll be implicated, and none of us will have a good ending."

"The second option is for us to raise the price together and squeeze every last penny out of the audience."

(End of this chapter)