Chapter 177: E-commerce Platform

Yu Sheng’an’s acquisition of the Ironbeard Tribe went smoothly!

No, that’s not entirely accurate.

Yu Sheng’an never actively intervened in the Ironbeard Tribe’s internal affairs. Rather, his influence permeated them smoothly.

For the Ironbeard Tribe, ravaged by plunder and stricken by famine, a hearty feast was enough to satisfy them.

Especially when such a feast came at no cost.

Yu Sheng’an’s assistance to the Ironbeard Tribe extended beyond food.

He sold bicycle production lines at reasonable prices, shared Forest of Magic fungus spores, and even placed large orders for magical tools to stimulate their faltering economy.

It must be acknowledged, the Dwarven Race has an astounding talent for forging, especially with magical tools.

But since magical tools cannot be mass-produced, they fail to impact the multiverse.

However, to control the Ironbeard Tribe, these “little gestures” can earn gratitude temporarily, but not in the long term.

Because all intelligent beings are forgetful.

Hegel once said, the only lesson humanity learns from history is that it learns nothing from history.

This applies to all intelligent beings.

In one or two generations, the Dwarven Race will see what they receive as entitled and necessary.

Anyone daring to take it away will face their wrath! Though Yu Sheng’an has already achieved his goal of spreading the Internet, it’s no longer enough for him.

He needs a Dwarven Race that follows his lead, not a bunch of scattered Internet users.

To control the Dwarven tribe, Yu Sheng’an has decided to stick to his strategy—interest binding.

Integrating the dwarves into the Kewell Empire’s industrial system is one form of interest binding.

Building a platform to make dwarves beneficiaries is an even greater form of interest binding.

It’s time to integrate e-commerce platforms into the Internet.

In the deep-sea castle of the Velia Main Plane, Yu Sheng’an’s real body opened his eyes, left his divine seat, and paced thoughtfully in the shrine.

He had thought of e-commerce platforms long ago.

However, he soon dismissed this idea.

Firstly, not to mention the multiverse, even the Kewell Empire, which he fully controls, has cities spaced far apart.

Transportation is underdeveloped, and logistics relies completely on mercenaries and pack animals.

What about teleportation arrays? Such high-end devices are not affordable!

Secondly, the world’s goods are underdeveloped. Products are polarized; either magical tools costly as can be or affordable handcrafted items.

Magical tools have their niche circles, who shops from your e-commerce? Those buying handmade goods prefer local markets, avoiding shipping fees and risks.

Most importantly, the majority of civilians struggle with subsistence, lacking strong purchasing power.

Although quantity can compensate, the transport costs are too high.

In summary: a quality horse deserves a quality saddle; fools waste time! Lagging productivity will only hold back development.

So why does Yu Sheng’an now decide to develop an e-commerce platform? Military transactions inspired him.

——Personal e-commerce is challenging, but he can start with a bulk goods trading platform!

Since it’s bulk trading, increased product prices will naturally dilute teleportation costs.

With wars raging across the multiverse, Yu Sheng’an isn’t convenient to market firearms individually.

It’s troublesome;

Moreover, selling to both warring sides could incite hatred.

Yet, building a platform avoids this issue.

The goods are sold by merchants, unrelated to me as the Internet God. Try not buying?

Besides, trading is fundamentally a mutually beneficial mode.

Short on food? Can’t find buyers for stockpiled minerals? Afraid of fraud in buyer-seller dealings?

Don’t worry, the Internet platform resolves everything at once. It connects buyers and sellers across the multiverse, ensuring you’ll find needed goods and interested buyers.

With the Internet God as a guarantor, fraud is no longer a concern.

Realizing the benefits of a successful e-commerce platform are endless for him.

Firstly, his products can permeate the multiverse through the Internet without seeking buyers globally.

As products spread and business grows, the profit chain led by the Dragon Factory will become increasingly solid!

Everyone in the profit chain will fiercely support him for their own interests. Opposing him equals opposing them.

Secondly, e-commerce helps promote the Internet Bank, gradually unifying currency and gaining financial control over the multiverse.

Thirdly, trading itself is the most primitive form of mutual benefit. Exchanging abundant local goods for those of others, isn’t that mutual gain?

Once universal mutual benefit is achieved, his Internet will be an immovable force.

Fourthly, the Underworld God will inevitably copy his e-commerce platform.

It is currently the best time to develop e-commerce. The Underworld God is trapped by the four gods’ siege, lacking resources and opportunity to advance e-commerce.

Gaining a first-mover advantage is crucial.

By incrementally building advantages, the dark web’s space will be fully squeezed.

“Hmph…”

Yu Sheng’an exhaled deeply to calm his excited spirit, contemplating how to build a bulk trading e-commerce platform.

Should he mimic the Blue Star model by setting up a third-party escrow service to ensure fair trade? No, no!

Among gods, the Internet Bank is like the Internet’s church.

Establishing a third-party escrow service would require banks across the multiverse, challenging for him and hard for gods to accept.

How then to ensure fair trade?

Bartering?

Might as well not impose bank services initially; let users freely choose between online payment and barter.

How to guarantee fairness?

Contract signing?

With his curse authority, he could formulate a standardized powerful curse contract. Any breach would bring severe soul curses. But it’s not foolproof.

What if traders use ghost forms for fraudulent contracts? A real-name system is needed! But how to ensure ID verification?

The multiverse is vast; constant surveillance with God’s Perspective is unrealistic!

The workload is too immense!

Delegating to subordinates isn’t safe either.

Yu Sheng’an fell silent.

“Tap, tap, tap…”

Footsteps echoed in the castle shrine.

Ideas surfaced in his mind, only to be discarded.

He wanted an automated e-commerce platform, not one needing extensive labor oversight. But achieving automation wasn’t easy! Even human supervision could err!

Wait!

Personal supervision?

Yu Sheng’an abruptly halted, eyes wide… He knew what to do.

Why should he monopolize oversight?

Let the buyers and sellers handle it! They have never seen the Blue Star e-commerce model, after all.

He could use soul authority to create a spiritual body at the seller’s site for product inspection, saving searching costs.

Upon finalizing a transaction, the real body could then be teleported for on-site monitoring.

Fraud could then not be blamed on him, as he’d done all he could.

Admittedly, how could this still allow fraud? Sellers might create highly realistic illusions to deceive the spiritual body or even the buyer.

But this is unlikely.

Creating highly realistic illusions incurs costs, making fraud unprofitable.

Moreover, it’s easily solved. During transactions, transport in batches to minimize losses.

Beyond this, what fraud methods remain? Yu Sheng’an couldn’t see any.

Fraud is a skill all intelligent beings share.

The competition between spear and shield is ever-spiraling.

He is merely a platform, facilitating trade.

He can only aim to close every loophole.

Upon concluding his thoughts and finding no issues, Yu Sheng’an immediately set to construct the bulk e-commerce platform.

While building the product display system, Yu Sheng’an pondered and integrated the Light authority, adding photo and video functions to existing features.

Eliminating the need for special magical tools for uploading images and videos.