Random Chapters of MTL Novel

Phil's plan had not only successfully fooled all the audience, but also the two large financial groups and the other three judges.

Phil being a mentor on a superhero talent show seemed like a spur-of-the-moment fun for a rich second-generation heir who had no other pursuits in life in the eyes of the public. It was not for fame or profit, and he had done his job well;

Phil had spent a lot of money on this variety show just to show off in front of the public. It did not pose any threat to them to the other large financial groups and mentors that cooperated with his performance.

The audience did not know that this program had a script, nor did they know that the sponsor behind this program was Phil himself. Naturally, they could not guess Phil's true motive.

On the other hand, the financial group and the mentors knew that the program had a script. However, this script did not cause a scandal or cause any negative effects to the program. Instead, it brought about a lot of popularity. Therefore, they had no motive to leak this matter at the moment. That would be equivalent to slandering themselves.

Phil's performance was like a prodigal on a whim to these people. He had spent two hundred million US dollars in order to create the image of a "professional in the field of superheroes" in front of the public. But so what? What was fake could not become real.

These people knew very well that Phil's super performance was based on the script, so they did not think that Phil would really pose a threat to their own interests.

Thus, Phil's first phase of the plan was a success.

He started lying low and waited patiently for the next stage.

Superheroes were hot topics in Hope City. In this city that was synomous with both heaven and hell, there would be murder, robbery, and other violent incidents every day. There would also be cases of superheroes successfully or failing to rescue hostages every day.

However, Phil had not made his move yet. His Twitter feed was back to normal. Every day, he would share his private jet, yachts, models, or photos with his fans at roadside shops.

However, his Twitter followers had increased by a lot compared to before. These fans had changed their view of him because of the 'Successor' talent show and had become genuine supporters.

Two months later.

There was a very bad kidnapping case in Hope City. A group of lawless criminals kidnapped the daughter of a rich businessman and asked for a huge ransom. Superheroes immediately went to her rescue, but the hostage was brutally killed. Moreover, while the superheroes killed a number of the criminals, most of them managed to flee because of the superheroes' underestimation of the enemy's strength.

The rich businessman's daughter was kind and beautiful. The public had a very good impression of her.

Someone had taken a picture of the tragic scene of the crime scene. This little angel was lying in a pool of blood. Her limbs were tied up, her mouth was stuffed with cloth, and there were tears on her face. Her death was tragic but beautiful. It had also aroused unlimited sympathy from the public.

Thus, the three superheroes who participated in the rescue faced immense pressure from public opinion.

The public did not accept them pushing the blame away even though they had explained that the criminals' goals did not seem to be for ransom and had no intention of releasing the hostage. Instead, they continued to pressure the Superhero Association to disqualify the three superheroes.

The power of these three superheroes fell drastically with the public's doubts. The Superhero Association had no choice but to cut ties with them. They revoked the licenses of two of the superheroes while admitting their mistakes to the public. The other superhero was protected because his connections were strong enough. However, he also needed to reflect deeply, repent, and do a long period of volunteer work in front of the public to gradually appease the public's anger.

The criminal who had killed the young daughter of the rich businessman had been shot dead on the spot. The other criminals who had been captured alive had only committed the crime of kidnapping and not murder. Thus, they were each sentenced to ten to dozens of years of punishment when some members of the jury objected. Only the leader of the criminals was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The people came to the streets and spontaneously offered flowers to this little angel to express their grief.

At that moment, Phil began to bombard all interest groups related to this incident on Twitter: Superheroes did not have enough intelligence and ability to deal with this incident; The Superhero Association did not see the shortcomings of these three superheroes' abilities and misuse of their manpower; Superheroes did not have a clear estimate of the hidden risks in this city. They were only passively catching criminals, but they had never thought of solving the underlying problem that caused the high crime rate in Hope City...

Phil's speech garnered support from the public.

The people's emotions were in urgent need of an outlet to vent after this tragedy. Someone had to be responsible for this tragedy. It was obviously not enough for the three superheroes to take the blame.

What's more, people had already accumulated a lot of resentment towards Hope City's high crime rate. It was very easy to add fuel to the fire with Phil stepping forward.

If the Casanova Phil had commented on this incident a few months ago, most people would have thought that he was boasting shamelessly.

However, now, with the hot influence of 'Successor', many people viewed Phil as an industry insider who truly understood the problems of the superhero system.

What Phil said made sense since he was an industry insider who really understood these things.

Thus, the angry public vented their anger on the Superhero Association and other superheroes. They cursed angrily. Why did the Superhero Association send these three weaklings to rescue the hostages? Why didn't they send stronger superheroes? Why didn't the stronger superheroes take the initiative to carry out missions?

In fact, the Superhero Association only sent out superheroes of the same standard according to their crime level. They could not possibly send out the top superheroes just because of some kidnapping or robbery, right?

Everything was done according to the normal rules and procedures. However, the Superhero Association had a hard time explaining because the more they explained, the more it seemed like they were pushing the blame. It further confirmed their own incompetence.

The anger of the people had not subsided even though the Superhero Association repeatedly apologized. Many fans expressed on Phil's twitter that they hoped that Phil could step out and do something within his capabilities. If Phil was in charge of this matter, the situation would definitely not have turned out this way.

On the other hand, Phil replied on Twitter that he had no intention of doing so. The previous tweet was also a display of his true feelings due to his righteous indignation. He emphasized that the Superhero Association was very successful when dealing with "most problems". While they had made a "small but fatal" mistake this time, they were still trustworthy as long as they could seriously improve from this incident.

The fans also expressed their understanding of Phil. he was a billionaire who had his own company to manage after all. There was no reason for him to get involved in this mess. However, the fans still hoped that Phil would be able to comment more on matters related to superheroes in the future.

Phil reluctantly agreed to this request.

Thus, Phil began to review the incidents related to superheroes on Twitter. If the operation was successful, he would review the experience of this success in detail and praise the successful superheroes greatly. If the operation was a failure, he would also carefully review the lessons of this failure and violently attack the failed superheroes or the association itself.

Of course, these reviews were all created by his think tank team. He then edited them and posted them on his Twitter.

Such detailed, professional, easy to understand and very down-to-earth content gave Phil's fans a strong sense of participation. They could see the details of all aspects of the operation from an omniscient point of view. At the same time, their admiration and trust for Phil deepened.

The superheroes were unhappy with Phil's actions, but they could do nothing about it.

That was because what Phil said was very smart.

In most cases, he would criticize those down on their luck with the officials after the mission failed—these were superheroes who did not have many fans and made obvious mistakes;

In a small number of cases, he would be generous with his praise for the superheroes who had completed the mission and had more fans, winning the favor of these superhero fans;

Phil would criticize the Superhero Association under extremely rare circumstances. However, the Superhero Association was a huge business. It was impossible for them to really fight with Phil. What's more, it would only generate more popularity for Phil if they really fought.

Chapter 901: SUCCESSOR (5)

Phil was in the perfect position: the position of an outsider.

That was because he had no interests with the superheroes. He was giving directions with the perspective of God, so Phil himself had no flaws. The people were very supportive and encouraged his behavior. The other superheroes had to worry about the public's influence even if they were unhappy and wanted to teach Phil a lesson.

Ten months passed just like that.

The fans that Phil had accumulated as a mentor in the "Successor" program had been perfectly converted into his personal fans. A large number of people really believed that Phil was a person with genuine talent.

Everyone knew that Phil had assistants but which superhero did not have assistants and managers? It was very normal to have assistants. Most people still believed in Phil's personal abilities.

Ten months later, Phil finally found another opportunity.

This time, the black apprentice in 'Successor' was severely injured and made unconscious by a super criminal who was stronger than him because of his misjudgment of the criminal's strength.

Phil, who was this black apprentice mentor, could be said to be the guide of this apprentice. His evaluation of this matter naturally had a weight in the public's mind.

Phil first went to the hospital to visit this black apprentice. His sad expression was moving. At that moment, the barrier between white people and black people, rich people and commoners seemed to have been broken. Everyone only saw the sincere feelings between a mentor and his apprentice.

Phil met the girlfriend of this black apprentice and gave her many precious gifts as condolences. He also very generously expressed that he would pay for all the medical expenses of this black apprentice.

The black apprentice's girlfriend was deeply moved. She talked about her daily life with the black apprentice in front of the camera.

The black apprentice respected Phil very much. He felt that Phil had been kind to him. He would ask himself before each mission: What would Mentor Phil do if he encountered such a situation? No matter whether the missions he completed were successful or not, he would always reflect upon the situation: Would there have been a better way to deal with such a situation if Mentor Phil was the one who encountered it?

In the end, the black apprentice's girlfriend repeated the famous words of a superhero senior: With great power comes great responsibility. She hoped that Phil could become a superhero and really contribute to changing the world.

Phil was silent for a long time, but he did not give an immediate answer. Instead, he said that he would consider it and then announced his decision on Twitter.

Two days later, Phil posted an inspiring tweet.

He said that his current life was relaxed and comfortable, and he had a career that he was willing to fight for. Becoming a superhero meant that he had to give up his media company and his current free life. This was a huge sacrifice for him.

However, his words took an immediate turn.

The successors of Captain World had become pedantic. The superhero system that the people were proud of was gradually going downhill.

Superheroes who had been famous for a long time were obsessed with fame and fortune. They were increasingly less concerned about the lives of ordinary people. They held high positions but did not do anything. They had completely broken away from the people at the lower ranks of society.

The Superhero Association had obtained a huge amount of commercial value from the superheroes. They were increasingly passionate about creating stars, packaging, and eliminating negative news. They often lied to the people when their stupid arrangements caused many ordinary people to be hurt from crimes;

There were also ordinary people like this black guy who were filled with passion to become superheroes. They had passion but did not have enough strength to change the situation.

Phil said on Twitter that even though becoming a superhero would be a huge sacrifice for himself, he had enough of the superheroes' inaction and the suffering that the problems that crime brought to this city. He decided to stand up and become a superhero to change the situation.

He hoped that all the citizens would support him and recreate the spirit of Captain World with him. He wanted to reduce the crime rate and save the tragedies that might happen in the future so that superheroes could return to the right track.

This tweet immediately received a warm response, and he skipped the first stage to directly obtain the power of a superhero.

Phil's actions had alerted the Superhero Association. Phil was an uncertain factor to the association. They were worried that Phil would cause greater damage to the existing system after entering the association. Therefore, they did not invite Phil but used the 'association rules' to reject him.

Phil was more than happy for that to have happened.

Joining the Superhero Association was ordinary superheroes' only choice. Not joining meant that they had no reputation, no exposure, and would not be able to accept missions. At the same time, it would be difficult to contact their sponsors to provide them with the next stage of the campaign funds.

However, Phil did not need these. Joining the Superhero Association would instead become a kind of restraint on him.

Thus, Phil chose to become a 'lone ranger'. He wandered outside the entire superhero system. He would only personally take action if he encountered something that would 100% become successful.

On top of that, Phil continued to bribe the criminals through a middleman. He knew the criminal's plan in advance and stopped the crime perfectly.

That was because most of the missions that had to be carried out were not dangerous. A small portion of them had been arranged. There were no unknown missions that were forcibly assigned by the association like other heroes. Therefore, Phil's success rate in carrying out missions was especially high.

Phil would arrange for his media company and the television stations that he was on good terms with to report on it every time he had successfully carried out a mission. He would also disclose some details of the operation to his fans on Twitter.

Moreover, Phil had made a huge fuss about the fact that he had not joined the Superhero Association. There were three benefits to this:

First of all, it could give all the fans a feeling of 'volunteer work'. Phil would appear more noble and independent compared to those who became superheroes for fame and profit.

Second, he did not need to participate in missions that were difficult, had low success rate, and missions which he was unwilling to take action. Furthermore, his fans could not question his every move. He could not obtain detailed information about various missions without being in the Superhero Association after all. Phil could say that it was too late when he got to know of the situations;

Finally, he could continue to objectively evaluate missions that he had not participated in. At the same time, he could complete missions with his free will. This way, he could shut the mouths of those who said "do it if you can". He would not be afraid to participate in missions that he could not control.

Thus, Phil continued to accumulate fame through this method. In the hearts of his fans, he was a true superhero with ability, faith, and emotions. The only problem was that he did not have enough supporters. Thus, Phil's superpower was limited and he could not complete bigger things.

On the other hand, the Superhero Association's' jealousy, suppression, and obstruction' of Phil made him suffer unfair treatment. Many fans also felt indignant for him. The fans were becoming more and more extreme in their unity.

However, Phil knew very well that such a state could not last forever.

He would one day arouse the disgust of the superheroes if he continued to make digs at the Superhero Associations. He had to enter the next stage as soon as possible and obtain more power.

Thus, he entered the third stage and prepared the agenda for himself to be a superhero and also for his participation in the Superhero election.

Many superheroes scoffed after Phil released the news because his qualifications were not enough to participate in such a level of campaign.

Other superheroes often had to accumulate for two to three years before they could start preparing for the superhero election. However, Phil was obviously advancing too fast and his foundation was not firm.

Phil had three very difficult problems to solve from the perspective of the other superheroes in order to participate in the election. He had to obtain more support, and more powerful superpowers.

First of all, no large financial group would provide him with campaign funds. Of course, Phil could use his own money as campaign funds. That was relatively easy to resolve.

Second, Phil could not give a public speech or debate in the venue where the Superhero Association was located because he had not joined the Association. His name would be nominated, but this nomination would only be symbolic. It was difficult for him to obtain votes because there was no opportunity for him to appear.

Finally, Phil did not have a very clear representation group. The minority, transgender, foreign immigrants, and other groups already had their own heroes. Phil's image was incompatible with the appeal of these groups. It would only be one vote per person with just his fans, no matter how strong they were. He would be eliminated after one round at best.

Therefore, most superheroes, even the official members of the association who organized the Superhero election, felt that this was another performance of Phil's. They did not take this matter to heart at all.

However, they soon realized that they were wrong: Phil had obviously thought about these problems beforehand.

Chapter 902: SUCCESSOR (6)

Phil had chosen to represent the middle and lower class white people that others had always neglected. He said that he was actually representing all the citizens of Hope City, and even all the American citizens on the slogan.

Phil announced on Twitter that the Superhero Association, as well as the superheroes who had joined the association, had completely deviated from the spirit of Captain World even though they still referred to themselves as "the successors of the World Captain". These superheroes were only satisfied with making speeches, acting, lying, and making money. They were actually not doing anything real, which was why the crime rate in Hope City was so high.

Phil was the one who had truly inherited the spirit of the world's captain. He would definitely be able to change this rigid situation as long as he could obtain more support. He would let Hope City's crime rate continue to decrease, and the superheroes would no longer be trapped in mutual deception and internal strife. Instead, they would unite and recreate the glory of Captain World under his lead.

Phil's speech triggered an enthusiastic response.

The Superhero Association only gave Phil a title in the first election. They did not even allow him to give a speech in the event location. However, even so, Phil's speech on Twitter still gathered a large number of fans for him. He crushed his opponent with an absolute advantage in votes and entered the next round of the election, becoming a rising star.

Only then did the other superheroes realize that something was wrong.

The threatened superheroes were frantically digging up dirt about Phil through the television media, wanting to use these scandals to shatter the illusion that Phil had created in front of his fans.

However, what surprised them was that this move, which had worked time and again in the past, was now completely ineffective.

That was because the character designs of superheroes in the past were very perfect. It would be a very heavy blow to the superheroes as long as they dug out a piece of dirt and spread it around. They would not be able to do it flawlessly even if these superheroes were careful with their words and actions. They would always succeed if they wanted to nitpick.

There were too many scandals about Phil, including his academic qualifications, his company, his messy relationships, and even the script on 'Successor'.

The media controlled by these large financial groups and superheroes began to bombard Phil, hoping to make him collapse through this way and completely lose the support of the people.

However, what they did not expect was that it did not work at all.

That was because Phil did not become a superhero in a conventional way. He had countless flaws on him, including the fact that he has messy relationships. The people had long known that about them and they did not cause him anything.

The only threat was the matter of the script for the 'Successor' program, however Phil denied it, saying that it was the suppression and discredit of the vested interests of the Superhero Association.

Both sides had their own arguments. The people could not see absolute evidence and could only choose a side to believe.

However, there have been many instances of large financial groups and superheroes using fake news to attack competitors. These traditional television media have lost the trust of most people.

The people who supported Phil were even more convinced that Phil was being framed. They supported him even more firmly. More people joined in to support Phil because of this.

In fact, Phil had created a special "Information Cocoon" effect through his own Twitter. He locked all his supporters in the information cocoon and it contained the only information they were willing to accept and believe. Naturally, it was always favorable to him.

As for Phil's supporters, they needed a spokesperson who could protect their interests. They wanted to recreate the glory of Captain World, reduce crime rates, live a peaceful life, and change a pool of useless superheroes.

They desired this so much that no one but Phil could meet their requirements.

Of course, Phil would not really satisfy their requests. He was lying to them. However, Phil's supporters were willingly deceived because they were also lying to themselves.

Thus, no matter how much dirt on Phil was exposed, they would choose to believe Phil for no reason. They would only accept information that met their expectations and ignore the information that they did not want to see.

Phil's strength became stronger just like that. He defeated opponents one after another without even participating in the speech and debate.

While voices against Phil were getting louder and louder, his support rate was also rising, gradually entering the top ten of the Superhero support rate.

Phil, who had obtained great strength, began to selectively interfere in the missions of other superheroes. He would make it known that he played a major role in the operation if he succeeded. It might have caused serious consequences if he followed the original arrangements of the association. If he had failed, he would emphasize that the association did not share the information of the operation with him and push the blame to the superheroes and the association who were carrying out the mission.

In addition, Phil had also arranged for people to dig up all sorts of dirt about his competitors and use such dirt to blackmail other superheroes to exchange interests, or he would directly release anonymously to attack his opponents. On the other hand, the dirt on Phil would be interpreted as his 'true character' because of his special status. He was in a completely invincible position.

The structure of the first half of Cui Geng's plot was that Phil had used such a series of methods to create a large-scale public safety event. It would cause hundreds of people to die, and finally replace the current strongest superhero.

However, this was obviously not the end.

Phil might have become the number one superhero, in the latter half of the plot, but his position was not stable because traditional interest groups and emerging superheroes wanted to pull him down. He, who stood at a high position, was facing a more serious threat than before.

In the latter half of the plot, Phil used his power to eliminate dissidents and suppress new superheroes. He squeezed those superheroes to become his vassals and stabilized his power step by step.

Phil returned to being a mentor in the talent show 'Successor' and cultivated his own superhero force through this program.

In the end, he successfully recruited almost all superheroes under his command. He made a lot of money through his special status and deceived the people through various fake crime rate data.

The billions that his father had spent on him had been recovered with interest, while the lives of the people were deteriorating. However, even so, the people still felt that Phil was a superhero who did not do it for fame or profit. Their lives were unfortunate because of other countries and because the United States was opposing Phil.

Just like that, Phil steadily made his way onto the supreme throne of the superheroes. He had taken revenge on all the superheroes who had sinned against him.

However, at the end of the story, these superheroes who had been retaliated against, struggled to survive. A few people who had seen through Phil's true colors worked with these superheroes, secretly worked together to overthrow Phil's rule.

...

Cui Geng had to add all sorts of iconic events during the actual creation process. Each key node corresponded to each iconic event every time Phil made his grab at the highest power of a superhero.

There would be a lot of fighting scenes in these events. From the initial robbery, murder, and pursuit of fugitives to dealing with terrorist attacks, hijacking, and even overseas wars, basically covering battle scenes commonly seen in superheroes.

However, all of these events were the opposite of the traditional superhero story. What the pubic knew was always the truth that had been whitewashed…

Cui Geng's story outline was relatively long. It had basically reached the upper limit for the number of words of the fixed-rate contract, which was 500,000 words.

It would take him a long time to write the entire story perfectly.

However, Cui Geng was on a fixed-rate contract and Boss Pei was paying anyway so he did not have any worries. He just had to collect inspiration every day and write slowly.

He could even spend time revising the plot from beginning to end after he finished writing it. That way, he could ensure that every plot would achieve the desired effect.

Chapter 903: Zhao Xuming And Finger Games Roping In

February 18th, Saturday...

Shanghai, FV E-Sports Club.

The team members had just woken up in the morning.

They began to train in high-end Rank after eating Fish-Catching Take-Out. There would be training competitions in the afternoon and evening according to the schedule.

It had been nearly a month since they won IOI's global finals. During this period, FV E-Sports Club's fate had also changed.

First of all, everyone had been forced by Boss Pei to return to the United States for a seven-day tour to relax.

During this period, Wu Yue brought his team members to visit a few veteran clubs in the United States to exchange, visit, and learn.

However, it did not seem to have a good effect. Many players were a little disappointed because these clubs did not seem to be as formal nor as proper as GPL clubs.

However, it was not bad as a small interlude on the journey.

Ever since he returned to China, Wu Yue has been busy with various business endorsements, including some digital products, beverages, sponsorships from foreign manufacturers, and some investors' intention to invest.

FV Club had also gone from an unknown small club to a popular club. Its valuation had increased explosively.

Wu Yue still had a small portion of FV Club's shares in his hands. He had earned quite a bit this time.

Initially, Wu Yue had only set up FV Club for fun. It was purely burning money. He had not expected to get anything from E-Sports.

However, he did not expect that everything would change because of Boss Pei's arrival in Shanghai a few months ago.

Wu Yue had no complaints at all even though he had given most of the club shares to Boss Pei. That was because he would definitely not be able to bring the club to its current height with his own strength if he continued to hold the club in his hands!

What's more, Wu Yue had not only obtained wealth, but also fame. He had achieved his dream of playing eSports, allowing his team members to win the championship in the international competition. To him, it was a state where he could wake up from his dreams laughing.

Of course, Wu Yue knew that Boss Pei would definitely earn more as a major shareholder of FV Club.

However, Wu Yue would not feel any jealousy at all. That was because such achievements were easily achieved without any difficulty with Boss Pei's ability.

This bit of income was definitely nothing compared to the income of Boss Pei's other industries. It was not worth mentioning, right? Boss Pei probably would not take this bit of money to heart.

Wu Yue also changed the club's training base so that Team One and Team Two could have a better living and training environment after the club obtained a large sum of sponsorship and made money.

He specially chose a villa with Fish-Catching Take-Out and Deposit Fitness nearby. He wanted all conditions to be as similar as possible since the situation with GPL had proven that this was the best training model.

What's more, Tengda Corporation's businesses were expanding towards Beijing and Shanghai recently. Fish-Catching Take-Out, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, and Deposit Fitness had all been opened, making it much easier for Wu Yue to choose a location.

There was an endless stream of teams looking for FV Team to play mock competitions after they won the championship.

That was because FV Team represented the highest level of standard in the entire IOI industry. They were the best in terms of tactics and individual strength. It was the most helpful to train with such teams.

What's more, not only FV Team One, but FV Team Two and even Ding Gan's SUG Team were basically filled scheduled with the mock competition.

The mock competition with FV Team One's was too difficult to arrange. There were only two or three matches a day, so many clubs turned their attention to FV Team Two and SUG.

These two teams were FV Team's sparring partners during the international competition. Their strength definitely could not be underestimated!

They must have grasped some tactical details of FV Team, and their various playstyles would definitely be closer to FV Team. In addition, their individual strength was still alright, and it would be very effective to train with them as well.

Many people even felt that SUG Team and FV Team Two's true strength might be slightly stronger than IOI's runner-up team in the global finals.

Wu Yue did not refuse either. FV Club still had to mix in IOI's e-sports circle after all. They could not completely seal themselves off and not communicate with the outside world.

The global finals had already ended. There would definitely be a huge change in the entire game version. The tactics that FV Team currently had would most likely be eliminated by the next version.

Thus, there was no need to keep it themselves.

Actually, Wu Yue had not thought very well about FV Club's future development.

Boss Pei had not called him at all ever since they won the championship.

Wu Yue did not know what Boss Pei's true attitude was.

The management of the club also held a meeting.

Manager Lu felt that Boss Pei's GOG and IOI were direct competitors. What's more, FV Club had stepped on Finger Games' and Long Yu Corporation's toes to win the international competition this time. He was afraid that they would be making things difficult for them in the future.

Since that was the case, they might as well switch the entire club to play GOG!

The team that won the world championship switched to another game after obtaining the trophy. How would Finger Games survive then?

However, Wu Yue felt that this was very inappropriate.

Firstly, FV Club and Tengda had a relationship of interest. Like DGE, they could not participate in GOG's official competition in principle unless Boss Pei's shares were removed. That was obviously not appropriate.

Secondly, FV Club had just accepted many sponsorships and endorsements, including the live-stream contracts of the members. All of this money was earned with the identity of "IOI World Finals Champion". It was not good to to abandon them immediately;

Thirdly, the members of FV Club obviously preferred IOI. It was very irresponsible to ask them to go back and play GOG.

Thus, Wu Yue decided to put this problem aside for the time being and maintain the status quo while waiting for Boss Pei's further instructions.

Wu Yue was looking at his team members' training when his phone suddenly rang.

Wu Yue was stunned when he saw the caller ID.

It was Long Yu Corporation's Zhao Xuming!

Wu Yue had not spoken to Zhao Xuming for a long time. This was the first time since FV Team won the championship. FV Team would have to deal with Long Yu Corporation if they wanted to continue working in IOI's E-Sports circle even though he did not know what Zhao Xuming's intentions were. Therefore, Wu Yue picked up the phone immediately.

Zhao Xuming's friendly voice came from the other end of the line. "Boss Wu, how have you been! Is there any problem with our champion team's daily training?"

Zhao Xuming took the initiative to express his goodwill. Wu Yue naturally did not need to take the previous discord to heart. He smiled and said, "Thanks to Boss Zhao, everything is fine with the club."

Zhao Xuming grinned. "That's good."

"I heard that FV's two teams have been playing mock competitions with other clubs domestically? And the training has been quite good?"

"Boss Wu is a person who doesn't forget the well-diggers when you drink from this well even after taking down the world championship. You did not forget to improve with our domestic brothers. I really admire your mentality. Boss Wu can be said to be the outstanding representative of the local E-Sports!"

Wu Yue smiled. "Boss Zhao, you must be joking. This is our duty."

Both sides exchanged a few pleasantries and tacitly did not mention their previous unhappiness. The atmosphere was very harmonious.

Zhao Xuming obviously felt that he was done being polite. He changed the topic. "Boss Wu, I called today mainly for two things. The first is that Finger Games is already preparing to arrange the champion skins for your team."

"You are the first global finals champion after all. The skin must be outstanding enough! We've communicated with Finger Games to get them to add more Chinese elements to cater to the players in the local server!"

"The designers of Finger Games have already rushed over from the United States, so please find a time to bring the five main players to my place. Communicate with the designers and give their opinions on the design of the champion's skin."

"The second thing is about the IOI Professional League. Currently, the local Professional League is named ICL, IOI Champion League! I specially requested this name from Finger Games because FV Team is the world champion team. The competition zone must be called the championship zone!"

"As for this ICL quota... Of course, one of the quotas is directly given to FV Team. In addition, we have prepared a place for FV's second team in the A-Level Competition."

"At the moment, the league is in the midst of active preparation. There will be a large number of publicity activities. I hope that Boss Wu can fully support and cooperate."

Wu Yue could not help but feel emotional. Zhao Xuming seemed to have become a completely different person. Previously, he had been cold and indifferent to Wu Yue. Now, he has become extremely friendly to Wu Yue. They were even closer than real brothers.

Of course, Wu Yue also knew that this was human nature. Zhao Xuming could put down his pride to settle with FV Club. This showed that Zhao Xuming was a mature leader who knew not to influence normal workflow with his personal grudges.

Zhao Xuming hints of reluctance might still be present in his speech but he had already done his best with his attitude.

Wu Yue naturally understood this reluctance very well.

FV Club was a club that could not be controlled to Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation. There was a natural conflict of interest. However, they had won the first global finals. Both parties had to cooperate.

It was better to cooperate openly and honestly than to be hesitant and awkward.

Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation also needed FV Club's influence in the country to help them further promote IOI's local server after all.

There were no eternal enemies since they were all adults. There were only eternal interests. If they could ease the relationship, they would. There was no need to make things awkward.

Wu Yue immediately agreed. "Alright, Boss Zhao, no problem. This is our club's duty. We will definitely cooperate."

Zhao Xuming was very happy. "Thank you, Boss Wu! There was some unhappiness between us previously. I hope that Boss Wu will be magnanimous and not take it to heart."

Wu Yue immediately followed suit. "Boss Zhao, you're being too serious. It was just a small conflict. Let bygones be bygones."

The two ended the call harmoniously.

However, the smile on Wu Yue's face disappeared the moment he hung up. Then, he called Boss Pei.

He had to report this to Boss Pei as soon as possible!

Zhao Xuming's intention to rope him in was obvious. This was definitely not his own decision. Longyu Corporation and Finger Games' higher-ups must have been behind it.

Should he reject or accept all of this?

Wu Yue felt that this might affect Boss Pei's entire plan. He had to call to confirm Boss Pei's true attitude.

Chapter 904: Buying Buildings In Super First-Tier Cities!

Pei Qian had just woken up at that moment and was playing games on his big television after washing up.

Today was his long awaited weekend. He should have a good rest after working hard for a week. What's more, there weren't any major threats to be dealt with recently. All sorts of work were progressing in an orderly manner. There was a high chance of losing money this cycle.

His cell phone rang just as he was immersed in the game.

He picked it up and saw that it was Wu Yue.

Pei Qian instinctively resisted.

That was because he really did not know how to deal with FV Club!

This thing was now a hot potato. He could not throw it away or continue holding it in his hand.

In fact, Pei Qian's idea was very simple when he first invested in the entire FV Club. He wanted to find a way to incur losses for himself. Especially when he sent these people out for competitions and public travel. Spending a few million yuan at once made Pei Qian extremely happy.

In the end, he did not expect to win the championship for no reason. He had earned all of those millions with interest!

That made Pei Qian very uncomfortable.

The problem now was that if Pei Qian sold the shares of the club, he would definitely make a huge profit. That was because FV Club's reputation and valuation had risen rapidly after winning the championship.

Selling it now would mean that Pei Qian would get another huge sum of money that he did not know how to spend. It would easily disrupt his plan for this cycle.

However, if he did not sell it, the club would have an endless stream of money for him. That would be very uncomfortable.

After some hesitation, Pei Qian picked up the phone.

He had no choice. There were some things that he had to face no matter how unwilling he was.

"Boss Pei! I think I have to report the situation at FV Club to you. Zhao Xuming called me just now to discuss something..."

"What do you think I should do?"

"Should we refuse to cooperate? Pay lip service? Or... cooperate?"

Wu Yue felt that Boss Pei would probably let him choose the first two.

That was because GOG and IOI were competitors. There were also some grudges between Tengda Corporation and Finger Games. Be it personal grudges or interests, Boss Pei had no reason to use FV Club to increase IOI's popularity.

Of course, the possibility of rejecting the collaboration was low. Boss Pei would probably make himself look compliant on the surface, but in reality, he would do something behind the scenes to suppress IOI's popularity.

Eric had become the person-in-charge of the Huaxia region once again. The new official was burning three fires: lowering the price to fight a price war, preparing to develop a mobile version of IOI, and planning for the ICL league. Obviously, he was coming on aggressively.

In Wu Yue's opinion, Eric's three strategies would put a lot of pressure on GOG.

GOG might have a huge business and a stable position in the local server, but once the attack and defense changed, it would be difficult to predict what would happen next.

He had to mobilize 100% of his strength to deal with him even if the other party had been defeated by him before. Otherwise, arrogance might lead to failure.

As the person-in-charge of the club that Boss Pei had invested in, Wu Yue was prepared to sacrifice FV Club under necessary conditions.

What Wu Yue did not know was that Boss Pei was looking ecstatic over the phone.

Not bad! Eric, the person-in-charge of the Huaxia area, did well!

The things he had done after taking office were very reliable! Now, Zhao Xuming had come to Wu Yue, obviously hoping to repair his relationship with FV Club. He wanted to use FV as the champion team's influence on domestic players to publicize and attract a wave of players to IOI's local server, which had very few players.

It had to be said that IOI's local server was indeed the heartache of Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation. There were few players, their competitiveness level was not high. What's more, their version was often behind foreign countries. Thus, many professional players, including FV Team, used accelerators and went to the foreign server to train with high delay.

It could have a good directional effect and inject some fresh blood into IOI's local server this time if they were to customize the champion skin of the Chinese style for FV Club and organized the ICL league.

Of course, Pei Qian would support such behavior with both hands!

Pei Qian was not worried at all about the threat that IOI could pose to GOG. Instead, he hoped that IOI would be stronger so that he could burn more money.

At that thought, Pei Qian immediately said, "You have to cooperate fully with Long Yu Corporation's requests! Make this champion's skin beautiful, help them promote it, and do some live commerce. As for ICL's publicity, you have to do your best to cooperate. The cooler it is, the more influential it is, the better!"

Wu Yue: "Huh?"

He was stunned.

Wasn't that funding the enemy?

Wu Yue wasn't sure. He said doubtfully, "Boss Pei, this would bring huge popularity to IOI and pose a threat to GOG!"

FV Club might be playing IOI but we are obviously on Boss Pei's side. We can immediately transfer all our members to GOG as long as you give the order!"

Pei Qian was shocked. Transfer everyone to GOG?

Stop fooling around!

I don't want DGE's tragedy to repeat itself!

Pei Qian's tone became serious. "Don't guess blindly!"

"I have my reasons for asking you to fully cooperate with Long Yu Corporation's publicity plan. You will understand in the future."

"What's more, FV Club is also important to me. You've won the world championship, so you should be receiving this kind of publicity and preferential treatment. You deserve this treatment now that Long Yu Corporation is willing to fork out this money. Why not enjoy it?"

Wu Yue was silent for a moment. He was a little moved as he said, "Thank you, Boss Pei. I understand now! I'll definitely get my team members to train harder and continue to get good results. I won't let Boss Pei down!"

Pei Qian was a little confused after hanging up.

?

Why was Wu Yue so moved?

...

On the other side, Wu Yue hung up and felt that his goal was clearer than ever.

They would do as Boss Pei said since he had spoken, and fully cooperate with Long Yu Corporation's promotional activities!

Wu Yue heard the implied meaning in Boss Pei's words.

On the one hand, cooperating with Long Yu Corporation's publicity was in line with Boss Pei's plan for the business competition between the two sides. On the other hand, it was out of concern for FV Club.

Obviously, Boss Pei did not treat FV Club purely as a money-making tool nor as his accessory. Instead, he respected the dreams of every member of FV Club and treated everyone as friends!

Wu Yue immediately went to the training room to tell his team members about the championship skin and ICL league.

...

...

February 20th, Monday afternoon.

The crew of Mission and Choice came to the nameless restaurant for the second gathering.

This time, it was a real 'farewell meal'.

After this meal, everyone would be going on their separate ways to do their own things.

The editing and post-production of the movie 'Mission and Choice' would continue to be edited. Time was tight and the task was heavy. Director Zhu Xiaoce would bring a group of people to film a documentary for the Cold-Faced Lady by the roadside vendor. Lu Zhiyao would leave Jingzhou. Celebrities like him had a very full schedule.

Actually, Zhu Xiaoce and Lu Zhiyao could have chosen to leave last week, but they chose to stay because they could not bear to miss this meal.

It was rare to be able to enjoy a meal in a nameless restaurant. It might only happen once a year. Of course, he could not miss it!

Everyone stuffed themselves with food and chatted.

Lu Zhiyao said regretfully. "Boss Pei didn't come today. It's a pity that I can't meet him one last time."

Zhu Xiaoce could not help but laugh. "What are you talking about? Why is this the last time? Didn't we just meet him last week? What's more, the movie is going to be released in about a month. You'll definitely have a chance to meet Boss Pei then."

Lu Zhiyao nodded. "Yes, I just want to thank Boss Pei in person. He invested a few hundred million yuan into a movie, but it turned out to be my one-man show. He is really flattering me! It's hard to express my gratitude with words."

Zhu Xiaoce said, "That's not necessary. You acted very well. This is a win-win situation."

"However, it's a pity that Boss Pei did not come. I wanted to tell him about the documentary at the Cold-Faced Lady's stall today, but since Boss Pei did not come... forget it."

"Perhaps he already knows about this."

Huang Sibo nodded. "Yes, Boss Pei is very busy. There's no need to waste his time on such a small matter."

"I wonder which industry is Boss Pei working on now?"

...

At the same time, in the office of Sloth Apartments.

Pei Qian was listening to the Manage Loss Management report on the current operations of Sloth Apartments when he suddenly felt his nose itch. He wanted to sneeze. He rubbed it and suppressed the sneeze.

As for why it was the Manage Loss Trainee reporting instead of Liang Qingfan...

Liang Qingfan was not around. He had gone to Egypt with Bao Xu and would only be back in the middle of next month.

However, the Manage Loss Management knew the business of Sloth Apartments very well, so it did not affect the report at all.

Up until now, Sloth Apartments had developed the 1.0 version 'focus mode' and 2.0 version 'livable mode' respectively. They had both achieved great success. All the apartments were filled with tenants.

In addition, Sloth Apartments naturally developed other profit models, such as working with furniture manufacturers to customize furniture, working with real estate developers to customize model rooms, and so on.

The Sloth Apartments model could be said to be a huge success among young people.

However, this did not affect Pei Qian's use of Sloth Apartments to burn System Funds.

That was because the System had a special rule when it came to calculating funds. If Pei Qian spent a huge sum of money on buying buildings, they would only be calculated as Fixed Assets. Thus, as long as Pei Qian did not sell these buildings, he would incur losses during settlement.

What's more, the System Funds would be doubled during this cycle. Pei Qian would have a lot of space to operate when it came to buying buildings.

He had to prepare for the next stage of building purchases.

Pei Qian said to the Manage Loss Trainee, "I'll briefly explain the next stage of the plan. You can start researching it first and make specific plans after Liang Qingfan returns."

"This time, Sloth Apartments will leave Jingzhou and head towards the super first-tier cities. Do some reece and buy buildings in the remote areas of Beijing and Shanghai."

Pei Qian had done some simple research on the relevant policies.

At the moment, Beijing and Shanghai did not have strict restrictions on purchasing property. They only had to pay additional tax. Therefore, it was much more expensive than an individual buying a house. What's more, these properties had to be used for legal operations and pay relevant taxes.

Pei Qian had not intended to sell these houses in the first place. He had indeed wanted to do the rental business. Thus, it was completely in line with the rules.

Pei Qian had thought things through now. The Sloth Apartments were full anyway. Wouldn't it be the same no matter where he bought now?

It should not be a problem as long as he did not buy houses in the heart of Beijing or Shanghai.

Of course, one might not be able to buy an entire building in the downtown area even if they wanted to. The model of Sloth Apartments was that one had to buy an entire building, otherwise it would be difficult to conduct a unified closed management.

That was because the quota this time was higher. They might have to buy a few buildings if they were to buy in Jingzhou or other second-tier cities. It would be more troublesome once the number increased.

He might as well buy in Beijing and Shanghai. The prices of each house were high. He could probably spend enough System Funds by buying one building each.