The phone was on speaker, and Scott's voice blared from it.
Meanwhile, Su Chen wasn't idle either—he was busy importing assets into the special effects system.
The system would take about half an hour to process everything.
Well, that was fine. It'd give him something to do while dealing with Scott.
"President Su, what do you think? It's all upside, no downside!
I know you've got the financial means—building sets at the drop of a hat.
That kind of boldness—wow!
Now that's the mark of a true visionary!
But burning through money like this isn't sustainable. With no returns, the well's gonna run dry eventually.
How many episodes can you even film after splurging so much on sets?
I took a look at the script the other day, too—
the Space Station arc isn't even that big of a chunk!
Can you really keep this up?
Besides, Tenghua is willing to allocate resources to your web series.
Tenghua has partnerships with all the major streaming platforms—exposure for your series would skyrocket in no time.
This is a guaranteed win!"
Su Chen rested his chin on his right hand, his index finger tapping against his forehead.
Admittedly, everything Scott had said since the call started sounded reasonable.
But.
Capital never intervenes without reason.
No matter how good the terms seemed now,
it was all just a stalling tactic.
Once they got their foot in the door, the end result would be slow, inevitable assimilation.
First investment, then financing, until they achieved 100% control.
By then, miHoYo would be nothing more than an empty shell.
This was the universal playbook for big corporations swallowing smaller ones.
This was survival of the fittest, the law of the jungle—
an unshakable truth in any world.
Fortunately, big companies understood one thing:
Make a friend, and you've lost an enemy.
So, for now, Tenghua was playing nice.
Calling it "friendship" was just a euphemism for raising a dog.
A dog that was obedient and profitable.
If you refused to heel,
capital had ten thousand ways to bury you alive.
If he really failed, what would happen to his actors?
What would happen to Firefly?
The Honkai: Star Rail cast was Su Chen's most valuable asset right now—
the system was only complete because of them.
"But I refuse!"
"Huh?" Scott, who'd been met with silence for so long, was caught off guard by the sudden response.
"Seriously, Su Chen? You thought about it for this long… and that's your answer?
You don't even trust Tenghua? We handed you a web series approval number in good faith!
And you're just gonna spit in our faces like that?"
Su Chen heard Scott's tone harden in an instant.
He'd known from the start that Scott's submissive act was just that—an act.
He just hadn't expected the dagger to come out so soon.
"Thanks for the approval number! Really appreciate it! Too kind!
But let's end the conversation here."
"Su Chen, you really think just because you made a couple of short videos
that racked up tens of millions of views across platforms, you've made it?
The internet has no memory!
In this day and age, videos with millions of views
pop up by the dozens every single day!
How long do you think audiences will even remember yours?
Since this is your attitude, I'll just report it to the higher-ups as is."
Su Chen lowered his head, thinking for a few seconds.
Tenghua wouldn't make a move outright—
not with Asta as his backer.
Herta was temporarily aligned with him too,
and at least nominally, Asta's family would side with him.
Even if it was just in name, Tenghua wouldn't act recklessly.
As long as they didn't come at him openly, it was fine.
"Do whatever you want. I'm going to take a shower."
—
Beep beep beep… Scott glanced at his phone—the call had been disconnected.
But he didn't start cursing.
Instead, a murderous smile crept onto his face.
This was exactly the outcome he'd wanted.
Cooperation?
If Su Chen joined the company,
who's to say he wouldn't climb over Scott's head someday?
Why would he willingly create a competitor for himself?
If he couldn't have it, he'd destroy it.
He'd said all the right things—
no way the boss could blame him now.
Immediately,
he dialed his superior's number.
"Boss, it's Scott. miHoYo—"
Before Scott could finish, a gruff voice cut in from the other end.
"I know. He doesn't want to cooperate."
"As expected of you, Boss! Truly clairvoyant! How'd you know?"
"I bugged your office. Heard everything loud and clear!"
"…Huh?" Scott's face froze in shock.
Damn!
So that's how it is!
Noted. Definitely taking notes!
From now on, every subordinate's desk gets a bug.
Let's see who dares to scheme behind my back then!
Hmm…
What if he could figure out a way to bug the boss's office too?
Get some dirt on him…
Wouldn't the boss's seat be his for the taking?
Hahahaha!
Ahem! Scott cleared his throat. "Boss, what's our next move?"
"Erad—"
"Got it, Boss!" Scott hung up before the other could finish.
On the other end of the line, Scott's superior muttered,
"—icate… later. For now, don't touch him.
Su Chen has the Asta Financial Group behind him.
…Huh? He hung up? Did he even hear me?"
—
Late at night, inside the café.
Everyone was gathered in the main hall,
staring at the 100-inch TV Silver Wolf had reluctantly contributed.
Silver Wolf glared at Su Chen, puffing her cheeks. "You won't even let me play with the Voidrangers, but you'll take my—?!"
"Alright, alright!" Kafka stuffed an ice pop into Silver Wolf's mouth.
"Kafka! Are you out of your—?!"
"Just cooling you down with a treat."
"Tch! Don't push it next time!"
About twenty minutes later, the first episode finished playing.
March 7th immediately grabbed Su Chen's arm. "Boss, how's it already over? I wasn't done watching!
Come on, you've gotta be hiding the next episode somewhere! Is it on Dan Heng's flash drive?"
"Nope!"
Firefly walked up to Su Chen, studying his expression closely.
"Boss, what's wrong? You seem off—like you've lost all your motivation all of a sudden."
Su Chen's gaze swept across the room, meeting each of their eyes in turn.
He knew they were all waiting for an answer.
"Well… you've all read the script.
After Kafka retrieves the Stellaron, what's supposed to happen next?
But I just… stopped there.
Sigh.
That's right—the Trailblazer, the protagonist who carries the entire series, still hasn't been cast!"
The group exchanged puzzled glances before covering their mouths to stifle laughter.
Then, Firefly walked up to Su Chen, holding up a mirror.
"Boss, isn't the Trailblazer supposed to have gray hair?"
"Yes."
"And golden eyes?"
"Yep."
"And in your setting, can the protagonist be either male or female?"
"Right. Wait—"
Su Chen stared at his reflection in the mirror.
A beat later,
his hands gripped the edges tightly.
The mirror showed him—
gray hair, golden eyes, and a face that looked just like Kevin's.
"So… I am the Trailblazer!"