Shadow Empire

Chapter 432: Love, News and Movies

In the morning, Kolinda took the newspapers back from the mailbox and placed them on the table.

Lance flipped through it casually.

There were many headlines on the front page of "Golden Harbor Today", one of which caught Lance's attention - "The Cassia Family has officially become a thing of the past"

He turned to the fourth page. The subtitles of the fourth and fifth pages were "The Fall of the Cassia Family". There were quite a few photos, and they were compared in pairs.

The first one to appear was Rick, in a photo that someone had snapped of him getting into a car.

Next to it, there is a face that has been processed and stitched together. Of course, it has also been blurred to a certain extent, but it is still easy to see clearly.

Here's a look at Rick's life, the bad things he did, and how he died in the end and who did it.

Next are the senior officials of the Cassia family. They all have similar appearances. One photo was taken when they were alive, and the other was taken after they died.

It is indeed surprising that these people who once belonged to the upper class of Jingang City now appear in front of the public in this way.

Although many people knew that the Cassia family had done something wrong and was being besieged by people from other families, they did not expect that this siege would be so fierce and brutal.

Without giving them any time to breathe, so many people became corpses.

This report introduces the criminal history of the Cassia family. If these contents are not fabricated, then it can only be said that those people in the Bay Area have been collecting criminal evidence of the five major families.

When they need it, they throw it out.

No one has ever truly ruled Jingang City in front of the Bay Area.

He put the newspaper down and glanced at Corinda, who was humming a song while eating and reading a magazine. "Are you dating Arthur?"

Kolinda admitted generously, "Yes, he has a crush on me, and I have some crush on him too, so we decided to give it a try."

It looked at Lance's hesitant look and took the initiative to say, "I know he has a bad reputation and he has been with many girls. I don't mind that. I will be his last girlfriend."

Lance shook his head, "I'm not going to interfere with your feelings, but I want to remind you that you have to be prepared to be sad."

Kolinda laughed, "If there is anyone who really needs to be sad in this love, I believe it is definitely not me!"

"Very good, keep your confidence till the last moment, I look forward to seeing it all the way!"

Lance did not comment further. All boys and girls in love think that they are the other party's final choice, but the truth is often cruel.

Although Arthur did not need to make sacrifices in marriage for the family business, his last name was Williams after all.

As one of the most prominent families in Jingang City, it was destined that he would not be able to get involved with an immigrant.

Lance looked at the others, "Don't any of you want to try harder?"

"Our girl is about to be taken away by someone!"

Everyone else burst into laughter. Kolinda ran over and threw her arms around Lance's neck, shaking him. "Shut up! You're making me feel ashamed!"

It’s a bit shameful indeed, as to us all, we are all more like brothers and sisters.

If someone can have that kind of feeling towards his or her sister, then that person is definitely a pervert.

"Let her regret it. Don't you always say that tears are also a form of growth?"

Alvin, sitting opposite, commented with a smile that he liked his current life very much. He was not defeated by poverty. He had his own career and ideals, and everyone lived a happy life!

And he felt that even if Kolinda was abandoned, it didn't matter. With so many of them around, there would still be a long line of people pursuing her waiting for her to choose!
Lance raised his hands, "Okay, okay, let her cry in the corner!"

Just as he said this, a car horn was heard outside, and soon someone came to report that it was Arthur.

"Your little yellow-haired boy is here, go find him."

"Now that we have made the decision, we should love each other wholeheartedly and talk about the future later."

Kolinda walked out while fixing her hair, "I'll listen to you this time!"

Morris, who was able to walk with a cane, sat on the other side and asked, "Do you want to arrange for someone to follow?"

Lance shook his head. "No one is stupid enough to attack Arthur yet. I feel relieved that Corinda is with him."

Whether it is the Bay Area, Likalai State, or anyone else, they cannot do anything to Arthur.

First of all, Arthur is a "waste" who does not know or participate in any important family affairs, so he has no special political value.

Secondly, he is the beloved son of Congressman Williams. Hurting him will only make Congressman Williams furious, so he is safe.

Even if he tried to blackmail Mr. Jobaf or even cared less about some gang members, no one dared to hurt him.

Apart from this big news, the rest of the news in Jingang City are just ordinary news.

For example, two nuns had a fight with several girls wearing revealing swimsuits on the beach, and the coast patrol seized a batch of smuggled goods.

People like these news even if they are actually of no value and take up people's time.

Life is like this, not everything is useful, there must always be something to kill your limited time.

Lance then picked up the International News, which contained mostly news related to the Tanfit War.

This war concerns every worker in the world who is concerned about the international situation. Those who do not earn much money every month not only worry about domestic affairs, but also pay attention to international affairs.

Now if you go to a street corner or a park to chat with others, unless you can speak a few words in international form, they won’t even bother to talk to you!

Reports say that more and more refugees are flocking to all parts of the world, including Jingang City.

This is corroborated by some news in "Jingang Today". Jingang City has added tens of thousands of refugees this month, and the number will continue to increase, which is worrying.

Because winter is coming.

At the back, Lance also discovered another piece of news about the empire.

The foolish emperor of the empire is under siege by the rebels, and his regime is in danger...

If he hadn't known that the rebels were almost all destroyed, he would have almost believed the article.

The article mentioned the guy funded by Lance. He has now become the main force against the royal family. He believes this. After all, other rebel forces have gradually declined due to the lack of materials and supplies.

Only they, and possibly some other rebels, were able to receive supplies.

A seed, under the scorching sun and the nourishment of water, began to sprout!

I hope it will bring me enough rewards!

There was nothing to do in the company in the morning, so Lance called the director and Gerald to the company, as well as Barbara.

Barbara is now unemployed. She was too traumatized by her last job, and the previous period was quite chaotic. Her family was afraid that she would get into an accident, so she didn't go out to work.

Now that the city has stabilized, the issue of work has naturally become part of the agenda.

Barbara was pouring coffee for Lance when Gerard and the others came in. Seeing that the two looked familiar, Gerard looked at her curiously, "Are you Lance's girlfriend?"

Lance shook his head. "This is Patricia's sister. She will also be an actress signed by the company."

Only then did the director dare to formally look at the girl. She was very beautiful, and most importantly, she had a style that was very much in line with current aesthetics. The image of a modern federal girl was simply what she was looking for!

If we say that non-blonde women wearing cowboy hats, sweatshirts and overalls, big rubber shoes, and with bright smiles on their faces represent "Federal Girls".

Then those blonde girls who live a refined, sunny and charming life are the ultimate in people’s aesthetic ideals of girls, “Federal Girls”.

With such outstanding looks, there will be no shortage of fans watching his movies.

However, the two screenwriters who came with her were a little hesitant to look at Barbara.

Barbara didn't feel embarrassed because people looked at her favorably. Working as a receptionist in a financial company, she had met many different kinds of men and was long past the stage of being afraid of other people's eyes.

She went over to greet the two of them generously, shook their hands, and then sat back next to Lance.

Lance ignored her little actions and then talked about some of his ideas, "I have a story in my mind, and I want to turn it into a movie, so I need you to come over for reference."

No one had any objections. They all knew that Lance was the company's majority shareholder. The two screenwriters directly took out their pens and notebooks. "This is what I think."

"There was a young man named Jason who had an unhappy family and made mistakes."

"He was cursed and could never go back to a normal life."

Gerald interrupted, "Is it the Angel Lake outside?"

Lance nodded and said, "Yes, it's the Angel Lake here. It's the source of my inspiration."

"Although he atones for his sins through death, death cannot break the curse. Instead, it causes him to fall into eternal pain."

"He has become the demon in Angel Lake. He will float up from the bottom of the water at a certain time to kill people!"

"Oh my God!" Barbara grabbed Lance's arm, and Lance glanced at her.

She seemed not to notice and said, "That sounds so scary, is this true?"

At this moment, Lance believed that she would have a bright future in acting, at least her acting skills were relatively mature.

He shook his head. “It’s a story.”

"Then our main character team, a group of high school students, came to Angel Lake for their graduation trip."

"Someone told them there are legends about Angel Lake. There are beautiful legends, scary legends, and some very bizarre folk tales."

"So they decided to camp by Angel Lake and explore the secrets of Angel Lake."

A screenwriter interjected, "The mystery of the rising water!"

Lance pointed at him and said, "That's right. You can collect some more similar rumors and process them so that people can't tell whether they are true or false."

"I attach great importance to this script. It is not just a movie, it will also become an interesting phenomenon!"

Lance wanted to laugh when he thought about how many people would come to Angel Lake for adventure if the movie became a hit.

Because there really is Jason down there!
"Let me continue with the story."

"These young people did not take these rumors seriously, and they violated the local ban when they had a picnic by the lake."

"They used the blood of the animals to activate Jason, the demon in the lake, and Jason began to complete his hunt."

"He's going to kill everyone!"

"Of course, the hero eventually ran away."

"You guys need to add some details, connect it to some local legends, and Jason is immortal."

"After each hunt, he would return to the lake and wait for the next appearance."

After listening to it, the director couldn't help but exclaimed, "What an excellent story, and it sounds a bit thriller, what genre is it?"

"Horror film!"

"Horror movie?" The director's expression was a little strange. "Nowadays, horror movies are all shot in execution grounds. At least I haven't heard of this kind of horror movie!"

Film the execution and broadcast it to those who have not seen it.

Many people will have some reactions after watching it, such as fear, terror, or excitement. People think that horror movies are cult, so the audience is very small.

Those horror movies cannot actually be called horror movies, they should be called curiosity movies, and viewing should be restricted.

From the director's perspective, this is actually a thriller, but since Lance said it's a horror movie, then it is a horror movie!
"Is this our next phase of filming?" Gerard whistled. "It sounds interesting. I think people will like it."

The screenwriters also marveled at Lance’s amazing story conception, and they all felt that this story would definitely be a hit!

Lance also talked about some of his new ideas, "We'll watch this movie once after it's finished. If it's really good enough, I plan to split the money with the theaters."

The director frowned slightly when he heard this, because this model is completely not mainstream now.

Although box office statistics are also kept within the industry and the statistics are basically inaccurate, the box office statistics here do not mean that the producer of this film can make a profit based on the box office.

The mainstream sales model is still to sell the broadcasting rights outright, with good movies costing a few thousand yuan, ten to twenty thousand yuan, or twenty to thirty thousand yuan.

A copy of a inferior movie costs several hundred yuan.

This is the value of box office statistics. When the box office of a director’s previous movie is high enough, many cinema owners will inquire about the price of his movie and express their intention to purchase it.

"Mr. Lance, your idea is good, but it is difficult for us to do this..."

"It's not that technically difficult to make a copy of a film. Some theaters will make copies and sell them. We don't know how many theaters are showing our films, so we can't share the box office revenue with them."

Among the most popular talkies from last year to today, there have been several movies that have grossed over a million dollars, and the booming industry has made many people notice the potential here.

But still no one wants to sell films by dividing the box office, as there are too many troubles involved.

Lance shook his head. "This is not something you should worry about. You forget what I do. I have a lot of people who can handle these things!"

Thinking of Lance’s real “job”, the director shut up and said nothing.

If a gang member brings a copy and watches the playback, there shouldn't be any problem.

The director also heard from Lance's words that he had great ambitions, which was also a good thing for him.

After all, the bigger Lance's ambition is, the more he will be needed!
"In addition, we can't just wait for a good script, a good director, and good actors to start filming. We need to continue to discover new talents, including directors."

"We can try to invest in some new directors, five thousand yuan, or ten thousand yuan, or twenty thousand yuan."

"Even if they make a bunch of shit, someone will always make money from it!"

At this time, print media related to movies had not yet really developed, let alone windows in other directions.

The promotion of movies depends entirely on posters at the entrance of the cinema and word of mouth. Many moviegoers do not know whether a movie is good or not, but they will definitely be interested in new movies.

Without many film critics and no particularly authoritative media, there will definitely be audiences who are constantly deceived into going to the cinema.

This is an era of low-budget movie craze. It is basically difficult to make a loss and the competition is not that fierce.

There is no so-called academic school, nor professional film critics, everything seems particularly wild!
Finally, Lance glanced at Barbara and said, "Bring her to the company as well and see if there are any movies suitable for her. Don't choose any that will damage her image. Let her have a try."

Naturally, the director had no objection. Being able to find actors with good looks would add a lot to the film.

After some minor matters were resolved, Lance let them leave first, and Gerald stayed.

They all live in the city now, so they can go back anytime and anywhere. He hasn't been here for a while, and he also heard that Ethan is now a boxer, and he is very interested in these things.

"Although I have a lot of friends over there, Lance, that place doesn't feel like my home. This is it!"

He sat on the other side of Lance and talked about things in the company.

It’s hard to imagine that the seventeen-year-old Gerard is the “top actor” in the company, and he has also filmed three movies in the past few months.

One of them was the company's own, and the other two were commissioned by other companies. He has already become a little famous.

His outstanding appearance makes him not only handsome but also beautiful on the screen.

Both men and women like him very much. Lance also heard that many people, both men and women, wanted to date him privately.

"You can come over anytime and anywhere you want. Doesn't the company provide you with a car?"

Lance asked.

"Yes, but everyone is staring at me, so I can't run around."

He said, changing the subject to a lighter one, "When is Ethan's next game?"

Lance glanced at the calendar on his watch, "Next Tuesday."

(End of this chapter)