Two days later, South Korean police discovered a body washed ashore. Although his head had been smashed, an autopsy confirmed it to be Zhou Xingzhe, the fugitive captain of the Geumcheon Police Station's Narcotics Division.
Police determined he died on the night of his escape, and the murderer was suspected to be an accomplice or a smuggler.
At a press conference, Prosecutor Kim Jun-ho presented evidence linking Zhou Xingzhe to the death of Jung Kyung-seok, the head of the Northern Police Station's Narcotics Division.
Six bodies, charred beyond recognition, were also linked to Zhou Xingzhe. Guns and vehicles found at the scene suggested the victims were drug traffickers from Taiwan.
The South Korean media was once again engulfed in hysteria, with rumors and so-called "inside" reports swirling. It was rumored that a director and screenwriter were already working on a script to bring the story of this "devil cop" to the big screen.
Meanwhile, Jack boarded a flight back to New York.
"If you ever get fired from the National Police Agency, or if you simply don't want to do this anymore, remember to contact me."
Before boarding the plane, he made a phone gesture to Ma Xidao, who had come to see him off, earning a fist pump of protest.
This guy's style is truly unconventional. Last night, while drinking, he actually called in a few girls from girl groups to warm up the crowd.
Unfortunately, Jack was largely unfamiliar with the Korean entertainment industry. Plus, there were so many girl groups, big and small, in that country, all looking pretty much the same. He just had a small taste of the chaebol's happiness.
Entering first class, Jack thanked the attentive flight attendant, ordered a Coke, and opened his notebook to start typing.
The short play he wrote based on the American TV series Chuck from his previous life was a huge hit. The first season is already available on streaming, and it still stars Red's girlfriend, Leila, as the voluptuous Sarah Walker.
This kind of underdog comeback drama is incredibly popular these days, and with the experience gained from previous shorts, he's even added a lot of special effects shots, along with increased investment.
It's fair to say that this short series is no different from a regular TV series, save for the fact that each episode remains fifteen minutes long.
Therefore, someone had to rush to write, having lost most of the original plot, and had to improvise the rest.
Fortunately, his current life was quite varied, and with the help of a certain old CIA agent, Joe Mason, he was able to craft a decent spy story. The only problem was the intricate, often slapping, plot twists.
The Wolfe brothers had already arrived in Manila. A direct boat trip from South Korea would take at least a month, and Chris, a busy man, didn't have the luxury of time at sea.
They would process their gains in Manila before flying back to Los Angeles.
Compared to the meager belongings they'd stole from Fausto Alarcón, the third-in-command of the Sonora Cartel, this trip was quite fruitful.
The combined illicit funds of the Korean branch of the "Ichijo-gumi," Hikita, and Zhou Xingzhe totaled over $20 million. Add to that the $21.5 million used by the Taiwanese mafia for transactions, and the total is approaching $50 million.
Jack wasn't sure how Chris would launder the funds, but he knew the windfall would ultimately be funneled through a company registered in the Cayman Islands into the newly established streaming company "Shangrila."
Unlike Jack's previous life, while the famous "Netflix" still existed, its primary business remained disc rentals, and its current market capitalization was less than $50 million.
The company remains focused on expanding its online CD rental model, even developing a new USB drive rental model.
While it has already entered the video playback market, its playback software offers a dismal user experience and is still in its early stages of market development.
Ultimately, the reason lies in the continued prosperity of the internet's sharing spirit, fueled by the world's overly active hackers. Major copyright holders are still busy stymieing P2P sharing software like eD2k.
Thus, in this still turbulent and competitive streaming media landscape, a dark horse, capitalizing on the popularity of short videos, has emerged.
Jack, a bit of a name-gap, has managed to pull something off this time, borrowing the name of their new company from the mystical utopia described in James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon.
"Shangrila" is Shangri-La, a Western equivalent of "paradise." The short video app, already taking shape, has been named "Shambhala," a translation of Shangri-La, which Jack abbreviated to "SBL."
According to Chris's predictions, with this unexpected windfall, coupled with the initial $50 million investment from the Anderson family, the newly formed "Shangri-La" company would have a cash flow sufficient to sustain itself for a significant period of time.
Compared to Jack's previous life, Netflix, which relied on a mere $60 million in funding to achieve a resurgence and dominate the streaming video market, "Shambhala" had a remarkably strong start.
The problem was that both Chris and Jack, along with the Anderson family as investors, were conservative in their plans for the new company.
By conservative, they meant no plans to go public. In fact, many large companies in Europe and the United States remain unlisted, not just in certain Eastern countries.
Not to mention the European luxury brands controlled by aristocratic families, there were also companies like IKEA and LEGO, the Mars Group that sells Dove chocolate, and Bloomberg, the big data company that once gave each new employee a fish tank to relax in.
Therefore, for the foreseeable future, Chris and Jack will continue to worry about the company's financial situation. Building data centers and hiring thousands of software engineers are minor expenses; the real cost is in acquiring various copyrights and investing in new IP development.
Especially for IP development, Jack alone wouldn't be able to handle it, even if he were to smoke his keyboard. Fortunately, he's now a near-bestselling author, and he has renowned writers like Cassel as friends.
All in all, the prospects are promising, but there's still a long way to go before they can realize their ambitions.
However, with the temporary solution to the funding issue, the new company's development will accelerate, and another pressing issue becomes more pressing: Zoe's political career.
The Andersons are, after all, just one of California's old-school political families, far from possessing omnipotent influence, let alone wielding influence in Washington.
While Zoe's grandfather, the elder Anderson, still has many former students and friends, and with the full support of the family's extended family, Zoe is now hailed as a rising star in California politics.
But rising stars are still rising stars, and they need time to develop. Furthermore, the Senate seats are up for election every six years. Although the two seats have overlapping terms, the next election is still two years away.
This means that unless something unexpected happens to one of the two California Senate seats, Zoe will have to wait at least two years before she can truly enter Washington and become a member of Capitol Hill.
Neither Jack nor Chris can help with this matter, unless they are determined to take down a senator.
(End of this chapter)