The moment the system notification appeared before his eyes, Luo Zheng forced himself to remain calm.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for successfully completing the side mission: Gambling Agreement.]
[Reward: Lucky Draw ×3]
Even though excitement surged through him, he deliberately kept his expression composed.
This was not the place to study the rewards.
There were still too many eyes in the room.
Suppressing the urge to immediately check the system, Luo Zheng turned toward Old Karl and smiled.
"Since Mr. Karl is so interested, it would be rude of me to refuse. I accept this new wager."
The moment those words fell, the tension in Old Karl's face visibly eased.
He let out a slow breath and clapped his hands together.
"Good! Chairman William truly has courage. The younger generation is indeed to be feared."
The two men exchanged a knowing smile.
Neither one brought up the matter of surrendering equity.
There was no need.
Both of them understood.
One possessed capital influence and deep Wall Street connections.
The other possessed vision, talent, and a terrifying instinct for opportunity.
Rather than continuing to clash, cooperation would benefit both sides far more.
The shareholders who had previously stood with Karl looked utterly stunned.
Their expressions were almost comical.
Wasn't this the same man who had spent days trying to seize power?
Now he was the first one to surrender and switch sides.
So what exactly had they been fighting for?
In the end, it proved one thing—
in the adult world, there were no eternal enemies.
Only eternal interests.
The mood in the room shifted immediately.
One shareholder stepped forward with a wide smile.
"The Chairman is truly a rare talent."
Another quickly followed.
"Yes, yes! I said long ago that Chairman William was destined for greatness."
"With your leadership, Marvel will surely rise again."
The atmosphere inside the screening room turned harmonious almost instantly.
Everyone who had been hesitant before now surrounded Luo Zheng with warm smiles and sincere praise.
No one wanted to be left standing on the wrong side.
After a long round of pleasantries, the crowd slowly dispersed.
In the end, only Luo Zheng and Old Karl remained.
The two sat side by side on the sofa in silence for a while.
At last, Karl spoke first.
"Chairman, the fifty million dollars will be transferred into Marvel's account tomorrow."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"In addition, I have a villa property in the eastern suburbs that has been vacant for a long time. If Chairman William is interested, I am willing to sell it to you for one hundred thousand dollars."
Luo Zheng glanced at him and immediately understood.
This was clearly another gesture of goodwill.
"Mr. Karl, there's really no need to go this far."
Karl shook his head with a faint smile.
"When a person makes a mistake, he must pay the price. Otherwise, he will never remember the lesson."
Luo Zheng laughed softly.
"You're being too serious."
The two men stood up at nearly the same time.
They shook hands.
Smiling like old friends, they left the screening room together.
That night, back in his apartment, Julie happened to be away.
The room was quiet.
Perfect.
After taking a bath, Luo Zheng even went as far as lighting incense and muttering a quick prayer to every god and immortal he could think of.
Only then did he open the system interface.
The lucky draw screen appeared before him in a burst of light.
According to the system description, the reward pool included every category related to the entertainment industry.
Company shares.
Film and television works.
Property.
Cash assets.
Special items.
And even some strange miscellaneous rewards.
The reward levels ranged from highest to lowest:
Gold.
Purple.
Blue.
Green.
White.
Thinking about the golden-tier Marvel reward he had received at the very beginning, Luo Zheng couldn't help but feel that the system had truly been generous.
Without hesitation, he clicked the first draw.
The wheel began spinning rapidly.
Golden lights flashed across the screen.
Apple shares.
Warner Bros. shares.
Industrial Light & Magic.
Tencent.
Alibaba.
One after another, dazzling rewards flashed past his eyes.
Then—
the wheel stopped.
A brilliant purple light filled the room.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. Purple Reward Obtained: "Pirates of the Caribbean" Pentalogy (copyright registered).]
The next second—
five thick folders suddenly appeared on the table in front of him.
Luo Zheng jumped in shock.
"Damn!"
He instinctively took a step back.
Thankfully it was just scripts.
If the system had dropped a car into the room, he might have died on the spot.
Still stunned, he quickly opened the folders.
The moment he flipped through them, his eyes lit up.
This was far more than just a script.
Each film included a complete screenplay, detailed scene designs, camera instructions, music requirements, lighting notes, costume references, makeup direction, and even special effects planning.
It was practically a full production manual.
Even a beginner director could produce a decent film by following it.
This was absolutely worthy of a purple-tier reward.
Luo Zheng carefully locked all five folders into the safe before beginning the second draw.
This time, the wheel stopped on blue.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. Blue Reward Obtained: Fan Bingbing's QQ Account (automatically added).]
Luo Zheng stared at the screen.
Then stared again.
"…What?"
For a long moment, he didn't know whether to laugh or curse.
A QQ account?
And this was blue-tier?
System, are you serious?
Still, he opened the computer and logged in.
Sure enough, a new contact had appeared in his friend list.
Fan Bingbing.
Her avatar was gray.
Offline.
Speechless, Luo Zheng could only accept reality and move on to the final draw.
This time—
golden light exploded across the room.
The entire apartment seemed to glow.
His breathing instantly quickened.
Gold.
It was actually gold.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. Gold Reward Obtained: 30% of Tencent Original Equity (effective immediately).]
For the first time that night, Luo Zheng was completely stunned.
Thirty percent.
Tencent.
He had just become one of the company's absolute largest shareholders.
At this point in time, Tencent was still far from its future peak.
But Luo Zheng knew exactly what was coming.
Mobile Dream Network.
The rise of instant messaging.
The explosion of internet services.
This wasn't just wealth.
This was a future empire.
That entire night, he was too excited to sleep.
Unfortunately, Julie's phone was turned off.
Left with no other option, he called Lilith and asked her to come over to the apartment for "overtime work."
As always, when the boss gave an order, the employee could only respond with one word—
"Received."
The night passed quickly.
Lilith left the next morning looking exhausted but still received both a bonus and a positive review from her boss.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
The Man from Earth had successfully secured screening qualification for the Berlin Film Festival.
With the festival approaching, Luo Zheng remained as busy as ever.
Aside from work—and occasionally spending time with Julie—
he also took Liu Xixi shopping almost every day whenever she managed to sneak out.
Meanwhile, the villa Karl had sold him turned out to be excellent.
A detached suburban property.
Elegant surroundings.
Excellent security.
Even Liu Xiaoli, who rarely had anything good to say about him, admitted that it was "not bad."
February 5, 2002.
Berlin.
Luo Zheng and his team officially landed in Germany.
Traveling with him were Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau, several employees from Marvel's film division—
and, naturally, Liu Xiaoli and Liu Xixi.
The aunt and niece had joined the trip through a silent understanding.
One pretended not to notice her daughter sneaking out.
The other pretended not to notice Liu Xiaoli dropping repeated hints through Xixi.
After checking into the hotel, adjusting for jet lag, and spending the evening exploring local food, the first day passed quickly.
The next morning—
February 6.
The Berlin Film Festival officially opened.
Luo Zheng and his group arrived early.
As an exhibition film, The Man from Earth was scheduled for the afternoon screening on February 7.
Today's purpose was simple—
observe.
Learn.
Network.
And most importantly—
make a name for himself.
As they walked through the exhibition hall, Liu Xixi suddenly tugged on his sleeve excitedly.
"Cousin, look! Is that Zhao Benshan?"
Luo Zheng followed the direction of her finger.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
It wasn't just Zhao Benshan.
There were several familiar faces.
Zhang Yimou.
Feng Xiaogang.
Rosamund Kwan.
Dong Jie.
A group of major Chinese entertainment figures stood together, surrounded by fans and media.
Then Luo Zheng's gaze shifted toward the large poster beside them.
His eyes instantly sharpened.
The title was displayed prominently.
Big Shot's Funeral
A slow smile appeared on his face.
The domestic entertainment arc…
had officially begun.