Darkstone Code

Black Market Culture... This company had only one name, an operative, and an office.

It came into existence a few years ago during a cultural exchange between the Federation and Gafura. At that time, Lynch had a quota for a co-production film, and along with his suggestions for the Federation Government to vigorously export culture, many cultural products flowed into Gafura from his hands.

Speaking of this, we have to mention Gafura’s past policy; without the endorsement of the nobility, these cultural products were difficult to market successfully.

After the cultural exchange between the Federation and Gafura ended, it was temporarily shelved.

Former employees dispersed to other companies, leaving only a manager to watch over things.

And this manager is about to experience a major transformation in life.

Of course, these are matters for later; right now, there’s just over a month left until this year’s awards ceremony, and there might not be enough time. If it’s missed this year, it will have to be deferred to next year.

But Lynch clearly isn’t someone who likes to wait. In his semi-command manner, these academia-styled filmmakers assured that Blackstone Culture would make it to this year’s awards ceremony—

If they can’t make it, Lynch will ditch them, which they cannot tolerate.

Sometimes industry experience holds no sway before immense capital!

Just because you are a pioneer in the industry, capital won’t necessarily make way for you; it will only trample harder!

Many believe "I have enormous influence" and end up as corpses before capital. These veterans are well aware of this, and they assured Lynch that Blackstone Culture would host this year’s awards ceremony...

This might not seem powerful to the average person and they may not even feel its influence.

But for the film industry and the entertainment sector, its power is immense.

Just this morning, not long after the meeting confirming this, Penny called again.

"You’re going to host the award ceremony yourself?" The girl’s voice was a bit sharp, conveying her excitement and being a bit shaken.

This feeling is like... an employee in a company striving for the outstanding employee award, but with slim chance. Her boyfriend decisively acquires the company just to award her the outstanding employee!

Although Lynch might not necessarily mean this, Penny felt this was exactly what Lynch meant!

To move a woman, you don’t really need romantic thoughts; just being willing to spend money is enough!

Of course, Lynch corrected her a bit, "It’s not that I want to host it myself, but rather integrate some resources. If nothing goes wrong, I’ll be the presenter for the Best Director at this year’s Academy Awards... It’s still called that for now, but we’ll soon change it."

The girl’s voice got even higher, "Oh my God, how did you convince those people?"

"I mean, those old-fashioned folks are hard to convince. Do you know how much my agency spent on this matter?"

"Until now, they’ve convinced only a few to vote for me. How did you manage to win over these tough guys?"

"I heard almost everyone is backing you."

Lynch had a faint smile on his face, "I just let them see a reality; I’m richer, and much richer than them."

Sometimes in the Federation, this indeed is the truth, from the President’s campaign to the living standards of a regular family, money, no, Wealth is the real cornerstone of this society.

With money, you can live with more dignity than ordinary people here.

With no money, you’d live in poverty and lose your dignity.

Faced with Lynch’s straightforward explanation, Penny was speechless, which also made her understand a truth.

The reason her company finds it hard to persuade those people is not that their movies aren’t good enough or that the scripts can’t move them, but simply because their "budget" wasn’t big enough!

"When are you coming back?" Under the sway of Wealth, Penny now needed an emotional outlet.

Lynch glanced at his watch, "I have an hour and a half lunch break..."

"That’s enough!"

During the lunch break, Lynch returned to the villa, and the girl pounced like a hungry wolf.

For her, she needed to vent her current emotions, she used some "facts" to move herself!

Lynch did this, it was definitely for me!

This kind of thought cannot really be said to be naïve, as most young people have similar thoughts, like "they must secretly like me" or "they’re acting like this just to attract my attention", etc.

This is a kind of naive self-assumption, and naive often means stupid.

The unabashed high notes in the room for half an hour made those sitting in the living room feel a bit awkward, including Penny’s agent, the chubby lady, and two maids.

Once those stubborn old folk informed their acquittances of the changes to this year’s award ceremony, the entire film industry knew within half an hour.

Blackstone Capital’s entry into the industry might look like capital eroding culture, but for most enterprises, this is actually good news.

Those "cultural people" are never satisfied, they’re greedy and shameless, yet unfortunately hold the industry’s discourse power.

To get what you want from them, you must pay much more than your actual earnings, which clearly doesn’t fit capital’s rules.

But with capital intervention, the situation will change, at least the competition between capitals will be simpler, more transparent, and fairer.

This may sound like nonsense, but it’s indeed the fact!

The ultimate goal of capital is profit, and as long as they don’t change their ultimate goal, they will maintain a certain level of fairness and justice!

So the agency immediately sent Penny’s agent to contact her, and also to inquire if there’s any inside story, who would’ve thought...

She felt very embarrassed.

Her artist under her care was showcasing her Talent, while she had to listen downstairs.

What made her feel even more awkward was the presence of the two maids nearby.

The young maid’s face was a bit flushed, she certainly wouldn’t foolishly ask her cousin why Penny upstairs would hit the high notes.

She knew the reason.

Ever since the feminist movement began, sexual liberation became the top priority, which sounds absurd as hell.

Why gender equality had to start with sex, and those people even encouraged women to pursue happiness—

In fact, they encouraged them to openly face society, even some high schools that previously weren’t even allowed to wear skirts became hotspots for promiscuity.

Only schools with religious backgrounds kept their traditions.

The young maid had dated before, but she didn’t really understand why Miss Penny would do this, she felt...kind of hypocritical?

Or a bit fake, who really behaves like this?

The other young maid had a red face too, she was in early pregnancy, so she couldn’t engage in intense physical work for now, Penny’s high note made her want to spread her vocal cords as well.

Austin was sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window looking outside, possibly the only one unaffected, considering other matters.

A few days ago, the Military sent an official letter to those "retired veterans", wishing for them to report to the nearest military district by April next year.

They will undergo three to six months of military Skills training, recalling the techniques they once mastered, then will be redistributed among different military districts, waiting for the outbreak of war.

The Federation Military stated this was not compulsory, but they hoped soldiers could contribute to their country’s safety and people’s safety.

When it truly came down to it, Austin was somewhat at a loss.

Even though she knew this day would come, when it did, she was still somewhat... scared.

An inner fear, her experience on the border anti-smuggling team made her understand better than other veterans, in modern combat all it takes to kill someone is one bullet.

Upstairs, the unabashed continual sounds lasted for half an hour before ceasing, after a while, Lynch and Penny came downstairs in different attire.

His skin was already thicker than the city walls, such things couldn’t shake his emotions.

This also made him faintly recall some of his past experiences, the time he just finished a simple job—preprocessing fresh ingredients.

Simply put, it was selecting vegetables and handling raw chicken, duck, and fish, turning these ingredients into shapes desired by chefs.

The pay was too low and the workload too high, so he quit.

Then with the help of a classmate, he entered an interesting organization, gathered by a small group of people striving for a dream.

Everyone in this company had a dream of being a president, and everything they did was for becoming a president.

At that time, their team manager trained them to let go of their sense of shame affecting their growth, demanding honesty among each other.

Initially, he felt embarrassed, but seeing the girls being sincere, he didn’t feel so embarrassed.

The organization was eventually reported for gathering to be "honest", but some occurrences back then left a lasting impact on him.

Including an important mentor in his life, who guided him into a brand new world!

All these strange experiences ultimately converged to form a near-perfect him!

He walked over to sit by the sofa, asking the young maid to prepare some food, he was hungry.

Also, to bring some to Penny, she might be hungrier than him.

"Mr. Lynch, the company sent me to inquire about this year’s award ceremony..."

Penny’s new movie hasn’t been filmed yet, so they definitely won’t stand a chance this year, but they certainly need maneuvering for next year.

Now, everyone is keen on understanding the way it will be operated in the future, whether to follow the previous approach or if there are new plays!